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While Yang Shen sent troops to plunder food and supplies near Yongchang City in preparation for holding on, he forced the people to dig trenches and solidify the city. At the same time, he ordered to recall troops from surrounding counties and towns. At the same time, Yang Shen continued to monitor and spy on the movements of the Ming army, and sent people to Dali and Erhai.
Wei (now Xiangyun County) suppressed Fuhou Town and asked for assistance.
After taking a series of measures, Yang Shen accepted the advice of Shao Mengkai, a guerrilla from the Gansu and Shaanxi Green Camps, and prepared items and means to deal with the Yangmen Formation of the Ming Army.
It should be foolproof, right? Yang Shen walked on the city wall, looking at the civil servants busy digging trenches and setting up stakes below the city, and then looked up at the scorching sun. The rainy season has passed, and it has not rained for ten consecutive days.
Many trees have lost their leaves, and the seasonal changes are obvious.
The Ming army was attacking first. Yang Shen patted the battlements lightly, and a cloud of dry dust rose up in front of him. He frowned and took two steps forward. After the rainy season, it was our army that should have taken action.
, when they went out to attack the border. Now it was the other way around. The Ming army took the lead in turning from defense to offense, but he could only defend the city and shrink back.
Occupying most of Yunnan Province, it seems to be a burden. Yang Shen finally feels like this. Kunming, Dali, Yongchang, Chuxiong, Yao'an, Qujing, Yuxi, these important towns, plus smaller counties,
The army in Yunnan Province was divided and garrisoned thinly. Except for the heavy troops in Kunming, the mobile forces in other areas were actually stretched thin.
"Sir." Guerrilla Shao Mengkai led the soldiers and civil servants up to the city wall and stepped forward to salute.
Yang Shen retracted his thoughts and nodded with a smile. Although he was the commander-in-chief, he was still here for the first time, and he mainly treated these subordinate generals with gentleness, "Shao Guerrilla, let them move the cannon to the west, you and I
Let’s inspect the city defense together and see if there are any omissions.”
"Yes, sir." Shao Mengkai handed over the mission to an officer, and followed Yang Shen to patrol the city.
The ancient city of Yongchang has a long history. It was first built during the reign of King Shengluopi of Nanzhao, that is, during the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty. It was then called "Zheyu City". In the 14th year of Hongwu, it was destroyed by Sirunfa of Luchan River.
It took six years to build a new city, imitating the plan of Nanjing City. Taibao Mountain was included in it, and a unified layout was made for the construction of Yongchang City. The east, south, and north city walls were each 2 feet and 2 feet high, and the west wall was slightly shorter. Jiajing 20
In the eighth year, the West City was added, and Yongchang City developed into a city with a circumference of thirteen miles and fourteen steps and eight majestic gates.
Although the city is still strong, Yongchang has one flaw, that is, there is no moat. Historically, it was not until the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty that the prefect of Yongchang led his people to dig Haochi. River water was diverted from Yiluochi and Mofanggou to form a
The moat flows eastward around the city.
"Mengkai." Yang Shen directly called Shao Mengkai's name to show his closeness, pointed to the trench that had been formed under the city, and said: "I heard that the enemy's artillery is sharp, but the range is relatively short. Look at the depth of this trench.
and distance, can it deter enemy artillery bombardment?”
Without the care of his old boss Zhang Yong, Shao Mengkai became quite cautious. He pretended to look at the city, estimated the distance, and said: "Your Excellency, the layout is very good, the distance between the trenches is appropriate. The artillery on the city is condescending, so it will definitely be able to
Suppress the enemy."
Yang Shen smiled slightly and said: "In the face of a powerful enemy, this is not the time to say such false flattery. In your opinion, how many troops can the Ming army have to lay siege to the city, and what are the chances of our army winning?"
Shao Mengkai lowered his head and thought for a while, then said: "The puppet king Li Dingguo should have more than 10,000 soldiers. If the puppet king Bai Wenxuan comes out in full force, there should be more than 10,000 soldiers. If we add the rebel soldiers, there should be 25,000.
The number is six thousand. Our army has more than ten thousand soldiers, and we rely on the strong city to defend it. We will definitely win."
Yang Shen nodded slightly and said: "The Ming army has a total of sixty or seventy thousand soldiers and auxiliary troops. It costs a lot of people to eat horses and chew them. Once they are under the strong city, the transportation of grain and grass is difficult to continue.
It will not last long. When the enemy is exhausted and their morale is low, our army and the reinforcements will attack in front and back, and we will win a complete victory."
"Your Excellency's analysis is very subtle." Shao Mengkai complimented him again and said, "In this way, the situation in western Yunnan can be determined, and the remnants of the puppet Ming army will never have a chance to recover."
"Haha." Yang Shen laughed twice and said: "The prince has clear rewards and punishments, and the most important thing is those who work hard. When the time comes, rewards will be given according to merit, and Meng Kai will be promoted to a higher level. That is certain."
"It's all thanks to your kind words and the prince's cultivation." Shao Mengkai quickly bowed and cupped his hands, speaking very beautifully.
Yang Shen stretched out his hand to stop him, and said some words to win over people's hearts, before continuing to patrol the city defense with Shao Mengkai.
……………
Not to mention that the Qing army of Yongchang was preparing to stick to the city, which frustrated the vigor of the Ming army. On September 27, the three Ming armies met at Mu Laoyuan in the northeast of Shidian and stormed into Yongchang County. On September 29, the Ming Dynasty
The army finally arrived at Yongchang City.
