Chapter 1708 Renzijuan Massacre

 Also Niu Jizong was hit.

He did not see this scene with his own eyes, but the soldiers who came to report described the situation in detail. Looking at Guo Yungui's pale face and hanging arms, and Li Daming's uneasy look, Niu Jizong knew that this was the case. Half of the attack was lost before it even started.

Hundreds of people suffered huge losses from this volley. The number of people killed on the spot was less than a hundred, but the number of injured was more than 400, and almost all of them lost their combat effectiveness. Guo Yungui and Li Daming both No one was spared, but the key was that morale was severely damaged.

Who can attack forward without any distractions when a fatal blow is hanging over their head at any time?

Suppressing the irritability in his heart, Niu Jizong's expression did not change, or even looked better. He said warmly: "It's my fault. I didn't expect that they actually had a Crouching Tiger Cannon, but how did they get the Crouching Tiger Cannon?"

"It is said that there is a platform to the south and east of the bridge, which is much higher than ours. Maybe they used this platform to fire artillery from a high position, but I didn't expect that their Tiger Crouching Cannon was so powerful that it could actually cross the river. And the shooting range is at least a hundred steps away."

Li Daming bit the bullet and explained that he expected that the enemy's firecrackers would be quite powerful, but he did not expect that the Crouching Tiger Cannon would be so powerful.

 Fireguns and artillery are two completely different concepts. It does not mean that if you can produce powerful fireguns early, you can also make the artillery more powerful.

Artillery has been around for a long time in the Zhou Dynasty. During the Yuanxi period, they fought with the Japanese along the south coast of the Yangtze River. The squatting tiger cannon had made great contributions. However, the range of the squatting tiger cannon was only between fifty and sixty steps. It has not changed for decades. This is because Cannon casting is difficult.

In particular, iron artillery is either too heavy to be transported easily, or the wall is too thin or the iron quality is not good enough to easily explode the chamber. They can only maintain their inherent state, so it is rare to break through eighty steps and still cause huge damage, but this one The squatting tiger cannon had a range as far as a hundred steps, and once again dealt a heavy blow to a group of people.

Niu Jizong remained silent.

The threat of the Crouching Tiger Cannon is only in the area around the bridge, and each shot requires a charge. The time interval is not short, and the camp car can also provide cover, but it was hit in the head, which hurt morale.

“Which high ground could Shaochun’s archers shoot to?” Niu Jizong finally asked.

Li Daming shook his head: "There is no problem in shooting across the river, but that platform is still more than ten steps away from the river bank, and the terrain is slightly higher. I am afraid that even if you shoot over it, it will not be able to have much damage, and the opponent also has Protected by a shield, even an archer may not be able to handle such a powerful shot."

The firearms of the Xuanfu army were not worth mentioning, so Niu Jizong did not bring them with him this time. However, Ji Shaochun's archers were famous among the Xuanfu army. Niu Jizong made a prompt decision, "Let Shaochun's archers shoot at the high ground, no matter what" We must also suppress the opponent, Daming, your manpower will not have much impact, add another hundred people, rely on the camp car, and launch an attack immediately, I don’t have much time for you!"

The last sentence had a hint of murderous intent. Li Daming felt a chill in his heart, then he quickly saluted to show his compliance and hurried out.

I have to admit that Niu Jizong still has some courage. When hundreds of archers began to spread out along the river bank and started shooting at the Henan Highlands, Li Daming immediately organized his soldiers, regrouped, and quickly launched an attack on the bridge with the help of camp trucks.

The extremely well-protected camper formation cannot be penetrated and destroyed by firecrackers. It is stuffed with sandbags, making it extremely defensive. Two hundred soldiers pushed the camper step by step to the southern section of the front, and encountered the set up Mud barriers, earth and rocks are blocking the way. At this time, the only way to do it is to let the kamikaze squads in full plate armor go out. While covering with wooden shields, they start to clear the mud barriers, earth and rocks, but this inevitably gives way to the hawksbills that have already been set up. Gunslingers have a chance.

 With the crisp sound of muskets, the hawk-billed musketeers started shooting in an orderly manner.

Even plate armor at a distance of only twenty steps would not be able to withstand the shots of such heavy fire guns, unless the shield and plate armor were overlapped.

But how can it be possible to protect it so well when clearing mud barriers and between rocks?

In just one stick of incense, more than ten plate-armored soldiers were shot and killed, and not even one-third of the work of clearing the mud barriers, earth and rocks was completed.

But at this time, Li Daming could not care much anymore. The supervising team was behind him. Anyone who dared to retreat would only be killed with a knife, and even if he died, he would have to die on the south bank of the river.

He Huchen on the south bank of the river also noticed the Xuanfu army's offensive regardless of casualties. The mud barriers, earth and rocks on the bridge were quickly cleared away. The cost was only dozens of soldiers in plate armor, but they successfully moved the vehicle. The formation advanced to the south end of the bridge.

With the car formation forming a protective wall, Li Daming gritted his teeth and ordered all the soldiers to start marching along the bridge towards the south of the bridge.

