Xinshun 1730

Chapter 190
In the middle and late May, Qingqi who were scattered outside brought back news of the incoming enemy.

Wu Fangrui looked at the city that already had a rudimentary defense, and asked the Qingqi who brought back the news. When he learned that the opponent might only have 6000 or [-] people, he didn't know how to fight.

There are 6000 troops, no heavy artillery, and not enough muskets. Many people are still using bows and arrows... just want to capture this city?

Are Junggars crazy?
They quickly sent people to bring the news back to the camp at the rear, and the alarm bells sounded in the city.

The horses, camels and sheep that were grazing outside as military supplies were quickly driven back to the city.

When the cavalry entered the city, the infantry was immediately deployed in all directions according to the established plan.Some cannons brought in by the military government used to defend the city are also standing on the city wall.

The simple bastion structure also has an external protective slope, and the nearby firing range is completely cleaned up.

According to Wu Fangrui's calculations, for such a city, if the opponent does not have enough artillery, there is no other way but to besiege it.

Dig a hole like Master Liu did in the north?Wu Fangrui thought to himself, would these Junggar people figure out how to dig trenches?

Standing on a high place in the city, looking at the tents of the Zhunbu, watching the cavalry galloping back and forth, Wu Fangrui threw the binoculars to the adjutant in extreme boredom.

He has a regiment of Qingzhou Army infantry, most of the engineers, more than 300 cavalry, and auxiliary soldiers for building the city.

There are also many guns.

Even if the Junggars dig a hole, they can't dig these specially trained engineers.And I also have a company of grenadiers in my hand, just to use it in counterattack digging tactics.

Since the Junggars want to besiege the city, let them try.

As for talking about the robbery of the city, he is not interested.

He is one of the few core figures who knows Liu Yu's strategy, and he knows that Liu Yu's strategy is "to show what you can't".Don't the Junggar people think they can only build and defend the city?Then make them more certain.

outside the city.

Little Cering Dunduobu set up the camp on a flat land in the west of the city, looking at the fort that spread out like a hedgehog from a distance, there was nothing he could do.

Without a thick base and anti-gun slope, it is bullying that the Junggar people have few guns, and there is no strong anti-gun base, which saves a huge amount of engineering. This is also a kind of adaptation to local conditions.

He had seen the fort at Yamesh Lake and knew that such a fort would be hard to attack.It's just that the Russian army in Yamesh Lake doesn't have enough flintlocks, most of them are old shooting army matchlocks and some Cossacks.

Dace Lingdunduobu fought a siege, and had never fought a field battle with a flintlock army.

Even so, looking at such a familiar star-like castle, little Celing Dunduobu felt depressed for a while.

It cannot be said that he does not have cannons, but what he thinks of as cannons, in the eyes of Wu Fangrui, who is guarding the city, are large muskets, not cannons at all.

The elite "Bao Qin" artillery team has only twenty or thirty guns.The Swede is only a sergeant, and the level of casting cannons is just that, and the chief planner Ling Dunduobu doesn't want to expose the main force here in advance.

Darling expressed his opinion on the city.

"We can't take it down."

"Yes. Therefore, we have to lure them out. Otherwise, they will climb over the mountain and build a city at the southern foot, and we will not be able to attack it."

Little Cering Dunduobu took a telescope captured from Russia, watched it for a while, and ordered: "Get ready to try to attack. Don't kill too many people, scare them, and let the Han army in the big city come out and start an attack." Good. Wait for the Han army in the big city to come out, and then we will go."

The order was passed on, and the Bukhara gunners who fled from the west pushed the small artillery and drove the camels carrying the swivel guns, and began to advance.

The musketeers got off their horses, and the heavy Zambarak arquebus could shoot a little farther, and they lined up loosely in the city.

The cavalry got off their horses, held their scimitars, and used nearby fir trees to make ladders for attacking the city.

Wu Fangrui, who was observing the situation on the city wall, thought it was a bit funny, did they attack the city like this?
Observing the dozens of small-caliber camel cannons, Wu Fangrui thought about the lessons Liu Yu had taught.

