Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 563

The Ming army deployed its defenses intensively. After a lot of troubles, He Tengjiao, the governor of Chu, finally led more than 4 people from Ma Jinzhong, Wang Jincai, and Chen Zilong to Wuchang. The momentum of the horns.

A few days after the Sanjiangkou Ming army blocked Duduo, because the water village was breached by the Qing soldiers, the general Yan Wenjie died in battle, and Man Dazhuang and Wang Ding were ordered to retreat to Jiangxia to join Duyinxi.

In midsummer, the combat power of the Eight Banners soldiers is not very reliable, so the main force in this battle between Chu and Jiangxi is the green battalion soldiers, and the green battalion soldiers who surrendered in the two Huaihe Rivers and the south of the Yangtze River are the main ones.

Ninety percent of Duduo's [-] troops are green battalion soldiers.

In order to attack Wuchang Jiancheng, Zhang Yong, former generals of Zuozhen, Li Benshen and Yang Chengzu, former generals of Gaozhen, Zhang Sida, Gao Qian, and Yan Shiyi, former generals of Liuzhen, and Liu Zhong, former generals of Li Chuang, totaled nine Thousands of green battalion soldiers, they are either the elite soldiers of the four towns, or the elite soldiers of Zuozhen and Chuangbing in Wuchang. Advance to Wuchang.

The Manchus were not good at siege, and most of these generals from the green battalion were masters in attack and defense. Duoduo opened up Sanjiangkou, and there was no obstacle to Wuchang City. He was bound to win.

On the way to the army, Duoduo adopted Fu Shangrui's advice and put up a list along the way, declaring that those who cooperated with the Qing army would not beheaded, ransacked their homes, or smoked their men. Rewards such as raising the flag, worshiping the prince, rewarding silver, and giving land are allowed, but if there are those who fight against the heavenly soldiers of the Holy Dynasty, and those who do not surrender when the soldiers arrive, the whole city will be slaughtered.

The notice was posted, but the Qing soldiers soon realized that it was meaningless. The Qing army had a bad reputation and committed all kinds of crimes by burning, killing and looting. Before the army arrived, the people along the way basically ran away.

Huguang Tianxia Granary is also considered a wealthy place. Qing soldiers rushed in. Ordinary soldiers didn’t care if anyone read the notice. They came here to fight in the hot weather, but they did not get any benefits, and the Qing soldiers became angry.

Fortunately, Wuchang is in front of it, the belly of the nine provinces. Although it has experienced wars, I heard that Governor He has managed it well.

Without Duoduo's mobilization, this group of devoid of conscience rushed to Wuchang with red eyes, and it was bound to take Wuchang down and plunder a lot.

At the beginning of July, the forward of the Qing army against the river arrived in the eastern suburbs of Wuchang. Duoduo led the Qing general to spy on the city defense of Wuchang, and his eyes could not help but reveal surprise.

The height of the Wuchang city wall and the width of the moat far exceeded Duoduo's expectations. In his opinion, the specifications of Wuchang should be the same as those of Hangzhou and Jinan, but the specifications of Wuchang City are already close to those of Beijing and Jiangning.

"He Tengjiao is so courageous!" Manchu entered the customs, did not learn the culture of the Central Plains, but was familiar with the various rules and regulations, Duoduo put down the binoculars and cursed.

"My lord, in the Ming Dynasty, now the master is weak and the ministers are strong, the weak officials are strong and the branches are strong. The power of the local governors has grown, and it is difficult for the Ming court to control them. Many people under the regulations do not abide by them." Fu Shangrui said: "Just like this Wuchang The city, He Tengjiao was built according to the standards of Jiangning, and the various facilities on the city wall are so complex and complete that they are not comparable to other provincial cities."

Refugees from northern Hubei flocked to Wuchang last year. Wang Yan promoted work-for-relief. After he left, Du Yinxi and He Tengjiao also continued to implement. Some refugees were sent to Hunan to dig Lingqu, while those who stayed in Hubei mainly rebuilt Xiangfan and Wuchang City.

He Tengjiao took great care in running his lair, so Wuchang was heightened and reinforced, and all kinds of facilities were fully repaired.

Hearing what Fu Shangrui said, Duoduo waved his horsewhip and walked around the city. He found that it was true as Fu Shangrui said. There were many horse faces, enemy towers, and fortresses in the city. Moreover, the city was more than 20 miles long, and there were no 10 horses. , Wuchang is very difficult to fight down.

Fu Shangrui saw the dignified look on Duoduo's face, and hurriedly stepped forward and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, don't worry, the defense situation of Wuchang City is clear to me twice, how many horse faces are on each wall, how many cannons are placed, where is the wall thickness?" , where the walls are thin, the slaves will only speak."

"Oh?" Duoduo was overjoyed when he heard this, and he couldn't help but praise, "Very good, after returning to the camp, you can draw the blueprint, and the king will reward you a lot."

"Don't worry, my lord, the servant has already drawn the blueprint and is ready to present it to my lord!"

Duoduo laughed. With such a person familiar with Wuchang's defense, he felt that his certainty of capturing Wuchang had increased by at least [-]%.Looking at the siege equipment he brought in, there are eighty cannons in red clothes alone, a thousand ladders, goose carts, and a hundred thousand strong soldiers. If he can't take Wuchang down, will he have the face to face others?

He had to take down this Wuchang city, otherwise why would he talk about capturing Chu and Jiangxi and destroying Nanming?

Immediately, Duoduo rode back to the camp, and the Qing army began to build a stretch of camps on the outskirts of the city.

The scorching heat in July was unbearable, and there had been no rain for more than ten days. The air the soldiers breathed and the wind blowing were all scorching hot.

At the head of Wuchang city, the soldiers of the Ming army were bare-armed and busy carrying arrows, lumber, stones, kerosene and other objects.

On the horse's face, a swarm of bees and a hundred tigers rushed to shoot arrows, lined up, and the Zhentianlei packed in a wooden box was also carried up.

Beside the gun mount, the gunner was adjusting the gun position and cleaning the gun bore, while several soldiers were squatting on the ground, loading the guns with ammunition to ensure the continuous firing of the Frang machine gun.

The soldiers of the Ming army in the city were in full swing, and the gentry and common people in Wuchang did not break their promises. In order to keep He Tengjiao to defend the city, they really paid for food and money. It can also be seen that although the Ming court was poor, the gentry were really rich.

The young and strong in the city were also organized to go to the Governor's Yamen to beg for weapons and help the officers and soldiers defend the city. Overcrowded.

In this regard, Chen Youlong and Ma Jinzhong have more opinions. There are [-] Ming troops in the city, which is enough to deal with it, and it is not enough for the people to defend the city with swords. Moreover, if the young and strong go to the city in a hurry without training, it will become trouble .

After the two persuaded, He Tengjiao let Qing Zhuang go down to the city, and finally left five thousand to carry supplies and equipment, and sent all the rest home, don't go out if you have nothing to do, eat less food, save some food, even if it is for the guards The city helped a lot.

(Thank you Lan Yuyu for the monthly ticket, thank you for coming to give me a smile, I am so happy for the reward from a group of fools)

(End of this chapter)