Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 235
  "Fixed shot loading, target Guangning East City Wall, self-adjusting angle, pre-fire three rounds... let go!!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom..."

When the rhythmic sound of field artillery sounded outside Guangning City to the west of the Liao River and north of the Bohai Sea, a hundred field artillery lined up in a row and successively launched bombardments on the low city of Guangning City.

One hundred six-pound iron bullets were struck like a sudden rain, falling on the city walls and parapets of Guangning, knocking down wall stacks one after another and breaking pieces of wall tiles.

"Fire the gun!"

"Boom bang bang..."

At the top of Guangning City, the artillery of the Liaoxi Ming Army also began to respond. However, its range was not satisfactory. However, after flying about a mile, the granite bullets fell and rolled for more than ten steps before stopping.

"It's too far to hit!"

In the gate tower of Guangning East City, Wu Sheng, who was stationed here, gritted his teeth as he looked at his own powerless stone bullets.

At present, he has four guards' troops and horses, but the available combat troops are only [-]. They are also divided into Yizhou Guard, Zhongzuo Tunwei, Zhongzuo, Youwei and other cities, and are stationed in Guangning City. There are only less than [-] people.

It was already June [-]th, and the center, left, and right guards had been defeated one after another. Only Guangning Zhongtunwei, Yizhou, Guangning Zuotunwei, Ningyuanwei, and Shanhaiwei were left in his hands. place.

It is not that easy to hold the area of ​​more than [-] miles from the south to the north of Liaoning, not to mention the fact that the Bohai Navy currently has a large number of troops in the field, all of whom are elite horse infantry.

Facing Bohai's offensive, Wu Sheng could only defend and wait for reinforcements.

"Determine the angle and draw a base."

Outside the east city of Guangning, in the long Bohai Navy formation, Meng Zhang and Xu Sheng looked at the nearby Guangning City with monocular binoculars. After putting them down, their faces were full of smiles.

At present, they have [-] horse infantry musketeers, [-] artillerymen, and [-] horse infantry pikemen in Shenji camp, totaling [-].

In the previous attack on several cities in western Liaoning, as long as the artillery destroyed the city walls, or was about to destroy the city walls, the defenders of those cities would surrender directly, so they did not suffer too many casualties.

Meng Zhang's fighting method is very simple, that is, the artillery fires first, and after the artillery fire, the musketeers attack under the cover of the horse infantry and pikemen. If the attack is unfavorable, they withdraw and continue to attack with artillery, and so on.

The cavalry of the officers and soldiers in western Liaoning has been transferred to Wu Gao, and Wu Gao has given the military power to Liu Zhen. Liu Zhen took [-] cavalry and retreated to Jiulian City, which is a thousand miles away from the post road in Guangning, not to mention the journey along the way. They are all patrol horse infantry of the Bohai Navy.

Liu Zhen was unable to rush to the aid of Wu Sheng in Guangning, so Wu Sheng did not have enough mobility to fight with the Bohai Navy out of the city.

"When do you think Daning's troops will arrive?"

Meng Zhang put down the monocular in his hand, looked at Guangning City with interest, and asked Xu Sheng.

Xu Sheng grinned: "According to what His Highness said, if the imperial court does not want to abandon the defense of western Liaoning, it will definitely dispatch troops to rescue Guangning within less than half a month after we cross the Liao River. It is already the eighth day."

"Boom boom boom..."

The conversation between the two was mixed with the sound of cannons, giving them the feeling of sitting firmly on the Diaoyutai.

"How much gunpowder and artillery shells are left in the army?" Meng Zhang looked back at a commander of the Shenji Battalion. The man also replied in Beishan Jurchen: "About twenty bases, Haizhou is still delivering them."

A base number of Bohai artillery is twelve shells. It takes one hour to prepare each shell. A base number can be fired in half an hour.

At present, Meng Zhang and the others have twenty base numbers here, enough to fight for ten hours continuously.

Hearing this, Meng Zhang also looked at Xu Sheng and said with a smile: "With Liaoyang and Liaonan captured, we don't have to worry about the shells and gunpowder anymore."

Xu Sheng also nodded and agreed: "I heard that His Highness ordered people to mine in the Dong'an Mountain and Gongchangling areas. I think our iron materials can be obtained from Liaodong, and we don't have to go to all the trouble to transport them from Jilin."

"We are just around the corner to capture the entire Liao Dynasty." Meng Zhang also calmly watched the artillerymen loading artillery shells, calm and composed.

"Boom boom boom..."

The dull sound of cannons sounded repeatedly, and each time it sounded, it meant that five hundred kilograms of iron material flew out and fifty thousand pounds of money disappeared.

