Early the next morning, Ming Ho, Wang Xin, Mai Yunyan, Wang Kai and other major generals, as well as the newly arrived horse bearer Li Jihe, together with Du Zhongxiao, went around the city to check the situation.

Looking back at the south of the city, pointing to the Qucheng that was being repaired not far away, Ming Hao said to Du Zhongxiao: "Last time, the demon thieves in the city got the opportunity to burn the Qucheng, and this thing did not do a miracle. A few days ago, Colonel Liu Zun offered a plan, and the officers and soldiers stormed the north city gate and dug tunnels here in the south city. Dig through the tunnel, select the elite army to sneak into the city from the tunnel, and seize the city gate. At that time, there was no need to take the city gate because the demons and thieves in the city were unprepared, and the officers and soldiers could also ascend the city from Qucheng. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "The plan of attacking the east and the west may be able to perform miraculous feats." ”

While speaking, Du Zhongxiao stopped his horse and looked up at the head of Beizhou City not far away. Beizhou is the main road of the Khitan to the south, the city is strong, the defense system is complete, and the horse-faced urn city is readily available. The west of the city is the Yongji Canal, there is a water gate into the city, the officers and soldiers are surrounded from the north, south and east sides, and the main attack is on the north and south sides.

I remember watching the film and television dramas, in the ancient siege of the city, there were often dozens of strong men carrying giant trees and knocking the city gate open. Before coming, Du Zhongxiao was still lucky, if Beizhou had that kind of convenience, he could blast the city gate open with a few cannons. Now that I have watched it live, I can only think about it, but in fact it is impossible to do it. China's history of city building is thousands of years, how can it leave such a loophole.

The outside of the gate was a horse face, and the inside of the gate was an urn. The front of the gate was blocked by a horse's face, and it was impossible for a cannon to hit the gate from any angle. Not to mention the cannons, in fact, the design of the horse face blocked all direct fire weapons, and also made it impossible for the besieging troops to attack the city gate from the front, but only from both sides of the city gate. In the process of approaching, they will be attacked by the defenders on both walls, and they will not be supported by fire. Even if you are lucky enough to enter the city gate, you will face a dead place like Urn City, and you will die for a lifetime.

When attacking a city, directly building a siege gate is actually a way to death for the besieging party. To take the gates, it was necessary to capture a section of the wall next to it to open a safe passage for the troops entering the city. It only makes sense to occupy a part of the city wall and open the city gates.

After seeing the situation in this area of Nancheng, Du Zhongxiao asked Ming Hao: "Advice, I don't know when the tunnel will be dug through?" ”

Ming Ho said: "We did it secretly, and the demon thieves in the city didn't notice it at all. In five or six days, we will be able to dig into the city. ”

Du Zhongxiao sighed secretly, five days later, it was a little late. Today's fifth day of the new year, wait until the tenth day of the first month, I don't know if I can succeed, there is a deadline for the Shangyuan Festival, how can I afford to wait? As long as there is a slight difference, you will come in vain.

After thinking about it, Du Zhongxiao said to Ming Hao: "Advice, the lower officials think that now that there is a cannon, they can still think of a way from Qucheng." ”

Ming Ho actually didn't know how to use the cannon, and he didn't believe that such a strong city wall in Beizhou could collapse. Seeing that Du Zhongxiao said that there was a way, he was overjoyed, and hurriedly asked: "What is the plan of the bachelor, just say it, and we will discuss it together." If you can break the city, you are the first to work! ”

Du Zhongxiao waved his hand: "If you don't have merit, let's not talk about these things first, attacking the city as soon as possible is the first priority." Advice and look, the city wall near the south gate, because the west side is near the water gate, and there are no officers and soldiers, there are only one or twenty demon thieves patrolling the city, and there are not many troops. In case we get to the city from here, the thieves have built several warsheds on the walls—"

"The demon thief called that war tent 'Happy Meeting', similar to the Qucheng we built. They saw how high the Qucheng outside the city was, and they would build a lot of achievements when they were happy to meet, so as to make enemies. This thing is the most hateful, when Qucheng is close to the city wall, they use rockets and even torches to burn down the Qucheng from the 'happy meeting'. Last time, I suffered this loss, and Qucheng was built in vain. ”

Hearing this, Du Zhongxiao asked: "I heard that there are also iron cannons in the army, I wonder if you have ever used artillery to hit that war shed?" ”

Ming Ho said: "The Divine Guard Prime Minister Wang Taiwei once offered this plan to use artillery to fight the war shed. However, it is far away from the city, and it is from the bottom to the top, and the accuracy of the artillery is insufficient, so it is not of much use. Even though the artillery had collapsed the tent, before the officers and soldiers could get closer, the thieves built it again. ”

Du Zhongxiao looked at Wang Kai on the side, Wang Kai said: "I tried it with artillery a few times, but the war shed was made of bamboo and wood, and it was difficult to collapse, and the demon thief had timber in stock, so it was quickly rebuilt, and it was of little use." ”

Du Zhongxiao asked: "I don't know how to use artillery in the army?" Did you gather all the artillery and fire it all at once? ”

Wang Kai shook his head: "That's not true." Bachelor, is there any difference? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Of course there is a difference. Artillery salvos are much more powerful than scattered artillery. ”

Speaking of this, Du Zhongxiao bowed his hand to Ming Hao: "Advice, Xia Guan suggests that all the artillery in the army be transferred today, plus the cannons brought by Xia Guanxin, and all the enemy towers west of the city gate will be destroyed." Let the demon thief know that it is powerful, and also boost the morale of the army. ”

Ming Ho couldn't think about it at this time, Du Zhongxiao had a suggestion, so he naturally listened to it. Nodding in agreement, he asked, "What about after that?" How to get to the city? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "First sweep away the enemy troops on the section of the city wall west of the city gate, and then suppress it with artillery, and use Qucheng to ascend the city." When the time comes, we will move our cannons to the east, block the way for the thieves to support the city gates, and attack the city with one blow! ”

Myeongho was skeptical, unable to imagine what it would be like, but he had to give it a try and nodded in agreement.

