Kangxi, your Qing Dynasty is dead

Chapter 196 Ezha knows how to stud, Wu Yingxiong knows how to make money, and Li Zicheng knows how to dream!
When Emperor Kangxi sent to Huguang the "best gambler" general Eza to prepare a stud and gather all the elites at hand-in fact, not many, that is, more than 2 people, to sneak across the Yangtze River and surprise Shimen, When preparing to copy Li Zicheng's lair, reverse the decline in Huguang in one fell swoop, and then concentrate his forces to resist Wu Guogui on the southern front.He had no idea that there was another gambler at the "card table" in Huguang that he was very familiar with, and that was Wu Yingxiong, the son of the Prince of the West!
When this Wu Yingxiong was in Beijing, he was also famous for being a good gambler. He was very unlucky and poor in gambling skills.If his father hadn't been Wu Sangui and his wife hadn't been Princess Jianning, he would have lost all his property and begged for food.

But this Wu Yingxiong had successfully quit gambling after returning to Wu Sangui's side. He had never been to the gambling table again, and there was no chance of deliberately losing to him.
In the shooting range opened up on a very rare flat land outside the city of Kuizhou, senior and mid-level officers of the six guards under Wu Yingxiong gathered together.All of them were in neat robes and shiny military boots. Surrounded by Wu Yingxiong, they carefully looked at the "country soldiers" lined up in rows.

They are real "country soldiers", all of them are mountain people near Kuizhou. They were recruited by Wu Yingxiong's son Wu Shifan last month to serve as fusiliers at the price of two taels of silver a month.There were not many recruits, a total of more than a hundred people were recruited, and some old soldiers who could use shotguns were drawn from Wu Yingxiong's guards as team deputy, platoon leader, and shed leader, and a standard "squad" was formed. Cantonese-style Fusiliers Team", the captain is of course the handsome Wu Shifan who is a bit too handsome. He is so handsome, he looks like a gentleman!So good-looking, what if everyone is not afraid of him when he ascends the throne in the future?
Just when everyone felt that Wu Shifan was not fierce enough or scary enough, Wu Shifan suddenly gave everyone a hard look, and shouted: "Stand at attention!"

Hearing his shout, the group of recruits lined up carrying flintlock guns immediately stood at attention with a "snap". The 200 people stood at attention together, clean and tidy, and it was obvious that they had practiced hard.And anyone who has led soldiers knows that compassion does not lead soldiers!

Wu Shifan was able to train these mountain people to this level in such a short period of time, it seems a bit fierce.
"Shoulders Under the Gun"

Wu Shifan then shouted the password.

Following a quite neat movement, the fusiliers in two rows took off the flintlock guns carried on their shoulders, with the muzzles facing up and the butts of the guns resting on the ground.

"Reload!"

Wu Shifan continued to give orders.

The fusiliers started to load the ammunition quickly with their hands and feet—they still used custom-packed paper shell ammunition!

Wang Zhongxiao still knew that he wanted to unite against the Qing Dynasty, so he didn't engage in "retaining one hand" with Wu Shifan, and taught everything that should be taught!Of course, he was not afraid that Wu Shifan would learn the real skills to beat him - because Foshan Town, the largest iron smelting and handicraft center in East Asia, was in his hands, and he also had the unique skill of mobilizing fusiliers by equalizing the land and dividing the land!These two trump cards are not so easy to learn!

In the blink of an eye, all the fusiliers have completed the ammunition loading step by step according to the procedures they have practiced repeatedly in the middle of this month!
The skill of reloading the flintlock may seem cumbersome, but it is actually the easiest to practice among all weapons. If you are smarter, you will learn it in a day, and if you are stupid, you will learn it in a few days. If you can’t learn it in a few days , then you won't be able to get two taels of silver for a month's military pay. After learning, train every day, and you will be proficient in ten and a half months.

Of course, hitting a target with a flintlock isn't that easy.What can be done in ten days and a half months is loading, raising the gun, and shooting. As for whether you can hit or not, just let it go!
In addition to loading, raising guns, and shooting, fusiliers also need to master the two basic skills of formation and bayonet charge.

The former is more complicated, but you can go from easy to difficult, first practice a horizontal team and a column, and you can play so-so.The latter is simpler. How difficult is it to insert a bayonet and stab someone?The big deal is to get stabbed!

"Raise the gun!"

