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

Chapter 318 Henan Battlefield
"Boom boom boom!"

Dozens of artillery pieces from the Ming army were constantly bombarding the city wall of Yanjin County.

The entire city wall shook violently under the bombardment of cannons. No Qing soldiers dared to stand on the wall, and everyone hid behind the female wall.

That's it, it's not safe.

It's just a county town, and the female wall may not even be able to block ordinary artillery.

"Boom... bang... click, click, click!"

However, a shell fired from a long-range heavy artillery hit the city wall and directly opened a clearly visible crack on that section of the city wall.

It’s only been half a day!
"How is this possible? Why are the artillery of the counterfeit rebels so powerful?" Zhou Xie's face was horrified.

Fang Yanqing on the side also looked ugly.

The artillery of the Ming army was cast using the latest hollow cannon casting method. This technology had not even been discovered by European colonists.

Cannons cast in this way not only have a longer range, but are also more resistant to chamber pressure and gunpowder.

This means that the Ming army can finally use sugar gunpowder in artillery. The shells fired in this way not only have a longer range, but are also more powerful.

Of course, no matter how powerful it is, it can blast a crack in the city wall in half a day. This is purely because the quality of the city wall in Yanjin County is too poor.

As early as 20 years ago, the city wall in Yanjin County collapsed due to disrepair.The current city wall was rebuilt with the help of the then county magistrate who took the lead in donating funds and then raised funds to rebuild it.

But the quality of this kind of city wall renovated with private funding can only be described as worrying.

Because even the county magistrate has spent money on this, and he is not a local, he must get some "compensation".

Since the county magistrate has taken it, the people below must also take it.

If you don't take it, wouldn't you be giving face to the county magistrate?
Moreover, the salary in the Kangxi Dynasty was extremely low, basically compared to Qian Ming, and was only a little higher.

Otherwise, Yongzheng would not have set up a Yonglian Yin (Yanglianyin is ten to a hundred times the salary of officials).

Fang Yanqing and Zhou Xie planned to defend Yanjin County and send dead soldiers out of the city to ask for help before they could be implemented, and they declared bankruptcy.

On the first day, the city wall of Yanjin County was blasted open.

At this rate, within three days, the entire city wall would probably be destroyed by Ming army artillery.

Moreover, even if the bombardment does not collapse in three days, Yanjin County is the transfer point for Kaifeng's army food route.

Even if this place is besieged for only three days, the entire food route will be cut off.

There are a full 15 troops on the Kaifeng front line, including nearly one-third of the cavalry.

The number of people eating horse chews every day adds up to an astronomical figure.

Not to mention three days, even one day without food would cause a lot of trouble.

Fang Yanqing was already worried: "General Zhou, what should we do? If the rebel army continues to siege the city and bombard it, the morale of the army will not be lost, and the supply of military supplies to the front line will be cut off. The emperor's side..."

Zhou Xie was also horrified, thinking about it, and said: "Although the puppet Ming army was attacking the city, they did not dispatch infantry, only artillery. Presumably they were afraid of casualties and wanted to use artillery to blast open the city wall. Take advantage of this time, when Quickly send dead soldiers to break out and ask for help!"

Fang Yanqing was quite worried: "Asking for help now...is it really useful?"

Zhou Xie shouted sternly: "If we don't send for help, then when the city is destroyed, I will have to choose a decent way to die!"

As soon as he heard that he was going to die, Fang Yanqing suddenly came to his senses and nodded repeatedly.

However, dead soldiers are not so easy to find, especially when the Ming army outside the city is under heavy artillery fire, and its troop strength is several times that of the city.

Even the rumor that "Pseudo-Ming is invincible" has been spread in the city unintentionally.

This was not caused by careful work, but simply by the gentry and common people in the city connecting with each other, spreading rumors under the pressure of the Qing soldiers.

It was Zhou Xie who came forward in person to coerce and induce, and Fang Yanqing took out real money from the official warehouse, and finally selected three dead soldiers.

However, these three dead men were determined to die and had just left the city with letters asking for help.

Before they had run far, the Ming cavalry swarmed up.

The five thousand Ming cavalry did not move, and only one hundred cavalry were dispatched to surround them.

These three dead men were all frightened in an instant and lost all determination to die.

"Don't... don't kill me! I am willing to surrender, I am willing to surrender!"

Before the three of them could separate, they jumped off their horses and lay on the ground begging for mercy.

On the city wall, Fang Yanqing and Zhou Xie looked livid.

The Ming cavalry moved so fast that the three dead soldiers did not even run out of sight of the city wall.

Not only Fang Yanqing and Zhou Xie saw it, but also the other Qing soldiers in Yanjin County.

Military morale dropped again.

If these Qing soldiers were not under the banner of the Han army and knew that there would be no good outcome if they surrendered, they might have already surrendered.

