When the Southern Song Dynasty resisted Mongolia, Jiangling and Xiangyang were collectively called the "Jingxiang Defense Line".
It is said that if you defend Jing, you must defend Xiang. In fact, if Xiangyang is lost, Jiangling can continue to defend. Because in the Southern Song Dynasty, the area where Ju Ming's army was at this moment was artificially turned into an endless lake.
Even the "Great Lakes Community" is known as the "Three Seas of Jingzhou" in history.
Initially, in order to resist Cao Wei, the Sun Wu regime introduced the Ju River and Zhang River into the low-lying areas of northern Jingbei. Later, Sun Wu's general Lu Kang ordered the defenders to build weirs and dams to store water to resist the Western Jin army's southward march, thus forming a river in the north of Jiangling. "North Sea".
In the following hundreds of years, any unified dynasty would build farmland around the lake and occupy the "Three Seas of Jingzhou" because it was created by artificial diversion of water.
During the Five Dynasties period, in order to resist the Later Zhou Dynasty, Gao Baorong once again built weirs to divert water to open the Beihai. Zhao Kuangyin forced Gao Baorong to block the Beihai.
How did Jingxiang come to be so sparsely populated?
One of the Jingzhou Three Seas in Jiangling, one of the swamps around Honghu Lake, and one of the swamps in the northern part of Zhijiang River. Without systematic water conservancy regulation by the imperial court and large-scale relocation of people for reclamation by the imperial court, it would be difficult to achieve significant results by relying solely on private reclamation. Effect.
The people had been cultivating the wasteland for twenty years, but it was all over after a great flood!
The entire Northern Song Dynasty spent many years and months managing to restore most of the "Three Seas" into fertile soil.
In the Southern Song Dynasty, in order to resist the Mongols, water was again diverted to build weirs, and the north of Jiangling was turned into lakes and swamps.
This land can be described as a land of great changes.
If Prime Minister Zhong had read the history books carefully, the best plan would be to defend Zhijiang and gather heavy troops to dredge the upper reaches of the Zhang River. Then use the navy to control the river, dig canals and build weirs, and create three seas, directly flooding the north of Jiangling. Ju Ming's army No matter how awesome you are, you can’t get through it!
At this moment, Ju Ming's army gradually returned to camp.
Based on the camp, a large formation of the Chinese army was set up. This was a common formation method during the Song and Ming dynasties. Civilian commanders especially liked it because it was reliable and effective.
As long as you don't mess around, the formation will be fine.
Ju Ming had 30,000 troops in the newly occupied territory, and trained 6,000 militiamen under the command of surrendered generals. Today, Han Shizhong's militia is in the direction of Zhijiang, Zhang Guangdao leads troops to guard Hanyang, and Sun Lan leads troops to guard Mianyang (also owned by Zhang Guangdao) command).
There were only more than 20,000 people on the Jiangling battlefield, led by Ju Ming himself.
The civilians were carrying food back little by little, passing through the rear passage of the formation. More civilians continued to retreat with food, and stayed away from the area near the battlefield as soon as possible.
Chen Ziyi's cavalry and Hua Rong's gunmen have all arrived under Ju Ming's command.
But like Deng Chun's cavalry, it was difficult to gallop. The surrounding areas were all low-lying areas, and the long-term rain made them muddy.
Eighteen artillery pieces were still on the north bank of Zhijiang River. The Chu army failed to sink them into the river, and they didn't know how to destroy them. They didn't even bring hammers, so how could they smash the cannon bodies to pieces? However, when they were dragging them, the mud handles The fire door was blocked and had to be cleared slowly afterwards.
On the Chinese army's position, Hua Rong, his musketeers, and more than ten people sat in a group and began to dry a small amount of gunpowder.
This kind of behavior is very dangerous. They don't dare to do it too much. Two or three shots are enough if they can dry it temporarily.
It had been raining for days, and even the firewood was damp, making it difficult for the army to cook.
Shenji Battalion has replaced the ammunition with paper shells, and those paper shells are also in a semi-wet state. Perhaps it will be better to fight in the north in the future.
They struggled to light more than a dozen bonfires, tore open the paper shells and poured out the gunpowder. Each person only poured out three rounds of gunpowder and placed them in dry bowls, not daring to get too close to the flames.
The sky was cloudy and it wasn't raining, but it could rain at any time.
Ju Ming has already set up a large formation, but further away, the Chu army is still setting up the formation.
