1627 Rise of the South China Sea

The asymmetric combat method adopted by the Haihan army undoubtedly put great pressure on the defenders in the city.If the commander does not go to the top of the city to understand the movements of the enemy troops outside the city, he will not be able to issue combat orders. However, once his whereabouts are exposed, he will be easily shot by snipers on the high platform outside the city.

But you have Zhang Liangji, I have a wall ladder, and the defenders are not unable to deal with such tactics.Using flags to divert the opponent's attention, pretending to be a small soldier before going to the top of the city, and using solid and thick coverings can effectively reduce the chance of being killed by the opponent.

Therefore, although sniper tactics have certain effects, they are far from reaching the level of controlling the situation of the battle.To tear through the defenses of Zhenjiang City, it still had to rely on the use of heavy weapons.

It's just that the defense conditions of a prefectural city like Zhenjiang are far better than that of ordinary county towns, and the thick city wall, which is more than ten feet thick, cannot be collapsed in a few blows.

Moreover, the defenders have assembled a large number of manpower in the city, and are constantly repairing and strengthening the city defense fortifications.Haihan's shells made a hole on the outside of the city wall, and at the same time, it might have increased the thickness of the inside by another foot.

After the shelling continued intermittently for more than an hour, Yan Chujie received a battle report from the northern line, that is, the armed fleet on the river.

The remnants of the navy of the Ming army reappeared after the battle began, but this time they did not continue to adopt the almost suicide charge of yesterday, but harassed on the periphery. Presumably it was because they had consumed most of the self-destructing boats. It is impossible to send away the remaining large ships that are still fighting.

Although the Haihan Fleet's main attack direction today is Zhenjiang City, it cannot turn a blind eye to these naval warships.After all, these ships are equipped with a lot of artillery, even if the performance cannot be compared with the artillery on the Haihan battleship, it is by no means a decoration.

The Haihan Fleet had to allocate part of its forces to deal with the Ming warships on the river, which would more or less affect the fleet's artillery attack on Zhenjiang City.

Although the Haihan Fleet has a large number of artillery pieces and a high intensity of bombardment, the results it has achieved so far are average, and the degree of damage to city defenses is far less than that of the Army on the Eastern Front.

The reason is that the Army has fixed artillery positions, which are calibrated while firing, and the accuracy of hitting the target is already quite good.

On the other hand, warships on the river are in a different battlefield environment, and they must be on guard against enemy attacks from the river bank and the upper reaches of the river at any time, so they cannot anchor and dock. There is no way to talk about it, and we can only win by quantity, using continuous shelling to suppress the northern line of Zhenjiang City.

However, this tactic also had some unexpected gains. Many of the cannonballs originally aimed at the city wall flew directly over the city wall and into the city, knocking down some houses, which made people panic for a while.However, the Haihan Army was outside the city and had no way of knowing the situation inside the city.

As soon as the Haihan infantry outside the city approached, the number of defenders on the city wall immediately increased greatly. With bows and arrows and muskets, they shot at the Haihan army outside the city without hesitation.

The lives of the Haihan Army were precious, so Yan Chujie naturally would not let the troops hold up the siege ladder to attack the city wall. Seeing that the opponent still had the power to fight back, he asked the infantry to retreat and continue to bombard the city.

The battle continued like this until noon, when the Haihan army called for gold and retreated.

The urn city outside the Chaoyang Gate in the east of the city has been bombarded to tatters, and many places have collapsed, but it is still far from being able to break into the city.After the temporary truce, it is estimated that the city will immediately send people to repair the urn.

With the foreshadowing of the battle of Xiangshan yesterday, Yan Chujie knew that the Ming army had a strong will to resist, and it would not be easy to take down a big city like Zhenjiang.Looking at the posture in front of him, if the Ming army is determined to defend the city, then the Haihan army will really have to spend a while here.

When Yan Chujie was convening a meeting of officers from various ministries to discuss tactics, a soldier came in and reported that several visitors had come from outside the battalion. They claimed to be local gentry from Zhenjiang, and they wanted to speak to the commander in Haihan face to face.

Now is the time when the army is in chaos, and he dared to visit the enemy's barracks on his own initiative. This obviously has some special purpose.After thinking for a moment, Yan Chujie decided to meet the visitor and see what kind of medicine was sold in the other party's gourd.

Later, the three visitors were brought to the tent.When these three people saw Yan Chujie, they bowed and introduced themselves.

The fat man in a sapphire blue robe was named Gu Dingbao, and he claimed to be the son-in-law of Duan Shengshi, the judge of Zhenjiang.

The old man in black and white hair was named Kuang Guanglu, the uncle of Kuang Yong, the commander of the Zhenjiang Guard.

The man with the goat beard is named Fu Yuanxiang, but he has no official background, but is the steward of the Fu family, the richest businessman in Zhenjiang.However, he can appear here with these two people, which shows that the relationship between the Fu family and the government should not be simple.

"It must be no small matter for you to choose this time to visit. If you have any intention of coming, you might as well just say it."

Yan Chujie didn't want these people to waste his precious time, so he introduced the topic concisely.

The three of them exchanged glances, and Fu Yuanxiang was the first to speak: "Sir, the purpose of my visit, which you must already know, is to stop this war as soon as possible, so as to avoid loss of life and suffering for the people."

Yan Chujie said: "Our army has no plans to cease fighting yet. If the defenders of Zhenjiang have such an idea, it is very simple. Immediately open the city and surrender. I, Yan Chujie, can keep the whole city safe, including all personnel in the government and the army."

Fu Yuanxiang replied: "Your Excellency, I misunderstood, I am not here to discuss the surrender of Kaesong."

Yan Chujie snorted coldly and said, "Then what are you here for? Do you want my Haihan Army to let Zhenjiang City go by just talking?"

Fu Yuanxiang said: "There are several big families in the city who are willing to raise a sum of money and food in exchange for the Haihan army's retreat. This matter is guaranteed by Mr. Kuang and Mr. Duan. The specific amount is negotiable. I don't know what your opinion is?"

Yan Chujie said: "You may have misunderstood one thing. Our army attacked Zhenjiang not for the money and food in the city, nor did we intend to come here to loot and then retreat. From now on, Zhenjiang must be placed under the rule of Haihan! "

"This war will only end after our army takes Zhenjiang City."

Seeing the ashen faces of these three people, Yan Chujie added another sentence: "Since you guys came to me to negotiate terms, you must also want to find a way out. If you can help our army break the city, then I will provide you with a way out. "

"As long as you are willing to work hard, you can continue to be an official and the richest man after the war. I, Haihan, can give whatever the Ming Dynasty can give, and I can also give what the Ming Dynasty cannot afford!"

"Think about it carefully, whether you want to sink to the bottom with Daming's broken ship, or jump on my big ship."