Chapter 408: Poking with a Fire Stick
Outside the city, the Shenwei Army sounded the charge, the explosions of thunder bombs became less frequent, and generals of all ranks called on the soldiers to climb the walls to defend the city.
As soon as these soldiers climbed to the top of the city wall, they were immediately met with a fierce bombardment of thunder bombs from the Shenwei Army . The Huihui cannons that had just appeared outside the city and were bombarded by the Shenwei Army's artillery were also bombarded by the Shenwei Army's artillery. However, there was no sign of the Shenwei Army climbing the wall to attack.
After a short break, the Shenwei Army's artillery bombardment began again.
This time, the Shenwei Army moved out in rows and launched a charge in a group.
When Liu Yuzhou saw his eldest son shouting for help on the city wall, he immediately drove the Han army up. The Mongolian soldiers behind him were whipping them with horsewhips and shouting. The Hui artillery in the city also removed their camouflage and fired. An artillery battle between the two sides broke out immediately.
However, the Shenwei Army did not climb the wall, but jumped into the bomb craters to avoid the bombs. However, many of the Huihui cannons in the city and the soldiers on the city walls were damaged or killed.
It turned out that this was a measure taken by Lai Chuanfang to lure the enemy. He arranged a large amount of earthwork last night, dug a number of foxholes at the front of the position, and rebuilt the artillery's observation, aiming and command system.
The soldiers charging outside were running in the area where the bunkers had been dug. As soon as the city fired artillery fire, the soldiers of the Shenwei Army immediately jumped into the bunkers to hide. They only used artillery to annihilate the enemies on the city and the Huihui cannons found in the city.
Liu Yuzhou's Huihui cannons were destroyed one after another by the Shenwei Army, but he did not see the Shenwei Army climbing the wall to attack the city. He slowly discovered the secret that the Shenwei Army had tricked his Huihui cannons into firing and exposed them to be bombed. He was so angry that he ordered that no cannons should be fired if there was any attack again. The Huihui cannons could only be used to intercept the Shenwei Army after they climbed the wall.
After only an incense stick of time, the Shenwei Army opened fire again. This time, Liu Yuzhou even waited until the soldiers defending the city shouted that the enemy had started to climb the wall before driving them up the city.
The soldiers on both sides quickly started fighting along the battlements of the city wall.
The Huihui artillery in the city started to provide covering fire again.
But this time, the Shenwei Army bravely rushed forward, fearlessly charging towards the city wall, and climbed up in relays. The catapults immediately destroyed the Huihui cannons when they found them, and the Shenwei Army's hot air balloons in the sky assisted, bombing the Mongolian troops who were clustered on the city wall, setting the houses near the city gate ablaze, and doing their best to block the enemy from reinforcing the city wall.
Seeing more and more Shenwei Army soldiers climbing up the city wall, Liu Yuzhou became anxious and shouted, "Heavenly Army, attack! Heavenly Army, attack!" The Mongolian Army's hot air balloons on the north parade ground desperately inflated, and huge balloons swelled up one by one. The guards below quickly untied the cables, and the balloons rose into the sky one by one.
At this time, the Shenwei Army Air Force, which was fighting fiercely at the city gate, discovered a huge balloon rising in the city. They opened their mouths in surprise, because the enemy also had a hot air balloon.
The Air Force immediately sent back the message and prepared to fight against the Mongolian Sky Force.
The Mongolian army's hot air balloon was much larger than those of the Shenwei Army because of its thick cloth cover and heavy weight. At this time, the northeast wind was blowing, and the Mongolian army, with the help of the wind, quickly rushed towards the west gate.
When Liu Yuzhou's troops saw their hot air balloon joining the battlefield, their morale was greatly boosted. They shouted and climbed up the city wall in waves to engage in battle. The two sides fought a desperate battle on the city wall that was less than 200 meters high.
