Chapter 373
The gate of Jinzhou City opened wide, and a tall man wearing silver armor walked out of the city gate. This man was Zu Dachun, who was also the fourth brother of Zu Dashou. He had no sense of presence in the Zu family army. one person.
He is not as good as Zu Dabi in martial arts, not as agile as Zu Dacheng, and not as courageous and capable as Zu Dale. But in fact, he is the most important person in the Zu family army. At least no one can ignore the existence of Zu Dachun. , because he served as the commander of the commander's office in the Guan Ning Army and the defender of Jinzhou City.
Equivalent to the head of the central guard regiment of Guan Ning Army.
Zu Dachun looked at Cheng Shijie and said, "The last general is willing to surrender!"
The reason why Zu Dachun was willing to surrender Cheng Shijie was really not because of Ning Haijun's intimidation or Cheng Shijie's reputation, but because of Zu Dachun's plan. He was forced by Zu Dacheng and had to surrender to Jiannu. Zu Dabi and Zu Dalue were there. Under his secret instructions, he stood on the opposite side of Guan Ning's army and continued to be loyal to the Ming Dynasty. As for Zu Dachun, he took refuge with Cheng Shijie.
This is like the Three Kingdoms period. Among the three Zhuge Liang brothers, the eldest, Zhuge Jin, was loyal to Soochow. He was an important minister of Soochow, up to the rank of general, and led the shepherds of Yuzhou. As for the younger brother Zhuge Dan, he defected to the Wei state.
The reason why the three Zhuge Liang brothers chose different countries is mainly because they each have different talents and specialties, which can be best reflected and realized in different countries. The three Zhuge Liang brothers defected to the three countries of Wei, Shu, and Wu, mainly to seek their own and family interests, and to make certain contributions to the development of each country.
Not putting eggs in one basket is the most common way for aristocratic families. Not only him, but also the brothers Shang Kexi and Shang Keyi. In history, Shang Kexi became a big traitor, but his brother Shang Keyi The Ming Dynasty fought to the end with loyalty and died for the country.
Zu Dashou had no good idea, because times create heroes. When he became the leader of the Guan Ning Army and the Liaoxi Generals, he represented the Liaoxi Generals, the Guan Ning Army, the warlord interest group, and he was already the most powerful person in the Ming Dynasty. Sir, there is actually no benefit to be gained from surrendering to the Manchus.
However, he did not dare not surrender.
Cheng Shijie led the Guards and the Liaodong Management Committee into Jinzhou City, while Zu Dachun renovated the Jinzhou General Military Mansion, as if they had known that Cheng Shijie was coming.
Cheng Shijie directly ordered Songshan, Jinzhou Youtun, Xingshan, Jinzhou Zhongtun, Daxing Fort, Gaoqiao Fort, Tashan Fort, Sunjiawa, Bijiashan, Lianshan, and Huludao with the order of Ning Navy Commander and Governor of Liaodong. , Ningyuan Guard, Juehua Island, Ningyuan Center Right Guard, Ningyuan Center Guard, Ningyuan Front Guard, Ningyuan Center Guard, including officials from Shanhaiguan and other places came to hold a meeting.
On August 21, the ninth year of Chongzhen, Cheng Shijie entered and occupied Jinzhou. As the new boss in western Liaoning, he did not dare to deny his face. Of course, few people were willing to reach Ning Haijun's army. You know, although Cheng Shijie stopped at In Jinzhou, there are four reorganized brigades, nearly 120,000 troops, and together with the Guanning Army defense troops in more than 40 castles such as Yizhou Guard and Guangning Youtun Guard Thirteen Mountains, more than 20,000 Guanning Army surrendered. , he is eager to make meritorious service in front of the new boss.
There is no need for Ning Haijun to take action at all. The surrendered Guan Ning Army will teach them how to behave, because they are too close to Liaodong Ning Haijun and they know Ning Haijun too well.
You know, an ordinary Ning Navy soldier can now receive one or two taels of silver per month during normal times, and is issued four sets of military uniforms, four pairs of shoes, and bedding every year. The key is that no matter how big the appetite is, Marshal Cheng can take care of it. Now the soldiers of Ning Haijun not only have enough to eat, but also eat well. They have milk and milk tea in the morning, and they also have subsidies once they go out to fight.
Just like the soldiers of the Ning Navy who went to fight in Lanzhou, they were more than 4,000 miles away from Liaodong. Their wartime subsidies were four times their military pay, which meant that an ordinary soldier of the Ning Navy could get one or two taels of silver. On top of that, plus four taels of silver, you can get five times the military pay every month, which is six taels of silver.
