Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 438 The Best Pre-War Mobilization - Riding the Master
The soldiers put down their spears and, to the beat of drums, surrounded the new recruits who were participating in the bombing of the camp.

No matter whether these people were cursing angrily, loudly complaining about their grievances, or kneeling down and begging for mercy.

Anyone on the path will be stabbed to death~
Armored versus unarmored, organized versus unorganized, it's easier than killing a pig. After all, killing a pig also requires the integrity of the body, leaving a good appearance for sale~
The veteran instructors also drew their swords and assisted in the pursuit.

Their goal is clear.

Kill all the hundreds of people who participated in the rebellion, leaving no one alive.

……

The 1st Expeditionary Army has developed a set of mature experience in the long process of integrating new recruits.

For example, during training,
In the camp, it must be ensured that there is a team of soldiers wearing armor and having weapons at their side.

Ready to take action and suppress at any time.

Weapons will also be issued to recruits in the later stages of their training.

If the recruits are patient enough, they will rebel only after they have received weapons and even received armor training.
That's okay too.

The nearby military law enforcement team will bring in light artillery to launch a dimensionality reduction attack.

There are no innocent souls killed by shotgun shells.

……

The training ground was covered in blood.

The recruits lined up silently and accepted even more crazy insults and drills.

"Military law is above heaven."

"If I tell you to move forward, you must move forward. If I tell you to kill, you must kill. Do you understand?"

The prisoners were exhausted:
"Listen clearly."

"Louder your voice! Only when I'm satisfied can you have food to eat."

So repeatedly,

The recruits really gave up all resistance and accepted the fact that these evil monsters were riding on their heads.

……

Many people say that violence cannot solve problems, but "Stockholm" objectively exists.

During dinner,

The officers of the expeditionary force also loudly proclaimed:

"Our expeditionary army is the elite of the Great Wu. His Majesty values ​​us very much. We have always been the first to fight, and we have always provided wine, meat and women. Now that you have joined the glorious expeditionary army, you must perform well. Once the battle is won, we will be his own people."

The recruits cursed in their hearts,
Always be the first to fight? This is so damn familiar.

Over there, they are called the vanguard of death.

Here, it’s called the Glorious Expeditionary Force?

……

Zhang Laosan, a senior battalion officer with great military achievements, also realized that this excuse was a bit untenable and could not fool these soldiers.

then,

He stood on a baggage cart, grinned, and pointed at the Guangzhou city in the distance.

"Guangzhou is full of people. Have you heard of it, brothers?"

Everyone:

"..."

Zhang Laosan:

"You damn slaves, don't you want to rush in and ride on your master?"

Everyone was silent for half a second, and the whole audience was boiling.

The morale of the surrendered soldiers instantly increased by 2 points, and the risk of camp bombing decreased by 2 points.

As a lowly former Green Camp soldier, he became the most powerful person in the city. This sense of "overstepping one's authority" was simply too exciting.

And everyone is very confident about entering the city~
Because the new master is very good at fighting, following such a new master will definitely be able to crush the old master.

……

In the military camp,
Intense discussion all night long
Some knowledgeable guys have already started talking about the "10 characteristics of banner women".

see,

Zhang Laosan coughed twice in a reserved manner, put his right hand on the knife handle, his left hand on the gun handle, and walked back to the officer's tent with three shaky steps.

Every time he went out of the tent, he was fully armed.

The jokes of the elder and second brothers came to mind again:
The third child in our family is becoming more and more cautious now.

Zhang Laosan closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He knew that in the attack on Guangzhou, the expeditionary force would lose at least 5%, possibly 7%.

……

Food, military orders, killing,
The 1st Expeditionary Army, this breeding furnace for poisonous insects, silently integrates all kinds of scum, and a new devil is about to be born in blood.

A few days later,
The 5th Army officially launched its attack.

If you want to capture Guangzhou, you must first take Yuexiu Mountain.

Yuexiu Mountain is to Guangzhou as Purple Mountain is to Jiangning.

Yuexiu Mountain, located in the north of the city, is only 70 meters above sea level, and the artillery position on the top of the mountain poses a great threat.

When the 5th Army attacked the city, at least half of its battle width was within the range of artillery fire.

