Soon after the collapse of the eastern city wall, the south and north walls finally failed to withstand the fierce artillery bombardment of the Qing army, and with another loud bang, a large amount of earth and rocks rushed to the ground like a torrent turned into a glacier after melting. When www.biquge.info the dust gradually drifted away, there was a bigger gap in each of the two walls than before, connecting the inside and outside of the city. The collapse of the wall even caused some of the Ming sentinels at the head of the city to fall into the tumbling torrent of earth and rock, and there were no bones.

The three walls of the city were blasted open, but the artillery bombardment of the Qing army did not stop immediately, and the shells continued to rush towards the city gate with a scream of death, and even flew directly into the city through the gap that had been blown open. Under the ferocious shelling, the wooden city gate wrapped in iron sheets had already been bombarded, but fortunately, the Ming army auxiliaries in the city had piled up behind the city gate with a large number of sacks full of dirt, forming a thick second barrier, so that the city gate was not completely open to the Qing army.

It was nearly a quarter of an hour before the rumbling of the cannon completely stopped. At this time, a large amount of gunpowder smoke and dust drifted wantonly in the air around the city, which made people's vision extremely blocked, and the pungent smell of gunpowder and choking impurities made it almost impossible to breathe normally.

Gradually, the smoke and dust became thinner, and the outline of Hengshan County after being shelled reappeared in the eyes of everyone. I saw that this small county town located in the hinterland of Huguang has completely lost the appearance of transport, the city towers in the east, south and north directions have completely collapsed, and there are two large gaps in each of the three city walls that run through the inside and outside of the city, like a heavy axe splitting vertically. Cut down the walls alive. There are many small gaps in the castle, and many places that have not collapsed have been filled with messy earth, stones, wood, etc., which is uneven and difficult to gain a foothold.

In short, after this artillery bombardment by the Qing army, the role of Hengshan County in defending against the enemy was once again greatly reduced.

Seeing such a situation, Duoduo and the rest of the Qing generals couldn't help but smile for a long time. With the acquiescence of the officials, the Qing soldiers raised their weapons and cheered indulgently, and their arrogant and arrogant voices soared into the sky.

"The Qing Dynasty will win!"

"Victory! Win!! Win!!! ……”

"Attack the city and punish the dogs!"

"Punish the dog! Punish the dog!! ……”

While the Qing army was cheering wantonly. The anxious commands of the Ming army officers in the city rang out. At the sound of hurried steps, groups of soldiers rushed to their respective combat posts, or went to the city wall to defend or to defend in the barricades behind the city wall.

Soon, the earth-shattering shouts of the Qing army outside the city gradually stopped. The battle-hardened Duoduo knew the importance of quickly seizing the fighters on the battlefield, so when the morale of the whole army was boosted to the extreme, he immediately ordered all noise to be suppressed, and immediately gave the order to attack.

In the position of the Chinese army in Duoduo, more than a dozen cowhide war drums were lined up. As soon as the order to attack was raised, more than a dozen shirtless and sturdy Qing army drummers picked up the drumsticks in their hands and struck them on the drum surface. In an instant, the passionate and powerful drum beat echoed in the air again. The Qing troops in the three directions once again poured in the direction of the city gate like a tide.

……

On the drum tower in the city, Pang Yue raised his binoculars and looked out of the city. With a solemn face, he said: "The city wall is still blasted open by the Qing Dynasty, and I am afraid that there will be a bitter battle next." ”

"Although the city wall has been blasted open, our army can still use it to block the Qing capture for a while." Zhang Yunli said, "Your Excellency, please see, although there are large gaps in the three city walls, they are not completely connected, and the collapsed earth and stones have piled up into a slope nearly one zhang high, which will still be a huge obstacle to the advance of the Qing Dynasty." There are also some areas on the head of the city for soldiers to gain a foothold, as long as our army gives full play to the advantages of firearms. It can even form the kind of 'crossfire' that adults say, and it can still cause greater damage to the Qinglu. ”

Seeing that Zhang Yunli still remembered the word "crossfire" that he had inadvertently said, Pang Yue couldn't help but have a faint smile on the corner of his mouth, but quickly retracted it: "Zibin is right. But Duoduo is not a fool, he suffered a loss at Wanshou Bridge last time, and this time he will not jump into the same pit again. Don't you feel that the shelling time of the Qing captives this time is much shorter than the last time? If I'm not mistaken. The Qing's artillery would advance along with his foot soldiers on the wall, and when they reached a closer distance from the wall, they would carry out a round of bombardment. However, at that time, their main purpose was no longer to blast down the walls. but to kill and wound our soldiers on the head of the city. ”

Speaking of this, Pang Yue paused, turned his head to look at Zhang Yunli: "Regarding this, you staff department should not have thought of it, right?" ”

Zhang Yunli smiled: "Adults are too worried, we naturally thought of this." Although we sometimes have some inconsiderate points, when many people participate in deductions and discussions, there will always be negligence at all times. Not only that, but we also have some countermeasures in place in advance. I was about to tell the adults just now, but the adults rushed me first. ”