Among the three Ming armies, Zhao Wang Bai Wenxuan was the strongest, with a total of 15,000 troops and horses, and two thousand left to guard Tengchong and Longling. After all, after the victory in Tengchong, those captured auxiliary soldiers, as well as those captured
Most of the discarded wounded and sick soldiers were left to him. After two months of rest and reorganization, most of these ready-made soldiers were replenished into the Ming army. And the king of Jin, Li Dingguo, brought more than 10,000 troops, also
About two thousand defenders were left behind.
Calculated in this way, the Ming army already has more than 30,000 people, plus the auxiliary soldiers of the Long family, Dao family, and Meng family, the number of participating soldiers goes straight to 40,000. There are also more than 30,000 auxiliary soldiers, more than 20,000 of which are
Brought by Bai Wenxuan.
The local battle advantage has been confirmed, but before the attack on Yongchang, Jin Wang Li Dingguo and Zhao Wang Bai Wenxuan were not particularly optimistic. Attacking the city without more than three times the number of troops, or a higher ratio, would not be effective for the defenders.
That's a huge advantage.
Moreover, this is already a battle in an area occupied by the enemy. If the attack is delayed and cannot be defeated for a long time, not only will the division's veterans be exhausted and it will be difficult to sustain food and fodder, but there will also be a risk of being attacked from both inside and outside by the Qing troops who continue to come for reinforcements.
But Zhu Yongxing seemed confident. After the army set up camp, he took the guards, engineering team, and artillery personnel and began to observe the city and look for a breakthrough. In fact, regarding the situation of Yongchang City, through the intelligence from the Military Intelligence Department and the stories of the Yongchang soldiers in the army
, the general situation has been understood, now it is just a confirmation.
Yongchang City is very old. Compared with the cities in the Central Plains, it can only be regarded as a small and medium-sized city. It has also been repaired several times. The condition and color of the wall bricks vary, just like patched rags.
The west city wall is slightly shorter, which is undoubtedly a better breakthrough point, but Yang Shen also noticed this, and more artillery was deployed on the city.
There are two trenches, more than ten feet deep and ten feet wide. There are also "plum blossom stakes" nailed under the city. The defending side arranged these wooden stakes at random to prevent the enemy's ladders and carriages from approaching the city wall. These wooden stakes on the ground
They are all brand new and have obviously been driven into the ground for a short period of time.
"... there are Shengyang Gate in the east, Zhennan Gate and Longquan Gate in the south, Anding Gate and Yongzhen Gate in the west, Renshou Gate, Tonghua Gate and Gongbei Gate in the north." Yang Guoxiang, who is from Yongchang, faced the old place.
He seemed a little excited and excited, and pointed and introduced to Zhu Yongxing, "Zhennan Gate, Gongbei Gate, and Tonghua Gate also have moon cities, which are difficult to capture."
Zhu Yongxing held up a telescope and observed carefully. There were towers on the city gates, more than three feet high. There were four turrets, three enemy towers, one bell tower and one drum tower. The defense facilities were relatively complete, much stronger than the city in Annan.
Several Ming soldiers held up large shields to protect the members of the three engineering teams as they approached the trench. The three engineers were hung with ropes and went down to the bottom of the trench to check the soil quality and water accumulation.
The Qing troops on the city did not fire artillery, as if they felt that it was not worth wasting artillery shells on these enemies. Moreover, according to the artillery shooting accuracy at that time, apart from a group of artillery fire, if you want to use only a few cannons to fire solid bullets to accurately hit these few enemies,
A Ming army five hundred meters away is also impossible.
There are artillery at the top of the city, but they don't look like Hongyi cannons, but like the light cannons captured during the Tengchong battle. Zhu Yongxing observed carefully, and his confidence increased. In fact, even with Hongyi cannons, Zhu Yongxing thought that he could fight.
According to historical books, the effective range of the Hongyi cannon is seven or eight miles, and the maximum range is within ten miles. This is an exaggeration and is absolutely not credible, as is the statement in the battle report that "one shot can destroy several miles."
You should know that at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the heavy barbarian cannon purchased when building the Humen Fort had a maximum range of 3.5 miles of 3,000 kilograms, and the effective range was only two or three miles. Therefore, Zhu Yongxing believed that the heavy barbarian cannons at that time,
The maximum range should be within four miles, and the effective range should be about two miles.
It is good at siege, poor at field battles, and is not good at defending cities. This is determined by the characteristics of the Hongyi cannon. The reloading and firing rate is low, the cannon body is heavy, and it cannot quickly move positions. It is far inferior to similar cannons such as the Fran.
Light artillery is flexible and fast, and is more suitable for defending cities.
"Your Highness, should the artillery position be placed in the west?" Qian Bangchen, the artillery captain, asked when he saw that Zhu Yongxing had been observing for a long time before putting down his telescope.
Zhu Yongxing is not sure. After all, the engineers from the engineering team have not returned yet. He doesn't know whether it is suitable to blast from the hole here. If the soil quality and water accumulation permit, blasting from here is of course the first choice. If the city wall is short, it will be easy to explode.
And it shows more power.
"If you are on this side or not, you should measure and survey carefully to make sure you know what's going on." Zhu Yongxing pondered for a moment and replied: "Every side must be like this. If you act temporarily, won't you waste the opportunity to fight?"
"Your Highness is teaching you that your subordinates are aware of their mistakes." Qian Bangchen's face turned red and he retreated.
In history, the first person to use tunnel blasting was Li Zicheng's rebel army in the late Ming Dynasty. However, it was the Taiping Army in the late Qing Dynasty that really carried forward this ancient tactics and brought it to its extreme. After hundreds of years, why did this tactic
It is extremely rare and there are almost no successful cases. Zhu Yongxing was once puzzled.
Until now, Zhu Yongxing didn't understand it, and he didn't want to bother with it anymore. Anyway, if Nanjing City can be successfully blasted by the Taiping Army if it is used, what does this mere Yongchang City mean? (To be continued...