Chapter 156: The Artillery Finishes Bombarding, the Infantry Charges

"Bang, bang, bang!"

Fiery red cannonballs were spat out from the cannon barrels, reached their apex in the air, and then plummeted violently, landing steadily on the city gate several hundred meters away.

In an instant, the previously tightly shut city gate developed spiderweb-like cracks visible to the naked eye.

The defending troops on the city wall were shocked.

Since when did cannons have such power? They had seen cannons before, but their size, power, and range were all far inferior to what they saw before them.

In a flash, a sense of panic spread across the city wall.

The leading general immediately stood up and roared, "Do not panic, do not panic! Although the Ming Army's cannons are fierce, they definitely have flaws. They absolutely cannot fire again in a short time. Everyone, return to your positions!"

"Boom, boom, boom!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than another round of cannonballs fell.

The defending general was startled, covered his head with both hands, stuck his rear end high in the air, and cowered beneath the city wall.

Outside, the artillery fire was continuous, smoke and dust rose everywhere, and stone fragments flew; the defending troops on the city wall trembled, hiding their bodies tightly under the wall.

The defending general knew that being a passive target like this wouldn't work, so he waddled in a circle, pointed at a Woguo general, and ordered, "Inoue-kun, you go out the city gate and take out the Ming Army's cannons!"

"Ah?! General, the Ming Army's artillery fire is too fierce right now..." The man was startled and hurriedly waved his hands in protest.

The general kept a straight face and rudely interrupted him: "Baka! Does a samurai of my Qiuyue Family not even have this much courage?"

"Go! Amaterasu will protect you!"

Inoue still did not move. Suddenly, the artillery fire outside stopped.

The defending troops on the city wall let out a long sigh; it had finally stopped, it had finally stopped.

Sure enough, no matter how sharp the artillery fire was, there was always a time for it to pause. Now it was finally their turn to counterattack!

The general poked his head out to look and saw that the Ming Army outside was already fully prepared, roaring as they charged toward the city gate.

"Quick, quick, quick! Fire arrows, fire arrows!"

The defending general on the wall immediately became flustered and shouted orders.

"You must not let the Ming Army charge into the city gate! Baka, baka, hurry!"

The Woguo soldiers, who had been dazed by the explosions just moments ago, saw this scene and scrambled to pick up the weapons scattered on the ground, aiming at the attackers below the wall.

Rolling stones, logs, and a rain of arrows like locusts poured down.

The Liaodong Border Army and the Otomo Clan coalition troops held their shields high and charged straight in.

They didn't care about the men falling to the ground; they had only one goal, and that was the broken city gate. The man charging at the very front was a hero eight feet tall, clad in iron armor.

He took the lead, braving the rolling stones to reach the city gate, which had been blasted open into a large hole.

He kicked the opening to make it even larger, gripped his blade in his right hand, waved his left hand violently inside, and roared at the top of his lungs, "Brothers, charge in! Slaughter these animals!"

He charged three steps inside and looked around.

Over a hundred Woguo samurai held long spears, tightly blocking the narrow city gate. Both sides saw each other and, without wasting words, picked up their weapons and fought to the death.

The burly man swept his great blade forward, and the two Japanese pirates at the very front were instantly sent flying like pieces of paper.

With him taking the lead, the Japanese pirates defending the city were clearly afraid, shrinking their necks and retreating.

The Japanese pirates execution squad saw this and cursed repeatedly: "Idiot! You cowards, whoever dares to retreat past this line will be treated as a deserter!"

The Japanese pirates gritted their teeth, grabbed their Samurai Swords, and charged forward.

The fighting was not fancy; you slash me with a blade, I stab you with a spear—it was just a matter of who could stand until the end.

The Liaodong Border Army soldiers were larger in stature and wore iron armor, giving them a huge advantage over the smaller Woguo people.

In no time at all, the West City gate had fallen.

However, these Japanese pirates were loyalists to the Qiuyue Family after all; even knowing they couldn't win, they still gritted their teeth and roared as they fought the Ming Army.

Relying on their sheer bloodlust, the Ming Army could not hold them back and retreated out of the city gate once more.

The Japanese pirates hadn't had time to be happy for long before another round of artillery fire awaited them.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

Twenty cannonballs fired at once, earth-shattering and like rolling thunder, shaking the defending troops on the city wall so hard they fled in terror.

The general also realized that if they drove all the Ming Army out, they would just be bombarded by cannons again.

Since that was the case, he might as well not defend the city and instead go out to destroy the Ming Army's forward cannons.

After thinking this through, the general looked at Inoue with a moved expression: "Inoue-kun, the Ming Army's artillery is truly too sharp. Now is the time for you to show your loyalty to the Clan Head!"

"Hai!" Inoue bowed deeply and replied in a crisp, clear voice.

Things had reached this point, and he could only make a desperate gamble; staying in the city meant certain death. After gathering his troops, Inoue picked up his weapon and charged out of the city gate in a suicide mission.

As long as they could destroy the cannons the Ming Army relied on, they would be paper tigers with no teeth.

The samurai of their Qiuyue Family would never admit defeat like this.

