Chapter 625: Straight to the Heart of the Enemy

The latest website: "They are still putting up a stubborn resistance, relying on the streets, alleys, and residences."

Through his Telescope, Chang Wei took in the entire battle situation within Pingyuan City.

Due to the obstruction of the buildings, the pace of the Wangfu Army's advance slowed down significantly.

The soldiers of Qi hid inside the residences, only rushing out to fight when the Wangfu Army drew near.

In this way, the distance between the soldiers of Qi and the Wangfu Army often shrank to a few dozen meters.

When they exchanged fire, the Rifled Muskets of the Wangfu Army lost their range advantage, and both sides suffered casualties.

However, because the Rifled Muskets had high precision and were flint-fired, the soldiers could form tighter formations, making their firepower more concentrated.

The enemy suffered more casualties.

Besides this, he also observed a small number of Qi soldiers using Flintlocks; this sight made his pupils shrink slightly.

Without a doubt, this was also a masterpiece of the Eastern Japanese.

Sneering, he said, "In a few more months, you Eastern Japanese will get what's coming to you."

Yan Wang's anger toward the Eastern Japanese had also reached its peak.

It was just that because Zhou Yi's fleet had too few Warships, they were currently unable to take action against the Eastern Japanese to fundamentally sever the connection between the Eastern Japanese and Qizhou.

However, in another two or three months, twenty-four Warships would be launched and commissioned.

By then, the Yanzhou Navy would give the Eastern Japanese a sound thrashing.

Bringing his thoughts back to the battlefield, Chang Wei said, "We cannot fall for the Qi people's scheme and fight them for Pingyuan City inch by inch; this will increase the soldiers' casualties."

Qin Shan and the other generals nodded one after another.

Although on the current battlefield, whether it was exchanging fire with muskets or close-quarters combat, the Wangfu Army was constantly winning.

But every victory came with casualties for the Wangfu Army.

If they continued to fight like this, they would likely suffer ten or twenty thousand casualties just for Pingyuan City.

If they were to capture three cities in a row,

they would have to pay a price of fifty or sixty thousand casualties.

Clearly, this was absolutely not what they wanted.

Lv Chang said, "General, I have been to Pingyuan City before and know the location of the Pingyuan City Granary. I believe that as long as we capture their Granary and cut off their grain and fodder, the Qi army will collapse without a fight."

Chang Wei revealed a satisfied smile and said to Lv Chang, "You are finally willing to use your brain now."

Lv Chang chuckled twice; since the Rifled Muskets were equipped to the Prince's Personal Army, he understood that the days of fighting relying only on brute force were over.

From now on, if he could not keep up with the changes in the Prince's Personal Army, he would only be left behind by generals like Qin Shan and Guan Tong.

"Since that is the case, I will allocate twenty thousand men to you; take the Granary as quickly as possible," Chang Wei said.

Lv Chang's plan was exactly what he was preparing to implement.

The Qi army had spread their troops throughout the city to resist them bit by bit.

However, they had made a serious mistake.

As long as he concentrated his forces to attack the Granary, the Qi army would be unable to resist.

Loudly acknowledging the order, Lv Chang trotted off the city wall.

Qin Shan, Guan Tong, and the other generals cast envious glances.

It was not that their abilities were inferior to Lv Chang's, but that Chang Wei had given the opportunity for the attack to Lv Chang.

After descending the city wall, Lv Chang immediately organized the army to attack.

The Pingyuan City Granary was in the southeast corner; he led the army to circle around to the East Gate and attacked the Pingyuan City Granary from the direction of the East Gate.

Twenty thousand men headed straight for the Granary.

The Qi soldiers who rushed out from the streets and residences along the way could not stop them at all.

They attempted to resist, but were immediately shot down by several times their number of Wangfu Army soldiers.

Furthermore, while advancing, Lv Chang positioned the Artillerymen on the east city wall.

