On the Pearl River in the south of Guangzhou, warships coming from the lower reaches slowly passed by. The oars paddled, raising water splashes, and the sunlight passed through, revealing all kinds of colors. The fleet was going upstream, and many of them were

Some ships have a deep draft and appear to be very slow.

The river channel has been occupied by the fleet. The shipowners, helmsmen, sailors and other people who had nothing to do on the dock stood and stretched their necks to look at the long fleet of ships.

"Have you heard that Chen Fujun has recaptured Yingde County and is about to attack Shaozhou Prefecture?"

"Oh, it is indeed Chen Fujun. After regaining Shaozhou Prefecture, our Guangzhou Prefecture is the hinterland, and we don't need to face the Tatars' front."

"Yes, Chen Fujun is definitely sure to win this time. Look, those ships are so deep, they can't carry tens of thousands of troops?"

"What kind of army? No. I heard that the ships are equipped with red barbarian cannons, used to blast the city walls."

"Shh, keep your voice down, in case there are Tatars making trouble on the dock."

"Hey, what are you afraid of? With Chen Fujun here, even if the Tatars know about it, they can't do anything to his old man's clever plan!"

On the pier, the stains on the river bank continued for a long time, until the fleet slowly sailed by, and then gradually passed with the restoration of the river channel, and replaced it with the usual busy scene.

For the people in Guangzhou City, this is just a chat after dinner. At most, it is an extra layer of barrier to the north, which can give them an extra sense of security. In comparison, for those high-ranking officials, this is

But it has a completely different meaning.

Chen Kai explained in a letter to Li Dingguo that after he arrived in Hong Kong, he received news from Hao Shangjiu and found out that Changning and Wengyuan counties were empty, so he mobilized a large army to go out and captured these two counties in one fell swoop.

County seat. Next, according to the intelligence obtained from these two places, it seemed that the morale of the Qing army in Yingde County was not very high. In this case, he was not polite and took this place with his army.

Got off.

Recovering Yingde and Wengyuan was not just a whim. In fact, Chen Kai also intended to build a defense line in northern Guangdong to ensure the safety of this province. In this way, just paying Yingde and Wengyuan as a down payment is not enough at all. He must at least capture the capital of Shaozhou.

, and the Qing army confronted each other between the two prefectures of Shaozhou and Nanxiong, threatening the Qing court's Meiling defense line, so as to ensure the security of the rear.

For this reason, Chen Kai hopes to use the Pearl River and Beijiang rivers to transport food, weapons, and soldiers. Because the route from Longmen, Changning, and Wengyuan to Yingde not only has narrow rivers and limited traffic capacity, but also has limited traffic capacity.

The important thing is that there is still a land route in the middle, or even over mountains and ridges, which is very detrimental to the Ming army's front support work.

Historically, people going north from Guangzhou or going south from southern Jiangxi have to pass through this place. Because of the waterway of Beijiang, the transportation of military supplies for the army will be much easier. This time Chen Kai did the opposite and started from

Changning and Weng Yuan's insertion into Shaozhou Prefecture was actually a special case. All those who knew the military agreed on this, so Li Dingguo agreed to this request.

With this move, on the surface, Chen Kai only obtained the right to use the river, but in fact anyone with a discerning eye can see that Guangzhou has become Chen Kai's possession.

The fleet sailed slowly, passing through Guangzhou, heading north to Sanshui, passing Qingyuan, Yingde, and continuing north. At this time, the army led by Chen Kai had already arrived outside the city of Shaozhou Fucheng. However, compared with the earlier Changning, Weng

In the three counties of Yuan, Ying and De, the Qing army in this capital finally showed the courage of soldiers. Not only did they harass the Ming army on their way north, but even when the army approached the city, they were completely defensive.

Shaozhou Fucheng was built in the Southern Han Dynasty in the Five Dynasties. It was built and expanded many times during the Song Dynasty. By the Ming Dynasty, Hongwu, Tianshun, Chenghua, Jiajing and Tianqi dynasties had many additions and repairs. Now it is a city with a circumference of nine miles.

Thirty paces, two feet and five feet high, surrounded by a moat and martial waters, with watchtowers, string towers, and gate towers on the third floor of the city.

Compared with Wengyuan and Yingde, the scale of this city is far greater, and it is already similar to Xinhui. Although the last large-scale renovation was 130 years ago in the fourth year of Jiajing, this city has been

Guangdong's most famous city is still not that easy to win.

Before the army arrived, news had been received. It was said that after the Ming army invaded Shaozhou Prefecture, Nangan sent a deputy general for early reinforcements, and follow-up troops may follow at any time. At this point, Chen Kai persuaded him to surrender as usual, but the defenders

He was very shameless and responded with a barrage of arrows. He was not in a hurry and simply besieged the city. He slowly but blatantly built siege equipment under the eyes of the Qing army without taking anything from the city.

The Qing army took it as one thing.

