I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 857 Tell me, how do we clean up Longchuan City?

Several people appeared on the other side of the river, one of them holding a small red and green flag, signaling towards this side.

Gao Guochun and several officers saw everything clearly through binoculars.

"Confirmed safe, deployment in progress."

Not only that, the other side also found two ships. Together with the three ships found here, there are five ships in total, which can carry an entire platoon at a time.

Following an accent, the commandos split into three groups and quickly arrived at the ferry, with the first and second rows deployed on the left and right.

The four ships on the opposite side also slowly rowed over and joined the one ship that remained here.

Marin requested: "Captain, let's select the forward platoon to go first."

"No, the first row will go over first to assist the reconnaissance squad in setting up defenses." Gao Guochun gave the order without delay.

The elite platoon was equipped with new rifles and some revolvers. If they crossed over first and the enemy suddenly appeared and cut off the river, they would be isolated and dangerous on the other side.

Gao Guochun didn't dare to take the risk.

Marin also knew what was important and kept silent after being rejected.

"The first row will board the boat and quickly deploy defenses after reaching the other side. The third row will take over the defenses from the first row."

"Yes."

The crossing of the river went smoothly. The commando team of nearly 200 people quickly crossed the Luchuan River. After counting the number of people, they immediately marched quickly along the path towards the Longchuan Tusi City.

The location of Longchuan Tusi City is called Banong, which means a forest guarded by soldiers in Dai language. It is backed by mountains and faces water, guarding the important road.

This important road connects Yingjiang and Tengchong in the north, Mangshi in the east, Mengmao (Ruili), the old seat of Luchuan Xuanwei Office in the south, and passes Tiebi Pass in the west directly to Manmo (Manchang).

The reason why Yue Feng and his son were able to stir up trouble in the Yunnan border was because the Longchuan Tusi City they occupied was located on a strategic road. They could connect with various Tusi with ulterior motives, distribute the weapons and supplies provided by Mang clan of the Toungoo Kingdom to everyone, and then unite to cause chaos.

This is also the reason why Ling Yunyi picked out the Yue father and son and the Longchuan Tusi City as the sheep to be sacrificed when he took office and to intimidate the Tusi chieftains on the border.

Gao Guochun, An Jiangchen, Li Hualong and others squatted in the dense forest on the mountainside two kilometers away, observing the Longchuan Tusi City in front of them with binoculars.

"This Tusi city actually uses stones to build its walls." Marin couldn't help but mutter, "Why are there so many stones in the south?"

"The city wall is not built high, less than five meters." said a staff officer.

"Five meters? Even four meters is hard to climb.

Moreover, the area surrounding Longchuan Tusi City is either full of ravines or steep cliffs, which makes it even more difficult. Only in front of the north and south gates is there a flat area. "

"It looks like this Tusi city only has two gates, north and south. The fewer gates there are, the harder it is to launch a surprise attack."

Gao Guochun turned around and waved his hand, "Okay, stop talking, let Staff Officer Chen tell us about the situation in Longchuan Tusi City."

Everyone put down their telescopes, both binoculars and monoculars, and put them into leather boxes.

They sat in a circle and waited for Staff Officer Chen to start speaking.

"The circumference of Longchuan Tusi City is 4.600 steps, the city wall is 4.5 meters and 2.6 meters thick, with north and south gates. The gate tower is 6.6 meters high, and after entering, there are residential areas, storage areas and Tusi Mansion in the middle.

There were originally 1,500 local soldiers inside. Yue Feng surrendered to Mang Yinglong. In order to harass Yunnan and solve his dilemma, Mang Yinglong sent his younger brother Mengbie and his son Awa to lead 2,000 Burmese soldiers to station there. "

As Staff Officer Chen spoke, he unfolded a piece of paper and said, "This is the floor plan of the Tusi City of Longchuan. Please look, there are two city gates in the north and south, these four are military camps, these two are warehouses, and this is the Tusi Mansion."

"This Tusi Mansion looks like a large courtyard with four entrances." Ma Lin said curiously.

An Jiangchen replied: "The Tusi of Longchuan is a pacification office, not even a pacification office. It is good enough to live in a large courtyard with four entrances.

There are so many Tusi in Yunnan and Guizhou that they are worthless. However, it is quite good that the Tusi of Longchuan can build such a big Tusi City.

There are many Tusi in Guizhou, and Tusi Town is composed of four corner towers surrounded by several rows of houses, most of which are made of wood.

Li Hualong said: "Longchuan is located at a strategic point, with a constant flow of merchants coming and going from the south and the north, so we have accumulated some wealth."

Gao Guochun had been looking at the floor plan, and suddenly pointed to the area near the south gate and asked, "What is this circle?"

Everyone looked over and saw an irregular circle drawn on the picture against the city wall.

"This is an elephant farm. The chieftain of Longchuan has dozens of elephants, which are used to carry goods on weekdays and to fight in wars.

