The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 49 Preparations before the war
Jiang Han paced back and forth along the ridge, his gaze sweeping over the defensive fortifications of Wangzhuang, trying to find a flaw.

Suddenly, his gaze fixed on a cliff next to the city wall. The cliff was not too steep, about three or four stories high, and below it was the city wall of Wangzhuang.

Jiang Han narrowed his eyes, staring at the cliff, a sudden inspiration flashed in his mind, and a bold plan gradually took shape.

"We can rappel down from there!"

Jiang Han pointed to the cliff in the distance and said to Hei Zi beside him.

Hei Zi looked in the direction he was pointing, his expression immediately changed, and he quickly advised:

"Chief, this is absolutely unacceptable! That cliff is at least three or four zhang high; if you go down there, you'll be smashed to pieces!"

"Besides, as long as there are defenders on the city walls below, we'll be sitting ducks, with no way to escape!"

Jiang Han gritted his teeth, a resolute glint in his eyes:
"Listen to me, do it this way. Go back and mobilize all troops. We must take Wangzhuang in this battle!"

Hei Zi couldn't persuade Jiang Han otherwise, so he had to agree for the time being and would find someone else to persuade Jiang Han when he got back.

Upon returning to Majia Village, Jiang Han didn't dare to delay for a moment and immediately summoned his subordinate sentry captains.

Five people sat around a simple wooden table, discussing their strategy for attacking Wangzhuang.

Jiang Han slowly began to speak, explaining his plan to everyone:
“I’ve seen the barracks in the city, and I estimate there are only three to five hundred people at most. Let’s think of a way; we should be able to take it down.”

"This time I plan to personally lead two teams to rappel down the cliff."

Upon hearing this, Dong Erzhu immediately became anxious:

"No, absolutely not! Second Brother Han, this is too risky!"

Jiang Han waved his hand to signal him to calm down and continued:

"At that time, I will mobilize all troops and divide them into two groups. One main force will launch a strong attack on the city gates to draw the defenders' attention."

"The other route will be led by me personally, with two elite teams rappelling down the cliff behind the mountain, striking directly at the rear of the defenders, attacking from both sides, and breaking through the city in one fell swoop!"

He paused, then turned to look at Dong Erzhu.
"Zhu Zi, pick a few clever brothers and stuff the explosives under the city gate. As soon as the explosives go off, you attack the city immediately and make sure to lure the main force of the defending army to the city gate."

“After an incense stick has burned, I will lead the people down the cliff to reduce the risk of being discovered.”

Shao Yong, who was standing to the side, was still somewhat worried after listening and couldn't help but interject:

"Lord Jiang, how about we ask for some help?"

"Zhang Cunmeng has quite a few men on his side. Let him take more men, and we can blow open the city gates under cover of night and rush in directly. Wouldn't that be safer?"

Jiang Han shook his head and resolutely refused:

"No way! We have to take Wangzhuang ourselves; I'm not willing to share it with anyone else!"

"Moreover, those guys who don't get involved in mud are just a bunch of rabble. Sending them to fight a siege would only be sending them to their deaths."

Jiang Han secretly calculated that the granary in Wangzhuang must have at least several thousand shi of grain, or even tens of thousands of shi, and he didn't want to give half of it away for nothing.

Food is everything; if we want our army to grow, we must take this risk.

With this in mind, Jiang Han made the final decision:
"It's settled then! Hei Zi, go and select two elite teams from each outpost to train them in rappelling."

"Everyone else get ready. Once I've prepared the explosives, we'll charge in!"

Seeing that Jiang Han had made up his mind, everyone accepted the order and went off to prepare for the battle.

Li Laowai wanted to lead his infantry to attack the city gate head-on, so he specially went to fetch all the leather armor he had previously captured.

To minimize casualties, it is essential to ensure that the infantry at the front line wear double armor, while the supporting soldiers must also wear swallowtail shields at all times to protect themselves from arrows shot from above.

The pillars were responsible for building siege weapons, and the most important weapon for attacking the city gate was the battering ram.

Since most of the trees that could be cut down near Anse had already been cut down, he had to send people to Yangta Mountain, dozens of miles away, to find suitable large trees.

Meanwhile, Jiang Han, in order to make the explosive charge as soon as possible, specially summoned several military craftsmen who were repairing armor and asked them to work together.

Making explosive charges is very simple; it's nothing more than black powder. Jiang Han only needs to optimize the loading method.

