The Silent Reforms of Eldridge Chapter 60

Someone else proposed to Shengshuai to dig a tunnel directly into the city. Shengshuai also ordered to hire civilians to dig tunnels from a place two or three miles away from the city and dig forward in a zigzag manner. However, the amount of work was too large and it could not be carried out in a short time. Functional.

Someone else suggested to Shengshuai how to cast a huge cannon, so Shengshuai ordered all the committee members to donate iron tools for casting the cannon. The committee members responded enthusiastically, and those who usually donated one hundred kilograms of iron reported that they had donated one thousand kilograms of iron. The brave soldiers smashed all the pots in the houses of the people within a radius of fifty miles and drove them to the camp in carts to cast cannons. The people could not bear the disturbance. When the cannon was cast, it weighed about 17,800 kilograms. It took nearly a thousand people and forty oxen to transport it from the cannon casting workshop to the artillery camp, which was five miles away. It took three days to transport it. Arrive at the camp. After igniting, the cannonballs were fired, breaking several city bricks, but the city wall did not move at all. They also built a high fort outside the city wall and placed Shenwei, Wucheng, Yonggu and other cannons. They bombarded them day and night, but they failed.

Someone else suggested to Commander Sheng that he should build a high platform, which was higher than the city wall and could overlook the city. Once you see the rebels, you can fire off the cannons. When the high platform was nearly halfway built, someone said it was of no use, so the work was stopped.

Someone else suggested to Shengshuai that he use wood to build a very tall sign to block the cannonballs flying in the city. Shengshuai ordered him to draw a pattern and follow it. The wooden sign was ten feet high and three feet wide, with wheels underneath. It was pushed and pulled by dozens of people and transported to a place two or three miles away from the city. It just came under fire from the rebel army. Within the range, the people who were pulling in front dispersed in a rush. The rebels' guns shot through the barrier, and the people who were pushing could not get a foothold. After the soldiers retreated bravely, because the wooden sign was too big and heavy to pull back, they threw it in the wilderness, and the rebels didn't take it away.

On the seventh day of September, Commander Sheng selected suicide squads from each battalion. Each man carried a wooden table on his head and carried several kilograms of gunpowder. He went under the city wall, dug a big hole, and buried about two to three thousand kilograms of gunpowder. After being blown down, each battalion charged. After the gunpowder was ignited, a gap several feet wide was opened in the city wall. The soldiers rushed forward bravely, hoping to succeed. However, the rebels ambushed many soldiers in the gap and stabbed them horizontally with spears. In addition, the artillery stones on the city fell like raindrops, so the brave soldiers could not rush in. After a while, a wooden fence was erected at the gap in the city wall, preventing the officers and soldiers from approaching. In this battle, more than 700 soldiers and generals were injured, and it was not until dusk that the rebels withdrew their troops and returned to their camp. It's a pity to lose a rare offensive opportunity, and Shengshuai's strategies have been exhausted.