At the same time, the spearmen who gathered together had already assembled in place, preparing to deal with the Xuanfu army's attack once they broke out of the bridge.

"Ding Yuan, Pengfei, you two, please pay attention. When the Xuanfu Army's camp truck comes out, ignore it for now. When they rush across the bridge and spread out, you will start looking for opportunities to open fire."

While He Huchen ordered the spear soldiers to stand by, he also ordered the fire gun soldiers to gather into four square formations to surround the entire southern end of the bridge within a radius of fifty steps from four angles. He also ordered the mud walls to be used as cover, so that he could easily Shoot the soldiers behind the exposed camper.

If the camp cart is pushed in front of the mud wall, the spearmen can make full use of their ten-foot-long spears to thrust, and these soldiers who intend to charge will encounter a second round of interception.

One after another, the camp trucks began to push out of the bridge head, and more and more soldiers swarmed in along the stone bridge towards the south end of the bridge. Soon the camp trucks formed a huge arc-shaped protective formation at the bridge head, and the soldiers began to Holding the shield and bowing, he continued to push the camper crazily towards the mud wall.

He Huchen's face turned slightly cold and he suddenly raised his hand.

Following the order, the eagle-billed guns on the high platforms on both sides opened fire intensively, first shooting at the soldiers pushing the camp carts.

　　When a soldier pushing a camp car was shot and killed, the camp car immediately stopped, but the camp car next to it continued to move forward, and a huge gap immediately appeared between the two cars.

The gunmen, who had already aimed at the target, began to fire intensively without haste. The dense storm of metal projectiles at such a close distance immediately became a butcher's knife that harvested people's names.

Thirty soldiers took one round, and there was almost no need to aim. Under the torches held high around them, they only needed to point in the direction and pull the trigger. The match ignited the powder hole. With a burst of smoke and explosions, more than ten soldiers screamed. The soldier immediately collapsed to the ground.

Unhurriedly, he turned around and moved out of the way along the arc. The second wave of gun soldiers, who were already ready to attack, repeated the same movements, the same screams, flying blood foam, splashing plasma, and occasionally... Mixed with broken limbs and tendons, the gurgling blood didn't even have time to penetrate into the frozen hard soil, and flowed out along the terrain, like a Shura field in the dark night.

When the camper next to it discovered the gap, it hurriedly wanted to move back to make up for it. However, the camper that had been moving forward in line with the other end immediately showed another gap, and the fire gun, which had also been waiting for this moment, The soldiers opened fire mercilessly, and then stabbed the camp car formation that had exposed flaws from the other side.

This situation continued to play out in the entire formation of thirty or forty-two battalions of vehicles that had been pushed forward, and the gap became wider and wider due to the chaos.

The eagle-billed muskets were the first to attack, breaking the rhythm of the camper's advance, causing a gap in the camper formation. Then the firecrackers, who gathered every 100 people into a small square formation, took the opportunity to fill in and follow up, shooting from the gaps to make up for the damage.

Within a distance of no more than twenty steps, this kind of repeated shooting gave almost no chance to the Xuanfu soldiers in the camp. No matter whether they were wearing armor or holding shields, it was useless. At this distance, The shot is enough to penetrate any armor and shield.

This was purely a one-sided massacre.

 It’s just that the Xuanfu army at the north end of the bridge had no idea that such a huge trap was waiting for them.

The soldiers who followed up poured in like a tide, and in the arc surrounded by a mud wall at the south end of the bridge, it was like an endless sponge, continuously swallowing up the new blood that was pouring in. Clean.

The successive explosions of firecrackers shrouded the entire south end of the bridge in a layer of pungent gunpowder smoke. This repeated shooting caused the barrels of the firecrackers to heat up rapidly, but next to each team of firecrackers, There is also a reserve team. Once the barrel of the gun becomes hot, Qianhu will order an immediate adjustment, let the reserve team press forward, and maintain the rhythm to continue firing.

The spearmen who had been eyeing them with eager eyes were almost useless. Even if a few brave people rushed out, they could only be turned into corpses under the dense thrust of spears.

This is the best demonstration of the successful combination of new weapons and new tactics, and it also confirms the truth of how costly it will be if you don't understand the enemy's situation.

When Niu Jizong and Li Daming realized that something was wrong, they had already deployed nearly a thousand men to charge, but they saw no breakthrough at all. It was not until two **** soldiers came back to report what happened at the south end of the bridge that Niu Jizong and Li Daming finally understood the inside story.

The reason why it was so easy to break into the south end of the bridge was because people had already set up encirclements and traps there, waiting for them to jump over, but they were not aware of it.

Li Daming's troops have basically been crippled, and the morale of Guo Yungui's troops has been dampened, but they can still fight. But the question is how to break the situation now?

Looking helplessly at a stone bridge with tens of thousands of troops behind it, but he was unable to use it. This depressed and irritable mood made Niu Jizong want to explode.

 He has never encountered anything so bizarre.

 (End of this chapter)