313 [There are many martyrs] (for the penguin boss
Yanziji in Nanjing, Caishiji in Taiping, and Chenglingji in Yuezhou are also known as the "Three Major Rockies in the Yangtze River".
Chenglingji controls the throat of Dongting Lake and has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. Historically, Zhang Xianzhong defeated the officers and soldiers on Chenglingji, and the defenders in Yuezhou City surrendered directly.
It was very interesting at that time. Zhang Xianzhong fought from Yuezhou to Xiangyin, and was resisted by the local braves all the way.
As he arrived in Changsha, Zhang Xianzhong sent people to publicize the policy. The content was just one sentence: "Residents will be able to operate their businesses normally and be exempted from paying taxes for three years."
This order was issued, and within one day, the three prefectures and two states surrendered without a fight.
Then, the whole of Hunan surrendered directly, and half of Jiangxi followed suit. Local officials could not recruit troops, and large landowners could not recruit troops. The common people waited for Zhang Xianzhong to come and be exempted from taxes for three years.
Comparing Zhang Xianzhong's situation, do you still think Zhao Han's battle is too easy?
Long Wenguang, the prefect of Yuezhou, is definitely not relaxed at this moment.
General Li Bingqian also had a serious expression on his face. He was from the north and could not surrender to the bandits, otherwise his whole family would be implicated.
"Boom boom boom!"
Artillery continued to bombard the tower, and Jiang Dashan sat in the middle of the army and watched the battle.
This ruined city is really difficult to defeat. The height of the city wall is 11.5 meters. There are 1,365 battlements on the city, each battlement is more than 1 meter high. There are six gates, four of which have urns, and the other two gates are difficult to defeat. Attack normally.
The moat is 65 meters wide. Just filling in the moat would be very tiring for Jiang Dashan.
After half a month of siege, several sections of the moat have just been filled in.
At this moment, Huang Yao had already set off from Changsha, captured Xiangyin County, and led his troops to Yuezhou Prefecture to join Jiang Dashan.
"Why is this city so high?" Huang Yao was startled.
Jiang Dashan said: "I asked the locals and it was Xu Da who ordered it to be built."
Huang Yao asked: "How are we going to fight?"
"We have just filled in several sections of the moat, and we are firing cannons every day. We are quietly digging tunnels," Jiang Dashan said. "There is a lot of dark water here, and tunnels are not easy to dig."
Huang Yao smiled and said: "Then you can slowly besiege the city, and I will conquer the surrounding counties."
As long as the soldiers defended this kind of fortified city, it would be impossible to conquer it without heavy artillery. The Datong army could not do it, nor the rogue bandits, nor the Manchu Qing Dynasty.
After the Qing Dynasty issued the order to shave their heads, the south often defended the city.
A group of temporarily recruited people, guarding a city wall that is half the height of Yuezhou, can withstand the Manchu and Qing armies for three to five months. Many times, it is not the Qing soldiers who conquer the city. Either they starve to death due to lack of food in the city, or there are traitors who open the city to offer sacrifices. .
Jiang Dashan sent people to carry earth and cross the moat to build a high platform. It seemed that he wanted to build a high platform and shoot at the city from a high position.
In fact, they used the high platform as a cover, dug tunnels behind it, and planned to use gunpowder to directly blow down the city wall.
Unfortunately, there is too much groundwater, and the tunnels are flooded with stagnant water.
…
"fire!"
"Boom boom boom boom!"
There was a camp on Chenglingji, where there was originally a fortress. It was later changed to the Inspection Department, whose main responsibilities were to inspect smuggling and catch water pirates.
The fortress had been abandoned for a long time, but it was rebuilt last winter and is quite strong.
Jiangxi's self-produced large-caliber artillery has fired more than two hundred rounds, but it has not destroyed the castle.
"boom!"
A cannonball hit the injured area and finally had its effect, and a piece of the top of the castle was destroyed.
Jiang Liang stood up excitedly and shouted: "Aim at that place and keep firing!"
