You can't only love the Qing Dynasty when you're eating the fruits of others' labor.

Chapter 336 When the elite Wu army crashed head-on into the fortress!
It is a thoroughfare connecting Wu and Chu, and an official road connecting Hunan and Jiangxi.

A crudely constructed but layered Fort Notre Dame firmly blocked the only land route between the two provinces suitable for large armies to pass through.

Outside the fortress, Wu soldiers lay dead everywhere.

There were also many corpses of Wu soldiers between the first and second lines of defense.

Ma Bao's troops, who attempted to retreat to Changsha for a decisive battle, were blocked by Shengmubao and suffered heavy casualties after three consecutive attacks.

Ma Bao decisively decided to wait for the cannon.

……

Two days later, the cannon was in place.

The dozen or so heavy Western-style cannons became the focus of everyone's attention.

"Brothers, the reward for hitting a cannonball is one tael of silver."

"Whoo."

The gunners used all the skills they had learned in their lives.

Liu Xuanchu watched the shells' landing points with bated breath. Most of the shells missed their mark, which was normal; hitting the target every time was the work of a god.

In the lens~
A cannonball barely hit the prismatic protrusion of the castle, splashing up some clods of earth, but that was all; the earthen wall remained unharmed.

Another cannonball hit the city wall, and then slid off.

Liu Xuanchu was horrified.

"What's going on? General Ma Bao, what exactly happened?"

"How the hell would I know?"

A moment later, the artillery battalion commander came running over, looking ashen-faced.

"General, there's a ghost on the other side."

……

There were three lines of defense, each separated by a trench.

On the main fortress, the defending general Meng Qiaomei burst into laughter.

"Good, good stuff. Foreigners do have some good stuff. After the war is over, I will definitely recommend that foreigner for credit."

The Shaanxi-Gansu Green Standard Army soldiers around them burst into laughter.

The mere 4000 defenders were equipped with 2000 matchlock muskets, 1000 crossbows, 100 long-barreled three-eyed muskets, 20 tiger-squatting cannons, 10 breech-loading cannons, 4 red-coated cannons, and countless swords, spears, and lances.

What was initially thought to be a tough nut to crack by Chief Minister Chiang turned out to be a piece of easy prey.

……

"Hu Guozhu, the cannons are unreliable. You take 5000 men and attack."

"Whoo."

Hu Guozhu, clad in three layers of heavy armor, moved forward with the formation.

From the air, rows of dark, imposing formations slowly approached the bastion, with ladder soldiers, shield bearers, archers, musketeers, and spearmen arranged in a distinct hierarchy.

The Wu army led by Ma Bao was composed entirely of elite troops.

The massive shield, like a wall, slowly advanced.

When they entered the first defensive line of the bastion, which was 30 zhang deep, gunfire rang out.

When they entered the first defensive line of the bastion, which was 20 zhang deep, arrows rained down from the sky.

As the ladders were set up and the soldiers began their swarming assault on the city, everyone wished they had eyes in the back of their heads, as the bullets and arrows coming from behind had an exceptionally high hit rate.

"Archers, cover!"

Under Hu Guozhu's command, a large number of archers gathered and rained arrows down on the first defensive wall.

"Retreat~"

The Green Standard Army troops at the first defensive wall quickly retreated and moved rapidly into the second defensive fortification along the troop transport route.

……

Wu's soldiers surged through the first line of defense, only to face an awkward situation.

All the city walls were single-sided defenses; the side facing the enemy had crenellations, while the side facing inwards was empty.

They held their ground against the city walls, with no cover or protection.

Then they had no choice but to continue the attack. A large group of soldiers pursued along the troop transport route, and then they saw a flash of fire as a tiger-squatting cannon fired.

The passageway was covered in shotgun shells; it was a horrific sight.

Wu Jun decided not to take the shortcut, but to go through open ground, climb over trenches, kick away barbed wire, and gradually perish under the arrows and bullets from the second defensive wall.

The triangular fortress is even more deadly.

It provided almost complete coverage with firepower.

Hu Guozhu held up his shield, his eyes wide with fury, his heart aching.

"How to do?"

