Daming kill

Chapter 249 Fighting Hanchuan Again
An unplanned field battle and an easy victory not only allowed Li Ping to win Mianyang by accident, but also made his self-confidence burst.

Winning a battle, especially a field victory in an equal confrontation, and then still winning more with less, brings about a change in people's mentality that is unimaginable!Even if most of the opponents are just mobs.

But the human psyche is so magical and strange.

Li Ping felt that he was a little too cautious in the past. He is fully capable of doing more and should do more.

So after only staying in Miancheng for one day, he hurried back to Hanchuan County.

He decided to play bigger.

For Hanchuan County, he didn't have no choice, but he didn't want to bother and care too much about losses.

Yuan Jixian was naturally overjoyed when he saw that Li Ping came back so soon after his victory and made intensive arrangements and fully mobilized troops to attack Hanchuan County again.

He almost swears that he will use his authority to provide Li Ping with all the support he can.

Therefore, after only a few days, Xie Yinglong, who looked at the cobweb-like moats all over the city from the hanging eye (also called Jue Cave, the small square opening like a lookout hole) on the wall at the head of Hanchuan County, his face turned black. It can't be any more black.

It was the first time Xie Yinglong saw such a siege.

Gunshots are useless, and cannonballs are useless. You can only watch helplessly as people dug the trench directly to the city wall, within the range of the blunderbuss and bows and arrows.

That's right, the opponent actually approached the city wall by digging a trench with seven turns and eight turns, and then the speed was jaw-dropping.

What's even more ruthless is that they dug in all directions except the side near the Han River.

Even though it is early autumn and the soil is still soft, such excavation ability is still incredible.

Although such inconceivability has a lot to do with the fact that this unconventional army did not forcibly conscript a single citizen, but all of them were able to dig trenches by themselves and even go into battle with officers and soldiers whom they had not seen for a long time.

But more importantly, it should come from the digging tools in their hands.

Xie Yinglong found that the digging tools used by Li Ping's troops seemed not only shockingly all made of iron, but even all of them seemed to be made of refined steel.

Someone actually used fine steel to make things like shovels, and everyone can still have one, isn't that a hell of a thing!

Xie Yinglong was more disturbed than shocked, and it was seriously disturbed!

He couldn't imagine what that meant.

And it's not over yet.

Now, there are still countless bird gunners and a large number of elite archers hiding in these damn trenches that are close to the city. As soon as they see someone showing their heads in the city, they will crack or shoot two arrows with swishing precision, making the city The guards on the ground didn't even dare to show their heads, so they could only look out secretly.

"Damn, if it wasn't for my lack of people and guns, you bunch of turtles who have to fight with guns will always be turtles." Xie Yinglong thought bitterly.

But Xie Yinglong can only think about it.

He has insufficient troops and is on the defensive side. It is necessary to ensure that most of the soldiers can get a good rest in order to deal with the siege that may be launched at any time.

There are not only gunners and archers in the trench, but also a large number of ladders that are presumably intended to be visible to you.Hanchuan County is just a small city, and the trench has been dug so close to the city. It really means that if you suddenly climb into the city, you will suddenly climb into the city.

This made it impossible for Xie Yinglong to allow the soldiers to compete with the enemy hidden in the trenches below the city to suppress each other and compare the firepower. It also made the advantages of being condescending and the range of Lumi guns useless.

But Xie Yinglong decided to bear it, but Li Ping's troops under the city did not intend to appreciate it.

Even if no one can be seen on the top of the city, they will release a burst of guns or fire a few cannons every once in a while, and from time to time, the guns will be fired suddenly and violently, and many people will bluff together for a long time as if they are going to attack the city.

Anyway, it just makes you want to sleep but can't sleep, want to rest and rest is not good, and your heart is always tight and collapsed.

Although this method is very common, it is indeed very effective.

After only a few more days, Xie Yinglong and his subordinates all became giant pandas and all of them were listless.

Xie Yinglong was in a state of severe anxiety all the time, and his spirit was extremely poor.

