24 shots back cannon

  The Huo Pao Cannon is a catapult, a weapon brought back by the Mongols during their western campaigns. The body of the cannon was made from large wooden logs, with metal fittings used for joints. A horizontal axle on the cannon frame allowed it to rotate. A long pole fixed to the axle was called "shao", serving as a lever.

  A catapult made with a single wooden pole is called a "single catapult", while one made with multiple poles tied together is called a "multiple catapult". The more poles used, the heavier and farther the stone projectiles are thrown. One end of the catapult is attached to a leather pouch that holds the stone projectile, while the other end is attached to a rope that is several meters long. Small catapults have only a few ropes, while large ones can have over a hundred. Each rope is pulled by 1-2 people. When throwing projectiles, one person aims and releases, while the others pull the ropes simultaneously, causing the other end to swing up and launch the projectile from the leather pouch, relying on inertia to propel it forward. The effect is quite astonishing, and if fireballs or rotting corpses are launched into the city, they can also cause fires and epidemics.

  The Qing dynasty's Huo Hua Pao is a large cannon, artillerymen push the giant gun carriage forward, occupy the firing position, and the rear Lou Che and Zhuang Che are also preparing. After the Huo Hua Pao conducts firepower suppression, they take advantage of the situation to attack the city. Cloud ladders and other tactical weapons are naturally indispensable. After the cannon fire demolishes a section of the city wall, there are still large numbers of shield-wielding and knife-wielding soldiers waiting to charge into the city for close combat.

  All of this arrangement needs a little bit of time.

  The slaves, slightly relieved, no longer being shot at by the people on the city wall, some of them, led by Duncan, ran to collect weapons and armor from the nearby corpses of the ringed horses, also helping the surviving knights to end their suffering. While the Qing army was preparing artillery, the slaves were also lightly armed with bows and arrows, chain mail, iron helmets, and long curved knives, all being the equipment of the elite Qing imperial guards.

  Yu Hualong was delighted on the city wall, the first use of the steam-powered trebuchet had achieved such a great victory that he couldn't help but feel a little proud. If they could repel the Qing army's southern expedition, it wouldn't be just a simple title of Minister of Works. Maybe the Emperor would reward him with a military position, not too high, just a general would do. Ah, the old master's design was still the most powerful after all. Thinking of that eccentric old monster, Yu Hualong's heart tightened. "Someone come and find out how the battle at Lianfeng is going!" A group of fools, taking so long to attack a workshop! The messenger went down the city wall, muttering to himself: Is Lianfeng just an ordinary workshop? It's full of secret passages and mechanisms, the workers are extremely fierce, they would pull out the finished and semi-finished products from the workshop to resist, even if you wore iron armor to attack, it would be hard to say whether you could take it down with 10,000 people in a year.

  Zhamuhe took advantage of the chaos to grab a horse, which was a chained horse that he freed by cutting through the iron chain. His skilled horsemanship quickly made the fine horse familiar with its new master. Zhamuhe removed the heavy armor from the horse and hung all the collected feathered arrows on the saddle. Anthony and Duncan also stripped the dead men of their helmets and wore them, the long curved knives were very sharp, an excellent cavalry weapon, even Liu Ziguo got two of them. The slave army suffered another loss of over a thousand men after being impacted by the chained horse, now only more than 800 people are left huddled in the empty space near the suspension bridge. Anyway, Yu Xiaolong is not afraid of arrows shot from the city tower while he is in the team.

  The commander of the artillery led the troops to place the cannon in a position that could hit the city wall, he didn't dare to advance further. The iron factory's harpoon guns were shot out with great force, fast and fierce, it was too terrifying. The exposed artillerymen had no protection at all, if they were hit by the concentrated fire, they would be in trouble.

  "Load the stone cannonball!" The commander ordered, a 150 jin heavy round stone ball was loaded into the leather pouch, and the artillerymen also pulled the gun lanyard, eight giant trebuchets waiting for the emperor's own command.

