Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 229: Underground Siege
Led by the tenant farmers of Gui County, the Red Army sent out a surprise force, which took a small path over Yaji Mountain and unexpectedly appeared on the enemy's flank.

The Red Army seized the opportunity to attack Watangdu from the front, and the surprise troops advanced with drums and drums. The enemy was frightened and fled, abandoning the defense line of Watangdu and returning to defend Guixian.

Gui County is located in the upper reaches of Xunzhou, in the center of the Yujiang Plain, surrounded by fertile fields, and is an absolutely large county. In the Ming Dynasty, there were one guard and one post here, namely Fengyi Guard and Xiangwu Post, which were in the same city as Gui County. The importance of having a county, a guard, and a post in one city is self-evident, and the size of the city is also self-evident.

Chen Bangfu also knew the importance of your county, and dispatched elite troops to defend it strictly.

The Red Army approached Guixian County, and the defenders did not dare to fight and retreated into the city.

Danchu went to scout in person and saw that the walls of Gui County were high and thick, so it seemed that it would not be easy to attack by force.

The Intelligence Bureau originally planned to incite the garrison to revolt and sent scouts into the city. However, Chen's army lost Watang Ferry and learned from the pain, so they strengthened their counter-espionage work. The Red Army's plan to seize Guixian County through internal and external cooperation was not feasible for the time being.

We can only attack by force.

There are many ways to attack by force. In ancient times, ladders, battering rams, catapults, and shield carts were often used. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, these methods were no longer effective. Because firearms were popular, the defenders could place cannons on the top of the city walls and easily smash the enemy's ladders, battering rams, and shield carts.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the most effective way to attack a city was to concentrate dozens or even hundreds of red-haired cannons to directly blow down the city walls, or to dig tunnels and bury gunpowder directly under the city walls to blow them down.

The Red Cannon was expensive and not portable, so it was not favored by the Red Army. Danchu decided to attack the city from underground and called Wang Xihu, the commander of the Second Engineer Battalion of the Auxiliary Brigade.

He got straight to the point and said, "Wang Xihu, I plan to use the underground siege method to attack your county. Do you think it is feasible?"

Wang Xihu was originally the leader of the Quanzhou Volunteer Army. His subordinates were all coal miners who were good at digging tunnels. He had just joined the Red Army and was thinking about serving the country. He patted his chest and said, "No problem, my battalion can dig a tunnel directly under the city wall."

Underground sieges require very high technical skills. The tunnel must not collapse, must maintain its direction, and reach directly under the city wall. The depth must be maintained, neither too deep nor too shallow.

If there is a slight deviation, the underground siege will fail and even lead to the loss of troops. There are too many lessons in this regard.

Danchu saw that he was speaking lightly, and said seriously, "Wang Xihu, there is no joking in the army."

Wang Xihu's expression changed, and he said, "Marshal, Xihu is sure. When digging a tunnel, the most fearful thing is to encounter rocks and water seepage. Your county is surrounded by plains, and there is only Pingtian Mountain in the north, which is far away from the city. There is mostly soil outside the city, and there are not many rocks. Now it is winter, the water in Yujiang River is shallow, and the groundwater level is low, so it is not easy to seep water."

"How many days will it take you to dig a tunnel?"

"There are no enemy troops outside the city. Our army can start digging on the main street west of the city. I guarantee that we can dig a tunnel in two days at most. If there is any mistake, I am willing to be punished by military law."

Danchu was confident and said, "Okay, I will order you to dig a tunnel in the Second Engineer Battalion within two days. After the task is completed, there will be a big reward."

"Yes, I will fulfill my mission."

The next morning, Danchu went to the engineering camp to inspect the progress of the tunnel.

The Red Army's first underground siege was supervised by Operations Director Yang Yuqi, who hoped to draw lessons from it and promote the tactics in the future.

Seeing Danchu, Yang Yuqi came forward and said with a smile: "This Wang Xihu is quite capable and is very good at digging tunnels. At this rate, the tunnel will be completed by nightfall."

