Of course, it's a good thing that there aren't many fine wines in Zhenjiang Fort.

Because the Qinglu troops on the Yajiang River in the east of the city did not stop their activities that night, the heavy artillery camp that had retreated began to move forward again after meeting up with the two red-banner Han army heavy artillery Niulu brought by Kong Youde, the obedient king.

.

This time, I don’t know whether Kong Youde brought Tu Lai and Geng Zhongming the idea of ​​building a fort on the west side of Zhenjiang Fort as a barrier, or whether Tu Lai and Geng Zhongming learned the previous lessons. In short, the Qing captives in the east of the city learned wisely.

They cut down a large number of trees from Waihua Island and the opposite river bank overnight, transported them to the river, and then erected layers of wooden bunker "walls" near the impact point of the heavy artillery at Zhenjiang Fort.

At the same time, they also imitated the Ming army's practice of pouring water on the top of Zhenjiang Fort to make ice. They dug through the ice three to four feet thick, dug holes in the ice to get water, and then poured it on the stacked wood to freeze it.

Ice wall.

In this way, the Qing prisoners on the river east of the city did not rest for almost the whole night, and the ice wall they built using logs and river water was also built layer by layer, step by step, slowly advancing all the way to the west.

Correspondingly, because it was dark that night and the view from the city was unclear, and the Qinglu were deliberately concealing the whereabouts of the lights, the sentries on duty at the top of the city to look out for the enemy could not figure out what the Qinglu was up to.

It wasn't until the early morning of the next day when the east turned white that Liu Zhongjin and others who were on duty on the city finally discovered that the Qing captives in the direction of Waihua Island in the east of the city were redeploying their heavy artillery that had retreated forward.

The area in front of the impact point of our own heavy artillery on the river, especially the flanks toward Zhenjiang Gate, the east gate of Zhenjiang Fort, has been blocked by layers of three- to four-foot-high log ice walls.

Seeing this situation, Liu Zhongjin, who was on duty at the top of the city, immediately realized the huge potential danger of moving the Qinglu artillery camp forward.

After he reported this situation to Qiu Zhenhai, Qiu Zhenhai also realized that something was wrong and immediately sent Yu Haichao to invite Yang Zhen.

"Captain, our technique of pouring water to turn ice into ice has been learned by the Qing people in the east of the city. Now they cut down wood and collect materials, pour water to turn into ice, and build walls like this overnight to block the heavy artillery on our city.

, I’m afraid the power will be greatly reduced!”

On the way there after hearing the news, Yang Zhen already realized what had happened from Yu Haichao's description.

At this time, I stood on the top of the city and took a look with a telescope. I thought that it was indeed the case.

Although Yang Zhen didn't know who was under the command of the Qinglu heavy artillery troops deployed in the east and west of Zhenjiang Fort, and who was commanding them, he already knew that they must be Niu Lu, the Han army's heavy artillery under the Eight Banners.

After thinking about the current situation, he could vaguely guess who the enemy in front of him might be.

After all, there were many Han troops under the Qing Dynasty and the Eight Banners who were able to command and use heavy artillery on a large scale.

Among them, Shi Tingzhu and his son, who were wearing Zhengbai Banner uniforms, were killed by themselves in the ambush battle in Woniugou in western Liaoning.

Not only were their men dead, but most of the heavy artillery of the Han army under their command had also been captured by themselves.

In addition, the Eight Banners and Han soldiers below were wearing blue-flag-inlaid armor, which was quite gratifying. Their heads were cut off by themselves, and they could no longer be dead.

As for the head of Li Bayan, who was wearing Zhenglan Banner armor, he had personally seen it. Moreover, it was the Liu Zhongjin in front of him who had personally handed it over to him.

So besides these people, who else could command the Qinglu heavy artillery team to bombard Zhenjiang Fort this time?

Looking at the armor and helmets worn by the Qinglu heavy artillery team, they were either red or yellow. After a little calculation, Yang Zhen had a few candidates in mind.

The heavy artillery troops of the Han army with two red flags, wearing red armor, were probably obedient to King Kong Youde.

As for the heavy artillery team of the Han army with two yellow flags wearing yellow armor, if it is not Ma Guangyuan, it is probably that Huaishun King Geng Zhongming.

Yang Zhen felt angry when he thought of these people.

Each of these people was extremely smart, but it was a pity that they were willing to work for the Qing Dynasty but could not be used by the Ming Dynasty.

If they could use their ingenuity to deal with the invasion of foreign races, then the outcome of the Ming Dynasty would inevitably be different.

Take the situation at hand as an example. If you weren't a smart person, you wouldn't have been able to learn and use Yang Zhen's city defense method so quickly, and then use local materials, wood and ice to build bunkers on the flanks to block the city.

A heavy artillery piece.

It's a pity that they used this "intelligence" in the wrong place, and used it on Yang Zhen.

"Liu Zhongjin, try firing a few cannons first! See if the ice walls built on the flanks of the Qinglu artillery array have any effect!"

"I humbly obey my orders!"

Faced with the concerns of Qiu Zhenhai, Liu Zhongjin and others, Yang Zhen did not directly answer what they should do, but directly ordered Liu Zhongjin to fire artillery immediately and see the situation.

