Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 323 Take down Master Zheng
"put!"

"Bang bang bang-"

On the first day of October in the seventh year of the Apocalypse, the north and south are full of wars and fears at this time...

First, Hong Chengchou and Ma Xianglin led more than [-] people to occupy all of the north bank of the Red River in Thang Long Mansion. Then they took males from the chieftain forces such as Mo, Wu, and Laojie who surrendered in the north, and went south to harvest rice.

The situation was already at a stalemate, and the Ming army recklessly cleaned up the rice, which made the impatient Zheng Bing finally decide to set up a battle in the Thang Long and Haiyang areas.

He rejected Hong Chengchou's proposal and chose to counterattack the Ming army's soldiers.

However, when he was about to join forces with Ruan Fuyuan in the south, he learned that Huanglong and Li Dan led the six navy guards to attack all the ports of Ruan's family from the sea, and commanded the six navy guards to defeat the Zheng's navy entrenched in Zhengjiang. .

In other words, the Zheng family no longer has the power to control the sea and the ability to hinder the Ming army from crossing the river.

After Hong Chengchou, Qi Jin and others learned of Zheng Bing's stubbornness, they also began to study how to attack Zheng Bing in order to exchange the smallest casualties for the greatest success.

"I think, directly bombard with artillery. This is close to the Haiyang branch. If the shells are gone, they can be replenished on the spot. Let's finish shooting all the [-] vehicles first!"

Looking at Zheng Bing's army on the sand table, Qi Yuanfu aimed at Zheng Bing's camp with the banner of artillery, but Hong Chengchou, Qi Jin, Ma Xianglin and others did not say anything.

"Qi Dudu first talk about your own opinion..."

Hong Chengchou knew very well that Zhu Youjian valued Qi Jin and his son very much, so instead of making his own claims, he asked Qi Jin for advice.

Seeing Hong Chengchou speak, Qi Jin also nodded and said:
"We have just surrendered eight prefectures and counties, so we have to send troops to garrison them separately. Besides, the rice harvest in the rear has not been finished, and the victims of disasters in Fujian and Shanxi are constantly moving forward, so someone needs to be guided, so we have to stay in the rear. "

"Duke Xiaoguo and our general soldiers will continue to guard the rear and take down Shenglong and Haiyang. Our hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses are enough."

Qi Jin said his own opinion. Compared with seven years ago, he has improved a lot. Although he is not as good as his father Qi Jimei and Hong Chengchou, the gap is not very big.

"Hmm..." Hong Chengchou nodded slightly upon seeing this, and then said:
"Fighting Thang Long and Hai Duong is not a big problem. Zheng Bing's [-] Imperial Forest Army and [-] skirmishers are outside Thang Long City. We just need to use the power of the navy to bombard them and suppress them, and then the army crosses the river and uses chariots to cover the front of the five-jin cannon. Move, and then storm the city of Thang Long, and you can easily take Thang Long."

"As for Haiyang City, we only need to send two general soldiers to lead the sixth battalion to take it."

As he said, Hong Chengchou looked at Qi Yuanfu and Qi Yuanbi, and the two also stepped forward and said: "I am willing to lead the army!"

"Okay! Then I will wait to celebrate the achievements of the two general soldiers in Shenglong City."

Hong Chengchou spoke with a smile, then turned to look at Ma Xianglin.

To be honest, it is not an easy task to control both the Western Army's Governor's Mansion and the Southern Army's Governor's Mansion at the same time.

Most of the Western Army's Governor's Mansion is from the Qin and Ma families, while the Southern Army's Governor's Mansion is basically from the Qi family.

The three of them are all trusted and favored by Zhu Youjian, and Hong Chengchou cannot fall to any one side, so he has to be impartial.

Therefore, after arranging for the Qi family to attack Haiyang, he said to Ma Xianglin and Qin Minping:
"Two generals, please restrain the artillery and soldiers crossing the river tomorrow. Be sure to stand firm. After the army crosses the river, take down Thang Long City in one fell swoop!"

"I'll take orders!" Ma Xianglin and Qin Minping spoke softly. After all, Qi Jin came to Qi's family, and it was not easy for them to compete for credit.

"Since that's the case, we will send troops tomorrow according to the plan. In addition, the governor of Huanglong will personally lead the navy to enter the Red River and bombard Haiyang and Shenglong."

"Yes!" The generals responded, and then retreated.

One night passed, and when the next day at Mao shi, the sky was slightly bright, and the Zheng's army under Shenglong City saw the Red River sailing into the Ding-class warships with three thousand materials.

