Although the officers and soldiers defending the city were subjected to fierce artillery bombardment, after an initial panic, they either went down to the city wall to hide or hid behind the wide city wall under the orders of their respective officers, and the lethality of solid bullets to the personnel was indeed not too large, so after the initial casualties, the morale of the army gradually calmed down.

The situation on the city wall was naturally seen by Zhao Yongxin, who was directing the shelling outside, and he soon ordered the shelling to stop, after all, every shell they fired now was transported from Shanxi by the baggage battalion, and it could not be wasted so uncontrollably.

"My lord, our hot air balloon has already started to ignite and lift into the sky, and the brother of the high-altitude reconnaissance battalion requests the next order!" At this time, the signal soldier soon came to report!

"Okay, order the firecrackers on the hot air balloon to get ready, and be sure to suppress the defenders on the city wall!"

Zhao Yongxin's palms oozed a trace of sweat when he said this, the high-altitude reconnaissance battalion is a newly established branch of the army after Yueyang got a hot air balloon from modern times, the original task of the hot air balloon was only responsible for observing the enemy's movements and guiding the artillery battalion to carry out artillery bombardment, but yesterday when Yueyang convened everyone to discuss the matter, Shunbao put forward the idea of using a hot air balloon to carry a firecracker to suppress the defenders from the sky, and the hot air balloon, which was originally just a role in observing and playing soy sauce, suddenly became important, if it can be fired today, This high-altitude reconnaissance battalion will certainly become an important branch of the Xuanda Army in the future.

Because the task of the high-altitude reconnaissance battalion is not heavy in peacetime, so the whole army is full of only six hot air balloons, and the load capacity of the hot air balloon is not unlimited, each hot air balloon can only carry eight firecrackers in addition to two observers, so the six hot air balloons are carried a total of forty-eight firecrackers, today Zhao Yongxin can be said to have smashed all the belongings in his hands, when the six huge hot air balloons swayed in front of the artillery camp position, all the defenders on Shanhaiguan were stunned.

"Oh no, youkai!"

"The Xuan army has made a demon law!"

Human beings always have an inexplicable fear of what they don't understand, and this fear does not differ in any way depending on age, gender, and ethnicity. The defenders, who had gradually calmed down in the shelling, became terrified by the approach of the behemoths in the sky.

The six hot air balloons slowly rose up, and when they rose to an altitude of 500 meters, the observer hand above informed the ground personnel through the walkie-talkie, and the ground personnel fixed the hot air balloon at this height with the rope connected to the hot air balloon, and the hot air balloon stayed at a height of 500 meters, at this time they were only two miles away from the two urn cities at the south gate.

"Target two urn cities at the south gate, start shooting freely!" Soon, the people on the hot air balloon received an order from the ground.

The musketeers on the hot air balloon are the sharpshooters who Zhao Yongxin specially jumped out of the tens of thousands of musketeers troops, and such musketeers may not play much role in large-scale battles on weekdays, but they play a very obvious role in this kind of shooting at point targets.

"Bang ......"

Only a few gunshots were heard. Several defenders of the city fell in a pool of blood, and although they could hide behind the walls to avoid the cannonballs in front of them, they were helpless against attacks from the sky, after all, they had to face an air attack that had never been seen before in the history of warfare.

"It's not good, the Xuan army has begun to attack the urn city!"

There are a total of four urn cities in Shanhaiguan, each urn city is stationed with 2,000 troops, Yueyang's first wave of attacks is towards the two urn cities in the south, when the hot air balloon began to suppress the defenders, then there began to be 6,000 soldiers pushing tall shield carts and ladders towards the right urn city. It's just that their movements are not very fast, and they look calm.

These siege troops were the border armies of the original Xuan army, although these border armies had been reorganized by Yueyang, but Yueyang did not reorganize all these border armies into firecracker soldiers. Instead, a part of them were retained as sword and shield soldiers and pikemen. The purpose of this was not only to relieve the logistical pressure, but also to combat the necessity of the battle, as in today's battle, to allow the firecrackers to carry out the siege. On the contrary, the effect is not as good as that of cold weapon troops.

Although the besieging troops seemed to be unhurried, the defenders of the city could not be as calm as they were, under the orders of the officers. One of the defenders was dragged out of hiding place by the officers. Some of them began to boil the gold juice on the fire, some bent their bows and arrows to release their arrows, and some came behind the battlements to prepare for hand-to-hand combat with the enemy troops who had entered the city.

But in this way, the problem comes, after the hot air balloon is lifted into the air, the defenders are looking for a place to hide, which also leads to the fact that the fire soldiers carried on the hot air balloon are not easy to find targets, and now they are standing up one by one, which is simply the best target. The musketeers were not polite to them, and they immediately stood on the gondola and pulled the trigger on the target below, and in the crisp sound of gunfire, the defenders of the urn city were shot and fell to the ground.

Although there are not many firecrackers on the hot air balloon, there are less than fifty firecrackers in the six hot air balloons, plus the hot air balloon is always shaking in the air and the shooting accuracy of the guide is not as accurate as on the ground, and each round of shooting is only three or four percent of the hit rate, but it can't stand the continuous damage of others, in less than two quarters of an hour, the defenders of the urn city suffered three or four hundred casualties, and the commanders of these urn city defenders immediately sat down.

