Chen Youliang claimed to have 600,000 soldiers, but in reality, including the logistics militia, there were probably around 300,000 soldiers, and the elite soldiers were estimated to be less than 200,000.
In Hongdu City, there were nearly 20,000 Zhu family soldiers, 7,000 to 8,000 people in the labor reform camp, plus the young and strong civilians who were conscripted, the actual number of people was about 30,000, and it was claimed to be 40,000.
The gates of ancient cities were mostly heavy gates with iron fences. They were not the big wooden doors that opened to the left or right and were bolted with a piece of wood as shown in movies and TV dramas.
Even if they broke through the city gate, there was a garrison inside. No matter how many soldiers attacked the city, once they got through the garrison, it would be like fighting in a street battle, and the defenders could break through one by one.
As for the city walls, if they weren't cut corners, the walls of a large city could be over ten meters thick. At least in the era of black powder cannons, it would have been nearly impossible to easily blast through the walls.
When attacking a city, of course the besiegers cannot just use a long ladder or a rope ladder to climb up like in movies and TV shows. That would be suicide.
Lu Gongche, ladders, cannons, catapults... siege is the time to show off the skills of engineers from all sides.
Although the city gate is strong, the gate and the wall connecting it are the most vulnerable parts of the entire wall. Moreover, the purpose of attacking a city is not only to capture the city, but also to destroy the enemy's manpower.
Whether the goal was to block the defenders' retreat or to capture the city, the attackers would concentrate their siege engines at the city gates, concentrating on destroying one point. The other points were merely feints to deplete the defenders' forces.
Hongdu was not considered a big city at that time, but because it was located at a hub of water and land transportation and a place of strategic importance, even though it did not have the defensive facilities of a large city such as a barbican, the city gates and walls were considered strong.
But Hongdu City has a fatal flaw, which is that it has eight city gates.
There were originally few soldiers in Hongdu City, and they were divided into eight groups to guard the city gates, yet they managed to hold on. It was simply incredible.
Chen Biao didn't know that in history his cousin divided two to three thousand soldiers into each gate, and he brought one to two thousand mobile troops for support, and actually defended the city of Hongdu.
He patted his head and felt that it was impossible to defend the city, so he decided to block the four small city gates with cement and leave only the four large city gates.
Chen Biao was held in Chen Ying's arms, just like when he was taking classes with the Chen family's servants in the past. He held a small stick and pointed at the city map hanging on the wall.
Because he showed his strong talent in commanding troops and making plans, and with the full support of his three brothers, Chen Biao had become the junior military advisor of the Zhu family army in Hongdu.
"Why didn't the guards block the city gates in the past? There are three important reasons.
First, defenders generally do not hold on to a city to the death.
When the city is about to be lost, the defenders will look for the gate with the least enemy troops and seek help or break out. So blocking the city gate is to block their own retreat.
There have been battles to defend cities in history where city gates were blocked. Except for the Battle of Diaoyucheng in the Southern Song Dynasty, where the defenders planted crops in the city and held out for thirty-six years, only surrendering the city after a change of generals, other battles to defend city gates almost all ended in tragedy.
Second, when most of the generals defending the city received news that the enemy was about to attack, they only had time to deploy troops and had no time to change the layout of the city gates.
When a city wall was breached during a defensive battle, the holes were sealed with wooden fences, iron bars, and sandbags, rather than being rebuilt. Removing the gates to repair the wall would have taken months.
Third, if there are too many city gates, the attackers will have to divide their forces.
The defenders' routes to support the various gates are much shorter than the attackers' routes around the walls. If the attackers make strategic mistakes, it will be easier for the defenders to defeat them one by one."
The generals nodded in agreement. The young military advisor was right!
"But we have plenty of time, cement, and we've already called for reinforcements. Therefore, blocking the city gates will be more beneficial than harmful. The only problem is how to balance our forces with those of the enemy."
Chen Biao talked about the advantages and disadvantages of having more and fewer city gates, and reported a series of numbers to support his judgment. In the end, he came to the conclusion that leaving only four large city gates would be more conducive to defending the city.
Except for the leading generals, everyone else showed an awkward yet polite smile.
Too many gates isn't good, too few isn't good either. It's so hard to decide what's in between. Luckily, we have our little military advisor here!
Zhu Wenzheng nodded and touched his chin. "Indeed, Biao'er, your calculations are very accurate. By this calculation, I can also defend all eight gates. I will bring 2,000 people to provide support at any time."
Li Wenzhong couldn't help but say, "What big talk are you talking about?"
Zhu Wenzheng crossed his arms and said, "If you don't believe me, why don't you tear down the city wall and restore it to a city gate, and let me guard it and see?"