After more than [-] warships such as Ding arrived at the Red River in the north of Thang Long City, the Ming army sailors on board began to fill the artillery in an orderly manner.

"Fixed shot loading... Angle [-], the first round of test firing... let it go!"

"Bang bang bang-"

The roaring cannon replaced the crowing rooster, awakening many who were still asleep.

Shenglong City is only a mile and a half away from the Red River, just within the range of the five-jin cannon.

After many rounds of test firing, the Ming army artillery finally found the right angle and began to bombard the Zheng army barracks under Thang Long City.

Just facing the artillery of the Ming army, Zheng Jun, who had suffered a long time ago, used trees and soil to build fortifications on the reverse slope.

Although still embarrassed, the tragedy of Lang Son City and other examples was finally avoided.

Zheng Bing, who was standing in the commander's platform of Zheng Jun, held the binoculars tightly, and his complexion began to get ugly little by little. Seeing that the Ming army was about to load the artillery, Zheng Bing immediately turned around and gave an order:

"Let the artillery battalion and the elephant battalion prepare for battle. Once the Ming army crosses the river from the north bank and lands in Annan, immediately counterattack!"

"Yes!"

Following Zheng Bing's opening, Zheng Jun's gate opened wide, more than [-] war elephants walked out one after another, and the artillery on Zheng Jun's camp also began to fire.

Although they only had more than [-] Francois guns, due to long-term battles with Westerners, Zheng Jun had mastered the skills of how to build fortifications on flat ground. In addition, the Ming Army warships on the Red River were too large and very conspicuous, so a Time still disrupted the Ming army's attack rhythm.

"Commander, the five-pound gun can't penetrate some of their fortifications."

"Use a ten-pound cannon."

On the deck, Huang Long used binocular clairvoyance to see Zheng Jun's so-called fortifications clearly, and then ordered to counterattack with ten-jin cannons.

When the ten-pound cannon came into battle, the crude fortifications were defeated by the dense stone bombs.

"The artillery and elephant battalion retreat!"

Discovering that the Ming army had used more powerful artillery, Zheng Bing hurriedly ordered that the artillery battalion and elephant battalion in front also withdraw into the battalion.

While they were retreating, the Ming troops on the north bank began to cross the river and land on the south bank.

"Order Ma Zongbing to assemble the chariots and set up a chariot formation for a quarter of an hour to meet the army and cross the river."

Hong Chengchou, who was watching the south bank with a binoculars on the north bank, found that Ma Xianglin had crossed the river and gained a firm foothold, so he immediately turned around and told the messengers under the commander's platform.

After hearing the news, the messenger immediately waved the military flag in his hand, and the news reached Ma Xianglin's ears in a short while.

"Order the battalion of chariots to form formation, and move the five-pound cannon forward one mile to suppress Zheng's camp!"

"Yes~ the chariot battalion formed, and the five-pound cannon moved forward one mile to suppress the Zheng army's camp..."

Under the command of Ma Xianglin, the army was advancing in an orderly manner. The three-meter-high, one-meter-wide chariots filled with sandbags formed a formation similar to the Moon Formation, moving slowly step by step.

The five-pound cannon followed behind, and several gunners followed the chariot with dozens of five-pound stone bullets on their backs.

"The barracks fence is lowered, and the artillery counterattacks!"

In Zheng Jun's barracks, Zheng Bing, who was standing on the commander's platform, saw the Ming Army's chariots start to move, and immediately shouted orders.

The command flag conveyed the news, and some specially prepared gun muzzle fences in the camp were lowered one after another, revealing the artillery behind the fence.

"put!"

"Bang bang bang-"

Zheng Jun's artillery did not test fire, but directly chose to fire.

More than two hundred artillery shells of different sizes flew, but most of them missed. Only a few stone shells hit the Ming army chariot, but the impact would be immediately offset by the sand and gravel piled inside the chariot.

Hong Chengchou, who was standing on the North Shore Commander's Platform, looked at this kind of tactics, nodded and said:
"If this continues, it will take about two quarters of an hour to advance to the position of one mile, and order the troops to cross the river!"

Two quarters of an hour is about half an hour, and one mile is six hundred meters.

At first glance, walking [-] meters in half an hour is a slow speed, but you must know that the speed of tanks during World War I was only a dozen kilometers or even a few kilometers in an hour.

But even so, the German army was defeated by Britain and France.

The chariot can cover the infantry and gunners on the battlefield. When one's own artillery suppresses the opponent's artillery position, the infantry and swordsmen break into the enemy's artillery position. This is the most terrifying part of the chariot tactics.

