Xu Shaoan could feel the falling raindrops, and Zhang Zangying naturally found that it had begun to rain. As a senior general of the Zhou army, although Zhang Zangying had not held a position in the "Shenji Army" before, he still had a certain understanding of the forbidden army that Zhou Tianzi valued the most. He knew very well that the "Divine Army" was not suitable for fighting in rainy weather, and that the dripping rain would not only damp the black powder -- even if the black powder used in combat was wrapped in oiled paper -- but would also affect the success rate of flintlock muskets and artillery firing and ignition. Therefore, when the raindrops fell, Zhang Zangying's heart also began an ideological struggle -- whether to withdraw or not to withdraw has now become a question that he must make a choice immediately.

withdrew, didn't the words he Zhang Zangying said to Xu Shaoan before the battle become a slap in the face for himself, which really made Zhang Zangying unable to get off the stage in terms of face. If it is not withdrawn, not to mention that the combat ability of the "Shenji Army" in the rain will be greatly reduced, it is likely that it will not be able to provide the necessary support for the siege of the infantry army. This kind of rainy weather alone is not good for the siege itself - the ground is slippery, and it will be inconvenient for the soldiers to march and charge; The roads were muddy, and it was difficult to advance with all kinds of siege equipment; When the weather is wet, the power and accuracy of the bow and crossbow will be affected. If they attack in the rain, even if they can capture Gu'an City, the vanguard troops will suffer large losses, which is completely inconsistent with Zhang Zangying's previous plan. What's more, being able to capture a city is only the most haode of many possibilities, and it is not impossible to draw with the enemy, return empty-handed, or even suffer setbacks and return with a feather.

A series of thoughts flashed through Zhang Zangying's mind one after another, and finally he decided to withdraw his troops. However, in order to look better on face, Zhang Zangying planned to find a step for herself. He turned his head slightly and asked Xu Shaoan: "Deputy Envoy Xu, I don't know how long it will take for the artillery battalion to set up the artillery?" ”

Xu Shao'an looked in the direction of the artillery position and replied: "Captain, since the artillery array has just begun to be erected, according to the general's estimate, it should take a meal to set up a six-pound gun, and a nine-pound gun will need half an hour less. As for the twelve-pound cannon, I'm afraid that it will not be possible to complete it in less than half an hour. ”

Zhang Zangying nodded after hearing this, and couldn't help but feel a little disappointed in his heart - as far as the siege is concerned, the twelve-jin cannon and the nine-jin cannon are much stronger than the six-jin cannon in terms of power and shock. But when the rain gradually increased, it was said that it was good to wait for the 12-jin cannon and the 9-jin cannon to be erected, and even Zhang Zangying couldn't afford to wait for the erection of the 6-jin cannon. Moreover, it is acceptable for the six-pound cannon to open the flower shells to kill and injure the defenders at the head of the city, but it is difficult to destroy the city gate or collapse the city wall with solid bullets. In this way, Zhang Zangying's plan to destroy the city gate or collapse the city wall with powerful artillery is impossible to achieve in one fell swoop, and it is impossible to capture Gu'an City before the rain becomes unbearable.

In desperation, Zhang Zangying had to make an attempt to save his face, and he tentatively asked Xu Shaoan: "Deputy Envoy Xu, now that the rain is getting heavier, I am afraid that it is impossible to attack the city with all my might." However, since we are the vanguard of the whole army, if we do not attack the city after the formation, but directly collect the troops and return to the camp, it will inevitably increase the morale of the Khitan people and destroy the prestige of our Great Zhou army. Therefore, from the point of view of this commander, even if the siege of the city is postponed and the troops are collected and returned to the camp due to weather reasons, it is necessary to teach the Khitans a lesson and show the skills of our Great Zhou army. Therefore, if the artillery battalion can speed up the cannons, set up even a few six-catty cannons in a tea time as much as possible, and order them to fire a salvo at the head of Gu'an City, deter the defenders in the city, and show the majesty of our Great Zhou's 'Divine Machine Army', that would be the best. I don't know what Deputy Envoy Xu thinks? ”

As far as Xu Shao'an's original intention is concerned, he was not willing to carry out this kind of artillery bombardment, which not only had no practical significance, but might make the defenders of the city aware of the artillery bombardment. But considering that Zhang Zangying, as the commander of the vanguard army, discussed with him in such a low profile, Xu Shaoan agreed to Zhang Zangying's request without any hesitation, and ordered the artillery battalion to send additional men to erect six-pound cannons, striving to set up six to eight six-catty cannons in the time of a cup of tea, but using flowering shells to fire three salvos at the head of Gu'an City, a lesson was taught to the group of Khitans who dared to use hidden arrows to sneak attack and persuade the envoys to surrender. At the same time that he ordered to intensify the erection of six-catty guns and implement salvo fire, Xu Shaoan also ordered the other six-catty guns, as well as the nine-catty guns and the twelve-jin guns, to stop erecting, resume the marching state as soon as possible, and prepare to retreat back to the battalion. ,

The military order was transmitted, and the direction of the artillery position immediately became lively. The gunners and servants of the six-pound guns began to speed up the erection of the six six-pound guns, which had made the fastest progress before, while others dismantled the remaining six-pound guns and the nine-pound and twelve-pound guns, and reassembled the artillery and ammunition wagons to make them resemble the four-wheeled carriages of the crossing team, and linked them with harnesses and horses -- this kind of artillery carriage was an artillery transport device created by Xu Shao'an according to the pattern of the four-wheeled carriage of the crossing team, and the Ministry of Engineering, the Ministry of War, and the Privy Council of the Later Zhou Dynasty.

