Chapter 981: Insufficient Firepower

"Woo— woo— woo..."

Early the next morning, the Central Army soldiers in the trenches of Lingwu County grew tense after a low, deep blast of a horn.

Because they discovered Northern Di cavalry charging toward them along the road in the middle of the trenches.

Unlike their own trenches, the trenches the Northern Di had dug this time were not continuous laterally; instead, they had left several sections of undug road in the middle.

These roads allowed the cavalry to pass through.

However, in previous charges, the Northern Di had not deployed cavalry.

Now, they were seeing Northern Di cavalry charge the trenches for the first time.

"Are the Northern Di crazy? Charging trenches with cavalry?" The change in the Northern Di's charging method naturally caught the attention of Bai Shang and Huo An.

In Bai Shang's view, using cavalry to charge trenches was simply idiotic behavior.

Because the soldiers were hiding in the trenches, even if the cavalry charged over, they would be unable to use their cavalry sabers to kill the soldiers inside.

At the same time, the existence of the trenches would hinder the cavalry's movement, making them targets for the soldiers in the trenches.

"Something must have happened to enrage Mule Hongzhen," Huo An said.

While the Northern Di cavalry charged, Northern Di soldiers also climbed out of their own trenches, and the infantry and cavalry coordinated to attack their trenches.

However, the Central Army soldiers were no pushovers, especially when fighting a defensive battle.

As the Northern Di charged, howitzers and rifled cannons covered them.

The soldiers' muzzles were also aimed at them, and from time to time, hand grenades were served up.

Under the fierce firepower, Northern Di cavalry and infantry fell one after another between the two armies' trenches.

"It must be Chen Hu's Gun Cavalry," Bai Shang suddenly thought of something.

On the battlefield, the movements of the Great Song army were reported to each other.

He naturally knew that Chen Hu had led the Gun Cavalry to cut off the Northern Di supply line.

"That makes sense. The Gun Cavalry must have achieved a great victory. Seeing that the supply line is no longer secure, Mule Hongzhen is anxious, hahaha..." Huo An laughed.

Bai Shang nodded, his heart stirred. "The Northern Di are no longer a match for us even with their cavalry. It is time to settle the score with them. Since the founding of the Great Song, countless Great Song soldiers and civilians have died at their hands. This blood debt must be repaid."

Having said that, he said to the generals beside him, "Fire with everything you've got! Their damn cavalry can't get the better of our Great Song cavalry; does he think they can get the better of our infantry?"

He observed the battlefield with a telescope for a while longer, seeing that the Northern Di cavalry would not have much impact on the battlefield situation.

He said to Huo An, "It is impolite not to reciprocate. Let the sharpshooters take down a few more Northern Di commanders."

This time, some of the metal bullets were given to Chen Hu's Gun Cavalry, and some were given to the sharpshooters trained in the army.

With the metal bullets, these sharpshooters were like tigers with wings.

Because the metal bullets not only increased the effective range of the Qin-series rifles to eight hundred meters, but also improved the accuracy within eight hundred meters.

"Need you ask? They have been hiding all over the battlefield since before dawn," Huo An laughed, glancing at the city walls of Lingwu County.

Sharpshooters were lying there, looking down from a height, killing enemies with a clear field of vision.

There were also sharpshooters in the trenches, mixed among the soldiers, searching for important targets.

Another group of sharpshooters had arrived at the flanks of the battlefield before dawn, camouflaged to match the color of the snow.

Bai Shang nodded, a satisfied look on his face.

At the same time.

Mule Hongzhen was also watching the battlefield.

Seeing that the cavalry charge had not achieved the result he wanted, he showed a look of disappointment and felt a sense of agitation.

If he could not change the war situation, and the supply line was cut off, then there would truly be no way to turn things around.

Just as he was thinking this, Niegofu and Wulanba walked over.

Niegofu said, "Khan, this kind of charge is not the way; it will only waste the cavalry in vain. I have a method: why not make some small gunpowder barrels, tie them to the soldiers, and then let them charge on horseback? As long as they can get close to the enemy's trenches, let the soldiers jump down and perish together with the Great Song soldiers."

Mule Hongzhen was stunned upon hearing this.

To him, this was simply asking the soldiers to commit suicide.

However, after pondering slightly, he agreed.

Now, he would use any method that could win him victory.

These cavalrymen would die during the charge anyway; being blown up by a gunpowder barrel was the same.

"Colonel Niegofu is truly a genius. Since that is the case, prepare immediately," Mule Hongzhen said.

Wulanba and Niegofu nodded and went back.

In the evening.

Gunpowder barrels the size of an adult's head were distributed to the Northern Di cavalry.

These gunpowder barrels all had two straps so they could be carried on the back, and each also had a fuse.

After lighting the fuse, the cavalry charged toward the Lingwu County trenches.

But these special cavalrymen did not escape the eyes of the sharpshooters on the side of the battlefield.

After all, the sharpshooters always had assistants beside them holding telescopes to observe.

They recognized at once that those were gunpowder barrels.

In order to warn the soldiers in the trenches, a sharpshooter pulled the trigger.

"Bang!" With a sound, the bullet flew through the air and hit the gunpowder barrel on the cavalryman's body.

At this moment, the cavalryman was only thirty meters away from the Lingwu County trenches.

The gunpowder barrel was hit, and with a "Boom!" it exploded, the immense power instantly blowing the cavalryman and his warhorse to pieces, sending up a ball of flame.

The Central Army soldiers in the trenches were slightly startled at the sight.

They immediately realized that there was something fishy about these Northern Di cavalrymen.

Instantly, the Central Army soldiers began to focus their attention on the Northern Di cavalry.

The sharpshooters also shifted their focus onto the Northern Di cavalry.

On the battlefield, the Northern Di cavalry began to explode in bursts of fire from time to time.

However, this did not stop the madness of the Northern Di people.

Occasionally, one or two Northern Di cavalrymen would still charge up to the trench.

At this moment, the Northern Di cavalryman would jump off his Warhorse and pounce on the soldiers in the trench.

"The firepower is still insufficient." Seeing this, Bai Shang and Huo An both frowned.

There were too many Northern Di soldiers, and each time they charged with both Infantry and Cavalry.

In this way, there would always be a few who slipped through the net.

Although they still could not threaten the overall security of the trench line, they could endanger the lives of the Central Army soldiers.

"I hope the Machine Gun can arrive soon." Bai Shang was somewhat impatient.

Even if the enemy were a group of pigs, it would take him a long time to kill them, and only with an efficient pig-slaughtering tool could the time be shortened.

Over the next few days, both sides continued to fight back and forth.

Seeing that the Gunpowder Barrel cavalry had played some role, Mule Hongzhen regained some confidence.

He was waiting for an opportunity; as long as the Gunpowder Barrel cavalry could tear a gap in the trench defense line, he would launch an all-out charge and completely take Lingwu County.

At the same time, in Yancheng.

While the battle in Lingwu County became increasingly intense, the Armory was also bustling with activity.

The craftsmen were busy manufacturing Metal Bullets and Hand-cranked Machine Guns.

While the war was ongoing, the number of Machine Guns was also accumulating.

The ten-day deadline arrived, and the warehouse had stockpiled thirty Hand-cranked Machine Guns; Wang Ying immediately had the craftsmen board a Steam Locomotive to send the Machine Guns and ammunition to the Yongzhou frontline.

Please remember the first publication domain of this book:. Mobile version reading URL: