As Zhang Dingyuan published his suggestions, several other people also put forward their own opinions. For a time, the crowd was excited and morale was high.
He Huchen was also very proud. He was able to successfully mobilize everyone's passion and courage. It was not easy, and it was also a skill.
The soldiers under him also come from many sources, including Liaodong soldiers, Yongping people Zhuang, and Beijing camp veterans. It is not easy to put them together, especially when they have to abandon everything before and start from scratch to form a completely different army.
It turned out that the new army in the old Beijing camp, which mainly relied on firearms, was also a huge challenge for him.
It can be said that he was also trepidatious from the beginning, fearing that he would fail Feng Ziying's high hopes for him.
Fortunately, Feng Ziying has maintained absolute support for him from beginning to end, and has given strong support from all aspects, especially giving all-round guidance to the construction of such an army that no one has had contact with before, so that he can stumble with this.
An army found out.
Today's battle can be regarded as the first battle for He Huchen's department to get off to a good start, and it was also the first battle without his on-the-spot command. It was fought so beautifully, which greatly inspired the confidence of everyone, including him.
Although I was very optimistic about this type of firearm, which is far more powerful than the previous three-eyed muskets and target guns, after all, I have never experienced a real war, and I still feel a little uneasy.
But after this battle, He Huchen can firmly believe that in every battle in the future, the army in his hands will perform better and not lose to any army, even if they are the elite of the Nine Sides, and they are also
It will get better and better and stronger.
After carefully listening to the suggestions of everyone under his command, He Huchen nodded slightly: "Very good, I understand everyone's opinions. We really need to make full use of the high ground to the south and west of the bridge. Ding Yuan's suggestion is very good. Tiger Crouching Cannon
The power of it can just cover this area. If they want to gather and advance at the north end of the bridge, we can use this height to attack them head-on. As for crossing the bridge, Mingzhang's opinion is also very good. The bridge deck is only so wide.
If we push the camp cart across the bridge as a shield, the middle of it will be quite narrow, and there won't be much room for hiding many soldiers. A hundred or ten people can come across at one time, which is too much. Can we give up the bridge head and shoot them when they unfold?
It is a consideration. In addition, if we build high platforms on both sides of the bridge and use firecrackers to shoot from above, can we cause damage to them?..."
Once the suggestion is accepted and supported by the superior through collective efforts, the proposer will have a sense of honor and trust, and will be more willing to make suggestions.
He Huchen also wanted to cultivate this sense of participation among everyone, instead of relying solely on his own opinions, because to be honest, this was the only way an army that had always relied on firearms would fight. It was also the first time for him to learn how to maximize the power of firearms.
Taking it to the extreme, it is also a process of learning and practice.
"It takes time and effort to build a high platform, and I'm afraid it may be too late, but a small amount may be possible. If the eagle-billed gunmen are condescending, they may be able to exert their powerful effect..."
"Along the south bank of the river, we also need to guard against sneak attacks by enemy boats. Once the Shiqiao attack is blocked, the Xuanfu Army will definitely increase the number of boat cavalry and use the mobility advantage of the cavalry to attack our rear. This requires our cavalry to expand the search range.
, once the enemy troops are discovered crossing the river, they will be attacked in advance..."
As everyone's enthusiasm increased, every suggestion was recorded, and then discussed and studied to see if it was feasible, and He Huchen finally made the final decision.
Although it was not long, such a pre-war meeting was extremely necessary. Many deficiencies that had not been thought of before, or unanticipated possibilities were made up for, and a more comprehensive and detailed combat plan was also put forward.
He Huchen also breathed a sigh of relief.
Just as the troops on the south bank of the river were gathering strength and strength, the people on the north bank of the river were equally murderous and ready to attack with all their might.
Niu Jizong was not too surprised when he learned that the striker had suffered a setback.
Longhu Tower was taken down with one blow, and Changping Prefecture was easily captured. Baiyangkou was defeated without any blood, which meant that the border town took a little effort, but it was still easily captured. It can be said that the entire western pass of Ji Town was followed by a tailwind.
It went down smoothly, so smoothly that even he felt a little unsteady.
This march all the way to Hongqiao did not encounter any decent resistance. It was not until Yuhe Stone Bridge that he encountered such a small setback. Niu Jizong felt much more at ease.
If it were all smooth sailing, the world would be too easy to live in, and it would be unbelievable.
There were only a few hundred casualties, which was insignificant for an army of 40,000. Niu Jizong didn't care. As long as he broke through the Yuhe Stone Bridge, Gonghua City was just a fortress. Niu Jizong was confident that he could win it in two hours, and it was all the way to the east.
The journey is smooth.
Seeing that the commander was not too concerned, Li Daming was a little anxious.
Although he only lost a mere 600 people, it only caused him such a huge loss in less than half an hour, and more importantly, the opponent caused it in an unprecedented way.
The firecrackers shot with full coverage in all directions and no blind spots. The power of the firecrackers greatly exceeded expectations, making the shields held by his soldiers almost useless.
Six hundred of his most elite soldiers actually became the target of his opponent and were shot without even causing a single loss to the opponent. This contrast was simply unacceptable to him.
