On the city wall of Maqin, the defenders of the Qingma Army were in a commotion, and the row of cannons outside the city was infinitely fearful. The hideous muzzle of the cannon that was slightly raised was like the mouth of a monster that wanted to devour people. Many of the Qingma Army know the power of the artillery of the Western Sichuan Army, although many people have not seen it with their own eyes, but from word of mouth, they also know the strength of the artillery of the Western Sichuan Army. They are absolutely unwilling to try it themselves. However, now they were ordered to defend Maqin City, which made these defenders fall into despair.

"We only have 4,000 people, but there are 20,000 troops in western Sichuan outside the city! How can we keep Maqin? Many of the soldiers of the Green Horse Army thought desperately.

The abnormal changes at the West Gate also attracted the attention of Wei Yuan, the commander of the 15th Battalion of the Qingma Army stationed here, and at the same time, Lu Haoran, the commander of the 5th Battalion, also arrived. However, as soon as it became the posture of the Western Sichuan Army, their faces were gloomy and could drip water. As for whether they can resist the attack of the Western Sichuan Army, they are also very uncertain in their hearts.

"General, the Western Sichuan Army is about to attack the city, come to me here is where they will focus on attacking!" Wei Yuan's face turned a little pale.

"I'll order the rest of the troops to be ready to support you here!" Lu Haoran said with a stern face.

"General, relying on us alone, we can't resist the attack of the Western Sichuan Army at all, so let's let people inform the Admiral and let him come to the rescue as much as possible!" Wei Yuanti said. Now, only when reinforcements arrive, it will be possible to relieve the siege of Maqin.

"Lord Admiral's troops are already on the way, calculate the time, and they will be able to arrive tomorrow or the day after tomorrow!" Lu Haoran said. However, he also had a concern in his heart. If Ma Haiyan had to wait until the Ma Jiajun and Ning Ma Army of Hezhou arrived together before attacking the Western Sichuan Army, then Ma Qin would probably have to hold on for more time. And relying on the 4,000 defenders of Maqin, there is no way to do it.

Hearing that reinforcements were coming, Wei Yuan's face was much better.

Outside the city, the artillery positions of the Western Sichuan Army, the artillerymen were busy, and a large number of shells were carried out and piled up on one side of the cannon, so that it was convenient to load the shells at a faster speed during the heavy shelling. According to the artillery drill code, this was not allowed. Because once it is hit by enemy artillery, it will cause very large losses. The place where the shells are stacked is some distance from the cannons. It's just that the Green Horse Army, which does not have two artillery pieces to deal with the Green Horse Army, does not need to strictly follow the regulations for the time being.

When it was nine o'clock, all the preparations were done. The battalion commander of the artillery battalion of the 10th brigade took the time, and then gave the order to prepare for the shelling. When the artillerymen loaded the shells into the barrels, the faces of the Qingma soldiers at the head of Maqin City turned white.

"Hurry down the city wall, the Western Sichuan Army is about to start shelling!" Wei Yuan, the battalion commander of the 15th Battalion of the Qingma Army, ordered loudly. At this time, he was still on the city wall, and he was undoubtedly a live target for the artillery bombardment of the Western Sichuan Army.

After hearing Wei Yuan's order, the soldiers of the Green Horse Army gathered on the city wall rushed to the city. No one wanted to be baptized by the artillery fire of the Western Sichuan Army on the city wall. Everybody knows it's a damn thing!

At this moment of panic, the artillery of the Western Sichuan Army opened fire. The Type 2 infantry cannon erupted in fierce fire and loud noises, and a sharp sound of breaking the air was heard. A few seconds later, there was a violent explosion on the walls of Maqin City. Flames were shining, smoke was filled, and shrapnel was flying. The soldiers of the Green Horse Army, who had not had time to retreat to the city walls, were killed. Either they were blown up and flew into the air and fell to their deaths under the city, or they were directly harvested by shrapnel and lost their lives.

The artillery fire of the Western Sichuan Army was very fierce, and the loaders loaded the shells into the cannons one by one, and quickly fired at the head of Maqin City. In the blink of an eye, there was no living thing on the city wall, and after the cannonball exploded on the city wall, it was even more stone chips, and every explosion would form a gap in the city wall.

The walls of Maqin were made of a mixture of stone and earth, and although they were strong, they still looked pale and weak in the face of cannon bombardment. If this continues, it is only a matter of time before the walls of Maqin are blown down.

