Su Li took the river warship and walked directly past Xunyang Fucheng.
The garrison has taken control of Xunyang City.
The Ming troops in Xunyangfu City surrendered sincerely.
Pang Jian'an smiled and said: "Yunyang Mansion is too close to us, so it is normal for them to surrender.
If the Ming army in Xiangyang City can be made to surrender directly, then our Qin army will truly become famous and scare away the Ming army."
Su Li smiled and did not answer.
He did not believe that the Ming army in Xiangyang City would surrender directly.
Xiangyang City is the core military town in northern Huguang.
After conquering Xiangyang, they moved southward along the Han River. No Ming army could resist them.
The ride was smooth all the way to Hanyangfu, the core area of Huguang.
A guard came over with food.
"Commander, Chief of Staff, it's time to eat."
Su Li looked at the braised grass carp, picked up a steamed bun and ate it with the fish soup.
During this period I ate fish every day, but now I have no appetite when I see fish.
But the vegetables had been eaten up, and he didn't make a small stove for himself.
"On the boat, this is the only bad thing. I eat fish all the time, but now I can't eat any more fish. It would be good to switch to some shrimps!"
Pang Jing'an nodded and said: "After we land, we must stock the kitchen with more vegetables.
Even if you store some cabbage and radishes, it's better than eating fish every day.
But I don’t want this. We eat fish all the time, which proves that the logistics staff don’t have time to get off the ship to buy.
This shows that we have been unstoppable along the way and have not encountered any powerful enemies."
The Fifth Army fleet marched very fast. Most of the small counties around the Han River chose to surrender when they saw that they were surrounded by large armies.
A small number of hard-core soldiers fired their guns from the river warships. The Ming army in the city was so frightened that they had no choice but to surrender.
These small counties did not affect the marching speed of the Fifth Army.
They came all the way to Gucheng. Su Li stood on the river battleship and found a white flag raised above Gucheng.
Pang Jian'an said happily: "In a small town like Gucheng, it is very normal for them to surrender. I didn't expect them to know how to surrender with a white flag.
Could it be that the general in Gucheng was someone we captured before?
Those who were released by our army usually performed meritorious service, such as the Ming army who kidnapped their commander and surrendered.
How can such a person still be reused in the Ming army?"
Su Li was also puzzled, and he immediately sent the garrison to check the situation in Gucheng.
The guns on the river warships have been aimed at Gucheng.
Once an unexpected situation occurs, the Fifth Army will immediately fire artillery to support the garrison.
Su Li was completely relieved when he saw the flag of the Qin army raised on the wall of Gucheng.
"Commander, the guard general in Gucheng wants to see you. He said he has important information to provide."
Su Li heard the guard and informed him of the incident.
I was very puzzled that the guard of Gucheng not only dedicated the city, but also visited him specially to provide intelligence to the Qin army.
Su Li immediately asked the guards to take this man to his flagship.
A middle-aged officer in his forties was brought to the flagship by the guards.
He raised his hand to Su Li and said, "Secret guard intelligence officer Huang Huali has met Commander Su Li."
When Su Li heard his name, he knew he was talking about a code name.
There are secret guards on his ship who are responsible for contacting secret guards in various places.
Su Li called this person directly to verify Huang Huali's identity.
There is a unique way of confirming identity among the members of the secret guard.
This allows two unfamiliar intelligence officers to let down some of their wariness and maintain limited cooperation after they meet.
"Commander Su Li, Huang Huali is indeed a member of our secret guard. You can listen to his opinion."
Su Li received confirmation from the secret guard, and he asked for advice: "Mr. Huanghuali, may I ask what aspect your information is about."
Huang Huali recounted in a calm tone: "Commander Su Li, the Ming army in Xiangyang City is preparing to surrender.
The commander of the Ming army in Xiangyang City was You Shihai.
Born as a concubine of the You family in Yulin, Shaanxi Province, he had good abilities and was loyal to the Ming Dynasty.
The You family has always supported the main lineages You Shiwei, You Shilu and others.
He did not receive support from the You family and his performance has always been mediocre.
After we ransacked You's house, he got the news and hated us deeply.
This time I received news that the Qin army was approaching eastward along the Han River.
After learning that the Ming army in Xunyang Prefecture had surrendered, You Shihai prepared to take advantage of the situation and sent me to lead a group of old, weak, women and children to Gucheng.
He planned to paralyze the vigilance of the Qin army generals through the successive surrenders of the Ming army.
After the Qin army arrived in Xiangyang, You Shihai prepared to surrender the city and lure the Qin army to an ambush location to attack and kill the Qin army.
My status is not high and I don’t know about You Shihai’s detailed preparations.”