When Zhao Yulin learned that the Mongolian army had deployed hot air balloons, the air forces of both sides had already been fighting. The Mongolian army came prepared and fought with the wind. Their hanging baskets were loaded with strong shooters who fired rockets at the hot air balloons of the Shenwei Army Air Force, causing the Shenwei Army's balloons to catch fire and fall.
Although the Shenwei Army's air force also had rocket shooters, they were not specialized in hunting hot air balloons like the Mongolian Army, and their formation was in a headwind, so they needed a lot of effort to stabilize their position. The comparison between the two was a big disadvantage. They saw the Shenwei Army's hot air balloons catching fire and falling one by one, and some of them lost control when falling rapidly. The thunder bombs in the baskets rolled onto their own positions, killing and injuring their own people, and they were forced to withdraw from the battlefield under the cover of the front army.
However, the Mongolian Army's Sky Force was chasing the Shenwei Army's Air Force because the wind was favorable and their hot air balloons were very large, so the strong wind helped them move forward easily.
Seeing that the Mongolian Army's Sky Army was wantonly hunting down the Shenwei Army's hot air balloons in the sky and bombing the Shenwei Army's soldiers charging in front of the city, the foothold that had just been established on the city wall would definitely collapse without follow-up support.
Zhao Yulin yelled, "Bring the gun."
He took out the 800 million yuan and asked Lai Chuanfang: Where are the musket snipers assigned to the East Group?
Lai Chuanfang pointed at the soldiers running in front and anxiously told him that they were in the reserve team and were on their way over.
Chu Yuxuan was already helping Zhao Yulin put on his armor. He put on Lao Zhu's tactical vest, put on his hat and said: With the military advisor protecting the Shenwei Army, we will definitely win. Let's go.
After saying that, Zhao Yulin pushed away Lai Chuanfang who was blocking him, jumped onto the horse's back, squeezed his calves hard, and the big white horse rushed out like an arrow, followed by a group of guards, and rushed straight to the front of the battle.
Lai Chuanfang saw this and could no longer stop them, so he immediately urged his army to rush towards the top of the city.
Zhao Yulin's cavalry quickly caught up with the musket snipers. He asked Chu Yuxuan to send them all over, and he rode his horse forward.
These musketeers are grenade launchers equipped by the Shenwei Army to each legion to specialize in shooting down hot air balloons.
Because this type of firearm is very difficult to make, there are less than a dozen successful guns, and even fewer distributed to each legion, with only two or three in each legion.
Seeing that they were not far from the Mongolian army's hot air balloon, Zhao Yulin immediately jumped off his horse and started shooting with his gun.
A long burst of fire knocked the Mongolian soldiers in the hot air balloon basket, who were in the front, down, but it had no effect on .
Because bullets can penetrate the thin wooden boards of the basket and kill the people inside, but penetrating the holes formed by the balloons above is like tickling, and there is no point in destroying the hot air balloon.
He grabbed the musket that was handed to him from behind, loaded it with rifle grenades, and started firing. The powerful effect of the new weapon was unleashed as the rifle grenades flew up to the sky.
After he fired two muskets that fired rifle grenades in turn, the Mongolian army's hot air balloons continued to explode in the air, immediately curbing the attack of the Mongolian army's sky army.
The soldiers of both sides on the front line were stunned. Seeing that the Mongolian army's heavenly army was just so-so, the Shenwei Army immediately boosted their morale and climbed up the city wall again.
The Shenwei Army's air force no longer retreated, but instead pressed forward towards the enemy formation step by step.
The Mongolian army was stunned. Just now their Sky Army was winning victory after victory. Thirty hot air balloons were chasing the fifty hot air balloons of the Shenwei Army and destroying most of the Shenwei Army. They were about to take over the Zhengzhou sky, but suddenly the Shenwei Army got a magic weapon that was specifically designed to intercept and kill hot air balloons.
Zhao Yulin shot and shattered the basket of a Mongolian hot air balloon right in front of him. The people and equipment on it fell like flowers scattered from the sky. The huge balloon cover suddenly lightened its load and flew away quickly.
