There is a ditch about a hundred steps away from the ditch wall fortifications, with a head sticking out faintly, and then a round iron shield blocking the front. It was early in the morning, the sky was not very bright, and the fog was not heavy but it affected the sight.
Although I can only see a shadow up close.
The man shouted at the top of his lungs: "Brothers from the King of Han, the King of Han is the uncle of the current emperor. Although he did something wrong, the emperor still couldn't bear to kill him because of his family ties, and he was very generous to the people of the former King of Han."
.As long as you surrender, the imperial court will definitely forget about it...
Brothers, what is the consequences of working for the rebels? The British army has led 500,000 elite troops and has surrounded Jiujiang City. Sooner or later, the rebels here will be wiped out! If you don’t come here now, you won’t be able to do that when the battle is over.
That’s great! What are you guys waiting for? Do you think the people in Jiujiang can defeat an army of 500,000 people?
Zhu Wenbiao no longer believes in you, so he sent you to eat ashes in the ditch outside the city... They set up a conspiracy to kill Wang Zhiyuan, and one of you will be next! They are not on the same boat. Sooner or later, you will have to settle accounts with your brothers.
…”
"Boom!" Suddenly there was a cannon sound, and the head retracted, and the shouting stopped. Unexpectedly, it stretched out again after a while, and before the shield was picked up, suddenly "bang bang bang..." there was a burst of gunfire, and the man continued
He fell into the ditch in the blood mist without even making a cry.
After a while, countless figures appeared in the white mist. The officers and soldiers did not beat drums, shout, or even march in formation. They walked forward slowly and freely in varying density. People walked very slowly,
Even a little cautious, there was no sound of heavy footsteps, only the clang of the iron plates on the armor and the footsteps of the ropes, and almost no one spoke.
A young general walked in the front. He put one hand on the handle of a knife and held a flag in the other. His back was slightly arched, and behind him were countless spears with flat ends. The hand holding the flagpole was so tight that his knuckles turned white from too much force.
Because no one in front saw him, he did not hide his timid expression, his wide eyes were full of fear, and he could hear the sound of swallowing saliva. Thinking of bragging to the soldiers about how brave he was on weekdays, it was all nonsense when he went into battle.
Who the hell is not afraid of who is not raised by his parents?
The general finally let go of the hand holding the handle of the knife, reached into his arms and took out a pink silk scarf. He first put it in front of his nose and smelled it, then randomly gathered it around his neck. I heard that the things used by women can ward off evil spirits. I hope
He won't be hit by lead bullets. "All the gods and goddesses, my wife offers incense to you every day, out of consideration for protecting me..." he muttered quietly.
"Bang bang bang..." Suddenly there was a loud sound of gunfire, and firelight flashed randomly in the fog. The young general at the front suddenly poked the flagpole on the ground, stretched out his hand to hold his throat, opened his mouth wide, and made a strange sound. Blood flowed from the silk scarf and
His fingers were soaked, and he fell down. More people fell down one after another.
"Kill! Kill..." someone shouted, and countless people began to run forward in a swarm. The one at the front ran the fastest without anyone blocking him. A sergeant rushed up, pulled up the flag on the ground with one hand, and dropped it still on the ground.
The twitching young general ran forward.
The shouts were loud in the white mist, and a big drum was beating loudly somewhere behind. The sound of gunfire also sounded chaotically, and firelights were seen flashing from time to time in the fog. The vanguard had already rushed in front of the earth wall, but there was a line in front of them.
There was a deep ditch. The man with the spear raised it and stabbed the people on the wall randomly. The muskets in the crowd were crackling and arrows were flying. The people behind the wall were also in chaos. Some people stood and fired at each other.
Some people were hurriedly stabbing gun barrels with gun barrels. There was no organization for firing volleys, and more matchlock guns misfired and clamored for tinder. The fog was heavy and moist, and the matchlock was easily extinguished. This kind of weather was very normal.
Many hard bamboo bamboo strips fell down from the edge of the ditch and rested on the low earth wall. The officers and soldiers were busy hammering the ends of the piles with hammers to fix them. People immediately drew out their short weapons and rushed over the bamboo strips, jumping in
Behind the earthen wall, the spattering blood seemed to dye the white mist red, and the heart-wrenching sounds of swords and armors being drawn, screams, and the terrifying muffled sound of sharp blades entering the body were all in chaos.
"Spare my life! Spare my life..." Someone knelt down and begged for mercy, but a bullet was stabbed from somewhere, directly inserted into his chest, and then a foot trampled him to the ground. "Ah! Ah..." Someone was
He was sitting against the wall with his mouth wide open, his face distorted, his hands covering his abdomen, and a piece of his intestines leaked out in the blood.
Almost all the rebels collapsed and ran backwards. Guns, swords and shields were scattered everywhere. Several groups of troops in the rear formation were rushed by the rebels and turned around and ran away without firing a single shot. Groups of Jiujiang troops were also thrown away.
He surrendered and was spared being killed by the rebels.
I don't know how many people ran for nearly a mile in one breath, and ran directly to the second wall. A general on the wall shouted desperately: "The rebels can't come up! They squatted down in a three-layer spear formation, and the brothers fired volleys at them to retreat.
enemy!"
But there was no way for the frightened soldiers to form any formation. They were huddled together, not knowing where the general was, and they were not surrounded by people from their own group. They were noisy and abandoned their helmets and armor. Some people were pushed into the ditch and could not even crawl.
It was impossible to climb up. Moreover, there was too little time to defeat the troops. Soon a large number of officers and soldiers followed.
