Chapter 352 Bloody Battle in Yangzhou
"Bao Guogong attacked the east city all the way, Ding Guogong attacked the west city all the way, I am in charge of the central army and mainly attack the north city, Zhenyuan Hou is the commander of the forward army, Anyuan Hou is the rear army, and the rest perform their duties and fight for the first victory of Yangzhou. The main force of the Confederate army was destroyed in the battle."
"Take orders..."
Gu Huan was getting older, but at this time, the country was in trouble. There were rapists outside the customs and chaos inside. As a veteran lord who had shared weal and woe with the country, he naturally had to retire with the country.
"Master Hou..."
Pioneer General and Deputy Commander-in-Chief Duan Sannian rode up to Gu Huan: "Master Marquis, according to reports from Yangzhou, Zhang Gaoping vomited blood at the top of the city."
Gu Huan was overjoyed: "Really?"
Duan Sannian nodded solemnly: "It's absolutely true. I heard that Du Wenhuan, under the command of Yang He, the governor of the five provinces, led a partial division to attack Yizhen and burned the food and fodder of the Yangzhou defenders. Then Zhang Gaoping sent General Ding Wenqing to rescue Yizhen. Ding Wenqing was defeated by Du Wenhuan in Yizhen."
"good..."
Gu Huan swung his riding whip and said: "Immediately report this news to Duke Cheng Guo and send the order to launch an attack on Yangzhou in half an hour."
.
Zhang Gaoping dismissed the doctor, then looked at the generals in the tent and said sternly: "All of you here came from Prince Fu's palace, and your situation is similar to that of me. Now that the imperial court is in a critical moment, you must all be of one mind." Try your best to win the battle in Yangzhou."
"My lord, I heard that General Ding..."
"Ahem..."
Telling this kind of news can easily affect the morale of the military, so naturally some smart people will stop it.
Zhang Gaoping glared at the person who spoke, and then said in a deep voice: "The Northern Army has 560,000 people coming with all their strength, and we also have 350,000 in Yangzhou City. Although there is a huge disparity in military strength, offense and defense have their own reasons. In a national war, numbers are not the last straw that overwhelms the opponent.”
This is also true. How did the former Qin King Fu Jian's 800,000-strong army be completely annihilated by the Jin army's 50,000-strong army?
Military morale...
"Yin Dongsheng..."
"The end will be..."
"The Northern Army was encircled on three sides to disrupt the morale of our army. However, Zhu Chunchen underestimated my determination to defend Yangzhou. After the war began, you led your troops out of the west city, cooperated with the defending troops, and detoured to attack Zhu Yanrong's headquarters first. "
"The last general takes orders..."
"Song Changfu..."
"The end will be..."
"Your department... must be prepared to fight..."
Song Changfu took a deep breath: "I have put my life and death aside, in order to repay the late king's great kindness, I must live up to the trust of the Duke."
Dare to fight means to fight to the death, and there must be dead soldiers. In a battle involving hundreds of thousands of people, if you are not careful, the entire army will be defeated. In this case, the death squads are the key to determining the situation of the battle.
"Everyone, the life and death of the imperial court depends on this battle. I must move forward without hesitation. If I take a step back, you will behead me first."
"I dare not die..."
.
"fire..."
"fire..."
'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...dong-dong-dong...dong-dong-dong...dong-dong-dong...'
The violent sound of artillery covered the entire Yangzhou City, and the thick smoke lingered over the city. The offensive and defensive sides launched a fierce artillery battle. The Ningyuan Cannon and the Shenwu Cannon each erupted with fire and pushed out various types of shells in the barrel.
Casualties will inevitably increase.
Gu Huan put down his telescope and murmured: "The previous Marquis Anyuan was a master of firearms. Now we are just taking advantage of Duke Baoguo."
Duan SanNian, the general of the forward army, was commanding the battle at the artillery array. However, the flying shells and various types of solid bullets caused his artillerymen to suffer a lot.
"Who dares to retreat?" Duan Sannian yelled sternly: "How many casualties have we received? The southern army defending the city will not be low at all. Hurry, get water to cool down..."
The messenger arrived in front of Gu Huan: "Marquis Zhenyuan, the commander-in-chief has given orders that the forward army must launch an attack on Yangzhou in half an hour."
The so-called attack is hand-to-hand combat.
But at this moment, both the offensive and defensive sides adopted artillery battles. If they attacked rashly, their opponents would definitely still have guns to defend the city.
Although the three thousand fusilier infantry behind him seemed to be many, Gu Huan believed that the Yangzhou defenders also had such equipment.
"Tell Duke Cheng that I know about it."
At the top of Beicheng, Zhang Gaoping's confidant General Li Mingyuan was directing the artillery battle. Suddenly he saw something moving in the smoke, so he raised his telescope to check, and then roared loudly: "The Northern Army is attacking, prepare to fight...Muskets Prepare..."
Li Mingyuan didn't know where Liangfan's flintlock rifles were in the hands of the Northern Army, but he at least knew that the Yangzhou defenders were equipped with 30,000 flintlock rifles, which was enough to defend the city. This was why Zhang Gaoping dared to defend Yangzhou to the death. .
'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...'
Under the cover of the carriages, the attacking Northern troops approached the northern city wall and caught Li Mingyuan's defenders off guard.
"There is iron..."
One of the musketeers shouted in horror after firing a round.
