The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 351 "Just hold on and there will be a way!"

Outside the city of Tashkent, Chen Huacheng waited patiently for three days and also made careful preparations and plans for three days.

At the same time, trenches and shelters were dug and barbed wire was laid in the city of Tashkent itself and between several surrounding castles.

Gradually cut off the communication between the inside and outside of Tashkent, and the communication between the surrounding castles.

Three days later, the Tashkent defenders did not leave the city to surrender, and of course they did not have the courage to go out of the city to fight. They just continued to close the city gates, waiting for the Ming Dynasty to attack.

Chen Huacheng officially ordered the siege to begin on the morning of the fourth day.

Instead of attacking the city directly, they continued to build trenches, bunkers and barbed wire, and continued to improve the encirclement and division system.

Air Force planes took turns attacking, dropping incendiary bombs and high-explosive bombs on the city of Tashkent and several castles, destroying the city's stockpiles and killing the city's manpower.

The artillery took turns firing from several positions, suppressing the Shun State garrison on the city walls and the surrounding areas, and destroying the walls of Tashkent and surrounding fortresses.

At the same time, ground assault personnel were arranged to rush to the bottom of the city wall to bury explosive packs under the cover of machine guns and sniper rifles, preparing to directly blow up the city wall of Tashkent.

After Shunguo came, he built a Shenzhou-style city wall in Tashkent, which was a structure of rammed earth and bricks inside.

This type of city wall is extremely thick, and the rammed earth has a good absorption effect on shock waves. It will take a long time to actually open a gap by relying solely on artillery bombardment and surface explosions.

In traditional warfare, if the attacking side does not have a firepower advantage, it may be faster to dig tunnels and bury explosive packs.

With the advantage of firepower, they can rush directly on the ground, dig holes under the city walls, and bury explosive packs directly, so that the speed can be faster.

In Chen Huacheng's view, an attack of this level was carried out step by step, and the task of artillery and aircraft was only to suppress fire.

Because the railway had just been built here, more troops, artillery, aircraft, ammunition and fuel had not yet been transported here, and the firepower reserve for a head-on decisive battle had not yet been reached.

But to the Shun Kingdom defenders in the city, this was almost the end of the world.

The super-shrapnel bombs that explode from time to time on the top of the city walls can really kill a large number of people around them.

Moreover, the soldiers around the point where the shells landed should be thankful if they were directly killed by the artillery fire.

If the whole person turns into a ragged bag but does not die immediately, the most painful thing is to die slowly from exhaustion.

There were also dense bullets, falling down in waves like a thunderstorm.

In this situation, if the soldier really dares to look up, he will most likely go straight to see the King of Hell.

The situation in the city was not much better. Horrible metal birds flew across the sky, and warehouses and houses were turned into a sea of ​​fire.

Once that terrifying flame sticks to your body, it will be impossible to put it out. Even rolling on the ground will not help and you will be burned to death.

Only if there is enough sand around to bury the entire person can one survive.

But in the chaos of flames everywhere, especially in the areas covered by flames, everyone was covered with sticky fire.

No one had the time and ability to use such troublesome means to rescue the few other people around them, and they didn't even have time to escape themselves.

The generals and officials who were hiding in sturdy houses and were not affected by the fire were now also extremely panicked and anxious.

The strategy they formulated was to hold on and consume the enemy, but to hold on they had to store food.

The rock and brick buildings in Tashkent are not enough to store food. Most of the large material warehouses, including granaries, are in simple sheds.

The oil-based incendiary bombs dropped by Ming Dynasty planes caused a large number of material warehouses to catch fire.

The whole city was filled with flames rising into the sky.

During the day, the whole city was scorching hot, with billowing smoke and flames everywhere.

At night, the entire city’s sky was dyed red.

The Ming army did not stop its shelling at night, still maintaining a similar overall speed, intermittently dropping shells on the city walls and inside the city.

The constant explosions shook the city, making it impossible for the defenders in the city to rest properly.

If this attack continues, Tashkent will be in complete chaos even without the Ming army actually breaking into the city.

By the next morning, the camp of the garrison headquarters was also burned down.

The commander of the Tashkent garrison and his generals and staff had to evacuate the original camp urgently and move to an old stone temple in the city to take shelter.
The defending generals, whose appearance became increasingly shabby, began to complain after arriving at the destination.

"Being an enemy of the Ming Dynasty is really courting death..."

"Who on earth bewitched the emperor?"

"Don't they know that the Ming army's firepower is so strong?"

