It is a hundred miles southeast of Tianjin, with the Bohai Sea to the east, the Haihe Plain to the west, and across the river from Tanggu, there is a fortified city called Dagukou. The geographical location is very dangerous. As the saying goes, "the land is the fortress of Jiuhe and Jin, and the roads lead to seven provinces."
"Zhouche" has been known as the gateway to Beijing and Tianjin and the throat of sea and land since ancient times.
Since the Song Dynasty, successive imperial courts have attached great importance to Dagukou. Tianjin is the gateway to Beijing, and Dagukou is the gateway to Tianjin. If the enemy at sea breaks through this fortress, Tianjin will not be protected. If Tianjin is not protected, the capital will be in danger.
The Manchus were good at land warfare and their navy was weak, so they paid special attention to the construction of Dagukou. The fortress city had high walls and thick walls, and the soldiers had sufficient food and fodder. After learning that the Ming army was about to land in Tianjin, they urgently strengthened their defense and recruited soldiers.
Tens of thousands of local migrant workers planted many wooden piles on the seabed to ward off enemy ships.
It was just dawn, and on the watchtower of Dagukou Fortress, the Qing soldiers who had been on duty for the night were bleary-eyed. They rubbed their sleepy eyes, stretched themselves and were about to yawn, when they suddenly saw a faint blur between the sea and the sky.
Something, he forgot to close his open mouth, and put his head to the telescope to take a look. Oh my god, the Ming army is indeed here. The masts are like a forest, and the flags cover the sun. The soldier had no time to take a closer look, and hurriedly bumped into
The alarm bell next to me rang.
The alarm bell rang. The fortress soldiers, who had been nervous all this time, immediately got up from the bed. They didn't need to put on clothes or shoes. They wore them when sleeping anyway. They picked up their weapons and hurried to the fighting position. The alarm bell was followed by the gong.
Bangs rang, and orders from various units came and went. The soldiers tightened the bowstrings of the city-defending crossbows in accordance with the pattern that had been practiced many times. The modified long-range catapults were also loaded, and each large stone was wrapped in fierce fire.
The oiled skins were installed in the catapult nests, and soldiers stood beside them with torches in preparation. A large group of archers were hidden under the city wall, checking their crossbows and arrows, ready to attack the city at any time.
The Qing army was very well prepared. They brought in the giant crossbows used to defend the city of Beijing. They prepared thousands of arrows as thick as small tree trunks. They also had stone bullets, kerosene, gunpowder, grain, grass and ordnance packed into the warehouse.
, there are 20,000 soldiers in the fortress alone, and 20,000 Mongolian cavalry in the rear can provide support at any time. There are also 50,000 green soldiers and countless baggage in Tianjin City. Even if they fight for a whole year, the Ming army will not be able to break through.
Gukou.
The Haihe River has been blocked by iron chains, and several ships have sunk in the river. The Ming army's armored ships cannot fly in unless they have wings. As for the airships that the Ming people were proud of, the Qing army also prepared twenty mobile ones.
It is a very strong carriage, with a crossbow with a large elevation angle mounted on it, specially used for anti-aircraft defense.
The beach to the east of the fortress is covered with horses and caltrops, and there are many pits that look like flat ground on the surface. There are bamboo sticks smeared with poison standing in the pits. If the Ming army lands, they will definitely suffer a lot.
Not long after, the Otaniguchi Fortress was ready and ready. The generals were dressed neatly and climbed up the tower to look at the enemy. They saw that the sea was full of Ming army warships. One of the largest stern ships hung the Ming Dynasty Prince Shaobao Zhen.
The banner of Wuhou Liu.
"He is indeed here." General Tuhai put down his telescope and said. The previous intelligence was correct. The main direction of the Ming army's attack was in Tianjin. As the top military general of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Tuhai spent his whole life in the military. His favorite thing was to be with the powerful.
A few years ago, he was recuperating in his hometown due to illness and could not follow the late emperor in the southern expedition. He has always regretted it. I heard that there was a brave general in Ming Dynasty, and Prince Rui was killed by him. Tu Hai was very unhappy.
Convinced, he thought that all this was just a coincidence. The first two defeats of the Qing army should be attributed to the lack of food and grass and Prince Rui's illness, which was taken advantage of by the southerners. If they were to fight openly and openly, Liu Ziguang would definitely not be his opponent.
.
