Most of the time, they didn't care whether they could hit the enemy or not. As long as they did, as long as they fought back, it represented a very important attitude.
This attitude would motivate the others to fight back.
They were on top of the city wall, which was very high and wide. These iron bullets would never be able to penetrate it.
Once they had this kind of support, they wouldn't scatter out of fear and give up fighting.
All kinds of firearms were fired from the top of the city wall. There were also bows and arrows. Although they couldn't reach the Qin Army, it seemed to dispel the fear in their hearts. So they attacked crazily.
After looking at the city wall with the monocle for a while, Qi Dayong sneered and said, "They have lost their composure. They don't care whether they can hit us or not. They just keep firing randomly. Order the cannoneers to bombard the towers. Knock out their spirit and spirit, and then charge!"
"Yes, sir!"
The orderly immediately came forward to convey the order of the commander.
The Hongbarb Cannon roared. With the right distance adjusted, the long city wall could be hit. It was just that hitting the city wall would be less of a deterrent, and hitting the towers would be more of a deterrent. It could also destroy their defensive firepower at the same time, reducing the obstacles for the infantry when they charged.
Every soldier was a valuable asset. It wasn't like everyone didn't know how rare it was to have literate soldiers.
Since the Battle of Ningxia, Xiao Ruxun had always carried out the idea of valuing wounded soldiers and never giving up on a wounded soldier. This idea continued to this day, and was even better implemented because of the use of the Hongbarb Cannon.
There were always enough military doctors and field medics in the Qin Army. When they encountered wounded soldiers, they would definitely rescue them and bring them back for treatment.
Every soldier on the battlefield would firmly remember that the first task under military orders was to listen to orders, and the second task was to rescue their wounded comrades and hand them over to the military doctors for treatment. As long as they were still breathing, they couldn't give up. Leaving them in the lurch was tantamount to killing each other.
Xiao Ruxun's idea of making the soldiers literate was also to make the generals pay more attention to human lives. In this era, the difference between literate and illiterate people was quite large. This concept would continue for a long time before universal education was fully implemented.
Being able to read and write in itself was a symbol of status and function. They would always have food to eat and wouldn't starve to death.
It was even more so for soldiers to be literate.
The appearance of the Hongbarb Cannons allowed the Qin Army to better implement this concept. In sieges and field battles, the long range of the Hongbarb Cannons could reduce the difficulty of advancing the infantry, intimidate the enemy, strike their morale, and reduce the obstacles encountered by the infantry to the minimum, indirectly reducing the casualties of the infantry.
Just like the current situation, the rear pass was so high, if the infantry attacked, who knew how many soldiers they would lose to take it down.
But now, with the Red Barbarian Cannon, everything had changed. The method of warfare had changed to a certain extent. The importance of firearms and cannons had become a consensus among the entire army. Long-range destructive firearms such as guns and cannons were increasingly valued and used by the army.
In terms of fighting methods, the Qin Army also began to move towards modern armies, which was undoubtedly revolutionary.
The Red Barbarian Cannons rumbled. The rear gate was riddled with holes by the iron cannons, and the gate tower had already collapsed. The city was in a complete mess.
Just a moment ago, there were continuous sounds of cannons, muskets, and arrows. But now, there was nothing. Six iron cannons smashed into the gate tower, and the tower was instantly silenced.
Qi Dayong saw everything clearly through the Monocular. He felt that the situation had changed, and now was the time to charge. So, he gave the order, and the war drums rumbled.
The Qin Army got into formation, shouting in unison, "Hah! Hah! Hah!" The shield chariots and shield soldiers were in front, the siege troops at the back, and the archers were mixed in with them. The dragoons armed with rifled flintlocks also dismounted and followed in the formation, ready to fire accurately at any time. The Qin Army advanced towards the rear pass.
At first, Qi Dayong thought that the resistance of the Bozhou soldiers had ended, and that as long as they climbed up the wall and started the attack, they would be able to take down the rear pass smoothly. But in the end, when the Qin Army was about a mile away from the rear pass and continued to advance, a few more General Weiyuan Cannons suddenly appeared on the wall, and rumbled loudly.