This thing was introduced to Ottoman during the Zhengde period of the previous dynasty, and Ottoman then passed it to the countries of the Western Regions.Forget the years of Zhengde, and think about it for 250 years, what is the use of this gun?
There are also swivel cannons on warships, but they are not used for counter bombardment at all, but for cleaning the deck after close combat.This thing...it's okay to use it as a big gun in the field to enhance the firepower of the matchlock gun, and use it to attack the city?

Wu Fangrui couldn't help shaking his head.

The artillery of the camp at the rear, the largest cannon weighed more than 3000 kilograms, not to mention that the camel could not move its back, and the recoil could kill the camel directly.

With a little thought, you can know the power of this camel cannon.

Seeing the camel cannons under the city slowly approaching, and estimating that the range of this "big gun" was between [-] and [-] paces, Wu Fangrui issued an order: the cannons must not fire, luring them to gather within the range.

After the order was conveyed, the artillery officers began to fine-tune the altitude angle of the artillery according to the previously determined angle.Soldiers with flintlocks crouched behind the parapets on the corners, restrained by officers from firing.

From time to time, Junggar riders whizzed by, threw a few meaningless feather arrows towards the city wall, or quickly fired a shot outside the moat, and quickly retreated.

Small-caliber cannons and camel guns began to advance, and the musketeers prepared to move forward in sparse formation.The dismounted riders carried the ladders across the moat and formed a team in front.

bang bang bang...

Camel cannons and small cannons roared and hit the dirt wall, meaninglessly.

The scattered artillery hidden on the edges and corners has adjusted its angle, just like the classic textbook content in the fortress engineering course, waiting for a suitable distance for a bombardment.

Under the city, Darin, who had come all the way from Almaty, was giving encouragement before the siege.

"Warriors!"

boom……

He only said three words, and the artillery on the city roared almost at the same time, and a large number of iron balls smashed towards the assembled crowd.

An iron bullet weighing eight catties hit the dry and hard ground and bounced smoothly.

With a swipe, Darling's head was directly smashed away by the iron pellet. His head was gone, and his whole body was brought backwards.

In one shot, more than 80 soldiers of the quasi-corps were directly killed and injured. The first wave of infantry in the tentative attack was only three to 400 people, and the offensive was instantly disintegrated.

Looking at Darling's smashed head, which couldn't be seen, the people shouted and fled backwards.Those covering musketeers could only shoot randomly towards the city for a while.

The artillery on the city quickly shifted to the camels kneeling on the ground. The camels were big, but they were still flesh and blood.

Iron balls weighing seven or eight catties flew towards them at a speed of 400 meters per second, and the slightest touch would result in disability.

The musketeers on the city wall also began to fight back, and the angled crossfire instantly suppressed the musketeers who were too close to the city.

The Junggar tribe's first probing attack ended like this without even seeing a splash.The men snatched back Darling's headless body, but they couldn't find the head hit by the eight-pound iron ball.

Wu Fangrui thought about what he had learned in class: [The artillery on the side of the city must be destroyed.If there are reinforcements nearby, then bombard the enemy's artillery to slow down the attack; if there are no reinforcements, then wait until the infantry is attacking the city and kill the enemy's infantry].

The course is correct. Wu Fangrui looked at the corpses under the city, smiled and said to the officer beside him: "I think there should be a lesson added to this course. If the attacking party has no artillery, then the artillery defending the city can do whatever they want." .”

Engineer officers have specially studied these courses, and they strongly agree with the idea that "with guns, you can really do whatever you want".

Looking at the camp of the Zhunga people, the engineer officer said: "Master Wu, after these people from the Zhunjia people have tried it once, they probably won't attack. What should we do?"

"How to do?"

Wu Fangrui looked at the Junggar camp in the distance, and thought that although he was only a chief of staff, or a marching commander.But the combat power of the Zhunbu was really not strong. If there were only a few thousand people in front of him, with a regiment of infantry in the city, [-] cavalry, and the best engineers in the world, it would not be a problem to directly attack his camp.

But after thinking about Liu Yu's strategy, he still held back the idea of ​​attacking.

"Do nothing. They are willing to live outside, so let's live outside. Anyway, the news has passed, and Lord Liu will make a decision."

…………

In the big camp tens of miles behind, Liu Yu jumped up excitedly after receiving the news.

