scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 243

In the early morning of the eighteenth day of the 12th year of Kang Mazi in the Qing Dynasty, when the sky was twilight, almost at the same time as the dust of the Hanyang Wharf battle had settled, the old traitor Wu also led a large group of important civil servants and generals of the Wu army to the Luoshan camp of the Qing army. Looking across the river at Ruxikou in Linxiang, the Wu army flag array was set up here, and he personally commanded the crucial Luoshan battle.

It was also at this time that the Luoshan Qing army finally discovered the sudden arrival of the main force of the Wu army, and they cursed the old man Wu for being despicable, shameless and obscene. The cavalry hurried out of the battalion to assemble, and rushed to the river bank to fill the line of defense; the navy rushed up and down the warships, sailed and rowed to stand on the pier, and lined up on the river crossing route to prevent the Wu army from crossing the river; Tuhai, Chani and Yang The generals of the Qing army, such as Jie, rushed to the ferry to set up the flag array, while roaring furiously, "Where are the scouts? What about the secret work? What are you doing for food? Why did the old thief Wu Sangui come to Luoshan himself and report to us?"

"Back to Commander, this is already the fastest speed." Second-class Adahaha Fan Enei, the former general of Luoshan and now in charge of scouting the enemy situation in Luoshan for Tuhai, replied with a sad face: "Our scouts found Wu in Qinggang. The main force of the dog suddenly went north, and rushed to Luoshan immediately to report back, but Wugou's Yuezhou garrison suddenly closed the big and small gates, and no one was allowed to pass through. Our scouts managed to detour to the edge of the Yangtze River and came back here. They came to report, but as soon as their front feet entered the camp, Wu Gou's forward feet reached the opposite bank."

"Then what about our secret work?" Tu Hai roared: "What about the secret work we sent to Changsha? The main force of the old thief Wu Sangui sent troops from Guiyi, no matter how fast it was, it would have to be dispatched the day before yesterday evening. No one from Xizuo came to call the police?"

"Well, the last general doesn't know about this." E Nei's expression was even more mournful, and he replied: "The dozen or so secret agents sent by the last general to Guiyi have not returned yet. It seems that they have either been arrested or Killed."

"Trash! Idiot!" Tuhai roared, and then roared again: "Now I don't bother to argue with you, and immediately take your army to Jiangxin Island, where they will guard the throat of Wugou crossing the river, keep it, I will spare you You won't die! If you can't keep it, don't come back, and I will settle the old and new scores with you when I come back!"

"Zha, Zha." E'nei repeatedly agreed, rushed back to the immediate team, led his troops to board the ship, and rushed to Jiangxin Island, which guards the throat of the river, to cooperate with the defenders on the island to consolidate the defense here.

The Qing army hurriedly arranged defenses on the north bank, while the main force of the Wu army, which was well prepared in advance, arranged an unhurried attack on the south bank of the Yangtze River. The large and small artillery moved from the Hukou Fort was placed in place, installed and debugged, and the dock was urgently reinforced and a temporary dock was built.In addition, there is also the Wu Jun navy who has been training troops in Dongting Lake for nearly a year under the cover of the fort. Next, drive to Luoshan Ferry to listen.

Let me introduce the specific military strength of the enemy and us. The Qing army has a garrison of 2 people in Luoshan, including more than 8000 sailors. There are more than [-] sand-washing boats suitable for carrying troops and guns. They are flexible and fast birds. There are more than [-] boats and thunder boats each, more than [-] small warships such as bluff boats and sentry boats, and hundreds or thousands of small boats and ordinary civilian boats and fishing boats. The most important thing is the family background of the navy.In addition, the Qing army has nearly a hundred artillery pieces of various sizes, more than [-]% of which are installed on sand-washing boats, bird boats, and thunder boats, and their combat effectiveness is quite powerful.

