Chapter 353 Bloody Battle in Yangzhou II
The Tiger Crouching Cannon erupts shotguns at close range, with an effective range of up to thirty meters. Obviously, the distance from the city gate to the outside of the city is no more than that. No one can stand under the dense shotguns.
The Tiger Crouching Cannon, an outdated product that was about to be abandoned by Liang Fan, was now put to great use as an 'advanced weapon' that Chen Cao presented to the Chongde court after he was promoted to prince.
Blood and flesh suddenly flew out in front of the city gate, and broken limbs covered the entire city gate.
Boom boom boom...
Several violent explosions accompanied by flames soaring into the sky immediately ignited the metal pallet trucks used by the Northern Army as cover. Li Mingyuan was on the top of the city directly above. When the heat wave rushed to the top of the city, he unconsciously stepped back. A few steps.
'Dong dong dong...'
The sound of artillery came from far to near, and the point of impact was right at the top of the city. All of a sudden, the shells and solid-core bombs fell one after another on the top of the city. The explosion caused the Confederate army defending the city to fall on their backs.
"Fire back...Kill these dogs to death..."
At the same time as the artillery battle began, Duan SanNian personally led his suicide squad into battle with knives. Under the cover of the huge black smoke brought by the burning carriage, three thousand advance troops carried ladders and climbed towards the top of the city.
"The Confederate Army is climbing the city..."
"Prepare the golden juice..."
"Musket ready..."
"The wood rolling stone is ready..."
The battle at the top of the city was extremely fierce. Gu Huan was a little worried that Duan SanNian would die at the top of the city, so he ordered Duan SanNian to withdraw his command. Even though the Northern Army now had a huge advantage, Gu Huan was unwilling to give up. Duan SanNian, a confidant general.
Seeing that he had already rushed to the top of the city, Duan Sannian received the news that Gu Huan asked him to retreat and command, and he was furious: "Go back and tell the Marquis that if you retreat now, the entire army will be defeated."
The messenger did not dare to be careless, and immediately reported Duan Sannian's words to Gu Huan.
While Gu Huan was still thinking, a letter came from the Chinese Army, asking Gu Huan to launch a general offensive immediately.
There was no other reason. Zhu Chunchen in the distance had clearly seen the army attacking the city. How could he miss this great opportunity.
The forward army consisted of 30,000 people and was commanded by Zhenyuan Hou Gu Huan. Zhu Chunchen also knew that even if Gu Huan was defeated, it would only weaken the power of Zhenyuan Hou's line.
"There are actually such strong generals among the Northern Army?"
Zhang Gaoping felt better and went to the top of the city in person. Li Mingyuan was organizing his men to drive down the attacking Northern Army.
Duan Sannian slashed down a Southern soldier who was trying to drive him down with a knife, and then immediately asked his men to use shields as a cover to build a defensive circle, waiting for the main charging force to come to their aid.
"Back off, use fierce fire oil."
Hearing this, Li Mingyuan trembled, and then looked at Zhang Gaoping behind him: "Commander, the fire at the top of the city is not good for the morale of the army..."
"How can a general be kind to women?"
Following Zhang Gaoping's order, Duan Sannian, who could still defend with a shield, was suddenly surrounded by fierce fire oil. The soldiers on the periphery were burned by the fire and rolled all over the ground, looking extremely tragic.
"General, retreat quickly..."
The defensive circle is getting smaller and smaller, and there are less than a hundred people left in the city originally occupied by 300 people. If Duan Sannian insists on guarding, then the only thing waiting for these more than 100 people will be burned to death by fire.
Duan Sannian looked up to the sky and sighed, then threw his long knife at the top of the city: "Withdraw..."
Gu Huan was a little frightened. He was shocked because the people who defended the city were so ruthless and even burned their own people. The defensive circle established by the people who had finally attacked them no longer existed at this moment.
"Attack again..."
Although the battle in Xicheng was not as fierce as that in Beicheng, it was still fierce. After the artillery battle, Zhu Yanrong personally ordered his general troops to attack the city, leaving Baoding Marquis Meng Si to guard the Chinese army.
The dynasty has been raising nobles for more than three hundred years, but Meng Si, Marquis of Baoding, does not have the bravery and ability of his ancestor Meng Ying. He was also forcibly transferred to the south this time. If he was not really unbearable, he would not be placed under Zhu Yanrong's hands.
"Master Hou..."
The general shouted, and Meng Si turned his head to look. In the distance, there was a burst of dust from the northwest, and what came into view was the five thousand cavalry led by Yin Dongsheng.
"Enemy attack..."
"The Shenji Battalion moves forward to guard against the Confederate cavalry. We must block them."
The Yangzhou War begins...
Gu Huan's men were blocked, so he thought of using fierce fire oil to burn down the North Gate of Yangzhou. Although he succeeded, it also brought huge casualties.
Before the fire burned out, the explosion of the Crouching Tiger Cannon was heard inside the gate, and the flying shotgun killed the Northern Army at the gate again. With this remaining power, Li Mingyuan immediately ordered the North City of Yangzhou to be sealed with stones.
A messenger on a fast horse arrived at Zhu Chunchen's central army, and the news he brought caused Zhu Chunchen to whip the messenger.
"Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, Baoguo Gong's headquarters was attacked by the Confederate cavalry in the west city. Baoding Marquis' guarding of the Chinese army was defeated, and the entire army was defeated..."
Gong Liang stepped forward and said: "Commander, there are some divine machine battalions under Duke Baoguo's command, and they should be able to turn the tide."
This is a reminder that Zhu Yanrong cannot be dealt with for the time being.
Zhu Chunchen didn't know what this meant. The key point was that the war was now at this point. If Yangzhou could not be conquered, he was worried about whether he would lose his hereditary title.
