Before the Ming Dynasty, Changsha City had only earth walls. After the war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the Changsha city wall was completely destroyed.
In the fifth year of Hongwu's reign, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the construction of the Changsha City Wall.
According to the rules set by Zhu Yuanzhang, the responsible officials and craftsmen can be found for each brick and each section of the city wall project.
Zhu Yuanzhang gave Changsha a solid city wall. According to the length at this time, the circumference of the Changsha City Wall is more than fourteen miles, with nine city gates distributed on it.
The city wall is two feet and four feet high. To the west of the city is the natural barrier of the Xiangjiang River, and a moat with a width of more than two feet has been dug on the other three sides.
The battle is about to begin, and the four gates to the west, two gates to the north, two gates to the east, and one gate to the south are all closed.
Behind the battlements of the city wall on the Duanyang Gate in the south, Tang Peiyu looked at it from a distance and then returned to the gate tower with a straight face.
It was already August 27th. The east-route army commanded by Gu Shilong and the west-route army commanded by Geng Yongfeng had surrounded the east, north, and west sides of Changsha City seven days ago. Ningxiang County, Xiangyin County, and Liuyang County had already surrounded them. Abandon the defense.
Gu Shilong besieged but failed to attack, and there was only one missing person among the three surrounded. Tang Peiyu thought that he was going to force himself, Zhu Jianjun, Fu Rongzhong and others to flee south to Hengzhou.
But today Duanyang Gate came to report that enemy troops also appeared in the south of the city. There were not many people, about two thousand, but the general's flag was Shang Botao of Nanchang Guard.
Why did Nanchang Wei come so quickly?
Nanchang Prefecture is more than five hundred miles away from Changsha Prefecture, and there are mountains and ridges to climb along the way.
In this month, it will take time for the news to reach Jiangxi, it will take time to mobilize troops, and it will also take time to march.
Arriving at Prince Ji's Mansion, Zhu Jianjun asked eagerly: "Where did the enemy troops in the south of the city come from?"
Tang Peiyu looked at Fu Rongzhong before replying: "Nanchang Wei."
Zhu Jianjun's expression changed: The governor of Jiangxi is Wang Shouren.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty!" Tang Peiyu said, "Shang Botao only brought two thousand soldiers, and they came here lightly. They came suddenly. They must have been traveling on a starry night and were exhausted. Now the food, grass and military supplies still need to be transferred by Gu Shilong and Sun. . According to the general’s opinion, we must successfully defend Changsha for a few days, and we must not abandon the defense in the south. Please give an order from the prince, and the general will lead his army out of Duanyang Gate and annihilate Shang Botao’s troops first.”
"Are you sure? Now we must not retreat from Hengzhou in defeat, we can only move in with victory!"
Pu Zitong did not bring Zhu Zaiyan and his elite troops to Changsha to meet up as promised, and Zhu Jianjun could no longer just abandon Changsha Mansion and go to Hengzhou.
With this fortified city, the food, salary and military resources that had been "collected" before, and the dense water network inside and outside Changsha City, Tang Peiyu was sure to hold on for two months.
Two months later, when the drought persisted and autumn crops were unsustainable, things took a turn for the better.
Now Tang Peiyu is leaving the city.
"Your Majesty, Pu Zitong will not come to help. The general will be alone here and cannot wait for Gu Shilong to divide his troops to the south and completely trap Changsha City." Tang Peiyu replied affirmatively, "To the west, Geng Yongfeng led the Jiuxi Guards and Lizhou Qian Hu Suo remained motionless, and he was not sure where Changde guard Zhan Huabi was now. To the north and east was Gu Shilong's army, and the general could not risk leaving the city. As long as the two thousand tired divisions in the south were defeated, Gu Shilong would definitely reorganize his army. In the end, the general will return with victory and his morale will be boosted, and then he can hold on and find fighting opportunities."