On Wu's side, Yuezhou's original 2000 garrisons were mobilized almost in full force, and Wu Jun's [-] troops secretly infiltrated into Yuezhou's assembly, plus the [-] troops brought by Wu's old traitor from Changsha Guiyi. The main force of infantry and cavalry is more than double that of the Qing army, reaching more than [-], of which nearly [-] are newly built naval forces.However, most of Wu’s sailors are either Yunnan-Guizhou landlubbers who have only been training on the water for a year, or fishermen from the Yangtze River who have never been on the battlefield. Only the Qing army’s sailors who surrendered before have less than [-] people who have real water warfare experience. Although the number is superior , but its combat effectiveness is obviously inferior to that of the Qing army navy.

In terms of warships, because the Wu Jun Navy is newly formed, the old traitor Wu, who received technical support from the Taiwan Navy, decided to use all medium-sized bird ships as the main warships, with a total of 35 ships.This kind of bird boat from the sea navigation technology is named because the bow is shaped like a bird's beak. It has great advantages in wind and wave resistance and surface warfare, but the disadvantage is that the carrying capacity is not as good as the Qing army's main water warfare sand washing boat, and it is not suitable for carrying troops. Landing operations, and the old traitor Wu did not intend to use this kind of warship to transport troops, but hoped that this fleet could compete with the Qing army navy on the water, so as to cover ordinary civilian ships to transport troops across the river.

(Note: The information on the warships of the Wu army comes from the "Pingdian General Record", which also records that after the death of the traitor Wu, this Wu army fleet surrendered to Miqing under the leadership of Lord Wei's good friend Lin Xingzhu, and helped Miqing control Budaikou of Dongting Lake cut off the grain road of Wu Jun in Yuezhou, causing Yuezhou to fall.)
In addition, the Wu army also had more than [-] warships of the Qing army's navy when they surrendered to the Wu army, Li Guozhu, the general of Yuezhou who volunteered to serve as the internal response of the Wu army, and various large and small civilian boats and fish that were recruited or forcibly robbed. There are more than [-] ships. These civilian ships will not only undertake the important task of carrying the soldiers of the Wu army across the river, but also take on the task of charging when necessary. Driven by the soldiers of the Wu army who dare to die, they will charge towards the warships of the Qing army loaded with explosives, and die together with the warships of the Qing army. ——Such an obscene and vicious idea was naturally created by our fat man Lu Yifeng.

As for artillery and firearms, it is completely dominated by the Wu army. Among them, only the Hongyi cannon with a maximum range of ten miles, the Wu army has more than 180 participating in the battle, and there are more than 35 child and mother cannons and [-]-pound bronze howitzers. Each of the [-] bird ships is equipped with two such light guns, forty rockets, countless grenades and incendiary bombs thrown - and can be replenished on the spot, which has a huge advantage in firepower.However, the Qing army was also equipped with more than [-] continuous fire guns, which Wu Jun had never seen before. At the same time, the newly equipped firing pin guns on Wu Jun's side had never been known to the Qing army, so when it came time for the gun battle, it was still unknown. We have to test which of these two new muskets is more practical and which one is more powerful.

After introducing the comparison of the troops, warships and weapons of the two sides, let’s talk about the topography of Luoshan Ferry. In fact, compared with Wuchang Ferry, Luoshan Ferry is not the most ideal army ferry, because this ferry is too wide. The widest part of the river reaches seven miles, and there is a Jiangxin Island in the middle of the river with an area of ​​about seven or eight hundred acres, which tightly chokes the throat of the gentle water crossing channel. Wu Jun's troop fleet crosses the Yangtze River. Passing under the high cliff on the east side of Jiangxin Island, the Qing army had already built solid fortifications on this Jiangxin island, deployed heavy troops for defense, covered the waterway with bows, artillery and muskets, and arrived on the Wu army's crossing route. The first sharp knife.

If it were someone else, they would inevitably frown when they encountered such a hard nail as Jiangxin Island. However, the old traitor Wu who personally commanded the decisive battle across the river was also a battlefield veteran who had been on the battlefield for decades. After carefully observing the terrain and the distance, the old traitor Wu couldn't help laughing, and said, "Young Tuhai, your cleverness is mistaken for your cleverness. You think it's very clever to deploy heavy troops to guard the waterway on this island in the middle of the river. Is it a strategy? Wrong, according to this old man, this Jiangxin Island is actually your death talisman!"

