Chapter 158 Climbing the Great Wall to Deter Mongolia
"Brothers on the Great Wall, I am Xu Shengkai, the commander-in-chief of Guyuan.
Hong Chengchou, the governor of the three sides, and Sun Chengzong, the grand master, were both captured by the Qin army.
Don't continue to resist. Doing so will lead to a dead end.
Don't listen to the rumors. I will also surrender to the Qin army and receive good treatment.
As long as you open Guancheng and surrender to the Qin army.
Lord Su will ensure the safety of your lives and property, and ensure that you will gain prosperity and wealth, with countless gold and silver coins.
The Qin army has occupied Shaanxi, and you have no way out.
Many brothers have worked hard for the Ming Dynasty for so many years, but they have no land or wives of their own.
As long as you surrender to the Qin army, I will give you land and help you find wives.
Live a happy life that you can’t imagine.”
Xu Shengkai shouted under the Great Wall for a long time.
He saw the performance of the frontier troops on the Great Wall.
He walked toward the Qin army's formation with a smile and asked others to continue shouting under the Great Wall.
When Xu Shengkai saw Su Hu, he said flatteringly: "Master Su, this matter is basically done. The border troops on the Great Wall will surrender soon.
They did not resist fiercely, but were considering surrender.
My ancestors have been guarding the Great Wall, and my family has intermarried with most of the generals from the three sides.
They can listen to what I say. In this current situation, no one will be stubborn."
"General Xu, if you can persuade the border troops to surrender, I will personally petition His Highness the King of Qin for you." Su Hu promised.
Can we capture the Ningxia section of the Great Wall without spending a single soldier?
Xu Shengkai has made great achievements, and he will definitely receive a reward from His Highness King Qin.
Their third army has the heaviest task and the slowest speed.
When Su Hu received the military report, Li Dazhuang advanced lightly and marched in a hurry every day.
They raided the Great Wall and caught the defenders off guard. Now they have captured the eastern section of the Great Wall in Shaanxi.
Wu Jie had many frontier troops under his command. He captured the Great Wall in the western section of Shaanxi by persuading surrender and deceiving the city.
Now only the Ningxia section of the Great Wall has not been captured.
Su Hu captured this section of the Great Wall, and the entire Shaanxi Ming Great Wall fell into the hands of their Qin army.
It was getting late, and Su Hu's patience was quickly running out when he saw that the defenders of the Great Wall had not surrendered yet.
"Inform the heavy artillery troops to prepare for a storm."
When Xu Shengkai saw this situation, he became worried and said: "Master Su, please wait for a while.
I will personally go to the Great Wall to persuade them to surrender and guarantee that they will surrender."
"Okay, you come back before sunset.
Tell the defenders of the Great Wall that if you don't come back before sunset, we will attack the city with artillery."
Su Hu watched Xu Kaisheng being hoisted to the Great Wall in a hanging basket.
He waited for about half an hour before the door of the Great Wall opened.
Xu Kaisheng led the Great Wall defenders out of the Great Wall.
Su Hu sent the third division commander Meng Zheng to receive the surrendered Ming army.
The army quickly entered the Great Wall and defended various key areas of the Great Wall.
The Ming army truly surrendered, not a false surrender.
Su Hu saw that the Qin army had boarded the Great Wall. They advanced to both sides of this section of the Great Wall and captured the entire section.
Lu Bo, the new commander of the Third Army, went to take over the surrendered Ming army.
Identify and transform these Ming army soldiers.
Su Hu walked to Xu Kaisheng and praised: "You did a good job."
Xu Kaisheng smiled happily, knowing that he had secured the credit this time.
"Master Su, the defenders of this section of the Great Wall are loyal ministers of the Ming Dynasty. He does not want to surrender to us.
But his men didn't want to die and were inclined to surrender to us.
I went up to do the work, and many generals joined forces to tie this man up, and the Great Wall defenders surrendered to us."
Su Hu praised Xu Kaisheng a few words.
He climbed onto the Great Wall, stood on the Great Wall, and looked toward the Hetao.
It is the Great Wall under his feet that has protected the people of China for thousands of years.
Su Hu listened to Su He's lecture. Only a unified country can build fortifications like the Great Wall.
The situation of the Great Wall is also closely related to the fall of the dynasty.
Only when the country is strong can the Great Wall play its greatest role.