He was not only worried that Li Ping would use the increasingly perfect trench network to launch a sudden multi-faceted simultaneous siege, but also worried that Li Ping would use bombing techniques.

As Li Zicheng's subordinate who is accustomed to digging and bombing the city, Xie Yinglong is very clear about the operation of bombing the city.

Generally speaking, whether digging or bombing a city has many restrictions, it is also very difficult and can be used whenever you want.

The city walls of ancient China, especially those of major cities, are often not just as simple as wide and thick, covered with bricks and based on large stones, but even some cities are built under strict supervision. Almost, the anti-digging ability and anti-destruction ability are not generally strong, and they are far stronger than ordinary people can imagine.

Even in some cities, only a wide and deep moat is enough to make everything impossible.

And no matter whether it is digging a city or digging a tunnel to blow up a city with gunpowder, you must have a certain or even a deep understanding of civil engineering technology. It is definitely not something you can dig if you want to, otherwise the landslide will be enough to make your efforts all in vain.

In the end, all the conditions are met, and the targeted measures that the defender may take must also be considered.

You dig outside, and others dig inside, not to mention causing you to collapse, just making a hole in your hole and filling it with oil and water can completely make you unable to eat and walk around.

No matter how bad it is, building another wall directly inside the section of the city wall you plan to destroy will still break your trick.

Or even if you succeed in knocking down a certain section of the city wall, it doesn't mean you can break in.The gap in the collapsed city wall is only that big. As long as the defenders are prepared and respond in a timely and decisive manner, they can completely organize an effective defense at the gap to prevent you from attacking.

In addition, what is needed to blow up the city is a huge amount of gunpowder, which is not something you can get by saying it.

Therefore, fundamentally speaking, whether digging or bombing a city is not terrible in itself, whether it can be successfully applied is restricted by many factors such as the level of the defender's knowledge, the size of the city, and its strength.

This well-known method of breaking the city, which was recorded in the official history, was rarely used by anyone, including in modern times, which is very illustrative.

In fact, Li Zicheng used to dig and blow up cities, but they didn't have much practical use, and bombing cities was even rarer.

But Xie Yinglong was worried that Li Ping would use bombing the city, mainly because he realized that these problems were not obstacles to Li Ping.

Not only is the city of Hanchuan County small, but the city walls are also tall, wide and strong. Although there is a moat next to the Han River, it is very shallow and narrow, which makes it possible to dig and bomb the city.

Judging from the proficiency and speed with which Li Ping's troops dug large and complex trenches, their civil engineering capabilities must be good.

At the same time, Li Ping's army is a force that is accustomed to firearms. It seems that there is not much shortage of gunpowder, and it can get enough gunpowder.

The most terrible thing is that they are so obvious to dig under your city from all directions. After digging near the city wall, they continue to improve and strengthen without stopping. The opponent may bomb the city, but it is impossible to judge where the bomb will come from. Naturally, targeted measures cannot be effectively used.

Every time Xie Yinglong thinks of these things, his head hums and hurts.

He realized he was in big trouble, and he wanted to run away.

But the problem is that he is now surrounded by moats, and he can't run even if he wants to, and there is no possibility at all.

People surrounded by this city will definitely make you lose your temper.

In fact, Xie Yinglong was not worried about his mistakes, Li Ping really planned to bomb the city.

Song Baolai sent Zhao Jin various livelihood technologies and the last supply before Zhao entered Yuanzhou. He also brought back Zhao Jin's earthwork and blasting experience in bombing the city wall of Susong County, including the application of granular gunpowder.

With the successful case of Susong County and Zhao Jin's unreserved experience sharing, it is naturally impossible for Li Ping to let go of such a method that can effectively reduce casualties.

And just as Xie Yinglong himself analyzed, Hanchuan County has the conditions to use this method.

Otherwise, without mentioning Wuchang and Qizhou, even if Hanchuan County has the same conditions as Huangpi County, Li Ping would never think about and use gunpowder to blow up the city wall.

