Southern Ming Rebel Army

Continuous rounds of shrapnel bombardment made the Yarkand defenders on the city wall a little dazed. Not to mention the ordinary soldiers, even Muhara's head was buzzing for a while.

As the order to attack came, the Qian army under the city took advantage of the defenders being frightened and pushed the siege equipment towards the city wall with all their strength.

Liang Sanhu straightened his armor and was about to go into battle when he was stopped by his deputy general. The deputy general tried to persuade him earnestly, saying that the ladders had not been put up yet and the general could only wait after going up. Hearing this, Liang Sanhu patiently continued to observe the situation on the battlefield.

Soon, the Qian army built dozens of rows of trench bridges on the trench outside Turpan City. In the gaps between the trench bridges, the soldiers pushed the siege ladders across the trench bridges quickly.

As the siege troops approached the city wall, the artillery in the rear of the Qian army finally stopped firing temporarily. At this time, the defenders on the city wall finally came to their senses.

Muhara roared and fired on the city wall. In retaliation, the archers and musketeers of Yarkand quickly fired arrows and projectiles towards the city.

After a long while, the two cannons on the city wall began firing, and two solid bullets flew swiftly into the formation of Qian's army.

There were too few cannons on the top of Turpan City, only five in total, which were purchased by Sengge from the Russians. There was one cannon on each of the four city walls. Muhalla believed that the main attack direction of the Qian army should be in the south, so there were two cannons on the south.

However, the gap between the two cannons and the more than 70 cannons of the Qian army was too big. Fortunately, Sengge considered the safety of Turpan City and left 1,000 of the 3,000 muskets he purchased in Turpan City, allowing Muhalla to fight back with firearms.

It was only because of the continuous rounds of bombing by the Qian army that the organization of the defenders on the city wall became extremely chaotic, which also led to the defenders' uneven and unscaled shooting when attacking the city. With the existing accuracy of the muskets, it can only be said that except for some unlucky people who were hit, the Qian army did not suffer too many casualties.

Soon, after suffering a small number of casualties, the Qian army approached the city wall and even set up siege ladders.

When Muhalla saw this, he shouted anxiously, "Thunderstones, rolling logs, and flaming oil, throw them all down!"

After shouting this, Muhalla ran to the stairs leading up to the city and shouted to the archers who were still gathered behind the city wall: "Listen to my order and shoot arrows!"

As Muhara's roar fell, the archers behind the city wall drew their bows and arrows, raised them high, and shot them at the army outside the city.

Dense swarms of arrows flew up into the sky like a swarm of locusts, covering the sky and the sun, and then whistled towards the Qian army outside the city wall with a somewhat sharp sound.

Some arrows hit the soldiers' helmets, making crisp impact sounds. Because of the round helmets, the arrows slid to the sides. Others were thrown at them, and the armor on their bodies did not provide any protection, but pierced directly into their bodies through the neck, causing blood to ooze out.

The Qian army that was still climbing the city wall was also smashed to pieces by the defenders on the city wall using thunder stones and rolling logs. Some soldiers were unable to dodge and were smashed to pieces, causing them to scream in pain.

At the same time, dozens of cans of kerosene were carried by the defenders and thrown down the city wall with great force. A pungent smell spread, and the lit torches were thrown down by the defenders one after another.

In an instant, flames shot up into the sky. The flaming oil ignited as soon as it came into contact with fire, and the fire was extremely fierce and spread rapidly, engulfing more than a dozen Qian army soldiers who were unable to dodge and the siege ladders under the city.

The Qian army in the surrounding area hurriedly dug the ground to bury the ashes, trying to stop the fire and save the siege equipment.

Liang Sanhu, who saw this scene, yelled angrily, pushed away the deputy general who was pulling him, and said, "You take charge!"

Then he rushed forward quickly with his personal guards.

Chu Zhangyin, who was behind the battle formation, whispered to Lin Shiqi, "General, General Liang is here in person!"

Lin Shiqi, who had spent half his life on the battlefield, was no longer surprised by casualties during sieges. After listening to Chu Zhangyin's words, Lin Shiqi turned the telescope to Liang Sanhu who was still rushing forward.

Liang Sanhu has always regarded himself as a brave and powerful man ever since Gu Yanwu boasted about him as the most powerful general of Zhou army in the newspaper. And he is indeed very brave and powerful. Liang Sanhu is tall and strong. He holds a round shield in front of himself, slightly bends his head, and keeps rushing towards the city wall.

Ordinary soldiers of the Qian army already knew that once kerosene started a fire, it would be impossible to put out the fire with water in a short time. The quickest way was to cover it with soil. The Qian army under the city wall, despite the arrows and bullets from the city walls, frantically covered it with soil. As the saying goes, there is strength in numbers. Although the fire was big just now, it has gradually weakened with the efforts of so many people.

At this moment, the musketeers of the Qian army began to arrive at the foot of the city. They formed five rows and then fired at the top of the city under the command of the officers.

Amid the incessant gunfire, some of the Turpan defenders had just shown their heads, ready to pick up stones and throw them down, when they were hit by bullets and fell backwards along with the stones.

The firearms soldiers of the Qian army temporarily suppressed the top of the city wall after five continuous attacks. The defenders squatted under the battlements, not daring to show their heads easily. They could only squat and stuff stones down from the battlements. However, the power of such stones was far different from that of people throwing stones down with all their strength.

Faced with such fierce shooting, the defenders were cowardly and did not dare to fight back. Muhalla was so angry that he shouted, "Stand up and fight back. Anyone who violates this will be killed!"

But Muhara's shouting was difficult to spread in this noisy battlefield. Muhara could only bend over and slap or kick the defenders one by one along the way to force them to stand up.

Seeing the huge advantage of the Qian army's firearms, Muhara felt an ominous premonition in his heart, but he still gritted his teeth and shouted loudly for resistance. No matter from which angle, his only way was to defend Turpan City to the death!

Muhara was gathering reinforcements while arranging people to block the gap, because in such a short period of time, Qian’s army had already climbed to the top of the city wall from different places.

It was only a short time, not even a day, and the Qian army was allowed to enter the city. Muhalla had also experienced a battle to defend a city when he was young. At that time, he was stationed in a small fort with only more than 200 soldiers, while there were thousands of nomadic cavalry outside the city.

But he was able to hold on tenaciously under such a great disadvantage until the arrival of reinforcements, and the small fort was still not lost. This battle was also the one in which he gradually became Apak Khoja's confidant.

In Muhalla's mind, even if the Qian army was stronger, they would not be able to capture Turpan City in one day. You know, Turpan is the most solid city in Yarkand, which is a world of difference from the small fort where he was originally stationed.

Before the battle, Muhara thought that he would have to hold out for at least a month before he could engage in an offensive and defensive battle on the city wall with the Qian army. However, as the situation on the battlefield became one-sided, Muhara discovered with some sadness that the combat effectiveness of the Central Plains dynasty's army was completely different from that of the nomadic cavalry of the past.