Three hundred and twentieth chapters laugh out the big teeth
The flow direction of the Yangtze River in Wuchang Prefecture is roughly from southwest to northeast, and the city of Huguang Administrative Office is located on the bank of the river. The Suzaku Army came from the west along the river, and because of its orientation, it could only approach its south gate. A dozen miles away from the city in the south,
The Council of Ministers took a fancy to a place on the water that was barely suitable for a port, so it was selected as the camp.
The fleet set up a water village dock here, where the baggage could be unloaded from the ship. The main army then used the wood and other materials carried by the ship to build a camp on the shore. No one in the military, civil or military, understood water warfare, so they could only adopt conservative passive defense concepts on the water.
, the temporary discussion method was to use large ships to block the water entrance to form a city wall, and open several water gates; then build artillery positions on both sides of the shore to serve as a firepower network on the water.
The origin of this method is very ridiculous. It was proposed by the military general Liu Heju, and Liu Heju's ideas came from the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" he had read. Liu Heju used to be the commander of the military guard post and served as an official in the Yongding Guard; the Yongding Guard
Beside the Wuling Mountains, there are no naval forces in the mountainous areas at all.
He has no fighting skills at all. Liu Heju's greatest contribution is to recommend Feng Youxian to Zhang Ning. Only with Feng Youxian can the cavalry of the Suzaku Army form a combat effectiveness. Otherwise, it would be nonsense to form a cavalry without experts at all. In addition,
Liu Heju’s performance was mediocre.
Now Liu Heju is strongly proposing the idea of setting up a water fortification. This is because he never reads but loves "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". He thinks it is a sacred book and a military book. He can't help but propose Cai Mao's water fortification strategy in the book. Even Zhou Yu praised it as "wonderful"
The beauty of the navy”
, it must be great. Unfortunately, the focus of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms is the story, not the military armament manual, so the specific technical details are unclear, and it may not be reliable; besides, using a novel as a military manual in a war, isn't it ridiculous?
But the problem is that no one has a way, only Liu Heju can speak clearly. In addition, Zhang Ning and everyone in the Council believe that Wuchang City is now in panic and is unlikely to take the initiative to attack. So they adopted Liu Heju’s suggestion and went to the dock.
A water fortress was set up on the river as a water defense. The camp must be close to the river, so as to avoid the time-consuming manpower and time-consuming transportation of the baggage unloaded from the ship.
According to his usual habit, Zhang Ning wanted to go to the battlefield to see it in person before the war, and this time was no exception. So he led a group of cavalry out of the camp to the north, and Feng Youxian led a group of cavalry in the rear just in case.
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There were many military scouts and informants near the city. Zhang Ning did not dare to get too close, nor could he stay too long. He could only take a few glances from a distance. The tall city tower seemed to tower on the horizon, at the same height as the clouds.
, but it's just an illusion; the sky is actually very clear. I vaguely remember that in the cities in the plains in later generations, there was no one that I saw from the train that was not covered in gray smoke and dust.
There was no danger to defend the surrounding plains, but the city tower seemed very high. Zhang Ning turned to Zhu Heng and said casually: "The walls of Wuchang City seem to be built very high and thick."
Zhu Heng replied: "As far as I know, the city defense here is comparable to that of important towns such as Nanjing and Changsha. The Ming Dynasty has always attached great importance to the management of this city because it is located in the middle of the city and connects the east, west, north, south and south.
It shows its importance; it’s just that the city is not as strong as the wall, it has to be defended by people, and the current situation in Wuchang City cannot be defended by the city wall.”
Zhang Ning nodded and said yes. The current situation they understand is mainly the intelligence collected by many parties before, and cannot be seen with a pair of eyes.
After the Battle of Yuanshui, Wuchang City and the nearby area were already empty of troops. After learning that they were going to be attacked, they hurriedly mobilized troops from various places. The seat of the Sixteenth Prefecture of Huguang was here, and the court was very nervous because it was lost.
This is equivalent to losing the entire ruling organization of Huguang; the Third Division of Huguang is also in Wuchang, with chief envoys, inspectors, and envoys, and several second-rank officials of the imperial court.
Members of the government, officials of the feudal frontiers, they have great power in the local area, but they dare not abandon their posts and run away, so they hurriedly order reinforcements everywhere... One of the funny things is that Yuezhou actually intercepted the
Wuchang Du Commander sent an official document to the envoy, and Yuezhou had already been "fallen" before. This shows how panicked the Huguang Third Division is now, and such low-level mistakes can happen.
In addition to urgent orders from various guards in Huguang to send troops for reinforcements, Wuchang's largest source of troops is the guards from De'an Prefecture, Hanyang Prefecture, and Huangzhou Prefecture in the north of the Yangtze River. After the Suzaku Army occupied Yuezhou, many troops had already crossed the Yangtze River and been transferred to
Wuchang is fortified. It is estimated that the current strength of Wuchang Prefecture is at least 20,000 to 30,000, maybe more, because it is impossible to calculate, and even the government itself may not be able to recruit troops... These people mobilized their troops hastily, their organization is chaotic, and their sources are messy.
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The Suzaku Army who sneaked into Wuchang City a while ago reported back that the city was in chaos. After many troops were transferred into Wuchang, they could not find the yamen responsible for supplying them with food, grass, military pay, and some battalions included soldiers from Hanyang Prefecture.
There were also troops from De'an Prefecture who joined together, crossed the river in batches and then garrisoned
The land was divided again, and countless small groups of people were mixed together. They had no place to collect food, so what could they do, of course, they were to plunder and plunder... There is a common saying in various places, saying that there is no difference between soldiers from other places and bandits.
