Chapter 86 The Battle Flag Rolls Over the West Wind Hunt
Ningyuan City is only more than a hundred miles away from Shanhaiguan. The entire city's walls are only six or seven miles long and no more than two feet high. The moat outside the city is only two feet wide and one foot deep. To be honest,
, for such a city to be called a "city" is already putting a premium on its face.
In the Ming Dynasty, many military posts were garrisoned no larger than Ningyuan City.
However, it was this palm-sized city with a garrison of more than 10,000 people that withstood Hou Jin's 100,000-strong army and seriously injured the enemy chieftain below the city. This was a great victory for the Ming army since the fall of Fushun.
.
It was also the only big victory.
Standing on the wall of Ningyuan City, looking at the mountains and fields in the distance, Jiang Wan was filled with emotion. The traces of the fierce battle in the distance were still vivid in his mind. The wind seemed to still smell of gunpowder smoke and iron blood from that day's battle. On that day, Yuan Chonghuan was probably standing there too.
On this city wall, watching Hou Jin's thousands of troops and horses surging forward, and the iron cavalry all over the mountains and plains approaching, Yuan Chonghuan's mind may only be about life and death, defense and offense, but not his own.
How emotional!
Ningyuan City is square in shape, with a fort set up at the four corners of the city. Jiang Wan was standing on one of the forts at the moment.
Yesterday, when the team entered the city and checked the military success reports, it was natural for the big shots in the team to do it. And according to Jiang Wan's position in the team, naturally Catherine and others wanted to come to the fort to take a look and inquire in detail.
During the war, the use of these French cannons.
"Of course when the Tatars attacked, Mr. Yuan withdrew all the cannons and civilians outside the city to the city, and burned all the houses outside the city!" Ning Yuan sent an officer to receive the Folangji people.
His name is Luo Zan, he is the commander of Ningyuan's firearms and can be regarded as the specific commander of Ningyuan's Folang machine cannons. He has personally experienced the battle that day and talks about these things with great clarity.
"Strengthen the walls and clear the country!" Jiang Wan nodded in agreement: "Let the Tatars have no danger and expose them all to the range of the Folangji cannon. Moreover, it will be more effective to use the scattered Folangji cannons together.
Killing the Tatars!”
"I heard Master Jiang is an expert!" Luo Zan did not hide his admiration: "I thought the same way at the beginning. If the cannons outside the city were captured by the Tatars one by one, and they turned around to attack us, it would be troublesome.
Big!"
"That's not necessarily the case!" Jiang Wan shook his head: "If this Folangji cannon could be used after being taken away, the imperial court would not have sent someone here to teach you how to use this cannon. However, it was damaged.
pity!"
"Yeah!" Luo Zan nodded and pointed at the man who looked like an officer behind him who was talking to Catherine: "That's the person sent by the imperial court to train our gunners. Not to mention, if no one teaches us, this Fo Lang
Machine cannons are really not that easy to use!”
There is a gun carriage in the fort, and a Franco machine cannon is placed on it. The fort extends out of the city on three sides and is connected to the city on one side. This means that this cannon can cover at least 270 degrees in front.
, and the cross firepower formed by several forts, Jiang Wan just thought about it for a moment, and could imagine how desperate those Houjin cavalry were under this firepower that day.
"Is this artillery cart also specially made? I thought it was placed on the fort!" Jiang Wan was a little surprised. Compared with the advanced artillery in his mind, the Franco machine cannon can only be described as thick and bulky at best, but this
They are already the most advanced firearms in this era. Moreover, because these Franco machine cannons have large calibers, sufficient charges, and their barrels are at least a thousand pounds. According to the general practice of placing these bulky cannons in cities, they should be fixed in this city.
Up.
"This is the method Mr. Yuan came up with!" Luo Zan explained: "If it is fixedly placed on the fort, then the muzzle cannot be mobilized, and the range that can be hit is much smaller. Moreover, here in Liaodong, the cannon explodes
A lot of things happened when the gun was being loaded. If the gun exploded during the most intense fighting, the fort would be destroyed, which would have a huge impact on the war!"
He pointed at the unattractive-looking artillery cart, "But with this special artillery cart, you can not only turn the muzzle and change the direction to fire at will, but also if the cannon is broken, you can immediately
Push it aside and bring up a new cannon!"
"The imperial court has only purchased a total of thirty such cannons. Do you still have inventory in Ningyuan?" Jiang Wan asked with some surprise: "According to the number you reported, there are a total of sixteen Folangji cannons participating in the war this time.
Five of them were damaged, leaving eleven left. Could it be said that all thirty cannons were allocated to you, Ning Qiandao?"
