The night was as dark as ink, and Yan Yingyuan was standing on the edge of the Wei River looking towards Tianjin Wei.
The Wei River in the Ming Dynasty was actually the Hai River in later generations, the one that flows from Tianjin through Dagu Port into the Bohai Sea.
On the ice of the Wei River, Chen Mingyu and hundreds of new troops were digging an ice hole. After digging the ice hole, he buried ceramic jars one by one through the ice hole, and then carved a path horizontally on the ice.
Then, bury the lead wire wrapped in oil paper into the shallow ice pit, and then pull the lead wire to the shore.
After doing this, pour cold water on the ice pit and ice cave.
After a while, the cold water freezes, and the ice pits and ice caves are frozen.
At this time, even if you look closely, it is difficult to see anything strange.
Yan Yingyuan wanted to repeat the old trick and use it again in Dagukou the same way he had used it in Shanyang City the year before last.
Sun Fanzhi was skeptical about this: "Brother Jianheng, you have already used this method once under Shanyang City. It is already an old routine. Can it work?"
"You are not afraid of old age." Yan Yingyuan waved his hand and said, "As long as it is easy to use."
"I think it's a bit suspenseful." Sun Fanzhi shook his head and said, "Jiannu has already suffered a loss once in Shanyang City, how can he make the same mistake again in Dagukou? In my opinion, it is a waste of mines."
"Let's see." Yan Yingyuan just smiled and did not argue with Sun Fanzhi.
While talking, Chen Mingyu had finished his work and went up to the shore and said to Yan Yingyuan: "Jianheng, according to your wishes, a thousand ceramic landmines have been buried in the ice of Weihe River, and all of them have been laid with double lines.
Once these one thousand ceramic landmines are detonated, they can collapse an ice surface more than three hundred steps in length."
The width of the Wei River is sixty paces. If multiplied by the length of three hundred paces, it would be a large area of ice.
Such a large ice surface is enough to accommodate tens of thousands of people, or thousands of ice sledges.
"Very good." Yan Yingyuan pointed to the ground under his feet and said to Chen Mingyu, "Gongchen, I have to continue to work hard for you and lead the troops to lay mines in the ground on both sides of the Wei River."
"Both sides have to be buried too?" Chen Mingyu couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.
"Bury." Yan Yingyuan nodded heavily and said, "And bury a thousand on each side!"
"Ah? One thousand each?" Chen Mingyu hesitated for a moment and then persuaded, "Jianheng, although we carried a full 20,000 landmines this time, we have used 3,000 landmines before we even fight a single battle.
, isn’t it a bit much?”
Sun Fanzhi also advised: "That's right, Brother Jianheng, we are not going to guard Dagokou this time for a month or two months, but for a year or even two years."
"No, you are wrong." Yan Yingyuan said.
“Whether it’s one year or two years, the most critical thing is the first month.”
"As long as they withstood the first month, when the Jiannu realized that retaking Dagukou would require paying an unimaginable price, they would no longer launch a needless attack."
"Then the rest of the battle will be easier to fight."
"From now on, you just need to be careful of sneak attacks from Jiannu."
After saying this, he said to Chen Mingyu: "Gongchen, just do as I say."
"Yes, I will go back and move the mines right away." Chen Mingyu immediately turned around and returned to the river, and then led a group of new troops to pull the ice sledge back to Dagukou to pull the ceramic mines.
Yan Yingyuan turned back to Sun Fanzhi and said: "Liufu, it's almost time now. You should lead the troops to replace Peiqing (Feng Houdun). Remember, in addition to patrol posts, more hidden posts must be deployed to ensure the blockade."
On the periphery, otherwise the Jian Nu Ye Bu Shou will see our movements, and all the arrangements will be in vain. However, after the landmines are laid, we can deliberately let some of the Jian Nu Ye Bu Shou in to let them think they have seen through.
We are real.”
"Yes." Sun Fanzhi said solemnly, "I guarantee that not even a mouse will run in."
After saying that, Sun Fanzhi immediately summoned the 500 new troops who were sitting on the ground to rest and set out under the cover of night.
Yan Yingyuan returned to the guntai bunker outside Dagokou and fell asleep.
At this time, there are still two days and nights before the arrival of the Jiannu army with high probability.
During these two days and nights, you must seize the time to eat well and sleep well.
There will probably be no time to sleep in the next month.
…
March 26, the 20th year of Chongzhen (1647).
As soon as it got light, Yan Yingyuan climbed up to the watchtower.
This watchtower is made of wood and is ten feet high.
This is not only a watchtower, but also Yan Yingyuan's command tower.
Instructions can be accurately conveyed through signal flags during the day and signal lights at night.
