The gunfire heard by Sun Yanji was made by 20 fusiliers of the Ming Army when they opened fire on a group of his patrols. Although Sun Yanji was greedy for money, lustful and had no great ambitions, he fought several battles with his father Sun Long and learned how to use soldiers. Therefore, the arrangements for camping at night were in place. Not only were sentries set up at high places, but troops were also sent out of the village to patrol along the low walls.
And this patrol of more than 20 people happened to encounter 20 Ming Army musketeers who came up in the dark with rifles with bayonets attached - those "black musketeers" who got off their mules. Those who could be "black spearmen" were of course very good at shooting, but they did not choose to fire at a longer distance. Instead, they lined up side by side and pressed up with their rifles.
Because it was dark and a little night-blind, Sun Yanji's patrolmen didn't see clearly that the other party was coming up with muskets. They thought they were holding short guns or long-handled machetes, so they picked up the guys and went up to them. As I got closer, I realized that the person seemed to be holding a musket, but there was no match rope... Could it be that the musket was used as a short rifle?
Before anyone could understand, they were already standing at attention, taking aim, and shooting! Because the distance is close, the shot is very accurate! A single volley of shots knocked down twelve or thirteen people! The remaining Sun family patrolmen were so frightened that their legs were weak, and it was difficult to turn around and run away. As a result, they were subjected to another round of fire. Only a few of the twenty or so people were left to run back. The 10 horse archers who were covering the Ming army's musketeers followed them on horseback. Taking advantage of the opportunity when the Qing army guarding the village gate opened the door to let their own people into the village, they launched an attack! He rushed directly into the village, and then slashed and killed. The Qing army was caught off guard and became a complete mess.
Those Ming army musketeers who had finished firing two volleys reloaded their ammunition and followed them into the village. When they saw the Qing soldiers who were alone, they stabbed them with bayonets, and when they saw a large number of people on the other side, they used their muskets to blast them.
Although their number was small, they relied on night attacks and sharp muskets to defeat the entire village of Qing soldiers. Sun Yanji wanted to organize resistance at first, but soon found that he could not organize it at all, and the gunshots were getting closer and closer to his location.
Knowing that the situation was over, he had no choice but to break out with a few soldiers on horseback. Unexpectedly, as soon as he left the village, he was spotted by an unknown number of Ming army lancers. They rushed and killed Sun Yanji and beat him to a bare stick. Fortunately, he had a crotch. The horse under him ran very fast, and his soldiers resisted desperately, allowing him to save his life and run back to find his father...
As for his father, Sun Long, and Fan Wencheng, who was stationed in Liaocheng, starting from September 18, the sixth year of Hongxing's reign, they had been receiving reports that their food search teams, patrol teams, or other small units had been invaded. The bad news is that the Ming army was defeated.
...
September 20, Liaocheng.
Fan Wencheng, the king of Dingnan in the Qing Dynasty, was in full military uniform and patrolling the city wall with high spirits. Liaocheng was once broken by Zhu Cixiang nearly six years ago. It was at that time that Kong Youde committed suicide by smashing the back of his head with a brush...
Later, because Dorgon won the Battle of Guishan, Zhu Cixiang had to abandon Liaocheng, so Liaocheng returned to the hands of the Qing army.
However, when the Ming army retreated, they still destroyed Liaocheng's original city walls and most of the buildings in the city.
After Kong Tingxun took over Liaocheng, he began to save money and spend money to build the castle.
After nearly five years of construction, the Liaocheng Fort was basically completed until Kong Tingxun and Azige were defeated at Jieshi Mountain and lost the throne of Dingnan.
The bastion, which took five years to build, is certainly very strong! Moreover, after the signing of the Japan-Mongolia Agreement, the Qing Dynasty also received some engineers from Japan and Spain, and the level of city building was also improved. Therefore, the Liaocheng Bastion was built with an impregnable effect!
However, this impregnable bastion also has a disadvantage, that is, it is too small. Liaocheng was originally small, only one square kilometer, and it was built on an island in the middle of a lake. There was no way to expand it without filling in the lake.