It is true that it is something gained from common people’s lives.
After Zhang Ning experienced battles many times, he felt that having a large number of troops did have a great advantage, but having a large number of people like the one in Wuchang now would be of no benefit at all. Not to mention the estimated 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers and horses, there were only 100,000 rabble-rousers.
There is no benefit either.
"No official or military camp found near the city?" Zhang Ning asked again.
Someone else replied: "I went out day and night to look around, but I didn't find a large number of officers and soldiers stationed there."
Zhu Heng smiled and said: "The Huguang Third Division also knows the current predicament. They cannot fight in the open field. The only barrier is the high wall of Wuchang City, and all the soldiers and horses are inside."
"The city wall has become a life-saving straw on the water." Zhang Ning also echoed.
Zhu Hengdao: "The Council of Ministers has sent an envoy to the city to deliver a letter of surrender, which was rejected. However, the envoy sent one back with the letter on the grounds that 'the two armies are fighting and will not kill the envoy', and the other two were also imprisoned for the time being."
I think that at present, Huguang San
Si's hope is to hold on with strong city walls and wait for reinforcements, mainly the Shenji Battalion from the Beijing camp. I heard that the imperial court has already transferred part of the Shenji Battalion from Yangzhou to reinforce Wuchang. Unfortunately, they are too far away and cannot get ahead of our army.
…”
Zhu Heng said calmly: "But the current layout of the Huguang Third Division is to abandon all the places in Wuchang Prefecture and trap the isolated city. Even if the Shenji Battalion arrives before the city is broken, there is no place in the south of the Yangtze River to support the Shenji Battalion to cross the river.
It will be very difficult. I am afraid that I will be able to watch us siege Wuchang City from across the river from Hanyang Mansion. It will only serve to contain some of my siege troops and monitor the Jiang defense."
After hearing this, Zhang Ning slapped the horse's butt lightly, turned the horse around, and wanted to go back to the camp. Before leaving, he looked back at the situation in Wuchang City and said: "There are so many houses outside the city wall, they must be attached to
People living next to important towns. When I was in Yangzhou, I also saw a similar situation. Most of the people living outside the city walls were poor people. This attack on the city will definitely demolish and destroy a large number of houses, which will undoubtedly make things worse for the only property of the poor people...
…”
When the superior people heard this, they knew that the prince was full of confidence in seizing Wuchang City. If he was facing a hard battle with an unpredictable outcome and he was uneasy, who among the people above would be compassionate enough to care about the poor people?
Only when you are confident that everything is under control, will you pay attention to such small details?
...Zhang Ning returned to the camp that was still under construction and asked about official affairs in the temporary Chinese army tent. He found something that needed to be dealt with immediately. It was reported that the Changde Mansion had sent someone to check the seal and it was confirmed that it was the official.
Cult people.
It must be a reply from Yao Ji, because Zhang Ning's previous letter mentioned the matter of contacting Emperor Jianwen, and perhaps Yao Ji has already given a reply. He decided to receive the person immediately, and of course there is news that he wants to see Yao Ji.
of urgency.
After waiting for a while, the person who came in was Chunmei. She was dressed like a man in a long robe and a commoner's scarf. It seemed that in ancient times, young women with some background liked to dress up as men when going out. This Chunmei was Yao.
The confidant Ji had promoted himself was also a powerful figure in the anti-evil sect. There must be something important to come here to deliver the message in person. Zhang Ning then retreated from Zuoyou to talk to her.
Seeing Zhang Ning, Chunmei smiled with a smile on her face. She didn't show any nervousness at all. She first bowed with her fists and took out a letter from her arms: "The leader... the empress has made me a chamberlain.
One of the regular servants. This time I was sent to see the prince. I have two things to do. The first is to deliver the letter, which is done intact. The second is to take the Peach Blossom Fairy back."
This Chunmei was often playful and showed little poise, but she was still very agile in handling matters and speaking. Zhang Ning liked to get straight to the point. He asked: "Why do you want Peach Blossom Fairy to go back all the way?"
Chunmei said: "Your Majesty, please read your wife's letter first. The whole story should be written in the letter."
Zhang Ning opened the envelope and browsed it quickly. As expected, Yao Ji didn't have any affectionate words in the letter, but mainly talked about business matters.
The relationship between Emperor Jianwen and Yao Ji was somewhat distant, and there were even misunderstandings, but Zhang Ning's idea of uniting with Jianwen was not impossible. Yao Ji said that she already had a way, but she did not include the specifics of the way in the letter.
To elaborate: I only mentioned Jianwen's close minister Zheng Qia as the best breakthrough point, and Zheng Qia also cooperated with Yao Ji's people many times to plan things.
Zheng Qia was a Jinshi in Gengchen Science in the second year of Jianwen. Among the people who took the palace examination at the same time, he had a good friend, Wang Jingzhi, who was second in the list. Who was Wang Jingzhi? He was the biological father of Peach Blossom Fairy. Peach Blossom Fairy originally had the surname of Wang, but Wang Jingzhi was already in the second year of the imperial examination.
More than ten years ago, after Nanjing was captured, he committed suicide and died for his country.
As a result, Fairy Peach Blossom has been homeless since she was a child, and her life has been miserable. She is obviously no longer a lady, but Yao Ji once mentioned in front of Zhang Ning that "you should treat them well", which was not without consideration...
...Zheng Qia followed Jianwen and escaped, but his good friend Wang Jingzhi committed suicide. The two families were friends in times of need, and he had a very close relationship with the Peach Blossom Fairy.
After reading the letter, Zhang Ning immediately understood why he wanted to take Fairy Peach Blossom back to Changde.