The Wuhan Iron and Steel Cart and the Catapult Cart are both products of the former Song Dynasty, but the Wuhan Iron and Steel Cart is even better. However, the iron-covered Catapult Cart with the support of the thick cypress wood is enough to block flying lead bullets, and even solid-core bullets. Can withstand a wave of attacks.
"There are smart people in the Northern Army, and they actually used the truck to cover it." Li Mingyuan panicked and immediately calmed down, and then followed the tactics explained by Zhang Gaoping: "Huh, the truck moves slowly, so immediately mobilize the fire and oil, and let's roast the Northern pig. ..."
Once the explosive fire oil spreads, the burning area immediately becomes larger. Even the iron-covered truck cannot change the nature of the big wood on the front.
The truck, which was contaminated with fire oil, immediately burst into flames, and the Northern Army blocking the truck could only withdraw from the cover of the truck, followed by violent gunfire.
"Counterattack...quickly counterattack..."
A commander was shot and fell to the ground. The sergeant behind him immediately ran away...
Li Mingyuan was overjoyed at the sight. Defending the city with an absolute advantage would naturally result in generous rewards, and the escaping Northern Army was the best witness.
However, not long after he was happy, the sound of artillery sounded again. It was obvious that the firing of artillery this time was to cover the progress of the carriage.
Sure enough, the previously defeated Northern Army emerged from the smoke again. Although the previous fire burned most of the carts, this time Li Mingyuan clearly saw that the carts were full of buckets filled with water.
"These people are so damn determined to give up, prepare to..."
Duan SanNian rode his horse to Gu Huan's side and said with cupped hands: "Master Hou, our army has arrived at Yangzhou City under the cover of marquee carts, but was repulsed once by the Confederate Army's heavy fire and oil."
"Don't panic, be patient. After all, Zhang Gaoping has run out of food."
Gu Huan learned the fighting style of his ancestors and acted steadily. Although he read many military books, there was still a big difference between the actual situation on the battlefield.
The main attacker in Xicheng was Duke Bao Zhu Yanrong. Although he was extremely reluctant to go south this time, all the nobles in the capital were mobilized except for the British Duke who stayed in the capital. Naturally, he couldn't shirk it.
"My lord, the Marquis of Baoding sent someone to ask when we will launch an attack?"
"Did Meng Si panic? Or does he want to take the lead?"
Zhu Yanrong could not have known that Xungui was domineering in Beijing, and the same was true for his son. Otherwise, he would not have come to this battle with a sick body. Moreover, this battle was related to the survival of the Northern Dynasty. He could only win but not lose, so he had no idea at all. Don't dare to be careless.
"Go and tell Meng Si that without my order, if he dares to launch an attack without permission, he will be dealt with according to military law."
It was Zhu Chunchen's consideration to place a group of marquises under the duke, otherwise chaos would happen from time to time. During this war, the decision could not be sloppy.
Xu Xilian was a little eager to try, but he had never received the order, so he did not dare to make a mistake. If the battle was defeated because of his mistakes, he was worried that his title of Duke Ding would be reduced according to Chongzhen's urine.
Xue Lian, the Marquis of Yangwu, was young and not yet a direct descendant. When Xue Xian had no children, the title of Marquis of Yangwu was once lost, and the collateral clansmen scrambled to grab it. During the Jiajing period, the collateral clan Xue Han was selected, and when the title was passed to Xue Lian, he was only twelve years old. In the second year of Tianqi's reign, Xue Lian was just twenty.
"My lord, why don't we just wait."
"Wait?" Xu Xilian's eyes widened angrily: "You brat, now Zhang Gaoping is the turtle in the urn, and the sensuality in the capital has made you tired of waiting?"
The three top dukes, Duke Dingguo, Duke Chengguo and Duke Yingying, are in charge of the three major camps in the capital. They have been hereditary for many years and have been passed down to this day. There are martial arts professors in the family. Although Xu Xilian is domineering, he also knows how to measure. Now Zhang Gaoping is out of food. Dao, as long as you use your life, you can capture Yangzhou.
"Capture Yangzhou, destroy Zhang Gaoping, and destroy the main force of the Southern Army, so that the ignorant civil servants in the imperial court can see that our lord is not a bad person."
It has been more than a day or two since Donglin Qingliu said that the Lord was a moth, and now, the Lords going south have to prove one thing to them, that is, they are not useless people raised by the country.
"Going up... going up..."
Gu Huan was a little excited. In the telescope, he clearly saw the troops climbing up the city. The two sides even fired muskets at the top of the city: "In the third year of the order, the entire front army attacked..."
From time to time, Gu Huan's soldiers went to the Chinese army to report to Zhu Chunchen that the forward army had attacked the city of Yangzhou.
"good..."
At that time, Zhu Chunchen was worried that Gu Huan was not up to the task, but now that he thought about it, he still underestimated him: "Sending artillery over to suppress the formation will suppress the enemy."
Squeak...
A sound made the musketeers reloading under the city wall confused.
The originally closed North City Gate suddenly opened from the inside. The Northern Army Musketeers who were hiding in the city gate hole and reloading turned their heads, and suddenly the ghosts of the dead emerged: "Run..."
'Dong dong dong...'
There were several explosions in succession, and the musketeer in front suddenly turned into human flesh.
Li Mingyuan mobilized three hundred tiger squatting artillery, preparing to go out of the city to kill all the Northern Army musketeers who had caused heavy casualties to them under the city gate, and by the way, burned the carriages they placed under the city gate.
