Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 564: After the capture of Lushun, Marquis Jinghai proposed a strategy to replenish the troops

While the flagship gunner was still hesitating, the other warships in the fleet opened fire collectively.

In just 13 breaths, 50 warships successfully launched nearly 200 solid bullets.

The beach was filled with blood mist.

The Eight Banners soldiers who dismounted and fought on foot and the disadvantaged Wu army infantry were all stunned and at a loss.

Shells were flying everywhere and fine sand filled the sky.

Soldiers from both sides fled in panic.

……

Wei Zilong stared at the smoke-filled beach in amazement.

The deck vibrated beneath my feet.

The flagship gunners, who had been hesitating, finally opened fire, and more than 20 shells hit the beach.

In the crow's nest, the lookout leaned out and shouted toward the deck below:

"Raise the shooting angle and extend the bombardment!!"

Wei Zilong turned around and shouted:
"Order, the fleet should stay as close to the coastline as possible and bombard the right side."

The flagship sent out a flag signal, led the way to the left, cut a circle on the sea, then turned around and entered the bombardment route again.

The gunner was busy changing the long gun.

The carronades carried by the Wu army's warships were powerful weapons against surface warships, but were somewhat awkward against land personnel, mainly due to their range.

"Cannon No. 1 loaded."

"Cannon No. 4 loaded."

"~"

The gunner looked nervously at the beach through the porthole.

He was worried about the flagship, which had cut in too hard and was only half a mile from the beach. If he had bad luck, it might run aground at any time.

……

There is golden sand under your feet and the azure blue sea not far away, and now there is another color - blood red.

Su Shun held his saber and shouted:

"Kill them all."

Both sides started fighting crazily.

The Qing army had a clear advantage, both in terms of numbers and weapons.

but,

The Wu army fleet is coming again.

The flagship was in the lead, and fire suddenly appeared on the side.

The gunners adjusted the firing angle to the highest possible level in an attempt to minimize the chances of accidentally injuring their fellow soldiers.

In order to increase firepower, some carronades were also added to the bombardment sequence.

The gunners removed the wooden gun carriage and aimed the single gun high. This meant that the carronades, which had lost their carriage, could only fire once and could not be reloaded.

……

The sand was soft and the horses could not run.

It is also difficult for people to run.

Similarly, it greatly hindered the effectiveness of the artillery shells.

Soft sand is the best absorber of artillery shell power, eliminating the most terrible bouncing process of artillery shells.

however,
There were too many shells falling this time.

The Wu army concentrated their long artillery as much as possible and bombarded one side.

The first round consisted of more than 300 shells. The air was filled with the pungent smell of sulfur and the splashed sand flew all over the sky.

……

The two fighting parties finally realized what they should do.

The Wu army's infantry continued to retreat, stepping into shallow water, trying their best to avoid being accidentally injured.

The Qing army collapsed and all troops retreated.

"Where's the horse? Where's my horse?"

They broke down.

In the previous bombardment, more than a dozen shells fell into the bushes, and their horses, which were left half a mile away, were frightened by the falling shells from the extended bombardment.

The dozens of people in charge of leading the horses couldn't stop them at all.

All the war horses ran away.

In order to take credit for the work, the defenders of the Huangjinshan Fort who came to reinforce were bombarded before they even joined the battlefield. They were in an awkward situation of neither advancing nor retreating.

……

On the sea, the Wu army's warships collectively lowered their sails.

Stationary bombardment, free bombardment, maximum shooting angle, and pursuit of the longest distance.

One shell after another drew a beautiful arc and hit the Qing army. Far away from the beach, they were finally able to bounce and kill the enemy.

The path was covered in blood and flesh.

Only half of Su Shun was left, and the other half was missing.

He used his bloody fingers to dig into the ground and crawl forward.

The final thought in my mind is:

If, if I had made up my mind half an hour earlier, I would have won the battle, and I would have won it without a doubt.

What a pity, what a pity.

My destiny is the destiny of the country~
……

Wei Zilong stood high on the mast and looked at the beach.

All I could see were corpses, stretching from the beach for miles.

The people in colorful armor are the Qing army in Lushun, the messy and dusty ones are the civilians, and those standing in the sea are our own people.

He slid down quickly and the moment his feet touched the deck.

That is to shout:
"Order, except for the Hell, each ship will select 50 sailors to land with muskets."

"Take Port Arthur in one fell swoop, for the glory of the navy!"

A quarter of an hour later,
The bombardment gradually subsided as the enemy moved out of range.

The sampans were lowered one after another.

Fully armed sailors boarded the ship along the soft rope net.

Wei Zilong inserted two pistols and a dagger into the wide belt around his waist, and was ready to join the landing sequence, but was stopped by Shi Lingyang.

……

"You are the supreme commander of the fleet. There is no need for you to go into danger. Let me go~"

Wei Zilong thought about it and handed him the two pistols at his waist.

A word of advice:
"My Lord, please be careful."

"It's okay. I have four sons."

Shi Lingyang showed his sharp white teeth, his smile was bloodthirsty and crazy, exuding the aura of a gambler.

