On his way north to aid Jinzhou City, Liu Yan brought a dozen self-made telescopes with him. At this time, he had given them to Hong Chengchou and the chief military officers of each town, including Ma Ke, Tang Tong, and the supervisors Zhang Ruoqi and the supervisors. Military horse Shao Yu also received one each.
Everyone looked at the well-made telescope in their hands and couldn't put it down, and thanked Liu Yan one after another.
Marco also smiled awkwardly and said: "Haha, Mr. Liu is so generous, thank you, thank you!"
Then Liu Yan and everyone looked northward with telescopes in hand. Looking at Rufeng Mountain and other places, everyone's expressions were a little solemn.
I don’t know what other people are thinking, but Liu Yan is sighing in his heart. Since the wild boar Pinurhachi started, the Qing army has set up fences in the winter and dug trenches in the summer when marching and hunting. It can be said that it is very useful for earthworks such as digging trenches. Experience.
In this battle of Jinzhou, the Qing army brought their trench-digging skills to the extreme.
Although the new army in Qinglai Town did not receive any information at night, Liu Yan was still impressed when he saw the trenches dug by the Qing army with his own eyes.
At this time, the trenches of the Qing army on Rufeng Mountain were very complicated. Although no one was able to watch them in person, at such a close distance, using a telescope to watch, they could still see closely.
There were stakes on the trenches of the Qing army. There were ropes on the stakes, bells on the ropes, and dogs beside the bells. The defense lines were very tightly arranged. This was a typical way of guarding the camps of the fishing and hunting peoples.
Hong Chengchou looked at it for a while and then said to everyone: "We must seize the time to dig deep trenches and set up wooden fences around the camp to prevent night attacks and harassment by the Qing army."
Everyone agreed.
A scout battle broke out between the two sides that day. The Ming army's Ye Bushou and the Qing army's scouts continued to test and fight each other. Both sides suffered casualties and no one took advantage.
The areas around Songshan Fort and Rufeng Mountain were covered with clouds of war. Flags were scattered all over the mountains and down the mountains, creating a strong battlefield atmosphere.
Then night fell, and the armies on both sides began to light fires to make food. In the major camps of the Ming army, bonfires were lit everywhere. People in each camp screamed, and there were huge convoys, continuously coming from Xingshan and other places. Go to Songshan to transport grain.
Liu Yan felt a little excited in his heart. He had only seen this kind of battle involving hundreds of thousands of troops on both sides from history books before. This was the first time he participated in it. It would be a lie to say he was not excited.
Inside the camp of the Guards Camp, Liu Yan was walking while watching the bustle of the soldiers in the camp, and then followed by the sound of gold and trumpets, the firing of cannons and drums, night patrols, night trumpets, lights, and light and dark, one by one, the Guards Camp and the surrounding area were all set. All the camps gradually became quiet, and only the sound of banging and drums on Diao Dou continued to be heard.
At the end, the hanging lights of each camp of the New Army were lit up one by one, and there were dots of lights in the camps of both the Ming and Qing Dynasties. As the sky gets darker, the lights become brighter and brighter, forming a sea of lights from around Songshan Fort to Rufeng Mountain, which is very spectacular.
Liu Yan put on his helmet and armor and watched all of this quietly, frowning slightly, thinking about how this battle would develop and how the new army soldiers would respond.
Behind Liu Yan, Wang Yue, Wang Bo, Zhang Yi, Shen Tuo, Miao Shao, Xu Ming and other commanders and guerrilla generals, the artillery battalion commander Qian Qian, the town governor Xun Jingyun, and the medical minister Bao Xue Wu Guojin, the Chief of the Town and Intelligence Department, and Wang Yang, the Chief of Investigation Cao of the Intelligence Department, all stood behind Liu Yan.
At this moment, a staff general from the Chinese Army came on horseback to deliver a military order to Liu Yan, ordering Liu Yan to immediately go to the Chinese Army camp to participate in the military meeting.
"It's so late and you still need a military meeting?"
Liu Yan frowned slightly and told everyone to go back to the camp to supervise the army and strengthen their vigilance. He went to the Chinese army camp with a flag of guard.