Facing such turtle-shell tactics, Zheng Yan on the stage had no choice but to watch the Ming army's chariots approaching.

After two quarters of an hour passed, the chariot had advanced the battle line from one and a half miles to three hundred paces, and at this time the gunners of the five-pound guns also began to perform.

More than [-] five-pound guns were operated by more than [-] gunners, and stone bullets fell into Zheng Jun's camp like rain. After several rounds of test firing, some artillery found the right angle and bombarded the artillery everywhere.

At first, Zheng's artillery could counterattack to try to disrupt the Ming army's rhythm, but as the Ming army's follow-up five-jin artillery continued to arrive, and after the Ming army on the north bank began to land on the south bank one after another, the artillery positions of Zheng's army suffered intensive stone bombs. pouring.

Three quarters of an hour later, there were broken limbs and broken arms on the battlefield, and the ground was soaked in blood.

Hong Chengchou on the north bank saw that Zheng Jun's artillery was destroyed, and immediately stepped down from the commander's platform to say hello:
"The messenger and the artillery battalion must destroy the wooden walls of Zheng Jun's camp, and the sword players and rifle players are ready to break in!"

"Yes!" The generals following Hong Chengchou responded and led the team across the river.

A battalion of the Ming army kept crossing the river. When Ma Xianglin directed the artillery to suppress the Zheng army, tens of thousands of Ming troops quickly gathered on the south bank.

Hong Chengchou himself crossed the river himself, set up a commander's platform on the south bank, and commanded the army from a high altitude to look far away and began to march.

"put!!"

"Bang bang bang-"

Under the command of Hong Chengchou and Ma Xianglin, the artillery of each battalion in the Battle of Ping'an South advanced one after another.

More than [-] artillery pieces, large and small, advanced to a position [-] steps away from Zheng Jun and began to increase their firepower output. Hundreds of stone bullets fell on Zheng Jun's camp in batches like raindrops.

After the two-foot-high wooden walls were hit by stone bullets, some were dented, and some were broken in two, and the camp became riddled with holes for a while.

No one dared to take over the artillery of the Zheng army. Seeing such a scene, Zheng Bing immediately hid in some fortifications, and ordered the elephant battalion to go out from the west gate of the camp, trying to use the elephant battalion to defeat the Ming army.

"It seems that Zheng Jun's defeat is today."

"Zheng Bing's command of Shenglong's [-] troops is not as perfect as his command of [-] men."

Hong Chengchou, Ma Xianglin, and Qin Minping were chatting and talking, and they looked like they were taking a walk in the courtyard. It was obvious that they had already won.

But at this time, Tang Qi from Youye came running from a distance on a fast horse. When he approached Hong Chengchou and the others, he got off his horse and reported:

"Jinglue and Zheng's war elephant battalion went out from the Ximen camp. The number is about [-]. They probably want to attack our army's right side."

When two armies confront each other on the battlefield, it is like a mirror. The opponent's left is one's own right, and one's right is the opponent's left.

Zheng's war elephant attacked from his left side, preparing to attack the Ming army's right side, and then used the elephant to disrupt the Ming army's position. This method of warfare is so inferior that even Mu Qiyuan, who is mopping up behind him, would not use this method. means.

"Move the infantry of the first battalion of the Chinese Army to assist the right yoke, defeat the war elephant battalion, the front army does not move, the rest of the army prepares, wait for the drums to sound, outflank the two yaks of the Zheng family from both sides, the artillery does not move, and continues to suppress the Zheng army. camp!"

"Yes!" After receiving the tiger talisman for dispatching troops from Hong Chengchou, Tang Qi also dispatched troops immediately.

At this time, Hong Chengchou also thought of something, and said to Ma Xianglin:
"When fighting an army armed with firearms, cavalry should not be used to charge unless it is a matter of life and death."

"The general understands." Ma Xianglin nodded, he knew very well that when the balance of victory was tilted to his side, there was no need for his side to charge the battle with cavalry.

At this time, the most important way for cavalry is to harvest and disrupt the deployment of the enemy.

"put!"

"Bang bang bang-"

As time passed bit by bit, the Ming army's artillery and stone bombs immediately consumed more than [-] vehicles, and it has only been half an hour since the artillery was used.

When Zheng's wooden village fell in pieces, Zheng's army had already retreated to the moat under Shenglong City, and surrounded the baggage carts to the surrounding area.

"Queyue Formation?" Ma Xianglin, who saw the actions of Zheng's army through his binocular clairvoyance, frowned.

The Queyue Formation is a formation invented by Liu Yu. It once defeated the [-] elite cavalry of the Northern Wei Dynasty with about [-] elite infantry.

