As a result, since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the city of Beijing, which has not been attacked for hundreds of years, ushered in the baptism of war for the first time.

The palace council hall, although he is only in his twenties, but because of the long period of overwork, he looks like he is forty years old, and he can already see the white-haired Emperor Chongzhen, who is walking back and forth in the hall with an anxious face, waiting for what?

Soon, Zhang Qianshu, who was dressed in official uniform, hurriedly walked into the hall with the same anxious expression.

Within a few days, in the face of the increasingly bad situation in the imperial court, Zhang Qianshu, who seemed to be much older in the blink of an eye, was just about to salute Emperor Chongzhen, and Emperor Chongzhen's voice sounded in the hall.

"Zhang Aiqing, at a critical juncture, don't want these false courtesies. You immediately tell me if the Houjin army, which burned and looted in Beizhili, really wanted to launch an attack on the city of Beijing. “

Zhang Qianshu shook his head and replied with an embarrassed face: "Your Majesty, the real purpose of the Houjin Army outside the city, the old minister is not clear. It's just that the Houjin army has already assembled 5,000 troops outside Beijing, including cavalry, musketeers, and artillery......"

Faced with this result, the nervous and worried expressions on Chongzhen's face were directly replaced by anger.

scolded Zhang Qianshu in front of him: "Zhang Aiqing, you are confused. The Tartars gathered so many troops outside Beijing for no reason, if not to attack Beijing, what else? Do you think that these Tartars are here to greet me? “

Since Emperor Chongzhen has said it so clearly, there is no need for Zhang Qianshu to continue to conceal it.

Under the gaze of Emperor Chongzhen's sharp eyes, he assured loudly. "Please rest assured, even if the Tartars want to attack Beijing City. The old minister also wants to take a look. Whether the teeth of these tartars are hard enough. The minister is here to assure. As long as the Tartars dare to attack, the old ministers and tens of thousands of soldiers in Beijing will have the ability to let them return with their feathers. ”

Hearing this, Chongzhen's nervous facial expression finally relaxed.

Facing Zhang Qianshu, he replied calmly: "Zhang Aiqing, I hope you can do what you say." I'm tired, so go down and prepare! ”

Outside Beijing. The strength of the Houjin army, which has been assembled, has actually reached 8,000 people. Not only that, but the number is increasing.

At the same time, the only fifty red-coated cannons of the Houjin army were also arranged outside Beijing under the orders of the commander-in-chief. The muzzle of the artillery in the black hole directly pointed to the city wall of Beijing as high as seven or eight battles.

In the dense Houjin army formation, the main general of the Houjin army, surrounded by more than a dozen officers, was looking at the Beijing city wall two miles away with a hot face.

That's when it happened. A Han officer suddenly walked over with a compliment on his face.

After seeing the main general. Kneeling directly on his legs, he reported with a flattering face: "General, the artillery battalion of the slave commander is ready to open fire." As long as the general gives an order, the fifty red-coated cannons under the command of the minions can carry out artillery strikes on the city of Beijing. “

After a smile quickly flashed on the main general's face, he said to the commander of the artillery battalion in front of him: "You dog minion, you are still very neat in handling things. For the sake of your dedication to Houjin, as long as you can fight this battle well, I will ask the Great Khan to give you a visa, get rid of the title of slave, and reward you with ten Han slaves......"

The commander of the artillery battalion, who was kneeling on the ground, directly ignored the mockery contained in the words of the main general. didn't think about it, so he said with gratitude: "Thank you, general, the slave will do his best to serve the general and the Great Khan, the person who is born is Houjin, and the ghost of Houjin is dead." ”

After finishing speaking, he continued to ask the Lord: "General, the fifty red-coated cannons of the artillery battalion have all been prepared, and I don't know when to launch an artillery bombardment on the city of Beijing in front of me......

The arrogant Tartar commander said without thinking: "Fire now, although our warriors have not all arrived yet." However, Ben will be confident that he will give ten more dares to the Han people in the city, and these Han people will not have the courage to rush out of Beijing and fight with us on the field battlefield. ......The commander of the artillery battalion, who was born in the Han people, did not realize at all that his next behavior would not only cause many Han people to die in battle, but also be sorry for his ancestors. As soon as the commander's order was given, he replied loudly.

Soon, the deafening roar of artillery fire began to sound outside the city of Beijing.

Of the fifty flowering shells that whistled out from the barrels, less than twenty smashed into the walls, and fireballs mixed with a large amount of black smoke rose up on the walls.

However, when the violent explosion of the flowering bomb reached everyone's ears on the battlefield, it was still on the position of the Houjin army, causing pieces of heartfelt cheers.

Whether it was the Tartar cavalry or the Han people in the Eight Cavalry of the Han Dynasty, they couldn't help waving their weapons and applauding for the wonderful performance of the artillery. Because, in their eyes, the better the artillery hits, the less their own losses will be in the next offensive.

Fifty red-coated cannons have just fired less than ten rounds of flowering shells. The section of the city wall that stood in front of the Houjin army was shrouded in the dust rolled up by gunpowder smoke and artillery fire.

