Anti-Qing: Starting from the Reincarnation of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 142: Po Daozhou

Zhu Jing'an led his troops to suffer a small loss in front of Shaoguan City, but it also opened a channel for large troops to attack Shaoguan City.

At the same time, after breaking through Longhu Pass, the Ming army led by Liu Mingyou began to move towards Daozhou along the line of Yongming and Wutian.

Daozhou is now one of the transfer points for the Qing army to transfer grain and grass from Yongzhou to Shaoguan.

If the Ming army could capture Daozhou, it would be considered as cutting off the Qing army's logistics and food routes.

On the official road, thousands of Ming troops meandered back and forth for several miles. Liu Mingyou kept urging the Ming troops to speed up their march.

"Quick! Quick! Fifty miles ahead is Daozhou City."

"If we capture Daozhou City, our army will be greatly rewarded! Brothers, speed up and don't slack off."

Liu Mingyou galloped in front and behind the army array, boosting the morale of the army.

The marching speed of the Ming army was much faster than before!

Running towards Daozhou.

The Ming army had just won a great victory at Longhu Pass, so their morale was very high.

Marching at a speed of seventy miles a day, it took only three days for the Ming army to reach the outside of Daozhou City.

And began preparations to launch an offensive against Daozhou City!

You know, at this time Liu Mingyou's Ming army carried a large number of artillery with the army.

Even though those artillery pieces were all light artillery, the marching speed of the Ming army was still terrifying.

The main reason why the Ming army was able to march through the Qing army as if they were in an uninhabited territory was because Fulongan transferred the main force of the Qing army to Shaoguan to fight with the Ming army.

In this case, there will naturally be emptiness behind it.

This gave the Ming army a good opportunity to engage in deep penetration operations.

Otherwise, if the Qing army still had heavy troops guarding its hinterland, Liu Mingyou and his thousands of people would have been driven around.

How could it be so wanton?

It is precisely because of this that although Daozhou is an important logistics area for the Qing army, there are not many troops stationed there.

Liu Mingyou was riding on horseback and ordered expressionlessly.

"Pass the order and let our army's artillery unit set up the artillery array and start delivering firepower to Daozhou City."

Although the light artillery of the Ming army could only do limited damage to the city wall, if shotgun shells were used, it would still be no problem to suppress the Qing army defending the city with fire.

If the Qing army defending the city could be suppressed with artillery bombardment, it would naturally be much easier for the Ming army to capture Daozhou City.

boom!Boom!

Along with bursts of gunfire, the open space outside Daozhou City was filled with smoke.

The dense shotgun pellets followed a parabolic trajectory and shot towards Daozhou.

On top of Daozhou City, shotgun pellets fell like rain.

Some Qing soldiers were unable to dodge and were directly beaten into sieves...

For a time, the entire city wall was full of Qing soldiers fleeing in embarrassment.

"Help, the thieves are coming, the thieves are coming!"

"Everyone, run away. The thieves are about to attack the city. Those who are caught will be beheaded."

"..."

Looking at the Ming army in formation outside the city, the Qing army was in chaos.

Countless people were running away with their heads in their hands.

Wang Heng, the commander of Daozhou's city guarding camp, was dragged up from Yao Jie'er's bed. What he saw after entering the city was such a chaotic scene.

The current performance of the Qing army really echoes that sentence perfectly.

Those who run away from the enemy are called superior bravery, those who flee upon seeing the enemy are called middle-brained, and those who flee after hearing the enemy are called inferiorly brave.

Now among the Qing troops defending the city in Daozhou, most of the Shang Yong and Zhong Yong were dispatched by Fulong'an to fight in the Battle of Shaoguan.

Most of the remaining people are cowardly!
Faced with the Ming army that suddenly appeared outside Daozhou City like a ghost, it is actually conceivable how these brave men would behave.

Surrounded by several soldiers, Wang Heng huddled behind the wall and peered out of the city.

When he saw the dark mass outside the city and the murderous Ming soldiers, his heart almost jumped out of his throat.

Especially the continuous sound of gunfire made him feel frightened.

Although the artillery carried by Liu Mingyou's Ming army were all light artillery, there were quite a lot of them.

It gave Wang Heng a great shock!
One of Wang Heng's soldiers couldn't help but ask.

"Sir... Your Majesty, the thieves are coming. What should we do?"

Wang Heng shook his head and said to himself with a trembling voice.

"How could the Ming thieves reach Daozhou? Could it be that they were defeated in Shaoguan?"

"But that was an army of more than [-] people. How could it be defeated so easily? It shouldn't be, it really shouldn't be."

Looking at the mighty Ming army outside the city, Wang Heng did not expect that the Ming army came from Guangxi.

