No one looks down on the so-called artillery more than the Zheng Army soldiers. According to legend, the Sui Army artillery, which has caused the Taiyuan Army and the Western Qin Army to suffer enough, is simply worthless in front of the Zheng Army soldiers who have seen it. The range is actually less than Ordinary strong bows and hard crossbows are much farther, and the pebbles they shoot can penetrate directly into a person's body within sixty or seventy steps, wounding and killing the enemy. However, the power will decrease rapidly if it is farther away, and even if it hits the enemy, it will not be able to get up. How much effect. It is slow to load and fire slowly, and the barrel will explode after three or four rounds of firing. The gun body must be re-hooked with iron bars before it can be used again. This kind of thing can certainly have the effect of intimidating the enemy when used suddenly. It is barely effective when used to attack dense enemies at close range, but its effective killing range is not much better than a crossbow. The speed and cost are far less than those of crossbows. As long as the enemy becomes familiar with this weapon, the effect of intimidation and fright will plummet. Such a weapon is really tasteless and a pity to discard. Therefore, after gradually getting used to the terrifying loud noise made by the pine tree cannon when it was fired, and gradually understanding the basic performance of the pine tree cannon in actual combat, Wang Shichong and Zheng Jun officers gradually believed that the power of the legendary artillery was nothing more than this, and it was not at all There is nothing to be afraid of. The reason why Chen Sangliang used this weapon to defeat Li Yuan and Xue Ju was because the unlucky guys under Li Yuan and Xue Ju had never seen such a scary thing, and they were frightened. Not defeated. Because of this, when he saw his unfilial son-in-law suddenly showing off fifty cannons, Wang Shichong not only was not frightened out of his wits like the Li brothers and Xue Ju and his son who had suffered a lot, but instead showed off the number with a wild smile. More pine cannons were fired, and they uttered wild words that they would fight Chen Sangliang with artillery until the end! After Chen Sangliang laughed sarcastically, he took a closer look at Wang Shichong's turtle formation and said with a sneer: "Old man, you really haven't changed at all. You just keep doing the turtle formation. Are you tired of it? Why don't you dare to use it for real? The last time a gunman fought with me? " "Little thief, are you tired of sneaking in every time before the battle starts?" Wang Shichong responded with the same sneer: "Since you look down on my military formation so much, Then come and attack, I will accompany you to the end!" "You said this, don't regret it!" Chen Sangliang laughed and turned his horse around, shouting: "The artillery team is ready! Let the puppet Zheng army take a look at you! Awesome!" The Sui army artillery team led by Yuan Tiangang sang in unison, immediately removed the straw wrapping the cannon body and the silk covering the muzzle, and quickly and skillfully loaded the ammunition and installed the fuse. Over there, Wang Shichong also immediately turned around and returned to the main formation, shouting an order to the self-armed artillery team, "Get ready! Pay attention to the flag, and when you see the flag waving, fire immediately! Mrs. Wang, please keep an eye on me, be sure to wait for the rebel artillery to enter If you fire again within eighty steps, you must kill the enemy with the first shot!" The Zheng Jun artillery team also sang the promise in unison. Wang Shichong, the nephew of Wang Shichong who was in charge of the artillery team, quickly estimated the distance of eighty steps while singing the promise. Find the effective killing range - why do this? Because the effective killing distance of Zheng Jun's pine tree cannon is only 80 steps and more than 100 meters. But soon, Mrs. Wang, who had thoroughly understood the performance of the pine tree cannon, immediately discovered that something was wrong. After loading the ammunition, the fifty artillery pieces of the Sui army actually lit the fuses directly from a distance of about a mile! Mrs. Wang was shocked when she saw it, and couldn't help but blurt out: "So far? How is it possible?!" "Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!" Amidst the explosions one after another, which were far louder than those fired by pine cannons, Sui The military artillery team finally fired the first salvo. Fifty eight-pound solid iron bullets came out one after another, roaring towards the Zheng Army's Turtle Formation. Many of the people at the forefront of the Zheng Army's Turtle Formation were more than a mile away. The shield-bearer didn't even see what was going on clearly when he suddenly noticed that an overwhelming force hit the shield. The strong shield covered with iron sheets