It is not a boast that gold is golden when the cannon fires. Without strong national power, it is impossible to withstand the large-scale use of iron shells by artillery.

Bohai did not need to worry about these problems, because they seized the treasury of southern Liaoning, northern Liaoning, and Liaoyang. In addition to money and grain, the most important items were iron materials and gunpowder.

The siege effect of iron artillery shells is self-evident. Just four hours have passed, and the east city of Guangning has become tattered. There are only ten walls left. The soldiers standing on the wall can't even find bunkers. The city gate The building even collapsed after all its beams and columns were broken by the continuous shelling.

During the Hongwu period, Guangning Guard was protected by Daning Dusi, Yizhou, Guangning Middle, Left and Right Guards, so its construction was completely incomparable with cities such as Shenyang and Liaoyang.

Under the Bohai Navy's artillery, the horse paths of the city wall could no longer be used for standing, and the Ming army's own artillery was even abandoned on the city wall.

On the city wall, the wall bricks covered with rammed earth have begun to fall off in large areas. It is only a matter of time before Guangning falls.

As the sky gradually darkened, Meng Zhang ordered the entire army to stop shelling, bury pots and cook rice and prepare to rest.

Now they are not in a hurry to capture Guangning, because their mission is to attract reinforcements from Daning.

They can't act like they're not in a hurry, and they can't really be too anxious. The degree of this needs to be controlled by Meng Zhang.

The next day, Guangning City once again suffered a whole day of shelling. At the same time, ten basic shells and gunpowder sent from Haizhou also arrived at the Bohai Navy camp.

After two consecutive days of shelling, Guangning City could no longer maintain its defense. Even Wu Gao's eldest son Wu Sheng could only resign himself to his fate and pray for reinforcements from Daning to arrive as soon as possible.

Perhaps after hearing his prayers, reinforcements from Daning finally appeared in the northwest of Guangning on June [-].

This trace was quickly obtained by Tang Qi of the Bohai Navy and quickly returned to the Bohai Navy camp.

"Commander, Daning soldiers and horses were found seventeen miles northwest. According to the size of the banner, there should be no less than [-]."

In the Bohai camp, hundreds of households in Tangqi bowed and reported. Meng Zhang and Xu Sheng, who were having breakfast, also looked at each other and smiled when they heard this.

"Okay!" Meng Zhang agreed, and then said to Xu Sheng: "Send Tangqi to inform His Highness."

"Wait for my news!" Xu Sheng stood up without thinking and immediately sent a small flag horse infantry as Tangqi to Shenyang.

Two hours later, Daning's reinforcements approached from the northwest under the banner of "Liu". Half of them poured into Guangning City, and the other half camped in the west of the city to build defenses that could allow the army in the city to retreat calmly.

"Look, they only have ten thousand people in size, but their artillery can shoot two miles away, and they also have very powerful firecrackers. As long as our people get closer to fifty steps, they will be attacked by their firecrackers. The power is It’s enough to penetrate armor.”

At the top of Guangning City, Liu Song looked at the Bohai Navy three miles east of Guangning City, hearing Wu Sheng's explanation.

In fact, there was no need for Wu Sheng to explain. Just looking at the situation in Guangning Dongcheng, Liu Song could tell that this Bohai Navy was not an easy existence to deal with.

"No attempt was made to repair the wall stacks?"

Liu Song asked Wu Sheng, who was a few years younger than him, and Wu Sheng shook his head and sighed: "It's not that we didn't try, but even if it is repaired, it will be destroyed in the next round of artillery attack."

"So powerful?" Liu Song was very surprised, and at the same time he understood why Wu Gao and his father retreated so quickly.

Taking the cities in Liaodong as an example, the cities of Liao and Shen might be able to withstand this level of shelling, but other cities would have a very difficult time.

During the Hongwu period, the city was built without considering the issue of defending the city. However, since the Beiyuan Dynasty mainly used return artillery and iron cannons, they only built a city wall that was sufficient to defend against these two siege weapons.

No one expected that there would be artillery in the Bohai Sea that could shoot two miles and crack wall bricks.

"I brought [-] people this time, but one-third of them are garrison troops, and only [-] are capable of fighting."

"Leave Guangning City to me. I will take your people to evacuate from here to the Zhongzuo Station west of the Daling River and reinforce the city wall there in advance."

Liu Song ordered Wu Sheng. He knew very well that Guangning City had been beaten to such a state that it would be impossible to defend it. He could only lead his people to delay the time as soon as possible and move the battlefield to the Daling River. Guangning Zhongzuo Institute.

