For the black powder used to make musket ammunition, the materials used are not much different from the raw materials used for ordinary gunpowder. The main difference lies in the proportion of raw materials. Don't look at me just saying it, but it is not people like Enjiya who can It is easy to figure out the formula and proportion of black powder. Even in Lin'an's gunpowder prison, only a few people know it.
For example, the great craftsmen in the Yuan Dynasty palace, A Lao Wa Ding, A Er and others were only good at mechanical production or smelting technology, but were not proficient in gunpowder. It is no wonder that, relatively speaking, China's chemistry before the Song Dynasty Although they are ahead of the world, the Mongolians who grew up on horseback do not pay much attention to it. For them, the smelting technology in chemistry may be the only thing worthy of attention, because advanced smelting technology can create high-quality cold weapons. This is the main reason why Ah Er and others were able to quickly imitate the musket.
One was a talented emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, and the other was a well-informed shaman supreme. At this time, neither of them thought that due to the proportion of gunpowder formula, the muskets they copied would be far inferior to the muskets of the Song Dynasty. In their opinion, the production of ammunition is much simpler than that of muskets.
This is the so-called "Meeting is not difficult for those who can't do it, but it's difficult for those who don't know how to do it."
Kublai Khan was very satisfied with the progress of the musket imitation. He praised the craftsmen on the spot and divided them into two groups. One group's task was to improve the performance of the musket and strive to reach or exceed the power of the Song Dynasty musket as soon as possible. The other group Specializes in the proportional composition of gunpowder.
On the third day of the first lunar month, the navy led by Li Beiyang took the first action.
Before I went to Xiangyang, I discussed in detail with Li Beiyang and other naval generals the battle plan for the navy after it went north. After defeating the Mongolian navy, there were two options. One was to land directly on the Shandong Peninsula and cooperate with Li Tingzhi destroyed the Yuan Dynasty's Eastern Route Army, then went north to attack Dadu; secondly, he went north from the sea, landed in the Tianjin area, and approached Dadu.
After careful consideration, Li Beiyang chose to go directly north. The reason is very simple. The Yuan Army's navy still has a considerable number of ships in the waters north of Shandong. As the Song Dynasty navy, they should be completely eliminated. As Liu Zheng's senior brother, The portal should also be cleaned.
At this time, Li Beiyang did not know that Liu Zheng had been seriously injured.
On the 13th, the Song Dynasty Navy, under the command of Li Beiyang, once again had a fierce battle with the Yuan Army Navy in the Bohai Strait north of Shandong. After more than half a day of fighting, it once again severely damaged the Yuan Army Navy and forced it to retreat to the In the base of Zhigu Village, the victory of this naval battle shocked the Yuan Dynasty court. Dadu was not very far from the coastline of Zhigu Village. If the Song army landed from Zhigu Village, it would not take long to reach Dadu City.
Li Beiyang's troops had plenty of food and fodder, so they were not in a hurry to return or log in directly, but wandered around the Bohai Strait.
Due to the pressure from the central government, Kublai Khan had no choice but to transfer half of the new army from Shandong to Zhigu Village east of Dadu, and also transferred an elite cavalry force of 10,000 people from the Middle Route Army in Nanyang and ordered it to return to Dadu. Stationed in order to prevent the Song Navy navy from landing at Zhigu Village.
At the end of the month, the Gunpowder Supervisor sent another 5,000 projectiles and 3,000 muskets. At the same time, according to my order, the Gunpowder Supervisor also sent 1,500 projectiles to Gao Da on the West Road and Li Tingzhi on the East Road. The use of projectiles and throwing projectiles is very simple. In advance, some soldiers from the Eastern and Western Northern Expeditionary Army have been dispatched to learn the throwing method. Therefore, they can be put to use as soon as the actual objects arrive.
After the delivery of this batch of military supplies, Dengzhou's number of grenades reached 25,000.
On the night when the new batch of military equipment was delivered, I held the first large-scale military affairs meeting after the year and announced the next battle plan of the Central Route Army.
I first said: "Generals, according to the latest information obtained by our army, there are more than 90,000 Yuan troops in Henan. Among them, there are 50,000 Yuan troops in the middle of Nanyang, and 50,000 Yuan troops in the east of Bianliang City. There are more than 20,000 people in the camp, nearly 10,000 people in Luoyang City, and the remaining 10,000 soldiers and horses are scattered in Zhangde Prefecture (now Anyang, Henan Province), Ruzhou (partly part of today's Pingdingshan City), Yingtian Prefecture (now Shangqiu), and Hanoi County (Part of it belongs to today's Jiaozuo City) and other places. At present, after more than a month of rest and training, our army has sufficient military supplies and can go out for activities. Next, General Lu Wenhuan will announce the combat plans of each army, "
"Yes, Your Majesty," Lu Wenhuan stood up and faced the generals and said, "In the past month, the 50,000 yuan army left in Nanyang has been unable to retreat. With your Majesty's consent, it is under the jurisdiction of the 2nd Division of the Yulin Army in the 19th Wing of the Xiangyang Military Region. The Sixth Brigade, the Thirteenth Brigade under the newly formed Fourth Division and two artillery battalion teams formed an advance army, carrying 10,000 projectiles, and headed to the ruins of the Shifo Temple located more than a hundred miles west of Nanyang to establish a plan to attack Nanyang. In the outpost camp, the advance force is under the unified command of General Xie Daolin, commander of the Royal Forest Army. With such powerful firepower, even if all the 50,000 Yuan troops in Nanyang are dispatched, our army can hold on for a period of time, enough to dispatch supporting troops from Dengzhou to form an internal and external pincer attack. General Xie, General Lu Shikui, do you have any questions about this?"
