Ming Zhengzhi, I am Zheng Kezang

One after another, the sound of cannons resounded in the sky, and white gunpowder smoke and red fireworks instantly enveloped the entire area.

Speaking of which, this scene was far more spectacular than the small-scale bombardment under Kunshan City, but it was also normal. It must be known that in order to conquer the prefecture of Jiaxing, the 36 three-and-a-half-inch artillery posts of Zheng Jun's four divisions (12 Pound) field guns went into battle, and with the help of the regiment's two-inch (4-pound) and three-inch (6-pound) light guns of three times the size, a frightening metal storm was set off on the front line of Chunbomen in the east of Jiaxing City .

Although the Qing army's Hongyi Pao on the top of the city also tried their best to respond, they were quickly knocked down by Zheng Jun's violent blows.

Taking advantage of the Qing army's artillery being suppressed, Zheng Jun's light artillery group first withdrew from the battle, and then the vacancies at the artillery positions were filled by thousands of civilians who began to fill the moat.With an order, driven by the long spears on Zheng Jun's rifles, the people running wildly threw bags of soil into the east embankment.Of course, the Qing army on the top of the city tried to stop it, but the archers and musketeers on the top of the city were quickly dispersed by the three-and-a-half-inch artillery group of the Zheng Army who had diverted their firepower.

At this time, several small boats driven by the sailors of Zheng Jun rushed straight into the moat from Nanhu Lake, Southwest Lake, Pinghutang and other adjacent waters. Cement blocks were thrown into the river one by one as the base, and even holes were directly drilled in the bottom of the boat, allowing the whole boat to sit and sink in the moat, and then people jumped into the river and swam to their side to land on the shore.

Faced with the passage extending more and more towards the city wall, the Qing army no longer cared about the shells flying overhead, and shot at the construction site one by one with bows and guns, so the losses of Zheng Jun and Minfu began to increase. big.

Seeing the deaths and injuries of their companions, some civilian husbands had weak legs. However, the result of weak legs was either knocked down by the arrow projectiles shot from the city, or executed by Zheng Jun directly with the blunderbuss. So they were terrified and had to be numb Enduring the pressure from both sides, let himself suffer between life and death.

With great difficulty, the surviving civilian husbands all voted for the half-day quota of five bags of soil per person, and also received the white rice porridge promised by Zheng Jun as a reward, but this was just the middle of a long game. After a moment of strength and spirit, Zheng Jun will drive them to experience the teasing of death again and again.

Not long after the peasants retreated, Zheng Jun's three-and-a-half-inch cannons stopped one after another due to overheating. At this moment, Zheng Jun's light cannons, which had been scattered to other branches, resounded again, but the Qing army still subconsciously used the west side as a block. The first important point is that not only the two battalions of the governor's pacesetters and the Hangjiahu Coastal Defense Military Preparations Division, which accounted for half of the Jiaxing defenders, were concentrated in the east city, but even more than half of the people who were later drawn from the city were arranged here.

At the beginning of Shen Shi, the venomous sunlight began to slant westward, and a thunderous shelling sound suddenly sounded outside the gate of Tongyue in the west of the city. The four and a half inch mortars placed here exerted unparalleled power. On Jiaxing City's disrepaired city walls, just a few blows smashed the city bricks left over from the Ming Dynasty to pieces, exposing the yellow rammed earth inside.

Zheng Jun's mortar regiment is currently the only siege artillery regiment of Zheng Jun. It has four mortar posts with a total of twelve [-]-inch mortars. Continuous shooting at a speed of [-] rounds, although due to poor shooting accuracy, almost no point of impact can hit more than two shells, but even so, after half an hour, a certain place not far from Tongyuemen Urn City A section of the city wall showed signs of collapse.

At this time, the Qing army's judgment on the possible focus of Zheng Jun's attack appeared contradictory: "The Zheng Jun at the east gate is a feint attack!"

As one of the four deputy governors established in Hangzhou by the Qing court, Fu Gan was not only the second rank of the official residence, but also the first batch of reinforcements sent by Hangzhou. Because it can be said that he is also a unique figure in today's Jiaxing city, but this deputy Fu In order to make it easier to move in when the war is unfavorable, Dutong took the initiative to deploy more than [-] Eight Banners Xiaoqi (vest) and infantry (infantry) at the west gate of Jiaxing. One, so that he immediately identified the direction of Zheng Jun's main attack.

Daoan Ketu of Jiahu Haifang Brigade has a red belt, he is not afraid of Fu Gan, a fake tartar, so he firmly insisted: "Master Fu may have made a wrong judgment, but Zheng Jun has already filled the moat of the East City, and he can do it anytime, anywhere. It is possible to rush into the city, such an obvious sign, how can it be that Zheng Jun is going to attack Ximen."

"Basically, the east gate was going to be attacked, but now that the west wall has collapsed, Hai Ni will naturally transfer the army over."

An Ketu rolled his eyes: "I don't understand Mr. Fu's words. Is it easier to adjust a few cannons or to refill the canal around the city with human lives under the fire of the artillery? Besides, Haini will not attack westward." East?"

"You said that Hai Ni made a noise, but I also said that Hai Ni made a noise." Fu Gan responded with a sullen face. "Master An doesn't want to transfer the green battalion in the east city, and I don't force it, but the defenders of the city must give half of them to the west city, otherwise"

"Otherwise it's my responsibility if we can't defend Jiaxing, right?" An Ketu looked back coldly. "How ridiculous!"

