Chapter 257 When the City Falls, He Dies on the Battlefield (Part 1)

The enormous explosion, like a bolt from the blue, resounded on the city walls of the southern Yue capital.

After the explosion, smoke and flames filled the air.

Even though they were prepared beforehand, the South Vietnamese soldiers guarding the city were still quite frightened. The laborers who had been forcibly conscripted to guard the city were even more so, huddled in the corners of the walls, trembling with fear.

Because the Yi leader had anticipated this, the walls of the Nanyue capital were reinforced, which meant that the first round of artillery fire from the Shenji Battalion outside the city did not achieve the expected results.

Aside from blasting the sandbags piled up in the city wall passageways to pieces to protect the soldiers and killing some of the disorganized defenders, the Shenji Battalion gained nothing else from this round of bombardment.

After the first round of shelling, the barbarian chieftain Markel emerged from his sandbag hiding place, brushing the dust off his head and shouting, "Enemy shelling outside the city usually doesn't last long!"

"There should be at least a short interval between each round of artillery fire. What we, the warriors defending the city, need to do is to use all the weapons at our disposal to kill the enemy soldiers who are scaling the city walls during this brief interval!"

Subsequently, Markel instructed his barbarian soldiers to be on the positions of the bronze cannons on the city walls to immediately light the fuses of the cannons and bombard the attacking enemy infantry as soon as they began their assault.

Just as Markle had predicted, after the first round of shelling, the soldiers of the Shenji Battalion outside the city hurriedly used "mops" soaked in vinegar to clean the cannon barrels in order to cool them down.

Then, the gunpowder and shells were reloaded.

Finally, they would raise torches, light the fuses, and begin the next round of shelling.

The whole process took about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Boom, boom, boom!

Another round of shelling followed, with hundreds of dark shells exploding once again on the walls of the capital of Nanyue.

This time, the city's defenders, having gained experience in defending against artillery fire, appeared much calmer and more composed than before.

Following the artillery-proof experience of Professor Markel, the leader of the Yi people, he huddled close to the "artillery-proof hole" made of sandbags, covered his ears, and quietly watched the shells explode around him.

In fact, the anti-artillery experience taught by the barbarian leader Markel has stood the test of actual combat and is effective.

Currently, the core essence of the exploding shells fired by the red-coated cannons of the Dragon City Army's Shenji Battalion is to make full use of the energy generated by the explosion of black powder to spread the iron pieces inside the shell in all directions, seeking to kill personnel while flying at high speed.

Ultimately, however, the explosive power of these red-coated cannons is limited, as is the blast radius of the high-speed projectiles.

The reason why the Shenji Battalion was able to shine in the Battle of Yongzhou was simply because the Nanyue soldiers defending the city knew very little about artillery, a new type of weapon, and thought it was some kind of sorcery, which caused them to lose their composure.

This chaos, with people scrambling around, increases the kill radius of shrapnel after the shells explode.

Meanwhile, the soldiers guarding the city walls of the Southern Yue capital were all neatly huddled behind sandbags, minimizing their contact with the rapidly flying shrapnel and significantly reducing the shrapnel's lethal range.

Therefore, if the Shenji Battalion outside the city continues to bombard the city like this, the firepower of the red-coated cannons against the defenders on the city walls will only decrease.

After two rounds of artillery bombardment, General Pang Xianchu, who was commanding the battle from the central watchtower outside the city, seemed to have realized that the Shenji Battalion's advantage was no longer as obvious as it had been in the Battle of Yongzhou.

The reinforced walls of the Southern Yue capital seemed impossible to breach directly with the red-coated cannons of the Shenji Battalion.

This made Pang Xianchu secretly ponder: the barbarians from the Atlantic Kingdom that the Southern Yue Kingdom invited to help them are no ordinary people!

The battle for Guangzhou will not be easy!

Pang Xianchu immediately ordered: "Someone, convey my order that Vice General Fan Wuji lead the Trapped Camp to attack the city when the Shenji Battalion fires its next round of artillery fire!"

"Your subordinate obeys!"

Soon, the messenger arrived at the side of the deputy general Fan Wuji with the latest orders from the commander-in-chief Pang Xianchu.

At this moment, Fan Wuji also saw the clues from the Shenji Battalion's artillery fire. It was probably impossible to break through the city directly with the red-coated cannons. In the end, the Trapped Camp would have to rush up and fight the Nan Yue defenders with real swords and spears.

Without bloodshed and sacrifice, it will be difficult to conquer the Southern Yue Kingdom!

Upon receiving Pang Xianchu's order, Fan Wuji did not hesitate for a moment. He immediately drew his sword, raised his arm above the entire nation, and shouted, "Soldiers of the Trapped Camp—"

"The opportunity to serve the Emperor and the new dynasty is right before us. I, the general, want you to join me in conquering Yangcheng and killing Emperor Tiande!"

"Trapped Camp, all troops, attack!"

"Kill them!"

The next moment, the soldiers of the Trapped Camp shouted battle cries, brandishing their swords, spears, and halberds. Supported by supply troops carrying ladders, siege engines, and battering rams, they charged towards the walls of Yangcheng without hesitation.

Almost simultaneously, the Shenji Battalion's third round of artillery fire finally arrived, albeit belatedly.

"Divine Machine Battalion, fire!"

"fire!"

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Boom, boom, boom!

Explosions rang out once again on the city walls of the Southern Yue capital.

This round of artillery fire was interspersed with deafening war drums and horns, as well as howls of battle.

"Prepare for war! Prepare for war! Prepare for war!"

On the city wall, Marco, the barbarian leader who had been closely monitoring the movements of the Dragon City army outside the city, also noticed the Trapped Camp's charge to attack the city immediately.

He didn't even care about the shells exploding around him. He picked up his scimitar and ran back and forth on the city wall, occasionally tapping the South Vietnamese soldiers who were still squatting in sandbags, covering their ears to protect themselves from the cannon fire, with the back of the sword to remind them to prepare for battle.

"The enemy vanguard outside the city has begun its attack. All troops, prepare for battle!"

"Gunners, gunners, prepare to fire on the enemy attacking forces outside the city!"

"fire!"

The accompanying barbarian soldiers immediately repeated the order to fire the cannons loudly.

Immediately afterwards, the barbarian soldiers stationed at the copper cannon positions throughout the city wall raised the tinder they had prepared and lit the fuses of the copper cannons.

The hissing sound of the burning fuse seemed insignificant amidst the deafening explosions and shouts of battle.

The next moment, thirty bronze cannons hidden in the city walls of the Southern Yue capital fired in succession.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Boom, boom, boom!

The cannonballs fired by the bronze cannons fell one after another into the enemy camp of the Longcheng Southern Expeditionary Army attacking the city. The shockwaves from the explosions immediately sent the soldiers at the forefront of the camp flying and tumbling over, leaving them dizzy and disoriented.

The sudden artillery barrage startled the deputy general, Fan Wuji, who was riding on horseback, causing him to freeze in surprise.

His first thought was that the brothers of the Shenji Battalion had caused a great disaster by blasting the cannonballs of the Red-Clad Cannons into the enemy's camp.

But the next moment, he suddenly realized that the cannonball came from the city wall of the Southern Yue capital.

These southern barbarians actually have cannons?