Gaodu City is just a small city with rammed earth walls and brick walls. There is no urn city and there are no artillery on the city. Zhang Ning's army built an artillery array less than a mile outside the due north gate, with eleven short and thick mortar cannons and thick wood.
The base of the plate was buried in the pit, and more than 200 people from two brigades and engineers from the Ordnance Bureau were operating these artillery pieces. The filling powder was granular black powder, and the shells were solid stone bullets, weighing more than 20 kilograms. If they were loaded with iron
According to the caliber, the ammunition can reach thirty-five kilograms.
This kind of gun fires at a distance of several hundred steps, and its high-throw ballistic trajectory has almost no accuracy, so it can only be roughly estimated. However, when facing a target with a city wall three or four miles wide, it does not require too much accuracy.
A large group of people worked hard on the open land on the banks of the Yuanshui River for a long time, and finally a thunderous cannon blast broke the tranquility between heaven and earth; after a while, more loud noises exploded, and the city seemed to begin to tremble amid the roar of the cannons.
…
Three days later, the fat Changde Guard Commander was kneeling outside Zhu Yong's central army gate, his hands and feet trembling with fear. He was Commander Luo, the chief guard of Gaodu City. He was the commander of the Changde Prefecture Guard Army and led troops to Longtou Temple.
, and then was ordered to set up defenses in Gaodu County to stop the rebels, but was defeated.
When the news came out from inside, Commander Luo crawled into the lobby. As soon as he entered, he fell to his knees and kowtowed. He looked really frightened. More than a year ago, he had seen him in Changde Mansion.
Defeat his enemy Zhang Ning. Zhang Ning was the patrol commander of Huguang at that time and was just a civil servant. Commander Luo was too fat to ride on the horse, and he still argued in front of the patrol censor that there was no war in Changde and that the grain was delivered on time.
He lay prone on the ground and did not dare to look up at Duke Cheng Guo sitting on top, but he could imagine the face of the man above him.
An official next to the leader asked: "Your troops are twice as many as the rebels, and you are defending the city. How come the city was broken and the entire army was defeated in two days?"
Commander Luo hurriedly cried: "That afternoon, we couldn't even see anyone clearly at the top of the city. Suddenly there was a thunderbolt from the blue. Artillery shells smashed down on the city wall. The masonry of the wall collapsed. The soldiers were injured and killed in panic. Some shells fell into the city wall.
In the city, it was useless to destroy the houses and people and animals... The people in the army were already in panic. The next morning, the rebels dragged the "general cannon" to the city gate and fired it close to the city gate. Our bows, crossbows and firearms were not enough, so we could only watch.
In an instant, the city gate was smashed open, and the bandits swarmed in. The general, with dozens of his own soldiers, wanted to lead the crowd to fight with the bandits in the city. Unexpectedly, the soldiers just ran away, and the soldiers and horses were confused and the military order was blocked.
Many people seized boats from the water gate in the south and fled. Some fell into the water and drowned due to the heavy armor; more people abandoned their helmets and armor and swam naked to escape. The general was really helpless and was about to die with the rebels, but the servants forced me to
Tie up and pull away..."
Duke Cheng Guo finally couldn't help but finish his long nonsense and shouted coldly: "You who neglected your duties will deserve your death!"
Commander Luo hurriedly begged for mercy: "Sir, spare my life! Spare your life!"
There were generals from Changde in the army who helped to plead for mercy, and the staff around Zhu Yong also advised him to lock up the defeated general first and let the court convict him. But Zhu Yong was extremely angry and roared: "Come here, take him out and chop him!"
Two guards came forward to drag Luo, but they could hardly drag him because his body was too heavy. Two more guards came, and the four of them worked together to almost carry him out. For a long time, you could still hear the begging for mercy outside.
.
Zhu Yong got up angrily, went to the back hall, drank a sip of tea, and sat there to relax for a while before he recovered.
A confidant next to him defended him: "If it hadn't been for those two eunuchs, we would have defeated the Miao people in Luxi first, and then marched north to recapture the three counties. With smooth sailing, we wouldn't have encountered such a thing; now it's great.
, the eunuchs said that they would attack the Suzaku Army first, which made them collude with the Miao people. To say that those eunuchs are really hateful, they don’t know the army but they want to point fingers."
Zhu Yong opened his eyes, breathed a sigh of relief and said: "You must not complain like this again. If it is just the eunuchs who are in the way, can I listen to them?"
After hearing this, the general was suddenly enlightened and hurriedly bowed: "The Duke's teachings are correct, but the last general made a mistake."
"Do you know who Liu Heju, the former commander of the Yongding Guards, has been demoted to the rank of Qian Commander?" said a fair-faced and round-faced officer next to him, "I have interacted with him a few days ago, and I feel that this person is not an incompetent general, but a man.
"
A general said disapprovingly: "The rebels were not defeated, but they were better than Commander Luo who died today. At least they did not lose the acropolis."
The round-faced officer said sternly: "Liu He said that the rebels had powerful firearms, and the officers and soldiers suffered a loss because of those weapons. Now there are more than 2,000 people in Gaodu County defending the city, and they were defeated in two days. Even if Commander Luo and other generals are incompetent, this
The defeat was too brutal. I think we should try to get some rebel firearms to try and learn more about the enemy."
Zhu Yong said: "The barbarians are afraid of firearms. That's because they are ignorant. The officers and soldiers are used to the sound of guns and flashes of fire. How can they fall into this? Liu Heju's defeat was just to make excuses for himself. Don't let him fool you."
