Chapter 348 The Battle of Guanzhong (Part 1)

Chen Dao stepped down from the high platform, mounted his warhorse, and quickly rode to the side of the Shenji Camp soldiers. He turned to glance at the command flag behind him and then began to issue orders.

"All cannons, prepare!"

With a single command, a small yellow flag was raised. The soldiers of the Shenji Camp quickly moved to their assigned cannons, excitedly patting the barrels before pulling out cork earplugs and stuffing them into their ears.

"Load gunpowder!"

A small red flag was raised, and the soldiers began to rapidly load the gunpowder and pack it tight. Indeed, the Red-Coat Cannonss of this era were still muzzle-loaders.

Breech-loading cannons like the Zimu Cannons had been tested, but due to poor airtightness, their power was significantly lower. While they were acceptable for close-range naval combat against enemy ships, they fell short for land warfare.

As for fixed ammunition, don't be ridiculous; if he had that level of manufacturing, Gao Yuan would dare to lead his men all the way to Europa to bring back a crowd of blonde-haired, blue-eyed maids.

"Load cannonballs!"

The small yellow flag was lowered, and the soldiers began loading the cannonballs and installing the fuses. After such a long period of training, they performed these actions with great agility and skill.

As the flags here waved rhythmically a few times, the Qian Army soldiers behind them all covered their ears with their hands as instructed.

Once everything was ready, Chen Dao immediately signaled Gao Xianzhi via semaphore and subsequently received the order to fire at will.

Chen Dao turned around with a cruel smile on his face and patted the shoulder of the person beside him. Now that everyone was wearing earplugs, shouting was useless.

The lieutenant beside him understood and immediately swung the small red flag in his hand down heavily. Instantly, over a dozen plumes of pungent gunpowder smoke rose on the battlefield; the maiden battle of the Red-Coat Cannonss had begun.

"Boom... Boom... Boom..."

The deafening roars shook the entire Guanzhong. Even with earplugs, the soldiers of the Shenji Camp could clearly hear every thunderous blast.

To Gao Chou atop the city walls, the sound was like a roar from hell. He was all too familiar with it; it was such thunderous blasts that had once breached the gates of Mei County, leading to his total defeat.

Before he could even react, the cannonballs had already reached the top of the walls.

"Boom... Boom..."

Two cannonballs landed behind him. With a massive explosion, the gate tower collapsed, instantly turning into ruins and burying the people inside.

The Northern Liang Army soldiers, who had not experienced the previous great battle at Mei County, were scared witless. They crouched there holding their heads in confusion, their ears ringing, seeing their comrades' mouths moving but hearing nothing.

Outside the city, the Shenji Camp soldiers quickly adjusted the cannons' angles and then skillfully began loading gunpowder, cannonballs, and new fuses.

The small red flag was swung down heavily once more, and the gunpowder smoke rose again.

Another round of deafening blasts followed as over a dozen cannonballs flew accurately toward the city walls, exploding into brilliant sparks.

The Northern Liang Army soldiers, still shaken from the first round of shelling, were instantly blown to pieces. Their armor offered no protection against this overwhelming power, and casualties mounted instantly.

The stockpiled defense supplies now became death warrants for the defending soldiers. Flying stones and timber smashed into the Northern Liang Army soldiers, leaving them bloodied and broken.

Large cauldrons were overturned by the tremors, spilling scalding "Golden juice" and boiling water. The affected soldiers immediately collapsed to the ground, rolling in agony from the burns.

After a total of four rounds of shelling, not a single person remained standing on the city walls. Even the commander, Gao Chou, had been injured by the shockwave during the second round; he spat out fresh blood and collapsed to the ground, eyes closed, his fate unknown.

Gao Xianzhi put down his binoculars, highly satisfied with the debut performance of the Red-Coat Cannonss, and immediately ordered:

"Pass down the order: begin the assault on the city."

War flags waved, and the Beiwei Army soldiers, who had long been eager for action, began their rapid advance.

The soldiers who had rushed from the other three gates to reinforce the wall finally understood why the attacks on the other two gates were merely feints; it was all because this side possessed such terrifying means.

Soon, these soldiers learned from the survivors about the weapon that made the thunderous noise, realizing it was the reason for their heavy losses.

Just as everyone was at a loss for what to do, that familiar thunderous roar sounded once more.

It turned out that Gao Xianzhi had seen the movements on the wall through his binoculars and immediately ordered the Shenji Camp to fire another round.

The effect was immediate. After one round of shelling, no one was left standing on the wall. The defenders were either dead, wounded, or fleeing; no one was willing to stay and wait for death.

Li Siye, with a shield in one hand and his Golden Gourd Mace in the other, took the lead and was the first to scale the wall using a wooden ladder.

Indeed, because of the Red-Coat Cannonss, they hadn't even bothered to build siege towers, using wooden ladders instead. After all, there was no longer any resistance on the walls.

The occasional stone dropped from above only made a sharp "clang" as it hit the iron shield.

Within moments, Li Siye was the first to reach the top. With a swing of his mace, he knocked down an officer who had bravely stayed behind, then leaped onto the wall and felled two more with two heavy thuds of his mace.

The mysterious and unpredictable weapon, the tragic deaths of their comrades, and the fierce general before them—all of it hammered at the hearts of the Northern Liang Army soldiers.

The fighting spirit of the Liang Army soldiers completely collapsed. Some threw down their weapons and fled, while even more dropped their arms and knelt in surrender; they simply lacked the courage to continue fighting.

The battle began early and ended early, concluding entirely before lunchtime.

The ten thousand Northern Liang Army soldiers defending the city were considered elites, with a high rate of armor and equipped with blunt armor-breaking weapons for close combat. It was foreseeable that without the cannons, the Qian Army's casualties would not have been small.

Yet reality was cruel; the pivot point established by Gao Long was knocked out by Gao Yuan in less than half a day.

Of the ten thousand defenders, over three thousand, including Gao Chou, were killed, and over a thousand were seriously injured—many of whom suffered troublesome burns from "Golden juice" and boiling water. The rest surrendered; not a single soul escaped.

Gao Yuan maintained sufficient grace toward these Han soldiers, using a large amount of alcohol to disinfect their wounds in hopes of saving their lives.

Even so, more than half of the seriously wounded died. Fewer than four hundred survived, and over a hundred of them were left disabled with missing limbs.

Gao Yuan also adopted the posture of a politician and with a grand wave of his hand, said:

"Rest assured, everyone. As long as you are willing to submit to my Great Qian, you will each receive a portion of land and a house. We will not leave your future lives without support. As for your families, we will do our best to find them once the war is over."

"For those who have not yet started a family, you may register here. We will do our best to make arrangements in the future so that your lineage will not be severed."

In any case, there would be a large number of female captives from the future westward expedition against the Mughals and the campaign against the 'Little Japs,' which could be used to win over people's hearts.

Sure enough, seeing that even the seriously wounded could enjoy such good treatment as long as they were willing to surrender, the surrendered Northern Liang Army soldiers became even more devoted.

This resulted in Great Qian not losing a single person in this battle while gaining over two thousand new recruits. Those who were unfit had already taken their travel permits to Hanzhong to wait; once their families arrived, they would prepare to settle in the Tianzhu Circuit.

At this moment, Gao Long was still unaware that Mei County had been breached and that Gao Chou, in whom he had placed his hopes, had become the first high-ranking general to fall under artillery fire.

The three routes of the Northern Liang Army continued to advance, while the hurriedly returned Gao Yuan and Gao Xianzhi were discussing how to set a large trap for them.