Superior artillery fire was Zhu Mingxia's biggest reliance. In previous battles, artillery fire often caused the enemy's weak fighting spirit to retreat quickly; in a critical battle, the first round of mortar grenade bombing could make the defenders lose their fighting spirit.
The only thing to worry about is getting into a street fight with the defenders. In history, there are many examples of street fighting after the city was broken. Especially armies in desperate situations will often fight to the death under the leadership of officers who take the lead. This is what he least wants to see - street fighting will not only injure innocent people and destroy public and private property, it will also make it impossible for the Fubo Army to use its superiority in firepower and increase casualties.
However, in ancient siege battles, most of the time the destruction of the city meant the end of the battle. Large-scale organized street fighting is rare.
To be cautious, his staff are making a simple street sandbox model based on the city map sent by the intelligence department in order to prepare for street fighting.
In Wuzhou City, more than 20 kilometers away, Xiong Wencan had just received a report from Tang Ma in the state government office. The Australian army had arrived in Fengchuan City and was preparing troops. It would not be long before troops arrived at the city.
"Did the Australian gunboats ever cross the new beach?"
In the previous battles, the inland river gunboats left a deep impression on them. Not only were they able to swim upstream without wind, but more importantly, the "big guns" on them: the loud noises during the bombardment and the thick smoke sprayed out. , the roar of explosions often makes officials and soldiers devastated.
"The largest one stayed in Zhaoqing and did not go up." Tang Ma reported back, "The two large waterwheel ships are anchored outside Fengchuan City."
Xiong Wencan waved his hand, dismissed the pond horse, and ordered his servants to invite all the staff. He sat on the Taishi chair, closed his eyes and calmed down. The Kun thief caught up so quickly, which did not surprise him: dilly-dallying is not the Australian style. These people are vigorous and resolute in everything, and now they are fighting smoothly. Naturally, they will not delay on the road. They must be along the river. Going up, we will go straight to Wuzhou!
Anyone who has a little knowledge of the military structure and geography of Guangdong and Guangxi will know that Wuzhou is the key between Guangdong and Guangxi. This is the land that Australians must seize, and naturally it is also the land that they must defend.
If this city is not defended, not only will the gateway to Guangxi be opened, but if the imperial court wants to counterattack Guangdong in the future, it will be like climbing the road to Shu! In this case, the emperor is determined not to spare himself! Xiong Wencan knew very well that the current emperor had a bad temper and killed ministers at every turn. He had no other choice but to commit suicide and die in the city.
Thinking of this, Xiong Wencan broke into a cold sweat - he didn't have much time left, and he had to come up with a solution as soon as possible!
From the moment the Kun thieves captured Guangzhou, he sent people to the capital to sway large sums of gold and silver to attract the big shots in the court. Firstly, he could buy time for himself - preferably if he could be transferred, and secondly, he also wanted to find out who the Kun thieves were in the court. manner. Is there any resistance to my own "pacification"?
This matter has cost him a lot of money - he is not a person who cherishes money. He accepted a huge bribe from Zheng Zhilong when he was governor of Fujian alone - but compared with his black hat and life, money is nothing. . If you don’t lose the yarn, gold and silver treasures will naturally come rolling in.
Xiong Wencan doesn't want to fight and is not good at fighting. When he was the governor of Fujian, he recruited Zheng Zhilong, and was later promoted to the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. The court also indicated that he could recruit Liu Xiang and the Kun thieves entrenched in Lingao. The imperial court regarded Xiong Wencan as a capable minister who could pacify the conflicts between Fujian, Guangdong and the Yangtze River, but this matter was far beyond Xiong Wencan's ability.
To the Ming Dynasty, Zheng Zhilong, Liu Xiang and the like, and even those Fo Lang Ji people, these pirates who were rampaging across Fujian and Guangdong were nothing more than a disease of mustard moss - this judgment was not wrong, because what these families were planning was just "Wealth"; while Australians and others are just like "enemy countries" who established their own country like slaves.
Recruitment has always been based on strength. Xiong Wencan was able to recruit Zheng Zhilong because of the financial resources of the entire Fujian Province. Even though Zheng Zhilong was rampant in Fujian and Guangdong, he did not have the strength to conquer the entire Fujian Province. Accepting the offer became his wisest choice. So Zheng Zhilong became Xiong Wencan's chess piece, a thug, guarding the border for Xiong Wencan, and Xiong Wencan was also happy to transfuse blood and build momentum for this thug.
He was able to win over Zheng Zhilong, but he could not win over the Australians. The Australians are not from the common people of China, and they have no affection for their family, nor the friendship between the country and the party, so they cannot win over Huairou with their country feelings; when it comes to wealth, they have long been richer than the country, even if it is the wealth of Guangdong and Guangxi, it is not Can't compete with that. To tacitly allow them to occupy the land, their appetite is much greater than that of Zheng Zhilong, who can be satisfied by Zhangzhou Bay.
What kind of price can he, Xiong Wencan, give so that these Australians can come and be cared for with peace of mind?
The only thing that can make the thieves sit down and negotiate is a victory.
But winning this battle is not easy! He knew very well: no matter whether fighting in the wild or refusing to defend in the city, the officers and soldiers were no match for the Kun thieves. Even though he currently has many soldiers and generals, he has little chance of winning.
Some of his staff, officials and generals held an optimistic view. They believed that the city of Wuzhou was well-supplied with sufficient food and more than 10,000 soldiers to guard it. There was also the whole of Guangxi behind it to provide food and soldiers. As long as the imperial court's military pay was supplied in time, the defense could A year and a half won't be a problem. Another part of the staff was firmly opposed to defending the city: because Guangzhou was also "a fortified city with many soldiers" at that time, and there were many forts set up along the river above Humen. They intercepted attacks layer by layer, but in the end they could not withstand it, and the Kun thieves came to the city. Their idea was to abandon Wuzhou immediately and retreat to Guilin.