Liu Zhongjin received the order and immediately went to direct the firing.

The ten Tianyou heavy artillery pieces deployed on the top of Zhenjiangmen City to support the General were all captured from Zhenjiangmen Urn City.

At this moment, each heavy cannon has been loaded with ammunition, and the muzzle is oriented from northwest to southeast, and the general range has been aimed.

Therefore, after Liu Zhongjin made some corrections, he quickly opened the first door.

After a thunderous roar, there was a flash of fire at the muzzle, followed by a thick cloud of white gunpowder smoke.

Yang Zhen did not see how the shells fired by the heavy artillery flew over. He only saw from the telescope in his hand that ice flowers instantly splashed on the outermost ice wall on the flank of the Qinglu artillery array a mile or two away.

Inside the layers of ice walls, the Qinglu heavy artillery team leading horses and dragging heavy artillery forward was in a panic. The horses neighed, people shouted, and they hid everywhere.

"The Governor is mighty!"

"The governor will win!"

…

The uninformed soldiers at the top of Zhenjiang Gate saw that their own army's heavy artillery not only fired, but also hit the Qinglu's ice wall from a distance.

The Qinglu in the back were so frightened that they hid in all directions and cheered for a while.

However, there was no joy at all on the faces of Yang Zhen and Qiu Zhenhai. On the contrary, they frowned and had solemn expressions.

Because, from the telescopes in their hands, they all saw clearly that the artillery shells fired by their own army did not cause much damage to the ice wall at the point of impact.

Although our army's heavy artillery focused on the ice wall built by the Qing captives overnight, indicating that there was no problem with the range, the artillery fired not only failed to knock down any of them, but also failed to penetrate the first ice wall.

And what this means is self-evident.

At this time, Qiu Zhenhai put down his telescope and said to Yang Zhen: "Commander, why don't we fire a few more cannons?"

"Okay, then ask Liu Zhongjin to adjust the dosage and shooting angle, and then fire a few more shots to see!"

Yang Zhen didn't even put down his telescope and said this to Qiu Zhenhai without looking back.

The surrounding generals, who were originally excited and excited, immediately stopped cheering on the city wall when they saw that Yang Zhen and Qiu Zhenhai had solemn expressions on their faces and did not look like they were happy.

They gathered around together and stared intently at the wooden ice walls of varying heights in the direction of Waihua Island, which were like a maze of pure and powerful creatures.

"Boom..."

"Boom..."

"Boom..."

There were several more roars of heavy artillery, and Yang Zhen and others standing nearby felt the vibrations coming from the ground of the city wall when the heavy artillery at the top of the city was fired.

After the heavy artillery fired one after another at the top of the city, the people who gathered around couldn't see clearly the impact point of the bullets fired by the heavy artillery because they didn't have telescopes in their hands. They could only focus on Yang Zhen's face and looked at Yang Zhen.

vibration response.

However, Yang Zhen's face remained the same, not happy, satisfied or gratified at all.

When everyone saw this, their hearts sank.

At this moment, Qiu Zhenhai led Liu Zhongjin back to Yang Zhen, and Liu Zhongjin, who was holding a telescope, also had a serious look on his face, and he obviously already knew the problem.

"Commander, this is not a matter of the amount of ammunition or range. The heavy artillery on our city can now completely cover the Qing Dynasty's artillery array on the river."

After following Qiu Zhenhai back to Yang Zhen, Liu Zhongjin, who had commanded the city's heavy artillery fire quite well in the past two days, said to Yang Zhen with a somewhat frustrated look and tone:

"It's not that a humble position increases the enemy's morale and destroys one's own prestige. The Qinglu built these ice walls which are really difficult to deal with. Their outer ice walls are short while the inner ice walls are tall.

"Once our heavy artillery increases the amount of ammunition, it will completely pass through the Qinglu artillery formation. If we reduce the amount of ammunition, it will either end up hitting the outer ice wall, or hit the inner ice wall, and it will be blocked.

unless--"

Liu Zhongjin reported to Yang Zhen with some frustration his observations on the impact points of his heavy artillery shells after adjusting the dosage of medicine. There was a sense of powerlessness in his words, but at the end of the sentence, there was a twist.

When Yang Zhen heard this, he put down the telescope in his hand, turned to him and asked, "Unless what?"

"Unless the gun positions are adjusted."

"Adjust the gun position? What do you mean, move the heavy artillery on our city to the front of the Qing Dynasty?"

"Exactly!—The Governor is indeed an expert in artillery warfare!"

Liu Zhongjin was slightly surprised that Yang Zhen could guess his thoughts so quickly.

However, when he thought of the heavy artillery and sky cannons equipped by the artillery regiment of the Eastern Expeditionary Army, as well as various types of gunpowder packets and explosive shells, he immediately reacted.

If Yang Zhen didn't understand artillery and didn't pay attention to the use of artillery, how could the small temporary advance battalion for the East March be what it is today!

So Liu Zhongjin immediately complimented Yang Zhen, and then added an explanation:

"Commander, all our heavy artillery is on the Zhenjiang Gate, and they are all located on the flanks of the Qinglu artillery array. Therefore, the impact points of our heavy artillery shells are all on the right front of the Qinglu artillery array.
Chapter completed!