shattered immediately, and the Zheng Army soldiers behind the shield also vomited. He fell backwards with blood, but the black cannonballs continued to move forward, hitting the Zheng Army soldiers one after another. Those who were hit either had their internal organs shattered or their tendons were broken. They were either dead or injured, and those black cannonballs carried After whizzing to the ground, he was still able to jump up and perform Brownian motion, continuing to kill and injure Zheng Jun soldiers, and did not stop until his inertia was exhausted. The dense square array is Wang Shichong's magic weapon that he uses against powerful enemies. If he attacks with cold weapons, even the strongest elite under Chen Sangliang may not be sure that he can break through such a turtle array, but when it comes to facing When artillery bombarded in modern times, such a dense formation completely tortured the Zheng Army soldiers. Wherever the Sui Army's artillery shells passed, the Zheng Army soldiers who were too densely formed fell down in rows like wheat. They were either directly killed or injured by smashing and bruises. The irregular bounce of solid artillery shells after they landed can also ensure the effectiveness of large numbers. Kill the enemy. In the first round of salvo fire, not only did the fifty Sui Army artillery fire not miss a single shot, but almost every shell killed and injured more than ten or twenty Zheng Army soldiers. A huge noise sounded inside the Zheng Jun Turtle Formation,Seeing that their companions nearby were vomiting blood and even vomiting pieces of internal organs, they were constantly lying down, falling to the ground and rolling and screaming for no reason. The soldiers of Zheng Army were shocked and turned pale, and naturally they also screamed and asked in surprise. What happened? Wang Shichong, who had retreated to the flag formation and was sitting down to command, jumped up in shock and screamed with a pale face: "What's going on? What happened? What did Chen Xiaothief do? Why did we suddenly lose so many soldiers? " Wang Tai, who was at the forefront facing the Sui army's artillery, saw the situation most clearly, and her face was paler than anyone else. She kept muttering to herself, "How is it possible? How can it be so powerful? Impossible?!¡± What shocked Mrs. Wang even more was what happened next. After a round of volleys, the Sui soldiers quickly dipped the cannon barrel wrapped in cloth into water to extinguish the remaining sparks in the barrel, and then loaded it with a certain amount of gunpowder wrapped in silk. , quickly loaded the shells and fuses, and it took less than two minutes to re-ignite and fire. The fifty artillery roared in unison again, and once again blasted the shells into the front of Zheng Jun's turtle formation. Zheng's soldiers also screamed and fell one after another. On the ground, rows and rows fell to the ground one after another. The injured soldiers fell to the ground and rolled and howled. The frightened soldiers ran to avoid bullets. For the first time, the solid battle formation that Wang Shichong was proud of also became chaotic on its own without being attacked by the enemy. The so-called artillery bombardment battle was a one-sided massacre. When the enemy was only about one mile away, the Sui army's artillery with a maximum range of two miles wreaked havoc, roaring and blasting heavy artillery shells one after another. Blast into the dense formation of Zheng Jun's officers and men, sweeping away the enemies in front with a devastating force. Each shot blasted dozens of enemies to the point of having their intestines pierced, and each shot created a crack in Zheng Jun's turtle formation. With deep blood marks reaching the heart of the body, each Sui army's artillery fired only four shots on average, which already killed more than a thousand soldiers of Zheng's army and injured countless others. It also completely smashed the front of Zheng's army's big turtle formation. shell. Seeing this scene, Wang Shichong turned pale and finally confirmed something that had already been established for a long time - his son-in-law was indeed not a good guy. Not only did he cheat on him countless times, but the cannon Xiaoshun gave him was also a fake. Shoddy! Although he was furious, Wang Shichong still refused to give up and roared: "Let our artillery come forward and fire, and knock down the momentum of the rebels first!" The order was conveyed, and a group of four soldiers was sent to the Zheng Army. The gunners of the Zheng Army began to carry the pine cannon. Galloping forward, the Sui army was well prepared. The large group of crossbowmen immediately stepped forward and struck head-on with powerful crossbows with super long range. They drew their bows and set arrows to cover the Zheng army's artillery team with a dense rain of arrows. As a result, Zheng Jun's artillery team was Before the soldiers could rush into the effective firing