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On the moat, on the ladders one after another, there were heavy armored soldiers, holding large shields and rushing up the ladders.

These Jianlu who attacked first were all selected by Mang Gurtai in advance, and they were all very skilled. If it were normal times, there would be no problem if they were allowed to hold up shields and wear heavy armor to walk through the ladder.

But at this time, the bows and arrows on the city top, and the lead pellets of the blunderbuss were all tilted down as if they were free of charge. The "puff" sound on the shield was almost continuous, and even the shield that was almost broken was broken after a while, and the Jianlu who was hiding behind the shield suffered immediately. In the moat, prisoners fell from time to time, bubbling in the water and disappearing after a while. Only traces of red blood reminded that there had been dead people here.

There were also the Jianlu archers in front who were also being protected by the firepower of the city. Arrows rained down, mixed with the firing of muskets, and lead pellets flew randomly.

Whether it was the siege builders on the ladder or the build-up archers, someone was shot almost every second. It didn't take long for many Jianlu to have more or less arrows inserted into their bodies. If you are lucky, the shot will not hit a vital point, or if the armor is thick enough, the arrow will hang on the body; if you are unlucky, the shot will happen to be in a place that is not protected by the heavy armor, or it will be hit by a bird blunderbuss. , that is, blood spattered everywhere, and he fell to the ground.

Jianlu's military discipline was strict. Even so, no one retreated. Those who should cross the moat continued to cross the moat, and those who should shoot arrows to cover did not retreat because of heavy casualties.

Correspondingly, the Ming army on top of the city was also covered by a rain of arrows. Except for the servants and a few soldiers, most of the Ming soldiers only wore cotton armor, which had weak protection against arrows. Every time a rain of arrows fell, screams would be heard from the top of the city.

When the other soldiers heard the screams of their companions, or saw their companions rolling on the ground in pain after being hit by arrows, they couldn't help but be affected, and some shrank back. The supervising team behind saw them and urged them fiercely. Compared to Jianlu's side, the city was much more lively.

As a result, the Ming army was protected by city walls, and the Jianlu army had strict military discipline and a tenacious will to fight. For a while, the two sides were evenly matched.

The battle lasted for a while, and suddenly, in the Ming army with cannons on the top of the city, there was a strange noise, and a soldier screamed, covering his head and rolling to the ground. His blunderbuss was blown to one side.

When the Ming soldiers nearby who also used blunderbuss saw it, they were immediately frightened, fearing that the blunderbuss in their hands would explode. Even if the supervising team urged them, their speed would inevitably slow down.

Among the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, at least half were shot with muskets. After the speed slowed down, the pressure on Jianlu was obviously reduced.

The civil and military officials on the inner city wall saw the offensive and defensive battle with real swords and guns right in front of them. Seeing the blood spraying and the broken limbs and remains, many people's legs became weak. At this time, seeing that the momentum on the top of the city seemed to be weakening, many people suddenly panicked.

They had all witnessed with their own eyes the brutality of the prisoners outside the city just now. They did not treat human beings at all. If they rush into the city, will the whole family still have a way to survive? There's no point even surrendering, barbarians are barbarians!

On the arrow tower in the inner city, Zhou Yanru trembled, and he couldn't help but regretful in his heart. Why did he come to the capital to be an assistant minister? It would be better to be in Jiangnan! What if Jianlu invades and he hasn't lived enough?

Hu Guang next to him was different from them. Seeing such a tragic scene, for some reason, he was not afraid at all. Instead, he felt that his blood was boiling, which made him somewhat strange.

Although he also saw problems on the city, he was not worried at all. If Jianlu were to attack the city in such a wave, Mangui would be in a bad situation. This capital has fallen countless times.

Although Hu Guang was thinking this, his brows were also frowning. It was not because of worry, but because he saw many problems with the defense at the top of the city.

First, there was a problem with the quality of the artillery guns, especially the bird guns. As far as he could see, several bird guns had exploded. The reason for the explosion of the barrel was that the quality was not up to standard, and the soldiers were in a panic and filled too much gunpowder, which exceeded the bearing capacity of the barrel.

Second, the soldiers at the top of the city were poorly disciplined and poorly trained. Many problems arose during the battle, and they were in a hurry. Many soldiers even had panic attacks that seriously affected their colleagues. If it weren't for the protection of the city wall and it was just a field battle, it would have been defeated long ago.

Third, the protective measures of the city are not adequate. Logically speaking, a sheep and horse wall needs to be built on the inside of the moat outside the city. On the outside of the moat, horse guns must be arranged, horse pits dug, and antlers and caltrops placed. Used to slow enemy attacks to the city walls.

The reason why he failed to do this well cannot be blamed on Man Gui. The main reason was that it had only been about two days since Hu Guang ordered the withdrawal of the royal army outside the city. The capital was too large and it was impossible to know from which direction Jianlu would attack the city, so there was no time to make arrangements.

Another reason is that the imperial court has no money, and the capital does not have much inventory of protective equipment. The equipment that needs to be worked on immediately is all on the city walls.

Seeing this situation, Hu Guang couldn't help but use his brain. He understood that if he just defended like this, it would be a bit difficult. I wanted Jianlu to be beaten to death under the walls of the capital, but I never thought about letting Jianlu attack.

He recalled all the knowledge and experiences in his mind, thinking about what he could do to help in this situation and improve the defense of the defenders.

On the arrow tower on the outer city wall, just as Hu Guang expected, Mangui did not panic at all. After seeing the battle situation and finding that many Jianlu were crowded along the moat, he ordered the defenders at the top of the city to ignore those Jianlu who wanted to cross the ladder, and to use all their firepower to take care of the Jianlu archers.

The reserve team in the city was also ordered to go up one by one to replace the gunmen whose gun barrels were overheated. The number of people was also much larger than at the beginning.

In this way, the firepower of the Ming army was strengthened and concentrated, which immediately made up for the lack of military discipline and training, and began to suppress the Jianlu archers outside the city with their superiority in quantity.

However, those Jianlu who crossed the river were less stressed, and many Jianlu soon reached the inside of the moat. According to their prior arrangements, they immediately assembled their shields for defense to cover the accomplices coming behind them. Some of them began to pull out the ladders erected on the moat, seemingly preparing to use them to attack the city.

In the distance, Huang Taiji and Daishan finally reacted to Mang Gurtai's preemptive attack on the city. No matter who they were, they could immediately understand Mang Gurtai's little thoughts and couldn't help but get angry.