Chapter 1189: Thunder

"If we break this manor, the government troops will rout and flee. We've put considerable effort into operating Guide Prefecture — those routed soldiers and scattered troops will ravage the countryside. We need a better approach!" Zhao Jin said with a laugh.

After saying this, Zhao Jin's expression turned solemn as he raised his voice: "Everyone, listen for my orders!"

The night watches at Lü Family Manor had already ceased — precisely to keep the Xuzhou forces outside from knowing the exact time. But the Zhao Character Battalion had its own methods of timekeeping: observing the night sky, using hourglasses and water clocks to estimate roughly. In the darkest hour just before daybreak, the various companies of the Zhao Character Battalion began to move.

From a distance, the campfires within the Zhao Character Battalion's encampment still burned steadily at a few spots, but from afar one could not see that these few fires had been continuously boiling water and heating food, which was then distributed so that the companies rising early could eat and drink something not so cold. The company commanders and squad commanders of the Guard Brigade's Second Regiment were all exhorting the family soldiers under them, telling them they must not make a sound during the march. The firearms battalion was making similar arrangements.

As for the student company, those men were directly ordered to bite down on the bamboo chopsticks they carried with them and not let them drop during the march. Over on the cavalry side, the family soldiers were eating while feeding their horses; those who finished quickly were tidying their tack. They were not in such a hurry, because they were to set out a bit later. The militia had also all woken up. Apart from the picked elite troops who had been drawn off, the rest were ordered to wait inside their tents. They watched the family soldiers with envy — to them, being able to fight in formation and charge at the front represented future prospects and being genuinely valued by others.

"Master, you should still stay behind to hold the command. Let us subordinates go." Just before leaving the main camp, Zhang Hubin once again made this request, but Zhao Jin patted him on the shoulder, and he tactfully fell silent.

Meng Zhiqi walked among the artillery column. The gunners were oiling the joints, axles, and other parts of the gun carriages and mounts. Others were fitting bits and halters onto the draft animals pulling the cannons, to keep them from making noise.

Once all preparations were complete, the night was still thick and dark. Orders were passed down, and the main force began to move out. The pike family soldiers wore only their breastplates; the rest of their armor components were bundled up and carried on their backs, to avoid noise while marching. Moreover, the column did not march in step — they advanced at a route step, and spread out, also to avoid making too much sound.

Zhao Jin, too, wore only his breastplate, with the rest of his armor placed on his saddle, and he led his horse forward with the main force. In truth, the marching column still produced all sorts of sounds, but at such a great distance, Shang Family Manor had no way of detecting them. In the pitch-black hours before dawn, they were even less visible. As for the hidden sentries and roving patrols the government troops at Shang Family Manor had placed outside, they had all been killed clean the night before. The Zhao Character Battalion had committed all its light cavalry and volunteer riders the previous night, sweeping and strangling again and again, until finally the government troops' night scouts dared not operate any longer.

"You don't need to shield me in front — they can't hit me!" Zhao Jin said, somewhere between exasperated and amused. His personal guards were all marching ahead of Zhao Jin, screening him so tightly he was completely hidden. But in this quiet moment, with silence all around, what enemy could there possibly be?

As they were marching forward, a family soldier behind him said to Zhao Jin, "Master Jin, the sky light is showing."

There were men in the column specially assigned to watch the horizon, to see when the first light of day would appear. On this kind of flat plain terrain, once the horizon began to pale, the land would brighten very quickly. The Zhao Character Battalion's main force, which had been using darkness to conceal its advance, would then be discovered.

"Without clocks, it's just inconvenient!" Zhao Jin muttered a remark, though those around him did not understand what he meant. In truth, the time difference was not great, but at this critical juncture, that gap was enough to be fatal.

Zhao Jin looked forward and back. Ahead was still night, but behind him the sky was already turning pale. "Pass the order: before we are discovered, continue maintaining this speed. Do not speed up. But be ready to accelerate at any moment. Have the firearms battalion roughly estimate the distances first."

The messenger family soldiers ran off in all directions to relay the order. The atmosphere in the column began to grow tense. This silent march did not last much longer. They had advanced less than two hundred paces when, from the direction of Shang Family Manor, shouts and the urgent clanging of gongs rang out. Torches could be seen mounting the walls, and figures surged in motion. Zhao Jin's contingent had been discovered.

Zhao Jin swung up onto his horse. He did not spur his mount forward but instead stood on the saddle to look ahead. There were still over five hundred paces to the eastern manor wall of Shang Family Manor. Zhao Jin then sat astride his horse and rode toward the firearms battalion. By this time, every company of the Zhao Character Battalion had already quickened its forward pace. The family soldiers driving the horses and oxen of the firearms battalion were shouting and lashing furiously, and the family soldiers pushing the gun carriages and mounts from behind also opened their throats and began to yell.

"Meng Zhiqi! Open fire as soon as the range is sufficient! Elevate the muzzles and fire! Fire as soon as you're in position! Don't cause friendly fire, but don't be afraid of it either!" Zhao Jin rode up to Meng Zhiqi and shouted.

Meng Zhiqi, who was standing on a gun carriage observing through a telescope, was momentarily stunned, then immediately understood. As Zhao Jin wheeled his horse around, he heard Meng Zhiqi behind him shouting: "Twelve-pounders and sixteen-pounders, set up guns on the spot! All guns, advance forward!"

The order was given. The six cannons of the largest calibers immediately halted where they were. The family soldiers responsible for these guns at once began unhitching the draft animals from the gun carriages, setting the cannons down, and then commencing their preparations.

