scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 358
After some careful measurements and on-the-spot investigations, Han Daren, who is quite proficient in the use of firearms, suggested that Yue Le follow the example of Duoduo and use the west gate of Yangzhou as a breakthrough point to transport 63 long-range red barbarian cannons of the Qing army to the west gate of Yangzhou, ready to concentrate The firepower blasted the city wall of the West Gate of Yangzhou-30 years ago, Duoduo blasted down many sections of the Yangzhou city wall at this location, allowing Qing soldiers to enter the city of Yangzhou on the mountain of corpses.

At the same time, in order to limit the power of the fat army's mother-child cannons and Sanhao rockets, Han Daren suggested that Yue Le arrange the artillery array five miles away from the west gate of Yangzhou. It can also prevent the Fatty Army's trump card and Miyoshi rockets from threatening the Qing army's artillery array.In addition, Han Daren wisely suggested that Yue Le build a temporary fortification in front of the Qing army's artillery formation, which was temporarily composed of a horse ditch, a stockade fence and antlers. It is also difficult to attack the Qing army's artillery array from the front.

The reason why Yue Le, who had no expectations for the Yangzhou war, reused Han Daren was simply to treat a dead horse as a living horse doctor. Seeing that Han Daren's arrangement was very reasonable, he did not hesitate and immediately approved everything Han Daren wanted The tactical arrangement allowed the infantry of the Qing army to prepare according to the law, and arranged for [-] Qing iron cavalry and [-] Mongolian cavalry to stand by the artillery position to prepare for the fat army's surprise attack team out of the city.

In the first year of Zhaowu, at noon on May 14th in the [-]th year of Qingkang Mazi, after careful preparations, the Qing army's second attack on Yangzhou kicked off. Yue Le, Jie Shu, Bo Guoduo, Shang Shan and Tu Hai Waiting for the important generals of the Qing army to come to the front line to observe the artillery battle, Han Daren, a rookie of the Qing army, commanded the artillery battle, and Dai Zi, the chief firearms expert of the Qing army, came to the front line to measure the shooting height and correct the firing angle for the Qing army.

At noon, with the waving of Han Daren's command flag, 63 Hongyi cannons let out earth-shattering roars at the same time, shooting primitive flowering shells and solid shells of different sizes into the sky, and shooting them towards the city wall of Yangzhou along a parabola.Immediately afterwards, dust and smoke splattered on the city wall of the west gate of Yangzhou, sawdust and gravel flew randomly from the brick and wood garrison towers on the city wall, and the soldiers of the fat army who could not avoid it had broken bones and bones, or spattered flesh and blood. It hit the city wall of Yangzhou, and the bricks of the city were smashed into pieces, and the city wall shook slightly.

"Boom! Boom!" The fat cannon on the city wall unceremoniously fired back. Not only was it as accurate as the Qing army's Hongyi cannon calibrated by Dai Zi himself, but it was also far more powerful. The solid shell could fly when it hit the ground Four or five zhang away, wherever they passed, all the soldiers of the Qing army had broken bones and bones.Thick smoke billowed from the city walls of Yangzhou and the artillery positions of the Qing army, and the gunpowder smoke choked the nostrils.

"Eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve..., twelve!" Tu Hai, who silently counted the number of Hongyi cannons in the fat army, roared, "Han Daren guessed right! The number of Hongyi cannons in Yangzhou Wugou Sure enough, there are not many, there are only twelve gates in the west! We have hope in this battle!"

"If there are twelve Hongyi cannons on each of the four city walls in the southeast, north, and west of Yangzhou, then there will be 48 in total. Our advantage in the number of Hongyi cannons is still not obvious." Shang Shan said with a frown.

"Not necessarily!" Yue Le was calmer, and said in a deep voice: "Have you noticed? At least four of Wu Gou's Hongyi cannons were fired in the northwest and southwest corners. With our previous arrangement, Wu Gou is sure Knowing that the west gate is the main position, it is likely that some Hongyi cannons were transferred from other city walls in advance, so there are only twelve in total, which proves that there are really not many Wugou Hongyi cannons in Yangzhou City."

"Let's fight and see. If we continue to fight like this, we will soon know how many Hongyi cannons there are in Yangzhou." Jie Shu expressed his opinion in this way, and Yue Le, Shang Shan and others praised it together, and put aside other thoughts for the time being. Put it aside, and continue to nervously observe the specific situation of the Yangzhou artillery battle.

