Chapter 162 The Battle of Guangzhou (8) Don't forget the national humiliation and work hard
The rumbling sound of artillery was earth-shattering. Hundreds of artillery were arranged at random and launched a fierce bombardment towards the city of Guangzhou. The artillery on the city wall had insufficient range and low power. It was quickly destroyed by the Ming army's naval heavy artillery, and the counterattack was completely lost.
Ability. After the threat was eliminated, various small artillery began to move forward, joining the roar of the siege.
Bricks and stones flew across the sky, city towers collapsed, and the city wall in the northwest corner trembled and trembled in the dust and smoke. Although the Ming army's move to deploy artillery was already known to the Qing army, this sharp and fierce bombardment still shocked the Qing army.
tremble with fear.
More than ten years ago, Shang Kexi stepped up his efforts to cast cannons in Conghua in order to conquer the city of Guangzhou. In addition to the 27 cannons brought from Ganzhou, Jiangxi and captured on the way, a total of 73 cannons were used to bombard the city fiercely, and it collapsed in one day.
The city wall is more than thirty feet long. However, the number and power of the artillery manufactured and used at that time are far from those that are roaring and spitting out flames now.
The casting process of the artillery, the caliber size, the gunpowder formula, the shooting level...it exceeded every aspect, which formed a big advantage overall. Shang Kexi, who was originally good at firearms, finally experienced the power of the Ming army's firearms today.
The artillery bombardment started in the morning and lasted all morning. During this period, the artillery was cooled down and rested, but the layering of the artillery ensured that it was uninterrupted as a whole. The battlements were flattened, and the small gaps turned into large gaps. The bombardment gradually showed its effects.
, the shaken city wall collapsed faster and faster, and the shadow on the hearts of the Qing troops defending the city became heavier and heavier.
Dozens of meters of the city wall had been smashed open and collapsed, and the slope formed by the remaining bricks and rubble was enough for soldiers to climb the city on foot. The shelling continued, and from time to time, shells emerged from the dust and smoke and penetrated into the city.
The city wall cannot be saved! Commander-in-Chief Miao Wenxiu and Deputy General Wu Qizhen looked at each other and read the same meaning from their eyes and expressions. They couldn't help but sigh.
It was not only the arrival of Zhu Yongxing that put pressure on the Qing army defending the city. During the preparation time for the attack, the political offensive focused on the surrender of troops and generals such as Xu Erxian also continued. The Ming army shouted harsh slogans, and in Xinhui
Those who committed blood debts will never be forgiven. Although Yunlong, Xu Chenggong and others were shot to death, their family members in Guangzhou could not escape the death penalty. After the city was broken, all the family members would be killed. In the same way, during the siege of Guangzhou, the die-hards also
will be punished as such.
This is a tough stance that the Ming army has never seen before, showing that the Ming army has strong confidence in conquering Guangzhou. Perhaps such a threat can make the Qing army desperately resist when the city can still be defended. However, if the city is already lost,
It's a foregone conclusion. In order to save the family, is there any other choice besides committing meritorious service anyway? There are many people who abandon their families and die with the city. But how can there be less people who have other ideas?
The threat on the city wall has been eliminated. The Tianwei Artillery and the Tianwei Artillery quickly moved closer, setting up positions and preparing to cover the infantry breakthrough. Dozens of heavy artillery began to raise their muzzles, preparing to launch an extended shot at the gap to kill the enemies in the city.
The infantrymen threw away their excess equipment, checked their guns and ammunition, and installed bayonets. They stared at the gap covered in smoke. The rapid-fire Fran machine was installed on a wooden frame, in a group of ten. Eight people carried it, and two people calibrated the ignition.
, will accompany the infantry charge and open the passage with a hail of bullets.
The extended shooting was sudden and violent. The shells roared across the gap and suddenly appeared in the smoke and dust. They slammed into the city. The Qing soldiers near the city wall were caught off guard and were blown to pieces. The houses near the city wall were exploded with loud noises.
collapse.
"Enemy, the enemy is attacking the city!" The shouting made Miao Wenxiu and other generals convulse, and they felt a layer of sweat break out on their foreheads and vests.
Miao Wenxiu shook his hands and shouted in a hoarse voice: "Line forward and stop them!"
If we block the Ming army's attack, we can force the people gathered from the city to move forward with bricks and stones to block the gap. The city can still hold on. If the Ming army infantry breaks into the city, how can the Qing army, which is at a disadvantage in terms of strength and equipment, resist it?
The artillery fire gradually stopped and the city wall had been blown open, but the heroic attack of the infantry was still needed to break the city. At that time, the accuracy of the artillery was not high, and continuing to bombard the city with the Hongyi artillery with a longer range would only bring difficulties to the siege troops. The Qing army
That's what I thought, but I didn't know that the Ming army's cannons had already advanced to the range and would do more damage to the Qing soldiers than before.
The Ming army's siege infantry did not charge hastily, but slowly pressed forward in an orderly queue, waiting for the Qing soldiers to form a formation at the gap to resist.
