Chapter 183 Artillery Expert

At the eastern foot of Fangshan Mountain, on the plains on the south bank of the Minjiang River, the Chinese army camp of the Ming and Zheng dynasties stood majestically, stretching for several miles, almost occupying the entire south side of this small plain. Bonfires were lit everywhere outside the trenches on all sides of the camp.

There are countless fire plates lit up on the earthen wall, and lanterns are wandering around the camp, reflecting the bright night sky.

Two deep trenches were still dug outside the main camp of the Zhongjun Army of the Ming Dynasty. However, these two trenches were much deeper and wider than those of ordinary camps. The width of the inner one was even two feet, and the inside was covered with trenches.

It was full of sharp wooden piles, and many mines were laid beside the trench. The latter was a huge killer weapon that the Qing army could not observe for the time being.

On the back side of the trench, there is a tall earth wall, with more than a dozen four-pound cannons and dozens of hundred-gun muskets clearly mounted on it. Camping on the plains naturally does not have the conditions to build a triple earth fort, but this way

With the layout and firepower of Chen Tai, there is absolutely no possibility of breaking through with Chen Tai's current strength. Not to mention, the Zheng army sent a lot of ambushing troops, and several key intersections were still occupied by the Flying Tigers, making it difficult for the Qing army to successfully attack

Go to the outskirts of the camp.

During this period, Gan Hui personally led his soldiers to conduct several surprise inspections to ensure that these hidden sentries were always vigilant. Their laxity could sometimes be fatal.

At the same time, Zheng Chenggong also ordered the civilians to build two docks at the mouth of the river north of the camp to ensure that the Chinese army's troops could enter various battlefields through the Min River at any time. Changle Camp, Meihua Camp, and Jiangzhong Camp, Min

The same is true in the direction of Linjiang in Andaying.

Unlike other continuous plains, the terrain of the Fuzhou Plain is very fragmented, and is divided into north and south parts by the wide Min River from west to east. Zheng Chenggong had to disperse his 40,000 troops in five places, one large, four small, and four small.

camp to ensure that Fuzhou Fucheng and Changle County are completely isolated.

But fortunately, the Ming and Zheng armies firmly controlled the river. Among the three camps separated by mountains on the south bank of the Minjiang River, especially the Chinese Army Camp and the Changle Camp, although there was only a riverside nearly a hundred paces wide,

The channel is connected, but because several sandbanks in the river in the north have been completely controlled by the Zheng Army, the Changle Camp can still be connected with the Chinese Army Camp and respond at any time.

At this time, Zheng Jun had been besieging the city for more than half a month. All the camps, fortresses, docks, ferries, and artillery positions had been deployed. All kinds of equipment needed to siege the city, and the civilians and craftsmen had begun

Start building it.

Although the army has not begun to attack the city, Zheng Chenggong has not been idle. Information from half a month ago or even a month ago was submitted to his desk at this time. Among them were Sun Kewang, Liu Wenxiu, Hong Chengchou, etc. from Huguang.

There are also those of Li Dingguo, Shang Kexi from Guangzhou, Jidu, Kakamu, and Zhang Mingzhen from Jiangnan.

Based on the intelligence detected a month ago, Zheng Chenggong estimated that Liu Wenxiu had already assembled an army near Chenzhou at this time, and even the navy commanded by Lu Mingchen had gone down the river and captured Taoyuan County, the gateway to Changde. From a month ago in western Hunan

Judging from the situation, Liu Wenxiu’s plan has not changed much from the original plan in history.

According to Liu Wenxiu's plan, he would first capture Changde and cut off the channels to the west of Dongting Lake and the north and south of Huguang. At the same time, he would send naval forces to strangle Dongting Lake and the Yangtze River waterway to intercept the Eight Banners Army stationed in Jingzhou and weaken the Qing army south of Dongting Lake.

The strength. Then, it is to regain Changsha, Hengyang, Yuezhou, and connect Guangxi. After having nothing to worry about, attack Wuchang northward.

The attack on Changde City adopted the policy of "advancing both by land and water", that is, sending general Lu Mingchen to lead a navy to advance by boat from the Yuan River as the vanguard, while he himself led the main force to advance by land as the core of the war.
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However, because Liu Wenxiu had no intention of fighting in the first place and was forced too hastily by Sun Kewang, he had no choice but to agree to lead the army. Therefore, when formulating the battle plan, he did not take into account the favorable weather and location at the turn of spring and summer. Even,

Judging from Liu Wenxiu's past experience, he is the least likely to fail to consider the right time and place.

In other words, the policy of using both water and land to capture Changde is certainly correct, and it is very correct, but because it contains too many political factors, the order of actions of the troops and horses is wrong. When the navy led by Lu Mingchen conquered Taoyuan County, Liu Wenxiu personally

However, due to continuous rains, swollen streams, muddy roads, and difficulty in moving, the main force led by them was unable to cooperate with the waterway army and missed the opportunity to capture Changde and even Changsha.

