The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 66 The Fall of Yan'an Prefecture
At Jiang Han's command, the squad leaders in the tent clasped their fists in acceptance, went back to muster their men, and headed off to the battlefield with murderous intent.

The night was as dark as ink, and the entire Yan'an Prefecture was already shrouded in darkness. Apart from a few fires on the city walls and a few soldiers with their heads hanging low, one could still see some firelight.

Outside Andingmen, under the cover of night, Zhu Zi had already ordered his men to push all the dozen or so cannons they were carrying to the foot of the city wall, about two hundred paces away.

Unfortunately, he didn't have any heavy artillery. If the Tiger Crouching Cannon were fitted with solid iron bullets, its maximum range would only be about three hundred paces.

To reach the defenders on the city wall, the artillery positions had to be pushed forward as much as possible, which is why Jiang Han and his men chose to attack the city at night.

If the attack were to take place during the day, the cannons would be clearly seen by the defenders on the city walls before they even reached the city.

There are heavy cannons on the city walls of Yan'an Prefecture. If they were to engage in a direct confrontation, they would definitely be no match for them.

"Has everything been explained clearly?"

Dong Erzhu asked Han Wentao, the squad leader beside him, in a low voice, his tone revealing a hint of urgency.

Han Wentao patted his chest and said in a deep voice:

"Don't worry, all the brothers have been notified. We'll withdraw after firing three rounds of artillery and we won't linger in battle."

Dong Erzhu nodded, his gaze sweeping over the city wall, and he gritted his teeth, saying:

"That's fine."

"Remember, don't hold back on ammunition. Aim at the enemy's artillery scouts and bombard them before they can react!"

He had barely finished speaking when he suddenly waved his hand: "Fire!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

In an instant, more than a dozen tiger-squatting cannons roared in unison, the sound so loud it hurt people's ears.

The defenders on the city wall were still dazed when suddenly more than a dozen cannons opened fire at the same time, instantly making them dizzy and leaving their minds blank.

Before he could react, shells rained down on his head, instantly smashing most of his body to pieces.

"The enemy soldiers have fired their cannons! Retreat immediately!"

Zheng, the guard on duty, shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice filled with panic.

In an instant, the defenders on the city wall were thrown into chaos. Some scrambled into corners, while others lay down close to the parapet, trying to avoid the sudden barrage of artillery fire.

The militiamen who had been temporarily conscripted were so frightened that their legs trembled and they wanted to run away.

Seeing this, Zheng Baihu's eyes turned red. He slashed down the militiaman running at the front with his sword and roared:
"Stop right there! Don't run! Find somewhere to hide!"

"The enemy soldiers can't keep firing indefinitely; they can only fire a few rounds at most."

"Once they finish firing their cannons, they'll be climbing up. Anyone who dares to take a step back, I'll chop them down first!"

Sure enough, after three rounds of artillery fire, deafening battle cries erupted from below the city.

When Zheng Baihu peeked out, his heart sank. He saw the enemy soldiers surging in like a tide, some of them even setting up ladders and preparing to climb the city wall.

Commander Zheng gritted his teeth and hissed:
"Quickly, push up! We absolutely cannot let the enemy soldiers climb up!"

"Where are the logs? Throw all the logs down! Aim them at areas with lots of people!"

But these militiamen had never seen anything like this before, and they cowered and stood at the back, too afraid to step forward.
Logically speaking, the militia are an important reserve armed force in prefectures and counties, and should undertake a large part of the combat missions during wartime.

Moreover, the number of militiamen was not small. According to the law, the number of militiamen should be determined by the size of the prefecture or county. Larger prefectures and counties had a thousand men, medium-sized ones had six or seven hundred, and smaller ones had five hundred.

Furthermore, the imperial court stipulated that the militia should train twice a month in spring, summer and autumn, and then train three times and rest three times in winter.

Although that's what the law says, these days, even the regular army of the imperial court has trouble feeding itself, so where would they get the surplus grain to conscript militia and organize training?

The previous rounds of artillery bombardment had already terrified them, and now, seeing the murderous bandits below the city walls, they were so frightened that they collapsed to the ground.

No matter how much the guards urged him, he refused to go forward to defend the city.

Seeing this, Commander Zheng drew his sword and was about to strike again, but his personal guards quickly stopped him.

"Sir! Stop cutting! If these people defect again, we're really finished!"

"In my humble opinion, it would be better to have them retreat to the back and move the logs and stones."

Commander Zheng nodded helplessly, then summoned a messenger:

"Quickly report to Commander Wu! Tell him that a large group of bandits is attacking the city at Anding Gate, and request that he send reinforcements immediately!"

The messenger nodded, ran down the city wall like lightning, and rode his horse westward.

Wu Ze was currently leading a reserve force of over a hundred men on patrol near the West Gate.

