This time, in order to look presentable, Shen Yi took out almost all his artillery and bombarded Haizhou City. Not only did he bombard the walls of Haizhou, but he also blasted the city gates full of holes.
Unfortunately, the cannonballs of this era were only solid lead bullets and had no way of exploding.
What's more important is that the Qi people also have artillery, so these artillery cannot be placed too close, and they can only rely on a little range advantage to bombard them from a distance.
This level of shelling, if it hits people, will naturally kill them all, but if it hits a heavy and iron-clad city gate, it will be a bit unsightly and can only leave holes in the city gate.
.
This is a new type of artillery that Shen Yi asked his firearms craftsmen to spend several years improving. Compared with the original artillery, it has a longer range and more power. If Chen Guo's original heavy artillery is used, let alone
Can it be transported to the battlefield? Even if it can, the range of artillery of Qi people is not much different, and it cannot be used as it is now.
Because if the distance is equal, Qi Ren's artillery can hit the artillery array. Their artillery is still on the city wall, and the terrain is high, so it can hit farther.
The two sides fought back and forth until the evening. Under Xue Wei's shouts, the Huai'an army began to withdraw and retreated to the camp.
The Qi army in Haizhou City just watched the Huai'an army and did not pursue it.
Zhou Shizhong stood on the wall of Haizhou City, watching the Huai'an army in his field of vision recede like the tide. General Zhou put his hands behind his back and frowned.
"Shen Qi's Huai'an army is becoming more and more mature. When my army went south last year, they were still a little immature. Many of them were in a panic after going to the battlefield. But this year, they can already order and prohibit, and they can advance and retreat with confidence.
It’s over.”
Zhou Yuanlang stood behind his old father and sighed softly: "Dad, in the past twenty years, only this young man who is about the same age as his son, or even one or two years younger than his son, has reached the north of the Huaihe River."
"Of course he has some abilities."
"And then there's..."
Zhou Yuanlang also frowned and said in a low voice: "Furthermore, there is something very wrong with this Huai'an army's artillery. My son has read the standard of Nanchen artillery in the book, which can weigh as little as several hundred kilograms, the kind placed on the tower.
There are also artillery pieces weighing one to two thousand kilograms, but these artillery pieces of the Huai'an Army can be loaded onto ships and taken across the Huaihe River, and placed on the battlefield!"
"My son looked at it with a telescope. Their artillery base should be made of wood and equipped with wheels!"
"More importantly, the range of these artillery should be greater than our artillery..."
Zhou Yuanlang gestured with his hand and said, "It's twenty or thirty steps away, or even more."
He said solemnly: "Dad, if you add these together, the artillery in the hands of the Huai'an Army and the artillery in our army are not the same thing."
"Just think about it, when you went south last year, if you could cross the river with this kind of lightweight artillery, how much effort would it have saved?"
When the Confederate Army went south last year, they brought artillery with them, but they were the kind of artillery that weighed several hundred pounds and could only be placed on a ship. It was impossible to go to the battlefield, let alone maneuver.
If the Northern Qi Dynasty could also possess this kind of artillery, then at least it would not have suffered a loss at the hands of the Huai'an army, not to mention conquering Huai'an last year.
Zhou Shizhong had been in the army for decades. When his son mentioned this, he naturally understood. He frowned slightly and said, "Lang'er is right. These artillery pieces in Shen Qi's hands are indeed weird."
Zhou Yuanlang whispered: "Dad, only the Huai'an Army is equipped with this kind of artillery. Just imagine if the Huaihe Navy was equipped with these artillery pieces that can be mounted on wheels on the battlefield..."
"Stop talking."
General Zhou turned around and said slowly: "If you have any ideas, just tell me."
Zhou Yuanlang lowered his head and said: "Dad, my son's idea is that when these Huai'an troops come again tomorrow, we can take advantage of their unpreparedness and send a few thousand-household battalions out to attack their positions."
"Even...even if a few people die."
He said categorically: "We will also snatch one or two artillery pieces back and hand them over to the skilled craftsmen in Yanjing to imitate them. With this credit, your Majesty will not punish our family even if we fail on the battlefield."
General Zhou touched his chin and was thinking about the pros and cons of this matter. Suddenly someone hurried over, knelt in front of him, lowered his head and said: "General, the southerners have withdrawn!"
