Chapter 260 Heavy artillery siege the city to occupy Henan
Su He stood on the embankment of the Yellow River and looked at Kaifeng City below the city.
Outside the north gate of Kaifeng City, there are more than ten large forts built with bricks and stones.
Su Hu walked over with a smile on his face and said: "Your Majesty, thirty 150-meter fortress guns have been deployed outside Kaifeng City.
These fortress cannons are so powerful that the city walls of Kaifeng Mansion will definitely not be able to withstand the bombardment of the fortress cannons."
Su He looked at these fortresses and forts. It was only the end of January and it was still winter in Henan.
Cement hardens very poorly in winter.
We can only use traditional methods, bricks and stones and glutinous rice juice to build a barely usable fort.
Only traditional cannons that were previously sold to Li Zicheng and did not have ejection devices needed to be deployed for use.
The new 150mm fortress gun is equipped with a tube retreat device.
The cannon's own recoil has been mostly absorbed by the spring.
As long as it is fixed well, it will basically not move backwards.
Su He watched the forts being deployed, and the countdown to taking Kaifeng City had begun.
After Kaifeng City was captured, he wanted to meet the defender of Kaifeng City.
Su He had not seen a ruthless person who could come up with such a vicious plan to cut off the people's food and delay the Qin army's attack for a long time.
Su He stood on the embankment of the Yellow River and saw a convoy coming to the camp.
"Let's go back to camp and the soldiers will have enough to eat before we can attack Kaifeng City.
Judging from the situation now, the team transporting military rations should have arrived."
When Su He returned to the camp, he saw that the camp was very lively today.
There are cartloads of food being transported into the camp outside.
When Wang Shiyuan saw King Su He of Qin coming back, he said happily: "Your Majesty, the grain transport team has transported the grain to the camp.
Minister Jiang Zhiyu is checking the quantity of grain.
Looking at the team transporting food, the plan is to have 2,000 tons of military food, and I estimate that the amount is about the same.
We will soon have no shortage of food, and our soldiers will have sufficient physical strength to fight."
Su He ordered: "The cannon at the north gate of Kaifeng City has been deployed.
Now the military rations have also been transported to the camp, and all units have been notified that the soldiers should have a good rest and have a full meal today.
Starting tomorrow, we will launch another attack on Kaifeng City.
This time we have heavy artillery attacking the city, we must capture Kaifeng City."
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The headquarters of the 1st Division, 2nd Brigade and 3rd Regiment of the Third Army.
The leader of the regiment, Bai Yuangui, led the Huotou Army and brought dozens of large steamers.
Bai Yuangui opened the steamer with his own hands. Inside was a huge white-faced steamed bun.
The aroma of steamed buns floats into the air, stimulating the taste buds of many people.
They smelled the steamed buns and kept swallowing their saliva.
Bai Yuangui greeted: "Everyone, come and eat white flour steamed buns. Everyone can also receive a small spoonful of kimchi and a spoonful of fish soup."
"Captain, it's enough for me to eat half a steamed bun. I'll give the remaining half of the steamed bun to my fellow villagers.
I almost starved to death in my hometown before.
If it hadn't been for the arrival of the Qin army, I wouldn't be where I am today.
Now that I have become Qin Jun, I also have to take care of the fellow villagers here in Henan."
"Captain, we are all strong men. A little food is enough. We have grown fat and strong in the military camp, so we can listen for more time.
My fellow villagers are too weak, please give them more food."
"Commander, there is only so much food in the army, so don't waste it."
Bai Yuangui saw many people staring at the steamed buns, but they were ready to give away the steamed buns in their hands.
By doing this, King Su He of Qin should be educating the Qin army so that they should not forget their identity.
The soldiers of the Qin army are all compulsory soldiers and come from the vast number of common people.
They are not like the military households of the Ming Dynasty, they are all hereditary.
Most of the hereditary officers of the Ming Dynasty did not regard the common people as human beings.
