Chapter 123 Hezhou joins divisions, the city of Chongqing is broken
Su Zhuang took a warship and led the fleet south along the Jialing River.
These ships were warships built by craftsmen led by Zhang Dezhi, Minister of Industry, who established a hydraulic factory in Nanchong.
There are ten warships and twenty-three large transport ships in total.
Each warship has five 110-meter light guns and one 150-meter heavy gun.
In order to wait for this batch of warships and cannons, Su Zhuang waited in Nanchong for a month. After the warships and heavy artillery were ready, he boarded the ship and headed south.
He saw the soldiers on the ship vomiting violently as the warship rocked in the water, and seasickness was common.
These soldiers are all northerners.
I usually ride on small boats and rarely have the experience of riding on big ships.
Many soldiers took a boat ride for the first time.
"Chief of Staff, where are we? How far are we from Chongqing Mansion?"
Su Zhuang traveled by land, and he could accurately judge the distance traveled every day.
Taking the water route, he had no idea where they were now.
Chief of Staff Tong Yunpeng opened the map and pointed to their location.
"We are two miles away from Hezhou and will arrive in Hezhou soon.
After capturing Hezhou, we can go directly down the river to Chongqing."
"We arrived in Hezhou so fast!"
Su Zhuang lamented that he never thought he could march so fast.
"We spent twenty days to capture Baoning and Nanchong, and Dingyuan surrendered without a fight.
Most of the time is spent on the road.
It's only February now, and with Su's command and their strength, they should be able to take down Deyang.
Before we left, news came from the front that Commander Su had attacked Mianzhou.
After we capture Chongqing Prefecture and Zunyi Prefecture, we will go north to support Commander Su in capturing Rongcheng.
The name of our Second Division is completely resounding throughout the entire army."
Zhu Shi Wen Jingming heard his commander talking about Su Zhuang's ambitions, and said: "I think Commander Su should be able to capture Rongcheng by now.
The troops led by the Soviet Union are all strong troops, and the strength of each army will not be inferior to ours.
Commander Su thought he could easily conquer the city, so he divided his forces with us."
Wen Jingming was very optimistic. He fought all the way and found that the Ming army's fighting will was very weak.
As soon as the heavy artillery fires, the Ming army's resistance will be weakened by half.
Once the city wall was taken down, they had no resistance at all and surrendered directly.
Commander Su led the most elite artillery brigade, which was good at attacking cities.
It must be very difficult to attack a fortified city.
Su Zhuang looked at the heavy artillery on the warship and said happily: "Zhang Dezhi and Zhang Shangshu, this man is really powerful.
Many ships were captured there in Nanchong, and he said he could quickly transform a batch of warships and build a factory to manufacture a batch of firearms.
The quality will be a little worse but it's usable, which is better than nothing.
Unexpectedly, he could use this method to create ten warships and a batch of cannons.
If a worker wants to do his job well, he must first sharpen his tools.
With these cannons, no city in front can block our attack.
The Jialing River water transport is really fast. How fast we can go south by boat is much faster than walking through the valley."
Tong Yunpeng took out the map and sighed: "
Commander, if it hadn’t been for the lack of rain in Sichuan during this period, many rivers would have stopped flowing.
Below the Nanchong section of the Jialing River, the water flow is quite sufficient and large ships can be driven.
If the navigation conditions of the Jialing River are good, our main force will attack from the Jialing River.
Being able to carry heavy artillery and a large amount of baggage will conquer Sichuan more quickly.
Nowadays, waterways are impassable and logistics and transportation of materials are not smooth.
It is hoped that Zhang Dezhi and Zhang Shangshu will lead the craftsmen to build more warships and firearms in Nanchong.
Commander Su did not take the water route, but went directly to Huanglong by land and quickly occupied Rongcheng, and he could also pacify Sichuan as quickly as possible."
Zhu Shi Wen Jingming listened to the two of them chatting and looked at the city ahead with a telescope.