"How do you know it's not a trick?" Zhu Jianjun nodded uncertainly, "Gu Shilong had surrounded three people but one was missing, so he wanted to lure me out of the city and flee south!"
Tang Peiyu shook his head repeatedly: "Chang Dewei acted like this, which is already a traitor to Gu Shilong. Now that Zhan Huabi has disappeared after plundering Anhua, Gu Shilong is also worried that he and the prince have already made a plan. If the battle in the south is in full swing, Zhan Huabi will But suddenly broke out, then Gu Shilong would lose this battle! He didn't know that Zhan Huabi and the prince had no plan, and he didn't know that Pu Zitong had another plan, so he focused on stability. As long as the prince abandons the city and goes south, he will end up with Gu Shilong. Yan is the first to capture Changsha, with merit and no fault."
"...But after all, Nanchang Guards has arrived with two thousand troops."
"The last general will lead one thousand and one hundred elite troops out of the city to charge and kill, and wait for work at leisure. This battle will be won. Please give the order, my lord!"
Nowadays, the south side must be used to make a fuss.
Tang Peiyu believed in his own judgment: Gu Shilong didn't know what Zhan Huabi and Pu Zitong were doing now. And if he uses the south of Changsha as the main battlefield, not only the food and grass transportation route will be longer, but also he may face the sudden attack of Changde Guards and Hengzhou Guards at any time.
Shang Botao should have come via Pingxiang and Liling. We still don't know Gu Shilong's scruples - he hasn't even set up a camp yet. At this moment, he must be sending an advance envoy to see Gu Shilong and follow his orders.
Zhu Jianjun finally gave the order, but at a discount: "General Tang must stay in the city to control the overall situation!"
Tang Peiyu lowered his head and accepted the order, thinking strangely: Are you afraid that I will run away with 800 elite soldiers?
But Tang Peiyu knows very well that when things have developed to this point, Tang Peiyu needs a victory even more! Only by defending the city first and winning a round, and then waiting for the imperial court's more than 20,000 soldiers to fight for several months and retreat in response to the disaster, can Tang Peiyu gather the refugees, coerce the strong men, and expand his strength to go south.
In this way, even if Pu Zitong and Zhan Huabi merge, Tang Peiyu's power cannot be underestimated.
By then Zhan Huabi might not be led by Changsha Guard, who has a winning record!
Calling on his capable commander, Tang Peiyu said solemnly: "In this battle, only the elite will be used to charge, and there is no need to be reluctant to fight! The Nanchang Guards are exhausted and have almost no combat power at the moment. As long as they charge for a while, Shang Botao's troops will be defeated. !”
"General, please take your orders! General, please wait for the news!"
The soldiers in the south of the city leaned against the foot of a mountain in the southeast of Changsha County, and the Liuyang River turned a curve to the east of the mountain.
The place is surrounded by mountains and rivers, making it a good place to camp.
Tang Peiyu looked from a distance on the city wall, but could not see the movement of them logging and setting up camp.
This further confirmed Tang Peiyu's judgment: Shang Botao was just ordered by Wang Shouren to come to encircle and help out, but how to dispatch Shang Botao was still waiting for Gu Shilong's order.
Could it be that he arrived too quickly and did not have time to communicate with Gu Shilong as a messenger during the march?
It was indeed possible, and it happened so fast.
Twenty days at most, more than 500 miles, two thousand officers and soldiers, crossing mountains and ridges. Tang Peiyu, who was in charge of the troops, knew what this concept was.
This battle must be won!
He was not idle either. In addition to the 1,000 elite soldiers, he also dispatched 1,500 Xiangyong soldiers to prepare to go out of the city from Xiaowu Gate in the southeast to meet and intercept the enemy's rescue in the east of the city.
Duanyang Gate is at the southeast corner of the southern city wall of Changsha City. After leaving Duanyang Gate, there is a mountain to the south of Changsha City.
On the south side of the east wall of Changsha City, outside Liuyang Gate is Yangmei Mountain.
