Zhu Yuanzhang in the cellar

Chapter 289 Art is an Explosion

In late October, after another half month of marching, Ao Bai's main forces finally arrived at the north bank of the Yangtze River in Chongqing.

Moreover, it wasn't just north of the Yangtze River; large numbers of Qing troops were also approaching from the east and south of the Yangtze.

The old city of Chongqing is surrounded by rivers on three sides, with only the west side being land.

The Qing army under Li Guoying and Wang Yizheng surrounded Chongqing from the west, completely encircling it.

From the drone's perspective, Chongqing appears to be surrounded by Qing army camps, with densely packed fortifications resembling a new city being built on the outskirts of Chongqing.

By this time, the Qing army had long since abandoned the cavalry-based tactics and switched to infantry tactics dominated by the Green Standard Army.

Ao Bai ordered Li Guoying and Wang Yizheng to attack from the west, while he himself prepared boats to attempt to cross the river and fight.

The mountain city may seem easy to defend and difficult to attack, but in reality it is also easy to attack.

The riverbank defense line is too long. If there are not enough cannons, it is easy for ships to get close to the foot of the mountain and fire at it.

Besides, there are many city gates and many sections of the city wall that need to be defended. Although it is located on high ground, the area is too large, and a sufficient number of people are needed to defend it.

This is why the garrison of Diaoyu City blocked the Mongols in Hechuan, rather than stationing a large force in Chongqing.

However, with sufficient manpower, Chongqing's defense capabilities are still quite strong.

The Qing army launched several probing attacks, but Zhu Yuanzhang did not order the use of modern weapons. Instead, he used crossbows to repel the enemy and then ordered Li Wenzhong to command at the front line, easily resolving the Qing army's offensive.

By early November, Ao Bai had finally mobilized all his troops, and even Wu Sangui was persuaded by his envoys to accelerate his march south.

Almost as soon as he finished deploying the troops, he began a full-scale probing.

The order was given to Xu Tianchong, Zhao Liangdong, Deng Zhilin, Wang Zhiding, Xu Zhidu, Yi Sixiao and others to lead the Green Standard Army to attack Chongqing.

These people were not Green Standard Army commanders, but rather commanders, deputy commanders, and captains of the Han Eight Banners.

They were mostly Han Chinese from Liaodong or Ming generals who surrendered and their descendants. For example, Wang Zhiding was the son of Wang Shixuan, and Deng Zhilin was the son of Deng Changchun.

Their fathers were Manchu bannermen of pure lineage, the most loyal lackeys of the Manchu Qing dynasty, and they contributed to the massacres of Han people, such as the Yangzhou Massacre and the Jiading Massacre.

Urged on by these lackeys, a large number of Green Standard Army soldiers began to march towards the mountain city.

Following Zhu De's instructions, Li Wenzhong fought and retreated west of the mountain city, all the way to the Tongyuan Gate, Jintang Gate, and Dingyuan Gate area. When the Qing army caught up, they bombarded him with mortars.

After the bombardment, the Qing troops retreated like a receding tide.

After the bombardment ended, the Qing army returned.

Afterwards, Ao Bai ordered the Green Standard Army to land by boat, which was also bombarded by mortars.

After the ship was damaged, it sank directly into the river. The Qing soldiers on board had no time to escape and were all swept to the bottom of the river to be eaten by fish.

After several days of probing, the Green Standard Army soldiers dared not take the boat anymore, and their morale was extremely low.

Seeing this, Ao Bai finally decided to attack by land.

Although the Ming army's ability to retaliate with artillery fire has been weakening in recent days, the losses from large-scale shipping are still unbearable.

If the Ming army had any reserves, they would surely be wiped out if transported by ship.

Therefore, after making the decision, apart from leaving some troops to guard the three opposite banks of the river (north, east, and south), the main force began to move westward on a large scale.

In mid-November, after more than half a month of probing attacks, the Ming army won more battles than it lost.

Because they fought mostly ambush battles and used surprise attacks, the Ming army would retreat whenever the Qing army tried to engage them in close combat, and would respond with mortars. As a result, the Ming army suffered almost no losses.