At this time, when the gunners of the Qing army were still nervously loading ammunition and ammunition, the Fat Army Hongyi cannon fired with a fixed charge bag had already fired again, pouring shells one after another onto the artillery position of the Qing army that exposed the target, rumbling Amidst the explosion, the gunners of the Qing army spattered with flesh and blood, crying ghosts and howling wolves.Although Han Daren tried his best to restrain the gunners to fire as soon as possible, but the gunners of the Fatty Army were too fast. Under the cover of artillery fire, the gunners of the Qing Army were flustered, and the firing speed was even slower, and the firepower was greatly suppressed. The power of Suhe shells made up for the disadvantage in numbers, and the gunners of the Qing army suffered heavy casualties, panicked, and the speed of counterattack was even slower.

"How did Wu Gou's Hongyi cannon fire so fast?" Seeing this scene, Yue Le, who was hiding from a distant high ground to observe the artillery battle, turned pale, and exclaimed: "Our Hongyi cannon fired a shot, and Wu Gou's The Hongyi cannon can fire three shots, and the power of the blooming shells is much greater than ours, and our advantage in the number of artillery can't be used at all."

"I just said that war is not a simple sum of numbers." Jie Shu said sullenly: "Uncle Wang, let our artillery team stop, don't waste gunpowder and shells, let's stop and find another way. "

Yue Le was also reasonable, and felt that Jie Shu's words were reasonable, and saw that the artillery of the Fatty Army was really powerful, and his artillery team was no match at all, so he had no choice but to issue a ceasefire order, and the order was passed to the position. Amnesty, hurry up and stop firing gunpowder.Seeing the Qing army cease fire, the fat army officers and soldiers on the city wall of Yangzhou burst into cheers, laughing and mocking the ugly behavior of the Qing army. Our Da Zhou army competes with firearms, we are courting death!"

When the gunners of the Qing army hurriedly transferred the black powder and shells, Han Daren and Dai Zi also returned to the banner of the Qing army dejectedly. Not only were their faces blackened by gunpowder smoke, but Han Daren also had a lot of blood on his body , I don't know if it was shot by the shrapnel from the fat army, or the blood of the soldiers of the Qing army.Seeing Yue Le, Han Daren and Dai Zi knelt down together helplessly, clasped their fists together and said, "Your slaves are incompetent, you lost the artillery battle, please forgive me, my lord."

"Get up, it's not your fault." Yue Le sighed, helped Han Daren and Dai Zi personally, and comforted him: "Today's defeat has nothing to do with you two, it's because our explosives are not as good as Wu Gou, we The gunners are not as good as Wu Gou, you all tried your best."

After finishing speaking, Yue Le beckoned for the soldiers to bring two gourds of water, handed them to Han Daren and Dai Zi, and said gently: "Being smoked like this by gunpowder, you must be very thirsty, right? Drink some water, let's start again." Discuss how to break the city." Han Daren and Dai Zi were grateful together, thanked Yue Le quickly, and accepted Yue Le's reward with both hands.

"Huh?" As soon as he fed the gourd to his mouth, Dai Zi, a firearms genius, suddenly felt his heart move. After turning his eyes a few times, Dai Zi suddenly focused on a farmland next to the Qing army flag array, ignoring everyone's surprise With a quick look, he ran over quickly with the gourd in his hand, poured a full gourd of water into the field, and stomped on it a few times with his feet.Then he hurriedly turned around and shouted at Yue Le, Han Daren and the others: "My lord, General Han, please come and have a look, and bring some water."

Yue Le, Shang Shan, Tu Hai, Han Daren and others looked at each other and followed curiously. Seeing that Dai Zi poured clean water into the field, the soil in the field had softened. I can submerge the sole.Yue Le, Tu Hai and the others couldn't help being even more puzzled, and asked together: "Mr. Dai, what did you tell us to watch?"

Dai Zi didn't answer, just grabbed the water hyacinth from Han Daren's hand, poured all the remaining water into the place, and asked Yue Le's soldiers to bring a bucket of water, poured it all into the field, and softened the soil. The field was muddy, and finally he picked up a stone and smashed it down hard. As the mud splashed, the stone was completely submerged in the mud.After finishing all this, Dai Zi raised his head and asked Yue Le with a happy face, "My lord, do you understand?"

"What do I understand?" Yue Le was even more puzzled.

"I understand!" Han Daren yelled, "Mr. Dai has found a way to deal with Wugou's shells. If we arrange the artillery positions in the field, use wood or stones under the artillery to fix them as temporary forts, and then draw river water Flood the fields, turn them into mud, and then we won't use Wugou's shells!"

"I also understand!" Tuhai is also a smart person, exclaiming with great joy: "If the artillery position is made into mud, Wu Gou's solid shells will sink in the mud, and they will not be able to bounce up and hurt people! And Wu Gou Even if the flowering shells are not drowned by the mud when they get into the mud, most of the power of the explosives will be absorbed by the mud when they explode again, making them inferior to our ordinary flowering shells in the Qing Dynasty!"