If you don't hide, people will torture you to death in the sky. Seeing that the hot air balloon in the sky was so rampant, an officer with excellent archery skills was furious, he took off his three-stone longbow, bent the bow and shot at the hot air balloon in the sky, but the arrow had been flying in the sky for more than 200 meters before it was exhausted, and the originally thunderous arrow lost power and fell from mid-air. Although the arrow failed to hit the balloon, the officer's actions angered the firecrackers on the balloon, and soon three or four firecrackers aimed at the officer, and in a few crisp shots, the famous sharpshooter fell in a pool of blood.

After the officer was killed, the defenders on the city became even more confused, and the defenders began to become chaotic under the panic, although the Liaodong Army claimed to be the elite of the Ming army, but even the elite troops had to be caught blind when they could only be beaten and could not fight back. Chaos is inevitable.

When the Xuan army calmly set up a ladder to climb the city wall, the originally expected situation of the defenders' desperate counterattack did not happen, the battle was so smooth that it was unbelievable, and soon the first urn city was taken down by the Xuan army, followed by the second urn city, the Xuan army in less than an hour will be the defenders as a weapon to defend the city of the two urn cities to take down, and the casualties of the siege troops are minimal, the originally expected tragic casualties did not happen at all, The huge contrast not only made Xuan's army rejoice, but also frightened the defenders on Shanhaiguan.

There are several flaming torches lit in the cave. The faces of Wu Xiang's father and son and more than a dozen generals sitting inside were reflected orange, and even Wu Sangui, who had shouted the most fiercely before, was uncertain at this time.

A staff general looked at Wu Xiang, whose face was sinking like water, and asked tremblingly: "Governor Wu, the Xuan army has already connected our two urn cities, and it is about to launch an attack on the main city, what should we do?" ”

Wu Xiang was also a little stunned at this time, he didn't say anything with a bitter face, just sat on the ground and bowed his head silently, his face was very pale.

"Lord Wu. You are the backbone of the soldiers! Seeing that Wu Xiang was silent, the general was a little anxious.

"How do I know?" Wu Xiang, who was already in a bad mood, finally said angrily: "I don't know where the Xuan army got those bastard things that killed embryos, and they actually got a thing that can go to heaven." We can only be beaten on the city wall and can't fight back, what do you let the old man do? ”

An adjutant general made an idea on the side and said, "Governor, why don't we open the city gate and let Na Yue come in, after all, he is only here to read the holy decree." Why don't we just listen to what he has to say? ”

"Smack!"

As soon as the lieutenant finished speaking, he received a resounding slap from Wu Sangui.

"Shut up!" Wu Sangui stared at the red eyes and scolded: "You eat our Wu family's clothes and our Wu family, do you still want to open the city gate to welcome the enemy army into the city?" Are you fit for the heart? ”

It stands to reason that Wu Sangui's words are really rebellious. If it is spread out, it is enough for him and a pot, in this era, any army belongs to the imperial court, and there is only one person they are loyal to, that is, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Wu Sangui's words are already a great rebellion, but at this time, everyone does not have the heart to investigate the sick words of this sentence.

The face of the general who had been slapped turned red, lowered his head, and did not dare to say anything again.

And Wu Sangui's face also became very ugly after slapping the general, and he gritted his teeth for a long time and said: "The matter has come to this point, we have no way to retreat, if we open the city gate, there is only a dead end waiting for us." Even if you haven't seen this person Yueyang, but after all, you've heard about him, this person has always been known for his ruthlessness and unruliness, and when he was in the capital, he dared to take the emperor's will to raise food and kill, some time ago, even Lord Hong Chengchou was forced out of Xuanda by him, and then he led troops to surround Taiyuan and Datong, forcing the imperial court to have to seal him as the governor of Xuanda, such a ruthless man, can you expect him to let you go after entering the city? So I tell you honestly, for today's plan, you can only go out and fight with Yueyang to the end, only in this way can you fight a way to live, otherwise there is only a dead end! ”

The last sentence Wu Sangui simply roared out, his hoarse voice carried a trace of killing intent and ruthlessness, and his wolf-like ruthless eyes looked around the generals, and the people he stared at were all cold, and finally Wu Sangui's eyes looked at his father Wu Xiang and said in a deep voice: "Father, this is the time of life and death for my Wu family, I hope my father will make plans early, otherwise my Wu family will be in danger!" ”

Wu Xiang took a few deep breaths, and said loudly as if he had emboldened himself: "What Uncle Chang said is that Yue Yang kills people without blinking, if we fall into his hands, we will not be lucky, only by working together can we tide over the difficulties." The Xuanda army is powerful, but our Guanning iron cavalry is not vegetarian, as long as we hug together, we will definitely be able to repel the Yueyang thieves, and the Liaodong army will win! ”

"Wan Sheng!"