In contrast, the Qing army suffered losses of several thousand men after several rounds of probing.

However, the number and scale of the Ming army's artillery fire also decreased, which exacerbated the problem that Aobai and others believed the Ming army's artillery fire was insufficient.

After their discussion, many senior Qing military officers and staff analyzed that the Ming army did indeed have not enough artillery shells, which is why they chose a delaying tactic in an attempt to wage a war of attrition against them.

The Ming army had seized a large amount of supplies from Wu Sangui, and with the support of local chieftains in the southwest, they were certainly not short of food and provisions. The purpose was to delay and wait for changes to occur in Jiangnan.

Ao Bai thought it made a lot of sense.

However, it was unrealistic to expect him to send the main force of the Manchu, Mongol, and Han Eight Banners to attack. He would still have to rely on hundreds of thousands of Green Standard Army soldiers as cannon fodder to exhaust the Ming army's cannonballs before he could continue the attack.

Therefore, Ao Bai decided to besiege Chongqing without attacking it. His main force was to surround Chongqing, and he would send small groups of Green Standard Army soldiers to attack it every day, making a feigned attack on Chongqing and forcing them to use artillery.

Little did they know that this was exactly what Old Zhu wanted.

Old Zhu hoped they would gather all the personnel together.

If we launch a large-scale attack, the dispersed personnel will be harder to annihilate.

November 19th was already the dead of winter, and it was said that heavy snow had fallen in Shaanxi.

Although the cold air in Sichuan is blocked by the Qinling Mountains, this only applies to the basin area; the plateau area has long been covered by heavy snow.

However, by late November, the temperature had dropped significantly.

Although Chongqing has a subtropical monsoon climate and hardly snows in winter, don't forget that it is currently in the Little Ice Age, and the temperature is close to zero degrees Celsius.

The Hongwu soldiers, dressed in heavy coats, were completely unaffected by the cold air.

The Southern Ming army was in a similar situation.

The main purpose was to seize a large amount of Wu Sangui's supplies.

By the eighteenth year of the Shunzhi reign, the Qing court only had three major rivals left: Li Dingguo, Bai Wenxuan, the thirteen families of Kuidong in the southwest, and Zheng Chenggong in the southeast.

Therefore, they deployed heavy troops in the southwest and southeast.

Large quantities of supplies and military equipment were stored in Guiyang, Kunming, Chongqing, Chengdu and other places.

In addition to granting Wu Sangui the power to collect taxes and appoint officials in the southwest, the Qing court also allowed him to manufacture his own weapons, and provided him with a certain amount of salary and provisions for his troops every year.

This was also the source of Wu Sangui's confidence to rebel later.

At this time, no supplies were captured in Chengdu, but the supplies in Guiyang, Kunming and Chongqing were all seized by the Hongwu army.

It was unnecessary for the Hongwu army, but it was a necessity for the Southern Ming army.

Especially Li Dingguo, Bai Wenxuan, and the thirteen families of Kuidong, who were so poor they were practically selling their pants.

This batch of supplies not only solved their immediate problem, but also enabled them to quickly equip themselves and gain a certain level of combat capability.

At this moment, it is still the iron mast of Nanshan Mountain. The mountaintop, which is over 600 meters above sea level, is already frozen over. Thick fog surrounds the area, making it impossible to see the river surface.

Therefore, Lao Zhu and his group could only go to the mountainside at an altitude of over 400 meters to get a glimpse of the situation to the west.

of course.

You definitely can't see it with the naked eye.

They were located seven or eight kilometers away from the Qing army's encampment. Unless they went outside the city to Eling Mountain in the west, they couldn't see clearly with their telescopes.

However, drones are unaffected.

Soon, drone pilots transmitted back footage of the Qing army's encampment outside the city.

At the edge of the cliff halfway up the mountain, the earth seemed to shrink considerably.

Zhu Di, Zhu Yunfeng, and many guards accompanied him to the side.

In later generations, this area has long been developed into a scenic spot, and iron railings have been installed to prevent people from falling in.

Of course, it wasn't there at that time.

Therefore, everyone moved a little further away from the edge of the cliff and looked around with binoculars for a while.

