On the third day, the Japanese army launched another attack on Iwami Castle. The Japanese army's tactics were to charge the city wall with a large group of people in a sparse formation. There were no heavy weapons, no catapults, and no siege rams. It seemed that they would not be used at this time, because they had charged the city wall for two days without touching it.
There was a constant noise of shouting and killing outside. From time to time, Yu Liang could hear the roar of artillery above his head. The dirt was shaken off his head and fell down.
In this cavernous hiding place, the muffled sounds of gongs and cannons were deafening, making it very uncomfortable to stay here. However, Yu Liang was fine, as the northwest wind from the sea blew, and the cave was ventilated and the gunpowder smoke dispersed quickly; the brothers on the east side were probably even more uncomfortable, as although there were holes everywhere in the cave leading to the outer wall, gunpowder smoke would inevitably accumulate inside when there was no wind.
The soldier cave is a hole dug along the thick solid wall, supported by thick wooden beams, and connected inside; there are many passages leading to the outer wall, the outer wall hole is a battlement, only accommodating three people standing and firing, and the shape of one hole is like a trumpet. Above the hole, something similar to the eaves is built with wooden beams, covered with felt and mud.
Yu Liang was responsible for guarding five holes: the entire corner wall and a hole on the front curved wall. A team of thirty people was divided into two rounds of volleys, but the manpower was insufficient. The firing speed of firearms was slow, but fortunately, it was not just their side that was firing. The defenders on the other six-flowered corner wall were also firing obliquely at the Japanese army, forming a crossfire.
The Japanese army's attack was even more frenzied today, and they had just repelled a fierce charge. Before everyone had time to catch their breath, Yu Liang heard loud shouting outside.
Yu Liang heard the sound, leaned forward and looked out from the battlement, and suddenly felt his scalp tingling. Outside the drifting smoke, a large number of infantry and cavalry rushed up. Damn, this scene is too absurd. If Yu Liang had not experienced such scenes many times in three days, he would have had the illusion that he was going to die when he saw so many people coming up.
He shouted loudly and put the whistle hanging on his chest into his mouth and blew it.
Soon, there was a loud clang of gongs on the wall above our heads. Bang, bang, bang, bang, the muskets in the soldier holes on the entire wall suddenly opened fire.
The moment the gun was fired, the cave entrance was filled with white smoke and nothing could be seen. After a while, the wind blew and he could see many Japanese outside struggling and screaming on the ground, and some people were digging soil in the ditch with shovels.
The sound of gunfire came from the wall on the west side. Many Japanese soldiers fell down beside the ditch. One of them, holding a shovel, fell into the ditch. No one rescued him. The people behind him used shovels to dig dirt over the wounded soldier who was still struggling in the mud.
Fifty or sixty steps away, the cavalrymen on horseback drew their bows and shot arrows. Several arrows flew in from the cave entrance. The Japanese cavalrymen were very accurate in their archery.
Zhang Dalang, who was busy loading, paused for a moment, was stunned for a moment, reached out and touched his helmet. He immediately cursed, "Fuck, I'm lucky I'm wearing an iron helmet!"
After several volleys, the enemy suffered heavy casualties and was defeated again. Yu Liang had never seen such a scene before. The bodies behind the ditch had piled up.
At this moment, footsteps were heard from the passage behind, and an unknown general shouted: "Where is General Yu Shi?"
Yu Liang responded: I am here
The general followed the voice and came in from the passage, bending over, and clasped his fists, saying: I am Li Youde, the tenth general of the second team of the third city of Dongdao Command. I have come here under the order of the military headquarters to reinforce General Yu. These five caves are still under the command of General Yu.
Yu Liang was a little puzzled and bowed in return.
After the greeting, Li Youde glanced outside from the battlement and said: The attacks in other directions are feints, only the enemy soldiers on your side are fierce. Commander Zhang then dispatched troops to reinforce.
Yu Liang suddenly realized: So that's it.
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard another round of shouting from outside. Yu Liang said: This is the first time I have seen so many people preparing for a battle like this.
Zhao Youde also quickly called on his men to station in the five nearby caves, and the military strength in this area increased to sixty people.
The booming sound of cannons made the walls tremble. Zhao Youde looked up and said: General Yu is absolutely right. If our Xu army continued to fight like this, our generals would have been chopped off by their superiors and would be sending themselves to death.
The outer ditch had been basically filled up, and people could pass through. Many Japanese infantry and cavalry crossed the mud, getting as close as thirty or forty steps, and then continued to fill the ditch and shoot arrows.
The three trenches outside Iwami Castle were all within the range of the muskets, in order to block the enemy's charge and at the same time within the range of the firepower.