As the saying goes, "there are many people", in the case of many gunners and servants, the six six-pound guns have been erected in less than one cup of tea. The six artillery commanders successively raised their hands to the commander of the artillery battalion, indicating that everything was ready, and they only waited for Xu Shao'an's order to start loading and bombarding. After the commander of the artillery battalion was ready for all the six six-pound guns, he ran to Xu Shaoan to report.

After receiving the report that the artillery battalion commander had completed the preparation, Xu Shaoan glanced at Zhang Zangying next to him, and saw that the other party did not say anything else, so he nodded to the "Shenji Army" herald standing on the simple watchtower behind him. The herald then shook the red and green flags in his hand, up and down, left and right. With the shaking of the herald's command flag, the commander of the artillery battalion, who had run back to the artillery battalion position, gave the gun commander of the six six-pound guns an order to open fire, and the six gun commanders shouted a series of commands to their subordinates almost simultaneously, such as "load, aim, and fire", and the six six-pound guns were fired almost simultaneously. Although it was only a salvo of six six-pound guns, its momentum was still not to be underestimated. Many of the flintlock pikemen, spearmen, sword and shield men, and other foot soldiers around the artillery camp were so loud that their ears were buzzing with a loud roar, and for a moment no other sound could be heard. Although the horses of the cavalry units swimming on both sides had been trained in artillery bombardment before, that kind of training was mostly fired with one cannon, which could not be compared with the momentum of this salvo of six guns. As a result, many of the horses were neighed by the loud sound of artillery volleys, and if it weren't for the horsemen's good riding skills and trying their best to control their mounts, I was afraid that many horses would be frightened and jumped, and the riders themselves might have been thrown off their horses. And just as the foot soldiers endured the loud bang on their ears, and the cavalry tried their best to calm their mounts, black pillars of smoke rose one after another near the south gate of Gu'an City, and there was a dull roar, and a relatively unpleasant scream.

The six-pound guns involved in the shelling are all operated by veterans, and these gunners who have been trained by Xu Shao'an for several years and participated in the battle of Huainan in the south show the skillful movements, accurate shooting, relaxed mentality, and tacit cooperation between the veterans of the artillery battalion for those recruits who have not joined the artillery battalion for a long time and have never participated in actual combat. However, with a single cup of tea, the six guns overcame the impact of the rainy shooting on the loading and firing, and after successfully dealing with several situations where the ignition could not be successfully fired, three salvos were completed. Subsequently, the gunner's door used a damp cloth to cool down the artillery, while waiting for Xu Shao'an's order - whether to continue the bombardment or retreat needs to be decided by the boss in charge.

At this time, Xu Shaoan was not in a hurry to give a new order, he used a monocular to observe the movement of the defenders at the head of the city, and at the same time paid attention to Zhang Zangying's reaction, wanting to see if this somewhat anxious boss would continue to carry out the order to withdraw the army. Zhang Zangying was also using a monocular to observe the situation in the city at this time, hoping that after the three rounds of salvo fire from the six guns, the head of Gu'an City would have changes in his favor, and give himself a chance to capture Gu'an City in one go. However, to his disappointment, God did not give him this opportunity. Although the eighteen shells fired by three salvos of six guns caused some casualties to the defenders near the south gate of Gu'an City, killing and wounding no less than 70 or 80 people, the defenders at the head of the city were only a little flustered at the beginning of the shelling, and soon after that, they gradually calmed down under the pressure of the Khitan soldiers behind them.

The three salvos of the six guns did not have any obvious effect, the rain became heavier and heavier, and the ignition had already been unsuccessful when the salvo was fired just now, and he had to take the risk of taking the black powder and projectiles out of the barrel and reloading them, Zhang Zangying finally had no reason to continue to fight under the city. So, while secretly complaining about God's injustice and opposing himself everywhere, Zhang Zangying also had to order the troops to return to the camp.

Although this time the battle was only a few shots, and did not actually attack the city, which made the Hou Zhou army somewhat discouraged, but after all, the Hou Zhou army was a well-trained and strong army, and its retreat was also very orderly. Later, the various units of the Zhou army took turns to cover and slowly retreated to their own camp, without giving the Liao army in the city any opportunity. Such a quality made Cao Jiyun, who had always insisted on staying in the city and was not intimidated by the shelling of Fang Cai, also secretly stretched out his fingers and praised "The Great Zhou Forbidden Army really lives up to its name, and it is indeed a strong army in the world." Of course, as a general who has been in battle for a long time, while Cao Jiyun secretly praised the Hou Zhou army, he also saw some ways from the not too violent artillery bombardment just now. Standing in front of the gatehouse, which had been blown down by the shelling, he watched the soldiers clean the city after the bombardment and carry away the bodies of the fallen soldiers, while carefully recalling the shelling that lasted about a tea time, and finding some of the weaknesses of the firearms that he thought were them.