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

Chapter 882
Seeing everyone supporting him, Hu Tiande was even more excited, he said loudly: "In addition to the large number of soldiers and horses, my Dashun also has a sharp artillery battalion!"

He said: "I remember that when we attacked Tongguan, my rebel army had nearly a hundred general cannons and 150 small and medium cannons. How many are there now?...After arriving in the capital, many red barbarian cannons were captured. I remember that at Yongdingmen Thirty red cannons were seized, and hundreds of all kinds of Franglers. Especially the four-wheeled red cannon, what is it called... What is it called?"

Gao Yigong said: "Four-wheel millstone cannon."

He said: "Now my Dashun artillery battalion has 150 cannons, [-] ordinary Hongyi cannons, [-] four-wheeled Mopan cannons, and the rest are General Frang's cannons. As for ordinary small and medium-sized cannons, Not in the artillery battalion, but various car battalions have been specially formed."

After Gao Yigong was conferred the title of Marquis of Yue, besides being in charge of Shuai Biao, he was also in charge of the artillery in the camp.

Recently, there has been a tendency in Beijing to compare the strength of everyone, and Gao Yigong also took the opportunity to boast about his strength.

As the core of the Ming Dynasty, the capital naturally gave priority to pouring all resources here. This place was the first to be equipped with red barbarian cannons, and there are already 150 red barbarian cannons accumulated over the years.

After the Battle of Jinzhou, one hundred Shenwei General Cannons from the Qing Dynasty, ten Tianyou Cheering General Cannons, and dozens of Hongyi Medium and Small Cannons were seized. In the distribution after the war, fifty Shenwei General Cannons were shipped to The capital is all in the style of four-wheel millstones.

The rest were placed in Liaodong, Shanhaiguan, and various places in Ji Town, and dozens of small and medium-sized red cannons were divided among Wang Dou and others.

Daming also used Flang machine guns extensively, and built more than 1 Flang machines before and after, and naturally placed more in the capital.But at the moment, the camp has taken over the capital, and the 150 Hongyi cannons in each city and gate, fifty four-wheeled heavy artillery, and more than a thousand Frangji cannons are all owned by them.

Listening to Gao Yigong's words, everyone in the hall gasped, and then burst into uncontrollable excited discussions.

They have always been vague about their own strength, and when they went to Beijing, they were even more busy searching for pleasure. At this moment, they suddenly realized that their own strength is so huge. There are [-] cannons alone, and they are all heavy cannons such as Hongyi and Great General.

Hu Tiande's eyes flashed brightly, and he said: "Yes, the four-wheeled millstone cannon. This cannon is incredible. One cannon weighs four or five thousand catties. One cannon can hit three or four miles. It’s a cannon weighing more than ten catties.”

He said: "There are also various red cannons, many of which can hit one mile as fast as two miles. Even the general cannons, most of them can also hit one mile."

He said: "The current military formations are mostly placed one or two miles away, two or three miles away, and the farthest three or four miles away. And my Dashun's four-wheeled millstone cannon has fifty pieces, and each door can hit three or four. Here, covering their entire army formation, the Jingbian army formed an formation and forced them to attack, and they could not fight back just by being beaten! The last general said earlier that the Jingbian army would be destroyed in two days, but now it seems that it will take half a day at most."

There was another excited discussion in the hall. Liu Zongmin slapped his legs and laughed loudly: "That's right, that's right. When the time comes, the cannons will be fired and those donkeys will be killed."

Liu Fangliang recalled his experience of fighting Wang Dou. Back then, his army was in the first mile, and he didn't want Wang Dou's artillery to hit the second mile. In the end, he stood helplessly and was beaten. The army quickly collapsed. The body can resist.

When Jieshi went to battle, under the cover of strong firepower from his own side, no matter how strong the Jingbian army was, it was impossible for them to last for a long time.

However, he still reminded Hu Tiande: "Brother Hu, Wang Dou's army also has cannons, some of them can shoot very far, this must be counted."

