Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 227 Bombardment of Tieling
  "Boom boom-"

In the early morning, before the white fish belly appeared on the sky, the artillery of the Bohai Navy woke the Ming army from their sleep.

Three hundred cannonballs flew in, but this time their target was not the city wall, but the cattle and horse wall.

Compared with the thick city wall, the cattle and horse wall, which was about a foot thick and made of rammed earth and stones, was instantly destroyed, and large sections began to collapse.

"Beep!!"

The soldiers on night duty blew their wooden whistles to call the whole battalion to get up and prepare for the enemy. Amidst the shouts and mutterings, the hour passed quickly, and the sound of cannons came again from the other side of the river.

Under this round of attacks, the cattle and horse wall could no longer block the artillery shells, and the artillery shells fired from [-] steps away penetrated into the camp.

Some soldiers were unlucky and were killed on the spot in their tents, while others were killed after encountering ricochet bombs.

The sight of seeing Pao Ze dying in front of him as soon as he got up made many soldiers stand on their heads. They got up faster and put on their armor.

Before the third round of bombardment by the Bohai Navy arrived, they had already found the ruins of the collapsed cattle and horse wall and the rammed earth wall that protected the camp as shelter.

It has to be said that the Ming army that Lao Zhu painstakingly trained even after a year of devastation under the Jianwen New Deal still maintained the efficient response and adaptability of the Hongwu years.

It's just that the opponents they faced have changed from the Mongols and Southwest Yi during the Hongwu period to the Bohai Navy, which is also under the Ming army system, and this Bohai Navy has also mastered more advanced firearms technology and faster mobility than them. .

For the Bohai Navy, the battle has not yet begun, but for the Ming Army, the war has lasted for two days.

"This rammed earth wall and wooden signs cannot stop the rebel artillery..."

Standing behind a rammed earth wall and wooden sign, Wu Gao, who was wearing armor, looked at the rammed earth wall and the broken wooden sign. His mood was indescribable.

The elite of the Bohai Navy made him feel difficult to deal with, especially now that the strength of the two sides was not much different, the situation was even more difficult to deal with.

"Master Hou!"

Geng Feng's voice sounded not far away, and soon he found Wu Gao. At the same time, he saw the penetrated and shattered artillery defense fortifications.

Looking at the terrifying appearance, he swallowed hard, and then said: "The rebels on the north bank built the ferry overnight, and built boats at the ferry in a grand manner."

"Judging from their speed, they can build enough boats for thousands of people to cross the river in up to five days."

Geng Feng was worried both inside and outside of his words. After all, with the width of the Chai River, he could reach the south bank in one word at most with the combined efforts of his soldiers.

In this way, as long as there are dozens of exchanges, the Bohai Navy will be able to land on the south bank, and then the battle will be even more difficult to fight.

The original intention of Wu Gao's arrangement of fortifications was to allow the Ming army to rely on the fortifications and defend in layers to consume the Bohai Navy until they were pushed behind the cattle and horse wall, and then use Hongwu iron cannons and bowl-mouth blunderbuss to kill and injure the Bohai Navy soldiers.

There was nothing wrong with his arrangement, but he didn't expect the Bohai Navy's artillery to be so sharp.

At present, the Bohai Navy relies on artillery to defeat the Ming army, which cannot reach the cattle and horse wall. Even the cattle and horse wall cannot stop their artillery, and they even have to retreat into Tieling City.

Once these [-] troops retreat into Tieling, the Ming army will really become the point that Zhu Gaoxu encircles for reinforcements.

"Dismiss the civilians, give each of them a dou of military rations, and let them go home."

Wu Gao gave the order to Geng Gu, and Geng Gu nodded solemnly when he heard the words. He knew very well Wu Gao's intention of sending away the civilians, which meant that Wu Gao was not sure that he could hold Tieling, and he would even be unable to take care of the civilians because of his retreat.

Once the Bohai Navy crosses the river, judging from the marching speed they showed previously, all [-] civilians will be captured by him. Whether Zhu Gaoxu uses them as civilians or as soldiers, it will be a heavy blow to Liaodong. blow.

Sixty percent of these [-] civilians were military households in Liaodong, and the remaining [-]% were civilians transferred from Shandong.

If they fold here, Liaodong will really be doomed.

Without hesitation, Geng Feng turned around and carried out Wu Gao's military order, and Wu Gao also lowered his head and looked at his feet.

There were placed the rebel cannonballs collected by the Ming army. They were not stones, but all iron cannonballs.

In just two days and seven rounds, the Bohai Navy fired two thousand such iron artillery shells. What was shown behind this was not how powerful the artillery was or how far it could hit, but the strength of the four Bohai cities.

