Chapter 375 Power of Cannons (2/2)
As for his subordinates, most of them were in an uproar and panic. Gongsun Du could even hear that they were planning to escape from the city to the south.
”Stop panicking and help me fight! Do you want glory and wealth or not!?”
His subordinates hesitated. Gongsun Kang, the young son of Gongsun Du, even flinched by his father's yell. He did not think that this was a proper way to control his men, but he also could not find a better way to counter Xu Huang's forces.
”F-Father. Can we surrender? It's still not too late, isn't it?”
Gongsun Du paused. It would be a lie if he did not think about surrendering.
Unfortunately, he heard about what Wang Men had done and He Xing's death. The rumors said that Tong's men were here for Gongsun's family as they orchestrated the assassination of the empress.
Gongsun Du did not want to take risks, but fighting was not an option either!
”ARGH! We'll fight to the death! Bring me my horse, we'll charge out and meet them on the field!”
”F-Father! That's suicide!”
”Suicide!? No, being here and doing nothing is a suicide! They came here to kill everyone in our family, so we can't surrender! Look at them. They only have footmen. Did they leave their horsemen at home or something? I don't know what he is thinking, but it is our chance to strike!”
Gongsun Du and Gongsun Kang got down from the wall to fetch their horses.
At this moment
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
The second volley of ten cannons hit the wall. A portion of the ten-meter height wall collapsed along with a dozen defenders on top of it.
Screams of panicking soldiers could be heard from below. The morale of the troops sunk to the bottom.
Gongsun Du bellowed, ”Hear me, soldiers! Abandon the walls and follow me! We will charge at the enemies together!”
As if it triggered something, all soldiers rushed down the wall, pushing and shoving each other aside so they could escape from there faster. As a result, a hundred people fell from the top of the wall and stairs, falling down to their death. The other unlucky soldiers stumbled and fell on the ground, which they got stomped by his colleagues and died from the internal injuries.
No order remained in his city as everyone thought of themselves.
Gongsun Du was oblivious to the chaos. He thought that his rally was effective. Thus, he rejoiced.
”See? Just one word and they're eager to fight! We still have a chance!”
Gongsun Du and Gongsun Kang got on their horses and moved to the gate, getting ready to charge out.
Behind the gate, it was an empty square for soldiers to gather. A thousand soldiers had already prepared their gears and were on stand-by.
Seeing the readiness of his men, Gongsun Du laughed. He moved through the crowd and got to the center of the square so that everyone could hear his speech before everyone could charge out.
Soon, another loud sound of cannon volley came, and the ground trembled again. This time, one of the cannonball went over the wall and landed into the city.
The cannonball landed on the dead center of the square where Gongsun Du was.
*BOOM*
*SPLAT*
Without realizing what hit him, Gongsun Du was squashed by the iron cannon shell, terrified the onlookers.
Gongsun Kang witnessed his father's death right in front of his eyes. He screamed, ”Throw white flags! We're surrendering! Do not charge out! I repeat, do not charge out! Raise white flags!”
.
Meanwhile, Xu Huang, Jia Xu, and all commanders stood still, astounded by the cannon power.
The mighty tall wall, which they had always been intimidated, had been reduced to piles of rubbles. The orderly lined wall turned into a remaining of an ancient city. Walls had become disconnected, and many parts had collapsed onto the ground.
Jia Xu groaned, ”This shit doesn't require strategies! With a precise aim, all armies and tactics are useless!”
Xu Huang nodded, ”I agree. Still, the cannon shells are only effective against structures. It takes times to reload, and the precision is questionable, so we can't use this against live targets.”
”True. But I heard from Te Langpu that there is another type of shells he is researching. He said that it will explode upon contact.”
”Ah, the explosive shells, right?”
”Yes, yes. That's the one!”
”Probably soon, perhaps. I hope we can use it in the field someday. There are also slug shells in the work that are similar to his majesty's shotgun shells.”
”I hope that we won't be jobless once those toys are finished.”
”Right. HAHAHAHA!”
As they chatted, the gate opened. Gongsun Kang rode out and waved a white flag as a declaration of surrender.
”I guess they are too effective. They are surrendering.”
”That's good. I want to sleep under a roof for once. I'm tired of camping outside in the cold. Hey, general Xu. I just recall that we're bringing the hwachas, right? I haven't seen them since we had moved to a new base.”
Xu Huang paused to think, ”I used them to fortify East Linyu Fort.”
Jia Xu laughed, ”Oh well, forget it. Let's tell Tong that they were forgotten in the base then.”
”I'll tell Tian Yu to bring them back once the fight is over.”
”Meh, it's already over at this point.”
.
The handling of the prisoners went well. As Gongsun Kang cooperated with Xu Huang and Jia Xu, all officers and Gongsun Clan did not resist.
They found Gongsun Du's corpse later, which disappointed Tong and his followers in the clan chat.
Tong had planned to torture him, but he did not even have a chance to seek revenge. He sighed a lamented to his fate.
His feud with Liu Ping was redeemed by Hua Shi and Friday.
His anger toward Wang Men was quenched by Zhang Liao.
His grudge with Gongsun Du had been solved by a cannonball.
Not once in this life that he could exact revenge with his own hands.
Still, Tong ordered in the clan chat that all Gongsun Clan members had to be executed without exception. As family members of a traitor who had plotted the assassination of He Xing, none could be spared!