Chapter 282 Hangzhou cannot be lost
After giving these instructions, You Shiwei still felt that it was inappropriate, so he looked at his elder brother You Shigong: "Brother, why don't you lead some troops and horses from Qiantangmen West Lake into Qiantang County to help Mu Qishan defend the city."
You Shigong nodded and said: "No problem, I will order all three thousand troops from my headquarters to guard Qiantang County."
You Shiwei shook his head: "Three thousand is too little. I'll give you five thousand. In addition, let General Zuo Shen mobilize 10,000 horses, and you can enter Qiantang together."
Zuo Liangyu was frightened by You Shiwei's look before, but now she didn't dare to be careless when asked to do something, so she clasped her fists and said, "Don't worry, Commander-in-Chief, I will dispatch two battalions of men and horses under the command of the Deputy Commander-in-Chief;
Zhang Yong and Xu Yong..."
"The end will be..."
"The two of you will each command five thousand troops, and together with the deputy commander-in-chief, you will guard Qiantang. Remember, all actions must be obeyed by the deputy commander-in-chief's orders, otherwise military law will be ruthless."
"yes..."
Zhang Yangming heard that You Shiwei had mobilized 15,000 people to assist in the defense of Qiantang County. When he was about to stop him, he was stopped by a group of officials. Kang Shu said: "Don't worry, Sir. General You is also considering the safety of Hangzhou. If Qiantang is lost, County, the West Lake Water Gate will be exposed to the rebels, and the city of Hangzhou will not be defended. Defending Qiantang means defending Hangzhou."
Zhang Yangming nodded, extremely worried. Thinking of the safety of Qiantang, Hangzhou officials once again recruited servants from wealthy families and green-skinned thugs on the streets. They also released more than a thousand prisoners in the Hangzhou jail and promised to be free after the war. Five thousand people were assembled to form a Tutuan battalion, led by a town governor from the capital commander's envoy, and went to Qiantang County to assist in the defense.
"At this rate, there are a total of 50,000 people in Qiantang County. It should not be a problem to hold on for ten days and a half."
While Zhang Yangming was still consoling himself about the incident in Qiantang County, eighty miles south of Hangzhou, a group of official troops was galloping towards Hangzhou.
Qi Changguo, the general of Taizhou, beheaded the military supervisor and then mobilized more than 3,000 Taizhou soldiers to go north. He had only one purpose, to help Chen Cao break through Hangzhou.
At this moment, the whole army is marching in Jiuling Mountain in Jinhua Mansion. In order to cover up others' eyes, the whole army did not even go through the official route.
Qi Changguo looked at the three thousand soldiers from Taizhou who were following him. They were all descendants of the Qi family army. Guerrilla Qi Xianye rode forward and said, "Uncle, we can reach Hangzhou in more than seventy miles."
Qi Changguo unfolded the map on his horse nearby, and after a long time he said: "Our army went north secretly, and the inspection department didn't see it along the way. Maybe they were all transferred to Hangzhou. When entering Hangzhou this time, they should enter from Fenghuang Mountain Wansong Ridge. Only then can we deceive people’s eyes and ears.”
Fenghuang Mountain Wansongling stands in the southwest corner of Hangzhou. Different from Zhongshan Purple Mountain in Nanjing, Fenghuang Mountain Wansongling is like a piece of jade embedded in a corner of Hangzhou. People at the time even compared Hangzhou to the jade seal passed down from the country; The Wansong Ridge of Phoenix Mountain is the jade inlaid with gold on the imperial seal.
Qi Xianye is a younger brother of Qi Xianzong, and he is currently serving as a guerrilla on the expedition with his uncle Qi Changguo. After hearing this suggestion, he agreed: "What my uncle said makes sense. If our army enters Hangzhou from Wansongling, we can capture the south city of Hangzhou. It can also build momentum for the Duke."
Qi Changguo was desperate this time, but thinking that his son often mentioned the benefits of Songjiang in his letters home, he could no longer resist wanting to take all his family members to Shanghai County.
...
The North City Gate and the northern section of the city wall in Qiantang County have been almost destroyed at this time, and Wang Xiaojie has also fired all the spare shells of the Shenwu Cannon brought by Chen Cao. From visual estimates, the casualties of the North City Gate guard troops are at least 1,000. Although the number was not large, the psychological shock caused by the shelling was beyond what Wang Xiaojie could have imagined.
"Military seat, when will we launch the attack?"
Faced with the inquiries from the messengers beside him, Wang Xiaojie put away his telescope, but kept waiting for Chen Cao's order. Chen Cao's original idea was to bombard Qiantang County, forcing You Shiwei in Hangzhou City to think that they would launch a general attack today. The wrong dispatch order was made, but the Qiantang defenders in front of them seemed to be really greedy for life and fearful of death. They never showed up after the bombardment started.
Chen Cao was not far away, two miles away, and Qian Lidong could clearly see the appearance of Qiantang: "Are the mobilized guards troops in place?"
Zhao Xin said: "Back to the Lord, the more than 20,000 guards troops recruited from Jiaxing are all in place, just waiting for the Lord's order."
"Send five thousand men up, put them under the command of Wang Xiaojie, and tell the guards that the rewards and titles will remain unchanged."
"yes..."
When Wang Xiaojie saw the arrival of five thousand guardsmen, he ordered a thousand-household guard to launch a tentative attack on Qiantang County.
