Chapter 393: Nurhaci Gets Blasted by Cannon Fire

After hearing Xiong Tingbi's words, Li Guangrong nodded and said, "Commander, rest assured, I know my limits."

Seeing Li Guangrong agree so readily, Xiong Tingbi could only nod in return.

At this point, there was no choice but to trust him.

In truth, Xiong Tingbi's heart was still uneasy — the men in the city had been pent up for far too long, and Li Guangrong was a typical example.

If they could win, these men would likely chase down Wild Boar Skin without a second thought.

But Xiong Tingbi knew that among his subordinates in Shenyang, there were only these fifteen thousand cavalry; the rest were infantry. The odds of winning a field battle outside the walls were not great.

It wasn't that the Ming army's equipment was inferior, but rather that their will to fight was not so steadfast. If it came to a truly bitter struggle, the chance of a complete rout was very high.

Xiong Tingbi could not afford to gamble.

If he lost the bet, he could not bear the consequences. Although the situation in Liaodong had changed somewhat and the court had given much money, many entrenched views remained deeply rooted.

The people here were mostly fighting to survive; money was what mattered most.

When the court offered rewards, they would risk their lives for them — fighting a winning battle was certainly no problem for such men. But if they fell into a grueling stalemate, they would want to live and would choose to flee. When that happened, there would be a great rout.

To put it plainly, the soldiers here could not endure hardship. On this point, Xiong Tingbi could only change things bit by bit; there was simply no better way.

After Li Guangrong descended from the city wall, Xiong Tingbi said to Li Yan, "Prepare to fire the cannons."

Li Yan nodded, his face solemn, and replied, "Yes, Commander."

For Li Yan, this was the most tense moment since he had arrived in Liaodong. He understood the importance of this shot.

If this shot could be accurate and steady, then the battle for Shenyang could be won — and might even yield unexpected results.

If this shot missed, the outcome could be very different.

Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Li Yan raised his thumb again to measure, then made a slight adjustment to the cannon's aim. Turning to Xiong Tingbi, he said, "Commander, I am ready."

By now, Xiong Tingbi's heart was tightly wound. He knew this opportunity would come only once.

A cannon with this kind of range had been deployed to Liaodong for the first time — indeed, it was the first time in the entire Ming Dynasty. If this shot missed, Wild Boar Skin and his men would retreat even farther next time, and there would be no such chance to strike again.

Standing on the hillside, Nurhaci's expression was extremely ugly — one could say it was black as soot.

The cannons were destroyed that easily?

Nurhaci could not understand how the Ming army had managed to turn their cannon barrels around and blast his own artillery so quickly. He had originally planned to use those cannons to bombard the Ming city walls — who would have thought they would be blown up so fast?

Looking at the soldiers retreating in defeat before him, Nurhaci knew that this attempt would likely fail at the final step once again.

Glancing at Amin beside him, Nurhaci ordered, "Be ready. If the Ming army chases out, be prepared to strike at any moment. Tell the men lying in ambush around to be ready to surround and annihilate the Ming forces."

Amin nodded and said, "Father Khan, rest assured — we have long been prepared."

Although this assault on the city was serious, Nurhaci had also prepared for the possibility that the siege would fail — he wanted to lure the Ming army out of the city during the rout. As long as they came out, he could surround and annihilate them.

This was an assault on the city, but at the same time, it was also bait.

"The city gates are open!" Amin suddenly exclaimed with excitement in his voice.

He knew what his father Khan intended to do, and he knew this was the best opportunity. Now that he saw the gates of Shenyang open, one could imagine the excitement in his heart.

Seeing this, Nurhaci's heart also stirred with excitement.

He had finally lured Xiong Tingbi out!

That turtle who kept his head hidden, always cowering within the city walls, had finally come out. It seemed his own defeat had given Xiong Tingbi confidence, making him think he could win outside the city.

The opportunity had finally come!

This time, he must seize the moment and take Shenyang! Next time, getting Xiong Tingbi to leave the city would likely be even harder.

"Prepare for battle," Nurhaci said with a grim face.

At this moment, the gates of Shenyang had already swung open, and squad after squad of cavalry began charging out from within the city.

They quickly passed through the gateway and rapidly formed ranks outside the gates — clearly preparing to charge.

Wild Boar Skin's routed soldiers were still fleeing back, looking like a complete collapse. Everyone knew the moment of decisive battle had arrived.

Standing atop the city wall, Xiong Tingbi watched the fully formed Li Guangrong, then turned to Li Yan beside him and said, "It all rests on you."

At this moment, Xiong Tingbi's face was extremely grave, and his heartbeat was quickening. Since arriving in Liaodong, this was the first time he had ventured out for a decisive battle.

If he could not win, he would likely face considerable criticism, and His Majesty would be displeased. When that happened, he might no longer be able to remain in Shenyang.

But if he won — thinking of the situation he wanted to achieve — Xiong Tingbi's heart could not help but stir with excitement as well.

"Fire!" Xiong Tingbi's voice was low and deep, not very loud.

