Chapter 163
Happiness came so suddenly that Huang Taiji couldn't believe his eyes.
He thought that there were ten thousand possibilities in the battle of Haizhou, but he never thought that Cheng Shijie would choose to fight with him in the wilderness. As for Bali Bay, where Cheng Shijie was stationed in Ninghai Navy, that location was actually a plain area. This location was theirs. The only thing that has been scouted countless times is a small forest about fifteen miles away from Bali Bay.
This small forest was burned by an inexplicable fire a few years ago. Now there are only some small trees, which can hide people in the summer. Now, it is easy to search whether there is anyone inside.
It is precisely because this terrain is very conducive to Daijin's cavalry that Huang Taiji is incredible.
Not only Huang Taiji could not believe that happiness came so suddenly, almost everyone such as Yue Tuo, Daishan, Azige, Duduo, and Mang Gurtai could not believe it.
After a while, Mang Gurtai took the lead in cheering. Then, the entire Houjin Camp resounded with cheers like a tsunami, and everyone's face showed a joyful smile as they discovered Big Big Wolf...
The damn Ming army finally stopped being a coward! They were finally willing to take action!
After cheering, Fan Wencheng said cautiously: "King Khan, is Cheng Shijie really going to have a decisive battle with us in the Dajin field?"
"The gauntlet has been issued, is there still a lie?"
"This is too abnormal. I'm afraid Cheng Shijie has a trick!"
Huang Taiji nodded and said, "Not bad!"
Mang Gurtai asked: "What does King Khan mean...that we ignore him?"
"No, that's not the case. If they really want to fight us, but we ignore them, wouldn't we miss an excellent opportunity? What I mean is that everyone must be more careful and don't fall for it. Understood the Ming army’s conspiracy!”
Huang Taiji looked at the Belles and said, "The weather is dry now, so we must pay special attention to fire prevention. That area should be a very lush pasture!"
"King Khan, I understand!"
Yue Tuo reacted immediately: "Slave, I will bring people to burn all the grass there..."
"No!"
Huang Taiji looked at Yue Tuo and said, "We have to cut down those grasses. We don't have much pasture!"
"Slave understands!"
Even now, Huang Taiji still doesn't believe that Ning Haijun dares to fight Houjinye Dilang. This is not Ning Haijun's style at all, but that's how fighting is. When the opportunity comes, no matter how low the chance of success is, you must be prepared. , even if it fails, at most it will be just a wasted effort.
However, if a fighter plane appears and you are unprepared, you will miss the opportunity. You don't know how many people will have to die to get such an opportunity again.
Hauge, Du Du, Dai Shan and others were as excited as if they had been given blood. They did not bring so many people to Haizhou just to fight a tough battle with mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
Their real purpose is to rob the grain harvested by Cheng Shijie in the fields in southern Liaoning. The grain from more than 5 million acres of land. Even if each acre of land only produces one stone of grain, that is more than 5 million stone, enough to build an army of 100,000 slaves. It's been five or six years.
Of course, they didn't know exactly how much grain Cheng Shijie had harvested. Anyway, it would be a lot.
However, the problem is that they encountered a defense system designed by Cheng Shijie. This extremely crude defense line was very despicable, very shameless, very insidious, and even more vicious...
Now that the Ming army has been kicked in the head, it actually wants to leave the camp and fight against Dajin. Is there anything luckier than this?
Hauge bowed and said: "Father, I think this matter should be replied to Cheng Shijie sooner rather than later. We accept his letter of challenge and we will fight them to the death in three days!"
Huang Taiji looked at Fan Wencheng and said, "It's up to Fan Qing to help you with this matter!"
"This is a slave's job, not hard work at all!"
Huang Taiji now looked at Hauge. When he was in Shenyang, his eldest son performed very badly, and he almost embarrassed the Aixinjueluo family. But the problem was that Hauge was born to survive on the battlefield. After leading his troops to leave Shenyang, the depression in his heart immediately dissipated, leaving only the lofty ambition to compete with the Ming army in his heart.
What's more, Hauge is very considerate of his subordinates, has won the hearts of the military, and can get along with ordinary soldiers. This is something Daishan cannot compare to.
Daishan usually performs very well, is smart and quick to respond, and is generous and well-organized in his work. But the problem is that, like Huo Qubing in the Han Dynasty, he wears luxurious clothes, likes to eat delicacies from the mountains and seas, and treats his subordinates quite cruelly.