Although Wu Xiang is not a clever commander, he has led so many years of soldiers, and he is still very good at boosting morale. The lieutenant general who had been slapped by Wu Sangui just now also stood up and shouted: "What the governor said is that the head is just a scar the size of a bowl, let's fight with him!" ”

"Yes, let's go up to the city wall and fight him!" The generals shouted. For a while, the atmosphere in the cave reached a climax.

After a round of gas, the generals carried weapons and followed Wu Xiang and his son on the city wall, and began to urge the defenders to start defending the city, and Wu Xiang and his son brought so many years of soldiers is not in vain, and soon they transferred a large number of special steel shields, each heavy shield weighs more than ten or twenty pounds, raised by two soldiers to block the overhead, the area of the heavy shield is not small, enough to protect four or five people below, so that the threat from the sky is also greatly reduced. With the protection of the heavy shield, the morale of the defenders began to rise again.

"Eh, this Wu family father and son are still quite wise, these years of soldiers have not been in vain!" Seeing that the defenders on the city wall were lifting heavy shields one after another, Yue Yang, who had boarded the urn city, couldn't help but say something in surprise, and the surrounding generals also laughed when they heard this.

Hu Dawei said: "Master Hou, now that the urn city has fallen into our hands, we can push the artillery battalion up the city wall and then bombard it." ”

Not to be outdone, Chu Di stood up and said, "Master Hou." Although the defenders on the city wall protected them into turtle shells with heavy shields, they could only block the bullets, and if we threw down the 10,000 enemies, the last general would not believe that they could even block the 10,000 enemies. ”

Everyone, you say a word to me. They all made suggestions for the siege of the city.

After capturing the two urn cities, the offensive of Xuanda's army temporarily stopped, and the shouts and guns that had been ringing for a long time also stopped, and the battlefield fell into a strange silence. But both sides knew that this was only temporary, and that an even bigger fight would soon begin.

The cold wind was still bitter, and a biting chill spread everywhere. But the defenders on the walls did not have time to pay attention to this, and they began to prepare under the supervision of officers of all ranks. As one of the most important passes of the Ming Dynasty in Liaodong, Shanhaiguan naturally will not be without artillery, and the gunners will also carry a basket of ammunition and iron pellets to the red-coated cannon, ready to give a fatal blow to those who dare to attack them at any time.

Seeing the preparations made by the defenders on the city wall, the generals behind Yue Yang finally couldn't be as calm as before, and even Shun Bao gasped and exclaimed, "The defenders still have so many red-clothed cannons? ”

Yang Guozhu said in a deep voice: "Shanhaiguan is known as the first pass in the world, naturally it is not given for nothing, although the annual salary of four million is eaten by them, but even the remaining ones are enough for them to buy these artillery." ”

Wu Chengfeng also said worriedly: "If we attack hard, our casualties will be too great!" ”

Originally, after capturing the two urn cities, the Xuanzhong people couldn't help but look down on Wu Xiang and his son and the defenders of Shanhaiguan, but now when they saw the defenders on the city wall putting up a stubborn defense, they couldn't help but put away their original contempt, and their faces were much more solemn.

"Then fight from the sky!" Yue Yang also put away his original relaxation, and said firmly: "Order the high-altitude reconnaissance battalion, immediately rise into the air after being filled with 10,000 enemies, and throw 10,000 enemies and bombs at the defenders!" ”

"Yes!"

Soon, the hot air balloon that landed on the ground began to rise again, but this time the hot air balloon's gondola was no longer loaded with firearms, but with thousands of enemies and huge bombs. This kind of bomb was also made by Yue Yang's people, and the outside was a hollow iron shell, which was filled with black explosives and stone iron beads, and this kind of earthen bomb weighed more than 20 catties, which was specially made by Yue Yang for the siege of the city.

When the six hot air balloons floated slowly above the city wall of Shanhaiguan, many defenders stared at them, and some of them scolded in a hurry.

Wu Sanfu looked at the hot air balloon in the sky, and asked the eldest brother Wu Sanfeng on the side with some worry: "Big brother, Xuan Dajun won't get anything out again." ”

Wu Sanfeng patted his younger brother's shoulder and comforted: "Don't worry, we have already protected the top of our heads with steel, and the bullets of the Xuan army can't hit us, you can rest assured!" ”

Just as Wu Sanfeng was speaking, a black thing was suddenly thrown out of the hot air balloon that was dangling overhead, and this thing fell straight from the air towards the city wall, frightening the defenders on the city wall into chaos.

But it may be that the eyes of the people on the hot air balloon are not very good, this thing did not fall on the city wall, but fell on the inside of the city wall by grazing the edge of the city wall, and when this thing landed, the nearby defenders were still faintly aware of a slight vibration on the ground.

Wu Sanfeng also wiped a cold sweat and scolded: "Damn Xuan army, they are still facing the city wall? ”

"Boom ......"

As soon as Wu Sanfeng's words fell, a deafening explosion sounded on the ground, and the huge shock wave shook the entire city wall slightly.

"It's gunpowder, they put gunpowder in the iron ball!"

On another section of the city wall, Wu Sangui's face began to turn white, and he immediately understood the plan of Xuan Dajun, and now Xuan Dajun no longer played cold guns with him, and people began to play with explosives. (To be continued......)