Nanming Engineer

Chapter 330 Blood Under Fire
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The cowhide drum hugged by the two made a deafening sound when it was hit by a thick wooden mallet, shocking everyone's nerves. The dense drumbeat seemed to hit the heart of a person, squeezing out adrenaline, making everyone Everyone is excited.

"kill!"

"Rush into the city, and there will be something to eat!"

"The Tartars robbed us of our grain and piled it all up in the city. Everyone went in and brought it back, as it should be!"

"Whoever dares to hold back and not fight for his life, the commander-in-chief's personal soldiers are right behind him. Big knives don't have eyes, and if he dies under the commander-in-chief's hands, he might as well fight the Tartars!"

"Don't be afraid, if you kill your head, you will be a good man again in 20 years!"

All kinds of inflammatory words were shouted loudly. Many people among the groups of refugees stood on high places and shouted. After some incitement, the warriors wearing iron armor The soldiers, armed with broadswords and spears, drove the group of refugees armed with simple weapons toward the city of Xi'an three miles away, just like driving away ducks.

A team of more than [-] people is simply not something a tycoon like Wang Yongqiang can afford. The food and grass consumed every day is an astronomical figure. These refugees who followed the Wang brothers to the south have been hungry for a long time. It's pitifully small, but it's just hanging your life so that you won't starve to death.

At this moment, under the dual effects of unbearable hunger and heart-pounding incitement, the ignorant refugees became crazy, and the courage of countless people gathered together became extremely fat. Dare to give it a try.

Not to mention the three-foot-high city wall in the distance.

"Come on!"

Accompanied by countless hoarse roars, the refugees moved. One person started to run, and the people around him immediately followed blindly and fanatically. Ten people started to run, and a hundred people started to run. The ladder and the self-made weapon rushed up with a shout.

It seems that with this momentum, he can physically break down the city wall of Xi'an.

There are still many refugees who are about to move and want to follow, but they have to rely on the soldiers to beat and curse ferociously, brandishing weapons to threaten them, so that they can be quieted down.

Wang Yongzhen himself was infected by the indomitable atmosphere of the refugees, and with enthusiasm, he rode a horse in front and roared loudly for a while, and then rushed back to his elder brother in the Chinese army excitedly.

"Brother, the morale is like a rainbow, and the army's spirit is available!" He exclaimed excitedly, his face flushed like a pig's kidney: "Why don't you send more people up? How about taking Xi'an City in one go?"

Gao Youcai rode his horse and stood beside Wang Yongqiang, and kept winking at him, signaling that he should not be eager, but Wang Yongzhen was so excited that he didn't see it at all.

Wang Yongqiang glanced at his younger brother coldly, stretched out a hand indifferently, and hooked it with his index finger.

Wang Yongzhen didn't know why, so he urged the horse to come closer.

Waiting for him to approach, Wang Yongqiang turned his outstretched hand into a palm, swung it suddenly, and struck Wang Yongzhen's face with a big ear scraper with a precise arc. There was a crisp, loud sound of "Pa!" Gao Youcai, who was on the side, couldn't help turning his face, as if the aftermath of the slap had spread to his face.

If he wasn't riding on a horse, Wang Yongzhen would definitely turn around in a circle. He was beaten so dazed, half of his face was red and swollen, he stared at his brother like a fool for a long time, and then covered his face. Said: "Big, big brother, why, why hit me?"

"I beat you to remind you!" Wang Yongqiang rolled his eyes and roared, "You are a general, not a child who is being led by the nose, those refugees are being cannon fodder, what, do you want to be too? "

"This, this, I just think it's a one-shot attack..." Wang Yongzhen muttered, not sure if it was because his face was swollen, his speech was a little slurred.

"Take it in one fell swoop?" Wang Yongqiang became even more angry when he heard this, and continued to growl: "Do you think Xi'an City is the Yan'an Mansion? Although there are many of us, we are all useless people, strong and strong." The momentum is good, and if you really want to go into battle, you are not an opponent of the Qing army at all. Others don't know it. As a general of our army, don't you know it too? How can you be of great use if you are so reckless?"

Wang Yongzhen was scolded to the point of humiliation, knowing that he was right, so he could only lower his head in desperation and remained silent.

Gao Youcai saw that there were many people around, so he hurried out to smooth things over: "Okay, the commander-in-chief doesn't have to worry about it, General Wang will learn his lesson, the first wave of 5000 people went up, let's watch the siege."

This reminded Wang Yongqiang, he gave his younger brother a hard look, then turned his head to look at the city of Xi'an.

At this time, the city of Xi'an is already in full swing.

The iron guns and bronze cannons have all taken off their gun coats. The black muzzles are pointing directly at the open ground outside the city. In one place, barrels of gunpowder were carefully placed a little further away, and someone was placed under guard.

The archers and bird commanders were wiping the weapons in their hands, and the shields made of thick wooden boards were hoisted by long ropes to cover them above their heads. Behind the archers, hand-to-hand soldiers with shields and short knives in iron armor waited quietly on the crenel. Below, more soldiers are preparing things like lime bottles, which are very useful when defending the city.

In the boiling iron pot, the boiling gold juice was emitting a stench, and the Qing soldiers, covering their noses and wearing cloth towels on their faces, added firewood attentively to keep the dung water boiling.

