Li Rusong returned to his tent exhausted and sighed from the bottom of his heart.
During this day, the Liaodong Army launched four rounds of attacks on Ningxia City, but was repelled by the Ningxia Army. Seeing that it was getting late and the soldiers could no longer hold on, Li Rusong had no choice but to order the troops to withdraw and prepare to fight again tomorrow.
Retreating the troops is not that simple. The bodies of the soldiers who died in the front line must be snatched back, and all kinds of siege equipment must be transported back to prevent the rebels from destroying them. After returning to the camp, they must arrange open and hidden posts to prevent rebellion.
The army stole the camp. For the Liaodong Army's journey of hundreds of battles, these things naturally did not need to be arranged by the general. Li Rusong just gave the general order to withdraw the army and came back on his own.
Although he has left the battlefield, Li Rusong's heart is not relaxed at all. The difficulty of today's battle far exceeded his imagination, which made him begin to doubt his previous decision.
The Liaodong Army is the most capable of fighting among the frontier armies. In the past, only Qi Jiguang's Jizhen Army could be compared with the Liaodong Army. Since Qi Jiguang was dismissed as the chief military officer of Jizhen, the combat effectiveness of the Jizhen Army has dropped significantly, and the Liaodong Army
He is unique among the frontier troops.
This time, Ningxia Kuaibai rebelled, and the Ministry of War mobilized the Liaodong Army to suppress the rebellion. Li Rusong came with the idea of making a great contribution. When he first entered Ningxia, Kuaibai Army fled and huddled in the city of Ningxia, leaving Li Rusong to test the strength of Kuaibai Army.
Aroused strong contempt. In his opinion, this kind of mob is no match for the Liaodong Army. In addition, the rebels have no reinforcements at all, and the morale of the army must be unstable. As long as he attacks the city, Ningxia City will fall to him in an instant.
in the bag.
When discussing with Ye Mengxiong, both Xiao Ruxun and Su Hao opposed the idea of attacking the city. In Li Rusong's view, this was just a sign that the other party was unwilling to let him take the lead. Especially Su Hao's suggestion of using artillery to break the city.
Li Rusong's plan made Li Rusong find it even more ridiculous. In his opinion, Su Hao was just a jester. For some unknown reason, he won the favor of Wanli and Wang Yi'e, and was able to become the deputy commander-in-chief at the age of 20.
The throne. When it comes to fighting, Su Hao probably doesn't even have 10% of the experience of Li Rusong.
Under his strong request, Ye Mengxiong made the decision to attack the city, and designated the Liaodong Army as the main attacker, with Xiao Ruxun and Ma Qiancheng as auxiliary attackers. Li Rusong did not notice that Kanyu Camp was not included in the siege.
The list of troops, to say the least. Even if he noticed it, he wouldn't say anything. Su Hao and his survey camp were difficult for Li Rusong to see.
The siege began, but the progress was far beyond Li Rusong's expectation. The combat effectiveness and fighting will of the Kuaibai army were astonishing, as can be seen from the reaction of the retired Liaodong officers and soldiers.
Of course, Li Rusong did not expect to capture the city of Ningxia with a wave of charges, but he felt that in the rounds of attacks, the fighting spirit of the Ningxia army should gradually decline, and the combat effectiveness would take a sharp turn. But the actual situation is counterproductive.
, the Ningxia Army seemed to be getting more and more courageous as they fought. The Liaodong Army attacked four rounds in a row, but the Ningxia Army did not show any signs of decline. Within one day, the Liaodong Army's casualties exceeded 2,000 people. Li Rusong no longer took the lives of the sergeants in his eyes.
, such casualties are not something he can afford.
However, if we don't attack like this, what can we do? Li Rusong was confused.
"General Soldier, Mr. Chen from the Ministry of War would like to see you."
The soldiers walked into the big tent and reported to Li Rusong.
"Please come quickly." Li Rusong ordered.
With a haha, Chen Dao, who was chubby and looked harmless, walked into Li Rusong's tent. As soon as he entered, he bowed deeply to Li Rusong. He made a gesture. Li Rusong quickly stepped forward and pulled Chen Dao's hand.
He held up his hand and said: "Mr. Chen, how dare you, how dare you, isn't this a young general?"
Li Rusong's father, Li Chengliang, was Ning Yuanbo. He also had honorary positions such as Prince Shaobao, Taifu, Shiyin Jinyi Commander, etc. Therefore, Li Rusong was considered a well-known second-generation official. In addition, he also had the title of Chief Military Officer, which was better than that of Chen Dao.
The status of such a doctor in the Ministry of War is much higher, so it is reasonable for Chen Dao to salute him. However, Li Rusong knew that Chen Dao was a capital official, and his casual talk was more important than border soldiers like them who broke their legs.
How could Li Rusong put anything in front of Chen Dao?
After the guests and hosts sat down and ordered the soldiers to bring tea, snacks and other items, Li Rusong smiled and asked Chen Dao: "Mr. Chen, why do you have time to visit our Liaodong Army today? Could it be that Governor Ye sent you here to supervise the army?"
?”
"I can't be a supervisor. Isn't General Li just entertaining Chen?" Chen Dao laughed. All the supervisors in the Ming army were eunuchs. When Li Rusong said that Chen Dao came to be a supervisor, didn't he mean Chen Dao?
With the potential to be a eunuch, this should be regarded as a curse word. Of course, Li Rusong's original intention was not to refer to the position of eunuch, but to specific matters. Chen Dao pretended to be confused and was just joking.