range of the pine cannon within 80 steps, they were fired by the Sui army's crossbows and howled like ghosts. There were many casualties. They dropped the heavy pine cannon and fled. They collapsed completely before firing a single shot. . Wang Shichong's move also angered Chen Sangliang. Originally out of the consideration of attacking the enemy's soldiers' psychology, Chen Sangliang only asked Yuan Tiangang to bombard the densest areas of enemy soldiers with artillery and try to cause casualties and confusion to the enemy. There was no request. They used decapitation tactics and directly bombarded Wang Shichong's flag array. However, seeing that his father-in-law dared to counterattack, Chen Sangliang also came and became completely angry. He immediately ordered Yuan Tiangang to command the artillery team to concentrate on bombarding Wang Shichong's flag formation. Unfortunately, Wang Shichong's flag array, which was more than two miles away, happened to be within the firing range of the Sui army's artillery. Although the Sui army's artillery could no longer aim accurately at this distance, the concentrated firepower of fifty artillery pieces covered it, even if it was a blind attack. You can also encounter some dead mice. After another round of volley bombardment, at least ten artillery shells fell on the head of Wang Shichong's flag array. As the artillery shells bounced, the soldiers of the Pseudo-Zheng Imperial Army with bright flags and armor staggered around, suffering heavy casualties. There was also a The shell landed less than ten steps in front of Wang Shichong. It bounced and hit a guard two steps away from Wang Shichong until he spurted blood and died miserably. Wang Shichong, who was just as greedy and fearful of death as his bad son-in-law, also peed his crotch on the spot. Subconsciously, he turned around and left. Seeing Wang Shichong's commanding flag moving backward, Sergeant Zheng, who was already frightened by the bombardment, could no longer hold on. The first time he collapsed and escaped during a battle was when the Sui Army officer Gen. The situation of no charge and assault collapsed on its own, and the Zheng Army's Little Turtle Formation on both wings was also affected. It collapsed on its own without being bombarded by the Sui Army's artillery, and scrambled to escape to the east. Chen Sangliang was waiting for this moment. With a wave of his dirty claws in the flag formation, the two cavalrymen Cheng Yaojin and Xue Renguo on the left and right of the phalanx flew together. Luo Shixin also led the front army of the phalanx to launch a pursuit and captured Wang Shichong alive. Slogans came and went, earth-shaking, and when the Sui army's cavalry took the lead in the Zheng army's defeated soldiers, another brutal massacre began. If they were fighting in formation, the Zheng Army soldiers who were good at formation battles would definitely not have to fear the 4,000 Sui Army cavalry led by Cheng Yaojin and Xue Renguo. However, it was completely different now. The Zheng Army soldiers who were escaping in a hurry had completely messed up the formation and Without command, there was nothing left to do in front of the Sui cavalry charging in groups.Unable to fight back, the wolf-like and tiger-like Sui army cavalry stabbed and stabbed them with swords and spears, killing them wantonly. From the back and sides, they cut down and stabbed the Zheng army soldiers who were fleeing for their lives with their heads in their hands. However, the Sui cavalry showed no mercy. They fell with swords and guns, causing waves of blood. They also continued to pursue Wang Shichong's commander flag amid the blood spatter. The Sui army infantry led by Luo Shixin also pursued them from behind, killing the defeated Zheng army soldiers more fiercely and swiftly. Countless Zheng army soldiers threw down their weapons and knelt down to surrender, but Luo Shixin, the number one killer under Chen Sangliang, did not. Regardless of the situation, he commanded his soldiers to kill even the surrendered soldiers without fail. They just chased forward without stopping and refused to waste any time to take in the prisoners. Wang Fubao, who had a relatively gentle personality, led his troops up. Those Zheng soldiers who were lucky enough not to be hacked to death by Luo Shixin's army or lying on the ground pretending to be dead were lucky enough to get the chance to surrender. The battlefield was very close to the small town of Xin'an, but when things got to this point, Wang Shichong, who was afraid that his unfilial son-in-law would take the opportunity to make dumplings after entering the city, did not even dare to enter the city. He led the remaining defeated soldiers around the city and the camps outside the city and continued to escape eastward. The Sui cavalry continued to pursue them. Luo Shixin led the Sui army infantry to kick the Zheng army's camp outside the city, and drove the Zheng army's defeated soldiers into