And thought it was the imperial army that was defeated in Shaoguan!

Wang Heng looked troubled and murmured.

"How can this be good, how can this be good!"

At this moment, Daozhou Zhizhou also led a group of government officials to climb the city wall and came to Wang Heng's side.

"General Wang Shen, how is the situation? Is there any strategy to retreat from the enemy?"

Yang Ke, the magistrate of Daozhou, is a little old man with a slight stature. He has always been an honest official.

Because he is obsessed with Buddhism, he is quite kind to the people under his rule.

The official reputation in Daozhou is pretty good.

When Wang Heng heard this, he shook his head and said with a troubled expression.

"My lord, I know that the thieves are so powerful that the general has no way of retreating from the enemy."

When Yang Ke heard this, he looked a little panicked and said tremblingly.

"Amitabha, Buddha bless!"

"What should I do?"

Just as Yang Ke was thinking, Wang Heng's expression became uncertain for a while, and then he seemed to have made up his mind and suddenly spoke in his ear.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Yang!"

"But I can't help it. Brothers also want to survive..."

After saying this, Wang Heng suddenly shouted to the bodyguard beside him.

"Damn it, why are you still standing there? Take down the fake police officer in front of you, and I will take you to surrender!!"

As soon as Wang Heng finished speaking, the guards around him swarmed up and pinned Yang Ke and others to the ground.

Before Yang Ke and others could react, they were already prisoners.

Wang Heng's personal guards all had happy expressions on their faces.

There is no other reason. If they want to surrender, then they don't have to fight the Ming army on the battlefield.

In this way, their lives will naturally be saved!
……

Outside the city, Liu Mingyou saw that the bombardment was almost over, and was about to order the Ming army to attack the city.

But he saw a white flag raised on the top of the city of Daozhou.

Immediately afterwards, the originally closed city gate of Daozhou City was opened from the inside.

A group of Qing soldiers walked out of the city, threw their weapons into an open space in front of the city gate, and then raised their hands high to surrender to the Ming army.

Seeing this, Liu Mingyou froze on the spot.

He hadn't even started to attack the city, so why did the Qing army surrender?
However, Liu Mingyou reacted immediately and spoke. "The Qing army surrendered? That's good. It saves our army the trouble of attacking the city."

"Give me the order to immediately receive the prisoners of war, control the city defenses, and bring the surrendered generals to see me!"

Not long after, Wang Heng, who was shirtless and had a few wattle sticks tied on his back, came to Liu Mingyou.

Then he knelt down with a thud!
Kowtow to plead guilty.

"The general was confused for a moment and served the Tartars. It is an unforgivable crime."

"Now that the king's heavenly troops have arrived, the guilty general has suddenly awakened and led his troops to surrender. I also ask the general to put past the past and absolve the guilty general and the generals of the army from their previous sins!"

Seeing the surrendered general in front of him, Liu Mingyou took a deep breath, turned over and dismounted.

He helped Wang Heng up and said.

"The general can wake up and return with a dedicated city, so that the soldiers will not suffer the disaster of swordsmanship."

"For me, Daming, this is a great achievement, and I should be rewarded."

"As for the general's previous service to the Tartars, it is really excusable. I believe His Highness the Supervisor and the Chief Governor will not care about it."

Liu Mingyou was very pleased that Wang Heng was able to recognize the situation and take the initiative to lead his troops to surrender.

Winning a Daozhou city for nothing and surrendering more than a thousand troops cannot be considered a bad thing in any case.

After the Ming army captured Daozhou, the entire army carried out simple repairs, and then continued to attack Yongzhou.

The intention is to seize Yongzhou and seize the granary of the Qing army!
……

Outside Shaoguan City!

It’s dawn again!
Looking at the sun rising slowly at the end of the horizon in the distance, Zhu Jing'an stretched himself, and then ordered the Ming army to launch a tentative attack on the Shaoguan Pass Wall.

Boom!Boom!
The first to speak was still the artillery in the Ming army.

Heavy artillery shells broke through the air one after another, carrying terrifying kinetic energy, roaring in waves, and shot towards Shaoguan City.

After occupying the two commanding heights of Lianhua Mountain and Furong Mountain, the Ming army had a geographical advantage when they launched artillery bombardment of Shaoguan City.

It can launch condescending firepower delivery to Shaoguan Guancheng and even within the Guancheng.

Instead, the Qing army's counterattack turned into a strike from bottom to top, which was extremely disadvantageous.

"Aim at the Qing artillery positions at the top of Shaoguan City and get rid of them!"

Zhu Jing'an ordered expressionlessly, his tone full of determination and no doubt.

The Ming army's gunners received the order and began to adjust their shooting at Zhu Yuan.