"My lords, in the face of a great enemy, we must help each other in the same boat." Sun Zhiguo, the prefect of Jiaxing from the fourth rank, smiled wryly and bowed to the two great gods. "I'm the official of Jiaxing's parents. If the city is lost, it is my responsibility. But now all the adults are in the city. Once Haini enters the city, there will be no distinction between local officials, military officials, bannermen, and people. So I invite a few adults to unite sincerely and tide over the difficulties together." After Sun Zhiguo said this, the two snorted coldly and fell silent, so Sun Zhiguo hurriedly asked An Ketu for instructions. "Observe, is it necessary to transfer a thousand people to the west city to prepare for any eventuality?"

Although his official rank is one level higher than Sun Zhiguo's, and although his heel is countless times stronger than Sun Zhiguo's, the other party is a neighbor who can't see up and down, so An Ketu took a step back: "It's okay to adjust the people to be strong, but People don't have enough money to make up for it, Mr. Fu Yin wants to give the brothers below a reassurance."

Sun Zhiguo didn't expect that An Ketu would blackmail him here. He was about to raise his eyebrows, but he immediately thought that it was a time of war, and if he really couldn't satisfy those Qiuba, he might not know what troubles would happen, so he had no choice but to hold back his unhappiness. , pretending to be calm and asked: "How much do you need to pay for the observation?"

An Ketu compared his hands: "At least this number?"

"500 taels?" Sun Zhiguo just wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but he was shocked when he saw the other party shaking his head. "5000 taels?"

"There are more than 2000 brothers here, and 5000 taels is just a reward for one person." An Ketu didn't want to take the opportunity to enrich himself, so he said it frankly. "If it's less, I'm afraid it won't work."

As reinforcements from all walks of life entered the city, the government government has paid out nearly 2 taels of silver rewards successively. Sun Zhiguo, who had been able to run horses in the treasury for a long time, thought for a while before he gritted his teeth and agreed: "The next official will find a way to talk to the city. Big family to raise money!"

"Slow down!" Fu Gan interrupted suddenly. "Master Sun, everything must be treated equally. If the brothers in the east city have it, it won't necessarily make the brothers in the west city stare at me. I don't want too much. It's enough for the adults to give you 5000 taels as a reward."

Sun Zhiguo's heart fluttered violently. You must know that more than half of the [-] taels he took out fell into Fu Gan's hands. Now the other party is still not satisfied. What should we do? Don't look at him, Sun Zhiguo had no choice but to bear the humiliation and nodded again: "Okay, let me go down to raise money, but it's a matter of mobilizing troops to defend the city."

Regardless of the fact that An Ketu is a red belt, he is still kinder than Fu Gan, a fake tartar. I will issue a military order after returning."

After seeing off the two ghosts, Sun Zhiguo sat there for a long time before he slapped his thigh: "You've been fooled again, Fu Gan, that bastard!"

Sun Zhiguo suddenly understood why Fu Gan looked like a fox who had stolen a chicken when he left the house. Yes, besides the 700 flag soldiers in the West City, there were more than [-] green flag soldiers from the Jiaxing City Defense Battalion. Fu Gan absolutely It is impossible to share the reward with them, unless Sun Zhiguo makes up for it himself.

But if you understand it, you understand that what you say is like water poured out. How could Sun Zhiguo, who was counting on the opponent to defend the city faithfully, go back on his word? call a meeting of the city's gentry, tell them that the situation is critical and the city is about to be broken, let them contribute their strength and money, once the sea reverses into the city, they will have no good fruit to eat."

Before the officers sent by Sun Zhiguo left the government office, Zheng Jun's bombardment started again. Before night fell, Zheng Jun bombarded the head of the west city with mortars again in order to continue to expand the gap in the city wall.In this regard, the flag soldiers naturally did not dare to brave the artillery fire to repair the city defenses, but Minzhuang, a part of the Jiaxing Xiecheng garrison, tried to block it with earth and rocks, but a missing shell fell over the city wall and landed in the Minzhuang brigade , swaying and rampaging all the way, beating up a group of Green Banner soldiers and ordinary people in mourning, only giving the real and fake Tartars an extra topic of shaking their heads.

Maybe it was because the sight was not clear after dark, or maybe the ammunition of the four and a half inch guns was precious, so when it got dark, Zheng Jun's artillery fire stopped.But before the Qing army relaxed its vigilance, there was a clear sound of water in the canal.Is Zheng Jun planning to use a small boat to attack the water gate at night?The Qing army, who didn't dare to be negligent, threw a torch under the city to illuminate the area, but they didn't see anything.

The torch was thrown down here, and the gunfire sounded like roasted beans again. However, the Qing army, who had been listening to this for five or six days, was used to it and ignored it. , Even the sudden firing of cannons would not disturb the Qing army's sweet dreams.

"My lord, we sneaked into the canal and found that the Qing troops on the east and west sides were still vigilant. As for the north and south, no patrols appeared no matter how big the movement was. ?”

Hong Gongzhu wiped the greasy beard with a towel, then shook his head: "Tell Sun Youlao and Yin Mintong not to worry, let them rest in the first half of the night, and build the pontoon bridge after the fourth watch."