This poor place is really difficult to attack, easy to defend but difficult to attack. Even though our side has received fire support from a heavy artillery regiment and a mortar regiment, the bombardment effect is still not very good.
But Zhu Xingfa had already learned that Dongli had joined forces with Zu Dashou, and that hundreds of thousands of troops from the east were coming from Jinzhou, according to the news reported by the navy.
The opponent's army was now less than five days away from Shanhaiguan.
He must capture Shanhaiguan within five days and build defensive positions, so that he can rely on Shanhaiguan to block this army of nearly 200,000 people!
Therefore, even if the effect of the artillery bombardment in the previous three days was not obvious, he would still let the infantry launch an attack, even if he had to pay a certain amount of casualties for it, otherwise it would be too late!
He couldn't really have a big melee in the wilderness of Shanhaiguan with less than 40,000 troops and an army of 200,000 opposite!
On the same day, Zhu Xingfa ordered the First Division to launch a strong attack on Shanhaiguan, but failed, resulting in hundreds of casualties.
The next day, the 11th Division took over from the 1st Division and continued to launch a strong attack on Shanhaiguan, but failed, resulting in hundreds of casualties.
On the third day, the Army's 23rd Mixed Brigade crossed the sea and landed at Shanhaiguan to reinforce various units of the Third Army.
On the fourth day, Zhu Xingfa became ruthless and directly launched the attack with both the 1st Division and the 11th Division.
More than 20,000 troops, supported by more than 100 artillery pieces of various types, launched a joint attack on Shanhaiguan.
In the evening of that day...the Chu Army's First Division Commando successfully stormed Shanhaiguan after a bloody battle!
On August 23, the fourth year of Chengshun in the Chu Empire, the Chu army successfully captured Shanhaiguan.
At this time, the coalition forces of Dongji and Zu Dashou were less than 20 kilometers away from Shanhaiguan!
————
Inside Shanhaiguan, Zhu Xingfa watched his soldiers escorting batches of Ming army prisoners of war past the front, and couldn't help but sigh: "There are a little few prisoners this time!"
Major General Kang Hongbao of the First Division next to him said: "Yes, when we were in the south of the Yangtze River and fighting in the Central Plains, we could capture at least 90% of the ten thousand enemy troops. When it came to the battle in Tianjin, even though the enemy was also on the side. The army is the main force, but the proportion of prisoners captured by our army can reach more than 80%, but when it comes to Shanhaiguan, it is still these border troops, and the number of prisoners we have is only more than 60%."
After saying that, Major General Kang Hongbao's face straightened up: "The same soldiers, but their determination to resist is even greater."
Zhu Xingfa said: "This is reasonable. After all, they were fighting with us outside before. There was no place they had to defend. If they couldn't beat us, they would run away. If they couldn't escape, they would surrender. But here in Liaoxi, they are all their wives, children, and children. With no way to retreat, we must be more determined to resist!"
However, Major General Cai Siyuan, commander of the 11th Division behind him, remained optimistic: "Even if the determination to resist has improved, it is still very limited!"
"In the past few days of fighting, our army's artillery troops were busy due to time, insufficient ammunition reserves for large-caliber artillery, and insufficient shelling intensity. The main operations still relied on infantry troops. However, even so, the other side could not Resist the attack of our army!"
"Relying on such a dangerous pass and being beaten like this, if I were the general leading the army on the opposite side, I would have committed suicide a long time ago. I would have no shame in going to see His Majesty!"
Major General Cai Siyuan continued: "Now it is us who are guarding Shanhaiguan. With our artillery and infantry firepower, coupled with the tenacious fighting will of the soldiers, even if the 200,000-strong army from the opposite side attacks them, we will definitely be able to defeat them." Stop it!"
After hearing this, Zhu Xingfa nodded slightly: "It should be so!"
They had already known about the news that a large number of Dongji and Zu Dashou coalition forces had appeared ahead.
In fact, thanks to the strength of the navy, the Da Chu Empire Navy has been paying close attention to the movements in the coastal area of the Western Liaoning Corridor. The reconnaissance warships in front have sent marines ashore many times for reconnaissance, and then sent back the news through the ships.
This is why Zhu Xingfa was able to learn the news as soon as possible after Zu Dashou and the others joined forces with Dongji, and then sent a large number of infantry to attack Shanhaiguan in advance at the cost of a certain amount of casualties. Finally, he was able to catch up with the Dongji and Zu Dashou coalition forces in advance before they arrived. Shanhaiguan was captured in one day.
In order to quickly capture Shanhaiguan, Zhu Xingfa's troops also paid the price of at least thousands of casualties.
But the price is worth it!
Taking Shanhaiguan one day in advance not only annihilated and captured at least more than 10,000 enemy troops on the spot, but more importantly, taking over Shanhaiguan's collection, we can rely on Shanhaiguan to build a defense line.
Now the artillery troops, engineering troops, and even some ordinary infantrymen are helping to deploy hundreds of various field guns and heavy artillery on artillery positions built on commanding heights and protruding highlands.
The firepower strike network formed by hundreds of long-barreled artillery is enough to cover the entire Shanhaiguan defense line and deal a heavy blow to any enemy who tries to storm Shanhaiguan.
In addition to these field artillery and heavy artillery, the Chu army also brought mortars that were not used for defensive operations to the front line.
