I want to be emperor

Chapter 329
Setting up an ambush while besieging Sanjue is an old routine of the Chu army's siege.

The routine is very old, but it works.

Before the Ming army broke through, they also knew that there would be an ambush ahead, but they had no choice but to bite the bullet and rush out of this gap, otherwise the entire army would be wiped out.

The Chu army ambushing outside the East City Gate is the first cavalry brigade and the first brigade under the first guard division, the main cavalry unit of the Chu army.

Shi Kefa's troops, who had just escaped from the city, were intercepted by the Chu army not long after...

Naturally, the Ming army couldn't stop them, and they didn't have the courage to resist.

The two sides have almost just come into contact, and this has not yet formally started fighting, and the Ming armies dispersed on their own to break out of the encirclement.

Not to mention, in the face of the rout of soldiers all over the mountains and plains, no matter how strong the Chu army's fighting power is, it would not be able to catch them all for a while, and it really allowed some Ming troops to rush through the interception and escape.

It's just that the Ming army who followed Shi Kefa to Hukou successfully reached less than 3000 people.

There are more than 5000 Jiujiang defenders, and at this time there are not even one in ten!

Shi Kefa, who arrived at the mouth of the lake, just got off the boat, looked at the pontoon bridge behind him, and said cruelly: "Destroy the bridge!"

This is a pontoon bridge built by the Ming army before, in order to allow the Ming army in the direction of Jiujiang and Hukou to quickly support each other in a short period of time.

But it is a tragedy that when the Chu army attacked Jiujiang City, although the Ming army in the direction of Hukou also sent troops to reinforce at the beginning, but after being attacked by the First Cavalry Brigade and the Guards Division, they did not have the courage to send troops to follow up. Reinforcements arrived.

Now this pontoon bridge has become a channel for Shi Kefa and others to escape.

The reason why the Chu army did not destroy it in advance, or sent heavy troops to directly guard one end of the pontoon bridge, but deliberately let go of the pontoon bridge passage, was purely to give the Ming army in Jiujiang City a hope, a hope of escape, so that they would not be completely destroyed because of the back road. After breaking off, one completely defended.

During siege warfare, properly leaving an escape channel for the enemy can effectively reduce the defender's will to fight, and thus reduce the difficulty of storming.

It's just that this kind of passage is clearly a trap!
When Shi Kefa led the army to break through, about 1 troops followed him to break through, but they were intercepted by the Chu army not long after leaving Jiujiang City.

After the final dispersal and breakthrough, only less than 3000 people arrived at Hukou one after another.

After ordering the dismantling of the pontoon bridge to avoid being used by Chu thieves to successfully cross the river and land at the lake mouth, Shi Kefa ordered the Hukou defenders to urgently strengthen the defense line.

At the same time, they sent people to Jinling City in a hurry.

What are you doing?

Need reinforcements, money and food!
The people he sent didn't need to persuade the powerful and gentry in Jinling City, they only needed to explain one fact: Jiujiang Dehua had fallen, and if Hukou couldn't be held in the future, then Jiangnan would be completely finished!

Those dignitaries and gentlemen will be more anxious than Shi Kefa himself!
If you don't want the Chu army to kill them to collect taxes and search their homes, then you have to support Shi Kefa to build a new line of defense at Hukou to keep the Chu thieves out.

Although Jiujiang City has fallen, the entire Jiujiang defense line is not only Dehua, Jiujiang City, but also Hukou City.

As for the fact that after the fall of Jiujiang, the large areas of northern Jiangxi and even central Jiangxi to the west of Poyang Lake will completely fall into the hands of Chu thieves, which is beyond Shi Kefa's control.

-

Inside Jiujiang City.

When Shi Kefa was about to break through the city, he took the initiative to lead the army to break through, which also made the subsequent siege of the Chu army much easier.

The Ming troops on all sides of the city walls and many large fortresses outside the city either fled or surrendered, but only a very small number persisted in resisting.

This also greatly reduced the casualties of the Chu army in the second half of the siege operation.

At the same time, because Shi Kefa and others broke through in a hurry, they were unable to take away the large amount of supplies hoarded in the city in time, and even the destruction could not be done on a large scale.

Although a few warehouses were set on fire by the Ming troops before they retreated, most of them are still intact.

This also allowed the Chu army to seize a large amount of food, grass, weapons and ammunition.

"In this battle, we seized a total of 28 long-barreled artillery pieces of various types, of which [-] were heavy artillery pieces weighing more than five kilograms with longer barrels, and fourteen were imitated two-and-a-half kilogram field artillery pieces of our army. , It’s just that this batch of artillery is all iron cast artillery, and its performance is quite different.”

"The minister has ordered the repair of the gun mounts of this batch of artillery, and it is expected to be put into combat use soon."

"There are also many types of muskets and small-caliber artillery seized. According to preliminary statistics, there are more than 2000 imitated matchlock guns of our army and [-] bird guns."

"There are more than 300 small and short guns of various types, but most of them are not suitable for the combat needs of our army's main force."

"There are also many other types of swords, spears and armor."

When Xu Zhixian reported after the war, he said that when these were captured, he was full of joy.

"In terms of personnel, according to preliminary statistics, we have killed more than 3000 enemy troops, and it is difficult to count the wounded. As for the prisoners, we have captured a total of 5000 people, including more than 3000 new standard troops."

