Chapter 435: Difficult Times! (Thanks to book friend 40385, Fengxin Xu Mu for the reward!)
“Woo…Woo…”

Amid the shrill sound of military bugles, tens of thousands of somewhat numbed soldiers of the Gongdu New Army, under the scorching midday sun, carried ladders, pushed battering rams, and used catapults, and launched a fearless charge towards the Fengwu Army camp on Wushupo under the command of their respective generals.

"Brothers! Kill all these Great Zhou rebels and defend our country!"

"General Wang has already said that if we defeat these Great Zhou rebels, he will ask the king for credit for us. We can have whatever we want!"

"Ten taels of silver for the head of a Great Zhou rebel! Whoever rushes into their camp first will be promoted three ranks higher. It's time for you to get promoted and make a fortune, brothers!"

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Faced with these temptations, tens of thousands of new troops from Gongdu began to gradually forget the bloody battles they had suffered at Wushupo two days ago. Some excitement began to appear in their numb expressions. They held up their shields to protect their bodies and approached Wushupo step by step.

Yuan Song, holding a telescope on the observation deck, silently calculated the distance in his mind.

“Three hundred zhang... two hundred zhang... one hundred and fifty zhang... one hundred zhang... eighty zhang...”

Seeing that the charging enemy troops were already within our firing range, Yuan Song did not hesitate at all and waved his hand and said:
"Order the sharpshooters to start shooting! Red cannons, fire hard at the areas where there are many enemy troops!"

"Yes!"

At Yuan Song's command, the firearms unit in the camp, which had been prepared for a long time, immediately began to move, loading, aiming, igniting, and firing. One by one, the ruthless shells that took lives fell into the ranks of the new army in Gongdu.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Under this fierce bombardment, the charging troops, which were still very enthusiastic in the last second, suddenly stagnated. The soldiers pulling the catapults began to prepare to deploy the catapults to throw stones at the Zhou army in the camp in retaliation. However, at this moment, one hundred sharpshooters using the Po Lu gun carefully selected by Yuan Song also began their precise shooting.

When the palace soldiers operating the catapults were about to adjust the distance and aim, bullets hit their bodies. More than a dozen people died on the spot and more than twenty people were injured. Seeing this situation, the palace soldiers guarding the catapults also acted quickly and raised their shields to protect their own people.

But unfortunately, at a distance of fifty to eighty feet, the bullets fired by the Po Lu gun are like a death warrant from the King of Hell. Even with the protection of a shield, it is difficult to guarantee that you will not be hit...

As the sharpshooters continued to shoot, the soldiers operating the trebuchets were constantly killed or wounded. The soldiers who gradually came in to replace them had no operating experience at all. Under their operation, the stones thrown by the trebuchets either deviated from the target, went too far, or even accidentally hit their own army.

Wang Kangxin, who was hiding in the back, was so angry when he saw this scene that his face was slightly distorted. He angrily ordered Liu Xiangkun beside him:
"Where are our musketeers? Fight back! Fight back!"

Looking at Wang Kangxin's ferocious face, Liu Xiangkun behind him said cautiously:
"Report to the Lord, the iron cannons and bird guns equipped by our army have a maximum shooting distance of fifty meters. The enemy should use the Po Lu gun. Only the Po Lu gun can guarantee shooting accuracy at a distance of fifty meters. Our army's musketeers can't hit them now..."

It would have been better if Deputy General Liu Xiangkun did not explain. This explanation irritated Wang Kangxin even more. He grabbed Deputy General Liu Xiangkun by the collar and roared:

"Po Lu guns? Didn't I ask Shen Jianzhong to make thousands of Po Lu guns for you? Are these Po Lu guns just firewood sticks in your hands?"

Feeling Wang Kangxin's murderous eyes, Liu Xiangkun knew that if he didn't say this well, then with Wang Kangxin's current crazy personality, he would definitely die ugly, so he quickly explained:
"General, listen to me, that bastard Shen Jianzhong. Although they sent us a lot of muskets, all of them had problems. They broke down after our brothers fired just a few shots. Some of them were even broken when they were sent to us!"

"That's not all. The muskets made by Shen Jianzhong would explode easily. Many brothers were injured because of this, so the brothers below dare not use the muskets they made!"