If the enemy forces on the other side of the river are all equipped with such powerful firearms, Li Daming feels that even if they use campers to set up sandbags to advance, it is inevitable that the enemy will have other means to deal with it.
That's why he needs to report the situation to the commander-in-chief.
"Da Ming, I understand, the firearms camp..." Niu Jizong nodded lightly: "I know that everyone is very interested in the firearms camp in the past two years. The scale of gunpowder manufacturing at the Wang Gong Factory of the Ministry of War is constantly expanding. It is said that in Zunhua
A gunpowder factory was also expanded. Businessmen from Shanxi and Shaanxi bought the Zunhua Iron Factory, which the Ministry of War could no longer operate. Then they saw an iron-making workshop and an ordnance factory next to the iron factory. The quality of the gunpowder produced was said to be better than
It turns out that the three-eyed blunderbuss produced by the Ministry of War is quite good, and it is being used by Liaodong, Jizhen, and Jingying. It is estimated that what you encounter is either one from Jizhen or one from Jingying."
"Commander, I feel that the firearms of this army are very powerful. The stone bridge deck is too narrow and the shield cannot withstand it..." Li Daming explained subconsciously.
"Da Ming, I don't mean to blame you. We did not expect to encounter the firearms camp before." Niu Jizong waved his hand, "You said, the shield soldiers were attacked by firearms in the middle of the stone bridge. The stone bridge plus the approach bridge
The base is only forty paces. If they are attacked in the middle, it means that their fire cannons can penetrate the shield from twenty or even twenty-five paces away. Its power is indeed much stronger than the three-eyed cannon.
…”
Niu Jizong was not a layman who didn't understand military affairs. He also knew a lot about firearms. He was well aware of the power of Dazhou's three-eyed blunderbuss, target guns, tiger crouching cannons and Xiyi cannons. There were also seven or eight thousand people in the Xuanfu army's firecrackers army.
, but he didn't like it. Beyond thirty steps, it was difficult to penetrate Zha armor and cotton armor wrapped with iron leaves to cause fatal damage. This was much worse than bows and arrows.
Moreover, fire blunderbuss are slow to load, have many steps, take a long time, are easy to explode, and are far less powerful than bows and arrows. Therefore, not only Xuanfu, but the entire Jiubian community had a bad impression of this old-fashioned firearm, until it began to appear two or three years ago.
When the new fire gun came out, everyone started to pay a little attention to it, but they were still skeptical.
In Liaodong, Jizhen began to equip new fire guns. Niu Jizong also heard about it. He also realized that the increasing maturity of firearms might lead to subversive changes in the combat methods of the entire army, but he did not think that this would be effective in a short time.
.
Firearms have many shortcomings, including poor quality, complicated shooting procedures, many steps, and long time-consuming processes. These are shortcomings that cannot be solved.
The time it takes for a fire gunman to fire one shot, an archer can shoot three arrows, and an excellent one can even shoot four arrows, and is not inferior to the fire gunman in terms of range. Of course, the advantage of a fire gunman is that a fire gunman only needs
It takes three months to train to be ready, and an archer can only be said to be a beginner after three years of training.
"But, Damien, do you think there will be anything wrong with our camp car attack? Or do you think the fire cannon can penetrate the camp car?"
Niu Jizong's question caused the surrounding generals to laugh. This was obviously a joke. The camper's frame was made of wood, so of course it couldn't withstand fire, but it also had to be filled with sandbags. Unless it was a Western cannon, nothing could penetrate it.
.
Li Daming was also a little embarrassed. He shook his head: "Commander, I'm not saying that firecrackers can penetrate the camper, but that the opponent is equipped with all firecrackers and adopts a round-fire method. The number of firing rounds has been greatly increased. It has been
It is no worse than archers, and its range is more powerful, so it needs attention..."
Niu Jizong did not hurt Li Daming's self-esteem and nodded: "I understand, but we will not give them another chance. We will complete all preparations tonight. I will cross the river tomorrow morning, and I will capture Gonghua City before noon tomorrow!
"
All the generals around him stood at attention, waiting for orders to be issued.
"Zitong, lead your troops to complete the construction of the pontoon on the west side of the bridge before tomorrow morning, and start crossing the river at dawn tomorrow morning..."
"Xu Shu, lead your troops to complete the construction of the pontoon on the east side of the bridge before tomorrow morning, and start crossing the river at dawn tomorrow morning..."
"Kuching, you will use the boat to cross the river. You will complete part of the crossing and be responsible for the harassment..."
"Da Ming, I will give you sixty camp cars. You prepare them yourself. Starting from the beginning of the day, you will launch continuous attacks to strive for a breakthrough. Yungui, your unit will serve as a reserve force..., Shaochun, your archers will be in charge at the bridgehead.
Suppress the enemy gunners south of the bridge..."
As each general clasped his fists and obeyed the order, the entire Xuanfu army suddenly became restless like a honeycomb that had been poked.
Niu Jizong never thought that a mere Yu River could stop the Xuanfu army's attack. No matter how powerful the enemy army in front of him was, it only had a few thousand people and it was a Beijing camp. He was confident that it could be defeated in one blow. The previous small setback
It's just an underestimation of the enemy who doesn't understand the opponent.