Hu Tiande said: "What Cihou said is true. There must be cannons in Wang Dou's army, and there are even Hongyi cannons. Cihou and Qihou have said this before. But I guess it must not be as many as the capital. Even if he has a hundred, every The cannons can hit one or two miles, but they are far from being able to compare with my artillery camp in Dashun!"

He said: "I have a four-wheeled mopan cannon in Dashun, which can hit the door three or four miles away. As soon as they opened their cannons, we hit them head-to-head and knocked out their red cannons. Then our red cannons dealt with them." Their big general cannons. Big general cannons against their medium and small cannons, this is called Tian Ji horse racing."

Kong San shook his head, and Hu Tiande said enthusiastically: "Our cannons of all types can hit farther than them. No matter how strong Wang Doujun is, he can only stand and be beaten. Can this flesh and blood stop the cannons?"

He said: "Our artillery keeps hitting their army formations, hitting their artillery, and then the car battalion is forced to go. They are all small and medium-sized artillery from the Buddha Wolf machine. They can fire one or two hundred paces, which is more than enough to deal with their firecrackers. This kind of bombardment Under the circumstances, how can Wang Doubing survive?"

Li Yan also had nothing to say, according to Uncle Taiping's arrangement, the army is indeed sure to win, he felt relieved in his heart, there are still talents in the Dashun camp.

Li Zicheng kept nodding, appreciating Taiping Bo Hu Tiande even more.

Many people in the hall also looked at Hu Tiande in surprise, this is an incredible dragon.

Li Guo's eyes flashed with pride, such a character should be restrained under his own battalion.

Hu Tiande said: "Our division still has a sharp gun battalion, each of the [-] soldiers is elite, and each of them has a fine bird gun. After forming an army, they will be invincible in all battles..."

With a reserved smile on Yang Shaofan's face, he nodded at Hu Tiande.

Hu Tiande said: "So, at that time, our division's guns were used intensively and lined up in one row. The gun battalion was behind the chariot battalion, under the cover of the artillery, without talking nonsense to them, and went straight to Wang Dou's army. This is called a dignified battle. Beat Wang Dou and the others to their heart's content!"

Everyone was speechless, and Yang Shaofan nodded secretly. He participated in the Battle of Jinzhou and knew the sharpness of the long-range artillery. With the strength of the Jingbian army, he also suffered heavy casualties in front of the four-wheeled cannons of the Qing Dynasty. Their artillery was not as good as his own, so he just Can stand and be beaten.

Hu Tiande said: "This is also the reason why the last general insists on fighting in the field. If he shrinks back to the capital, he will not only lose the face of Dashun, but also lose the morale of our army. How can we give full play to the advantages of our army? Cannons cannot be used in a concentrated manner. How can a city gate with ten gates display its power? Therefore, we must fight in the wild!"

He turned to Li Yan and said, "Yihou, Hu is just talking about the facts, not against you."

Li Yan hurriedly said: "Uncle Taiping is being polite, it's all for my Dashun, and Li can save it."

In his heart, his affection for Hu Tiande increased, and he thought that this person is not only brave and strategic, but also heroic, which is really rare.

There was a lot of discussion in the hall, everyone felt that if going to war, the best strategy would be Uncle Taiping.The artillery was placed in a concentrated manner, and the firepower was concentrated to bombard the Jingbian army's formations and artillery formations.Then the chariot battalion and the gun battalion formed an array to press forward, directly attacking Wang Dou's army, and leveled them off with one blow.

Wuyang Bojin Youniu praised: "Today I know that Mr. Hu is brave and brave. Well, the artillery must be used in a concentrated manner. You can't put one door on the east and one on the west, especially not on the city wall."

Hu Tiande said in high spirits: "So, this is the reason why our army must win!"