Looking at the sampan going away, Wei Zilong had a complicated expression.

He didn't even know how to write a logbook, and he didn't know how His Majesty would react when he learned about what happened today.

The sampan was busy going back and forth, crossing half a mile of sea water.

Send the infantry onto the beach.

Several warships responded promptly on the sea and prepared to attack Port Arthur.

At the Huangjinshan Fort, the few gunners had to operate frantically.

Turn some of the artillery towards the sea.

The pressure on Wu Jun’s Marines attacking Huangjin Mountain suddenly decreased.

……

Shi Lingyang held a gun in his left hand and a knife in his right hand.

Shouting:

"Brothers, charge forward. For our emperor."

The Marines climbed hard, regardless of casualties.

The defenders were bombarded while going down the mountain to grab heads, and they were scattered and fled in all directions, so the current defensive firepower is not systematic.

In less than half an hour, the sailors successfully captured the Golden Mountain Fort.

A blue whale military flag was planted high on the fort.

On the warships on the sea, the sailors burst into wild cheers.

Wei Zilong also felt relieved as the game was a draw.

"Sir, shall we attack the naval port?"

"No, no hurry, wait a little longer."

Wei Zilong acted out of caution. After losing more than half of the army, the fleet could not afford any more losses.

Be steady and win steadily.

……

Just half a quarter of an hour later, the artillery of the Huangjinshan Fort completed its turn and aiming.

Start shelling the naval port!
Commanding and incredibly powerful.

The hull of the warship was shattered, wood chips flew everywhere, and the mast collapsed. Sailors jumped into the water to save their lives. More local ships rushed to raise their sails and leave the port.

If you continue to stay in the port, you will die.

Leaving the port is a life-threatening experience.

The chaotic warships collided with each other, making it impossible for anyone to get out of the narrow waterway.

The Wu army sailors fired their cannons frantically, and their performance was impressive.

Don't seize the spoils, win the game.

The ship belongs to the court, but his life is his own.

...There was chaos in Lushun City.

More than a thousand people escaped, but they had no horses left, their armor and weapons were gone, and their morale was in a state of panic.

The cries of the old and weak in the city shook the sky.

Some people were busy jumping into wells, some were busy looking for their families, and some were busy escaping for their lives.

"Where is the governor?"

"died."

"What about Lushun?"

"Hold on tight."

"Don't dream. Listen to how fierce the artillery fire on Huangjin Mountain is."

Everyone looked up at the shells falling into the harbor, knowing that it would soon be Lushun's turn.

……

An old man from the Banner stood up and shouted:

"The governor said that if things are impossible, we should burn Lushun. Burn it, and then we will go to Shengjing."

Seeing someone taking the initiative to give orders, everyone obeyed mechanically.

The remaining soldiers held torches and set fire to the granary, cloth warehouse, and gunpowder warehouse.

Two miles away, the faces of the Wu army that were pursuing them changed drastically.

Shi Lingyang's face turned black, and he gritted his teeth and said:
"Quick, take control of Lushun. Otherwise we won't survive the winter."

……

Seeing the arrival of Wu's army, the Eight Banners soldiers lost their spirit, threw away their torches and fled westward.

People usually take the western route from Lushun to Shengjing.

Going north along the coastline, the land is flat all the way.

After entering the city, Shi Lingyang looked at the fireworks all over the city and felt so angry that his blood rushed to his head.

"Pass on this order from Hou Jun. Leave 100 people on guard. The rest of you will rescue the supplies."

He ran up to the city wall to look at the fire point, and found that there was only a little smoke in the northeast direction, so he immediately decided to demolish the house!

Create a firebreak.

As long as we can keep a part of the area, we will win, and let him burn the other areas to ashes.

……

The fleet slowly sailed into the Port of Lushun, eliminated the remaining enemies and seized ships.

Unfortunately,
Of the more than 100 large ships that Qianlong had spent so much effort to build, only about 20 were left intact; the rest were either sunk by artillery shells or damaged by collisions with each other.

Wei Zilong didn't care about anything else and ran ashore all the way to Lushun.

Seeing Shi Lingyang with a black face, his smile was uglier than crying.

Pointing at the fire in front of him:
“Only two streets were saved.”

"Ugh."

Wei Zilong instantly lost his strength and sat on the doorstep, holding his head. This was a big problem. How was he going to survive the winter? Was he going to run back to Jiangnan in disgrace?

……

The fire burned all night long.

The next day, the fire gradually extinguished, but the black smoke rising into the sky could be seen even by the Eight Banners soldiers who had escaped more than 20 miles away.

But they were not happy either because they had no food to eat.

The escape was so hasty that many people didn't even bring any dry food.

What's worse is that they had been so ruthless in clearing the land that there was no one on the road, and it was impossible to get supplies. This was a classic case of shooting oneself in the foot.

Su Shun can definitely be called the number one Baturu in southern Liaoning.

He killed both Manchus and Han people.

It not only harms the enemy, but also harms one's own people.

……

How to escape without food?

The remaining soldiers and their families could only use their own skills to hunt, dig up root plants, find vole holes, and pick wild fruits.