The city in the center and left is not large, easy to reinforce, and easier to defend.

As long as there is enough food in the city, Liu Song is sure to hold on for three months.

"Guang Ning is left to you, Brother Wude!"

When Wu Sheng heard this, he didn't say much polite words, he just bowed and then evacuated Guangning City with his own people.

Because of the obstruction of Daning's Sentinel Cavalry, the Bohai Horse Infantry's Tang Cavalry was blocked in the east of the city and was unable to detect the news for a while.

But this no longer means anything to Meng Zhang and the two of them. Their goal has been achieved.

With the news that their mission had been completed, Bohai Navy Tangqi ran wildly for two days and nights, and finally delivered the news to the Bohai Navy camp outside Shenyang in the early morning of the first day of July.

Another twelve days passed, and the city of Shenyang was almost lifeless. Even the gate towers had been demolished by Geng Peng, leaving only food but no firewood.

"Twenty thousand people? Okay!"

On the bank of the Hun River, Zhu Gaoxu, who had just caught a one-foot "big fish", stood up happily and put the big fish into an empty wooden barrel.

He took the military information sent by Tang Qi, and after looking at it, he looked at the two people standing behind him.

Needless to say, Zhao Mu had been stationed at the camp. Standing next to him was Chen Chang, who had finished his attack on Fushun and arranged for the defenders to relocate half of the people in Fushun.

His appearance here means that the Anton Guard in his hand has also returned here.

Nowadays, there are [-] cavalry and [-] horse infantry outside the city of Shenyang, but it is not known how many soldiers Geng Pou has in the city who dare to fight outside the city.

His tenacity exceeded Zhu Gaoxu's expectation, so after taking a look at the two of them, he set his sights on Shenyang City three miles away.

"Forty-three days have passed, and Geng Feng is more difficult to deal with than I thought."

Zhu Gaoxu looked at Shenyang City and spoke softly while admiring him.

They had no hot water and only food. This situation lasted for at least ten days, but even now, no one in the city wanted to surrender. Zhu Gaoxu didn't know whether to call Geng Ying stubborn or stupid and loyal.

It's just that if he drags it on like this, he will only drag himself to death and will not affect Zhu Gaoxu at all.

"Give Haizhou and Gaizhou separate orders to send a thousand men each to go north to Shenyang."

Zhu Gaoxu spoke softly and looked at Chen Chang at the same time: "I leave these two thousand people to you. I want you to take your headquarters and these two thousand people to guard the outskirts of Shenyang and prevent Geng Ping from leaving the city."

"General, take your orders!" Chen Chang bowed in response, and at the same time couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, do you want to..."

When he was mid-sentence, Zhu Gaoxu interrupted: "Now Daning's combatable troops are either in Yanshan or at Songting Pass and Guangning. How many troops do you think Daning still has to garrison the city?"

Having said this, Zhu Gaoxu put the fishing rod on his shoulder: "The Daning area is empty of troops. If we don't take it now, we will wait until later!"

"There are six thousand cavalrymen in the sentry camp. Everyone will go to sleep at Xushi (19 o'clock) today. They will get up at Yinshi and leave the camp at night. We will go straight to Daning with me."

"General, take your orders!" Zhao Mu agreed without hesitation, thinking that the time had finally come when he could go to the battlefield. After giving instructions to Zhao Mu, Zhu Gaoxu also looked at Chen Chang: "Where have Wang Yuan and the others arrived?"

"I just arrived in Fuzhou yesterday, and I should be able to reach Jinzhou tomorrow." Chen Chang responded and talked about the situation in Jinzhou:

"Wang Yi and Cui Jun's two tribes of more than [-] people have measured the land in Jinzhou and distributed it to the people who stayed behind, and sent a thousand people to escort [-] people north to Puhe."

"In their spare time, they also cut and processed wood from the mountains in the north. In addition, there are more than fifty large and small ships in Jinzhou's harbor that were captured by Cui Jun before they were evacuated, enough to transport nine thousand troops."

"Okay" Zhu Gaoxu responded simply and continued his instructions: "Let Wang Yi prepare enough wood for building warships and transport them to the Jinzhou Shipyard, and immediately divide three thousand troops to go north to Shenyang. Geng Ying cannot escape from Shenyang."

"While you are here, if he wants to go out of the city to fight, you should check the status of his troops. If you are confident, you will fight with him. If you are not confident, use your horse power to exhaust their strength and then surrender."

Zhu Gaoxu talked enthusiastically about his planned arrangements, but Chen Chang looked embarrassed: "What if they don't want to surrender..."