……

Miao Youlin put down the telescope and cut diagonally with his right hand.

"According to the established plan, attack!"

"As ordered."

Just like most wars, there is no fancy moves, no strategy, just a head-on collision.

Wu's musketeers attacked from the top of the mountain road.

The Qing army was in a dominant position and fired artillery and gunfire.

From the very beginning, the battle was bloody.

The Wu army did not use artillery because the elevation angle was not enough.

The Sifang Fort on the top of Yuexiu Mountain began to be built during the Shunzhi period, and was subsequently renovated and reinforced every few decades. It now houses 50 cannons of various calibers.

……

The fort was guarded by Yan Jiu, a ruthless man from the Guangzhou City Defense Camp.

This man is known for his cruelty and has participated in many famous local gang fights.

He once took only four veterans to challenge more than 4 local gang members, and hacked them all the way from Zhuangyuanfang to Tianzi Wharf.

No one on our side died and no one was seriously injured.

He successfully recovered the 300 taels of silver he had lost in the gambling house and became famous overnight.

At that time, tens of thousands of people watched this incident and were amazed.

Since then,

He was rejected by all the gambling houses in Guangdong~
……

Governor Yilhang summoned him, rewarded him with a banquet, 2000 taels of silver, and promised to promote him three levels after defeating the Wu bandits. He also rewarded him with Sister Tao, the most popular opera singer in Guangzhou.

Yan Jiu gladly accepted the order.

In his opinion, it was nothing more than a gamble with his life.

As long as the stakes are high enough, he'll bet on anything.

What is the purpose of a man's struggle? To become a high-ranking official or to have concubines.

……

Thinking of this, Yan Jiu became full of fighting spirit.

He stared at the enemies rushing towards him through the battlement. At first glance, he thought the red and black military uniforms were very nice. They were indeed better looking than his own gray uniforms.

The Qing army's cluster cannons exploded one after another.

On the narrow mountain road, the charging Wu army was covered in blood and flesh under the barrage of bullets.

Yan Jiu laughed out loud, finding this scene very exciting.

The soldier next to him complimented:

"Master Jiu, with you in charge, the four artillery forts are as solid as a rock."

To deal with the attacking Wu army, the red cannons on the fort were not effective, but those submachine guns weighing several hundred kilograms were particularly useful.

……

"Commander-in-chief, the Sifang Fort is not easy to attack."

Miao Youlin nodded. He saw it clearly through the telescope and was not surprised.

"Attack again. Instead of taking the existing mountain path, go through the forest and surround it from all sides."

"Yes."

The attacking battalion has withdrawn due to heavy casualties.

They were replaced by a fully staffed battalion of 500 men.

There is a Guanyin Pavilion on Yuexiu Mountain.
The governor, Zhao Shisheng, was himself a devout believer.

Under his care, this place became a forbidden area, and ordinary people dared not approach it. Going up the mountain to worship Guanyin also became a privilege reserved for the wealthy class in Guangzhou.

Therefore,
Yuexiu Mountain is covered with lush vegetation, and normally no one dares to cut firewood.

……

The sound of gunfire on the battlefield became sparse.

Wu's army hid in the woods, and the Qing army could not find the cluster target to fire at.

Yan Jiu doesn't care.
He had cut down all the grass and trees within 50 feet around the Sifang Fort.

The open ground was covered with caltrops, chevaux de frise were set up, and a trench was dug out.

And,
The base of the Sifang Fort is built with large blocks of granite, and the upper part is bricks and stones laid with glutinous rice mortar, which is more solid than one can imagine.

2 quarters of an hour later,
The sound of gunfire suddenly became more frequent, and Wu's troops gradually emerged from the woods and entered the open areas to exchange fire with the Qing troops.

The Qing army hid behind brick and stone battlements and fought back with their guns, which gave them a great advantage.

With the covering bombardment of the sub-cannon~
The battle lasted for half an hour, and the Wu army suffered high casualties, and was unable to break through the turtle shell.

……

And at this moment,

In the west of Guangzhou, miners are back to their old skills, digging and blasting.

Digging tunnels is a job that requires experience and cannot be done by ordinary people.

