On September 28, the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, Mao time.

Three hundred cannons were aimed at Xiping Fort, waiting for Su Tiancheng's order.

This is a typical modern war, the role of hot weapons, instead of cold weapons, artillery will form a fatal blow to Xiping Fort, but unfortunately, whether it is the emperor and the minister of civil and military affairs of the Ming Dynasty, or the emperor Taiji of the Later Jin, do not understand the concept of hot weapons, in their opinion, the quality of the soldiers is still the first, want to win the victory, the key is the soldiers face to face to fight.

Su Tiancheng is a person who crosses and knows very well the advantages of hot weapons, especially in field battles or siege cities, the role of artillery is decisive, but he did not instill this idea into other armies except the Jiangning battalion.

In the two battles of Dalinghe, when Huang Taiji led the army to attack Dalinghe City, there were twelve artillery pieces with the army, which was also the sharpest red-coated cannon at that time, with the power of artillery, it deterred the Ming army that came to reinforce it, so as to achieve a huge victory. In fact, these two battles have already shown the importance of hot weapons.

But this time it is not what it used to be, this time, the Jiangning battalion carried 500 artillery, Su Tiancheng took out 300 cannons in one breath and attacked Xiping Fort, and these 300 cannons were all red-coated cannons and general cannons.

This requires the support of strong financial resources, and fighting a war is to burn silver.

No one would have thought that this battle opened a precedent for modern warfare, and the battle was not mainly based on the fight between sergeants, but the first attack was artillery, which maximized the killing and suppression of the opponent's morale. Sergeants would attack, and the attacks of the Furlong cannons and flintlock muskets became the first choice.

Su Tiancheng would not have expected it, because of his crossing, the concept of war quietly changed.

Three hundred cannons began to roar at the same time, and the earth began to tremble, in the sky that had not yet brightened. There were dazzling sparks.

Xiping Fort suddenly became a sea of fire, the city wall began to collapse, the flag flew into the air, wood and stones began to scatter in all directions, and some black iron bumps were also blown into the air, which was obviously the artillery that the Houjin Tartars were preparing for the attack, and the trenches and moats carefully constructed by the Houjin Tartars were under the bombardment of artillery fire. It was quickly filled in.

Bursts of smoke drifted into the sky, with the smell of dirt and blood, it was difficult to see the blood drifting towards the sky with the naked eye, but Su Tiancheng and the others who were holding binoculars could see it very clearly.

The Houjin Tartars, who were guarding the city walls, were caught off guard, obviously not expecting such fierce artillery, and it was no wonder that they were not surprised. Even if someone told them, they wouldn't believe it. In their impressions, it is impossible to have such a sharp artillery, nor can there be such a lethal artillery.

One by one, the Houjin Tartars were blown into the air, which was a typical massacre.

Soon, artillery fire began to extend to the interior of the Xiping Fort, this time. The blood can be seen with the naked eye, and many soldiers of the Jiangning battalion saw the Houjin Tartars flying into the air, the arms, thighs, and even the heads that flew into the air. It's so conspicuous.

Su Tiancheng had long demanded that the artillery must fully cover Xiping Fort.

What is comprehensive coverage, at this time, many soldiers finally understood, that is, not to let go of any place inside Xiping Fort, like a wash, bombing every corner of Xiping Fort.

Liu Wenxiu, the commander of the pioneer battalion, was a little impatient, and the 5,000 soldiers under his command were also eager to try, but they had to wait, there were five rounds of artillery attacks, each round lasted about a quarter of an hour, and the time for artillery bombardment was full of an hour, and they were in a hurry, and they had to wait until the hour to attack.

Shi Tingzhu was stunned by the sudden artillery.

After discussing with Ma Guangyuan, Bayan and others, Shi Tingzhu decided to place 20,000 people at the south gate where the Jiangning battalion was most likely to launch, and the rest of the east, west and north gates, with 10,000 people, and another 10,000 people, as reserves.

The power of the artillery of the Jiangning battalion greatly exceeded Shi Tingzhu's imagination, and he couldn't believe that there was such a powerful artillery in the world, which was simply indestructible.

Shi Tingzhu didn't sleep all night, yesterday the Jiangning battalion was only five miles away from Xiping Fort, according to his own judgment, Shi Tingzhu believed that the next day was the time for the Jiangning battalion to launch an attack, and the sergeants guarding the four directions of Xiping Fort, southeast and northwest, had already been arranged in place, Shi Tingzhu was not at ease, and in the middle of the night, he also inspected all of them, reminding commanders at all levels not to be careless when they went, and not to let the Jiangning battalion have a chance to sneak attack.