Sure enough, his son is still his own.
To be fair, although Hauge is good in comparison, he is far behind Yue Tuo.
Hauge suddenly said: "Father, I thought that we should beware of the Ming army setting up a horse trap at Bali Bay!"
This kind of horse pit is actually not the kind invented by Li Jing in the Tang Dynasty. Li Jing said in "Li Weigong's Art of War: Offensive and Defensive Warfare Equipment": "The horse pit is five feet long, one foot wide and three feet deep. In the pit are buried antler guns, Bamboo sticks. The pits are connected with each other like "Ya" characters, shaped like hooks. They are covered with grass and fine dust, and all the important roads of the military city and camp are set up."
This kind of horse pit was actually invented during the Northern Song Dynasty. It is only as wide as the mouth of a bowl and only one and a half feet deep. If the war horse is walking slowly, it is not a big threat. Once the horse runs wildly, once the war horse's hoof steps on this kind of hole, it will The horse's legs will be broken under the action of inertia. As for the knight on the horse, if he is lucky, he will be bruised and swollen. If he is not lucky, he will go directly to see the King of Hell.
"Hauge is right, we must beware of the Ming army's trap!"
Dai Shan laughed and said: "King Khan, don't worry, Bali Bay has a radius of dozens of miles, and my slaves will ride on horses to trample them all!"
Daishan's suggestion was unanimously agreed by the generals of Dajin, and they went to Bali Bay to check the terrain without stopping.
The army of slave builders became busy nervously. After all, this is the mobilization and deployment of an army of 100,000 people. It is no joke and nothing can go wrong.
…
Baliwan, Cheng Shijie's Chinese army camp, his breakfast was very simple, a few side dishes, Jiangnan rice, and a bowl of millet and pumpkin porridge.
Cheng Shijie has never sent a maid or a dedicated orderly to his side. His coachman was also temporarily transferred from the Guards Department. This is because Chen Guodong was worried that someone would bribe his coachman. As for the coachman on every trip, Chen Guodong himself was the temporary one. Delegation, even when going to the capital, Cheng Shijie's driver took a total of sixteen people.
Since Sun Zhiwan came, basically all internal affairs have been left to him. Only Cheng Shijie's study is a forbidden area, with a guard at the door. There is a secretary on duty in the study twelve hours a day, and the arrangements are made by the head secretary Lin Yaodong.
When Sun Zhilan came, he was not alone, but with his wives and concubines. Even if he was with Cheng Shijie, he still brought his concubine Luo.
This Luo family was born in a brothel, and was redeemed from the brothel by Sun Zhiman. He had an average appearance, not ugly, but definitely not beautiful.
It wasn't until Cheng Shijie ate Luo's cooking that he realized that Sun Zhilan was definitely attracted by Luo's cooking skills. Seeing that Cheng Shijie liked Luo's cooking skills, he was very generous and gave Luo's directly to Cheng Shijie.
Cheng Shijie refused, but Sun Zhiman was still reluctant and threatened to beat Luo to death.
Of course, Cheng Shijie also knew that Sun Zhiyi was just talking. After all, Sun Chengzong's family tradition was there, and he would never allow Sun Zhiyi to kill anyone casually, even if that person was a concubine.
But this is the custom now, so Cheng Shijie had no choice but to accept it, and asked Mr. Luo to change into men's clothes and be responsible for cooking. Whenever a general came to report, Mr. Luo was also very discerning and would serve tea when it was time to serve it, or put some fruit on it. .
Cheng Shijie felt a little bored in the tent in the middle camp, and Luo played two pieces of music...
Seeing that Cheng Shijie was still in the mood to listen to music, Zu Dabi, who was a little nervous at first, smiled and said, "Cheng Shuai still has the demeanor of a famous general!"
Now the Ning Navy is also making preparations before the war. The weapons and armor brought from the Jinzhou Armory are unloaded from the transport ships in Haizhou Port, arrive at Bali Bay by land, and distributed to the Ning Navy officers.
The Jinzhou Armory had equipment that could arm 50,000 to 60,000 troops, but now half of it was sent away in the blink of an eye. Since the Dongjiang army was in a hurry and did not bring armor, the armor shipped from Jinzhou was given priority to equip them.