The Mongolian sky army quickly lost more than a dozen hot air balloons, and the remaining ones huddled together, trying desperately to get back. However, due to the huge wind resistance, their movements were slow and they couldn't turn around at all. Instead, being huddled together made it easier for the hunters below.
Seeing that the number of Mongolian hot air balloons was decreasing, the remaining ones realized that there was no hope of escape, so they did not run away. Instead, they rushed directly towards the shooting position of Zhao Yulin and his men, lowered their altitude and kept shooting arrows at them.
A black mass of hot air balloons quickly pressed towards Zhao Yulin, and rockets from the sky whizzed down, some of which landed in front of Zhao Yulin. The guards tried their best to protect him and avoid them.
Zhao Yulin pushed Chu Yuxuan's eyes open and told them to hide. Standing in the way would prevent him from shooting.
The Mongolian hot air balloon was still rushing towards him, so he simply stood still, shouted to reload, took the musket, raised it and shot, aiming at the enemy's hanging basket.
The Mongolian army’s hot air balloons had lost their baskets, and they kept flying into the deep space like hydrogen balloons released by little children.
Seeing that the last hot air balloon was about to rush over his head, Zhao Yulin stood still, took aim and pulled the trigger. The grenade pierced through the hanging basket and exploded, simultaneously igniting the huge balloon cover, turning it into a big red firework.
The Shenwei Army became more powerful and rushed towards the city wall with roars, launching continuous charges.
Lai Chuanfang ran over to stand in front of him and said: The young master is so scared. If anything happens to him, how will he explain to his brothers and sisters-in-law?
Zhao Yulin said with a stern look: Attack and kill those bastards.
Lai Chuanfang immediately ordered the charge and marched into the city to eat.
Immediately, a loud charge was sounded from the Shenwei Army's position. Soldiers climbed up the city wall one after another and finally occupied a wall of nearly fifty feet. More and more soldiers began to enter the city and establish a bridgehead.
In the city, Liu Yuzhou was dumbfounded.
Just now, his hot air balloon went up into the sky and caught the Shenwei Army Air Force off guard with the wind. Seeing the Shenwei Army's hot air balloons falling one by one, he had completely suppressed the Shenwei Army. Unexpectedly, Zhao Yulin rushed up to him with a fire stick and poked his army. The hot air balloons exploded in the air and none of them were left, presented to the gods.
Liu Yuzhou sat under the eaves three streets away to catch his breath, as if he had been drained of energy. His eldest son, who was shot in the left leg by an arrow, came over and shouted to him to hurry up despite the pain. The Shenwei Army had already broken through the city wall and were entering the city continuously.
Liu's army has lost its morale and will fail if it fights again.
His military advisor reported that the reinforcements were beaten back by the Shenwei Army, and Xuzhou was also surrounded by the Shenwei Army. It seemed that we had no choice but to escape on our own.
The eldest son said that people who went out of the city to investigate found that the Wei River had dried up and the Shenwei Army was building a dam. The common people upstream also reported that they were digging the Yellow River embankment.
The military advisor judged that the actions of the Shenwei Army were intended to break the dike and divert water to flood Zhengzhou.
Zhengzhou is low-lying, and the ground is likely to be flooded after the next heavy rain. How will it be flooded?
Once the Shenwei Army digs up the Yellow River embankment, this place will become a vast ocean.
Especially since the East Gate is the lowest point in Zhengzhou, if the Shenwei Army really breaks the dike, these people will not be drowned but will be able to just paddle along.
When Liu Yuzhou thought of this, he realized that it was too late to save the situation. He helplessly ordered his troops to leave the city immediately and flee to Kaifeng.
Before leaving, he did not forget to tell his boss: Remember, you must bring our Xiao Si with you.
Outside the city, Zhao Yulin returned to the backyard of Lai Chuanfang's command post to take a rest.
