Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 537: Phoenix Burned, the Bandit Chief Captured, the Battle of Xiangxi Ended
Maoshi,

On the bank of Tuojiang River, a small drum sounded in the Wu army camp - assemble.

The soldiers hurried out of the tents and formed squads, platoons, companies and battalions one by one.

The military flag and officers are the soul.

"Marshal Lin has ordered that after conquering Phoenix City, the three armies will be rewarded. When we return to Changde, all soldiers will be given a month's vacation."

"Ten thousand victories, ten thousand victories."

amid cheers.

The soldiers braced themselves for the final battle.

Defeat Fenghuang and conquer Xiangxi.

……

The cooks were busy distributing breakfast.

吴军后勤标准很高，士兵每日有2斤半精粮、1斤半蔬菜、3两肉类、1两酱、半两油脂，4钱盐、少许干茶叶。

During wartime, vegetable quotas were determined based on availability.

Meat is also a broad concept, and fresh meat, dried meat, salted fish, eggs, and game are all included in the category.

The sauce is good stuff.

Before modernization, sauce played a very important role in folk cuisine.

"The Analects of Confucius: Xiangdang": "If it is not sauced properly, I will not eat it."

The translation is:

Arrogant Confucius, he won't eat without sauce~
……

During this expedition to Jiangxi, the logistics department temporarily increased the rations of tobacco and alcohol, which was well received.

The shareholders of the tobacco and alcohol factory were laughing so hard that they were numb.

The military supplies business is so damn easy to make money.

All are super large orders~
Changde Prefecture City,

Those people with Jiangsu and Zhejiang accents who were in a hurry and frequently went in and out of the government office were all military supply merchants.

but,

Wu Ting once again modified the method of payment for military supplies and only issued "military bills".

A note with special patterns printed on paper and stamped with the seal of the Minister of the Army. This note can be exchanged for cash at any branch of the Sihai Piaohao, and can also be used to pay taxes.

The merchants had no objection; they believed in His Majesty's credit.

Unconsciously, Li Yu took another small step forward.

……

It seemed like God wanted to join in the fun, too.

The long-lost sunshine pierced through the clouds and shone on the calm Tuojiang River.

The Wu army had a well-organized battle formation and advanced by both land and sea.

The Tuojiang River flows through the Fenghuang section, where the river channel elevation difference is not large and the water level is gentle.

The three canal boats with their sails removed were connected by iron chains and wooden boards, and sandbags were piled on the bows to protect against arrows and gun bullets.

Inside the cabin, multiple rocket launchers are distributed front and back.

Stern,

There are 6 strong rowers sitting on each side.

One, two, row!
Amid the sound of labor songs, the boat moved forward slowly, like an old ox plowing the field.

call out.

A rocket broke through the air, leaving a beautiful tail flame and landed on a stilt building outside the city.

The stilt house collapsed with a huge explosion and fell into the Tuojiang River, splashing water.

……

The officer estimated and gave a loud order:

"keep going."

After advancing about 70 feet, he shouted again:

"Stop the boat and drop anchor."

Two large iron anchors sank to the bottom of the water, forming a stable water firepower platform.

2 mile away,

It is a rainbow bridge spanning the two banks of the Tuojiang River.

This is an extremely sturdy stone arch bridge. Hundreds of musketeers are deployed on the bridge, and they use sandbags to block the gaps between the stone guardrails.

The roads leading into the city on both wings were blocked by stones.

The two wings of Phoenix are mountains.

Flags can be vaguely seen fluttering in the sky, and swords and weapons are dazzling in the sunlight.

If you observe through a telescope, you can even find hidden cannons.

Zeng Di’s experience working in the Ministry of Industry was not in vain; at least he was a qualified civil engineer.

……

Wu Jun stopped two miles away from Hongqiao.

Lin Huaisheng put away the telescope.

Said softly:
"let's start."

The messenger ran all the way, shouting:

"Marshal Lin has given the order to attack."

The officers drew their swords in unison:

"Fit your bayonets and prepare to attack."

"Victory, victory, victory."

Bayonets are like forests, morale is as high as a rainbow, and roars are like thunder.

