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

Outside the city of Chengdu, Zhang Shikang frowned and looked at the gloomy sky.

There were several old men standing around him. Some of them had worked in the Nanjing Imperial Observatory, some had experience as fishermen, and there were several patients with rheumatism and rheumatoid arthritis.

Without exception, these people are very sensitive to weather and celestial phenomena.

They have been following the army for some time. Zhang Shikang hired them to make real-time weather forecasts to prevent the war from being launched at an inappropriate time.

Chengdu has been bombarded by his artillery for more than two days. According to the progress, it will take at least two or three days, but it is only a matter of time.

It is conceivable how anxious Zhang Xianzhong in the city must be. According to Zhang Shikang's estimation of this man, Zhang Xianzhong is certainly not someone who would sit still and wait to die.

More than 50,000 troops were still gathered in one place and did not form an encirclement of Chengdu City. Zhang Shikang was actually not worried that Zhang Xianzhong would leave the city.

It’s up to him to run or fight, and once he leaves Chengdu, there will no longer be such a strong city wall for him to defend in Sichuan, which is also a good thing for the imperial court.

Judging from the number of defenders in the city and Zhang Xianzhong's temperament, Zhang Shikang did not think that Zhang Xianzhong would just run away, otherwise he would have run away long ago.

The weather is unusual now, and it is very likely that Zhang Xianzhong will seize this opportunity.

Regarding the possible rainy days, Zhang Shikang had already discussed countermeasures with Qin Liangyu. If it really rained, firearms would naturally be useless. The worst plan was to use musketeers as swordsmen.

The close combat capabilities of the Guards' musketeers are also not weak, but that will inevitably increase casualties, which is something Zhang Shikang does not want to see.

"Marshal, my leg hasn't started to hurt yet. The weather is a bit weird." An old man said, looking at the sky.

His legs are like a barometer. Once it starts to rain, he will start to feel persistent pain, and it’s almost certain that it will happen.

Although the weather was a little cloudy this time, his legs did not hurt.

The old man's speech was agreed by several other people with leg diseases.

The old man who had worked at the Imperial Observatory also said:

"General, it will probably rain, but I don't think it will last long. Just look at the sky over there."

The old man pointed to the distant sky and said that although there were dark clouds, the sun was still shining in the distant sky. This phenomenon was not unfamiliar to those who observed the weather and the stars every day.

"I understand. It's going to be a shower." Zhang Shikang felt a little relieved.

At this time, a scout came over to report.

"General, there is movement in the north city. Zhang Xianzhong may lead his troops out of the city."

"I knew this guy couldn't help himself. Tell Governor Qin to prepare for the battle according to the established plan." Zhang Shikang picked up the telescope and looked at the city wall of Chengdu.

Two quarters of an hour later, Zhang Xianzhong's army had assembled.

Rows of chariots were lined up in the front, each chariot was manned by twenty soldiers, three of whom were either musketeers or archers standing on the chariot, and the rest were responsible for driving the chariot.

The weather is getting gloomier.

"All the generals, listen up! This battle is of vital importance to our Great Western Nation. We can only win and not lose.

If you win, I will reward you with all the gold, silver and jewelry in the palace of my Great Western Kingdom.

If you lose, I will live and die with you.

Luo Wenlong is the vanguard, attack!"

Zhang Xianzhong drew his sword, raised it above his head, and shouted to the army behind him.

"We will win!" Zhang Xianzhong's army shouted and began to advance towards the imperial army.

Qin Liangyu decisively ordered Qi Dazhu of the artillery battalion to fire at the chariots. After a round of volleys, more than a dozen chariots were overturned and destroyed.

But the bandit army had too many chariots, and a little damage would not change the situation. Qin Liangyu had no choice but to order the artillery battalion to target the enemy troops in the rear.

Zhang Xianzhong couldn't help but feel excited when he saw this, and thought it would be great if it could rain at this time.

When the chariot approached the Guards' musketeer phalanx, the musketeers fired the first volley as bursts of white smoke rose.

Most of the bullets were blocked by the bandits' chariots. The bullets hit the chariot boards which had four layers of protection: wood, cowhide, iron sheet and sandbags, and only made a hole in the sandbag.

So Qin Liangyu decisively ordered the soldiers to stop shooting, and then passed the order along with the flag.

Sun Dasheng and Wei Shuangyong each led 3,000 cavalrymen and began to charge towards the enemy's chariot formation from the left and right sides of the Guards' phalanx.

The bandits' archers began to show their power, and many cavalrymen were hit by arrows, but under the strict military discipline, they still rushed straight towards the bandits' chariot formation.

The two men had only one goal, to kill the enemy behind the chariot and paralyze the enemy's chariot soldiers.

At this moment, Zhang Xianzhong felt the coolness on his face.

It's raining.

"Hahaha! God will not destroy our Daxi!" Zhang Xianzhong looked surprised.

"Pass on my military order. Don't worry about the chariots. Charge the government troops' formation. Their firearms will be useless!"

The rain was falling very heavily, probably equivalent to moderate rain.

This seems to be different from usual rainy days. You know, it was sunny an hour ago. Under normal circumstances, it takes a long time for the weather to rain, and it may start to be gloomy the day before it rains.

Qin Liangyu immediately ordered the Guards' musketeers to change their equipment.

Sun Dasheng and Wei Shuangyong were still trying their best to kill the enemy's charioteers. Not only the charioteers, but also some riders in the cavalry team, holding the standard weapon of the Guanning Iron Cavalry - the three-barreled gun.

Of course, they used the three-barreled gun as an iron hammer.

Their goal was simple, which was to use iron hammers to hit the weak points of the chariot, the wheels, and the important devices of the frame, mainly to destroy the mobility of the chariot.

After Zhang Xianzhong suffered the defeat in Yongchuan, he had few cavalry left, so he did not send his own cavalry to fight against the government cavalry.

Compared with this, it is more practical to let the cavalry attack the government army's formation.

Yes, after it started raining, Zhang Xianzhong decisively gave up the chariot formation.

The main purpose of the chariot formation is to resist muskets, but now it is raining, the muskets can no longer be used, and the chariots naturally lose their function.

With no one guarding the chariots, the chariot soldiers quickly followed other troops to attack the government troops.

Sun Dasheng and Wei Shuangyong led thousands of cavalrymen but did not retreat. Zhang Shikang gave them a clear task: they must destroy all the enemy's chariots.

Even though these chariots could not be used due to the rain, military orders were still military orders, and they had to carry out the orders even if they were hit by arrows from the bandits.

When all the chariots were destroyed by the two men, Zhang Xianzhong's army was already fighting with the Guards.

After completing the mission, Sun Dasheng and Wei Shuangyong did not target the surrounding enemy troops, but immediately retreated to the rear according to the established plan. At this time, two quarters of an hour had passed.

Zhang Xianzhong acted like a madman and kept ordering his subordinates to charge.

The close combat ability of the Guards still surprised him. They were not at all inferior to him and the battlefield fell into a stalemate.

At this moment, a ray of sunlight suddenly passed through the clouds and shone on the battlefield where the fighting was taking place.

In just a moment, the rain stopped suddenly.

Zhang Xianzhong was completely stunned.

……