Chen Biao waved his hand, hushing the bickering of his two foolish brothers. "Indeed, if we want to defend eight gates, we must select the most valiant general with the most elite soldiers to provide support at all times, forming a mobile force. As long as that general strikes quickly enough, the gates can be defended. But it's like walking a tightrope...walking on a wire bridge. One mistake and you'll die."
Zhu Wenzheng immediately patted his chest and said, "That brave warrior is me!"
Chen Biao said, "I believe that even if I hadn't come to Hongdu, you are so powerful that you would definitely be able to hold it. My coming here would only save a few of your lives. If Hongdu had been held, you would have died in battle..."
Chen Biao paused and said, "If any of you die in this battle, I will go to your grave every Qingming Festival and steal your tributes, leaving you to starve in your graves."
All the adults were amused by Chen Biao's childish words.
Chen Ying smiled and said, "Don't worry, Biao'er, I won't give you the chance to steal the sacrifice."
Zhu Wenzheng laughed so hard that he couldn't straighten his back. "As expected of you, Biao'er. Such a threat in your own style. Don't worry, I'm the only one who steals other people's things. No one else can steal my things."
Li Wenzhong's mouth twitched slightly: "Please change the 'others' you are talking about to me."
Everyone laughed again.
The spies had reported that Chen Youliang's ships were about to enter Poyang Lake. Yet they were still laughing. Chen Biao was deeply impressed by their optimistic attitude.
This was settled.
Zhu's army used the already heavy and solid city gate as a frame and spent a day laying cement bricks and cement walls in front, behind, left and right of the city gate.
The temperature was now over 20 degrees Celsius. To prevent the cement from drying out and cracking, Chen Biao covered the newly cast cement wall with straw mats and sprayed it with water daily to keep it moist. In just three or four days, the cement was completely dry.
Chen Biao was so mean as to leave four small wooden doors outside the concrete wall.
During the acceptance inspection, Chen Biao knocked on the hard concrete wall with his hand and grinned.
I wonder if Chen Youliang's army will be blind and waste their energy attacking the small wooden door.
At that time, the brothers will arrange for young and strong people to hang around the disguised small door to make them waste as much effort as possible.
Zhu's army, including those in the labor reform camp, all smiled when they saw Chen Biao walking around with his short arms behind his back and his short legs.
Although the battle to defend the city will be very brutal, they can get a lot of rewards if they defend the city.
With Chen Biao, the magical little military strategist, they felt that there was a very high chance that they would survive and defend the city.
Everything is ready, just waiting for Chen Youliang to come.
The defenders of Hongdu were all very optimistic, except Deng Yu, who frowned.
The four gates of Hongdu City are the East Gate Dantai Gate, the West Gate Zhangjiang Gate, the North Gate Xincheng Gate, and the South Gate Fuzhou Gate, with the river on the west side.
Because the East Gate was the farthest from the river, the Glazed Gate on this side had also been blocked. Chen Youliang led a navy, and it was very difficult to transport siege machinery to the East Gate. This gate was guarded by Yan Qian alone.
The West Gate, near the river, was guarded by Zhao Desheng as the chief general and Niu Hailong as the deputy general. Chen Biao had built a wall around the three small water gates near the West Gate: Gongbumen, Qiaobumen, and Sibumen. This was the only place where Chen Youliang's ships could be encountered. Two newly constructed cannons, hastily made by Chen Biao, were mounted on the wall to destroy Chen Youliang's ships.
The area outside the north gate is quite spacious. Xue Xian is the chief general and Li Wenzhong is the deputy general. They lead the only heavy armored cavalry in the city to guard this area. If there is an opportunity, the cavalry can go out of the city to fight a wave of wild beasts.
Deng Yu and Chen Ying led the musket team to guard the south gate.
Zhu Wenzhen brought a light cavalry to support the city gates at any time.
Chen Biao inferred that Chen Youliang might attack from the south gate because the city wall that the Cao family secretly tampered with was on the south gate side.
Although he had spread the news that he had discovered the problem with the city wall and had promptly repaired it, Chen Youliang did not know how strong cement was, and he did not believe that a young boy with only a hairpin was capable of anything, so he might still attack from the south gate.
According to common sense, Chen Youliang led a naval force and should have targeted the west gate as the main target. If Chen Youliang chose the south gate on land, it would prove that the Cao family was indeed connected to Chen Youliang.
Chen Biao now had no evidence for all his speculations about the Cao family, but Deng Yu still held onto hope.
If Chen Youliang came to the South Gate...