The Wu army's morale was high, and coincidentally, so were the Phoenix City defenders.

……

"The death squad is given 50 taels each, and there is also a great wizard who casts a spell to make them invulnerable to swords and guns."

The bandits who witnessed the miracle last night actively signed up.

The long table in front of him was filled with the magic wine bestowed by the great wizard.

After the bandits finished drinking, they smashed the ceramic bowls in their hands.

At this time,
Zeng Di, who was standing at the highest point in Phoenix City, felt a chill on his back.

He had no idea that Zeng Laojiu had returned.

Lao Jiu brought back good news - he defeated Wang Shenglie's Qian Army who were making trouble behind the scenes in one fell swoop.

but,

Zeng Di was not excited at all and handed the telescope in his hand to Lao Jiu.

"Look, what kind of weapon is that?"

……

Wu Jun suddenly used a weapon that he had never seen or even heard of, which felt bad.

Actually,
Wu’s army once used rockets to attack the entire city of Guangzhou, but it happened in the evening.

Later, the Qing court never took it seriously and only vaguely mentioned it in the official bulletin.

then,

Everyone was immersed in the story of "The Eight Banners of Guangzhou fighting to the death" and couldn't extricate themselves.

And since then, the cunning Wu army never used this weapon on the battlefield again.

Zeng Laojiu looked for a long time and put down the telescope in a daze.

Four words popped out:

"A unique and erotic technique."

……

Before he finished speaking, Zeng Laojiu suddenly raised the telescope again and roared:
"Damn it, that's our old eighth brother."

He once snatched the telescope and suddenly his eyes were furious.

The Wu army pushed out a lookout vehicle with a man tied to the top of a pole. It turned out to be Lao Ba, who was captured by Wu Simai, a commander of the Wu army's light cavalry corps, during the defeat.

"You despicable Jiangdong rats. You say we are bandits? They are the bandits."

"calm."

Zeng Di's hands were trembling slightly in his sleeves.

He wished he could throw the enemies under the city into the Five Poison Pit to vent his hatred.

……

The frantic Old Nine shouted:

"Brother, I will lead the death squad to rescue the starling."

Snapped,
A slap on the cheek.

"Brother~"

slap~
Another slap.

The skinny Zeng Di grabbed the strong old ninth and said in a fierce tone:
"Remember this, there can only be one voice in the army."

"From now on, if you say one more word, I'll chop off your head."

Zeng Laojiu was stunned~
He held the handle of the knife tightly for a while, then released it.

With tears in her eyes, she watched as Wu Jun began to pile up firewood, and in full view of everyone, she set fire to Lao Ba.

Without him,

Lin Huaisheng hoped to arouse Zeng Di's hatred to the greatest extent possible, and to provoke the Phoenix City defenders to fight to the death, instead of attempting any more victory transitions.

The Wu army was fed up with the continuous mountains.

If they were to be pulled to the Dongting Lake Plain, Zeng Di would not be able to defeat them even if he had 10 troops. The Wu army, which was generally equipped with howitzers and mortars, killed people like cutting wheat.

……

In the bed of a lookout vehicle was a military immortal dressed in golden attire.

The immortal wears a yellow iron crown and shakes the Sanqing bell.
The whole person's mental state is particularly excited.

Working at heights?

High altitude practice.

Anyway, the Immortal is spraying a barrage of spells towards Phoenix City.

Lin Huaisheng frowned:
"Almost done, let's fire the rockets."

Flag signal is sent out~
Fire suddenly appeared on the surface of Tuojiang River.

Rockets with tails of flame soared into the air, one after another.

Everyone couldn't help but look up at this spectacular sight, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

……

River surface,

All 4 platforms were launched together.

In the middle was the arsenal, loaded with iron-shell rockets with tail fins. On both sides were launch platforms, with rockets soaring into the air.

Stern,

The rowers waited in silence.

He kept a bucket, an axe, and a long pole by his side, ready to put out a fire at any time.

According to the experience of the Army Department's Ordnance Department in testing rockets, this thing is very dangerous and prone to explosion.

Sure enough, someone shouted: "There's a dud."

