Su Li looked at the already crumbling Xiangyang City.
He took out his pistol and fired a green flare into the sky.
The signal flare for the general attack was sent out, and twelve river warships, three artillery regiments, and hundreds of artillery shelled Xiangyang City at the same time.
"We finally waited for the air-dropped bombs supplied by the Logistics Department, and conducted preliminary reconnaissance to find out the situation of the Ming army in Xiangyang City.
We also found a way to bomb Xiangyang City. The first few times the hot air balloons took off, the rocket launchers in Xiangyang City immediately hid.
Let the hot-air balloon troops take off and blow up the Hongyi cannons and rockets in Xiangyang City."
The artillery fired, and huge white smoke filled the Qin army's formation, blocking all the Ming army's sight in Xiangyang City.
The hot-air balloon troops took the opportunity to take off and reached a height that could not be seen from the ground. The Ming army in Xiangyang City was not aware of it.
The hot-air balloon troops rose to a high altitude and headed straight for Xiangyang City in the direction of the wind.
They came to the top of Xiangyang City's Hongyi cannons and rockets, and their altitude dropped sharply.
A huge number of bombs were thrown from high altitude, destroying all the rockets and a large number of Hongyi cannons in Xiangyang City.
Su Li saw the hot air balloon unit and sent news of success.
He immediately dispatched transport ships and the artillery regiment suppressed the few Hongyi cannons in Xiangyang City.
There are no artillery pieces with curved trajectories like rockets.
The artillery of the Ming Army in Xiangyang City had no way to withstand the Qin Army's artillery bombardment, operate the artillery to aim and fire.
The transport ships of the Qin army rushed directly to the foot of Xiangyang City despite the sparse bombardment of Xiangyang City.
On the way, there were Ming warships and a large number of fire ships in Xiangyang City, rushing out of the water gate of Xiangyang City.
The transport ship was escorted by river warships. The river warships only needed to use small artillery to destroy the Ming army's warships and fireships.
The soldiers of the Fifth Army on the transport ship jumped off the ship immediately when they saw that the ship was approaching the shore.
Soldiers from the First Division of the Fifth Army waded through the water with rifles in hand and launched an attack on Xiangyang City.
Ji Feiyang, commander of the third regiment of the first brigade, was the first to go ashore and immediately commanded his men to fight.
"Hurry up and get the explosive pack. The commando team will blow up the cracked city wall. Others should cover the commando team."
Ji Feiyang issued an order. The artillery regiment is now extending its artillery fire, which is the best time to attack.
The walls of Xiangyang City were bombarded by artillery shells, and no Ming army could defend the city at all.
The commando team took explosive bags and charged towards the Xiangyang city wall.
The commandos listened to the constant sound of shell explosions on the city walls.
Risking being killed by one's own artillery shells.
He leisurely buried several explosive charges under the city wall and fixed several explosive charges on the city wall with iron nails.
Thanks to the skill of the artillery and the accuracy of the artillery, no shells exploded around them.
They fixed the explosive package, lit the fuse of the explosive package, and immediately ran back as fast as they could.
When Ji Feiyang saw the commandos coming back, he shouted loudly: "Everyone covered their ears with their hands and squatted down to prevent their ears from being hurt by the explosion and being hit by flying stones."
There was a loud bang and several explosive packets exploded.
Directly blowing down the already scarred Xiangyang City wall.
Ji Feiyang led his troops and immediately launched an attack into Xiangyang City.
He saw the soldiers in front of him who suddenly stepped on a landmine, and their legs were blown to pieces with blood and flesh.
Ji Feiyang was so angry that he threw his military cap to the ground and shouted loudly: "There are mines in the city, everyone should pay attention to clearing them."
Su Li, who was outside the city, heard the guard report that there were landmines in the city.
This was completely unexpected. Rockets and mines were all available to the Ming army, let alone more common weapons like mines.
"If we find out who did this, we must let him know and offend our military.