Guan Ning's army was fully equipped, so they had to feel aggrieved. There was no extra armor for them now. However, they did not suffer any loss. Cotton-padded clothes, cotton-padded jackets, and cotton-padded trousers were given to them. The generals of Guan Ning Army and Dongjiang Army who received the equipped cotton-padded clothes all sighed that this time they had exchanged a shotgun for a cannon. This trip was so worth it!
At this time, the total strength of the army in the Bali Bay camp was more than 37,000. At the same time, the 20,000 troops of Zuodusi and Youdusi were also approaching Baliwan, and the defense lines along the way had to be taken over by the garrison.
Zhou Ning, deputy chief of the garrison and chief of general staff, said that the soldiers of the garrison had already gone crazy. Unless all the soldiers in the garrison died, this line of defense would be absolutely stable.
Huang Long watched the naval officers Ning prepare for the war in an orderly manner, with high morale. He sighed with emotion: "Since the Battle of Saarhu, more than ten years ago, this is the first time I have seen our army in such great glory. , the morale is so high!”
Zu Dabi said with emotion: "Yes, since the end of Chengzu's six expeditions to the desert, we have never seen such a prosperous army. With such elites in hand, we can give it a go against Jiannu! But, Cheng Shuai, I still advise our army to avoid the real situation and attack the weak, and not to fight head-on with Jiannu! The Ming Dynasty only has so many elite soldiers now, we can’t afford to fight!"
"Second General Zu, why don't you understand? The reason why I want to fight head-on with Jiannu wholeheartedly is to use this head-on approach to crush Jiannu's myth that if Jurchens are not worth ten thousand, they will not be able to fight if they are full!"
Cheng Shijie explained: "Since the founding of the army, Jiannu has been invincible and invincible. It is because of this spirit that a small tribe with a mere million people can suppress the Ming Dynasty with a population of over 100 million. If they can defeat them, If this spirit is taken away, let them know that they will also be defeated and annihilated. If their spirit is taken away, even if they have several times more soldiers and horses, they will not be able to accomplish anything big. !”
At this moment, Sun Chengzong's voice came: "Beiping is right. Donghu, Wuhuan, Xiongnu, Rouran, Xianbei, Turk, Khitan, Jurchen, Xixia, Mongolia and the present Jiannu have been , the most powerful stage of the nomads was when they were full of energy. They relied on this energy and the angry horses and strong bows to stir up wind and rain again and again, destroying the once powerful empires, and letting the entire earth fall under their iron hooves. They tremble underneath. But once this vigor is knocked out or completely worn away, their combat effectiveness will quickly degrade and eventually die!"
Seeing Sun Chengzong's arrival, Zu Dabi, Zu Dale and Huang Long bowed deeply to Sun Chengzong in unison and said sincerely: "General, I will pay my respects to the governor!"
Sun Chengzong smiled and said: "There is no supervisor here, only an old man named Sun!"
"Students meet their teachers!"
Cheng Shijie naturally gave Sun Chengzong enough courtesy: "Teacher, why are you here?"
"The matter in the capital is settled!"
In ancient times, the etiquette of getting married was more complicated than today's. The first step is to ask for the bride's name, the second step is to ask for the name, the third step is to ask for the auspiciousness, the fourth step is to ask for the invitation, the fifth step is to ask for the date, and the sixth step is to welcome the bride. After passing these six levels, the bride can be taken home.
Now this is a marriage grant. The procedures of accepting, asking for names, accepting, and accepting have been completed during the time Cheng Shijie left. We only have to wait for Cheng Shijie to finish this battle and return to the capital again to ask for a date, that is, to agree on a wedding date. , during this matter, according to Emperor Chongzhen's wishes, Sun Chengzong handled it for him.
But Sun Chengzong did not agree. At that time, it was not known that Cheng Shijie was going to fight Jiannu. No one could say how long the battle would last. If the wedding date was set, Cheng Shijie would not be able to return, and the marriage would not be successful.
Cheng Shijie also knew that Naji, that is, after the man asked her name and combined her horoscope, he notified the woman of the good omen of the marriage and gave her a gift to express the etiquette of getting engaged. In ancient times, Najib also had to pay tribute to the wild goose.
