Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 476: The performance is extremely poor, even worse than Shi Kefa!

Wuchang, an important city in central China.

The Yangtze River makes a big turn here, with the water flowing from north to south, creating a natural barrier to the west of Wuchang City.

Outside the city there are three major lakes: Shahu, Donghu and Nanhu.

Therefore,
The attacking party has few options for land attack routes.
One route is:

Attack Wushengmen in the north from between the Yangtze River and Shahu.

Another route is:

Passing by the southern foot of Hongshan Mountain, they attacked Baoyang Gate in the east.

……

Wushengmen has been expanded.

A key commanding height, Crab Cape, is included in the city wall.

There are 10 cannons installed on the top of the slope, which are in a commanding position and can fire at any time to kill the Wu army outside the city.

"The governor has arrived."

All the civil and military officers quickly made way.

Wang Jie looked through the battlements,

There was an endless stream of Wu army fleets on the river, soldiers were landing one after another, and several warships were cruising around to provide escort.

He turned around and asked Wang Lin, the commander-in-chief of the Dongting Lake Navy, who was standing beside him.

"General Wang, the main force of the Wu bandit navy has penetrated deep into the Han River and is far away in Xiangyang. Wuchang is only a small detachment in front of us. Are you confident that you can attack at this time?"

Wang Lin shook his head.

The crowd was in an uproar.

……

Wang Jie's face darkened and he asked:
"The Dongting Lake Navy and the Wuchang Navy have 42 large ships and more than 300 small ships. The Wu army warships that have been spotted are about 10. Why is there no certainty when there is such a huge disparity in the number of warships?"

Wang Lin knelt on one knee and explained:

"Report to the Governor, naval warfare is different from land warfare. Quantity is far less important than quality. The European-style warship to the northwest has nearly a hundred guns and an oak hull. This one ship alone can destroy half of our Dongting Navy."

The crowd was in an uproar.

He quickly opened the telescope to look for the European warship that Wang Lin mentioned.

"The ship is of a very different type, with multiple gun decks, three masts with soft sails, a badge on the bow, and a stern that looks steep and flat as if it were cut by a knife or an axe. Western barbarians call it a galleon."

……

Everyone gasped.

Everyone present knew that Wang Lin had been a pirate. After being recruited, he served in the Fujian Navy and rose through the ranks step by step.

Therefore,
There's a good chance what this guy said is true.

Wang Jie also felt dizzy. Has the Qing Dynasty fallen behind?
Seeing that people were no longer making things difficult for him, Wang Lin quietly stood in the corner.

What he said just now was 7% true and 3% false.

If in the vast ocean,

As long as a Hell is careful about its positioning and doesn't get besieged by hundreds of small boats, it can easily wipe out most of the Dongting Lake navy with the help of its shipborne guns.

In narrow waters, this is not the case at all.

Because there are fire attacks and boarding and melee combat.

……

The debate on the city walls is going on fiercely.
From a distance, I saw a group of men in red and black uniforms, but without any weapons.

Each person carries a flag on his shoulder.
Running towards Wuchang.

Everyone opened their eyes wide, wanting to see what was going on.

Wang Jie has the style of an ancient gentleman.
Advise:

"You can't fire."

"Whoo."

After half a quarter of an hour,
The soldiers carrying the large flag from the 4th Legion stopped half a mile below the city.

They all raised the flags in their hands.

The bottom of the bamboo flagpole is sharpened to make it easy to break through the soil.

"Unfurl the flag and retreat."

A gust of wind blew by, and everyone finally saw the words on the flag clearly, and their anger levels soared instantly.

The flag reads:

"You are not as good as me in literature, nor in martial arts. Wang Jie from Shaanxi, are you ashamed?"

Wang Jie held onto the parapet and felt his head buzzing.

The inner demon revived again and pointed outside the city:

"You are a Jiangdong scoundrel. How can you be so immoral? Fire!"