Bai Yuangui said loudly: "Didn't you see the changes in the camp today?
The convoy carrying food has arrived at the camp, and we will have endless amounts of steamed buns and steamed buns to eat.
You don't have to worry about fellow villagers, there will be people bringing food to the countryside to help them.
You eat with open stomachs today until you are full, and tomorrow you will have to attack the city, so you must maintain sufficient physical strength."
The soldiers heard that the rations had been shipped and they would fight tomorrow. They happily ate white-flour steamed buns.
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Su He stood on the embankment of the Yellow River and looked at the city of Kaifeng ahead with his telescope.
"Beat the drum."
Boom, boom, boom.
A huge drum beat sounded, which was the signal to launch an attack.
At the same time, on the Yellow River embankment, the signal corps also lit the signal flare to initiate the attack.
The heavy artillery troops had already adjusted their muzzle direction.
When they heard the signal to attack, they pulled the gun rope almost at the same time.
Heavy artillery began to fire volleys at the Kaifeng city wall.
When the old and new heavy artillery are fired together, the effect of the tube withdrawal can be seen.
Once the barrel of the new gun is retracted, it will quickly return to its original position.
The gun carriage did not move at all, so there was no need to readjust the shooting position.
After half a minute, it can reload and fire.
Although the old fortress guns are breech-loaded guns, they cannot overcome the huge recoil when firing.
The reaction force of firing the cannon directly caused the cannon to slide backwards, plowing a furrow on the ground. In this way, the recoil force was gradually weakened.
The artilleryman re-fixed the fortress cannon and needed to repeatedly adjust the angle of the cannon.
The reloading time of the fortress cannon is very fast, but the preparation time is extremely long.
It took them fifteen minutes to get the old fortress cannon to fire again.
Su He stood on the embankment of the Yellow River. He was some distance away from the fortress gun emplacement.
He saw that the fortress cannon was enveloped in thick smoke, and he could no longer see clearly what was going on inside the fort.
Su He put all his eyes on the walls of Kaifeng City.
Kaifeng City is the capital of Henan. The city walls are high and thick.
It can block the attack of 120 artillery pieces.
The walls of Kaifeng City could not stop the attack of 150 fortresses.
Every cannonball that hits the wall of Kaifeng City will inevitably blow down some bricks and stones on the wall after it explodes.
The artillery continued to attack, and the roar of artillery continued.
The Qin army's fortress artillery roared for a day, and the walls of Kaifeng City had become dilapidated.
The fortress cannons that were resting at night roared again just after the sun rose.
Another artillery shell hit the wall of Kaifeng City. The already scarred city wall could not withstand the power of the shell explosion.
The cracks in the city wall of Kaifeng City expanded and suddenly collapsed, revealing a gap nearly five meters wide.
Wei Yunshang, commander of the Second Division of the Third Army who was closest to the collapsed city wall, seized the opportunity.
He immediately led his troops into Kaifeng City.
Leave a regiment of soldiers behind to guard the gap and wait for support from the troops behind.
Wei Yunshang led other troops and immediately rushed towards Kaifeng City.
When the Ming army defended the city, they were very tough.
Especially when they saw that in the later period, the Qin army only surrounded but did not attack, they had a smile of victory on their faces.
As long as we persist a little longer, we can wait until the reinforcements from Beizhili arrive.
When these Ming troops saw Kaifeng City being breached, their morale suddenly collapsed.
When many Ming troops saw the Qin troops coming with guns, some of them immediately put down their weapons and surrendered.
Some turned around and ran away, hiding in people's homes, taking off their military uniforms and putting on ordinary people's clothes.
Zhao Depei heard the report from his own soldiers that the northern city wall had been blown down by the cannon of the thieves in yellow.
A large number of thieves in yellow have rushed into the city, and the Ming army cannot stop them. Now only a small number of Ming troops are resisting.
Zhao Depei looked at the Henan Governor's Yamen where he lived.