Deng Yu gripped the hilt of the sword tightly, feeling extremely nervous.
It wasn't that he still had any extravagant hopes for the Cao family, but he didn't know how to face his fellow soldiers.
Chen Ying patted Deng Yu on the shoulder and said, "As long as we hold the city, there will be no problem."
Deng Yu curled his lips and said, "Luckily Biao'er is here."
Chen Ying thought to himself that he would rather Biaoer hadn't come. Even if Biaoer came, it would increase their chances of survival, but Biaoer himself would be in danger.
Deng Yu saw Chen Ying's expression and knew what she was thinking. He quickly apologized: "I'm sorry, I..."
Chen Ying said, "It's okay. Biao'er's coming is indeed a good thing."
Deng Yu was relieved to see that Chen Ying wasn't angry. He smiled and said, "I wonder if the Lord will give Biao'er an official title. Although Biao'er is young, his contribution in defending the city is enough for him to become a high-ranking official."
Chen Ying said: "Probably not. Biao'er is too young and not suitable for too much work."
Deng Yu nodded. "That's right. When the Lord becomes the Emperor, Biao'er will definitely have a title. General Chen will also have a title, so we'll have two titles in the family."
Chen Ying forced a serious expression and said, "Yes, definitely."
While the two were chatting, Chen Biao at the west gate had already seen Chen Youliang's fleet through a telescope.
Because colorless transparent glass could not be made, Chen Biao's telescope lenses were made of polished crystal, which was very expensive both in terms of raw material costs and labor costs.
Chen Biao asked the craftsmen to try for a long time and finally made a telescope with a higher magnification.
Naturally, he would keep one of the good things for fighting in the war for himself, give one to his father who was fighting in the war, then give one to Marshal Zhu, and then to his brothers.
Mother doesn’t need to lead the troops to fight. After sending my brothers away, leave one for me to play with, and then I can consider my uncles.
Only one telescope was made, and Chen Biao wanted to keep it as a sample for the craftsmen, so he didn't tell his father, for fear that his father would leak the telescope to Marshal Zhu and make him unhappy.
But I can’t care so much now.
Chen Biao said: "Here I come, get ready."
Zhao Desheng rubbed his hands together, but hesitated to speak.
Chen Biao smiled and handed the telescope to Zhao Desheng: "Uncle Zhao, if you want to see it, just tell me. You are also from the same hometown as my father, so there is no need to be so reserved."
Zhao Desheng said embarrassedly: "Although your father and I are from the same hometown, I don't know your father. It's really a bit... hehe."
He said this, but he took the telescope very smoothly.
Deputy General Niu Hailong looked on with envy.
Zhao Desheng was originally a member of the Yuan army. After learning of Zhu Yuanzhang's reputation, he secretly escaped from the Yuan army and defected to Zhu Yuanzhang.
Although he was also from Haozhou, unlike Xu Da, Tang He and others, he was not a childhood friend of Zhu Yuanzhang from the same county and hometown. He was not as emotionally close to Zhu Yuanzhang, so naturally he did not know Chen Biao's identity.
However, just knowing that Chen Guorui is also from Haozhou, they can also claim to be related.
Zhao Desheng originally thought that even if Chen Biao didn't hide in the city, he would still follow his brothers. Unexpectedly, Chen Biao took the initiative to ask to follow him.
Zhu Wenzhen disagreed at the time.
Even if Chen Biao wants to stay at the West Gate, he can let Li Wenzhong or Chen Ying guard the West Gate.
Chen Biao argued with reason.
Zhao Desheng was a veteran general with the most experience in Hongdu City, having fought numerous naval battles and possessing the most knowledge of naval forces. Therefore, Zhao Desheng was the most suitable person to guard the West Gate.
When Li Wenzhong was originally stationed in Dingzhou, he commanded the cavalry, while Chen Ying was in charge of the musketry. They should have been best at defending the city.
Yan Qian is also a veteran of many battles, and is the most suitable person to guard the vast defense line of the East Gate alone.
Zhu Wenzheng patted his chest and said, "I can guard the west gate!"
Chen Biao put his hands on his hips and said, "Cousin, you are a talented man with a sharp and perceptive eye. Only you can accurately predict where to send reinforcements based on the situation in the city!"
Zhu Wenzheng was silent for a while, then said, "No, I am a complete and utterly talented person, not just a half-talented one. Don't talk nonsense, brother Biao."
Everyone was speechless.
So, Zhao Desheng tremblingly brought his young military advisor Chen Biao to the city gate.
Zhao Desheng exclaimed, "I really saw it! It's so clear! This is a magical artifact!"