In Maqin City, the soldiers of the Green Horse Army lay on the ground with their heads in their hands and shivered. The artillery bombardment of the western Sichuan army seemed to destroy the world, and frightened them like earth. The soldiers of the Green Horse Army, who did not have time to withdraw to the city wall, have long since returned to the embrace of Allah.

"General, the artillery fire of the Western Sichuan Army is too fierce, and the city walls seem to be about to collapse?" Wei Yuan looked at the fire at the head of the city and said with some concern. In the shelling just now, at least two or three hundred of his 15th battalion were reimbursed, which made his troops lose almost a quarter of their strength at one time! If he does this for a few more rounds, his troops will not all be dead!

"If you can't hold on, you have to hold on! The Admiral's order is for us to defend the city of Maqin. I believe that the Admiral will definitely come as soon as possible! Lu Haoran said with a gloomy face. If he had known, he should not have agreed to Gu Hongqiang's request to rescue Yushu, in that case, there would still be 10,000 defenders in Maqin City. With such a strong force, it would be easy to hold Maqin City. And now? After being taken away by Gu Hongqiang, there were only 4,000 people left in Maqin City, and it seemed like wishful thinking to rely on this strength to resist the onslaught of the Western Sichuan Army.

"A series of high-explosive shells were replaced, and the artillery fire extended into the city. Two consecutive armor-piercing shells collapsed the city wall! Zhou Nan, commander of the artillery battalion of the 10th Brigade of the Western Sichuan Army, adjusted his tactics. Bombarding Maqin City with high-explosive bombs is undoubtedly a desire to kill and injure a large number of the living forces of the Green Horse Army, anyway, the people in the city have almost escaped, and there is no need to worry about hurting innocents. Armor-piercing bullets are a powerful weapon against strong walls. In China in this era, many cities were surrounded by thick walls, and every time they attacked the city, the western Sichuan army would pay a lot of casualties in order to climb the tall city walls. For this reason, the arsenal of the Western Sichuan Army specifically developed armor-piercing shells to deal with the city walls. It is usually fired from a 05mm howitzer or a 55mm howitzer. Type 2 infantry guns also have special armor-piercing shells, but they are not as powerful as large-caliber armor-piercing shells.

The armor-piercing projectile used by the Type 2 infantry gun weighs six kilograms, has a sharp warhead, is made of stainless steel, and although the charge is only one catty, it is very destructive to strong targets such as city walls, and is a favorable weapon for the western Sichuan army to deal with the strong city walls or fortresses of the Qing court.

Because of the adjustment of the artillery target, the artillery fire of the Western Sichuan Army was temporarily suspended, which made the Qingma Army in Maqin City breathe a sigh of relief. The fierce artillery fire of the western Sichuan army just now made them experience cruel suffering, and many people's faces were miserable and white.

However, their rejoicing did not last long before disappearing, and the artillery fire of the Western Sichuan Army began again. This time, a company of 2 Type 2 infantry guns placed the target of the shelling in the city of Maqin, and every time the shell exploded, a violent fire would rise, and the houses that were hit by the bullets collapsed at once, and then burst into flames. If the shell unfortunately falls among the soldiers of the Green Horse Army, it will take the lives of countless soldiers of the Green Horse Army.

The other two cannons aimed their muzzles at the walls of Maqin City. Two cannons were aimed at the base of a 20-meter-long section of the wall, replaced with armor-piercing shells, and prepared to collapse this section of the wall.

When the fire erupted from the muzzle, the red-hot cannonballs were already rapidly smashing towards Maqin City. The tenacious warhead smashed deep into the city wall, and a violent guarantee occurred, directly blasting a big hole in the wall of Maqin City. Although the wall of Maqin City is more than one meter behind, it is obvious that it will not last long under the fierce bombardment of the artillery fire of the western Sichuan army.

Behind the artillery battalion were the soldiers of the 11th Brigade of the Western Sichuan Army. The performance of the artillery battalion also shocked them, and they were dumbfounded one by one. Many of them were once defenders of Maqin City. In their minds, Maqin City is considered to be very strong. And now, under the artillery fire of the Western Sichuan Army, Maqin City is already crumbling. This made those who were not very reluctant to join the Western Sichuan Army once again recognize the reality.

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