"No, Lord Mu, get up quickly."
Zhang Fu hurriedly stepped forward to support Mu Sheng. This man was the son of King Mu Ying of Qianning. He could be regarded as the founding father of the country. He was also a hereditary Marquis of Xiping. He was ordered to guard Yunnan. His status was no less than that of a prince. Even if a vassal king came to Yunnan, he would not be able to do so. Give him some face.
King Min did not want to stay in Yunnan and would rather engage in business. In addition to the difficult conditions in Yunnan, there was another hidden factor, which was that there was a big mountain above his head named Mujia. Compared with King Yan in Peiping and King Zhou in Kaifeng, King Min can only be regarded as a little brother in Yunnan...
When Mu Sheng saw Zhang Fu wanted to help him, he did not get up. Instead, he saluted solemnly and earnestly: "Mu Sheng is the deputy general. He is leading a partial army to join us now. It is a rule of the army to pay homage to the commander. We must not neglect it."
Zhang Fu looked at Mu Sheng carefully and saw no trace of complaint or dissatisfaction on his face.
During this southern expedition, the imperial court promoted him to commander-in-chief, ranking him above Han Guan and Mu Sheng, but he also knew very well that whether comparing age, seniority, status, or family background, Zhang Fu was inferior to the two.
Han Guan is easy to say, he is a member of the capital department, and Han Guan appreciates and values him very much, even if he is his deputy, he does not complain at all. But it's hard to say for Mu Sheng. Once he is unconvinced and says, "I am the Marquis, who are you, how can you be above me?", then cracks will appear in the imperial army, not to mention serious internal strife. , but it will also lead to problems such as poor military orders, continued execution of orders, and weakened combat effectiveness.
Facts have proved that Zhang Fu was a little worried. Although Mu Sheng was a little unconvinced, he was an out-and-out royalist. In a word, he followed the emperor. As long as the emperor gave the decree and issued a message, Mu Sheng would do it. Complied.
This position is a family rule set by Mu Ying. No matter who becomes the emperor, the Mu family's mission is to listen to the emperor and guard Yunnan well.
Zhang Fu was relieved. After chatting for a few words, he turned sideways and said: "Master Mu, please come."
"Commander please go first."
Mu Sheng knew the rules.
Since you have already planned to obey, then listen to the whole thing. Anyone who listens to half of the words and doesn't listen to the other half is a fool, and they don't know how they will die in the future.
The two entered the account, and Tie Xuan, Han Guan and others also walked in.
In the military tent, there was a sense of killing.
Zhang Fu was not too polite. After asking Mu Sheng about the battle damage, he brought the topic to Duobang City: "At present, the city is high and deep, and it is heavily guarded. After several days of observation, there is no sign of slackness. The defending generals I'm afraid he is not an ordinary person, or has the will to fight our army to the death."
Mu Sheng smiled faintly: "Isn't this exactly what we want? They want to defend the city and gather their troops, but we want to avoid the appearance of roving thieves who can gather together to encircle and annihilate them. As long as the Dobang City is captured, Annan will be settled! Nothing more. It’s a question of how much damage it will take.”
Zhang Fu nodded solemnly.
Mu Sheng continued: "The imperial court wants to send troops to Annan. We have been preparing for a long time. This time I brought two hundred Zhankou generals and two hundred Wankou generals from Yunnan, intending to bombard Duobang City and kill them. In the city. By the way, how many divine machine guns does Marshal Zhang bring?"
General Zhankou and General Wankou are both the names of divine machine guns.
As the name implies, the mouth of the cup and the mouth of the bowl are the same size, that is, the barrel is similar to the mouth of the tea cup and the mouth of the bowl. They are all cannons from the Hongwu period.
Speaking of this matter, Zhang Fu felt much better and said: "This time our army marched with a lot of magical cannons, including 500 new artillery pieces, 400 Wankou Generals, and 800 Tiger Crouching Cannons. Ten thousand muskets..."
Mu Sheng was stunned and asked tremblingly: "You, are you planning to kill Duobang?"
Zhang Fu spread his hands and said calmly: "If necessary, yes."
Mu Sheng shivered, and then he remembered Zhang Fu's reputation as a human butcher. This guy now looks harmless to humans and animals, looks like a human, and smiles very gently, but his methods are extremely cruel. In this multi-state city, I'm afraid It will be reduced to ruins...
"where you go?"
