national surname chiming

Chapter 219 If you want to see Shen Futai's appearance clearly, you have to pay the price
"Is this the army of the Shengou thief? It looks like there are only more than 2 people at most. How dare they go so deep and go straight to the city of Hengzhou. This guy is quite courageous, he has a bit more backbone than other rotten officials .”

At the head of the city of Hengzhou, Zhang Xianzhong raised his eyebrows with his hands, and looked at the formation of officers and soldiers gradually oppressing from a distance, feeling excited and bloodthirsty, and also with a bit of contempt that was relieved.

This is Shen Shuren who has been entangled with him for more than two years.

If it weren't for Shen Shuren, a shit-stirring stick, in the summer of the 12th year of Chongzhen, after he surrendered and rebelled in Xiangyang and Yunyang, he should have been able to easily join the Gezuo Wuying in the east and completely traverse Huguang.

But on the opposite side, it is said that three years ago, he was just a scholar who had just donated a prison student. It took only one year to become a Huangzhou co-prefect and general judge from a prison student. The strength of the chief's arm-wrestling also wiped out the opponent.

In the next two years, Zhang Xianzhong was out of control, forcing Zhang Xianzhong to the mountainous area in eastern Sichuan, and cut off the wings he was trying to coerce one by one!He also took his adopted son to the capital, and was sentenced to Ling Chi to be executed by Chongzhen, causing Zhang Xianzhong's direct line troops to lose troops on a small scale several times!
It's a pity that Zhang Xianzhong has never had the opportunity to see what the other person looks like with his own eyes.

But today, under the coincidence, many schemes, and rumors, Zhang Xianzhong finally stopped running away, and had the opportunity to fight a tough battle with Shen Shuren face to face without fancy!
Of course he wanted to take this opportunity to thoroughly recognize this dog official who couldn't get rid of like a dog's skin plaster!
I only hate him as a thief, the reconnaissance equipment has not been very good, and there is not even a telescope in the army, otherwise he must have a good look at the telescope!
However, although Zhang Xianzhong couldn't find Shen Shuren himself for the time being, at least he could get a general idea of ​​the size, appearance and equipment of the Shen family army first.Just this point has already made him feel calm, and it is only then that he has the emotion just now.

The army on the opposite side actually only has more than 2 people!

When Shen Shuren sent out troops, when he fought Li Dingguo in a decisive battle, the total force was 3.After all the battles were fought, there were casualties and losses, as well as the division of troops for the navy. When we arrived in Changsha, there were only [-] left.

Before going south this time, five thousand soldiers will be left in the important town of Changsha. After all, the city has just been brutally massacred there, and there are a lot of scattered soldiers. It is still very chaotic.

Moreover, the governor of Huguang, Fang Kongzhang, personally went to Changsha to help deal with the internal affairs of the rear and restore order. If there were not enough troops, the majestic governor of the province would be in big trouble if he was attacked by the enemy.

In the future, hub nodes such as Xiangtan County and Hengshanwei cannot be completely defenseless, so in fact, only 1 troops brought by Shen Shuren at the beginning can reach the city of Hengzhou——

This is also a disadvantage of the official army fighting the thieves. After all, the official army has to block everywhere, and they cannot deploy all their troops to one place, otherwise they will leak elsewhere.Rogues don't need a base, they can grab and run anytime, anywhere, and carry all valuables with the army. When it comes to concentrating troops, Rogues definitely have an advantage.

Fortunately, the battle in Hunan has lasted for nearly a month, so Shen Shuren's rear troops are also coming in a steady stream.

Shi Dun, the prefect of Xiangyang, Zhang Huangyan, the prefect of Huangzhou, and Zheng Chenggong, the prefect of Jiujiang, each drew [-] reinforcements. They gathered in Yuezhou within ten days and a half months after the start of the war, and then went south to gather in the hands of Shen Shuren.