This is the same as the betrothal of later generations. There is no problem for Sun Chengzong to handle it on his behalf, but to accept the tax, this is a big appointment. How can Sun Chengzong handle it on his behalf?
Faced with Cheng Shijie's doubts, Sun Chengzong said with a smile: "You worship me as your teacher, and you have no parents or elders, so why not do it for you as a teacher?"
"It's just that it costs the teacher money!"
“It doesn’t break the bank!”
Sun Chengzong smiled and said: "The gift I gave to His Majesty the last time I came to Beijing is considered a gift to accept the conquest!"
The arrival of Sun Chengzong had a very limited impact on Ning Haijun, but for Guan Ningjun, the meaning was somewhat different. After all, Sun Chengzong's prestige in the hearts of middle and low-level officers was still very high.
It is a pity that at the level of middle and high-level generals, Sun Chengzong now has almost no influence. In Sun Chengzong's era, the middle-level and high-level generals either collaborated with Zu Dashou or were squeezed out, just like Zhao Lijiao, Man Gui, He Kegang and others.
After Sun Chengzong understood Cheng Shijie's deployment, he sighed: "If we can win this battle, Jiannu will not be far from death. But, Beiping, have you ever thought about it!"
"What?"
"What if...what if we fail?"
Cheng Shijie smiled proudly: "If they fail, they will only live a few more years. From the moment the Thunderbolt appeared, I knew that the good days of Jiannu were over!"
Although the current Thunder Gun still has many shortcomings, it adopts the firing method of tap fire, and both the rate of fire and the power have been greatly improved.
Especially with Cheng Shijie's heavy reward, the gun game has made a breakthrough.
"I really don't know where your confidence comes from!"
“This is a source of confidence for students!”
Cheng Shijie took Sun Chengzong to visit the Artillery Bureau. At this time, the craftsmen were quickly assembling the disassembled cannons.
This is a new product from the Jinzhou Military Factory. It is a three-inch caliber, or 94.5mm twenty-four times caliber artillery. It is also a steel body artillery and weighs less than 800 kilograms. It can be broken down into twenty-four parts, except for the heaviest gun barrel, which can be carried by soldiers. Of course, there is no way to saw the gun barrel and disassemble it.
This kind of artillery does not fire solid shells, but for the first time realizes the integration of ammunition. The most difficult part in the development of nitrocellulose gunpowder is actually the sulfuric acid problem. However, during the first major case in southern Liaoning, Fenghui Jun was discovered There are traces of corpses destroyed by green vitriol oil, and green vitriol oil is ancient sulfuric acid.
With sulfuric acid, the problem of nitrocellulose was solved. Due to the emergence of nitrocellulose, the difficulty of making artillery shells disappeared. Match rope, black powder, lead balls, grapeshot and so on were all swept into the garbage dump.
Artillery will become the real king on the battlefield. Of course, its technology is not up to par, and its range is only a little over two thousand meters, but it is enough. Artillery in this era has just started, and indirect shooting is nonsense. An effective range of several hundred meters is completely sufficient.
This time Ning Haijun brought twenty-four three-inch artillery pieces. As long as Jiannu dared to engage in an artillery battle with Ning Haijun's artillery, the outcome would definitely be very satisfying.
Although Sun Chengzong was not as knowledgeable about technology as Sun Yuanhua, he looked at the thickness of the barrel and asked with some worry: "Will such a thin barrel explode?"
"Teacher, please don't worry, you must not explode!"
Cheng Shijie stretched out his hand and tapped the barrel, which produced a crisp golden sound unique to steel.
Sun Chengzong suddenly realized: "This is not an iron cannon, but a steel cannon!"
"Yes, because it is a steel cannon, the barrel can withstand higher chamber pressure and is more powerful. Do you want to try a few shots?"
"No!"
Sun Chengzong pointed at the Jiannu cavalry in the distance, then looked at the shiny cannon barrel and the dark muzzle, and praised repeatedly: "Good stuff, good cannon, then I'll give Jiannu a surprise!"
"This cannon is much better than the Artillery Bureau. If the cannons provided by the Army Bureau to our army could reach this level, Jiannuan would be able to dominate today!"
"This is all about money. Even if the Military Staff Bureau can forge such sophisticated artillery, the imperial court will not be willing to give it to the troops!"
Sun Chengzong was speechless.
