Chapter 90 The Death of Zhang Tianlu (please subscribe to support)

Author: Scholar Wu

Chapter 90 The Death of Zhang Tianlu (please subscribe to support)

This red cannon was a weapon used by the Qing army to break through the city, and it was always unfavorable.

But it couldn't shake the castle in front of him at all.

At this time, the gunner of the Qing army reported that due to long-term shooting, the temperature of the red cannon was too high, and it was necessary to use cold water to cool down and clean the barrel. It was best to stop shooting for half an hour, otherwise the barrel would easily explode.

Qian An smiled and said: "It seems that our bastion has withstood the test of the red cannon. Father Philip will be very happy when he finds out."

The gunner asked: "Their red-coated cannons are within the preset fire coverage of our Franco machine guns. Should we fire directly to destroy their artillery positions?"

Qian An shook his head and said, "Don't rush to fire yet, I'm afraid I'll scare Zhang Tianlu away."

It seems that the red cannon can't be counted on. If you want to capture this castle, you still have to rely on the human wave tactic of besieging it on all sides.

After a period of waiting, Songjiang's troops finally arrived at Tianjiazhuang.

At this time, Zhang Tianlu had 4,200 men in his hands. In order to achieve the effect of siege on all sides, Zhang Tianlu gritted his teeth and invested 4,000 men at once.

Sure enough, under the Ming army's release of water, 4,000 Qing troops, under the cover of their carriages, successfully surrounded the fortress 50 steps away.

In order to avoid the suspicion of the Qing army, the Ming army still tried hard to obstruct the attack with some shooting, and successfully shot and killed more than a dozen Qing soldiers who escaped from the protection of the carriages.

Although the Qing army's muskets and bows could barely cause damage to the Ming army at a distance of 50 steps, the special shooting hole structure of the bastion made the Qing army's bows and arrows basically unable to cause damage to the Ming army.

However, if the Han military flag's firecrackers choose to shoot at the Ming army at this distance, it is basically like lighting a lamp in a latrine - seeking death (shit).

Although the Qing army also launched a lively counterattack with arrows and fire cannons against the Ming army, they did not cause any trouble to the Ming army except for sending out a few more heads.

In fact, according to the rate of fire of the matchlock gun, it is impossible to shoot continuously. Zhang Tianlu's method is still feasible in theory. As long as there are enough heads to fill in, the Ming army's defense line can be broken down.

But now there are 1,500 people in the Jiaxing camp defending the fortress, and 500 people are lurking near the stone bridge on the river in the distance, preparing to cut off Zhang Tianlu's retreat.

If Zhang Tianlu had 10,000 people charging at the same time, they could still rush to the first wall of the fortress.

It’s just that he still doesn’t know how terrifying the bastion is. Even if he manages to get to the wall by luck, he will have to climb around to find the slope to the second wall. In the process, he will be attacked by countless muskets. Basically,

Even after these people die, it will be difficult to find the entrance to the main castle.

Seeing that Zhang Tianlu was ready to besieged on all sides, Qian An also appropriately adjusted the forces on all sides to ensure that he could kill the Qing army as much as possible.

After everything was ready, the Qing army finally launched a siege on all sides, and the final decisive battle between the two sides began.

However, as soon as the Qing army on the front started to charge, they were covered by artillery fire from the bastion.

Since the gun position had been adjusted long ago, more than 10 tiger squatting guns instantly blew up the Qing army's marquee cart. The Qing army was in chaos along the way, and the fragments of the bombed marquee cart brought down a large area of ​​the surrounding Qing army.

, directly blocked the Qing army's charge.

The Qing troops without cover were quickly shot dead by Ming gunmen, and many Qing troops who were eighty or ninety steps away from the bastion were not spared. As a result, the Qing troops attacking from the front were dead before they even started to form a charge.

Dead in the belly.

The subsequent Qing army was just about to charge again, but they encountered another round of indiscriminate bombing by the Crouching Tiger Artillery, which directly blinded the Qing army. Under the attack of the fire cannons, the Qing army in front was even more killed and injured, with 300 remaining soldiers.

Many Qing soldiers quickly ran back to Tianjiazhuang.