In the original history, after the Qing Dynasty's five-provincial governor Hong Chengchou and the Ningnan Jingkou general Chen Tai received the news that Liu Wenxiu's army had entered Hunan, they responded quickly. Not only did they mobilize troops from Hengzhou and other places to return to Changsha, they also

10. Dispatch Jingzhou Manchu Eight Banners troops to Changde to strengthen the defense of this strategic location.

During the more than a month when Liu Wenxiu's army was mysteriously stranded on the road, the Qing army had made sufficient preparations. On the night of May 23, Lu Mingchen's navy suddenly dispatched troops and entered Changde City, and was immediately attacked.

The well-prepared Qing army ambushed them. However, due to the lack of support from the main force, the fierce battle continued until the next day. The navy commander Lu Mingchen was hit by an arrow and fell into the water and died. The Ming army on the waterway was almost completely wiped out.

It can only be said that anyone with a little bit of political sensitivity can see the strangeness after understanding what happened. The distance from Chenzhou to Changde was only three hundred miles, and it took almost two months to walk, but Lu Mingchen was forced to travel far away from Changde.

I stayed in Taoyuan County, which is very close to Changde, for more than a month.

Of course, the existence of floods is an objective factor. The Qing army led by Chen Tai was blocked in Jianli because the road was flooded. Chen Tai died of illness on the road not long after. And under the influence of some mysterious force, Changde City became even more powerful.

One of the city walls was knocked down by the flood, and in fact there was no support for it. However, the Qing army was forced to fight, and the surge in the river was foreshadowed. Whether all this was part of Liu Wenxiu's plan, it is difficult to say.

After all, he has been in western Hunan for more than a year at this time. He is a person with excellent water skills.

Furthermore, Lu Mingchen's troops did not have the 20,000 troops that Hong Chengchou said when he reported his merits to Shunzhi. They only had more than a hundred boats and thousands of troops. Being sacrificed as an abandoned son did not affect the overall situation.

After the combination, after Lu Mingchen died in battle, Liu Wenxiu immediately gave up the plan to capture Changde and led the army back to Guizhou on the grounds that "the forwards were defeated, the morale of the army was low, and it was not suitable to fight again."

To speculate maliciously on this "loyalty".

With the forward defeated and the main force intact, if he forged ahead, he should have continued to look for opportunities, but he returned without a fight. Sun Kewang was dissatisfied with Liu Wenxiu this time and even removed his military power again, leaving him

He returned to Kunming to live in peace, and no one in the army felt that he had been wronged. The two deputy generals, Bai Wenxuan and Feng Shuangli, also did not stand up to speak for him.

You know, in the Battle of Baoning, Liu Wenxiu also made a tactical mistake. When his entire army was almost wiped out, Bai Wenxuan still interceded for him. This time, he only lost thousands of forwards, and Lu Mingchen was still his veteran.

The subordinates, like Zheng Chenggong, who thought too much about Liu Wenxiu's performance would probably be very disappointed.

After all, if they did not withdraw, or pay attention to the weather, this army of 60,000 people would arrive at Changde City, which was washed away by the flood. Sun Ke had been eyeing each other for a long time, and even exchanged secret messages. Later,

It was also rumored that Changde defender Hu Maozhen had been preparing to lead the troops anyway.

Otherwise, when Hong Chengchou was employing people, how could he report directly to Shunzhi afterwards, saying that Hu Maozhen, whom he had recommended at the time, was ill or serious, and that he should be retired for recuperation. But Hu Maozhen quickly defended himself by saying that he had a minor illness, but he was already cured.

, he could still fight. But in the end, thanks to Hong Chengchou’s efforts, the illness was confirmed and he returned home for treatment.

After almost two years of operation, a good wall has collapsed. If Hong Chengchou had no doubts, then he would no longer be Hong Chengchou!

It's a pity that Liu Wenxiu's inaction caused the operation to be abandoned halfway, and Hong Chengchou also discovered the loopholes in his defense line in time. Not only did he take advantage of the victory to strengthen the defense against Chenzhou, he also set up installations in western Hunan, western Hubei, and Wuchang.

Three naval divisions were formed, and the Changde Navy alone had more than 3,000 troops.

Zheng Chenggong combined the historical data he had learned and analyzed the information one by one in his mind. Liu Wenxiu did not have much hope, but this also meant that Li Dingguo was in danger. And Li Dingguo was in danger, Huizhou was not safe, and Chongming-Taihu Lake

Zhang Mingzhen, Chen Liuyu, Zhou Rui, and Qian Da are struggling again. The situation seems to be calm now, but in fact it is already imminent.

At this moment, the suona sounded outside the Chinese army's tent, and Huangshan had begun to summon the battalion generals to prepare for the next battle meeting. There were actually two admirals, three battalion officers, and staff officers inside the tent.

Several staff officers from the headquarters have also been staying in front of the simple sand table that was just piled up two days ago.

Zheng Chenggong quickly walked out from behind the tent, with a confident smile on his resolute face. His war in Fuzhou Prefecture was actually progressing smoothly. The so-called night attack designed by Chen Tai was easily repulsed. After several rounds of whistles,

With the participation of superior cavalry, cavalry battles always ended in victory for the Ming and Zheng sides.