Casting iron into cannonballs was something that even the Ming army was unable to do, because the cost of fighting in this way was too high, and the shells fired might not be recovered, so every time they fought, they lost money.

Zhu Gaoxu can make cannonballs out of iron without blinking an eye, which already explains some problems.

The development of the four cities in Bohai is more prosperous than they knew...

"Your Highness, the Nanbing camp has been beaten to pieces!"

Not far from the artillery position, Wang Yi clapped his legs happily, and Zhu Gaoxu also smiled. Although he already knew that Wu Gao could not defend Tieling City, he still said seriously: "Wu Gao is cautious and resourceful. He might think Come up with any way to fight us, don't underestimate the enemy."

"Don't worry, Your Highness, as long as you cross the Chai River, we will definitely take down this iron ridge for you!"

Wang Yi spoke on behalf of the other commanders of the fifteen guards, and Zhu Gaoxu also nodded and said: "This Tieling City has a small population and not much arable land. It is estimated that Wu Gao will not leave us much money and food. When we enter the city, if so I expected this, so I will put the reward on hold for the time being, and when I capture more money and goods, I will reward you all together."

"Thank you Your Highness!!"

No one had any objections, even the commanders of the Eight Jurchen Guards in the Six Cities Land were the same.

Among the [-] guards, Zhu Gaoxu did not ask for any of the spoils. They had already taken advantage of them, so naturally they were embarrassed to come forward and ask for rewards for such a city.

Anyway, Tieling City was captured, and behind it was the vast Shenyang Plain. As for Gonghe and other three thousand-household settlements that blocked Tieling and Shenyang, they were unable to hinder the pace of the army.

All the generals knew it, and Zhu Gaoxu and Wu Gao naturally knew it very well.

Both of them understood that the loss of Tieling meant the loss of all of northern Liaoning, and the remaining Shenyang and Liaoyang would also be captured by Zhu Gaoxu. After all, the terrain there was wide and flat, and although it was hindered by the Hun River, it could be controlled by the Bohai Navy. Judging from the firepower displayed, Hunhe cannot stop the Bohai Navy, and Pingyuan allows them to maximize their mobility.

In other words, once Tieling is lost, Liaoshen will inevitably be spared.

Once Liaoshen is lost, there is no need to elaborate on the results of the four southern Liaozhou states. The only thing that can be left behind is probably the western Liaoning land to the west of the Liaohe River.

After all, there is a large amount of floodplain at the mouth of the Liaohe River, which can limit the Bohai Navy's artillery and march to the greatest extent.

"Wu Gao, how are you going to guard..."

Zhu Gaoxu raised his chin defiantly, as if he had seen the outcome of Wu Gao's retreat.

"Boom boom-"

The gunfire sounded again, the morale of the Ming army continued to suffer, and there were fewer and fewer bunkers to rely on. In the end, Wu Gao could only ask them to withdraw into Tieling City, abandoning the cow-horse wall and city defense.

At this time, Zhu Gaoxu remembered the teachings given to him by Fu Youde and Feng Sheng, including how to teach him how to fight across the river.

Taking this opportunity, Zhu Gaoxu and the generals pointed at Chaihe River and said: "You are outside the pass and you don't know that the water network in the pass is dense. This Chaihe River is just an ordinary river for the water network in the pass. Therefore, if it happens again in the future, When encountering a river-crossing battle, you must remember the methods."

"This river is divided into mountains, hills, and plains. How to fight requires examining the terrain and judging it geographically."

"Although the Chai River flows out of the mountains, it turns into a plain river when it reaches Tieling."

“Plain rivers often have flat terrain on both sides, open terrain, and convenient transportation. There are no obvious river valleys, and the river bed is curved, with many tributaries. The river surface is wide. There are usually wide beaches on both sides, the water flow is gentle, and the bottom is rich. For silt.”

"It is very easy to cross such a river because the current is not fast enough. You can build a boat to cross it, or you can build a pontoon bridge to cross it, but it is more troublesome."

"The only things we need to guard against are arrows fired from a flat angle and some stone bullets."

"If you go to the hilly rivers south of the Yangtze River, which are surrounded by mountains and valleys, you need to pay attention to the terrain and seasonal weather."

"Rivers in hilly areas are usually close to mountains and valleys, with obvious valleys. Although the water flow is slow, the water depth is irregular, the river bed is hard, and the river beaches on both sides are also different in width. It is necessary to choose a suitable location to cross the river and send people Measure the water depth ahead of time.”