Chen Biao said, "It's not some magical artifact, just a telescope. It's difficult to make right now, and I only have this one. Once I figure out how to mass-produce it, I'll present it to Marshal Zhu... well, to the Lord, and have him give one to each of your generals."
Zhao Desheng said cheerfully, "Okay, I'll wait!"
Niu Hailong's eyes became even more sour.
Chen Biao noticed Niu Hailong's expression, tugged at Zhao Desheng's shirt, and said, "Uncle Zhao, you and Uncle Niu should watch this together. Only when you watch together can we discuss how to strike Chen Youliang head-on."
Zhao Desheng said, "Yes, yes, Xiao Niu, come and take a look!"
Niu Hailong: "...Can you call me Old Niu?"
Zhao Desheng said: "You are younger than me!"
Niu Hailong: "...Please call me Old Niu, Little Niu is so annoying."
Zhao Desheng asked, "Are you still going to watch it?"
Niu Hailong took the telescope with a grievance. Never mind, let the calf be the calf.
Chen Biao held back his laughter and went to debug the new artillery.
He made these two new types of cannons after arriving in Hongdu.
Chen Biao brought raw materials and drawings, but he did not expect that Hongdu would face a city defense battle so soon and produced two new types of cannons.
These two new cannons were made with black powder as the base material, a small amount of RDX as the detonator, and stabilizers and passivators. Chen Biao named them "Guorui Cannons" and had the craftsmen engrave the words on them.
Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to name the explosive after Chen Biao, and Chen Biao named the cannon after his father. They were indeed father and son.
The difference is that Zhu Yuanzhang was held down by his advisers and did not let Chen Biao be tied to weapons of mass destruction. But there was no adviser around Chen Biao to remind him.
It's not that Chen Biao doesn't want to use RDX as a cannonball. But he knows how to make RDX and use it to make new weapons... Sorry, he's just an ordinary science student, not an engineering student, let alone a student who studies making weapons.
Chen Biao and the craftsmen have worked very hard, and this is the limit of their current efforts.
This kind of shell is at least stronger than ordinary marble eggs or big iron eggs, right?
The artillery lacked power, so Chen Biao made up for it with accuracy.
The Guorui cannon is a muzzle-loading smoothbore steel cannon. During testing, its maximum range was as high as 1,500 meters. Its accuracy within a thousand meters was high, and its power was extremely great.
However, due to the influence of the casting process, in order to prevent the barrel from exploding, the Guorui cannon is very heavy and can only be used as fixed firepower.
In order to improve the mobility of the Guorui cannon, Chen Biao and the craftsmen also designed a breech-loading cannon with its own cart and flexible steering capability.
The breech-loading gun's barrel and breech needed to be separated when loading shells. Due to the casting process, the sealing of the Xiao Guorui cannon was not done well, and it could not even penetrate heavy armor at a distance of more than 20 meters.
Chen Biao is still trying to find a solution to the casting process problem, so if quality is not enough, quantity will make up for it, and the large and small Guorui cannons will form a crossfire.
Chen Biao made ten small Guorui cannons, Chen Ying's musket team had four, and the other city gates each had two.
The range, power and accuracy of today's artillery are all inferior to those of the Guorui cannon. Flexible small artillery like the small Guorui cannon that can be pushed around has never appeared before.
Chen Biao was waiting for Chen Youliang to become the first person to practice the large and small Guorui cannons.
I hope Chen Youliang will not be ungrateful and become a moving target.
Chen Biao had no idea that the Guorui and Xiao Guorui cannons he was currently crafting were already very similar to the Red Cannon and Portuguese Cannon of the late Ming Dynasty. He was even less aware that the Qing government, superstitious about the idea that "range is truth," had abandoned the more flexible Portuguese Cannon in favor of the Red Cannon, completely unaware of the concept of crossfire.
While Zhao Desheng and Niu Hailong were arguing, they were calculating Chen Youliang's military strength and formation through a telescope and asked the clerk next to them to record it. At this time, Chen Biao was already lying on the ground, writing formulas on the ground with charcoal pencils with several craftsmen.
Chen Biao had already taught the Indian numerals and vertical calculation methods to the craftsmen, and each of them had an abacus.
Chen Biao had someone measure the distance from the river bank to here long ago. Now, using the telescope, he estimated the approximate speed of Chen Youliang's boat.
Now he and the craftsmen calculated when to fire the cannon and by how much to raise the cannon barrel to maximize the possibility of hitting the tower ship.
Seeing Chen Youliang's towering ships, Chen Biao and the craftsmen felt more confident.
With such a big target, you can definitely hit a few of them, right?
