The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 269 Willing to be a Pioneer
"...the Jiannu march was faster than expected, and many people and supplies plundered from within the pass have been sent outside the pass."

"According to the current speed, the entire Jiannu Division will be able to leave the border by [-] days at the latest. The time left for us is less than five days including today."

Sun Chuanting's eyes slowly swept over the generals on the observation platform.

The sharp eyes were extremely oppressive, and all the generals and commanders on the observation deck were involuntarily affected, and their hearts sank.

Within a few months of Sun Chuanting taking office as governor of Shaanxi Province, he defeated Chuang Wang Gao Yingxiang in Heishui Valley.

This time King Qin Zhending defeated Zhenglan Banner first, then fought against Jiazhuang, and finally solved the siege of Jinan.

With [-] soldiers and horses, they fought openly and undefeated in Jiannu's field battle for several days.

Then Dong'an and Wuqing companies fought against the Qing army, forcing the Qing army to divert to the north.

Sun Chuanting's reputation had already spread throughout the north and reached its peak.

The name of a man, the shadow of a tree.

Although many generals and commanders in the towns in Jiliao North had never seen Sun Chuanting before, they had already heard of his name.

And the most important thing is that Chen Guowei's death made the generals in the towns of Jiliao in the North fear him.

At this time, the Shang Fang sword that killed Chen Guowei was held in someone's arms and stood beside Sun Chuanting.

Sun Chuanting stood with his sword in his hand. He had already noticed at first that when Chen Wang finished saying that Jiannu's troops had [-] soldiers, most of the generals present had fear and fear in their eyes.

"Although Jiannu now occupies a favorable geographical location and still has [-] people, it is actually no more than a strong external force but a powerful internal force."

"Jiannu was defeated in two battles at Jiazhuang and Jinan, and then fled northward and took many detours to avoid fighting, which is enough to show his timidity."

Sun Chuanting raised his eyes to look at the crowd, held his sword in his hand, and spoke righteously.

The border situation was difficult, and the Ming army rarely achieved victory in the successive battles with Jiannu. This is a fact.

The border army has been suffering from disadvantages for a long time. In fact, there are many reasons other than lack of combat power.

Sun Chuanting knew these things very well, but now he had no way to change them.

He is not the governor of Jiliao, nor is he the chief minister of the cabinet.

He was just the governor of Baoding, and temporarily had the authority to control King Qin's army.

He is in the middle of the game and trapped in it, and he can only act according to the chess board.

At the current battle situation, the Qing army has [-] troops.

Gao Qiqian and Chen Xinjia had a total of 5 troops, and he had nearly [-] troops under his command, totaling [-].

Eighty thousand versus sixty thousand, numerical superiority.

However, the Qing army had strong combat power, and although there were 8 soldiers under his command, they were mixed among the good and the bad, and there was a huge gap in combat power between the towns.

Even in field battles, they don't have an advantage, let alone taking the initiative to attack the well-defended Qing army's mountain camp.

The strong momentum of establishing slaves has caused the morale of the army to fluctuate. It is necessary to ignite the fighting spirit and morale of the soldiers below in order to have the strength to fight.

"The slave camp is built around the mountain and is heavily guarded. If we forcefully attack the mountain, I'm afraid we will be at a disadvantage."

"In the past few days, our troops have fought against Jiannu for more than ten battles, but it was difficult to gain half a point."

Chen Xinjia looked hesitant and his tone was hesitant. He knew it was inappropriate to say these words now, but he finally said them.

He arrived many days earlier than Sun Chuanting and had organized several attacks.

However, Jiannu was heavily fortified and there were not many loopholes to exploit. In several confrontations with Jiannu, they were at a disadvantage.

For so many days, he and Gao Qiqian joined forces to attack, but they only managed to capture more than 100 levels, snatched back 7000 taels of silver, and rescued more than 1000 people who had been robbed.

They also once attacked the outer fortresses of Jiannu, but in the end they were all in vain.

Chen Xinjia's words attracted the attention of all Jiliao generals to Sun Chuanting.

Staring at the layers of Qing army fortresses on the sand table, Sun Chuanting's expression did not change.

Sun Chuanting's eyes moved slightly and he looked at Gao Qiqian to the side with his peripheral vision.

Gao Qiqian, who was sitting aside, was still silent at this time and did not say anything to interfere. His eyes still stayed on the sand table, not knowing what he was thinking in his heart.

Sun Chuanting regained some of his composure.

How could he not know the difficulties Chen Xinjia mentioned.

In fact, he didn't want to fight this battle.

The Qing army's combat power was already strong, and now it occupies a favorable location and is waiting for work. In fact, it is already in an invincible position.

A forced attack is actually just adding to the losses.
But this battle must be fought and must be fought.

On the one hand, the Qing army looted a lot this time. If they were allowed to take too many people out of the border, their power would undoubtedly expand again.

On the other hand, it comes from the imperial court and the temple.