He suddenly saw a group of very familiar soldiers attacking the city.
"Look, there is an army in front attacking Hezhou City. I can see clearly that their flag is our Great Wall military flag.
This should be the army led by Fengxiang Hou Su Xiong."
Su Zhuang said unexpectedly: "How did Su Xiong and his troops come to Hezhou? They shouldn't go directly south to Chongqing."
Tong Yunpeng pointed to the map and said: "The road to Shu is difficult to travel. There are high mountains and ridges everywhere. There are few roads that can support large armies.
General Su Xiong led his troops to Hezhou, which should be along the Qujiang River.
Starting from Bazhou, take the road to Guang'an in Qu County."
Su Zhuang looked at the map and understood why Su Xiong was able to reach Hezhou.
"Send a signal to Fengxiang Hou Su Xiong to inform us of our identities so as not to cause misunderstanding.
We have heavy artillery on board to help them capture Hezhou City."
……………………
Su Xiong is at the wounded soldiers camp, checking on the situation of the wounded soldiers.
The doctor accompanying the army examines the condition of the wounded soldiers.
"They were all wounded by arrows and shotguns, and some of their wounds were infected.
Many soldiers could not eat, but luckily some sugar was brought from the rear.
We're hanging the soldiers with sugar water to see if they can survive the night."
Su Xiong solemnly explained: "They are all good soldiers, and we must do our best to treat them."
As soon as Su Xiong walked out of the barracks, Su Li, the commander of the Fifth Division, immediately stopped Su Xiong.
"Marquis Fengxiang, please let our fifth division take the main attack mission.
From Bazhou, Quxian to Guang'an, the first division was responsible for the main attack, with the fifth division assisting.
Now the soldiers of the First Division are very tired, and it is our turn for the Fifth Division to take the main attack.
Most of our fifth divisions are new recruits, but after such a long period of combat training, they have also transformed into veterans."
Wang Shiyuan, Chief of Staff of the First Division, heard Su Li's request and suggested: "Commander, let's give the Fifth Division a chance.
The young eagle must also have the opportunity to soar in the sky, and I believe that the Fifth Division will definitely have the strength to win Hezhou."
Su Xiong thought that the 1st Division was really tired now, so he could only try it with the 5th Division.
"Well, Su Li, you can lead the troops and give it a try. Don't be too forced."
When Su Li saw that Su Xiong agreed to his request, he saluted with a military salute and went outside to mobilize troops.
Li Zhengfeng watched Su Li go out and said with emotion: "The Shu Road is really difficult to walk. Fortunately, Su Wuniu, the Minister of Industry, opened the Mi Cang Road in time.
Bring us a lot of supplies and craftsmen.
It's just that the Micang Road has just been opened, and the terrain in Bazhou is also difficult to navigate, and the cannons from the rear cannot be transported.
Fortunately, there are craftsmen who can make some gunpowder and grenades.
We can only rely on traditional siege methods, which cause too many casualties and are too inefficient.
In particular, the resistance in Guang'an was too fierce and the First Division suffered heavy casualties.
The soldiers all felt war-weary to a certain extent, but luckily Master Zhu channeled them in time.
I hope the new recruits of the Fifth Division can persevere."
Su Xiong also lamented that this journey was really not easy.
Some mountain roads can lead to Chongqing Prefecture, but the situation of the mountain roads is very complicated.
Especially on some mountain roads, there are chieftains and many native soldiers living nearby.
He and his group's main target now is the Ming army, and they don't want to conflict with these chieftains yet.
The only option was to march along the Qujiang River. The Qujiang River was too fast and it was impossible to sail in many places.
The troops could only march along the river and on the road.
In order to ensure the safety of logistics, when a city is conquered, the defenders must be completely eliminated and a military force must be sent to control it.
When officials from Hanzhong arrive to take over, these soldiers and horses will become troops protecting the logistics team.
They followed the logistics team and joined the army.
