Late Qing Dynasty Executioner

Chapter 193 A Test

At this time, at the conference table in the central military tent, Zheng Ming explained to everyone the horror of street fighting. For a moment, everyone fell silent.

Zhou Shi said with a grim expression: "After we conquer the city, we can just burn Langzhong down!"

The others looked at Zhou Shi as if he were a fool.

Chen Gu glanced at Zhou Shi, tapped his fingers twice on the table, and said, "Copy my Huaxia Department's sixteen-character declaration a hundred times and give it to me before sunset."

Zhou Shi was shocked and asked cautiously, "Can I copy it with a quill pen?"

"Use a brush, get out of here, and copy it now. If you can't finish it, go and have a duel with Lao Piao!" Chen Gu grabbed the tea bowl on the table, thought for a while and put it down again. The military supplies were constantly being transported, and it would not be cost-effective to smash them.

Lao Piao gave Zhou Shi a fierce look with a grin, and Zhou Shi was so scared that he ran away immediately.

In fact, it was not just the army that was short of supplies, but the entire Sichuan people were short of supplies. For example, the four treasures of the study that children needed were all missing, so they used tree branches to write on the sand table.

Because there were too many departments and a large amount of documents were passed around, there was also a shortage of pens, ink, paper and inkstone. So goose feather pens were used to reduce the size of the handwriting and save on the use of pens, ink, paper and inkstone.

This is an era when all kinds of materials are scarce. It is very difficult for Chen Ke to ensure that everyone has food and clothing. The problem of food and clothing for all people is not so easy to solve.

Fortunately, at that time, the national population was only over 100 million, and Sichuan might have only 10 to 20 million people. There should be enough land to be divided, and if it was not enough, it could be reclaimed.

No matter how difficult it is, Chen Jue has to continue on this path. Firstly, it is to enable the nation to revive and to avoid a century of suffering that would make everyone in the country emotional just by hearing about it.

At the same time, the slogan of Chen Jue's rebellion was people-oriented, equal distribution of land and low taxes. He had always been trying to please ordinary people and suppress corrupt officials and powerful families.

Therefore, Chen Gou could not do something like burning down the entire city. After all, the largest population in the city were ordinary people. If Chen Gou dared to set fire to the city, the Qing court would definitely publicize Chen Gou's cruelty.

Chen Jue's image in the hearts of ordinary people will inevitably be greatly damaged, and the foundation of his rule will naturally be shaken.

Therefore, you can attack a city, and you can strike at the enemy's military locations, but you must never implicate innocent civilians, especially things that disregard the lives and property of innocent people throughout the city. It is best not to do this.

Even just thinking about it is a crime, for example, Zhou Shi was punished.

Lao Piao thought for a moment and said, "Why don't we split our forces? I'll attack Guangyuan directly, and then attack Bazhong. This way, the 10,000 men in Langzhong will be isolated. It doesn't matter whether we fight or not. We just need to send a few thousand soldiers to defend this place."

Chen Gu nodded and said with a smile: "This method is not impossible, but you have to know that whether it is Guangyuan to Langzhong or Guangyuan to Bazhong, the roads in these two directions are particularly difficult to travel.

This means that the logistical pressure is particularly great. Have you ever thought about this: if Fucha Mingliang abandons Bazhong and Langzhong at the same time when you attack Guangyuan, and deploys troops on the two roads to set up ambushes to prevent our army from entering Guangyuan, how long can you hold out in Guangyuan at that time? "

Why do we need to conquer one city at a time when fighting a war?
Isn't it just to ensure smooth logistics? Even in future wars, the cutting off of logistics lines is still a very deadly thing, and various important transportation routes have always been a battleground for military strategists.

The reason why Chen Gui dared to advance so rapidly before was simply because he took advantage of Sichuan's lack of military strength.

Now that the imperial court had 20,000 troops in front of them, Chen Jue could no longer ignore the logistics line. Lao Piao thought for a moment and said, "Let's attack Bazhong first. The gentry and corrupt officials in Nanchong and other places have all retreated to Bazhong. There must be a lot of silver and mountains of food and grass in Bazhong!"

"You just want to lead the army out alone, right?" Chen Gu asked helplessly.

"Just tell me whether you agree or not?" Lao Piao was too lazy to make excuses. He really didn't want to stay with Chen Kui, and the fight was not enjoyable.

Chen Gu hesitated for a moment, nodded and said, "That's fine, but after you take Bazhong, you'd better completely control Bazhong and arrange for the defense of the city before going to Guangyuan. Don't be greedy and rush forward!"

Although it was decided to divide the troops and let Lao Piao attack Bazhong, Chen Gu still wanted to try to attack Langzhong first. One reason was to conceal his strategic purpose and prevent Fu Cha Mingliang from noticing the news of Lao Piao's going to Bazhong so quickly.

Secondly, it is also to test the quality of the veteran general Fu Cha Mingliang.

After the meeting, they began to prepare for the siege.

As usual, bamboo frames and bamboo platforms were built first to ensure that the city walls could be suppressed from a high position.

Amid the sounds of guns and cannons fired by the defenders, ten bamboo frames were built in just half an hour.

Unlike Zizhou who were waiting to be attacked, when the bamboo platform was almost built, the city gate of Langzhong was quickly opened, and a team of cavalry rushed out waving machetes.

The city gate was only a hundred meters away from the bamboo platform. Although Chen Gu's rifle was sharp, without any prior preparation, only Yunhua's special company and fifty snipers reacted in time and immediately rushed forward to open fire, causing some casualties to the cavalry.

But at this time, the cavalry had already rushed to several bamboo platforms near the city gate, waving their machetes and hacking at the bamboo platforms and the soldiers who were building them.

The final result was that all ten bamboo platforms were chopped down, and more than half of the 300 soldiers who built the bamboo platforms were killed or injured. The cavalry that left the city left behind two or three hundred soldiers and horses, and went around from the left and right sides to the north and south gates to return to the city.

What made Chen Gu most uncomfortable was that the cannons on the city wall caused more than 20 casualties to Yunhua’s special forces battalion.

It seems that Chen Gu's losses are smaller, but the special forces battalion is Chen Gu's favorite, and the casualties of more than 20 people have reached 3 or 4 percent.

And this was just a test before the war began.

Chen Gu felt very distressed, and Fu Cha Mingliang on the city wall felt even more distressed, because those were the Eight Banners Cavalry, and they were also the elite among the elite.

"The bandit chief's armament is indeed powerful. Even three layers of armor cannot defend against the enemy's projectiles. Let's prepare to implement the second plan!" Fu Cha Mingliang said to his deputy general Wo Shibu.

"General, you must think twice. Although your plan is good, the risk is too great. No matter which side is lost, you will never be able to turn things around. Your Majesty is suspicious of you. Why would you take such a risk?" Woshibu advised reluctantly.

Fu Cha Mingliang sighed and said, "In such a stormy time, my personal honor and disgrace are nothing to me. I should put the overall interests of the court first."

(End of this chapter)