After Zhao Desheng and Niu Hailong calculated the approximate strength and formation of the troops, they were preparing to inform Chen Biao of the data they had obtained and teach Chen Biao their unique skills.
Estimating the enemy's strength and formation is an essential skill for a general, and they are happy to teach it.
They turned around and didn't see Chen Biao.
At the signal from the soldiers around them, they lowered their heads and saw Chen Biao lying on the ground with a group of craftsmen, who were sticking their butts out and writing a lot of things on the ground.
Zhao Desheng looked at the words that looked like a heavenly book, and his scalp tingled: "Biao'er, what are you doing?"
Although Zhao Desheng had never been to school, he particularly liked watching dramas and reading novels. He was a frequent visitor to every tour of the Chen family's art troupe.
Dramas and stories often say that powerful military advisors can use magical powers. Could it be that Biao'er can do that too?!
Chen Biao wrote furiously while saying, "I'm calculating the angle and range of the artillery. Stop messing around."
Zhao Desheng: "Oh oh oh."
He and Niu Hailong went aside and quietly arranged how the soldiers should guard the west gate.
Although they didn't understand what the young military advisor was doing, Chen Biao had already convinced them over the past few days, so they just had to wait.
When Chen Youliang's fleet was already visible to the naked eye, Chen Biao wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "It's settled."
The craftsmen all stood up, their faces showing excited and a little crazy smiles.
This group of craftsmen have been completely transformed by Chen Biao into technical geeks who see explosions as art, and they are very much looking forward to their precious cannons opening with a "bang".
Chen Biao said, "I'll fire first. Once I hit them, Uncle Zhao and Uncle Niu, you guys will rush out with the small Guorui cannons. Using the low wall I built on the shore as cover, you can catch them off guard!"
Chen Biao built several low walls with cement outside the city to prevent their large construction machinery from easily landing. However, they were high up on the city wall, and those low walls could not serve as a barrier.
Zhao Desheng and Niu Hailong rubbed their hands in anticipation: "Okay, I'll wait for your signal!"
Chen Biao personally directed people to adjust the angle of the shells, took out a ruler to measure, and then loaded the shells.
With a "boom", the cannonball drew a beautiful parabola in the air and hit the most magnificent ship.
When the shell hit the ship, the front part of the shell was hit violently, causing a secondary explosion.
Even with a small amount of RDX, the power of black powder was still too weak, and it only sprayed out small sparks, igniting a small fire on the ship, which was quickly extinguished by the crew.
But the short period of time during which the crew was in turmoil was enough for the Guorui cannon, which had a low firing rate, to fire another shot.
The second cannonball hit the hull of the magnificent ship, and the third cannonball hit the stern of the magnificent ship.
The magnificent ship shook violently, and seemed to be finally showing signs of sinking.
Chen Youliang happened to be on this ship.
Actually, it can't be called just right. As the emperor of Chen Han, Chen Youliang was not in a fierce battle that needed to confuse the enemy, so of course he took the most gorgeous ship.
On this ship were not only Chen Youliang and his wives, concubines and families, but also many high-ranking officials of the Chen and Han dynasties.
When the ship rocked, some drunkards were so frightened that they fell to the deck, some drew their weapons and shouted "Help me!" Chen Youliang was so frightened by the loud noise that he dropped his wine glass. Order on the ship was in chaos.
After three shots, the magnificent ship began to leak, and Chen Youliang's ministers asked Chen Youliang to change the ship.
Chen Youliang's face looked extremely bad.
Why did Zhu Yuanzhang's artillery have such a long range and such great power?! Did they hide the artillery on the shore?!
Chen Youliang's army also had captured artillery, but apart from dragging them out for use during sieges, he did not rely on these weapons with short range, poor power, and accuracy that depended entirely on chance.
Chen Youliang cursed, "Why are you running? Seal the hole in the boat! It won't sink! Go ashore and see if they have ambushed anyone on the shore!"
Chen Youliang was very courageous and immediately ordered his soldiers to dock.
As they reached the shore, another burst of artillery fire was heard.
Zhao Desheng asked Niu Hailong to stay at the city gate, and he personally led the light cavalry and pushed the small Guorui cannon out of the city to fight.
The enemy claimed to have 600,000 men, but the west gate was guarded by only 4,000 men.
Chen Biao dared to suggest that Zhao Desheng lead 3,000 people out of the city gate to meet the enemy, and Zhao Desheng actually dared to do it!
Chen Youliang's vanguard had just landed, and Chen Youliang himself was still on the boat, when two small Guorui cannons in Zhao Desheng's army had already opened fire.
