Chapter 273 of the most ruthless bandit in the Ming Dynasty Chapter 273: Cannons fired at Luyukou 70 miles east of Loufan.

The terrain of this place is actually not steep, because it is the intersection of the Fen River, Tianchi River and Shizi River. It has a large area of ​​fertile river beach arable land, and the three rivers have a total of more than 2,000 acres of arable land on the riverside.

Originally there was a village here, which was still the county seat of Luchuan County during the Tang Dynasty, but it was removed from Luchuan County the next year and incorporated into Jiaocheng County to the south.

Because the surrounding mountains were cut down and the soil was lost in large quantities, the Shizi River and Tianchi River also became seasonal rivers. There was only three or four months of water a year, and the population of this place gradually became sparse. By the late Ming Dynasty, it completely turned into a village of hundreds.

Unlike other villages, there are no large households in Luyukou.

Because Ren Liang, Bashanhu and others set up camp in this area, the original wealthy households in the village were robbed by them every now and then. The wealthy households couldn't survive, so they sold the land, a small part of them to the villagers, and most of them were sold to the Ninghua Palace.

With years of natural disasters, the self-cultivated farmers in the village gradually lost their land due to heavy taxes, loans and other reasons, and fled to become refugees. Most of the remaining ones became households in the Ninghua royal palace.

In the past, Qinchuan did not move the arable land here, one because it was a little far from Loufan, and the other because there was a town called Gujiao Town thirty miles east of Luyukou. These two places were very close to Taiyuan. If you occupy this place, you had to invest a lot of troops to defend, otherwise it would be a waste of money.

The situation is different now.

With steel and cement, Qinchuan can build an indestructible military fort in a short period of time.

Therefore, he wants both Luyukou and Gujiao Town.

A military fort has been built at the entrance of Luyu, just beside the Fen River, and there is also a Tianchi River in front of it.

Like Mafang Fort, the military fort is rectangular, with a wall of three feet high and less than one mile in height. The widest east-west city wall is only one hundred steps wide.

The Tianchi River, which was originally less than one meter wide, was not as deep as the Tianchi River during the flood season, had been dug to two meter wide, about eight feet deep, and was regarded as a city moat.

The Luoba and Wubaifang Camp were stationed in Luyukou Fort. Because they faced twice as many enemies as Mafang Fort, and the place was very close to Taiyuan, they were equipped with two red-clothed general cannons and big Franc cannons, eight small Franc cannons, sixteen tiger squat cannons, a total of twenty-eight cannons, and fifty flintlock guns.

The mountain road from Taiyuan to Luyukou is very difficult to walk. Ni Chong and Zhang Dechang's 6,000 troops and horses have a lot of supplies. It took nearly three days to walk a hundred miles and arrive at Luyukou on the evening of the eighth day of April.

Like Zhang Yingchang, Ni Chong, Yang Jinchao and Zhang Dechang were stunned when they saw the strange gray military fort.

It is integrated like a huge rock, more than three meters high, with a hollow city wall, and three layers of more than one hundred gun holes and cannon holes in total.

Which genius came up with such a strange military fort?

"Ha, the surname Qin is not very good. The city wall is hollow. He can think of it. He can use a cannon to bombard the military fort into ruins in one day." After looking at it for a moment, Ni Chong couldn't help but sneer.

Zhang Dechang, who was standing beside him, said: "Mr. Ni, Qin thieves are cunning, we must not underestimate the enemy."

Yang Jinchao on the other side said sharply: "Mr. Zhang, the 30,000 troops of Xuanda are probably already in Ninghua Qianhu Station at this time. The main force of the Qin thieves must be in Ninghua Station. General Zhang from the West Road and commander of Xiwei in the North Road Town, Lord Xue, will be restrained. Luyukou and Loufan must have empty troops. Don't miss the opportunity."

Ni Chong nodded: "Both of you are right. We should not take it lightly, and we should not miss the opportunity. We should take every step and adapt to the situation."

"Tonight, we will camp here for a night of rest and build siege equipment. Tomorrow morning, we will first attack the city wall with cannons and destroy all the military forts. We will then choose a day to march into Loufan depending on the situation."

"Mr. Ni said very much."

"Come on, send orders and camp."

Six thousand officers and soldiers soon camped on a high ground on the east bank of Tianchi River, and sent people to cut down trees everywhere and search for wood in Luyukou Village.

Ni Chong relies on firearms. He was born in the Beijing Camp and did not lack firearms. This time he brought more than 40 large and small cannons, including six large and five-foot-foot-high large Frank cannons, and the rest were small cannons such as small Frank and tiger squat cannons.