The guards brought chairs, and the three of them sat down at the foot of a cliff, gazing westward at the densely packed Qing army camps.

"It seems that Ao Bai has been tricked."

Zhu Di took out a tablet and looked down from the drone's perspective; the people on the ground looked as dense as ants.

What does it mean for hundreds of thousands of people to gather in one place?
At first glance, it stretched out to the horizon.

It is located in a mountainous area, roughly in the Daping area of ​​the Yuzhong District in later generations.

This is considered a relatively flat area in Chongqing, and the surrounding trees have long been cut down.

From south to north, west to Daping, and east to Eling, within a radius of four or five kilometers, there are camps everywhere, at least a hundred at a glance.

But this is only part of the story.

Because Ao Bai advanced in batches, crossing the Jialing River by boat from the upper reaches, a large number of boats shuttled back and forth on the river, and it took several days to transport all the people.

Those who arrived first set up camp, and those who arrived later also had to set up temporary camps. As a result, the Qing army moved like ants over the next few days, and the camps were bustling with activity.

“In the past few days, drone reconnaissance has revealed that the main force of the Qing army has already crossed the river. Now, only a small number of troops have been left on the east, north, and south banks to prevent us from crossing the river and escaping.”

Zhu Yunfeng also said.

Old Zhu pondered for a moment and then asked, "Is there any news about Wu Sangui?"

Not yet.

Zhu Di shook his head: "Although we brought several military drones that can fly more than 200 kilometers, they will lose signal with the controller if the distance is too far. We have not established military-grade remote control base stations, only industrial-grade ones, and the remote control range is at most 40-50 kilometers. The scouts we sent out have not returned yet. Chongqing is surrounded, and it is difficult for people to go out or come in. If we send our own people, it will be easy to expose our true combat strength."

"Ah."

Old Zhu nodded.

He knew all of this. He had heard before that Wu Sangui was terrified, but he didn't expect him to be really this frightened.

It was somewhat unexpected that Ao Bai dared not come when his army arrived in person.

Zhu Di then asked, "Father, are we still waiting for him?"

"It's not within forty or fifty kilometers, is it?"

"No, drones patrol every day, and we haven't detected anything as of today."

"never mind."

Old Zhu waved his hand, stood on the edge of the cliff with his hands behind his back, and said, "He's lucky this time. Let him live a few more days. Give the order and get ready to begin."

"it is good."

Zhu Di picked up the walkie-talkie, pressed the talk button, and shouted, "Attention everyone! Attention everyone! This is Zhu Di! This is Zhu Di! His Majesty has ordered the deployment to begin!"

It was early morning, and Hongwu's army was spread throughout the mountains and forests.

Recently, they have been cutting down trees on the mountain to clear a camp with a good view and easy access for operating weapons.

Xishan, which is the area around Pipashan in the center of Chongqing in later years, is more than 300 meters above sea level and is 4 kilometers away from Daping, where the Qing army was located.

The vegetation at the mountaintop had been completely cleared away, and trucks were being towed up the mountain. The commanders in charge of bringing these vehicles up the mountain felt like they were about to die.

Although Pipa Mountain is not steep, these are all 105mm howitzers, and the total weight of them, including the tractor, reaches 1.3 tons.

In later generations, we used vehicles to transport artillery to their destinations. However, this was not possible in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. The limited number of trucks could not go up the mountain, so they were transported to the mountain by manpower and mules.

At this moment, hundreds of domestically produced AH-2 105mm towed artillery pieces are neatly arranged.

The officers have been busy with debugging and moving things recently. They just finished setting up the artillery position a few days ago and are now sitting in their tents drinking Red Bull and chatting.

Upon hearing Zhu Di's order, the officers immediately perked up, stood up, and headed towards the artillery position, calling for their soldiers to come and get ready.

at the same time.

Another unnamed hill to the north had its summit also cleared out to create a helipad.

Dozens of unmanned helicopters are densely packed here.

Its fuselage is three meters long and 1.6 meters high, about the size of a small car.

Compared to the artillery positions, things are much easier here. We flew up here anyway, so there's not much to worry about.

Most of the Ming army's drone pilots were here.