Therefore, Kong Tingxun could only build a four-corner bastion on this square kilometer area. Because he had to leave space for the gun platforms at the four corners, the city wall could only shrink inward. In the end, the area inside the bastion was even smaller than the original area. Not even 40% of them!
There are tens of thousands of people crammed into such a palm-sized place. It is really crowded. To exaggerate, there is no place to turn around...
However, the castle still looks very solid and should be able to be defended!
Thinking of this, he nodded heavily: "We can hold it! Vice General Sun, Jin Gong (Fan Chengmo), Anping and Dezhou are all fortresses no less than Liaocheng. We can always hold it if we risk our lives! As long as we can If we guard it for a year and a half, the imperial court will send troops to rescue us!"
After hearing Fan Wencheng's words, Fan Chengmo frowned and looked worried.
"Mr. Jin, if you think of anything, just say it!" Fan Wencheng said to his son.
"Father," Fan Chengmo said, "my son thought of the Battle of Daling River and the Battle of Songjin..."
Both battles were based on the idea of siege and reinforcements, and the results were very good! The Battle of Daling River severely damaged the Liaodong Group of the Ming Army. Two of the Three Heroes of Liaodong during Yuan Chonghuan's era, Zu Dashou and He Kegang, were both killed in this battle. He Kegang died, and Zu Dashou surrendered first and then escaped. However, the Zu family army was basically finished and was no longer a powerful force in Liaodong. In addition, Zhao Shujiao was killed in the previous incident (the entire army was wiped out), the most capable unit of the Liaodong Army no longer existed after the Daling River War.
The subsequent Battle of Songjin wiped out the main strategic force of the Ming army, which directly led to the subsequent Jiashen Incident!
Now Fan Chengmo actually thought of the Battle of Daling River and the Battle of Songjin... Obviously, he regarded the current Qing army as the Ming army in the Battle of Daling River and the Battle of Songjin.
"No, no..." Fan Wencheng said with a smile, "Although the Ming army is powerful, there are no generals who can compare with the emperor's uncle. Even generals like Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting are gone. Why? Is it possible to win such great victories as the Battle of Dalinghe and the Battle of Songjin? And how can the preparations of Liaocheng, Dezhou, and Anping be comparable to Dalinghe Fort and Jinzhou? We only need to defend the city well, and we can definitely wait for a turnaround. .”
He paused, "But the strength of the Ming army is still extraordinary... Let's withdraw all the troops in the other castles to Liaocheng, Dezhou, and Anping!"
Let's guard these three castles! "
...
"Your Majesty, the two castles of Liaocheng and Anping don't look easy to capture. I have never seen Dezhou, so I can't comment... In comparison, the Qing army's camps in the south and north of the Yellow River are easier to deal with. too much."
The person talking to Zhu Cixiang was Prince Kong Dai!
He is now in charge of a staff department with Li Yan to help Zhu Cihong command hundreds of thousands of Northern Expedition troops!
To be honest, this was his first time experiencing such a big battle.
"Your Highness," Zhu Cixiang said in French, "have you seen the camps north and south of the Yellow River? How do you know they are easy to deal with?"
Prince Kong Dai smiled and said: "Your Majesty, although I have never seen the Qing army camps north and south of the Yellow River, your military advisor's office has detailed information about that area, including maps and hydrological data."
"How long will it take to capture the Qing army's camps north and south of the Yellow River?" Zhu Cixiang asked.
"There is no need to capture two," Prince Kong Dai said, "just capture the Henan camp... If we attack this winter, we should be able to capture it next spring, maybe in February of the Chinese calendar."
"Where's the loss?" Zhu Cixiang asked.
"It depends on the situation," Prince Kong Dai said, "but it won't be too many...a few thousand people at most."
"Who should I let go?" Zhu Cixiang asked, "Your Highness, you don't want to take command personally, do you?"
Zhu Cixiang does not plan to go to the front line to command in person now, because he already has a large number of outstanding officers who have attended Kong Dai's cram school... But he also does not want to hand over the army to a French prince.
"General Yan!" Prince Kong Dai said, "Please give him a field regiment of more than 100,000 people!"
