Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

After the meeting, Yu Zigao's face was full of joy.

Although he failed to secure an opportunity for the Dongning Army, the Navy's status did indeed rise significantly.

This time, when building camps along the Liao River, the navy was not only responsible for logistics and transportation, but also for retaliating with artillery when the camps were bombarded by the Jurchens.

If the garrison in the camp eventually cannot hold out, they will also need to rely on the navy for retreat.

Fortifications and strongholds were built along the Liao River, and the navy, like the army, became a main force.

This is a far cry from the previous situation where they were only responsible for logistics.

"Your Majesty is right, the future..."

"No, now is the age of the ocean."

"Sea transport is far more convenient than land transport, and controlling the sea means controlling the initiative."

"If it weren't for our navy supporting them, how could the Guan Ning Army have rebuilt their fortress after their defeat?"

Speaking with considerable self-satisfaction, Yu Zigao surveyed the naval officers in the tent and demanded:

"Who dares to shoulder this heavy responsibility and contribute to our navy?"

All the generals stepped forward, willing to take on this important task.

The Guan Ning Army feared the Jurchens, but these men were not.

The Jurchens couldn't even defeat the Dongjiang Navy, let alone them.
They were all eager to contribute to enhancing the navy's status.

Zheng Zhihu shouted even louder:

"Commander Yu, this humble general is willing to sign a military pledge."

"If things go wrong, then you'll have to pay with your head!"

Yu Zigao shouted "Good!" and greatly admired Zheng Zhihu's courage.

He initially thought this person was a talented general, so he tried his best to win him over.

Now is the time to use people, and he gave the order without hesitation:
"You will be the commander-in-chief, and you will select ships to form the Liaohe Fleet."

"We must control the Liaohe River waterway as we control the sea."

"I want to make the Jurchens run away at the sight of the navy's flag, and firmly control both banks of the Liao River."

"Within the range of artillery fire, everything falls under the naval domain."

Zheng Zhihu was filled with patriotic fervor upon hearing this and made a solemn pledge in front of everyone. After returning, he gathered his men and prepared to fight on the Liao River.

He addressed his subordinates:

"You all saw it in the last Korean War. We are not good at land warfare, and we will most likely lose to the Jurchens once we land."

"But the water is our domain. Let the Jurchens see who reigns supreme on the water!"

The crowd cheered and rubbed their hands together, ready to fight the Jurchens.

After arriving in the north, they made many contributions to logistics, but they didn't actually encounter any major battles.

Unlike Zheng Zhilong in the south, who fought against Japan first and then the Netherlands, earning titles such as Earl of Nan'an and many of his subordinates were also granted titles.

These people were filled with envy and were single-mindedly focused on making a name for themselves and securing generations of wealth for their families.

Soon, Zheng Zhihu selected eighteen new-style artillery warships, as well as several oar-drawn sailing ships suitable for transporting supplies, and led them in a grand procession into the Liao River to transport the Guan Ning Army to various fortification sites.

The soldiers who built the fortified camp for the Guan Ning Army were also carefully selected.

Fearing that their fighting spirit was insufficient, Sun Chengzong selected soldiers who had a blood feud with the Jurchens and were unlikely to surrender.

Initially, two hundred people were stationed in each village to build temporary camps.

After storing enough supplies, we will then increase our troops and build a more complete camp.

Naval officers and soldiers also went ashore to help, and within a few days, four camps were set up at the mouth of the Liao River. The Ming navy gained control of this section and dispatched more ships to transport supplies and improve these camps.

What particularly pleased the navy was that these camps were all equipped with communication towers, which not only enabled the exchange of information but also provided early warnings to the navy and alerted them to enemy attacks.

During nighttime voyages, they can also serve as lighthouses to transmit messages, making naval navigation safer.

The Ming Dynasty initially established a defense system along both banks of the Liao River estuary, and connected these systems through fleets.

The Jurchens did not discover this for ten days. By then, the Ming army's camp had already been built up to the Taizi River area.

We're very close to Niuzhuang now; the signal towers in both villages can transmit information.

Huang Taiji only realized that a group of Ming soldiers had unknowingly appeared beside him when he heard the Ming soldiers in Niuzhuang cheering loudly.

He asked in a mixture of shock and anger:
"Who is in charge of the fighting over there?"

"Why wasn't this reported earlier?"

Ajige rushed over and defended himself, saying:

"Great Khan, my troops are few in number, and we only discovered yesterday that the Ming army has built a fortified camp over there."

“That village is very similar to Niuzhuang Village. The Ming army inside has a lot of firearms, and my men can’t take it down.” His fifteen Niru were basically decimated in the Battle of Daning. Even after winning the Battle of Niuzhuang, Ajige’s strength was still not recovered. He was assigned to the outer perimeter to intercept the Ming reinforcements.