Huang Taiji has repeatedly emphasized that the artillery of the Jiangning battalion is very powerful, and the army also pays attention to guarding against artillery in the process of training, and Xipingbao also has about 30 artillery, and when the Jiangning battalion attacks, these artillery pieces must also exert their power.

By the time of Yin, Shi Tingzhu has begun to be highly nervous, under normal circumstances, the time of attack will be at the time of Mao or Chen, the sky is not yet bright at the time of Mao, for the attacking side, it is quite unfavorable, the ditches all over the place, coupled with the wide moat, the Ming army wants to reach the edge of the city wall, the possibility is not very large, the possibility of attacking at the time of Chen is very large.

Shi Tingzhu personally commanded at the south gate, Ma Guangyuan and Bayan were in charge of the east and west, as for the north, the possibility of an attack was not very high, and the scouts did not find the Ming army in the direction of the north after reconnaissance.

The sudden artillery fire caused heavy casualties among the soldiers, and many soldiers did not have time to dodge, and were blown into the air by shells, and the intensity of the artillery fire was not at all what Shi Tingzhu and many sergeants could imagine.

Shi Tingzhu couldn't hear the screams, all his ears were filled with the sound of explosions, at this time, he just wanted to command the sergeants to dodge, but it didn't have much effect, there was no place to dodge, he could only watch the soldiers being injured and killed.

The most hateful thing is that after the shell exploded, the surrounding sergeants were also overturned, and it seemed that they had not been blown up, but they could no longer move when they were thrown on the ground, and someone went up to turn them over, only to find that blood was flowing from the mouths and nostrils of these people, and the stones and wood that were blown away became unpredictable murderers, and after being hit by these stones and wooden blocks, it was impossible to live.

Looking at such a miserable scene, Shi Tingzhu couldn't help it, he began to become manic, if it weren't for the soldiers around him, desperately pulling him under the city wall, maybe he would also be hit by artillery fire.

The sergeants guarding the city wall almost did not have time to retreat, most of them died in the artillery fire, the city wall was blown down, the moat and the ditch were blown flat, and the sergeants under the city wall ran desperately in the direction of the city to avoid the artillery fire.

Shi Tingzhu, under the protection of his own soldiers, also ran towards the city, this is not the time to be a hero, in case he is hit by artillery, he will not be able to command the soldiers to resist.

Shi Tingzhu's self-confidence began to waver in the fierce artillery fire, and he faintly felt that today might be the most difficult day.

Shi Tingzhu, who was moving towards the city, began to feel frightened.

The cannonballs seemed to have eyes, and they began to come in the direction of the castle.

Groups of soldiers, in the process of running, were hit by artillery fire, a large number of soldiers fell, the rest of the soldiers, desperately running around, hoping to avoid the bombardment of artillery fire, many people began to run towards the house, hoping to use the house to avoid the bombardment of artillery fire.

Rows of shells fell to the ground, and the huge roar made many soldiers begin to feel numb, at this time, they thought of dodging the artillery fire, and no one thought of fighting.

Shi Tingzhu's body began to tremble, and he forcefully pushed away the soldiers around him.

What does the scene in front of him mean, he knows very well that if it continues like this, Xiping Fort will definitely not be able to be saved, after the Ming army launches an attack, the soldiers who are like frightened birds will soon begin to disperse, and it is impossible to organize an effective counterattack and resistance, at that time, even if Su Wu is reborn, there is no way.

Shi Tingzhu will never allow such a situation to occur, although the artillery of the Jiangning battalion is extremely fierce, but it will always pass, and the last still needs the soldiers of the two armies to catch and fight, who can hold on to the last can really win.

Morale must not be lost.

Shi Tingzhu began to order the soldiers around him to maintain order, effectively avoid artillery fire, not to panic, let alone be frightened.

With artillery fire on their heads, the soldiers began to shuttle between the sergeants.

The effect was still obvious, the sergeant quickly began to calm down, and some smart sergeants began to run in the direction of the city wall, they had already discovered that the artillery of the Ming army was fired in depth, and the side of the city wall that had been bombed was probably the safest place. After someone took the lead, a large number of sergeants began to run in the direction of the city wall.

Shi Tingzhu began to roar loudly, asking the sergeants to stay calm, not to panic, not to trample and squeeze, and to move towards the city wall in an organized manner, and at the same time he once again asked the soldiers around him to go to the place where the houses were, and asked the soldiers inside to come out and not hide in the houses.

Just when Shi Tingzhu asked his soldiers to carry out the order, some shells hit the house, huge dust, accompanied by screams, Shi Tingzhu's face began to turn pale, and he realized that hiding in the house, once the house was hit by artillery fire, the casualties were even greater. (To be continued......)