usatvline Chapter 441 A Powerful Weapon for City Defense
Chapter 441 A Powerful Weapon for City Defense
They originally thought that without logs and stones, it would only be a matter of time before they could climb the city wall, given their overwhelming numerical advantage. However, the refugees never expected that the defenders had a backup plan.
The militia pushed a series of frames and pulleys, similar to those used for drawing water from a well, to the city wall, untied the thick hemp ropes, and lowered a thick wooden plank, slightly larger than an octagonal table.
The refugees climbing the ladder stared blankly at the thing, not knowing what it was.
With the shouts of the militiamen, the wheels spun rapidly, and the "Eight Immortals Table" fell swiftly, smashing down on the heads of the refugees. A long line of people on the ladder were pulled down and fell to the ground. Many of them had fractured skulls and their brains splattered out. It turned out that hundreds of thick iron nails were densely embedded upside down under the "Eight Immortals Table," and a steel knife was embedded in each of the four corners.
Even if a table were to fall, its weight and acceleration would be too much for a flesh-and-blood body to withstand, let alone one that is "maliciously" covered with iron nails and steel knives.
When Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong of the central army saw it, they were both surprised. Did the defending army have such a thing?
Zhang Xianzhong cursed, "Damn it, what kind of crap have these idiots come up with?" He was very frustrated. The people attacking the west gate were all his own men. He had finally managed to use their lives to deplete the enemy's defensive equipment such as logs, but unexpectedly, another deadly weapon appeared. Could he not have a good time anymore?
Gao Yingxiang, a man of wide experience, frowned and said, "This is a wolf fang clapper. I didn't expect to run into it here."
The wolf-tooth sledgehammer is a defensive siege weapon that appeared as early as the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties period, and its design remained largely unchanged until the late Ming Dynasty. Its principle is simple: it's similar to a well-drawing frame with a pulley, except that instead of a wooden bucket, the end of the rope is tied to a wooden board studded with iron nails. Normally, the rope is wound up to secure it; when needed, the rope is released to lower the wolf-tooth sledgehammer. After the advent of cannons, this ancient defensive weapon gradually faded from the mainstream. However, Hezhou City had enjoyed a long period of peace, and its military preparedness had become lax. It had very few breech-loading cannons, let alone large cannons; such heavy artillery was only found in the capital and border towns like Liaodong.
After being ordered to take over the command of the city's defenses, Su Hongtu led his men to search the armory thoroughly. They found no cannons, not even oil, but they did discover a lot of logs and stones, as well as twenty or thirty wolf-tooth pistols. Having no other choice, they put all of these things to use, and surprisingly, the results were quite good.
However, the wolf-tooth clapper also had weaknesses. The frame, wheels, and wooden clapper combined were quite heavy, making it difficult to move. When placed on the city wall, it was a large target and easily attacked. If the enemy attacked with cannons or rockets, it could be easily destroyed. Therefore, Su Hongtu waited until the enemy archers had retreated before unleashing this powerful weapon.
Zhang Xianzhong asked, "Is there any way to break this wolf-tooth scythe?"
Gao Yingxiang shook his head: "It's really impossible to crack it in a short time. If only we had cannons, the wooden frame of the Wolf Fang is so high, if we bombarded it with a dozen or so shots, we'd surely hit it..."
Zhang Xianzhong said anxiously, "But where do we get cannons?"
The very essence of the refugee army's survival lay in its "wandering" nature; without a fixed territory, they were constantly on the move, fighting across vast distances, making their movements unpredictable for government troops. If they were to engage in direct, head-on confrontations with government forces in every battle, then even figures like Li Zicheng, the Eight Great Kings, or Cao Cao would be long gone. Furthermore, this operational model meant that even if they captured cannons, they couldn't afford to carry those cumbersome weapons and slow down their advance.
Gao Yingxiang snorted: "What are you panicking about? There are at most twenty or so of these wolf-tooth bats, and they are not easy to move. If they can hold the west gate, they will not be able to take care of the north and south gates. Our men can attack from another place!"
Zhang Xianzhong was overjoyed: "The 'Chuang King' is indeed resourceful. This thing is an inanimate object, but we are living, breathing people. If it doesn't move, we will."
After discussing it, the two decided to change their main attack direction to the north gate. Orders were passed down through the ranks to the leaders of the attacking forces, and the refugees, eager to get away from the nail-studded structure, hastily retreated. With the attacking force withdrawing, the pressure on the west gate immediately eased.
Su Hongtu, on the city wall, observed this sign and astutely judged that the bandits either abandoned the siege or shifted their main attack. Tens of thousands of bandits had come in a massive force; they wouldn't give up after a few setbacks. They were definitely going to change their main attack location.
He instructed his men: "Send a few men to the north gate and the south gate. If you find out where the bandits are reinforcing their troops, go and provide support."
Zhu Dadian came down from the city wall and asked, "Hongtu, are the bandits going to change the direction of their attack?"
Su Hongtu replied, "Reporting to the Governor, I think so too, and I have already sent people to keep an eye on the North and South Gates."
Zhu Dadian smiled and stroked his beard, saying, "When attacking a city, it's all about striking while the iron is hot. If you change your strategy at the last minute, half of your momentum will be lost, and then it will weaken and eventually be exhausted. Even if the enemy has a large number of soldiers, once their morale is lost, they have already lost this battle."
Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong were unaware of Zhu Dadian's remarks. They were not regular troops, but a group of vagrants with no political ambitions. They did not follow the rules of regular troops. They haphazardly withdrew their men and then haphazardly sent them to the North Gate. They did not care whether the troops were in disarray or whether the commanding officers and their subordinates were out of sync.
A dense crowd surged from the west gate towards the north gate, employing no elaborate feints or deceptions. It was obvious to anyone, even a blind man, that the bandits were focusing their attack on the north gate. Su Hongtu didn't believe the bandits could pull off a feint attack on the north gate while simultaneously attacking the south gate; the distance between the two gates, encircling the city wall, was over ten miles—impossible to fly across even with wings. He directly led the new recruits of his standard battalion to reinforce the north gate.
Since it was previously determined that the main attack direction of the bandits was the west gate, most of the defensive equipment was concentrated at the west gate. There were not many suitable weapons at the north gate, and the attacking and defending sides directly engaged in hand-to-hand combat, entering a swarm attack mode.
Zhu Dadian's judgment was correct. After moving from the west gate to the north gate, the refugees had exhausted a lot of energy, and the spirit they had shown when they first attacked the city was gone. They were now just going through the motions when they attacked.
The siege devolved into a mechanical war of attrition. Neither side employed any fancy tactics; one desperately climbed the walls, the other desperately tried to stop them. More and more corpses piled up below the walls, the moat gradually turned red, and the casualties on the walls also increased. The defenders were far outnumbered, and slowly, scattered refugees began to approach the top of the walls.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Su Hongtu shouted: "Brothers of the standard battalion, fix bayonets and follow me!"
The recruits of this provincial governor's standard battalion were modeled entirely on the army of the Qionghai Army, not only in their combat methods but also in their weapons, which were produced by the Lingao arsenal. Upon hearing their superior's order, all the recruits fixed their bayonets, gripped their rifles tightly, and nervously awaited the moment of close combat.