Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

As the exercise entered its third day, the main content of this review - the bastion attack and defense battle - finally officially began.

When talking about this matter, we have to mention the construction of the Beijing West Bastion.

Zhu Youjian's original request to build the bastion within one month was obviously unrealistic.

Due to factors such as wind, snow and severe cold, the progress of the bastion was repeatedly delayed, and it finally took nearly two months to complete at the end of February.

Then it took another half a month to renovate and build a temporary camp before the attack and defense drills could be carried out.

Before this exercise, the patrol battalion also tried to hold an offensive and defensive drill.

The effect cannot be said to be good, because many soldiers were not familiar with bastions and did not know how to practice with firearms.

It was not until yesterday when the General Staff proposed the lethality index and damage model that they realized that this method could be used in the drills of firearms troops.

The first battalion of the Patrol Battalion and the reconnaissance battalion of the Warrior Battalion participated in the drill today. The Patrol Battalion defended on the bastion, while the Warrior Battalion imitated the attack of the Jianlu.

As the elite among the elite, the Warrior Camp Reconnaissance Battalion is very versatile. Moreover, there are many soldiers from Liaodong in the Imperial Camp.

In addition, after Liu Xingzuo rebelled last year, he brought a lot of news about Jianlu. They imitated Jianlu in a very similar way.

As a fishing and hunting nation, the Jianlu were not only good at riding and shooting, but also very good at fighting on foot, and they had a lot of methods in attacking cities. Many cities in Liaodong fell because the Jianlu were very good at attacking cities.

However, the Ming Dynasty also made progress. After Sun Chengzong built the Ningjin Defense Line, Yuan Chonghuan, Zhao Lushi and others relied on the city to defeat the invasion of the Jianlu.

The Ming Dynasty today is different from before and has full confidence in defending the city.

Hu Dawei led the reconnaissance brigade to imitate the Jianlu's attacks several times, but they were unable to break into the city. Instead, many people were "killed" by the cannons and muskets on the city walls.

Zhu Youjian watched from afar with a telescope and said to Xu Guangqi, who was in charge of building the bastion:
"The sharp-angled gun platform does have its merits. No wonder Xu Qing has made this suggestion many times."

"Western-style sheds also have their merits. They can effectively protect against arrows."

The sheds built on the bastion were another reference by Xu Guangqi to Western castle technology.

This type of fortification appeared in the Middle Ages and was gradually eliminated after the advent of firearms.

But it is still very useful in the Ming Dynasty, because the Jianlu do not have many firearms now, and they use bows and arrows more.

Just building a shed can effectively block arrows and make the soldiers defending the city safer.

In terms of hanging eyes and towers, Xu Guangqi also absorbed the excellent aspects of Western castles and combined them with the original castle technology of the Ming Dynasty.

It can be said that although the Jingxi Bastion is small, it is a combination of Eastern and Western castle technologies. It will be further improved in the future and various technologies will be tested.

Xu Guangqi felt very happy listening to the emperor's praise.

He spent as much energy on this bastion as on the patrol battalion.

From the end of last year to the beginning of this year, he devoted almost all his attention to the bastion.

Now that he has received the emperor's praise, how can he not be happy?

However, he still modestly said:

"This bastion is still in its infancy. If a few more months pass, it will be more complete."

"Your Majesty, please come back to see the fortress in a few months."

Zhu Youjian nodded happily, but pretended not to hear what Xu Guangqi meant.

He understood Xu Guangqi's advice and advised himself not to be too impatient.

But Zhu Youjian could not wait any longer and urgently needed to build Dalinghhe Fort.

Last year, he had drawn up a plan for the Jisi War, deciding to build a fort after the Daling River thawed and during the spring plowing period in Liaodong, so that the Jianlu would not be able to react in time.

Even though most of the people working the land for the Jianlu were slaves, they would still be affected if the troops were hastily dispatched during the spring plowing season.

So the reason why he required the Jingxi Bastion to be built within one month was because of this gap, which was about one month.

If it takes any longer, the Jianlu will react and send a large number of troops to stop the construction of the fort.

Now, through the test of the bastion in the west of Beijing, he found that the fortress could not be built in a month, so he wanted to use smallpox and other means to delay the Jianlu.

He even secretly ordered Mao Wenlong to send troops to fight after the spring plowing in Dongjiang was completed, in order to attract the attention of the Jianlu and facilitate the construction of Dalinghe Fort.

He also sent people to deliver messages to the Ligdan Khanate, Ningyuan Earldom and other places, asking them to make some noise to attract the attention of the Jianlu.

Of course, this entire battle plan cannot be modified for some reasons.

The Ji Si Plan formulated by the General Staff last year can now be said to be being implemented.

Zhu Youjian had the Privy Council issue orders to the frontline generals and dispatched military supervisors. Anyone who dared to delay the battle would be immediately suspended and sent back to the capital. The ministers who had obtained the imperial sword at the frontline were also authorized to use it.