Regarding the Ming army's concentrated fire bombardment, the Qing army could certainly estimate the direction of the Ming army's breakthrough and made corresponding preparations. With an order, three thousand strong soldiers each armed with weapons rushed into the smoke and formed an array at the gap.
In order to prevent the Ming army from breaking the city.
The smoke and dust slowly dissipated. Under the sunlight, the bayonets and gun blades shone coldly. The distance between the two sides was getting closer and closer. It seemed that the hand-to-hand melee expected by the Qing army was about to happen.
"Boom, boom, boom..." A stream of smoke rose from the Ming army's position, and large and small artillery shells flew into the air, passing over the heads of the Ming army infantry, and smashed hard around the gap.
The shell landed, bounced, rolled, and then exploded suddenly. Smoke and dust rose into the sky, shrapnel flew across, gravel spattered, soil churned, and the hot air and gunpowder smoke choked people.
All the vision became blurred, and the smoke and dust raised by the explosion blocked the gaps, and there was chaos. Unprecedented artillery concentrated on the city, unprecedented intensive bombing, even the participants of the Ming army stared dumbfounded.
The dense Qing troops in the gap were covered by smoke and dust.
The Qing soldiers were all hidden in the chaos, and they couldn't tell which was the dust and which was the smoke of the explosion. The surviving enemies were shaken to pieces and found it very difficult to breathe. The air seemed to have been burned out and they were
Squeezing away, they tried their best to open their mouths, but with every gasp, they breathed in the choking gunpowder smoke. The hot smoke was burning in the throat and between the lungs, and it was burning.
It felt like it was going to explode again in the person's chest.
In the violent explosion, the soil on the surface was pushed and squeezed by the force of the explosives. Under the squeeze of the earthquake, large and small rocks were actually ejected from the soil, shooting high and smashing.
Heads were broken and blood was shed.
A strong white light flashed, which was more dazzling than the sun and more deafening than thunder. A big explosion exploded not far away from Miao Wenxiu. The earth shook violently in the explosion. Miao Wenxiu and the surrounding people were shocked.
People lose vision and hearing in an instant.
Explosions came one after another amid screams and exclamations, and it took a while to stop. But the chaos of the Qing army did not stop. Hundreds of cannons deployed from far and near just one round of bombardment shattered the Qing army's 3,000 elite soldiers blocking the gap.
Delusion.
War drums rumbled, replacing the sparse explosions. Amid whistles and roars, the Ming army continued to advance, this time at a faster pace. Toward the still smoke and toward the chaotic gap.
It's over, it's over! Miao Wenxiu regained his sight, but he still couldn't hear the sound. He saw Qing soldiers struggling to escape from the smoke, and their expressions looked dull, slow, and extremely frightened.
The shaking earth calmed down, and the smoke gradually dissipated amidst the cries and screams. People could see the craters scattered all over. There were corpses and wounded soldiers everywhere around the craters, some curled up in the rubble. Some fell from the ground.
Half of the body protruded from the rotten bricks. The ground was a mess, some were dark, some were burnt yellow, and the plowed soil was mixed with broken weapons and broken rags.
There was a flash of light, and a row of bullets was fired. Before the white mist cleared, the figures of the Ming army wearing helmets and armor appeared in the gap. Following a burst of screams, the Ming army soldiers mercilessly stabbed to death the wounded soldiers blocking the road.
Rushed to the top of the slope. With a shout, they rushed down. Another row of Ming soldiers rushed up the slope. They raised their guns and fired amidst the whistle...
There was hand-to-hand fighting, but it was not intense. They were blown away by the bombing. The confused and panicked Qing soldiers became even more frightened under the volleys of guns and bayonets, and almost lost their organized resistance. More and more Ming troops broke in, and several Franco machine guns
The artillery was also brought up. Under the dense rain of bullets, the Qing army suffered heavy casualties.
The advantages in numbers and firepower became more and more obvious, and the melee around the gap was still going on. However, the Ming army's front line continued to press forward, allowing more subsequent Ming troops to join the battle group.
Miao Wenxiu's waving arm was suddenly grabbed by someone. Several soldiers dragged him and began to retreat. In his sight, the city walls on both sides of the gap had been occupied by Ming troops. There were constant lights, which were muskets shooting. There were also some Ming troops.
What is on display and pointing here...
"Boom!" There was a cloud of black smoke on the city wall, and then Miao Wenxiu saw a dark thing flying over and smashing into the ranks of the Qing soldiers. There was a deafening explosion and the smoke enveloped a human body.
The Ming army's artillery, the kind that could open spent shells. Miao Wenxiu stopped screaming and struggling. His heart kept sinking and he sank into the abyss, letting his soldiers drag him further and further away.
Learning war in war, after a series of battles, especially the Battle of Xinhui, the Ming army became more and more skilled in the coordination of arms. Well, now it can only be infantry and artillery coordination, but this is already irresistible to the Qing army
tactics of warfare.
Franco planes and sky-blasting cannons either took the lead in clearing the way, or provided fire support. Coupled with the intensive fire of muskets, the breakthrough was irreversible. The battle extended in all directions, and the advantages in numbers and firepower became increasingly obvious.
