golden scales

The circumference of Ningyuan City is nine miles, and based on the minimum investment of 1000 people per mile, 9000 people are needed to besiege it on all sides.Moreover, the guaranteed number of people is calculated according to the combat power of the captive soldiers and the defenders in the city.If there were fewer people, Chang Zhifan could choose one side to defeat them by surprise on the premise that his own battle damage was acceptable.

After being educated by the Tianbao front, Suohai and Tulai no longer believed in the story of the Ming army being vulnerable.At least they understand that this Ming army who dared to go deep and take Ningyuan by itself must not be underestimated.With the [-] soldiers and horses they led, including [-] Han army flags, they might have to rely on luck if they want to capture Ningyuan City, which is garrisoned by a thousand people.

Luck really favored these two defeated generals very quickly, and the scouts sent out caught one alive, and thus forced to find out that the number of guards in Ningyuan City was around a thousand, with countless food and military resources.Although the man was just a single refugee, he had personally participated in transporting food and gunpowder, so he could tell a thing or two.

It's just that the refugees didn't know that the entire army of the Second Guards Division was here. Although they saw many people and horses coming and going, it was impossible to get a glimpse of the formation.Moreover, based on common people's knowledge, there is no way to tell the difference between 6000 or [-] people and tens of thousands of people.

Even so, it was enough to make Suo Hai and Tulai extremely grateful.

"It seems that the Ming army really wants to occupy the important town of Ningyuan. These 1000 people are to supervise the grain and grass." Suo Hai firmly believes in the truth that "the army goes first before moving the grain and grass." He has no idea of ​​the Ming army's shipping capabilities, so naturally he can't understand The Ming army will deploy tens of thousands of people in western Liaoning in a short period of time.

Tulai was more concerned about the overall situation, and said: "I don't know where Dorgon went, whether he was entangled by the Ming army. If he can attack from both sides with our army, it is not impossible to break Ningyuan."

"Why is Lao Qi so depressed?" Suo Hai said grinningly: "The Ming army is certainly not as weak as before, but if you look carefully at the top of Ningyuan City, you can see artillery? There is no artillery here, why should we be afraid of him? Fighting with sharp swords and sharp guns. Will we still lose?"

Tulai shook his head: "Sixth brother, we have been fighting smoothly these years, but if I really think back to more than ten years ago, the Ming army was not a soft persimmon that anyone could pinch."

Suo Hai and Tu Lai are now the pillars of the Manchu Qing Dynasty.He was still a child in the time of the old slave, and he was only a middle- and lower-level officer in the era when Huang Taiji was committed to robbing the west.At that time, they could not see the whole picture of the Ming and Qing wars, but they also knew that the Ming army used [-] troops to attack [-] Manchu troops and returned victorious.

"It's also the reason why our army always uses coats." Suo Hai found a reason: "Now we have [-] soldiers and horses, [-]% are the elites of the Zhenghuang Banner, and the [-] cavalry from the left and right wings of Harqin will arrive later. Tomorrow As long as the army dares to fight, see if he can't be killed!"

"I'm afraid that the Ming army will not dare to fight." Tulai sighed: "Our luggage is not enough for ten days. Even if we get news from Jinzhou and Shengjing, we don't know if we can transport the food and grass in time. "

"Hahaha! There is a lot of food and grass in Ningyuan City. Isn't it just for our army? Don't worry, brother. Tomorrow, brother, I will personally lead the troops to capture Ningyuan! I think he is only a thousand people, as long as we feign attack on the two wings. A strong attack in the middle is inevitable. Able to climb the wall in one battle!"

Although Tulai is also a reckless temper.But with this more reckless brother, he had to play a cautious role.But after all, his intelligence was limited and his knowledge was insufficient, so he couldn't say anything other than: "It's better to be careful."

Although Suo Hai uttered big words, he was still a little worried.As the army advanced from Lianshanyi all the way to Balipu outside Ningyuan City to set up camp, the Ming army's scouts shrank all the way, but they did not give in at all.Nowadays, even if the Qing army's scouts are in small groups, they may be attacked by the Ming army's scouts.

It seemed that the army was marching unhindered, but it always seemed to have hit a soft but resilient invisible wall, and it was almost blind to the west of Ningyuan.

Although the geography and climate outside the pass made Suohai and Tulai more intimate, after all, western Liaoning is not the traditional place where Manchurians live, and they cannot ride horses with their eyes closed like in eastern Liaoning.This intelligence disadvantage has become more and more prominent with the advent of the siege.

……

"Is this thing really useful?" Chang Zhifan looked at the new "sharp weapon" sent by Daying, feeling a little uncertain.

"Don't worry, Colonel, this thing is designed for this battle." The officer who rhymes with this strange weapon is a captain, short and thin, and it is doubtful whether he can hold a sword and a spear.However, there are also precedents in the military for promotion through civilian and technical skills. Many excellent gunners themselves are not strong in combat ability, and they all rely on artillery.

"Can this thing really be worth the Five Doors and One Seven Changes?" Chang Zhifan felt a little pissed.He applied to the division headquarters for artillery, and the division said that the transportation of artillery was inconvenient, so he specially sent him a sharp weapon that could be worth five artillery pieces.

This sharp weapon is very convenient to transport, it is all cloth, rope and bamboo basket.

"When our hot air balloon takes off, the colonel will be able to clearly see the movement of the Eastern soldiers within dozens of miles around. Then one cannon can be used for ten!" The captain looked familiar, He didn't take the silver emblem on Chang Zhifan's shoulders to heart at all.