The Great Wall is not only a fortification, it is also the largest material transfer place.
When the army is able to launch an attack on the grassland, it is very safe to hoard food and supplies in the Great Wall without fear of a sneak attack by the army.
Whenever the Central Plains dynasty weakened, nomads would cross the Great Wall and launch attacks on the Central Plains.
It is an extremely great fortification built by the Chinese nation.
Some imperial courts failed to make good use of this fortification, blaming the construction of the Great Wall for wasting people and money.
Su Hu looked at the fortifications on the Great Wall, which reflected the wisdom of the ancestors.
Soldiers hid on both sides of the battlements behind and shot arrows.
It does not face the ordinary city wall, but goes straight to the front of the city wall.
It opens like a swallow's tail, and the soldier's shooting port presents a certain angle.
Soldiers cannot shoot forward, but can only shoot to the left and right.
In this way, the soldier's body is hidden within the walls of the Great Wall.
If the enemy fires arrows from the front, there is no way to hit the soldiers inside the city wall.
This design can only be used on the Great Wall.
The Great Wall is too long and enemies can attack from all directions.
There are also many soldiers scattered on the Great Wall.
Enemy troops attacking the Great Wall can be defeated by the defenders no matter which direction they attack.
An ordinary city cannot do this. The location where their enemy is located is only as wide as the city wall.
Shooting arrows diagonally will create a certain blind spot, making it easier for the enemy to attack.
Su Hu immediately called the messenger and ordered: "Immediately notify the artillery regiment and the artillery of the army and let them deploy cannons on the Great Wall.
The major engineering battalions went to build gun towers and fortresses outside the Great Wall."
Xu Kaisheng stood aside and heard Su Hu's instructions.
He asked in surprise: "Master Su Hou, are you going to abandon the Great Wall?"
His family had been fighting against foreigners on the Great Wall for several generations, and the Qin army really wanted to abandon the Great Wall.
He didn't dare to object, but when he thought about it, he felt very uncomfortable.
Su Hu said with a smile: "We are not letting go of the Great Wall, it is a treasure of the Chinese nation.
Not only must we not give it up, we must protect it.
Let our future generations know the role of the Great Wall."
Su Hu pointed forward and said: "Where is the place ahead? Do you know?"
Xu Kaisheng's expression was stunned, and then he said: "The front is the territory of the Mongolian Tatars, and our ancestors have been fighting against the Tatars for generations.
These Mongols are very ferocious and often invade."
"This is the Hetao area, and it has another nickname, Saishang Jiangnan.
It is close to the bank of the Yellow River, with rich aquatic plants and excellent natural environment.
This place has been the territory of China since ancient times.
The Ming Dynasty went through two generations, Hongwu and Yongle, and conquered Mongolia as far as Mobei.
If the emperor Zhu Qizhen had not lost the elite of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty would not have lost a large area of territory outside the Great Wall.
The Ming Dynasty was unable to take back the territory it had held since ancient times. Our Qin army did our part and took back the Hetao area.
This required a huge cavalry force to contend with the Mongols.
Now we ensure our control of this area by building permanent fortifications such as bunkers and gun towers.
The Mongols did not have cannons and other firearms, so they had no way to capture reinforced concrete fortifications such as gun towers."
After Xu Kaisheng heard this, he felt that His Highness King Qin was very courageous.
They, the frontier troops, have always dreamed of taking back the Hetao area.
But the strength does not allow it, and the Great Wall can barely defend the Mongolian Tatars.
Su Hu lived on the Great Wall. He learned from the surrendered Great Wall garrison generals about the Great Wall's usual defense against Mongolian cavalry.
Personally inspect the terrain of the Great Wall and understand the firepower configuration of the Great Wall of Ming Dynasty.
He defended key points on the Great Wall and arranged artillery and corresponding infantry.
Let engineers rebuild the beacon system of the Great Wall.
And based on the now perfect communication tower, more accurate signals are transmitted through various flags and lanterns.
He also received reports from various troops that they had completely captured the Great Wall in the Ningxia region.
The troops have established effective contact with Wu Jie's and Li Dazhuang's troops, and they jointly guard the Great Wall.
"Report to the commander that there is enemy situation."
Su Hu walked out of the camp and looked to the left as black smoke appeared on the Great Wall.
He personally came to the observation deck, where there were many monocular telescopes, fixed to a certain direction and unable to move.