This allowed Shen Shuren to reach the total force of 4000 to 5 when he finally arrived at Hengzhou city.Before the war, Shen Shuren was known as "[-] soldiers", and more than [-] people have bet on the Hunan battlefield so far.

It is really inconvenient for other troops to be transferred. After all, the northern side of Wanfu's jurisdiction still needs to support Li Zicheng. Xinyang Mansion, which is located north of Dabie Mountain and under the rule of Liu Guoneng, is also Shen Shuren's jurisdiction. A considerable number of troops are needed there to fill the defense line. Security forces should also be ensured everywhere.

In contrast, Zhang Xianzhong had 2 to [-] old battalions before the war, and a similar number of new attached troops, of which more than [-] old battalions stayed with Liu Wenxiu and Sun Kewang.

Zhang Xianzhong himself and Li Dingguo brought out less than [-] old battalions, and the new attached army was about the same. Later, they entered Changde and Changsha and expanded their troops several times.

However, in Li Dingguo's previous battles in Baling, Xiangyin and other places, he lost a total of about [-] old battalions, including [-] cavalry.Including the loss of Zhang Xianzhong's previous sieges, there are seven or eight thousand in total.

Now on the Shonan battlefield, the total number of remaining old battalion soldiers has been reduced to about 3.

Of the 1 new attached troops brought out at the start of the war, more than 2 were blocked in Changde and could not come back, and turned back with Liu Wenxiu, and another [-] were lost and abandoned by Li Dingguo in the Battle of Baling.

Coupled with the troops annihilated by Shen Shuren in the Changsha Restoration War, the total number of people lost by the new bandit army was almost the same as when Zhang Xianzhong brought it out.So now there are still tens of thousands of people left, all because Zhang Xianzhong has been throwing money and recruiting new people halfway through.

Today, the size of the newly attached army is still around 5 to [-], but the quality has further decreased.The number of thieves with more than two years of experience dropped sharply to less than half.

Among the remaining people, there are at least 2 people who have just been recruited and have been thieves for less than a month.There are also four or five thousand ex-official soldiers and local township braves who surrendered with the general soldiers Yin Xianmin and He Yide.

Therefore, at this moment, the situation in the battlefield around Hengzhou is that there are 4000 officers and soldiers in charge of attacking.Zhang Xianzhong's army of about 5000 people was in charge of defense.

Of these 5000 people, there are 5000 veterans from Shaanxi and Henan, and they are also Zhang Xianzhong's most valuable family property.There are about [-] Xiangyang and Yunyang soldiers, two to three years since being a thief, [-] farmers who have only been a thief for a month, and [-] surrendered to the Ming army. The sum is just right.

In terms of the distribution of troops, of the 5000 people, 5 are in Hengzhou City, and Zhang Xianzhong himself directly leads them.Another 5000 people, led by Wang Shangli, ambushed other county towns and camps at the Hengshan pass on the eastern flank, in order to cut off the food road for Shenshu.

Zhang Xianzhong was worried at the beginning that his troops were not high enough in quality and not tenacious enough to fight.

But in the end, he found that the size of the troops that the officers and soldiers could catch up to the city of Hengzhou was only one-third of his total strength. His nervous mood finally fell to the ground again, and he felt that I had the advantage.

Even if you don't count the newly attached army, if you only rely on the old battalion in Shaanxi and Henan to fight against the official army, it's because you have more people on your side!How dare Shen Shuren!

……

While Zhang Xianzhong was watching the enemy's situation at the top of the city and deducing the follow-up battle situation, Shen Shuren was also secretly observing his enemy in the army formation.

He even arranged in advance for all the [-] turtledove musketeers brought by the army, and asked them to load their ammunition and be on guard, and lie in ambush behind the spearmen and sword and shield players in the first two rows, just to wait for a chance, in case they show their loyalty to him If you can show your face, you can directly cover Huoli Mang in a wave!
Of course, the smoothbore guns of this era have no accuracy at all, especially the slugs that pursue the killing range, but after the number is large, the effect of covering sniper kills is still very fast.