The march is very slow. It is already February and we have just reached Hezhou.
"Master, there is a large ship coming from the upper reaches of the Jialing River."
The commander of the reconnaissance battalion came in to report anxiously.
Su Xiong frowned and judged: "There is a big ship upstream, it must be the Ming army's big ship.
Large ships cannot pass upstream of the Jialing River, and our ships cannot pass.
When we fight all the way, we must have alerted Sichuan's senior officials, who finally sent reinforcements to support us."
Li Qingmu, commander of the naval brigade, frowned and said: "Fengxiang Hou, we are in big trouble this time.
The Ming army must have sent warships. If they block the river, how can we cross the river?
Several large ships were seized along the way, but ships were unable to sail in some parts of the Qujiang River, so the ships were left there for transporting baggage.
I am also preparing to seize warships in Hezhou, reorganize naval forces, and assist you in capturing Chongqing.
This situation is very troublesome now.”
Master Zhu Li Zhengfeng used a telescope to observe the fleet coming upstream.
"Commander, don't worry, the flag on the ship is our Great Wall military flag.
This should be the reinforcements sent by Commander Su."
When Wang Shiyuan heard what Li Zhengfeng said, he was surprised and said: "The troops coming down the Jialing River should be Su Zhuang's second division.
We read the battle report from the rear some time ago. Commander Su divided his forces after he captured Jianmen Pass.
General Su Zhuang’s march is so fast.”
Su Xiong also picked up the telescope and smiled happily when he saw the Great Wall military flag.
He saw soldiers on the leading ship of the fleet waving flags and communicating with them.
[I am the second division, and I have heavy artillery on board to assist you in attacking the city]
Su Xiong used his binoculars to see clearly Su Zhuang, Tong Yunpeng and Wen Jingming standing on the bow of the ship.
He immediately asked the flagman to reply to the message.
【I am a master and will cooperate with you.】
Su Xiong sent someone to inform Su Li that reinforcements had arrived and would assist him in attacking the city.
He watched ten warships go down the river, followed by twenty-three transport ships.
The warships stopped near Hezhou. Each warship opened its gun window on the side and launched five 110-mm medium-sized artillery pieces.
There is a 150-meter heavy gun on the bow, and craftsmen designed special gun carriages and slide rails.
There is also a simple crane that can adjust the direction of heavy artillery.
Allow the heavy artillery to fire at the bow or the left and right sides of the ship.
The heavy guns fired. It was not a professional warship, its center of gravity was not stable, and the hull shook violently.
The heavy artillery shells hit Hezhou City. The walls of Hezhou City were shaking, and a large piece of the masonry on it was blown away.
After two consecutive rounds of volleys, the Hezhou city wall could not withstand it at all, and a piece of it was directly destroyed.
When Su Li saw the Hezhou city wall collapse, he immediately led his soldiers into Hezhou city.
Su Xiong lamented: "Times have really changed. We have no artillery, and we suffered heavy casualties during the five-day siege.
Even the city of Hezhou was not captured, and the cannon opened the gate of Hezhou in an instant."
He walked to the river and greeted Su Zhuang in person.
Su Zhuang stepped off the boat and saluted Su Xiong with a military salute.
They have the same position, and Su Xiong has a higher title than him, so he should take the initiative to salute Su Xiong.
Su Xiong also returned the military salute like Su Zhuang.
"Brother Su Xiong, we meet again."
"Brother Su Zhuang, I didn't expect you to come to support me."
Su Zhuang greeted him, and he immediately handed over Su He's orders to Su Xiong.
Su Xiong took the order, and he, Wang Shiyuan, and Li Zhengfeng decrypted the order.
After he confirmed that it was correct, he reminisced with Su Zhuang about the past and what happened to the army during this period.
"If Jianmen Pass is defeated, Sichuan will be ours sooner or later.
I estimate that Commander Su has already captured Chengdu, otherwise our advance would not have been so easy.