"They are living in luxury in Delhi anyway, so they don't need to worry about us getting bombed here."

"How about we contact the Ming army outside the city?"

The commander of the Tashkent garrison was fully armed. He spent half of the day handling affairs in the camp and the other half patrolling key points in the city to boost morale.

"Stop talking nonsense! Continue commanding the defense of the city! The Ming army's firepower cannot last long, it will run out sooner or later!"

"Don't be discouraged, just hold on and there will be a way out."

"We will wait for the Ming army to tire out. Once the Ming army starts to tire, that will be our chance to win!"

The Tashkent commander felt that the current situation was not yet extremely bad.

As long as he leads the Tashkent defenders and withstands several waves of large-scale attacks from the Ming Dynasty, he will have a chance to defend the city.

Under the serious supervision of the commander-in-chief, the defenders of Tashkent continued to work hard to maintain their organization.

This situation lasted for three days. The speed of Ming Dynasty's aircraft and artillery bombardment not only did not decrease, but became more intensive.

Officers and soldiers of all ranks began to lose heart again. These three days were really too hard to endure.

The commander of Tashkent, on the other hand, reminded his generals:

"The firepower has become more intense, which means that the Ming army has reached the end of its strength. Let's continue to hold on. The opportunity is right in front of us."

Some generals felt that this was just self-consolation and had already felt in their hearts that Dashun was doomed.

Some generals also felt that this statement did make sense.

The main reason is that they also feel that the current firepower density of the Ming army is abnormal and it is indeed possible that it was forced.

So many generals breathed a sigh of relief.

But this respite did not last long. Before noon, a dull roar suddenly came from the west direction of the city.

The sound was so loud that it seemed to come directly from the ground.

When the loud noise occurred, the entire city and the ground beneath everyone's feet seemed to tremble very noticeably.

The generals and officials at the command center were all shocked, and the commander-in-chief immediately yelled at someone to go and confirm the situation.

While waiting for news, some staff officers and generals guessed the truth:
"Maybe the Ming Dynasty is digging tunnels...burying explosives in the tunnels under the city walls to blow up our city walls and cause them to collapse..."

But someone immediately loudly opposed this view:
"Impossible, the tunnel cannot be completed in just a few days. It may be that the ammunition depot of the Ming Dynasty exploded!"

Someone immediately expressed his agreement with hope:
"Yes, yes, yes. The Ming Dynasty has been bombing for so many days, the soldiers will definitely become less and less attentive. "There may be loopholes in the management of the ammunition depot, and there may have been an explosion during the transportation."

Many people are willing to believe the latter and become excited.

But there were also some generals who were relatively calm. They remembered the artillery shells and bullets dropped by the Ming Dynasty outside the city, which made the defenders on the city wall dare not even stick their heads out.

The Ming soldiers could just rush to the bottom of the city wall and do whatever they wanted.

Some people have already started to consider a way out.

This cheerful and tangled atmosphere did not last long. Before the guards sent by the commander to investigate the situation returned, the officer who was maintaining order on the city wall ran in.

A young officer covered in blood and dust stumbled into the headquarters, knelt down on the ground and shouted:

"General, the wall of the west city has been blown down, and the Ming army has entered the city!"

The commander of Tashkent's Shun army had actually thought of various possibilities in his mind and had already been mentally prepared for this kind of speculation.

He just forced himself to remain calm and optimistic these days to boost morale.

Now, when he suddenly heard the worst-case scenario, his heart beat particularly violently.

His eyes suddenly widened and his body fell straight back.

The worst situation occurred. The commander-in-chief fainted on the spot, and the entire Tashkent garrison command center was in chaos.

Among the generals around, only a few immediately came over to check the situation, while more people simply collapsed to the ground or stayed where they were.

There were also a few people who had long been unable to bear it and suddenly went crazy and drew their swords.

"Your Majesty still has the Mandate of Heaven. The Shun Dynasty Li family was born as a traitor and bandit. They have no chance to survive any longer!

"Now we Yiai ask for surrender to the Ming Dynasty. We still have a chance to survive. Otherwise, we will be buried with Tashkent!"

The pressure in Tashkent was already extremely great, and the atmosphere in the garrison camp and the headquarters was even more depressing.

Among the generals who had been influenced by the Shenzhou culture since childhood, there were more than one who had similar thoughts when the Ming Dynasty and the Dashun were in confrontation and the Dashun was obviously at a disadvantage.

So some people drew their swords on the spot, ready to participate in the mutiny that was brewing on the spot.