Foraging for food everywhere.

The Wu army was in a relatively better situation and was busy collecting all useful supplies.

Shi Lingyang saved two streets, more than 2 houses, and two small warehouses.

A total of 1280 dan of rice and flour, more than 220 pieces of cloth, more than 200 kilograms of salt, 7 jars of soy sauce, more than 400 kilograms of charcoal, and a number of pots, pans, and bowls were obtained.

A drop in the bucket.

Still, it's better than nothing.

There was also good news. After two days, the soldiers collected more than 700 Qing army horses that had been frightened and fled.

……

All the remaining ships in Dalian Bay were also ordered to move to Lushun, which was the best military port in the north.

but,

No one is happy.

Although it hasn’t started snowing, winter is approaching. How are we going to solve the food problem?

Also, how to deal with those civilian laborers?

Shi Lingyang wanted to kill them all, but he couldn't help it. His current status was awkward, so he shouldn't ask for trouble.

"If you can't kill them, just disperse them. Let them survive and die on their own, and accept their fate."

"Where's Captain Wang?"

"He lost more than 2500 of his 1800 infantrymen. His crime is punishable by death. He has been detained and is awaiting military trial by the imperial court."

Wei Zilong originally wanted to introduce the background of Captain Wang Ren, but when he thought about how Shi Lingyang had just joined the company and had no idea about the background of Wang Liu, the Director of the Coal Bureau, he simply gave up.

However, he still underestimated Shi Lingyang's sense of smell.

He instantly guessed that this captain might have a prominent background, but it had nothing to do with him, so he didn't ask any more questions.

……

The biggest problem facing us is food.

The existing supplies are by no means enough to sustain so many people through the winter.

The house was filled with smoke.

The officers looked gloomy and argued endlessly.

Collecting grain? There is nowhere to collect grain. The policy of clearing the countryside is great.

Hunting? That's just a drop in the bucket.

Sending a fleet to Shandong to collect food? This is the most feasible option at the moment, but there are many problems in its implementation.

Shi Lingyang looked at everyone and suddenly said:

"General Wei, I have a bold idea."

"Marquis Jinghai, please speak."

"We don't want Lushun anymore. Let's go to Shengjing City to spend the winter."

……

The house was dead silent.

The silence was broken only when someone cried out "ouch" because the cigarette was burning his hand.

Wei Zilong was extremely surprised and asked:
"The entire army is heading north to attack Shengjing?"

"Correct."

"Leaving aside other factors, can we capture Shengjing with our current military strength?"

Shi Lingyang smiled and looked around at everyone.

"There are 10,000 or 20,000 ready-made cannon fodder soldiers out there."

The officers looked at each other and it seemed somewhat feasible.

"To be honest, these civilians would not have survived this winter. Rather than starving to death in the mountains, it would be better for them to shed their blood in southern Liaoning. This would be a worthy death."

"It's not that I'm cruel by nature, but I have to pay a price for your majesty's cause. Since our soldiers can die in battle, these civilians who once served the Qing army can also die."

"They are not completely innocent."

A staff officer suddenly stood up and asked:

"Marquis Jinghai, the fighting capacity of this mob is worrying. What if we fail to capture Shengjing? We might even destroy our precious navy."

……

Shi Lingyang explained:

"This is what I think. We will march, rob, and kill along the way. When we reach Shengjing, this mob can be used as Green Camp soldiers."

"At this point, there is no point in talking about military discipline."

A staff officer stood up excitedly:
"Excuse me, Marquis Jinghai, how do we get food supplies?"

"Going north, things will be different after passing Fuzhou. The area around Shengjing has been developed for 200 years. It is the most densely populated area outside the Great Wall, nicknamed the Little Jiangnan outside the Great Wall. The army will replenish supplies on the spot. They are all Tartars anyway, so we can just let them go."

……

"Excuse me, Marquis Jinghai, how do you fight the Eight Banners Cavalry of Shengjing with infantry against cavalry?"

"When we get to the vicinity of Shengjing, I will try to make the Qing army fight according to our ideas, give full play to our artillery advantage, fight a pre-planned battle, and use artillery shells and cannon fodder to achieve victory."

Wei Zilong asked:
"How can we ensure that the Qing army will fight according to our ideas?"

Shi Lingyang smiled:
"There is an imperial tomb in the suburbs of Shengjing, and there is more than one. We must seize control of the imperial tomb first. If the general of Shengjing does not obey, I will order the imperial tomb to be dug up, and Aixinjueluo's bones to be dug out and boiled into soup, and then serve him a bowl."

……

Shi Lingyang stood up, like a gambler making his last attempt.

His eyes were bright.

"We still have food, and we can still gather one or two thousand soldiers. We have captured seven or eight hundred war horses, and there are also many weapons left on the battlefield. We will organize the cannon fodder and move along the coastline, both by land and water, and start moving first."

"Although it's not a perfect strategy, if it's planned properly, there's still a good chance of success."

"I am willing to sign a military order. If you fail, I will kill myself first."

(End of this chapter)