The last time we surrounded Rongcheng, the Sichuan governor's orders could not be conveyed, so each city fought alone without any cooperation."
Li Qingmu saw Su Xiong and Su Zhuang finished chatting.
He stepped forward and said sheepishly: "Marquis Baoxian, after you attack Chongqing, you will capture Zunyi.
You have to take the mountain road to Zunyi, and these warships will be useless. Can you hand them over to the naval brigade?
Our naval brigade now only has sailors and no warships."
Su Zhuang laughed and patted Li Qingmu on the shoulder.
"We are all brothers, to say so is to be foreign.
Now the warships are all handed over to you. Only if you are familiar with the warships can you better capture Chongqing.
It’s just that we need to give us some of the 110 light artillery pieces above. I will still need these artillery pieces to attack Zunyi Prefecture.”
When Li Qingmu heard what Su Zhuang said, he was extremely excited.
Immediately take the soldiers of the Marine Brigade and board the warship.
With these warships and cannons on board, it will be much easier to attack Chongqing.
The army met in Hezhou. After resting for a night, they took a warship and sailed down the river to Chongqing.
On the warship headed by Li Qingmu, he summoned all the masters and gave them lectures.
"We attack Chongqing, which is located on the Yangtze River.
The Yangtze River is a very wide river, and the water flow in the Chongqing section is relatively stable, unlike the Three Gorges where it is very turbulent.
Chongqing also has a navy of the Ming army, and its combat effectiveness cannot be underestimated.
We have few warships and many transport ships transporting soldiers.
The ship was destroyed and many people easily fell into the river and drowned.
Now I will teach you some skills so that even a soldier who cannot swim can survive after falling into the water."
Master Zhu asked, "Do you need to learn how to swim if you know how to swim?"
"You have to learn, my method doesn't waste your energy.
Swimming in the Yangtze River consumes a lot of energy, and people who are not physically fit can easily drown."
Based on his experience, Li Qingmu began to teach Master Zhu.
How to rescue yourself when there is not even a piece of driftwood around?
Under normal circumstances, when anyone falls into the water, a part of it can float on the water, which is about half the size of the head.
The soldier was about to fall into the water and took a deep breath.
Don't struggle in the water, the human body will stand in the water, and half of the head will float out of the water.
The eyes are above the water and the mouth and nose are below the water.
When standing in the water, tilt your head back as much as possible so that your mouth and nose are above the water.
You can breathe now without sinking.
Slowly stretch your hands back, keeping them out of the water.
When the hands reach over the head, the person will lie flat on the water.
This method allows people to float on the water and wait for others to come to rescue them.
Li Qingmu looked serious and solemnly explained: "At any time, except for the head, no part of the body should be exposed to the water.
In particular, your hands must not reach out of the water.
There is a limit to where a person can emerge from the water. As long as a hand reaches out of the water, his head will sink to the bottom.
You will soon suffocate and drown.
Don't panic if you fall into the water. If you use this method to save yourself, you will definitely survive.
We must tell the soldiers that our naval brigade will specially send people to rescue soldiers who have fallen into the water.
As long as they stay alive according to this method, they will be rescued on the ship soon."
I wish all the teachers to study seriously the methods taught by Li Qingmu.
Zhu Shi, who could swim, went down to the river to test this method himself and found that it could really make soldiers who couldn't swim float on the water.
…………………………
The fleet arrived at the point where the river merged into the Yangtze River, where a large number of Ming army warships had gathered.
Su Xiong looked at the Ming army's more than a hundred warships on the river.
He looked at Li Qingmu and asked: "Are you sure?
We only have ten warships and we are not sure. Our army has disembarked and is looking for a new place to cross the river."
Li Qingmu looked at the Ming army's warships in front, and he said confidently: "Fengxiang Hou, the warships we are traveling on are large warships, and most of the Ming army's warships are small warships.