Yanjin County was besieged by a surprise attack by the Ming army, and the morale of the army was fluctuating. Yang Gong outside the city was very relaxed.

Especially after catching the three dead soldiers, Yang Gong still had time to divide his troops and go to attack Yangwu County.

We do not want to capture Yangwu County, but we must capture the dock and ferry there. …

Guide Mansion.

"Boom boom boom!"

"Boom boom boom!"

The artillery of the Qing army was continuously firing and bombarding with the artillery of the Ming army.

"Boom...boom!"

From time to time, the artillery in the Qing army's fort was hit by the Ming army's artillery shells. Fortunately, the fort was destroyed by the artillery shells.

Unlucky enough, the hot shell directly hit the powder keg behind the fort.The violent explosion not only destroyed the fort, but also swallowed up the gunner.

Among them, there are even occasionally one or two that exploded due to continuous firing.

Scenes like this would appear from time to time in the Qing artillery positions.

In comparison, the Ming army's artillery losses were extremely small.

The artillery of the Ming army was inherently condescending, and they were all new cannons cast using the hollow cannon casting method. Their range and power were far greater than the red cannons of the Qing Dynasty.

After several days of fierce attacks, excluding the siege troops, the Manchu and Qing artillery suffered the heaviest casualties.

If it weren't for the 15 Manchu army and the large number of artillery and artillery, they might have been unable to support it.

"Wow~~"

"Run!"

"..."

Accompanied by noisy shouts from the front line, the Qing army attacking the city on this day finally could not withstand the casualties and retreated like a tide again.

The huge city of Guide was like an insurmountable chasm in front of the Qing army.

Qing army camp.

Yongzheng Yujia was sitting in the main seat, and all the military and civil servants were present.

Jiang Tingxi was the first to speak out: "General Zhang, our 15-strong army is approaching the city. Why haven't we conquered Guidefu City for so many days? Could it be that the general deliberately delayed it?"

Historically, this man, like Zhang Tingyu, was an old minister and favorite of Yongzheng.Since Yongzheng's accession to the throne, he has been on a steady rise.

In the sixth year of Yongzheng's reign, he was promoted to bachelor of Wenhua Palace.

In the seventh year, the prince and tutor were added.

In eight years, he was awarded the first-class Adaha title (Captain of light carriages, the next level of baron...a bit tricky), and he was promised to be hereditary.

During the Yongzheng Dynasty, the rewards Jiang Tingxi received were second only to Zhang Tingyu.

Even his brother's embezzlement of 200 million taels of official silver was difficult to shake Yongzheng's favor.

Yongzheng commented on him: "He worked hard and diligently, and his achievements have a virtuous voice."

As a favorite of Yongzheng, Jiang Tingxi naturally had high political EQ.Even if he had an idea, he would not attack the emperor directly.

This is obviously because Yongzheng has doubts and it is not convenient to say.

Zhang Wenhuan understood and hurriedly apologized: "Your Majesty, please calm down. It's not because the old minister deliberately delayed it, but because the walls of Guide Mansion are thick and the weapons used to counter thieves are really sharp. Although 'all invincible' is a rumor, it is not groundless. Our army had no way to deal with it, so we could only attack the city with force. In this way, we continued to attack the city for several days without achieving any success. However, if we defend it for a long time, we will lose it. As long as we stay with the old minister for a few more days, Guidefu City will be destroyed. By then, Fake Ming and Zhu Ni will have no escape."

In fact, Zhang Wenhuan still had something to say, that is, the Qing army seemed to have more troops, more than twice that of the Ming army.

But at least one-third of the cavalry must be removed, and the cavalry cannot participate in the siege.

During the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, the number of cavalry was the largest in history.During the San Francisco period, it is recorded that Kangxi raised 80 troops, of which nearly 30 were cavalry.

Such a terrifying foot-horse ratio is almost unimaginable.

Zhang Wenhuan's current plan is to attack with infantry to forcefully break the city.

As long as Guide City is broken, the [-] Manchu cavalry waiting at the rear can attack at any time to defeat these pseudo-Ming thieves who have no city to defend.

With ships in the south and horses in the north, the cavalry of the Ming army could not defeat the cavalry of the Qing Dynasty.

Without the advantage of the city, no matter how "invincible" it is, the [-] elite cavalry will be invincible.

Real wars are often decided by hard power. As long as the military strength is strong enough, all conspiracies and tricks are in vain.

Yong Zheng nodded: "In that case, then this battle will be handed over to Zhang Qing!"

Zhang Wenhuan sighed in relief: "Old minister, thank you, Your Majesty!"

Zhang Tingyu: "Your Majesty, since the pseudo-Ming firearms are so sharp, I think that after this war is over, they may be imitated and promoted."

Yong Zheng was silent for a moment: "...Yes."

　Yongzheng's ability to accept firearms was much better than that of Kangxi and Qianlong.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)