The smell of golden juice mixed with the smell of sweat on people's bodies in summer, adding to the dangerous atmosphere of the battle in the already busy and tense city. On the bell tower overlooking the whole city, a pergola is built to look into the distance.

A huge crowd of people was rolling out from the rebel camp in northern Shaanxi a few miles away, and came towards the north gate in a chaotic manner.

"Here we come!" Meng Qiaofang murmured to herself, tightened her left hand gripping the wooden railing, but then let go: "Huh? There aren't many people."

The 5000-person refugee team does not appear to be particularly large from a bird's-eye view from a distance. Compared with the huge flow of people in the distance, it seems like a drop in the ocean.

Outside the city of Xi'an, there is a wide moat, one foot wide and two feet deep, ten feet away from the city wall. It was originally filled with river water, but after the severe drought during the reign of Chongzhen, the river for diversion dried up and there was no water available. After entering the moat, Meng Qiaofang sent people to plant sharp branches all over the moat, and if they fell, ten thousand arrows would pierce the heart.

The 5000 people headed the battle, and each of them brought a cloth bag filled with soil for filling the trench.

Wang Yongqiang and Meng Qiaofang coincided with each other even though they were separated by several miles, but they both set their sights on the 5000 people.

Under the gaze of the two, the first puff of smoke rose from the city of Xi'an.

"boom!"

The first to roar was the Hongyi cannon with the longest range.

At the head of Xi'an city, there were two red barbarian cannons left by the Ming Dynasty. Meng Qiaofang brought them all to the north gate.

The large-caliber Hongyi cannon with a caliber of more than four inches can shoot a solid iron bullet weighing twenty catties three miles away every time it roars. exhausted.

The huge iron bomb was flying in the air, almost visible to the naked eye, and the terrifying pressure brought by the violent whistling sound made everyone tremble with fear. The formation of 5000 people rushing forward was not very dense. Caused a lot of casualties.

No matter how fast a person's reaction is, it can't be faster than the shells fired by the gunpowder. The upper body of the first person hit by the impact immediately turned into a cloud of bloody mist, and he didn't even have time to scream.

The iron bullets crushed all the way, creating a trail of blood. People and things in this straight line were smashed to pieces. Occasionally, they were lucky enough to be passed by the iron bullets, taking an arm or a leg away. , lying on the ground howling and rolling in pain.

The rest of the people had no time to take care of them. They shouted and cursed at the few soldiers who charged together, and continued to run forward regardless. The trench was already close in front of them, and after a few more steps, they could drop the mud bags they were carrying.

Fortunately, although the Hongyi cannon is powerful, its firing speed is really slow. It will take a long time before the second shot is fired. The soldiers holding the line encouraged loudly: "Don't be afraid! Keep running. When they fire the second shot, you all can run there." The bottom of the wall is under, and when you get there, the artillery will not be able to hit you!"

Before the words fell, there was a burst of explosions like firecrackers on the top of the city, and the rumbling cannons came one after another like continuous cannons.

The face of the shouting soldier suddenly changed color. Before he could react, an iron bullet fired from a Fran machine gun hit his head impartially. The iron bullet was not big, but the size of an adult's fist, but it knocked the soldier away. His head was smashed into pulp.

This terrifying scene stunned the people around them. They were all farmers, and they had never seen a cannon kill someone in their life.

Immediately afterwards, a salvo of shells fired by dozens of Frang machine guns came one after another, like a rushing iron rain rushing straight forward.

The destructive scene of the Hongyi Cannon was repeated just now. Dozens of blood trails exploded in the crowd, as if they had been combed by a pair of extremely huge teeth. The disorderly crowd of refugees became a column separated by these blood trails .

After the sound of the cannon, there was a brief silence above and below the city.

The people in the city were busy cleaning and reloading the guns.

The people in the city stared helplessly and were at a loss.

I don't know who was the first to turn around and run away with a scream of "Oh my god!", and the panic spread clearly. The surviving people threw down those mud bags regardless of each other, pushing each other back. He ran away, running backwards at a faster speed than when he was close to the city just now.

On the high hill behind them, the Wang brothers and Gao You saw this scene clearly.

Wang Yongzhen's face was pale, Gao Youcai was stunned, and Wang Yongqiang frowned.

"I didn't expect the cannons of the Tartars to be so powerful. Our people were destroyed before they got close to the trench. What should we do?" Gao Youcai murmured. The two rusty old sleeves on the top of Shenmu City, which are not much thicker than his thighs, are antiques left by some generation.

Wang Yongqiang ignored him, but beckoned to a leader of the pro-barracks, whispered a few words, the leader nodded, and left.

"What should I do?" Wang Yongqiang seemed to have just heard Gao Youcai's self-talk, and said: "Although the cannon is fierce, it has advantages and disadvantages. He can break it with a quick dash after one shot."

"However, this cannon will fly with flesh and blood. How can a mortal body overcome it?" Gao You said desperately.

Wang Yongqiang grinned coldly, stared at the city of Xi'an expressionlessly, and said solemnly: "Yes, the fear of death can only be overcome with more cruel death."

Gao Youcai trembled all over, shivered, and looked at Wang Yongqiang in a daze.

At their feet, a group of armored warriors had mounted their horses and assembled. Under the leadership of the leader just now, they formed a horizontal line and charged forward to meet the fleeing refugees.

(End of this chapter)