Li Yan's four four-inch guns were fired less than 200 paces away from the defeated soldiers, and the number of shotgun projectiles of the four-inch guns reached eighty, and the artillerymen packed two shotguns in one ******, and the projectiles increased exponentially.

Therefore, when the projectile was shot, it caused great casualties to the defeated soldiers gathered there. Moreover, most of Li Yan's artillery is iron projectiles, which have much stronger penetration than lead bullets. The crowded defeated soldiers were close to each other, and a small projectile could pierce two or three people like a string of sugar gourds.

After the sound of the cannon, there was a continuous scream from behind. There was no need to look back, the defeated soldiers who broke into the army also knew that Li Yan's artillery had opened fire on them. Now they were even more anxious, they all continued to squeeze forward, those who could not stand unsteadily were squeezed to both sides, and the crowd gradually changed from the original circle to a fusiform.

As the crowd continued to expand to both sides, the artillery in front of Li Yan also began to increase. However, the newly deployed cannon did not bombard the crowd, but waited quietly more than a hundred steps behind the crowd. In fact, they were waiting for the infantry to bring them sandbags so that they could build bunkers. However, since this is an impromptu attack, it will take some time for the sandbags to be ready.

At this time, Ren Jirong finally saw Li Yan's plan, so he no longer spared ammunition, and immediately ordered: "Order the artillery to fire at the enemy on the other side." ”

The artillerymen who received the order reacted quickly, and after a while they opened fire with a bang, firing solid shells at the opposite bank. However, they were all cannon positions on both sides of the bridge that were not blocked by their own people, and those gun positions that were blocked by their own people watched quietly. Therefore, after the shells bounced on the ground a few times, some of them did not reach Li Yan's rear army formation at all, and some of them had almost no strength, and Li Yan's soldiers could easily dodge.

"Fire! The enemy's artillery is right across from you! An officer yelled at the gun crew that had not fired.

The artillery commander pointed to the opposite shore and said unbearably: "It was blocked by our own people." ”

"Then fire too!" The officer continued to roar: "This is the general's order!" If you don't fire again, you will rectify the law on the spot! ”

The artillerymen did not dare to speak anymore and could only obey orders. However, they still couldn't do anything to their own people, so they turned up the muzzle of the cannon a little higher and let the shells pass over their own people. But in this way, the shells also passed through Li Yan's troops that had already moved forward and fell into the open space in the rear, and there was no threat.

Li Yan's four cannons continued to fire, and the defeated troops gathered at the east end of the Baqiao Bridge were decreasing at a speed visible to the naked eye. Part of it was squeezed onto the Baqiao and returned to the West Bank. The other part was wiped out by Li Yan's artillery.

The artillery slowly moved forward, approaching the distance between it and the Baqiao. The defeated soldiers really barely turned around to destroy the artillery, they either squeezed forward or were squeezed to the sides. This created an opportunity for them to get close to Baqiao.

At this time, Ren Jirong personally came to the tiger squat artillery position at the bridgehead on the west bank and ordered: "Shoot flowering shells at the opposite bridgehead." ”

"It's all our own people."

Ren Jirong asked coldly, "Didn't you hear the order just now?" ”

The artilleryman who replied quickly lowered his head, not daring to say a word more. Before leaving, Li Zicheng said that Xijing is the capital of Dashun, and there is absolutely no room for mistakes, if anyone does not do their best, not only will they be beheaded, but even their families will be implicated. With such a strict order, they didn't dare to say much for the sake of their families.

The Tiger Squat Cannon immediately began firing. However, due to the ratio of gunpowder, their range was less than 100 paces. The flowering bomb landed not far from the bridge, but it was still full of their own brothers. So in the rumbling explosion, their companions were killed and wounded.

There was no order to stop, and they didn't dare to stop, so they could only bow their heads and keep firing flowering bombs.

Ren Jirong was obscured by the smoke and dust from the explosion at this time, and he didn't know what the effect of the shelling was. But he didn't care, the Tiger Squat Cannon was much easier to use than the long-barreled artillery, with less charge, and the heat dissipation was fast, so it could continue to fire for a long time. Regardless of whether it was his own people or Li Yan's people, as long as he continued to fire, he could prevent Li Yan's troops from going to the bridge.

Li Yan could see clearly from the side that the defeated enemy soldiers gathered at the bridgehead were getting fewer and fewer. He ordered: "Give the order to the front, follow the enemy's defeated troops across the bridge, and be sure to seize a place on the opposite bank." The cooperation of other troops, especially the Tiger Squat Artillery, must give full play to the advantages of being flexible and lightweight, and must provide strong support. There are other artillery pieces, which should form cover on both sides of the bridgehead and not let the enemy who has not crossed the river affect our operations. ”

After a while, Zhao Datong sent 300 people up and hid behind the cannons that came out of the four fronts. The nine guns that had come out to the head of the Baqiao Bridge continued to fire projectiles at the enemy, and although they were obscured by the smoke and dust from the explosions and artillery fires, they dutifully fired the projectiles to clear the road for their companions.

When these soldiers received the order to attack, they did not hesitate at all, and rushed out as quickly as their artillery stopped. They did not form a formation, and only by first rushing through the explosion area where Li Chuanghu's squatting artillery shot out could they calmly line up their military formation in a relatively safe place.

"Tiger squat cannon to keep up and knock out the enemy's artillery!" Zhao Datong immediately ordered.

At this time, the infantry carried the prepared sandbags and formed a bunker in a suitable position under the command of the gunners.

Both they and the infantry who had already rushed to the bridge suffered some casualties. The artillery of the invading army was not fought in vain, especially those solid bullets, which caused a lot of damage to the team. But none of them flinched in the slightest and continued to complete their tasks. This is inseparable from their usual harsh training and the belief that they are invincible.

Ren Jirong got the news from the watchtower and knew that Li Yan's troops had already gone to the Baqiao, so he immediately ordered the cannons on both sides of the Baqiao to start firing. However, before his orders reached the various artillery groups, the Tiger Squat Cannon that moved up on Li Yan's side opened fire first. At this time, the flat-firing cannon was blocked by his own people, but the curved tiger squat cannon played a huge role.

One by one, the flowering bullets hit and landed around the artillery of the bridge guarding the army. Although there was cover in front of their artillery, the flowering shells that fell behind the cover still caused a lot of trouble to Li Zicheng's artillery. Under the threat of death, they could not get ammunition in time, could not aim at the target, and could only fire indiscriminately slowly.

Ren Jirong saw that Li Yan's troops were not afraid of casualties, and although a few people would fall from time to time under his artillery fire, they still continued to line up firmly in an array and quickly came to Xi'an. He ordered loudly: "Send someone over and block Li Yan's forward for me!" ”

"The bridgehead is all my own people who just ran over from the other side, and the troops can't go up, general."

Ren Jirong ordered with a black face: "Tell those defeated soldiers that they will either be dealt with by military law and affect their families!" Or turn around and go back, and fight hard with Li Yan! After that, I will ask them for merit, money and land, and Your Majesty will reward them! (To be continued.) )

...