"I don't want to..." Zhu Gaoxu's expression froze. He was silent for a moment before slowly responding: "Then I'll allow you to do it easily."

"Yes!" Chen Chang agreed, and Zhu Gaoxu also walked towards the military camp carrying his wooden bucket containing the big fish.

While he was doing this, in front of the city gate building at the head of Shenyang City, a tall but very thin figure was leading a group of thin figures to look at the Bohai camp in the distance.

"Captain, can we still wait for reinforcements..."

A commander who often followed Geng Feng spoke slowly. He used to be fat and strong, but today, after forty-three days in Shenyang, he has a good face and is more than twenty kilograms thinner than before.

Not only him, but also many soldiers following him.

Not far behind them, a group of soldiers were making lunch. Their lunch was nothing more than grinding unpeeled rice and wheat into powder with a small stone mill, then pouring in cold water, stirring, and waiting for it to solidify into dough.

Beyond them, Shenyang City behind the horse path was almost in ruins. There was no ignition material that could ignite the fire, only bricks and earth were left, and all the houses had been demolished.

"It will come."

Geng Feng, who has lost more than [-] pounds, has sunken cheeks, and his long-term malnutrition has caused his complexion to look abnormal.

He didn't know how many times he repeated the words in his mouth, and now he didn't know if they were words of hope or words of comfort to everyone.

He looked back at the thin and frightened people, and also saw the people lying all over the city under the horse path.

He didn't know how long such a day could last, but he knew that if that day came, he would never sit still and wait to die...

"Sorry..."

Night fell quickly. Under his cover, Zhu Gaoxu led six thousand cavalrymen on horseback and headed southwest with their horses.

Bags containing military rations were wrapped around their waists. There was a bushel of military rations in the bag, but it was enough to last for a month.

He wants to capture Daning within a month so that the war outside the customs can be ended as soon as possible.

Under darkness, they marched southwest, and after crossing the Liao River, they changed their route and marched northwest.

After Zhu Gaoxu left with six thousand cavalry, Chen Chang asked his soldiers and horses to leave the camp from the north in the early morning, and then returned in large numbers from the east, west and south, creating a lively scene.

This sight successfully confused the officers and soldiers guarding the city, and Zhu Gaoxu himself had already led his troops to Daning.

But at the same time as he was attacking, a large army was successfully assembled south of the Yellow River.

The rolling Yellow River is like countless giant dragons twisting together and flying down. It hangs high in the plains, roaring and rushing, with yellow and white waves rising from time to time.

On the beach of the Yellow River, which stretches for more than ten miles, hundreds of thousands of troops have already gathered. The "朙" flags fluttering in the wind almost cover the sky here.

At the crossing of the Yellow River, hundreds of rafts and boats had been arranged, and countless soldiers were ordered to board the boats and cross both sides of the Yellow River.

The soldiers on the south bank were ready to go, facing the Yellow River ahead and the unknown war seriously and firmly.

Carrying the honors of their respective governors and the missions sent by the imperial court, they stood down-to-earth on the south bank of the Yellow River, with their hometown and country behind them.

"Woooooooo..."

On the official road, the horn sounded, and dozens of generals rode from south to north, checking the equipment and morale of each unit along the way.

The commander, the Qianhu officers and the soldiers stood in awe, with firm eyes and no slack at all.

As the horn sounded, the team walked onto the ferry in an orderly manner, stepped onto the ferry, and headed towards the unknown war in the north.

They walked in unison, their postures were tall and straight, and their footsteps were sonorous and powerful, as if they were declaring their determination and courage to the world.

Not long after, they crossed the Yellow River, and hundreds of thousands of people gathered on the north bank. After a night's rest, the army set off northward, stretching for more than twenty miles, like a red fire dragon swimming northward.

"The barbarians in the north have made things worse. They can't hold them down themselves, so our soldiers in the south need to take action."

"Southern? Can you soldiers from Henan be called soldiers from the south?"

"Which team you are from, what I say is none of your business!"

"You're from Pizhou Guard, what do you want?"

"Shut up and go on your way!"

"Which bird family are you from?"

"Dingyuan Flying to Xiongwei, how are you doing?"

"People from Huaixi, don't mess with them..."

During the march, the soldiers sometimes whispered to each other and sometimes thought silently. Of course, they also despised and ridiculed each other.

However, among the armies, the soldiers from Huaihe and Huaixi, especially those from Huaixi, have the highest status.

In this whole Great Tomorrow, it is not an exaggeration to say that the descendants of Huaixi defeated them. Most of the military attachés in various places were from Huaixi, so they were naturally not inferior to any soldiers from the capital.

After a small episode, all the soldiers started on their way in silence.