"The quality of this batch of captives is relatively high!"

"The 2000 New Standard Army is estimated to be able to select [-] people to supplement the main force of our army, especially their gunners."

"The rest of the new Standard Army soldiers who can't enter the main force can also be incorporated into the garrison with the outstanding sentinel prisoners of war in the battalion. I reckon that this time, at least three brigades of the garrison can be trained."

Luo Zhixue said: "Since this is the case, then don't delay, and select the prisoners of war according to the backup plan formulated before. Those who should be included in the main force will be included in the main force, and those who should be included in the garrison will be included in the garrison."

"For the garrison, the No.14 brigade of the 11th garrison division was expanded into a division and formed into the No.[-] garrison division, and the vacancies of the [-]th garrison division were replenished on the spot."

"While the two garrison divisions are being reorganized, they will take over Jiujiang's defense and be responsible for the follow-up operations in the city and the support of the logistics line."

"All the main forces, act according to the original plan!"

"The Seventh Division and the First Cavalry Brigade will go south first, with the primary goal of conquering Xingzi City in Nankang Prefecture and De'an in Jiujiang Prefecture, and then continue southward to Nanchang."

"Two divisions and one regiment of the First Army, go to the ferry to prepare first."

Luo Zhixue quickly arranged the follow-up strategic deployment, and this strategic deployment was not decided by Luo Zhixue's brains. In fact, it was a battle plan that had been finalized in the Imperial Military Council long ago.

After taking Jiujiang, what is the main goal of the Chu army in the next step?
It is the mouth of the lake on the east bank of Poyang Lake.

Take this place, cross Poyang Lake into and out of the mouth of the Yangtze River, and then kill all the way to the south of the Yangtze River.

Of course, in the place of Hukou, it is too difficult to forcefully cross the river to attack without preparing anything. Previously, the intelligence personnel of the Chu army had detected that the Ming army had built dense fortifications here, as well as riverside forts.

If the Chu army wants to cross the river here and kill them, the necessary preparations are also indispensable.

For example, concentrate a large number of artillery, prepare a large number of boats and rafts for crossing the river, and prepare pontoon troops to build floating bridges.

At the same time, more importantly, the cooperation of the Yangtze River Fleet of the Navy is needed.

If the Chu army wants to cross the river smoothly and control casualties, it must have the strong cooperation of the Yangtze River Fleet.

Only when the Yangtze River Fleet can suppress the navy of the Ming army, then the pontoon bridge troops can safely build pontoons, and the river-crossing troops can safely cross the river by boat.

In this regard, Lu Xingye, Minister of the Navy, stated his position at the Imperial Military Conference: "Our navy has been preparing for this battle for more than half a year, and we will definitely not lose the chain!"

"In order to cooperate with the army's attack on Hukou, our navy has concentrated most of the warships and deployed them in the Yangtze River Fleet."

"At present, the Yangtze River Fleet has prepared a total of one hundred and three warships equipped with artillery. Compared with the more than 30 warships in our navy during the battle of crossing the river last year, it has tripled."

"Among them six large warships, 27 medium warships, and seventy small warships!"

"The entire fleet has twelve nine-pound naval guns, 27 five-pound naval guns, 38 two-and-a-half-pound naval guns, and 240 six traditional artillery pieces such as various Frang machine guns and general guns!"

"In this battle, our navy has enough confidence to block the enemy's navy in the port, and if necessary, bombard land forts to cover the army's crossing of the river."

When Vice Admiral Lu Xingye said this, he was full of confidence, and his tone of voice was much stronger than when he crossed the south of the Yangtze River and attacked Wuchang.

And Lu Xingye's confidence!
From the rapid growth of the navy!
After going south to capture Hanyang City last year, Luo Zhixue has already started to support the expansion of the navy, and has given great support in terms of personnel and funds.

On the other hand, the army attacked Wuchang across the river, followed by entering Dongting Lake for the Chunan Campaign, and now it is attacking Hukou and even entering the south of the Yangtze River for the eastward attack. It also supports the development of the navy very much.

He even took the initiative to make certain concessions on military expenditures and artillery, in order to support the rapid development of the little brother of the navy.

Because the army itself is very clear that no matter whether it is attacking Chu Nan or going east, it is inseparable from the naval fleet.

Without the support of the navy, it is difficult for the army to really transport food and ammunition all the way from land...

That is a supply line that is hundreds of kilometers or even thousands of kilometers long at every turn... Moreover, the material consumption of the Chu army in combat is also very large, and its material consumption is far from what traditional cold weapon troops can compare.

That massive amount of ammo alone is a nuisance.

If so many materials are transported by land along the way, the logistics department will go crazy.

Therefore, even if it is for its own logistics supply, the army will vigorously support the development of the navy.

His Majesty Luo Zhixue supports it, and the Army, which is a competitor in military spending, also supports it. The development of the Great Chu Empire's navy is naturally progressing by leaps and bounds.

In just over half a year, the size of its fleet has tripled, and it has been equipped with a large number of artillery.

Even the marines are elite infantry transferred from the army!

At this time, the Navy of the Great Chu Empire is different from the past. When Lu Xingye speaks, he is also qualified to raise his voice.

(End of this chapter)