Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

Boom-boom-boom-boom-

After replacing the damaged artillery, under the order of Zhang Shikang, the artillery position began to fire at the west gate of Suzhou City again.

A quarter of an hour later, the west gate had been blown to pieces by artillery shells, revealing the huge rock behind the gate.

The gate tower on the city gate was blown to pieces and had fallen apart. The blue bricks on both sides of the city gate had peeled off, and the rammed earth layer inside the wall bricks had begun to show in some places.

Zhang Shikang ordered his troops to go to the surrounding counties and prefectures to requisition more artillery and ammunition, while he ordered Xu Wenyuan to continue the bombardment.

When the barrel overheated, they poured water on it; when the cannon was damaged, they replaced it; the shelling continued until dusk.

In the evening, Zhang Shikang ordered the gunners to take a break. Liu Liangzuo thought that Zhang Shikang would stop fighting at night.

But before an hour had passed, the sound of artillery bombardment was heard again outside the west city of Suzhou.

Night vision was severely limited, but even so, Zhang Shikang ordered the gunners to light torches and fire a salvo every half hour.

He wanted to keep Liu Liangzuo and the 50,000 defenders in the city in a state of tension, even if it would hurt the enemy by one thousand and lose two hundred of his own.

But the Beijing Camp is an elite force, and its ability to withstand pressure is stronger than that of the defenders in the city. Zhang Shikang can afford it.

Early morning in Suzhou city.

Liu Liangzuo walked around the prefectural government office anxiously. On both sides of the inner hall, officials from the Suzhou prefectural government office sat on one side, and his subordinates sat on the other side.

Everyone was anxious, and many timid officials looked pale.

"General Liu, we can't just waste time like this. After all, the bastards are free outside and can constantly mobilize ammunition, but we can only hide in the city. We can't fight like this, right?"

Zhou Houfa, the prefect of Suzhou, said that there were not only his wives and concubines in the city, but also the property he had accumulated over the years. Zhou Houfa certainly had reason to question.

In this era when civil officials looked down on military officials, not to mention the prefects of a prosperous area like Suzhou, even the magistrates of lower-ranking counties sometimes dared to look down on military generals who led thousands of troops.

According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, when military generals arrived in various places, local government offices were obliged to provide food and fodder for the army.

But the reality is that the general would most likely be turned away, and the local county magistrate would probably give the general some silver to get rid of him, and then say, "Go another eighty miles, general, and go to the next county to beg for food."

Military generals often have no other options. If they provoke civil officials, not only will they not get food and fodder, they may also be impeached.

But who is Liu Liangzuo? He is a soldier who bullies the people on a daily basis. In such a critical situation, why would he care about such a shitty prefect? He immediately retorted:

"You tell me how to fight? I'll leave it to you, you do it?"

Liu Liangzuo glared at him with his eyes wide open, as if he was going to overturn the table if anyone dared to talk nonsense again.

"There are more than 50,000 defenders in the city, and tens of thousands of militiamen that can be mustered. As for the thieves outside the city, there are only 30,000 at most.

With such an advantage, we can only hide here. Why not go out of the city to fight? Even if we don't fight, a sneak attack outside the city might also be effective.

General Liu, you said...ah——"

Before Zhou Houfa could finish his words, Liu Liangzuo drew his sword and slashed his neck with it. He only had time to scream before he lost his balance and fell in the lobby of the yamen.

The blood spurted far away, frightening the Tongzhi and Tongpan next to him.

"You really want to teach me how to fight! Who do you think you are?"

Liu Liangzuo looked at Zhou Houfa's twitching body, as if he was speaking to Zhou Houfa, and also seemed to be warning other officials.

Military generals are indeed suppressed by civil officials, but that also depends on the time. If it were outside the city of Suzhou, he would certainly be helpless.

Now he is sitting in the government office in the city and his life is almost gone. Who would be afraid of your impeachment?

"Anyone who dares to interfere will suffer the same fate!" Liu Liangzuo said as he looked around at the group of officials.

After saying that, he ordered his men to take Zhou Houfa's body away, and then began to walk anxiously in the lobby.

After walking for a while, he asked again:

"If you have any ideas, please tell us as soon as possible!"

The Tongzhi and Tongpan in the Suzhou prefectural government looked at each other and dared not say a word.

The bloodstains left by Zhou Houfa's death haven't dried yet. Whoever dares to bring it up, if he fails to bring it up, he will be hacked to death.

After a long silence, a man stood up beside the general.

"General, I think the conventional method is no longer effective. We must come up with a surprising plan to force that bastard to give up the bombardment."

Their original preparations were based on Zhang Shikang's attack on the city using conventional methods.

There are natural advantages in defending the city, and Zhang Shikang does not have many troops. Whether using rolling logs, thunder stones, bows, crossbows, or swords, we should first consume Zhang Shikang's troops and morale as much as possible.

Most of these tasks can be handed over to the strong men in the city. After the soldiers in the Beijing camp become exhausted and their morale is low, they can lead the army to defeat Zhang Shikang in one battle.

But there is a prerequisite: how to make Zhang Shikang give up the shelling.

Liu Liangzuo frowned.

"If you have something to say, just say it. Don't learn from those civil servants who beat around the bush!"

The general was not angry when he heard this. He walked forward and whispered a few words to Liu Liangzuo. Liu Liangzuo frowned when he heard this, as if he had suddenly realized something.

"This plan is feasible. The situation is critical now and we can't care about so many things!"

……

The artillery fire did not stop all night. Although the efficiency of the nighttime bombardment dropped greatly, it lasted for a whole night and there was an effect, but not much.

More than two feet of the huge stone inside the city gate was consumed, and the gate tower had completely collapsed into a ruin.

On the contrary, after the bricks of the city wall were completely peeled off, the rammed earth layer inside the blue bricks was exposed.

This rammed earth layer is similar to the concave earth wall built by Zhang Shikang outside the cannon.

Moreover, the material of the rammed earth layer is much denser than that of the concave earth wall. A solid bullet can only make a hole about a foot deep, but the wall of Suzhou City is two or three feet thick.

Zhang Shikang knew that solid artillery shells would not work for sieges at this time, and he was mentally prepared for low efficiency, but he did not expect it to be so troublesome.

He recalled that in ancient TV dramas, the attackers would just bombard the city randomly and break through the walls to defeat the enemy. In his heart, there were only a thousand alpacas galloping non-stop.

But he still had no intention of giving up the bombardment. It didn't matter if he went slow. He had plenty of ammunition.

There is no rush anyway, and there is no need to use human lives to fill the city wall. This would only play into Liu Liangzuo's trap.

At dawn, Zhang Shikang ordered the artillerymen to take a break for lunch, and kept encouraging them to continue their efforts after the meal.

It now seems that it is unlikely to break through the city wall, and the breakthrough must still be at the city gate.

Compared with the two or three-meter-high rammed earth layer, the huge rocks blocking the city gate are more brittle and easier to be blasted open.

But a quarter of an hour later, a scout came to report:

"Marshal, a large number of civilians have appeared on the city wall!"

……