Xin Liao'er was currently leading troops to guard Diaoyin, so he wasn't nearby.
Creak!
With a dry sound, the north gate of Yan'an city was opened.
Li Zhengbao, leading ten thousand archers, filed out.
Just as they reached the artillery range, Cheng Chumuo was about to order the cannons to fire when the Liang army archers opposite suddenly scattered.
Fang Er, standing beside Cheng Chumuo, was stunned.
Damn it!
There was an expert in the city!
They had already figured out the weakness of the artillery so quickly?
Cheng Chumuo was unwilling and ordered the gunners to fire a volley.
The result, however, forced him to stop further bombardment.
The iron balls landed in the horse-trapping pits, immediately losing most of their momentum. After bouncing slightly twice, they stopped.
Only a few unfortunate soldiers were directly hit by the iron balls and lost their lives.
Li Zhengbao felt reassured and commanded his archers to advance step by step.
On the Tang army's side, as they were all elite cavalry, they only had over a thousand archers. They could only brace themselves and hold their ground.
If the artillery wasn't pushed forward, this city couldn't be taken!
Yan'an city was vast!
It was seven to eight li long from north to south and about five to six li from east to west.
Suddenly, a gust of north wind blew, and Fang Er shivered.
It was already early September.
The weather was starting to turn cold. Fang Er was still wearing summer clothes and felt a slight chill.
Suddenly.
Fang Er thought of something.
He retreated to Chai Shao's side and told him his idea.
As Chai Shao listened, his eyes lit up.
Then, he directly ordered Cheng Yaojin to take ten cannons, three thousand soldiers, five thousand laborers, and ten catapults to circle around the city and attack the north gate.
Zhang Gongjin led a thousand soldiers to the east gate.
Another person named Liu Lancheng was sent with a thousand soldiers to the west gate.
The east and west gates were mainly to prevent Liang Shidu from escaping. Since there were horse-trapping pits, even if they escaped, they couldn't ride horses. With catapults, a thousand men were enough to defend them.
Fang Er also brought the musketeers and went to the north gate with them.
It took two hours to circle half the city.
Here too, there were horse-trapping pits everywhere. Fang Er looked at them and chuckled.
Soon, the commotion here reached Liang Shidu.
He had to recall some of the archers outside the city and hand them over to He Zhiyuan to rush to the north gate.
Fang Er's side had just filled in the pits and advanced less than thirty paces.
He saw the north gate of Yan'an wide open.
Several thousand archers, led by a general, emerged from the city gate, immediately scattered, and charged towards the Tang army.
Fang Er smiled faintly.
Heh heh, you little brat!
When the Liang army archers were about two hundred paces away, Cheng Yaojin shouted from behind!
Fire!
Bundles of Meng Han hand grenades were launched from the catapults, flying directly towards the Liang army.
The Liang soldiers were terrified and dodged everywhere.
But to their surprise, these things did not explode upon landing as rumored in the army.
Instead, they emitted wisps of white smoke.
The catapults did not stop.
Bundle after bundle of hand grenades were thrown.
Soon, the Liang army archers were enveloped in white smoke.
Moreover, the white smoke, carried by the north wind, drifted towards the city.
When the white smoke dissipated, the archers had fallen to the ground, including the commanding general, He Zhiyuan.
The soldiers on the city wall saw this scene and then looked at the white smoke drifting towards the city wall. They were greatly alarmed and quickly reported to Liang Shidu.
Your Majesty, bad news! At the north gate, the Tang army is releasing poisonous smoke. General He who went out, as well as those archers, have all collapsed!
When Liang Shidu heard this, his head buzzed.
Despicable!
But he had dug up the area outside Yan'an city so thoroughly that not only could they not charge out, but even if they tried to flee, he didn't know how many horse legs would break!
He now wished he could put the strategist's head back on and behead it again.
But the battle had already developed to this point, and he could only lead his men to the north gate.
When he arrived, the soldiers on the city wall had already covered their mouths and noses with wet cloth.
Poisonous smoke was not a strange thing. Soldiers who had seen or heard of it immediately explained the preventive measures.
Liang Shidu tore off a corner of his imperial robe, covered his face, and looked at the cannons below, which were nearing three hundred paces. He frowned deeply!
Send the commander of the north gate to see me!
As his order was given.
A military officer rushed over and knelt before Liang Shidu.
Liang Shidu looked at him hatefully and cursed, "Incompetent!"
After speaking, he directly decapitated the officer with a single saber.
The others were all terrified into silence.
Damn it, they hadn't even started fighting, and their own leader had killed two people!
This life is unbearable!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
In just this short time, the cannons had reached their range and, under Cheng Yaojin's command, began to unleash their power.
The walls of Yan'an city were built with bricks over rammed earth.
As the iron balls struck, brick dust flew everywhere.
Dong!
A sound different from the others reached Cheng Chumuo's ears.
He followed the sound and looked, his face beaming with joy.
Hahaha, it hit the city gate!
Fang Er was speechless. This guy was purely lucky.
With smoothbore cannons at three hundred paces, one shouldn't expect accuracy.
Anyway, it was definitely okay to hit the city walls. Such a large target, as long as the range was sufficient.
Cheng Chumuo quickly called for the soldiers to reload, then thought about the position and angle of the muzzle from earlier.
He adjusted the cannons.
Boom!
Another shot was fired.
To his disappointment, this shot was more than ten meters off from the city gate, hitting the parapet.
Come on! Whoever hits the city gate will be rewarded with ten taels of silver!
Fang Er saw Cheng Chumuo's actions and was moved.
Although the accuracy was poor, having a target was better than firing aimlessly.
A group of artillerymen heard Fang Er's words and were instantly excited.
Mindless firing was too unchallenging.
Now that Fang Er had given them a target, they all eagerly rubbed their hands.
After firing a shot and finding it off, they would adjust the muzzle.
Fire one shot, adjust once.
Fang Er watched for a while. Ten cannons had already fired four rounds, but not a single cannonball had hit the city gate.
He shook his head.
Indeed, one couldn't force this thing.
However, Liang Shidu on the city wall couldn't sit still anymore.
Damn it, if they kept bombarding like this, let alone brick-and-earth walls, even stone walls couldn't withstand it!
He sent a few teams of soldiers out of the city to order Xin Liao'er to return for reinforcements. However, they were shot down by the Tang army not long after they left the city.
General Gou, you take ten thousand soldiers and go out of the city. At all costs! Bring back those black things for me!
Liang Shidu roared at a general behind him in exasperation.
General Gou, with a deathly pale face, went down to muster the troops.
Cheng Chumuo, who was blessed by the European Emperor, hit the city gate area once again!
By coincidence, the north gate of Yan'an was opened at this very moment!
The neatly lined up Liang army soldiers in the gate passage were directly exposed!
General Gou watched a black dot suddenly fly from the direction of the Tang army.
The black dot grew larger and clearer.
A cannonball!