The hand closest to the oar immediately rushed over, unloaded the rocket that was strangely emitting fire but refused to leave the wooden frame and threw it into the water.

then,

He only had time to dip his palm into the bucket, causing him to let out a scream and suffer severe burns.

……

The originally high morale in Phoenix City was instantly disrupted. No one could figure out what that explosive thing falling from overhead was.

Running, running like a headless fly.

Whether or not everyone can survive depends entirely on luck.

On the high platform,
The great wizard didn't move, he looked up at the sky.

Thinking silently in my heart:

“There are mountains beyond mountains, and there are fairies beyond fairies.”

A rocket landed nearby and exploded violently~
The high platform collapsed with a creaking sound, and the great witch fell into a meat pie without a sound. He died peacefully and with full submission.

He had seen paintings made by his ancestors thousands of years ago on the stone walls of the cave.

One of the versions is "Fire from Heaven Coming to Earth".

If you are not as virtuous as others, it is not unfair for you to die.

before dying,
The Great Witch still thinks so.

……

A large area of ​​wooden stilt houses in the city burned down and the fire gradually spread.

In the air, rockets with tails of flames continued to fall.

The Wu army was in high spirits. The soldiers ignored military discipline and excitedly talked about this rare weapon.

Lin Huaisheng had been watching the landing point.

He found that the difference in landing point was at least one and a half miles, or even more.

Fixed platform, fixed launch pad.

But the rockets moved left and right, forward and backward.

It might even explode in mid-air, causing the soldiers to exclaim in surprise.

suddenly,

Someone exclaimed: "There's a fire."

A rocket failed to leave the launch pad in time, and its tail flame ignited the wooden frame and then the ship.

……

The fire brigade on the ship had no choice but to cut the chains and use long poles to push the ship away.

Just pushed it out a few feet away,

Boom! There was an explosion.

The entire ship was sunk.

The passengers on the nearby boats were also affected and all fell into the water.

The staff members discussed:
"Rockets are good, but they are not mature enough."

"If this is deployed together with the artillery, it might blow itself up."

……

"Reporting to Marshal Lin, the rocket launch has been completed."

Lin Huaisheng looked at the Phoenix City, which was on fire, and pointed forward:
"Push the cannon forward and blast away any obstacles. All members of the expeditionary force put on their armor and prepare to charge."

The two 2-pound long-barreled cannons and ten 12-pound cannons that Wu's army had spent a lot of effort to bring into the mountain lived up to expectations. With one shot, the stone barricades were thrown high into the air.

There is a row of stilt houses by the river. Who knows if there are people hiding inside?

The solid bullet hit the target and pieces of wood flew all over the sky.

"Ten thousand victories, ten thousand victories."

The soldiers all cheered in unison.

Until a 12-pound solid iron ball hit the 8-inch thick iron-clad hardwood city gate, making a deafening noise.

……

One shot made a hole, two shots shattered the city gate.

"The invincible dispatch army, advance."

"Move forward~"

500 soldiers of the expeditionary force marched in unison, with a loud and powerful sound.

Zhang Laosan put down his mask and strode forward.

Through the gap, he saw a blazing fire in front of him and people running around everywhere, and he couldn't help but chuckle.

There were occasional arrows and gun bullets flying towards us.

But the fully armored soldiers didn't care at all.

……

Behind the armored soldiers are the light infantry.

At the same time, Lin Huaisheng ordered his troops to be divided into two groups to capture the surrounding commanding heights.

There are cannons on the mountain.

The whizzing shells are also a threat.

Generally speaking, the war had become a one-sided massacre at this point.

unless,

A well-organized Qing army descended from the sky.

The dispatched soldiers entered the city through the destroyed gate.

Zhang Laosan glanced at the thickness of the city wall and estimated that it was made of rammed earth wrapped with bluestone strips, and the thickness was at least 2 and a half meters.

Actually,
This is a pure stone wall.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Fenghuang City was the command center of the 400-mile Xiangxi Great Wall and an important frontline town responsible for resisting the savages outside the wall who came down the mountain to rob.

For hundreds of years, this place has been the place with the most war smoke in the southwest.

……

In the firelight, a large group of men in blue rushed over.