If they blow up the house and create a road through the ruins of the house, I don’t believe that the Ming Army can lay mines in people’s houses.”
The Qin army received instructions from Su Li and they attacked faster.
Soon they defeated the Ming army in Xiangyang City and attacked the center of Xiangyang City.
There are still some Ming troops resisting stubbornly here.
You Shihai saw the Qin army attacking Xiangyang City.
"Father, brother, I have avenged you."
With red eyes, he lit the match beside him.
There was a loud bang, and a mushroom cloud rose into the sky.
Ji Feiyang ignored his burned arm and his eyes were bleeding. Nearly half of the soldiers in their third regiment had been swallowed up by the explosion.
Su Li quickly received the news, and he said in shock: "You Shihai is so cruel, he arranged a large amount of gunpowder in the center of Xiangyang City.
Seeing that the Ming army could not hold on, they directly detonated a large amount of gunpowder.
The center of Xiangyang City was directly destroyed by gunpowder, resulting in the death of more than 500 of us.
The number of deaths in this battle exceeds the previous total."
Zhong Liqing also said with emotion: "We also encountered many crazy Ming army generals.
They are all people who are cruel to others and cruel to themselves, and You Shihai definitely ranks at the top of the list."
The Fifth Army captured Xiangyang City and rested for one night in Xiangyang City.
Take a boat south again and go straight to Chengtianfu City along the Han River.
The Fifth Army suffered some casualties, but it was still unable to stop their march south.
…………………………
Su Li stood on the wall of Chengtianfu City and raised the flag of the Qin army.
He said easily: "I thought the Huguang Ming Army were all as tough as You Shihai.
Even if they cannot defeat us, they would rather die with us or kill some of our troops.
Like You Shihai, our journey will be extremely difficult.
The Ming army in Chengtianfu City, this is the normal state of the Ming army.
They also tried to resist, but found that their strength was too low and they were unable to resist us.
A small number of people will resist resolutely, but most of them will surrender."
Zhong Liqing looked a little blue as he looked at the soldiers entering the city.
He suggested: "Let's rest in Chengtian Fucheng for two days.
After solving the Ming army in Chengtianfu City, all the way to Hanyang, there was no Ming army that was too powerful to block the way.
After nearly two months of continuous fighting, the soldiers were very tired mentally and physically.
There was also a shortage of vegetables on the ship, which made many soldiers extremely weak.
Hanyang Prefecture is close to Wuchang Prefecture, and the Ming army is relatively powerful.
Wuchang Prefecture also has one of the few firearms workshops of the Ming army that can produce Hongyi cannons.
There is no shortage of artillery in Hanyang Prefecture. They really want to use a large number of forts to block the Han River and Yangtze River waterways.
We may not be able to break through the blockade of Hanyang Mansion in a short time."
Su Li looked at the state of the Qin army. He also felt that the Qin army had been fighting continuously and should rest for a while.
It is agreed that the Fifth Army will rest here in Chengtian Mansion for a few days.
We happened to be celebrating the Lantern Festival here in Chengtian Mansion.
Let the congratulators read letters from their families to the soldiers so that they can maintain sufficient morale.
On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival has just passed.
Su Li led the Fifth Army to continue southward, making great progress along the way.
They easily captured Qianjiang and captured all the towns around the Han River. The garrison has taken control of Chengtian Mansion.
Su Li took a river warship, crossed Chengtian Mansion, and entered the territory of Hanyang Mansion in Huguang.
…………………………
The Wu family, a new gentry family in Hanyang, has been seeing an endless stream of guests these days.
Some newly rising gentry in Hanyang kept coming to the Wu family.
They were already accustomed to the fact that the Wu family in Hanyang only had a few old men and none of the Wu family members were at home.
Wu Yuanji, the head of the Wu family, welcomed the eight gentry who had an irreversible relationship with his family.
In the past few years, under the leadership of the Wu family, we have been doing business with Hanzhong.