"Father-in-law, this island in the heart of the river is clearly a nail nailed into our throats by Man Gou, why do you say it is Man Gou's death talisman?" Hu Guozhu asked in surprise.

"If we don't have Yifeng's new flowering shells, it would indeed be a very clever arrangement for Mangou to deploy heavy troops on this Jiangxin Island." Old traitor Wu pointed to Jiangxin Island and said with a smile: "Because the land of this island It is quite large, with a total of seven or eight hundred acres. If we used solid shells or ground shells in the past, even if we fired thousands of cannons, I am afraid that it would not be able to kill all the dogs on the island. But now, Yifeng made us Are solid shells comparable to ground bombs? Also, this island in the middle of the river is closer to the south bank, the farthest is three miles and the nearest is less than two miles. Not to mention the Hongyi cannon, it is our son-mother cannon and bronze cannon. Cannons, can't they still hit the island with ease?"

"Father-in-law is brilliant, he can learn from thousands of miles, and he can see every detail." Hu Guozhu suddenly realized, flattered and said quickly: "Father-in-law, son-in-law, let's make arrangements now, focus all the artillery on Jiangxin Island, and pull out this nail first. "

"Wrong! You can't pull out this nail in a hurry!" The old traitor Wu resolutely stopped him, and shouted: "This old man will use this nail of Tu Hai'er as a bait, and pull a whole fleet of dogs to be buried with him!"

"Pull the dog fleet to be buried with him, what should we do?" Hu Guozhu asked in surprise.

"Order." The old man Wu yelled treacherously: "The first order is to let Du Hui and Lin Xingzhu's warships seize the upper reaches of the west end of Jiangxin Island. If the Mangou fleet approaches, they will fight immediately. The civilian fleet will go to the south of Jiangxin Island. Side to the shore! The second order, Xia Guoxiang led the artillery team to move to the lower reaches of Jiangxin Island, aiming the muzzle at the entrance of the east end of Jiangxin Island. Once the enemy ship goes upstream from here, open fire and sink it immediately! The third order, Han Daren led an army of [-] troops and boarded a ship on the southern bank of Jiangxin Island, preparing to land and attack the island, Zu Shushun led an army of [-] troops as the second team, Yang Fengxian and Ba Yangyuan formed the third and fourth teams!"

"Decree!" Although Hu Guozhu didn't quite understand the intention of the traitor father-in-law for a while, he immediately agreed, and quickly went down to pass the order.The old traitor Wu turned to the guard next to him and ordered: "Go, let someone bring Kabula up."

The guards led away, and after a while, Gabra, whose whole body was tied up like a rice dumpling, was escorted by the soldiers of the Wu Army to the old Wu traitor, struggling desperately while whimpering, but unfortunately his mouth was covered with a sackcloth , I couldn't hear what he was talking about.When the traitor Wu tried again, the guard understood and pulled out the sackcloth from Kabula's mouth, and Kabula immediately yelled, "Old thief! Old thief! Despicable, treacherous, shameless, shameless! Don't! Shameless old thief with a face!"

"Slap your mouth and make him quiet." The old man Wu ordered calmly. Lu Xia and other guards next to him didn't hesitate, went up and swung their round arms, and twitched wildly at the old man of Kang Mazi, Gabula, who was yelling. Gabula's face was covered with smoke, his teeth fell out, and his mouth and nose were bleeding. He didn't stop until Gabula could no longer swear, and the old traitor Wu nodded and stopped.

"Look what this is?" Old traitor Wu showed Kang Mazi's autographed warrant with one hand, and grabbed Gabula's braid with the other hand, pulling his head up so that he could see Kang Mazi's autograph clearly. The content of the warrant, he said with a smirk: "Now I should understand why the old man lied to you, right? The hatred of killing a son is irreconcilable. Don't say that the old man is playing tricks on the peace agreement, he just killed his Kangxi child's family and fucked him. The mother of Kangxi's child, people in the world will only say that the old man kills well and fucks well!"