He felt that both arguments were unconvincing.
"Sir, the gentlemen are all here..." His personal attendant whispered in his ear, "They are waiting downstairs."
Xiong Wencan opened his eyes and said, "Please!"
He had many guests, but this time he was discussing the military affairs masters. Naturally, some of the people who wanted to make fun of him were not present. All those who came were aides with talents in politics, strategy and military science.
When the staff entered the hall, they were all greeted with greetings. Xiong Wencan coughed and waved his hand:
"Now that the war situation is dangerous, gentlemen, there is no need to be polite. Sit down and talk about business."
"Here."
The staff sat down in groups on both sides. Xiong Wencan recounted the recent news from Tangma and said:
"I see that the Kun bandits' attack on Wuzhou has only happened in the past few days. I wonder if you gentlemen have any countermeasures?"
The staff looked left and right and remained silent. Xiong Wencan has seen this kind of scene many times. In fact, even if they do come to offer their opinions, there won't be anything new: the staff will either suffer from a fear of Australia and change their minds when they hear about Australia; or they will just flatter others and be completely unconstructive. So Xiong Wencan's ears were filled with two voices, one was: "We can't defeat the Australians, sir, let's run away!" The other was: "My lord, you are so wise and powerful, the Australians will definitely be defeated by Wuzhou City."
Only Chang Qingyun is somewhat reliable. At least he can explain clearly how powerful the Australians are and can also provide some reliable strategies: Xiong Wencan originally wanted to stick to Zhaoqing, but Chang Qingyun bluntly said that Zhaoqing is not a place that can be defended, but In Antelope Gorge, there was a certain chance of destroying the Australian fleet with fire attack boats; and he had already suggested to Xiong Wencan: transfer the Yaodongshan and Xishan generals' headquarters to garrison Wuzhou. Finally, he had a sizable and capable core force in Wuzhou City.
Therefore, he set his sights on Chang Qingyun's face again.
Chang Qingyun seemed to have known this for a long time. He waited for a while and saw that no one came forward to offer advice, then he handed over his hand and said: "Sir, the student has one recommendation - he has a strategy for defeating the bandits."
"Oh?" Xiong Wencan suddenly became energetic, and the staff were all stunned. "Who is it? Please invite him to see me quickly."
"This gentleman's surname is Chang, whose name is Pu and whose courtesy name is Junbin. He is from Nanzhi, and he can be regarded as the student's Datong clan." Chang Qingyun said, "He was originally the magistrate of Enping County, and he fled here after the city was broken. Now we have a plan to defeat the Kun thieves. , I would like to dedicate it to you, sir.”
Xiong Wencan knew the name of Changpu - Enping County is a county under Zhaoqing Prefecture - but was not familiar with it. The governors and governors of the Ming Dynasty were basically only in charge of the military. People-friendly officials such as county magistrates were under the jurisdiction of the chief envoy and had no relationship with him.
As a county magistrate, this man lost his city but neither died in battle nor committed suicide. Now he came to offer advice. Xiong Wencan couldn't help but secretly despised him.
However, despise comes from contempt, and now he is urgently ill and seeking medical treatment. No matter what clever plan this magistrate Chang had, it didn't cost anything to call him to listen to him. He immediately agreed and said: "Okay, please come quickly!"
That afternoon, the news that Fubo's army was about to approach the city spread throughout Wuzhou City. Wuzhou City was full of uneasiness: the Ming soldiers stationed there had long heard about the combat power of the Fubo Army, and were afraid of the fierce battle they were about to face; while most of the people in Wuzhou City had heard that the Fubo Army had strict military discipline, but As long as there is a war, the common people will inevitably suffer disasters. As for the officials, they were in panic all day long.
There is a grain warehouse in Guanxiang outside Wuzhou City, which is in the business of transferring rice grains from Guangxi to Guangdong. Sitting in the counter room is the shopkeeper of our shop, named Luo Yangming. He is from Sanshui and came to Wuzhou a few years ago to run the rice and grain business - this is a common thing in the local area. After doing business for several years, the business improved quite a lot. I made money to build a hotel and a mansion. I brought my family from my hometown in Sanshui and took a concubine in the local area. I finally settled here.
Everyone only knows that he is a grain merchant, but in fact Luo Yangming is an intelligence agent of the Foreign Intelligence Service. He is under the command of the "Shanhai Road" intelligence system and is ordered to lurk in Wuzhou City.
His job has only two points: first, to operate the grain trade and transport grain for Lingao; second, to collect intelligence on the spot, develop an intelligence network, and make intelligence preparations for the Senate's Northern Expedition.
The first task is not difficult for him: he is the son of a businessman, and his family originally opened a rice shop in Sanshui County. I am quite familiar with the grain trading business and have many acquaintances, so it is easy to start work. As for the second point, it is not difficult. The anti-intellectual awareness of medieval society was not strong, and the technology was even more backward. For those who have received intelligence training, both lurking and reconnaissance are not difficult.
ps: Official account Lingao Qiming——
Lingao Qiming book fans base
The braggart’s message board;
Introduce and sort out important figures and event information;
Showcase the style of the Lingao community and a traveling exhibition of outstanding fan and material works;
Organize online or offline gatherings of elders from time to time;
ard,senatusppulusqueagnus
Tomorrow's update, Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Chapter 297