The target of the turtledove gun is not as big as that of the artillery, but the powder charge of two to three taels and the lead bullets of two taels are more than five times that of the bird gun.This firepower is enough for them to easily kill any heavy armored target from three or four hundred paces away.

It's just that Shen Shuren has also done experiments, and at a distance of [-] steps, the hit rate of the turtledove's slug has dropped to less than [-]%.Only seven or eight out of [-] rounds can hit the pre-aimed target, and at [-] paces, it is further reduced to only two or three out of [-] rounds. At [-] paces, even one out of a hundred shots may not be guaranteed.

Of course, Shen Shuren's own flag formation had to be more than one mile away from the city wall, and the cunning Shen Shuren would not ride his horse and stand under the flag formation himself.And the two hundred steps in front of him are full of officers and soldiers, and the Turtledove Gunner is almost three hundred steps away from the city wall.

This distance can exceed the effective range of all the crossbows and firecrackers of the thieves. Unless Zhang Xianzhong uses the only Francophones in his army, he will not be able to threaten the Ming army.Even if there is a Franc machine, the number will not be large, and the Ming army will have time to retreat one after another.

It's a pity that Shen Shuren observed the defenders' military appearance for a long time, but he didn't see Zhang Xianzhong, so he had enough to observe what he should have observed, so he found a group of scolding soldiers and asked them to shout at the top of the city to hit the morale of Zhang Xianzhong's troops, and wait and see what happened.

After a while, fifty loud voices, holding wooden trumpets and shields, rushed forward to about two hundred steps away from the city gate, so that their shouts could be heard by the defenders on the city.

The Ming army in the back is also waiting in full force, just in case the Xianzhong army refuses to listen to the insults, and the Kaichengmen cavalry rush out, they can immediately provide fire support to cover the retreat of the scolding soldiers, and then take the opportunity to counterattack and seize the gate. Of course, this possibility is very small. How can a thief who has fought for many years be so impatient, being humiliated is nothing at all.

"Listen, Zhang Xianzhong! You have fallen into my family's Futai trick! The rumors in your army that you would abandon the new army and flee with only the old battalion and the kings' gold, silver, and silk were spread by my family's Futai!

You obediently stay in Hengzhou City today, and don't dare to act rashly anymore, waiting for us to kill you, this is the proof that you have fallen into the trap!

My Futai is not afraid to tell everything at this moment, and it will restore the morale of those newly attached mobs under your command, because my Futai doesn't look down on their fighting power at all!Those fat-bodied people are also targets for my soldiers to practice marksmanship!

I, the Shen Family Army, dare to come here because I am sure that I will kill you all!As long as you don't surrender, you will never stay behind!Before attacking Changsha, Liu Jinzhong did not surrender, but fought to the death with us, and tens of thousands of horses were wiped out in a few days!

Liu Jinzhong was stubborn and dared to set fire to the city before leaving, so all 2000 members of his direct lineage were beheaded in Changsha city for public display!If you dare to set fire to Hengzhou before the fall, you will end up in the same way! "

The defenders at the top of the city had heard Shen Shuren expose some of the rumors and plots, but they were still a little bit of the same enemy, because they realized that the king did not abandon them, and the previous rumors were all false!It's a bureau made by the government and the army!

However, the following words, as well as the part of insults that did not need to be repeated afterwards, made the morale of the newly attached army officers and soldiers drop a little bit, and it was far lower than it was at the beginning.

It turns out that the officers and soldiers have always looked down on them!The officers and soldiers were only worried about not being able to catch up and not being able to fight. They never worried about "catch up but not be able to fight".

And the official and army's initiative to publicize the whole story of Changsha's restoration of war is even more emotional.Although Zhang Xianzhong's army took Changsha very quickly before, it was because of Yin Xianmin's surrender after all, but Shen Shuren wiped out the defenders solidly and did what he said.