As Ning Navy officers, for every level of enemy they behead, the slave-building reward is the highest, which can be rewarded with seventy-five acres of land, followed by the Mongolian Tatars with fifty acres of land. Even ordinary rebels are rewarded with ten acres of land. These levels Ning Jun knew very well what Paoze was like in the past.
In this Northern Expedition, Zu Dashou and Wu Xiang took away 65,000 cavalry, and the rest were old, weak, sick, and disabled. Cutting off one grain would equal ten acres of land. More than 20,000 of them surrendered, and the remaining Guan Ning There are only 50,000 to 60,000 troops in the army, which means 560,000 acres of land, which is too small and not enough to allocate.
"Xu Laoer, you fucking surrender too, aren't you the most loyal minion of Commander-in-Chief Zu?"
"I, Tema, am not stupid. My cousin voted for Cheng Shuai three years ago. Now he has more than 500 acres of land in Liaodong. He chopped off the heads of six Jiannu slaves. I followed Zushuai and cut off the heads of Jiannu. The slave head is not over 20 years old, and I don’t even have half an acre of land!"
"Ma Mazi, why did you vote for Cheng Shuai?"
"Shuai Zu surrendered and became a slave. I don't want to surrender and become a slave. I'm afraid I won't be able to enter the ancestral grave! Besides, it would be great to follow Shuai Cheng!"
"The Acropolis of Guangning is ahead, I hope you help the bastard not to surrender!"
"Yes, if they also surrender, we won't get military honors. Old guys like us would rather not be accepted by the navy, but can only be used as soldiers in the field!"
When the Ning Navy entered western Liaoning, the scene was great, and there was almost no decent battle. When the forward troops of the Guan Ning Army's surrender arrived at Ningyuan Acropolis, the Ning Yuan Guard not only refused to surrender, but instead fired artillery at the Guan Ning Army's surrender.
"Boom boom boom..."
A row of artillery shells flew over from the wall of Ningyuan Acropolis and landed in the formation of Guanning Army's surrender. The solid shells relied on huge kinetic energy to plow out more than a dozen flesh-and-blood alleys in the formation of Guanning Army's surrender. At least more than a hundred Guanning troops who surrendered were either dead or wounded.
Instead of being afraid, these surrendering troops from Guan Ning laughed loudly: "That's great, they didn't surrender!"
Ning Haijun made a promise to these Guan Ning troops who surrendered. In the next battle, if they are injured or killed, they will enjoy the treatment of Ning Haijun soldiers. This also means that if they die in battle, they will be compensated thirty-six times in one go. Monthly military pay, as well as a pension of one hundred acres of land, and the hundred acres are also exempted from tax for five years and half tax for ten years. Children are exempted from tuition fees, books, room and board, and family members are exempted from certain taxes when doing business.
Without saying a word, these Guanning troops surrendered and organized another attack. However, their equipment was too poor, and even without artillery, their next attack was repulsed.
Five attacks before and after, nearly 2,000 casualties, but there is still nothing that can be done against this strong city. As the city where Yuan Chonghuan became famous in the battle, Ning Yuanwei's artillery firepower should be regarded as the largest in the city, even more than the artillery in Beijing. , Beijing city has 256 light, medium and heavy French artillery pieces.
However, Ningyuan City possesses eighteen heavy-duty Hongyi cannons (5,000-weight) and more than 290 medium-sized Hongyi cannons (2,000-weight). There are no less than five or six hundred artillery pieces such as muskets and squatting tiger cannons. This is also
"Have the guts!"
When Colonel Shang Keyi, commander of the Ning Navy's Fourth Brigade, arrived,
Later, the main force of the Ning Navy arrived and directly deployed an artillery regiment, consisting of four artillery battalions, with ninety-six three-inch guns, plus thirty-six rocket launchers.
Now Ning Haijun's artillery has canceled equipment such as Folang machines, bowl-mouth blunderbuss and flying thunder cannons, and only uses three-inch field guns.
Facing the Ning Navy with more than a hundred artillery pieces, the Guan Ning Army on Ningyuan City was not worried. They had an absolute numerical advantage. However, the problem is that quantity does not equal combat effectiveness.
When Ning Haijun's 204th Artillery Regiment was building an artillery position, the artillerymen on Ningyuan City fired again. Soon they discovered that the fast-firing Franco artillery in their hands could not reach Ning Haijun's artillery position.