If we use our ships to directly ram them, even the Ming Navy will be no match for us.
We also have heavy artillery on board. We just need to keep a distance from the Ming navy warships. Even though they have many ships, they are definitely no match for us.
For safety reasons, I recommend that the Army disembark and wait, rather than stay on the transport ship.
The Ming army may use fireboats to attack, and the boats will set off fires in the river, and the soldiers will suffer heavy casualties."
Su Xiong agreed with Li Qingmu's suggestion, and he immediately ordered the naval brigade to drive warships to fight the Ming navy.
The transport ship docked directly, and all the army disembarked to prepare for war.
Li Qingmu commanded the naval warships, distanced himself from the Ming Navy, and used cannons to attack the Ming Navy's warships.
The naval officers and soldiers on the warships operated heavy artillery, and based on their experience, aimed at the Ming Navy warships ahead.
The heavy artillery was fired, and the warship shook violently.
The cannonball missed directly and fell into the water, causing a huge water column.
Water columns rose next to the Ming navy warships.
The Ming navy warships were so frightened that they immediately fled into the distance.
The Ming navy warships also fired in panic.
Their artillery attack range was very close, and the cannonballs fell into the water before they reached Li Qingmu's warship.
Li Qingmu learned about the range of the Ming Navy's warship cannons, and he immediately issued an order.
"Change to incandescent bombs and fire when you get closer. The cannons on the Ming navy warships can't hit as far as our heavy cannons."
Ten warships approached the Ming Navy.
The soldiers used iron pliers to hold the iron bullets that burned red.
Put this iron bullet into the upward-sloping barrel.
The heat of the cannonball itself ignited the gunpowder in the barrel.
The red iron bullets were fired, the warship was very close to the Ming Navy warship, and the accuracy of the cannonballs increased.
Three of the ten shells hit the Ming Navy warship.
The hot cannonballs landed on the planks of the ship, instantly igniting the planks.
A fire broke out in a Ming navy warship. Seeing that it was impossible to extinguish the fire, the Ming troops above had no choice but to jump off the ship and escape.
Li Qingmu directed the warship to fire another salvo, this time closer, and five blazing bombs hit the Ming Navy warship.
When other warships of the Ming army saw that they were unable to deal with the yellow-robed thieves, they immediately turned around and fled towards Chongqing City.
Li Qingmu commanded the warships to pursue the Ming navy. At the same time, he notified the transport ships to transport the army to the other side of the Yangtze River.
…………………………
Su Xiong looked at Chongqing City in front of him, a city standing on the edge of the Yangtze River.
Li Qingmu led the naval brigade's warships to completely control this section of the Yangtze River waterway.
Most of the Ming Navy's navy fled towards Kuizhou Prefecture.
The soldiers of their three divisions have surrounded Chongqing City.
"Start the siege."
Su Xiong gave the order and the signal flares rose into the sky.
Chongqing City is the most important city in eastern Sichuan, guarding the Yangtze River, and its position is very important."
With the assistance of naval heavy artillery, Su Xiong assembled three divisions and stormed Chongqing City.
The army suffered heavy casualties during the day. They attacked the top of Chongqing City several times, but were blocked by the Ming army.
The siege stopped at night, and they came to Li Qingmu's warship to discuss tomorrow's siege plan.
Su Xiong pointed to the dinner plate in front of him and said:
"This is freshly cooked taro, grain captured in Hezhou. Let's try this unique crop in the south."
While eating taro, Su Zhuang said: "The terrain here in Chongqing is too dangerous and the slope is too steep.
I thought I had reached the top of the mountain, but when I looked up, I was at the bottom of the mountain.
The soldiers could not carry artillery at all, and the naval brigade could only support the troops near the river.
I suggest that instead of besieging the city on all sides, we concentrate on one wall and storm it.
The terrain on the side near the river is still very gentle, which is conducive to the deployment of the army.
According to today's situation, we can capture the city of Chongqing by concentrating our forces.
