Chapter 209: The Courtyard Stronghold Counterattacks

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Outside the Shijingshan Dalong Shan Huguo Temple, the Ming army's baggage and even artillery teams that entered the city were continuously transported over. Because the Ming army attacking in the first half of the night was mainly elite cavalry and even mounted infantry, although the breakthrough was rapid, but because of the lack of fire support, it was also limited to passive defense in many places. However, when the strength of the Ming army entering the city has reached more than 100,000 people, even some grassroots officers feel that the victory or defeat of this battle may not be too much of a problem. When the attack resumes after dawn, it may be possible to compress the defenders of the city into the core defensive area from the Forbidden City to the Imperial Horse Prison.

If it was the era of pure cold weapons, or even a few years ago, if there were enough troops, it might not be impossible for the defenders in the city to continue to resist stubbornly with some of the defenses in the city. However, in a situation where the role of firearms and artillery is becoming more and more important, and the battlefield has become very different from what it used to be, the result of huttling in a small area is to be cornered by the rumbling explosions of artillery fire and explosive attacks. Perhaps, you don't need to be in a tough bloody battle to win?

However, just as the Ming army that broke into the city was dispatching troops, the resistance in the defensive stronghold of the defenders in the city temporarily shrunk about half a mile south of the Dalongshan Huguo Temple suddenly became much more intense. It seems that more than a dozen archers who were very good at archery in the dark night continued to cause casualties and losses of dozens of Ming troops in the attack.

After getting the news, Cao Wenzhao and You Shigong did not dare to despise it, because more than ten sharpshooters who could bring such a big threat would probably mean that there were important enemy leaders again. You Shigong originally decided that it would be enough to send a regular barracks with 3,000 soldiers and 2,000 auxiliaries to deal with this threat. However, for some reason, Cao Wenzhao always had a feeling of unease, so he ordered an additional barracks to be deployed to completely exterminate this nail with more than 10,000 troops. If the defenders in the city could have the remnants of the Liaodong Army, which had defeated about 10,000 people, in the west of the city, the situation in the entire west of the city would not be so fast. Perhaps because he was not at ease, at least more than 300 elites were also transferred at this time, preparing to solve the trouble of this Ming army stronghold outside the Huguo Temple before dawn.

The reason why the Ming army paid so much attention was of course not only the more than ten archers in the dark night, but also the dense muskets exposed on the walls around the courtyard within a radius of only about seven or eight zhang, so that the Ming army outside the city could estimate that there were at least two or three hundred defenders stationed here, who were not at the level of ordinary militiamen. In normal military theory, in order to decide the winner and eat the opponent in a very short time, it requires eight to ten times the strength. It takes twenty times as much strength to eat an opponent in a simple fortification defense in a very short time.

However, the Ming army in charge of the siege outside the compound has reached the scale of more than 1,000 people, and they are all relatively elite cavalry teams that are good at archery and artillery, but when facing the defenders guarding the wall, they are completely at a disadvantage in the counter-shooting. It stands to reason that firearms should obviously not be as good as bows and arrows in night battles, but what can pose a threat to the Ming army outside the city is not only the bow and arrow with amazing accuracy, but also the powerful firearm projectiles that cannot be blocked by a very heavy shield within sixty or seventy paces plus armor.

After a steady stream of Ming army reinforcements came up, the attacking force reached as many as three or four thousand, and many second generals, three generals, and even Che Dun were also surrounded from all directions, and the battle situation seemed to have changed somewhat. Relying on the cover of the car shield, the attacking Ming army narrowed the encirclement to a radius of about twenty or thirty paces, and launched a series of fierce artillery bombardments from the distance close to the city. The artillery of the second or third general level may not have a great threat to the thick palace walls, but when the target of the bombardment is always the brick walls of ordinary large households, the opening of twenty or thirty doors in just a few rounds makes many walls of the entire courtyard begin to become dilapidated under the fierce bombardment.

A few months of defending the city also taught the Ming army outside the city many new methods, just as the besieging elite Ming army prepared to attack under grenade attacks. At this time, the defenders who had broken through the high wall launched a grenade attack at a distance of about thirty or forty meters, and in a short period of time, at least four, seven, or eight times more special black powder grenades with slender handles of one foot long were thrown from within the high wall.

With the help of a long handle, the black powder grenade that can be thrown so far is only about a pound of warhead, because of the quality of black powder in this era, there is no power at all, but at a very close range, the sound and smoke of continuous explosions have caused many torches to be extinguished in the violent air waves. The gunners, who were ready to fire, also began to feel great danger.

At this time, accompanied by the unique sound of suona, the shouting of killing suddenly sounded not far away. The number of people who fought back from inside the city seemed to be far greater than the besieging enemy had expected, as had been the explosions that had preceded them. The explosion of a violent grenade was again heard from a series of places close to the enemy's firearms and artillery arrays. A pound of 17th-century black powder grenades that exploded under their feet did not necessarily threaten the hoplites, but they detonated a lot of exposed shells and ammunition, so the explosion seemed to sound more violently than the grenade attack. The elite of the Ming army at the forefront was also repelled by the momentum of the offensive at this time, one or twenty paces away.

However, the Ming army participating in the battle was not comparable to ordinary teams, although the front line of the car formation was temporarily lost, but it quickly relied on the sword and shield melee soldiers that had been prepared for a long time, and the combination of multiple rows of spearmen and short spearmen formed a dense defense line and offensive in a deeper direction, preparing to launch a fierce hand-to-hand counterattack when the enemy crossed the car formation system, and completely repelled the opponent. Many strong archers and shotgunners that can only be equipped with elite battalion leaders also came from the rear of the Ming army on the periphery from time to time.

Judging from the shouts of killing, the opponents who launched a counterattack from the courtyard were far more numerous than expected, but they did not seem to dare to cross the fortifications formed by the obstacles of the car formation, which also restored the morale of the Ming army, which had an absolute advantage in the battle situation. The fierce firearms and the continuous shooting of arrows also took the opportunity to shoot at the smoke of the chariots, and the shield-bearers were also ready to cover the melee and projectiles. The forces of the counterattack still seem to be too small, and it seems that there is no chance of victory at all.