With worry on his face, he said: "The reason why the general does not agree to stick to the city is that there is not much food in the city. The general once heard from Zehou that the capital's stock can be used for at most one month, and it may not be enough. Now, if my master sticks to the city, what will happen to the hundreds of thousands of troops when the grain and rice are exhausted?"

There was a commotion in the hall, these days they were happy in the capital, they just drank and recruited prostitutes, they didn't pay attention to the food and rice problem, Hu Tiande's words reminded them that the capital city had been eaten up by them, and it was time to find another place.

Tian Jianxiu nodded and said: "Indeed, what Uncle Taiping said is the truth, and the grain and rice in Beijing and nearby areas have been stored for less than a month, and they will be eaten for half a month at most."

Everyone in the hall was even more shocked. Has the matter reached this point?
Recently there have been rumors of people dying of starvation in central Beijing, but they don't take it seriously. Anyway, they still have food and drink, and people starve to death. What does it have to do with them?
However, if they don't think about it now, they will be hungry themselves.

Wuyang Bojin has cattle and is also worried: "The news that the general has received is that there is indeed no rice in Beijing. It is April now, and the summer grain will be harvested in May and June. I am afraid that the grain will not be able to support that time. In the past, there was still grain. , several million stones were transported from the canal, but now that the water transport has been interrupted, there is no hope in this regard.”

Hu Tiande said: "So, my army will not only go out to fight in the city, but also go out with all their strength. Not to mention the tigers rushing to the rabbits, they will use their full strength. Even Wang Dou is a well-known warrior in the Ming Dynasty. The 60 to [-] soldiers under his command should not be underestimated. So we An army of [-] to [-] troops rushed forward, firing guns and cannons, first to defeat Wang Dou with all our strength, and then to take advantage of the victory and advance westward to attack Xuanfu Town, Shanxi and Shaanxi, which also happened to solve the problem of food and drink for our army."

He finally said: "The army is going out, hundreds of thousands of people are going out together, who will be led by King Shetian? Your Majesty, there is no delay, please make a decisive decision and lead the army to conquer!"

Li Zicheng stood up abruptly, he had long wanted to send troops to divert the conflict, Hu Tiande's various arguments were in his favor, he originally wanted to send a general to the battle, but the generals had been enjoying themselves for a long time, and they had no fighting spirit, so he had to fight himself.

His recent stay in the capital has made him a little frustrated, but he is a person with a strong character, and now that the crisis is approaching, his fighting spirit has been ignited again.

Wang Dou also came well, he brought crisis but also won't make people afraid.

In recent years, all the strong troops encountered in the camp were overthrown, and all the strong cities they encountered were defeated. Especially the capital's two-day downfall gave them a strong confidence. Although Wang Dou was an extraordinary opponent, Li Zicheng gave him great attention, but he did not will be scared by it.

Uncle Taiping said it well, Dashun has a large number of people, invincible, and has sharp artillery camps, gun camps, and chariot camps. Even if Wang Dou has [-] to [-] soldiers, so what?Not to mention our own powerful four-wheeled millstone cannon, even if hundreds of thousands of them are constantly attacking, it is also like killing too many ants.

Moreover, if Wang Dou was eliminated, Remnant Ming would have no one to resist, so he would increase his prestige and return to proclaim himself emperor.Then he led his troops westward, searched and swept Xuanfu, Shanxi and other places, and brought enough food, rice and wealth to his own 10 people.

He stepped down from Bibi Dan and ordered Wang Dehua to fetch a map of the vicinity of the capital for a few young eunuchs to unfold.All the generals also surrounded them. According to various analysis, it is indeed necessary to send troops, but it's okay, the capital has been robbed, and it happened to go to Xuanfu Shanxi after defeating Wang Dou.

The map in front of me is still a bit abstract, but the general proportion is correct, and there are detailed names of nearby places, mountains, rivers and lakes, etc.After all, it is the most advanced military map of Ming Dynasty. It is countless times better than the maps Li Zicheng and others have seen before, which made them praise from time to time.