General Zhou raised his eyebrows and said, "If you withdraw, just withdraw. It's not like I didn't see it. What's the fuss about?"
The man lowered his head and said: "General, the southerners did not withdraw to their camp, but they broke out directly!"
Zhou Shizhong turned his head and looked at his son, thoughtfully: "Is it possible that Shen Qi felt that it would be useless to defeat Haizhou and it would be useless to kill more people here, so he was preparing to withdraw to Huai'an?"
Zhou Yuanlang thought for a while, shook his head slightly and said, "Dad, if we don't know which direction they are going, we can't deduce their intentions."
The major general glanced at the messenger who reported the message, and said solemnly: "Keep an eye on it. If there is any movement of the southern army, report it immediately!"
"yes!"
…………
Because Shen Yi had a mighty 20,000 men, and they gathered together after breaking out of camp. Even if they made some moves, it was difficult to determine where they were going. It was not until an hour later that the scouts of the Southern Army knelt down before Zhou Shizhong and his son. In front of others, bow your head and report.
"General! The southern army has begun to march south by west!"
"Due west by south?"
Before Zhou Shizhong could speak, Zhou Yuanlang frowned and said, "If they want to go to Suqian to join the West Route Army, they should go southwest. What are they going to do due west?"
After saying this, he looked back at his father.
"Dad, there's a big problem here!"
Zhou Shizhong felt a little embarrassed about being snatched away by his son. However, he recently discovered that his son who likes to read is quite useful and is not easy to get sick, so he said in a low voice: "I will investigate again and report again."
"yes!"
The messengers from the scout camp immediately retreated. After the people left, General Zhou rubbed his temples and said, "Due west of Haizhou, there is Pizhou..."
"Pizhou is the capital of the state. Could it be that they want to abandon Haizhou and attack Pizhou instead of ignoring it?"
There are three different administrative levels in Fuzhou and County. Generally speaking, Fuzhou is the largest level. Some states are directly managed by the province, while some states are managed by the government.
Counties can be subordinate to states or prefectures.
For example, Pizhou belonged to Huai'an Prefecture seventy years ago before China was destroyed.
Haizhou actually belongs to Huai'an Prefecture.
However, after Emperor Shizong crossed south, Huai'an Prefecture, like Dachen, also lost "half of the country." Although Huai'an Prefecture is still at the prefectural level, only the part on the south bank of the Huaihe River remains.
Zhou Shizhong had been in the Huaihe River for a long time. Although he didn't have a map at the moment, he knew the situation near Haizhou well.
"The west side of Pizhou..."
He muttered to himself for a while, then suddenly stood up, his face slightly changed.
"It's Xuzhou!"
General Zhou turned to look at his son and murmured: "Shen Qi wants to attack Xuzhou?"
He muttered to himself and suddenly whispered: "Yes, his West Route Army is attacking Suqian. Suqian is heading northwest to bypass Pizhou, which is also Xuzhou!"
Xuzhou is very different from Haizhou.
Xuzhou is an important city. Not only is the city vast and there are many residents, but more importantly, the city walls are tall. If it were captured by the Southerners, it would be extremely difficult to recapture it.
"No, no..."
Zhou Shizhong shook his head, denying the idea, and said: "The walls of Xuzhou are tall and there are many defenders. For Shen Qi to chew them, it will take less than ten days and a half to defeat them. It will take so long for our army to defeat them."
We have already surrounded him!"
General Zhou walked around in his tent, restless: "But if he doesn't attack Xuzhou, where can he go? Attack Pizhou? By the time he takes Pizhou, my army will have already surrounded him!"
Zhou Yuanlang silently looked at the sky, lost in thought.
After a long time, he whispered: "Dad, my son also feels that there is something strange in this. Let's wait and see..."
Zhou Shizhong was still uneasy. After a while, he said in a hoarse voice: "Send a few thousand-household camps to follow."
"No matter whether their target is Pizhou or Xuzhou, if someone follows them, we can respond at any time. It doesn't matter if Pizhou City is lost..."
He looked at his son and exhaled: "But if the city of Xuzhou is lost before the imperial reinforcements arrive, you and I will not be dismissed from our posts!"
When Zhou Yuanlang heard this, he bowed his head respectfully.