Because Dagukou is a plain, the view from the watchtower is excellent. Standing on the top of the tower, Yan Yingyuan can easily see the general scene around twenty miles away.
Of course, if you want to see clearly, you must use a telescope.
Yan Yingyuan took out the telescope from the leather bag on his waist and opened it section by section.
This is clearly a three-section monocular telescope, a product of the Nanjing Telescope Workshop.
The glass industry was also one of the industries promoted by Chongzhen through the military industry. In order to promote the development of the glass industry, Chongzhen placed an order for 10,000 telescopes at one time to two glass workshops in Nanjing.
Of course, these ten thousand three-section telescopes cannot be delivered in a short time.
Before there was mechanical power, manual polishing was very labor-intensive and time-consuming.
Yan Yingyuan opened the telescope one by one and slowly scanned the surroundings.
Suddenly, Yan Yingyuan's sight stopped, and then he began to adjust the focus of the telescope.
After adjusting the focus, Yan Yingyuan could clearly see groups of Jiannu driving along both sides of the Wei River. On the ice of the Wei River, there were continuous ice sledges.
Many ice sledges also carry Hongyi cannons.
Coming, Yan Yingyuan curled his lips slightly.
I wonder if the old rival Duduo or Dorgon is coming this time?
However, no matter who is here, I hope you will like the meeting gift I have prepared for you. After all, the Chinese people have been a country of etiquette since ancient times and are the most hospitable.
Soon, Jiannu's forward cavalry was less than five miles away from the outer position.
Yan Yingyuan had already asked the New Army to set up stone markers marking the distance on the periphery, and set up a marker every other mile within five miles. This was also to facilitate the artillery to adjust the pitch angle.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! This will save you the distance measurement step.
Of course, the distance mark was disguised in order not to be discovered by Jian Nu.
This distance is actually within the range of the 20 4-inch guns deployed at the forward position, because the maximum range of the 4-inch guns is five miles.
But firing at this distance is a waste of shells and gunpowder.
However, Yan Yingyuan put down the telescope, looked down and said: "Send an order to the artillery on the periphery, reduce the charge by half, and fire ten rounds at Jiannu."
"Ah?" The messenger below suspected that he heard wrongly.
Jiannu's forwards were still five miles away. There was no chance of hitting at this distance, but Master Yan actually wanted to halve the charge. He must have heard wrong.
"What are you doing standing still?" Yan Yingyuan shouted, "Hurry up and give the order."
"Yes." The messenger realized that he had heard correctly. This was Master Yan's order. He immediately raised the signal flag and issued the order to the front positions.
…
Forward artillery position.
The messenger in charge of communications said to Sun Fanzhi in the command position: "Master Sun, reduce the charge by half and fire ten rounds."
"All are available, reduce the charge by half, and fire ten rounds!" Sun Fanzhi did not hesitate at all, and immediately gave orders to each gun, and the 20 4-inch guns deployed in the outer positions began to load.
The gunners first adjusted the pitch angle of the cannon to 45 degrees and then locked it.
After nailing the tailstock of the cannon to the ground with an iron drill, we began to load ammunition from the mouth of the cannon. First, half a paper shell of gunpowder, about three kilograms, and then iron bullets weighing 16 kilograms were stuffed to the bottom.
"One door is good, two doors are good, twenty doors are good..."
"Fire!" Sun Fanzhi's raised right hand suddenly came down.
The 20 gunners immediately inserted the red-hot iron drill into the gun port.
The next moment, there was a continuous huge explosion of "bang bang bang bang bang".
At the same time, there was the scream of the cannonball tearing the air.
Accompanied by the ear-piercing screams and huge explosions, even the 1,600-pound cannon on the gun carriage jumped up violently. Fortunately, there was an iron bolt holding the tailstock in place, otherwise it would have had to slide back.
…
The scream of the shell tearing through the air also alarmed Jiannu.
One of the cannonballs landed on the ice of the Wei River, instantly hitting a white spot on the ice. It bounced a little and then landed on the ice again. Then it rolled forward a long way before stopping.
When the projectile came to a complete stop, it stopped just in front of an ice plow.
At this time, dozens of ice sledges in front had stopped one after another, but the ice sledges behind were still sliding forward, and the ice surface of Weihe River immediately seemed a little crowded.
"Hey." Dorgon, who was riding along the south bank of the Wei River, shouted to stop his horse.
Fulin, Hong Chengchou, Fan Wencheng, Ning Wanwo, Hou Fangyu, Cao Eryu and Ashan who followed Dorgon also reined in their horses and stopped by the river.
Dorgon even raised his telescope.
After observing for a moment, he asked disdainfully: "Ah Shan, can you estimate the range of the Ming army's red cannon?"
