Superior artillery fire was Zhu Mingxia's greatest reliance. In previous battles, artillery fire often caused the enemy's weak fighting spirit to retreat quickly; in a critical battle, the first round of mortar grenade bombing could make the defenders lose their fighting spirit.
The only thing he had to worry about was getting into street fighting with the defenders. In history, there were many examples of street fighting after the city was broken. Especially when an army was in dire straits, they would often fight to the death under the leadership of an officer who took the lead. This was the last thing he wanted to see.
- Street fighting will not only injure innocent people and destroy public and private property, but will also prevent the Fubo Army from exerting its superiority in firepower and increase casualties.
However, in ancient siege battles, most of the time the destruction of the city meant the end of the battle. Organized large-scale street fighting was rare.
To be cautious, his staff are making a simple street sandbox model based on the city map sent by the intelligence department in order to prepare for street fighting.
More than 20 kilometers away in Wuzhou City, Xiong Wencan had just received a report from Tang Ma in the state government office. The Australian army had arrived in Fengchuan City and was preparing troops. It would not be long before the troops arrived at the city.
"Have Australian gunboats ever crossed New Bank?"
In the previous battles, the inland river gunboats left a deep impression on them. Not only were they able to swim upstream without wind, but more importantly, the "big guns" on them: the loud noises during the bombardment and the thick smoke sprayed out.
, the roar of explosions often makes officials and soldiers stunned.
"The largest one stayed in Zhaoqing and did not go up." Tang Ma reported back, "The two large waterwheel ships are anchored outside Fengchuan City."
Xiong Wencan waved his hand, dismissed the pond horses, and ordered his servants to invite all the staff. He sat on the Taishi chair and closed his eyes, concentrating. The Kun thief caught up so quickly, which did not surprise him: he was dawdling.
This is not the style of the Australians. These people do everything vigorously and resolutely. Now they are fighting a smooth battle. Naturally, they will not be delayed on the road. They must go up the river and go straight to Wuzhou!
Anyone who has a little knowledge of the military structure and geography of Guangdong and Guangxi will know that Wuzhou is the key between Guangdong and Guangxi. This is a place that the Australians must seize, and naturally it is also a place that they must defend.
If this city is not defended, not only will the gateway to Guangxi be opened, but if the imperial court counterattacks Guangdong in the future, it will be like ascending the road to Shu! In this case, the emperor is determined not to spare himself! Xiong Wencan is well aware that the emperor today has a bad temper and often kills ministers.
He had no other option but to throw himself into a trap and die in the city.
Thinking of this, Xiong Wencan broke out in a cold sweat - he didn't have much time left, he had to come up with a solution as soon as possible!
From the moment the Kun thieves captured Guangzhou, he sent people to the capital to move around, spending large sums of gold and silver to attract the big shots in the court. Firstly, he could buy time for himself - preferably if he could be transferred, and secondly, he also wanted to figure out the identity of the Kun thieves in the court.
Attitude. Whether there is any resistance to one's own "pacification".
This matter has already cost him a lot of money - he is not a person who cherishes money. He accepted a huge bribe from Zheng Zhilong when he was governor of Fujian alone - but compared with his black hat and life, money is nothing.
.If you don’t lose the yarn, gold and silver treasures will naturally come rolling in.
Xiong Wencan did not want to fight and was not good at fighting. When he was governor of Fujian, he recruited Zheng Zhilong, and later he was promoted to governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. The court also meant that he could recruit Liu Xiang and the thieves entrenched in Lingao. The court regarded Xiong Wencan as a
He wanted to find a capable minister who could pacify Fujian, Guangdong and the Yangtze River, but this matter was far beyond Xiong Wencan's ability.
Zheng Zhilong, Liu Xiang and his like, and even those Fo Lang Ji people, these pirates who rampaged across Fujian and Guangdong were nothing more than a disease of mustard moss to the Ming Dynasty - this judgment is not wrong, because these families are just plotting
"Wealth"; while Australians and others are just like "enemy countries" who established their own country like slaves.
Recruitment has always been based on strength. Xiong Wencan was able to recruit Zheng Zhilong because of the financial resources of the entire Fujian Province. Even though Zheng Zhilong was rampant in Fujian and Guangdong, he did not have the strength to bring down the entire Fujian Province. Accepting recruitment became his wisest choice.
So Zheng Zhilong became Xiong Wencan's chess piece and a thug, guarding the border for Xiong Wencan, and Xiong Wencan was also happy to donate blood to this thug to build momentum.
He was able to win over Zheng Zhilong at the beginning, but he could not win over the Australians. The Australians were not from the common people of China, and they had no feelings of hometown and no friendship with the country party. He could not win over Huairou with their country feelings; when it came to wealth, they had already
Even the wealth of Guangdong and Guangxi cannot match the wealth of the country. If we want to tacitly allow them to occupy the land, their appetite is much greater than that of Zheng Zhilong, who can be satisfied by Zhangzhou Bay.
What kind of price can he, Xiong Wencan, give so that these Australians can come and be cared for with peace of mind?
The only thing that can make the thieves sit down and negotiate is a victory.
But winning this battle was not easy! He knew very well: no matter whether he was fighting in the wild or refusing to defend in the city, the officers and soldiers were no match for the thieves. Even though he had many soldiers and generals, he didn't have much chance of winning.