Wu Shifan yelled again, raising all the hundreds of flintlock guns.

These one hundred or so fusiliers lined up in two rows, and the positions of the front and rear rows were staggered, so the back row could put their guns on the shoulders of the front row or stick out the barrels from between them. .

This firepower density is quite large!
At the same distance, the firepower density that an arquebus can achieve is probably only one-fifth to one-sixth of that of a flintlock!

This ratio alone can determine the outcome of a battle - whoever wants to hold a gun against the enemy's six guns, even a super Baturu will have to be cowardly!

"beat!"

Wu Shifan saw that everyone had raised their guns, and finally shouted again!
Before his shout fell, the fusiliers had already pulled the triggers one after another, and the flint clip with the flint slammed into the iron scythe, sparks were fired immediately, and the sparks ignited the gunpowder in the medicine pool, Then the propellant in the barrel was also ignited, and flames and smoke were ejected from the muzzle, and at the same time there was a series of "bang bang" gunshots!

As the gunshots rang out, a row of wooden targets standing thirty paces away in front of the line of fusiliers were shot one after another, sawdust flying, and the power of the bullets tore the wooden slats and pieces flying around, at least five minutes away. One of the wooden targets was punched with holes.

All the officers watching the shooting gasped.

They are all experts. If this shooting happened on a real battlefield, a volley of guns would knock down one-fifth of the enemies rushing from the opposite side, no, one-tenth, the enemy would not be able to hold it back!

One-tenth of the guns are brought down in a row. What about after two, three, or four rounds?

The other enemies don't know, but the Manchus definitely can't bear it, because there are too few of them, and the method of queuing up and shooting kills too many dead people, which is not suitable for them.

"Everyone, are the fusiliers trained by Shifan still usable?" Wu Yingxiong turned his head and asked triumphantly.

"Available, very usable! Second Young Master is really a genius!"

"Second Young Master, the green is better than the blue!"

"The son of the world has Lin'er like this, so why worry about the immortality of Manchuria and the injustice of the world!"

"My lord, the Second Young Master's method is very effective, why don't we train more flintlocks!"

"Yes, yes, if we can have [-] fusiliers, we will have no problem running across the world!"

Of course, there was a lot of flattery in these words, but Wu Shifan's prestige was still raised a lot.Wu Yingxiong was very proud of himself, and was about to strike while the iron was hot, announcing the expansion of the fusilier troops, when his prince Shi Wang Shirong walked up to Wu Yingxiong quickly, muttered something in a low voice, and then Wu Yingxiong laughed wildly, causing the surrounding A group of generals all cast curious eyes on him.

What happened to this grandpa?
What happy event happened?
Guo Zhuangtu asked: "Master, why are you laughing?"

Only then did Wu Yingxiong stop laughing, and replied: "Sure enough, that gambler lord of Ezha finally couldn't help but bet on his money to attack Li Zicheng's lair, Shimen!"

Hearing what he said, the generals and staff around him all cast admiring glances—Wu Yingxiong had indeed predicted that Ezha would not be able to bear the gamble!
Because this is Eza's gambling style!
Wu Yingxiong looked around, and said with a smile: "It's not that I am bragging, I know all about the gambling products of the popular Manchu princes in Beijing, and in those years, I pretended to export several 10 taels in order to curry favor with them!

I know too well what virtue they have when they lose their eyes!This Ezha, every time he is in a hurry, he comes to decide the winner. At this time, those of us who play with him, we can conclude that the old man will lose to him! "

"Losing out of cheating money?" A general who was elated when he heard the gambling money couldn't help but interjected, "My lord, are you talking the wrong way?"

"It's not against me, it's the old man who loses." Wu Yingxiong gritted his teeth and said, "He is the king of Manchuria iron mule, how dare I really make loser anxious? Make him anxious, come out with the palace to win with me, how can I win? manage?
But this time, hey, I won't let him! "

"The elder son is right, we can't let him go!" The general waved his fist and said, "Bet with him now we have a lot of capital, and with Li Zicheng and the third master's people, we have a hundred thousand troops!"

"Bet with him?" Wu Yingxiong giggled, "I won't bet with him! I want to cheat!
He will gamble, and I will play thousands. I know all his cards!And my trump card, he doesn't know, he doesn't even know that I will send troops!Why should he bet with me? "

Then he said to the gambler with a serious face: "You don't gamble again. Ten gambles and nine cheats! Do you understand?"