Upon hearing the voice on the walkie-talkie, they immediately began to take action.

In addition, mortar squads and rifle squads also took their positions and began to move towards the western outskirts of the city.

Ten minutes later, Zhu Di called out into the walkie-talkie: "How is the artillery position deployment?"

"The artillery positions have been completed, with the spades inserted into the pits, the gun positions fixed, and the orientation determined. The deployment is complete. Please give your instructions, Your Highness."

"How's the ammunition preparation?"

"Projectile loaded, cartridge locked!"

"Has the weather correction been completed?"

"Completed!"

"Have you locked onto your target yet?"

"Target locked, ready to fire at any time!"

"Alright, stay put and await instructions."

"Yes."

"How is the deployment of the unmanned helicopter positions progressing?"

"The drone site has been deployed and six missiles have been loaded, ready for takeoff and launch at any time."

"Are the machine guns ready?"

"Ready, magazines secured, ready to fire at any time!"

"Alright, stay put and await instructions."

"Yes."

"Infantry squad"

One question after another, instructions and directives were conveyed.

The 20,000-strong Hongwu army consisted of four main branches of service.

These include artillerymen, drone pilots, infantrymen, and mortarmen.

Old Zhu, in a fit of madness, brought more than 300 105mm howitzers, with five men in each artillery group, which was almost an entire artillery regiment.

The drone pilots consist of two people operating the unmanned helicopter together: one is responsible for flying the aircraft, and the other is responsible for launching missiles or firing the machine guns on the aircraft. They make up a whole battalion of them.

The largest force consists of infantry and mortar artillerymen, totaling about 18,000 men. They will be responsible for the next round of ground strikes after the artillery barrage.

The entire tactical setup was very simple: after the artillery opened fire, they bombarded the ground, and the helicopters took off to empty the missiles on their fuselages.

Once the fighting is almost over, use mortars to mow down the ground again.

Then unmanned helicopters and riflemen began strafing the remaining Qing troops from the air and on the ground.

We must annihilate these hundreds of thousands of Qing troops!

"Father, everything is ready."

After communicating with the commanders of each thousand households via walkie-talkie, Zhu Di said to Old Zhu, "The infantry and mortar squads are now in the western city. Later, the mortar positions will be deployed at Eling to continue sweeping the Tartars from a high vantage point."

"it is good!"

Looking at the Qing army camp, which was still busy building fortifications and completely unaware of the impending death, as seen through the footage transmitted by the drone, Old Zhu said heavily, "Fire!"

"Fire!"

Zhu Di immediately became excited, pressed the walkie-talkie and shouted, "Fire! Use up all the shells! Do you hear me?! I want to see an explosion!"

"Fire!"

"Fire!"

"Fire!"

The commanders of the thousand households shouted.

A loud bang came from the artillery positions on Pipa Mountain.

All of a sudden.

All the soldiers wore earplugs and earmuffs in unison.

Not wearing these two things will shatter your eardrums.

Immediately afterwards, the messengers on both sides waved their flags downwards.

"Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!"

The deafening roar seemed to echo across the heavens and the earth as countless howitzers sped toward their designated targets, like dazzling shooting stars!

At the same time, hundreds of unmanned helicopters also quickly took off from the drone base in the distance.

In other words, the unmanned helicopter site is very large, with sufficient safety distance, and these are not actual helicopters, otherwise it would be difficult for so many helicopters to take off.

After taking off, they immediately split up and moved according to the pre-determined altitude and trajectory, climbing to a certain altitude and beginning to prepare to launch missiles.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!"

The missiles on the drones shot out in an instant, many times faster than an arrow released from a bow, and in the blink of an eye they were already on the heads of the Qing soldiers before falling down.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

Howitzers and countless missiles from the artillery positions began to fall like raindrops, one after the other.

Before anyone in the Qing army camp could react, the explosion suddenly rang out.

And it wasn't just one or two sounds, but countless sounds.

There was even a mushroom cloud shooting into the sky.

Thick smoke billowed out, soil and rocks flew everywhere, and the mountains and forests trembled.

The earth was shaking!

The Qing army's hundreds of camps were blown up!
And art.

It was a blast!

(End of this chapter)