Today, this "tired division" flying the flag of Nanchang Wei Monk is stationed at the foot of Yangmei Mountain, guarding the valley between Changshan Mountain and Yangmei Mountain leading to Changsha City.
On the hillside, after the two men galloped back, they dismounted and came to the temporary military tent. They knelt down on one knee and reported: "Two more mounted sentries came to the city. They followed the general's order. They just pretended to drive them away. They did not Chase.”
"Okay! Loosen the outside and tighten the inside. Bury the pot to make rice and rest on the spot. The traitor sentries must have more than two riders, ready to respond to the enemy at any time."
After that, he asked the person next to him: "How is Wuchang Guard in Guifeng Mountain?"
"General, just wait for the cannon to fire from here!"
"Let Laoqu pay attention to Fulong Mountain." Ji Weimin, the guerrilla general who led this two thousand "tired division", looked at the person next to him again, "Brother Si, south of Changsha Mansion, I really didn't see Changdewei and Hengzhou. Wei’s shadow?”
Si Cong, who had been ordered to sneak into Changsha Mansion to collect information before, appeared here and nodded firmly: "It is definitely not in Changsha Mansion. Chang Dewei went southwest to Baoqing Mansion after plundering Anhua. Now the people over there are Although the news has not yet spread, there is no sign of the army passing through from Phoenix Mountain to Fulong Mountain, or even to the Xiangtan area in the south."
"Okay!" Ji Weimin's eyes were excited, "Although I don't know what the problem is within the rebels, Tang Peiyu will never dare to let us gain a foothold in the south of the city and approach the wonderful peak outside the south gate. This first victory, Our Shenji Battalion must win!"
This is not the Nanchang Guard who rushed in from Jiangxi, but the three thousand selected forwards of the Shenji Battalion who arrived in Baling County half a month ago.
Now that Gu Shilong has given them this credit, they cannot fail to grasp it.
With the cover of the besieging army in the east of the city, they bypassed the big bend of Liuyang River east of Guifeng Mountain and appeared here.
It was indeed a trek, but it was far from a tired journey.
"General! General!" Another person ran over quickly, "The suspension bridge of Duanyangmen has been lowered, and they have sent people to attack!"
"No rush!" Ji Weimin's eyes brightened even more, "Pretend to panic and defend the entire army!"
He was transferred to the Shenji Camp from Liaodong by Guo Xun. Now Yizheng Qianhu has been promoted to the guerrilla general to lead the selection of front generals for the expedition. Gu Shilong gave him the credit of luring the enemy to fight for the first victory. His intention could not be more obvious. .
Your Majesty has re-trained the Shenji Battalion. This real first battle must be won but not defeated!
Outside Duanyang Gate in the south of Changsha, eight hundred elite soldiers formed a formation after they all left the city.
After they first established a foothold outside the city amid vigilance, the sentinel reported: "General, the enemy has known that we have left the city, and is forming a formation in a panic, preparing to stick to the mountain."
"At one go, charge forward!"
There is only three miles of land, and if we march quickly, we will be there in a moment.
Ji Weimin had reached a rocky area on the hillside with a clear view, and then took out a treasure from his arms.
This is a treasure that Counselor Cui brought to the leading generals in the Beijing camp before departure. It came from Huangming University.
He put the telescope in front of his eyes and squinted one eye.
Along the way, he studied it many times. He didn't understand the reason. I heard that the masters of mathematicians and craftsmen from the Mathematical School of the Majesty ordered them to be polished with colored glaze and fine copper. Although the field of vision is still a bit hazy, I can still see some movement in the distance clearly.
There are about a thousand people, the army is quite neat, and the soldiers are not weak.
They are the elite soldiers in the city!
That's natural, they all want their first win to boost their morale.
