Begging in late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 704
The battlefield is like chess, and Poyang Lake has now become a huge chessboard. This first move was played by Song Qingshu first.

Enemies learn from each other. This is true. As the Han army, Wu Sangui seems to be moving closer to the Ming army in the south of the Yangtze River every step of the way. On both sides of the river, along the lake in Nanchang, forts that were used in the Opium War of later generations were also built. This expedition took the lead. Wu Sangui transported at least 700 cannons, and the heavy cannons on the upstairs ship, no less than [-]. The forts and battleships were dotted around, forming a tight firepower network.

Even Song Qingshu did not dare to attack this kind of formation. He has encountered the embarrassing problems that human beings have been facing since entering the age of firearms. With indestructible weapons, human beings lack sufficient defensive skills. The giant wood and the carefully crafted giant ship of the Ming army could not withstand the overwhelming artillery bombardment.

Of course, if you really want to push yourself to a desperate situation and try your best to destroy a dozen or even dozens of battleships, Song Qingshu can still fight in, but right now, he is not in such a hurry.

In the center of Poyang Lake, two battleships fought coquettishly.

There are hundreds of thousands of Wu troops directly opposite, the sailors are not good-tempered, the sub-captain Xu Haihouzi jumped up and down with the irritableness and dialect unique to the sea people, and kept yelling, and the sailors climbed up and down flexibly, just like monkeys Steering the helm, sailing the sails, one by one the gun bays below were pulled up by tight iron chains.

Boom ~ Boom ~ Forty cannons on one side opened fire one by one. At the maximum elevation angle, the shells whizzed and slammed into Wu Jun's water village on the opposite side, and the water column splashed more than ten meters on the calm lake, smashing the tense defenses. Wu Jun was in a suit, and a building ship was very unlucky. It was smashed on the ship's building by artillery fire. Suddenly, the solid ship plank was easily torn like paper, and the infantry who were advancing behind were splashed. Chippings of wood and shells vibrated against the walls.

Wu Jun's navy camp suddenly felt like a frying pan, angry big boats and small boats rushed out of the water village with densely packed oars, and the entire lake surface was full of up and down oars and white waves. , Just like opening the sluice to release the water, thousands of boats are helping each other, and hundreds of boats are competing for the flow, which is very lively.

Seeing this, instead of panicking, the Xu Hai monkey was full of joy and shouted excitedly: "Withdraw the sail, withdraw the call!"

The sails, which had already adjusted the wind direction, were directly pulled up, and at the same time, the two hundred oars were fiercely rowed into the water, and the two behemoths immediately slid towards the southeast toward Xiaye Ze with agility that did not match their size.

While running, the two battleships kept firing. The powerful firepower continuously stirred up water columns one after another in the swarming Wu army, overturned the screaming Wu army boat into the water, and shot one after another on the big ship. The hole, the more enraged Wu Jun surged forward even more crazily.

Poyang Lake is said to be big and big, with an area larger than some small countries in Europe, but it is also small. It is chasing hundreds of thousands of kilometers in sea battles, and here it is like a pond. There is no turning around, and the two boats fled eastward. In less than 10 minutes, it almost pulled over.

In the reeds, one can vaguely see figures moving hurriedly in it.

The army's ambush of the navy is also creative enough, but the powerful firepower of 150 rifled guns can make up for the disadvantage in space. For this ambush, Sun Chuanting, Minister of the Ministry of War of the Empire, stayed up for more than a dozen nights and personally selected the ambush The location, fifteen artillery battalions and more than 3 engineers set up positions in the middle of the night, just waiting for today.

Moreover, in order to paralyze Wu Jun, the seduction battle like Xu Haihouzi also fought for four days. Every time, Wu Jun chased and killed them, passing by this reed marsh, safe and sound, everything is ready, it seems that today is only waiting for Wu Sangui's navy Here comes the delivery.

Squatting next to the cannon, with a few leaves of grass on the military helmet, Li Dingguo, commander of the [-]th Front Army and Chief of Staff of the Empire, had been bitten several times by poisonous mosquitoes in the reeds on his handsome face, but he couldn't bear it. Seeing that itching, Li Dingguo kept holding the binoculars tightly.

"Cub! Hurry up! There are five miles, three miles, damn it, Xu Haihouzi, this bastard, what are you doing at this time!"

There is indeed something wrong. After all, most of Song Qingshu's fleets are sea-going ships. The water is so deep. In this Poyang Lake, the shallowest part is only a few meters away. The Nautilus just drove side by side because it is too close to the shore, and has a sharp bottom with an extremely deep draft The son actually rubbed against the bottom of the lake, and the commander of the Nautilus hurriedly ordered the rudder to get closer to Xu Haihouzi's ship, the Storm.

There must be a sufficient safe distance between the giant ships. The Nautilus moved, and the Tempest also had to turn its sails. All of a sudden, the distance to be pursued was shortened a lot. What is more urgent is the distance here. The ambush circle is still two or three miles away.