A member of the secret guard codenamed Huanghuali introduced Su Li in detail to the situation of the Ming army in Xiangyang City.
After the introduction, he said goodbye and left, handing Gucheng to the Qin army.
He will also go to other places in the Ming Dynasty to lurk.
After Su Li listened to the story of the secret guard, he smiled and said: "Xiangyang Guard General You Shihai, he is also a smart man.
But he used his intelligence in the wrong place. Even without being informed by the secret guards, we would not be able to act according to his request.
You know, we are the victors, we are the ones who accept surrender.
How could the enemy surrender and we follow his request and go to the designated place?
They all ask the surrendered enemies to disarm and come out of the city to offer sacrifices while we take over the city.
How could an officer be so stupid and fall for You Shihai's plan?"
Pang Jian'an frowned and said: "Commander, You Shihai might come up with some strange strategies. We still have to be vigilant and stay the same to cope with any changes.
The worst outcome is that we storm Xiangyang City."
The Fifth Army took over Gucheng, leaving a regiment to garrison Gucheng, and sent a security division to occupy the nearby Daming County.
The large troops of the Fifth Army did not disembark and rushed directly to Xiangyang City.
…………………………
Su Li stood on the river battleship and looked at Xiangyang City ahead.
Xiangyang is surrounded by water and has a wide moat.
Xiangyang's city walls are also very tall and made of solid bluestone.
He looked with a telescope and saw more than a dozen red barbarian cannons on the top of Xiangyang City.
"The wall of Xiangyang City cannot stop the cannons on the river warships. One shot of 150 naval guns can blast a crack in the wall of Xiangyang City.
The moat of Xiangyang City is the most difficult to break through. It is a natural moat formed by several rivers such as the Han River around Xiangyang City.
There is enough water upstream that it is impossible to fill it up with sandbags.
Building dams to hold back water is too slow and takes several months.
Don't wait until the Second Army has captured Wuchang Prefecture, we haven't captured Xiangyang Prefecture yet.
At that time, our Fifth Army became a joke among the military."
Pang Jian'an stared at Xiangyang City and said, "I don't know what method Xiangyang City Guard General You Shihai is planning to use to lure us into the situation."
While they were guessing, they saw that the water gate to the west of Xiangyang City had been opened.
Several Ming soldiers, covered in blood, escaped from Shuimen by boat.
The Hongyi cannon at the top of Xiangyang City kept firing at the small boat.
The boat was in great danger and escaped the bombardment of Xiangyang City.
The boat soon arrived near the Qin army. These people were directly surrounded by the Qin army. They surrendered immediately and said they had something important to do and asked to see the Qin army commander.
The guard came with a Ming army general to find Su Li.
"Sir, I am Ji Zhi, the deputy general of Xiangyang City. My heart is with the Qin army. When I see the Qin army coming, I am ready to surrender the city.
Our actions were discovered by You Shihai, and my brother Ji Sheng was resisting the Ming army in the city.
We have opened the water gate in the west and ask the Qin army to pass through the water gate immediately and capture Xiangyang City."
Su Li and Pang Jian'an looked at each other, but they didn't expect that You Shihai would use this method to lure them into being fooled.
If they had not been warned in advance by the secret guards, they would have wanted to capture Xiangyang City.
When you encounter this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and the matter is very urgent, you will definitely be fooled if you don’t care about the details.
But it's completely different now. They observed Ji Zhi with a more careful eye and found many flaws.
"Ji Zhi, don't worry too much, we will help your brother right now."
Su Li turned around and ordered: "The main guns of all river warships should be fired at the water gate."
When Ji Zhi heard this, he quickly shouted: "You can't fire, you must not fire.
Brothers of the Qin Army, my brother and more than 3,000 people who are committed to the Qin Army are still waiting for reinforcements at Shuimen.
You Qin troops are all benevolent and righteous troops, and you cannot let us feel cold."
Su Li stared at Ji Zhi: "Take a good look at the strength of our Qin army."
The soldiers on the river battleship have adjusted the muzzles of the naval guns.
These naval guns are not new-type naval guns and do not have retreating devices.
After the naval gun fired, the huge recoil caused the river warship to swing violently in the river water.
Most of the cannonballs hit the walls of Xiangyang City.
The shell exploded, causing some debris to fall down.
However, the walls of Xiangyang City are very thick, and some shell explosions will have little impact on Xiangyang City.
A very small number of shells passed through the water gate and exploded inside the water gate.
Su Li was very far away, and he could hear the screams coming from inside the water gate.
When Ji Zhi saw this situation, he looked crazy.
He immediately rushed towards Su Li and was shot to death by the guard with a pistol.
"The acting was so fake, the shells exploded and screams kept coming.
When the two armies started fighting, there were only a few sounds of clashing weapons and some shouting, but no screams or wails."
