The headquarter of the second town of the New Army of the Ming Dynasty is Huaxia.
Because of China's poor performance in countering the rebellion in Guangxi, it took 3,000 new troops to fight for nearly two years. However, it was still unable to quell the rebellion in Guangxi. It was not even as good as Li Xiangjun's performance in eastern Sichuan. However, Li Xiangjun led only
There are more than 5,000 female soldiers plus a small number of native soldiers from eastern Sichuan, which puts great pressure on China.
So this time, China is working hard to win the battle.
Hua Xia even went to the first stage of the gun platform in person, lying behind the protective wall and holding a telescope to observe the enemy's situation.
Hua Xia's adjutant was a newly graduated Chinese student. He looked very nervous at the moment and persuaded Hua Xia: "Headquarters, it's too dangerous here. Jiannu's Tiger Crouching Cannon has never stopped, and the Hongyi Cannon and Fran Machine Cannon have also been fired.
The cannon may be fired at any time, so we should quickly return to the bunker of the second gun platform."
"What are you afraid of?" Hua Xia said, "The slaves have cannons, don't we have cannons?"
Of course, the Ming army also had artillery. In addition to the direct jurisdiction of a field artillery brigade and a mountain artillery brigade in the 2nd Town, each infantry battalion was equipped with a Tiger Crouching Artillery Chief, with a total of 27 Tiger Crouching Artillery.
Therefore, the second town of the New Army has a total of 450 artillery pieces.
For example, at this moment, the Ming Army's Crouching Tiger Artillery also never stopped.
There were at least 10 squatting tiger cannons, which had been firing fiercely at the Jiannu gun platform less than 200 steps ahead.
It's just that this kind of artillery attack is basically useless, because the infantry and even artillery of both sides are hiding in the blind spot where the opponent's tiger crouching artillery can't hit, so it is basically a blind attack.
At this time, if you look down from a high altitude, you will see a strange picture.
The southernmost gun platform built by the Qing army was less than 300 steps away from the nearest gun platform of the Ming army.
Since the civilians on both sides did not dare to work on the surface, because they would be hit by the other side's red cannons or tiger cannons as soon as they showed up, no slope protection was built on the front of the two gun platforms.
However, the outer trenches of these two gun platforms are wider.
Moreover, the civilians on both sides are still continuing to widen the trench, and are digging towards the middle from the north and south directions at the same time, so the "earth wall" in the middle is becoming thinner and thinner.
To the north of the earthen wall, thousands of Han soldiers from the Han Dynasty and the Eight Banners were waiting with bated breath.
To the south of the earthen wall, there was not a single Ming army in the ditch outside the Ming army's gun platform.
But in the gap between the battlements of the protective wall, two 4-inch field guns, two 2.5-inch mountain guns, and six squatting tiger guns had already revealed their dark muzzles, aiming at the earthen wall.
Seeing that there was not much left of the earthen wall in the middle, Huaxia immediately ordered the civilians to retreat.
Hundreds of Koreans immediately withdrew, and the outer trenches were immediately cleared.
Soon, the earth wall in the middle began to fall with dirt, which meant that the slave laborers on the opposite side would soon dig through the earth wall.
Huaxia immediately ordered: "Give me the order and the artillery will start shelling!"
With an order, 10 cannons fired at the same time, and dense shells instantly poured like a heavy rain on the earth wall in front.
There was only a thin layer of the earthen wall left, but now it collapsed after being bombarded by thousands of lead particles, instantly forming a huge gap with a width of more than a hundred steps.
Almost at the same time, a series of wailing sounds could be heard from the opposite side of the earthen wall.
However, it was the slave laborers on the other side of the earthen wall who were hit by the Ming army's shotguns.
Before the smoke could disperse, Jiannu Lianyong, who had been waiting for a long time, rushed over with a shovel.
As soon as these Jiannu slave drills entered the outer trench of the Ming Army's gun platform, they dug wildly on the ground with shovels, and then quickly dug out several landmines.
"Thieves who cheat on your mother are seeking death!"
Hua Xia immediately ordered the infantry to open fire.
The 270 infantrymen on the gun platform immediately formed a line formation and took turns firing their guns.
After intensive gunfire, Jiannu Lianyong fell down row by row.
However, the good times did not last long. Thousands of Eight Banners Han troops soon appeared in the gap of the collapsed earth wall, divided into three rows, and opened fire at the Ming army's gun platform. On the opposite side of the gap were Jiannu's camel cannon and Fran machine gun.
Cannons and red-coated cannons also fired fiercely at the Ming army's musketry from a distance of three hundred paces.
But Jiannu fired solid bullets.
Because there are slave infantry in the middle, it is easy to cause accidental injuries when firing shotguns.
The Ming army's musketry wall was instantly beaten into smoke and dust, and more than a dozen soldiers fell to the ground.
With such intensive firepower, even if most of the bodies of the Ming army soldiers were hidden behind the protective wall, with only their heads exposed above the protective wall, they would still be easily killed.
"Don't worry about Lian Yong first, kill the musketeers who established the slaves first!"
Hua Xia quickly made an accurate judgment. The Ming soldiers on the gun platform immediately turned their guns and pointed them at the Jiannu musketeers. The cannon on the gun platform also aimed at the Jiannu musketeers after reloading the ammunition.
After about a minute of exchange of fire, the Ming artillery on the gun platform fired again.
With a huge roar, thousands of lead pellets were thrown like hail towards the Eight Banners and Han troops in formation.
The next moment, the Eight Banners Han troops lined up outside the gap in the earth wall fell like wheat being cut down.
There were also many Lian Yong who were digging landmines in front of them who were affected and fell wailing in a pool of blood.