As soon as these words came out, Wang Kangxin's head buzzed, and he gritted his teeth and said:
"Shen Jianzhong, you bastard, you have ruined my business. I am going to kill you!"

After scolding Shen Jianzhong, Wang Kangxin seemed to have thought of something again. He stared at the deputy general Liu Xiangkun and said:
"Since there were problems with the muskets made by Shen Jianzhong, why didn't you report it when you received them? I remember you patted your chest and told me that there were no problems with this batch of muskets, didn't you?"

In response to Wang Kangxin's inquiry, Deputy General Liu Xiangkun was speechless. Could he tell Wang Kangxin that there were 3,000 taels of silver when Shen Jianzhong sent this batch of muskets?

He originally thought that these problematic muskets were not a big deal, and he could attribute them all to the wear and tear during daily training. This way, he could conceal the fact and no one would find out about the problem. However, who would have thought that the Fengwu Army would attack him so suddenly, catching him off guard. He had no choice but to send the new soldiers of the Gongdu Army to the battlefield with these problematic muskets...

Although Liu Xiangkun did not speak, Wang Kangxin had been in the army for so long that he knew what was going on. His eyes were full of murderous intent when he saw Liu Xiangkun, but he had not completely lost his mind. He did not kill the general in front of the battle, but ordered in a deep voice:
"Liu Xiangkun, charge at the front. If you can break into the enemy camp, I will spare your life. If you can't break in, you don't have to come back!"

Listening to the life-threatening mission Wang Kangxin had assigned to him, Liu Xiangkun's face suddenly showed despair. He wanted to open his mouth to argue, but before he could say anything, he saw Wang Kangxin's icy eyes, as if he wanted to cut him into pieces.

Seeing this, Liu Xiangkun rationally gave up arguing. Although charging into battle was dangerous, there was still a glimmer of hope. If he said something that would displease Wang Kangxin at this time, Wang Kangxin would definitely not mind and would chop off his head with his own hands!
Liu Xiangkun took a deep breath and bowed to Wang Kangxin and said:

"I will follow the orders of the commander-in-chief!"

After saying this, Liu Xiangkun, who was extremely desperate, turned around and left, ready to face the judgment of his fate...

Just when Wang Kangxin dealt with Liu Xiangkun, the new army of Gongdu finally rushed to the camp after suffering thousands of casualties under the attack of the red cannons and various muskets of the Fengwu Army. Some of them used battering rams to try to break a gap in the camp, and some tried to build ladders to cross the camp.

Although the Fengwu Army soldiers in the camp were at an absolute disadvantage in terms of numbers, compared to the Gongdu people who charged and fought fiercely, they were more like a whole. The swordsmen held shields in front and fought hand-to-hand with the enemy, followed by the long spearmen, and finally the musketeers provided support for their comrades. The three were linked together to form a stable formation, covering and cooperating with each other. Every time a soldier fell, someone would take his place and continue to kill the enemy. Yuan Song on the observation platform kept looking around, observing the anxious situation on the battlefield. It was obvious that the battle had been going on for the third day, and there had been no progress in the attack on the camp, so Wang Kangxin was anxious and was now going to fight with himself.

After a cup of tea, a messenger came to report:
"General, the enemy launched a fierce attack from the east, west, and south. Our army suffered heavy casualties. Please support us!"

When Yuan Song heard this, a cold light flashed in his eyes and he said coldly:

"Although the enemy's attack on these three sides is fierce, it is just a feint! Tell all the troops not to be afraid of casualties, and fight hard. Whoever loses the position will be punished by military law!"

"Yes!"

Although Wang Kangxin attacked fiercely and pretended to be very convincing, Yuan Song still saw through his trick. He launched feint attacks on three sides and waited for him to disperse the troops in the northeast corner to support other places. Then he arranged elite troops to raid the northeast corner, create a gap in the northeast corner, and then swallow up his entire camp by breaking through the point...
Wang Kangxin’s idea was nice, but he really underestimated me, Yuan, by relying on such a strategy to take me down!

After observing the battlefield situation for a while, Yuan Song thought it was about right and gave orders to the messenger behind him:

"Notify Ye Dong in the northeast corner and ask him to remove half of the military flags and prepare to fight the enemy! Order the artillery to concentrate their fire in front of the northeast corner!"

"Yes!"

