Mai Dahai and Yang Qi were wrapped in tight fur coats. They stood on the bow of the Feilong and blew in the cold wind.
Mai Dahai pointed forward with a runny nose and said: "Huangzhou is ahead. Do you think it is necessary to capture it?"
Yang Qilong raised his hands and stamped his feet: "The sailors are all frozen... As long as the officers and soldiers don't attack, forget it. Anyway, the officers, soldiers and navy in the Yangtze River are basically landlubbers without ships now."
Mai Dahai twitched his nose and nodded: "Okay. Let the deck sailors take shifts every half an hour. Quickly pass through the Huangzhou boundary. Let Mr. Chen get us some braziers for the fire. What do you think?"
Yang Qidao: "During battle, no open flames are allowed on the warship except in the officer's cabin and kitchen. This is the rule you set."
Mai Dahai shook his head and sighed: "It's all because of this damn weather. It's still so cold after the first lunar month... Forget it. The navy on duty is allowed to go to the officer's cabin to warm up by the fire after the shift. That's fine."
…
Originally, the Chinese fleet had no intention of attacking Huangzhou. The Huangzhou Ming Army also maintained silence when the Chinese army passed through the Huangzhou River. The Chinese fleet consisted of two battleships, twenty cruisers, and more than thirty schooner gunboats. , more than 30 improved Fuchuan gunboats, and hundreds of various auxiliary ships. The single column stretched on the river for more than 20 miles. The Chinese army's advance arrived on the Huangzhou River in the morning. In the evening, the leading battleship "Flying Eagle" appeared on the river.
So far, the Ming army running fortress inside and outside Huangzhou City has not fired a single shot, cannon or arrow. Of course, the Chinese fleet has also not fired a single shell.
When the "Flying Eagle" sailed past the front of Huangzhou, suddenly, something happened without warning: On the upper floor of the West Water Gate of Huangzhou City, a big gun fired by the Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers sounded. "Rumble" The loud noise broke the eerie silence that had filled the river all day. Then, everyone: Huangzhou Ming army officers and soldiers, including Chen Daoheng, Zhu Shishou, Zhou Qiyuan and Qi Zhongyue on the enemy platform at the south gate, all saw the "flying" A towering wave rose up near the starboard side of the "Eagle". The Chinese fleet had already relaxed its vigilance at this time. Therefore, it drove the ship to less than one mile from the shore. It was almost hit.
Then, the voice of Huangzhou Magistrate suddenly sounded, trembling and crying: "Look, the pirate's big ship has turned around and come back."
Everyone was stunned. A group of people on the south gate enemy platform could not make any meaningful noise for a long time. After a while, Zhou Qiyuan shouted: "Who. Who is firing without permission."
It has to be said that the military discipline of the army is really bad. Chen Daoheng and others arrived in Huangzhou under the protection of white pole soldiers. After entering Huanggang, the state government, they immediately burned all local ships on the pretext of "avoiding the enemy".
Most of these boats were private fishing boats and sampans. Many of them were the only source of livelihood for a family. After the Ming army burned them, not only were they not compensated, they also had to collect military rations and drag people to do coolies.
The Ming army led by Chen Daoheng arrived in Huanggang only four days earlier than the Chinese fleet. In these four days, the entire Huangzhou territory was like locusts passing through. The people suffered greatly. It was a small matter to lose their families and property. Many families were destroyed.
On this day, officers and soldiers were building a fort at the West Water Gate of Huangzhou Prefecture. They recruited many local people to work. One of them was a local citizen whose family was destroyed by the officers and soldiers. His wife and daughter committed suicide after being bullied by the officers and soldiers. This He was originally a blacksmith by profession. The locals in Huanggang City called him Jiang Tietou. All the furniture in his shop were now requisitioned by the government for free. He himself was also requisitioned to build a fort for the officers and soldiers. He was full of resentment towards the officers and soldiers. He had been thinking of ways to take revenge for a long time. When the Chinese fleet passed the Huangzhou River, he expected that the pirates would destroy everything here.
As a result, Jiang Tietou was very disappointed: the two sides faced off without any offense for almost a whole day. Nothing happened. He was responsible for making solid iron bullets for the officers and soldiers, so he had the opportunity to get close to the largest "big gun" in Huangzhou City. Next to the cannon, he heard several officers and soldiers discussing: The pirates' warships have strong guns and powerful guns, but as long as we don't fire the cannon first to bombard them, they won't attack us... and so on.
Jiang Tie's mind suddenly turned around and he immediately thought of a way to take revenge on the officers and soldiers.
Although the Ming army hoped that the Chinese army could pass through harmlessly, the necessary preparations still had to be made. Therefore, the large gun in front of Jiang Tietou was full of ammunition and ready to fire at any time. Jiang Tietou only had to hold the vertical The ignition rod on the gun body ignited the fuse on the ignition hole of the large engine. This accidental bombardment incident occurred naturally.
Jiang Tietou did not know how to fire a gun. However, this shot accidentally hit the river a few meters away from the starboard side of the "Flying Eagle". It caused a near miss. The splashing water hit the Flying Eagle who was observing the situation on the starboard deck. The captain was soaked from head to toe.
Suddenly, the 60 gun doors on both sides of the Flying Eagle were fully opened. Three small red flags were raised on the main mast, indicating that it was entering combat status. It quickly approached the Beishui Gate of Huangzhou Fucheng on the north coast. First, all the cannons on the starboard side came together. When turning, it used the two 40-pound heavy guns on the bow to fire at the south of Huangzhou Fucheng. After completing a 180-degree turn, the Flying Eagle fired another salvo at Huangzhou Fucheng with 30 cannons on the port side. At this time The Flying Eagle was less than 300 steps away from the bank of the Yangtze River. All the shells it fired hit near the south gate of Fucheng, Huangzhou.