The Xiao Guorui cannon is thirty meters away from the shore. At this distance, the accuracy and power of the Xiao Guorui cannon are average.
But Chen Youliang was a naval force, not a heavily armored cavalry, and his speed and endurance were very average. There were so many of them that they crowded ashore, and the gunners of the Xiao Guorui cannons could hit a bunch of unlucky guys by firing randomly with their eyes closed.
Even with only two small Guorui cannons, Chen Youliang's army was still screaming in agony. The flying limbs and blood caused by the artillery fire made many new recruits lose their courage in an instant, and they fled, abandoning their weapons and armor.
Most of Chen Youliang's supposedly 600,000-man army were civilians who had just been conquered. Even within his own army, the fighting quality was uneven.
Some of this ragtag group of soldiers didn't even know there was such a thing as artillery.
Coupled with the myth of "thunder from heaven" that had been spread in Zhu Yuanzhang's army, this group of ignorant people could not help but kneel down and beg for mercy, asking the gods not to kill him.
Chen Youliang was furious and ordered the archers on the boat to fire back at the shore.
The general said anxiously: "Our soldiers are also on the shore!"
Chen Youliang pushed the general away and said, "I order you to shoot!"
The general was deeply saddened, but he had no choice but to shoot arrows.
As a result, the more than a thousand people who had just landed by Chen Youliang were frightened by the artillery and lost their composure, and were tragically pierced by thousands of arrows from their own side.
Although Chen Youliang had many ships, they were arranged in a row. There were only a few ships in this small section, so the rain of arrows that could cover Zhao Desheng was very small. Moreover, Zhao Desheng hid behind a low wall and held up a shield, so none of them were hit by the arrows.
But those more than a thousand people were in trouble.
They were caught in a fan-shaped rain of arrows and had not been on guard against their own side, so they were almost wiped out.
Zhao Desheng was stunned: "Is Chen Youliang crazy?!"
The soldiers brought by Zhao Desheng also showed uncomfortable expressions.
Even if the other party is an enemy, they can't help but sympathize with them, and even feel a little angry.
How could there be a general who shoots arrows from behind his own people?
However, Zhao Desheng quickly calmed down. "The first people Chen Youliang sent to investigate were likely conscripted civilians and new soldiers. After discovering the ambush, he decided to clear the shore first, suppressing our attack and giving his ships time to repair. Then, he quickly left the ambush site and landed after repairs, which would have been more advantageous for them."
Chen Youliang indeed intended to do so.
Even if there are many other people, it takes time to get off the boat in a hurry.
Since they already knew there was an ambush on the shore, even if Chen Youliang could rely on his large number of people to defeat the ambushers, the losses would still be great.
So Chen Youliang cruelly chose to sacrifice these more than a thousand people, suppress the ambush artillery fire, quickly repair the tower ship, and leave the ambush site.
Zhao Desheng was indeed suppressed by Chen Youliang.
They were under a hail of arrows and could no longer operate the artillery, let alone go forward to seek death. They could only watch Chen Youliang command his men to quickly push the oars and leave the ambush site.
Chen Biao's artillery fire never stopped.
But the firing speed of Guorui's cannon was too slow, and he watched Chen Youliang's fleet sail past without a single ship sinking.
Chen Biao was so angry that he jumped up and down.
"Take me to Fuzhou Gate!" Chen Biao said angrily.
Niu Hailong asked, "Aren't you taking the artillery with you?"
Chen Biao said, "No need. This place is close to the waterfront, and they have many ships. When the land battle is frustrated, they will come back here."
Niu Hailong immediately agreed and sent someone to send Chen Biao to Fuzhou Gate.
Chen Biao left two craftsmen to maintain the cannon and took the other craftsmen to gallop towards the South Gate, Fuzhou Gate.
When Zhao Desheng came back, Chen Biao had already left.
Zhao Desheng complained, "Why is Biao'er going wherever it's dangerous? You should have left Biao'er here! It's safer here than at Fuzhou Gate!"
Niu Hailong said awkwardly, "But Biao'er is the junior military advisor. He has already given the order, how dare I stop him?"
Zhao Desheng thought about Chen Biao's meticulous planning and could only scratch his head. "That's true. Hey, hey, even though there are only a thousand or so left, Chen Youliang's morale must have been severely damaged by us, right?"
Niu Hailong also chuckled, "Little Military Advisor, you know, back in the Three Kingdoms period, Zhang Liao led 800 men to defeat Sun Quan's 100,000-man army besieging a city. He did this by relying on Sun Quan's superior numbers and underestimating the enemy. He opened the city gates and charged into Sun Quan's army before they formed their battle formations, achieving a minor victory. After disrupting Sun Quan's morale, he held out until Sun Quan ran out of food and retreated. Have we implemented Little Military Advisor's plan?"