Zhang Fu looked at Mu Sheng who was about to leave.
Mu Sheng said depressedly: "Sleep!"
Stop playing. Fighting Duobang is all pretending. If we really want to fight, Mu Sheng is sure that Duobang won't be able to hold on for long. With so many divine machine cannons, what kind of city can't be broken?
Zhang Fu glanced at Tie Xuan, who laughed loudly and said: "No matter what, Duobang City is extremely strong, it is difficult to break because of its height, and it is heavily guarded. It is all true."
"Then please ask Tie Shangshu to write the document."
Zhang Fu, Tie Xuan, Yang Rong and others knew very well that this time the imperial court dispatched 300,000 troops for an expedition. If Annan was said to be vulnerable to a single blow and collapsed at the first touch, and the battle went smoothly without any pressure, then the military merits would be undeserved. how to write? How could the people feel a sense of honor and pride after hearing this?
Therefore, Annan's enemies are powerful and Dobang City is difficult to defeat.
Facts have proved that the defenders of Duobang City are not the defenders of Ailiu Pass and Jiling Pass. Their combat effectiveness is worthy of recognition. The Ming army formed a formation across the river and pretended to attack. Although the defenders on the other side were a little afraid, they were not. People run away.
Considering that the river where the three rivers converge is wide and not suitable for crossing the river, Zhang Fu, after observing for three days, discussed with Mu Sheng and others that the river must be crossed from the upstream location.
There are many advantages to choosing to cross the river upstream. First, the river is relatively narrow and it is easy to cross the river. Second, it can defeat the defenders upstream of Duobang City and make it difficult for them to go down the river to support Duobang City.
"Whether we can cross the river or not depends on whether we can encircle Duobang City. Now, listen to my general's orders. Divine Machine General Xu Kai will lead 20,000 troops to the Jialin area, make a big show, set up boats and rafts, and pretend to be crossing the river. , to attract the enemy's attention. Mu Sheng led his troops upstream, captured the Xuanjiang and Taojiang rivers, then crossed the Taojiang River, occupied the north bank area, and waited for the army."
Zhang Fu ordered.
Everyone agreed in unison, and everyone took the order and left.
In order to ensure the success of the feint attack, Zhang Fu sent Yang Pu to Xu Kai's army. Xu Kai followed Yang Pu's suggestion and planted the Ming flag and military flag at the Jialin Ferry. At the same time, he ordered the sergeants to cut down trees to make rafts and use tigers to build rafts. The squatting artillery shelled the camp on the other side, the sound was loud, and it looked like they were crossing the river from Jialin in one fell swoop.
Fan Yuangui, who was staying in Duobang City, was indeed attracted by Jialin's movements, and ordered General Chen Dapu outside the city to mobilize troops to stop them, attack them halfway across the river, and prevent the Ming army from crossing the river.
Chen Dapu considered that Zhang Fu's camp was opposite and that mobilizing frontal troops would easily create a void in defense. He ordered the sergeants upstream to go down by boat at night to the Jialin area to seize the Ming army's rafts.
On the night of October 25th, a fierce battle broke out at Jialin Ferry. Annan mobilized 10,000 troops and more than a hundred boats to attack Xu Kai's army. Xu Kai led his troops to counterattack, relying on muskets, crossbows, and squatting tiger cannons to kill Annan from a distance. military.
The purpose of Annan's army was to completely destroy the Ming army's rafts, not to defeat Xu Kai. Xu Kai's purpose was to take the opportunity to kill Annan's army, attract more of its troops to enter Jialin, and gain opportunities to cross the river upstream.
Both sides were very desperate. The Annan Army swept away its previous decadence and gained momentum. The raft that Xu Kai had just built was burned before it could even be tested. Xu Kai was angry and ordered the tiger crouching cannon to aim at the covered river surface. Whoever's boat was trying to escape!
A ship exploded on the river and turned into a pile of debris. Many soldiers drowned and the river was dyed red. Seeing that the Annan army had achieved its combat objective, the entire army withdrew.
Xu Kai lost more than 30 people, all of whom were shot by Annan soldiers with muskets or bows and arrows, and as many as 200 were injured. As for the Annan soldiers, it's hard to count. The river is flowing and their bodies have been washed down.
In order to support Mu Sheng to the greatest extent, Xu Kai ordered people to prepare a batch of rafts. After all, there are many trees in Annan, and shipbuilding requires skills. If the speed is a little slower, it does not need to be so troublesome to build rafts. It is still better to build hundreds of rafts. easy.