Zhang Laosan was very excited~
He swung his long sword left and right, and streams of blood spurted onto the plate armor and flowed down.

when,
He was hit on the back by a short spear thrown through the air, and he staggered.

After turning around, he found the culprit through the horizontal seam of the iron mask.

The man throwing the short spear was frightened and turned around and ran away.
Zhang Laosan stopped chasing after him. Wearing heavy armor, he should not be far away from his comrades.

Plate armor is good, but the field of vision is too poor.

It is safer for individuals to be in a square formation.

……

Ma'anshan uses stamping technology to manufacture plate armor, which has achieved full armor coverage for soldiers except for military boots.

A plate warrior is like Achilles, with his only weakness being his feet.

A team of heavily armored soldiers marched in a column, like a solid wall of steel.

Even if an agile blue-clad soldier occasionally rolled over, it would be difficult for him to cause any damage.

No need to defend, just attack, and attack again.

He used his spear and sword to chop without hesitation.

The plate armored soldiers passed by, leaving corpses all over the ground~
The defenders of Phoenix City were terrified. The men from western Hunan were not afraid of death, but they did not want to die like this.

The light infantry of the Wu army, who followed the heavy infantry into the city, seized the opportunity and shouted:
"Surrender without killing."

……

The effect of persuading people to surrender was obvious. Wherever they went, people kept dropping their weapons and kneeling down to surrender.

On both sides,

Occasionally a shell would fly.

but,

The defenders on the commanding heights also saw that Phoenix City had fallen.

After encountering a mountain climbing attack by Wu's light infantry, the defenders on many commanding heights set fire and disappeared into the mountains and forests.

They were worthy of Zeng Di's salary, at least they did not leave the cannons to Wu's army.

If it were the sophisticated Green Camp soldiers, they would definitely leave the mountaintop position intact in exchange for not being hunted down.

As more Wu troops entered the city, light artillery also followed.

The addition of this powerful infantry weapon made the already collapsed defenders even more terrifying.

The fierce Zeng Laojiu, with a group of trusted armored servants, charged left and right.

Finally it attracted Wu Jun's attention.

With the sound of a 1-pound howitzer, Zeng Laojiu, whose heavy armor was pierced, fell down with blood gushing out of his body and unwillingly.

……

The daughter of Fenghuang chieftain and wife of Zeng Di rode a warhorse at the edge of the battle group, with a sword hanging from the saddle.

She took off her bow and arrow and shot arrows continuously.

however,
The two soldiers in plate armor suffered no damage. They lowered their heads slightly and rushed forward towards the arrows.

Poke with a spear~
She threw away her bow and arrow, drew her sword to block, and barely dodged a spear, but was stabbed hard in the left abdomen by another spear.

"kill."

The soldier with the spear exerted force and the spear head penetrated.

Another soldier seized the opportunity and pierced through from the other side.

The two of them worked together.

"One, two, three, get up."

The man was carried into a stilt house on the side, which was burning fiercely.

……

"Husband~" Zeng Di cried sadly.

Looking at the Wu army that was attacking him like a tide, he knew the situation was hopeless and jumped into the Tuojiang River.

Unfortunately, the water flow of Tuojiang River is not fast enough.

Didn't die quickly.

More than a dozen Wu soldiers jumped into the Tuojiang River and dragged him up.

finally,
Five Wu army soldiers, who were like drowned rats, grabbed Zeng Di tightly and refused to let go, insisting that they had captured the devil Zeng, the governor of Hunan.

then,

The military judge determined that this was a collective military achievement and promised to divide the reward and military merit equally into five parts.

Everyone was grinning as they tied Zeng Di up, stuffed a wooden ball in his mouth, and stuffed him into a prison van.

……

Upon hearing the news,

Lin Huaisheng also breathed a sigh of relief:

"Xiangxi, it's over."

"Pass the order, there are two things to do next, one is to persuade them to surrender, and the other is to put out the fire."

After working hard until the evening, Wu's army managed to put out the fire in the city.

Everyone was embarrassed to find that there were more than 13000 prisoners, and most of the food and grass in the city were destroyed by the fire.

(End of this chapter)