It’s just that the gate of Tusi City is too low, and it’s inconvenient for some elephants to enter and exit, so they built a wooden fence here and built several rows of houses and sheds to raise elephants. ”

Gao Guochun nodded, raised his head and asked everyone: "Now, let's talk about how to capture the Longchuan Tusi City?"

"It's not easy to fight!" Marin said first, "When I was observing just now, I found that the patrol teams on the city wall were patrolling back and forth. Every few steps there was a wooden stake with a lantern hanging on it, or an iron basin supported on it, which should be used for lighting at night.

How can we get in when the security is so tight?"

Staff Officer Chen said, "The commander-in-chief has sent out commandos to raid many chieftain cities or main strongholds and behead the chieftains who rebelled against the Ming. The news has spread, and it seems that the Yue family father and son are also afraid."

Yang, the platoon leader of the first platoon, said: "We have less than 200 people, only the firepower platoon and a dozen 60mm short-barreled guns in each platoon. We are good at fighting infantry, but we are definitely not good at attacking strongholds.

Without heavy firepower, it would be impossible to storm the north and south gates."

After a moment of silence, An Jiangchen said, "The Tusi City of the Yang Family in Bozhou was famous for its high walls and strong fortifications in Yunnan and Guizhou. In the end, three walls were blasted open with gunpowder and it fell in half a day."

Everyone turned to look at him, knowing what he meant, and imitated the attack on Bozhou Tusi City, using gunpowder to clear a path.

Gao Guochun sighed, "When we attacked Bozhou City, Commander Chen brought more than 20,000 kilograms of gunpowder, and Major Yang was fearless and led us forward. Under the cover of thousands of brothers' firepower, he risked his life to dig holes under the city wall to plug the gunpowder. Only then did we capture Bozhou Tusi City in half a day."

"Major Yang?"

"Major Yang Yunpeng, Wang Du's younger brother, was the former captain of his personal guards. He was awarded the title of Supreme Pillar of the State for his merit in being the first to reach the shore, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel. Now he and my old boss, Captain Sun, are sailing to Genzhou to fight the Spaniards and rob the silver mines."

"Captain Gao also participated in the Battle of Bozhou City?"

"Yes, I was only a second lieutenant platoon leader at that time. Luckily, I joined the first assault team and followed Major Yang to make contributions, and was awarded the Guardian's Medal."

Cruel person.

Everyone looked at Gao Guochun with admiration.

The Tusi City of Bozhou was strategically located, with high walls and strong fortresses. The Yang family had been operating the city for hundreds of years. In the minds of the Tusi chieftains in Yunnan and Guizhou, it was a mighty city that would never be lost. However, it was blown up in just half a day by an advance team carrying 20,000 kilograms of gunpowder.

Many chieftains submitted to the imperial court and accepted the policy of converting chieftains into officials for this reason.

What kind of city is Bozhou City? What kind of city is mine? It was captured in just a short time. My broken village will collapse if they just sneeze!

How to persevere?

As soon as the thought comes to mind, it becomes clear instantly.

Gao Guochun waved his hand and said, "Okay, don't think about that. Let's think about how to conquer this Longchuan Tusi City first."

An Jiangchen said regretfully: "It's a pity that we don't have 20,000 kilograms of gunpowder."

"Five thousand kilograms will do." Ma Lin looked very experienced and spoke clearly. "The main reason is that the walls of Longchuan Tusi City are built of stone. If it were in the drought-stricken Datong, Ningxia, it would be all rammed earth. If they dug a hole under the wall, three thousand kilograms of gunpowder would be enough to make them sit on earth. This Longchuan City should not work. At least five thousand kilograms will be needed to blast a decent hole."

"We don't even have 500 kilograms." said Staff Officer Liang. He was also the logistics director of the commando team and he knew best how much ammunition and supplies the team had.

"The firepower blasting platoon only has 20 blasting packs, and each blasting pack has only 10 kilograms of gunpowder. There are only 200 kilograms of gunpowder in total. We can barely try to blow up the gate, but the city gate is heavily guarded above and below, so it may be difficult to approach quietly."

Gao Guochun's eyes lit up when he heard what Staff Officer Liang said, "The blasting platoon has twenty blasting packs?"

"Yes."

"Go and fetch the guide."

"Yes."

Although the adjutant did not understand what was going on, he resolutely carried out the order.

Soon a guide was called in.

The guide's surname was Li. He was a horseman of the Yongchang County horse caravan. He was in his forties and often traveled along the southern route to Bagan. He had been to Longchuan Tusi City twenty or thirty times and had lived in Longchuan Tusi City for more than two years.

"Lao Li, think about this Longchuan Tusi City. Is there a canal that connects it to the outside?"

Guide Li immediately replied, "Of course there is. There are thousands of people living in the city. They eat, drink, defecate, urinate, cook, and bathe every day. The used water must be discharged. It is impossible to dig a pit and leave it in the city."

