"This Lin Dan Khan is really embarrassing to his ancestors."
After the siege of Mengshan was ended, the main force of the New Army moved in, and the siege of Nishan was impenetrable.
However, they did not attack the mountain immediately. Instead, the three divisions were reorganized at the same time.
After this reorganization, the new army will have three fully-organized divisions, and the total strength of the regular army will reach 55,000.
The fourth division has entered into the plan, but it will take time to start its formation.
Zuo Menggeng and others were not idle during the day of troop reorganization. Information came in one after another from various places, which also opened everyone's eyes.
The first is the Mongolian grassland.
As Huang Taiji gathered various Mongolian tribes to conquer, Lin Dan Khan, a descendant of the Huang Jin family and the nominal leader of Mongolia, immediately fled.
First he ran from Xuanfu to Hetao, but when he saw that Huang Taiji had no intention of letting him go, he simply crossed the Yellow River and ran directly to Qinghai.
This time, Huang Taiji was really cheated.
He gathered an army of 100,000 people, thinking of defeating Mongolia in one battle, but Lin Danhan ran faster than a rabbit, which caused Hou Jin to waste food and grass in vain.
Houjin encountered difficulties because the front was stretched too long and he began to run out of food and water.
Forced by helplessness, Huang Taiji had no choice but to lead his troops to attack Xuanda, looking for the Ming Dynasty to fight against the autumn wind.
Later, the Jin army came to announce the great victory and immediately relieved the Shanxi rebels who were in trouble.
Zhang Zongheng heard that his hometown was in trouble and he couldn't care about the rebel army, so he immediately led his army back to the division.
Lying on the top of the city, looking at the overwhelming Manchu and Mongolian coalition forces outside the Great Wall, Zhang Zongheng's claws became numb.
With the current military strength of Xuanda, they simply cannot stop it.
Fortunately, this time Huang Taiji was not here to attack, but to fight against the autumn wind.
Huang Taiji sent people to inform Xuanda Civil and Military Affairs, and immediately sent merchants to trade and hand over the Chahar people who had fled into the Ming Dynasty. Otherwise, it would really be a siege.
Xuanda Wenwu had no choice but to hold his nose and admit it. Not only did he return the escaped Chahar people, but he also transferred the city reward originally intended to Lin Dan Khan to Hou Jin.
After Hou Jin obtained a large amount of food, cloth, gold and silver, he withdrew his troops.
Because of this incident, Shen Qi, the governor of Xuanfu, was beheaded by Chongzhen.
Shen Qi can be regarded as a talented person. After being arrested and imprisoned, he defended himself by saying that the recipient of the reward was the Mongolian Harashen tribe, not Houjin.
How could such a little trick deceive Chongzhen, so Shen Qi was accused of "clearly using the title of the country to stand alongside the rebel slaves and swear an oath, and also gave him gold, silk and other things, yet dared to embellish it, harmed the prestige of the country, and was good at bullying the emperor." Beheaded on crime.
Zuo Mengeng knew that Lin Danhan fled west this time and never came back.
By the time the Chahar tribe returned, they had completely surrendered to Houjin.
Houjin no longer had any rivals in the direction of Mongolia, and could use all its power to deal with the Ming Dynasty.
This is bad news.
But when misfortune comes, good news comes.
Zuo Dai came to Yimeng again and brought new ammunition.
"Master, you see, this is a new thing invented by our equipment department. It is much safer to use this thing to detonate ammunition, and the performance is more stable."
What did Zuo Dai show Zuo Mengeng?
detonator.
A thing that will naturally appear since the birth of mercury fulminate.
Even so, it still took the Equipment Department almost three years to develop the detonator.
Before the advent of detonators, the New Army used simple flash caps to detonate explosive ammunition.
For example, a percussion cap is placed in the artillery shell. When firing, a firing pin is installed in the front, and then the percussion cap is used to detonate the gunpowder through the impact of the firing pin when the warhead collides.
This method is very unsafe, and sometimes a slight irregularity in movement may cause the shell to explode.
Many soldiers were injured and died because of this incident, which also caused the artillerymen to joke: move bombs and explode eggs.
Now with detonators, they can replace flash caps, greatly increasing the safety of artillery shells and saving the lives of many soldiers.
"In addition to the shells, we also used small detonators in grenades, which worked equally well."
The test started immediately, in front of all officers above the corps level.
Needless to say, the effect is amazing.
For artillery shells that use detonator fuses, a delay switch can be set to allow the operator enough reaction time.
Even if something goes wrong, people nearby can evacuate quickly.
Not to mention the grenades. After using a detonator, it can truly be detonated in a delayed manner, and there is no need to worry about soldiers accidentally touching them when they are crawling around.
