It was the first month of the year, and the Han River was not as plentiful as it was in summer. There were no boats running, and the water surface was lower.
It also carries the cold air of the river wind, making people shiver.
Zhu Yixi stood on the bow of the boat, looking at Xiangyang without saying a word.
Digging tunnels won't work, the moat is too wide and too deep.
The artillery is as far away as Hanzhong, and it will take more than ten days to transport several kilograms of Hongyi cannon into the mountains.
Moreover, it may not be possible to break through.
As for the Taiping Army, they used gunpowder to blow up walls and raise coffins to make a fortune.
Well, if he used this and learned it from the Qing Dynasty, he would not be able to defeat it in the field and the city defense would be defeated, so he would have to wait for death.
Although every idea was rejected, he was not depressed.
He raised his head and looked at the pontoon bridge between Xiang and Fan. It was particularly dazzling and he couldn't help but said: "The two cities face each other across the Han River. The two cities are the horns of each other and must be destroyed."
"If you want to defeat Xiangyang, you must first defeat Fancheng."
"Boom——"
Dozens of French cannons began to bombard the bridge between Fancheng and Xiangyang indiscriminately.
Within half an hour, the bridge collapsed.
Afterwards, the army surrounded Fancheng and used a large number of ships to cross the Han River to block communication between the two places.
In this way, Fancheng's three thousand soldiers and horses became a defensive force.
Compared with Xiangyang, which is surrounded by water on three sides, Fancheng is surrounded by mountains on three sides. It is located in the hills of northern Hubei and should not be underestimated.
The city is more than three feet high, the city gate is tightly closed, and it is made of stone bricks, which can be said to be solid.
However, for this city, Zhu Yixi breathed a sigh of relief, looked around and said: "Fan City only relies on the high hills at its back. The soldiers and horses are at a disadvantage, so a strong attack is better."
To put it bluntly, it depends on human life.
"General Zhu, why don't you use artillery?"
Wang Guangen couldn't help but said as he looked at the fuming French cannon.
He was dissatisfied with the measures that wasted his strength.
"Flange guns are not conducive to siege."
Zhu Yixi glanced at him sideways and continued: "The Hongyi cannon won't arrive for another half a month. We can't wait that long."
Wang Guangen wanted to say more, but was stopped by Hui Dengxiang.
As a result, the 50,000 allied troops were divided into several groups and took turns attacking the city.
As for conventional equipment such as ladders and arrow towers, they are even trivial to Zhu Zongbing, who owns the craftsman camp.
However, what everyone is puzzled by is that Fancheng's defense is easier than imagined.
In this regard, Chen Yongfu spoke.
However, he first talked about the means of siege by thieves:
"The thieves don't like to attack the city by crashing cars, but prefer to fill it with human lives. Each battalion comes up one after another, prying away the bricks and returning like ants. In a few days, a big hole is formed. After digging again, the city wall collapses."
"It can be seen that the intruders prefer the tactics of human waves rather than weapons, so they naturally don't know much about defending the city."
Everyone was stunned.
Intruders are good at attacking cities but not at defending them.
Zhu Yixi nodded. No wonder Li Zicheng lost Beijing and Tongguan in history. It was really determined by the genes of the Chuang Army. They were better at defending instead of attacking.
However, even so, Fancheng and Xiangyang are still difficult to break.
Hui Dengxiang and Wang Guangen both looked sad.
Li Jizu, Chen Yongfu and others looked serious, thinking that it would be extremely difficult.
Zhu Yixi's expression remained unchanged and he ordered: "Attack Fancheng first and then besiege Xiangyang. Let's gnaw at the hard bones one by one."
As he spoke, his face suddenly became solemn, and he said with emotion: "We are attacking Xiangyang not to achieve meritorious service, but to use Xiangyang to force the intruders to return and relieve the danger of the capital."
As soon as these words came out, everyone showed admiration.
Prime Minister Hui Deng and Wang Guangen had nothing to say, and they could only obey because of their righteousness.
