"A corresponding amount of food, grass and baggage must also be prepared."
The emperor nodded slightly.
The soldiers and horses of the Zheng family in Fujian and Lingnan have not been fighting for many years, so they can be said to be weak soldiers.
However, at this time of national war, what is required is participation. Even if it is just a few more civilians, it will be beneficial.
Of course, this is just a small measure to determine whether the local civil and military officials are obedient.
After another discussion for a while, most of them were about logistics. The emperor waved his hand and said, "Have the battle reports been received? Where did Jiannu hit?"
"Your Majesty, the Jiannu are attacking Taoyuan County!"
Lu Daqi hurriedly cupped his hands and said: "We have been shelling the siege since yesterday. The words in the battle report an hour ago are still as solid as a rock."
"It can be seen that the smaller this bastion is, the easier it is to withstand damage."
The battle report mechanism was a rule established by the former enemy marshal's office when the Qing Dynasty moved south. Every four hours, the north must submit a battle report, allowing the central government to control the situation.
Of course, due to the extended distance, the battle report is delayed, about one day.
In other words, until early yesterday morning, Taoyuan County was still in the hands of the imperial court.
"The city is too big to be renovated easily, but a small city can survive."
The emperor nodded: "It seems that Jiannu is only about two hundred miles away from Shanyang County."
"Yes." Zhao Shu nodded, his expression a little heavy.
As the prefecture of Huai'an Prefecture and the middle section of the canal, Shanyang County is of great significance.
Above it is the canal, which runs for hundreds of miles with the Yellow River, and below it is the above-ground canal, which reaches Yangzhou.
"It's time to set off."
The emperor's eyes wandered on everyone, stood up, and said: "Let's go to Yangzhou to cheer up the soldiers on the front line."
"Follow the Holy Order!"
All the ministers bowed down one after another.
…
Huai'an Prefecture, Taoyuan County.
"raise--"
Next to the huge artillery, a general looked at the Taoyuan County wall in the distance, and then shouted.
The artillerymen next to them hurriedly wrapped the red barrel with cloth. A few of them slowly pressed down the rear tail and raised the muzzle slightly upward.
Not long after, the projectiles were loaded into the cannon again.
"Boom——"
A burst of white smoke rose violently, and the huge recoil caused the artillery to retreat several steps.
"boom--"
There was a loud bang and hit the city wall.
"good--"
Several artillerymen shouted loudly, and at this moment, a huge explosion suddenly came from not far away.
"boom--"
The sound was deafening, and a large number of artillerymen hurriedly knelt down, covering their ears with their hands, and their whole bodies were almost covered with dust.
After a while, the artillerymen stood up, glanced at the embarrassing scene a few feet away, and continued working.
I saw a huge hole in the tail of the huge copper cannon, revealing the black and deformed cannonball inside.
About a foot away, several artillerymen were bleeding profusely, their cheeks covered with dust, but they could see they were losing their breath.
The auxiliary soldiers at the back hurriedly carried a few people out.
After a while, the artillery was pulled away and the ground was cleaned.
"It exploded again!"
Not far away, Shang Ke looked at this brilliant scene with joy, but turned his head away, curled his lips with a pity, and then sighed.
"There is indeed something strange about Mingren's city."
Kong Youde also looked at the city wall. It was full of holes and pits, but it still stood, which was really puzzling.
"This is the third gun that has exploded."
Geng Zhongming said regretfully: "There are only a few cities, but the artillery has consumed so much, and the canals are still long."
Grain Curse
"If there had been this city in Liaodong..."
Shang Ke said half of the happy words and stopped talking.
Geng and Kong on the side naturally understood the meaning and could only be speechless.
There are no ifs in this world.
"Princes, the coach lets you pass!"
Suddenly, a cavalryman ran over.
"Let's go!" Shang Kexi frowned.
The other two people also hurriedly followed.
When they arrived at the main tent, the generals gathered here and there were people standing inside and outside.
As representatives of the Han military flag, the three of them naturally stood in the tent.
Jilharang's face looked slightly gloomy, without the smile of the past.
Luck Dehun was neither sad nor happy, with a stiff face.
Hauge's face was full of anger, and he was obviously extremely unhappy.
"According to reports from spies, from Taoyuan down to Shanyang, there are about three or five fortresses like Taoyuan, and there is one almost fifty or sixty miles away..."
The scout told the news, and the more everyone listened, the uglier their faces became.
"If we continue to follow the predetermined plan and proceed step by step, we will only fall into a quagmire."
Jirharang spoke Manchu, his tone was neither hasty nor slow.
"I don't know what you mean?" Haug said.
"It is my intention to order a cavalry group to march from both sides of the canal as a vanguard, remove all obstacles, and immediately establish a grain road, and the main force will follow behind."
Jirhalang said loudly: "The remaining troops will protect the canal and continue to attack the city. Be sure to remove those things that are in the way."
"General, there is almost no one within a hundred miles of the canal. The cavalry can only carry three days' worth of food. Besides, how can the cavalry attack the city?"
Hauge frowned and said, this idea is a terrible idea.
When Jierhalang went south, he was awarded the seal of Zhennan General by Dorgon.
"Just run the cannon."
Luck Dehun on the side suddenly spoke: "Food is guaranteed by its own food channels, and artillery can travel thirty to fifty miles a day."
"If we only attack Taoyuan today, we can attack Sanyi on the same day tomorrow, and we can save twice as much time."
Luckard said with confidence.
Hauge was contradicted and anger appeared on his face.
"As long as the journey is within two or three days, it will be fine."
Jierhalang waved his hand and said: "Looking at it this way, we have a little more time, and we can reach Shanyang faster."
"We can't wait until the spring rains. Continuous heavy rain is not a good thing."
Immediately, he turned around and asked King Sanshun: "How many red artillery pieces are there now?"
"I took thirty gates with me when I went south, but now I have twenty-seven gates left."
Shang Ke came out of the queue happily and said in skillful Manchu: "The barrel of an artillery has a number of uses. If it is used too much, it will cause the barrel to explode. Another one just exploded. If we continue, other artillery will be in danger."
"
"Yeah?"
Jilharang's face turned ugly: "It seems that the artillery will be used in key areas."
"By the way, the artillerymen need to be comforted. Today, they will be given a hundred catties of meat and ten jars of wine -"
"General, since artillery must be used sparingly, why not attack the city like we did in the past?"
At this time, a general spoke.
As soon as he finished speaking, Hauge stepped forward and kicked him: "The children of the Eight Banners are extremely precious, how can they be wasted like this?"
He finally let out a bad breath.
Ji'erharang thought thoughtfully: "It's rough words but not rough words. Although I am a little more eager to go south this time, I still bring the necessary craftsmen with me and let them make some."
"It can be of some use after all."
Hearing this, Wu Sangui's face turned particularly ugly.
Among the large armies, Guan Ningjun is the most suitable pioneer.