My Father in Law is Lu Bu

Chapter 749

Several carriages arrived after waiting for one day. Ling Cao grinned as he saw the reinforcements knowing that Zhangyi would soon fall.

“General Ling Cao. By order of General Gan Ning, we brought you twelve of these 3000 zun cannons.” One officer cupped his fist at Ling Cao.

“Hahaha!” These weren’t just cannons. They were merits. The reason it took one day was because they had to find horses to transport the cannons. It was too difficult to transport these cannons with just human power alone. It was also fortunate that the road to Zhangyi County was the main road or it would take another two to three days to deliver it.

“Huaxia’s deck gunner Shao Qi greets General Ling Cao! Please give your orders!” The gunner greeted. Yang Chen who had been to Zhangyi County knew that there were not enough trees to build the ballista. He brought this up to Gan Ning who then decisively sent twelve cannons from the Huaxia over.

Originally, the ground troops was supposed to have their own gunners. However, there weren’t enough cannons to go around. This put them in an awkward position. Even if you call them navy, they fought on the ground and transport things. Call them ground troops but they wore the clothing of navy. Fortunately for them, Gan Ning was a capable commander. Gan Ning also did not care that the cannons were damaged. He just wanted to minimize casualties.

“General Ling Cao!” Yang Chen also arrived alongside the cannons and Shao Qi.

“Lord Yang Chen!” Ling Cao knew Yang Chen who had accompanied Lu Su to Jiangdong.

Yang Chen nodded. “General Ling Cao. When will be able to capture Zhangyi County with these cannons?” Yang Chen asked.

“Please give me two days and Zhangyi will fall.” Ling Cao said.

“Alright. I will give you two days.” Yang Chen came to Zhangyi County for an important matter. Zhangyi City was very important to them as he had received intel of Zhou Hai and his army approaching. Zhou Hai commanded thousands of heavy cavalry and would cause severe damage to Yangzhou’s army if they arrived before the city was captured.

Yang Chen then stepped aside. As he did not know anything about war tactics, he did not want to get in the way.

After Yang Chen left, Ling Cao gently stroked the cannons like his beloved. This gave Shao Qi who was still there goosebumps.

“What are the range of the cannons?” Ling Cao asked.

“They can fire up to a thousand meters.” Shao Qi replied.

“Oh?” Ling Cao’s eyes lit up. At that range, the enemy would not be able to fight back even with ballista on the city walls.

“What about their firepower?”

“We brought two types of ammunition.” Shao Qi said before explaining the difference between a solid shell and the explosive shell. One was good at destroying strongholds while the other was good at killing groups of people.

“Haha. Let us first feed the solid shells to the Liaodong Army as an appetizer!” Ling Cao smiled grimly. Before this, they could only watch the others fire the cannons. Now, they get to do it themselves. How could he not feel excited?

“Understood!” The first shot naturally went to the gunners. After adjusting the distance and taking aim, Shao Qi handed the torch over to Ling Cao. Ling Cao then lit the fuse and the cannon fired. The first shot struck the city wall and destroying half of it. This caused a loud noise.

“What’s going on?” Mo Ran who had been resting woke up from the sound.

“General! It is that thunder weapon again!” One officer ran up.

“Impossible!” Mo Ran refused to believe it. Those weapons were mounted on warships so how could they be firing on land? The city were dozens of miles away from the port.

“General! The city tower has collapsed!” The officer added. Ling Cao’s first shot had been a lucky shot. It struck the supporting pillars of the tower, causing it to collapse, killing many, and destroying morale.

“Come with me to the walls!” Mo Ran felt uneasy and rushed towards the wall. When he reached the top of the walls, he gasped. There were twelve cannons lined up in front of him.

“General! That is the thunder weapon that destroyed the city walls!” A 1000-men commander pointed at the cannons. While the warships could not reach the shores, the cannons could still be transported.

“Oh. Good aim.” Ling Cao did not expect the first shot to hit its target. “Good! Pass the order down! Blow them away!” Ling Cao ordered. He was now like a nouveau riche, a person who suddenly became rich after being poor all his life. Consequently, his thoughts and values have also changed completely.

“Fire!” Shao Qi naturally followed Ling Cao’s orders and the twelve cannons fired again.

“General! Be careful!” One guard quickly pulled Mo Ran aside as the cannonballs fell, sacrificing his own life to save Mo Ran.

Mo Ran climbed to his feet. He did not have time to grieve. “Everyone! Dodge!”

“Change to explosive shells! Fire!” Solid shells weren’t so effective so Shao Qi changed ammunition. Solid shells were devastating to structures but the explosive shells were extremely fatal to crowds. They fired at the most crowded places and once the shell explodes, the shrapnels would fly out and pierce their victims. The only people who could survive were those lying low amongst the crowd. The rest who were standing would not live as even if they wore armor, their heads and necks would not be protected.

The troops on the walls was in a state of panic. Despite Mo Ran’s attempts to calm them down, his words were useless. It is not that the troops refused to listen to him but the situation was so unworldly that his words had no effect at all. None of them have ever encountered explosive attacks from thousands of meters away before.

“We cannot go on like this!” Mo Ran shook his head. If this continue this way, they would not need to wait for the enemy to break in. Zhangyi City would collapse on its own.

“Open the city gates!” Mo Ran ordered.

“Open the gates?” The soldiers were shocked. They only have a chance of defeating Yangzhou because of the city walls. If they open the gates, they would be doomed.

“We have no choice but to charge out and destroy those things! If we don’t we will all be dead!” Mo Ran said as he pointed at the cannons.

“Someone! Go and set up a death squad!” Mo Ran ordered. “I will also go out myself!”

“You musn’t General!” The others quickly stopped Mo Ran. They were already struggling even with the city walls. If they charge out, death was certain. On top of that, their own commander was charging out. What would they do once Mo Ran is dead?

“General. Let me do it.” One officer stepped forward.

“Yue Peng?” The others looked at the officer that used to be their deputy general.

“General. Let me make up for my mistakes!” Yue Peng said to the others. It was because of his that thousands of the Zhendong troops were dead and he had been demoted. Now, he wanted to redeem himself. Though he was very likely to die, it would be glorious if he could return alive.

“You?” Mo Ran thought to himself for a moment and nodded. He could not leave as he was the commanding officer. However, Yue Peng could.

“Good! I will give you eight hun… No. Three thousand men. As long as you destroy those cannons, you will be restored to your original position!” Mo Ran said to Yue Peng.

“Understood!” Yue Peng nodded and quickly set off with three thousand men. One thousand of them were from the Zhendong Troops.

“Haha! They are not hiding like turtles anymore?” Ling Cao was long prepared for this. Thousands of soldiers from the surrounding area charged forward.

“Kill!” The cannons stopped firing as the war with cold weapons normal for the era continued.