Through the sand table in the Chinese army's tent and Gao Chen's explanation of the battle situation, we can roughly know:
The Japanese pirates mainly gathered in the "Longkou Port" in the southeast of Yancheng, which was more than 80 miles deep. After the Japanese pirates occupied the port, they took advantage of the geographical advantages to set up three checkpoints in the narrow passage of Longkou Mountain, namely "Baimuguan" and "Heimuguan". "Jinmuguan".
There are more than 5,000 Japanese pirates entrenched in Longkou Port, half of them are pirates, and the rest are Japanese soldiers and ronin. The Japanese pirates have all the equipment that the Huainan army has.
Due to the occupation of the port, the navy had to retreat to Yancheng, with a total of more than 23,000 troops together with the horse infantry.
The equipment, number of people, and food and fodder were all superior to the Japanese pirates. The fundamental reason why they lost the battle was the fighting quality of the soldiers and their war strategies.
The morale of the army was already low, and if they were allowed to rush forward, they would simply be seeking death. Moreover, the Japanese pirates had the advantage of the level and were condescending. With a round of crossbows and a wave of explosives, without even opening the door to fight, most of our troops were killed or injured.
As the saying goes, "one strong effort, then another, and three times it is exhausted." If all the vanguard soldiers are dead, how can the follow-up troops dare to charge again?
"Mr. Bai, do you have a good strategy to break the barrier?" Gao Chen and all the civil and military officials focused their attention on Song Che.
Song Che frowned and stared at the sand table closely. If he could think of a good strategy just by relying on a map, then he would really be a god descending to earth.
"I want to go to Baimuguan first."
"Okay, I will send a small team to accompany you personally."
Baimuguan is located thirty miles southeast of Yancheng, and is the starting point of Longkou Mountain. On the left is the Longkou Beach, which is covered with dense bamboo forests, and on the right is the rugged mountain edge. The pass is located at the foot of the mountain, separating The only way up the mountain.
Longkou Mountain is not high, only about 100 feet, but it is the dividing ridge between Chuzhou and Taizhou. The Japanese pirates occupied this place and cut off the communication between the two states, making it impossible to connect the north and south sides of Huainan.
The five thousand Japanese pirates on Longkou Mountain are just a branch. Their real home base is in the overseas "Beisha Islands", and the gold and silver treasures they robbed are piled up on the islands.
The Japanese pirates sent branches to occupy various ports, meaning to "drill piles" along the coast, and then use the "piles" as the center to burn, kill, and loot everywhere.
Come to think of it, these Japanese pirates are not just a mob, they also have strategic vision.
"Master Gao, if we go any further we will enter a dangerous zone. Why don't we just explore here." Song Che stopped the team.
"This place is still two or three miles away from the pass. Can Mr. Bai see clearly?" Gao Chen asked.
Song Che shook the telescope in the palm of his hand and said with a smile, "You can have a panoramic view."
Then we climbed up a short slope and took advantage of the high ground and the viewing distance of the telescope to see the topography of Baimuguan.
"Master Gao, tell me briefly what tactics you used to attack the fortified pass." Song Che asked as he watched.
Gao Chen said:
"The pass is narrow and cannot charge, so the main force is infantry, with shield soldiers leading the charge, followed by archers and crossbowmen, and infantry following. When they move a hundred steps below the gate, they can then hold logs against the gate and build ladders over the wall to attack the city."
Song Che nodded slightly, a very typical siege tactic.
"What about the results?" he asked again.
Gao Chen let out a long sigh: "The Japanese pirates took advantage of their commanding position to launch rockets and throw explosives. No matter how hard the shield was, it was difficult to withstand it. Even if they rushed to the gate at great sacrifice, they would be knocked back by stones and logs. The stones and logs in Longkou Mountain There is endless supply of wood, so the Japanese pirates don’t have to worry about materials, but we are made of flesh and blood..."
Song Che pointed at Baimuguan and asked: "Although this pass blocking the road is built high, it is made of wood. Why not use fire attack?"
Gao Chen said: "The crossbows we fired are all rockets. We have tried to use artillery to attack before, but the artillery can only travel two hundred steps. When the Japanese pirates saw the artillery appearing, they ignited the arrows and fired randomly with powerful crossbows. Sometimes one shot was Before he could fight, he was shot with fire oil. He failed to attack the enemy but burned himself instead;
However, even if the fire oil can hit the level, it will soon be extinguished by the Japanese pirates with water. In addition, in this ice and snow, the effectiveness of the fire attack is limited. "
Song Che frowned slightly, "The artillery can only hit two hundred steps? Isn't it too close?"
Gao Chen sighed: "If it were the Forbidden Army's artillery, it could hit four to five hundred paces. The Xiang army's equipment is inferior, and its power and range are greatly reduced."
"How are the artillery shells made?"
"Usually it's a fireball coated with kerosene, but you can also throw it specially filled with kerosene, but that's really a luxury."
"What's the weight of a cannonball?"
"It's usually between ten and twenty pounds."
Is it so heavy? No wonder it can't hit far.
"Okay." Song Che put away the telescope, "Let's go back to camp."
"Mr. Bai, can you think of a good strategy to defeat the enemy?" Gao Chen asked.
Song Che smiled and said: "Take me to see the cannon first. If its range can be as good as I think, I can turn Baimuguan into ashes tomorrow."
The artillery equipped by the Huainan Army is called "Xuanji Cannon". There are eight of them. They are guided by more than 30 thick artillery cables, and then pulled down manually to place the artillery shells in the ammunition pockets. The cannon tip is swung by the rebound force to follow a parabolic trajectory. Throw.
After returning to the military camp, Song Che asked the soldiers to push the mysterious cannon to the martial arts field, and selected three stones to serve as cannonballs, one weighing ten kilograms, one weighing five kilograms, and one weighing two kilograms, to demonstrate the range respectively;
The result is that a ten-pound cannonball can hit 170 steps; a five-kilogram cannonball can hit 320 steps; and a two-kilogram cannonball can hit 450 steps.
The range of the Japanese pirate crossbow is 400 steps, so placing the artillery 400 steps away is a safe distance.
The passes of Baimuguan are all made of wood. If you want to break the pass, you must use fire to attack it.
There are two biggest problems: first, how to ignite it, and second, how to prevent it from being extinguished after being ignited.
In an icy and snowy environment, if you want to burn the pass, you cannot use conventional flames. You must use an inextinguishable fire - alcohol!
Anyone who has studied chemistry and civil engineering knows that once alcohol burns, it must not be extinguished with water. It must be cut off from the air or buried with dust. Alcohol has good adhesion. Once the fire burns big, it will be difficult to extinguish unless it is burned through.
Song Che brought two large carts of high-strength liquor from Yangzhou, put one and a half kilograms of alcohol and half a kilogram of animal oil into cans, and then used a piece of cloth soaked in kerosene as a lead to create a simple "incendiary bomb" .
This kind of incendiary bomb had been used by Song Che when he dealt with the Feiyun Gang's ship hijacking in Yangzhou. Although the explosive power was insufficient, it was extremely flammable. It often only took half a kilogram to burn out a raging fire.
That night, Song Che ordered his soldiers to make incendiary bombs. In addition, he also wrapped a batch of arrows in coarse cloth, like making torches, and soaked them in alcohol instead of fuel, in preparation for burning and closing the door tomorrow.
"Master Gao, in the early morning tomorrow, I will only lead 3,000 Yangzhou troops and four mysterious cannons to break through Baimuguan!"
This battle is to vote for a certificate of fame!