"Then think about it, how many canals are there?"

Guide Li thought for a moment and said, "There are six. But Captain Gao, I advise you to give up this idea. These six canals are not big. Adults can't get in at all. Only children can barely get in. But there are iron fences inside, several iron fences."

Gao Guochun continued to ask: "Do you know where these six canals are located?"

"know."

"picture."

Staff Officer Chen immediately spread out the floor plan of Longchuan Tusi City on the ground.

Guide Li looked around and felt a little confused. He couldn't understand it.

"Where is the South Gate?"

"it's here."

"Where is the elephant kennel next to the South Gate?"

“This circle is it.”

"Then here, next to the elephant sanctuary.

There is a river there, and the elephant kennel was built there to facilitate water feeding for the elephants. Two canals were also dug there to drain water directly into the river, and the two canals were less than two or three meters apart.

"So close?"

"Because there is a pond at this location in the city, the used water here will flow into the pond, and then be discharged through these two canals and flow into the river."

"Scouting squad, go and scout the situation there immediately. After dark, get there and conduct an on-site investigation."

"Yes."

After asking some more questions, Gao Guochun sent Guide Li away.

But his men guessed what he was thinking.

"Captain, are you planning to use these two canals?"

"Correct."

"But Captain Gao, a 200-jin blasting pack can blow up the iron fence inside, but it will collapse the culvert."

"Yes, two hundred kilograms of black powder cannot blow up this section of the city wall, and it will actually collapse the culvert."

Gao Guochun did not answer directly, but pointed to the floor plan of Longchuan City and said: "No matter how to blow it up, I will tell you in detail later. Now let's discuss how to capture Longchuan City and capture or kill Yue's father and son if we blow up this section of the city wall.

Of course, it would be even better if we could capture or kill Mang Yinglong's brother Mengbie and son Awa alive."

An Jiangchen immediately replied: "Blow up this section of the city wall, and the defenders inside will be destroyed immediately.

We know what this means, and the defenders also know it. Thousands of soldiers carrying thousands of kilograms of gunpowder came to the city without anyone noticing and blew up the city walls.

Their courage and spirits were shattered, and their first thought was to run away. Of course, there were some who fought to the death, but they were a minority and could not make a difference. "

Li Hualong's eyes flashed, "In that case, we will wait in front of the north and south gates, concentrate all guns and 60mm cannons, and block them at the gates.

Then they sent a sharp knife to charge in through the gap, headed straight to the Tusi Mansion, captured the Yue father and son alive, and then set fire everywhere, attacking from the inside out."

Ma Lin slapped his thigh and said, "Mr. Li's plan is really great. With a double attack from both inside and outside, the defenders will be scared out of their wits and surrender. As for the remaining stubborn resistance, we will force them into one place and kill them with grenades and 60mm cannons."

Gao Guochun said happily: "Okay, let's do it this way. Now let's discuss the details."

It was midnight, the sky was clear and there was no moon. The lanterns and braziers on the city wall of Longchuan Tusi City emitted a flickering light, but it could not dispel the pitch-black night all around.

The defenders sat on the ground with their backs against the wall. The quiet night and the chirping of insects made them half asleep and half awake.

At two culverts, six engineers from the firepower blasting platoon stuffed the last explosive pack wrapped in oilcloth into the culvert, and then put the fuse into the opened bamboo tube.

Once lit, the flame of the fuse is very obvious in the night, but it cannot be seen when it is put into the bamboo tube. It also prevents accidents such as being stepped on by water, bitten by rats and insects, etc.

This is the experience gained by blasting engineers over many years of blasting.

The fuse was left ten meters long, enough for them to run to the shelter a hundred meters away.

Just sixteen blasting bags and one hundred and sixty kilograms of gunpowder, what effect can they have?
The six engineers looked at each other helplessly in the dark night. They just had to do whatever they were told to do and follow the military orders.

The fuse of the newly received blasting pack does not need to be lit, just pull it.

The culverts were less than five meters apart. With the help of the lights on the city wall, the engineers on both sides made gestures, unfastened the condoms, and pulled the fuse at the same time.

The fuse hissed, smoking and sparking as it burned into the bamboo tube.

The six engineers immediately bent over and ran desperately towards the bunker a hundred meters away.

In the darkness, six dark figures were moving around. A guard who accidentally glanced outside the city saw them and immediately shouted, "Who's down there?"

His shout immediately awakened his half-asleep companions, who all stood up and lay on the city wall to look out.

Someone saw a figure running like a cunning rabbit and immediately pointed at that place and shouted.

Some of the defenders beat gongs and shouted, some took up bows and crossbows, and some took up muskets. They were in chaos and the noise spread to the city walls on both sides.

More lights quickly lit up on the South Gate Tower, and more and more defenders were awakened and gathered here.

(End of this chapter)