At this time, other Chinese warships that had successfully passed through the Huangzhou River turned around one after another, opened their gun doors, and charged over menacingly.
Chen Daoheng and others turned around and fled down the city when the Flying Eagle fired its first salvo.
The two heavy cannons on the bow of the Flying Eagle fired shrapnel shells. One shot failed to detonate successfully. The other shot exploded near the enemy tower at the south gate. The flying iron bullets knocked down the Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers at the top of the city in pieces. Then It was a series of miserable and painful screams.
Chen Daoheng and other officials all exclaimed that they were lucky. Everyone felt weak at their feet. The city gate building now filled with corpses was exactly where they stood just now.
"Sir, what should we do now?" Huangzhou Magistrate asked with a tearful voice while supporting Chen Daoheng.
Chen Daoheng's face was pale, his lips were blue, and he was speechless. Zhou Qiyuan stepped forward and grabbed Chen Daoheng. He turned to everyone and said, "Sir, the matter has come to an end. We can't stay in Huanggang City any longer. We have to save the boss and leave. .”
At this time, the sound of cannons on the river has become a continuous sound. More and more Chinese warships have joined the queue to bombard Huangzhou Fucheng. The flute sound of "咻咻." has also sounded. The most feared thunderbolt rocket has also been heard. They began to attack Huangzhou Fucheng. At this time, the Ming army, which had been frightened for a long time, began to collapse. There were soldiers on the walls all around shouting: "Run, run."
"I can't stand it anymore. Let's break up."
At this moment, the entire Ming army in the city, except for the white pole soldiers stationed at the north gate of the city, still maintained discipline. The rest of the Ming army had completely given up resistance.
"Let's go. If you don't leave, the pirate army will enter the city." Qin Bang, the commander of the Shijia Palace, came over with a dozen soldiers on a horse and a dozen soldiers. He couldn't help but see a group of civil servants still hiding from the shells under the city. The ground shouted anxiously: "Everyone and the soldiers have run away. This city cannot be defended. Let's leave quickly. The pirates have not yet begun to land. Let's protect Mr. Chen and leave the city through the north gate. "
Zhou Qiyuan gritted his teeth: "Forget it. There is nothing we can do about the matter here. Let's go to Wuchang and think about it later." As he said that, he personally helped Chen Daoheng up and ran towards the north gate.
…
Huangzhou City was occupied by the Marine Corps led by Yang Qi that night.
Chen Daoheng and others took the remnants of the Ming army to Hankou on the third day. They found that they could no longer go to Wuchang City. The Yangtze River was completely controlled by the Chinese fleet.
The current Wuchang City is actually on the opposite bank of Huangzhou Prefecture. However, the Yangtze River waterway is curved and needs to be detoured. The Chinese Army's Yangtze River Task Force had already divided its troops and marched westward the night it captured Huangzhou. The next day, it cut off shipping on the Wuchang River. waterway.
The current Wuchang City was built in the fourth year of Hongwu (1371) in the Ming Dynasty. Zhou Dexing, then the Marquis of Jiangxia, expanded Wuchang City. It is more than 20 miles around. The walls are made of pottery bricks. The height of the wall ranges from two to more than three feet. There are alleys and streets in the city. There are clusters of government offices. Cultural buildings such as government schools, Gongyuan, and Confucian temples are scattered all over the city. Scholars and scholars gathered together. It was an important city wall in the south at that time.
At about this time, the Wuchang City Wall included Huangge Mountain. The small east gate in the south, Pinghu Gate and Hanyang Gate in the north, Ziyang Lake and Baoan Street in the west... The range was just around Snake Mountain, north of Hongshan and west of Fenghuang Mountain. There are 9 gates around the city. There is Dadong Gate in the east. New South Gate in the southeast. Baoan Gate and Wangze Gate in the south. Bamboo Gate in the southwest. Pinghu Gate in the west. Hanyang Gate in the northwest. Caobu in the north. Gate. There is a small east gate in the northeast. In 1535 (the 14th year of Jiajing reign in the Ming Dynasty), when the imperial censor Gu Li rebuilt Wuchang City, he changed the big east gate to Binyang Gate, the new south gate to Zhonghe Gate, and Wangze Gate to Wangze Gate. The mountain gate, the Bamboo Gate is Wenchang Gate, the Caobu Gate is Wusheng Gate, and the small east gate is Zhongxiao Gate.
After the Feilong anchored on the Yangtze River in front of Sheshan Mountain, Mai Dahai, Yang Qi and a group of young staff members all crowded to the bow of the ship and rushed to look at Wuchang City with binoculars.
"Mr. Wen, is this the Yellow Crane Tower?" Mai Dahai asked, pointing into the distance.
He was asking about a clerk at Wuchang Huaxing Co., Ltd. A secret agent who had been ambushed here by the Military Intelligence Department for many years. This man was still dressed like a store clerk. He had just arrived here on a small sampan to join us. .
Mr. Wen nodded and said: "The General is referring to the Yellow Crane Tower. It was rebuilt during the Yongle period of this dynasty. You see, it is surrounded by octagons on all four sides. It means all directions... The location of the tower is Snake Mountain... "
Mai Dahai interrupted Mr. Wen's tour guide and asked: "How many Ming troops are there in the city?"
Mr. Wen frowned: "Within a few days, there were frequent movements of officers and soldiers in the city. They came in and out. It is really impossible to calculate how many people there were. According to my estimate, there were more than 20,000 guest soldiers from Sichuan, Jiangbei, Changsha and other places. There were originally more than 20,000 officers and soldiers in the city, but now there should be less than that."
Mai Dahai turned around and patted Yang Qi on the shoulder: "Old Qi, look, do we need to capture Wuchang City?"