Only medium-sized Hongyi cannons can be obtained. However, although the Hongyi cannon has a long range, its firing rate is slow, its heat dissipation is slow, and its accuracy is not high.
Just when Ning Yuancheng fired the first round of test shells at the Ning Haijun artillery position, before they had time to fire the second round, the thirty-six rocket launchers immediately adjusted their firing angles.
The biggest advantage of the rocket launcher is its fast firing speed. In just half a minute, the rocket launcher was ready to launch. The gunners who controlled the rocket launcher lit the bundled fuses and then hid far away.
Ten seconds later, thirty-six six-unit rocket launchers were at full fire. Two hundred and sixteen fire dragons roared out of the launch tubes, pulled out straight parabolas, and rushed towards Ningyuan City with their teeth and claws. , and in an instant, a rocket launcher shell hit the heads of the Ningyuan Guards and Guan Ning Army defenders.
With a telescope, you can see that on the walls of Ningyuan City, or within the city walls, almost every corner has dazzling explosions. The small explosions instantly expand into huge fireballs, one by one, rows and clusters. The clumps formed a frighteningly dense forest of flames, covering almost the entire Ningyuan City.
The thunderous explosion shook the entire city of Ningyuan. The city wall swayed from side to side. The shock wave of the explosion was filled with shrapnel, flames and countless rubbles, knocking down houses, uprooting trees, and leveling everything it encountered. !
It was only after the rocket bombardment that the Ning Navy's artillery position was completed, and ninety-six three-inch guns began to fire shells towards the Ningyuan Acropolis.
"Boom boom boom boom boom!"
There was a violent sound of artillery, and a row of cannonballs flew over, and the cannonballs landed at the huddled city gate. The cannonball smashed into the crowd, exploded with a bang, and the fire burst into the sky. What everyone saw was a terrifying scene that could not be seen in the blood pool of hell. Countless Ningyuan defenders were killed in the flash of fire. He disappeared without a trace, his arms and thighs flew randomly in the air, and his human organs smashed down on his face, almost burying the survivors alive!
Centered on the explosion point, Ningyuan defenders fell in large pieces. Some had their arms cut off, some had their thighs cut off, some had their stomachs exploded, and all their intestines flowed out. was cut into two pieces! After the explosion, the originally noisy battlefield fell into deathly silence.
The surrendered soldiers of the Guan Ning Army looked at the blank areas filled with blood and minced meat as if they were possessed, and their bodies shivered.
"It was so dangerous. Fortunately we surrendered quickly!"
Although these Guan Ning soldiers surrendered, most of them were veterans, even though they were older. They had experienced hundreds of battles and had fought countless battles, but had they never seen such a bloody and terrifying scene?
After only three or four rounds of shelling, Ningyuan City turned into a purgatory. I don’t know how many soldiers of the Guan Ning Army were involved in the fire, and their bodies were gone. I don’t know how many people were trapped in the fire and struggled and screamed. However, who else was there? Can they be saved? Who dares to rush into Ningyuan City, which has turned into a furnace, to rescue them?
The Battle of Ningyuan City was the only large-scale battle in which the Ning Navy captured the entire western Liaoning. However, from the beginning to the end of this battle, in less than half an hour, this city, which is said to have the strongest firepower in the Ming Dynasty, only sustained five rounds of bombardment. , that is, after being hit by two rounds of rocket launchers, more than 400 rocket shells, and more than 500 rocket artillery shells, they collapsed.
Jinzhou City, this city has changed hands. The original ancestral flag has been replaced by Cheng Ning's flag. The Guan Ning army that was originally guarding the city wall or inside the city, wearing a fiery red mandarin duck war coat, has also disappeared. Instead it was pitch black. Black cloak, black battle flag, black armor.
The streets of Jinzhou City are quite neat, and the dilapidated houses have all been renovated. They can't be said to be brand new, but at least it won't rain heavily outside and light rain inside. There are many garbage stations in the city, and all garbage is thrown there. Every day, people load the garbage into their cars and take it outside the city for disposal. People patrol the streets from time to time, and they see people littering, spitting, and rioting. Setting up a stall or something like that, without saying a word, fined!
These guys have two big words written on their armbands: Urban Management! This is a strategic strike force that scares the whole world, and they are also a group of guys who are super capable of attracting hatred. No matter where they go, there are always people looking at them with unkind expressions. It seems that no matter it is ancient or modern, urban management is not respected by people. See you soon!