Xie Daolin and the commander of the 19th compartment, Lu Shikui, stood up and said: "Commander Lu, there are tens of thousands of projectiles. The general and others will ensure that the mission is completed."
"Okay, General Lu Wenxin,"
"The end will be here,"
"You lead the Black Carbon Regiment to be responsible for liaison along the way. Once you get news of the Yuan army's dispatch, you will immediately assist the advance army in garrisoning and send people to report back."
"Yes, the final general honors your order,"
The Black Carbon Regiment are all elite cavalry, extremely fast, and it is very appropriate to play the role of liaison.
Lu Wenhuan then arranged: "The North Camp outside Dengzhou City was withdrawn, and the defenders returned to the city for defense. The artillery battalion stationed in the North Camp accompanied the 19th Cavalry Army of the Lin'an Military Region to go north to Xuchang. After that, the Xuchang Army and the Bianliang Army formed the Western Expedition. The coalition forces are marching towards Luoyang in the west of Bianliang. The Yuan army in Luoyang has less than 10,000 people. Our army plans to dispatch 15,000 allied forces from the two places. With the cooperation of the artillery battalion, it should be easy to recover. After regaining Luoyang After that, a new pattern of joint defense among Bianliang, Xuchang, and Luoyang will be formed. The Bianliang Military Region can attack everywhere, train troops, and simultaneously recover other cities in Henan. If it encounters a large number of Nanyang Yuan troops, it will return to its original position. land,"
Lu Wenxin said: "Shuai Lu, Ah Shu and Boyan won't send troops to rescue them, right?"
"Probably not," Lu Wenhuan said. "Generals, you can rest assured. Once the Nanyang Yuan Army divides its forces, our Dengzhou Army can take advantage of the opportunity and capture Nanyang. The Bianliang Military Region can imitate the guerrilla tactics mentioned by His Majesty. Act on the principle of retreating when strong and destroying weak."
I nodded and said: "Gongsun Xiaochen, Tian Xiuyan, you two will work with the Senate to organize and refine the battle plan and distribute it to all armies."
"Yes, Your Majesty,"
"If everything goes well, we will soon be able to recapture other cities in Henan except Nanyang. By then, the isolated city of Nanyang will be destroyed without attack," I said with confidence, "In addition, I sent an order to the two generals Li Tingzhi and Gao Gao. ,The battle plans of the Northern Expeditionary Army in the east and west are formulated by themselves,"
"Yes, Your Majesty,"
More than 30 years ago, Duanping's entry into Luo kicked off the Song-Mongolian War. Song Lizong, who was pro-government, intended to make a difference and sent troops to the Northern Expedition, but in the end it ended in failure. The so-called entry into Luo refers to the entry of troops into Luoyang.
Luoyang, located in the west of Henan Province, is one of the birthplaces of Chinese civilization. It has a long history and has always been the center of the country. It was known as Xijing in the Northern Song Dynasty and was one of the three capitals in the Northern Song Dynasty.
After receiving my order, Jiang Wanzai and Yin Yinglei immediately formed a 15,000-strong Western Expedition Force, with General Zhao Huai as the chief general, Fan Liangfu as the deputy general, and Meng Tianxiang as the vanguard.
The recapture of Luoyang, Xijing, is as worthy of a place in history as the recapture of Bianliang, Tokyo. At that time, the veteran general Zhao Kui was defeated in Luoyang, which was a lifelong regret. Decades later, Zhao Kuai's son Zhao Huai led the army to go on an expedition, which allowed the veteran general to rest in peace. Under the Nine Springs.
Today's situation is completely different from when Duanping entered Luo. Although the north is still under the rule of the Mongols, the strengths of both sides have gradually reversed. The superiority of weapons, the morale of the soldiers, unified command, and Bianliang and Xuchang , with Dengzhou as the backing, it was almost easy to regain Luoyang.
On February 5, the Bianliang Army and the Xuchang Army met in Gongyi County, one hundred and fifty miles east of Luoyang, and headed westward. Although most of the towns along the way were still occupied by the Yuan Army, in the face of the Western Expedition Army, these defending Yuan troops How could the army dare to go out of the city to block the attack? They could only let the Song army pass by in a big way.
On the morning of February 7, Zhao Huai led his army to the east gate of Luoyang.
Pioneer Meng Tianxiang rode forward and loudly called for formation under the city gate. The Luoyang garrison of the Yuan army was named Nian Muhan. He was quite powerful. Seeing that Meng Tianxiang was young and there were only five or six hundred people behind him, he secretly Feeling brave, he ordered two thousand soldiers and rushed out of the city gate.
Nianmuhan is tall and strong, wearing a black helmet and black armor, holding a mace in his hand, and a bay-red horse on his hip. He looks majestic, "The general will be named, your grandpa Han will not kill the unknown juniors with his stick,"
Meng Tianxiang smiled and said: "Silly man, listen up, your uncle is the commander of the Zhongshun Army of the Great Song Dynasty, and he is also the pioneer of the expedition against Luoyang, Meng Tianxiang. Don't give the wrong uncle's name when you get to the underworld."
Nianmuhan didn't like being called a big fool, so he got very angry and urged his horse to charge forward.
Meng Tianxiang fired up his spear and came forward on horseback. Meng Tianxiang's martial arts skills were almost the same as those of A Shu and others. Nian Muhan had great self-control, so he was no match for Meng Tianxiang. The two of them fought on horseback. In the third round, Meng Tianxiang knocked Nian Muhan off his horse with one shot.
The Luoyang defenders were not elite. When they saw their general falling from his horse, they immediately fell into chaos and hurriedly retreated.
"Charge," Meng Tianxiang shouted and led the Zhongshun Army to pursue.