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Chapter 475 Brief Peace

"Then this slave will be relieved!"

As soon as he heard that casting cannons was as difficult as learning calculus, Wang Chengen immediately thought about it. It's not a lie. Even if he couldn't learn how to behead immediately, he was 80% sure that he wouldn't be able to learn it in his lifetime.

In fact, he underestimated the difficulty of casting cannons, especially iron cannons. Without detailed guidance from skilled craftsmen, just relying on practical exploration would be many times more difficult than learning calculus. Just for the technology of cooling the inner wall of water pipes, it is estimated that the test may not be successful for three to five years.

What are technical barriers? This is! Other people's stews are always so fragrant and tender, and I have spent half my life trying to figure out how to make them. All the steps are correct, even the pot and meat are bought from the same store, but it still doesn't work.

The artillery pieces sold by Suzaku were all defective products produced by apprentices in the special workshops of the Yongding River Iron Works. Not only were their quality substandard, their caliber and magnification were also small, posing no real threat to naval warships. It would definitely be a bit threatening to use it on land, but it would be more troublesome.

The first is the weight. Even though it only has a 2-inch caliber, this artillery is designed according to the naval gun and pursues direct shooting distance. Therefore, the bore wall is very thick and it has not been reduced in weight. It is not impossible to carry it with the army, but it is more cumbersome. Coupled with the transportation and storage of propellants and artillery shells, it is very unsuitable for rapid movement with cavalry.

The Jurchen army also has infantry, and the proportion is quite high, but they still use fast movement as their main tactic. If you carry a large number of artillery, the advantage of speed will be greatly offset, which is not a bad thing compared to the Ming Dynasty frontier army on the defensive side.

It is not easy to blow up the Great Wall with 2-inch cannons and solid bombs. The defenders not only stand tall, but are also equipped with larger-caliber artillery. Even if the casting technology is very backward, they will still take advantage.

In other words, these artillery will change the Jurchen army's combat mode, causing them to give up their original advantages. As a result, the shortcomings will not be made up for, and the longcomings will be a bit short. This may be because Nurhachi was influenced by his eldest son Chu Ying Zhanwu and unknowingly went astray.

Speaking of Chu Ying's death in battle, it may not be a big deal. On the contrary, thousands of Jurchen soldiers were almost completely wiped out, leaving most people a little confused, curious and timid. They couldn't understand why the Ming army was suddenly good at fighting. got up.

In fact, this Jurchen army that drove straight in was only knocked down by the intensive artillery and muskets. What really caused large-scale destruction to them was not the weapons, but the people's hearts.

When the remnants of the Jurchen army retreated eastward, they not only failed to regain their positions in Tongzhou and Tianjin, but also suffered a bombardment along the way, which knocked away the remaining courage and then disappeared from people's sight.

A few days later, they appeared in the jurisdiction of Dongsheng Youwei. Before the news could reach the capital and Shanhaiguan, they began to storm Catfish Pass. After more than a day of hard fighting, they finally broke through the border wall, leaving nearly a thousand corpses and heading north in a hurry.

For the thousands of Jurchen soldiers who were lucky enough to escape the border after a bloody battle, breaking the Great Wall should be like returning to their hometown. The mountains and mountains will not be an obstacle, and the Mongolian tribes along the way will not pose a threat.

But what they didn't know was that there was indeed no change in the mountains, but the Mongolian tribes had already been prepared. After walking in the spreading valley for less than two days, a large number of rangers followed them, charging at them with swords without saying a word. Originally defeated and exhausted, coupled with serious disadvantages in terms of numbers and terrain, the remaining Jurchen troops were quickly dispersed by the Mongolian cavalry, and then unilaterally captured and massacred.

Starting about a month after the Battle of Chaoyang Gate, Mongolian cavalry escorted the Jurchen prisoners of war tied into strings almost every once in a while to the nearest pass for delivery with the Ming Dynasty defenders. After counting the number of living people and heads, they got the receipts, and then went to the border market to exchange for sugar, spirits, cloth and other items.

The exchange lasted for almost a month and a half, and the operation to capture Jurchen prisoners was finally subsided. After inspection by the Ministry of War, a total of more than 2300 Jurchen prisoners of war were sent back, along with nearly 4000 heads, most of which were Jurchens.

Did anyone run back to Liaodong? Hong Tao thinks there must be. It is impossible for the Mongols to entangle too many people and conduct dragnet searches in the mountains for a small reward. As long as the Jurchen soldiers are willing to drill into the mountains, and with a little luck, there is still a chance to go back east along the border wall. , but the quantity will definitely not be large.

The news from Shanhaiguan also partially confirmed this speculation. The Jurchen army that originally advanced to Ningyuanwei suddenly retreated. Now the Liaoxi Corridor from Shanhaiguan to Jinzhou has completely become a no-man's land, and there is no Ming army. The Jurchen army and even the Mongolian rangers rarely visited.

Obviously, after hearing about Chu Ying's failure, Nurhachi temporarily gave up on expanding westward, and did not want to use the blood of his own youth to fight against the artillery of the Ming army. But it's definitely not giving up, but just accumulating strength and waiting for the opportunity.

If these artillery pieces were indeed purchased by the Jurchens, the Jurchens in Haixi and the nearby Mongolian tribes may be in trouble. Using this period of time, Nurhachi will step up his efforts to annex more tribes and strengthen his own strength.

The best way at this time is to send a short, capable and fast force out of Shanhaiguan to occupy Ningyuan Guard, and then make an attack posture against Jinzhou with the support of navy armed cargo ships, forcing Nurhachi to be unable to concentrate on using troops elsewhere.

In addition, they can unite with the North Korean army and launch a large-scale offensive from Kuandian to the north, forcing Nurhachi to send more troops to the south and slowing down the expansion of the Jurchen forces.

It's a pity that Hong Tao understands everything but can't turn his idea into reality. He did not have such an army at his disposal. It would be too costly and inefficient to send the frontier troops out of the fortress, and he would not be able to afford it after a long time.

North Korea can only cooperate and be wary at the same time, and must not give too much sweetness. The Jurchens are ambitious, and the Koreans are also unfamiliar with them. Let them take advantage of this opportunity to grow stronger, and they can turn against each other as fast as turning the page in a book. Bao Buqi will join forces with the Jurchens to deal with the Ming Dynasty, and then they will steal the chicken but lose the rice.

Anyway, until the King of Spain has a clear recovery and the first batch of armies has formed combat effectiveness, Hong Tao firmly does not want to use troops abroad unless it is absolutely necessary. At the moment, all parties are gasping for breath, and the competition is who can handle domestic affairs well and recover health quickly, so more attention must be paid to the country, or to be precise, the court.

Doesn't it mean that with military power in hand, the courtiers are not the main threat? Yes, the courtiers are no longer the main threat, but they may become a hindrance and come up with various ways to obstruct policies that are not beneficial to them. In the words of later generations, it is called non-violent non-cooperation.

(End of this chapter)