I'm sure of the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong!

Chapter 307 The Northern Expedition
Xuzhou.

"What? The counterfeit rebels are coming?" Jiang Zhuo, the magistrate of Xuzhou, had a face full of surprise. He ignored the official duties at hand and hurriedly climbed up the city wall to inspect.

Looking around, there are Ming troops in red clothes and armor everywhere outside the city, stretching for several miles, with magnificent momentum.

Jiang Zhuo's face was pale and his whole body was trembling, but he still managed to calm down and said: "General Guo, General Shen, now the puppet Ming army has arrived. I am a scholar and have no military skills, so I will hand over the Xuzhou city to these two generals. I hope you two can do your best!"

This Xuzhou magistrate is also an unlucky guy. He came to Xuzhou in the 51st year of Kangxi's reign and has been in office for ten consecutive years.

During his tenure, he made outstanding achievements and also presided over the compilation of "Xuzhou Prefecture Chronicles".

Originally, he should have resigned normally two years ago.However, Kangxi died suddenly, and Yongzheng succeeded to the throne in a hurry, leaving him untouched for a while.

By the time he could be transferred, Xuzhou had become a front line, and now he couldn't leave.

The Ming army has assembled four armies in the Jianghuai area, with more than [-] regular troops. Food, grass and baggage are continuously transported from the rear through the Grand Canal.

Moreover, the success of the war between Hunan and Guangxi also caused the Ming army to change its expected battle plan.

In this battle, Zhu Yijiong not only had to fight a decisive battle with the Manchus, but also took the initiative.

Previously, the First Army fought with Zhang Wenhuan at the Huai River and almost destroyed the [-] northwest frontier troops under Zhang Wenhuan.

This made the Ming army realize that the so-called elite border troops of the Manchu Qing Dynasty were nothing more than that.

More importantly, the Manchu Qing Dynasty has only now transferred troops back from the northwest.Just integrating the armies and raising food and grass, the time difference between them can completely catch the Qing army off guard.

I can also use my actions to tell the world that I, the Ming Dynasty, are back!
In order to cooperate with this decisive battle, while Zhu Yijiong was marching north in person, he issued an official edict from the Propaganda Department to the world, and published the Ming Dynasty's "Northern Expedition to the Qing Dynasty" that had been specially polished by the cabinet to everyone in the world.

The propaganda not only went through the Propaganda Department's newspapers, but also through the meticulous work of the Jin Yiwei who penetrated various places, as well as the traffickers and pawns along the road, etc.

Jiang Zhuo has even read the admonition:

"In the past, Hu and Yuan were cunning, and they stole the name of China, and their bad virtues spread all over the world. My great ancestor, Emperor Gao, stood up with his sword, and the crowd of scholars followed him to restore the district. The sun and the moon shined brightly, and it was passed down for thousands of years. He rebelled against the law, raised troops in the pond, shook the capital, and the emperor and empress died for the country. The earth collapsed and the sky collapsed, and his heart wept with blood. The loyal and righteous people in the southeast rebuilt the foundation of the country, and they used horses and horses to fight against the thieves. Why did they build captives and take advantage of the opportunity to enter? He used words to show justice, but he was ruthless. He stole my city, enslaved my people, subverted my country, and destroyed my system. The long snake sealed the hog and devoured everything. Then he made the god's son descend to the throne, and the country was splendid. , fell to the left. What a pain!"

"The time is the time when the husband rises and falls, the strength is the strength of the weak, success and failure are caused by man, and heaven is responsible for the rise and fall. The ancients said that the fire of the scorching flames can burn Kungang. Therefore, if one percent of the Xia Dynasty can restore the homeland, the three people of Chu The household is enough to destroy the Qin Dynasty; considering the size of China, the masses of the people, and the loyalty and righteousness of the loyal ministers and righteous men, it is not enough to punish the founders and captives? I don't want to accept the country's favor in this world, but feel sorry for the aliens. No one dares to hide in the deserted valley. It has been forty years since the suffering stopped. Today, people are thinking about their past and are trying to judge whether they will be able to achieve peace and prosperity."