"So fast?" Danchu was also surprised. The task was assigned to him yesterday morning, but he was able to complete it this evening. It was amazingly fast.

If you think about it carefully, it makes sense. The defenders were afraid of fighting and all hid in the city. They were completely passive in defense. Apart from blindly firing, they had no other measures, as if they were waiting for the Red Army to attack the city. The Red Army went straight to the street outside the West Gate, using the houses and buildings on the street as cover and digging tunnels on the spot. The straight-line distance to the West Gate was only half a mile.

"Where's Wang Xihu?"

"He couldn't let it go, so he went down to the tunnel himself to prevent any mistakes. This guy can endure hardships and is a promising talent. He didn't sleep all night last night. The engineering battalion was divided into two shifts, taking turns digging day and night."

It is indeed necessary for officers below the battalion level to do everything personally. The army is cramped outside the city of Guixian, and there is no tunnel to build, so there is no way to attack the city.

Soon, Wang Xihu got the news and rushed out from the tunnel, sweating all over, naked, covered in mud, filthy, and smelling terrible.

When he saw Danchu, he smiled shyly, showing his white teeth, and said, "Marshal, please forgive me. I was born a miner and I am used to working underground without clothes."

Danchu was very touched. He took a bowl of salt water from his personal guard and said, "Xihu, drink some water first. After the battle is over, I will treat you to a celebratory drink."

Many engineers gathered around, most of them were coal miners, and they all smiled innocently when they saw the coach was so approachable. Miners work underground for a long time, and they are highly organized, with many taboos, hardship, and fatigue. Most of them are not good at speaking, but they have very strict discipline.

"I am so honored that you have the guts to personally bring me some water, Marshal." Wang Xihu was tired and thirsty, so he drank the bowl of salt water in one gulp.

The auxiliary soldiers brought two large baskets of dried horse meat.

Danchu said, "Thank you for the hard work of the engineering battalion. Xihu, these two baskets of dried meat, share them with the brothers."

The miners' eyes turned red and they almost cried.

"Marshal, you have been so kind and generous. You have taken us in as soldiers and provided us with food, and you care about us so much. We would sacrifice our lives for you without hesitation." Wang Xihu spoke with great emotion, which touched Dan Chu's heart.

This man was able to become the leader of the miners, and he dared to rise up and establish himself as a leader among the rebels in Quanzhou. He is obedient and capable of commanding his subordinates, and seems to be a talented general. In the future, we should pay more attention to him and train him.

But he turned to his engineers and said, "Gentlemen, we are all 'coal blacks' and are discriminated against. The government and the Tartars treat us as slaves and do not care about our lives. They only ask us for coal and give us some broken grains and rotten rice to eat.

"The youngest of us are in our teens, the oldest are in their forties or fifties, and we live worse than a dog in an official's house. Many of us don't even have a decent piece of clothing, and we smell like coal dust wherever we go.

"Marshal Jue has taken us in, and has allowed us to serve as soldiers and have food to eat. Our families now have a place to eat, and we finally look like human beings. Following Marshal Jue, as long as we work hard, we will have no worries about not being rich in the future."

This statement was concise and easy to understand, which impressed Danchu. A person's ability and ideas can be seen from his speeches and articles. This Wang Xihu has a lot of knowledge.

Danchu smiled and said, "Everyone has worked hard. If we capture your county tomorrow through the underground siege, the Second Engineer Battalion will be credited with the first merit."

"Don't worry, Marshal. We will risk our lives to dig the tunnel. Tomorrow our army will be able to capture your county."

A team of miners came out of the tunnel, most of them naked and covered in dirt. Another team of miners had rested and recovered their strength, and greeted each other and lined up to enter the tunnel. The miners were orderly and well organized, as expected.

The next morning, at daybreak, there was a muffled sound from underground, the ground shook, and the city wall on the east side of the west gate of Gui County collapsed, leaving a gap more than ten feet long.

The Red Army's death squad had been waiting for a long time and immediately rushed through the gap and entered the city.

(End of this chapter)