"They all ran away after hearing the news, so the cannon is naturally useless!" Luo Zan shook his head slightly: "Whether it is useful or not, let's bring him back first. Now it has been proved that Mr. Yuan's original decision was really wise!
"
"So that's it!" Jiang Wan suddenly realized that he couldn't tell Catherine this matter, but he could understand the mood of Luo Zan in front of him. Ningyuan Gucheng resisted the Hou Jin army, and at that time he probably had to use all the weapons he could use
They have all been used, and this Folang machine cannon is no exception.
Not far away, Catherine and the officer finished talking, and the two walked towards Jiang Wan.
"Mr. Jiang, this is Luo Li. I met him before when we were in Fujian!" Catherine introduced him to the officer beside her: "Last time we needed manpower to train the Ming Dynasty's gunners, he was recommended by my uncle.
, now it seems that he is doing a very good job!"
"Nice to meet you!" Jiang Wan looked at the dark and thin man in front of her, and the smile on her face became very friendly.
"Luo Li, Mr. Jiang wants to know about the use of these Folang machine artillery during the war. You know better than me. No matter whether it is good or bad, tell Mr. Jiang!" Luo Zan said to Luo Li: "The imperial court
If you are really willing to spend money to purchase a large number of these Folang machine cannons, you will be very busy in the future!"
Luo Zan joked with a smile: "You must be lucky to earn money!"
"I don't dare, I don't dare, it's my job!" Luo Li smiled honestly: "It just so happens that Miss Catherine is also concerned about these issues, so I will tell Mr. Jiang and Miss Catherine the situation at that time.
If there are any omissions, Mr. Luo, you must remind me!"
The wind outside the fort was very strong, blowing the Ming flag on the city wall loudly. Jiang Wan and Catherine were in this small fort, leaning next to the cannon that seemed to be still warm, listening to the two witnesses,
Let’s talk about what happened that day.
"The Tatars appeared under the city in the middle of the first lunar month. At that time, the people and soldiers outside the city had already begun to withdraw to the city under orders from above. We had four forts in the city and twelve of them were placed there.
There are four cannons, but one of them is out of service. In fact, it can only be counted as eleven. The two forts on the north and east are commanded by Master Luo Zanluo. I am mainly responsible for the forts on the southwest and southwest!"
"This is the first time for everyone to use the Folangji cannon in such a concentrated manner. Therefore, those who boarded the fort at that time were actually prepared to die on the fort!" Luo Li
Said: "I have heard that in the past when the artillery was fired, there were people who were shocked to death in the fort. At that time, there was only one cannon in the fort. Now there are several forts firing at the same time, at least two cannons.
Even if everyone’s ears are stuffed with strips of cloth, no one can guarantee that they can survive!”
"On the twenty-third day of the first lunar month, we were the first to fight. I remember it very clearly!" Luo Li looked into the distance and pointed to a certain place: "At that time, the Tatar camp was set up outside the city. They could
Unexpectedly, our Folang machine cannon could easily hit their camp. When we saw that the Tatar camp was right under our cannon muzzle, the brothers in the firearms camp were so happy that they even spoke in a loud voice.
They are all much smaller, as if they were afraid that the Tatars outside the city would hear what they were saying and run away overnight!"
"When the order came down from above, Mr. Luo's north fort fired first, and then the west fort also fired more than a dozen shots because it could fire!" Thinking of the situation that day, he smiled on his face: "The two forts worked together.
When the artillery was fired, the sound was simply earth-shattering. The cannons had been aimed at the Tatar camp for a long time. Not a single shell was wasted. All the shells were thrown into the Tatar camp. The Tatar camp
, that’s a lot of casualties!”
"Lord Luo should be considered the first contributor to this battle!" He gave a thumbs up to Luo Zan: "It severely dampened the enemy's spirit, and directly beat the Tatar camp to the west and retreated overnight!
"
Having said this, he clicked his lips with some regret: "It's a pity that even after reaching the west, the Tatars who suffered a loss are finally not as arrogant as when they first came here, and the camp has never been set up to my south fort."
For example, Master Luo ate meat in the first battle, but I didn’t even drink the soup!”
"Talk about the war, don't talk about me!" Luo Zan smiled with a smile on his face. He mentioned his achievements in front of the court. There was no reason for him to be unhappy.
"On the morning of February 24th, the Tatars began to attack the city. To be honest, when I saw the Tatars' siege posture, my legs were a little weak at the time. The mountains and plains were full of people!" Luo Li said: "The cavalry
After attacking the cover, the foot soldiers pushed the carts and the hook ladder launched an attack from the southwest corner. This time, I was not polite. As soon as the order came from above, the forts on both sides of me did not stop. Anyway,
It doesn’t matter where it hits, as long as one shot is fired, it can kill some unlucky ones!"