"Focus on the solidity of mountains and rivers and the strength of armor and soldiers. It is time to conquer our emperor's way and build our capital in Han Dynasty. It is time to reward the three armies, join forces for the Northern Expedition, drink horses at the Great Wall; destroy the enemy's court, wipe out their ugly people, and make Hu Yuan's path , can be seen again today, this is the fastest. Look at the healthy children in the river, the lonely and loyal people in the mountains, and the old tunes in the Central Plains. They are all rectifying the righteous teachers to help the Xia Dynasty. This is the cause of Qi Huan's fight against the barbarians, the hard work of Jin Wenqin King, and the illustrious clan alliance. He is a tyrant today. He may be willing to fight against the enemy and resist the punishment of Yan Xing and the axe, but the crime will not be forgiven. The reason why he is so extraordinary is that the people are afraid, and everyone has the same ambition to save the country. If he dares to spread his troops in a small area, he knows the great righteousness. Two or three gentlemen should be able to figure it out."

"Lord Zhoutai's words are serious, this place is dangerous, please move to a safe place, Lord Zhoutai!" Although Guo Chanfan and Shan Wenxiu were also frightened by the Ming army stretching outside the city, they still said.

Zhang Wenhuan has been recalled by Yongzheng and is responsible for assisting Jueluo Manbao, integrating the northwest frontier army and the Eight Banners of Zhili as soon as possible, and raising the food, grass and equipment needed for the army.

Shan Wenxiu and Guo Chanfan were the Cao army generals who had followed Zhang Wenhuan to pacify the Bagua sect rebel Hou Tang in Jiangbei.

Zhang Wenhuan left, but he left them behind to garrison Xuzhou City.

Also left behind were the thousands of Cao troops and the militia and Xiangyong soldiers temporarily trained by Zhang Wenhuan in Xuzhou, which totaled about ten thousand people.

Although Jiang Zhuo was frightened, he still said: "No, I can't leave. I will advance and retreat with the soldiers here!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Guo Chanfan and Shan Wenxiu wanted to persuade him again.

"Boom boom boom!"

The Ming army's artillery camp suddenly opened fire.

Under the rumbling artillery fire, ten red cannons fired wildly at Xuzhou City.

The defenders of the Xuzhou City Wall were instantly suppressed by the firepower of the Ming army's red cannons.

Guo Chanfan realized that this was not going to work, and quickly shouted an order to his soldiers: "We also have artillery, fire quickly, fire! Counterattack!"

After receiving the order, the gunners of the Qing army bravely ran quickly from behind the parapet to the city defense forts, and then brought barrels of gunpowder to prepare the artillery counterattack.

These city defense cannons were also red-coated cannons that Zhang Wenhuan recruited craftsmen from all over during his stay in Xuzhou.

"Boom boom boom!"

"Boom boom boom!"

Fortunately, the Qing army in Xuzhou did not counterattack. This counterattack instantly attracted the firepower of the Ming army's artillery.

The artillery of the Ming army were all new cannons cast by the hollow casting method. Not only were they less likely to explode, their range was also much greater than that of red cannons of the same tonnage.

After just a few rounds of artillery fire, the Qing artillery at the top of the city was no match for them.

The red-coated cannons of the Qing army could not hit the Ming army's artillery positions at all, and although the Ming army was too far away, their hit rate was greatly reduced.

However, through intensive shelling, the Qing gunners suffered heavy casualties in just a few rounds.

"Boom boom boom!"

"Bang~Bang~~!" A gun emplacement at the head of the city suddenly exploded, but it was the Ming army's artillery shells that hit the gunpowder barrels piled around the fort.

The hot shells directly ignited the black powder in the gunpowder barrel, and a large amount of granulated black powder (granular gunpowder was already available in the Qing Dynasty) accumulated together, inducing a violent chain reaction.