"With this thing, can you still fire ten cannons in one cannon?" Chang Zhifan muttered, still wishing to have five more serious cannons to listen to.Not to mention the amount of firepower, there are [-] artillery positions on the city wall of Ningyuan. Isn't it itchy that these artillery positions are empty now!

"Captain, what did you call it just now?" Chang Zhifan shook his head, getting rid of the distress of not getting what he wanted, and intending to make full use of this "sharp weapon", naturally he had to establish a good relationship with the captain first.

"Hot air balloon," said the captain.

"Let me tell you what your name is." Chang Zhifan was very sensitive to the name "hot air balloon".

"Oh, me? My name is Wang Zhong." The captain grinned and said, "Colonel, where is the highest point in Ningyuan City? It's best to be inside the city."

"In the city, the Bell and Drum Towers are the tallest." Chang Zhifan said, "Is this something too tall?"

"If you stand tall, you can see far. If it is on flat ground, it will be five feet high at most." Wang Zhongdao: "The Bell and Drum Tower... Hey. This is okay, it is really a bit high!"

"The base is as high as a city wall, more than three feet high, and the upper two floors are more than two feet tall. Together, they are five feet high." Chang Zhifan said.

Wang Zhong rubbed his hands together, feeling extremely excited, and said: "That's good!" He waved his hands back: "Brothers, let's go up to the Bell and Drum Tower. Let's move things!"

Chang Zhifan was also surprised when he looked at it, the composition of his team was very strange.One captain, two lieutenants and four second lieutenants, there were seven officers alone, with more than [-] auxiliary soldiers, not even a soldier.

"Colonel, can you get some help to take the roof off?"

"Are you going to lift the roof off me?"

"Otherwise how would we climb up?" Wang Zhong felt a little aggrieved.

Chang Zhifan can't help it, these are five cannons!No matter what, I have to serve you well.Immediately mobilize the city's civilians, according to Wang Zhong's instructions, first break open the top of the bell and drum tower, and build a ladder inside.The tiles on the roof were replaced with wooden planks.Anyway, it can make people fall.

Wang Zhong and the others did not delay.The originally thin body was as agile as a monkey, and he climbed up to the roof in two or three strokes, and transported the airbag and basket of the hot air balloon up together.

Chang Zhifan's curiosity flourished.He also climbed up and watched them stretch the airbag against the cold wind.The furnace was ignited, and then the huge air bag slowly inflated, finally looking like a ball.

"There are two here, but let's use one to see the effect first." Wang Zhong walked up to Chang Zhifan and said, "Colonel, is there enough coal in the city?"

Chang Zhifan nodded.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is particularly fond of black stones like coal. Except that they cannot be used in iron and steel making, he wishes everyone could use coal.When I was in Shandong, there was not enough coal mines, and I even asked the third division to transport it from Shanxi several times, but it was really because of insufficient transport capacity that I gave up.Now that Datong in Shanxi has been restored, coal and coal have become the most important fuels.

Because the second division went to Liao to fight, the temperature was low, and the ballast stones of all seagoing ships were replaced with coal. At least [-]% of the reserves were piled up in Ningyuan, and they were used like cheap goods.

Following the expansion of the airbag, Wang Zhong's auxiliary soldiers removed the bamboo sticks that had been supporting them, and the huge airbag was obediently suspended in the air, with a faint tendency to rise.

Chang Zhifan was dumbfounded, and finally couldn't help saying: "Isn't this just a Kongming lantern!"

"Yes, it was originally called the Giant Manned Kongming Lantern." Wang Zhong said proudly, "Later, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince gave it the name: Hot Air Balloon."

"What a guy! You can make it so big!" Chang Zhifan looked up at the hot air balloon and watched it take off slowly.

"It's already as small as it gets." Wang Zhong was also curious about his research and development experience during his training: "The earliest one was called big. Later, it was found that the heat was insufficient and it couldn't fly at all. After several cuts, we made this one. .”

"How high can this fly?"

"I don't know, I flew over without letting go of the rope anchor." Wang Zhongdao: "The main thing is not to see how high it flies, but how long it takes to fly. You think, this thing is used as a watchtower, and people will watch it if it flies too high." See, what's the use?"

Chang Zhifan nodded, and couldn't help but said, "How do I get down when I go up later?"

Wang Zhong laughed and said, "Do you have a certificate?"

"What proof?"

Wang Zhong took out a dental plaque from the inner pocket of the leather jacket: "Look, 'Emperor Emperor's Certificate of Approval to Ascend into the Sky'."

"This..." Chang Zhifan was stunned.

"What is this? This is an aircraft!" Wang Zhong said triumphantly, "It flies to the sky! Anyone who comes here can ascend to the sky, isn't that disrespectful to the sky?"

Chang Zhifan even claimed it was, and realized that he was trapped by the "nightmare".Ordinary people can't even worship "heaven", because they are afraid of being disrespectful to God, let alone ascend to heaven!

"These second lieutenants haven't obtained their certificates yet, so they can only watch from below and do ground support." Wang Zhong comforted Chang Zhifan with a light smile.

Chang Zhifan finally knew where Wang Zhong's confidence came from.It's not that people don't know the superiority and inferiority of the stunned young man, he really has something to rely on!

——I don’t know where to get this certificate.

Chang Zhifan looked at the slowly rising hot air balloon, feeling itchy in his heart.

Ps:

Ask for a recommendation ticket, ask for a monthly ticket~~!Hope to keep the top ten this month, 1000 yuan! ! !