Inoue steeled his resolve in his heart and was now fearless. On the hillside outside, Zhang Yunxiu saw it clearly and laughed: "These Japanese pirates actually have a bit of blood in them, but that is all. Han San, take the bird-musket men up to assist!"

"Yes." Han San accepted the order and left, walking quickly to where the fleet guards were stationed, waving his hand and saying, "Brothers, we've been watching for so long, it's time for us to stretch our muscles."

Over two hundred bird-musket men shouldered their Bird Muskets and headed straight for the front line.

Along the way, flags fluttered and warhorses galloped; soldiers engaged the enemy in an orderly fashion. Because the cannons had limited range—at most eight hundred meters—

Li Rusong's move was extremely risky, equivalent to fixing Bayonets to the cannons to engage the enemy in hand-to-hand combat.

Fortunately, Han San's reinforcements were fast enough; as soon as the two hundred bird-musket men arrived at the front, Han San immediately drove the Liaodong Border Army to the rear.

Following that, he looked grim and issued orders in a gruff voice: "When the enemy is eighty paces away, the Three-Eyed Bird-Beak Gun will fire in rapid succession, then retreat to the back of the formation. Bird-musket squads one, two, and three, fire in turns!"

"Three-Eyed Bird-Beak Gun, rapid fire!"

"Three-Eyed Bird-Beak Gun..."

As soon as Han San's order was given, officers in the ranks immediately repeated it.

Soon, a faint sound of gunpowder being loaded echoed through the ranks.

It was very noisy outside, with shouting everywhere and the sound of metal clashing incessantly; yet it was also very quiet, quiet to the point that in the ranks, there was only the sound of loading gunpowder.

Seeing this distance, Inoue noticed the Ming Army had sent Bird Musket soldiers to guard it, and he immediately sneered inwardly.

The killing range of these Bird Muskets was extremely limited, and the speed of reloading was particularly slow.

That is to say, as long as he withstood this wave of attacks, he would be able to charge up.

Just as he was thinking this, a row of pitch-black gun barrels suddenly appeared in front. These Bird Muskets were different from the ones he had seen before; they were shaped like wooden sticks, and each Bird Musket actually had three barrels.

What kind of weapon was this? All the Woguo soldiers were stunned for a moment; three barrels, wouldn't that mean they could fire three times at once? "Fire!"

Han San, standing to the side, did not care whether the opposition was dazed or not; he tilted his head back and roared at the ranks.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A pungent cloud of gunpowder smoke suddenly rose in front of the position, and pitch-black pellets shot out from the smoke, flying toward the charging ranks of the Woguo pirates like an all-encompassing black fishing net.

If one were to look down from above, one could see a flower of blood suddenly bloom within the pitch-black ranks.

"Ah! My eyes, my eyes!"

"My hand, my hand."

"Baka, baka."

After a round of screams, the surviving Woguo pirates continued to charge forward.

Han San did not have the slightest bit of pity; he merely raised a hand, then swung it down fiercely, and another dense volley of gunfire rang out.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The Woguo pirates in front fell to the ground, limp, just like wheat.

"Devils, devils, they are devils."

"We can't charge through, run!"

"Run!"

It was unclear who shouted "run," but the Woguo pirates who were still charging immediately turned around and fled back.

It has always been this way on the battlefield: the first drum provides courage, the second brings exhaustion, and the third leads to depletion.

If the battle does not go well, as long as one person becomes a deserter first, the rest will likely be impossible to stop.

These people scrambled back to the city.

Li Rusong knew this battle was decided, and he was in no hurry to send people to charge; instead, he waved his hand and ordered people to push the Cannons forward another one hundred meters.

Watching the slowly advancing Cannons, Zhang Yunxiu grinned and couldn't help but remark: "Artillery bombards, then infantry charges; infantry charges, then artillery bombards. General Li is well-versed in this method."

"These Cannonballs can be remade if they run out, but once a person dies, they are truly gone," Li Rusong replied with a chuckle.

"Indeed."

Zhang Yunxiu nodded along, his gaze slowly shifting forward.

The battle lasted until evening, and the garrison in the city, having experienced several rounds of artillery fire, had long since become birds startled by the mere twang of a bowstring.

At this time, a general wiped the dark blood from his face and pleaded with the Bu Great General: "Lord Bu Great General, now that the Ming people are attacking the city so fiercely, why don't we ask to surrender first?"

"Baka, we have not reached a desperate situation yet, how can we ask to surrender?!"

"We are only pretending to yield for now. I heard the Ming Army did not bring many troops this time, so they certainly won't divide their forces. Once they leave, won't Kuchu Mountain City still be under the control of the Qiuyue Family?"

"What if the Ming Army doesn't agree?"

"If they don't agree, then we can only fight to the death!" The family general shook his head, his face full of sorrow and determination.

The Bu Great General glanced at the Cannons outside the city, then at the city walls that looked like broken walls and ruined pillars, and nodded with difficulty: "Fine, you send someone to negotiate with the Ming Army. As long as they are willing to make peace, we will agree to it."

(End of this chapter)