Our goal is to capture the city of Chongqing. If the Ming troops in the city escape from the city, it will not cause much hindrance to us."
Su Xiong looked at the map and considered Su Zhuang's suggestion.
"Shiyuan, do you think the Ming army escaping from the city will have a big impact on us?"
Chief of Staff Wang Shiyuan said: "Commander, I don't think the impact is big.
The Ming army defended the city better than fighting in the field. They couldn't defend the city, and they didn't dare to fight with us outside the city.
The target of the Second Division is Zunyi Prefecture. We got the news through prisoners. Now Zunyi Prefecture is stationed by Xu Chengming, the commander-in-chief of Guizhou Province.
Most of the Ming troops in Chongqing will not run towards Zunyi Prefecture.
They could only run eastward, along the Yangtze River towards Kuizhou Prefecture.
If we take Chongqing, we will also move eastward towards Kuizhou Prefecture.
He was stationed at Fengjie to prevent the Ming army from Huguang from entering Sichuan.
We have naval brigades and warships to assist us, and there are more Ming troops in these cities, so they will not have much impact on us."
Su Xiong asked other people's opinions and synthesized the opinions of various generals.
He gave the order.
"There is no need to besiege the city, as this will disperse the troops.
We concentrated our forces and attacked the city wall near the river in Chongqing City.
It doesn’t matter which direction the Ming army fled, the goal is to capture Chongqing City.”
As soon as it got dark, the heavy artillery from the naval warships fired at the city wall of Chongqing.
Suppress the cannons and archers on the walls.
After excluding the casualties and troops stationed in various cities, the three divisions still had nearly 30,000 people concentrated on one wall of Chongqing City.
They held up their shields to defend against the arrows fired from the city.
Carrying a ladder made of bamboo, he kept climbing up the Chongqing city wall.
"Sir, there are too many thieves in yellow, and the city wall was hit by cannons, causing big cracks.
If we don’t run, we’ll have no chance.”
The Ming army in the city saw that there was no hope of holding Chongqing City.
They immediately led their troops and fled Chongqing.
There are thieves in yellow to the south and west.
Most of them chose to flee eastward, along the Yangtze River all the way to Huguang.
A small number of them chose to flee south, towards Zunyi Prefecture, and took refuge with Xu Chengming, the commander-in-chief of Guizhou Province.
Su Xiong saw that the soldiers had climbed to the top of Chongqing City and planted the Great Wall military flag on Chongqing City.
The gates of Chongqing have been opened, and troops have begun to enter Chongqing.
Su Zhuang did not enter the city, but said goodbye to Su Xiong: "Brother Su Xiong, I am going to Zunyi Mansion.
By capturing Zunyi Prefecture, we will have the initiative in Guizhou, and we can advance, attack, retreat or defend."
"Brother Su Zhuang, the soldiers have been very tired from marching and siegeing the city these days. Why don't you rest for two days before leaving?"
Su Zhuang explained: "I can't rest, there are deserters in Chongqing City fleeing to Zunyi Prefecture.
I can't give Guizhou General Xu Chengming too much preparation time.
Zunyi Prefecture has complex terrain and difficult logistics and transportation.
If Xu Chengming, the commander-in-chief of Guizhou, sends more Ming troops from Guizhou, the war will be very difficult."
Su Xiong did not try to persuade him to stay, and said generously: "We will stay in Chongqing Prefecture for a while, and then we will attack Kuizhou Prefecture eastward after Chongqing Prefecture is stabilized.
I can wait until the logistics team and transportation baggage arrive.
I will give you all the army's rations, artillery, grenades and gunpowder."
When Su Zhuang heard what Su Xiong said, he said excitedly: "Thank you, Brother Su Xiong, for your support."
The Second Division and the First Division handed over some logistical equipment.
Su Zhuang did not lead his troops into Chongqing City, but bypassed Chongqing and went south directly to Zunyi Prefecture.
