marquis of jingan

Chapter 970
The next day, it was another full day of siege.

This time, in order to pretend to be decent, Shen Yi took out almost all the artillery and bombarded Haizhou City, not only bombarding the city wall of Haizhou, but also blasting the city gate of Haizhou to be riddled with holes.

It's a pity that the shells of this era are only solid lead bullets, which cannot explode.

More importantly, the Qi people also have artillery, so these artillery can't be placed too close, and can only use a little range advantage to bombard from a long distance.

This level of shelling, if it hits a person, will naturally kill one person, but it is not enough to hit the heavy and iron-clad city gate, and it can only leave potholes on the city gate .

This is a new type of artillery that Shen Yi asked his firearms craftsmen to improve over several years. Compared with the original artillery, it has a longer range and power. If it is the original heavy artillery of Chen Guo, let alone Whether it can be transported to the battlefield, even if it is possible, I am afraid that the range of the cannons of the Qi people is not far behind, and it cannot be used like it is now.

Because if the distances are the same, Qi people's artillery can hit the artillery formation, and other people's artillery is still on the top of the city wall, and the terrain is high, so it can hit farther.

The two sides fought back and forth until the evening. Under Xue Wei's call, the Huai'an army began to withdraw and retreated to the camp.

The Qi army in Haizhou City just watched the Huai'an army helplessly and did not pursue them.

Zhou Shizhong stood on the wall of Haizhou City, watching the Huai'an Army in his vision, receding like the tide. General Zhou put his hands behind his back and frowned.

"Shen Qi's Huai'an army is getting better and better. When my army went south last year, they were still a little immature. After many people went to the battlefield, they were in a panic. But this year, they can already order and prohibit, and there is no way to advance or retreat. It's over."

Zhou Yuanlang stood right behind his old father, and sighed softly: "Father, in the past 20 years, only this young man who is about the same age as his son, or even a year or two younger than his son, has fought north of the Huaihe River."

"Naturally, there are some skills."

"Then there is..."

Zhou Yuanlang also frowned, and said in a low voice: "What's more, the artillery of this Huai'an army is very wrong. My son has read the standard of Nanchen artillery in the book, and it can range from hundreds of catties. The kind that is placed on the tower There are also cannons weighing one or two thousand catties, but these cannons of the Huai'an Army can be carried across the Huaihe River on ships and placed on the battlefield!"

"My son looked through the binoculars. The base of their cannon should be made of wood, with wheels installed!"

"More importantly, the range of these artillery should be larger than our artillery..."

Zhou Yuanlang gestured with his hands, and said, "It's twenty or thirty steps away, or even more."

He said in a deep voice, "Father, if you add these together, the artillery in the hands of the Huai'an Army, which is comparable to ours, is not the same thing."

"Just imagine, when you went south last year, if you could cross the river with this portable artillery, how much effort would you save?"

When the Confederate Army marched south last year, they carried artillery with them, but they were all artillery that weighed a few hundred kilograms and could only be placed on a ship. It was impossible to go to the battlefield, let alone maneuver flexibly.

If Northern Qi can also have this kind of artillery, then at least they won't suffer from the Huai'an army, not to mention conquering Huai'an last year.

Zhou Shizhong had been in the army for decades, and his son mentioned this, so he could understand it, he frowned slightly, and said: "Lang'er is right, the cannons in Shen Qi's hands are indeed weird."

Zhou Yuanlang said in a low voice: "Father, it is only the Huai'an army equipped with this kind of artillery. Just imagine, if all the Huaihe navy equipped with these artillery that can be put on wheels to go to the battlefield..."

"Don't say any more."

General Zhou turned around and said slowly: "If you have any ideas, just say it."

Zhou Yuanlang lowered his head and said, "Father, my son's idea is that when these Huai'an troops come back tomorrow, let's take advantage of their unpreparedness and send a few battalions of thousands of households out to attack their positions."

"Even...even if a few people die."

He resolutely said: "We will also grab one or two cannons and bring them back to Yanjing's skilled craftsmen to imitate them. With this credit, even if we lose in the battlefield, His Majesty will not punish our family."

General Zhou rubbed his chin, thinking about the pros and cons of this matter, when suddenly someone rushed over, knelt down in front of him, bowed his head and said: "General, the southerners have withdrawn!"