Upon receiving the news, he dared not delay and immediately inquired:

"How many bandits are there? Are they all at the north gate? Is there any movement at the other gates?"

The messenger wiped his sweat and replied:

"The enemy soldiers are heavily armed and numerous; a preliminary estimate suggests they number no fewer than a thousand."

"Currently, they are all concentrated at Andingmen; no trace of bandits has been found in other directions." Wu Ze nodded and instructed the centurion beside him:

"You immediately take these hundred-odd men and rush to Andingmen to provide support. You must hold it!"

He then turned to the messenger and gave the order:

"Go to the west gate right now and send the order to transfer the garrison there. Don't move the people at the other gates; let them guard them!"

"I am now going to investigate at Shunyang Gate and Dongsheng Gate!"

He dared not transfer all his troops there. The vast Yan'an Prefecture was already stretched thin with only his seven or eight hundred guards defending it.

If the enemy forces manage to lure us away from our stronghold and breach other city gates, then everything will be over.

Wu Ze's decision was undoubtedly correct. At this time, Jiang Han and Li Laowai had already been lying in ambush outside Dongsheng Gate.

Once the battle at Andingmen begins, Jiang Han will detonate the explosives and blow up the city wall.

In the past few days, Jiang Han and others have been observing the terrain around Yan'an Prefecture on Qingliang Mountain, while the rest of them have been building siege weapons.

Especially siege ladders, which can directly climb city walls.

This siege is different from the attack on Wangzhuang; Jiang Han cannot take shortcuts.

After all, there were no cliffs next to the city walls of Yan'an Prefecture, so he could hang people down from above and climb directly onto the city walls.

Moreover, the city gates of Yan'an Prefecture all had barbicans, so you couldn't attack the city gates directly. Otherwise, even if you broke through the city gates, you would just end up in the barbican and die an even more miserable death.

Jiang Han left most of the siege ladders and shield carts to Zhu Zi's side, keeping only a few for himself in case of emergency.

At that moment, several of his men, under Li Liyuan's guidance, were stuffing explosives into the base of the poorly constructed section of the city wall.

After confirming the location, the group took out pickaxes and dug several times along the cracks in the wall.

They then skillfully stuffed the explosives into the cracks in the wall, and the squad leader lit the fuse, leading them to run back as fast as they could.

"boom!"

With a deafening roar, the explosive charge exploded, sending flames soaring into the sky and shaking the ground.

The shockwave from the explosion kicked up clouds of dust, bricks and stones flew off the city wall, and cracks began to spread along the surface.

Immediately afterwards, the entire section of the city wall collapsed with a roar, revealing a sloping earthen mound several meters wide in front of everyone.

"kill!"

Jiang Han seized the opportunity, drew his waist knife, and led his personal guards to charge forward.

Seeing this, Li Laowai, who was behind him, was not to be outdone. He took out his three-barreled gun and followed.

Jiang Han charged ahead, cleaving through the guards blocking his path with a single stroke, and steadily stood atop the city wall.

By this time, the defending troops on the city wall were in complete chaos. How could the city wall have suddenly collapsed?!

Seeing the bandits charging towards them with murderous intent, they recalled the night they were chased in Wangzhuang not long ago, and had no will to fight back.

Those who mustered the courage to go forward and engage the enemy couldn't even get close to Jiang Han before being shot down by several muskets from a distance.

Upon seeing this, the others dropped their weapons and knelt down to surrender.

In the blink of an eye, Dongsheng Gate fell into Jiang Han's hands, while at Anding Gate, Hei Zi had already led several captains under his command to storm the city wall, causing the defending troops to retreat in defeat.

Inside the government office, Zhang Nian was pacing anxiously when suddenly a messenger stumbled in:

"Reporting, Your Excellency! The Anding Gate is under attack! The enemy troops have already breached the city walls!"

Upon hearing this news, Zhang Nian, who was in the main hall, was immediately startled:
"What happened?! Aren't there guards and militiamen at Andingmen? How could they have been so easily breached by the rebels?!"

The messenger, panting, replied:
"Under the cover of night, the bandits moved all the cannons nearby, and more than a dozen cannons opened fire at once. The brothers didn't dare to go up!"

Zhang Nian's expression changed, and he angrily said:

"Don't we have cannons too?! They're Western cannons allocated by the imperial court, why don't we fire them back?!"

The messenger shook his head:
"Those bandits were incredibly cunning. They specifically targeted our artillery scouting posts and bombarded them for three whole rounds! And they ran away as soon as they finished firing, giving us no chance to retaliate at all!"

"The militiamen's legs went weak when they heard the cannon fire, and they absolutely refused to go up!"

Zhang Nian was so angry he gritted his teeth:
"Where's Wu Ze? Isn't Wu Ze at the West Gate?"

"Let him lead his guards to the front!"

The messenger bowed his head, his voice trembling:

"Commander Wu... has disappeared!"

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(End of this chapter)