Rubbing his hands and asking the messenger to return, "Is it sure that there are only five or six thousand people in the siege?"

"Returning to my lord, that's right. But if there are still ambushes hiding in the distance, then I don't know. When Wu lord heard the warning, he closed the city gate tightly."

"Good! Well done."

Let the courier go down, and after he walked around the military tent a few times, his excitement was beyond words.

Seeing this, Jiaolaobutu recalled the military books he had read, and said, "My lord, could it be Junggar's trick to lure the enemy?"

Liu Yu stopped and laughed loudly: "I don't care if he is trying to lure the enemy?"

"It's not a trick to lure the enemy. After defeating Xiaoce Ling Dunduobu, he went directly over the mountain. It's a trick to lure the enemy. I just wish he could lure me into the bait. With more than ten thousand Qingzhou soldiers walking sideways, who would dare to stop them?" ?”

"If you can't win a field battle, any strategy will be useless. Just like the battle of Saerhu I mentioned that day, if there were tens of thousands of Qingzhou soldiers that day, no matter what strategy he uses, just do it. The difficulty of the battle of Zhunbu, Not in the battlefield, but in the follow-up stability. I don’t care about the follow-up, I’m here to claim credit!”

Jiaolaobutu knew that Liu Yu was the best at grabbing credit, and when he thought about the old things in Heilongjiang, he was overjoyed.

Back then in Heilongjiang, the scramble for merit was daring, and no one was optimistic about winning it. Jiaolaobutu was also a person who followed the glory, how could he not be excited at this time?

"Since my lord wants to take the credit, I'm very happy. What I was most afraid of before was rushing in with light soldiers. My lord's art of war is not very good."

"Hahaha, it's time and time. Art of war is a thing that is cleverly used with one mind. Have you ever seen a tiger afraid of a flock of sheep and using art of war to lure the enemy deep?"

Jiaolao Butu also laughed, and Liu Yu called the adjutants to ring the bell and raise the account.

Two messengers were called, and after waiting for a while, they handed the two letters into their hands, and said: "You go to the camp at the rear, and give these two letters to the Duke of E. Tell the Duke of E, Please come out here before moving the camp."

The messenger sent the order to leave, and Liu Yu called the officers of the rest of the troops stationed here: "After I leave, you will guard in the city. Prepare the food and ammunition I arranged in advance. Once I get The news, immediately escort these things to catch up with me."

Two staff officers and [-] infantry were left behind to assist in defending the city. One of the staff officers asked, "My lord, if... if something happens to the front line..."

Liu Yu raised his head and smiled, and said indifferently: "If something happens ahead, you can't hold on. Rescue is not allowed."

"Yes."

Arrange the affairs in the city, and by noon, the troops have been assembled.

More than five hundred carts followed, containing food and ammunition.Everyone was given dry food to carry, but they were not allowed to eat it.In the gunpowder bag, each person sent ninety rounds of lead bullets wrapped in paper.

The reconnaissance Qingqi spread out and closely reconnoitred the situation within forty miles around.

Qingqi was on both sides, and the army marched out of the city slowly according to the battalion.

People from the staff department asked Liu Yu about his request, and Liu Yu gave him a request of "March slowly, don't let the enemy know how fast we are going. Camp at night, and strictly prevent camp robbery".

The marching speed of the Qingzhou Army is very fast. This is considered a no-man's land, and the supplies need to be carried by themselves.

A four-wheeled carriage with a steering mechanism allows the horse not to bear the weight of the car body, and has a large carrying capacity. Although it may not be able to cross the Altai Mountains, it can still be used for the march here.

The Qingzhou Army did not divide the army into forward and rear guards like other troops did.

Instead, the army acts collectively by virtue of its organizational strength and self-confidence in the speed of change.Just let Qingqi guarantee the military situation report within forty miles.

Wu Fangrui's newly built small city is only tens of miles away from the big city. If you march quickly, you can reach it in a day and a half.However, the staff department divided the journey into three days according to Liu Yu's request, and Liu Yu still disliked going a little too fast.

The soldiers had enough to eat and warm clothes this winter, and they also ate a lot of sheep. They had raised fat all winter, and they were able to endure a period of hardship.

(End of this chapter)