"The humble job knows!" How dare the gambler general say he doesn't know?

Wu Yingxiong nodded, and said to the left and right: "Let's go back to the city and discuss how to fight the surprise attack on Xiangyang."

On the 22nd of the first lunar month, the small Wuling City, the capital of Changde Mansion, was surrounded on three sides by the left, right, and rear battalions of the Fengtian Army under Li Zicheng's command, leaving only the side next to the Yuanjiang River that could not be surrounded.

The middle camp led by Li Zicheng was placed in the Bailu Temple at the foot of the Yangshan Mountain, six or seven miles north of Wuling City. As for the 400 people in the front camp of the Fengtian Army led by his grandnephew Li Laishun, they did not appear in Wuling outside the city
At this time, Li Zicheng immediately stood on the high ground north of Bailu Temple, followed by three tall and grey-haired generals who broke into the camp, and a circle of soldiers with blue cloth and white caps, holding long guns and shotguns, and guarded all around.

These three elderly camp generals turned out to be Li Zicheng's most confidant guards. One was named Tian, ​​one was named Miao, and the other was named Fan.At this moment, he had already taken off his cassock and put on his battle robe again, looking eager to try.

Huang Zhisheng, the magistrate of Lizhou, is now also a leader in the camp. Wearing a green cloth robe in the style of the Ming Dynasty, waving a paper fan, standing next to Li Zicheng, he is suggesting: "Your Majesty, I am old friends with Xue Zhifu of Changde. He bought the lack of silver in the prefect of Changde, and he was lent to him by the minister. As long as the minister comes forward, he will definitely surrender."

"Surrender for sure? Okay." Li Zicheng nodded again and again, "But it's still early, so wait."

"Wait? Your Majesty, it's not too late!" Huang Zhisheng said, "If you wait any longer, the Tartars from Jiangbei will cross the river and attack the old camp at Shimen."

"Yeah, sneak attack on E's old camp!" Li Zicheng smiled, "To be honest, I often dreamed of Tazi soldiers coming to sneak attack in Jiashan Temple for so many years. Oh, I also dreamed of a comeback and E Dashun The army is chasing the Tartars all over the world! Governor Huang, tell me, is the dream accurate?"

"Quasi" Huang Zhisheng didn't understand what Li Zicheng meant, but he still said the word Zhun.

"Okay," Li Zicheng nodded, "Since it is accurate, it should come true! Now that you have persuaded that Xue to surrender, won't the dream come to fruition?"

What are you talking about?Did Li Zicheng become dizzy when he became a monk? Why did he become so obsessed?

"My lord," Huang Zhisheng thought for a while, and then asked tentatively, "Are you going to use a strategy to lure the enemy deep? Lure all the Qing troops in Jiangbei to Jiashan, and then set up an ambush to catch them all?"

"Watch them all in one sweep?" Li Zicheng sneered coldly, "Why did you help Wu Sangui wipe out the Tartars in one sweep? Wu Sangui has [-] troops here in Huguang, and the amount is only [-]!"

He looked back at Huang Zhisheng, his eyes suddenly became cold: "Mr. Huang, in the past two days, I also dreamed that Wu Yingxiong succeeded in stealing Xiangyang, and Wu Guogui succeeded in capturing Changsha. Then the two of them pressed against the forehead together, about to destroy it." This old King Chuang!"

Huang Zhisheng shook his body: "Your Majesty, what do you plan to do?"

"Of course I have plans!" Li Zicheng smiled, "It's okay to tell you, I don't plan to stay here in Lizhou, Jingnan, and Changde all the time, and I will be squeezed to death by Wu Sangui sooner or later, and I will have to jump out. Go to a place far away from Wu Sangui to open up a situation!"

Li Zicheng has seen through Wu Sangui a long time ago. He has died in the country once because of Wu Sangui's "becoming a beauty in anger".

"My lord, where are you going to jump?" Huang Zhisheng asked.

Li Zicheng smiled and asked: "How about Wuchang? First, I asked Li Laishun to dismantle the pontoon bridge for the Tartars to cross the river, and then used the large boat on the pontoon bridge as a warship to attack Yuezhou downstream. Yuezhou intercepted many grain ships sailing back to Hunan from Hankou, and detained them in Yuezhou. If you get these ships, you can take the whole army and their families down the Yangtze River and go straight to Wuchang City! As long as you can capture Wuchang If you go to the north, you can take the Dabie Mountains, if you go to the east, you can take Jiangnan, and if you go south, you can take Jiangxi Huang Taishou, and you can take Wuchang in the same amount, so how about making you the governor of Hubei?"