"Impossible, this is impossible!" Gabula screamed with blood in his mouth, and screamed: "This is fake, it must be fake! How could the emperor issue such an order? Impossible! Absolutely impossible ! Definitely you forged it!"

"Is it faked by the old man? Go back and ask your pockmarked son-in-law." The old man Wu said with a sneer: "Originally, the old man wanted to sacrifice your head to the flag, but because you are an envoy, the two countries are fighting each other, so don't behead it." Let me spare your dog's life today and let you cross the river. After you go back, tell your son-in-law that I must personally avenge my son's revenge! I will also tell you Manren so that they all know , your Emperor Mangou, what kind of treacherous and shameless bastard is he, what will happen to him if you work hard for him!"

After finishing speaking, the old traitor Wu kicked Gabula on the lower abdomen, and shouted: "Take him down, send a small boat to take him across the river, hand him over to Man Gou, and tell Man Gou on the other side, if you surrender earlier, I can spare them Don’t die! Let the old man’s decree be passed on, all the dog guards brought by Kabula beheaded in front of the battle to sacrifice the flag, release the whole family of Oboi, make Namufu, the son of Oboi, the Marquis of Shunyi, and bestow Lumi’s mansion on it!”

"Bring someone with a loud voice, take this warrant of Emperor Mangou, and show it to all the troops to publicize." The old traitor Wu also learned a lot of tricks from Fatty Lu, and handed Kang Mazi's warrant to Lu Xia, commanded: "Tell the whole army that it was the old man's beloved son who was killed by Emperor Mangou himself, and blamed on the dead man Oboi. He is despicable and shameless, and he deserves death! Kill the man who avenged the old man on behalf of Emperor Mangou, The old man made him Marquis of Ten Thousand Households, and rewarded him ten thousand taels of gold!"

When Wu Jun showed Kang Mazi's warrant to promote hatred and boost morale, Kabula was sent to the north bank of the Yangtze River in advance by a private boat. After seeing Kabula whose cheeks were dripping with blood, Tuhai, Tsani and the others were shocked at first, and then naturally hurriedly asked Gabula about the situation, asking why the main force of the Wu army suddenly broke the peace treaty, and why? The divine soldiers descended from the sky, and suddenly killed them on the other side of Luoshan Mountain.

It was also through Kabula's introduction that Tuhaichani and others knew that it was as early as the afternoon of October [-] that the main force of the Wu army cavalry stationed in Changsha arrested Kabula and his party. At the same time, the main force of the Wu Army's infantry stationed in Guiyi and the Wu Army's Yuezhou garrison under the pretext of arresting the jewel thief tightly sealed the gates from Changsha to the Yangtze River, and suddenly searched and killed the Qing army's secret operations that had already been discovered, ensuring the suddenness of the operation to the greatest extent. , coupled with Wu Jun's accurate calculation of the travel time, almost did not give the Qing army scouts who went deep into the territory of Pianyuan the slightest reaction time.

As for the reason why Wu Jun broke up the peace treaty suddenly, Gabra refused to believe that his son-in-law would do such a shameless thing, scolded the old man Wu for being despicable and shameless, forged Kang Mazi's own warrant, slandered and framed, Chani, Yang Jie and the others didn't quite believe that Kang Mazi would be so shameless as to blame Oboi, and yelled together with Gabra. Only Tuhai, who knew the inside story, was dripping with cold sweat on his forehead, knowing that the warrant—— Nine out of ten are true!
At this time, Wu Jun's tactical deployment has basically been completed. After carefully observing Wu Jun's tactical deployment through the telescope, Tu Hai quickly noticed the first tactical purpose of the old traitor Wu - the artillery array and the navy fleet as the main target. Take cover, storm Jiangxin Island, and pull out the nail nailed to Dujiang's throat!So after thinking about it for a while, Tu Hai immediately ordered: "General Yang Jie, your navy will immediately set sail. After Wu Dog starts to attack, immediately divide the troops into two groups, go upstream all the way, and go to the west end of Jiangxin Island to entangle Wu. Gou's navy fleet, looking for an opportunity to destroy it! Go upstream from the east end of Jiangxin Island all the way, and wipe out the Wugou troop fleet!"