Prime Minister Zhong does not know how to be considerate of the people's strength. Many of the people in his core areas are half soldiers and half civilians, and can be mobilized to fight at any time.
But the combat effectiveness is worrying!
Most of their armors are made of cloth inlaid with bamboo pieces. Thick and hard bamboos are used. They are dried in the shade and made into armor pieces. They are strung together like armor and sewn on the tough cloth. Some elite troops string iron on the leather.
slices or bamboo slices.
In Jiangling City, Prime Minister Zhong has stationed 50,000 troops!
No matter where he develops in the future, he must first defend Jiangling, and it is best to defeat Ju Ming's army.
Otherwise, on the front line of Jingjiang River, Zhong Xiang would always have to divide his troops to defend the city along the river, and would not dare to go south or east with all his strength.
As long as Ju Ming is defeated, these 50,000 people can be used as a mobile force, which can be used to attack Guiyangjian to seize the silver mines, or can be used to attack Jiujiang and annex Jiangxi.
Ju Ming used telescopes to observe the enemy's situation. When Zhong Xiang's army formed a formation, not only was the whole army in chaos, but the connection between the various departments was also extremely chaotic.
At this time, if he could use cavalry, Ju Ming was confident that he could defeat them in one fell swoop.
Unfortunately, the distance was too far and the road was muddy. Not only was the cavalry unable to charge, but the infantry also took a long time to cross.
Zhong Xiang took his time to complete the formation of the army, then moved forward a certain distance and reorganized the army again. Then he did not attack immediately, but took out the flat cannon and assembled it.
When he rebelled, he got some crossbows and small cannons from Wang Zhen's warship.
Like bows and arrows, bed crossbows cannot be used in rainy and humid weather.
It’s not that the bow string has become soft, but that the bow glue has become unstable and must be re-glued after the rainy season.
The wheels of the flat cannon will get stuck in the mud and cannot be moved as a whole. They can only be disassembled and lifted out for assembly.
Of course Ju Ming also had this thing. At the beginning of the battle, the two armies were bombarded by a large number of flat artillery.
At the same time, Prime Minister Zhong sent 10,000 troops to each wing, slowly moving around the side of Ju Ming's formation. He wanted to rely on his strength advantage to launch a three-sided siege.
"The enemy's Yanzi Banner is the most chaotic, the troops are not in order, and the orders are slow." Wang Xin observed carefully with a telescope.
Wang Yuan speculated: "Chen Ziyi and Han Shizhong defeated Yan Ziqi and Li Ziqi on the Zhijiang side. The Yan Ziqi enemy troops in front of them may have been reorganized, or they may even be new recruits who have recently joined the army."
Zhang Bor said: "The bell thief only knows that our cavalry, firearms, and bows and arrows are not effective in rainy and muddy weather, but he does not know that the combat power of the Yuanyang Formation is doubled. Whether he is an elite or a new soldier, it will be the same when he encounters the Yuanyang Formation!"
Naturally, the Yuanyang Formation cannot increase its combat effectiveness out of thin air, but the road is slippery and the Chu army moves slowly. However, the Yuanyang Formation only needs to stick to the slow-moving enemies and can form a formation to kill the enemy calmly, making the fight easier than normal.
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After nearly 40 minutes of artillery fire, the artillery battle finally ended.
It wasn't that all the catapults on both sides were smashed, but that all of Zhong Xiang's stone bullets were used up, while Ju Ming's side still had quite a few stone bullets left.
The Chu army advanced slowly on three sides, and Ju Ming's artillery carriage continued to drop bombs.
The two groups of Chu troops in front of them were hit by stone bullets one after another. No matter how the generals tried to boost their morale, they all appeared to be panicked and sluggish. Some soldiers even turned around and ran away.
Prime Minister Zhong was furious and personally ordered the execution of the fleeing soldiers before regrouping and moving forward.
As the enemy troops gradually approached, Ju Ming's artillery troops withdrew all their troops.
The leader of the Chu army on the front is Zhong Yi. This man is the brother of Prime Minister Zhong. Not only did he become the prime minister of the Chu Kingdom, he was also named King of Shu by Jin last month.
With such a royal title, it is self-evident that it is disgusting.
The Chu army commanders on both wings were Xia Cheng and Huang Zuo.
In another time and space, Xia Cheng would rather die than surrender, while Huang Zuo defected to Yue Fei.
