Author: Zero Romance

Chapter 3252

Although the two Ming armies fighting out of the city tried their best to stop it, the hundreds of lives they paid only slightly delayed the Haihan army's attack on Yixing County.

While the defenders in the city were still secretly congratulating themselves for not taking the initiative to go out and die, the Haihan Army had already launched an attack on the county seat.

The shelling of the south gate of the county town kicked off the offensive, and the small tower on the city gate was immediately destroyed by the flying shells.

Seeing the debris raining down from the city tower, Qian Wenxian finally understood why the military attachés were hiding under the city wall to discuss matters instead of going up to the city tower to supervise the battle. If he had stayed on top of the city at this moment, he would have been killed by the sea.

A wave of artillery fire from the Han army took them away.

Qian Wenxian remembered that before the war started, he went up to check the situation outside the city without knowing whether he was alive or not, and couldn't help but secretly feel lucky to have escaped disaster.

But the targets of the Haihan Army's bombardment were not just the city towers. The south city gate was also quickly hit by artillery shells, along with more than a dozen logs in the doorway used to block the city gate, and seven or eight people who were still carrying sandbags to block the door.

A common man was blown to pieces together.

Qian Wenxian had never seen such a scene before. He was so frightened that his two legs trembled and he almost became paralyzed. He didn't even know where to hide.

After the first round of shelling by the Haihan Army stopped, Qian Wenxian stood up tremblingly and called to the government officials to count the casualties and losses.

But before the statistics came out, the second round of shelling by the Haihan Army followed.

The target of the bombardment this time was more concentrated. Not only did the remaining city towers collapse, but also the city gate hole below collapsed. The south gate suddenly turned into a pile of ruins in the smoke and dust.

Qian Wenxian listened with a headache, but marching and fighting was not his specialty, and he couldn't make any decent suggestions.

Although they knew that the other party's intention was definitely to persuade them to surrender, the current situation was that the Ming army was obviously passive, and all the military attachés tacitly chose to read the contents of the letter together.

"Yes, yes, Lord Qian's opinion should prevail!"

In the midst of the chaos, someone came to report that the Haihan Army had released two prisoners and returned to the city to deliver a message.

Qian Wenxian originally thought that even if the county's city defense could not stop the Haihan Army, it could at least delay it for two or three days, buying time for the rear to mobilize more reinforcements. However, he never expected that the Haihan Army's offensive would be so swift and violent.

As soon as they met, a large part of the county wall collapsed, and many of the Ming troops waiting under the wall were also buried.

This is not to respect Qian Wenxian, but the prospect of this war is not good. If the court later holds the responsibility for the defeat, then the local officials will have to share their share. At that time, everyone will blame the Yixing County Magistrate's poor organization, more or less

It may also be of some use.

The only solution for now is to continue to hold on until we can no longer hold on.

Preliminary battle damage statistics also came out soon. The Ming army lost more than 500 people in the battle outside the city. Among them, a general who led the army to fight on the left wing died in the battle.

Qian Wenxian didn't know the tacit understanding of these military attachés. He was now filled with anxiety and urged: "Everyone, the letter sent by the Haihan people made it clear that we were only given half an hour to think about how to fight next.

You should hurry up and get a charter!"

Qian Wenxian also came back to his senses at this time and felt that the attitude of these military attachés was not right. They did not take him seriously before, so why did they suddenly change their attitude.

The letter was signed by none other than Shi Diwen, indicating that what was said in the letter was no lie.

"It is said that the ammunition of the Haihan Army is very expensive, and it is difficult to supply. I think they may not be willing to spend too much ammunition here in Yixing... Maybe they are counting on these two rounds of shelling to make us surrender. If we continue to hold on, they

Maybe we can only use infantry to attack the county town!"

"If you keep the green hills, you won't have to worry about running out of firewood. I think we should seize the opportunity, evacuate decisively, and organize the next round of defense in Liyang or Jintan!"

Although Qian Wenxian did not know their plan, he was keenly aware of the risks and immediately declined: "I am not familiar with military strategy. I'd better leave it to your lords to make your decision on the matter of war."

Sure enough, the content of the letter was to advise the defenders in the county to surrender voluntarily, or to give up the county to get a chance to evacuate. Otherwise, the Haihan Army would regard the defenders as stubbornly resisting, and there would be no room for the next battle.

.

Someone said: "Sir Qian, we are all here to help Yixing. You are a local official. We will do whatever you say!"

The defenders in the city also lost dozens of people despite being beaten unilaterally. Most of them were buried by the collapsed city walls and rubble.

Once the city wall continues to collapse, what else can the defenders do to block the enemy's artillery shells? The Ming army fighting out of the city has proven that even if they have the upper hand, it is absolutely impossible to resist the Haihan army's bombardment with their flesh and blood.

"Qin is willing to obey Master Qian's command!"

After everyone discussed for a long time, they noticed that Magistrate Qian was standing nearby and had not spoken, so they asked him for his opinion.

"Brother Wang is wrong. We have retreated again and again. We have retreated for several years. Where can we retreat now? Do we really have to retreat to Nanjing City before we stop?"

Seeing that Qian Wenxian didn't fall for the trap, everyone could only continue to discuss the previous issue - whether to fight or surrender.

Half an hour passed in a blink of an eye, but the military attachés in the city still had not come up with a solution that everyone thought was feasible.

If we continue to fight like this, let alone defend for two or three days, it is hard to say whether we can defend until the sun sets today.

The option of surrender was quickly rejected by the collective. They believed that although they were at a disadvantage at the moment, they did not have no way out, and the county was not surrounded by Haihan troops. Even if they could not defeat them, they could still evacuate.

The defenders in the city seemed to have suffered few casualties, but the psychological blow they suffered was considerable. The county's city defenses were the defenders' greatest reliance, but in the face of the Haihan Army's shelling, the city wall did not seem to be as unbreakable as imagined.

Moreover, hundreds of people were injured, many of whom lost the ability to continue fighting.

As for the plan to abandon Yixing, it is possible to talk about it, but no one dares to take the lead in implementing it. Someone just proposed it, just to lure Qian Wenxian to choose this path, but Qian Wenxian refused to express his position, so of course no one else wanted to go.

Take the responsibility for escaping from battle.

As for the letter of persuasion from the Haihan Army to surrender, the military attachés naturally had various views based on their different standpoints.

However, the Haihan Army's offensive would not wait for them to slowly discuss it. When the time came, a new round of offensive would be launched immediately.

In this round of offensive, Haihan indeed sent out infantry troops, and under the cover of artillery fire, they slowly advanced towards the south gate of the county.

Although the defenders were determined to resist, most of the various equipment and defensive implements previously deployed on the city had been destroyed by the first two rounds of shelling, and there were not even a few intact crenellations left on the city wall.

The Ming troops who risked their lives and rushed to the city were killed by guns and artillery outside the city almost as soon as they showed up. The lucky ones were able to manage to fire a shot and two arrows outside the city, but such casual shooting was basically impossible.

The hit rate is impressive.
Chapter completed!