Go back to the end of the Ming Dynasty to be a soldier

Chapter 295 Bloody Battle at Gaobeidian
Gaobeidian was Li Zicheng's heavily garrisoned area and also the gateway to the south gate of Beijing. Li Zicheng lived here with 5 people, and the leader of the team was his general and his brother-in-law Gao Yigong.

In the Ming Dynasty, Gaobeidian belonged to Beiping Prefecture, and the terrain here was plain, so the terrain was not complicated, but the location here was very important.If Gaobeidian is occupied, the next stop is Beijing's Nanzhimen, which is equivalent to opening the south gate of Beijing.

Therefore, Gao Yigong has 5 troops stationed here. It is worth mentioning that Gao Yigong is not only Li Zicheng's wife and brother, but more importantly, he is good at defense. Following Li Zicheng to the battlefield, whether it is protecting the women's camp with her sister Gao Guiying, or charging into battle with Li Zicheng, Gao Yigong can play alone.

Especially good at defense, so this time, Li Zicheng sent him to guard Gaobeidian, because Li Zicheng knew that it was not so easy to get Lin Yi to surrender. He was defeated many times in front of others and let them surrender to you. It is inevitable.

After Gao Yigong took the order, he led the Dashun Army to inspect the terrain and build fortifications. More importantly, he dispatched 100 red cannons here.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the red cannon was undoubtedly the missile at that time.

Now Li Zicheng's men also have many red cannons, which of course he seized from the hands of the officers and soldiers.He captured Nanyang, captured Luoyang, and later occupied the whole of Shaanxi. Now he is out of Shaanxi, fighting Shanxi, and captured Beijing.

Li Zicheng's men won many battles, and the trophies they got were piled up, including hundreds of red cannons and ammunition.

Now there are quite a lot of red-clothed cannons in the Ming Dynasty. Don't look at the era of cold weapons, because of successive years of wars, both the Ming army and the Tartars are competing to produce this cutting-edge weapon for killing people.

Although the Ming Dynasty was short of national strength and the treasury was unable to make ends meet, the court was still willing to spend money on this aspect because the Tartars were now capable of producing red cannons.

Although the red-clothed cannons produced by the Tartars were imitated from Ming Dynasty, their power was not inferior to Ming's Hongyi cannons at all.

This is mainly because Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming surrendered to the Tartars, and there were a large number of red cannons in the team they brought.After the Manchu Tartars obtained this large number of red cannons, they not only used them, but also began to imitate them. As early as the 30s, they imitated and produced the first red barbarian cannons. Now the Manchu Tartars have matured this technology , they have produced hundreds of their own red cannons.

In the Battle of the Great and Small Linghe, and the subsequent Battle of Songjin, the red-clothed cannons of the Manchus were fully displayed, and the Ming army suffered a great loss.

Because the Ming army has always overwhelmed the opponent with artillery superiority, and the advantage of the Manchu Tartars lies in the Eight Banners iron cavalry. The Ming army naively believed that as long as they did not fight them in the field, as long as they relied on dangerous cities and artillery fire, they would definitely be able to defeat the Manchus. tartar.

But when the two sides actually fought, they were dumbfounded. The Tartars' cannons roared, and the Ming army's artillery advantage was long gone. The two sides were balanced in this respect.The Ming army lost its advantage in artillery fire, and they couldn't do field battles. What are you waiting for if you don't win a battle?

Therefore, in the past two years, Emperor Chongzhen tightened his belt and tried every means to produce red cannons. Just like an arms race with the Manchu and Qing Tartars, the number of red barbarian cannons in Ming Dynasty increased sharply.

Emperor Chongzhen was not stupid. He knew that the Manchu Tartars outside the pass were small states in a tiny place, and their means of production, such as ironware and gunpowder, mainly came from trade within the pass.As the saying goes, a lean camel is bigger than a horse. As long as the Ming Dynasty can produce absolutely superior red-clothed cannons, and the number can overwhelm the Manchu Tartars, the Ming Dynasty can still maintain its advantage in war.Even if they can't keep it, procrastination can drag them down.

Therefore, in the past few years, Emperor Chongzhen took the lead in making donations, and increased taxes and corvees. He tried every means to increase income, expand investment, and intensify the production of red-clothed cannons. Therefore, the number of red-clothed cannons in the Ming army increased sharply.

But this is beneficial to Li Zicheng. Although Li Zicheng does not have the strength to produce this kind of red cannon, he can take it from the hands of the officers and soldiers.The hundreds of red-clothed cannons he uses now are all snatched from the officers and soldiers, and his artillery battalion is also very powerful now, playing a great role in both offensive and defensive battles.

This time, 100 red cannons and enough ammunition were deployed in the Gaobeidian area alone.

Because Li Zicheng knew that their main enemy was Lin Yi, and he didn't pay attention to the other Ming's troops at all. If Lin Yi wanted to attack, they must come from the south, and Gaobeidian was the first fortress to bear the brunt.

That's why Li Zicheng sent the wise and brave Gao Yigong to garrison here with 5 elite soldiers.And gave him 100 red cannons and enough ammunition.

Gao Yigong checked the address of Gaobeidian, and he found that it was a plain area. If he wanted to stop Lin Yi's troops and guard Gaobeidian, he had to build a dangerous city and defend it by virtue of the danger.

Only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you be invincible in a hundred battles.Of course, Gao Yigong knew that Ji Dong's men and horses were super powerful in combat. Even the Manchu Tartars were no match. They were invincible in field battles. Therefore, avoiding field battles with them was the keynote of his battles.