  The siege tower is also ready, with the trajectory of the trebuchet's projectiles laid out in front. The tall siege tower and the city wall are roughly the same height, and a small cabin on top can hide many soldiers. When pushed to the edge of the city wall, a drawbridge can be released, allowing for direct access to the city. Inside the siege tower, there is a staircase that allows infantry to climb up continuously from below. The body of the siege tower is made of solid wood, covered with iron plates on the outside, and has a heavy base that is not afraid of arrows. Underneath the base are many wooden wheels that allow it to be pushed forward. When combined with the trebuchet, it forms an excellent combination for attacking cities. Many strongholds in Shandong Province have been conquered using this method, and this time, Liguocheng will also be quickly captured.

  The shield wall and the knife hands hid behind the tower car, followed by a large number of archers. They waited until they reached the city to shoot arrows upwards. The battering ram was an iron shell cart with a thick, heavy wooden beam suspended inside, like a temple bell, used to break open the city gate. Soldiers hid inside and pushed the cart forward, avoiding arrow injuries.

  There were also large numbers of soldiers carrying sacks and cloud ladders. The sacks filled with earth were used to fill the moat, so that the towered vehicles and battering rams could approach the city wall. (Author: Moats are really good things) Cloud ladders can be directly placed on the moat as a bridge for infantry, and after crossing the river, they can also climb the city, killing two birds with one stone.

  This time the Qing Empire has really spent a lot of money on this difficult expedition. All the equipment and tools are newly made, if they can't even take down a single city in Li country, then from now on, outside, they won't dare to claim themselves as people of the Qing Empire.

  Seeing the majestic tower car and the huge trebuchet, Yu Hualong's face changed: "Yu Huatiger, what countermeasures are there?" Yu Huatiger was actually an expert in defending the city, but at this moment he had a difficult expression: "Big brother, the steam-powered crossbow's arrow storage is not much, this thing consumes too quickly, the Lingfeng number has stock inside, but it can't be taken out. I think we can only deal with his tower car, infantry and collision cars are not to be feared, just that trebuchet, the distance is too far, we can only take a beating, if the city wall is smashed open, their cavalry will rush in, this city will not be kept."

  "Shall we not return fire and counterattack?" Yu Hualong refused to give up.

  "Ah, Old Master Wang said that thing is too outdated and was never even made." Yu Huatou replied.

  "Alright, Huayou take the lead for now, keep an eye on your nephew in the city below, I'll head back to the manor to settle some things." Yuhualong, sensing something was off, prepared to return and pack up his family's belongings.

  As soon as Huà Lóng descended into the city, the recoilless cannon launched an attack.

  As the Emperor's order was given, the artillery commander waved a red flag, and two hundred gunners for each cannon, eight cannons in total, one thousand six hundred gunners simultaneously pulled the lanyards with all their might. The breeches of the cannons were quickly raised, and the stone balls shot out like meteors towards the city wall.

  The catapults were aiming at the same place, and the heavy stone balls came crashing down with great inertia, hitting the city wall and causing the people inside to accelerate their heartbeat. The iron guards in the hidden tunnels also felt the earth falling from above, and the stone balls shattered, leaving clear dents and cracks on the city wall.

  The catapults continued to fire without stopping, the tower cars and battering rams advanced forward under the protection of infantry, the earth-shaking battle cries accompanied by the rumbling sound of stone projectiles hitting the city walls, forming a majestic war symphony.

  The pale-faced Qing emperor smiled faintly, but the soldiers on the iron factory's city walls were terrified, and the old people inside the city were even more frightened. It was New Year's Day, and they hadn't even had time to eat dumplings yet, wearing their brand new festival clothes, having just gone through a tumultuous rebellion, still reeling from the shock, and now facing the Qing army's cannons again - what could be done? If Old Master Fang were here, he would surely have a plan. Every single person, from soldiers to civilians, thought this in their hearts.

