Zhou Mengxiong's wife, concubines, and young son had already been brought to Wuchang. Not long after he took over as commander of the New Army, his wife Zhou Li and others moved into the newly resettled Zhou Mansion in Wuchang.
It was late at night again, almost midnight, when Mrs. Zhou Li heard that the maid said that the master was coming home. But after waiting for a long time, the master did not come to the bedroom. What else would she do if she didn't go back to the bedroom to sleep after returning home so late? I almost thought that the master might have gone to the vixen concubine's room, and I felt uncomfortable, so I asked my girl to go and have a look. Unexpectedly, the girl came back and said that the master was still in the living room and talking to a man.
Why are you bringing your men home in the middle of the night?
Mrs. Zhou Li then got dressed and went out of the inner house to pick up the master. However, thinking that there were male guests and it was the middle of the night, it was inconvenient for her to show up rashly, so she went in through the back door and listened behind the curtain to listen to what was going on.
Sure enough, there was a man talking, and Mrs. Zhou Li recognized it. It turned out to be Liu Mazi. This Liu Mazi was an old subordinate who had followed Zhou Mengxiong for many years. He came to Zhou's house more than once, and occasionally even spent the night at the house, because this man's first wife After his death, he never got married, not even a family...but he was an acquaintance.
Liu Mazi's voice said: "My lord's current situation is no different from that of being roasted on a fire. You need to think more about it. Your delay in sending troops is a sign that both the people in the Chu Palace and people inside and outside the court are worried! "
After hearing this, Mrs. Zhou Li thought of the person in the "Chu Palace", Yao Ji. Ms. Zhou Li had just met her not long ago. This in-law looked very young, but she was definitely not a good person. For some reason, Mrs. Zhou Li felt inexplicable when she met her in-laws. I am very afraid of Yao Ji.
Zhou Mengxiong's voice said: "Whether the New Army can win the battle is related to the overall situation! I will never send troops until I am not sure that I can defeat the official army on the North Road in one fell swoop! What worries, what worries? After the New Army is destroyed, there will be no troops to mobilize. Let me see what they can think about at that time. Throughout the ages, those who have always failed are those who only care about specialties!"
"Having said that, an isolated city in Jiujiang has been trapped for more than a month, surrounded by a hundred thousand troops!" Liu Mazi said, "It's no wonder everyone is anxious. If Jiujiang is broken, King Xiang is inside, and Yongding The battalion is inside... Not to mention the importance of King Xiang, the Yongding Battalion is recognized by the imperial court as the most elite of the Suzaku Army. It is the backbone of the veterans who originally fought in the south and north, and they dare not throw away..."
Zhou Mengxiong did not answer. Liu Mazi lowered his voice and said: "General Mo, I have heard some rumors. Many people are talking about your replacement of generals in the new army, saying that the Lord's party is united and opposed, and you are cultivating party members in the new army. There is one more thing, Mo I will wait for you all night just to tell you this, Yao Fang has arrived in Wuchang."
"Monk Yao? Why did he come to Wuchang?" Zhou Mengxiong walked a few steps with his hands behind his back.
Liu Mazi said: "It must have been the noble concubine, Mrs. Yao, who came back after speaking out. Otherwise, it would be hard to say that he was a general leading the army and came back by himself. Does Mrs. Yao want Yao Fang to take over the military power of the lord?"
"He?" Zhou Mengxiong sneered, "I only heard that Monk Yao can play tricks, but I didn't know that he could suddenly run an army and prepare for war. I will never hand over military power to him unless there are five ministers in the cabinet. At least three people have clearly ordered me to hand over military power. Yang Shiqi should understand the weight of this. Zhu Heng is also a person who has led soldiers, can he not understand?"
Liu Mazi said: "I would like to say something unpleasant in private. You have offended everyone inside and outside. What are you trying to do? The King of Xiang has been surrounded in Jiujiang for more than a month. Even if you send troops now, If he can't attack Jiujiang in one month, the king of Xiang will be besieged for at least three months. After a few months of being on tenterhooks, even if he gets out of trouble later, once someone slanders him, it will be like replacing you with a son. In terms of cultivating party members, would the King of Hunan be too concerned? Rather than that, it would be better to give up the military power to Yao Fang and his son and let them clean up this mess."