Just with this round of shelling, the formation of the Eight Banners and Han troops lined up at the gap in the earth wall became sparse, especially there were not many Eight Banners and Han troops in the front row left.
Seeing this, the two rows of Eight Banners Han troops behind them immediately collapsed mentally.
I don’t know who took the lead in the chaos, and it quickly spread to everyone.
In the blink of an eye, the remaining seven to eight hundred Eight Banners Han troops were completely gone.
As soon as the Eight Banners Han Army ran away, the Ming Army's firepower immediately turned to Lian Yong who was working in the trench.
However, since Lian Yong had already entered the trench and was too close, the field artillery and mountain artillery of the Ming army were limited to shooting angles and therefore could no longer be fired. However, the squatting tiger artillery could still be fired.
Accompanied by the sound of gunfire and the huge roar of the Crouching Tiger Cannon,
The Jian Nu Lian Yong who entered the trench was quickly defeated.
The battle in the age of firearms is truly a huge challenge.
…
A slave cannon platform is built in front.
Hong Chengchou and Hou Fangyu saw the defeat of the Eight Banners Han Army and Lian Yong through the lookout holes on the battlements.
Seeing the panicked and defeated Eight Banners Han Army still practicing their bravery, Hong Chengchou let out a long sigh.
Hou Fangyu also sighed and asked somewhat sadly: "Hong Butang, why don't you just get on the carriage?"
"Forget it, it's useless." Hong Chengchou looked a little bitter on his face, "If we don't clear the mines in the outer trenches first, no matter how many trucks we load, it won't be enough for the Ming army to blow them up."
Hou Fangyu was speechless, this was a dead end.
Without clearing the mines first, the carriages and sidecars would not be able to enter the Ming army's trenches.
But without the protection of the truck or sidecar, Lian Yong would have no chance to clear the mines.
Therefore, the only way is to use red cannons and Fran machine cannons to knock down the protective wall of the Ming army's gun platform, then load hundreds of bullets to clear out the Ming army on the gun platform opposite, and then dispatch the Eight Banners and Han troops to seize the Ming army where there is no longer a living person.
Gun platform.
However, this method of fighting is not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, but also impossible to cut off the Ming army's food routes.
Because the Qing soldiers finally captured a gun platform with great effort, the Ming army had already repaired more gun platforms on the other side of the grain road.
How to cut off the grain channel?
After a long while, Hou Fangyu asked reluctantly: "Is there no other way?"
"Yes, there is no other way." Hong Chengchou said helplessly, "At least it is impossible to cut off the Ming army's food route. For now, we can only defend it."
"Defend?" Hou Fangyu said in a deep voice, "Compared with the Ming army, who has more food?"
"Not only food, there are many factors involved in war." Hong Chengchou said solemnly, "There are also military morale, people's morale, geographical advantages and even the weather. Especially the weather, may be the only chance for our Qing soldiers to turn defeat into victory."
"Tianshi?" Hou Fangyu's eyes narrowed and he said, "Hong Butang said, plague?"
Speaking of this, Hou Fangyu turned his gaze to the sky again, only to see a scorching sun hanging alone in the sky.
In the past few days, Beihai has been warming rapidly. Not only has the North Sea thawed, but the night wind has also become warm.
In this season of alternating cold and hot, and sudden warm and cold periods, it is indeed very easy to catch wind and cold, and even an outbreak of plague.
Hong Chengchou nodded and continued: "Looking through the Chinese history books, we can see that the northerners conquered the south, or the southerners made the northern expedition. In many cases, they were defeated not by their opponents, but by the weather or the plague."
"Ever since the Ming Dynasty entered the Chongzhen Dynasty, plagues have never stopped."
"The year before last, there was a severe epidemic in Shanxi, killing hundreds of thousands. Last year, another plague broke out in Shaanxi, killing hundreds of villages. In the spring of this year, another epidemic broke out in Shandong, leaving corpses scattered everywhere."
"Most of the Ming army were from the south and did not like the soil and water of the north."
After a pause, he continued: "Hundreds of thousands of people in the Ming army gathered together, mixed with humans and animals, plus wounded soldiers and dead bodies. If you are not careful, a plague may break out, and then the Ming army will collapse without a fight."
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A sinister look flashed across Hou Fangyu's eyes: "Maybe we can add another fire."
Hong Chengchou couldn't help but frown when he heard this. He naturally understood what Hou Fangyu meant, which was that the corpses of humans and animals were deliberately abandoned in the wild and left to rot. This would indeed greatly increase the possibility of a plague outbreak.
However, Hong Chengchou still had some humanity to him, he was not a beast, and he was incapable of doing such evil things.
At that moment, Hong Chengchou changed the subject: "Just waiting for the weather, the biggest difficulty is the regent."
"Is Hong Butang worried that the regent will be suspicious?" Hou Fangyu said, "Don't worry about this, the regent won't do it."
Hong Chengchou said in his heart that Dorgon's trust in him was also limited. If it was only for a month or two, Dorgon's trust in him would not be easily shaken, but it would be hard to say for three to four months.
If the stalemate lasts for five months or even half a year, Dorgon will definitely become suspicious.
Seeing that Hong Chengchou was still a little worried, Hou Fangyu added: "Don't worry, Hong Butang. I will write a letter and send it to the Regent, telling the Prince Regent the details of the battle between the Qing army and the Ming army, as well as Hong Butang's difficulties."
, with the regent’s wisdom and wisdom, he will definitely give Hong Budang enough trust.”
Hong Chengchou bowed his head and said: "It's so helpful for you to join the army."
"Hong Butang is welcome." Hou Fangyu replied with a bow.