Everyone looked at the map carefully, and combined with Liu Zeqing's statement, Wang Doufeng had already occupied Changping, and he should also send people to occupy Chaozong Bridge and Anji Bridge, which must pass through the Great Wall to the capital.Tangjialing was next, and Wang Dou's forward army might also send people to occupy and garrison it.

They looked at the map, and before the generals had cleared their minds, Hu Tiande said decisively: "My lord, the first step of our division is to quickly occupy Kunming Lake and Wengshan Lake for the drinking water of our hundreds of thousands of troops. .”

He said: "It's not like there are wells everywhere in the city. From Deshengmen to the north, there is no river within 60 miles. There is only a shallow and narrow Qinghe source in Qinghedian. But there is little water. The general has seen it before. Wide There are only [-] steps, and the amount of water is too small, far from enough to drink for the five or six million people in our army."

He said: "So the second lake must be occupied, and our division must move quickly, otherwise it will be occupied by Wang Doujun, and my army of 60 to [-] will go out to fight in the city. Where will we go to fetch water for food and drink?"

Everyone was surprised. Indeed, the second lake is very important. If it is occupied by the Jingbian army, the field army can only use water from the capital dozens of miles away. How much trouble will it be?Even if there may be some wells and pools in the nearby villages, it is still not enough to meet the needs of an army of 60 to [-].

Li Zicheng glanced at Hu Tiande admiringly again, at this time Li Guo murmured: "So when we dispatch our army, we must occupy Kunming Lake and Wengshan Lake, Dongshengling along this line, and Qinghedian will also be occupied... and then move forward Ten miles is Tangjialing, which seems to be a very favorable location, so it should be occupied."

Hu Tiande was startled, at this moment, the unpleasant sound of Ruo Ruo's fingernails scratching on the iron plate was Wuyang Bojin Youniu.

He said: "Marquis Bo is really clever, and he can see the terrain of Tangjialing at a glance. It's just that I am worried that the best water source has been occupied by my army, and the Jingbian army has no geographical advantage. Will it not go in here, or even retreat? To Changping?"

He was full of worry: "Really, do you want my army to follow?"

There was a look of worry on his fleshy face, which looked rather weird.

Li Guo was startled, looking at him with displeasure, Liu Fangliang said: "It's better not to be too greedy, my teacher already has Kunming Lake and Wengshan Lake, although Dongshengling on this line is shorter than Tangjialing, but it is nearby The source of water is convenient. There is Guangji Bridge at Qinghedian, which leads to the capital along the official road. The general thought that he should set up camp here, let the Jingbian army occupy Tangjialing, and then the two armies will converge. A battle of ten li between the two mountains."

He naturally supported his general, Jin Youniu, and Li Zicheng nodded his head because of his strategic plan. Wuyang Bojin Youniu's worries were also his worries.If so, the Jingbian army retreated to the Shahe River, and even retreated to Changping, should his army follow up?
Sure enough, he followed up, and his food and water sources were supplemented, all of which were pulled away.

As Liu Fangliang said, the ten-mile battle between these two mountains is the best.

Everyone in the hall also expressed their own opinions, and basically agreed with Liu Fangliang's strategy, especially a few heavyweights, such as Liu Zongmin, Yuan Zongdi, Liu Xiyao and others.They think that Liu Fangliang's strategy is very safe, and they cannot have both fish and bear's paws. It is unrealistic to want to have water and high mountains at the same time.

Li Yan listened quietly to the speeches of the generals, and heard their excited words that after defeating Wang Dou, they went to Xuanfu Town to make a fortune. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart, they have occupied the capital, and they are still hunting food everywhere like bandits. How can this be a new dynasty? meteorological?
During this time, he proposed whether to wait for a few days to find out the situation of the Jingbian army, or to send more troops to guard the capital, especially the half of the old battalion.But it was opposed by many people. For example, Hu Tiande said that "a divided army will make you weak", and Jin Youniu said that Jing's frontier army should not be underestimated.

