The strongest devouring system in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 160 Counterattack

With both a night raid and a strong counterattack, Yuan Shu would surely assume that the army inside the city was already at its last gasp, hence the powerful counterattack in preparation for a breakout.

Xiahou Dun is gradually growing stronger, which pleases Gao Shun. So he confidently handed over the command of the battle to Xiahou Dun and then he should enjoy the good times a little longer.

"Yes, General, I will certainly not let you down."

Xiahou Dun said to Gao Shun, "For Gao Shun, he has actually reached the top of the autonomous region's army. Although he is only a lieutenant general now, everyone knows that."

In fact, Gao Shun is now a de facto general, as he has begun to serve as the commander-in-chief of the joint operations of the legion. Everyone understands that after this battle, Gao Shun may become the first general of the autonomous region.

But that's a story for another time; Gao Shun is still on the battlefield right now.

The night raid was sudden. Chen Jun never expected that the garrison of Pengcheng would dare to launch a night raid. Chen Jun's camp was poorly defended, and the raiding army used small cannons for the surprise attack.

They were already quite far apart, and by the time Chen Jun realized what was happening, the night raiding troops had already retreated and were out of Chen Jun's sight. But that wasn't the worst part. More than an hour later, the two night raiding battalions returned and unleashed three rounds of artillery fire on the darkest part of Chen Jun's camp that was still within their firing range, before quickly running away.

They only had a little over a thousand men. If they were entangled with Chen's main force, they would have no chance of escaping. Fortunately, Chen's army lacked warhorses and cavalry, otherwise Xiahou Dun really wouldn't have dared to make this suggestion.

After two successful harassments, Chen Jun's soldiers were afraid to sleep. Who knew if there would be a third night raid? Although the generals at all levels forcibly ordered the soldiers to return to their camps to sleep, no one dared to go to sleep. In particular, the soldiers in the outer camps dared not lie down and only dared to sit on their beds. At the slightest movement, they would run out.

Moreover, Chen Jun was forced to increase the density of patrols and the vigilance range of sentries. However, their army was still using matchlock guns, which made it extremely easy to expose themselves. These sentries had to carry a gong on their bodies and ring it when they spotted the enemy. As a result, they would often bump into the gong, making a piercing sound in the quiet night, only to end up with a false alarm! It was a helpless situation.

The plan was a great success. On the third day, Chen Jun's attack didn't begin until after nine in the morning, which was a good start. Xiahou Dun shouted to the soldiers on the city wall: "Soldiers, this is the third day. Today is the most important day. So, today we must use our strongest firepower to counterattack the enemy! Counterattack the enemy!"

Upon hearing Xiahou Dun's roar, the soldiers on the city wall all roared in fury. First a small group fell, then the entire city wall, then the entire city, all roared: "Counterattack! Counterattack!"

This was also part of Xiahou Dun's plan, which was to make Yuan Shu think that they were going to counterattack. However, Yuan Shu could not find any autonomous region troops around him at this time, so Yuan Shu would definitely think that the autonomous region troops inside Pengcheng might be planning a counterattack and breakout.

"The plan went perfectly."

Hearing the roar from the city wall, Gao Shun inside the city smiled. He was very happy. The plan was progressing step by step. Although this deviated from the previous plan, it did not affect the overall plan.

Moreover, if things go well, it can reduce the burden of the next battle, which would certainly make Gao Shun very happy. Of course, he would be even happier about Xiahou Dun's gradual maturity.

On the city wall, Xiahou Dun kept updating his orders. Because many of Chen's artillery pieces had been destroyed in the previous day's battle, Chen's firepower was significantly weaker today. This gave Xiahou Dun the opportunity to implement his all-out counterattack plan. The city wall was densely packed with soldiers of the First Legion. The enemy had just entered within two hundred meters.

The musketeers of the First Legion began firing, unleashing bullet after bullet at the yellowish-brown waves outside the city. Although the latest standard ammunition had not yet been officially deployed, most of the soldiers were still using loose gunpowder.

Only a few soldiers, used for actual combat testing, have begun using fixed-load ammunition, which allows them to thrive in battle, firing a bullet every ten seconds or so, much to the envy of the surrounding soldiers.

But as much as we admire them, we still have to fight seriously. Besides, according to these brothers, the new ammunition will soon be widely available, and they are just conducting battlefield tests.

"How's the new ammunition?"

In the afternoon, Gao Shun went to the city wall to see how the battle was going. Xiahou Dun accompanied Gao Shun on the inspection. Today's battle was unusually fierce. Perhaps Yuan Shu had really fallen for the trap.

They desperately reinforced their troops for the attack. Faced with Yuan Shu's tenacious offensive, Xiahou Dun was not only not angry, but also very happy, because today they had brought out their strongest strength, and some of the cannons had even started using grapeshot, which could bombard a large area at once!

"General, based on the experience of the two companies that tested the ammunition, the soldiers' response has been very positive. The new ammunition not only avoids the problem of too much or too little propellant, but also eliminates the lengthy process of pouring out the gunpowder, greatly increasing the rate of fire. After this battle, I believe that our army must popularize the new ammunition as soon as possible, because the enemies we will face in the future will no longer be rigid people like Yuan Shu."

Xiahou Dun said to Gao Shun, who nodded and then said to Xiahou Dun, "The lord has already mentioned the issue of equipment deployment. It's only a matter of time. Moreover, the lord said that we will be equipped with more advanced rifles in a few years. However, this seems to be quite difficult. The Second Madam and Mr. Andeli are working on it."

"If you ask me, Sister Qiuyu is amazing. She's far more capable than any of us men. She's incredible," Xiahou Dun said. "The weapons we use now were all developed by Sister Qiuyu and her team. I think the best decision you ever made was marrying her! Otherwise, where would our army get its current equipment?"

Xiahou Dun didn't address Chen Er too formally at this time, since he was indeed Chen Er's younger brother, which was true in terms of blood relation. However, Gao Shun didn't dare to be so casual; he could only casually echo a few words.