With such arrogance, the Qing army in the city was naturally filled with righteous indignation, so they simply blocked the entire city except the north gate and west gate with large rocks, using practical actions to show the people in the city that they were incapable of defending the city.

A strong will that wavers.

Shaozhou Prefecture had 2,000 soldiers of the Green Battalion, divided into two battalions: left and right. After the Ming army won the great victory in Guangzhou, Shaozhou Prefecture became the forward position of the Qing Dynasty's Meiling defense line, so the necessary reinforcements were added to it.

And the number of deputy generals was expanded to the rank of general military officer. Apart from the troops stationed in the five counties of Yingde, Wengyuan, Ruyuan, Lechang and Renhua, there were still two thousand soldiers in the city to support various places.

.In addition, there are 2,000 soldiers of the Nangan deputy general who have entered the city. There are actually no less than 4,000 green soldiers in the city.

There are nine towns and nearly 20,000 troops in the Ming army. The defenders can use the people in the city to serve as auxiliary soldiers or even cannon fodder, which is also the most common thing. The Ming army is manufacturing siege equipment with great fanfare outside, and the people inside the city are

The Qing army was also intensively reinforcing the city walls and moving garrison equipment. Both sides were making the most adequate preparations for the arrival of the siege.

"Fu Jun, as a general, it is better to save the artillery team to give Nanxiong's Tatars a hard blow. This time, just pounce on them."

"The lion fights the rabbit with all its strength. This time it is enough to capture the capital city of Shaozhou. We do not yet have the strength to start a full-scale war with the Tatars in southern Jiangxi."

A few days later, the fleet came slowly and docked at several docks controlled by the Ming army in the south of Shaozhou City. The red cannons were unloaded from the ship one by one and then transported directly to the camp in the south of the city. After a day

Rest and recuperation, on June 11, the ninth year of Yongli, the East Guangdong Hongyi artillery team, which had made great achievements in Xinhui and Guangzhou, was assembled outside the city of Shaozhou Prefecture. The black muzzles of the cannons were pointed directly at the city. Chen

Kai could even imagine the sound of Qing troops swallowing their saliva at the top of the city.

The attempt to persuade them to surrender was carried out again. With the support of these artillery pieces, the random arrows on the Qing army's city walls became sparse and ineffective. The attempt to persuade them to surrender still ended in failure. In this case, it was the artillery's turn to speak.

After long-term training, coupled with the tempering of the Xinhui and Guangzhou battles, this siege artillery team has long been integrated into a tacit understanding. When the order was issued, each artillery group began to load and aim in quantity, and then only waited for

When everything was ready, the overwhelming roar resounded in the south of Shaozhou Fucheng like a roaring mountain and a tsunami.

There were roars one after another, accompanied by the release of energy from the cannonballs in the distance that was enough to crush gold and stone. Chen Kai held a telescope and carefully observed the effect of the shelling. In the first round of test firing, basically few of them were able to hit the target.

The two limited shells on the city wall hit the city wall. Chen Kai specifically observed the areas where they were bombarded. In those two places, the wall bricks were broken and fell off, accompanied by cracks and gaps in the wall bricks.

The powder is sliding down like a stream, and when blown by the wind, it deviates from its trajectory.

"Continue to blast, I will go and get some sleep first, and then call me when the city wall collapses."

Sleeping is just an excuse. There are still many things to do next. Chen Kai doesn't realize how meaningful it is to be here in a daze and listen to the sound of cannons. Instead of being in a daze here, it is better to find a quieter place and think about the next step.

For anything, you always need to do more preparations to be closer to success.

I was thinking on the bed in the tent, and sometimes I had to get up and sit down at my desk to re-read some reports sent from various places, so that I could think more comprehensively.

The sound of the artillery continued like the ticking of a clock, and occasionally stopped for a while. It was probably because the gun barrels needed to be cooled down due to too frequent shooting. In this way, after the artillery fire continued for several hours, a sound came from the direction of the Ming army's formation.

There was a burst of cheers, and Chen Kai, who had just had lunch and was closing his eyes to rest, opened his eyes again, and soon he was greeted by the guard who reported the news.

"Fu Jun, the city wall collapsed!"

"Um."

Nodding, Chen Kai stood up and strode out of the camp. There seemed to be a little rustic in the air, but he didn't know if it was a psychological effect, but when he rode his horse in front of the formation, he saw everything in the distance.

The dust has not yet completely settled, but the huge gap that is difficult to repair has already appeared before his eyes.

The Ming army in the brigade has already marched forward carrying shields, door panels and other objects. At this time, the people who wanted to come to the city to help defend have collapsed. The gap in strength between the offensive and defensive sides inside and outside the city is too large. As long as the Ming army marching forward can hold it.

Through the gap, subsequent troops poured in continuously, and it was only a matter of time before the resistance in the city was wiped out.

