mtl008 Chapter 722 The Battle of Luoyang (Part 2)
Chapter 722 The Battle of Luoyang (Part 2)
Hearing that the other party didn't want a single penny of the city's valuables, Li Zicheng felt relieved, and his expression softened somewhat.
"Since Luoyang is strong on the outside but weak on the inside, we will begin the siege tomorrow."
The next day, with the sound of several cannon shots, the rebel army launched a full-scale attack on the city, and the crowd surged toward the city walls like a tidal wave.
Due to the large number of refugees, there was no distinction between feint attacks and frontal assaults. Troops were evenly distributed in four directions, and they were deployed to capture whichever direction they chose. As a result, all four city gates were under pressure at the same time, and the battle became fierce from the very beginning.
The rebel army came prepared, with ample siege equipment. In addition to the mountain cannons provided by the Qionghai Army, they also had Hongyi cannons captured from government soldiers. They put them all on the front line and bombarded the city walls indiscriminately, regardless of whether they were aimed or not.
"Boom boom boom!" Shells of all sizes rained down on the city walls, pinning the defenders down so they couldn't even lift their heads and had to hide under the battlements. The muffled thuds of shells hitting the battlements and the city walls were deafening, and rubble flew everywhere. Even with the city walls providing cover, some soldiers were still hit and injured by the rubble.
Liu Heizi observed the battle from the central command position. Seeing the effect of the artillery fire, he quietly shook his head. Although the cannons were firing quite a show, they were more for show than for actual use. They posed very little real threat to the defenders on the city wall and could not effectively kill or injure them. Compared to the Qionghai Army, their tactical level was not even in the same league.
After several rounds of chaotic artillery bombardment ended, the rebel soldiers rushed to the vicinity of the city walls, throwing the sacks of mud they were carrying into the moat, instantly creating passageways. Soldiers wielding steel swords and spears shouted as they crossed the moat along these paths; inevitably, in the chaos, some fell into the water and struggled for a long time before being unable to get back up.
With the threat of artillery fire gone, the defenders on the wall peeked out, and the soldiers' archers drew their bows and fired at the crowd below. A dense hail of arrows fell into the crowd; those crossing the river on sacks had nowhere to hide and were struck by arrows, falling into the water with a series of splashes.
Although they suffered a head-on blow, the number of refugees was too great, and more and more people rushed up the wall. The archers from the old camp also appeared at the foot of the wall and began to exchange fire with the defenders. The killing effect was average, but they successfully thinned out the rain of arrows from the defenders.
Ladders were erected on the city walls, and a swarm of people, like ants, climbed up them. The archery exchanges ceased, and the battle transitioned into hand-to-hand combat.
The militiamen shouted as they lifted the bluestones and threw them down. The bluestones, weighing hundreds of pounds, rolled down the ladders. Accompanied by screams, the attacking soldiers fell down like fruit falling from a tree. The ladders could not bear the weight of the bluestones and collapsed with a crash, crushing the people who fell to the ground into a bloody pulp along with the stones.
The primitive defensive tactics proved highly effective; the siege ladders were smashed down faster than they could be erected, and the offensive was quickly contained.
Li Zicheng, watching from the rear, remained unmoved, as if the dead were insignificant ants, showing no pity whatsoever. He continued to issue orders: "Continue. Whoever is the first to climb the city wall will be rewarded with a hundred taels of silver and transferred to the main camp."
Once inside the main camp, soldiers were treated to the finest food and drink, and enjoyed a significantly higher share of spoils—a stark contrast to the treatment of cannon fodder. These generous conditions fueled the soldiers' frenzied drive, and regardless of the heavy casualties, the offensive continued relentlessly.
The ladders were put up, then pushed down and broken; they were put up again and broken again… This went on repeatedly. The corpses under the city wall had piled up into a small mountain, and the bluestone on the top of the wall was becoming less and less. The rebel army was using human lives to wear down the defenders' defensive equipment, and it seemed to have achieved some success.
As the falling stones on the city wall gradually thinned out, the attacking side slowly gained the upper hand. However, the sun had set and the sky was getting dark, and no one had yet managed to climb onto the city wall.
Li Zicheng glanced at the sky and estimated that it would be dark in less than half an hour. Without enough light, the attacking troops would be in chaos. Reluctantly, he ordered the retreat.
Upon hearing the signal to retreat, the attacking troops breathed a sigh of relief and withdrew like a tide. Although life was cheap in the chaos of war, no one wanted to die under the city walls in such a muddled way. They wanted to live as long as possible.
The defending soldiers, as if relieved of a tremendous burden, collapsed to the ground, exhausted. They were far outnumbered; had it not been for their superior city defenses, well-prepared siege equipment, and the united efforts of the officials and civilians, the rebel army would have already stormed the city. If the sun had set half an hour later, and the bluestone on the walls had been exhausted, the outcome would have been uncertain.
General Wang Shaoyu, who was in charge of the defense of Anxi Gate on the north side, dared not relax and loudly ordered: "Everyone, do not slack off. The bandits may attack the city again at any time. The bluestone on the wall is gone. Quickly go and demolish some houses nearby and move the stones, bricks and wood up to prepare for their next attack!"
The officers, soldiers, and civilians complained bitterly, but dared not disobey orders. They could only drag their tired bodies down the wall to demolish the houses and move stones and bricks.
The main tent of the rebel army.
"Didn't you say that the garrison inside the city had no will to fight? But I see they are very stubborn, each one acting as if they've killed their own father, and when they fight, they fight like madmen!" Li Zicheng complained in a deep voice.
Liu Heizi remained calm: "King Chuang, please calm down. It's not that our intelligence is inaccurate. After all, their families are in the city, and it's inevitable that these soldiers and civilians will have a certain degree of resistance. Today is only the first day. As long as this momentum continues, I believe the defending army will collapse soon."
Liu Zongmin glared at him and questioned, "Where are the cannons you mentioned? If they don't come now, when will they? What use are they if we have to risk our lives to fill the gaps and take the city before they arrive?"
"General Liu, please rest assured, I have received news that the cannons have been transported to the Guide Prefecture area and will arrive in Luoyang no later than the day after tomorrow."
Liu Zongmin cursed and reached for his knife, "You motherfucker! You kept saying we were almost there, but you tricked us into suffering heavy casualties and being severely weakened at the gates of Luoyang. Are you trying to kill two birds with one stone by using someone else to do your dirty work?"
Li Zicheng stopped Liu Zongmin from drawing his sword, glaring at Liu Heizi: "I'll trust you one more time. If you're just messing around with us, let Zongmin chop you up with one stroke and have you as a snack with his wine!"
The atmosphere inside the main tent was tense, while dozens of miles away in the wilderness, a troop marched under the moonlight with torches, their destination Luoyang.
The firelight illuminated the face of the leader, Zuo Wuwei, the battalion commander of the First Artillery Battalion. Astride a Mongolian horse, gazing at the western night sky, he declared with smug satisfaction, "Once we reach Luoyang, we'll show the bandits and the Central Plains troops the power of our Qionghai Navy's siege artillery!"