After seeing the city wall, everyone returned to the tent and discussed the next battle.

Ming Ho instructed all the generals to immediately transfer all the artillery belonging to each army to the south city wall and wait for Du Zhongxiao's orders. He also ordered Wang Kai to select 500 elite soldiers from the Divine Guard Army, take five commanders as the capital, set up another general, and unify the command from Qucheng to the city. Wang Xin's troops concentrated outside the south gate, and when the city gate was opened, they attacked the city from the south gate. The rest of the armies of Hao Zhen and others continued to storm in the north of the city.

The forbidden army is on the four armies, the Japanese army is the cavalry, the Tianwu army is the infantry, and the front division of the palace is under the command of the four compartments of the Tianwu Dynasty. The dragon guard is the cavalry, subordinate to the horse military division, the divine guard is the infantry, and the infantry military division is under the command of the dragon and the guard. The total number of troops in the two armies of the Sun and Tianwu is about 30,000, and the horses and horses are half each, and the Dragon Guard and the Divine Guard are similar to this. These 670,000 troops are the elite of the elite, and the pawns are petty officers in other armies, not comparable to other armies. Both of them are commanders, and both are ranked as generals in charge of the army, and their status is respected.

In the battle of the party, a large number of the Fourth Army was transferred to the northwest, and the main force stayed in Beijing, Wang Kai only brought 3,000 people to Beizhou.

Myeongho learned the lesson of the last time he landed in the city, and let the elite Shenwei army enter the city, and carefully selected, no longer let the grassroots officers command.

Everything is ready, and it is already three poles. The generals left separately and commanded their troops, while Ming Ho followed the horses to bear Li Jihe and Du Zhongxiao, and came to the outside of the southern city to direct the artillery bombardment.

There are more than 200 artillery pieces in the subordinate army, and all of them are concentrated under the southern city at this time, which is magnificent.

Du Zhongxiao said to Ming Hao: "Advice, these cannons should be lined up in several rows and take turns to attack the city." Each column is assigned a general, with the flag as the number, the flag is loaded, and the flag is fired. The lower officials sent people to adjust the cannons and bomb the war tents in the city one by one. ”

Myeongho said: "How to use the cannon, no one here knows better than you." No one dares to obey you, even though you give orders. ”

After speaking, he called the junior colonel among the gunners and asked them to obey Du Zhongxiao's orders.

Du Zhongxiao asked the colonels to report their names and said, "All your cannons are divided into three rows, each three steps apart. Each commander selects a command, raises the flag as an order, the flag falls and fires cannons, and the flag is loaded and loaded. The first row starts first, followed by the second row, followed by the third row, in order. When firing the gun, the gunners must not scramble, and must be uniform. The more neat it is, the more rewarding money is given at night, and there is wine and meat. ”

Everyone agreed together.

Du Zhongxiao confessed to Ming Hao, took a few colonels, went to the gunner, and divided everyone into three rows. Although the iron cannons are not large, each one needs to use three people, one to operate the cannon, one to fill the gunpowder, and one to load the iron bullets. When Du Zhongxiao was manufacturing iron cannons in the Volcano Army, they were experimental in nature and did not have gun mounts. It's okay to defend the city, but when it is operated on flat ground, it can only be placed on the ground, and the muzzle of the gun is raised with a mound of earth, which is quite inconvenient to operate.

Three prestigious and convincing colonels were chosen, and they were each selected, and the gunners were divided into three rows, staggered from front to back.

The flag is a command tool in the army, and there are all kinds of them. Du Zhongxiao selected three triangular red flags, distributed them to the three junior colonels, and said to them: "You guys first drill your subordinates, the flag is loaded, the flag is fired, and you must be uniform!" ”

The three forked hands and agreed, and each called his subordinate gunners together to declare restraint. At first, it was not loaded with gunpowder projectiles, and there was a simulated drill, which was as neat as possible. This matter is not easy, Du Zhongxiao watched it for a while, then let them perform by themselves, and brought it to Tao Seventeen to prepare the cannon.

All the gunners watched this huge cannon being pulled by a mule, and their eyes were straight, they didn't expect the cannon to grow like this. When the mules were unloaded, the guns were on the gun mounts, and the gunners adjusted left and right, everyone felt that it was even more novel.

To adjust the height of the cannon, it is best to use threads, but the time is urgent, it is not easy to make, it is too late, Du Zhongxiao can only replace the iron plate with holes. The iron plate is fixed to the gun carriage, and the gun body has pins, which are adjusted in place and inserted into the holes. It's a lot of trouble, and it can't be adjusted steplessly, but it will just be used.

There are slide rails on the gun carriage, which can swing left and right in a small amplitude, without frequent changes in gun positions, and the sample is fixed with a pin.

The gun comes with a gun mount, which, in addition to being easy to adjust, allows the recoil of the firing to be transferred to the gun mount. As soon as the cannon is fired, the gun mount retreats, and the gunner can push the gun back to its original position in time, which is not as troublesome as fixing the gun position.

By the time the cannon was in place, the sun had risen overhead, and it was noon.

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