"Chen Zhisheng, thank you King for your kindness!"

When Huang Zhisheng heard this, he immediately became energetic!It's not because Li Zicheng allowed him to be the governor of Hubei, but Li Zicheng's strategy of jumping out of the narrow area west of Dongting Lake is really promising!
He had seen Li Zicheng working hard to equalize the land in Lizhou, Jingnan, Changde, etc. before, and thought that Li Zicheng had already decided to be a bandit in the west of Dongting Lake for the rest of his life!

It's not impossible to be a bandit, but the hatred between Li Zicheng and Wu Sangui is too deep. Although Wu Sangui is now pretending to be confused and pretending that Li Zicheng does not exist, that is only a temporary policy. Once Wu Sangui wins the Huguang Department, he will definitely be encircled and suppressed in the future. Li Zicheng!
Therefore, there is no way out for Li Zicheng to stay west of Dongting Lake. It is not easy to go north to Jingzhou, and then north to Xiangyang.Because in this way, Li Zicheng will be in the middle, Kangxi will be in the north, and Wu Yingxiong and Wu Guogui will be in the south.

At that time, Li Zicheng will be attacked by Kangxi and Wu Sangui from north to south, and he will not end well.

Once the eastward advance to Wuchang is successful, the situation will be brightened.

After Wu Sangui won the lands of Shaanxi, Gansu and Jingxiang, he would definitely regard attacking Beijing as his main goal. For Li Zicheng who occupied Wuchang and occupied Jiangxi, he would only use a small number of troops to contain him.

On the other side of the Qing Dynasty, Li Zicheng would definitely not be regarded as the main opponent. Recapturing Shaanxi or defending Henan and Shanxi is the most important thing, and the second is to preserve the source of wealth in Jiangnan and Jiangbei.

As for Wang Fuchen and Wang Zhongxiao in Guangdong, and Geng Jingzhong in Fujian, not only will they not become enemies with Li Zicheng, they may even form an alliance with Li Zicheng to fight against the mighty Wu Sangui and the Manchu Qing court together.
On February [-], the dragon looked up.

The spring rain in Jingzhou came down sparsely. The rain was a bit violent, a bit like a summer rainstorm. When the rain was at its heaviest, standing on the bank of the Yangtze River, it was a vast expanse of whiteness, and no one could be seen dozens of feet away. Everything seems to be covered by a river of heaven flowing from heaven to earth.

In this vast expanse of whiteness and mist, teams of officers and soldiers, wearing bamboo hats, coir raincoats, and carrying flags and weapons, came out of Jingzhou City in a steady stream, heading towards a newly built horizontal road at Shashikou. Go across the pontoon bridge on the river.

This army has quite a number of people. The front team has already arrived at Shashikou and set foot on the pontoon bridge in an orderly manner. The rear team has just come out of Jingzhou City with cannons and transport vehicles!

The king of Qingxin County and the general of Fuyuan, Ezha himself, was also in this brigade.However, he did not ride his horse in a coir raincoat, but sat in a spacious two-wheeled carriage with Cai Yurong, governor of Huguang.

This carriage was very well built, and it was raining so hard outside, and it didn't leak at all inside.Moreover, there was a brazier inside the carriage, which was warm and very comfortable, and it didn't feel the damp and cold spring in Jingzhou at all.

Ezha seemed to be in a good mood, humming a little tune as he swayed forward in the carriage.However, Cai Yurong beside him always looks a little sad, and sighs slightly from time to time.

"Ren'an, why are you sighing! It's a good rainy day. It's white and foggy, and it's just covering our army from crossing the river. When Li Zicheng's people find out, we're almost at Shimen!" Eza smiled. He said again, "This hand is sure to win, this is Tianhu's card!"

After hearing what Ezha said, Cai Yurong could only force a smile to cope.

This lord regards war as a gamble, but someone coaxed him during the gamble, and the war is real, all the crooked and evil ones, we all go together, Li Zicheng is so cunning and a traitor, he can really fall for this gambler lord Tao?
A little hanging!

(End of this chapter)