General Zhou raised his eyebrows, and said, "If you withdraw, you will withdraw. It's not like I didn't see it, so what's the fuss?"

The man lowered his head and said, "General, the southerners didn't withdraw from their camp, but pulled out directly!"

Zhou Shizhong turned his head and looked at his son, thoughtfully: "Could it be that Shen Qi felt that it would be useless if more people died here if he couldn't conquer Haizhou, so he was going to retreat to Huai'an?"

Zhou Yuanlang thought for a while, then shook his head slightly and said, "Father, if you don't know which direction they are going, you can't deduce their intentions."

The major general glanced at the messenger soldier who reported the message, and said in a deep voice: "Go and watch again, if there is any movement in the southern army, report it immediately!"

"Yes!"

…………

Because there are 2 people under Shen Yi's command, they gathered into a lump after pulling out the camp. Even if they made some moves, it was difficult to determine where they were going. In front of people, bow your head and report.

"Great general! The southern army is starting to march due west by south!"

"Due west by south?"

Before Zhou Shizhong could speak, Zhou Yuanlang frowned and said, "If they are going to Suqian to join the West Route Army, they should go southwest. What are they going to Zhengxi?"

After saying this, he looked back at his father.

"Father, there is a big problem here!"

Being robbed by his son, Zhou Shizhong felt a little embarrassed, but he recently discovered that his son who likes to read is quite useful, and it is not easy to get angry, so he said in a muffled voice: "Investigate and report again."

"Yes!"

The messenger soldiers of the scout battalion retreated immediately. After they left, General Zhou rubbed his temples and said, "The due west of Haizhou is Pizhou..."

"Pizhou is the city of the state. Could it be that they are going to abandon Haizhou and attack Pizhou?"

Prefectures, states and counties are three different administrative levels. Generally speaking, the government is the largest level. Some states are directly managed by the province, while some states are managed by the government office.

A county can belong to a state or a government.

For example, Pizhou belonged to Huai'an Prefecture 70 years ago when Shenzhou had never landed.

Haizhou actually belongs to Huai'an Prefecture.

However, after Sejong went south, Huai'an Mansion, like Dachen, also lost "half of the country". Although the current Huai'an Mansion is still a first-level mansion, only the part on the south bank of the Huaihe River remains.

Zhou Shizhong has been in the Huaihe River for a long time. Although he doesn't have a map at the moment, he knows the situation around Haizhou very well.

"West of Pizhou..."

He muttered to himself for a while, then stood up suddenly, his face changed slightly.

"It's Xuzhou!"

General Zhou turned his head to look at his son, and murmured: "Shen Qi wants to attack Xuzhou?"

He said something to himself, and suddenly said in a low voice: "That's right, his West Route Army is attacking Suqian, and Suqian goes northwest to bypass Pizhou, which is also Xuzhou!"

Xuzhou is very different from Haizhou.

Xuzhou is a heavy city. Not only is the city vast and the residents are numerous, but more importantly, the city walls are tall. If it is knocked down by the southerners, it will be extremely difficult to take it back.

"No, no..."

Zhou Shizhong shook his head by himself, denying this idea, and said: "Xuzhou city wall is tall, and there are many defenders, let Shen Qi eat it, it won't take ten days and half a month, don't even think about taking it down, for such a long time, my army Surround him already!"

General Zhou walked around in his tent, restless: "But if he doesn't go to fight Xuzhou, where can he go to fight? To fight Pizhou? When he eats Pizhou, our army will have surrounded him!"

Zhou Yuanlang silently looked at the sky, lost in thought.

After a long time, he said in a low voice: "Father, my son also thinks that there is something strange in it, let's just wait and see..."

Zhou Shizhong was still worried, and after a while, he said in a hoarse voice: "Send a few Qianhu battalions to follow."

"Whether their target is Pizhou or Xuzhou, if someone follows, we can deal with it at any time. It doesn't matter if Pizhou is lost..."

He looked at his son, and let out a foul breath: "But if Xuzhou City is lost before the imperial reinforcements arrive, you and my father and son will not be dismissed!"

Zhou Yuanlang bowed his head respectfully upon hearing this.

"Son, let's make arrangements..."

(End of this chapter)