Among them, defeating the Jingqi of the Northern Wei Dynasty with the "Queyue Formation" is a typical example of Liu Yu commanding all soldiers to fight in coordination.

After this battle, the reputation of "Queyue Formation" has been greatly improved, and it has been talked about by posterity, so that when it comes to how to "control riding with steps", "Queyue Formation" must be mentioned.

Ma Xianglin didn't know much about Queyue Formation, but relying on the great river to form an formation, it was obviously Queyue Formation.

But when he just uttered the words "Que Yuezhen", Hong Chengchou shook his head with a smile and said:
"Not counting the Que Moon Formation, they don't have a navy, they can't form a Que Moon Formation, and they can't stop the Shenji Battalion and more than [-] cavalry!"

Under Hong Chengchou's explanation, Ma Xianglin understood the main composition of Queyue Formation.

The conditions for forming the "Queyue Formation" are a bit complicated, including geographical conditions, weapons, types of arms, and force configuration.

Geography is backed by big rivers, and weapons require warships, chariots, heavy shields and crossbow hammers.

Warships are used to control waterways, transport soldiers and combat supplies, and if the battle is unfavorable, they can also respond to the troops in the formation.

Chariots are used to resist the impact of enemy cavalry and play a defensive role, heavy shields are used to protect the chariot, and long weapons such as crossbows, hammers, and lances are used to kill the enemy.

After the two are complete, the army needs to use a hundred chariots to lay down an arc-shaped "Queyue Formation" more than a hundred steps away from the water.

And it is also necessary to embrace the river at both ends, with the river bank as the string of the moon, and each chariot is equipped with seven stick soldiers.

After setting up the formation, the navy needs to send enough soldiers ashore to respond, and carry a hundred crossbows, add [-] soldiers to each chariot, and set up shields on the shafts to protect the chariots.

Because the "Queyue Array" is arc-shaped, from a physical point of view, the arc can disperse the force of the force point and has good impact resistance.

In addition, because the soldiers in the formation have long weapons such as sticks, crossbows, and lances, they are very lethal;

However, the important prerequisites for these are navy and warships!

Because of the right to control the water, the river water can guarantee the safety of the rear and flanks of the "Queyue Formation", and there is no need to worry about being surrounded by the enemy's flat river bank with a wide view.

The good field of vision is convenient for observing the actions of both the enemy and us, and grasping the situation on the battlefield in time.

Flat terrain can make the enemy lose its terrain advantage, and a large army can overlook the battlefield on a tall warship, which is equivalent to occupying the commanding heights.

But now Zheng's navy has been completely wiped out by Huanglong, and what they are backing on is not a wide river, but a moat with a width of less than ten feet.

Such a situation also caused Zheng Jun's move to be like breaking the boat rather than trying to stop the moon formation.

After explaining, Hong Chengchou sneered at Zheng Jun across the air:
"Unfortunately, my Chaotian Bing is not Xing Tu Bing, and his Zheng family does not have a Chu Overlord."

"What Jinglue said is that Zheng Bing's move is nothing more than a cornered beast. As long as the artillery pushes forward two hundred steps, his chariot formation will not be able to hold the position at all."

"Once the formation of chariots is broken, it's time for the cavalry to harvest..." Ma Xianglin also laughed.

Seeing that the war was coming to an end, Hong Chengchou was not nervous any more, he just told Ma Xianglin:
"Send the order and move the artillery two hundred steps forward to drive Zheng Jun off the moat."

"Yes!" Ma Xianglin cupped his fists to receive the order, and then passed the order to Qin Minping on the front line.

After Qin Minping received the order, the artillery positions of the Ming army began to move forward. With the sound of the cannons, chariots were smashed one after another. More than [-] soldiers of the Zheng army saw tens of thousands of Ming troops fighting like red tides with rifles. , One after another, they threw themselves into chaos and jumped into the moat.

With the encirclement of the Ming army shrinking, a large number of Zheng army soldiers were driven down the moat and were shot and drowned by the Ming army with volleys of guns and long spears, except for a small number of Zheng soldiers who had withdrawn to Thang Long City.

Only less than [-] soldiers of Zheng's army fled into the spacious Shenglong City, while there were a large number of civilians and more than [-] civilian husbands captured by Zheng Bing in the city.

In the case of losing the city gate and the moat, Thang Long City was breached under the roar of [-] artillery pieces in just one day.

"Uh!"

"Cough cough cough..."