Su Hu looked at the telescope in the direction of the black smoke.
He took a closer look and found that the beacon tower where the accident occurred was a smaller beacon tower, and its name was Qingshui Tower.
Inside the telescope is a communications tower with command flags displaying simple messages.
"Meng, ride three hundred. Left, one thousand five."
They were attacked by 300 Mongolian cavalry. The cavalry was now on their left front, 1,500 meters away from the Great Wall.
Su Hu said with emotion: "Our ancestors have long passed messages through beacon smoke and observation towers.
In order to find which beacon tower releases the smoke.
There is a wooden tube at the observation tower, through which you can only see the corresponding beacon tower scene.
In this way, you will not mistake the beacon that lit the smoke, and you will know which beacon has the problem.
Our current communication system is just an improvement on this ancient Great Wall communication system.
Messages were conveyed through command flags and telescopes were used to observe the situation.
Technology has advanced a bit, but the method is still the same."
Su Hu immediately ordered: "Send the order to Qingshui Terrace.
Don't use cannons until there is an emergency, and try to capture as many prisoners as possible."
There were only 300 cavalry, and there was no need to use cannons to capture more prisoners.
A communication tower was erected near the watchtower, and Su Hu's orders were displayed through the order flag.
They lit white smoke at the same time to notify other watchtowers that there was a message being transmitted here.
The communication tower uses black and white smoke during the day and red and green fireworks at night.
Attract the attention of other watchtowers and indicate the importance of the matter.
Black smoke and red fireworks are only allowed to be used for important information such as wars and natural disasters.
Du Bo, Zhu Shi of the Third Army, said: "Commander, is this information correct?
With only 300 Mongolian cavalry, they dared to attack the Great Wall.
These people are too bold, three hundred cavalry are too few."
Du Bo was very surprised that three hundred Mongolian cavalry dared to attack the extremely well-defended Great Wall.
Even the Mongols didn't know that their Qin army had occupied the Great Wall.
The Ming army also deployed tens of thousands of people on the Great Wall. These three hundred people were definitely not able to compete. They were too courageous.
"General Xu, there are still many people in our army who don't know much about the function of the Great Wall. Please explain it to everyone."
Lu Bo was a student in the second batch of the military academy. He performed well and served as the deputy commander of the Third Army.
Qu Xiangyang was injured and transferred back to Hanzhong Hospital for recuperation. He was appointed as the Zhushi of the Third Army.
Most of the students in the second batch of the military academy are self-taught.
At that time, Su He was leading the troops in battle, and they could only read the books written by Su He.
I have never listened to a few of Su He's classes, and the students in this period don't understand much about some knowledge that is not in the textbooks.
When Xu Kaisheng heard Su Hu's instructions, he smiled kindly.
"Master Su, generals, I will show my shame.
The entire Great Wall undergoes large and small battles every year.
If the grassland had not suffered extremely serious disasters, such as large-scale white disasters in winter, large-scale freezing of cattle and sheep, and many tribes starved to death.
Or a powerful tribe could arise and unify a large area of grassland.
For example, the rise of Mongolia or the current rise of Hou Jin Dynasty.
Under normal circumstances, grassland nomads will not start large-scale wars.
Large-scale wars, almost national wars, cannot be completely resisted by the Great Wall.
Not to mention the Han and Tang Dynasties, some time ago, Hou Jin broke through the Great Wall defense line and reached the capital.
The target of our Ming army's Great Wall defense has always been the small-scale Mongolian cavalry.
Without the Great Wall, these Mongolian cavalry, with one or two hundred men, could go south to clear grass valleys.
With the Great Wall defense in place, hundreds of Mongolian cavalrymen would not be able to break through the Great Wall defense line.
The main purpose of the beacon tower on the Great Wall is to notify the size of the enemy forces everywhere.
If the enemy is strong, we will prepare defense equipment and ask for reinforcements to come and support us.
If the enemy is small, send troops to pursue it."
Su Hu said: "General Xu is right, the main function of the Great Wall is to prevent attacks by small-scale nomadic forces.
Don't take a small cavalry of several hundred people seriously.
If they were not blocked by the Great Wall, they would cause great harm if they entered the Great Wall.
Ordinary people have no ability to stop these murderous cavalry.
Our Chinese civilization is an agricultural civilization, and we must rely on short-term weather to complete farming and harvesting.