……

Amid the sound of gunfire,
On the Yangtze River,
The Hell ship approached Wuchang alone.

Suddenly it crossed the side of the ship at a tricky angle.

"fire."

There were 15 light cannons on the upper gun deck, and muzzle flames flashed one after another.

then,

It's the middle gun deck.

At last,
It is the heavy gun on the lower gun deck.

45 guns completed a full round of firing.

The corner tower at the northwest corner of the Wuchang city wall was hit and collapsed, and the surface of the city wall was damaged in many places, revealing the thick rammed earth layer inside.

Captain Wesson couldn't help laughing and ordered to return.

After a while,
The counterattack from the Wuchang city wall came late.

At a distance of 50 feet, three columns of water rose from the surface of the river.

then,

A hundred feet away, there are two small water columns.

……

The flags hoisted at the gates are too humiliating.
Even a master of Qi cultivation like Wang Jie was so angry that his palms trembled and he closed his eyes in pain.

The nails pierce into the flesh, suppressing the anger with the pain.

far away,

The opponents' arrogant cheers became louder and louder.

Both the 4th Army and the 1st Expeditionary Army liked this style very much.

Humiliating Wang Jie and destroying the corner tower had no real significance for the entire defense of Wuchang City.

But it dealt a severe blow to the morale of the defenders.

Its effect is no less than Guan Yu beheading Wen Liang in front of the battle~
Zhao Zhuangwen looked at his mentor with sympathy, then looked at the row of flags still fluttering in the wind.

Today's trip to the city was really rewarding.

The soldiers in the south of the Yangtze River not only have strong ships and powerful artillery, but they are also vindictive.

……

Huang Si stood by the river, and put down the telescope with relief.
Advise:

"Set up camp and allocate personnel to work with the service battalion to build siege equipment."

"Yes."

A lot of preparation is needed to attack a city.

This process can take as little as two or three days or as long as half a month.

We cannot be careless at all when it comes to a calm and steady group like the 4th Legion.

……

The Service Battalion is a new organization proposed by His Majesty, planned by the General Staff, and assisted by multiple departments.

exactly,

These people do not belong to the military sequence, but are technical personnel employed by the military.

Occupations include blacksmith, carpenter, coppersmith, leatherworker, rope maker, bricklayer, locksmith, bamboo maker, lacquer maker, kiln worker, boatman, river worker, etc.
There are even undertakers and shamans.

The service battalion does not need to undertake combat missions or charge. Everyone receives a good monthly salary.

If someone dies, regardless of the cause of death, his family will still receive pension.

The Army Department specifically ordered the corps:

The service battalion should not undertake combat missions at any time.

If the war situation is not going well, the commander can decide whether to disband the service battalion and remove it from the battlefield.

……

A professional army requires elites from all walks of life.

war,

It's not a simple battle of guns and cannons.

It is an overall contest of comprehensive strength (finance, technology, logistics, and organization)!

Craftsmen of all kinds collaborated to create siege engines.

The only sorcerer looked around for a while but couldn't find a job, and felt that doing nothing was not worth the salary.

Just dress up and take up the ancestral magic weapon.

He walked out of the camp and performed rituals towards Wuchang City from a distance.

The patrol passed by for the fourth time and someone finally couldn't help but ask.

"What are you doing, Immortal?"

"Summon the God of Fire!"

"Oh, then keep busy!"

Your Majesty is enlightened.

Your Majesty believes that the mysterious areas that science cannot occupy for the time being should be left to theology, which is better than leaving them empty.

A shaman may be able to defeat ten flintlock rifles.

Metaphysics is difficult to explain.

……

A few days later,
The order from Army Minister Lin Huaisheng was successively delivered to the commander-in-chief of the 2nd Corps Zheng Hean and the commander-in-chief of the 4th Corps Huang Si.

The order is simple:
He was the first to enter Wuchang and was the first to achieve the credit.