He looked at Luo Zan, "However, Mr. Luo, I have never understood that our city wall has long been splashed with water and frozen. Even if the infantry rushes over, it is not easy to climb the city wall. When the Tatars attacked the city,
, What are they doing with so many cavalry? Are they planning to just fly the cavalry up the city wall?"
"Our city wall is only over two feet high!" Luo Zan shook his head slightly: "There are enough dead people piled under the city, and it is not strange for the cavalry to rush into the city like this. The Tatars are not stupid, they are
Be more ruthless, but this time I met Master Yuan who was more ruthless than them!"
"So that's it!" Luo Li suddenly realized: "I also said, besides being targets, what else can those cavalry do? It turns out that was their idea!"
His expression changed slightly, presumably because he thought of the scene Luo Zan just described. If that really happened, how many people would die inside and outside the city!
"What was the result?" Catherine listened with rapt attention, especially since the cannon they sold to Ming Dynasty made a great contribution this time. She wanted to know the situation at that time even more than Jiang Wan.
"Our forts are powerful and sharp, but the Tatars are really not afraid of death!" Luo Li swallowed his saliva and said with some lingering fear: "The arrows were like rain at that time, and our cannons were fired with no life. That's it.
In this case, the Tatars pushed the cart to the bottom of the city despite their casualties, and then they started digging holes!"
He said: "I later went to see the hole. It was almost two feet in size. It was really critical at that time. At that time, Mr. Yuan personally suppressed the battle, while supervising and leading the garrison soldiers to pour fire oil and mix it with the city.
He mixed gunpowder and ordered more than a hundred brave men from the army to descend from the city with iron ropes and completely destroyed the Tatar carriages, thus saving the day!"
He sighed and said: "We are all good men of the Ming Dynasty. We knew that after leaving the city, we would definitely die. But at that time, Master Yuan gave the order, and everyone rushed to be the first, and no one retreated. Compared with them, I
It’s really beyond our reach!”
Jiang Wan was also a little silent. He seemed to have seen this scene before. When facing the alien invaders, those soldiers who usually seemed ordinary used their lives and courage to fight at critical moments.
He told these invaders what home and country means and what selflessness means.
The people of the Song Dynasty were like this when facing the Mongols and Yuan Dynasties, the people of the Ming Dynasty were like this when facing the Hou Jin Dynasty, and the Chinese people will still be like this when facing the Japanese slaves in the future.
This country, this nation, its backbone has never been bent or subdued.
"What's behind?" Catherine asked.
"The most dangerous day was the day of the 24th. Actually, there is nothing to say about what happened after that. So many people died on the first day. When everyone was behind, they just thought they were dead. Anyway, the Tatars came up.
, our fort will fire, and when we get close to the city wall, the other brothers on the wall will rush up, and the dead and injured will be carried to the city, and the living ones will come up!"
Luo Li smiled bitterly and shook his head: "We have destroyed a few cannons, so you know how many we fired and ran away. Fortunately, this time they were all Franco machine cannons. We replaced them with cannons made by the Ming Dynasty. I'm afraid it will be destroyed on the first day."
Everything collapsed, and now I don’t have the chance to tell you this here!”
"That's God blessing my Ming Dynasty!" Luo Zan interjected: "By the way, God also blessed us!"
Luo Li glanced at Luo Zan and nodded: "Later, after fighting for more than ten days, the Tatars suddenly retreated. At that time, I couldn't believe that we all survived. Then there was news that it was our cannon.
The Tatar leader was shot to death. I’m not sure about this. There were so many cannons fired at that time, and they hit wherever there were crowds of people. Who would notice whether any high-ranking Tatar officials were killed?”
"This, it should be true!" Luo Zan took over his words with certainty: "Many brothers on the top of the city saw with their own eyes that our cannon fell into the middle of a group of enemy generals, and even their flags were broken.
I don’t know whether the people are dead or not, but the Tatars retreated not long after, and they must have hit their important people!”
"Is there any news from the Tatars?" Jiang Wan nodded slightly. He knew the truth of the matter. If you want to say it, it can only be said that Nurhachi was really unlucky.
"This is not something we can know. Mr. Jiang, you have to ask Mr. Yuan..."
Jiang Wan was stunned and laughed. Then she realized that the people in front of her were just two officers from the Ningyuan Firearms Battalion. Although she heard a lot of real situations from their mouths, she also learned a lot about Yuan Chonghuan.
, but they are not Mr. Yuan Chonghuan or Mr. Yuan.
If he wanted to know the news about Hou Jin, he would really have to ask Yuan Chonghuan.