He had tried making gunpowder and had heard the widely circulated saying: "One part sulfur, two parts saltpeter, three parts charcoal, add a little sugar, and you have the Ivan."

But he can say with certainty that most of that statement is wrong.

The saying "one part sulfur, two parts saltpeter, three parts charcoal" actually refers to molar mass, a volume ratio, not a weight ratio. The optimal weight ratio of black powder should be: saltpeter: sulfur: charcoal = 75:10:15
Nitrate content results in violent explosions, carbon content in stable combustion, and sulfur content in high-calorie content.

Moreover, the ancients were not stupid. In Qi Jiguang's "New Book of Military Tactics", the ratio of gunpowder was recorded as "one ounce of saltpeter, one and four-tenths of a mace of sulfur, and one and eight-tenths of a mace of charcoal". The conversion is about the correct ratio.

The claim that adding sugar to gunpowder can increase its explosive power is utter nonsense.

Not to mention how difficult it was to produce white sugar in ancient times, even explosives containing white sugar were generally called "sugar-nitroglycerin explosives".

Sugar-nitroglycerin powder is used as a propellant or incendiary bomb. Black powder itself has a low burning rate, and the addition of sugar slows down the burning rate even further.

Sugar is considered a strategic resource because it contains a large amount of energy that can meet the body's needs, not because it increases explosive power.

The craftsmen were naturally familiar with gunpowder, and with their quick hands and feet, they produced over a hundred pounds of black powder in less than half a day.

Jiang Han instructed them to wrap each ten-pound packet of gunpowder tightly in thick linen cloth and then tie it with hemp rope to make more than a dozen square explosive packets.

He planned to bury all the explosive charges under the gate tower of Wangzhuang City, giving the defending troops a surprise.

While Jiang Han was making preparations in full swing, in Wangzhuang, Lieutenant General Zhao Hongbin was personally deploying defenses on the city wall.

He brought more than 1,800 men with him, and together with the original garrison in Wangzhuang, the total force reached 2,100 men.

Relying on the fortified city walls, he was confident that he could hold off thousands of troops.

Zhao Hongbin originally had more than 3,000 men under his command, but a few days ago, food supplies ran out, famine broke out in the camp, many people starved to death, and deserters came in droves.

Fortunately, the Li family from Yan'an Prefecture sent grain and asked him to guard Wangzhuang.

Now that they can eat two meals of millet porridge a day, their morale has stabilized, and they have stopped fleeing and started to defend the city with peace of mind.

On the city wall, border soldier Lou Xiang and his companion Lü Ming stared at the endless golden wheat fields, speechless with astonishment.

Lou Xiang shook his head and couldn't help but sigh:

"Damn it, this amount of grain is probably enough to feed our entire battalion for half a year."

He then thought of the poultry and livestock raised in Wangzhuang, and shook his head repeatedly.
"Even the livestock eat better than we do!"

The people of Wangzhuang actually use high-quality grains to raise chickens!
People from Wangzhuang say that livestock raised this way taste better and have better meat quality.

Lou Xiang's mouth watered at the thought of those plump old hens.

He couldn't contain himself any longer and pulled Lü Ming along, intending to sneak down from the city wall to get some chickens to satisfy his craving.

Upon hearing Lou Xiang's plan, Lü Ming was taken aback and whispered:

"Are you crazy? This belongs to Wangzhuang! What do you think you're doing?"

Lou Xiang, however, was completely unconcerned:

"I'm just craving it, so what!"

"Damn it, why are we only allowed two meals a day, and even those are coarse grains like millet that cut your throat?!"

Are we not even as good as the livestock kept in the Prince's mansion?

Lu Ming remained silent, a hint of worry in his eyes.

Seeing Lü Ming remain silent, Lou Xiang pressed his advantage, saying:
"Think about it again, the grain in Wangzhuang's granary is all moldy!"

"If some of them were allocated, would so many of our Jingbian Battalion brothers have to run away?"

After listening, Lü Ming pondered for a long time and nodded in deep agreement.

"Damn it, do whatever you want! I haven't had any meat in over half a year, so what's wrong with eating two chickens today!"

The two hit it off immediately, secretly caught a few old hens, found a corner to start a fire and pluck their feathers, all in one go.

Lu Ming, that sly fellow, wasn't content with just eating them himself; he deliberately caught a few more, roasted them, and shared them with the others on the city wall.

He knew the principle that the law does not punish the masses. If two people ate, they might be punished, but what about twenty people? Or two hundred people?

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(End of this chapter)