"As for mountain rivers, they are usually in the southwest or Tubo area, often located between mountains and narrow valleys. Not only are the banks steep and the valleys narrow, the terrain is also very dangerous."

"If you have the opportunity to go to the southwest to perform meritorious services in the future, you will know that the water there is deep and fast, and the bottom is mostly pebbles and rocks. Crossing the river is several times more difficult than before."

"To cross a river like that, we can only search for a slightly flat and straight section of the river within a few hundred miles to cross the river."

"There are generally two main ways to attack across rivers."

"One type is divided into surprise troops, for a sudden attack and forced crossing, and the other type is regular troops, as our army is doing now, preparing to cross the river in an upright manner under the eyes of the southern soldiers."

"You will slowly see these two river-crossing tactics in the future as I demonstrate them to you. For now, let me show you how to cross the river in earnest."

After saying that, Zhu Gaoxu turned the horse's head and told Meng Zhang: "Let your people stop and prepare to cross the river tomorrow."

"But Your Highness, we don't have enough boats." Wang Yi bowed quickly when he heard this, but Zhu Gaoxu said proudly: "As long as the front army reaches the south bank, our army can cross the river calmly. You can just watch."

"Yes..." Wang Yi nodded helplessly, and Meng Zhang also ordered the artillery to stop as Zhu Gaoxu said.

"Go prepare these things, they will be useful tomorrow."

Zhu Gaoxu took out a piece of paper from his armor and handed it to Meng Zhang. Meng Zhang nodded after taking it, and then happily left the position.

It seemed like the calm before the storm, as both sides of the Chai River fell into calm.

Seeing that there was no movement from the Bohai Navy, Wu Gao bravely mounted his horse and led his men to the south bank of the river.

Here, he saw the rows of dark field artillery. Although he couldn't see clearly, they stood like a black line on the river beach at the foot of the mountain, which made people feel worried.

Turning to look due north, the Bohai Navy has urgently made many boats. Although these boats are not painted with waterproof tung oil, for the Bohai Navy, as long as they are usable, it is enough. At worst, after crossing the river, they will They are pulled back to the shore from the river and then cooked slowly.

"They are building ships so fast. I'm afraid they can cross the river in two days."

One of the commanders couldn't help but speak, while Wu Gao looked at the Bohai Navy camp, which was shouting anxiously, and shook his head: "I'm afraid the common people of Bohai won't be able to wait until that time."

Wu Gao's judgment came from the number of artillery strikes by the Bohai Navy today. He did not believe that the Bohai Navy would stop the bombardment because there was not enough gunpowder and shells. If this was the case, they should use the artillery at the most critical time, not the first time. Heaven is used to intimidate.

The reason why they stopped shelling was probably because they were preparing to give themselves a big shock.

"Repair the cattle and horse wall and let the civilians who are preparing to go south transport all the food from Tieling City to the south, leaving only ten days behind."

The meaning of Wu Gao's words was as if he was saying that he could only guard for ten days. This seemed to some of the commanders around him to be ambitious and undermine his own prestige.

But on Zhu Gaoxu's side, Wu Gao's words were just bragging.

Not long after, Wu Gao withdrew from Tieling City, allowing the army to leave the city again and repair the multiple defenses that had been mostly destroyed by artillery.

However, just one day was not enough for them to repair all these fortifications, not to mention that the construction of the fortifications this time did not require the help of [-] civilians, so the speed was even slower.

"Beep beep beep!!" The next day, the piercing whistle woke up the entire Ming army camp. All Ming soldiers put on armor and went to the multiple fortifications outside the city.

Wu Gao got up and went with Geng Feng to the first layer of iron caltrops and antler wood fortifications.

Behind the antler wood there is a ditch and rammed earth wall that were made yesterday.

The trench is four feet deep, and the rammed earth wall is two feet high and four feet thick, made of river beach silt.

After yesterday's shelling, Wu Gao discovered that the watered clay wall was stronger than the rammed earth wall and could reduce the lethality of the Bohai Navy's iron artillery shells. He didn't understand the principle, but he still asked everyone to prepare.

The three-hundred-step-long trench and clay wall became the first line of defense behind the antler trees, and on the north bank of the Chai River, twenty-seven forced river-crossing boats began to be launched.

Since this heavy defense line was thirty paces from the river, and the Chai River was forty paces wide, the situation on the north bank was difficult to see.

"Are they going to cross the river?"

Geng Ping's voice was a little surprised, obviously he didn't expect Zhu Gaoxu to cross the river in a hurry.

"It's normal for young people to be high-spirited and unable to bear it..."