Liu Yan's camp is three miles north of Songshan Fort. The camps of Wang Pu, the chief soldier of Datong Town, and Yang Guozhu, the chief soldier of Xuanfu Town, are on the left and right wings of the new army in Qinglai Town. The three armies are very close to each other.
It didn't take long for Liu Yan to arrive at Songshan Fort. Hong Chengchou's Supervisor Battalion was stationed here, and the Chinese army was also located in the official hall in the fort.
Songshan was originally just a post station. Since the rise of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Songshan Post Station has been expanded many times to form the current scale of the fortress.
At this time, the Songshan garrison included Songshan deputy general Xia Chengde, Songshan tour camp general Liu Zhengjie, Songshan camp general Fan Chenggong, city garrison Shang Yudi, city garrison guerrilla Ge Chaozhong, Ningqiandao soldiers Zhang Dou, and Jin You Guanliang. Tongjuan Zhu Tingti and others.
When Liu Yan arrived at the south gate of Songshan Fort, he happened to meet several generals Wang Pu, Yang Guozhu, and Wu Sangui. After greeting each other, they entered Songshan Fort together.
Liu Yan used the torches on both sides of the streets to observe the situation inside the fort. Songshan Fort is built in low-lying land, and the nights are still relatively cool at this time. Songshan Fort has facilities such as barracks, granaries, forage yards, arsenals, and horse farms, and a lot of artillery is deployed on the city walls.
Hong Chengchou's governor's residence was in the former Bingbei Mansion, close to the east of the city. Everyone rode their horses and quickly entered the mansion.
Liu Yan and others dismounted and entered, only to see that the hall was spacious. As soon as they entered the ground paved with bluestone slabs, a chill hit them and refreshed everyone's spirits. The upper and lower sides were filled with chairs, and there were several screens at the back. Hong Chengchou's personal guards from the Biao Camp led everyone to sit down one by one.
In addition to Liu Yan and others, General Bai Guangen of Jizhen, General Li Fuming of Shanxi Town, General Zuo Guangxian of Suppression, Chief Ma Ke of Shanhaiguan, and General Tang Tong of Miyun also arrived one after another. When we met, we chatted and laughed again.
In the lobby, Liu Yan was still sitting first on the right, and then Yang Guozhu, Bai Guangen, Li Fuming and others took their seats one by one. Hong Chengchou was also sitting at the top, and the supervisor Ma Shaoyu and the supervisor Zhang Ruoqi were sitting on both sides. Everyone was already seated.
In addition, Qiu Minyang, the governor of Liaodong, and many civil servants such as soldiers, commanders, and magistrates also took their seats, but they were all sitting behind the chief military officers. After all, this military discussion was still dominated by the chief soldiers.
At this time, Liu Yan saw that Hong Chengchou was in good spirits, with a smile on his elegant face. He also greeted the generals from time to time, and ordered his left and right officers to distribute cattail fans to the generals and civil servants, and bring out iced fruits.
Liu Yan also picked up a piece of cold melon and ate it, thinking to himself: "It seems that the war is going well and Hong Chengchou is in a good mood. I wonder how Hong Chengchou plans to march next."
Liu Yan ate quite reservedly. Looking at the other general officers, their faces were covered with juice. Bai Guangen, Li Fuming, and Zuo Guangxian even ate all their skins, which made Liu Yan shocked. , you guys are also general officers after all, why do you seem like you haven't eaten anything?
After everyone ate for a while, they wiped their hands with satisfaction. Hong Chengchou's expression became serious, and he was ready to start discussions.
"Today you all have seen the situation in Rufeng Mountain. The slaves have followed suit and built a large number of fortifications on Rufeng Mountain in order to consume our army's strength. I have decided not to be led by slaves and thieves. Nose goes.”
At this time, various departments of the Ming army worked hard all night to fight for casualties, and continued to explore the Qing army's fortifications in Rufeng Mountain. Although the Qing army's sentry cavalry blocked them very effectively, most of the new army battalions in Qinglai Town were equipped with telescopes to observe the situation on the mountain at close range.
Liu Yan also ordered each battalion not to accept reports to him at night, and also sent a copy to Hong Chengchou for information.