"Mr. Dai is really clever, he figured out a way to restrain Wu Gou's artillery so quickly!" Shang Shanxi said: "What's even better is that only we can use this move, Wu Gou can't - Wu Gou can't take Yangzhou The city wall was also flooded into a piece of thin mud, right?"

"Then why are you still standing there?" Yue Le finally opened his mouth and shouted: "Go and find me a suitable location immediately, rearrange the artillery positions, and then let the infantry get ready with hoes and dustpans, ready to dig ditches to divert water at any time! This king won't believe it." , Lu Yifeng's firearm, can really be invincible?!"

........................

At the same time, outside the city of Taiping Mansion, with the help of the people in southern Huizhou and the scouts of the Fatty Army, Fatty Lu finally figured out the general movement of the Qing army on the western front.What made Fatty Lu laugh out loud was that the Fatty Army sent to Tongling made a detailed report. The new Qing army commander Zhang Taizhang, the God of War of the Qing Dynasty, suspected that his troops were insufficient. With 3000 troops, Prince Zhang's Eastern Expeditionary Army reached [-], and there were less than [-] defenders in Tongling City.

You know, the reason why Leerjin left so many defenders in Tongling, besides guarding Tongling, an important town in Anhui Province, is to support the [-] troops led by Leerjin himself. With this army gone, Le Erjin, who was in charge of the Fanchang battlefield, was truly fighting alone.What made Leerjin vomit blood and Fatty Lu laughed so hard was that Prince Zhang forcibly transferred away the ten thousand Qing army. In fact, it happened to be the real essence of the Tongling Qing army. Even Leerjin was reluctant to bring it to the Fanchang battlefield to consume and waste. The absolute elite—otherwise, would Leerjin dare to expect strong support from the rear from Tongling?
Immediately afterwards, the movements of Prince Zhang's [-] troops were quickly found out by the fat scouts—maybe because he was too impressed with the sweetness he tasted in Nanjing last time, Prince Zhang did not take the road east of Huanghu Town to Fanchang. Lord Leerjinbeile, who set out first, joins forces and joins forces to deal with the fat army.Prince Zhang once again chose to enter the Ningguo Mansion directly from Tongling to the east, and assumed the posture of forming an angle with Leerjin, threatening Fatty Army Taiping Mansion and Nanjing from the side, and also isolated Leerjin more thoroughly. This member of the [-] army of the general of the Qing army.

In this way, the main force of the Qing army on the western front, which caused the fat army the most headache, has actually been divided into three groups by Prince Zhang himself. The Anqing navy led by Ghent Batulu was about 6000 people, and was sent by Prince Zhang to the Digang area. Hou ordered that Leerjin's 4 troops stationed in Fanchang. The distance between the two armies reached [-] miles, and it was difficult for them to rescue each other quickly.The [-] main force on the western front led by Prince Zhang moved eastward to Ningguo Mansion, which is farther away from Le Erjin and Ghent Baturu. As for his real destination and station - even Fatty Lu couldn't guess it.

It’s not that Fatty Lu is incompetent, it’s that Prince Zhang is really amazing. In history, he led 10,000+ elite Qing troops to besiege Kunming City. Prince Zhang dared to battalion for more than 70 miles. When we arrived at Taiping Mansion at the junction of Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, our Fatty Lu's head really couldn't keep up with the thinking of Lord Zhang.

"Brother Da Ren, the five thousand shi army rations I asked you to sell last time are really a bargain." After reading the information on the Qing army's movements compiled by Yao Qisheng, Fatty Lu couldn't help applauding, and smiled at Han Daren: " Although Man Gou pays the bill a little later, as long as Man Gou is willing to pay dozens of times the price, the deal is still a good deal for us.”

"The general has been worried before that if the Emperor Mangou handed over the Mangou on the western front to Le Erjin, then we will be in trouble." Han Daren said with a sinister smile: "Although we are not afraid of Le Erjin's army, but Leerjin is really cunning, and he knows how to preserve his strength. It will take us a lot of hands, feet and time to wipe out the Manchus on the Western Front. It's just that the last general didn't expect that the Emperor Mangou would kill the Manchus on the Western Front. The dog was handed over to Zhang Tai, a idiot, and this time, it will be difficult for us not to wipe out the main force of Mangou on the western front."

"That's why I said that your five thousand shi army rations are a good deal." Fatty Lu laughed wildly, full of ambition, and all the generals in the fat man's tent also laughed slyly, thinking that the five thousand shi army rations were indeed sold well. What a bargain.