Just as Li Dingguo was sweating, relying on his superb sailing experience in the past, the two bait boats dexterously cut past obliquely, like a pair of mandarin ducks playing in water.

It can be regarded as a sigh of relief, although it is hard to hear these naval chiefs of staff boasting every day that their arms are a technical job, unlike a group of thick men with muscular heads like the army, but at this moment Li Dingguo couldn't help letting out a sigh of relief Come on, a subconscious row of thighs.

"Damn it, these sea guys are really slipperier than loaches!"

"Army, Army Commander, the thief army is not moving!"

His forehead was full of sweat to pay attention to Xu Haihouzi, and the sudden exclamation of the investigative officer under his command made Li Dingguo turn his attention to the dark Wu army fleet behind him. He stopped on the spot, and then slowly retreated amidst the yelling of someone who didn't know.

"Damn Xipi, who the hell is exposed!"

The eyeballs almost stared out, disregarding the pretense, and jumped onto the cannon, holding up the binoculars, Li Dingguo looked around, but even if he knew about the large reeds, he would still be a little surprised. I don't know where my own people are ambush, let alone Wu Jun in the distance.

As for weapon reflections?Especially to deal with this, bayonets are all mounted in holsters, and cannons are painted with black paint, which is impossible to reflect light.

Obviously not reconciled, Xu Haihouzi also ordered the two warships under his command to stop, turn the rudder back, and bombard the Wu army's rear with naval guns, but even so, these Wu army's large and small warships still retreated without looking back.

After preparing for more than half a month, the carefully arranged first ambush failed. No matter Xu Haihouzi or Li Dingguo, they were all dingy soldiers and boat camps. But the beaming look of the stock was overflowing on every face, which immediately made the two of them a little confused.

"I have seen Shangshu, but the general is incompetent and failed to attract Wu thief to the ambush circle!"

The original situation that it was easy to get a thousand troops but hard to find a general has changed. The emergence of the staff officer system made up for the shortcomings and mistakes of the generals in commanding the army, and also weakened the absolute authority of the commander-in-chief of the army a lot. The business plan was wasted, and the two still felt guilty. As soon as they entered the joint meeting of the General Staff Headquarters, they clasped their fists and pleaded guilty to Sun Chuanting.

"It's not your fault! It happened by coincidence."

Unexpectedly, watching the two of them come back, Sun Chuanting also had a helpless wry smile on his face, and handed over the tip he had just received to the two of them helplessly.

Although the decisive battle is at Poyang Lake, the outcome of the battle depends on Jinling thousands of miles away. Today is also the No. 20 and six days when Song Qingshu entered Poyang Lake. The Jinling riots that broke out on June [-] can be regarded as complete dust. settled.

Although Emperor Chongzhen desperately wanted to regain his former rights, he was at least calm. Although the Ming royal family was in decline, at least the constitutional monarchy protected the royal family's position and safety, and Wu Sangui?These days, Princess Changping is doing reports, so she naturally comes across a lot of news about Wu Sangui. It’s nothing to worry about, and what kind of residence is comparable to the palace. It’s not enough just to see the position of King Pingxi in the Qing Dynasty. In the act of defecting and turning himself into a "loyal minister" of Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youjian can see a vigorous ambition.

Without the support of the emperor, the so-called riots became a joke. That night, Emperor Chongzhen did appear at the gate of the palace, but accompanied by Zhou Yanru, the deputy minister of the cabinet, he personally issued an edict to thousands of rioters, announcing that they would abide by the constitution Immediately afterwards, the rioters who had lost their reputation were easily taken down by the Yingtian police force, and their followers were driven home. Die-hard ones such as Zhao Shifu, Huang Chunyao, and those bleeding from their hands were arrested, tried, and executed. He was charged with treason and unconstitutionality, and was sent to a colonial ship bound for Southeast Asia.

The Yingtian regime, which was hastily established and allowed a large number of old party remnants to linger, was once again purged.

This riot also caused a split in the Conservative Party. A large number of hardcore MPs such as Chen Zilong officially changed their name to the Conservative Party for the Constitution, while some diehards broke away independently and formed the Royalist Party, but this part is no longer important, and even they No one reads the newspaper public opinion.

As for Zhao Shiang and other spies sent by Wu Sangui in the past, the news did not mention it at all, but through the political newspaper sent by Jinling, no matter Sun Chuanting, Li Dingguo, or Xu Haihou, they could vaguely see a gloomy face. The man known as the shadow of the handsome man.

Today, the news has reached Poyang Lake on the front line, so Wu Sangui on the other side naturally got the news, and the strange movements of the Wu Jun Navy today are taken for granted.

Just as Sun Chuanting expected, Wu Sangui did get the news today, and his reaction was bigger than Sun Chuanting imagined.

At the military meeting, chiefs of staff such as Sun Chuanting and Li Dingguo can now sit down and discuss military matters with Song Qing, but in the Wu army, even general Ma Bao, admiral Li Benshen, Wang Fuchen, etc., have to kneel.

And everyone was still kneeling tremblingly, because Wu Sangui, who was sitting on the handsome chair, had turned into a red-eyed lunatic at this moment.