As a result,
The two legions are in competition.

According to the current marching route, the 4th Corps will definitely attack Wusheng Gate and the 2nd Corps will attack Baoyang Gate.

among them,

The 4th Army can call on the warships cruising in the Yangtze River for fire support (mainly the Hell), and use the 1st Expeditionary Army as cannon fodder. The 2nd Army only has its own troops.

but,

The 2nd Legion came out in full force, but only half of the 4th Legion came.

……

There was no time to figure out what Commander-in-Chief Lin's intention was, as he actually let these two legions with completely different styles compete on the same stage.

inside the account,

Zheng Hean threw his sword onto the table.
He shouted to the 50 or so officers from northern Anhui:
"General Lin's military order, did you all hear it clearly?"

"clear."

"Who will take Wuchang first, us or our allies? You decide!"

"We! We!"

The young officers shouted at the top of their lungs, their faces flushed.

Zheng Hean was very satisfied.

Loudly said:
"Which company enters Wuchang first will have its chief officer promoted by one rank, and the first to reach the top will be promoted by three rank. We will also give out 1 taels of silver to all the company members, and they can divide it among themselves."

Since this was a matter of military honor, the entire 2nd Army was holding its breath.

If we lose to the 4th Legion, will we still be able to keep this face?

……

The streets in Wuchang city were filled with murderous atmosphere.

The new army patrols come every half hour.

No matter how panicked the people in the city were, the surface order was stable.

Wang Jie used 18000 new troops as the backbone of the city defense, and 10000 yamen runners and civilians as reserve forces.

The food reserves in Wuchang City were enough to last for a year and a half, and the gunpowder reserves were also abundant.

The inspection is complete.

He suddenly asked several key officers present:

"If the equipment is inferior to others, can the plan make up for it? The fire of Red Cliff happened in Hubei, not far away."

He turned his gaze to Wang Lin, commander-in-chief of the Dongting Lake Navy.

Wang Lin shook his head:

"Wu Jun is upstream, and we are downstream. Neither the current nor the wind direction supports it."

Zhao Zhuangwen secretly criticized,
The teacher is still a scholar at heart.

The Wu army's troops are all stationed on the shore. Even if the fire attack is successful, you won't be able to burn anything.

Teacher, times have changed!
Wang Jie sighed and patted the cannon on the city wall.

He personally built the Wuchang New Army, from recruitment to training, and was actually a copy of Qi Jiguang.
……

Orthodox Confucian scholars are generally good at learning, inducing and summarizing.

Writing articles can be integrated.
Other things are also possible.

People who learn from the experience of their ancestors, do not blindly copy others, and know how to adapt to local conditions can be fully competent for most jobs in this world.

To put it more arbitrarily,
More than enough to be a prefect.

because,

99% of the difficulties a person may encounter in his life can be found in books with precedents with more than 80% similarity.

As long as you are willing to lower your head and copy homework,
You can hand in a good answer.

……

A few days later,
Suddenly, there was a faint sound of artillery fire outside the city, and then someone hurried into the governor's office.

"The Wu thieves are attacking the city!"

"Which direction? What's the scale?"

"Baoyang Gate, 5000 to 10000 troops."

Just after leaving the governor's office,
Another Pegasus reported:

"The bandits from the north advanced by land and sea and attacked Wusheng Gate fiercely."

Wang Jie lifted the curtain of the sedan chair and shouted with gritted teeth:
"Go to Wushengmen."

Zhao Zhuangwen followed on horseback, thinking,

The 4th Corps of the Wu Army is so damn wicked. Every word they say is like a thorn, stabbing the teacher's lungs.

……

Around Wushengmen,
Cannons rumbled.

The musketeers of the new army took turns firing.

The thick bricks and small loopholes provide the shooters with the best defensive conditions.

The performance of these new farmers was impressive; at least each of them took careful aim before firing.

at this point,
It is absolutely impossible for the Green Camp.