Therefore, after receiving the order from Chuang Wang Li Zicheng, he led 5 people to build fortifications here day and night.

Many people are easy to work with. 5 people worked together, day and night, and within three days, the small county town was built as solid as gold.

The first is to deepen and widen the moat outside the city.

The second is to strengthen and thicken the city wall, including the four city gates.

Of course, these are not the biggest projects. The biggest project is the construction of auxiliary cities on the left and right sides of the four city gates.

The so-called auxiliary city is a city wall protruding from the city wall, which is square or rectangular. There are soldiers stationed on the auxiliary city, usually on both sides of the city gate. The purpose of this is to protect the city gate.

Because of ancient warfare, there were dead spots directly under the city wall, especially at the city gate. When the attacking army actually attacked this place, the soldiers defending the city above could not see it. They either hit the city gate or destroyed the city wall. It was dark under the lamp.

This is the purpose of building the auxiliary city. When the enemy comes to attack the city, the archers or artillery on the auxiliary city can attack the enemy without leaving any dead ends.

In some important big cities, auxiliary cities are built every fifty or 100 meters along the city wall, which are necessary on both sides of the city gate to protect the city wall and the city gate.

Due to the tight schedule, this is another small city, so Gao Yigong built a total of eight auxiliary cities in Gaobeidian, that is, two for each of the four gates.

Then for the four city gates, he also built urn cities respectively.

The urn city is at the city gate, outside the city gate.

When the enemy is coming fiercely and the auxiliary city does not work, they can open the urn, and retreat to the real gate inside the urn, put the enemy into the urn, and then come to the urn to catch the turtle.

Four city gates, he built four urns.

Then put all the 100 red cannons on the city wall.In addition to artillery fire, there are also piles of bows and arrows, rolling logs, stones, etc. on the city wall. The city defense of Gaobeidian can really be described as impenetrable.

As soon as they were ready, Ji Dong's vanguard troops, Hao Yaoqi's troops, arrived. This was an army of 1, clearing the way ahead like a sharp knife.

Along the way, Hao Yaoqi's team attacked cities and villages, and captured many pass cities.Now they don't pay attention to the small city of Gaobeidian.Of course they also knew that if they captured this small city, the city of Beijing would be within sight.

Therefore, Hao Yaoqi gave an order, and 1 troops rushed to the ground, and the shouts resounded through the sky.

"Dong dong dong..."

Once within the firing range of the red-clothed cannon, the cannon on the top of the city roared, and shells roared and exploded among the siege team.

Some cannonballs killed several officers and soldiers, and some even men and horses were blown to a bloody mess with no bones left.

Immediately outside the city of Gaobeidian, gunpowder smoke filled the air, and the ground shook.

But this couldn't stop the charging team at all. The front fell, and the rear made up, stepping on the blood and corpses of their compatriots, and continued to charge.

After all, the power of the red cannon is limited. It is difficult to form continuous firepower, let alone achieve full coverage of firepower. It can be used for attacking or cheering, but for defense, it is not even comparable to the machine guns of later generations.

Therefore, Hao Yaoqi's team, amidst the roar of artillery fire, smoked and burst into flames, and charged to the bank of the moat.

But when their men and horses crossed the moat and began to climb the city with ladders, they were hit head-on.

The bows and arrows on the city rolled wood and stones, pouring down like raindrops, and those on the city wall, together with those on the mansion city, could strike the attacking army without leaving any dead ends.

That's good, Hao Yaoqi's team launched three fierce attacks in a row, but they failed to attack the city wall. One can imagine the heavy casualties.

Unconvinced, Hao Yaoqi took off his shirtless shirt, waved a big flagpole, and wanted to charge into battle by himself.

Before Hao Yaoqi launched his fourth onslaught, Lin Yi's main force arrived. Seeing casualties everywhere, Lin Yi looked at Gaobeidian City in the distance and ordered Hao Yaoqi to withdraw his troops and retreat.

At this time, the general He Renlong beside him took the initiative to invite Ying: "My lord, leave the task of siege to your subordinates. If you can't take it down, come and see me."

Lin Yi knew that Hao Yaoqi was brave in battle. If his team could not take down the city, it would definitely be regarded as a strong city. If it was replaced by He Renlong, it might not be able to take it down. The price may be even more severe.

Lin Yi shook his head and said, "A hard attack may not be the best strategy."

At this time Hao Yaoqi came over, "My lord, one more charge can take down the city, why do you want to withdraw your troops?"

"A small Gaobeidian can't be attacked for a long time, who will be the defender of the city?"

Hao Yaoqi wiped the sweat off his face: "My lord, it's Li Zicheng's brother-in-law Gao Yigong. He hides inside like a turtle. If he dares to go out of the city to fight, his subordinates would have picked him up long ago." .”

Li Zicheng nodded: "It's not that he didn't dare to come out, stick to the city, and wait for work with ease. This is his strategy. It seems that he is a master surnamed Gao."

After Hao Yaoqi's troops retreated, they rescued the wounded, buried the corpses, and briefly dealt with the battlefield.

Then Ji Dong led his guards around the city, accompanied by Zu Keyong, Hao Yaoqi, He Renlong and others, and then nodded: "This city is built strong enough , since they are willing to stay inside, let them stay inside, it will be difficult for them to come out this time!"

(End of this chapter)