"Bang bang bang-"

As the sun sets, the Red River Delta, which was originally green in October, is stained red with blood, and the drowned bodies in the moat flow into the Red River along the moat.

Tens of thousands of drowned corpses of soldiers of the Zheng army floated in the magnificent Red River. On the river, the Ming army was rowing bamboo rafts to salvage the corpses, and the corpses were piled up and burned on the south bank.

The battlefield is so cruel, either you die or I live.

Zheng Bian, who held [-] soldiers the day before, has disappeared without a trace today. Under the attack of the Ming army, amidst the chatter and laughter of Hong Chengchou and Ma Xianglin, the [-] Annan Zheng soldiers turned into masts and sculls, and disappeared.

More than [-] strong men in the city were captured by Hong Chengchou. If there is no accident, they will be sent to Luzon and Zhongshan Prefecture, where they will be released after ten years of labor reform as miners.

Hong Chengchou, Ma Xianglin, and Qin Minping rode horses to observe the battlefield, and happened to pass by the beheading platform by the Red River.

Zheng's generals were dragged here one by one, and then beheaded one by one.

When Hong Chengchou passed by, the group of people stared at Hong Chengchou with hatred in their eyes, but they fell to the ground in the next second.

"Jing Lue, Chief Soldier..." Seeing Hong Chengchou approaching, the general in charge of the beheading platform bowed immediately, and Hong Chengchou glanced at the beheading platform next to him before he said, "Where's Zheng Yi?"

"Zheng Bian has some backbone, he drew his sword and killed himself when the chariot formation was broken." Speaking of Zheng Bian, the general had to lament that this man still had some backbone.

"It's a pity that he died. I wanted to escort him to the capital and hand it over to His Highness..." Hong Chengchou felt a little regretful, then glanced at the first station next to him, and then explained:
"Remember, among the captives, those who have a marriage, business or relationship with the Zheng family will be beheaded, and the rest of the captives will be taken to the old port."

"Don't worry, the general will know what to do." The general bowed in response, while Qin Minping hesitated and said:
"Jinglue, just now when Shenglong Mansion opened the city gate, Mrs. Zheng begged to surrender..."

"Surrender?" Hearing Qin Minping's words, Hong Chengchou smiled and looked back at Ma Xianglin: "It seems that the Zheng family wants to keep a trace of blood..."

"Mr. Ma, what do you think if Mrs. Zheng wants to surrender?"

Seeing Hong Chengchou asking himself, Ma Xianglin also knew that Hong Chengchou was afraid of being dissatisfied with the handling, which led him to go to Zhu Youjian to complain, so he pulled the rein and bowed:
"Since Liu Yu killed the Jin family, it has become a common practice to cut grass and roots. Our army has defeated the Zheng family. The other four houses of the Zheng family have no more than [-] people. It is useless to keep them."

"Hehe...then leave it to Zongbing Ma to handle it." After speaking, Hong Chengchou continued to ask: "How about the casualties of our army?"

"More than [-] people died in the battle, and more than [-] people were injured, but most of them were minor injuries." Ma Xianglin briefly talked about the casualties in the headquarters, and Hong Chengchou nodded after hearing this.

"Afterwards, I will go to His Highness Shu to indicate whether it should be completed. As for the soldiers who died in battle, according to the rules of the Five Armies Governor's Mansion, the pension land and pension silver will be distributed, and the children will be sent to Yanshan Academy to study."

"The general will know..." Ma Xianglin bowed his head and nodded, and after Hong Chengchou saw that Ma Xianglin had no problem, he also ordered Ma Xianglin and others:
"There are four prefectures and thirteen counties left in the Zheng family. You don't need to do these things yourself. I will transfer Xiao Guogong and the others to go south."

"The two general soldiers have a good rest for two months. After two months, we will go south to recover the territory of the Ruan family."

Ma Xianglin was a little dissatisfied when he heard the words, but Qin Minping pulled him, and he bowed helplessly: "Yes..."

Qin Minping knew very well that it was not a good job to attack the four prefectures and thirteen counties. This did not mean that these places were difficult to attack, but he had already seen that what Hong Chengchou wanted was not as simple as capturing these places.

"Then I'll go back to the camp first. The surviving Zheng clan bandits in Shenglong Mansion will be handed over to the two of you to clean up..."

"Walk slowly..."

The two sides bowed to each other, and then Hong Chengchou led the people away from the beheading platform.

On the contrary, Ma Xianglin and Qin Minping looked at General Zheng Jun who was beheaded on the beheading platform not far away, and they could see some displeasure from frowning...

　There are still 2 words in Chapter [-], and it will be updated before eleven o'clock.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)