Although these mortars have problems such as short range, poor accuracy, high dud rate, and extremely high cost, they are quite powerful. Although they are not as effective as field guns when used in city defense operations, they can still supplement the defenders to some extent. Firepower.
The Ming army did not use mortars to defend the city, because they chose field artillery with higher cost performance.
Today's Chu army uses mortars to defend the city. In addition to the fact that the Chu army itself has a large number of field artillery, these mortars are the icing on the cake, but they are not used in vain...
——
While the Chu army in Shanhaiguan was deploying artillery and building fortifications overnight, Huang Taiji and a group of his generals gathered together in the Huanshan Fort less than 20 kilometers away from Shanhaiguan.
At this time, their expressions were not very good.
"I didn't expect that after driving day and night, I still couldn't catch up in the end!" Huang Taiji frowned slightly and said: "This step is too late, it will be too late. It will not be so easy to enter the pass in the future."
Dorgon on the side snorted coldly: "It's all the fault of Zu Dashou. He could have agreed to join forces a few days earlier, but he still delayed it for several days, thus delaying the fighter plane. If they hadn't been dragging their feet, we would have been there long ago. They fought as far as Shanhaiguan, and maybe they have already reached Youzhou City by now!"
Hauge glanced sideways at Dorgon, and then said: "If the Chu thieves hadn't forced Zu Dashou and the others to break through Shanhaiguan, they probably wouldn't have easily agreed to join forces with us."
"It was the Chu thieves who launched a massive attack on Shanhaiguan. Seeing that Shanhaiguan was in danger, Zu Dashou and the others pretended to join forces with us in order to protect their own selfish desires and melt wealth!"
When Dorgon heard Hauge's words, he immediately snorted and stopped talking!
Huang Taiji ignored the intrigue between the two of them, but stared at the freehand landscape map on the table, thinking about how to attack Shanhaiguan.
But after looking at it for a long time, he finally sighed: "Send someone to call Zu Dashou over to discuss it together. Shanhaiguan is a strategic place they have been doing for many years. They are more familiar with it than us. Maybe there will be Method!"
After Zu Dashou arrived with Wu Sangui and others, they first paid homage to him as courtiers, and then when Huang Taiji asked how to attack Shanhaiguan, he also frowned and said: "Shanhaiguan is one of the most famous passes in the world. Yanshan is connected to the Bohai Sea in the south, and there are seven cities connected to it, so it’s hard to fight!”
As a former high-ranking Ming general who guarded western Liaoning for a long time, Zu Dashou had long regarded western Liaoning as his own territory, and he was naturally very familiar with the situation on his own territory.
What's more, just a dozen days ago, he was still guarding Shanhaiguan...
It was because Dongli led his army to threaten Jinzhou that he hurriedly left Shanhaiguan and went to Jinzhou to take charge of the overall situation.
I just didn't expect that after leaving Jinzhou, it would be extremely difficult to go back.
The 20,000 troops he left behind to defend Shanhaiguan, relying on such a powerful pass as Shanhaiguan, were not able to stop the Chu thieves for several days...
In just a few days, the Chu army used sharp guns and heavy armor to suddenly penetrate the Shanhaiguan defense line.
Of the 20,000 troops he left behind at Shanhaiguan, except for the 4,000 to 5,000 who escaped in the chaos when the Shanhaiguan defense line collapsed, the remaining 15,000 or more troops were all lost.
The losses in Shanhaiguan were huge.
But at this time, Huang Taiji on the opposite side said: "Since Shanhaiguan is a powerful pass, why did the Chu thieves take it in only seven days?"
"Even though it is easier to attack from west to east, there are 20,000 troops in the city and hundreds of large and small artillery. How come they couldn't hold it for seven days?"
To be honest, Huang Taiji was very dissatisfied that Zu Dashou's troops had lost Shanhaiguan so quickly, and he once wondered whether Zu Dashou had lost all the elite men he could fight in the Tianjin battle, and now he has All that's left is a pile of dregs.
If Zu Dashou's men are all scum, then after entering the pass, the plan of dividing the country by the Yellow River will have to be explained carefully.
Huang Taiji is a courageous man. Since he agreed to use the Yellow River as the boundary to divide and conquer Zu Dashou after entering the pass, he would really do this in the early stage.
He won't go back on his promise casually.
But... in the early stage, Zu Dashou was able to come up with matching strength.
The prerequisite for the division of the Yellow River was that the two sides should unite. Zu Dashou and others would release a certain amount of military pressure from the Liaoxi Corridor while also helping the Eastern Conqueror Army.
If you can't help Dongjie share a certain amount of military pressure, why should Dongjiang give you several provinces and make your ancestor Dashou the vassal king?
If you want to get benefits, you need to show your strength and pay the price!
At this time, Zu Dashou also felt the suspicion in Huang Taiji's words, and immediately said in a deep voice: "The Chu thieves' guns are sharp and cannot be stopped by manpower. According to the testimony of the few incompetent defeated generals under me, the Chu thieves Although there were only 40 to 50 thousand people in front of us, at least hundreds of red cannons were used, in addition to 70 to 80 large mortars!"
"The Chu Thief's Mortar Cannon shoots out explosive bullets. Each one weighs forty or fifty kilograms, and its power is frightening!"
"The Chu thieves are bombarding day and night with long cannons and mortars. My soldiers are unstoppable!"