Shooting in turns, the three-stage shooting is quite methodical.

Experienced veterans can tell from the sound that the team is well-trained.

……

Zhao Zhuangwen was like a sponge, greedily absorbing military knowledge.

He found,
Cold weapons are already in the last days, and the new army in Wuchang doesn’t even have a bow.

All firearms~
Dozens of cannons and thousands of muskets rained death outside the city.

The city walls were covered in white smoke and the smell of sulfur was choking.

Both the attacking and defending sides are armed with only firearms.

From time to time, shells landed on the city walls and buildings, and the explosions were deafening.

"Teacher, I'm going to check out our cannon."

"Be safe and go."

Two guards holding shields followed Zhao Zhuangwen and ran away with their backs bent.

……

On the right side of Wusheng Gate.

Three 3-jin cannons were lined up on the city wall.

Dozens of gunners were shirtless and busy having fun.

With one round of bombardment every 300 breaths, this firing rate is not low.

Clean the barrel, pour in gunpowder, compact with wooden poles, insert wood, insert shells, install fuse, and light it.
The dull sound of artillery fire,
It fills everyone with confidence.

however,
Zhao Zhuangwen quickly discovered the problem and grabbed a gunner.

"Why don't you check where the shells land? Don't you need to calibrate them?"

The gunner was confused and knelt on one knee and answered:
"My Lord, what is correction?"

Zhao Zhuangwen changed the question:

"What are you shelling?"

The gunner was at a loss~
Zhao Zhuangwen almost jumped up.

"Don't you aim?"

"My Lord, what does it mean to aim?"

……

Zhao Zhuangwen became anxious and pushed everyone away.

Standing in front of the battlement,
Pull out the telescope~
I saw the first wave of Wu army's attacking formations advancing slowly.

Our own artillery shells had no effect on the enemy.

He went crazy in an instant and ran all the way to Wang Jie.

"It's broken. We're in big trouble."

"The new troops don't know how to use artillery. They are just firing blindly."

Wang Jie was also stunned.

After thinking for a while,
Answer:

"But I have seen their live-fire training, and they are pretty good at it."

……

Zhao Zhuangwen is going crazy.

He inquired again at several gun positions and found that not a single cannon had adjusted its firing angle or degree.

Everyone thinks that
Isn’t that how cannons fire?
The gunner just needs to fire forward, and whether he can hit the target is determined by God.

Zhao Zhuangwen suffered a mental breakdown.

This was the consequence of Wang Jie's forceful disbanding of the Green Camp in Wuchang.

The new army could master the matchlock rifle on their own, but without anyone to teach them, they couldn’t master the artillery!
Loading?

Wang Jie copied the filling steps from a book and wrote them down on paper and drew eight schematic diagrams.

The illiterate gunners memorized it by force.

The master and the disciple were dumbfounded.

It's a lot of fun~
……

at the same time,

The 4th Legion also discovered something was wrong.

The paths of the shells fired from the city walls were actually fixed! The only difference between their landing points was the front and back.

A group of officers discussed:
"How did the Qing soldiers fire this cannon?"

“It’s all crooked.”

"After fighting for 2 minutes, I doubt they have adjusted their shooting angles?"

"what happened?"

"No matter what happens to him, we'll kill him while he's ill. Push all the artillery forward."

……

The veterans of the 1st Expeditionary Army were all those who survived under the gunfire of both the enemy and our side.

As the array advanced,

They were pleasantly surprised to find that as long as they avoided the ballistic path, casualties would be minimal.

Battalion officer Zhang Laosan,

Shouting loudly:

"Brothers, this is a great time."

"You bunch of losers are lucky to have met a bunch of idiots defending Wuchang. Don't panic, charge in neatly and capture Wuchang. You will get everything, including silver and women."

Morale instantly increased by 10 points.

(End of this chapter)