"Yes." Ah Shan also had a telescope in his hand. After observing for a while, he said, "Master, the range of the Ming army's red cannons is only a little more than two miles, which is not as good as our Qing Dynasty's red cannons."
When Fulin heard this, he wanted to ask how far the red cannon of the Qing Dynasty could shoot?
But when I thought of E Niang's instructions before leaving, I swallowed it back in my stomach.
Soon, Zhengbai Banner Han Army's Gushan Ezhen Shitingzhu continued: "After Tang Ruowang's improvements, the range of our Qing Dynasty's red cannon has increased from more than two miles to nearly four miles!"
[Note: In the Ming Dynasty, 1 mile = 180 feet = 360 steps = 576 meters]
Fulin thought to himself, indeed, what E Niang said makes sense.
Dorgon smiled and said: "It seems that Nanming's cannon-casting technology has not improved at all."
Hou Fangyu lost no time and said: "Tang Ruowang was once the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, but the dog emperor Chongzhen didn't know how to reuse him. This shows that the Nanming Dynasty has exhausted its energy. To replace him for the Qing Dynasty is to follow the will of heaven and the people."
"
Dorgon felt very comfortable after saying this. He nodded and said, "Shi Tingzhu, you can let the red cannon go ashore."
"Hey." Shi Tingzhu agreed, then rode his horse to the river and shouted, "The emperor and the regent have decrees. The Han troops under each banner will drag the red cannons ashore immediately. Hurry."
"Boom!" However, as soon as Shi Tingzhu finished speaking, a loud bang was heard in his ears.
Then there were continuous explosions, and large pieces of ice splashed on the river.
"What...what's going on?" Shi Tingzhu was a little confused. Is this the ice layer collapsing?
But that shouldn't be the case. Although the ice after the beginning of spring is not as strong as in winter, it is still several feet thick, and the Wei River is not that wide. Ordinarily the ice shouldn't disintegrate anyway.
While he was confused, Shi Tingzhu vaguely heard a crisp sound.
This click was like a stone thrown into the lake, instantly breaking the calm.
The next moment, the ice of the Wei River, which was about 300 steps long ahead, suddenly cracked. Hundreds of iron sledges originally parked on the ice, as well as the Han troops driving the plows and their mules and horses, immediately fell like dumplings.
Into the water.
Also falling into the Wei River were dozens of red cannons carried by the Eight Banners Han Army.
"Ah?" Seeing this scene, Shi Tingzhu was stunned. What did he say?
Not only Shi Tingzhu, Fulin, Hong Chengchou, Fan Wencheng, but also Ning Wan and others were also stunned.
This is too deceptive. Gunpowder is actually buried under the ice, just waiting for them to step into the trap?
This wave of losses was not small. At least five to six hundred ice sledges rolled into the Wei River. The tens of thousands of stones of grain loaded on the ice sledges were wasted. Even if they were fished out, they would quickly become moldy and rotten.
In addition, dozens of red cannons also fell into the Wei River.
Although the Wei River is not very deep, these red cannons will definitely be fished out in the end, but they will definitely not be able to catch up in the Battle of Dagukou this time. This is too cunning.
However, things are not over yet.
Nearly a thousand Eight Banners and Han troops on their sledges fell into the water one after another. Fortunately, the water in the Wei River was not deep, and there were many mules and horses floating on the river, so the Eight Banners and Han troops who fell into the water swam to the shore with their mules and horses in their arms.
Soon, the north and south banks of the Wei River were crowded with Eight Banners and Han troops.
At the same time, the subsequent Eight Banners Han Army and Green Camp troops also arrived one after another.
This makes the north and south banks of the Wei River become more crowded, almost like a busy city.
Dorgon frowned, and when he was about to let Shi Tingzhu step forward to control the situation, he suddenly heard a bang.
Then there were continuous explosions. The huge explosion almost shattered Dorgon's eardrums, and he felt the ground beneath his feet shaking violently.
"Master, be careful!" Hou Fangyu rushed over and threw Dorgon to the ground.
Su Mo'er also hugged Fulin into her arms, trying to protect Fulin's safety with her weak body.
But in fact, this is unnecessary, because the explosion did not affect Dorgon, it was just a false alarm.
But one after another accidents made Dorgon's mentality collapse. He pushed Hou Fangyu away, sat up and roared: "Who is this person? Who is this person? Who?"
"Master, no need to ask, it must be Yan Yingyuan!" Ah Shan said with a dark face.
As Gushan Ezhen of Zhengbai Banner, Ashan had participated in the Shanyang War, and it can be said that Yan Yingyuan's endless conspiracies and tricks are still fresh in his memory.
"Master, it must be Yan Yingyuan."
Ashan gritted his teeth and shouted: "It must be Yan Yingyuan!"
"Yan Yingyuan?" Hong Chengchou and others were shocked.