Soon, five admirals, eleven off-duty battalion officers, Liu Guoxuan, chief of staff of the pro-military battalion staff headquarters, several major military judges, and quartermasters all arrived, and they all saluted Zheng Chenggong one by one.

After that, they sat around the big sand table in order.

At Zheng Chenggong's signal, Huang Shan immediately began to preside over the meeting. First, all the officers stood up and saluted the head coach of this war. Then Huang Shan began to explain the process of the meeting, reviewing the results of the war in the past half month, and the current challenges.

The main questions, and following these questions, entered the main topic of the meeting.

"Judging from the current situation, Chen Tai has completely shrunk in the two cities of Fuzhou and Changle. Except for the Tangma in the north leading to Zhejiang, which is still active, the sentries in other places have not taken any initiative to attack, or

This is a sign of spying on the military situation. He knows that we have strong troops and horses and cannot be defeated easily, so he must have made up his mind to defend to the end."

Zheng Chenggong nodded: "Everyone has read the military reports sent back by Zhang Mingzhen and Chen Liuyu. They can't contain Ji Du, and they can't even protect themselves. Although the Qing army can't destroy them in a while, they can't

To open up the situation, we can't watch Qian Da be wiped out. We can only say that we are wasting it there, but Ji Du can go south at any time. This is what Chen Tai relies on to build a stronghold and fight the battle."

"It is already mid-April, and those Manchu soldiers are still adapting to the weather in the south of the Yangtze River. If Chen Tai can hold on, they may go south again in August, marching slowly all the way. Finally, in September, the autumn air will be crisp, and even in October, it will be

When there is a little bit of chill, we can fight again." Gan Hui frowned and said worriedly.

"Chen Tai's wishful thinking is a good one. He has no ability to fight back. Let us attack the city. If we don't count the ammunition and artillery, I'm afraid he won't be able to hold on for three months." Wan Li sneered. He had seen sieges before.

The power of the mortars. After approaching the reconnaissance with the sentries in the past few days, he, like other battalion officers, even felt that the earthen walls outside Fuzhou Fucheng and Changle County could not withstand three months of continuous attacks by the mortars.

"Indeed, the artillery has also conducted reconnaissance. Although Fuzhou's capital city is very strong, twenty mortars are constantly bombarding it. Even if the Qing army has the ability to repair it, it cannot last for half a year. And Changle County City was established after Chen Tai settled in Fuzhou.

Reinforcement has just begun. After we regained Quanxing last year, we urgently added earth walls and horse walls. Compared with Fuzhou Fucheng, the scale is still much smaller, and it may be possible to capture it in two months."

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However, just as Huang Shan finished speaking, Wang Xiuqi came over. He had a very in-depth study of artillery, so he had the right to speak at this time. He shook his head, as if he did not completely agree:

"Judging from our previous artillery experiments, this is indeed the case, but if the Qing army relies on reinforcements and resists tenaciously, its ability to repair the damaged city walls may exceed our imagination. If so, it will be impossible to hold on for half a year to October.

It's not impossible. The siege mortars are stronger than the original Hongyi cannons, but they are not invincible."

When Wang Xiuqi was obsessed with artillery at the beginning, it was because of its huge power. He once believed that with the artillery in hand, Zheng Jun would be invincible. However, as he participated in more and more military discussions at the General Staff Headquarters, he learned that nearly thirty

After dozens of large and small bombardment battles from outside the pass to inside the pass, he had long since changed this view.

However, this did not affect his further research on artillery tactics. He only realized that the outcome of a war could never be determined by one factor, and he also got rid of the arrogance caused by ignorance at the beginning.

In fact, such a realization seems simple, but if it can really be achieved in actual combat, and not just a temporary idea, for Wang Xiuqi, whether as the admiral of the First Army or as an artillery tactics research expert in the Zheng Army, it is

It was a very important improvement, and Zheng Chenggong also encouraged him many times to continue.

"Based on the reports from sentinel cavalry and artillery reconnaissance, I also thought that with more than thirty siege mortars in hand, it would be easy to conquer Fuzhou Fucheng in three or four months. But after today's on-the-spot inspection, I found that it was not the case.

What's going on.

Chen Tai is not an easy opponent. He learns very quickly. Some of them may even be his own ideas after being inspired by us. After Fuzhou Fucheng adds those correctly stacked earth walls and horse faces, its defensive capabilities will be better.

It’s not that simple anymore.”

Wang Xiuqi is based in Minqing, which means that he has always learned about the situation in Fuzhou Fucheng and Changle County through military reports and meetings. This has also made him, who has always been unable to see what he sees, misjudge the situation before. After all, Tangtang

The admiral of the First Army, he had no chance to conduct personal reconnaissance before today.

As for Wanli, he has seen it with his own eyes, but since he specializes in the art, his level is not much different from others. He is not as good as a professional artillery officer, so naturally he can't tell the difference.
To be continued...