The cavalry of the Three Shun Kings charged straight out of the city gate, forcing their way through exploding cannon shells.
But the moment they emerged, they ran straight into a three dimensional storm of gunfire.
Muskets fired from the ships.
Muskets fired from the shore.
The two directions formed a deadly crossfire.
Who could possibly withstand that?
In the blink of an eye, the cavalry formation collapsed into chaos.
Horses screamed, riders fell, and the charge dissolved before it had even properly begun.
The Gao Family Village militia successfully secured their foothold on land.
Only now did Kong Youde and the others finally understand something.
In the previous days, these Ming troops had clearly possessed the ability to force a landing whenever they wished. Yet they had deliberately held back.
They had been waiting for something.
Now the answer was obvious.
They were waiting for news from the Mongolian grasslands.
"We have been away from Great Ming for several years," Kong Youde muttered, still staring at the battlefield in disbelief. "Have Ming firearms really become this powerful?"
"They are coming!" Shang Kexi roared. "Prepare for city defense!"
On the beach, the Gao Family Village militia slowly began pushing forward after securing their landing zone.
Cheng Xu stood behind the formation and raised his arm, pointing toward a section of the city wall.
"Artillery Battalion. Remove that giant crossbow."
A voice immediately answered from behind him.
"Yes, sir!"
Cheng Xu pointed again.
"Artillery Battalion, pay attention to that position on the wall. A large number of enemy troops are concentrated there. Give it special attention."
"Understood!"
In a very short moment, several key positions on the city wall had already been marked as priority targets.
While the Artillery Battalion grew busy with preparations, the musketeers were also carefully selecting their own targets.
Meanwhile, the more than two thousand Guan Ning Iron Cavalry under Cao Wenzhao were quietly preparing their ladders.
Storming the wall and fighting hand to hand was something they understood far better than the Gao Family Village militia.
Naturally, the task of breaching the city wall fell to them.
A small cannon roared.
Boom!
A shell arced toward the giant crossbow on the city wall.
However, the projectile landed about ten meters short of the wall and exploded uselessly on the ground.
The defenders inside the city had flinched when they first heard the cannon fire.
But after seeing the shell land so far away, they relaxed.
Some of them even laughed.
A cannon that inaccurate?
What was there to fear?
Inside the Gao Family Village artillery line, several artillerymen were already cursing.
"Damn it. I was afraid of hitting the residential district inside the city, so I raised the firing angle too much for the first shot."
"Do not worry," another artilleryman shouted back. "There is still a buffer zone between the city wall and the residential district. What civilian would dare build their house directly behind the wall?"
"That makes sense," someone added. "The defenders would never allow houses to be built right next to a military structure like that."
The artilleryman took a deep breath.
"Alright. Again."
Boom!
Another cannon shot rang out.
The defenders inside the city were still wondering where this next shell would land when suddenly a second explosion erupted.
The giant crossbow exploded.
Thick black smoke swallowed the entire position.
Several soldiers operating the weapon screamed as they were thrown backward.
"Enemy giant crossbow destroyed!"
"Next one. Target the second crossbow!"
The artillery crew shouted excitedly as they adjusted the cannon again.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Several more thunderous shots followed.
One by one, the remaining giant crossbows on the wall disappeared in bursts of smoke and flame.
The moment Kong Youde saw this, he immediately understood.
The situation had turned very bad.
"The enemy's heavy weapons are gone," Cheng Xu shouted. "Advance!"
"Advance! Advance! Advance!"
A battle song rose among the ranks.
The militia began pushing forward.
With the threat of giant crossbows eliminated, the soldiers felt far more confident about approaching the wall.
"Shield bearers!"
Cao Wenzhao shouted loudly.
At the front of the Guan Ning Iron Cavalry formation, soldiers raised massive tower shields made of aluminum alloy.
The shields were enormous and extremely sturdy.
But they weighed only about thirty percent as much as traditional iron shields.
For cavalrymen accustomed to heavy iron shields, these felt almost weightless.
As the shield formation advanced, the defenders on Dandong's wall began to panic.
An archer could not hold his nerve any longer.
He leaned out from behind the battlements, drawing his bow and preparing to fire.
But before he could release the arrow, a sniper from the militia fired.
The archer's chest burst open with a bloody hole.
He screamed and collapsed backward.
"Loose arrows!" Kong Youde shouted.
Archers along the wall popped up and began firing frantically.
Arrows clattered against the aluminum shields held by the Guan Ning cavalry.
Clang clang clang.
The sound echoed constantly.
The musketeers immediately fired back.
Bullets struck the battlements, sending sparks and stone fragments flying.
The archers quickly realized something.
As long as they hid carefully behind the battlements and used high arcing shots, the muskets could not easily hit them.
"Do not be afraid!" one archer shouted. "Use high arcs. Just shoot upward and let the arrows drop. The muskets cannot hit us if we..."
Boom!
A cannon shell landed directly where he was hiding.
The archer screamed as his body was blasted into the air.
You think you are the only one who can fire in an arc?
The artillery of Gao Family Village can arc shells too.
After destroying the giant crossbows, the artillery battalion had already adjusted their firing angles.
Now they began bombarding the city wall itself.
They operated with extreme care.
The shells could not land too close.
They also could not land too far.
Under no circumstances could they hit the residential districts inside the city.
It was a brutal test of the artillerymen's skill.
The new recruits who had just joined the artillery battalion did not dare fire at all.
Every single cannon was now being handled personally by veteran gunners.
Boom boom boom!
Rows of shells exploded along the wall.
Qing soldiers hiding behind the battlements were blasted into complete silence.
None of them dared show their heads again.
Instead they crouched in the corners behind the wall, trembling.
"Artillery Battalion, cease fire!" Cheng Xu suddenly shouted.
"Our troops are getting close."
Only then did the artillerymen realize that the Guan Ning shield formation had already advanced to the base of the wall.
Another shot now might hit their own men.
The artillery battalion, which had contributed tremendous effort in the early stage of the battle, finally stopped firing.
The tower shield formation of the Guan Ning cavalry suddenly split apart to both sides.
The soldiers hidden behind the shields swung their arms forward.
A wave of grenades flew over the wall.
Boom boom boom boom!
Explosions erupted behind the battlements.
At the same moment, soldiers carrying ladders rushed forward and reached the wall.
"Provide covering fire while they set up the ladders!" Cheng Xu shouted.
Every musket in the militia instantly pointed toward the wall.
Ladders rose into the air and slammed against the stone battlements.
Qing soldiers hiding behind the wall popped up, some of them holding huge stones that they intended to drop down.
But the moment they appeared, countless muskets fired at them.
The crackling gunfire sounded like exploding beans.
The stone slipped from the soldier's hands and smashed onto his own foot.
He did not feel the pain.
Several bullets had already torn through his chest.
Under the suppression of musket fire, more than a dozen ladders were successfully placed.
Cao Bianjiao roared loudly and took the lead.
Shield in his left hand.
Blade in his right.
He climbed the ladder first and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Brothers, follow me up!"