Xu Guangqi had issued these orders and was certainly familiar with the Jisi Plan. But he really didn't understand why the emperor was so anxious.
In his opinion, the Jingxi Bastion will definitely be more complete in a few months. The patrol battalion will also be able to complete its training and have stronger combat power.

Unfortunately, the emperor did not adopt it and still planned to use the original Ji Si plan.

This made him sigh in his heart and summarize the bastion tactics as soon as possible.

Perhaps seeing Xu Guangqi's confusion, Zhu Youjian said after watching the attack and defense of the bastion for a while:
"Equip the Warrior Battalion with red cannons."

"Withdraw the soldiers from one wall and the gun platform, and bombard it with red cannons."

These words shocked Xu Guangqi completely, and he said:

"Your Majesty, the Jianlu do not have red-coated cannons."

"We can't strengthen the Warrior Battalion like this."

Zhu Youjian glanced at him, and then looked at the ministers who thought he was biased towards the imperial camp, and said indifferently:
"The Jianlu are imitating the Red Cannon. We must take this factor into consideration when defending the city in the future."

"After the loss of Liaodong, the Ming Dynasty built the Ningjin Line of Defense, which temporarily contained the Jianlu."

"But don't think that the Jianlu are sleeping soundly. They have been trying to find a way to break into the city."

"According to the Jinyiwei intelligence, the Jianlu are actively imitating the Red Cannon, and it is very likely that they will succeed in two to three years."

"If the Ming Dynasty cannot prepare for the Red Cannons in the next few years, it may be breached by the Jianlu again in the future and face the threat of the Jianlu."

(In the first month of the fifth year of Tiancong, which is the first month of the fourth year of Chongzhen, the Later Jin imitated the first red-coated cannon. In August, the Battle of Dalinghe broke out. In October, the red-coated cannon was used to capture Yuzizhangtai. Zu Dashou and others in Dalinghe City killed He Kegang and surrendered. Sun Chengzong was really unlucky. Dalinghe City was built a year or two earlier, and it was not so easy for the Later Jin to break through)

These words frightened all the ministers, and they thought of the panic-stricken scene in the capital when the Ningjin Defense Line was not yet completed.

At this time, Xu Guangqi also understood why the emperor was in a hurry to launch the Ji Si offensive and did not want to delay for a moment.

It is true that while the Ming Dynasty is making progress, the Jianlu are also making progress. If we fail to seize the opportunity, the situation will become increasingly unfavorable.

Therefore, he did not say any words of advice.

Watching the soldiers of the imperial camp dragging six red cannons over, they bombarded the bastion.

The bastion was also equipped with red cannon, so it should have been able to fight back.

But the emperor had already ordered the soldiers to withdraw, and now it was time to test the defensive strength of the bastion.

Xu Guangqi was quite confident about this, believing that the strongholds in the west of Beijing were indestructible even by the red cannons.

The final result was just as he expected. The Jingxi Bastion remained very stable under the bombardment of the red cannon.

Only some of the battlements on the city wall were blown down.

If there were soldiers guarding the city there, casualties would be unavoidable.

Zhu Youjian frowned slightly when he saw this scene, and frowned even more when he saw the panicked looks of some soldiers guarding the city through the telescope.

The bastion is certainly very strong, but if the soldiers defending the city are not determined, they will not be able to hold it.

So he said to Xu Guangqi:
"Is there any way to defend against artillery fire, to better withstand the bombardment?"

"If we passively accept the attack, the soldiers may be so scared that they can't hold on."

As a complete defense system, the bastion certainly has corresponding methods. Xu Guangqi said:

"You can dig a trench outside the bastion and build a slope on the other side of the wall."

"With this defensive slope, it is difficult for the attacking party's artillery to directly attack the city wall from below the slope."

"The cannons on the city walls can aim at the slopes and attack, making it easier to defend."

(It is very convenient to bombard classical city walls with cannons. The low walls, trenches and defensive slopes of the bastions can effectively prevent artillery attacks.)

This is the bastion's outer city defense facility. The Jingxi bastion has not yet been built.

This is also the reason why Xu Guangqi believes that the current bastion is not perfect and it is better to wait for a few more months.

It was because the time required by the emperor was too tight and many details were not perfected.

For example, this defensive slope, Xu Guangqi, who didn't know that the Jianlu would soon have red cannons, never thought of building it.

Zhu Youjian didn't quite understand what he heard, and didn't know why the artillery was at the bottom of the slope, making it inconvenient to attack.

But after Xu Guangqi sent people to dig a trench and build a defensive slope, he soon understood.

It turned out that the artillery's elevation angles were limited at that time, and blocked by the slope, making it difficult to aim and shoot directly at the city wall.

Curved-shot technology was also immature, and it was difficult to accurately land on the city wall. Moreover, even if the shells fell on the city wall in a curve, the damage to the wall was limited.

Therefore, this defensive slope is quite effective in defending against artillery attacks, and it also makes it easier to exert the power of one's own artillery.