Someone rushed to the front of the unconscious commander, and it was unclear whether he was going to control the commander and then surrender, or to take the commander's head as a gift.

The trusted subordinates and guards of the Tashkent commander also reacted. They drew their swords and stopped several crazy generals.

"Are you going to rebel?"

This question is a very thoughtless one. Although it is a fact in front of us, if you don't write it down yourself, people may still be fooled on the surface.

Even until the very last moment, both sides still have the opportunity to regret and defect.

Once the question is asked directly, it is necessary to take a clear stand and choose sides, and the interested party will really have to openly rebel.

Several impulsive generals swung their swords at the commander-in-chief, and the commander-in-chief's guards immediately swung their swords to block, and the scene immediately turned into a fight.

Someone shouted in the melee:

"The city wall has collapsed, and the Ming army will attack soon. If we continue to fight here, no matter who wins, they will all die.

"Only if we kill the chief officer immediately and use his head to surrender, will we have a chance to survive."

The commander's guards are all his true confidants, arranged by his family members and children. Their interests are completely tied together, and they are in a relationship where all will suffer if one suffers. They can almost be considered as death squads.

Of course, these guards would not pay attention to this level of persuasion.

However, some people did not abide by the moral principles of martial arts. When everyone was fighting with knives, someone secretly took out a revolver smuggled from the Ming Dynasty.

Find the right opportunity to make a few noises.

The commander's guard felt pain and looked down in shock, only to find a huge bloody hole in front of him.

When he was about to shout, his whole body slowly and rapidly lost strength, and then he slowly fell to the ground with extreme astonishment and unwillingness.

There was no turning back after the guns were fired. Several generals who advocated rebellion and surrender to the Ming Dynasty also reacted at the same time and immediately drew their guns and killed the other guards.

After dealing with a few guards, the leader of the group came to the main general and shouted, "I'm sorry."

Then he placed the knife on the commander's neck and wiped it hard.

The commander who had fainted suddenly due to the bad news actually suffered no physical injuries.

In the melee and gunfire just now, their consciousness has begun to return.

At this time, I just barely opened my eyes, but I saw a flash of light in front of me, and then a fierce pain came surgeing.

The commander wanted to scream and shout, but she only vomited large mouthfuls of blood and lost consciousness with her eyes wide open.

Several generals around who were originally hesitant had not yet reacted, but now had to accept this reality.

Some people directly killed their immediate superiors, so even if they wanted to continue to be loyal subjects of Shun State, it was no longer possible.

They quickly sorted out their thoughts, arranged for people to go out and contact the Ming army entering the city, and jointly drafted an order requiring the army in the city to stop fighting.

For the Ming generals, the siege of Tashkent seemed to have started well but ended badly.

They did not fully deploy their forces and did not have sufficient firepower, but they took down this fortified city after just three days of continuous bombing.

At the same time, in the southern part of the Indian Peninsula and the eastern part of the Indian region, the coalition forces of the Ming vassal states and the main forces of Southeast Asia also launched a full-scale offensive on the same day.

The army in southern India was divided into two groups. Under the cover of aircraft and warships, they attacked northward along the coastline of the Indian peninsula and quickly occupied cities and villages near the coastline.

The troops in the Nanyang region, which had originally gathered in western Myanmar, crossed the border directly and attacked the Bangladesh region under the cover of the air force and navy.

The early combat plan for the entire Indian region was to first completely control the coastline and completely seal off the Shun Kingdom inland.

India's maritime foreign trade had long been cut off by the Ming Navy, and now all the ships near the Indian coast belong to the Ming military and the imperial court.

Now we need to completely control the coastline for use by the Ming army.

Establish forward bases on the coastline, use ships by sea to quickly replenish personnel and supplies, and gradually gain control over India's inland areas.

The Ming army advanced very quickly. It cannot be said to be unstoppable, but rather a march to encircle territory.

Li Celing already knew that the coastline was the most vulnerable place to attack, and the Shun army could not defend the coastline.

Therefore, in the days before the war officially broke out, the Shun army near the Indian coastline began to fully implement the scorched earth tactics required by Li Celing.

All residents within 30 kilometers of the coastline were relocated to inland areas.

All valuable property in all villages and towns within the area was taken away with the personnel, and everything that could not be taken away was burned.

All the farmland was burned down, and all the wells and rivers were polluted.

All the rivers leading inland are sunk by rocks or other objects, directly blocking the river channels or forming reefs.

Only a few large coastal cities, such as Mumbai, retained their defensive forces and prepared to rely on the cities to try to fight against the Ming army.

(End of this chapter)