The emperor's edicts became more urgent than the last, and the Ministry of War's writings became more severe. Yang Sichang even wrote him a private letter, urging him to quickly drive out the Qing troops who entered the pass.

The Qing army lingered in the pass for too long and stayed too long.

From the perspective of military strategy, the policy of copying the enemy specified by Sun Chuanting was indeed correct.

But many times, war is never a simple war.

Over the past month, the Qing army has been avoiding war and wasting time.

The Qing army could afford it by relying on looted supplies, but the Ming Dynasty could not afford it.

The soldiers and horses of King Qin from all over the country gathered in Beizhili, and martial law was imposed in the capital, martial law was imposed in Beizhili, and martial law was imposed in Jiliao.
Not only did all kinds of production come to a standstill, but a large amount of gold and silver was consumed every minute and every second.

Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses need military pay to support them, and hundreds of thousands of mouths are waiting for food and grass.

Yang Sichang, the Minister of the Ministry of War, who was able to collect intelligence and map the map alone, could not see that the Qing army was in a difficult situation, and was forced into a dilemma by Sun Chuanting.

However, half a year has passed since the Qing army broke through the pass.

Within half a year, the entire North Zhili was almost riddled with holes, and several places in Shandong Province were also swept by the flames of war.

More than a million people were affected by the war?
The number of hungry people outside the capital city has exceeded [-], which is undoubtedly an appalling number.

Which one of reconstruction, disaster relief, and military pay and food does not require money, and which one does not require manpower and material resources?

In fact, Yang Sichang had really tried his best. Most of the food originally delivered to the capital was shipped to the north. He really could no longer hold on.

Chen Guowei's escape before the battle seemed to give the Qing army a chance to escape, but in fact it also gave the Ming court a step down.

Because of this, this battle must be fought, no matter the cost.

So much military pay and food cannot be wasted in vain, he must have an explanation.

"Jiannu set up camp around the mountain and set up many checkpoints. It looks impregnable, but in fact it is not seamless."

Sun Chuanting stepped forward to the sand table.

Noticing Sun Chuanting walking towards the sand table, Chen Wang bowed slightly and handed over the command whip in his hand.

"Everyone, please look here."

Sun Chuanting took the command whip and then gently pointed it a little above the sand table.

The eyes of all the generals around the sand table followed the command whip.

Chen Xinjia and Gao Qiqian also looked at the position pointed by the command whip.Gao Qiqian's eyes fell on the sand table. He looked at the position pointed by Sun Chuanting, with a puzzled look in his eyes.

The Qing army's company camp was built around the two mountains, and the location Sun Chuanting pointed to was located in the southern part of the Qing army's camp complex. It was a protruding highland in the southern mountainous area.

"Can Governor Sun make it clear what impact this high platform will have on the battle situation?"

At this time, Gao Qiqian finally spoke his first words.

The timbre of Gao Qiqian is quite strange. It is not the sharp drake voice, but slightly more male-like, which is extremely uncomfortable to human ears.

Sun Chuanting lightly clicked his command whip and explained.

"This place is called Gongshu Terrace, and it is the highest point in the southern mountainous area besides the peak."

"On the Zi Gong Tree Stand, from a high position, you can have a panoramic view of the Jiannu Company Camp."

Gao Qiqian frowned slightly and said.

"Governor Sun said that occupying Gongshu Terrace can provide a panoramic view of the Jiannu Company Camp, but are you planning to use Gongshu Terrace as a command post?"

"With all due respect to our family, being condescending can indeed detect the troop movements in the slave camp and mobilize troops more flexibly, but I'm afraid it won't have a big impact on the overall battle situation."

Gao Qiqian paused for a moment, then continued.

"And if you want to seize Gongshutai, you must first break through the three fortresses set up by Jiannu on the outside. This is not easy."

"Furthermore, although Gongshu Terrace has a good view, it is located in an isolated position. As a command post, once the Jian Nu counterattack, there is a great possibility that the Jian Nu will be besieged on the platform."

"If Gongshu Terrace was really important, Jian Nu would have already set up defenses and camps on it."

Gao Qiqian withdrew his gaze. He didn't understand why Sun Chuanting pointed at a useless high platform and wanted to make a fuss.

"I never said that Gongshu Terrace is used as a command podium."

Sun Chuanting glanced at Gao Qiqian beside the sand table, and then glanced at Chen Xinjia.

Chen Xinjia also frowned. It seemed that he and Gao Qiqian had the same question.

"The reason why the slaves did not occupy Gongshu Terrace has been explained by the Gao Jianjun."

"Although Gongshutai is located at a high position and has a good view, it is isolated. Once surrounded, the people on top will be like turtles in a urn. They only need to cut off a few important roads leading to the platform to defeat themselves. This is because Jiannu is not here. The reason for garrisoning troops at Gongshutai."

Sun Chuanting raised his command whip and pointed it at Gong Shutai.