"What do you think?"
Wu Yuanji looked at the family heads who were still hesitating and asked.
Mi Lingfang frowned and said: "The situation is still unclear now. If we take action now, the Qin army will fail.
Then our family will definitely be destroyed.
We took other gentry with us to make money from Hanzhong.
Only these powerful gentry let us go.
In fact, we are just big fat pigs raised by others, and we will be slaughtered as soon as we are fattened.
This is also the reason why we can unite together now.
You see, who has the confidence and backing to do this with us? Once it fails, the family will never recover."
Zhao Bao nodded and said: "Yes! We must think carefully. If we make a mistake, we will be in doom.
Now there is no governor or governor in Huguang to take charge of the overall situation.
Zuo Liangyu, the commander-in-chief of Huguang, went to South Zhili to suppress bandits, and now he has just returned to Wuchang with his troops.
The civil servants of Wuchang Prefecture and Zuo Liangyu fought fiercely, which affected our Hanyang Prefecture.
They were also divided into several factions, and they fought fiercely with each other.
Our small actions were not noticed by others.
The Ming Dynasty definitely cannot count on it, but there are still 40,000 Ming troops loyal to the Ming Dynasty in Hanyang City.
The Qin army came to attack the city, but they may not be able to defeat the Ming army in the city.
I saw that the Ming army in Hanyang was also equipped with a large number of artillery and muskets.
Look at those densely packed cannons on the city wall, the Qin army may not be able to capture Hanyang in a short time.
Once we took action, the Qin army did not break in.
Once our purpose is exposed, we will soon be executed by the Ming army.
Our main family members have all been transferred.
Our lives are worthless, and if we delay the Qin army's important event, we will commit a big crime."
The opinions of the two family heads, Mi Lingfang and Zhao Bao, won the support of others.
Wu Yuanji looked at the performance of these people and understood what they were worried about?
These families are now discussing how to cooperate with the Qin army to attack Hanyang Mansion.
The Qin army will reach Hanyang Mansion in two or three days.
Until now, they have not discussed whether to take action or not.
They were worried about the strength of the Qin army and did not make up their minds to put their wealth and lives on the line.
Wu Yuanji directly brought over a leaflet and a letter and showed them to everyone.
"Like you, I was also worried about Qin Jun's performance.
If the Qin army is just a donkey dung egg with a smooth surface, its true shape will be revealed as soon as it collides with the elite of the Ming Dynasty.
We are all risking the lives of our family members. If we make one wrong move, we will be doomed.
Just like the eight Shanxi merchants, they made the wrong choice and were directly captured by the Qin army.
Yanhuang Daily named eight Shanxi merchants for betraying their ancestors for three days in a row. These eight families did not end well.
All the members’ property was confiscated, and all members were killed and exiled.”
Mi Lingfang's eyes widened after reading the content on the flyer.
"This, this, can this be true?"
"What? Could it be that the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty would help the Qin army to make lies and publicize the Qin army's achievements?"
After Mi Lingfang heard Wu Yuanji's words, he was silent.
The content on the leaflet is that Qin King Su He destroyed the elite Ming army in Mengjin County.
The content of the letter is from the magistrate of Nanyang in the Ming Dynasty, writing to his family.
Let the families in Hanyang immediately run to Jiangnan to avoid the disaster.
After everyone present read the letter, their attitudes changed dramatically from just now.
Zhao Bao said excitedly: "The Qin army fought extremely well in this battle.
We must cooperate with the Qin army as soon as possible to reflect the value of our family.
Brother Wu's son Wu Hongyi is now the prefect of Huizhou, Guangdong.
Many people from our family have gone to Guangdong to seek life.
Everyone is aware of some situations that have been reported back to Guangdong.
The King of Qin did not kill all the more enlightened gentry families, giving us a certain chance.
Especially for the gentry who surrendered voluntarily and made significant contributions.