At this time, being attacked by nomadic cavalry will cause a sudden loss of food in the area."
After Lu Bo listened, he already understood the function of the Great Wall.
"Commander, when we march into the Hetao area, shall we also build a Great Wall along the Yellow River?"
"The Great Wall may not be built, but similar fortifications will certainly be built.
This is a big project and I have no way of making the decision. It depends on what His Highness King Qin thinks."
After Su Hu finished speaking, he saw that the beacon fire and wolf smoke on the Qingshui platform in front had been extinguished.
This is the Great Wall defender, who has already dealt with these incoming Mongolian cavalry.
"We have to teach these Mongols a lesson and let them know that this place has changed its owner.
Master Lu Zhu, go over and interrogate these Mongols, which tribe they belong to.
It would be best to instigate a few Mongolians and let them serve as our guides.
In the vast prairie, our army is not familiar with the environment yet, and it will be troublesome to get lost.
All Mongolian tribes who dare to attack us will be wiped out.
Building roads and fortresses also requires a lot of labor, and these Mongolians are suitable to be recruited as laborers.
We want to make our own voice heard in this area."
Chief of Staff Qin Xiangkun heard what Su Hu said and agreed:
"The military commander is right. A strong man can say, 'Anyone who offends our strong men will be killed no matter how far away they are.'
Those Mongolian tribes that dare to attack us Han people must not be allowed to stay.
We can start trade with Mongolian tribes who abide by the rules.
Now on the grasslands, Mongolia's power is no longer strong.
His Highness the King of Qin has said that our greatest enemy is Jiannu, and certain Mongolian tribes can be won over.
But the Mongolian tribes who dare to show their teeth to us must be resolutely eliminated."
After they discussed it, Su Hu called the messenger.
He formed an order about what several people discussed and informed it to Wu Jie and Li Dazhuang.
The three armies acted together to clarify the attitude of the Qin army.
The messengers from Qingshuitai quickly arrived here to report on the results of the battle at Qingshuitai.
The defenders did not use cannons, the soldiers only used muskets.
They killed most of the Mongolian cavalry who had never seen muskets.
These Mongolian cavalry fled in panic. They opened the door and captured more than 60 Mongolians with different injuries.
Su Hu sighed with emotion: "Our army has no cavalry, and these rabble are all allowed to escape."
Qin Xiangkun said with a smile: "Commander, we have arrived at the Great Wall, so we don't have to worry about the cavalry anymore.
On the opposite side of the Great Wall, there are countless cavalry and excellent horses.
Sooner or later, we will also have an excellent cavalry.
I believe this day will not be too far away.
The Mongols are tough people and they will never surrender and become slaves.
If we can surrender to the Jiannu, they will surrender to us. We only need to defeat these Mongols.
This nomadic tribe has a strong character.
If you are weak, you will be like a dog; if you are strong, you will be a wolf.”
"Weak people are like dogs, and strong people are like wolves. They are still white-eyed wolves. They must be tied up and used as dogs all the time.
Staff Qin, your words are very classic and perfectly describe the characteristics of these nomadic peoples.
Its rise is booming, and its demise is sudden.
Their short history of civilization and the prairie where they live determine the character of these tribes." Su Hu admired.
Lu Bo clasped his hands in fists and said: "The messenger reported that some Mongolians were seriously injured. I'm afraid if I go too late, these people will run out of energy.
I will say goodbye and leave first, everyone is waiting for my good news."
"Remember to bring medicines, we still have a lot of penicillin and allicin.
Don't use the medicines from Qingshuitai. Medicines are too expensive now, and there are quotas for medicines at the grassroots level.
If the usage is exceeded, they will report it.
If the injured Mongolians surrender, give them some medicine.
On the grassland, we have many things to do, and we still need the help of these Mongolians.
The remaining medicines will be left at Qingshui Terrace as a reward for their victory."
Lu Bo took the medicine, rode a fast horse and went with the guards to Qingshui Terrace to interrogate the prisoners, instigated several Mongolians to rebel and served them.
…………………………
Meng Zheng, commander of the Third Division, looked at the rockets pulled by the artillerymen next to him.
The roads on the grassland have not yet been repaired, and the heavy artillery and artillery vehicles cannot move forward. They can only rely on rockets to provide heavy firepower.