Of course, if he couldn't blow up the city, Li Ping wouldn't have any plans for Hanchuan County.

Although Xie Yinglong's troops should not be as capable as him in organization and training, but his troops have war experience!In particular, the army has much richer and longer war experience than Li Ping's troops, which sometimes cannot be offset by the best organization and discipline.

Coupled with the fact that Xie Yinglong is the defender, conventional clinging and attacking the city, including sieging the city, can only result in heavy casualties, and it may not be possible to capture the city.

However, it was decided to adopt the method of bombing the city, and the huge demand for gunpowder still caused Li Ping a headache.It is impossible for him to use up all the gunpowder collected at once like Zhao Jin and Shi Ming did.

Fortunately, he got the guarantee of Yuan Jixian's full support.

As for the trouble Xie Yinglong's firearms unit might bring to Li Ping, Li Ping was actually not that worried, let alone worried.

It's true that Xie Yinglong is good at using firearms, but that's just that he is considered good at using firearms among the people of this era, and he is still far behind Li Ping.

The biggest gap between them is the gap of knowledge of hundreds of years, and this is decisive and irreparable.

The trench tactics close to the city wall are the best embodiment of it.

At present, Li Ping's preparations before the final siege of the city are relatively smooth, and everything is generally within his expectations, including a farmer reinforcement force that recently came from the direction of Chengtianfu City.

This farmer reinforcement unit should have been sent by General Guoyi Baiwang, with a strength of about 2000 people. Judging from the appearance of the army, they are relatively elite, and most of them should be old soldiers.

They didn't come up directly to make a rescue, and they didn't even get close to Hanchuan County, but hung from a distance, as if they wanted to contain part of Li Ping's army or attract Li Ping's main force to entangle them.

Li Ping had already predicted this.

His approach was to let the cavalry regiment monitor from a distance and order the besieging troops to strengthen the camp, and he would not pay any attention to it.

In the early morning of the first day of October in the 16th year of Chongzhen, in a sudden loud noise, Li Ping launched a general attack on Hanchuan County.

Although the blasting of the city wall of Hanchuan County fully realized the suddenness that Xie Yinglong was most worried about and the unpredictability of the location, Li Ping still cautiously ordered troops from other directions to burst out from the trench at the same time and attack the city in all directions.

This makes the entire siege scene look spectacular, and it also makes the city break look completely unstoppable.

Although Xie Yinglong in the city was caught off guard, he reacted very quickly, fully demonstrating his rich battlefield experience and combat readiness.

And it is possible that most of Xie Yinglong and his subordinates rebelled from the army and feared retaliation after the defeat, or they had a firm "revolutionary" belief, and their resistance was also very fierce.

These directly led to Li Ping's siege troops not being able to rush in through the gap in the collapsed city wall in the first place. In the end, fortunately, many troops climbing from the surrounding walls successfully climbed up the city wall, distracting the defenders' attention and groups of troops. Chang Han Jiu personally led the team to launch an attack with a knife in hand to break through the enemy's blockade.

In the end, the victory belonged to Li Ping. Even though Li Ping's superior troops had hundreds of casualties, the resistance in Hanchuan City only lasted for a few hours before completely stopping. Xie Yinglong's head became a hanger at noon. A view on the gate of Hanchuan City.

That night, Yuan Jixian, who was weeping with joy, stayed up all night, and he kept writing hard.Early the next morning, an unfinished question book was sent to Beijing.

On the same night when Hanchuan County was conquered, Zuo Liangyu stood at the top of Wuchang City and looked towards Hanchuan in silence for a long time, and sent a letter to Zuo Menggeng who was busy with business in Qizhou the next day. Very severe letter.

As for the peasant reinforcements that came from Chengtianfu City, they retreated as soon as they found out that Hanchuan was lost. They did not expect Hanchuan to be lost so quickly.

Even in the following days, both Wuchang and Hanyang captured Zhang Xianzhong's spies, and they were all sent to inquire about Li Ping's capture of Mianyang and Hanchuan.

(End of this chapter)