Su Li saw a 120mm naval gun that might have been fired by mistake and flew directly towards the wall of Xiangyang City.
But because the range was not enough, it fell directly into the water two to three hundred meters in front of the water gate.
The shells fell into the water and exploded. Immediately in front of the water gate, there were explosions one after another.
When Pang Jian'an saw this situation, his eyes widened and he said in shock: "Water mine, this is a water mine!"
There are capable people in Xiangyang City. I have seen the mines of the Hanzhong Navy.
This kind of mine is a great weapon against ships.
Unexpectedly, the Ming army had talented people in Xiangyang City. The technology of the Ming army was so advanced that they could also create mines.
The Ming army's mines were extremely advanced, and they were almost as powerful as the mines I saw used by the Hanzhong Navy.
Could it be that the Ming army also learned how to make yellow explosives? How could it be made without basic chemical industry?"
They saw mines on the Han River. In order to prevent ships from touching mines, they first sent out small reconnaissance ships.
After finding that there was no problem, Su Li sent river warships close to Xiangyang City, preparing to surround Xiangyang through waterways.
Su Li saw the river warship walking on the Han River and was suddenly blown into two pieces.
There were more than 200 people on a boat, and he immediately sent a small boat to rescue them.
The rescue boat was traveling at high speed on the Han River without triggering any mines.
"The Ming army's mines are already so advanced, and they all have the technology to deploy mines at a fixed depth.
There are mines everywhere in the Han River, and the mines must be cleared so that our river warships can surround Xiangyang City."
The Fifth Army, in conjunction with the Hanshui Navy, began to clear mines in the rivers around Xiangyang City, removing obstacles for the army's advance.
Small boats were sent to use trawl nets to constantly clear mines in the water.
Fortunately, Xiangyang City's Hongyi cannon couldn't hit too far.
In addition, the naval guns on the river warships suppressed the Hongyi artillery of the Ming army in Xiangyang City, but did not cause much interference to the mine clearance work.
The Fifth Army carefully cleared the mines, and at the same time used river warships to bombard the top of Xiangyang City, preparing to use cannons to blow down the city wall.
It took them more than ten days, already in mid-December, to clear all the mines around Xiangyang.
Zhong Liqing held a mine with the fuse removed and showed it to Su Li and others.
Pang Jian'an recognized the mine at a glance and said, "Master Zhongli Zhu, why did you use the mine from the Hanzhong Navy?
Our army has the initiative in the waterway and only needs to clear mines, not lay mines."
Zhong Liqing said angrily: "This mine is the mine deployed by the Ming soldiers in the Han River. It did not explode because of the fuze problem.
The engineers removed the fuse and I took it over."
Su Li took the mine and looked at it carefully.
It is a big iron ball filled with yellow gunpowder. There is a line of small words engraved on the side of the big iron ball.
【433201272369】
Produced by Chongqing Arsenal, made by Wei Sanmao, Zhao Ke and Li Jin.
Su Li looked at the production number, manufacturer and craftsman of the mine.
This is the standard mine produced by the Qin Army Arsenal.
"I asked why the Ming Army suddenly had such powerful mines. It turns out that there is an insider here who sells standard weapons to the Ming Army.
Immediately notify the governor's office of the news and ask the governor's office to strictly investigate the way the mines escape.
Fortunately, this mine has a number, and based on the number, we can find out which unit it came from."
Pang Jian'an frowned and ordered: "Let the frontline troops pay attention. There may be other weapons of our army in Xiangyang City. Let the frontline troops pay attention to their safety."
The Fifth Army readjusted its combat methods, and Su Li tried to prevent the Ming army from hiding artillery and rockets.
Battleships and transport ships suffered losses, so he deployed artillery positions directly on the shore of the Han River.
At the same time, let the heavy artillery of the River Fleet and the artillery regiment of the Fifth Army continue to attack Xiangyang City.
A bluestone city wall like Xiangyang City will have some cracks every time it is bombarded, and they will not hold on for long.
They used artillery to attack Xiangyang City for more than half a month.
The gun salute celebrated on New Year's Eve is the roar of 150 naval guns.
They all spent the festival eating dumplings on the boat.
Most of the bluestone walls in Xiangyang City have collapsed.
But they still failed to conquer Xiangyang City.
Su Li looked at the weapons in the hands of the Ming army in Xiangyang City, and he was so angry that he cursed.
"Let me know who sold these things to the Ming army. I will shoot him myself without any intervention from the Ministry of Military Justice."
He looked at the rockets erected on the top of Xiangyang City.
Their transport ships were almost transporting troops across the moat, but were directly forced back by rockets.
The small city of Xiangyang blocked their Fifth Army for a month.