Chapter 296: New Command

"Your Highness, I have thought about it and decided not to expose the flintlock soldiers of the royal army for the time being." Chang Wei said.

At present, only 30,000 of the royal army are equipped with flintlocks.

The other soldiers are still equipped with traditional weapons and armor.

In his opinion, the previous equipment is enough to deal with the Xiliang soldiers in the camp.

After all, the superiority of the royal weapons and armor has been proved in several battles.

Using flintlocks now will only expose the new weapons of the royal palace in advance, allowing Xiliang to take more cautious actions.

And this will undoubtedly reduce the role of flintlocks in key battles and prolong the war in Jinzhou.

Zhao Xu nodded.

He and Chang Wei have the same idea.

It is enough to use artillery at present, after all, Xiliang has known the news of artillery for a long time.

It is better to keep flintlocks in battles like decisive battles to play a surprise attack.

And the flintlock army cannot play its maximum effectiveness in such a narrow mountain road.

As the two talked, the royal soldiers gradually approached the Xiliang camp.

There was also movement in the Xiliang camp.

However, the Xiliang soldiers had no intention of actively attacking, but instead placed a lot of chevaux de frise in front of the camp.

Behind the chevaux de frise were Xiliang archers.

Xiliang camp.

Ye Renrong looked at the soldiers of the royal palace who were advancing towards the camp.

The armor on these Yan Wang soldiers was bright.

The marching formation was strict and not chaotic.

He had never seen such power even in the Dasong Imperial Army.

Thinking of this, his heart sank, and he could not underestimate the soldiers of Yan Wang.

It was precisely because of this that he decided to take a defensive stance and never actively attack.

If the situation was not good, retreat at any time.

"Rumble rumble..."

The soldiers of Yan Wang continued to march, but suddenly stopped three hundred meters away from the Xiliang camp.

Ye Renrong narrowed his eyes and looked at the catapult behind the wooden fence of the camp.

It was already loaded with gravel, and as long as it was fired, the sky full of gravel would fall on the heads of the Yan Wang soldiers.

Then he looked at the muskets in front of the camp.

The trees they cut down were not wasted, but wooden platforms were built in front of the camp, on which muskets were placed.

As long as the soldiers of the King of Yan charged, these muskets would hit them hard with stone bullets.

But their range was about 300 meters.

And within 100 meters was the shooting range of the archers of Xiliang.

Now the soldiers of the palace were just outside their shooting range.

"Cannon." Ye Renrong's heart suddenly jumped.

He knew what the King of Yan's army was going to do.

It was rumored that the range of the cannon was very long and the power was huge.

They must use cannons to attack their camp.

Although he guessed it, Ye Renrong was very helpless.

Because he had no power to stop it, and one of his tasks was to see the power of the cannon, and then report it back to Jincheng and Xiliang.

"Work harder."

On a flat hillside in the middle of the mountain road, the artillerymen were struggling to push the cannon up.

This was the shooting location they had chosen a few days ago.

Twelve cannons can be accommodated here.

A hundred meters in front of them, there was a raised earthen mound, and there were also artillerymen setting up field artillery.

"His Royal Highness the King of Yan was really thoughtful and specially built field artillery. If the heavy artillery was placed on the city wall, it would not be easy to cross the mountains and ridges." An artilleryman said while pulling the artillery.

"Yes, this field artillery is really suitable for field battles." Another artilleryman said.

"..."

Although they said it, the artillerymen's hands did not stop.

The artillery was quickly placed properly, and the muzzle was aimed at the Beidi camp.

After doing all this, one of the artillerymen took out two small red flags from his waist and made a few movements.

This was taught to them by their generals, called flag language.

It is said that the King of Yan taught the generals in the military school, and the generals taught them again.

In two or three months, they have practiced quite proficiently.

And they understand the meaning of various positions of the flags.

Now they are telling the artillery captain in front that they are ready.

After the flag signal was finished, the flag signalman in front responded with a few gestures, which meant waiting for orders.

On the wall of Feihu Pass.

Zhao Xu looked at the skilled flag signal movements of the artillerymen and was even satisfied.

He taught flag signals on the first day of the military school, and also taught various flag signal movements to the generals, and specially distributed flag signal movement booklets to them.

Now it seems that they have practiced quite well.

Now with telescopes and flag signals.

At a large distance, they can convey messages through flag signals.

This will make the command of the royal army on the battlefield more handy.

After all the artillery was ready, Chang Wei asked the flag signalman around him to wave the flag and convey the order, "Fire."

The flag signalman holding the flag on the top of the city was captured by the flag signalman holding the mountain road.

In less than half a minute, the sound of artillery sounded in the valley.

"Boom boom boom..." Red flames and white smoke came out of the muzzle.

The artillery fired black projectiles at the Xiliang camp from a high position.

The wooden fence in front of the Xiliang camp almost collapsed.

"Deputy leader!"

The moment the cannon sounded, the horses in the Xiliang camp neighed in panic.

The thunderous explosion aroused their biological instincts, and they just wanted to escape.

In addition to war horses, there were also camels in the camp.

If they had not been tied to the stakes, they would have escaped by now.

Ye Renrong tried not to appear panicked.

Even though he was mentally prepared for the rumored artillery.

But he was still instinctively afraid when he heard it and saw it on the battlefield.

After the loud noise, a black afterimage flew towards them.

The afterimage hit the wooden fence, and the fence either fell down or broke.

A catapult was hit and fell directly.

Some Xiliang soldiers did not react and were hit by the catapult, screaming.

There were also Xiliang soldiers in front of the camp who were directly hit, their arms were broken and blood was flowing.

The loud noise plus the huge power made not only Ye Renrong, but also other Xiliang generals and soldiers terrified.

They could see the King of Yan's artillery from a distance.

The closest one to them was also 400 meters away.

And it was so powerful at this distance!

"Boom boom boom..." The huge roar of the artillery continued to sound.

Black bullets rained down into the Xiliang camp like raindrops.

More and more Xiliang soldiers were hit by the shells, and screamed.

A black shell fell less than three steps away from Ye Renrong, and bounced back and hit the head of the soldier behind him.

His soldier didn't even have time to make a sound, and fell directly, with only the remaining flesh and blood on his neck.

Ye Renrong swallowed hard.

In such a small space, facing the artillery of King Yan, they were simply sending themselves to death.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he said to the general beside him: "A battle here will only ruin the lives of the Xiliang soldiers in vain. Leave 3,000 people to cover the rear and stop King Yan's troops from chasing. The others withdraw from the camp and let King Yan's troops go deep into Jinzhou before making any plans."