At this time, Hong Chengchou had ordered his staff to sort out the situation and reported it to the general military officers and others during the military meeting.
According to the detailed investigation conducted by the New Army in Qinglai Town at night, the layout of the earth-walled trenches of the Qing army was mainly concentrated in Rufeng Mountain and Huangtu Ridge. Most of them were two trenches and three walls, arranged layer by layer along each mountain ridge.
The trenches dug by the Qing army are very similar to the defense lines designed by Liu Yan. There are traps and spikes inside, which shows that the Qing army's learning ability is still very strong.
However, the earthen walls or stone walls built by the Qing army were also different. They were not the low walls like the defense lines designed by Liu Yan, but a small wall similar to a village wall, about one foot high. Wherever the mountains are gentle, the walls are high, like city walls. People can climb on the walls to fight, and there are multiple gates. The wall of the stronghold at the strategic point is slightly short, reaching to the chest of people, and is mainly used for patrolling by the defenders.
This kind of village wall is considered the main wall. In front of the main wall, a deep trench is dug, making the village wall actually about one to two feet high.
In front of this kind of wall trench, two small trenches were dug at regular intervals. These two trenches are slightly shallower, about eight feet deep. A low wall may be set up behind the trench, or horses may be placed on the sides and wooden stakes may be driven in. There are ropes tied to the wooden piles, and bells are hung on the ropes. Big dogs are placed next to the bells to prevent people from sneaking into the camp and attacking the trenches at night.
Both Rufeng Mountain and Huangtu Ridge are composed of numerous large and small ridges. Along each ridge, the Qing army built earthen wall trenches. In this way, the Qing army relied on defense lines to build defenses layer by layer. After conquering one mountain ridge, they had to face another mountain ridge. The Ming army units had to approach the main peak. They didn't know how hard they would fight and how many soldiers they would lose.
This is only the situation in Rufeng Mountain and Huangtu Ridge. According to the investigation conducted by the New Army in Qinglai Town and other Ming armies at night, the Qing army also deployed similar defense lines in many places, such as Songshan Ridge, Maojialing and other places. Almost all the roads leading to Jinzhou from the Ming army were blocked.
At this time, everyone was frowning. The situation is like this. It seems that if you want to break the siege of Jinzhou, you must attack the mountains. The question now is, should you attack Rufeng Mountain or Huangtu Ridge first?
The differences of opinion here are represented by Liu Yan, the commander-in-chief of Qinglai Town, and Wu Sangui, the commander-in-chief of Ningyuan.
Wu Sangui believes that Jinzhou is now in danger, so the army will naturally give priority to attacking Rufeng Mountain and open the main road into Jinzhou as soon as possible to avoid long nights and dreams.
Subsequently, with the support of the Liaodong generals such as Bai Guangen, the commander-in-chief of Ji Town, Ma Ke, the commander-in-chief of Shanhaiguan Town, Tang Tong, the commander-in-chief of Miyun Town, as well as Zu Dale, Songshan Deputy General Xia Chengde, and Tour Camp Staff General Liu Zhengjie, after all, everyone was more or less Shaodu is related to the Wu family and the Zu family, so he naturally hopes to save Jinzhou City first.
Liu Yan immediately expressed opposition to this. Liu Yan believed that the Qing army was heavily deployed in Rufeng Mountain. Liu Yan believed that the Qing army wanted to imitate what he had done in Julu and Jinan and use the mountain defense line to consume the Ming army's strength. The Ming army must not Let the Qing army's treacherous plan succeed.
Liu Yan believes that based on the current situation, it is unlikely that the Qing army will capture Jinzhou in a short time. Even if the Ming army relieves the siege, there is no need to rush.
The top priority now is to clear out the threats outside Songshan, such as Huangtu Ridge to the east and Songshan Ridge to the southeast. As long as the Ming army clears out the Qing soldiers and horses in these two places, it can relieve the worries of Songshan. It can also push towards the Xiaoling River, occupy the Xiaoling River Fort, and attack the east of Jinzhou along the river.
Hong Chengchou frowned slightly as he looked at the two people arguing, and was a little undecided for a moment.
Some people died, but not completely...
