With the advance of the Qing army, the north bank of the Huai River has been full of beacons, the main force of the Qing army besieged the city of Xuzhou at the same time, but also sent several divisions to attack the major towns of Fengyang and Huai'an.

However, because Zhou Shixian had requisitioned more than 100,000 people to build countless fortresses, strengthened the city walls, and deployed tens of thousands of soldiers and horses such as Huang Degong in the previous year, most of the state capitals were not captured by the Qing army.

However, the most critical place in the Huaibei battlefield was to divide the Ming army in the south into two parts, north and south, and also contained the Qing army in Xuzhou City.

Outside Xuzhou City, on the artillery position of the Qing army, with the sound of war drums fired by ignition, more than 30 gunners holding ignition forks and sticks made exactly the same movements almost at the same time, and a burst of lightning and thunder suddenly broke out, and the artillery position was instantly shrouded in white smoke.

More than 30 iron shells weighing more than ten catties roared out from the muzzle of the black hole, drew a parabola in the air, and then smashed into the thick city wall of Xuzhou City.

Outside the city of Xuzhou, the newly built masonry was easily smashed by the powerful cannonballs, and many gravels were smashed and flew, and the stumbling fell into the moat outside the city, splashing countless "dong dong" splashes, and the city wall also exposed the brand-new bricks and stones inside.

These newly repaired and reinforced walls were not strong enough, but they were stacked and thick enough to be bombarded by artillery for several days, and they would not necessarily collapse. Not to mention that the Ming soldiers on the city wall will also rebuild and strengthen the city wall in the interval between the artillery fire and heat dissipation.

This is Zhou Shixian's masterpiece after tens of thousands of people were levied and built for more than half a year.

Moreover, the heat dissipation and longevity of the heavy artillery of this era were not excellent, and the guns had to wait until the heat dissipation and cooling were fired every three or four times before they could be reused. The rate of fire was also slow, less than twenty rounds an hour and no more than a hundred rounds a day. The service life of each pier gun is only about five or six hundred rounds.

However, the situation was not completely unfavorable to the Qing army, the walls of Xuzhou City were newly repaired and reinforced, not as solid as the original city walls, and the possibility of being collapsed by artillery was very large.

Moreover, the artillery production technology of the Qing army is not backward in this land, although the Hongyi cannon is a naval gun, very heavy, but it is capable of attacking the city.

After three rounds of salvo fire, nearly 100 iron bullets hit the city wall, the south of Xuzhou City, on the east of the city wall, many places have been smashed out of the deep pit, smoke and dust roared, many Ming soldiers shrank behind the wall and stomped on the wall, and did not dare to come out for a while.

Immediately, above the Qing army's military array, the sound of military trumpets was endless, hundreds of brightly colored flags were shaken vigorously, and countless people and horses poured out from the front of the Qing army's formation, and under the leadership of their respective officers, they charged forward, shouting and killing to the sky.

Subsequently, hundreds of trench bridges and ladders appeared densely in the field of vision of the generals of the two armies.

The moats on the west, north and south sides of Xucheng City, after nearly a year of operation by Zhou Shixian, have been widened to nearly four zhang, and the city gates have been reduced to three, which makes Xuzhou City more easy to defend and difficult to attack.

The flat and open plains south of Xuzhou City are very conducive to the convergence and advancement of the army, and it has also become the place where Duoduo chose to attack the army.

Countless people carrying the moat bridges and ladders were driven to rush in front of the soldiers holding square shields, so as not to prevent these Qing troops from being shot by the Ming archers on the city wall after approaching the city wall.

Such an arrangement was naturally aimed at reducing the casualties of the soldiers. The Qing army still captured more than 100,000 people before the war to serve as labor and meat shields, and made a large number of siege equipment.

But at this time, whether it is the Ming army or the Qing army, it is impossible to be merciful, and on the battlefield, death and injury are the most normal things.

As the smoke gradually cleared from the artillery position of the Qing army, thousands of Ming soldiers on the city wall began to emerge again, and the Ming artillery also began to move.

Facing the first formal siege of the city since the Qing army besieged the city for half a month, the soldiers of the Ming army on the city wall were all tense and silent, not daring to relax a little. Most of them are still recruits.

Despite this, the tens of thousands of Ming soldiers on the city wall are the elite of the elite of the Ming court's army, especially Xue Laoer's department, which has received very strict and scientific training. It's just that they haven't really participated in the battle yet, and they haven't seen the tragic scenes of war.

"Duoduo started the siege with these few cannons?" Gao Jie squinted his eyes, as if he couldn't believe it, and looked at Xue Lao Er on the side in a surprised tone and asked.

"Could it be that the artillery of the Qing army has not yet fully arrived, and today is a tentative attack, so we have not used all our strength?" Xue Lao Er was also suspicious in his heart, but if the artillery ammunition of the Qing army was not in place, then in order not to expose this, the other party should not be in such a hurry to attack the city and expose his own flaws.

"Whatever the reason for Dord, we'll just go ahead with the plan!"