"The city wall has not been repaired in 130 years. It can last for such a long time. It seems that the original repairers were careful."

The Ming Dynasty, and even the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, was an era of alternating hot and cold weapons for the world and China. Where there was offense, there was defense. Just like the city walls in ancient China and the castles in Europe, they faced huge calibers.

The cannons and mortars are not as good as paper, but they are not much better. This is not because they are not strong enough. Chinese cities and European castles can very effectively protect the people in the city during the cold weapon age.

, buildings, but these defense facilities designed for cold weapon warfare will inevitably appear backward in the era of hot weapons, and backwardness will be beaten.

The army entered the city, and soon, news came from the north, saying that a large group of Qing troops left the city from the north gate and fled towards Nanxiong Mansion. In response, Chen Kai had already prepared an army to ambush in Shaozhou Mansion.

On the official road leading to Nanxiong Mansion, I dare not say the word "total annihilation", but the Qing army who escaped wanted to escape completely, but it was also a fool's errand.

The resistance of Shaozhou Prefecture was quickly subdued, and the army controlled key points in the city. Chen Kai appointed Xiao Gongchen, the chief military officer of Zuozhen, who was also the chief military officer of Shaozhou Prefecture, to assist Houchong Town and guard Qianzhen.

Guard Youzhen and Tieqi Town are stationed here, and the first task assigned to them is to restore the city defense of Shaozhou Prefecture.

Everything was ready, and good news came from the ambush troops heading north. The Shaozhou general of the Qing army was killed in the battle. The Qing army in the brigade was intercepted by the Ming army. Some of the rest escaped, but compared to the Ming army.

The army's gains were already very few.

The situation here was settled, and Chen Kai took the other ministries back by boat. Among them, the guards of Houzhen, Zhongquan Town and Houchong Town were to stay in Shaozhou Prefecture and take charge of Yingde and Wengyuan counties, while Hao

Shangjiu naturally went back and forth from where he came, and continued to live his comfortable life.

The boat followed the current of the Beijiang River all the way south, and turned east when it reached Sanshui. Soon, Chen Kai returned to Li Dingguo's camp outside Guangzhou. There were still some finishing touches that needed to be dealt with.

"If we can conquer Shaozhou Prefecture in one battle, I can rest assured about the overall situation of Guangdong's war and defense."

"My dear friend, I have given you too much credit and returned to the three counties in the north. I think it is not convenient to go deep at this stage, so as not to have a decisive battle with the Southern Gansu Division and affect the overall situation of the rescue. In addition, after this battle, I feel that the Shaozhou Prefecture is

The Imperial Guards are indeed basically discouraged, but the Green Camp in Southern Gansu is still more motivated. If they go in blindly, the chances of winning are hard to estimate."

"Jingcheng is too modest. With Shaozhou's capital city here, there is a barrier to the north of Guangzhou. I wonder what Jingcheng's next plan is?"

"It is better to give priority to restoring local people's livelihood. Only by deepening the roots and strengthening the foundation can it last long."

After determining the next military and political policy, Chen Kai also learned from Li Dingguo that he and Guo Zhiqi had jointly submitted a letter asking him to be appointed governor of Guangdong tomorrow. The King of Xining had a bachelor's degree in charge of the governor, and he also had a relationship with the Zheng Group.

With the blessing of status, it is absolutely impossible for the Yongli court to veto it.

With this identity, Chen Kai can more legitimately control the military and political affairs of Guangdong Province. Li Dingguo also said that he would hand over control of the western part of Guangzhou Prefecture to better ensure the defense line in northern Guangdong. Herein

, not only Guangzhou Fucheng, Sanshui County and Qingyuan County involved in the Beijiang Waterway, but also Xinhui County, Shunde County and Xiangshan County in the south. Only Xinning County has been allocated to Chen Qice before, so it is not included in the division.

within the scope.

After going around in circles, Xiangshan County was back in his hands. Chen Kai couldn't help but secretly laugh. However, there was only so much that Li Dingguo could do. As for the places in Zhaoqing Mansion that he had in his hands,

It was left to Liancheng Bi to take charge, because the seat of the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi was in Zhaoqing, which he had no intention of changing.

"This is what it should be." Chen Kai expressed his affirmative attitude to this, and then frankly stated that the agreed provisions and weapons would be shipped continuously in the next period of time, and some of them have already arrived in Hong Kong.

warehouse, it can be quickly transported to Guangzhou and delivered to Li Dingguo for use.

"The siege artillery team can be borrowed from my dear friend for a while. In addition, I have asked the Ordnance Bureau to cast some red barbarian cannons, and I will send them to you when they are finished."

"That's great."

Li Dingguo's first target was Wuzhou Prefecture, which was the thoroughfare connecting Guangdong and Guangxi and could not be left in the hands of the Qing army. After Chen Kai returned, grain, grass and weapons began to be delivered to Li Dingguo's army one after another. Soon
Chapter completed!