Even though they are just ordinary soldiers, they also know that the battle ahead will not be easy.

The journey is boring and the most painful.

As the sunset gradually rose, the army heading north stopped in the wilderness north of Wei Hui Mansion and began to use all the camping tools on the baggage vehicles.

As night fell, the soldiers lost all the energy of the day. They sat with each other around the campfire, cooking and exchanging experiences on fighting in various places. The morale of the entire army was high.

At this time, they feel closer to each other and more united.

Night gradually fell, and in the military camp covering an area of ​​more than ten miles, a gray-haired veteran was also leading dozens of generals to inspect the camp.

Among the dozens of generals following him, the lowest-ranking ones were all commanding envoys. These were the counter-rebellion team of Marquis Changxing of the Ming Dynasty.

"The most important thing to avoid when camping is that there is no water. Don't grab water from other troops for cheap. Digging a well yourself is more effective than anything else. Don't be afraid of getting tired. Water can be obtained by digging a few feet down to the north of the Yellow River. It will be clear to drink. sweet."

On the way to inspect the camp, Changxing Marquis Geng Bingwen taught the generals who followed him, but no one dared to despise him.

Although he is sixty-six years old, as one of the twenty-eight princes who founded the Ming Dynasty, Geng Bingwen's military exploits have always been at the forefront.

Whether it was the garrison at Changxing in the early stage, the defense against Zhang Shicheng, the Northern Expedition with Xu Da in the mid-term, or the great victory in the Fishing Sea with Lan Yu, they can all be commended for their achievements.

Even though he is older, Geng Bingwen is often given the task of suppressing local rebellions by Zhu Yuanzhang. For example, he has just ended the war with the Sichuan bandit Gao Fuxing, captured Gao Fuxing, and captured more than [-] rebels.

"The last time I came to Peking was ten years ago to prepare for the Northern Expedition. Now that I'm back, things are very different."

After inspecting the camp, Geng Bingwen returned to the tent and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Although he was determined to do it himself, at this age and with the hidden wounds from fighting in his youth, he was still a little tired after walking half of the camp.

Joining him were second-generation generals such as Wu Jie, Li Jian, and Ning Zhong. Although they were very capable among the second-generation generals, if they were to take turns, they would only be at the mid-range level, far behind the current Southwest. The second generation of the Corps.

"This place is still two hundred and forty miles away from Zhending. With the speed of our army, we can reach Zhending to camp on the fourth day of July."

The three Ning Zhongs are all in their forties. Although they have not participated in major battles, let alone second-generation generals such as Muchun, Pingan, Wu Gao, Geng Ying, Yang Wen, and Chen Xuan, they have at least participated in military training. We have coordinated the marching arrangements, so there is no problem with basic marching.

Looking at the three of them, Geng Bingwen sighed inwardly.

In this northern expedition, due to the rebellion of Meng and Daoqian in the southwest, many of his favorite generals were not transferred to the north, so he had no choice but to accept Ning Zheng and others as his deputies.

During these days of marching, Geng Bingwen had almost figured out their personal abilities.

It would be okay if they were allowed to command a few thousand troops, but if the number exceeds [-], it will appear to be a mess.

Such ability made it really difficult for Geng Bingwen to feel relieved about the Northern Expedition and the suppression of the rebellion.

"I am not familiar with the father and son of the common people of Yan, but I also know that they have many animals and can march much faster than our army."

"You are stationed in the camp and need to be prepared for night attacks."

"Yes!" Ning Zhong and others bowed in agreement. Upon seeing this, Geng Bingwen waved his hand to indicate that they could leave.

When Ning Zhong and the others saw this, they could only turn around and leave.

But after they left, Geng Bingwen felt an inexplicable worry in his heart.

This worry gradually arose as he led his troops northward.

The war in Yunnan restrained too many outstanding second-generation generals during the Hongwu period, and the military talents of Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu, father and son, need no further elaboration.

Geng Bingwen met Fang Zhao and Wu Gao. Compared with the generals at the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the former was at best average, while the latter was barely above average.

Overall, they were not bad, but they were still defeated by Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu.

Now that he had no useful people, he had to use these second-generation generals who had not experienced war to fight against these two men. Geng Bingwen was not panic but found it strange.

He stood up and looked at the map of Hebei hanging behind him, and murmured in an old voice: "I hope nothing happens..."

　"Records of Fengtian Jingnan": In July, the emperor appointed Geng Bingwen as the general and raised [-] troops to go north and garrison in Zhending.

　　"Bohai Chronicles": "In July, the superiors suspected the soldiers and led the cavalry to Daning."

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)