Chapter 281 The city of Hangzhou is impregnable
"Eighty-three thousand people..."
Zhang Yangming blushed excitedly: "After all, our city of Hangzhou already has more than 100,000 people. At this rate, Hangzhou's city defenses are already impregnable."
Although the Yulin Army often takes the initiative to attack, it is a frontier army after all and has rich experience in defending the city.
"Okay..." Zhang Yangming immediately ordered: "With this army here, why worry about not waiting for reinforcements from the court? General Bing You, why not do this? The main direction of the rebel attack is at Wulin Gate. From today on, the city defense of Wulin Gate will be It was taken over by General You's subordinates;
General Kang Shen's subordinates were stationed at Genshan Gate. "
You Shiwei nodded: "I respect Lord Zhang's arrangement, but the direction of Genshan Gate is also in Beicheng. There is no guarantee that the rebels will not attack from the direction of Genshan Gate. As Lord Zhang said, Genshan Gate is now connected with Kang There are only 5,000 regular soldiers among the 3,000 generals, and 30,000 are young and strong. The lower officials mostly fought with the rebels in Suzhou and Songjiang. The 5,000 men and horses guarding the Genshan Gate are really stretched."
"Then according to Commander-in-Chief You's wishes, can we divide our troops to defend Genshan Gate?"
You Shiwei nodded: "According to the wishes of my subordinates, I can mobilize ten thousand people from my brother Shilu's troops to help defend Genshan Gate."
You Shiwei originally wanted Zuo Liangyu to assist in the defense, but considering Zuo Liangyu's character, You Shiwei was worried that once Zuo Liangyu was attacked, he would voluntarily abandon Genshan Gate, which would not be worth the gain.
Zhang Yangming clapped his hands and applauded, then said: "General You's arrangement is to my liking. In this way, the defense of Genshan Gate will be handed over to Deputy General You." He looked at Kang Sui and said, "General Kang and Ma Liang only need to Just follow Deputy Commander You’s arrangements.”
Kang Shui clasped his fists towards You Shilu: "The final general will obey the orders of Deputy General You."
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"Mu Qishan has at least 20,000 people under his command. According to Huang Chongtao's confession, the Mu Mansion has spent a lot of money this time. All the 30,000 soldiers on the expedition are equipped with firearms, and they are equipped with the most advanced turtle-dove-foot muskets in Southeast Asia."
At the enlarged military meeting, the number of participants had been expanded to the level of brigade commanders, so that there was no room for sitting in the former enemy's combat headquarters, and there were a lot of brigade commanders standing.
After Wang Xiaojie told the meeting about the information he had received, he clasped his fists at Chen Cao: "If we attack Qiantang County, we need artillery support and break down the city wall. If we fill it with human lives, we can also consume their ammunition storage, but Doing so may cause those surrendered guards to defect again."
Chen Cao agreed with Wang Xiaojie's point of view, not to mention that Huang Chunyao had discussed this matter with Chen Cao before. In order to stabilize the morale of the people and the army in Zhejiang, naturally we cannot use the ants of the guards to attack the city. If these guards ants are dead, Zhejiang's There will be big problems with public security.
"In addition to Mu Qishan's Yunnan soldiers, there are about 4,000 garrison troops in Qiantang County at the moment. Qiantang County is close to the Wulin Gate side of Hangzhou. If our army attacks Qiantang County, we will not be able to protect the Hangzhou defenders in the direction of Wulin Gate. We will support you from the side.”
After hearing this, Chen Cao was about to say that the guard of Wulin Gate was Kang Shui, but at this moment a school captain walked in, whispered a few words in Chen Cao's ear, and then handed a secret letter to him Chen Cao.
Chen Cao, who had read the secret letter, did not change his expression, put the letter in his arms, and then said coldly: "Everyone, You Shiwei's Yulin Army and Zuo Liangyu's Ningguo Town Army have entered Hangzhou City."
Due to good military habits, despite hearing this relatively shocking news, everyone present only frowned. The most common ones were the several brigade commanders who looked at each other and exchanged glances.