Financial problems were the root cause of the Ming Dynasty's problems. When Sun Yuanhua was training the Denglai New Army, Xu Guangqi also proposed that the court train forty battalions of Western-style troops in Western ways.
If the imperial court was really rich at that time and had trained forty battalions of Western-style musketeers, even if Kong Youde rebelled, it would not cause much trouble. Why did Sun Yuanhua want to recruit and surrender Kong Youde?
Isn't it because there is no money that the imperial court has no ability to mobilize troops to suppress it?
The Gun and Artillery Bureau was able to invent new artillery, thanks to Gao Qiqian. Cheng Shijie knew that Bi Maokang, the minister of Nanjing Ministry of Industry, was a weapons expert, and told Gao Qiqian that he wanted this person. Gao Qiqian didn't know what method he used, and this genius became He ran to southern Liaoning with his wife, children, and young children, and helped the Ning Navy Army obtain breech-loading smoothbore flintlock guns and this artillery piece.
In fact, the Ming Dynasty was not without talents. In addition to the deceased Zhao Shizhen, there was also Xu Guangqi. Speaking of which, Xu Guangqi shouldn't be the boss of the cabinet. Give him a military department and he will definitely be able to manage it well and create weapons and equipment of high quality and quantity. And Mao Yuanyi, let him be a shitty deputy chief of the navy. , he should be allowed to go to Ning Haijun’s Arms Bureau.
Thinking of this, Cheng Shijie smiled and said: "Teacher, there is one more thing I can ask you for help with?"
"Whatever it is, it doesn't matter!"
"Do you remember Mao Yuanyi?"
"He recently returned to his hometown!"
"Let him come to Liaonan, and I will give him a big gift!"
Mao Yuanyi's old lover is now the dean of Liaonan Women's College. Cheng Shijie doesn't know if the old love can come back, but he and Song Yingxing are both talents that Cheng Shijie likes. If they do, don't think about running away again.
Sun Chengzong thought for a while and said: "Yuan Yi... is a little discouraged. I'm afraid he has no intention of becoming an official!"
Sun Chengzong did not tell the truth, and Mao Yuanyi was arrogant. He could obey Sun Chengzong himself, but he might not obey Cheng Shijie.
"He'll agree!"
Cheng Shijie said: "As long as he can come, I will give him a big mysterious gift. If he is not satisfied with this gift, he can leave at any time!"
Cheng Shijie's principle is dead at the end of the road. No matter Chen Zilong or Song Yingxing, he must not leave Liaonan. Song Yingxing has drunk seawater twice. As long as he leaves Liaonan, something will happen to his ship. This is inevitable. If he If you still don’t understand, then think about it slowly.
On October 27, the fifth year of Chongzhen, the sky was overcast. Even after eight o'clock, it was still blue-grey.
In the wilderness ten miles away from Bali Bay, an army of 70,000 to 80,000 slaves was already waiting. As for where the other troops were, this was Huang Taiji's trump card. Unfortunately, Cheng Shijie also knew this information.
Numerous Niulu'erzhen were galloping back and forth in front of the formation, shouting wildly to boost morale, and scouts were constantly coming and going, conveying the latest military information. It was really lively.
The morale of the slave army is high. They have long been tired of the boring trench confrontation. Now the damn Ming army is finally willing to leave the trenches and barbed wire fences and have a good fight with them in the wild. What else do they have to say? Just sharpen your swords and guns and prepare to kill!
Huang Taiji was very worried. He looked at Fan Wencheng beside him and said, "Do you think Cheng Shijie will come?"
"I think it's a bit confusing!"
Mang Gurtai smiled and said: "If they dare to come, I will let them never come back!"
Huang Taiji said: "He will definitely come!"
"Will they come?"
Huang Taiji nodded slowly and said: "They will come. If they come, we have to be fully prepared to deal with them!"
While they were talking, a small team of scouts flew on horseback to report: "Report...Ning Haijun is dismantling the barbed wire fence!"
"Very good!"
Huang Taiji said loudly: "Explore again, report again!"
"yes!"
"Report, Ning Haijun is filling in the trench!"
"Report, Ning Haijun is leaving camp!"
"Report, Ning Haijun is still eight miles away from us!"
"Report..."
PS: Report, I didn’t expect it, I wrote it today.
(End of chapter)