Some of his staff, officials and generals held an optimistic view. They believed that the city of Wuzhou was well-supplied with sufficient food and more than 10,000 soldiers to guard it. There was also the whole of Guangxi behind it to provide food and soldiers. As long as the imperial court's military pay was supplied in time, the defense could
It was not a problem for a year and a half. Another part of the staff was firmly opposed to defending the city: because Guangzhou was also a "strong city with many soldiers" at that time, and there were many forts set up along the river above Humen. They intercepted layer by layer, but in the end they could not withstand it, so
The bandits came to the city. Their idea was to abandon Wuzhou immediately and retreat to Guilin.
He felt that both of these arguments were not very reliable.
"Sir, the gentlemen are all here..." His personal attendant whispered in his ear, "They are waiting for you downstairs."
Xiong Wencan opened his eyes and said, "Please!"
He had many guests, but this time he was discussing with military masters. Naturally, some of the people who wanted to have fun with him were not present. All those who came were aides with talents in politics, strategy and military science.
When the staff entered the hall, they were all greeted with greetings. Xiong Wencan coughed and waved his hand:
"Now that the war situation is dangerous, gentlemen, there is no need to be polite. Let's sit down and talk about business."
"Here."
The staff sat down in groups on both sides. Xiong Wencan recounted the recent news from Tangma and said:
"I see that the Kun bandits' attack on Wuzhou has only happened in the past few days. I wonder if you gentlemen have any countermeasures?"
The staff looked around and said nothing. Xiong Wencan had seen this kind of scene many times. In fact, even if they really came to offer their words, there would be nothing new: the staff would either suffer from the fear of Australia, and their color would change after hearing about Australia;
He only flattered others and was not constructive at all. So Xiong Wencan’s ears were filled with two voices. One was: “We can’t defeat the Australians, sir, let’s run away!” The other was: “Your Majesty, the Australians are wise and powerful.
They will definitely be defeated by Wuzhou City."
Only Chang Qingyun is somewhat reliable, at least he can explain clearly how powerful the Australians are, and can also provide some reliable strategies: Xiong Wencan originally wanted to stick to Zhaoqing, but Chang Qingyun bluntly said that Zhaoqing is not a place that can be defended, but In Antelope Gorge, there was a certain chance to use fire attack boats to destroy the Australian fleet; and he had already suggested to Xiong Wencan to deploy the headquarters of Yao Dongshan and Xishan to garrison Wuzhou. Finally, he had a sizable and powerful force in Wuzhou City. A core force capable of fighting.
Therefore, he set his sights on Chang Qingyun's face again.
Chang Qingyun seemed to have known this for a long time. He waited for a while and saw that no one came forward to offer advice, then he raised his hand and said: "Sir, the student has one recommendation - he has a strategy for defeating the traitor."
"Oh?" Xiong Wencan suddenly became energetic, and the staff were all stunned. "Who is it? Please invite him to see me quickly."
"This gentleman's surname is Chang, whose name is Pu and whose courtesy name is Junbin. He is from Nanzhi, and he can be regarded as the student's Datong clan." Chang Qingyun said, "He was originally the magistrate of Enping County. He fled here after the city was broken. Now we have a plan to defeat the Kun thieves. , I would like to dedicate it to you, sir.”
Xiong Wencan knows the name of Changpu - Enping County is a county under Zhaoqing Prefecture - but is not familiar with it. The governors and governors of the Ming Dynasty basically only focused on the military. People-friendly officials like the county magistrate were under the jurisdiction of the chief envoy and had no relationship with him. .
As a county magistrate, this man lost the city but neither died in battle nor committed suicide. Now he came to offer advice. Xiong Wencan couldn't help but secretly despise him.
However, out of despise, he was in urgent need of medical treatment. Regardless of what clever plan this magistrate Chang had, it didn't cost anything to call him to listen to him. He immediately agreed and said: "Okay, please come quickly!"
In the afternoon of that day, the news that the Fubo Army was about to attack the city spread throughout Wuzhou City. Everyone in Wuzhou City was uneasy: the Ming soldiers stationed there had long heard about the combat power of the Fubo Army, and they could not help but prepare for the fierce battle they were about to face. Most of the people in Wuzhou City had heard that Fubo's army had strict military discipline, but as long as there was a war, the people would inevitably suffer disasters. As for the officials, they were even more terrified all day long.
There is a grain store in Guanxiang outside Wuzhou City, which is in the business of transporting rice grains from Guangxi to Guangdong. Sitting in the counter room is the shopkeeper named Luo Yangming. He is from Sanshui and came to Wuzhou a few years ago to operate rice. Grain business - this is a common thing in the local area. I have been doing business for several years and the business has improved quite a lot. I made money to build a hotel and a mansion. I brought my family from my hometown in Sanshui and rented a small house locally. Concubine, you can finally settle down here.
Everyone only knows that he is a grain merchant, but in fact Luo Yangming is an intelligence agent of the Foreign Intelligence Service. Under the command of the "Shanhai Road" intelligence system, he was ordered to lurk in Wuzhou City.
His job only has two points: first, to operate the grain trade and transport grain to Lingao; second, to collect intelligence on the spot, develop an intelligence network, and make intelligence preparations for the Senate's Northern Expedition.
The first point of work is not difficult for him: he is the son of a businessman, and his family originally opened a rice shop in Sanshui County. He is quite familiar with the grain trading business and has many acquaintances, so it is easy to start the work. As for the second point, it is also It's not difficult. The anti-intellectual awareness of medieval society was not strong, and the technology was even more backward. For those who have received intelligence training, both lurking and reconnaissance are not difficult.