At this moment, the Jiangxi Navy came in force.
The entire army of Datong suddenly cheered up, and the morale of the defenders in the castle plummeted.
Both sides knew that the navy was at war, and whoever came back first would win.
The warships loaded with Folang cannons were ordered by Gu Jianshan to sail to Chenglingji, and all fired at the water side of Chenglingji.
This kind of river ship-borne artillery could not pose a threat to the castle, but it had a heavy blow to the morale of the defenders.
Artillery is firing on all sides!
They were all models for the governor of Huguang, and they were fed by Fang Kongzhen with money. They respected Fang Kongzhen very much, but Fang Kongzhen was arrested and imprisoned.
If it weren't for the new governor Xu Renlong, who also treated them well, these pacesetters would have surrendered long ago.
"General, why don't you surrender?"
"Yes, we have held on for more than half a month, and we are worthy of the governor."
"..."
The general Zhou Qinxue angrily rebuked: "As a soldier, I should be loyal to the emperor and serve the country. If anyone dares to surrender again, he will be killed without mercy!"
Zhou Qinxue came from a family of military generals in the north. It is not clear how loyal he is. But if he is not loyal, the whole family will be held accountable. The imperial court has been very strict with the families of fallen generals in the past two years.
The soldiers dispersed, all filled with resentment.
Since Fang Kongzhen was imprisoned, the salary of the model soldiers has become less and less. Moreover, although they are from Huguang, their home is north of the Yangtze River. Who the hell wants to come to the south to fight?
"boom!"
Another place was destroyed.
Jiang Liang stood up fiercely: "Get ready to attack!"
The Datong army carried ladders and ran towards the castle. Some of the heavily armored soldiers held long knives in their hands and headed towards the gap created by the cannon shells.
The defenders had no muskets and could only fire arrows continuously.
When the arrows hit the heavily armored warriors, they would either be bounced away immediately or stuck staggeringly. The warriors only had to raise their arms to cover their faces.
Not cotton armor, but real double-layer heavy armor.
The inside is chain mail, and the outside is zha armor, forming a composite heavy armor with excellent performance.
Armor is not easy to make, nor is it easy to find strong men who can wear it for battle.
Of the nearly 30,000 Datong soldiers, only 600 heavy-armored warriors were trained, 300 were thrown to the South Court Army, and 300 were thrown to the Central Court Army, and they were only used in extremely critical situations.
"The world is unified!"
“Farm and eat!”
Three hundred heavily armored soldiers, armed to the teeth, shouted such crude slogans in unison. The scene was really funny.
Of course, the defenders in the castle would not think so.
Zhou Qinxue organized officers and soldiers to block the gap in the castle, and there were many spears. The formation looked extremely elite.
However, seeing the heavily armored soldiers advancing slowly in formation, these elite officers and soldiers subconsciously stepped back. Aren't they fools, wearing leather armor and fighting with these iron cans?
The three hundred heavily armored warriors did not run. The full double-layered armor weighed more than sixty pounds. Running forward was too exhausting.
They walked forward slowly, carrying long Miao knives on their shoulders.
brush!
When he came to the gap in the city wall, he stabbed with the spears of the officers and soldiers, and the Miao knives came out all at once.
"Run!"
The moment the battle began, the officers and soldiers collapsed.
It is true that they were elite, but their morale was low after being bombarded by artillery. The former governor was imprisoned, the current governor was defeated, the two commanders were gone, and they were asked to leave their hometowns to fight.
"No retreat!"
Zhou Qinxue sent out a team to supervise the battle. However, when the team took a few steps forward and saw the iron can holding a Miao Dao on the opposite side, they were frightened and collapsed and ran away.
Someone tried to resist, but was cut in half with a knife.
Cut in half is not an adjective.
"Surrender without killing!"
"Dang-dang-dang!"
The officers and soldiers put down their weapons and knelt on the ground to ask for surrender.
Zhou Qinxue sighed, turned to face the north, closed his eyes and stabbed himself with a horizontal sword.