Seeing that the Qing army's frontal attack was blocked, Zhang Tianlu immediately urged the red cannon to fire again. However, before the Qing army had time to light the fire, it was attacked by the Folang machine artillery of the Ming army in the bastion.

The position chosen by the Qing army was itself the position that the Ming army had preset for the Qing army. The Folan cannon had already calibrated its firing position. In just the first round of shelling, 3 of the 4 red cannons were destroyed.

The second round of shelling directly destroyed the last door.

Although the Qing troops from the other three directions were not attacked by artillery, the charging Qing troops also encountered crossfire.

After the "bang, bang, bang" shooting, countless Qing troops fell to the ground and wailed in pain.

Although a considerable number of the Qing soldiers wearing cotton armor were only injured and fell to the ground, in this environment, as long as you were injured and fell to the ground, you basically lost hope of survival.

The Ming army in the Jiaxing camp gradually adapted to this killing role. Their operations became more and more proficient, without any redundancy. At this moment, they had turned into killing machines.

At this time, rivers of blood had already flowed under the fortress, and the fields were wailing like a Shura hell.

After all, Zhang Tianlu's Han army, Zhenghuang Banner, was stronger than the ordinary Qing army's Green Camp. In the face of such huge casualties, they still resolutely carried out Zhang Tianlu's siege on all sides. The Qing army was either shot dead or on the way to be shot.

However, the siege on all sides did disperse the firepower of the Ming army, resulting in a decrease in the efficiency of shooting Qing troops. Many Qing troops still successfully found the slopes in their respective directions.

The Qing army walked up the slope and prepared to attack the first wall. Finally, after suffering huge casualties, some Qing troops saw hope. They were almost finishing the slope.

But after looking up, these Qing troops were surprised to find that there was a second fence higher up above the first fence, and the Ming troops on top were using firecrackers to greet them.

At this time, the Ming army on the front also sent reinforcements from the other three directions in time, and the efficiency of shooting was once again improved.

As the sound of firecrackers sounded more intensively, the Qing army, which had suffered more than half of its casualties, finally began to collapse. A large number of Qing troops began to flee, exposing their backs to the Ming army.

The Ming army on the bastion continued to set the maximum shooting distance of the Lumi gun, and finally stopped the record at 120 steps.

Looking at the Qing army gradually retreating, the Ming army soldiers felt very disappointed. They only blamed themselves for being too slow and failed to kill one more Qing army.

The last 4,000 Qing troops who participated in the attack left behind a total of 3,000 corpses.

It was not only the Qing army that was shocked, but also the Ming army. After all, a considerable number of the soldiers in the Jiaxing camp were on the battlefield for the first time. I believe that they have grown into qualified soldiers after this battle.

Looking at the retreating figures of the Qing army, Li Qi, who was already the deputy commander-in-chief of the Jiaxing Battalion, was full of emotions. If he hadn't defected to the Ming army, he would have been the one lying under the city now. He and his brothers were very lucky.

Choose the right path.

After recovering his thoughts, Li Qi said to his men: "Take people to check outside the fort. If they are slightly injured, bring them in for treatment. Tianmu Mountain still needs labor. If the injuries are too serious, give them a good life."

Even though he had experienced countless killings, Zhang Tianlu had already been defeated by the Ming army at this time. Now the morale of the Qing army was completely lost and they definitely did not have the courage to fight.

Seeing that the Ming army in the fortress did not pursue them, Zhang Tianlu immediately gathered the remaining troops and prepared to return to Songjiang. He was not willing to stay in this place for a moment longer.

But before they had gone far, they were attacked by 500 Ming troops who had been ambushed by the river early.

"Bang, bang, bang"

This terrible sound sounded again!

At this time, Zhang Tianlu still had 1,200 cavalry, while the Ming army guarding the stone bridge only had 500 people. In fact, it was still unclear who would win.

But at this time, his troops were already like frightened birds. How could they still have the courage to fight?

Seeing that their retreat was blocked, the Qing troops turned around and retreated. This time they ran fast enough, leaving only 200 more corpses behind.

Seeing that his retreat was cut off by the Ming army, Zhang Tianlu had no choice but to lead his army to retreat to Tianjiazhuang.

Fortunately, the Ming army in the fortress did not pursue him, otherwise Zhang Tianlu would have been completely wiped out.