"Hahaha..... good!" Pang Yue couldn't remember how long it had been since he had laughed so heartily. One of the things he is most worried about now is that whenever he puts forward a certain idea about the battlefield situation, Zhang Yunli and the officers of the General Staff Department all look like they suddenly realize, and then add a compliment within the "Lord's high opinion". It doesn't matter if it happens occasionally, but if it does, then the existence of the General Staff is meaningless. In contrast, Pang Yue would prefer to see a scene similar to the one just now, when he made some kind of prediction, Zhang Yunli or other officers of the General Staff Department would confidently say to himself, "My lord, let go, my subordinates have already taken this situation into account and formulated corresponding countermeasures." ’

"That's fine, if I can think of everything before you, then what is the need for the staff department to exist?" Pang Yue looked at Zhang Yunli and the rest of the staff officers, and said solemnly, "You must know that a war can happen at any time, but a famous general who anticipates the enemy at every opportunity is something that can be met but not sought. Today, you can think in front of me, my heart is only relieved and will not have any unhappiness, and at the same time, I also hope that our Huguang Town's staff Ji Hou can continue to develop in this direction. Although at present, the organization of the General Staff Department is still a rather unfamiliar concept in the minds of the military and civilians of the Ming Dynasty, I believe that one day, the world will find that only a professional staff organization is the real soul of an army! Of course, this process is also inseparable from your efforts! ”

After listening to Pang Yue's words, Zhang Yunli's eyes suddenly flashed with excitement, and the rest of the young staff officers were full of excitement and excitement that they couldn't hide, and they hugged their fists together and said, "Obey the teachings of adults!" ”

"Okay, don't come to these false tricks, I'll see your actual actions!" Pang Yue looked at the situation outside the city and said to Zhang Yunli, "Tell me briefly about the response plan you formulated!" ”

"Yes!"

Before Zhang Yunli could say a few words, the lookout posts on the three city walls sent flags to the drum tower where the headquarters of the Chinese army was located almost simultaneously: The Hongyi artillery of the Qing army began to advance again.

……

"Retreat! Evacuate! On the horse road behind the city gate on the east side, Luo Wenguang was organizing his officers and soldiers to retreat to the city. This time, they had been in the city for less than two quarters of an hour, and they were about to go down to the city again to take refuge, which really made him a little angry. But there was no way, during the previous shelling, the Qing army deliberately set aside a part of the Hongyi cannon that was not fired, in order to kill and injure the Ming army at the head of the city at this time. Now, the muzzles of the black holes are aimed at the head of the city again, and the distance is closer, and the officers and soldiers of Huguang Town on the head of the city can only wait to be killed by cannonballs or fall with the collapsed city wall without hiding under the city.

As soon as the officers and soldiers at the head of the city withdrew from the city and could not stand still, the cannon fire of the Qing army rang out again. The devastated city wall shook violently again, and the gaps and damages on it continued to grow. However, due to the timely withdrawal of the officers and soldiers, the goal of the Qing army was not achieved.

"your mother* tartars, and you're going to spoil the cannonballs! It's better to be all gone! Hahaha......." Luo Wenguang, who had already retreated to the first line of defense behind the city wall, listened to the deafening cannon sound and laughed loudly, as if he didn't take the shelling seriously at all. ”

Not far away, the general who had joked with Luo Wenguang couldn't help but shake his head secretly: No wonder he is still just a boss for so many years, where is there a little calm?

……

As soon as the cannon fire stopped, the excited shouts of the Qing army came from outside the city wall, and the rumbling pace became clearer and clearer. Obviously, this time the Qing army was more well prepared and more accurate in timing, and rushed forward without stopping the slightest time after the shelling stopped. And the distance also seemed to be closer than the last time, it seemed to be more than a hundred steps away, not much farther than the distance between the Ming army in the city and the city wall.

With the shouts of the Qing army, Cui Shoucheng, the commander of the Ming army in the direction of the east gate, also immediately issued an order to run to the city wall again. Although there were several lines of defense behind the city walls, they were all intended for use when the Qing army completely attacked the city. At present, the city wall is an excellent line of defense that cannot be easily abandoned. Although it has been bombarded by Qing artillery, even if it collapses, it can become an obstacle to the advance of the Qing army.

After receiving the order, a large number of officers and soldiers of the trapped camp and the officers and soldiers of the temporary firearms team rushed towards the city wall in accordance with the formation set before, some of them went straight to the road to prepare to go up to the city again, and the other part went straight to the back of the two big gaps in the city wall, and these two places will undoubtedly become the focus of the Qing army's attack before the dirt bags piled up in the hole in the city gate are not completely blasted open.

Soon, with a series of dense gungs, followed by earth-shattering shouts and fighting, the Ming officers and soldiers who rushed to the gap in the city wall officially exchanged hands with the Qing army. The first head-to-head confrontation in the Battle of Hengshan began.

……

On the seventh night of the third month of the third year of Longwu (1647 AD), after nearly two hours of fierce fighting, the Ming army in Hengshan County finally smashed the intention of the Qing army to attack the city. On the battered city wall, the tiger talisman flag of Huguang Town is still fluttering.