After joking, Chen Dao said seriously: "General Li, Mr. Chen also saw the situation of today's siege. I wonder what General Li has to say?"
Li Rusong was not a fool. When Chen Dao said this, he knew that he had something to say, so he admitted frankly: "The fighting power of the traitor is beyond Li's expectation. This battle will be a tough one."
"Kui Ni is a Tatar, and he is fierce by nature. The Cangtou Army under his command is a private army he has run for many years, and its combat effectiveness is quite good. The Ningxia Army rebelled this time. The generals all knew that they were guilty of serious crimes, so they became trapped beasts.
The battle is also expected. Previously, Xiao and Su said that Ningxia City was difficult to attack, but they were all speaking from the bottom of their hearts." Chen Dao said.
In front of Chen Dao, Li Rusong no longer had the same arrogance as in front of Xiao Ruxun, Su Hao and others. He knew that Chen Dao was here to convey a message for Xiao, Su and others, so it would be boring to act arrogantly. He
Following Chen Dao's words, he nodded and said: "Li knew General Xiao's name, and what he said was naturally reasonable. It's just that Li wanted a quick victory, and the strategy proposed by General Xiao to break the city was too much.
Slowed down a bit.”
"So, what about the plan of artillery breaking the city proposed by Su Gaizhi?" Chen Dao asked. He noticed that Li Rusong only mentioned Xiao Ruxun, but did not mention Su Hao at all. However, the purpose of his visit was
Let’s talk about Su Hao.
It was good that Li Rusong could admit that Xiao Ruxun's strategy was reasonable. For him to admit that Su Hao's point of view was reasonable, it would be a bit embarrassing. He said with hesitation: "That little general Su said
I’m sorry that Mr. Li has difficulty agreeing with the proposed strategy. To use artillery to break open the city wall, this kind of thing has never been heard of by Mr. Li.”
Chen Dao said: "It's also my fault that Su Gaizhi didn't explain this clearly. The artillery he talked about to break the city was not ordinary artillery, but artillery that used blooming shells. The artillery improved by Su Gaizhi used blooming shells to be even more powerful.
Fierce, this is something Chen has witnessed with his own eyes."
Seeing that Li Rusong still looked unconvinced, Chen Dao briefly recounted his experience accompanying Su Hao to Chongqing, especially describing the power of the explosive invented by Su Hao. When Su Hao was in Bozhou, he used Explosives blew up a dam, creating a man-made flood that drowned Yang Yinglong's 5,000 elite soldiers. Although Chen Dao did not witness this incident, he could somewhat imagine the scene at that time.
Li Rusong knew that Chen Dao was not someone who spoke freely. After listening to his statement, he remained silent for a long time, not knowing what he was thinking.
Chen Dao said: "A few days ago, Litu invaded Pinglu City. Su Gaizhi assisted General Xiao in defending the city. The firearms consumption was very high, so it was not possible to mobilize the artillery shells needed to attack the city. However, I have already asked him, He said that it would take more than ten days at most before he could transport a new batch of artillery shells from the capital. Is Mr. Li interested in joining forces with him to try this method of artillery breaking into the city?"
Li Rusong said: "Mr. Chen, since the Ministry of War has such sharp firearms, why don't they distribute them to our border troops? As far as Li knows, this survey camp is just an inland garrison. Why do we need such powerful firearms?" ?”
Not only did Li Rusong want to ask this question, but Xiao Ruxun, Ma Qiancheng and others also had the same question. Chen Dao said: "General Li Bing made a mistake. These firearms were not issued by the Ministry of War, but were spent by Soviet reformers themselves." It was purchased with money. Although his firearms workshop is named under the Bureau of Arms, the expenses for making firearms were all advanced by Su Hao himself."
"That's it." Li Rusong nodded, indicating that he understood.
According to the regulations of the Ming Dynasty, all kinds of weapons, especially firearms, should be made by the Staff Bureau and the Ordnance Bureau directly under the imperial court, and then distributed to various armies. However, since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the military in various places have made their own. There are more and more weapons, and they have been recognized by the imperial court. Li Rusong's Liaodong Army also has its own arsenal. In addition to producing cold weapons, it also produces cannons, muskets and other firearms, which were also prepared by the imperial court. case.
Su Hao is the commander-in-chief of the survey camp and is also considered a member of the military. As long as he obtains the permission of the court, it is not inappropriate to make his own weapons. The strange thing is that the size of his army is too small, only more than 2,000. It's really too extravagant for a team of people to actually build their own arsenal.
The question of why Su Hao wanted to make his own firearms had nothing to do with Li Rusong. What he was most concerned about now was the plan proposed by Chen Dao, which was to let him and Su Hao join forces to break the city.
"Mr. Chen, in your opinion, if Su Hao's firearms arrive, how much will it cost to destroy the city?" Li Rusong asked.
Chen Daodao: "With Su Hao's firearms and the courage of the Liaodong Army, there is more than a 90% chance of defeating the city."
"Is that true?" Li Rusong asked.
Chen Daodao: "There is no such thing as joking in the army. How dare Chen make such nonsense?"
Li Rusong asked again: "As for Su Hao, how should our two armies join forces?"
Chen Daodao: "Su Hao used firearms to blow up a section of the Ningxia city wall, and the Liaodong Army entered the city through the gap to defeat the enemy."
"Then how will the credit be calculated after the deed is accomplished?" Li Rusong finally asked the most critical question.
Chen Dao said: "I have already asked Su Gaizhi about this matter. He said that if this move can destroy the city, he will not take any effort!"
Li Rusong's eyes widened. He really couldn't believe this was true. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian.com to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my biggest motivation.