the camp as the vanguard. They killed everyone and burned the tents as soon as they saw it. The Zheng army's rear troops who stayed in the camp were unable to parry it. , he could only quickly abandon the camp and a large number of precious baggage in the camp and flee eastward. Luo Shixin continued to pursue the defeated Zheng army, determined to gain military exploits from the enemy soldiers even if there was no chance of taking Wang Shichong's head. Gao Bi, the general of the Zheng army who was guarding Xin'an, did not dare to leave the city at all. He sat back and watched as Wang Fubao led 3,000 Sui army infantry to show off their power under the city. He contained and captured more remnants of the Zheng army and defeated generals. At the same time, Sui soldiers sent letters of surrender. Shooting at the top of the city, he asked Gao Bi to open the city and surrender. Although Gao Bi did not accept it, he could not help but look at the soldiers fleeing under the city and lamented, "The first battle was defeated like this, how can we fight this battle?" ¡± In this battle, the Sui cavalry pursued them all the way to Cijian before retreating. Although they failed to kill Wang Shichong, who escaped faster than a rabbit, they still achieved an impressive record of beheading more than 9,000 people and capturing more than 6,000 prisoners. , not only severely damaged the overall strength of the Zheng Army and captured countless military supplies, but also completely shattered Wang Shichong's attempt to block the main force of the Sui Army in the Xiaohan Road. It also completely destroyed the confidence and morale of Wang Shichong and the Zheng Army officers, killing Wang Shichong. Even Cijian, whose tactical position was also very important, did not dare to garrison. He led the defeated army back to Luoyang and closed the city to defend himself. Immediately afterwards, the main force of the Sui Army, which had opened the way forward, also took the opportunity to walk out of the Xiaohan Road and set up camp south of Xin'an. Chen Sangliang once again sent people to the city to recruit surrender. The Zheng Army General Gao Bi, who was still somewhat loyal, continued to grit his teeth. After refusing, Chen Sangliang was furious when he heard the report, and immediately ordered the army to prepare siege equipment immediately, and launched an attack on Xin'an two days later. Gao Bi, who led his army to resist tenaciously, only held out for one day before Chen Sangliang used his specialty gunpowder blasting tactics to blow down the city wall. Sui soldiers continued to enter the city. Gao Bi was forced to lead his army to break out of the encirclement eastward, but unexpectedly he failed. He was attacked and assassinated by his deputy Tian Zan, and his head was sent to Chen Sangliang by Tian Zan to ask for credit. Chen Sangliang was overjoyed and immediately made Tian Zan an earl and the governor of Xiangcheng County. He ordered him to lead the troops south to attack Xiangcheng County, and he also set an example of surrendering and getting meat and blessings. The small city of Xin'an was in dilapidated condition, the morale of the defenders was low, and the old rammed earth wall fortifications were restrained by the Sui army's gunpowder blasting tactics. It was certainly easy to win in the first battle, but the real test for Chen Sangliang and the Sui army officers was yet to come. As Chen Sangliang guessed, after Wang Shichong was defeated and returned to Luoyang City, he not only immediately prepared for the battle to defend the city, but also immediately started to arrange the defenses of Luokoucang and Hulao. At the same time, he once again sent envoys north to Linming to attack the city. Dou Jiande, who was at odds with Chen Sangliang, asked for alliance and help. Originally, Wang Shichong was very worried that his rival Li Mi, who had rushed to join Dou Jiande, would take the opportunity to cause trouble and encourage Dou Jiande to refuse to form an alliance to retaliate against him. Who would have thought that just the day after receiving the news of the fall of Xin'an, he would be ordered to go north to Linming to meet with Dou Jiande's nephew Wang Wan. Someone sent good news, saying that Dou Jiande had agreed to form an alliance with Wang Shichong to fight against Chen, and decided to send troops to help Wang Shichong at the appropriate time. He also reported that Li Mi also very much agreed with the Xia and Zheng alliance, and urged Dou Jiande to lend a helping hand to Wang Shichong to avoid losing his teeth. When Wang Wan thanked Li Mi privately, Li Mi also introduced the reason for his doing so, "No matter how deep the hatred between me and Emperor Zheng is, can it be as deep as the hatred between me and the traitor Chen Yingliang? Emperor Zheng just swore an oath to me. Li, but Chen Thief and I are incompatible with each other. Why would I not do anything against Chen Thief? " After praising Li Mi fiercely for