A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 820 Countermeasures
On May [-]th, Chuangying suddenly ordered the entire front to stop fighting. At this time, Li Zicheng's old battalion had moved from Shapo to Niutouyuan. Here, the view is wide. You can overlook the Yellow River in the north, Dongyuan in the south, and Yuanwanggou in the west. , You can even see the movement of Tongguan City, condescending, and controlling the overall situation.

There are some military forts and fortresses abandoned by the Ming army on Niutouyuan. One of the forts called Lijiazhuang has been used as Li Zicheng's handsome camp, and a temple inside has been used as a Xingyuan.

The temple is quite large, surrounded by tall pagoda trees with luxuriant branches and leaves, which brings coolness to the hot summer.

However, the atmosphere in the temple was dull at this time, and no one in the hall said a word when the hall was full.

Gu Junen bit his lower lip, glanced at Niu Jinxing, who was expressionless but with a sneer in his eyes, and said with a forced smile: "It is estimated that the artillery of our army will arrive today. It can break through the defense line of the Ming army in one fell swoop."

There was still an embarrassing silence in the hall. After a long time, Li Guo frowned and said, "That's how you say it, so why do you feel that you are still not sure?"

He glanced at Gu Junen, with a hint of fierceness in his eyes: "Gu Zong, the strategy you presented is very problematic, attacking Shaanxi... too many brothers in my Laozi's camp died."

Liu Xiyao then shook his head and sighed: "Yes, the defenders are tenacious, the defense line is dangerous, it is really difficult to break into, even if there is artillery, it will not help."

After he was appointed as the commanding general, he tried his best to express himself on many occasions. These days, he also worked hard to attack Yuanwanggou, but the facts dealt him a heavy blow and made him a little dejected.

In charge of the soldiers and horses of the old battalion, Shuai Biaozheng's mighty General Gao Yigong also said: "Tongguan's geographical advantage is not good for our rebel army. Just a single Yuanwang Ditch has lost so many troops and horses. When will we fight next... It seems to be still Prime Minister Niu's strategy of attacking Beizhi and Shandong, and then going straight to the capital is more reliable, those places are flat and the soldiers are weak, so it is very convenient for our army to attack."

Tian Jianxiu sighed: "The army can't stay in Tongguan for a long time. The tens of thousands of people eat horses and chews. The supply of food and grass is really difficult! And the wilderness is deserted, and it is getting more and more difficult for the brothers... The ditches are short of water. 10 people had to go to the Yellow River to carry drinking water, and the soldiers really complained."

He didn't add insult to injury, but he was telling the truth.

All the generals in the camp talked to you and me, complaining non-stop, and their voices were full of frustration.

The difficulty of attacking Tongguan City is beyond everyone's expectations. It has been ten days since Tongguan was reached, but not even a ditch has been attacked, and too many troops have been lost in front of this ditch.

The battle became a fierce tug-of-war of you coming and going, each battalion fell into continuous downsizing, the first attack on Yuanwanggou starved people killed and injured more than [-], and then the battalions continued to attack, these days there were more than [-] casualties, already It is about to approach the very dangerous high-voltage line with [-]% casualties.

However, even with so many casualties, victory is still far away. The hungry people are fine, but the main attacking foreign battalion complains.Although their old battalion can supervise the suppression, there is actually a bottom line, and the effect is getting worse and worse.

Everyone in the camp was at a loss. It is not uncommon for the defenders in Yuanwanggou to be so brave, such as Cao Wang's new army in the past.But they returned bravely because they were isolated and helpless, and the terrain was not so dangerous, so their crowd tactics were naturally unfavorable.

But in the situation like this one, the terrain is dangerous and the defenders are tenacious, and they can still get a steady stream of personnel and material support. This is the first time they have encountered it, so today they have to stop the attack and discuss further adjustments.

Gu Junen secretly hated, at that time you were in favor of fighting in Shaanxi, but now that there is a small setback, everyone turns their faces and refuses to recognize anyone, what a idiot!

But there is no way, it is his strategy to attack Shaanxi, he must stick to his own opinion, otherwise his position in King Chuang's heart will be greatly reduced in the future.