Miao Wenxiu followed the defeated soldiers and retreated towards the north gate, hoping to get support from the friendly forces there to stabilize the position. But before he arrived, a fierce sound of gunfire came from the opposite side, followed by a group of defeated soldiers in embarrassment.
And arrived.
"Vice-General Li Youcai rebelled, succeeded in assassinating the commander-in-chief, and surrendered at Xianmen." Another thunderbolt hit Miao Wenxiu on the head. Suddenly his mind went blank and he completely lost his ability to think.
"Sir, let's go this way." Lieutenant General Wu Qizhen panted, calling to his soldiers, he lifted up Miao Wenxiu, who was stunned, and turned to the inner city.
Guangzhou has two cities: inner and outer. Fortunately, it is impossible to put all the troops in the outer city. There are still quite a few troops left in the inner city. The four generals in charge of the outer city are Miao Wenxiu, Lien Decheng, and Ban Zhifu.
, Gao Jinku, with a total of 20,000 soldiers. Miao Wenxiu lost the west city, Li Youcai surrendered at the north gate, and the outer city of Guangzhou can be said to have been captured by the Ming army.
If Shang Kexi mobilized the troops from the inner city to reinforce the outer city, the battle might be more intense, but it would be welcomed by the Ming army. Of course Shang Kexi was not that stupid. Seeing that the outer city was no longer safe, he issued an urgent order to order the troops from the outer city.
Retreat, shrink to the inner city and fight stubbornly.
After giving the order to retreat, the Qing troops in the outer city lost all resistance and scrambled to flee towards the inner city. The Ming troops chased and killed them, shooting and stabbing them. The streets leading to the inner city were filled with corpses of Qing soldiers, and they finally fled inside.
There are only six to seven thousand people in the city.
In Guangzhou, there are two layers of outer city, which are the horns of each other. If the Qing army loses one of them, the defeat is certain. Huddled in the inner city, although the defensive range is small, it is still lingering, and destruction is only in sight. The Ming army quickly eliminates the remaining enemies in the outer city.
, set up cannons at the outer city fort and began bombarding the inner city.
The sunset had just faded, and the sky and the earth turned into silvery gray. And in the outer city of Guangzhou, where the sporadic fighting had not stopped, the milky white smoke smoke had risen one after another, blending with the gray dusk mist, as if to the walls, roofs,
A thin layer of mist covers the treetops and street masks.
It only took one day from the concentrated fire bombardment in the morning to the capture of the outer city. Of course, there was the factor of surrendering the generals, but it cannot be denied that the Eastern Expedition Ming Army made great progress in their ability to attack fortresses and street fighting.
The combat effectiveness of the Qing army in Guangdong declined rapidly, which was somewhat beyond the expectations of Zhu Yongxing and others.
Investigating the reason, one of the reasons is that the vassal soldiers under Shang Kexi, who were the backbone of his rise and achievements, were completely lost in the war. And in Guangdong, a prosperous place for a long time, arrogance and extravagance were a corrupting poison.
After Shang and Geng counterattacked Guangzhou, until the ninth year of Shunzhi (1652), the entire territory of Guangdong was gradually settled. After the war subsided, the old city of Guangzhou was stationed by the "vassal king", and "the city was surrounded by his sons, nephews and subordinate officials."
", as for the original large and small yamen of the local government, they were all driven to the outer city. In the old city of Guangzhou, large-scale construction was carried out, and a "beautiful and magnificent" vassal palace was built.
In Guangdong, Shang Kexi, the vassal king, is a local emperor who is subordinate to one person and superior to ten thousand people. He can control "the (general) governor, the (supervisor), the (inspector) governor, and the town (Taiwan)"; he can "dispatch troops and horses"
"; you can "cut mountains and mines, boil sea salt, dispatch county tax collectors, and transport overseas ships"; you can build feudal separatist manor "Wangzhuang"; you can control rivers, lakes, and even coastal fisheries. You can also control
The province's market and commerce is organized into a "head office" that integrates Guangdong's political, economic and military power.
People with power and money, feasting, eating, drinking and having fun are naturally indispensable. Take the "Eagle and Dog Room" in the palace as an example. It is divided into four parts: insect and ant room, bird room, eagle room and dog room. The insect and ant room raises crickets and grasshoppers.
Grasshoppers, cicadas, and bees; the bird room raises quails, thrushes, white pigeons, and fighting cocks; the eagle and harrier rooms raise seabirds, blue harriers, and sparrow eagles; the dog room raises Kanto hounds and pugs. There are full-time officials everywhere such as "
"Dog Supervisor" and so on, with nearly a hundred breeders. Those raised by other princes, young masters, ladies, and wives are not included in this list.
In Prince Pingnan's palace, "cats are called miss, Niuniu, and dogs are called husband, little brother." Dogs are often allowed to go out, which can be said to be "people and dogs blocking the way." Every butcher shop you pass must be "filial."
Pork and dogs are sympathizers, and passers-by are afraid to avoid them for fear of being inferior. (To be continued...)