Chapter 426: Capture Hamhung County!
Li Xuanren patted Jin Taiyu's shoulder with satisfaction and promised:

"You did a great job, young master. When I return to Liujing, I will definitely reward you greatly!"

Kim Tae-woo was very surprised by this, and he immediately knelt on one knee to express his loyalty and said:
"Please rest assured, sir. Even if I have to sacrifice my own life, I will escort you safely to Liujing!"

With Jin Taiyu's guarantee, Li Xuanren felt much more at ease. If it weren't for the fact that the generals on the front line collapsed at the first touch and too many generals fled before the battle, resulting in Liujing issuing several strict orders in succession, violators would be killed without mercy. Li Xuanren would have abandoned the city and fled back to Liujing before the Fengwu Army arrived.

In his eyes, the Hamheung County he was guarding was destined to be conquered by the Fengwu Army. The only difference was how long they could hold on...
In this case, why should a nobleman like him, a descendant of the royal family, sacrifice his precious life for Hamheung County?
Just when Li Xuanren was about to run away, Yuan Song outside the city once again received information from the scouts!

"Reporting to General Yuan, one hundred and thirty scouts have explored every corner within a thirty-mile radius of Hamhung County, and have found no traces of any troops from the palace!"

Upon hearing the news, a hint of surprise flashed across Yuan Song's serious expression. He thought that the palace army was cheating him and deliberately did not station many people in Hamheung County, and then hid a large force nearby, and then waited for him to attack the city so as to attack from both inside and outside.

It was for this reason that he did not lead his troops to attack the city immediately, but instead cooked food and let the soldiers rest, waiting for the scout's report.

Now it seems that he overestimated the level of the palace commanders. It seems that this bunch of rubbish just threw Hamheung County to him?
Although he was still a little puzzled, since things had come to this, Yuan Song naturally would not miss the opportunity, and immediately summoned his subordinates to begin arranging a siege plan. Because they had an absolute advantage in numbers and strength, Yuan Song did not use normal siege tactics to arrange key siege directions and feint attacks on the other three sides. Instead, he directly ordered no feint attacks and to launch a full-scale attack on all four sides, striving to enter the city and spend the night before dark...

After an incense stick of time, the war drums sounded. The soldiers of the Fengwu Army, who had already eaten and rested, were led by their superiors at all levels. They were in high spirits and lined up fifty feet outside the city, waiting for the attack. At this time, the artillery positions of the Fengwu Army were also ready and adjusted for the artillery fire. Upon receiving the news, Yuan Song waved his hand and ordered without hesitation:

"put!"

Following Yuan Song's order, all seventeen red cannons under the First Division began to roar.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

With Ye Mingsheng's approval, the Fengwu Army was reorganized this time. The Red Cannon, a powerful weapon, was transferred from the direct leadership of Ye Mingsheng to each division-level unit and commanded by the generals of each division.

According to the organization, Yuan Song's First Division should have had twelve red cannons, but this time in the expedition to Gongdu, Yuan Song's First Division undertook the most difficult task, so Ye Mingsheng also understood his difficulties and specially arranged five more red cannons for him to increase firepower.

Facing the Fengwu Army's bombardment, the Gongdu Army soldiers defending the city had never seen such a scene before, and they immediately screamed and howled. Many battlements were blown to pieces, and pieces flew everywhere, injuring many Gongdu soldiers...

Yuan Song, who was holding up a telescope to observe the enemy's situation, saw this situation and a look of satisfaction appeared on his dark face. He instructed his subordinates:
"After the bombardment, all troops will charge!" "Yes!"

A cup of tea later, as the last iron bullet hit the city wall of Hamhung County, the war drums in the Fengwu Army became more and more excited and rapid. Loud shouts of killing broke out in the army. Tens of thousands of Fengwu Army soldiers, carrying ladders and pushing battering rams, launched a charge towards Hamhung County!

"Brothers, charge! It's time to pledge allegiance to Marshal Ye!"

"The first one to rush up the city wall will be promoted two levels and rewarded with 100 taels of silver!"

"Brothers, go ahead! If you charge too late, the military merit will go to someone else!"

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The soldiers of Gongdu, who had just been bombarded by the red cannon, had almost lost all their morale. Now facing the Fengwu Army soldiers who were like wolves and tigers and were rushing to fight, they symbolically resisted twice, and then some ran away and some surrendered.

As for Yin Changhe, who had just boasted that he would kill one if one came, and kill a pair if two came, he was blown to pieces by the red cannon during the first round of bombardment, and no trace of his body was left.

The Fengwu Army only had to charge and broke through Hamheung County, the northern gateway to the palace leading to Liujing. An incense stick later, Yuan Song, riding a tall horse, walked into the city with his head held high, escorted by the Fengwu Army soldiers.

After entering the city, Yuan Song quickly received the battle damage summary of this battle.

"Reporting to the general, in this battle, our army suffered 131 deaths, 217 injuries, 561 killed enemies, 1,070 captured enemies, and the red cannon fired a base number of shells!"

After hearing the previous report, Yuan Song was in a good mood. It was definitely a very happy thing to be able to capture a key place like Hamheung County with only more than 300 casualties.
But when he heard that the red cannon had fired another batch of ammunition, Yuan Song's face darkened and he asked:
"We've already destroyed a base amount of ammunition a few days ago, and now we've destroyed another base amount of ammunition. How much ammunition do the artillery have left now?"

Feeling the hostility in Yuan Song's tone, the lieutenant wiped the sweat from his forehead, considered his words and reported:

"The artillery probably has about three bases of ammunition left!"

When Yuan Song heard that these were the only ones left, he wanted to explode immediately. According to the intelligence he got from the Coordination Office, he hadn't even encountered the main antagonist of this battle - Wang Kangxin's Gongdu New Army, and the red cannon had already fired two bases of ammunition. What should he do in the next battle?
No matter how powerful the red cannon is, it will become a burden without ammunition!
Before he could finish his words, Yuan Song thought about the past few days. He had been ordering the artillery to bomb this and that, using ammunition to reduce the casualties of his soldiers. So he couldn't blame them for the excessive consumption of artillery ammunition. He could only give the order helplessly:
"Notify the logistics department to deliver the ammunition as soon as possible. Take as much as you can. I don't mind any more!"

(End of this chapter)