"You underestimate King Xiang too much. He dares to reuse someone like Yu Qian..." Zhou Mengxiong pondered for a long time, "Also, I have never seen a letter from King Xiang urging reinforcements. Even if Jiujiang is besieged, send one or two
It is not difficult to sneak out a messenger to ask for troops. At least you can send a messenger with good water properties to go to the Yangtze River at night. I have never seen the letter, which proves that King Xiang knows what to do. He knows best how to use the new army. If I only care about self-protection and compromise now,
What kind of person is Zhou then?"
Just as Liu Mazi was about to continue speaking, Zhou Mengxiong raised his hand to stop him: "No need to say more, I have made up my mind. This battle is not only related to the overall survival of the world, but also a rare opportunity. The key to victory or defeat can only be achieved once. There is nothing good about it.
hesitantly!"
Zhou Mengxiong left the last sentence: "Tomorrow morning I will go to the cabinet and ask the court to increase taxes. There is not enough military supplies. If you can't win people's hearts on the battlefield, it's nonsense!"
…
The people in Wuchang were right, Zhang Ning was really not having an easy time in Jiujiang City. With a sword hanging above his head, he could finish the job at any time if the city was breached, and it was so blocked that he couldn't get out. It was normal for him to have trouble sleeping and eating.
Worry can cause mental stress. The enemy soldiers are separated by a wall, and he is always worried that he will be breached due to some omissions, so he personally takes care of more and more things, which increases the level of work. Every day before dawn, he gets up first to get the roster.
File, go to the city wall and walk around, asking about the names of the generals on duty and how to arrange defenses, etc. Then in the city tower, review the list of generals in the past according to the records in the file. Then watch the troops in the enemy's fortifications.
Adjust the situation and make some complex analysis and guesswork.
Gunpowder and lead are becoming less and less. Charcoal and saltpeter are not a big problem. The governor's office has consciously arranged to use dung piles of saltpeter a few months ago, so a certain amount of materials can be continuously replenished. But sulfur is a big problem, and the inventory is reduced.
, there is no other way to grow it. It is also difficult to replenish lead. Collecting iron materials in the city is not a big problem, but lead is not commonly used among the people, so it is also difficult to replenish it. As long as there is lead material, processing projectiles is simple, just use an open fire.
After baking, it can be used by clamping it with elastic pliers and trimming the corners, and the soldiers can process it themselves.
There was also food. Zhang Ning ordered the officials to calculate the total amount and how long it could last. In the end, these people could only estimate the approximate amount, which was based on rough calculations. Zhang Ning remembered that the granaries used sieges, which were made of bamboo.
The mats formed a cylindrical container, and grain was placed in it. It is very easy to calculate the volume of such a regular container. After asking, I found out that the scribes in charge of statistics did not know the simple formula of multiplying the base area by the height.
It must be the problem of the scribes themselves. It is impossible that there was no mathematical development in calculating volume in ancient China. Last time he found in a book that someone in the Song Dynasty recorded the infinite theory and performed integral calculations. Zhang Ning asked the scribes to ask Yu Qian for advice.
, to calculate the accurate weight of grain. After a few days, I finally got the report. It seems that Yu Qian can not only calculate the volume, but also calculate the density and convert the weight. The mathematics level of these scribes who rely on writing and ink is not as good as that of a few warriors in the army.
, some generals in the artillery camp even memorized parabola calculations and Newton's kinematics formulas... to formulate gun regulations for various artillery.
Rumbling cannon fire was heard again outside the city in the east. Zhang Ning wanted to see the damage to the city wall, but was stopped by Li Zhen and others, so he had to listen to the noise outside the gate of the governor's office. After a while, he climbed up to an attic inside the gate.
From time to time, I saw artillery shells flying directly into the city from the air, hitting the roof and making the sound of wood breaking. Some houses near the city wall had been shelled for a long time, and from a distance they looked like ruins after an earthquake.
There are still some people who have not fled in the city, but they are already very few. At the beginning of the war, many people stayed at home and did not come out. A month later, the war has not ended. People could not bear the hunger and fear, and were killed one after another by Suzaku.