Half of the other generals who took refuge with Yue Fei, such as Yang Qin, Liu Heng, Jin Cong, Liu Shen, Yan Qi, etc., are currently on the Jiangling battlefield. They are an important part of the Yue family army. Their improved naval warships and tactics , and even influenced the entire Southern Song Dynasty and Yuan Dynasty naval forces. Even the naval forces of Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang retained the fighting methods of these people.
When the Chu army moved, Prime Minister Zhong sent Yang Qin and Jin Cong, each with 5,000 men, to the front army and between the two wings. They were mobile reserve forces to rescue friendly forces when they were unstable.
Zhong Xiang probably read "Martial Arts General Essentials" and also knew how to adapt the defensive female formation to attack with slight changes.
There is no problem with arranging troops, but it is a pity that they do not pay attention to troop training, or do not have time to train. They can barely arrange the formation, understand the orders, and then directly go to fight. After a few actual battles, those who survive are the "elite".
Ju Ming's camp only had walls, no trenches were dug or barriers were built.
This is because he has never thought of relying on the defense of the camp, and hopes that Zhong Xiang will take the initiative to attack. If there are trenches and barriers, this outdoor battle will be impossible to fight. Zhong Xiang is so confused that he attacks the strong camp!
The caltrops still had to be scattered, as they were mixed in the mud and water and difficult to identify. When the Chu army approached the camp, sporadic screams continued.
"Throw the gun!"
The javelins of the rattan player and the long card player were thrown, and the Chu army raised their shields to block them.
Moving closer, the squad leaders started shooting arrows.
The bow and arrow can still be used, but it must not be fully drawn. The bow glue will become unstable due to moisture, and excessive force will damage the bow arm.
To be honest, armor made of bamboo slices can still effectively defend against arrows.
After withstanding the javelins and bows and arrows, the Chu generals commanding on the front line were overjoyed, because the enemy did not rely on the stronghold wall for defense, and they could more easily knock down the stronghold wall.
This was of course intentional. Yuanyang Formation felt that the wall was too obstructive, making it inconvenient for the wolf mill and boring rake to move around.
"boom!"
The wooden fences and walls everywhere were knocked down by the Chu army.
They stepped on the fence and moved forward, seemingly seeing hope of victory, but what they met head-on was a wolf in the forest.
Zhong Xiang's troops were 2.5 times that of Ju Ming, but they could not all be put into battle. The head-on strength of the troops was close to 1:1.
Seeing the stalemate in the battle, Xia Cheng and Huang Zuo immediately sent their idle troops to Ju Ming's rear army.
Countless mandarin duck teams formed a large formation. They received military orders before the battle. Before the enemy was defeated, they would do their best to stay still. Even if the enemy fell down and retreated, they would not pay attention to it, and they would fight in formation on the spot.
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The muddy road is slippery and saves energy.
The entire battlefield seemed to be still, and Ju Ming's army remained motionless.
As time went by, the Chu army began to become unstable, and reserves were constantly deployed to respond.
Chu general Xia Cheng even led his own soldiers to fight around Ju Ming's rear army. This man was wearing iron armor and was very weak when moving, but he was brave when fighting. He was bleeding through the wolves and was quickly killed by a group of people.
The boring palladium was pushed down.
Xia Cheng fell down and was dragged back by his own soldiers. However, the rebel army did not pursue the enemy generals and still maintained a fixed formation for defense.
Encirclement on three sides has turned into an attack on four sides.
After a long battle with no results, Prime Minister Zhong became more and more anxious and beat the drum himself to cheer up.
No matter how many troops he has, it is useless. A large number of troops are idle on the periphery, unable to engage in battle at all.
The Chinese army's formation also had passages. Some Chu troops went to attack those passages, but were blocked by horseback and grain trucks. They finally moved the obstacles and were immediately attacked by cavalry.
The battlefield was Ju Ming's camp, and the roads in several passages had long been packed with soil.
Especially the eighty heavy cavalry, they could not charge outside the camp, but they could move calmly in several passages. Even if the charging distance was short, it was enough to attack the enemy.
On the high platform built in the center, Wang Zhen held up the telescope and said: "It's almost done."
Ju Ming raised his arm, and the ordering soldiers immediately waved the order flag.
Gu San and Shi Biao led 3,000 personal guards, all wearing iron cans like infantry armor. Each of them led 1,500 heavy infantry and fought their way out through a passage respectively.
Chen Ziyi's eighty-heavy cavalry also abandoned their horses and led their retinue, passing through another passage. Hua Rong led more than 500 musketeers and followed behind Chen Ziyi and the others. The dried gunpowder was enough to fire two or three shots.