All the generals of the Qing army had heard of Liu Ziguang's name, and they couldn't help but feel secretly frightened when they saw his banner. Tu Hai looked around and suddenly looked up to the sky with a smile: "Today, this man will not be able to come or go. He is the one who will break the sword at Dagukou."
The place where the sand sinks." The general's confidence infected the generals, and they all started laughing too. The soldiers on the city wall didn't know why the generals were laughing, but after hearing the laughter, they finally felt a little calmer.
"When the smoke rises, all secret plans will be carried out." Tu Hai ordered in a deep voice. The warning of the smoke will be passed to Tianjin Guards through the beacon tower and then to Beijing. The entire military system of the Qing Dynasty will revolve around Dagukou, everything will be done to attack the enemy.
If we retire from the Ming Army and serve in the Ming Dynasty, we will gather 200,000 civilians and 130,000 troops on this front. I still don’t believe it, and they will not be able to stop a few broken ships.
A red sun rose from the east and was reflected behind the Ming fleet. The bright Qing soldiers were dazzled and could not see clearly. At this moment, the Ming army's bombardment began.
An airship rose from the stern ship, but did not move forward. It just stopped over the fleet to observe the target and guide and calibrate the bombardment. The warships turned sideways, with their black muzzles pointing toward the sky, and clouds of gunpowder smoke.
As it rose up, there was a sharp roar in the firelight, and hundreds of shells crossed the sky and landed heavily on the beach, smashing the horses and barbed wire fences into a mess, and the trap was exposed.
Although Tu Hai didn't know how to fight with hot weapons, he understood that this was the Ming army's preparation before landing, and they were just clearing the obstacles at the landing site. The Ming army's fleet was still beyond the strike range of the fortress's crossbows and could not fight back.
Able to wait for the enemy's next move.
The effect of solid cannonballs hitting soft sand is not ideal. The cannonballs cannot stir up sharp stone flakes like hitting the city wall. The flying sand grains cannot cause any additional damage. Only direct hits can destroy obstacles.
The Ming army soon discovered this and began to move forward, extending the fire coverage and directly attacking the Dagukou Fortress.
The artillery range of the Ming army was longer than that of the city-defending crossbows of the Qing army. A burst of artillery shells came over. The soldiers who had not experienced shelling did not know how to hide. Instead, they watched blankly. The shells fell into the crowd, smashing up a piece of flesh and blood.
When they reached the city wall, countless sharp-edged fragments collapsed, beating the Qing army to the point where they cried for their fathers and mothers. Tu Hai was pinned down by the quick-eyed deputy general with a tiger pounce, or else he would have been hit by several masonry fragments.
Tuhai lifted off the lieutenant general who was pressing on him and shouted: "Fire with the city guard crossbow!"
A series of bow strings crashed, and huge iron arrows roared towards the Ming fleet. However, the arrows driven by physical force were ultimately no match for the cannonballs driven by chemical force. When the arrows landed on the warship, they were already at the end of their strength. Most of the companies on board the battleship
None of the armor belts could be shot through, leaving a white trail in vain and falling into the sea. Some arrows fell on the ship and caused some damage, but overall they did not pose a threat.
The Ming army continued to adjust the shooting angle. Under the correction of the airship, it extended the ballistic trajectory to the interior of the Dagukou Fortress. This time, it used explosive bombs and incendiary bombs. The bullets rained down like rain. Only by hiding inside a solid fortress could they avoid it.
General Tuhai was furious because of the killing, and resolutely refused the lieutenants' suggestion to let him hide in the bunker. Instead, he climbed up to beat the drum in person to encourage morale. When the soldiers saw the general beating the drum in person, they were moved to tears and fired as hard as they could.
Crossbows blocked the approach of Ming warships.
The Ming army fought very cautiously. They only used long-barreled artillery with the longest range for bombardment. They did not dare to get close and fire volleys of small artillery and rockets. After fighting for a while, the barrels became extremely hot, so they had to retreat and rest.
Seeing the Ming army retreating, the Qing officers and soldiers crawled out from behind the bunkers and cheered loudly, congratulating themselves on repelling the first wave of attacks. The lieutenants also congratulated Tuhai: "Congratulations to the general on your victory and your courage in killing the enemy."
Tuhai waved his hand reservedly: "That's all, the battle is still to come. Quickly clear the rubble, treat the wounded, and then ask General Nashun if reinforcements have arrived."
After counting, we learned that the Ming army's shelling killed more than 100 soldiers and injured nearly 500, most of whom were killed and wounded by stones. This casualty result was still acceptable. Tu Hai personally expressed condolences to the wounded and encouraged the soldiers.