They will only deal with some of the black sheep of their family and redeem all the land owned by the family. They will not use other assets of these families.
Those families who presented the city in Guangzhou received great compensation from the King of Qin.
I have been paying attention to the changes in these companies.
Even if there are a few companies that are not outstanding in ability, they still have Shaofu's company to take them to do business.
Families such as the Li family and the Zheng family that entered official careers received greater preferential treatment.
Li Shengming disappeared, and now he should be following the Qin King's army, leaving a real vacancy, at least a certain prefect.
Zheng Ziliang passed the imperial examination and finally worked in the secretariat.
The secretaries of King Qin will be promoted quickly and their potential is even higher.
We are too weak to offer the city, so we must cooperate with the Qin army internally and externally to capture Hanyang Mansion."
Not only Zhao Bao, but every family head present was extremely excited.
King Su He of Qin won a great victory, which was a decisive victory.
The Qin army defeated more than 100,000 Ming troops, but its own losses were very small.
The Qin army has this strength, the Ming Dynasty is already on the verge of collapse, and the world is about to change its master.
Those of them who have already boarded the ship with half a foot on the ship will be left far behind by other people who have boarded the ship early if they don't work hard.
Wu Yuanji saw that everyone had reached a consensus.
He said happily: "Everyone immediately mobilize the servants and tenants. We are only responsible for causing chaos in the city.
I tried my best to convince the general who was still hesitant before.
We may not be able to accomplish anything just by relying on people like us.
It would be great if you could instigate some Ming army generals to open the city gates.
I am responsible for contacting the Qin army. Everyone is waiting for my news to act together, and be sure to keep it confidential."
The Qin army approached Hanyang City, and all Ming officials in Hanyang were in panic.
Coupled with the internal fighting between civil servants and military generals in the Ming Dynasty, many generals were panicked.
There were also many gentry who packed up their gold, silver and jewelry and immediately took boats to Wuchang Mansion.
There were gentry with stronger mobility. They didn't even go to Wuchang Prefecture, but ran directly along the Yangtze River to Nanzhili.
Wu Yuanji took advantage of this opportunity and kept approaching the Ming army generals in Hanyang Mansion to make them determined.
…………………………
Su Li stood on the river battleship and looked at Hanyang Mansion in front of him.
It was already the end of January, and the communication ship had just caught up with them. King Su He of Qin had won a beautiful victory in the north.
When Su Li heard the news, he was extremely surprised.
The great victory in the northern battlefield means that the main force of the Ming army will immediately gather at Shuntian Mansion.
The Ming army they face later will be even weaker.
The southern battlefield where their Fifth Army is located has not yet fought a beautiful decisive battle because it sent troops late.
But along the way, except for the road blockage in Xiangyang, the rest of the road was unstoppable.
Zhong Liqing came over quickly and said happily: "Commander, the Military Intelligence Bureau sent us a message.
The Hanyang Wu family and other families will cause trouble in the city when we attack Hanyang.
They have convinced the guards at the north gate of Hanyang City to open the gate when we attack.
I hope we can keep the pressure on the west city gate and attract the attention of most of the Ming army, so that we can take action at the north city gate."
When Su Li got the news, he was immediately pleasantly surprised.
Other units of the Fifth Army followed the normal siege rhythm and attacked the west gate.
Yun Kuohai, commander of the First Division, led the First Division to attack the North City Gate.
The Fifth Army was ready to attack the city. They did not hesitate and immediately launched an siege.
Wu Yuanji saw the Qin army launching an attack outside, and he immediately led a group of young men composed of gentry slaves and tenants.
They set fire to the city and shouted that the Qin army had entered the city.
Gu Shimen, the guard at the North City Gate, saw the Qin army coming.
He immediately led his soldiers to control the North City Gate and opened the North City Gate of Hanyang to welcome the Qin army into the city.
Under the supposed cooperation with foreign forces, the Qin army quickly captured Hanyang City.