"Gongshu Terrace is not very useful for building slaves, but it is crucial for our army."

"Because our army now has something that the slaves don't have."

Sun Chuanting's expression was solemn, his tone suddenly dropped at this moment, and he slowly uttered two words.

"artillery."

The atmosphere above the observation deck was tense. When Sun Chuanting said the word "artillery", everyone present came to their senses and suddenly realized.

When he was in the Heishui Valley a long time ago, Sun Chuanting occupied the mountains and set up artillery at a strategic position in the pass. He dealt a huge blow to the rogue bandits and trapped them to death in the Heishui Valley.

Sun Chuanting wanted to do the same thing now, which was to set up artillery positions at high altitudes to attack his opponents.

Many times something seems simple, but if the key is not solved, not many people will think that there is such a way.

It's like humans have tamed horses very early on, but it took a very long time for someone to make the stirrups that were clearly and extremely simple in structure.

It took hundreds of years to go from single stirrup to double stirrup.

Gongshutai is located in the southern part of the mountainous area. It is a great artillery position, overlooking the Jiannu camp built around the mountain.

As long as you occupy the public tree platform, set up the artillery, and then use the artillery to bombard the slave camp below from a high position.

The power of the artillery was so great that even the city walls made of bricks and stones could hardly remain intact under its repeated bombardments. How could the temporary fortresses built with earth and wood be able to stop it.

The reason why Jiannu didn't think of it was also very simple. Most of the people they entered and plundered were cavalry, and they didn't even bring much baggage. How could they carry heavy artillery.

The artillery captured in the victory was completely shot with gunpowder and lead bullets in Jiazhuang. They then retreated all the way north. The Ming army refused to defend the stronghold, and they did not capture much.

The few artillery pieces that were captured were all small cannons and Franchise machines that did not use much ammunition and had a very short range.

The soldiers in Guanning and other towns in Jizhou were mostly cavalry, and there were no artillery in the army.

The Xuan army led by Chen Xinjia came from afar and naturally did not have many artillery, and the same was true for the Qin army led by Zuo Guangxian.

However, both Chen Xinjia and Gao Qiqian remembered that the news about the use of a new type of artillery was mentioned many times in the Jietang Newspaper written by Sun Chuanting.

When we were in Shaanxi, we mentioned a new type of artillery mount and suggested promoting it to the entire army. Last year, the Ministry of Industry began to trial-produce samples and make improvements to fit different artillery.

In this battle of King Qin, as well as in the battles of Zhending, Jinan, Dong'an, and Wuqing, there were also scenes describing the achievements of one's own artillery.

Both Chen Xinjia and Gao Qiqian knew that Sun Chuanting had an artillery unit in his hands. There were about a dozen of them, all red Yi cannons.

Moreover, these Hongyi cannons seem to be lighter than ordinary Hongyi cannons, and because of the improved gun mounts, these Hongyi cannons can keep up with the marching speed of large troops.

"If we can capture Gongshutai, the power of building the slave camp will indeed collapse."

Chen Xinjia's eyes were bright. Although he didn't have much experience in leading troops in war, he had read a lot of military books. After figuring out the key, he was quite happy.

"This is indeed possible!"

If he can win a big victory, it will be extremely beneficial to the current situation and his personal career.

On the observation deck, not only Chen Xinjia's spirit was uplifted, but all the generals were also eager to try.

If you can win this battle, you will definitely have a lot of military exploits.

Having military merit means having the opportunity to get promoted and make a fortune.

Gold and silver are at the forefront, and official positions are at the top, how can we not make people moved?
"If we follow what Governor Sun said, if we can capture Gongshu Terrace, we can indeed achieve a great victory."

Gao Qiqian stood up slowly, still frowning, and asked the most critical question in a deep voice, which also silenced the heated atmosphere for a moment.

Indeed, if we can occupy Gongshu Terrace, we can disintegrate the Qing army's company camp.

However, on the only way to Gongshutai, there are three fortresses built by slaves, all located on the pass.

If you want to conquer it, you will probably have to pay a lot of casualties.

Such a tough battle will inevitably cause a large number of casualties among the servants and elites under his command. There are really not many people who want to fight...

For a moment, there was an eerie silence on the observation deck.

But the silence didn't last long.

As for such a situation, Sun Chuanting naturally expected it early on, so he did not put his hope in other camps and towns from the beginning.

Sun Chuanting put down the command whip in his hand and turned his gaze to his side.

As Sun Chuanting's eyes turned, Chen Xinjia, Gao Qiqian, and all the generals on the platform also turned away together.

In the end, all their eyes were focused on Chen Wang, who was standing near Sun Chuanting.

Facing everyone's gaze, with everyone's attention.

Chen Wang bowed slowly, clasped his fists with both hands, solemnly performed a military salute to Sun Chuanting, and then said in a deep voice.

"The last general, Chen Wang, is willing to be the vanguard and destroy the camp!"

(End of this chapter)