Less than a cup of tea after Yuan Song gave the order, one of Wang Kangxin's guards ran up to Wang Kangxin, who was resting with his eyes closed.

Hearing the footsteps coming, Wang Kangxin, who was in an irritable mood, said impatiently without waiting for the guard to speak:
"Don't tell me the casualty count! I don't want to hear that right now!"

"Reporting to the general, half of the enemy's flags in the northeast corner are gone..."

Before the guard finished speaking, Wang Kangxin, who was originally sitting on a chair, stood up instantly and looked at the Fengwu Army camp on Wushupo. Seeing that the Fengwu Army flags in the northeast corner were indeed fewer than before, Wang Kangxin felt that the dark clouds in front of his eyes had dissipated, and the opportunity to break through the enemy camp was right in front of him!

In order not to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Wang Kangxin immediately gave the order:

"Send a message to Lin Lei. Now is the time for him to take action. If he can open a gap, he will be the first to achieve great success in this battle! Also send a message to Li Yongzhe, Zhao Zaien, Quan Dazhong and others. Tell them to hold back the Fengwu Army in front of them. Don't let any of them rush to the northeast corner to help. Our army is on the verge of victory. If anyone is scared at this moment, don't blame me for being ruthless and using his head as a sacrifice!"

As Wang Kangxin's order was issued, an elite force of 5,000 men hidden far away in the formation finally began to move out and quickly rushed towards the northeast corner of the Wushupo camp.

Looking at the Gongdu army that suddenly rushed out, Ye Dong, who was responsible for guarding the northeast corner of the camp, had a fighting spirit in his eyes. Seeing the friendly troops around him fighting fiercely, while he had only two or three big cats and small cats on his side, he had long been a little hungry and thirsty. Now the appearance of the Gongdu army in front of him was exactly what he wanted...
"How many grenades are left?" Ye Dong asked Deputy General Wang Guangyuan:
Listening to Ye Dong's question, Wang Guangyuan thought for a moment and replied:

"It was quite humid last night, and some of the grenades became damp and unusable. There are probably only about 20 to 30 grenades that can be used now!"

Hearing this number, Ye Dong frowned, but still didn't say anything and just ordered:

"When the enemy approaches, have the brothers throw all the grenades out and kill as many Gongdu dogs as possible!"

After saying this, Wang Guangyuan said hesitantly:
"Commander, I'm afraid there are no more grenades left in the division headquarters. If we use them all now, what will we do in the next few days..."

"You won't fight without grenades? Without grenades, we still have knives and spears. We can still send them to hell. Don't waste time and follow my orders!" Ye Dong ordered in a deep voice:

Seeing Ye Dong's firm attitude, Wang Guangyuan had no choice but to object. He took the order and implemented it at the grassroots level.

Soon, Lin Lei, who was entrusted with an important task by Wang Kangxin, led 5,000 elite soldiers and rushed to the Wushupo camp a hundred feet away. Before Lin Lei could order the soldiers to disperse their formation and charge freely, the whistling sound of artillery shells rang in their ears.

Just as they realized with horror what was happening, more than a dozen shells exploded around them. Blood and flesh flew everywhere, and there were wailing and screaming. Hundreds of soldiers fell to the ground, twisting their bloodstained bodies in pain. The scene was like hell on earth for a moment.

Although he was a little dazed by the sudden artillery fire, Lin Lei was quite capable since Wang Kangxin entrusted him with such an important task. He immediately shouted loudly to command the surviving soldiers to disperse their formation and not gather in groups of three or five, and continue to charge towards the Wushupo camp.

At this time, the terrain in front of the northeast corner of the Wushupo camp is open, and the advantage for the attacker is reflected. The thousands of soldiers under Lin Lei can basically be fully deployed here, and there is a distance between them. In this way, the damage caused by the red cannon fire to them is not as good as at the beginning...

After finally withstanding the bombardment of the red cannon, the target camp was right in front of them. But before Lin Lei could feel happy, dozens of grenades flew out of the camp. Although the power of the grenades was not as great as that of the red cannon, their power should not be underestimated when thrown at such a close distance. They directly killed hundreds of Gongdu soldiers who were rushing to the front.

One of them even fell directly beside Lin Lei. If it weren't for the personal soldiers guarding him who risked their lives to save him, Lin Lei would probably have lost some limbs!
(End of this chapter)