Currently, there are only two types of explosive ammunition: heavy artillery shells and rocket shells.
The collision fuse cannot be set too sensitive. Only the rate of fire and weight of heavy artillery and rockets can activate the collision fuse.
Meng Zheng did not carry medium-sized artillery, but only carried the more convenient 75mm artillery to provide them with medium and long-range fire support.
He believes that without improvement, the 75mm cannon will be on the verge of elimination.
The distance of the 75mm cannon's shotshells is about the same as that of a rifled gun. Nowadays, no one uses the 75mm cannon to fire shotshells.
"Barter, how far is it from the Hebutu tribe you mentioned?"
With a humble look on his face, Battle trotted to Meng Zheng's side.
"Sir, ten miles ahead of us is the Hebutu tribe. This pasture is the pasture of the Hebutu tribe."
Battle glanced at the muskets on the backs of these soldiers, and he showed a look of fear.
He used to be the son of a leader of a large tribe in Mobei, and he could also compete for the position of leader.
Some yellow-haired Rakshasa ghosts appeared in their tribe and used these muskets to directly eliminate the tribe's most elite warriors.
Seeing an opportunity, he escaped and wandered on the grassland. He was defeated and sold to the Hebutu tribe as a slave.
Hebutu heard the news that the Ming Dynasty in the south was involved in civil strife and was now very weak.
The Hebutu tribe sent a small team of troops to test the Ming Dynasty's reality.
They didn't expect that the people at the Great Wall had changed.
When Battle heard the sound of muskets, he remembered his previous nightmare and prepared to escape.
Unexpectedly, due to bad luck, the horse was injured and he fell off the horse.
Battle could speak Chinese and was very obedient, so he became a guide.
Meng Zheng heard Gobaat'er say that the Hebutu tribe was not far away, so he marked it on the map.
In the army, there was not only one guide named Battle, but also many guides born in the Ming army and Mongolians.
But Battelle performed best.
Meng Zheng ordered: "Load the rockets and be ready to launch at any time."
The artillerymen began to install collision fuses on the rockets and put the rockets on the launchers.
The army continued to move forward.
Meng Zheng has already seen the endless yurts.
He asked Battle in surprise: "My troops have already reached the vicinity of their tribe.
Why hasn't this tribe responded yet? They can still survive on the grassland just like they are."
Battle explained: "Sir, it should be that the Ming army was too weak before.
They have never taken the initiative to attack. The Mongolian tribes here have no habit of defending against enemies from the south.
They focused their defense on other Mongolian tribes."
After Meng Zheng heard this, he felt aggrieved for the Ming army.
When the Qin army arrives here, they will show off their fangs.
"Artillery, fire.
The infantry maintained formation and launched the attack."
Meng Zheng gave an order, and the artillerymen pulled the match ropes, and dense rockets flew towards the Hebutu tribe.
When Battle saw the scene of the rocket exploding, he was so frightened that he sat down on the ground.
"It's terrible, it's terrible."
He didn't expect that besides muskets, this army had something more terrifying.
Meng Zheng led the infantry and rushed into the Hebutu tribe, killing all those who dared to resist, and all others were captured.
A huge Mongolian tribe completely disappeared.
It took Meng Zheng half a month, under the leadership of Bater and other guides, to wipe out three Mongolian tribes who sent troops to attack the Great Wall.
Several Mongolian tribes united and prepared to encircle and suppress Meng Zheng on the prairie.
They encountered rocket-propelled grenades and rifled guns.
The Mongolian cavalry, which still used scimitars, was unable to withstand the attack of firearms.
The cavalry formed by these tribes were directly defeated by Meng Zheng, and their tribes were annihilated by Meng Zheng's troops.
Not only Meng Zheng's group, but also Wu Jie and Li Dazhuang also sent people to destroy these Mongolian tribes who dared to attack them.
The name of the Qin Army is spread here in Monan Mongolia.
The Qin army released news that if any Mongolian tribe dared to attack the Great Wall again, the Qin army would definitely destroy them.
Mutual trade is open outside the Great Wall, and friendly Mongolian tribes can exchange horses, cattle and sheep for salt, medicinal materials, tea, iron pots, grain and other supplies.
The Mongolian tribes were frightened by the powerful strength of the Qin army. They did not dare to attack the Great Wall again. They could only drive their cattle, sheep and horses to the Great Wall to exchange supplies.