Chapter 189: The Folangji Cannon

Upon learning that the bandits in Fang County had been routed, Lu Xiangsheng immediately ordered simultaneous attacks on Zhushan County town from the west, south, and north, and sent word to Zu Kuan and Qin Yiming on the east side to prepare for the enemy.

The first to breach the walls and enter were the Shenji Camp and the Wu Army Camp at the south gate.

The Shenji Camp's twenty five-hundred-jin Folangji cannons were deployed two hundred paces outside the south gate, firing in rotation to bombard the southern city gate.

When only a few shots hit their targets in the first test volley, the gunners readjusted their positions and parameters, and from the second volley onward, most of the twenty cannons could strike their targets directly.

The tremendous kinetic energy of each one-jin shot blasted a large hole in the city gate every time, and with the Folangji cannon's extremely fast reloading speed, after just four volleys from the twenty Folangji cannons, the heavy gate was already shattered to pieces.

Since the government troops did not swarm up the walls, the roving bandits on the ramparts could only watch helplessly amid the thunderous roar of the cannons. Liu Wenxiu, in charge of defending the south gate, ordered a thousand bandits to gather inside the gate, ready to engage in close combat with the government troops about to break through.

As the cannon fire ceased, one hundred iron-armored soldiers of the Wu Army Camp, wielding great axes, advanced toward the gate under the cover of shield bearers, while two thousand archers formed two square formations fifty paces away on either side of the gate to provide cover.

The bandit archers on the walls were few in number to begin with. Seeing the government troops advancing toward the gate, they rose trembling with fear at their leaders' shouts and began loosing arrows—but after just one volley, they were mercilessly cut down by the government archers below the walls.

The great-axe-wielding government troops reached the gate safely and began taking turns chopping at the gate along the holes blasted by the cannonballs. In less than a quarter of an hour, most of the gate had been completely hacked open—only the two hinge posts remained intact, but they no longer hindered the passage of the army.

As the gate-breaking soldiers withdrew, through the long gate tunnel one could see that the bandits inside the city had already formed a dense square formation, ready at any moment to fight the government troops.

A short trumpet blast suddenly sounded, and a tremendous roar erupted as the Folangji cannons, still in place, fired almost simultaneously. Twenty cannonballs screamed through the gate tunnel and slammed one after another into the bandit formation.

Although the roving bandits had fought the government troops countless times over the years, for various reasons the government forces had never used heavy firearms like the Folangji cannon in bandit suppression, so the bandits had no idea how to counter or evade cannon fire. What they did not know was that forming a dense, thick square formation within the effective range of artillery was simply offering themselves up as target practice for the cannons.

The twenty direct-fire shots caved the thick bandit formation inward, instantly sweeping away the lives and limbs of several ranks of roving bandits. Amid the flying flesh and blood, even screams were rarely heard—the vast majority of those struck died on the spot.

The remaining bandits were utterly stunned. They had never witnessed such enormous destruction that firearms could inflict upon human beings.

Before they could recover their senses, the gunners swiftly shoved a second cartridge into the long slot at the rear of the barrel and lit the fuse. In the blink of an eye, a second cannonball flew with a thunderous roar toward the bandit formation still frozen in place.

After two volleys, few of the thousand-man bandit formation were still standing. The remaining several hundred bandits finally snapped out of their daze and scattered in all directions, wailing and screaming in terror.

In their understanding, battle was still a matter of trading sword cuts and spear thrusts—never had they imagined suffering such one-sided slaughter.

The age of firearms had arrived, and those who lagged behind could only be passively beaten.

The Ming army's firearms were not yet inferior to the West's—it was simply that various historical reasons had led to their extremely low rate of usage.

The Shenji Camp's participation left the roving bandits with no method or strategy to respond—other than collapsing and fleeing, they had no choice.

Liu Wenxiu on the city wall wore an expression of utter disbelief. He had seen government fire lances before and knew their power was great—those struck were either killed or wounded—but slow reloading and short range were their fatal weaknesses. Once the government troops finished one volley, if one charged in immediately for close combat, the gunners had no ability to resist.

But today's long-range cannon bombardment had completely overturned his previous understanding of the battlefield. Faced with such a weapon, he suddenly felt how powerless and insignificant he was.

Three hundred sword-and-shield soldiers of the Wu Army Camp had already filed through the gate tunnel into the city, clearing the way for the three hundred Shenji Camp gunners behind them. The government troops advanced in pairs of these two units, and after entering the city, quickly climbed the steps to attack the bandits on the walls.

The bandits defending the south gate were few to begin with. Having just lost several hundred to the cannon fire, the survivors had been scared out of their wits by the cannons' might. Seeing the government troops charging up the walls, the bandits, panic-stricken, offered no resistance at all and fled along the wall-top passage to other areas.

Liu Wenxiu on the wall had already fled long before the government troops entered the city. He had to quickly inform his adoptive father of the city's fall so that his adoptive father could make plans early.

Just as the bandits at the south gate were collapsing, the government troops at the west and north gates also successively climbed the walls by swarming up in mass assault. Compared to the south gate, where the city was taken with virtually no losses, the troops at the other two gates each paid the price of over a hundred casualties. Fortunately, the Xi'an Camp had no experience in city defense and too few elite troops—otherwise, government casualties would have been even heavier.