The Ming official army, which has always suppressed the Tartars with firearms, has never endured such fierce artillery fire.

As soon as the shelling of the Tartars began, the thousands of officers and soldiers defending this section of the city wall unconsciously fell into chaos.

As the shelling continued, more and more flowering shells fell on the city walls and exploded, taking the lives of one comrade after another. The officers and troops defending this section of the city wall have slowly evolved from the chaos at the beginning to the panic now.

If it weren't for the officers who used bloody heads to suppress the officers and soldiers under their command, thousands of officers and soldiers would probably collapse directly on the city wall and flee without a fight.

However, even so, these panicked officers and soldiers are close to collapse.

As the direct commander of this defensive battle, Zhang Qianshu, the first assistant to the cabinet, was standing on the wall of the inner city of Beijing, holding a monocular, and paying a solemn attention to every move on the battlefield.

Although Zhang Qianshu also had no way to see the tragic situation on the city wall, the corpses of the soldiers who were constantly thrown high by flowering bombs in the smoke of gunpowder very indirectly told Zhang Qianshu that the soldiers on the city wall must have suffered very heavy losses.

After taking a deep breath, Zhang Qianshu directly shifted his gaze to the military department Shangshu beside him and asked, "Lord Wang, are you indifferent to watching the defenders suffer heavy losses under the shelling of the Houjin army?" ”

The military department Shangshu replied helplessly: "My lord, although the number of our red-clothed cannons is more than twice that of the Tartars outside the city. However, these guns were scattered on all four walls. After all, we don't know where the Tartars are attacking until they actually attack. ”

"Under these circumstances, the number of red-coated cannons we have placed on one of the walls is less than forty. Plus our red-coated cannons are all gathered on the first line of the city walls, while the red-coated cannons of the Tartars are very scattered. If we strike back now, the cannons of the cardinals, which are arranged in this direction, will not only not be the opponent of the Tartars, but will also be dealt with a degrading blow. ”

Facing Zhang Qianshu's strong and more solemn facial expression, the words of the military department Shangshu changed and continued: "However, I have already issued a military order to quickly dispatch sixty red-clothed cannons from the other three city gates that have not been attacked. As long as these redcoat cannons are all in place, we can carry out artillery counterattacks......"

"Therefore, I hope that the soldiers defending the city wall can hold on for a little longer...... "Of course, this insistence is very helpful for the overall situation...... "As long as the defenders continue to insist, the attention of the artillery of the Houjin Army outside the city will all be focused on the defenders of the city wall." In this case, as long as the redcoat artillery is in place, we can use the redcoat artillery with absolute numerical superiority to catch the Tartar artillery by surprise. Before the Tartar artillery reacts, destroy as many of the cardinal cannons they are equipped with. “

"Okay, you have a good idea...... Although the Tartars were also armed with redcoat cannons, we are still the ancestors of firearms in terms of tactics and use. The old man immediately gave an order to the defenders, and without the old man's order, no one was allowed to take a step back. After listening to the analysis of the military department's Shangshu, Zhang Qianshu, who suddenly realized his face, couldn't help but applaud.

The artillery positions of the Houjin army prepared enough tartars for flowering shells, and they did not stop shelling until the barrels began to turn slightly red.

As the smoke shrouded in the city wall slowly dissipated, the city wall, which had been baptized by hundreds of flower bombs, was very clearly displayed in front of everyone.

The Tartar general, who was surrounded by a group of subordinates, was undoubtedly the first to raise his binoculars to check the results of dozens of rounds of artillery bombardment by the artillery battalion.

I don't know if I don't see it, and I'm shocked when I see it.

When the Lord will clearly see the neat and tidy walls of the city, it has become full of gaps at this moment. The mutilated corpses of the defenders, in various poses, fell on the edge of the city wall, or hung directly behind the tragic images of the city's chopping gaps.

The calm face was directly covered with a smile.

Facing his subordinates, he shouted excitedly: "The minions of the artillery battalion have fought well, pass on the generals, and give each soldier in the artillery battalion a reward of five taels of silver." After resting for half an hour, they continued to shell the city walls. Today, Ben will also give the Han people a taste of being shelled. Let them know that the Jin army also has heavy artillery. ”

After the new round of shelling of Beijing by the Houjin Army Artillery Battalion began, the 60 red-coated cannons that Zhang Qian wanted to wear were finally transported.

Subsequently, hundreds of gunners rushed to the gun position and began to adjust the artillery.

These border soldiers from the border pass are worthy of being the last elite of the Ming court

With just one cup of tea, a total of a hundred red-clothed cannons, all of them raised their black hole muzzles.

At the same time, one by one, the flowering shells were also stuffed into the chamber by the gunners around the artillery, ready to fire.

looked at the hundreds of red-clothed cannons lined up in front of him, and listened to the explosions of flowering shells that kept sounding on the battlefield. The military department Shangshu directly said with a proud face: "My lord, let me let you see next, what is Jiang Lao's spicy ...... I must let the Tartars outside the city know today that I, the Han people, are the ancestors of the use of firearms. No matter how good the firearms are, when they reach them, there is no way to bring out their true power. (To be continued......)