"Minister Zuo, when will this good thing be available to the entire army?"
Jia Yunzhi caught Zuo Dai and started urging the goods.
He is the artillery chief and the biggest beneficiary.
Zuo Dai quickly reassured: "Don't worry, this time it passed the inspection and acceptance. Our equipment department immediately ordered each factory to speed up production. It will take at most one month to replace all the shells for you."
Only then did Jia Yunzhi let him go with satisfaction.
Zuo Mengeng handed the detonators to various military officers and said: "This thing can not only be used in artillery shells and grenades, but it is also very useful in making explosives. Take it back and think about it carefully and carry it forward."
In the engineering construction of later generations, detonators were a powerful weapon for blasting.
As a new force, the New Army was full of curiosity about new things, and detonators became their new toys.
During this period, a brutal offensive and defensive battle in Laizhou was taking place.
As for this battle, the New Army paid close attention to it and also invested a lot of energy in research.
The offensive and defensive battle of Laizhou began on the third day of February, with Kong Youde personally commanding the army.
The rebels have 90,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry. The main force are former Dongjiang Town soldiers who came to seek refuge from the Liao Town Islands. There are also many brave Mongolians and Jurchens who are good at fighting.
The rebels surrounded Laizhou City, and two large camps were stationed at Fulu Mountain in the west of Laizhou City and Peng'erpo in the east of the city.
The number of defenders in Laizhou was only more than 4,000.
Fortunately, Zhu Wannian, the prefect of Laizhou, made complete preparations at the beginning of the rebellion in Dongjiang Town.
The city of Laizhou is fully equipped with weapons, a large number of firearms, and the city defenses have been reinforced. In addition, the local people in Denglai hate Dongjiang Town deeply and are determined to resist.
On the fifth day of February, the rebels sent troops from the martial arts field to attack the northeast corner of Laizhou City.
The rebels used captured civilians as their vanguard, forcing them to build ladders or hold shields to fill the trenches outside the city. At the same time, hundreds of artillery bombarded the city.
The defenders responded tit for tat and also fired back with artillery. Amidst the smoke and the trembling earth, the rebels' attacks that lasted for a day were repulsed, resulting in heavy casualties.
On the ninth day of February, the rebels attacked for the second time and suffered another disastrous defeat.
The rebels also had a general wearing a python coat who died under the gunfire of the defenders. As for who it was, the defenders did not know who it was, and the rebels did not say.
After these two battles, the rebels found that a hard attack could not succeed, so they changed their strategy.
Beginning on February 10, the rebels began to dig trenches and tunnels around Laizhou City, and at the same time built forts as high as the city wall.
The offensive and defensive battle in Laizhou entered the most brutal stage, as the defenders and rebels began to fight for the city walls and trenches inch by inch. Every inch of the ground was soaked in blood, and every trench was filled with corpses.
Throughout February and March trenches and tunnels became the subject of offensive and defensive warfare.
"Both the defenders and the rebels have a large number of artillery. If trenches are not used, it will be unreasonable to be exposed to artillery bombardment."
Liu Yiyuan returned to the military academy to teach, and Zuo Yong was currently in charge of the staff department. He focused on the issue of trenches.
Others do not dispute this view.
"This reminds us that when we face such an enemy in the future, we must also pay attention to tunnel construction."
Zuo Rong was prepared for a rainy day and had already thought ahead.
Although in terms of muskets, the New Army has advantages across the ages. But in the field of artillery, apart from better materials, the New Army's artillery does not actually have an overwhelming advantage.
In other words, in such a battle, the soldiers of the New Army will definitely be hit by the enemy's artillery.
The best way to avoid artillery bombardment is to tunnel.
"Most of the artillery of the Ming army and the rebels used solid bullets. Even the explosive bullets had no explosive effect, so the defensive effect of the tunnels is very good. Sir, I suggest that from now on, the entire army should make great efforts to learn tunnel technology. , reduce our casualties."
Mao Yuanyi didn't say anything, but Zuo Mengeng also had this idea.
He looked at Zhang Yan who was coming.
"In order to build tunnels, excavation tools are indispensable. Our army is not equipped with them at present, and the excavation tools of the Ming Army and the rebels are not satisfactory. I have a new tool manufacturing method here. Write it down and find the factory when you go back. do it."
Hearing that Zuo Mengeng had something new, Zhang Yan quickly joined in.
Everyone else is also looking forward to it. After all, every time Zuo Mengeng comes up with something new, it proves to be very useful and powerful.
With Zuo Mengeng's actions, the engineer shovel appeared in this world for the first time.