He thought it was an easy task and didn't usually pay much attention to it.

Unexpectedly, one day a camp suddenly sprang up from the ground, and by the time he discovered it and sent men to attack, it was too late to take it down.

His biggest worry now was that Huang Taiji would order him to lead his men in a forced attack on the camp, so he offered a suggestion:

"Great Khan, the only way to attack this kind of village is with the Red-Clothed Cannon."

"Please, Great Khan, send artillery to attack that camp."

Upon hearing these words, Huang Taiji became so angry that he cracked his whip.

He was still full of confidence when the Red-Clad Cannon had previously displayed its might.

However, after several days of fighting, with the Ming army quickly repairing their positions each day, he realized that attacking Niuzhuang was no longer so simple.

It seems that the Ming Dynasty had anticipated that he had the Red-Clad Cannon and made preparations in advance.

This village appears to be just a wooden fortress, but bamboo cages and sandbags are piled between the wooden fences, and in some places, cement has been poured, making it look like concrete.

This is already a semi-permanent fortification, and it cannot be destroyed by a mere six red-coated cannons.

Even the idea of ​​breaking down the stockade wall became impossible due to the Ming army's rapid repairs on the other side.

If he wants to break through Niuzhuang, he must send men to take down the deadly dugout.

Having already sent men to the rear to drive away Han Chinese and Koreans, Huang Taiji decided to temporarily leave Niuzhuang untouched and issued the following order:
"The artillery should go to the west first and take down that village."

"If you make another mistake, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

Ajige had no desire to fight because his men were terrified of Ming firearms.

However, faced with the Khan's order, they had no way to refuse.

He could only lead his men and artillery to attack the Ming army's camp.
-
After attacking Niuzhuang for several days, Tong Yangxing was starting to lose interest. At this time, Huang Taiji sent him to attack Xiaozhai in the west, which suited his needs perfectly.

But to his surprise, not long after arriving in the west, before he had even set up a fixed gun position, six ships came downstream.

The six ships arrived very quickly; he had no time to command the Han soldiers to fire the cannons before he saw the cannons on the ships open fire rapidly, and a dense rain of arrows fell from the sky—

This is the arrow-type shrapnel shell that the Equipment Research Institute finally developed after years of research.

Although it didn't meet the emperor's requirements, and the ignition rate of the timed fuses wasn't high, with so many shells fired, some were bound to explode in the air.

When used in combination, they can create a rain of arrows that can kill a large area.

These cannonballs were first used in cities with numerous artillery pieces to inflict area damage on attacking enemies.

Secondly, it is used in the navy, where dozens of cannons mounted on ships can unleash their power.

Its role in naval battles was primarily to clear personnel from the deck.

Tong Yangxing had no idea what naval warfare was, nor had he ever attacked a large city equipped with new cannonballs. Yet, while leading his artillery unit in the field, he was the first to be hit by such cannonballs.

Under the rain of arrows falling from the sky, Tong Yangxing had no way to dodge them.

Fortunately, his armor was thick and the arrows were light, allowing him to escape with his injuries.

However, the Han soldiers under his command were not so lucky.

These people were of low status and had to transport extremely heavy cannons and shells. They were not armored and died one after another in the rain of arrows.

Even the horses pulling the cannons were injured by the rain of arrows and fled everywhere, pulling the cannons along with them.

This artillery unit was no longer able to retaliate and could only allow the Ming army to fire shells at them.

As for Azig, he had already fled; his fear of firearms was greater than that of others.

On a distant warship, Zheng Zhihu watched the enemy flee in disarray on land and burst into laughter.

Seeing that the enemy had already collapsed and could not possibly organize a counterattack, Zheng Zhihu gave the order:

"The Marines were deployed and completely destroyed the Jurchen's red-coated cannons."

"Find all the unexploded warheads as soon as possible."

Thinking about this, he couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache. These arrow-type shrapnel rounds were extremely expensive.

Leaving aside the small arrows inside, the timing fuses are practically clocks, each one as expensive as a clock—

This was a byproduct of the Equipment Institute's development of time bombs, replacing the original wooden fuse.

The timing can be manually set so that the shell explodes some time after leaving the barrel.

The Equipment Institute made several improvements, but the success rate of the explosion remained low. The impact force of the shell leaving the barrel could easily damage the fuse.

Zheng Zhihu ordered his men to find the unexploded warheads. Besides recovering some costs, the goal was to send these warheads back to the Equipment Institute to analyze the reasons for their failure to explode and to further improve the timing fuses.

He certainly didn't want future naval battles to be fought with unexploded ordnance. (End of Chapter)