Just as the government troops on three sides were breaking through toward the city center, Zhushan's east gate suddenly opened. Several thousand commoners, driven by the bandits behind them, crowded and jostled their way out of the city, followed by group after group of roving bandits. Zhang Xianzhong had changed into commoner's clothing and mixed into the crowd, surrounded by a host of trusted confidants and personal guards likewise disguised as civilians.

Zhang Xianzhong knew in his heart that the city's fall was only a matter of time. After returning to the county office, he summoned his trusted followers to discuss how to break out and flee.

To draw the government troops' attention away, he had not informed the leaders and soldiers defending the three gates. As long as those three sides remained under defense, the government troops would not concentrate their forces to intercept him outside the east gate. As for the fate of his adopted son Liu Wenxiu and the other leaders, he did not care.

Although government troops had already formed battle lines a few li outside the east gate, facing a situation where commoners and bandits were mixed together, the government forces found it hard to choose. What Zhang Xianzhong was gambling on was that the government troops would not dare to kill indiscriminately—then he could smoothly escape into the surrounding mountains.

Before leaving, Zhang Xianzhong sent his personal guards to slaughter the entire families of Pan Du'ao and Xu Yixian. He now hated those two fools with a passion. It was because he had been momentarily bewitched and listened to the words of those two useless idiots that he had fallen to such a state.

If he had retreated to Huangmao Pass back then, or fled westward, the government troops could not have trapped him no matter how many men they had.

There is no regret medicine in this world—now it was too late to say anything.

After surging out of the city, the bandits scattered the commoners, then fled separately toward Luoying Mountain and Fangcheng Mountain on the north and south sides. Zhang Xianzhong and Ai Nengqi and the others fled toward Luoying Mountain in the south.

Zu Kuan and Qin Yiming outside the east gate had been waiting with their troops for quite some time on orders.

The reason Lu Xiangsheng had ordered the attack as quickly as possible and deliberately left the east gate open for the bandits to flee through was his fear that if time dragged on, the bandits, with no retreat left, would slaughter the city's commoners to vent their fury, or push the civilians onto the walls as hostages. Even if the Xi'an bandit were ultimately killed, the enormous civilian casualties would not only damage his reputation and give those court officials and censors ammunition to attack him, but would also send countless innocent lives to their graves.

Although Lu Xiangsheng had long experienced battle and witnessed all kinds of horrors, he had not become cold and ruthless because of it. Deep in his heart, his compassion for the common people had instead grown even stronger.

Had Hong Chengchou or Sun Chuanting commanded this campaign, they would have been thinking about how to surround and annihilate the bandits, capture and kill the Xi'an bandit—the lives of the commoners would have been set aside.

Given the two men's temperaments, holding forces several times the enemy's strength, they would certainly have adopted the strategy of besieging a tenfold enemy, trapping the bandits within the city until they judged the bandits had run out of food for a long time before launching the attack—trading minimal cost for maximum merit, while also winning the favor of the various army officers and soldiers.

Lu Xiangsheng had not failed to think of this, but what he feared was that after the bandits ran out of food, they would slaughter the commoners and use human flesh as military rations. Such cases were common throughout history, and with Zhang Xianzhong's vicious and ruthless nature, he would absolutely do it. Even if the bandits were ultimately utterly defeated, Lu Xiangsheng would carry a shadow in his heart that he could never shake for the rest of his life. He would never forgive himself, and he would never allow such a human tragedy to occur before his eyes—especially under his own command.

Seeing the bandits driving commoners to block the army's path of advance, Zu Kuan and Qin Yiming quickly gathered together to discuss their options.

Qin Yiming said, "Commander Zu, what if I have my men lead the commoners aside to clear a path for the cavalry, and then we charge?"

Zu Kuan frowned and said, "If we do that, most of the bandits will escape into the mountains. If the Xi'an bandit gets away, our credit this time won't be nearly as great!"

Qin Yiming, timid by nature, said helplessly, "Then what are we to do? The Governor-General has always loved the people as his own children. If we charge now, many innocents will die. When the court and the Governor-General hold us accountable afterward, what then?"

Zu Kuan said dismissively, "If the roving bandits get away, they'll flee elsewhere and harm even more commoners in the future! Killing the bandits is what matters now—we can't worry about too much! The Governor-General is a man who leads troops himself; how could he not know what's urgent and what's not! I'll lead the charge now, and you follow up behind to mop up!"

With that, Zu Kuan paid no heed to whatever Qin Yiming might reply. He turned, walked to his horse, and swung into the saddle. Stretching out one arm, he made a chopping motion forward in the air. His personal guards raised a red flag and pressed it forward, and the more than two thousand cavalry on both sides slowly urged their warhorses forward.

The panic-stricken commoners mostly fled east along the main road, when suddenly a dull rumbling sound came from the distance. Moments later, a body of cavalry appeared in everyone's sight.

Ordinary folk had never seen such an awesome spectacle. Many were instantly frozen in terror on the spot, while more, once they recovered their senses, began scattering to both sides. Those with clear heads shouted loudly: "Get out of the way! Get out of the way!" "Clear the road quickly!" "Over here! Over here!"

The Liaodong cavalry quickly picked up speed and in the blink of an eye reached the front of the crowd. By then it was too late to dodge to the sides. The cavalry thundered past four abreast, and all the men, women, old, and weak who stood in their path were knocked down and trampled into pulp.