Boom...boom...boom...
Eighteen war drums sounded at the same time, and the soldiers' scalps went numb when they heard the loud drums.
"Cao Wenzhao, let's start!"
"The last general takes command!"
Cao Wenzhao waved his hand, and dozens of people rushed toward the river carrying a boat. There were dozens of boats. The Liaoxi military general recognized that these boats were built by them during this period.
Do you want to use this to cross the river?
Or use this to build a floating bridge?
Amid everyone's confusion, the first three boats were launched into the water. An anchor weighing more than a hundred kilograms was thrown into the river. Two sergeants also jumped into the water. The boat was firmly fixed in the river. The river waves are undulating.
On the other side of the river, Huang Taiji and others on the watchtower looked at the Ming army's operations through telescopes, full of doubts.
"Yagyu-kun, what are the Ming troops doing? Are they using these boats to cross the river, are they preparing to build a pontoon bridge, or are they for some other purpose?"
"I don't understand. One of these small boats can transport ten people. Thirty boats can transport three hundred people at a time. We don't need cavalry to charge. Just a volley can destroy the opponent, and the troop transport will not anchor the ship now." Throw it into the river.
It's not impossible to build a pontoon bridge, but it can be used for people to pass. It's unlikely that cars and horses will use it, and we only need to put a few burning boats upstream to directly crash the pontoon bridge.
The former is a fueling tactic, and the latter is a burning tactic. Yuan Keli would never make such a stupid decision.
Apart from these two, I really can't think of what the Ming army used these ships for, but I always have a frightening feeling in my heart. "
“Ben Khan feels that way too!”
Huang Taiji felt helpless in his heart. After so many years, he had experienced dozens of large and small battles. For the first time, he couldn't understand what the enemy was playing. This battle was a bit frustrating.
Then his face suddenly became serious and he shouted: "We don't care what they want to do. Even if they go down to the river to catch fish, we can't let them succeed."
"Give me the order and move the trebuchet forward a hundred meters to ensure it can hit the center of the river! When you are ready, attack immediately!"
Huang Taiji issued the military order, but before the sergeants moved, there was new movement on the Ming army's side.
A group of three sergeants carried black sticks of different lengths, sharp at one end, and as thick as an arm. The sergeant on the boat took the stick and put it into the water, then picked up a large hammer from the boat and smashed it down.
Every time I hit it, sparks flew. It turned out that these black sticks were made of iron.
The sergeants were like blacksmiths. Even if the ship shook with the waves, each of their hammers could hit the iron rod accurately.
While he was resting, the iron rod was submerged in the water.
With the ship as the center, an iron rod will be inserted every half meter in a radius of three to five meters up and down, and three meters to the left and right.
The area where the three ships are juxtaposed is forty to fifty meters wide.
After completing the first one, the second batch of three boats was launched, three meters apart from the first batch of boats, and the same operation was performed.
Above the entire river, there was a continuous clanging sound, but every blow of the high-swinging hammer seemed to hit Jiannu's heart.
Jiannu's trebuchet also began to launch, but under the surveillance of the watchtower, every time the trebuchet began to launch, there was a sharp bamboo whistle, and the sergeants on the boat instantly fell into the river and hid under the boat.
Wait until the stone bomb falls into the water, then get on the boat and continue working.
When they were tired, a new group of people would be brought in from the shore to work between the attacks of Jiannu's trebuchets.
Jiannu's intensive trebuchet attack was not without any success, injuring nearly twenty people and sinking five boats, but they still could not stop the Ming army's movements. An hour later, the boats had reached the center of the river.
Seeing that it was almost done, Yuan Keli looked at Tang Yuan, the right minister of the Ministry of Industry, and said: "Secretary Tang, you can start the second step."
Tang Yuan nodded and rode into the camp. In just half a quarter of an hour, more than ten thousand people entered the river carrying shovels, hoes, and sacks. They stood in an orderly manner under flags of different colors, picked up shovels, and started digging. .
Someone dug the soil, someone held the mouth of the sack, and someone used a shovel to pour the excavated soil into the sack. After filling it, he tied the mouth of the sack and passed it towards the river. Then it was put into the boat by the sergeants on the riverside. Throw it into the water.
The whole process is like an assembly line, busy but not chaotic.
"I see!"
Munenomi Yagyu on the other side of the river suddenly shouted, pointing excitedly at the busy Ming army on the other side, and said hurriedly: "The Ming army is not transporting troops across the river, nor is it building a pontoon bridge, but making bridge piers.
Build a bridge that can really accommodate carriages and horses crossing the river. Those iron rods driven into the water are to prevent the sandbags from being washed away by the river. "
"Look again, the line dug by the Ming army is a very large arc, bypassing the bridge pier and connecting the upstream and downstream of the bridge pier.
Because once there are a large number of bridge piers in the river, the river water will inevitably rise in a short period of time. The dug river will act as a diversion to ensure that the rising river water will not cause the current to increase and wash away the temporary bridge piers. "
"Who came up with this method? It really kills two birds with one stone!"
Hoshina Masayuki said doubtfully: "Yagyu-kun, although the river here is gentle, it is relative. Aren't the Ming army afraid that the temporary bridge piers will be washed away? Or we can use big ships to attack downstream and knock down the bridge piers!"
"Stupid, a bridge pier composed of a hundred sacks may be washed away. Can a bridge pier composed of a thousand or five thousand sacks be washed away? We can use warships. Didn't Yuan Keli think of it?
It is easy to shake a mountain, but it is difficult to shake Mount Tai. The same is true for this bridge pier. "
It seemed that Yagyu Munenomi's guess was verified. Just as he spoke, the first bridge pier was formed.
The bridge pier is rectangular, ten meters long and six meters wide. The most exaggerated thing is that there is a triangular diversion pier in front of the bridge. Both sides are gradually lowered, and the entire bridge pier has a tower-like structure.
In order to prevent individual sandbags from being washed away, each layer of sandbags is held together by a thick net, and the upper and lower layers are tied together with ropes.
Although this stupid method will not allow the bridge piers to exist for a long time, as long as there is no major flood, it will be fine for three to five months.
The appearance of the bridge piers, except for a few generals, all the generals in Liaoxi were full of astonishment.
I guessed a lot of ways, but I never thought it would be this way.
Seeing the shocked expressions of the generals, Chongzhen and Yuan Keli looked at each other and smiled.
In order to cross the river, they thought of many countermeasures, but in the end they unanimously decided to use this clumsiest but safest method.
Without him, there is a lot of money, a lot of people, and a lot of time.
The sergeants in the river were all transferred from Yansui Town. They were the same group of sergeants who sabotaged Lin Dan Khan's army crossing the Yellow River.
Not to mention the Liao River, even the Yellow River, they can swim several times in it. Even driving the iron rod into the bottom of the river took three months of training in the Yellow River.
The sacks and large nets containing sand were soaked in oil. There were 50,000 sacks and thousands of large nets.
Just ask Jiannu how to crack it.