  Eight trebuchets continuously fired stone balls, the tower cars and infantry had already entered the range. Yu Huatiger ordered the steam-powered crossbow to counterattack, and the shooting ports on the city wall became lively again. The crossbowmen shot frantically, switching to long naphtha-tipped arrows that flew out like a swarm of locusts, piercing through the iron plates and entering the tower cars. The tung oil ignited the interior of the tower cars, and the Qing soldiers were burned to death, falling from above and landing on the soldiers pushing the carts. The arrows shot into the clusters of infantry were unstoppable, easily piercing even shields. The dense and rapid shooting killed large numbers of Qing infantry, and several tower cars also caught fire, rendering them unusable.

  The cannons adjusted their direction, specifically targeting the steam-powered crossbow shooting ports below the fortifications. This time, half of the cannonballs were replaced with clay pots filled with iron nails and quicklime. The cannonballs hit the crossbow shooting ports, creating a blinding cloud of quicklime smoke that made it impossible for the iron factory's crossbowmen to open their eyes. The scattered iron nails also injured many crossbowmen. If they were unlucky enough to be hit by a stone cannonball, it was even more disastrous - the steam-powered crossbows would be destroyed, and the crossbowmen would be crushed by falling rocks and bricks.

  The counterattack of the iron factory was suppressed, and the label guns used by the crossbow were also about to run out.

  The more than 800 slaves did not dare to get too close to the city wall, fearing being crushed by falling rocks. In front of them were all Qing soldiers and horses. Liu Ziguang asked Zhamuhe: "Is there a good way? Big brother?"

  Zhamuhe looked at him and said "No."

  "Provided you can break through the tens of thousands of men in front of you, and then break through the Qing cavalry behind them who are waiting in ambush, there might be a glimmer of hope. That is, if you can."

  I can, but I can only guarantee one person's safety. Bringing two women and several brothers is definitely impossible. Liu Ziguo thought to himself, but he didn't say it out loud. Instead, he said: "Infantry can't be as scary as chain horses, right? Let's all go together and see how many people we can save."

  Liu Ziguang picked up a piece of cavalry armor and helped Peng Jingrong put it on, then threw another one to Peng Jingwei. Peng Jingwei pouted and said: "I want you to help me wear it too." Liu Ziguang replied viciously: "Do you think I'm still your slave? If you want to live, put it on yourself!"

  Peng Jingwei choked back tears, and Yu Xiaolong tried to comfort her by saying "Second Miss, let me help you put it on." But she pushed him away, saying "If I'm going to wear it myself, then I'll wear it myself."

  The Qing dynasty's chain mail cavalry wore full armor, but they couldn't even walk if they put it all on. So they only wore the upper body key parts of the armor, brought iron helmets, and held small round shields in their hands. The few horses were concentrated together, and people with riding experience rode them. Liu Ziguang was not good at riding, so he let his two sisters ride the horse, and he walked on foot, holding two big knives to open the way in front.

  Eight hundred slaves and remnants of defeated armies charged towards tens of thousands of Qing infantrymen.

  Yu Huilong hastily led a few personal bodyguards to rush back to the mansion, walking on the empty road, when suddenly a messenger ran up from the front. It was the same young man who had been sent out earlier to gather information about the battle at Lianfeng Fort. The messenger's helmet had fallen off, and he panted as he shouted: "Lord Yu, Old...Old Master...Old Master has come out! Those people who went to attack Lianfeng Fort have turned traitor and are following Old Master in killing their way over here!"

  The worst thing has happened. Yu Hualong felt a bit dizzy and almost couldn't stand up.

  As soon as the words fell, the machine roared to life, and from the corner of the street emerged a black iron monster, covered in steel plates and rivets, with mobile iron hatch covers installed all over its body. Underneath were two rows of iron wheels, screeching against the bluestone pavement.

  At the front of the iron monster, an old man's upper body emerged, with a spirited and sharp gaze, his white hair and beard, wearing a soft leather hat, holding a large flag with a black shield and five-pointed star on it. Behind him was another identical iron monster, followed by iron guards with red headbands and armed men, as well as the enraged iron factory workers and their families.

  Hua Long was so shocked that he sat down on the ground with a thud.