Xue Lao Er paused, and his tone was very steady: "As long as the Qing army attacks the city, the ambush soldiers above and below the city will immediately dispatch to kill him by surprise." If the Qing army was defeated and retreated, they would take the opportunity to capture all the ladders and moats needed to attack the city, and weaken their morale. ”

"Well, General Xue is right, although it is not clear why Duoduo is like this, but as long as these Qing troops rush to the city walls, they will definitely not be able to escape." Gao Jie flattered.

Soon, as the Qing army approached, on the city wall, there were constantly Ming soldiers began to count, and the Ming gunners of the wall batteries also began to adjust the position and angle of the artillery, preparing to bombard these dense Qing siege troops.

When thousands of Qing troops and civilians carrying siege equipment entered the range of artillery, the artillery on the city wall began to fire shells in the dense direction of the Qing army under the command of the military horn......

The people who rushed forward with the cloud ladder trench bridge were empty in front of them, and they couldn't stop the arrows thrown by the Ming army from the wall, let alone deal with more than a dozen pounds of shells. Moreover, from the top of the city wall more than three zhang high, the cannonballs fired from above were more powerful than those fired from the Qing artillery positions outside the city.

At this time, not to mention these unarmored people, they are very well-protected Qing soldiers, if they are hit by shells, they will only be smashed into pulp and cut off their hands and feet.

"Boom, boom, boom......"

On the city wall, orange-red flames flashed, dozens of iron bullets flew out of the thick smoke, and more than a dozen bloody roads were trodden in the siege team of the Qing army.

With this blow alone, there were hundreds of casualties among the Qing army's assault troops, many soldiers and men who were hit by artillery shells were stopped and smashed, many cloud ladders and trenches and bridges were directly thrown to the ground, and there were even cases where the people broke up and turned around and fled.

However, the soldiers of the Qing army did not waver, did not care about those people, and continued to rush forward. They knew very well that in the rear of the charging army was a group of fierce military judges, and at this time as deserters, there was only one way to die.

Sure enough, when the Qing army Bayala saw this, he immediately cut down and killed a few fleeing people without mercy, and then continued to draw swords to supervise the battle, and some officers rushed forward and personally hunted down the deserters.

With the end of the first round of artillery salvo fire of the Ming army, the soldiers and men of the Qing army who held shields and carried the cloud ladder trench bridge no longer hesitated, and immediately accelerated to rush forward, in order to seize the artillery preparation time of less than half an hour and rush out of the range of the Ming artillery.

After another artillery bombardment and hundreds of casualties, some of the soldiers and civilians had already braved the rain of arrows from the city walls, erected a trench over the moat, and crossed the river with shields.

Just like almost all large cities in this era, behind the moat of Xucheng is a half-zhang high sheep and horse wall, and after climbing over this low wall, the army can erect ladders in the flat area in front of the city wall and climb the siege city.

However, the sheep and horse wall was only thirty or forty paces away from the city wall, and it took a lot of effort to climb it, so it was an excellent target for musketeers and archers on the wall. This is also the second line of defense that Zhou Shixian preset to consume the Qing army's military strength.

But the sheep and horse wall is actually just a thin low wall, and it is not difficult to destroy it, not to mention that several places under the sheep and horse wall have been smashed down by the cannonballs fired by the Qing army just now.

Not only that, the Qing army had already prepared for the obstruction of the sheep and horse wall, and the outermost dozen sheep and horse walls exploded with a few bangs, and the explosives buried under the wall quickly collapsed, and more than a dozen soil flowers bloomed almost at the same time, and the mud and dust flew.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of the dust and thick smoke, the Qing army soldiers quickly passed through these blown gaps, rushed to the next sheep and horse wall, and took a step closer to the city wall of Xuzhou City.

When the Ming army on the city wall saw this scene, they were very shocked, they didn't expect that the Qing army would have this - these Tartars would actually attack the city.

But the rigorous training on weekdays has made them develop muscle memory, and no one will shoot without the officer's order, otherwise they will be killed on the spot.

However, the generals of the Ming army on the city wall quickly reacted, the fire flickered, and when the strings roared, countless lead bullets and arrows shot out from the city wall, and in the thick smoke, fierce gunfire broke out.

It's just that the line of sight is not good, and the Qing army has the cover of the sheep and horse wall, and the Ming army's attack has little effect, and it should have been in such a area, taking advantage of the Qing army's difficulty in climbing over the sheep and horse wall, to give the Qing army a head-on blow, but the sheep and horse wall has become a powerful cover for the Qing army.

On the tower of Xuzhou City, looking at the scene at the sheep and horse wall, many generals had lost their calmness just now, and they frowned and turned their heads to each other.

"Wave the flag, let the ambush soldiers on the city wall and inside the city wall be ready, as long as the Qing army rushes under the wall, they will attack immediately!" Xue Lao Er still looked calm and composed, without the slightest nervousness, he had already left a back hand.

"No!" Several generals on Xue Laoer's side immediately responded.

Soon, thousands of soldiers of the Qing army, who had crossed the moat and rushed through the sheep and horse walls, set up ladders on the flat land below the city walls.