But uttering those two words seemed to drain all the strength from his body; Xiong Tingbi's entire frame sagged.

Hearing this, Li Yan nodded, then walked to the cannon's muzzle, personally holding the torch — this shot, he would fire himself.

Reaching out to light the cannon's fuse, Li Yan watched the burning fuse and a flash of excitement crossed his face.

As the fuse burned down to nothing, the great cannon let out a thunderous boom, and a cannonball shot straight out of the barrel.

Li Yan did not even have time to see where the shell flew before he quickly called for men to load the second round.

This cannon was designed with a breech-loading cartridge system precisely to increase the rate of fire; another shell was quickly pushed in.

After it was installed, Li Yan once again lit the cannon's fuse.

At this moment, he hurriedly raised his head and saw a cannonball slam directly into the position where Nurhaci stood.

Nurhaci, standing on the hillside, had already turned his horse's head to flee backward. He had seen the cannonball flying out of the cannon, heading straight for his own men.

Nurhaci's heart was filled with alarm; he hurriedly turned his horse around, preparing to escape.

The cannonball seemed to fly slowly, but in reality, its speed was extremely fast.

Nurhaci had not even had time to turn his horse — he only instinctively clamped his legs against the horse's belly — when the cannonball arrived.

As the shell landed, it let out a thunderous boom, instantly kicking up dust from the ground and blasting a crater in the surrounding area. Shrapnel from the shell burst outward in an instant.

It was an explosive shell, so named because it burst open from the center; it was packed with iron nails and similar objects, which also scattered outward in an instant.

That single shot sent Nurhaci flying off his horse, and Amin beside him did not escape either.

The personal guards protecting Nurhaci were also blasted into chaos, men and horses tumbling alike.

You have to understand, each of these cannonballs weighed a good dozen or so jin, and that was only because they were loaded with explosive shells. If they switched to solid shot, they could fire a solid ball weighing several dozen jin, and the power would be even more unstoppable.

The first cannonball exploded, and before these personal guards could even react, the second cannonball had already arrived.

The guards on the side saw this and immediately threw themselves onto Nurhaci's body.

In that instant, the second cannonball also exploded.

Then came the third, the fourth, the fifth... Cannonballs came raining down as if they cost nothing.

And at this very moment, Li Guangrong also witnessed this scene. He brandished the horse-slaying saber in his hand and shouted loudly: "Wild Boar Skin has been blown to death! Follow me! Take heads, earn your merits!"

Having said this, Li Guangrong was the first to lead his men charging forth with a roar.

Standing atop the city wall, Li Yan saw this scene and jumped up excitedly as well.

"Can you keep firing?" Xiong Tingbi asked somewhat agitatedly, clenching his fists as he turned to look at Li Yan.

His voice was even trembling slightly, clearly forcing down the excitement in his heart.

"No more for now—we need cold water to cool down the barrel." Li Yan shook his head and said: "The chamber pressure of this type of cannon is too high; it can't fire continuously. Otherwise it's prone to bursting.

The explosive shells we're firing now have relatively low power. If they were any stronger, they'd blow up right in the barrel. The Hundred Works Institute is still improving the process—this is only a half-finished product."

Hearing the somewhat regretful tone in Li Yan's voice, Xiong Tingbi nodded gently. In his heart, he now roughly understood His Majesty's intentions—understood why His Majesty insisted on holding Liaodong, understood why even with an advantage, he wasn't allowed to go out and fight.

Perhaps what His Majesty was waiting for was exactly this kind of cannon—waiting for the research results of the Hundred Works Institute.

Ever since he had arrived in Liaodong, good things from the Hundred Works Institute had been sent over without stop.

More advanced matchlock muskets, all kinds of cannons—once all of these were finished, His Majesty would certainly come to take Liaodong.

Thinking of what the future would look like, Xiong Tingbi felt excited inside.

A hundred cannons firing at once—what a magnificent scene that would be!

And at this very moment, Wild Boar Skin's camp was already in complete chaos.

Nurhaci had been blasted, and the entire command system fell into disarray.

Manggūltai and the others led the ambush forces, but by now they could no longer spare any thought for ambushing the Ming cavalry.

Originally, the plan was for Nurhaci to hold the front against the Ming army while the ambush forces hidden on both flanks sprang out and caught the Ming army off guard. But as things stood now, the front could no longer withstand a charge from the Ming cavalry—everything there had fallen into chaos.

The men lying in ambush on both sides could no longer care about such things and charged straight out from the flanks. All they had to do was block Li Guangrong's cavalry and stop them from charging up the slope.

The two sides quickly clashed before the formation, and cavalry against cavalry combat began at that moment. The battle between the two sides instantly reached a fever pitch.

Li Guangrong led his men, determined to take the slope and capture Nurhaci up there.

While the others fought desperately to block Li Guangrong, refusing to let him up no matter what.

For a moment, screams erupted from all directions.

Shouts and cries, the neighing of horses, resounded across the entire battlefield.