"Eighty-three thousand people...a lot of people..."
The total of Chen Cao's three divisions is only about 70,000, and the opponent has 83,000 regular soldiers, and You Shiwei, who gave Chen Cao a headache, came in person: "They came from Haining Wei Fuhai, Having escaped our spies, it seems that You Shiwei is really not that simple, I still underestimated him."
Huang Chunyao shook his fan and said with a smile, "This is exactly what our army wants. The Yulin border army is trapped in Hangzhou. After our army captures Hangzhou, we no longer have to deal with this troublesome Yulin army everywhere." pursued and suppressed;
Sir, the student thinks that if You Shiwei enters Hangzhou, our army's chances of victory will increase by 20%. "
Chen Cao stood up and looked at the map of Hangzhou carefully for a long time, and then asked: "What are the current movements of the 50,000 guard troops summoned by Zhang Yangming?"
Zhao Xin clasped his fists: "The guards and soldiers from Xianxia Pass and other places are already on the way, and the Guanhai Guards are coming to Hangzhou on sand boats."
After hearing this, Huang Chunyao hurriedly said: "Master, the students have a plan. Since Zhang Yangming has mobilized Guanhaiwei to come, why not we use the plan and use Guanhaiwei as an internal response..."
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At this moment, only four people, Wang Xiaojie, Huang Chunyao, Yuan Shizhong and Zhao Xin, were present in the Chinese army's tent. Chen Cao secretly met with the four of them, mainly to lay out tomorrow's battle plan.
"With Guanhaiwei as the internal response, take a sand boat and sail from the Qiantang River to the West Lake, and then go straight from the West Lake to the Qiantang Gate." Huang Chunyao said, pointing to the map: "There are ten gates in Hangzhou, Qiantang Gate, Qingbo Gate, and Yongjin Gate are the water gates. Yongjin Gate is not suitable for sand ship operations, Qingbo Gate is in the south of the city, and the only one in the north is Qiantang Gate."
Two miles northwest of Qiantang Gate is Qiantang County, and West Lake is within Qiantang County. Therefore, if Lin Guodong's Guanhaiwei can successfully break into Hangzhou, whether they capture Qiantang County or Hangzhou City, Chen Cao will be able to save money. A big trouble.
"Lin Guodong's Guanhaiwei is my secret," Chen Cao looked at the four of them: "The reason why I didn't mention it in the daytime meeting was to keep it secret. This time I am attacking Hangzhou, and I also have an important internal agent in Hangzhou. .”
Wang Xiaojie had long felt that there was something strange in Hangzhou City. It stands to reason that Chen Cao, who was so heavily guarded in Hangzhou City, could also get the news. There must be a big shot among them.
"Hangzhou General Kang Shui is my man..."
Even if Wang Xiaojie was mentally prepared, he was shocked by Chen Cao's words and took a deep breath. It's no wonder that Hangzhou is not a small city, and Chen Cao dared to attack Hangzhou with 70,000 people. That was a bold move. Besides, There are many local regiments and inspection departments in various parts of Zhejiang, and the troops and horses of the capital departments in Jiangxi and Huguang are also able to provide support within a month. If there is no internal response, he really can't figure out what Chen Cao will do to attack Hangzhou.
"Not only that, I believe that General Qi, the Taizhou Commander-in-Chief, should also take action at this moment."
Qi Changguo's son Qi Xianzong is in Chen Cao's army. Now Qi Xianzong is stationed in Shanghai. His younger brother's son and his nephew Qi Xianyun are also in Shanghai. As someone whom Chen Cao trusts very much, Qi Xianzong is not in the Five Armies. He is a general soldier, but his status is quite significant.
"It's just that now You Shiwei has replaced Kang Su as the guard of Wulin Gate, and transferred him to Genshan Gate. He even put 10,000 people under his younger brother You Shilu at Genshan Gate. Now Genshan Gate has a regular army. Fifteen thousand people, 30,000 young and strong, if you want to break through the Genshan Gate, you have to use field artillery to blast it."