Chen Dapu determined that the Ming army would cross the river from Jia Lin, because Zhang Fu on the front was mobilizing troops to support Jia Lin. In order to thwart the Ming army's attempt to cross the river, he mobilized sergeants and ships and deployed heavy defenses within three miles of Jia Lin.
That night, there was no movement from Xu Kai.
Just when Chen Dapu suspected that Xu Kai was asleep and forgot to order the attack, corpses floated in the river. The sergeant came to report: "Mu Sheng has led the troops to strengthen the Xuanjiang and Taojiang rivers and is approaching Taojiang!"
Chen Dapu's expression changed, and he immediately ordered the ships to go upstream, and the army went upstream to support him!
The military order came out and a ship left Jialin. At this moment, Xu Kai was no longer silent and gave the order to cross the river: "The enemy has messed up their positions. It is the time when we are waiting to make contributions. If we are not victorious today, we will How can I be worthy of the Emperor and the Ming Dynasty?!"
Soldiers have no constant momentum, and water has no constant shape.
Xu Kai is a feint attack force arranged by Zhang Fu, but feint attack does not mean that he will not really attack. False and false, true and false, are all tactics of war. Only by taking advantage of the situation and changing randomly can we win in battle!
Chen Dapu hurriedly walked five miles away when he saw a sea of fire on the other side of the downstream bank. The Crouching Tiger Artillery shelled the defenders on the shore again, and boats and rafts were constantly crossing the river in the river.
"We can't defend the perimeter anymore!"
Chen Dapu was full of pain. Once the Ming army entered the north bank, it would completely establish a foothold. The troops would continue to enter. It would be too difficult to fight them here and drive them away.
But Fan Yuangui issued a death order, and he must guard the river, otherwise he will lose his head.
Chen Dapu divided his troops to stop Xu Kai, and at the same time moved his troops to the upper reaches to stop Mu Sheng. While Chen Dapu was in a hurry, the sound of divine machine guns continued to be heard from Zhang Fu's barracks on the other side, bombarding Annan's army on the north bank. Chen Dapu thought Zhang Fu was about to cross the river, so he immediately turned around and ran towards Duobang City.
I can't stay here anymore, I have to go to the city.
Chen Dapu wants to live.
Zhang Fu looked at the defenders on the other side. Countless people had lost their command. Some were fighting towards the river, some were fleeing towards Duobang City, and some camps were in disarray.
"Report!"
"speak!"
"Deputy General Mu Sheng has entered the north bank of Taojiang River!"
Zhang Fu pointed to the river in front of him and said: "Then let's build a pontoon bridge. The divine machine gun is too heavy, and it will take too long to transport it for dozens of miles. Let's build a pontoon bridge here, facing the Duobang North City Gate!"
"As you command!"
Han Guan and others took the order and arranged for the sergeants to prepare to build a pontoon bridge.
A pontoon bridge is a bridge that uses boats or pontoons instead of piers to float on the water.
"The Book of Songs, Daya, and Ming Dynasty" records: "Welcome to the Wei personally and build boats as beams." It records that King Wen of Zhou Dynasty Jichang built a pontoon bridge on the Wei River.
During the period of Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Gongsun Shu, a separatist force in Sichuan, built the Jiangguan Floating Bridge on the Yangtze River to resist Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty. This was also the first Yangtze River Floating Bridge in Chinese history.
In the first year of Daye of the Sui Dynasty, the Tianjin Bridge was built on Luoshui River in Luoyang, Henan. This was the first pontoon bridge built by connecting ships with iron chains. Later, Li Shimin also walked across this pontoon bridge and wrote a poem: "The speed of the chariot is temporarily low, but it is still high when the waves are shaking, the water is shaking, the eagles are moving, and the cables are turning and the brocade flowers are lingering."
During the Tang and Song Dynasties, pontoon bridge construction technology became increasingly mature. By the Ming Dynasty, pontoon bridges were mostly for military use and were temporary in nature. Now that the army wanted to cross the river, large pontoon bridges were naturally needed.
The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were very strong in execution. The mountains behind were cut down continuously, and the boats were gradually prepared. Three days later, the boats were connected with iron ropes across the Sanjiang River. Pieces of thick wooden boards were laid on the boats to form a passage.
Zhang Fu led his troops across the river, and the city of Duobang was in sight.