His life was worthwhile, as he experienced the authority of the governor.
With the character of the thief in yellow who is determined to retaliate, the thief in yellow will never let him go.
Zhao Depei kowtowed three times to the north.
"I'm sorry for the Ming Dynasty and Emperor Chongzhen for not guarding Kaifeng City."
After he finished speaking, he stood on the chair trembling all over.
He immediately stretched his neck into the white silk under the beam.
His body was constantly trembling, and Zhao Depei was very hesitant. He didn't want to die at all, but also wanted to make contributions to the Ming Dynasty.
He wanted to achieve Yu Shaobao's achievements, turn the tide before it fell, and help the building before it collapsed.
Restoring the Ming Dynasty and annihilating the thieves in yellow are just his talents and cannot support his ideals.
Kaifeng City has been breached by thieves in yellow. Zhao Depei can no longer escape and can only choose to die to serve his country.
He must not fall into the hands of the thief in yellow. With the things he did, he knew what would happen to him if he fell into the hands of the thief in yellow.
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The Qin army took complete control of Kaifeng City and eliminated all Ming troops who dared to resist in the city.
Su He entered Kaifeng City, and he quickly learned about the situation in Kaifeng City from the prisoners' mouths.
The information obtained by the secret guards was correct, and most of the civil servants in Kaifeng City ran out of the city.
Under normal circumstances, Kaifeng City would inevitably be leaderless and in chaos.
But Zhao Depei, a previously unknown fellow in Kaifeng Prefecture, suddenly stepped forward to turn the tide.
He used poisonous tactics to unite the Ming army in the city through the threat of the Qin army.
Unify the internal thinking of the Ming army, give them confidence, and let all the Ming army decide to stick to Kaifeng City together and wait for the Ming court to rescue them.
Zhao Depei is capable, but his ability is not outstanding.
His approach was perfectly fine in defending Kaifeng City in the cold weapon era.
He did not expect that times had changed, and no matter how strong the city wall was, it could not withstand the attack of heavy artillery.
Wang Shiyuan entered Su He's room and reported: "Your Majesty, we have completely occupied Kaifeng City and captured more than 30,000 Ming troops. Many of them are military households near Kaifeng.
Zhao Depei, a fellow magistrate of Kaifeng, hanged himself in the governor's office.
Most of the Ming army surrendered to us, and Zhu Shi and the military police of each army are examining them.
Dispose of prisoners in accordance with relevant regulations."
Su He nodded after hearing this. The Qin army had already formed a complete set of mechanisms to deal with the issue of prisoners.
There is no need for him to give special instructions on this. Zhao Depei is already dead, so there is nothing he can do about it.
Even enemy generals have done many evil things.
Su He couldn't do such an act of insulting a corpse.
This kind of behavior is incompetent and furious, showing one's own incompetence vividly.
Su He ordered: "Let all armies be dispatched to completely control Henan.
Important cities bordering Henan, Shandong, and South Zhili were heavily defended.
We are about to attack North Zhili of the Ming Dynasty, which is where the capital of the Ming Dynasty is located, where Emperor Chongzhen and all the civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty are located.
Henan is the most important logistics channel.
The absolute safety of logistics material channels must be guaranteed.
The Ming army in Shandong or southern Zhili cannot be allowed to have the opportunity to cut off the logistics supply channels.
The biggest test for the Qin army is whether they can capture Shuntian Prefecture after traveling a hundred miles."
Wang Shiyuan heard Su He's order and immediately arranged for the army's staff to prepare military orders.
After Qin King Su He signed and sealed it, the military order was issued to the Third Army.
The Qi Gangyi Department of the Imperial Guard is responsible for guarding Kaifeng City and protecting the safety of the King of Qin and the central government.
Su He issued this order mainly because he obtained intelligence from the secret guards and the Military Intelligence Bureau.
The Qin army had already reached Kaifeng City, and Ming Dynasty did not react until the Qin army reached Kaifeng City.