After the two left, Zhu Yixi's expression changed and he looked around at everyone: "This battle is a strategy to encircle Wei and save Zhao. Therefore, I leave the effort to Hui and Wang, and we try to preserve our strength."
"As you command——"
Although they couldn't figure out the reason, the generals were still obedient out of habit.
After several months of combined kindness and power, the Yulin camp obeyed, and the other camps were even more submissive and did not dare to act arrogantly.
…
Zhang Xianzhong led the army upstream along the Yangtze River.
Yidu, Yiling, Guizhou.
Facing the powerful Western Army, the generals who broke into the camp had to bow their heads and be humble and surrender their troops.
The momentum was overwhelming, shocking Bashu.
Governor Chen Shiqi was shocked. Zhang Xianzhong entered Shu again, but he really refused to leave.
At this time, Zeng Ying, the famous "Master Zeng" in Sichuan, asked Chen Shiqi to fight.
In desperation, Chen Shiqi had to teach him to be a guard and try one or two, but his more hopes were pinned on Qin Liangyu.
Sichuan's safety is in imminent danger.
…
At this time, whether in Sichuan or Huguang, the entire city of Beijing was most concerned about Shanxi's invading army.
But he said that in the first month of the first lunar month, just after the New Year, the entire capital was shrouded in yellow dust, and everyone in the court was shocked, thinking it was a bad omen.
At this time, Yu Yinggui wandered to Shaanxi and hesitated.
When Chongzhen saw this, he was furious and dismissed him directly.
Immediately, Li Huaxi, the new governor of Shaanxi, was promoted to governor of the three sides.
A few days later, Pingyang fell.
When Chongzhen came to court, he was full of sorrow and sighed: "I don't want to be the king of the country's subjugation, but everything seems to be the sign of the country's subjugation."
"The world that my ancestors conquered through the wind and rain is about to be lost. How can I have the face to meet my ancestors?"
"I originally thought that I would personally supervise the division and fight to the death with the intruders, and die with no regrets, but I will not die in peace!"
When all the ministers heard this, their brows were furrowed, their gazes spread, but they remained silent.
This meaning couldn't be more obvious, that is, I want someone to stop the intruders and "go out on my behalf."
No one is that stupid. This is a fatal situation. There are no soldiers and no food. How can we fight?
At this time, Li Jiantai, the right minister of the Ministry of official affairs and a scholar of Dongge University, suddenly came out and said: "Wei Chen's family is in Jin Province. I dare to ask for a war, spread my private wealth, fight against the intruders, and avenge my previous shame."
"Okay, okay!" Emperor Chongzhen was overjoyed: "The Qing family has great ambitions."
Therefore, he was given Shang Fang's sword and concurrently served as Minister of the Ministry of War, doing things expediently.
In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen's reign, on the twenty-sixth day of the first lunar month, Chongzhen sent out his generals.
The prince-in-law, Captain Wan Wei, sacrificed three animals to the Ancestral Temple.
He also gave a banquet and said: "Go to war on my behalf!"
In order to win this battle, Li Jiantai even asked the Westerner Tang Ruowang to go with the army and be responsible for the fire attack water tactics.
As a result, as soon as he left Beijing, the sedan pole suddenly broke.
"Oops, it's an ominous sign!"
For a moment, the army was panicked.
When they marched to Zhuozhou, south of Beijing, more than 3,000 people fled.
Soon, "the troops and food were both in short supply, and we only had 500 people with us."
When he heard that Quwo, his hometown, had fallen and his family's wealth was emptied, he fell ill and could not travel more than thirty miles a day.
When they reached Guangzong, the city guarding magistrate refused to allow Li Jiantai to enter the city for three days.
Li Jiantai became so angry that a dignified cabinet student and supervisor was stopped outside the city.
Therefore, this ridiculous prime minister actually ordered the officers and soldiers to attack the city.
After the city was captured, the squire was killed and the magistrate was whipped.
The first battle to lead an army is not to break into a bandit, but to show off your power in your own county!
Immediately, when he arrived in Baoding, he was greeted by the intruder Liu Fangliang who attacked the city.
The prefect died, but he became a prisoner, which made the magistrate laugh.
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