"Attack! Keep attacking! Tell General Ma Bao to send reinforcements!"

"Whoo."

Hu Guozhu is right. If we give up now, it will be the same as losing more than 1000 lives in vain. We must grit our teeth and continue the attack. We must not give up halfway.

"...Brothers, follow me and attack!"

Ma Bao brandished his spear and personally led the charge, inspiring the soldiers. A dark mass of soldiers followed his banner as they rushed toward the Fortress of Our Lady and breached the first defensive wall.

The ladder was also brought in.

The soldiers began climbing the second defensive wall, the familiar sight of being shot in the back, the familiar way of dying.

Soon, the area beneath the second defensive wall was piled high with corpses.

Soon, the defenders of the second defensive wall retreated en masse, abandoning their position.

Everything feels so familiar.

The routine hasn't changed at all.

The second defensive wall still offered nowhere to hide, so the soldiers could only continue charging in, only to be met with the familiar barrage of artillery fire along the troop transport route.

The deeper they advance, the denser their troop deployment and the more concentrated their firepower becomes.

The towering main fortress was ablaze with fire, and no matter how fiercely the Wu army fought, they couldn't break through the third line of defense.

Looking at the horrific scene of the siege, Ma Bao felt his blood freeze.

suddenly~
A single shot struck his iron helmet, and Ma Bao fell to the ground.

"General?"

A group of guards quickly shielded Ma Bao with their bodies.

Ma Bao was in a sorry state; a piece of flesh had been torn from his forehead by a bullet, and blood was gushing out. Although he wouldn't die, he was seriously injured.

As the guard bandaged his wounds, he asked, "General, shall we retreat?"

"No retreat allowed, keep the attack going, we must take down the turtle shell."

To the diagonal rear, there is a triangular fort.

A musketeer laughed wildly at his comrade: "I shot and killed a high-ranking official wearing a golden helmet."

"You son of a bitch, you made a killing."

From their elevated position, the group fired continuously, and soon the narrow triangular bunker was filled with acrid smoke.

.........

Main castle.

It also served as a storage location for gunpowder.

The circular building was surrounded by firing ports.

Soldiers moved back and forth, each performing their duties.

The roar of guns and cannons never ceased, and various matchlock guns, positioned high above, gleefully reaped lives.

Bastions – the best setting for the use of firearms in the 17th century.

Meng Qiaomei looked at the cross pattern that Nan Huairen had personally carved on the wall.

“God, although I have never met you, if you can bless me to succeed as Governor-General of Shaanxi and Gansu, I swear to God, I will believe in you, not anyone else in my life.”

That's how Chinese worship is: I don't care what kind of god you are, I only ask if you are effective.

If you work on something crucial just once, I'll trust you for life.

Are you devout?
They seem neither devout nor very devout.

……

The intense two quarters of an hour passed.

The heavy casualties shattered everyone's confidence, and Wu's army began to flee.

From a few hundred people to over a thousand.

Everyone lost confidence in conquering this magical castle.

Fort Santa Maria was like a giant hedgehog, pricking Wu Jun, the mad dog, until he was covered in blood and in excruciating pain, and finally ran away with his tail between his legs.

Ma Bao, under the protection of the guards, fled in a disheveled state.

Behind them, gunfire erupted, seemingly as a farewell.

Arrows flew overhead.

The surrounding area was filled with the corpses of their own people, densely packed and a gruesome sight.

The gunmen at the triangular fortress were reaping lives with abandon. They didn't need to aim; heads were everywhere below them, and they were shooting indiscriminately. Wu's troops fled in terror.

Liu Xuanchu's face was ashen. He opened his mouth as he stared at the blood-soaked Ma Bao, but no sound came out.

Lost!

They suffered a crushing defeat, and morale plummeted.

After gathering the remaining troops and taking a rough count, the estimated casualties exceeded 5000. Combined with the casualties from the previous attacks, the total casualties exceeded 8000.
For an army of 50,000, this was a devastating blow.

Even worse news followed.

"Report: General Hu Guozhu has been killed in action."

"When?"

"When they attacked the third wall, the Qing army suddenly fired a cannon, which pierced through his armor. He must have died."

(End of this chapter)