"General, General Han, with all due respect to the students, the situation may not be as optimistic as we imagined." Yao Qisheng reminded in a deep voice: "It is true that the division of troops on the western front into three groups will help our army defeat each other. The distance between the dogs is not far away, especially the [-] main force led by Zhangtai Mangou is not only quite powerful in combat, but we have not yet figured out their real movements. In the Majiajiayuan, it is a real siege, no matter which route we attack is full of dogs, it may attract the other two routes of full dogs to besiege."

"How can King Zhang be so smart?" Fatty Lu smiled, and then waved his hand and said, "Let the scouts worry about the specific movements of Lord Zhang. Since the dogs are coming from three directions, it would be too disappointing if we don't use the tactics of defeating each other." Lord Zhang's kindness. Let's talk about it, let's choose which way to start the operation first?"

"Of course Zhangtai!" Han Daren, Yao Qisheng, Li Jiyang, Wang Xu and others replied in unison.

"Although Zhangtai Mangou has the most troops, it is also the strongest." Yao Qisheng added: "But one general is incompetent and killed the whole army. We choose Zhangtai to be the first to act and concentrate on killing him. Most importantly, it can also seriously damage the overall strength of Mangou on the western front, make the other two teams of Mangou completely terrified, and have the effect of establishing a victory in a single battle."

"Really?" Fatty Lu smiled, and after thinking for a while, Fatty Lu shook his head and said, "Wrong, I think that if we attack Prince Zhang first, we will definitely not be able to defeat each of them. The first is to send troops to Prince Zhang first. , will cause Prince Zhang to stop the next two hundred and five actions. The second is that Leer Jinman is an old man who seeks to seek the country. When he finds that the main force of Prince Zhang is in danger, he will definitely rescue Prince Zhang at all costs. A local battle has turned into a major battle, and the Mangou army commanded by Prince Zhang is also the strongest, so it is not so easy to wipe them out quickly."

"That makes sense, who does the general think we should attack first?" Han Daren asked with a nod.

"Leerjin!" Fatty Lu said decisively: "Let's take care of Leerjin first, to show off the prince's two hundred and five virtues, and he will definitely not rescue him immediately, maybe he will repeat the old trick and go to attack Nanjing or this Taiping City again out of nerves, which is even worse. Keep away from the Fanchang battlefield, so that we can calmly concentrate our forces and completely wipe out Le Erjin!"

"Wonderful!" Yao Qisheng snapped his fingers, and added: "It would be even better if the Mangou navy led by Ghent Batulu landed to rescue Leerjin! The combat effectiveness of the sailors will be weakened by at least [-]% when they go ashore. General Li Jiyang The navy of our army led by us can also take the opportunity to attack, buy chickens and bring cages, and kill the last navy full of dogs upstream of us!"

"The general's tactics have never been wrong, and this time it must be the same." Han Daren stood up, cupped his hands to Fatty Lu and said: "Please give the order to send troops, the general, please be the vanguard!"

"General, please order to send troops!" All the generals in the tent stood up together and clasped their fists for orders.

"Han Daren obeys the order!" Fatty Lu stood up and shouted: "The Taiping Mansion Legion dispatched 7000 cavalry infantry, and they will dispatch with my [-] elite troops to take the official route and directly attack Fanchang. You will lead [-] cavalry infantry to serve pioneer!"

"Li Jiyang listened to the order. You lead 8000 sailors from Taiping Prefecture to take the water route and go straight to the south bank of Nichakou to station. If the Mangou Navy doesn't take the initiative to fight, ignore him. If the Mangou Navy lands to rescue Leerjin, it will be dispatched immediately , and strive to wipe out the Manchu fleet! Wuhu Zhang Wenxiang's [-] troops don't have to move, and stick to the city. Li Mao wrote, Jixuan, you two lead [-] troops to stay in Taiping City and wait for your order!"

Having said that, Fatty Lu paused, then smiled and ordered: "General Li Mao, Jifu, when you stay in Taiping City, you must plant more flags on the city and organize more people to go to the city." Help defend, lure the main force of Prince Zhang to attack Taiping City, and buy time for the main force of our army to annihilate Le Erjin."

"Why?" Li Maozhuo and Jixuan were both stunned, and asked together: "General, since you want to lure Zhangtai Mangou to attack Taiping City, why do you want to raise the flag and organize more people to go to the city to help defend? To show the enemy Xu, isn't it better?"

"Because in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", the more this is the case, the fewer troops there may be in the city." Fatty Lu scratched his head and said: "Give it a try, I really can't figure out what Prince Zhang is thinking, " The Romance of the Three Kingdoms contains the false and the real, and the real and the false, and the false and the real. The key depends on the chapter that Zhang Wang turned to the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". In short, you try your luck, even if you don’t I don't blame you for your success—out of all the generals and generals, the only one I can't figure out is this Prince Zhang."

(End of this chapter)