The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 504 What's the plan?

The artillery battalion's actions stunned both the civil and military officials of the Southern Song Dynasty.

They knew that the firearms of the Northern Song Dynasty were formidable, but they never expected that the combined firepower of a hundred red-coated cannons would produce such a powerful display.

Is that section of the city wall still big enough for people to stand on?

Those watching were stunned, but the person doing the beating was still busy.

"Trailer positions, move forward under the cover of artillery fire!"

A large number of old-fashioned catapults were pushed forward under the cover of artillery fire.

The military generals of the Southern Song Dynasty all stared wide-eyed at this scene. In the past, when two armies faced each other and catapults hurled at each other, the defending side always had the advantage. This was because the attacking side's catapults had to move forward and get their feet planted, and during this process, the defending side's catapults could hurl at the enemy for one or two rounds, gaining a great advantage.

However, under the cover of the Northern Song army's cannons, the defending side's catapults, ballistae, and the like were completely overwhelmed by the shells, so how could they possibly take the initiative to attack?
Under the cover of their own artillery fire, the Northern Song siege troops calmly established their foothold and easily brought the city wall into their firing range.

"Catapults, fire!"

At a command, a large number of catapults swung their wooden arms, sending stones of varying sizes hurtling toward the city wall.

Those who wanted to shoot farther would load large rocks, regardless of the range.

To suppress the enemy's catapults over a larger area, they placed many small, loose stones on them.

With their varying sizes combined, when they were thrown, it created an overwhelming barrage of flying stones.

Not only were people not allowed to stand on the city wall, but even flies, mosquitoes, centipedes, and crickets dared not stay there; all living things were fleeing in panic.

Han Shizhong's eyes lit up when he saw this: "If it were me, I would send people out to fill in the moat."

As he uttered these words, Yue Fei, who was standing beside him, also shouted, "Fill the river!"

Almost at the same time, Minister of War Wu Jialiang's loud shout rang out in the distance: "Engineering Corps! Charge!"

A large group of engineers, under the cover of shield vehicles, pushed tricycles filled with mud and sand and carried sandbags that had been prepared in advance, and rushed forward.

Overhead, shells and rocks fired by friendly forces whistled past. The engineers looked up at the sky, feeling somewhat uneasy. If a shell or rock that hadn't been properly angled fell prematurely, casualties among the engineers would be inevitable.

At this point, it all depends on whether they trust their allies!

The answer is, of course: Believe! Charge!
When they rushed to a distance where friendly fire was possible, the artillery and catapults stopped firing simultaneously.

The chariot rushed to the moat and unfolded, like opening a door.

The engineers following behind immediately dumped a cartload of mud and sand into the river, and the engineers carrying sandbags also threw the sandbags towards the center of the river. With a splash, the clear moat water immediately turned murky.

A Jin soldier's head popped out from the city wall, desperately trying to shoot an arrow downwards to stop the engineers' actions.

But then a stragglers emerged from behind the cart, raised their muskets, and with a bang, the Jin soldier screamed and fell backward.

"Cover! Cover the engineers! Don't let them get shot at!" The tank commander's shouts echoed along the riverbank.

Each shield cart was a fully functional combat unit. The rattan shield soldiers in the ranks immediately raised their shields to protect the engineers, eight arquebusiers took turns firing at the city walls, and even the halberd bearers took out their light bows and fired fire arrows wildly at the walls. The cart commander waved his flag spear and shouted, "Over here...over here...someone come here! Over there, protect him, up there, look up there..."

Dust filled the air, making it difficult for either side to see the other's troops clearly.

But the massive moat was clearly visible, and the engineers just kept pouring mud and sand into it and throwing sandbags into it, without having to worry about anything else.

Jin Wuzhu poked his head out from the city wall, pointed at the increasingly narrow river channel, and roared, "Their soldiers are getting close to the city wall! The cannons and catapults are useless now! All archers, go over there, shoot over there!" A large group of Jin archers rushed towards that section of the city wall!

This section of the city wall had been utterly destroyed. The top of the wall was riddled with craters from cannonballs and boulders. The ground was littered with the corpses of Jin soldiers and puppet Qi soldiers. They stumbled and staggered as they ran. The Jin archers were running so fast that several of them accidentally kicked cannonballs, fell down, rolled over, and got up again, looking quite disheveled.

But you really won't get hit by artillery shells here!

Because the engineers of the Northern Song Dynasty were filling the moat outside the city wall, at this distance, cannons and catapults dared not fire at this side.

The Jin soldiers' morale soared, and they lay prone on the battered parapets, no longer needing to aim, and unleashed a barrage of arrows at the river below.

This really put the engineers in a difficult position. All the engineers hid behind the escape vehicle. All that could be heard was a series of rapid, heavy thuds from the door panel. In the blink of an eye, countless arrows were embedded in the door panel.

However, it is impolite not to reciprocate!
The commanders of several shield-carrying vehicles shouted at the same time: "Tiger crouching gun! Fire upwards!"

Even if we lose the cannons, we still have the Tiger Crouching Cannon.

This thing won't cause any accidental injury.

A group of soldiers carried the tiger-squatting cannons, which weighed only about thirty kilograms, and quickly ran behind the shield carts. The shield carts blocked the view of the Jin soldiers in the city. The artillerymen hid behind the gate and secretly operated the cannons. They first set up the tiger-squatting cannons, raised the muzzles, and aimed them at the top of the city wall. They didn't need to aim very accurately, since the tiger-squatting cannons fired grapeshot.

First, load the gunpowder, then insert a handful of small iron balls into the muzzle, and finally attach the matchlock...

The artillerymen roared, "Ready!"

"Ignite!" the young general in charge of frontline command shouted. "I'll count to three, and at the same time, withdraw the shield vehicles."

"One, two..." A large group of soldiers shouted in unison.

On the battlefield, their shouts were too soft for their comrades to hear, but their unified shouts of "one, two, three" were quite loud, and the Jin soldiers on the city wall heard them too. However, the Jin soldiers were completely bewildered and did not know what the enemy outside was shouting. They were still holding their bows and arrows and kept throwing them at the back of the shield carts.

"three!"

At the command of the front-line commander, the shield vehicles at the very front split to the sides almost simultaneously.

Where they separated, one after another, the Tiger Crouching Cannons were exposed!
A huge area!

"Boom boom boom boom!"

In an instant, countless small iron balls flew toward the group of Jin archers. The scene was comparable to a locust plague or an apocalyptic spectacle. The Jin soldiers had no time to react. The people in the front row were instantly riddled with holes, while those in the back row were so frightened that they scrambled away as fast as they could.

Once they retreated, the pressure from the archers eased, and the engineers resumed their work, hauling mud and stones to fill the moat.

Jin Wuzhu was stunned for a moment, not knowing what to do.

Not only did he not know, but a group of generals on the Southern Song side also did not know.

Han Shizhong said in a low voice, "Brother Yue, if you were in Jin Wuzhu's position now, what would you do?"

Yue Fei shook his head: "There's no way to solve this."

The two looked at each other in horror...

However, three seconds later, Yue Fei suddenly looked up and said, "If my Yue Family Army were defending the city, we would have no choice but to risk our lives to save them. Let the soldiers brave the threat of tiger-squatting cannons and muskets and shoot arrows across the river to interfere with the engineers filling in the moat."

(End of this chapter)