Looking down from a high vantage point, they had a clear view of the enemy situation along the line of attack.

The Qi soldiers hiding in the residences and streets often suffered their artillery fire before they could even act.

These artillery strikes also alerted the attacking Wangfu Army soldiers, letting them know in advance that there were ambushes ahead so they could prepare to respond.

The Qi street-fighting squads, composed of dozens or a hundred men, were simply no match for the Wangfu army under such circumstances.

Lv Chang led the army to continuously break through one street after another, and in less than half an hour, they had killed their way to the Pingyuan City Granary.

Unlike the other streets, Han Qi had clearly deployed heavy troops near the Granary.

But even so, there were only three thousand men.

However, these three thousand men were all holding Flintlocks and were also equipped with more than thirty pieces of Artillery.

"Boom, boom, boom..." The Wangfu Army appeared near the Granary, and the Qi Artillery immediately let out a roar.

Grape Shot after Grape Shot was fired at the Wangfu Army, and the attacking Wangfu Army soldiers immediately suffered casualties.

Lv Chang was furious and roared, "Drag the Artillery and Mortars up for me and hit them hard!"

At the same time, he ordered the soldiers to rely on the buildings to dodge the enemy's artillery fire.

Under his command, the Mortar soldiers fired shell after shell as if they cost nothing.

The Field Artillery soldiers pushed their Artillery into the streets to exchange fire with the Qi soldiers.

Amidst bursts of artillery roars and violent explosions, the Qi Artillerymen fell under the saturated artillery fire.

With the threat of the Artillery gone, Lv Chang again ordered the soldiers to launch an attack.

At this time, he ordered the twenty thousand soldiers to divide into three routes: one route engaged the Qi soldiers head-on, while the other two routes circled around to flank them.

Otherwise, if the soldiers were crowded together, they would be unable to exert their full combat power.

Under his command, the Wangfu Army quickly surrounded the Granary.

Led by their commanders, some soldiers climbed onto the rooftops and fired at the Qi soldiers in the middle of the street.

At the same time, the Field Artillery and Mortars launched a fierce attack on the Granary.

The Qi soldiers holding Flintlocks had expected to engage in a line battle with the Yanzhou soldiers, but they suffered heavy casualties before they could even make contact with them.

Faced with massive casualties, the Qi soldiers guarding the Granary collapsed.

The remaining six hundred or so Qi soldiers threw down their Flintlocks one after another, knelt on the ground, and raised their hands.

The soldiers who had escaped back from Yanzhou last time had long since spread word of their experiences after defeat throughout the military camp.

As long as they surrendered, the Yanzhou soldiers would not kill them and would even treat them to good food and drink.

Now that the city walls had been breached and there was no hope of holding the Granary, the defeat was sealed.

Why should they sacrifice their own lives?

The Granary had fallen.

This news quickly reached the ears of Han Qi and Shicun Dahe.

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the two men changed drastically.

Without food, they could not hold out for more than a few days, and once the news spread, the Qi soldiers would surely fall into chaos.

"Withdraw from Pingyuan City immediately!" Han Qi slammed his fist hard onto the table, his face full of anger.

If things continued like this, the Qi soldiers inside Pingyuan City would be completely wiped out.

Shicun Dahe said, "Currently, only the Nanmen has not been breached, but in my opinion, this is definitely a trap; the Yanzhou soldiers must have set an ambush along the way."

"That goes without saying; Yan Wang has used this tactic more than once in Jinzhou. This is not a conspiracy, but an open stratagem."

Shicun Dahe felt a wave of discouragement and said to Han Qi, "Prepare the best horse for me; you must protect me so I can escape back to Qi."

Having decided on this, Han Qi immediately had the order passed down.

By this time, many Qi soldiers already knew the news that the Granary had fallen, and military morale was in chaos.

Upon receiving the retreat order issued by Han Qi, they could no longer hold on and swarmed toward the Nanmen.