Ji Weimin put down the telescope, carefully put it into the wooden tube on his waist, and then said: "Let Lao Qu go around from the back of the mountain to the Liuyang Gate. When we show the big flag, these thousand When the elite soldiers feel something is wrong and want to flee back to the city, there must be reinforcements to help them! Please don't worry, Laoqu, wait for the reinforcements to arrive and cut off their escape! If all the more than a thousand elite soldiers of the Changsha Guards are wiped out, Changsha City will surely fall! It’s better to use the new cannons in the forest first, then kill the swarm of bees they bring out later!”
This telescope is a real military weapon, even more useful than the five new cannons he brought out today!
Now it is just the earliest trial sample. It will be polished more finely in the future. If more generals can possess this treasure, the Ming army will definitely be even more powerful.
Cui Counselor said, this is the power of His Majesty's physical path.
It took less than a quarter of an hour for a thousand elite soldiers of the Changsha Guard to arrive at the hillside where the selected frontmen of the Shenji Battalion were guarding.
It is very disadvantageous to attack from behind.
But the other party is a tired master!
The thousand elite soldiers took a short rest and then began to charge.
"The sword players and the soft wall are in front, protecting the swarm of bees, the firecrackers are behind, the bows and arrows are behind, and we form a formation to press forward! Use rockets, abandon both guns, and let them get into chaos first!"
This was a field battle. In order to seize the opportunity in a hurry, he only pulled out five tanks filled with swarms of bees.
Since the other party is firmly entrenched on the hillside, there is no need to bring out any other guns and artillery even if they are close. This Nanchang guard came from afar, and it was even less likely that he would bring any powerful firearms or chariots.
There are five vehicles swarming to clear the way, which is enough to scare the enemy!
This is a field battle. On the field battlefields of the Ming Dynasty, there are basically no weapons of the level of bowl-mouth blunderbuss.
It is too heavy, and it is inconvenient to adjust the angle to shoot upward when using it, and the range is also limited. Except for those on warships, in other cases they were simply placed on the city walls to defend the city, or they were transported in large trucks and then unloaded and stabilized for siege.
None of this can be done in a hurry.
Now, in front of the elite Changsha Guards are just sword players holding their shields high. Not all the sword players in the army are the same. Some of them are holding a round shield and a javelin in each hand.
And some are now holding tightly a large square shield as big as a door panel.
This large square shield is called a soft wall, and the wooden boards are nailed with soft batting or leather. It can not only withstand the projectiles fired by the musket, but the iron spike plate on the side of the soft wall facing the enemy can also prevent the enemy from approaching.
At the same time, the team responsible for the swarm also performed their duties. The swarm is mounted on a wheelbarrow, but has wooden legs on either side of the armrest to hold it down. Now, the man pushing the cart lowered his head and gritted his teeth as he pushed the swarm forward.
Under the protection of the soft wall in front of the swarm, the rest of the people were nervously preparing.
Since we want to set fire to the mountain, we must use divine fire and flying crows. A medicine tube can hold four arrows. The leads are connected and can be ignited at the same time. In this swarm chariot, there are two rows of six medicine cartridges, which can shoot twenty-four arrows in a short period of time, as far as a hundred feet.
But now to attack from above, you need to get closer.
Ji Weimin watched the soldiers at the foot of the mountain shouting for courage and moving forward slowly amid the sound of drums. Instead, he ordered: "Let the front troops fire arrows and blunderbuss three times now. Never fire in a salvo, and then retreat twenty steps!"
Could it be that shrinking the formation allows the opposing team to perform better?
In the eyes of the Changsha Guard commander, he only saw the enemy troops on the mountain firing arrows and muskets before his own soldiers could enter the effective killing range.
Even if powerful people throw arrows into the formation, they will only be nailed to the soft wall or shield, and no one will be injured. As for the firecrackers, there is no need to worry if they are still far away.
Then when he saw the enemy retreating in a panic, he didn't suspect any deception. He just thought that the enemy was even more frightened when they saw that his men came out with a swarm of swarms.