Zhao Desheng grinned proudly, "We didn't fully implement the young military advisor's plan, but Chen Youliang did. He shot an arrow into his own man's back, and I don't believe his soldiers wouldn't be disheartened."
Chen Biao had originally planned that after the little Guorui artillery had run out of ammunition, he would be the first to run back.
Zhao Desheng's cavalry fought for a while, and when the enemy's line of troops reached a low wall in the middle, they immediately rode back to the city relying on the high mobility of the cavalry.
If he didn't fight too long, Zhao Desheng could probably kill four to five thousand people.
Four or five thousand people accounted for nearly one percent of Chen Youliang's claimed 600,000 troops, which should have been a big blow to Chen Youliang's morale.
Unexpectedly, Chen Youliang's brave men were relieved and only lost more than a thousand people.
That's why Chen Biao was so angry.
But as a veteran, Zhao Desheng has better control over the military morale than Chen Biao.
When Chen Biao rushed to the South Gate angrily, Chen Youliang was even angrier than him.
He looked at the faces of the generals around him and the sadness and timidity on the soldiers' faces, and knew how much of a blow the ambush had dealt to the morale of the army.
Chen Youliang really wanted to curse, but he was a battle-hardened man after all, so he finally used rewards to boost morale.
There were people from the Cao family tampering with the Fuzhou Gate. As long as we can quickly capture Hongdu City, this small loss of morale will not be a big deal.
When Chen Biao arrived at Fuzhou Gate, Chen Youliang's men had just disembarked and formed up their battle formation.
Chen Biao climbed up to the city gate and scared Deng Yu and Chen Ying.
Chen Ying asked anxiously: "What are you doing here?!"
Chen Biao said, "You don't need the new Thunderbolt car, I'll operate it. Move aside, go shoot your arrows, and ignore me."
Chen Ying: “…”
Chen Ying was helpless. Chen Biao had already arrived and the battle had already begun. He couldn't possibly start an argument with Chen Biao on the city wall at such an urgent moment, could he?
He could only give a few worried instructions and returned to his command post with trepidation.
After Chen Youliang landed at Fuzhou Gate, although the terrain in front of Fuzhou Gate was soft and Chen Biao had sent people to build many concrete pillars, so he could not use Lu Gongche, he was able to use the artillery captured from the Yuan army.
They held shields and braved the rain of arrows from the city walls to the sides of the city gate, chopping at the city walls frantically with siege wood and sledgehammers.
They rammed and chopped, and people died in waves, and the city wall was peeled off.
Deng Yu's face turned dark.
Damn! The place they crashed into was indeed the wall built by the Cao family!
Chen Ying patted Deng Yu on the shoulder and said, "Don't be angry. Chen Youliang is even angrier than you."
The corners of Deng Yu's mouth twitched, and he felt strangely comforted in his heart.
"alright!"
After Chen Biao finished his calculations, he had someone put a small jar on the Thunderbolt car and throw it down.
The Thunderbolt Chariot is actually a small catapult, which is said to have been invented by Cao Cao.
After black powder was invented, small catapults were used to throw gunpowder cans or kerosene (i.e., petroleum).
The small can that Chen Biao was throwing now was filled with cement.
The cement would quickly solidify into blocks. When Chen Biao threw the cement down, if the soldiers had not taken a bath, the cement would solidify into stones and cause them great trouble.
But this is not Chen Biao's main purpose for using cement.
He simply used the weight of the same cement can to continuously adjust the trajectory of the Thunderbolt Car.
When the trajectory of the Thunderbolt car was adjusted and the landing point was right near the artillery, and the artilleryman found that it was just mud and did not pay much attention to it, Chen Biao replaced the cement can with a shell with a fuse.
This type of artillery shell is still based on black powder and RDX is the main detonator, but the RDX content accounts for one-fifth.
"Fire!" Chen Biao gave the order, the fuse was lit, the Thunderbolt car operator immediately pressed the wrench, and the Thunderbolt bomb was thrown out.
There were continuous loud "boom" sounds, and thunder bombs exploded near the artillery, and almost half of the gunners fell down.
Chen Biao looked at the scene of blood and flesh flying everywhere, and immediately rushed to the side to vomit for a while, then rinsed his mouth with water soaked with mint leaves in the small bamboo tube on his waist, and returned to the Thunderbolt car to continue calculating.
His ammunition was limited, and the accuracy of his primitive machinery was extremely limited. Before each use, he had to measure and calculate, roughly finding the correct position before launching the thunderbolt, in order to achieve the maximum utilization of the thunderbolt.