Niu Jinxing still had no expression on his face, but he kept sneering in his heart, telling you to fight Shaanxi, now you know what it feels like?At the same time, he suddenly felt a bit of sadness in his heart. At that time, Gu Junen offered a plan to attack Qin Chuan, which was supported by all the generals in the camp. Now that there is a slight setback, he is abandoned like a piece of paper.

Among the major generals, only Liu Zongmin didn't speak. The general sentinel, Lord Liu, a highly respected man in the camp, rubbed his cheeks thoughtfully.He usually has a violent temper, but now he appeared calm. He turned to Li Zicheng, and although he spoke softly, it sounded like thunder in the ears of others: "What does King Chuang mean? My old Liu wants to hear."

Gu Junen also looked at Li Zicheng eagerly, and he couldn't give up the strategy of attacking Shaanxi.

Li Zicheng sighed: "When the battle has reached this point, how can we just give up? But how to overcome the ditch, we need to carefully formulate a charter...Gu Zong, tell me."

Liu Zongmin slapped his thighs loudly: "That's enough. King Chuang has this determination, and my old Liu supports it! Don't be afraid of death. For the great cause of my rebel army, what is it to die? There are not enough hungry people, just go and catch them. "

There was a hint of blood in his bold tone. Indeed, to Liu Zongmin, who was used to seeing mountains of corpses and seas of blood, crawling out of the pile of dead people, what was death and murder?When he and Li Zicheng were trapped in the mountains, because he believed that Li Zicheng survived a catastrophe and would achieve a great cause, he killed his wife and vowed to follow him.

You can kill your wife for a great cause, and you don't care if you kill some irrelevant people.

Everyone in the camp cheered and shouted strangely: "Master Liu is proud."

"As expected of Master Liu, the Chief Inspector, you are so heroic!"

Li Zicheng also didn't know whether to laugh or cry, pointed at him and said, "Jiexuan, you have this temper."

Gu Junen watched everyone in the camp with a smiling face finish laughing. He collected himself and said, "The only way out now is to put in artillery... It just so happens that our teacher's artillery is about to arrive... The students are also looking at the south end of the ditch. The gully is gentle and the bottom is wide, just when the artillery is pulled in close and bombards their low wall. No matter how brave the new army is, they are still flesh and blood, and they will definitely be able to break through!"

Liu Xiyao frowned and said, "The officers and soldiers also have cannons. They are erected high on the plateau. Every time our rebel army gathers, they are blown away by them. It is really sharp. The general is afraid that my cannons will be transported up. They will bombard the cannons before they get close. broken."

Everyone in the battalion also shook their heads. Either they didn't know the situation at the southern end of Yuanwanggou, or because the artillery of the officers and soldiers was so powerful that they couldn't deploy troops at all, otherwise why would they attack other places in Yuanwanggou?Concentrated forces have already attacked from the southern end of Yuanwanggou, this Gu Junen...

Seeing everyone's questioning eyes, Gu Junen was calm and unhurried. He smiled and said with confidence: "This is indeed the truth, but the students watched the battle continuously and found that the Ming army's artillery on the opposite plateau was covered with earthbags and baskets, which seemed to be able to block the artillery. son!"

When the clouds and mists were lifted and the sky was clear, everyone who entered the camp suddenly realized, Liu Zongmin slapped his thigh again: "Why didn't my old Liu think of it? It seems that when we attacked Luoyang, my rebel army piled up a lot of earth bags next to the artillery. Covering, the protection was quite effective at that time, the Ming army artillery at the top of the city slammed, most of them were blocked by earth bags!"

Li Guo shouted: "Let the hungry people pile up the soil and pile up the soil bags and baskets at the bottom of the ditch, so that they won't be afraid of the officers and soldiers' artillery fire."

Yang Shaofan, who had been silent all this time, said at this time: "You can use a dirt truck!"

Seeing everyone's surprise, he said: "The last general once fought against the Tartars. At that time, their artillery was also very sharp. Later, the officers and soldiers used earthen carts and put mud bags and soil baskets on the carts. The anti-cannon effect was very good. During the battle of Zhuxian Town, the Ming army also used earthen trucks to defend against artillery."

The people were even more delighted and praised, this dirt cart is indeed better than piled up with mudbags and baskets at the bottom of the ditch, because it is dead, but it is alive.