"Don't be afraid of Wu Gou's artillery fire. Wu Gou's warships are all in the west, and there are no extra warship guards. As long as half of the ships pass through Wu Gou's artillery fire, Wu Gou's troop carrier will be dead!"

"Wait!" Yang Jie was taken aback, and hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "Tutang, are you kidding me? Dividing troops is the most taboo in water battles. Our navy has the upper hand, but after dividing our troops into two routes, we divide our troops in front of the Wugou fleet. The superiority of the army has been greatly weakened, and Wu Gou still has the upper hand, which will give Wu Gou a chance to defeat us! In the opinion of the general, the best way is to gather the navy into a single group and directly Go north to the decisive battle with Wugou's navy, as long as Wugou's navy is wiped out by our navy, Luoshan Ferry will be as stable as Mount Tai!"

"Fart!" Tu Hai was furious, and asked sharply, "Then let me ask you, I hand over all the sailors to you, and let you go to a decisive battle with Wugou's sailors. How long will it take to wipe out Wugou?"

"This..." Yang Jie was a little dumbfounded, thinking that the battlefield is changing rapidly, and the situation that affects the outcome of the water battle is more than that of the land. Who can guarantee how long it will take to wipe out the enemy's entire army?

"Is there nothing to say?" Tu Hai yelled, pointing at Jiangxin Island: "See, that Jiangxin Island is located in Jiangxin. If you were still entangled with Wugou Navy, Wugou had already seized this place." If Wu Gou moves the Hongyi Cannon to Jiangxin Island, then our navy will have nowhere to hide on the river! The navy, even our Luoshan camp, will be completely exposed to Wugou's artillery fire! To defend Luoshan, you must first defend this Jiangxin island for me!"

"The middle hall is clever, the last general will obey." Yang Jie agreed with doubts and helplessness, so he quickly called his deputy Zhang Tao to arrange for Zhang Tao to lead a third of the fleet to attack the Wu army's troop fleet, while he himself Lead the remaining two-thirds of the fleet upstream to fight the Wu Jun Navy.

At the beginning of the time, the drums of the Wu army were beating, and Han Daren's three thousand vanguards, carried by civilian ships, first charged towards the Jiangxin Island controlled by the general of the Qing army, E Nei. The island charged at full speed.At the same time, the Qing army was also beating loudly. The follow-up troops preparing to reinforce Jiangxin Island boarded the troop carrier and prepared. Go upstream all the way, charge towards the main force of Wu Jun's navy, and seek a decisive battle.

Seeing this scene, the old man Wu was not surprised but happy, applauded and laughed: "Okay, Man Gou really fell into the trick of the old man, hurry up, order Wu Yingjing to prepare forty suicide bombing boats, and let us choose a good death squad to board Ship, once the Wu dog fleet to the east breaks through our artillery blockade and approaches our troop carrier fleet, it will immediately launch a charge, and must completely wipe out the dog-filled fleet to the east! Tell those brothers in the death squads to die in battle! Those on the battlefield will be rewarded with 500 taels of silver for their family members! Those who come back alive will each be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver and be promoted two ranks!"

"Father-in-law, are you using a suicide boat now?!" Hu Guozhu was so frightened that he almost jumped up, and exclaimed: "When Yifeng proposed the plan, he emphasized that this move is too killing, and it is best to use it only at the last moment. .The battle has just begun, father-in-law, why are you..."

"That oiled and fat loach has such a good heart?" Old man Wu gave his son-in-law a wicked look, and said with a smirk, "Learn a bit, you think he doesn't want the old man to use this trick early in the morning to frustrate the dog-like sailors?" Vigorous? He was just embarrassed to open his mouth, so he said something to hide his face, and the old man just didn't want to point him out."

(End of this chapter)