Chapter 158 Temporary Retreat

"Shoot back."

Fang Guoan said angrily, they also have cannons, but not many, fifteen.

Their cannons are all Fran cannons bought from overseas merchants, which are slightly smaller than the red-clothed cannons in terms of range and power.

The most important thing is that they are all solid bullets. In terms of lethality, solid bullets and howitzers are completely incomparable.

However, at this time, nothing is better than nothing. The artillery positions used to fight the Wu army are useless, and the infantry used to bombard the Wu army still has a certain lethality and deterrence.

As the shelling began, casualties began to appear on both sides.

However, the casualties on both sides surprised Fang Guoan. For the time being, he only knew that there was a kind of flintlock gun among the Wu army, but he didn't know howitzer shells.

After seeing the howitzer shells on the top of the city exploded, causing a large amount of damage, Fang Guoan hurriedly hid in the city tower.

It was terrifying, and he didn't want to be hit by the waves.

"Why can their cannonballs explode, aren't their cannonballs made of iron balls?"

Fang Guoan asked, unfortunately, no one could answer his question.

"It's a bit like a thunderbolt."

One of the subordinates said, but other people immediately retorted: "The Thunder Cannon just fires a large number of small steel balls at one time, and it is not a shell that can be blasted. Moreover, the Thunder Cannon has a range of less than a thousand feet, which is a large bird. Guns. The enemy on the other side is obviously using red-clothed cannons with a range of several miles."

For such an out-of-time thing as howitzer shells, they couldn't understand it for a while.

After shelling for half an hour, Wu Jun started to siege the city.

A large number of soldiers flocked to the city wall, and shells fell among them from time to time, which also caused great damage. However, these were all necessary sacrifices, and the Wu army continued to advance.

Two thousand flintlock soldiers entered effective range and began to attack the wall.

The Ming army on the top of the city also fought back with crossbowmen. At this time, a major problem of the Wu army was exposed. Their troops were too small.

The Ming army had the advantage in strength, and in the confrontation with the Wu army, it did not suffer.

In terms of firing rate, the archers did not suffer, but after the archers in the front row quickly shot a few arrows and got tired, they were immediately replaced by backup soldiers.

With enough archers to cycle, their fire density is not much worse than Wu Jun.

Wu Jun had no reserve force to replenish, and the more they fought, the less they could only get some soldiers with arquebuses to come over to suppress them. However, because of the rate of fire, the suppression effect of the matchlock gun is not obvious.

The long-range suppression troops lacked people, and the troops responsible for the ant-attached siege were even more lacking.

Thousands of people scatter in front of the several-mile-long city wall, and they will find that there are not many thousands of people.

Moreover, in order to guard against the attack of the cavalry of the Ming army, Wang Dayong had to keep some troops on guard.

"General, let the soldiers withdraw. We are not strong enough to fight."

Staff officer An Fugui persuaded that Wang Dayong's general offensive order was completely inconsistent with the operational regulations.

In order to meet the conditions for siege, the army must be at least three times as strong as the defending army.

Wu Jun's weapons are advanced, and this number can be smaller, but at least not less than the defenders, otherwise it will easily become a war of attrition, and it will be difficult to capture the city.

Now they are only one-third of the defenders, and such a high-profile attack actually carries great risks. If the cavalry in the city dared to rush out to chase and kill them when they encountered a difficult retreat during the attack, they would suffer heavy losses.

Wang Dayong also saw through the telescope that he did not have much advantage on the battlefield, so he ordered to withdraw.

He didn't expect to take Xuancheng with this wave of attacks. Wasn't he worried that Fang Guoan would suddenly be subdued, so he couldn't wait to intensify the conflict to an irreconcilable level.

Now that the goal has been achieved, he can also withdraw with confidence.

It was getting late, Wang Dayong ordered the construction of a large camp, otherwise it would be too dangerous to sleep at night.

At the same time, he also asked the messengers to go to Liu Hansan to ask for support. He estimated that it would be easier for Liu Han to hit Tongling three times, since there were fewer defenders in Tongling.

Watching Wu Jun retreat, Fang Guoan was not happy. He saw that the loss of his troops was not small.

After waiting for a while, Fang Guoan got the statistical results, and they actually lost 800 people just after the contact.

You know, Wu Jun's attack didn't last long at all, it was just a tentative attack.

If a total attack is really launched, the number of casualties will probably be doubled.

"What about the enemy, have you estimated how many casualties they will have?"

Fang Guoan asked.

Before the war is completely over, the casualties of one's own side can be accurately counted, while the casualties of the enemy can only be roughly estimated.

"Probably around 800 people."

The general replied cautiously, in fact, he has slightly exaggerated this number, and his estimate is about 600 people.

However, 30,000 to 10,000, and the advantage of the city wall, if the casualty rate is even greater than the opponent, then this record is too embarrassing.

They were not very willing to believe this fact, so they couldn't help exaggerating the number of casualties of the enemy when estimating, which was a kind of psychological self-comfort.

"It's not good. Their attack this time was very hasty, but they still caused us so many casualties. When they are ready tomorrow, we will definitely have more people to die."

Fang Guoan frowned and said, he is not like Wu Chang

Qing can also collect taxes on his own in Nanjing and other places. His income is very limited. It's not easy for him to raise an army, and if 800 people die, it hurts a little bit.

If tens of thousands of people died, he would probably give up Xuancheng and retreat.

The soldiers in his hands are the source of his power. If the soldiers are finished, the prince of his country will no longer be valuable.

"General, perhaps we can take advantage of the enemy's unsteady foothold and conduct a night attack at night. If we can succeed, we will not only defeat the enemy, but also capture the enemy's flintlocks and artillery."

Fang Guoan's staff suggested.

This suggestion made Fang Guoan's heart move. Although he also knew that night raids were very difficult, he was moved by the staff's words, "I can still capture the enemy's flintlock guns and artillery."

Now there are many people who want to get the secrets of those guns, including Fang Guoan.

It is a pity that the weapons workshop in Suzhou is very tightly protected, and Fang Guoan has no way of talking.

But now, he has a good chance to capture those advanced weapons.

This kind of opportunity doesn't come all the time. If you miss this time, you won't know when you will wait for the next time. If he obtains these secrets, his strength can be improved by leaps and bounds, and he can even completely control the small court of King Lu.

"Let the cooks start cooking, select some elites, let them eat early and rest early, and we will go out of the city for a sneak attack at night."

Fang Guoan made up his mind and was ready to give it a go. As long as he could get the secret of the flintlock gun, it would all be worth it.