In fact, who among the senior generals of the Ming Dynasty is the most capable has always been a controversial topic.
Some people think that Su Jue, the commander of the Liaodong Corps who pacified Liaodong and overthrew Wanyan Yong's regime, was the most capable.
Some people also believe that Su Haisheng, the commander of the Qilu Corps, who pacified Guanzhong and destroyed the remaining forces of the Jin Kingdom and the main force of Xixia, was the most capable fighter.
Some people even think that Han Jinggui, the commander of the Hebei Corps who recovered the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and fought against the grasslands, is the most capable fighter.
Who is the leader of the Five Tiger Generals has been a hot topic of debate since the Ming army officially established its establishment.
Especially in the past few days, the former commander of the Yanyun Corps, Sun Ziyi, resigned and was succeeded by Li Xiao, as well as the newly established Hexi Corps and its commander Jiang Liangping's emergence. It is now quite easy to talk about who is the most capable among the senior officers of the Ming Army. arouse controversy.
But this does not prevent the soldiers below from paying respect to the generals who have made great achievements in battle.
Facing a general with great military exploits, Xu Tong was quite disciplined and did not dare to go overboard at all.
Zhang Yuejing quite likes Xu Tong's modesty.
"It's right to be modest, but you don't have to be too humble. You must acknowledge your own credit, and don't take away the credit if it's not yours. Your credit is recognized by the Ming Emperor, and your courage is personally praised by the Ming Emperor."
Xu Tong smiled, feeling excited and his face flushed a little.
The two continued to chat for a while, and Zhang Yuejing took him to the artillery position.
The artillery positions were set up in the front enemy area because they were worried that the Song Army would also be equipped with super long-range weapons such as large eight-niu crossbows in the military stronghold. Therefore, the absolute safety of the artillerymen could not be guaranteed at this distance, even if the Song Army's eight-niu crossbows would not Launch bombs. .
Despite this, Zhang Yuejing also prepared some defensive facilities for the artillery positions because of the glorious record of the Song Army using the Eight Bull Crossbow to kill the Liao Army Marshal.
After Xu Tong arrived at the artillery position, he was shocked to see a giant copper and iron beast that was as long as ten feet long.
He immediately stepped forward and stroked the cannon body, looking here and patting there, his face full of curiosity.
"How heavy is this general cannon?"
Xu Tong looked at He Feihu, the commander of the Shenji Battalion.
He Feihu smiled and said: "It's more than two thousand kilograms, and there are even some heavy-duty general cannons weighing three thousand kilograms. They usually need to be transported by large ships by water. For land transportation, special large vehicles are needed, and ordinary vehicles cannot carry them at all. move."
"Oh my God, that heavy?"
Xu Tong was greatly shocked: "How much iron does it take to cast it? Is it really powerful?"
"It's quite big. It's specially prepared for a strong city like Xiangyang in the world."
He Feihu stepped forward and stroked the cannon body and said: "If Master Xu is not in a hurry to go back, you can stay and watch tomorrow's battle. We will demonstrate to you and other people who have never seen the cannon fired why your majesty needs to expend it." Spend huge sums of money to build this new firearm.”
Xu Tong looked at the Song Army's military camp that was faintly visible in the distance, as well as the vague and barely visible Xiangyang City and Fancheng City, and his heart was filled with longing.
"Okay, then I'll stay and see if this artillery is really that powerful!"
The attack of the Shenji Battalion is scheduled for April 5th. According to the plan, the Shenji Battalion will be divided into three parts and advance towards Fancheng from three directions. First, it will use artillery to destroy the defense facilities around Fancheng and comprehensively destroy the Song Army around Fancheng. Village, creating opportunities for the main force of the Henan Corps behind.
The task of attacking the enemy was completely handed over to the Shenji Battalion and the artillery of the Shenji Battalion. The elite infantry and cavalry of the Henan Corps would only provide protection tasks afterwards to prevent the Song Army from jumping over the wall and taking the initiative to attack.
According to the predetermined plan, the Shenji Battalion will use about three days to completely destroy all the Song Army's strongholds around Fancheng, destroy the General's Stronghold, defeat all the soldiers in the General's Stronghold, and then conquer Fancheng.
After completing the siege of Fan City, another army has almost arrived to defeat the enemy. They will attack from the east and pass through Aikomen Pass to the east of Xiangyang City. In this way, the army has completed the attack on three sides of the Second City of Xiangfan. Surrounded, leaving only the high mountains to the west.
"Three days?"
Xu Tong did not listen to the subsequent military arrangements, but became confused about this number.
"Yes, just three days. In just three days, the Shenji Battalion can destroy all the Song Army's strongholds around Fancheng."
He Feihu is very confident about this.
Xu Tong was dubious and reserved his opinion.
I couldn't think of a way to break through quickly even after racking my brain. Can the Shenji Battalion do it?
That night, Xu Tong had dinner at the Shenji camp.
Then he discovered that the food of the Henan Corps was really good. The menu that night was braised pork, pork and vegetable soup, and steamed pancakes. The soldiers ate meat and pancakes with great pleasure. Xu Tong took the opportunity to I had a bowl of meat and found that it tasted really good, very good.
"Isn't our food good?"
He Feihu sat next to Xu Tong, swallowing a large piece of fat and thin meat in one gulp, his face full of satisfaction.
"It's really good. Although we can have a full stomach there, eating meat is still rare. Although we raise a lot of goats, they mainly produce milk and make cheese, and rarely eat meat."
Xu Tong also swallowed a large piece of meat and felt great satisfaction.
"It was similar when I first joined the army. I just had enough to eat. How could I have such good conditions now?"
He Feihu rolled up a piece of meat with a piece of cake and stuffed it into his mouth to chew, then smiled and said: "But at the time I thought it was pretty good, as long as I can eat enough, now my food is getting better and better, and I eat meat regularly. There has never been a shortage. It was unimaginable to think of such days in the past.
Of course, the days will get better and better in the future. There are no conditions for you now. But after this battle, Jinghu and Jiangxi will be connected. By then, the peasant army will be our Ming army. A Jiangxi Corps will be set up. At that time, our food was all equally good, and we ate meat in large quantities. "
Saying this, another large piece of fat and thin braised pork was swallowed by He Feihu, and his mouth was full of oil.
"Absolutely!"
A feeling of excitement and satisfaction arose in Xu Tong's heart. This feeling stimulated him to eat two bowls of meat, one bowl of soup and seven pieces of cakes in one night, which made his belly bulge.
Early the next morning, the weather was fine. Xu Tong had another breakfast with the soldiers from the Shenji Battalion. He ate the cooking cakes, meat and soup that he had not finished last night. After eating about seven minutes full, he started The entire army is ready and operations can begin at any time.
War drums and horns continued to sound, and the entire offensive army entered a state of first-level combat readiness.
The main force participating in the battle today was the Shenji Battalion, which was divided into three and launched an attack on the Fancheng defensive circle from three directions. Xu Tong followed He Feihu and launched an attack on the Fancheng defensive circle from the north.