Soon everyone came up with a series of applications, how to assemble and use this earth truck.Everyone in the camp may be short-sighted in strategy, but they are absolutely unambiguous in tactics. They spend at least 360 days fighting [-] days a year, and they have extremely rich experience in various battlefields.

Gu Junen smiled and said: "General Yang wants to go deeper than the students... It is true that this earthen truck is good. The student's strategy is to use the earthen truck to cover the artillery, pull it to the range, and bombard their low wall defenders. Then there are several layers of earth chariots, cover the musketeers and archers, and bombard them within a hundred paces, wait for them to suffer heavy casualties, and then attack with powerful troops!"

He explained in detail: "The students asked the soldiers carefully, and the cliffs over there are relatively short, and the trenches don't seem to be very wide, so there is no need to fill the trenches with soil. The hungry people can be ordered to bring more short wooden ladders. After the bombardment by the gunmen, the hungry people will immediately After rushing out, the wooden boards are put on, and countless city ladders are erected, the defenders are naturally in a hurry, and the defense line can be broken!"

He thought for a while, and then said: "Of course, we can also let a small number of hungry people carry soil bags to fill the trenches to attract the firepower of the defenders, and our army can also take the opportunity to shoot and kill the enemy. After all, their low walls are built on the cliffs, high above, we Shooting from the front will not hinder the hungry people in front. If the defenders ignore the hungry people, they can also take the opportunity to fill in the trenches, so that the city ladder can be erected in time."

He finally said: "In order to ensure the attack and defense, the students please order General Yang's battalion to go out to fight. When the time comes for a surprise attack, King Chuang also asks King Chuang to send out elite soldiers from the old battalion!"

Having said that, he got up and gave a deep salute.

The hall was quiet, each general looked at Gu Junen, then at Li Chuangwang, the battle has been fought so far, do you need to join the old camp?

Li Zicheng was thinking deeply. He tapped his finger on the chair next to him. Gu Junen waited anxiously. The old battalion is the foundation of breaking into the camp. Although the battle in Yuanwanggou is fierce these days, the soldiers and horses of the old battalion have been just supervising the battle and have not been involved in the real battle. .

Now he suggested joining the old battalion that King Chuang regarded as fundamental to join the battle. Gu Junen was under great pressure on how Li Chuang would decide.

Yang Shaofan pondered, and occasionally glanced at Gu Junen. At this time, Niu Jinxing suddenly said quietly: "Gu's strategy is naturally good, and I don't think that Yuanwanggou will not be able to attack in the end. But you also need to understand that Yuanwanggou Wanggou is only the first line of Tongguan defense line of Sun Thief. Even if we attack Yuanwanggou and enter Nanyuan, there is forbidden ditch there, which is higher and deeper than Yuanwanggou, and there is a solid Twelve-linked city above it. Even if we attack forbidden ditch , there is Xiyuan, the castle is everywhere, and I don’t know how many people will die in the end... Even if these two places are captured and the entire Tongguan City is surrounded, how long will it take? Tongguan has not yet fallen, can our army enter the pass without worry? This is no different than Henan, where one map is flat and the other is flat. If Sun Chuanting accidentally rushed out of the city, the entire back road might be cut off! King Chuang, generals, don’t be careless!"

Niu Jinxing's words surprised everyone, and also painted a hopeless prospect for everyone.

Gu Junen's face was livid, but he had nothing to say. In the past, he would have sneered at Niu Jinxing's alarmist words.But the hard facts were in front of him. After these days of bloody battles against Yuanwanggou, he had no confidence in whether the Chuang army could capture Tongguan.

He could only look at Li Zicheng expectantly, hoping that he would follow his advice.

Finally Li Zicheng made up his mind, and he solemnly said: "Just follow the strategy, and after the artillery arrives, our army will storm the southern end of Yuanwanggou!"

Seeing that Li Guo seemed to want to say something, he glared and said, "I've made up my mind, don't need to say more!"

But he thought about it, and it seemed that he was still a little uneasy deep in his heart. He didn't say a word to the side, his eyes seemed to be closed but not closed, and he sat upright and meditated. War is bad or good."

Song Xiance, who looked like a magic stick, opened his eyes suddenly, and a cold light shone in his pair of narrow eyes.

Li Guo whispered excitedly: "The divination is done."

The rest of the generals also craned their necks to look, with anticipation and awe in their eyes.

(End of this chapter)