"The country has reached a critical moment...Gong Duwei, lead 10,000 people to rescue Duke Bao immediately."
"yes..."
Ding Wenqing's defeated army still had more than 20,000 people. When he arrived at Xicheng, what he saw was loud shouts of killing and soldiers dressed as the Northern Army running around.
As a result, Ding Wenqing, who wanted to make a meritorious deed, immediately organized his men to rush into the defeated army.
Originally, Zhu Yanrong could still resist Yin Dongsheng and the Southern troops leaving the city, but Ding Wenqing, who thrust in from an oblique stab, became the last straw for them.
Zhu Yanrong's troops were defeated...
Zhang Gaoping didn't know about the war in Xicheng yet. At this moment, he was directing his men to pour the last wave of golden juice.
"Commander..."
Li Mingyuan came closer and looked at the retreating Northern Army: "The defense supplies in the city will last for up to three days..."
Zhang Gaoping's eyes narrowed for a long time: "Where is the food and grass?"
"Less than five days... The general is worried that once the news of the exhaustion of food and grass is leaked, the morale of the army will change drastically. Yangzhou will not be defended by then. The only way is to return to the army..."
"Return to the army?"
Zhang Gaoping thought of the eunuchs who had disobeyed orders and reprimanded the army, and then thought of the possibility that he would be liquidated in the future once he returned. The only one who could save him was himself and successfully win the Yangzhou defense battle.
However, the development of things made him guess that even if the Yangzhou defense battle was won, he would face the same path as the Northern Army, with both sides retreating.
"There is no news from Nanjing, that is to say, Yang He failed to arrive at the gate of Nanjing..."
"Commander... a great victory. General Yin and General Ding who rushed back surrounded the Northern Army Zhu Yanrong's troops in the west city, defeated his army, and captured the Northern Army's Baoding Marquis Meng Si alive..."
"good..."
Zhang Gaoping was overjoyed. Capturing Meng Si alive was a good thing that could greatly boost the morale of the army. So he looked at Li Mingyuan and said: "After all the Northern troops retreat, immediately go to the Chinese military tent to discuss matters."
.
"Meng Si harmed me..."
The first thing Zhu Yanrong said after seeing Zhu Chunchen was to curse Meng Si, and then he looked angry.
Zhu Yanrong had been in the military camp for a long time, so he naturally had two skills. After the entire army was defeated, he was fortunate to be supported by Gong Liang, otherwise he was worried that he would be captured by the Southern Army like Meng Si.
If he was captured alive, he really couldn't imagine what would happen to his family in Beijing.
Zhu Chunchen was wondering if Zhu Yanrong would shirk, but thinking about it carefully, Meng Si, Marquis of Baoding, was also known as a playboy in the capital. After the attack on the prince, he even had his salary of a hundred stones shaved off as a warning to those who came after him.
It is understandable that he was captured alive without having experienced a battle.
Zhu Chunchen couldn't blame Zhu Yanrong, so he asked him to sit down. He saw that Gu Huan, the forward army, had contributed a lot in this siege, but the total losses of all the ministries were not small.
Military strength is not the key point. The key point is that Meng Si's capture seriously affected the morale of the army.
"Siege the city tomorrow..."
The supervisor, Cao Zhengchun, didn't wait for Zhu Chunchen to finish speaking before he said, "Mr. Cheng, we think it's better to be careful. The capture of Baoding Marquis will definitely shake the morale of the Confederate army. We are worried that the Confederate army will make a sneak attack at night." .”
Phew...
There were a lot of people in the tent, and I don't know who couldn't hold back laughter, but Cao Zhengchun didn't pay attention. Instead, he respectfully moved Qin Liangyu's seat out of the way, allowing the female chief soldier to help speak.
It is not shameful for Qin Liangyu to lose Nanjing as a guest army. On the contrary, it is her real ability to safely withdraw from Nanjing with hundreds of thousands of people.
However, everyone present, down to the count, did not think Qin Liangyu had much real ability. This mentality stemmed from the fact that they were born in a noble family.
How many loyal and brave people can there be in that barbarian land of Shizhu?
"Is it General Qin's intention or Eunuch Cao's intention?"
Someone spoke. Cao Zhengchun looked over and saw that it was Duan Xin, the uncle of Yicheng.
"Ahem..."
Zhu Chunchen interrupted the embarrassment, and then said sternly: "I have been entrusted by Your Majesty to oversee hundreds of thousands of troops. This time I am determined to win Yangzhou. My colleagues must be careful. Today's battle is considered a test. Although many troops were lost, but After all, Zhang Gaoping’s defense resources were consumed;
We have many soldiers and sufficient food and fodder. We will see how long he can hold out under the siege. I hope you will try your best. "
.
"Meng Si confessed that the Northern Army had enough food and fodder and prepared all kinds of siege equipment. Zhu Chunchen also issued an order to attack Yangzhou. I was entrusted by your majesty, so I naturally wanted to defend Yangzhou. Today, our army won a great victory in the daytime battle. How is the morale of the army?"
"Commander, after capturing Meng Si alive, the morale of our army was greatly shaken, and they all believed that defeating the Northern Army was not a problem."
Zhang Gaoping nodded: "That's good. Although the Northern Army lost Meng Si, it did not injure him at all. The casualties of the two armies in today's battle were evenly divided. Encouraged by the capture of Meng Si alive, I decided to Launch a night attack on the Northern Army tonight.”
There were very few night raids in history, mainly due to the light and night blindness of the soldiers. The cost of night raids was very high, so Zhang Gaoping could not help but be careless.
"Zhu Yanrong's troops in the west city have been repulsed, but there is Xu Xilian's camp in the east city. That man is also a dandy. Tonight, we will attack Xu Xilian in a night attack."
"As commanded..."