A commander in his fifties spoke, but Wu Gao shook his head and said: "He is not someone who does not make preparations. He must have his own support for daring to cross the river."

"Let the army be prepared. Once they come ashore and push away the antler trees, they will hit them with copper blunderbuss."

Wu Gaoyi relied on the clay walls and trenches on his side, so he tried to use the copper blunderbuss equipped by the army to injure the troops who first reached the south bank of the Bohai Sea.

After their orders, more than a thousand soldiers in the trench were ready, and Wu Gao also led Geng Gu back to the second stage of the horse trap and the horse gun fortifications.

Here, he also dug a trench and built a longer and wider clay wall. The entire defense line looked like a concave shape when viewed from the sky.

"Cross the river!"

On the river bank, when Meng Zhang personally led a merchant ship, twenty-seven boats crossing the river, three feet long and one foot three feet wide, began to set off.

A field gun and gun carriage were placed on each ship, and there were many pieces of wood that could be assembled, equipped with a small flag.

In other words, the twenty-seven boats represented twenty-seven field guns, plus twenty-seven small flags, and more than two hundred and seventy men.

Crossing the river is the key to capturing Tieling. If crossing the river fails, the Ming army will have sufficient preparation time and can mobilize more resources from various parts of Liaodong to invest in Tieling.

This fate has precedents in history, so Meng Zhang knew that he must successfully cross the river and gain a foothold on the south bank.

Although it is May now, thanks to the help of weather, there have been no flash floods in the Changbai Mountains recently, so the Chaihe River is not flowing very fast.

In just one hour, twenty-seven ships successfully landed on the south bank.

Hundreds of soldiers pulled the three ships ashore and used them as shelters. Then they began to help Paoze get off the ship in an orderly manner and lift the cannons off the ship one by one.

Zhu Gaoxu's original request became the key to the artillery being able to cross the river. Although the combined weight of the artillery and the artillery cart reached [-] kilograms, they could be disassembled separately and successfully lowered to the shore with the help of seven or eight soldiers. Assemble.

For a quarter of an hour, there was no response from the Ming army, which made Meng Zhang nervous.

Not long after, the twenty-seven artillery pieces were successfully disassembled from the ship, and the lumber that could be assembled was also assembled within one hour.

When the three river-crossing boats were pulled back into the water, what appeared in front of the Tieling Guard commander was a row of wooden carts surrounding the Ming army.

The Ming army poured sand from the river into it. This scene made the Tieling Guard commander frown.

Seeing one-third of the [-] Bohai Navy rowing away from the south bank, the Tieling Guard commander decided to test the remaining Bohai Navy.

Soon, the two hundred Ming troops formed a long spear formation, and under the protection of the sword players in the front row, began to walk out of the antler wood and approach the Bohai Navy.

The distance of thirty steps was just a sprint distance for them. However, when they appeared, the Bohai Navy raised a "weird" short gun.

Sparks burned, and this scene immediately made the Baihu official who led the team notice something, and he quickly blew the whistle: "Beep!!"

Without words, the sword players in the front row formed a formation, and the next moment gunshots rang out from the Bohai Navy's position.

"Clap clap clap-"

"Uh!"

"dash forward!"

The wooden sign was penetrated in an instant, and more than a dozen swordsmen in the front row were shot and fell to the ground. The heads of hundreds of officials were numb. If he hadn't given the order in time, the number of people who fell would have doubled.

Not caring about anything else, he ordered the entire army to charge forward.

The distance of twenty steps came in an instant, but when they rushed to the front of the formation, the rows of wooden carts were pushed upright.

Behind the wooden cart, there are black holes in the muzzles, and the lines of fire have been burned out.

"Boom!!"

Iron bullets the size of fingernails were shot out, harvesting a piece instantly from a distance of less than seven or eight steps.

More than [-] charging troops fell in batches due to their too dense formation, leaving only a few dozen people at the back charging in confusion.

It is true that field artillery and matchlocks could not completely conquer the cold weapon era. When dozens of people rushed into the formation, hand-to-hand collisions still occurred.

However, in terms of bravery and skill in fighting, the Bohai Navy is no less than any other officer and soldier.

Dozens of people were quickly surrounded by more than a hundred people. By the time the Tieling Guard commander finally recovered from the sound of gunfire, those dozens of people were already in danger.

"All troops charge!"

The commander of the Tieling Guards took the lead and rushed to the river beach with the remaining [-] brothers, but at this time, the artillery position on the north bank that had not exploded exploded.

"Boom boom-"

The gunfire sounded more violent than before, and a large number of antler trees and clay walls were destroyed. The ricochet bombs crashed into the trench that was too shallow, killing countless people.