When news of the fall of Chenglingji came, Long Wenguang, the prefect of Yuezhou, and Li Bingqian, the general, both looked pale.
Chenglingji is the gateway to Yuezhou City. If that side is lost, this side will become an isolated city.
Moreover, the people in Yuezhou City were very unfriendly to these officers and soldiers from the north. The local people had long wanted to surrender, for fear that the resistance would be too fierce and cause unnecessary trouble for themselves.
Local people are hostile to foreign officers and soldiers, and this sentiment is becoming more and more obvious.
The officers and soldiers from other places are angry. We crossed the river and risked our lives to defend the city for you, but you still behave like this.
"Boohoo!"
Many arrows were fired from the earth platform set up outside the city, all of which were letters to persuade them to surrender.
The entire Dongting Lake Navy was wiped out, the governor of Huguang was captured alive, and now Chenglingji was also lost. These were all written in letters persuading people to surrender. When literate people saw the letters, they were so frightened that they wanted to jump down and surrender on the spot.
Long Wenguang called Li Bingqian over: "General Li, please lead your troops to surrender. Zhao is not a murderous person. There is no need to commit more crimes. Yuezhou City cannot be defended."
Zhou Qinxue smiled bitterly: "My wife, children, and children are all in my hometown. How can I become a thief? My second son is still a civil servant. We cannot delay his future."
"It's up to you."
Long Wenguang's mood was waning and he walked back to the government office. He called his servants and maids, took out the money and said, "Divide these belongings between you. Don't leave them in the government office."
"master!"
The slaves guessed that he wanted to commit suicide, and they all burst into tears.
"Go quickly!" Long Wenguang shouted.
The servants took the money and left one after another.
Long Wenguang took off his belt and hung himself from the beam.
Not long after, an old servant returned. He took down Long Wenguang's body, rolled it up in a mat and buried it. He waited there, hoping to send his master's ashes back to his hometown.
General Zhou Qinxue stood on the tower, smiled miserably, and suddenly drew his sword and committed suicide.
"Bingyuan, the water in the tunnel has been drained. In half a month at most, we will be able to dig below the city and place explosives!"
"No need."
Jiang Dashan put down his telescope and saw with his own eyes that the enemy general committed suicide.
After a while, the city gate opened wide.
The entire south of the Yangtze River, the top five cities in terms of city height and energy, finally surrendered on their own.
Chongzhen should be pleased that Yuezhou Prefecture and Chenglingji lost a prefect and two generals.
Long Wenguang actually doesn't need to die. He is from Guangxi. Zhao Han can attack Guangxi next year at most. Wouldn't it be nice to surrender in advance to pave the way for the family?
Li Zheng set out from Changsha and had already conquered Ningxiang, Yiyang, Yuanjiang, Changde, and Taoyuan. He encountered almost no resistance and had to wait and see. Only the magistrate of Taoyuan wanted to hold on to the city, but the county magistrate and the chief registrar joined forces. Tie them up.
With the assistance of the navy, Huang Yao led his troops to attack the city along the river, until they reached Shizhou Wei (his mentor).
As for Jiang Dashan and Jiang Liang, they went east to attack Wuchang Prefecture (southern Wuhan) and Wuchang County (Echeng), all the way to Xingguo Prefecture, which borders Jiangxi.
Only in this way can we capture the entire territory of Hunan and the mountains in western Hunan. We are too lazy to fight for the time being.
However, Zhao Han's Hunan Province was bounded by the Yangtze River, including Enshi, Ezhou, Huangshi, and southern Wuhan in later Hubei provinces.
Anyway, Huguang was divided between Zhao Han and Zhang Xianzhong, with the south of the Yangtze River going to Zhao Han and the north of the Yangtze River going to Zhang Xianzhong.
The premise is that Zhang Xianzhong can eat the officers and soldiers there. With more than 30,000 people huddled in two cities, it will be really hard to survive if they can't stand out.
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