The range of a swarm of swarms is farther than that of a firecracker.
"Fire!" Seeing this, he gave the order without waiting for the swarm to reach a more lethal distance.
If the opponent shows signs of collapse due to panic, then this battle will be easier - on the battlefield, morale is more important than anything else.
Nanchang Wei came from afar, not knowing the terrain and being exhausted. Everyone knows the quality of local health centers. The Changsha Guards brought out all the best soldiers from all the guards. Are the two thousand men of the Nanchang Guards better trained and equipped with weapons?
The soft wall in the front row suddenly spread out, leaving five openings, and a swarm of swarms stayed at a relatively safe distance to set up.
It happens to be still on a slope, with an elevation angle.
"Whoosh -" After the fuse was ignited, the divine fire flying crows in several cartridges could not be said to be emitted at the same time, but they were not in any particular order.
The rockets were thrown upwards with a sharp whistling sound, and many arrows did not necessarily hit the opponent's formation. After all, there were sword players on the opposite side protecting them in front, and the slope was not flat, with many rocks blocking them.
But the momentum is here.
The commander of the Changsha Guard obviously saw the soldiers of the Nanchang Guard take a few steps back and looked even more panicked.
"Charge over, release your arrows, abandon your guns, and get ready again in a swarm!"
The fight is chaos!
In a hurry, he wanted to start a pursuit battle. They were all forced up the mountain, where they could escape faster.
Generally speaking, sword players with javelins only have one of the two guns in their hand that is a throw away gun. They throw it once to kill the enemy in the distance first. The second gun should be held in your hand to prevent the opponent from charging into the battle. If the enemy gets close, this second gun can kill for a while. Only when there are no more guns is the moment to pull out the long knife from your waist and fight for your life.
Now the order came, and instantly dozens of javelins were pierced up the slope.
The distance is already very close, arrows and firecracker projectiles are coming from the hillside, and their javelins can also penetrate into the enemy's formation - the swordsmen with javelins have extraordinary arm strength.
The thousand elite soldiers of the Changsha Guards rushed forward another twenty steps, and the front rows of the two armies were less than forty steps apart. The sword players holding up the soft wall had just dispersed, preparing to let the swarm of swarms fire a new round.
At this moment, loud noises were suddenly heard from the dense forests on the left and right sides of the mountain.
"Boom", "boom", "boom", "boom", "boom".
Tang Peiyu, who was far away in the city of Changsha, also heard five faint sounds.
His expression suddenly changed: How could the Nanchang Guards who had arrived in Changsha in such a short time still be carrying a blunderbuss?
No! There's something different about this sound!
Then, he finally remembered that the Shenji Camp should have arrived in Huguang to select forwards. But even the Shenji Battalion cannot carry a big gun with them!
Besides, how could Gu Shilong use the Xinjing camp trained by the pseudo-emperor as a forward?
In the first battle, the casualties were quite heavy!
"It's a trap! Hurry! Get out of the city for rescue!"
Unless Gu Shilong's army has circled from Liuyang River to the southeast!
Liuyang Gate opened wide, and Tang Peiyu led his army out of the city.
At the same time as the cannon sounded, Ji Weimin shouted: "Change the flag! Form an formation! Kill!"
The flag of the Shenji Camp was raised, and the soldiers who had seemed a little panicked before suddenly changed their spirits, and the firecrackers and bows and arrows in their hands began to be thrown down from top to bottom in synchronization.
At the same time, war drums could be heard faintly from Guifeng Mountain in the distance, as well as the roars of an unknown number of people.
Three of Changsha Guard's five vehicles were destroyed in the previous round of bombardment, and countless sword players in the front row fell to the ground and wailed.
The commanding officer felt as if a basin of cold water had been poured on him.
Where is the cannon? Why can't you see it? Can it hit so far and so accurately?
How could the projectile explode in such a large area?
Oops! It’s Shenji Camp!
(End of chapter)