Fortunately, Tianjiazhuang is extremely fortified and extremely strong, and the Ming army cannot attack it for the time being.

Although Zhang Tianlu's troops did not carry much dry food with them, they still had a large number of war horses, so there was no problem in holding on for a few months.

He was ordered to go south to relieve the siege of Hangzhou, but who can come to relieve him now?

Xiao Qiyuan in Hangzhou had too much time to take care of himself, and it was impossible to send troops to rescue him.

After his 5,000 men and horses were destroyed, even including the 2,000 Mongolian Eight Banners sent by Ma Guozhu to Songjiang, there were only 7,000 land divisions in the entire Susong area, plus 5,000 naval divisions in Wusongkou. It would be good to be able to hold Susong, but where are the troops?

Come to save him?

Although Jiaxing Prefecture is very close to Tianjiazhuang, there are currently no 1,000 troops in the prefecture, so it is naturally impossible to count on it.

After thinking for a long time, Zhang Tianlu realized that he had fallen into an unsolvable dilemma. However, his reverie was soon interrupted. The soldiers reported that the Ming army in the fortress had been dispatched and surrounded Tianjiazhuang.

At this time, Zhang Tianlu still fantasized about using the high walls of Tianjiazhuang to block the attacking Ming army and let the Ming army have a taste of the iron wall.

So he ordered the Qing troops to climb the high wall turrets and shoot at the Ming troops.

However, the Qing army was dumbfounded after they boarded the high wall of Tianjiazhuang. The Ming army kept a distance of 80 steps and exchanged fire with the Qing army.

At this distance, the Qing army's firecrackers and bows and arrows could not reach the Ming army, so they could only be beaten passively.

At this time, Li Qi, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Jiaxing Battalion, began to shout to the Qing troops in the village. He held a large iron loudspeaker and shouted: "Brothers of the Han Army's Zhenghuang Banner, I was originally the commander-in-chief of the Jinshan Guard. I believe

Many of you know me. The Ming army treated prisoners preferentially. After I led the brothers of Jinshan Guard to surrender to the Ming army, I was promoted to the deputy chief soldier of the Jiaxing camp."

"As long as they are not heinous traitors, they can join the Ming Army directly. The Ming Army's monthly salary, silver, grain, and rice are distributed directly to the soldiers. There is no arrears and no deductions from superiors."

"Qian Mo, the governor of Suhu in the Ming Dynasty, won 5 million taels of silver in a 'World Game' in Nanjing. He is the richest man in the world. He will never treat his soldiers badly in terms of salary."

“Even if you do something evil after taking refuge with the Tatars, you can still show your repentance and atonement through ‘reform through labor’.”

"Even during the work period, as long as you can exceed the work target, you can still get a reward. After a period of time, you can still join the Ming army if you perform well. The bastion you see in front of you was built by my brothers from the Jinshan Guard before.

Yes, we will join the Ming army directly after completing the training."

"Brothers, the Qing army is retreating steadily on all battlefields. In Jiangxi, Fujian, eastern Zhejiang, northern Zhejiang, Guangxi, and Hunan, our army of the Ming Dynasty is constantly regaining lost territory. Hangzhou has been besieged and it is impossible to capture Nanjing.

It’s not a difficult thing. It’s just a rabbit’s tail—it won’t grow. How can I, a son of the Han family, be willing to be a slave of the Tatars and harm my own fathers and fellow villagers?”

"Everyone must have experienced the combat effectiveness of our Ming Army. The Jiaxing Battalion is not the most elite unit of the Ming Army. There are many Ming Army forces that are stronger than us. Now I will give you an hour to think about it. As long as you put down your weapons,

We can guarantee your life safety. If you still refuse to surrender, we will bombard Tianjiazhuang by then."

After Li Qi finished shouting, he looked at Liu Yichen beside him with a smile and said, "Commander Liu, are my words okay?"

Liu Yichen said: "Thank you for your hard work, General Li. The Qing army must be even more demoralized now. Let's just wait and see the good show. Good news will come out within an hour."

Qian An also asked: "This Tianlu made his fortune by killing the loyal ministers and righteous men of the Ming Dynasty, and he has a lot of blood debts on his hands. Now he is in a high position in the Manchu Qing Dynasty and has been awarded a title. I'm afraid he will not give in easily."
To be continued...