It is enough to have those six large Franc cannons. If you focus on bombarding a certain city wall and hit it all day, you won’t believe that the city wall will not collapse.

...

In the early morning of the next day, before dawn, six thousand officers and soldiers slowly advanced towards Luyukou Fort.

When they arrived at three hundred steps, the army stopped, and some set up defensive formations, while the other part knocked and continued to build siege equipment.

Six large Frank cannons mounted on the cannon chariot were pushed out. After walking twenty or thirty steps, they all put down their tail dragons and pricked their feet and began to aim at the walls of the military fort.

The six Franco cannons, the smallest one is five feet long, and the largest one is six feet five inches, with a range of more than one mile.

The reason why Ni Chong let the artillery push to about 280 steps before firing the artillery was to increase its power, and he wanted to use these six cannons to bomb the walls of the military fortress.

He knew that Qin thieves could also have cannons that could kill more than one mile. Last year, the border troops of Xuanda and the two towns suffered from the cannons in Jingle City, but the number was definitely not large. He was not afraid of fighting against the defenders of the military fort.

There are indeed not many artillery guns that can hit a distance of one mile in the military fort, only two red-clothed general cannons and two large Franc machine cannons.

The biggest mistake Ni Chong made was that he didn't know how strong the walls of this military fort were.

...

Luo Ba is best at defense, good at observing the situation and judging the trend.

The red-clothed general can shoot more than two miles away, but he has not fired the artillery for a long time. The reason is the same as Ren Liang, just to destroy the opponent's artillery.

When the six large Franca cannons were pushed out, he still did not order the fire.

When the officers and soldiers put down their tail dragons and kicked their feet and began to aim, the artillery soldiers of the Ten-Platform Battalion in the military fort also began to aim.

"put!"

Seeing that his guns had already been aimed, Luo Ba shouted loudly.

Two red-clothed general cannons and two large Franc machine cannons spewed out flames, and four shells cut through the sky and landed around the officers and soldiers' artillery array.

This was the first round of gun tests. The artillerymen adjusted their angles one after another. Not long after, the four cannons spewed out flames again.

In the second round of artillery bombing, a shell hit, killing several officers, soldiers and gunners into pieces.

The officers and soldiers' big Frank cannons were finally aimed, but one cannon lacked gunners, and only five fired cannons were fired. The whistling shells drew arcs and smashed on the walls of the military fort, making loud noises.

However, the city wall did not move at all, leaving only a few marks.

The officers and soldiers' gunners hurriedly cleared the barrel, loaded ammunition, and prepared to open fire, the four cannons in the military fort spewed out flames again.

The gunners of the Guandi Army have undergone long-term live ammunition training, and their accuracy is far better than those of the officers and soldiers. Two more shells hit the third round of artillery bombings, knocking down several gunners of the officers and soldiers. Two of the six Fran machine cannons have been scrapped.

Ni Chong's face looked ugly, Zhang Dechang's brows were frowning tightly, Yang Jinchao's face turned pale, and he could not say a word with his mouth wide open.

They didn't expect that the group of thieves' artillery in the military fort would be so accurate.

With only three rounds of artillery attacks, the hit is 50%.

Before their six large Franca cannons could be fired, they scrapped two of them.

Moreover, the city wall was surprisingly strong, and the shells of the Big Flam machine cannon left only a few marks.

It seems that the walls of this military fort are very strange.

"Open the fire and hit me hard!"

Ni Chong had no other choice but to bite the bullet and shout loudly.

Some riot gunners quickly replaced the sub-guns and fired the guns again.

The gunmen of the Ten-Plan Battalion in the military fort immediately returned to their colors and fired one after another, and another shell fell into the crowd of officers, soldiers, gunners.

Ni Chong, Yang Jinchao and others' faces became increasingly ugly.

Zhang Dechang frowned and said, "Mr. Ni, we can't take advantage of the artillery fire. Otherwise, we will withdraw our troops for the time being and create enough siege equipment, and it will not be too late to launch a large-scale attack."

Ni Chong shook his head: "No, the big shield covers it. If I continue to hit the city wall, I believe that I can't crush this hollow city wall."

Zhang Dechang opened his mouth and finally sighed secretly.

About a quarter of an hour later, the artillery bombardment of the officers and soldiers stopped.

Because their gunners were either killed or injured, there were few gunners who could operate the Big Farang machine cannon.

Two large Franco cannons were hit and smashed into pieces, and all six large Franco cannons were destroyed.

Zhang Dechang said anxiously: "Mr. Ni, let's withdraw the troops first. It's not too late to go to attack when the equipment is enough."

Ni Chong gritted his teeth and thought for a moment, and finally sighed.
Chapter completed!