nucmednet Chapter 549 The Massacre Under the City Wall
Chapter 549 The Massacre Under the City Wall
The 15,000-strong army advanced silently, undeterred by the occasional artillery shells piercing through their ranks. Compared to their sheer numbers, the caliber and quantity of mountain guns on the western side of the star-shaped bastion were limited, making them less effective against the enemy. Every advantage has its disadvantages; to prevent encirclement from all sides, the four battalion-level artillery batteries were evenly distributed across the convex corners, resulting in a mid-to-long-range firepower density in one direction that was even less than that of a traditional flat city wall.
Gartu, a general who had fought alongside Abatai for many years, was very experienced in dealing with the Ming army. His army marched in a relatively spread-out formation, not too dense. Although the 6-jin cannonballs had considerable firepower, the damage they caused was not as great as the bombardment of the Han army earlier, and there were not many corpses on the ground. Under the cannon fire, the lightly armored archers were the first to move into their designated battle positions.
By this time, the mountain gun had completed three rounds of firing, and the gunners, as planned, withdrew from their positions and took cover in safe locations.
Just as Su Hongtu had predicted, thousands of archers were the vanguard in clearing out the enemy's firing points on the city wall. Under the command of several Niru Zhangjing (military commanders), they moved to their most comfortable firing distance, drew back their powerful bows, and pointed them diagonally at the sky. The bamboo frame of the composite bow made a continuous creaking sound.
A mournful conch shell sounded, followed by the vibrating of countless bowstrings like cotton being fluffed, as if a huge swarm of bees were flying by. At the same time, a dense array of arrows rose into the sky, thousands of light arrows slicing through the air, creating a sound like the wind blowing through the forest.
After the arrows reached their highest point, they changed trajectory, swooping down and landing on the top of the wall. Although the wall provided cover, the enemy's volleys bypassed its defenses, and the arrows were so dense that many were still hit, with screams echoing from behind the wall.
Liang Xiaoming hid behind the battlements, pressed tightly against the wall, peering through the gaps between the two battlements at the Tartar archers' attack. The grand spectacle of the archery left him speechless; the rain of arrows, almost obscuring the sun, made his heart pound—these cold weapons, which he saw as representing backward productivity, actually possessed such awe-inspiring power. It seemed Su Hongtu's judgment was correct: flintlock muskets wouldn't have a significant advantage against skilled archers in the initial rounds of exchange. If conventional methods were used, both sides would suffer heavy casualties in this round, with the exchange ratio perhaps being roughly equal. However, the outnumbered defenders would be at a greater disadvantage, not to mention the morale and fighting spirit of these greenhorns would be shaken, which was the most fatal blow.
Although the archers encountered almost no resistance and seemed to have perfectly suppressed the defenders, Gartu's brow furrowed even more deeply. He had never encountered such a defensive tactic of almost giving up resistance before—this situation meant either the enemy was terrified by the large army, or there was some hidden conspiracy—his experience told him that the latter was more likely.
However, the sword was already drawn and the arrow had left the bow; there was no turning back. Gartu could only issue the order to the Niru Zhangjing: Attack the city!
The Han Chinese guards and auxiliary soldiers, who were unarmored and only dressed in cloth, shouted in unison, carried ladders and rushed towards the city wall, skillfully setting them up on the wall.
Although the process of rushing to the city walls went smoothly, the sharp protrusions and winding walls left them somewhat bewildered. They didn't know which section of the wall to focus their attack on—because the strange stone fortress walls were all uneven, like a giant hedgehog. Each section of the fortress could only support a few ladders, making it impossible to concentrate. People in each corner could not see their companions on the other side.
Liang Xiaoming watched the enemy successfully reach the foot of the wall and felt a little regretful: It's a pity that the bastion project is not completely finished. If the Tartars had come a little later and dug the trenches and moats, just filling them in would have been enough to give them a hard time.
Armored soldiers clad in chainmail drove their cannon fodder units into the siege. As was customary, the cannon fodder, primarily composed of Han soldiers, drew enemy fire at the front, wearing down the defenders, before the armored soldiers launched the final, fatal blow. To prevent friendly fire, the infantry archers ceased their suppressive fire and began an orderly retreat, clearing a path for the attacking forces.
The originally deliberately loose formation became denser due to the unique shape of the bastion. The massive army was divided into several parts by sharp protruding corners, unable to coordinate with each other. The Han army was the first to climb the ladders, with armored soldiers watching behind, ready to pounce at any moment. The swarm siege had officially begun!
At this moment, loud bugle calls rang out from several protruding corners, and countless heads suddenly appeared on the city wall, which had been silent for a while. A dense array of rifles were mounted on the wall, aiming at the crowd climbing on the opposite wall.
Gartu felt a chill run down his spine, and sweat began to bead on his forehead. Even before the enemy opened fire, he had already discerned the situation. These Ming soldiers were indeed cunning, avoiding direct confrontation with the infantry archers and engaging the siege force head-on. This strange city wall, perhaps deliberately designed to facilitate firing, had no blind spots; those on the siege ladders were now sitting ducks, powerless to retaliate. However, in this chaotic and disorganized situation, as the commander, he had no time to make an effective response.
"Bang, bang, bang..." Gunshots rang out like exploding beans, and a dense rain of lead bullets rained down on the heads and bodies of the Tartar attacking troops. The men who had been so fierce just moments before fell to the ground screaming in pain. The localized firepower was so concentrated that it reached a state of saturation attack, to the point that the density of firepower in the confined space even exceeded the number of enemy soldiers. Even the city walls were crackling and splintering from the lead bullets.
Whether they were lowly Han soldiers or bondservants, or normally high-ranking armored men, they were all equal before the lead bullets. The dense rain of bullets pierced their bodies, blew open their skulls, shattered their hard chainmail into pieces, scattered metal fragments everywhere, and sprayed blood and brains all over the place.
"No!" Gartu howled. The warriors of the Great Jin were invincible and should not be humiliated like this. Each of these armored soldiers was an asset in his and his master Abatai's hands. Not a single Nikan's head had been cut off, how could they die such a humiliating death without any resistance? But the undeniable facts were right in front of him, and he could only watch helplessly as his troops struggled under the rain of lead bullets.
The massacre continues beneath the city walls.
The soldiers gained confidence, and their loading movements became increasingly fluid. The high-frequency continuous fire turned the small angle into a living hell. The attacking Han army and armored soldiers had nowhere to hide. Crossfire from both sides left them attacked from both sides, and each of them was hit by at least three or four lead bullets, one after another. Their bodies piled up higher and higher.