There are also many earls in the battalion, and the viscount said that this is the battle of Dashun's national destiny, so how can they not come out with all their strength?
Li Zicheng was also somewhat displeased with Li Yan. He wanted to dispel all the generals, especially the generals of the old battalion, who wanted to enjoy themselves in this battle.Half of the old battalion soldiers stayed behind, not only weakened the fighting power ahead, but also the generals of various systems might scramble to stay behind, which he didn't want to see.

There are also opinions and strategies from civil officials, among which Song Qijiao, Zhang Linran and others naturally do not have their share of speech.After Gu Junen offered his plan to attack Shaanxi, he was marginalized long ago.Li Zicheng's most important advisers are Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance.

However, these two people are either gods or down-and-out literati. They have a way of being cynical. What to say, they have no knowledge, and they lack the vision to control the overall situation.Otherwise, with Li Zicheng's emphasis on them, his strategy in history would not be so short-sighted.

So Song Xiance uttered a lot of strange terms and passed, Niu Jinxing suggested to send an envoy to make Wang Dou surrender with a three-inch tongue?

Although Li Zicheng thought the move was unlikely, Wang Dou rejected his offer early on. Now that he has a crown prince in his hands, he should be made a Duke. What can he do?Could it be that he was crowned king?He Li Zicheng himself is just the king of Shun.

If you want to surrender Wang Dou, you have already surrendered, but you can also try.

Finally, the strategy was decided, Li Zicheng looked at Cihou Liu Fangliang, and said seriously: "Brother Liu, Wang Doubing has already occupied Changping, and he will go south soon. If you just said, you immediately select the elite cavalry soldiers from the left battalion and rush to the third Deploy defenses at Qinghedian, Dongshengling and other places ten miles away. In particular, Kunming Lake and Wengshan Lake must be occupied first, and the Jingbian army must not be allowed to occupy the second lake. Especially not let them go south, you must defend the front line of Qinghedian. "

Liu Fangliang took the order and said, "Yes, Heavenly King."

He doesn't want to fight in his heart, how comfortable is it to stay in the capital?But just now, they analyzed that they needed to send troops, and his troops were stationed at Deshengmen and Xizhimen. If they wanted to go to war, it was indeed his troops who were the fastest.

Li Zicheng said to Liu Xiyao again: "Marquis Huai, you also go to order troops immediately, and be ready to meet Marquis Ci at any time."

He arranged things calmly, and seemed to have regained his former style of commanding the army. Seeing his stern expression, Liu Xiyao's heart trembled, and he quickly accepted the order and said yes.

Li Zicheng said to Tian Jianxiu again: "Marquis Ze, you lead [-] troops from the headquarters, as well as some officers and soldiers from the original Beijing camp and [-] troops from other camps, who are equal to Niu Cheng and stayed in the capital. Take care of the logistics and supply the army with food and grass."

Tian Jianxiu quickly took the order.

Li Zicheng looked at everyone and said: "The officers and generals of the battalion also need to go back and collect troops. Tomorrow, I will go to Qinghedian with the king. You still need to tell the generals of the foreign battalion under your command that they will be in Tongzhou, Liangxiang, and Fangshan. The troops in Xianghe and other places. All the troops are limited to three days. Within three days, all the troops will arrive at Qinghedian, and those who have not arrived at the official will be executed!"

The hearts of all the generals froze, even Liu Zongmin should be possessed now.

Li Zicheng finally said coldly: "In order to prevent the tragedy of Changping, when we go out tomorrow, we will kill all the vassal kings in the capital, ministers of honor and honor, cabinet members, and officials of Qi Wan, all above the command, and the officials of Jinyitang! Allotment to soldiers."

"The big and small officials in Beijing, draw three and one, kill!"

There was no sound in the hall, and there was nothing but silence.

(End of this chapter)