These guards troops transferred from Jiaxing all knew that as long as they captured Qiantang County, they would be rewarded with a silver reward of 10,000 taels and a hereditary commanding officer. They were all gearing up. After the leader Qianhu gave the order, they carried the long ladder and headed towards Heading towards the north city of Qiantang County which is less than four meters tall.
When the long ladder was erected on the top of the city and the guardsmen began to scramble to climb it, countless flags were suddenly erected on the dilapidated north wall of the city in Qiantang County, and then muskets were stretched out one after another.
'Bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...'
'Bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...'
'Bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...'
Wang Xiaojie couldn't help but stood up straight on his horse, and then let out a sigh of relief. Qiantang County was really too quiet after being bombarded. Moreover, the intelligence also said that the people guarding Qiantang were Mu Qishan's Yunnan soldiers. That was A fully armed force.
Accompanied by the distinctive gunshots of turtle doves, the guardsmen who had been charging fiercely just now were caught off guard. Only 400 of the 1,000 people who rushed forward escaped.
A black hand killed hundreds of rebels. Mu Qishan stood on the city wall and nodded with satisfaction. The turtle-dove-foot musket under his command was bought by Mu Mansion from Nanyang at a huge price. If he hadn't heard that the old Duke said something about Chen Cao Cao was behind the scenes to control the succession of the Duke of Guizhou, and their Mu family would not be so serious about killing Chen Cao this time.
Wang Xiaojie looked at the retreating guardsmen, then frowned, and then he looked at Yuan Shizhong: "Old Yuan, what do you think if we use a large shield to resist, and then get close to the city wall and attack with fierce fire oil?"
In fact, according to the current degree of damage to the city wall of Qiantang County and the strength of the guards under his command, Wang Xiaojie could completely attack Qiantang in one battle. However, Chen Cao's general attack order was not issued, so he could only attack tentatively first.
"Mu Qishan's soldiers are firearms troops. If your guess is correct, they should also be equipped with a lot of fierce fire oil. If our army uses a large shield to cover it, wouldn't it be playing into their hands? That big shield is contaminated with fierce fire oil. There must be no deflagration, otherwise the casualties will increase sharply."
"It seems that Wang Xiaojie has also thrown his weapon into the trap." Chen Cao put down his telescope and said, "Mu Qishan's men were caught off guard. They were all equipped with firearms. The turtle dove's musket was on par with our flintlock rifles, but its lethality was different." It’s bigger than our guns.”
When the Turtle Dove Foot Gun was produced as a heavy matchlock gun, the lead bullets were larger than the lead bullets of ordinary matchlock guns, and the penetration power was naturally much higher.
"Our army also has three field artillery pieces. I wonder where you plan to use them?"
Facing Huang Chunyao's question, Chen Cao looked at the battlefield in the distance: "Wulinmen, the twenty rounds of these three guns are mainly used to deter You Shiwei."
Chen Cao was also worried that You Shiwei would suddenly send troops from Wulin Gate to attack Wang Xiaojie, so he could not use up all the artillery on his side. However, he was relieved that the geographical environment of Hangzhou was not suitable for cavalry operations at all. The infantry under his command were not threatened by the cavalry.
"Send an order to Wang Xiaojie to allow his men to attack freely..."
After Wang Xiaojie received Chen Cao's order, he was immediately sure that the free offensive did not matter whether it was a general offensive or not. Even if his men captured Qiantang County, it would not be a big deal. Besides, the safety of Qiantang was related to the life and death of Hangzhou, so even if he I felt that You Shiwei, who was in Hangzhou, would never sit back and watch him attack Qiantang County without caring.
"Instructions are sent that all the Guard troops will attack Qiantang. The 32nd Brigade will be responsible for covering the siege and strive to capture Qiantang County within today."
"yes..."
Woo...
The sobbing horn echoed outside the north city of Qiantang County, and Mu Qishan could somehow understand that his opponent was about to launch a formal attack.
"Quickly, prepare the fire oil and all the defensive equipment. The rebels are about to attack the city."
The bombed Qiantang City Wall was in pieces. An elite soldier could climb up the city wall. Although they were also condescending at the moment, there were regular rebel sergeants who joined the Weisuo Army in the attack, and not all of them were Weisuo Army. .
At a distance of one hundred and eighty steps, Fang Qinghua, commander of the 32nd Brigade of the 12th Division of the Shenwu Army, immediately issued an order to fire from a long distance, and the troops launched rounds of musket fire from a long distance away.
Although the turtle dove's musket is slightly better than the flintlock in terms of damage, its furthest distance is about 140 steps. Although it can reach 150 steps, it does not account for much in the actual exchange of fire. Cheap.
However, the gunpowder used in the flintlock gun is a new type of gunpowder refined in the workshop. Although it is still far from being granulated, it is several times stronger than the black firepowder currently used by the army.
So much so that when a flintlock gun is fired, the new gunpowder can generate huge kinetic energy and increase the shooting distance. This is the shooting distance of Chen Cao's firearms now. The distance of the new rifle has reached more than 250 steps, and the actual killing distance is more than 250 steps. The distance has reached two hundred steps.
Considering in advance that the defenders were probably equipped with heavy fire oil, Fang Qinghua had given Wang Xiaojie's instructions several times before attacking, and now he was shooting to cover from a distance, which was exactly what he wanted.
Lead bullets hit the damaged wall parapets or horses' faces like a heavy rain, and the scattered rammed earth produced a lot of dust. However, some unlucky soldiers fell to the ground after being concentrated by the lead bullets.
Those who are too unlucky will be killed directly, and those who are lucky will fall to the ground and cry. After all, the pain caused by lead bullets entering the flesh is not a trivial matter.