Chen Cao said and looked around at everyone: "This is also the reason why I have been reluctant to issue orders. Zhao Xin went to Shanghai to deliver a message and rushed back. It will take at least four days until the reinforcements are set off, but now You Shiwei has already After arriving in Hangzhou, Qiantang County must be captured, otherwise once they deploy, Qiantang County will be difficult to fight. If the reinforcements from Nanjing from the north come again, this kind of war of attrition will be a war of attrition even if I have enough food. Recklessly."
After Chen Cao said this, it seems that it is really difficult to defeat Hangzhou now.
"Send the order. We will launch an attack on Qiantang County tomorrow. Call in all our Shenwu artillery. As soon as the equipment from Shanghai arrives, we will launch a general attack on Qiantang County."
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"Dong-dong-dong...dong-dong-dong...dong-dong-dong...dong-dong-dong...dong-dong-dong..."
'Dong-dong-dong...dong-dong-dong...dong-dong-dong...dong-dong-dong...dong-dong-dong...'
'Dong-dong-dong...dong-dong-dong...dong-dong-dong...dong-dong-dong...dong-dong-dong...'
The sound of cannons was loud, and Mu Qishan and everyone hid in the county government office of Qiantang County. The county government office is located by the West Lake, far away from the north city of Qiantang County. If not for the initial bombardment, Mu Qishan's soldiers were in the city. Mu Qishan would not run to the Qiantang County Government Office to take shelter even if the wall bricks and wooden blocks behind the door were blown up and smashed to death.
"Master Mu, if this continues, the city gate will be blown up sooner or later."
Wang Chong, the commander of the Zhejiang Dusi Dusi who followed him to escape, said loudly: "If Qiantang County is lost, I really can't afford the responsibility."
Mu Qishan belongs to the guest army and is still a support force. Although he is now the commanding general of Qiantang County, if Qiantang County is lost, all the responsibility will be on the commander of Qianshi Wang Chong.
Mu Qishan also felt that hiding in the county government office was not an option, because generally speaking, once the bombardment stopped, there would be a large-scale infantry action, and the rebels' bombardment was quite intense. Maybe the entire north city of Qiantang County had been bombed. It doesn't necessarily collapse.
The city wall in Qiantang County is less than four meters. Although it is covered with rammed earth and bricks, the thickness of the city wall cannot be compared with that of Hangzhou. Thinking of this, Mu Qishan took a breath and shouted: "Quick, send the order to the whole army, prepare to defend." city."
On the upper floor of Wulin Gate, You Shiwei looked at the north gate of Qiantang County two miles away. His brows were already twisted into the character "Sichuan". In a rare telescope, the north gate of Qiantang County has been bombed. It was beyond recognition, the rammed earth layer was all exposed, and even the innermost wall foundation of the rammed earth could be vaguely seen.
Putting away the telescope, You Shiwei looked at You Shigong beside him: "Qiantang County will definitely be lost within three days."
You Shigong looked at the city gate connecting Hangzhou and Qiantang County: "The gate has been sealed with bricks and earth, and stones have been used as barriers, which cannot be broken even with artillery;
Brother Wei is now just worried that if the court's reinforcements cannot arrive as soon as possible, Hangzhou will not be able to hold it. "
Zuo Liangyu was not worried at all, and said: "Two adults, please rest assured. Even if Hangzhou is lost, the responsibility lies only with the officials of Hangzhou or Zhejiang, and has nothing to do with us guest troops who came to support us."
You Shiwei glanced at Zuo Liangyu coldly, his eyes were extremely solemn. Zuo Liangyu suddenly felt something was not good when he saw this, and immediately clasped his fists: "The last general made a mistake, please forgive me."
After shocking Zuo Liangyu, You Shiwei said: "Assemble a few red cannons and add them to the horse mouth in the northwest corner. If the rebels attack the city, they can also provide some support to Qiantang County."