"waste!"

Amidst the clattering sound, the newspapers issued by Wu Sangui's surviving spies in Jinling were torn to shreds by him, and thrown out like snowflakes. Now, even the emperor personally reprimanded himself as a traitor and traitor, so the political mask of a loyal minister and filial son who had managed to put on before was completely torn off, showing his ugly true colors to others, and the stinging pain can be imagined.

"Zhao Shi'ang is ineffective in handling affairs, his family members are not slaves, and the rest will be punished as crimes!"

Under the rage, Zhao Shi'ang bloodied the imperial palace for Wu Sangui that night, but he was lightly said, and the whole family was punished as slaves. Seeing the veins on Wu Sangui's smooth forehead twisted like earthworms made General Wu's heart tremble even more.

However, there were still people loyal to Wu Sangui at this time. While trembling, Admiral Li Benshen of Neijiang, a gentleman in his 40s, kowtowed cautiously.

"Prince Pingxi, the most urgent task is not to deal with Zhao Shi'ang. Now that His Majesty is not attached, we will wait for the teacher to come out of nowhere. The next step is the key."

"What can you do!"

It can be regarded as waking up from the anger a little bit, Wu Sangui looked down with gloomy eagle eyes and wolf eyes, pondered for a while, and Li Benshen carefully clasped his fists.

"The last general advocates retreating!"

Although this idea is a little discouraged, it is indeed the best way to deal with the situation at this time. Wu Sangui has been operating in the south of the Yangtze River these years, and his base is in Huguang, Wuchang, Jingzhou, Xiangyang and other places, where there are thousands of miles of fertile fields. , the property is still quite good, if it is managed properly, there will be decades of separatist regimes.

At that time, Chen Youliang was determined to go his own way, fighting his Han regime and even himself in Poyang Lake, so that Zhu Yuanzhang could rule the south of the Yangtze River in a short period of time, laying the foundation for the establishment of the Ming Dynasty.

Now the name of being a teacher is gone, public opinion is passive, and in terms of military strength, Song Qingshu has already brought back the army from Bamin, and set up a solid defensive position on the east bank of Poyang Lake. Compared, Song Qingshu is far stronger than For Zhu Yuanzhang back then, Wu Jun had little chance of winning.

Instead of doing that, it would be better to lose Jiangxi, return to Wuhan, and stick to Jingxiang. Then it will be Song Qingshu's turn to have a headache.

However, it was a teacup that answered Li Benshen, and the boiling hot tea was splashed directly on his face. Under the severe pain, this four-hundred man had to cover his face and curl up into a ball, curling up on the ground.

Back then, Chen Youliang might not have considered the risk of a decisive battle with Zhu Yuanzhang, but only in this position can he feel this desire to stop!The next step is to add a yellow robe, but to take a step back is to bow and kneel to others. This is especially unacceptable to Wu Sangui, who has been kneeling for such a long time as a slave under the Manchu master.

Putting hot tea on Li Benshen's face, not to mention, Wu Sangui, who still didn't think it was enough, imitated Sun Quan viciously, cut off a corner of the table with a sharp knife, pointed at the table and shouted at a dozen of his subordinates with murderous anger .

"Those who dare to retreat, such a table!"

Ma Bao, Li Benshen and other generals all kowtowed tremblingly.

…………

In the early morning of the next day, the Poyang Lake battlefield, which has been calm for 27 days since the start of the war, ushered in the first magnificent and cruel bloody battle. Under Wu Sangui's anger, as many as 27 large boats and more than 300 small boats attacked The legion rushed to the front of the Ming army's water village early in the morning.

The deafening sound of cannons came from Shuanggang, and the white smoke rising from the gunpowder in the air almost condensed into a huge cloud. The heavy recoil pushed the towering boats like tumblers, no one expected When Wu Jun dared to call on the door, Ming Jun was caught off guard for a while.

A booming cannon was hitting the deck of the Storm, which was moored in the port. Even the giant Huangshan tree was still brittle under such a heavy cannon. With the sound of cracking, the door of the ship building was blasted open, coughing, The two senior commanders, Li Dingguo and Xu Haihouzi, who were still studying how to lure Wu Jun into the trap, kicked the debris away in panic and ran to the deck.

Looking through the binoculars, the surface of the lake was almost occupied by Wu Jun. There were cannons emitting gray smoke everywhere, and there were swaying building boats. It was full of either the sound of cannons or the unpleasant roar of Wu Jun. Li Dingguo was dumbfounded watching this scene. yelled.

"Didn't Wu Sangui take gunpowder? The attack is so fast!"

"Never mind him! Brother Li Xian quickly went ashore and mobilized the army for support. Damn it, the gunner, the second gunner, let me organize the fire!"

Before he finished speaking, the Xu Hai monkey had already strode down the cabin, and Li Dingguo could still hear him yelling wildly from a long distance away. He let out a roar like a storm.

After all, crooked methods are not the way to win. If you want to achieve your goal, you have to talk to the real guy in your hand!

(End of this chapter)