Change the target of artillery fire from the city wall of Shaoguan to the gun positions on the city wall.

Moreover, the artillery shells used were changed from solid bullets to shotgun shells.

When it comes to damaging effects on fortresses, shotgun shells are inferior to solid bullets.

But when it comes to fire coverage and the killing effect on personnel, the impact effect of solid bullets is far inferior to shotgun shells.

Because solid bullets cause line damage, or even just point damage.

But the shotgun did a lot of damage!

If the Ming army wanted to destroy the Qing army's artillery positions, it did not necessarily have to destroy the artillery.

The anti-personnel gunner is actually the same!
Because, in an artillery unit, the most valuable thing is not the artillery, but the experienced gunners.

If the artillery is gone, you can still cast it to replenish it!
But if all the gunners are dead, no matter how many artillery pieces you have, they are just decorations.

The rumbling sound of artillery resounded, and dense shells fell from the sky like rain. Within the coverage area, every Qing gunner was beaten to death and wounded.

Blood flows along the cracks in the brick walls of Shaoguan City!

A soldier of the Qing Dynasty was running wildly at the top of Shaoguan City, but he slipped and fell on the thick blood, and his head was broken and bleeding immediately.

"what……"

Screams suddenly sounded, and the pungent smell of blood filled the air.

Under the artillery fire of the Ming army, it was almost impossible to stand on the top of Shaoguan City.

The gate towers, wall stacks, horse faces, arrow towers and other defense facilities on the city wall have all been flattened.

The city walls became bare!

Although the artillery of the Qing army was also fighting back hard, in the face of the shelling of the Ming army, the Qing army's artillery seemed a little weak.

Even if artillery shells occasionally fall on the Ming army's artillery positions, they may not be able to achieve actual damage effects.

Because the artillery of the Qing army with the shortest service life is the artillery from the Kangxi year, and there are even some antiques from the Shunzhi year, and even the Chongzhen year.

Compared with the Ming army's artillery, the range of these old artillery is limited.

In order to ensure that the artillery shells could hit the Ming army's positions, the Qing army's gunners could only use solid artillery shells, and could not use shotgun shells for surface strikes like the Ming army.

Solid artillery shells may be useful when attacking fortresses and destroying buildings, but if you want to use solid artillery shells to accurately attack the enemy's artillery array...

Then you seem to be making things difficult for me, Fat Tiger!
Not to mention that there are sandbag bunkers prepared in front of the army's artillery array to prevent shelling.

The sandbags were filled with soft sand, and water was even poured over them to make the sand squishy and heavier.

When a solid shell hits the sandbag, its kinetic energy will be absorbed by the soft sand.

The result at most is that the Ming army's gunners will be covered in sand and mud, making it difficult to cause substantial damage.

Fulongan was helped off the wall and hid under the curved surface of the wall.

Fulongan murmured as he listened to the rumbling shelling outside the city.

"Why did our ancestors ban the Green Battalion from using heavy artillery? Now if the Green Battalion can also equip heavy artillery, how can we be beaten so hard by the Ming thief's artillery that we can't hold our heads up..."

The Manchu Qing Dynasty's attitude towards advanced firearms was not actually a prohibition.

But the Eight Banners can use it, but the Green Camp cannot.

But the problem now is that the Eight Banners are all stationed in the capital or in key garrison locations in various places.

The Green Battalion guarding the place simply couldn't raise its head when facing enemies with advanced firearms.

Fulong'an went south this time, although he also brought some artillery.

But compared with the artillery equipped by the Ming army, this amount is really too small.

And the large number of forged iron cannons equipped by the Green Camp are really useless!

"Sir, it's still dangerous here. Please go to the city to take shelter..."

The attendant on the side spoke to persuade.

When Fulongan heard this, he shook his head.

"No! I'm not going anywhere!"

"I am here, advancing and retreating with the soldiers, and must protect Shaoguan City for the Qing Dynasty."

"..."

Fulongan's tone was firm, but it didn't take long for him to receive a report that the Ming army had officially launched an attack on Shaoguan City.

The rumbling sound of artillery fire echoed across the battlefield. Under the cover of artillery fire, the forward battalion of the Ming Army came towards Shaoguan City.

Shout out to the sky!
Some soldiers of the Qing Dynasty braved the shelling of the Ming army and climbed onto the city. What they saw was a large surging red wave.

A soldier from the forward battalion of the Ming Army rushed toward Shaoguan with a shield cart, a ladder and other siege equipment.

Alarm bells immediately sounded on the Qing army's side.

Clank!Clang, clang!

"Hurry! Come to the city quickly, the Ming thieves are coming to kill you!"

"Kill the thieves of the Ming Dynasty and protect the Qing Dynasty..."

"..."

(End of this chapter)