The gates of Jinzhou City were wide open, and countless officers and generals from all over the country came to Jinzhou to pay homage to Cheng Shijie. Of course, the most important thing was that Jinzhou, which was originally lacking in commerce, now had a large amount of supplies, and they were of high quality and low price, making the people of Jinzhou truly feel that Cheng Shijie The benefits are cheap, durable, beautiful and strong boots and shoes. The cheapest is the salt from Liaonan. Here, each pack of salt only costs six cents, and each pack is two kilograms. This price is something they can’t even imagine. .
…
Sanshen Mountain, Hot Spring Valley.
The snow was falling heavily and the temperature dropped sharply. Fortunately, Lu Xiangsheng led the Northern Expeditionary Army to rush here. If it were not for the natural hot springs in the valley, this snowstorm would have caused the Northern Expeditionary Army to disappear from the world.
Of course, the Ming Dynasty's Northern Expedition army is also having a hard time. Of the original 200,000 troops, only less than 50,000 people were able to successfully come here. This means that it is less than 100 miles from Sanshen Mountain to Hot Spring Valley. On the road, more than 150,000 people died in Ming Dynasty.
The soldiers of the Ming Army who were able to successfully rush into the Hot Spring Valley seemed to have lost all feeling. It was not until they drank two bowls of meat porridge that they were sure that they were still alive. Thinking of the countless robes buried on the road leading to the Hot Spring Valley, Everyone was saddened by this and burst into tears. The crying sounded like it was tearing their hearts apart, it was heartbreaking! ,
As the king of a country, Emperor Chongzhen's treatment was naturally not comparable to that of ordinary Ming soldiers. During the breakout, even Lu Xiangsheng had to chew trees and grass roots to satisfy his hunger. Emperor Chongzhen still had a food supply and was not hungry.
Now that he has entered the Hot Spring Valley, Lu Xiangsheng naturally tried his best to renovate a wooden house with an area of more than 100 square meters for Emperor Chongzhen according to the location. This wooden house was built in a hot spring. Below the wooden house is hot spring water of 40 to 50 degrees. No matter how cold the weather is, it is as if the floor heating is heated and it is not too cold.
The imperial chef beside Emperor Chongzhen even used cans to prepare a table of fairly sumptuous food and wine for him to enjoy. After more than twenty days of purgatory-like encounters, the king of a country was already emaciated and haggard. He was indeed very hungry and wanted to have a big meal, but the painful sounds came from not far away. He couldn't even swallow the crying.
More than 300,000 horses were lost just because of his impulse. How many 300,000 horses were there in the entire Ming Dynasty for him to squander?
These 300,000 people were all bloody men who were not afraid of strong enemies. They were also a force that the Ming Dynasty had finally accumulated. They were ruined like this, along with countless lives. Cheng Shijie and Lu Xiangsheng also struggled hard. A great situation comes out.
When he thought of this, Emperor Chongzhen's heart felt like a knife, and he couldn't even swallow it. He was silent for a long time and said in a low voice to these extremely thin generals: "I am sorry to all my dear friends, and to these three hundred thousand loyal and brave soldiers of the Ming Dynasty! I am even more ashamed of the common people and the country!"
The king of a country cannot admit his mistakes. He is the emperor, the beloved son of heaven, and he can never make mistakes. Even if the emperor really made a mistake, he still couldn't admit it. If he really wanted to admit it, he would have to wait until he died, and then his successor would admit his mistake on his behalf. This has been the case since ancient times.
Now Chongzhen admitted his mistake in person in front of many generals, which was unprecedented. However, the generals did not react at all. Not to mention the sincerity and fear of kowtow and apology, even their expressions did not change much.
After a narrow escape and a desperate breakout, there were still more than 130,000 troops when the Three God Mountains were encircled, but now there are less than 50,000 troops. They were so exhausted that they had no energy to think about anything else. Moreover, they were not civil servants and could not learn from civil servants. They believed in their hearts that Chongzhen's rash Northern Expedition was wrong from the beginning, and now they admit their mistake. It's too late!
Don't talk about the majesty of the emperor, let alone admitting your mistake, even if you kneel on the ground and kowtow a hundred times, will the hundreds of thousands of people who died in the battle survive?
Almost all the soldiers were extremely disappointed with the emperor Chongzhen, and it could even be said that they were extremely disappointed.
Although they rushed into the hot spring valley, they could use the hot springs to resist the severe cold weather, but the problem was that they did not have much food and grass, less than two thousand kilo per dozen, which was equivalent to five liters of food per person. It is only equivalent to a day and a half supply during normal times.
With five liters of grain, how long can we last if we save more?
What to do next?
(End of chapter)