his clear grudges and disregard of past grudges, Wang Shichong, who was determined, asked Wang Shichong. Wan asked Dou Jiande to send troops as soon as possible, while also guessing that Chen Sangliang would definitely attack Luokou Granary first. He would take Luokou Granary first to reduce food expenditure and completely cut off his own food supply. Therefore, Wang Shichong ordered Wang Xuanying and Yang Gongqing to give up the attack on Yanshi QuanThey vigorously guarded Luokoucang and outside Hulao Pass, and also adopted the suggestions of Duan Da and Li Shiying, and decided to send people to contact Chen Sangliang's camp, pretending to request the return of Chen Sangliang's mistress Pei Cuiyun and the tribute of a large amount of jewelry. Negotiating Yanhe, we took the opportunity to gain time to implement a delaying strategy, waiting for Dou Jiande to send troops to rescue. Anyone who dared to use tricks against Chen Sangliang would naturally have no good consequences. Chen Sangliang first arranged for Fang Xuanling to come forward to obtain Luoyang military information from Zheng Jun's envoy. Although Fang Xuanling did not obtain from Zheng Jun's envoy that Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande had formed an alliance. However, it was also discovered that Wang Shichong did not attach great importance to the peace petition. At least he did not allow the envoy to participate in the meeting to decide on the peace. He decided to seek peace first and then appointed the envoy - this is a bit unreasonable, because If Wang Shichong is really sincere in seeking peace, at least the envoy can know the bottom line of his negotiations so that he can have the confidence to negotiate. In view of this situation, Fang Xuanling and Chen Sangliang both suspected that Wang Shichong's request for peace had ulterior motives and was probably just a delaying tactic. Therefore, after discussion, Chen Sangliang and Fang Xuanling decided to refuse to summon Zheng Jun's envoy, and asked Zheng Jun's envoy to send his mistress Pei Cuiyun first before they could consider starting peace talks with Zheng Jun, and in turn test Wang Shichong's reasons for suing for peace. Wang Shichong was indeed detained. Considering that Pei Cuiyun, an important hostage, was still useful at the critical moment, Wang Shichong flatly rejected Li Shiying's suggestion to immediately hand over Pei Cuiyun in exchange for Chen Sangliang's trust, and simply sent someone to deliver Pei Renji's head. Chen Sangliang promised to hand over Pei Cuiyun after the negotiation. As a result, Chen Sangliang and Fang Xuanling immediately concluded that Wang Shichong was just stalling for time, and continued to refuse to receive the envoy, nor did they accept Pei Renji's head. On the same day, they led their army eastward towards Luoyang, and set out to capture Luoyang's acropolis Jinyong City and the newly built Acropolis Qianjinbao, Wang Shichong had the opposite effect and regretted it. There is no airtight wall in the world. When Wang Fubao, the forward of the Sui Army, used his specialty surprise attack tactics to capture Qianjin Fort at night, the Sui Army's Qin Qiong Division, which was currently fighting the Zheng Army in Heyang, also sent fast horses to investigate. The news arrived that Dou Jiande had formed an alliance with Wang Shichong. All the civil and military officers of the Sui army were a little surprised when they heard the news, but Chen Sangliang was surprised and happy at the same time. Of course he was surprised that Dou Jiande came to cause trouble for him again, but he was happy because he was just like Li Er in history. It was a great opportunity to hunt down rabbits and catch Dou Jiande and Wang Shichong in one fell swoop. Immediately afterwards, a new question was placed in front of Chen Sangliang. Can he do what Li Er did? Or is he as lucky as Li Er and can he kill Dou Jiande at the same time as Wang Shichong? The tentative idea of ??killing Dou Jiande and Wang Shichong at the same time was told to the accomplices and lackeys. The usually arrogant accomplices and lackeys under Chen Sangliang were frightened for a rare occasion, and they all screamed: "Put down Dou Jiande and Wang Shichong at the same time." Two powerful enemies? How is it possible? Our strength is more than enough to deal with one of these bandits, but when these two bandits join forces, their overall strength has surpassed ours. It is not easy to defeat them together. How is it possible to eradicate them all at the same time? "The usually arrogant and arrogant accomplice and lackey was rarely frightened. Chen Sangliang, who was usually very receptive to advice, also rarely accepted the advice. After careful consideration for a long time, Chen Sangliang calmed down. Xu said: "With our current situation, is it really impossible to eradicate the two traitors Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande at the same time? In my opinion, not necessarily!"