The next day, December 11, before dawn, more than 10,000 Qing army cavalry came from the east. Together with the Qing army that arrived last night, at this time, two Qing troops had gathered outside Jiazhuang. More than fifteen thousand people.
They camped on the south, east and north sides of Jiazhuang, surrounding Lu Xiangsheng's Ming army.
For a time, a few miles outside the Ming army camp under Lu Xiangsheng's command became lively, with Qing cavalry galloping back and forth from time to time, already covering the entire battlefield.
Zhang Cheng led Chen Zhong on horseback and ran out of Jiazhuang. On a high ground, he looked at the Qing army camp with his clairvoyance. Looking through the mirror, he saw groups of young and strong men in ragged clothes, under the threat of Tartar whips. , working back and forth.
It seems that they are building walls, digging ditches, and building camps. Some are also building shield carts and other equipment needed to attack cities and strongholds. They were originally citizens of the Ming Dynasty, but now they are helping slaves and thieves to attack the officials of the Ming Dynasty. Army, how can we reason in this world?
Before entering the defense this time, Zhang Cheng had already made preparations based on his understanding of history. His cavalry headquarters carried a large number of firearms and artillery.
It's just that artillery is not easy to carry and will slow down the marching speed. Therefore, the artillery in his department was transported to Changping along with the infantry headquarters under Zhang Yan.
The artillery carried by it includes ten No. 3 Folang machines, thirty No. 4 Folang machines, thirty Tiger Crouching cannons, and other firearms, etc., especially the cannons are more abundant.
Nowadays, these artillery and ammunition are handed over to the infantry headquarters of Xuanzhen Commander Zhang Yan and Shanxi Town Commander Jiang Mingwu. After all, they have to defend the north and south sides of Jiazhuang, although the village wall is high-risk.
And combined with Zhuangwai's lifelong defense, it almost forms a simple three-dimensional defense form, but how it actually works will not be known until it is beaten.
…………
Zhang Yan's troops defended the south side of Jiazhuang. The wall of the village was quite long. He used infantry outposts to set up defenses on the wall of the village. He deployed a total of twenty No. 3 Fran machine guns, arranged on the left and right sides of the village gate.
The two infantry sentries on the left and right lined up behind the earthen wall outside the village. The earthen wall where their musketry was located was about thirty steps away from the village wall. Their position was within the shooting range of the musketry and artillery on the village wall. .
The artillery was placed ten steps behind the cannons, and was protected by double protection from the upper and lower walls of the village, thus forming a three-dimensional defense system with upper and lower layers.
Although the earth wall defended by Zhang Yan was long, many obstacles such as trenches and earth walls were set up in front, as well as various defensive equipment such as horses and iron caltrops, which blocked the path of the Qing army's attack.
Therefore, there were not many places for the Qing troops to attack, and because the earthen walls were watered with cold water, there was also a thin layer of ice on the ground in front of the earthen walls, which was extremely slippery and made it impossible to run.
Here, Zhang Yan deployed three sentry soldiers, which should be enough. He sent another infantry outpost sergeant to guard the wall south of the west gate of Jiazhuang, and could rush over at any time for support.
There is also a sentry infantry on standby inside the south gate of Jiazhuang. As Zhang Yan's reserve force, it is ready to support everywhere at any time. What's more, there is also a sentry cavalry led by general Lin Zhiyi. There is no arrangement for defense, but it can also support at any time. Everywhere, or rushing out from the south gate, chasing the slave thieves.
Shanxi Town Counselor Jiang Mingwu was responsible for the defense to the north of Jiazhuang. His arrangement was almost the same as Zhang Yan's. However, when he entered the defense, he was too anxious and Jiang Mingwu did not carry enough artillery and medicine.
Zhang Cheng gave some of the artillery and explosives he carried to Jiang Mingwu's troops for use, which made Jiang Mingwu very grateful. Although these more artillery did not mean that he could defeat the Tartars.
But the addition of these artillery can indeed reduce the defensive pressure on Jiang Mingwu's infantry, and can also effectively kill slave thieves and reduce his own casualties.
Such a defensive weapon is not easy to carry, and each battalion does not carry much. Except for Zhang Cheng, who is prepared, who among the other generals can bring out artillery to support others.
Zhang Cheng's four sentry cavalry gathered at the west gate of Jiazhuang. His mission was mainly responsible for attacking the slave thieves from the west gate. Jiang Mingwu's cavalry was deployed in the central square of Jiazhuang. He was responsible for attacking from the south and north.
Lu Xiangsheng led the Biao Battalion to be responsible for the defense of the east side of Jiazhuang in the direction of the official road. According to predictions, this side may be the focus of the slave bandit's attack.
…………
Some large tents were erected in the centers of the three camps. Pots of fires were lit in these tents, and large amounts of hot water and other supplies were prepared as a place to treat wounded soldiers.
Such an arrangement can be said to be very orderly, and the defense line is a simple three-dimensional defense system. These designs were all conceived by Zhang Cheng, which amazed Lu Xiangsheng and others.
Lu Xiangsheng, Zhang Cheng and others inspected the camps and defenses of Generals Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei after dawn, and they were all very satisfied.
Zhang Cheng was more confident if, as in history, the Qing army that came to besiege Lu Xiangsheng only had 30,000 troops.
There is absolutely no problem in holding on for three or five days. After all, the Qing army is fighting in the enemy's territory, and it is impossible to maintain a long-term stalemate with Lu Xiangsheng, Zhang Cheng and others in the wilderness.
If the Qing army attacked hard, the 30,000 Qing soldiers would probably bleed into rivers, and it would be difficult to break through the camp of Zhang Cheng and others.
In this way, even if the high-altitude Guan Ning army does not come for reinforcements and all the elite Qing troops entering Dorgon's tribe are lost, it may be difficult to move into Shandong to plunder. Future history may change here.
Zhang Cheng also carefully looked at the camp defenses of Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei. They also had many firearms. Except for the fact that the artillery was slightly less than Zhang Yan's, it was basically enough for defense.
Moreover, the proportion of firearms in their cavalry battalions is also very high. Although most of them use three-eyed muskets, they are very conducive to mounted combat and are also more conducive to close combat on foot.
Judging from the high morale of their sergeants, there should be no problem if they hold on for three to five days.
Everything is ready and waiting for the Qing troops to arrive.
…………
Most of the Ming army was having breakfast. Since the war was about to begin, they had enough to eat for two meals a day. In addition, yesterday's victory over the captive cavalry resulted in hundreds of wounded and dead horses, which was enough to feed the army for several days.
"Look at this posture, the Tatars outside are worth at least 20,000 to 30,000 yuan." A sergeant leaned on the pillar of the village wall in Jiazhuang, holding a bowl of broth in his right hand and half a steamed bun in his left hand. The sergeant beside him muttered.
"Look at that flag, it's so gaudy. There must be a lot of Tatars here, and some of them are fighting today." After a bearded sergeant finished speaking, he took a big sip of broth, which made his beard look like fried twists. He didn't care. Carefully, I wiped the sleeve of my cotton-padded jacket with my left hand.
"Don't worry about me, the general has his own arrangements. Just eat enough and fire cannons and cannons as ordered." Liang Song happened to come over and scolded a few words.
Zhang Cheng walked beside Liang Song. He patted Liang Song on the shoulder and said in a deep voice: "Tiger, tell the brothers to have a good meal. Look at the flags outside the city. Most of the Tatars from all walks of life are gathered here. It is estimated that there will be more people here today." There will be a large number of Tatars coming, and it will be a fierce battle."
