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Some distance behind the phalanx of these cart-archers were Jianlu carrying simple ladders, as well as a dozen huge ladder carts, advancing steadily amid the flying dust.

The advantage of being on top of the city came to light. In the initial contact battle, those sharpshooters were relatively agile. They hid behind the battlements and shot an arrow down the city without warning. Occasionally, they were unlucky enough to poke their heads in. An arrow happened to hit him and he was unlucky. However, the mounted captives suffered more casualties, with the casualty ratio of both sides reaching at least ten to one.

After the carriage in the distance approached the cannon range, Mangui's military order was passed on. Under the command of the servants on the top of the city, two to three artillery aimed at a carriage and opened fire. The reason for this was because the accuracy of the Ming army's artillery was too poor.

It was only then that Hu Guang suddenly discovered that among the soldiers operating artillery on the city wall, there were actually many Westerners. However, he had never noticed them before because of their armor.

Most of Li Fengxiang's attention was focused on the emperor. When he saw a trace of surprise on Hu Guang's face, he followed his gaze and explained with a charming smile: "Your Majesty, those Western Yi are all begged by Xu Guangqi, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites. of."

"Oh?" Hu Guang asked curiously when he heard that it was Xu Guangqi again.

Seeing that he was interested, Li Fengxiang became more enthusiastic and immediately replied: "In early October, when Jianlu first arrived in the capital, Xu Shilang begged these Western barbarians to come to the city. But later, these Western barbarians seemed to have some conditions. There was King Qin's army outside the city again, so he no longer stayed at the city head."

When Hu Guang heard this, he pondered for a moment and said: "It is said that Minister Xu has an audience!"

"I obey!" Gao Shiyue, who was standing next to him, quickly agreed after hearing this.

At this time, a man came up from the arrow tower. When everyone looked, it was Cao Huachun, the admiral of Dongchang. He came to report the situation in the city to Emperor Chongzhen.

It means how many people have taken to the streets, how many people have been transferred from which prefectures, how strong the reserve population is now, how much money and food each prefecture has paid, etc.

After hearing this, Hu Guang nodded and asked, "Is there any unusual movement among the Shanxi merchants in the city?"

Liu Xingzuo had warned before that he was afraid that the Shanxi Chamber of Commerce in the city would take the opportunity to cause trouble. Therefore, Hu Guangcai asked this question.

"Your Majesty, I have already sent people to secretly monitor the Shanxi merchants in the city, and found nothing unusual!" Cao Huachun heard this and quickly reported back.

Hu Guang nodded after hearing this and said: "Okay, you have done a good job in the city's logistics. You have to communicate with Man Qing about the follow-up matters. The wounded who have been evacuated from the city must be handled properly. Do you understand?"

"My slave obeys the order!" Cao Huachun agreed and went down to the archery tower to continue his work.

At this moment, only the sound of "boom, boom, boom" was heard. Hu Guang looked up when he heard the sound, but it was the city's artillery that opened fire.

About twenty iron bullets shot out, flew in a very small arc, and then fell to the ground and began to bounce.

Although the Jianlu Cavalry was dispersed in an orderly manner, it was to avoid more casualties from the city's artillery. However, it was inevitable that some Jianlu cavalry troops could not evade, and their men and horses were hit by high-speed ejection subway bullets, causing their flesh and blood to fly everywhere and to pieces.

However, the Jianlu Cavalry did not seem to see it and were not affected at all. They just did as they should. Those severed limbs and remains were soon submerged in the sea of ​​cavalry.

Even if there were Xiyi gunners, only one of the twenty or so iron bullets hit a carriage, and the "bang" sound could be faintly heard amidst the rumble of horse hooves.

I saw that the shield surface of the carriage was obviously tilted, and there was a large groove. However, the carriage was fine after all and could continue to move forward. However, it can be seen that after the cart left the spot, several Jianlu who were pushing the cart fell to the ground. They were obviously shocked when they pushed the cart just now.

Hu Guang looked a little regretful. The distance was a bit far, and the shell consumed a lot of kinetic energy by bouncing after it landed, so he could not destroy the carriage.

Suddenly, he saw many of the Jianlu cavalry dismounting not far from the moat and planting torches on the ground.

On the top of the city, Mangui's servants were shouting orders again, and then they saw more gunmen starting to approach the stacks to shoot. The sharpshooters also gave up on the Jianlu who were on horseback and turned to greet those who were dismounted.

Hu Guang looked a little confused and didn't know what Jianlu wanted to do. But he soon understood. After the Jianlu people lit the torches stuck on the ground, when the Jianlu cavalry approached, they first stretched out arrows and ignited the tinder tied to the arrows. It became a rocket, and then it didn't shoot directly, but was thrown towards the city. And the focus of their projectiles was the city where the artillery was fired just now.

"So cunning!" Hu Guang sighed, trying to ignite the gunpowder on the artillery position at the top of the city. At least with the use of rockets, the firing speed of the artillery will be much slower.

Where there is a spear, there is a shield. The military order was quickly passed down, and the war tents were assembled one by one and pushed to the artillery position. After those rockets fell, they were blocked by the war shed. Because of the fire prevention measures, these rockets were unable to ignite the war shed.

The fighting continued, and the carriages outside the city were getting closer and closer, covering countless Jianlu approaching the city wall. Finally, some artillery began to make great achievements and hit those carriages.

There was a loud "bang", and the seemingly solid carriage fell apart like paper. Jianludui, who was hiding behind, was hit, and there were immediate casualties.

But even so, no Jianlu retreated, and even if there was no cover, they continued to advance towards the city wall.

Jianlu, who followed behind the carriage, had thousands of people advancing with shields. At the beginning, these shield soldiers fell behind the carts, but slowly, as they got closer to the city wall and within a stone's throw of the city, they began to overtake the carts and accelerate towards the city.

From Hu Guang's point of view, outside Deshengmen at this time, in the flying dust, countless Jianlu were swarming in. The scale was so large that it felt like the outside of the city had been filled with Jianlu.

Jianlu's archers, under the cover of their carriages and shields, were almost approaching the moat. In the distance, the ladder trucks were already moving slowly. Looking at the journey, it was time for the Jianlu archers to suppress the city, and the ladder trucks would be able to reach the city. Among the ladder trucks, there were also those ramming vehicles.

Huang Taiji looked at the battle below the city from a distance, and seemed a little satisfied, and the current casualties were within the acceptable range.

"Amma, the defense of the capital of the Ming Dynasty is far inferior to that of Ningyuan outside the pass. I would like to be a vanguard and be the first to climb the city to show off for Amma!" The twenty-one-year-old Hauge looked excited and loudly begged for battle.

Huang Taiji heard this, glanced at him, seemed a little unhappy, and said coldly: "When can you stabilize your temper? Watch carefully first!"

Although he was satisfied with the casualties at this time, it did not mean that he felt that Chengtou had this strength. He always remembered the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and just a few casual words not only made him return without success, but even boosted the morale of the people on the city.

At this time, Huang Taiji was certain of one thing: the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty should not be underestimated!

Thanks to Emperor Mo Sheng for the reward!

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