After Zhu Youjian understood, he immediately gave the order:
"The trenches and defensive slopes are good, and they should also be built outside Dalinghe Fort."

"Don't underestimate the Jianlu. They are improving very fast!"

Zhu Youjian knew the potential of the Jianlu, a growing force that was growing rapidly. He did not dare to underestimate them at all.

Even though the Jianlu had not yet successfully imitated the Red-Coated Cannon, Zhu Youjian still had to consider the Liaodong castle's ability to defend against the Red-Coated Cannon to avoid suffering a great loss in the future.

Xu Guangqi nodded and took note, and decided to have people dig trenches and build slopes as quickly as possible, and summarize the experience for use in Dalinghhe Fort.

At the same time, he reminded the emperor:

"If we use cannons against cannons, we must have more cannons on the city walls to deal with bombardments from all directions."

"And it must be a red cannon, so as to destroy the red cannon of the Jianlu."

"The cost of building a bastion will be much higher."

The ministers who heard this felt a pain in their teeth, fearing that the emperor would think that the military expenditure was not enough and would impose new taxes.

In particular, the Minister of Revenue Bi Ziyan almost jumped out on the spot to oppose the increase in military spending.

Fortunately, Zhu Youjian had some self-awareness and knew that raising taxes further might cause more trouble. So after careful consideration, he said to Xu Guangqi:

“We need to tap more internal potential.”

“For example, equip the red cannon with a gun carriage to facilitate its transportation on the city wall.”

“In this way, if the enemy concentrates their artillery on one side, we can also concentrate them on the walls and use our artillery to bombard the enemy’s artillery.”

Xu Guangqi was troubled and said:

"The red cannon is too heavy. Even with a gun carriage, it is not convenient to transport it."

"The wooden wheels are easily damaged, and the iron wheels are too heavy and easily sink into the ground, making it difficult to move them from one wall to another in a hurry."

"In order to prevent the enemy from concentrating their artillery fire on one wall, the best way is to deploy more artillery."

From what he said, Zhu Youjian thought that if there were several city walls, they would have to be equipped with several times more artillery than the enemy.

Even if the Ming Dynasty had more resources than the Jianlu, it would still be impossible to afford it. After all, the Ming Dynasty would not build just one castle, but a large number of them.

So he thought about the methods used by later generations to transport heavy materials, and then thought about the iron wheels mentioned by Xu Guangqi, and said:
"You can lay two rails on the city wall, put the iron wheels of the cannon on the rails, and let them roll along the rails."

"One or two cannons like this can defend a city wall."

“And you don’t have to worry about the load or getting stuck, it’s very easy to pull.”

"If railroad tracks were laid inside the city, the distance to transport artillery between different city walls would be shorter."

"You can defend multiple walls with fewer artillery pieces."

After drawing a sketch, Zhu Youjian introduced to his ministers the tracks commonly used in mines in later generations.

Let the Ministry of Revenue, Ministry of Works, Imperial Household Department and other government offices cooperate in the research.

The Ministry of Revenue was very positive about this matter because it could effectively reduce the number of artillery and reduce the required military expenditure.

Even if it meant using steel to make the tracks, the officials of the Ministry of Revenue agreed.

It is better than manufacturing several times more cannons and spending more military expenditure.

The officials of the Imperial Household Department were also very enthusiastic because the emperor mentioned that this type of track would facilitate transportation within the city.

Does that mean that in the future we can build tracks in the city to transport things other than cannons?
If successful, Taipusi will not only be able to build roads in the future, but also extend its power to more areas.

Xu Guangqi was also greatly impressed by the tracks, especially the carriage bed drawn by the emperor, which made him realize that the tracks could not only transport artillery, but also artillery shells and other supplies.

Laying tracks on the city walls will make it easier to transport supplies for defending the city.

By laying tracks in the city, materials within the city can be transported more conveniently.

He even thought of using it to transport troops. Using horse-drawn carts to carry soldiers on tracks would make it easier to dispatch troops to various city walls.

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. He thought of many ways to use the tracks, which would greatly facilitate the transportation of materials and personnel within the city.

Zhu Youjian didn't think so much. He just thought that in the absence of rubber tires, rail transportation could be used as a substitute.

After all, until later generations, railway transportation still had many advantages and was not replaced by road transportation.

Mine tracks are even more common and are used for ore transportation.

So after hearing Xu Guangqi complain that the Red Cannon was too heavy, he proposed an artillery track based on the mine track to facilitate the transportation of heavy artillery such as the Red Cannon on the city wall and within the city.

This method coincides with the railway cannon of later generations.

It’s just that the Red Cannon isn’t that heavy, and it can’t be fired from orbit right now.

However, in the future, there may be heavier artillery that is difficult to unload from orbit and can only be launched from orbit.

Then the so-called railway artillery would be worthy of its name. It might even be laid out in the field to transport heavy artillery out of the city.

It can be said that the artillery track proposed by Zhu Youjian inspired many related technologies.

Railway guns, horse-drawn trams, mining railways, etc., all developed accordingly. (End of this chapter)