Under such a violent explosion, not only the nearby Qing gunners were killed, but even the artillery was directly displaced from the gun mount by the powerful impact.

At this time, the Qing army's artillery in Xuzhou City was not only completely destroyed, but it was also on the verge of collapse.

Under the cover of artillery, a large number of Ming heavy infantry wearing plate armor pushed cloud chariots and launched an attack on Xuzhou City along the city moat bridge.

"Release the arrow! Release the arrow!"

"Shhhhhh!"

"Shhhhhh!"

Qing soldiers rained down arrows.

But let alone bows and arrows, even fire blunderbuss, shot at such a high altitude, would have a greatly reduced effect on the plate armor that almost covered the entire body of the heavy infantry of the Ming Dynasty.

If it weren't for the hammering wood, rolling stones, and golden juice, Xuzhou City would have been unable to withstand it long ago.

And under the stalemate at the top of the city, a huge cart covered with unknown layers of thick cowhide rushed to the bottom of the city in a majestic manner, braving the rain of arrows falling from the city and some rolling stones and wood.

The soldiers of the demolition battalion hiding inside worked hard and quickly to dig holes under the city wall under the cover of friendly forces.

The siege lasted less than half an hour.

The Ming army attacking the city suddenly retreated like a tide, leaving hundreds of corpses under the city, not even the cloud chariot.

Guo Chanfan, whose armor was covered in blood, was confused: "What's going on? What about the rebels..."

"Boom~~!"

"Boom...Kacha Kacha..."

First there was a loud explosion, and then a section of the city wall near the south gate of Xuzhou began to crack and sink rapidly.

"what happened?"

"It's a demonic method. The rebels used a demonic method!"

"Run!"

"..."

The Qing soldiers on the city wall were first shaken by the violent shaking and were completely unable to stand. When they regained their footing, they discovered that the ground was rapidly cracking and sinking, as terrifying as an earth dragon turning over.

These Qing soldiers wanted to escape like crazy, but it was all in vain. From the blast to the collapse of the city wall, there was not even half a minute.

These Qing soldiers wanted to climb up from the city wall that was shaking violently like an earthquake, and then immediately escape from the dangerous area. It was a complete fantasy.

As the entire city wall collapsed, those Qing soldiers who had no time to escape became corpses buried under the city wall.

In the Ming army's military formation, General Kecheng, who was riding a war horse, saw that the time had come, and immediately drew his sword and shouted: "Send the order, the whole army charges!"

"Dudududu da da da..."

The charge horn was accompanied by the sound of gongs and drums, and tens of thousands of Ming troops immediately launched a full-scale charge towards Xuzhou City.

Guo Chanfan's eyes were about to burst. He had long heard that the counterfeit rebels had a firearm that could directly destroy the city wall. At first, he thought it was just a rumor, but he didn't expect it to be so, or even so powerful.

"Quick...block the gap, don't let the rebels come in!" Guo Chanfan didn't have time to think too much, and hurriedly led his army to block the gap in the city wall.

But this is all a luxury hope. Although there are nearly [-] defenders in Xuzhou City, half of them are new soldiers trained by Zhang Wenhuan.

When the city wall was still there, these Qing soldiers could barely hold on with the help of veterans of the Cao Army.

But now even the city wall has collapsed, what the hell!
The Qing army that came up from the gap only came into contact with the Ming army that rushed over. The Qing army almost collapsed at the first touch. The defeated Qing soldiers even took up the veterans of the Cao army.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Shan Wenxiu turned around and ran away. This was not the first time he had run away.

Guo Chanfan still wanted to gather his troops to resist, but after being rushed by his own troops, let alone resisting, even the troops and horses that had barely gathered began to disperse.

The trend is over!

Looking at the Ming troops pouring in from the top of the city, Jiang Zhuo, the governor of Xuzhou, said nothing. He was silent for a moment, and then he knelt three times and kowtowed to the north.

Then he jumped down from the city wall.

(End of this chapter)