The army found opportunities to release countless people out of the city. As for what would happen to the people after they left, Zhang Ning and others could not control it, but they could assume that the women and children would be fine; Zhang Fu was a nobleman of the Ming Dynasty, and he did not dare or was unwilling to kill indiscriminately.
Of course the innocent women and children of this clan cannot be deserters.
Every ten or eight days, the official artillery array will carry out a long period of intensive bombardment. At this time, they probably repaired the damaged heavy artillery, or received firearm reinforcements from the waterway. Xuande Emperor Zhu Zhanji prepared for this
The war was fought at the expense of a large amount of money, and a steady stream of supplies was delivered, which really made the two capitals and thirteen provinces more confident.
However, the performance of the heavy artillery of the official army is not good, especially the large general heavy artillery. The wall of the gun is too thick and the heat dissipation is poor. It takes nearly an hour to cool down after firing two or three rounds. Even if it is used continuously, it is easy to be damaged. Dozens of cannons can be used against
As the city wall continues to be bombarded indiscriminately, the city wall will be broken and collapsed in many places. At this time, the Suzaku Army will gather troops and horses at the collapse site to be ready to counterattack the attacking army, and then take turns to repair the city wall day and night. The tug-of-war between the two sides lasted for more than ten days.
I have to come here once. Fortunately, Jiujiang City is also an important city with tall and thick city walls. If it were in an ordinary state capital or county, the city walls would have been bombarded to pieces by artillery.
Sparse battles were also going on outside various fortifications outside Jiujiang City, and both sides were fighting for their lives. The Suzaku Army and the Jiujiang Army were unable to launch a high-intensity counterattack, and the official army had not conducted an intensive attack for a long time;
Perhaps because the tactical value of the fortifications has been reduced a lot, it is not worth sacrificing too many troops. Perhaps the officers and soldiers cannot bear the hundreds or even thousands of casualties in one death.
The officers and soldiers learned how to dig pits and build walls. They started digging trenches from outside the fence, and then dug a trench horizontally at about a hundred paces. People hid inside to dig the trenches, and then used sacks filled with soil to build a barrier.
.One hundred steps is barely within the maximum range of the firearm. Hiding behind and setting off firecrackers or throwing heavy arrows from a strong bow can hit the people in the garrison fortifications. At the same time, you have to pay the price of being killed by the opponent.
However, there is a problem with the design of the trenches dug by the army. It is difficult to drain water. When it rains, the ditch will be filled with water. It is impossible to clear it without sending people to clear it. Therefore, after it rains, many days the army will not go there.
Go into the ditch.
...Because the defenders began to regulate and save gunpowder, the cannons on the earthen forts rarely fired, and the army's return artillery became more and more rampant, and they continued to throw poisonous bombs into the fortifications. However, the deployment of the defenders in the first line of fortifications was gradually reduced.
, they seem to be no longer willing to stick to the trench wall fortifications in front; if the government troops attack again with a dense force at this time, they should be defeated in one attack.
The people were disgraced and exhausted, struggling in the mud waiting for the day to change defenses and enter the city to rest. One day, a soldier came out from behind the earth wall with a musket, climbed up the ditch, and stood there stupidly, pointing his gun at
The officers and soldiers opened fire in the trench, and then stood there calmly holding the gun barrel to clean the barrel and trying to load it. Soon there was a crackling sound of gunfire, arrows flew, and the man finally died in front. Maybe this was
The result of his own choice.
Many soldiers began to miss the hedging style of field battles, where they could live or die. However, at this time, the Suzaku Army was too weak to organize a large-scale counterattack, and it could not afford casualties. People could only
Spending and enduring in the soil is like a long struggle for survival, looking forward to a small glimmer of hope in despair.
Outside the dilapidated city wall in the distance, there are two tall cloud carriages, but there is no one on them. They are large equipment transported by the government and the army on an unknown day. They have wheels underneath and are protected by thick wooden boards and iron armor.
Pushed to the edge of the city, the soldiers above used firecrackers to attack the defenders on the city wall from a high position. However, the cloud chariot was soon bombarded by large and small artillery, and the bottom deck and wheels were bombarded by artillery. After the soldiers above ran away
, this big | thing couldn’t be taken away, and it was left there for many days. Whenever the sun rises, you can see the sun hanging on the wooden frame, just like an ancient scenery.