If it is too close, it will be easy to be discovered by the Qing army. If it is too far, the workload will be too large and the risk of collapse will increase unnecessarily.

Not too far, not too close.

Start digging about 130 feet away from the main west gate~
With the cover of large residential areas in the west of the city, the transportation of earth can also be concealed from view.

Attacking Yuexiu Mountain and digging tunnels are not contradictory, and both are necessary to break the city.

The artillery of the 5th Army was unable to bring down the city walls.

Therefore, blasting became the only option.

……

Tunnel entrance,
Soil and broken bricks were constantly being transported out and dumped into a small river on the spot.

The naked miners dug silently in the tunnels, like black moles.

Change shifts every hour.

The tunnel was reinforced every three meters after digging, and wooden piles from dismantled houses were used to support the tunnel to prevent collapse.

There is no fixed procedure for how far apart to set the piles; it depends on the moisture content of the soil and the surrounding geological conditions.

All of this depends on experience.

And experience comes from a lot of practice and countless unexpected accidents.

"Damn, water is starting to come out of the tunnel."

"No way, we only dug 1 feet down, at most 2 feet."

"Pearl River, Xijiang River. The groundwater level is too high."

"How to do?"

"Organize people to drain the water, and the excavation cannot stop. Report to the commander-in-chief immediately. The original estimated time may be increased by ~4 to 6 days."

……

Miao Youlin was a little annoyed.
They marched all the way from Nanchang to Shaozhou Prefecture without encountering much fierce resistance.
After being used to chewing large pieces of meat, I suddenly felt a little uncomfortable when I suddenly had to eat meat with bones.

I felt somewhat annoyed.

"Commander-in-chief, do you want more troops?"

"Get out of here first. My soldiers are all valuable."

Such words,

It actually increased the prestige invisibly.

The officers around him felt warm in their hearts and felt that they had met a good superior.

Miao Youlin opened the telescope,
After observing for a long time, he called in an officer who had participated in the attack.

He asked as soon as he opened his mouth:

"Warrant Officer, is a fire attack possible?"

The warrant officer was stunned, then shook his head hesitantly.

"When I attacked, I found that the grass and trees in the forest had a high moisture content and I was afraid they would not burn."

An officer whispered:
"Commander-in-chief, the priming powder that the brothers poured into the flintlock powder pool will become ineffective and unable to ignite in half an hour at most. It's too damp."

……

Miao Youlin stretched out his hand and grabbed a handful of air.

Cursing:
"What kind of weather is this? Is it the plum rain season?"

"Commander-in-chief, this is Huinantian."

The Hakka guide who was familiar with the local situation explained that the return of the south wind in western Guangdong usually occurs in early spring, usually once a year.

Sometimes it happens two or three times, over and over again.

The main phenomena are damp ground, dripping walls and mold everywhere.

He left a word:

"Try fire attack."

……

Four-sided fort,

The Qing army watched a group of Wu troops approaching the foot of the mountain and fired rockets at the woods.

Not surprisingly,

It smoked a little and then went out.

The Qing army laughed happily~
Yan Jiu didn't smile, his expression was a little solemn.

He knew that it was humid during the return of the south wind and the grass and trees on the mountains could not be burned.

but,

What if time passes, and the return of the south wind gradually fades away after half a month, and the sun dries out the moisture from the grass and trees on Yuexiu Mountain?
At that time,
If Wu's army sets fire again, the four artillery forts will be in big trouble.

"Quick, take this military report into the city and present it to the Governor."

"Whoo."

……

Yi Erhang felt a little depressed and said with emotion:
"These Yankees are so wicked. They come up with one evil idea after another."

Governor Zhao Shisheng was stunned for a moment, then he realized that the northerners here referred to the Wu army.

Everything north of Guangdong is considered the north.

The governor called the "Jiangnan people" "Northerners", which seemed to be logically correct.

Zhao Shisheng thought about it.

Suggested:
"How about we organize some people to cut down the grass and trees first?"

Guangzhou General Fu Min gave him a dissatisfied look.

I thought,

If you hadn't been protecting Guanyin Pavilion, would Yuexiu Mountain be as lush and green as it is now? Hundreds of thousands of ordinary people around Guangzhou would have plucked the mountain bare long ago.