Zhang Xianzhong saw that something was wrong, his own morale seemed to be hit, and he quickly ordered people to scold each other, but they had no culture, and apart from greeting the eighteenth generation of their ancestors and simple cursing, they could only say "I killed so many vassal kings." , everyone in your Huguang officialdom will die! Even if you don’t die on the battlefield, you will be killed by Emperor Chongzhen Dog!”

It's a pity that Zhang Xianzhong's awareness of secrecy is obviously not as good as that of Shen Shuren, and the city leaders would scold and scold the soldiers running back and forth, and soon the location of the command center was exposed in the telescope.

Shen Shuren observed the stairs and the doorway on the left side of the tower, and there were people coming and going when they scolded each other, so he knew that Zhang Xianzhong must be directing and observing in that area.

Although he couldn't see Zhang Xianzhong directly, Shen Shuren could only take a gamble: "All the turtledove gunners are ready to shoot three rounds covering the stairs near the left door opening of the tower and the three rows of windows."

The [-] turtledove musketeers of the Shen family army immediately stepped forward to the first row, inserted the long-handled moon blade ax on the ground as a gun rack, put the barrel on it, and then aimed and fired. Counting from the moment the gun was raised, the whole process was endless more than five seconds (not counting the time the ax was inserted),
Therefore, the people at the head of the city didn't realize at all what this group of officers and soldiers who were nearly three hundred steps away were doing.

Six hundred gunshots exploded intensively within two to three seconds, and six hundred two-two-weight lead bullets flew towards the head of the city, with a total weight of 120 jin of lead bullets. One of them is suffocated.

They have fought against the government and army for 14 years, and they have never seen such a uniform and rapid concentration of firepower.

The archers and musketeers of Zhang Xianzhong's army behind the more than a dozen battlement perforations near the east corridor of the Hengzhou North Gate Tower were all harvested in an instant.

In fact, the officers and soldiers were not aiming at them at all, but who made the muskets inaccurate? Under cover shooting, these unjust dead ghosts can only blame themselves for standing too close to the king.

Compared with the soldiers behind the battlements, those hiding in the towers were much luckier.After all, [-]% of the projectiles shot towards the tower will hit stone walls or wooden pillars, and only [-]-[-]% can be shot through shooting ports, windows, and door openings.

Even so, there were still seven or eight people in the city tower who were directly shot, and even more were wounded by flying gravel and wood.

Those who were directly shot were of course killed immediately, and those who were not wearing heavy armor had a transparent hole the size of a bowl.

Those who wear iron armor, at least smash the iron armor completely through the hole, the momentum of the projectile is slightly reduced, and it is deeply embedded in the body, but it will not pass through the back and kill the people behind.

"Officer Shen Gou has so many and sharp firearms!" Everyone in Chenglou felt their heads buzzing and trembled uncontrollably.

Soon, even greater chaos struck, and a group of people rushed to rescue and screamed: "The king is injured! Heal the king quickly!"

In the chaos, it was Zhang Xianzhong who was stubborn and roared fiercely, even drew out his saber and hacked to death the most terrified guard who yelled, "Don't make a mess! I'm fine! I'm fine... Those who shout recklessly will be punished as shaking the morale of the army!"

Zhang Xianzhong bravely struggled to get up, and saw that his face was covered with blood, which seemed terrifying, but in fact, he was just looking out from the shooting window to observe the enemy's situation, and was not directly hit by the bullet.

At that time, several two-weight lead bullets hit the stone wall and window frame of his window, and the kinetic energy of the broken lead after the bullets collapsed had dropped sharply, mixed with crushed stones and sawdust, which covered half of Zhang Xianzhong's face, hitting him all over the face. Pockmarked, and one ear was cut off, but fortunately, the rest of the debris did not penetrate deep into the flesh.

Who made him want to search to see what Shen Shuren looked like, this is the price.Any leader of the enemy who wants to witness Shen Shuren's appearance with his own eyes will inevitably have such a hell of a pass.

(End of this chapter)