"
The general hurriedly echoed: "As Duke Cheng Guo said, a defeated general will naturally find some excuse to say that he is not useless. There is only one reason for defeat, and that is his incompetence. Just like the Commander Luo we saw today, he
How did he climb to the position of commander of the Changde Guard? The administration here is really rotten!"
"When Chang Dewei was transferred to Longtou Temple, I was in Luxi. I had never seen the commander. If I hadn't seen him in person in a hurry, I wouldn't have let him lead the troops." Zhu Yong said, "Speaking of this accident, I
I also have a certain amount of responsibility.”
"The local commanders are not appointed by the Duke, so you don't have to say so."
At this time, the round-faced official calmly changed the subject: "In today's situation, the bandit army has already controlled Gaodu, and the garrison at Longtou Temple has disappeared. They are equivalent to controlling the Yuanshui River upstream of Changde Mansion. The official thought,
There are three important reasons for the rebels to occupy this place: first, they can connect with the Miao people to the west and respond to each other; second, the main supply of our army's food road mainly comes from Changde Prefecture, and the food road is under threat; third,
The bandit army can directly threaten Changde Mansion if they follow the current... Of course, because they have too few troops and are deterred by our superior strength, it is impossible to attack Changde Mansion..."
"Mr. Geng is indeed very eloquent when he speaks." A military general's praise sounded a bit weird. Civil and military affairs are always not harmonious, especially in the military field. Civilians have to be eloquent. In the eyes of military generals, what they say is nice.
, it’s really useless to fight.
This round-faced Mr. Geng’s name is Geng Huaiyuan. Speaking of which, he and Zhu Yong are from the same Anhui hometown. He is also a staff member, so he is still someone who can talk to Zhu Yong. However, a group of generals and Zhu Yong survived a narrow escape, and their relationship is not as close as that of Zhu Yong.
The gentleman who usually only talks about things is in trouble.
Geng Huaiyuan had a look of contempt on his face, which made several generals very unhappy. He raised his head, cupped his fists and said, "I have a plan in my late life. I wonder if I can tell it in front of my lord?"
Zhu Yong had long been accustomed to seeing such scenes, so when Geng Huaiyuan mentioned his past dealings with the military general Liu Heju, Zhu Yong didn't sound very reliable. He immediately said calmly: "Mr. Geng has something to say, but it's okay to say it.
"
Geng Huaiyuan said: "For the present plan, we must not be impatient. Our intention to cut off the retreat of the rebels at Yongding Guard is no longer feasible. The plan for later is to march towards Longtou Temple."
"What's the beauty of heading to Longtou Temple?" Zhu Yong wondered.
Geng Huaiyuan looked as if he was proud of himself: "Four words, divide and conquer. Of course, marching to Longtou Temple alone will not be effective, and a countermeasure must be used to prevent the Miao people from colluding with Zhang Ning. It's very simple.
Just send a person to see the old man, tell him his interests, and promise some fictitious and real benefits, so that the Miao people can stay away from the traitors."
"That's easy to say." The military commander who was despised just now suddenly said this.
Geng Huaiyuan said coldly: "Even if the Miao people and the rebels have contact, the relationship is very shallow, and they obviously cannot trust each other. Furthermore, what is the intention of the Miao people in raising troops? It is just to cause trouble to the officers and soldiers who are fighting the rebellion first, so as to prolong the war.
If we don't give up, we will try to use a policy of appeasement when the imperial government fails to exterminate them. Maybe they can get an official position from the Miao king, and nominally help the imperial court manage the Miao territory. If they have this intention, we will go along with the flow and act like we want to appease them.
How can the Miao people not appreciate it?"
At this time, Zhu Yong spoke: "What Mr. Geng said makes sense. I guess that's what happened. I can send someone to deal with it. But the real effectiveness of the rebellion is to defeat the rebels in the battle formation, with the help of strategy."
It’s not impossible.”
The general echoed: "That's right, if you can't defeat it, it's all in vain!"
Zhu Yong was very happy and immediately ordered Geng Huaiyuan and said: "It's up to you to handle the counter-intentional plan, but you must never promise anything to the Miao people. You only need to show your kindness by showing off or verbally speaking some false and true things.
So that when we end up dealing with the Miao people, we will leave nothing to blame."
"If the Miao people really want to surrender, as long as the conditions are acceptable, they can write to the court and appease them, so as to avoid prolonging the war and consuming food, grass and lives."
Zhu Yong shook his head and said: "When the King of Han was entrenched in Nanjing, the imperial court also said that it would suppress the Miao rebels, and it had its own reasons. If there is a rebellion, just give him an official title. That's okay. Wouldn't it encourage those who are ready to make a move?
?”
Zhu Yong already had a rough idea of the Miao people's combat power of more than 10,000 "heads". He was presented with an opportunity to do great work, and he was asked to care for it? This was really a bit difficult. If he didn't kill everyone, the blood would flow like a river, and he would be powerful all over the world.
, how to achieve his prestige after the famous general Zhu Yong?
The situation at hand was not good. They were defeated. It was actually because the military officers and soldiers in the southern mainland were a bit poor. Zhu Yong thought that if he had led the northern frontier troops or the veterans of Jiaozhi, he would not have suffered a disaster that was twice the enemy's.
Defending the city resulted in a huge defeat. However, after he organized and reorganized the army, his more than 6,000 main troops would never be as unusable as the Gaodu defenders.
He was thinking secretly when he heard Geng Huaiyuan say again: "If we can win over the Miao people to repair their relationship, the land of Gaodu will become a more dangerous place for the traitor Zhang Ning to die."