A few explosive shells directly exploded on the edge of the Qin Army's battle formation, and a few even exploded in the middle of the Qin Army's battle formation. In an instant, a dozen or so Qin Army soldiers were blown away. Another round of gunshots rang out on the wall, and another shower of arrows rained down.
The sudden attack slightly hindered the advance of the Qin Army. Some unlucky soldiers were hit by lead bullets or crossbows, and fell to the ground, screaming in pain. When Qi Dayong saw this, he was furious. He immediately gave the order for the whole army to charge and attack the city.
The sound of drums changed. The organization formed by the strict training of the Qin Army showed its effect at this time. After being attacked, they did not fall into disorder, and their battle formation did not change, and they continued to advance.
When they heard the order, the battle formation dispersed, and the attacking troops quickly rushed out of the battle formation. The gunners and crossbowmen immediately hid behind the shield carts and fired at the top of the wall, covering the charging Qin Army soldiers.
The swift and violent counterattack of the Qin Army caught the Bozhou soldiers off guard, and they suffered heavy losses. Dozens of gunners, crossbowmen, and cannoneers were hit by bullets and fell to the ground, and some even fell off the wall. The native soldiers were terrified, and Yang Wei, who was on the wall, immediately shouted for the officers to organize the troops.
But another round of gunshots rang out, and several officers fell into pools of blood. Yang Wei was startled, and quickly hid under the battlements of the wall to protect himself.
In this short distance, because of the quick counterattack of the Qin Army, the weapons on the wall could not fire a second time. The attacking troops of the Qin Army had already rushed to the bottom of the wall, and the scaling ladders were built, and the soldiers had begun to climb the wall to attack.
Disregarding his own safety, Yang Wei shouted loudly and ordered the native soldiers of Bozhou to throw down the rolling logs and broken rocks that were prepared on the city wall. The archers and archers released their arrows, while the gunmen immediately stabbed the scaling ladders with their spears, determined not to allow the Qin army to ascend the city.
Many of the Qin soldiers were killed by the rolling logs, stones, arrows, and muskets, and many of them fell down the scaling ladders to their deaths. But the rest of the soldiers were unmoved. They raised their shields and continued their ascent.
The gunners and crossbowmen at the bottom of the wall desperately shot to cover the soldiers who were climbing the wall. The fighting on and under the wall was very fierce.
Qi Dayong saw through the Monocular that the native soldiers of Bozhou on the back pass were putting up a very tenacious resistance. The intensity of their resistance was something he had never seen before. Compared with the native soldiers of Bozhou on Luomeng Pass, it was like heaven and earth.
"Since the beginning of the war, I have never seen such a tenacious native soldier of Bozhou. Basically, they collapsed at the first encounter. It seems that these are the real elites!"
His chief of staff beside him said with a sigh.
"That's natural. At this time, if he still doesn't bring out the elites, I will really wonder what Yang Yinglong is relying on to be so arrogant for so many years. How useless are those local soldiers of the former Ming Dynasty?"
After thinking for a while, Qi Dayong knew that these were the real elites of Bozhou, and they had the characteristics of men of sacrifice.
Under the strong impact of the superior firearms and military strength of the Qin Army, they still fought without rest, and seemed to have no intention of retreating at all. They were nailed to the top of the wall and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Qin Army. Their fighting strength was very strong, and they were probably the real life-saving card of Yang Yinglong.
PS: Everyone, I would like to apologize to you. I made a big mistake earlier. Both the Francis Cannon and the Hongyi Cannon are unable to fire explosive shells. During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, explosive shells were invented, but they could only be fired by mortars and howitzers. For example, the General Weiyuan Cannon, its power was barely equal to a hand grenade. Explosive shells for long-barreled cannons could only be achieved after the invention of reliable fuses. That was in the late 18th century and early 19th century. I didn't look up the information carefully before. I'm sorry, but I can no longer change the previous part. Everyone, please know that I will make changes later.
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