When Chen Ying saw Chen Biao vomiting, his eyes instantly became bloodshot.
He whispered a few words to Deng Yu and left the city wall.
Chen Biao continued to use cement cans to adjust the range, and then continued to create trouble for Chen Youliang's army which was a little further away.
Chen Youliang's army fought hard against the city wall but failed to break through it. Chen Youliang knew that the situation had changed.
He recalled the rumors. That child prodigy named Chen Biao had long since discovered his military purpose. Could it be that Chen Biao had really repaired the city wall in such a short time?
He once sent spies to Hongdu City and tested these sections of the city walls with awls. At that time, there was definitely something wrong with the city walls!
Chen Youliang was unwilling to give up. He continued to send troops to attack the city wall, and then sent others to harass the other city gates, depleting the city's garrison and preventing them from rescuing Fuzhou Gate.
He wanted to see to what extent Chen Biao could reinforce the problematic city walls of Hongdu in such a short time!
Just when Chen Youliang got angry and ordered his soldiers to carry the materials for Lu Gongche regardless of the terrain and prepare to install Lu Gongche at Fuzhou Gate, Fuzhou Gate actually rose slowly.
Chen Youliang's army, which was using ladders, was stunned for a moment.
Chen Ying ordered expressionlessly: "Release!"
Four small Guorui cannons were lined up at the city gate and fired in unison.
At the same time, the musketeers standing behind the Xiao Guorui cannon immediately opened fire.
The small Guorui cannon can even blow up heavily armored cavalry within a distance of twenty meters, let alone these infantry.
The small Guorui cannon blew up the large shields of the infantrymen who were defending against the crossbows on the city walls, and the musketeers immediately harvested the lives of these infantrymen with their muskets.
"Retreat, advance!"
Chen Ying gave the order, the musketeers in the front row retreated, and the musketeers in the back row stepped forward, raised their muskets and fired again.
The artillerymen loaded the shells in an orderly manner, but were in no hurry to fire.
"Retreat, advance!"
Chen Ying gave the order again, the second row of musketeers retreated, and the third row of musketeers advanced, providing seamless firepower coverage.
At this time, the original first row of musketeers had already loaded their ammunition, raised their muskets, and were ready to move forward at any time.
At the same time, Chen Youliang's army also relied on the people in front to resist the ammunition, organized new large shieldmen, and some people launched crossbow carts.
"put!"
The small Guorui cannon fired again, blowing the large shield away. The musketeer fired again.
On the city wall, Chen Biao knew that his brother Ying was going to open the city gate, and he was already prepared and adjusted the trajectory of the Thunderbolt car.
When the crossbow cart was pushed over, Chen Biao's thunder bomb immediately fell nearby and blew up the crossbow cart.
Deng Yu had also ordered the archers to cover the area with a rain of arrows, making it impossible for the archers who were not hit by the explosion to operate the crossbow carts.
At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the only regular firearms team in China was the one under Zhu Yuanzhang.
Under Chen Biao's guidance, the future Prince Mu has now mastered the three-stage attack formation. In addition, Chen Biao has improved the fire gun, making it more powerful and with a more accurate range.
If it were the Yuan army, they could rely on the high mobility of their cavalry to defeat the current firearm team, which has extremely poor mobility.
But Chen Youliang only had infantry attacking the city, and the infantry was vulnerable to the three-stage musket formation.
Even though the fire guns were so weak that even the large shields could block them, there were four small Guorui cannons waiting in anticipation, ready to fire as soon as the large shields came in. Chen Youliang's army was practically lined up for execution.
Chen Ying actually opened the city gates and caught Chen Youliang off guard with cannons and muskets.
Chen Youliang had previously been ambushed and had his own soldiers stabbed in the back, which had already caused a drop in morale. Now, morale plummeted even further.
Many soldiers refused to attack and fled.
Chen Youliang ordered that anyone who retreated should be killed without mercy, but how could the swords of his commanding troops kill as quickly as the muskets and cannons?
The fleeing soldiers weighed the pros and cons in their minds and immediately continued to flee.
Finally, Chen Youliang ordered the soldiers to shoot arrows, forcing them to continue moving forward. The soldiers stopped disintegrating and held out until Chen Ying's artillery shells ran out.
But after Chen Ying fired the last shell, the city gates slowly descended at the same time.
Facing the impregnable city, Chen Youliang's army returned to the starting point again.
Although they did not flee again, almost no one fought anymore.
Chen Youliang had no choice but to temporarily call off his troops, take a short rest, and then attack the city again.