"One volley of flat trajectory fire, then switch to plunging fire. Increase the elevation angle with each volley. The points of impact are to advance forward in sequence." After giving these instructions, Meng Zhiqi rode off again toward the cannons further ahead. Up front, the nine-pounders were also beginning to set into position and prepare to fire. Meng Zhiqi would personally instruct each caliber of cannon on the specific firing sequence and method.

After those six heavy cannons were in position, no men or horses of the Zhao Character Battalion remained advancing in the area ahead of where their muzzles pointed. Men, horses, and artillery columns all spread out toward the flanks. Taking the first cannons to be emplaced as the starting point, they gradually fanned out toward both wings, forming the shape of a crescent arc. As cannon after cannon was set into position, the family soldiers also took up position behind the cannons by company, ready at any moment to advance and provide cover.

The bore of every cannon was cleaned very thoroughly before battle, but it still had to be cleaned again before opening fire. First, a bore hook was used to scrape the inside of the barrel once, then a dry brush was used to swab it. Next, a silk-wrapped powder charge was inserted, after which a fuse was placed into the vent hole. The cannonball was added, and then a ramrod was used to tamp the charge and shot firmly down. Before leaving the encampment, the iron rods used for igniting had been heated in braziers, and by now they were glowing red-hot.

Zhao Jin opened his telescope again and observed the top of Shang Family Manor's wall. He could see the government troops frantically servicing several cannons, tearing off the cloth coverings and camouflage from the gun barrels, then beginning to load ammunition. Though he could not see clearly, he could sense the fluster and chaos — it was obvious at a glance that their training was not up to standard...

Just as he was watching, Zhao Jin heard someone blow a brass whistle beside his ear. He hurriedly put down the telescope and covered his ears with both hands. When that brass whistle sounded, every man in this contingent of the Zhao Character Battalion did the same. They had just covered their ears when they heard a muffled thunderclap erupt. In that instant, the very ground seemed to tremble. After the booming roar, they saw that the rammed-earth perimeter wall of Shang Family Manor had collapsed. Flesh and blood flew through the air, and two cannons also came crashing down with it.

Zhao Jin was about to look more closely when the whistles sounded one after another. He had no choice but to keep his ears covered and not move. He could hear the deep booming rumble sounding out in sequence, from near to far. The cannons that had been arrayed and set in position fired one after another. When the twelve-pounders and sixteen-pounders had opened fire, the three-pounders at the very front had not yet been emplaced. However, the three-pounders were much quicker than the large-caliber heavy guns at getting into position, loading ammunition, and opening fire, and they too soon began to blast away.

The battlefield was filled with nothing but roaring and smoke and dust. After the first round of bombardment had passed, there were still men on the wall of Shang Family Manor poking their heads out to look around. Who could have expected that the fifteen three-pounders would fire at this moment? Metal shot came howling over, and after that, no one remained on the wall. Next, the heavy cannons again boomed in sequence. The manor wall of Shang Family Manor directly facing the gun battery had already been smashed apart. The shattered fragments of rammed earth from the earthen perimeter had collapsed into the moat. Shang Family Manor now lay wide open.

At first, one could still see somewhat clearly, but soon the field of vision was obscured by the gunpowder smoke after the cannons fired. The entire battlefield was filled with this smoke. It was only thanks to the constant wind near the Yellow River that one could intermittently see the situation inside Shang Family Manor — and see the ghastly carnage within.

"Do the government troops think that after the first round of cannon fire, the second round will take a lot of time, and so they're still thinking of charging out to seize the guns?" Zhao Jin muttered to himself.

The first round of cannon fire had finished firing in sequence. In that brief pause, cavalry and infantry could be seen charging out headlong from inside Shang Family Manor. But this brief pause did not last very long. The six heavy cannons opened fire again. Because the angles had been adjusted this time, the cannonballs struck right into the middle of the cavalry formation. The twelve-pound and sixteen-pound cannonballs carried immense force. Whether they struck rider or horse, the victim was immediately broken apart or even pulverized. Weapons, armor, and horse tack were also shattered, and the fragments became lethal killers in turn.

The cannonballs from such heavy guns would not be stopped by mere flesh and blood. After pulverizing the men and horses in front of them, they would pass through walls, then hit the ground, bounce up, and continue reaping lives. The cannonballs from the nine-pounders and six-pounders were also scythes harvesting lives. With every cannon blast, large swaths of soldiers and able-bodied laborers collapsed. The walls and buildings near the manor wall also continuously crumbled under such bombardment.

There was another brief pause in the second round of bombardment. Government troops could still be seen charging outward from inside Shang Family Manor. Every man seemed to be in a frenzy. Zhao Jin felt as if he could hear the hoarse shouts of "Seize the guns!" But this effort was immediately smothered once more by the roar of cannon fire.

Thirty-six cannons: two sixteen-pounders, four fourteen-pounders, seven nine-pounders, ten six-pounders, and thirteen three-pounders. Each volley fired several hundred jin of lead and iron. These metal shot were unstoppable within the fortified stronghold of Shang Family Manor. Every cannonball that landed meant death, and each shell killed more than one person.

Shang Family Manor itself had a population of nearly five thousand. Including the ten thousand plus government troops, porters, and civilian laborers, the total was roughly eighteen or nineteen thousand. The manor's layout had been designed with chaotic times and wartime in mind, so accommodating this many people was not a problem. But with so many people packed inside, there was certainly not much space to spare. Being able to ensure the orderly movement and deployment of men and horses was already quite good.

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