There were all kinds of voices in the crowd, "Master, please spare your life." "Zhu Wenbiao deserves death, I won't sacrifice my life for him anymore..." "Don't shoot, I'll kowtow to you..." But soon there was the sound of gunshots.
The chords sounded, and the crowd had no way to retreat. The crowd became denser and denser, and more people fell into the ditch. The rebels had no tools and could not climb up the wall from the deep ditch.
At this time, someone on horseback shouted: "Don't kill!" "Don't kill!" "Those who are willing to surrender, drop your weapons and put your hands on your heads, come here!"
The strange thing is that even though the entire line collapsed, there was still a small group of men and horses forming a tight circular formation to confront each other. There were two layers of circular formations, many of them with disheveled hair and bloodstains all over their bodies, but they were arranged very neatly, with those holding short weapons in the front and those holding short weapons in the back.
There were only a few dozen people holding spears or firearms. There were sporadic sounds of gunfire, and people fell down in and around the circle. The chaotic officers and soldiers avoided it one after another, and several groups of people holding fireguns lined up and put them on stands.
firearm.
A general from the government army came on horseback and shouted: "You have no way to survive, surrender will save you from death!" There was no movement on the other side, no one fired and no one answered.
Someone said to the general: "These are real bandits."
The general waited for a while, then raised his hand and waved: "Kill." "Crack, crackle..." There was a burst of smoke, and the circle of people in the middle fell apart like a pile of straw blown by the wind.
At this time, the artillery on the hillside bunker roared, and in the white mist, black iron lumps could be clearly seen dancing and flying on the ground.
Zhang Fu, who was riding a war horse, came to the first earth wall and looked at the countless bamboo strips spread on the ditch wall. Not far away, there were the screams of people and the heavy muffled sound of artillery shells hitting the ground, but Zhang Fu remained indifferent.
, sitting majestically on the horse without changing his expression.
"Send orders to all the ministries to take away the prisoners and withdraw!" Zhang Fu said.
A military general with a muddy face next to him couldn't help but said: "We finally captured it, the British Duke..."
"There is a deep trench outside, and there is no place for people to stand; and it is within the range of artillery. Do you want the soldiers to stand in the open field and take the artillery fire?" Zhang Fu turned around and said coldly.
The officers and soldiers retreated relatively quickly. When the sun rose over the other side of the White Water Lake and the fog gradually dissipated, almost everyone had left the open space behind the wall. Once again, a large number of corpses and messy weapons were left behind inside and outside the wall.
Sundries. A yellow Suzaku flag with a few holes and splattered with blood was stuck crookedly on the ground, hanging in the windless mess as if it was dying. A few scattered soldiers slowly walked over, bending down and touching someone casually.
The nose of a corpse, one of them stepped forward and picked up the flag and put it on his shoulder.
Zhang Fu watched from a distance. He looked up for a while at the high earth fort, then looked back at the city wall on the right, visually guessing the possible marching routes of both sides.
At this time, the role of the rebel fortifications on the periphery has been very small, and they can hardly form a diversionary force, because the fortifications have lost the status of active attack. If the official army attacks the city, flanking the siege troops from the fortifications means that the official army must
The siege fortifications were passed in front, exposing the army's flanks to the artillery and military attacks of the official army; the only purpose was to contain the city. To attack the city, a force must be placed on the left fortifications to keep an eye on the rebels outside the city.
Zhang Fu felt that the initiative in the war was completely in his own hands. That is to say, he could fight if he wanted to and could not help his opponents. If he did not want to fight, he would not fight unless they were willing to use their few remaining men and horses to attack the siege of the official army.
fortifications.
Defend. What's the use of defending in an isolated city or a besieged city? Zhang Fu could easily imagine that the rebels were waiting for reinforcements.
Jinyiwei has already sent intelligence, giving an overview of Huguang's troop deployment. There are many military camps in Wuchang, and new recruits have been recruited since the end of last year. It took at least three or four months for the people to be recruited, that is, there are only a few
A few months ago, the army in Wuchang was just a group of farmers and refugees. Such an army, which had just put down their hoes and picked up swords and guns, should not be as good as the hereditary military households in the guard.
Zhang Fu has thought about adjusting his strategic deployment many times, and now he thinks about it again.
Although the North Route Army has many local guards, among them are the remnants of the Shenji Battalion and the Fifth Army Camp, which are the elites of the Ming Dynasty. The main force of the rebels in Jiujiang is already trapped. If the North Route Army is mobilized to directly attack Wuchang at this time, the situation will be different.
Would it be more beneficial? As long as the Northern Route Army defeats the Xinding rabble in Wuchang, it can break into the lair of the Jianwen separatist regime, and the Jiujiang rebels can surround them without caring about their life or death.
Maybe things are not that simple. There are rebel amphibious camps in Lizhou and Yuezhou. If Wuchang cannot withstand it, the Jianwen regime should send troops back from these two camps. Then Lizhou or Yuezhou will be empty, and Huguang will be empty.
Should the Sichuan Army and other units in the north take advantage of the situation and advance southward from the western front?
Changing the strategy will make the situation more complicated, but it seems that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. There is only one disadvantage: taking the initiative to attack Wuchang, the rebels can just sit back and wait for work, and they can also build fortifications to hold on to the key points, which is not good for them; if they surround Jiujiang and wait,
The situation can be reversed. The officers and soldiers on the North Road are waiting for work, waiting for the troops from Wuchang to come from far away, forming a situation of besieging the city for reinforcements... The reinforcements will definitely come, otherwise what will Jiujiang defend? The most important thing is that the leader of the thieves, Zhu Wenbiao, is also in Jiujiang City.