Many soldiers who rushed out of the trenches were also hit by artillery shells, causing numerous casualties.

"Control the bomb points and don't fire intensively. If the Confederate army still wants to charge, it will be enough to maintain a hundred artillery fire in turns."

Standing at the artillery position, Zhu Gaoxu observed the battlefield with a monocular while frowning and giving orders.

The reason why he frowned was that two shells fell out of control and fell into Meng Zhang's position, which made his heart hang at that moment.

Fortunately, the two shells only overturned the wooden cart filled with sand and did not hurt the Bohai Navy, which made him temporarily relieved.

They shelled from east to west, while Meng Zhang and others were stationed from north to south. The probability of accidentally injuring friendly troops was still very low.

However, their round of bombardment still frightened Meng Zhang and others, so they accelerated their speed and strangled the dozens of Ming soldiers in the formation.

However, the commander of Tieling Guards, who was said to be young and energetic Zhu Gaoxu, was unlucky enough to be hit by a ricochet during this round of shelling and was killed on the spot.

His death could not stop the Tieling guardsmen from charging, but the Ming army's shelling made them heartbroken and they all retreated into the trenches.

"Master Hou! Wu Wen, commander of the Tieling Guards, was shot and killed!"

Tang Qi rode his horse to deliver the news. Wu Gao's face turned ugly, and the faces of the commanders around him also turned pale.

Compared with the fierce fighting in the southwest, the Ming army in the north, especially the Liaodong Dusi, had not had a commander for many years. Therefore, Wu Wen's death cast a haze on the hearts of many commanders.

Wu Gao had been paying attention to the generals. Seeing that their morale was low, he could only ask Na Tangqi: "How did Wu Wen lose his formation?"

Wu Gao's move undoubtedly exposed Wu Wen's old background. After all, if he obeyed orders and defended himself and disappeared, Wu Wen's heirs could still inherit the position of commander. But if they disobeyed military orders, then...

"Commander Wu led his troops out of the formation and was hit by a cannonball..." Na Tangqi's voice became smaller and smaller as he continued to speak.

When Wu Gao heard this, he immediately spoke to the generals around him: "Wu Wen did not obey the military orders and went out of the trench without permission. You must take this as a warning and follow my military orders in every move!"

"The last general takes orders..." The generals agreed, but they couldn't help but feel sad about Wu Wen's death.

Wu Gao asked, it would be fine if Wu Wen's heirs were not expelled, let alone inherit the command.

Maybe Wu Gao didn't think that much and just ordered the generals to listen to the military orders, but the generals still couldn't help but think about it.

But Geng Wei noticed this, so he said: "Wu Wen died undeservedly, but because of his hard work and merits, he let his son Qianhu Wu Ming temporarily take over the command of Tieling."

There is no problem with Qi Tai's arrangement, but Wu Gao's work is too rigid. Geng Qi can mediate and alleviate many conflicts, which is the case now.

However, no matter how Qi Tai arranged it, he probably would never have imagined that Zhu Gaoxu's Bohai Navy was so good at fighting.

Soon, the second batch of troop transport ships arrived at the south bank. The Ming army could only watch them land and did not dare to step out of the trench.

"This is not the way to go!" Geng Feng looked at Wu Gao. Seeing this, Wu Gao could only frown and order: "Adjust the bowl mouth gun and go to the front of the formation."

"Yes!" Upon hearing this, Geng Wei immediately transferred a large number of bowl-mouth muskets from the Hongwu iron cannons and bowl-mouth muskets on the ox-horse wall and arrived at the front line.

This scene was clearly seen by Zhu Gaoxu using a monocular telescope.

"Aim between the antler wood and the horse-rejecting gun, and take a test shot."

He spoke lightly, but the artillerymen under his command simply adjusted the angle and began to bombard the two fortifications of Antler Wood and Juma Gun.

"Boom boom-"

"run!"

More than a hundred iron artillery shells roared in. The Ming army carrying bowl-mouth guns heard the sound of the cannons, and immediately abandoned the bowl-mouth guns and jumped into the trench to save their lives.

Seven bowl-mouthed muskets were smashed on the spot, and five others who were slow to escape were also killed on the spot. Seven or eight soldiers who were grazed by the shells were seriously injured and vomited blood on the spot, and it seemed that they would not survive.

"Damn!!"

Seeing this, even the cautious and resourceful Wu Gao became angry and cursed, but his curses could not prevent the Bohai Navy from landing on the south bank of Chaihe River, let alone defend Tieling City...

　Second update around [-]:[-]
  　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)