In our Qing Dynasty, which mountain has lush vegetation?

Ninety-nine percent of it is bald.

……

The contradiction between people and resources is becoming more and more acute.

The price of firewood is getting higher and higher. In order to save firewood, people have half-cooked meals for 10 out of 6 meals.

Fu Min had even seen the plight of a small group of poor bannermen throughout Guangzhou, who wanted to throw firewood into the furnace one by one when adding firewood.

Yilhang knew it well.
Said in a low voice:

"Organize soldiers to go out of the city to cut down trees. If they encounter harassment from the Wu army, withdraw. Pay attention to the coordination between the city walls and artillery positions. I think there won't be any major problems. There's enough time."

"Whoo."

Going out of the north gate is Yuexiu Mountain.

Therefore,
The supply of ammunition, food, fresh water and personnel to the Sifang Fort was basically smooth.

……

And to the south,
The Guangzhou city wall is right next to the Pearl River, with a wide water surface where large warships can move freely back and forth.

Nan'ao Town Navy,
According to the regulations of the Qing Dynasty, it should be under the jurisdiction of the Fujian Navy Commander.

Later, he was assigned to serve under the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Yierhang, by imperial decree to defend Guangdong.

The Nan'ao Town Navy absorbed a new navy formed by the defeated boat people from Lantau Island and controlled the Pearl River.

Unlike in Shaozhou section,

The Qing army's warships might have been bombarded by Wu's artillery on the shore while sailing, and there was no way back.

The Nan'ao Town General shouted:

"On land, Li Ni has the final say. On water, I have the final say."

Every day, ships dock at the Guangzhou port to unload all kinds of supplies and food.

so,

The city of Guangzhou was not afraid of siege at all. Even if the 5th Army besieged it on land for two years, the city would not run out of food.

unless,

Wu Jun was able to obtain water control rights over the Pearl River.

However, Wu’s navy could not pass through Jiangxi because the Nanling Mountains blocked the Ganjiang River and the Beijiang River.

If you make a big detour on the sea, in addition to the risk of waves, you may also be intercepted by the Fujian Navy.
……

Tongan County, Fujian.

Jiahe Island (named in the Ming Dynasty, and Xiamen in the Qing Dynasty, and later collectively referred to as Xiamen Island.)
The atmosphere in the Navy Commander-in-Chief's Office was solemn.

Shi Lingyang, the hereditary Marquis of Jinghai and the general of Funing Town, asked in a low voice:

"Lord Haicheng, is the imperial court really going to transfer the Fujian navy northward and station them in Dengzhou?"

"Yes."

"Will it be?"

"will not."

The hereditary Duke of Haicheng, the current admiral of the navy, Huang Shijian, who is over 5 years old, gently pushed the court letter and the letter across the center line of the table:

"The messenger disguised himself as an ordinary citizen and traveled through mountains and rivers, passing through enemy-controlled Jiangxi and over Wuyi Mountain to enter Fujian."

Shi Lingyang read it calmly and concluded that the imperial edict was authentic and Qianlong's handwritten letter was also authentic.

The letter specifically mentioned a small incident, which was the dialogue between the emperor and his ministers at the banquet when Shi Lingyang accompanied his father to Beijing.

The emperor asked:

"Why is it that six out of ten coastal naval officers come from Tongan?"

The father replied:
"Tongan people have 3% seawater in their blood. They are not afraid of the sea and love adventure."

The emperor sighed:
"Everything in the world has its roots if you look closely. Geography shapes people's customs. Tong'an is so brave."

……

Shi Lingyang put down the letter and casually glanced at the strange guard standing behind Huang Shijian.

The man had an unattractive appearance, and stood like a rock, with a thick neck, a bronze mace hanging from his waist, and a cloth robe with few wrinkles, most of which was covered with armor.

Fear in my heart,

He immediately saluted and said:
"Your Majesty, Jinghaihou respectfully obeys the imperial decree. Within three days, all members of the Shi family will board the ship and head north."

"Master Shi, is it too hasty to prepare in three days?"

"I, your servant, only regret that I can't grow wings and quickly enter Dengzhou to protect the capital~"

(End of this chapter)