Four rounds of volleys were fired alternately, and this time the firearms fired even faster. There was an endless stream of firearms from the two corner walls and the front curved wall, and the crackling sound almost never stopped, covering the enemy soldiers within thirty or forty steps on three sides.
The noisy screams and shouts seemed to be right under our noses. The closer the Japanese army got to the fortress, the narrower the battle line became. The crowd became very dense. With every round of gunfire, a large number of people fell to the ground. They were like crazy, still desperately rushing towards the second ditch.
At this moment, there were sudden loud bangs of cannon fire, and the terrifying black ball flew down from the two corner walls at a negative angle, bouncing in the crowd. Suddenly, a group of people seemed to explode as if boiling water, with screams everywhere, war horses neighing and crashing everywhere, and many people were squeezed into the ditch.
The Japanese army finally retreated, and those at the back turned around and ran away.
After the surging crowd left, the smoke gradually thinned. The scene below the castle was horrific, with corpses everywhere and some people crying and struggling in a pool of blood. Flags and weapons were scattered all over the place.
The soldiers of Xu's army in the hole in the wall looked at each other, speechless. But no one would show mercy. If so many people rushed up the wall, everyone would die. No matter how good they were at close combat, they could not defeat a large number of people.
The battlefield was quiet for a long time, and the Japanese army finally stopped attacking. The arrow tower of the camp was faintly visible in the distance, and Xu Jun was completely unwilling to leave the fortress. There were only a few hundred people in total, and going out would be seeking death. The two sides were deadlocked on the battlefield for a long time.
There was no movement from the Japanese army for a long time, so everyone sat down on the spot. The soldiers took out the cowhide water bags from their belts and drank the water silently.
Yu Liangdao: I don’t know what the people of Dongdao will do next.
Li Youde said: Who cares about them? It’s not easy to capture this fortress anyway.
Someone nearby hummed and said: We have killed enough enemies these days, at least thousands of them have died.
Li Youde said seriously: The Japanese's behavior is unreasonable. They killed Zhang Fushi, besieged our imperial guards brothers at sea, and now they come to die. If we don't show them some color, they still think they are more powerful than the Liao army.
Yu Liang didn't answer, he sat down on the wall and took a long breath. His ears were buzzing and his mind was in a daze. He never thought that he would become like this.
At this moment, I suddenly heard a voice: Commander Zhang. Meet Commander Zhang
Yu Liang and the others stood up quickly, and saw a big bearded man named Zhang Jiankui hunching over and coming in. Everyone clasped their fists and saluted.
Zhang Jiankui said directly: "Brothers, you will be rewarded for serving the country. I promise you that as long as you return alive, you will have a mansion, good fields and beautiful concubines."
After hearing this, everyone was much more excited, especially Yu Liang's men, who were not as wealthy as the imperial guards. However, all the troops that formed the East Island Command this time, the imperial guards and the guards had the same military merits, so they could not be rewarded differently.
Zhang Jiankui emphasized again: Dongdao commands more than 500 people, but they are mobilized personally by the Emperor of Daxu. You can rest assured, as long as we maintain the emperor's face and the prestige of Daxu, the reward this time will be different from the past.
A civil servant nearby echoed: Brothers, just look at the equipment of Iwami Castle. There are more than 500 people equipped with more than 40 bronze cannons, and the supplies in various warehouses are transported from thousands of miles away. You can see that this place is highly valued by the court.
The two men sang the same tune. Regardless of their fatigue, all the soldiers became excited. Except for Yu Liang, who had a wealthy family, almost all the soldiers in the hole on this side were from poor backgrounds. Changing their fate all at once was definitely a rare opportunity for several generations.
Zhang Jiankui's eyes swept across the faces of the soldiers one by one, and he was very satisfied. He said: "Defend Shijian Fort to the death. The reinforcements of the Jiaolong Army will arrive soon."
Yu Liang was indeed well-read. Everyone was afraid to say anything in front of the commander, but he seized the opportunity and said generously: "I and my brothers swear to live and die together in Ishijian Castle."
Okay, okay. Zhang Jiankui reached out and patted Yu Liang on the shoulder, then left the hole in the wall.
There was no fighting for the whole morning. Everyone took out the wheat cakes from the grain bags in the earth cave and ate lunch with cold boiled water. Then they stayed on guard until the evening in the afternoon.
At the hour of You, the drums sounded, and another of the ten generals arrived at the cave on time. Yu Liang prepared the flags, organized the soldiers, handed over the defense to the generals who came, and then led everyone out of the cave.
When the people came out of the hole in the wall, they all looked like beggars, their heads and faces were all black, and they were covered with dirt from the smoke of gunpowder. Only the shiny plate armor and helmets made them look like decent people.