Fighting bravely shows that the army is only for a moment and has nothing to fear.
The Ming army retreated to a safe distance and began to rest. They made fires to cook and cleaned the gun barrels. The ships were anchored and the sails were lowered. They were carefree and proud, not afraid of the Qing army's counterattack. You must know the strength of the Qing army.
Although the division is weak, it still has a few warships.
Tu Hai ordered the chess and card officials to raise flags to tell the navy that was huddled in the harbor to go to war. The navy officers and soldiers were mostly Han Chinese and were as afraid of the enemy as tigers.
, the Qing army's speedboat was shaped like a dragon boat, with a long and narrow hull, and rowers on both sides. It rowed very fast. When the Ming army found out about the enemy attack, they fired artillery to attack, but the boat was cleared very quickly and the hull was small. Several cannons were fired in succession.
It failed and only caused a high splash on the sea. Seeing that the artillery bombardment was ineffective, the Ming army sent a small destroyer with 500 materials to block it. The Qing army was equipped with fire crossbows. The two fought in a group, causing casualties on each other. However,
Since most of the Qing naval forces were Han Chinese and lacked bravery, when they saw that they could not win quickly, they shouted, turned the ship around and withdrew. Several medium-sized warships from the Ming fleet followed in pursuit.
Little did they know that the Qing navy had its own unique skills. The retreating ship pushed out a large vat, which was floating in the sea. The Ming army's warship had no time to avoid it and hit the vat. There was a layer of gunpowder in the vat, and a deep layer of gunpowder was placed on it.
It has a large bowl with hot coals in it. It's fine to swing gently. If it hits the hot coals, it will flip into the tank and cause an explosion. This unique skill damaged two Ming army warships. The Ming army's flagship hurriedly called for gold and retreated its troops.
After fighting for a day, both sides were victorious. The Ming army could not attack the shore, and the Qing army could not attack the sea. If this stalemate continued, the final winner would be the Qing army, because the Ming army worked hard on expeditions and strived for a quick victory. It would be difficult to deplete food and fodder.
As a result, the soldiers were miserable and had no choice but to retreat in despair.
The Ming army was cunning and would never retreat easily. Tuhai was afraid that the enemy would launch a night attack, so he ordered people to light bonfires on the beach to monitor the movements of the Ming army. Fortunately, it was cloudless that night and the moon was bright in the sky, so the Ming army did not
act rashly.
Early the next morning, the soldiers on guard duty of the Ming army discovered many red-tasseled straw hats appearing in the sea. It looked like the Qing army was swimming to attack, so they sounded the gong to warn the soldiers. The sailors laughed when they saw this, laughing at the stupidity of the Qing army.
Even the warships were reluctant to send them and let the soldiers come to die. They simply waited for them to swim close before shooting. Unexpectedly, a burst of fire blunderbuss hit them and the red tassel hat was broken, but a large number of wasps flew out from inside, covering the warships and stinging madly.
In a fit of anger, the stinging Ming army was like a pig's head. The bee venom was not a trivial matter. If it was too severe, it would kill them, but if it was too mild, it would lose their combat effectiveness. So the Qing army won another round.
The battle was like a see-saw, attacking each other with cannons and city-defending crossbows every day. The Ming army did not land, and showed a posture of never giving up until Dagukou was razed to the ground. The Qing army was not even in a hurry, and almost
Thousands of elite cavalry are waiting behind them. If Dakukou cannot hold out anymore, they will let the enemy in and fight. Using cavalry to attack the landing infantry is not a joke.
Tu Hai was very proud. Liu Ziguang had no choice in front of his iron wall. Facts proved that Tu Hai was indeed the best general of the Qing Dynasty. He was brave and resourceful and could turn the tide. The capital was also very satisfied with the battle report and rewarded Tu Hai and gave him two eyes.
The crown of flower feathers.
On the fourth day, early in the morning, Tuhai was resting in the castle. Suddenly, Goshiha ran in in a hurry and said: "General, it's not good!"
Tuhai said in a deep voice: "Why are you panicking? Why is something wrong?"
Goshhad said: "All the Ming troops on the sea have disappeared."
Tuhai was stunned when he heard this, and quickly climbed up the city wall to take a look. He saw that the sea and the sky were empty, with only the vast sea water and a few seabirds flying. The Ming fleet that was showing off yesterday did not even have a sampan left.