The Ming Dynasty arranged for the cabinet minister and the Minister of War, Yang Sichang, to command all Qinwang's troops and set up defenses layer by layer in northern Zhili to block the Qin army's attack.
Emperor Chongzhen sent Crown Prince Zhu Cixiang southward.
The intelligence detected by the secret guards was an exchange of interests between Emperor Chongzhen and the civil service group.
The Ming Dynasty promised the civil service group to organize a regiment to protect themselves, and the civil service group agreed to allow Crown Prince Zhu Cixiang to go south.
Since Emperor Chongzhen sent Crown Prince Zhu Cixiang south, he himself would not run away.
According to the situation reported by the Military Intelligence Bureau, the new city Tongliao established by the Qin Army in Monan Mongolia has gained a firm foothold.
The three major cavalry divisions can threaten Shenyang, the capital of Jiannu, at any time.
If Jiannu really dares to enter the pass, the three major cavalry divisions will take advantage of Jiannu's weakness and directly capture Jiannu's lair.
Now the cavalry division and Jiannu's Eight Banners soldiers are in a confrontation stage. No one dares to reduce their strength and expose their weaknesses.
The strategic situation was very good for the Qin army, so Su He was no longer in a hurry to attack Shuntian Mansion, and made every move step by step.
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Meng Zheng, commander of the Third Division of the Third Army, shouted at the top of his lungs: "Xuzhou is ahead, take Xuzhou immediately, and we will take all the cities in Kaifeng Prefecture."
The Third Army launched a three-pronged attack, preparing to capture all areas in Henan.
The First Division is responsible for Weihui Prefecture, Huaiqing Prefecture, and Zhangde Prefecture in the north of Kaifeng Prefecture.
The second division is responsible for Guide Mansion east of Kaifeng Mansion.
Their third division is responsible for the remaining counties in Kaifeng Prefecture except Fucheng.
The third division was divided into two groups. He led the troops to march counterclockwise to attack Zhengzhou, Xinzheng County, and Xuzhou.
Chief of Staff Lu Xingqin led his troops to march clockwise and attack Chenliu County, Tongxu County, Taikang County, and Chenzhou.
According to the early report of the Signal Corps, Chief of Staff Lu Xingqin marched very fast along the way. When the Ming troops along the way heard that Kaifeng City had been taken, they all chose to surrender.
The chief of staff has handed over the city to the garrison and is preparing to return to Kaifeng City.
He encountered a tough enemy in Zhengzhou. It took him five days to attack the city and clean up the prisoners, but he finally reached Xuzhou.
Li Dazhuang stood at the top of Xuzhou City and saw smoke and dust billowing in front of him.
"Now there are Ming troops taking the initiative to attack us. Could it be that we have encountered a difficult opponent on the Kaifeng battlefield?"
"Beat the drums and prepare for battle."
Their Seventh Army was responsible for taking over other prefectures and counties in Henan.
From Henan Prefecture to Nanyang Prefecture, and then take down Runing Prefecture in the south.
They made a big circle and captured all the areas in southern Henan.
The Seventh Army immediately went north and captured Xuzhou lightly.
When Li Dazhuang saw someone coming to Xuzhou for reinforcements, he prepared to defeat the reinforcements and immediately sent troops to attack Kaifeng City.
The Seventh Army is faster and may be able to catch up with the Battle of Kaifeng.
The enemy troops in front were closer, and Li Dazhuang saw a familiar military flag through the telescope.
"These are friendly forces. Let the troops end their war preparations and send signal troops to verify their identities."
The two armies soon joined forces, and Li Dazhuang learned the identity of the Qin army on the opposite side.
He also knew that Kaifeng City had been captured by King Su He of Qin, and the Third Army began to occupy other places in Henan.
Now, according to the speed of each army, all parts of Henan should have been occupied by the Qin army.
Li Dazhuang assembled the Seventh Army and went to Kaifeng City to join the main force.
