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

Chapter 259 Fierce Siege Battle

Outside Hangzhou, the Ming army camp!

Liu Mingyou and Zhang Hu met several generals from Zhejiang Green Camp who came to surrender in the central tent of the Ming army.

Looking around, Liu Mingyou said.

"The generals can clearly see the general trend of the world and take the initiative to join me in the Ming Dynasty. Liu is very relieved!"

In front of him, Chang Kang and other Zhejiang Green Camp generals stood very cautiously, with expressions of fear on their faces.

Although they had surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, they did not surrender before the war, but chose to surrender after the war.

In this case, the quality of their surrender will be somewhat insufficient!

Moreover, there is no regret medicine for surrendering!

If the Ming army wants to hold them responsible for this, then they will have no choice but to wait and die.

Now, the only thing that can make them feel at ease is that Liu Mingyou, an important general of the Ming army, is very kind to them.

It seems that he is not prepared to pursue them!

In this way, they can naturally feel more at ease.

Looking around, Liu Mingyou added.

"It's just that although you all came to surrender, it was only after the war that you surrendered to me, the Ming Dynasty."

"The death penalty can be avoided, but the living crime can't be escaped!"

When everyone heard this, the relief on their faces suddenly disappeared, and everyone couldn't help but become frightened.

When Liu Mingyou saw this, he didn't show off and spoke directly.

"If you want to keep your official position and wealth, you must give up your merits!"

Chang Kang heard this and asked cautiously.

"General, may I ask how we, the guilty generals, should be able to overcome their merits?"

Liu Mingyou narrowed his eyes and spoke directly.

"If you want to make a difference, it's very simple!"

"Conquer Hangzhou City!"

"As long as you can assist me, the Ming Dynasty, in capturing Hangzhou, I, the general, can request credit from His Highness the Crown Prince on your behalf!"

Chang Kang and other generals heard this, looked at each other, and spoke.

"The final general is willing to be the vanguard of the army and capture Hangzhou for the Ming Dynasty!"

Seeing this, Liu Mingyou nodded with satisfaction.

"Ah, very good."

"In that case, let me discuss the strategy for capturing Hangzhou..."

Hangzhou is a fortified city. Although after a confused field battle, there are now only ten Qing troops left in the city.

Morale is extremely low!

But Hangzhou's city defense is quite strong!

If the Ming army wanted to capture Hangzhou, even with the help of heavy artillery groups, they would probably have to pay a lot of casualties.

In order to minimize the Ming army's own casualties, the vanguard job was naturally handed over to the Green Camp soldiers who had just surrendered.

In this way, the casualties of the Ming army can be reduced.

You can also ask the Green Camp soldiers who have surrendered to submit a certificate of surrender to reassure the soldiers.

Kill two birds with one stone!

Liu Mingyou really couldn't think of a reason to refuse.

……

On the second day, the battle in Hangzhou continued.

On the Ming army's side, the observation balloon took off again and began to observe the Qing army's troop deployment in Hangzhou from a high position.

And provide guidance for the Ming army's artillery group to launch artillery attacks!

On the ground, the Ming army's artillery group moved forward and came closer to Hangzhou City.

The engineering troops cooperated with the logistics civilian workers to build fortifications for the artillery group overnight.

Heavy artillery was pushed into the gun position one after another, and the gunners began to skillfully load and adjust the shooting elements.

On the other side, the newly surrendered forward battalion was also making non-stop preparations for the attack.

Compared with when they were soldiers of the green battalion, these soldiers of the forward battalion only have one less braid and one more red turban.

But the overall morale has become significantly higher visible to the naked eye.

Chang Kang and other surrendered generals patrolled the army on horseback, boosting the morale of the army.

"Brothers, we are all newcomers. This city of Hangzhou is our surrender certificate to the Ming Dynasty!"

"This first battle must be fought well! You must not have diarrhea!"

"After taking down the city of Hangzhou, from now on, we will be the Ming army. We can also divide the fields in the south of the Yangtze River, marry wives, and enjoy the glory and wealth. From now on, whether we will eat chaff and diarrhea, or enjoy food and drink spicy food, it all depends on today's battle. , everyone cheer up."

"If anyone dares to show me diarrhea today, I'll be the first to chop him down!"

"..."

Amidst the shouts, the morale of these Ming army forward battalions increased at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The expressions on every face are full of expectations.

Zhang Shitou clenched the spear in his hand and smashed it with his mouth, his expression full of aftertaste.

As far as he was concerned, this time they made the right vote!

Not to mention anything else, in terms of food alone, the treatment the Ming Dynasty gave these big-headed soldiers was several blocks ahead of the Qing Dynasty.

When they arrived last night, the first meal Daming gave them was multigrain rice and stewed meat, plus a fragrant roasted sweet potato for each person.

When I woke up the next morning, it was sweet potato porridge, oil cakes, half a piece of fried fish per person, and some pickles and vegetables.

It is in sharp contrast to the days when they were in the Qing Dynasty, when they had no taste of meat for several years, had two meals a day, one dry and one thin, and still not enough to eat.

To be honest, even if it was for this food, Zhang Shitou felt that he had made the right decision and that his life was worth it.

Before surrendering to the Ming Dynasty, he couldn't even afford meat during New Years and holidays.

Of course, although the food of the Ming army is good, it does not eat like this every time.

If they really ate like this every day, Ming Dynasty wouldn't be able to support an army.

The reason why I have been eating well recently is because it is wartime, and the food standard is inherently higher than usual.

The second reason is that Zhejiang has only recently surrendered to the Ming Dynasty. In order to show their loyalty to the Ming Dynasty, the gentry in Zhejiang rushed to give rewards to the army, including rice, flour, fruits, chickens, ducks, pigs and sheep.

Now that you have everything, wouldn’t it be wasted if you don’t eat it?

"Damn it, I just ate too much. If we launch an attack later, I'm afraid I won't be able to run."

Next to Zhang Shitou, Wang Qiang, who was as tall and thin as a bamboo pole but had a bulging belly, said with a troubled face.

While talking, he kept rubbing his bloated belly in an attempt to speed up digestion.

When he was in Daqing, he often didn't have enough to eat and was really scared of hunger.

After surrendering to the Ming Dynasty, I had two meals in a row with my cheeks turned away, for fear that after eating this meal, I would not be able to eat the next one.

The result was that, now that he was about to go to the battlefield, he was unable to walk.

Seeing this, Zhang Shitou couldn't help but rolled his eyes and complained in a helpless tone.

"I told you to eat less, eat less, but you didn't listen!"

"If you can't run away later, I wonder what you will do!"

Wang Qiang burped and spoke.

"You can't blame me. The food provided by Daming is so good!" "Who can resist the fragrant stew, the oily fried fish, and the golden pancakes?"

After hearing this, Zhang Shitou curled his lips helplessly, and then spoke.

"That's why you can't keep your mouth shut. You can't blame others."

"..."

While the two were chatting, the heavy artillery of the Ming army began to roar again on the battlefield.

Boom!Boom!

There was a deafening sound of shelling.

The roar of the Ming army's heavy artillery resounded across the battlefield, and shells were fired in the direction of Hangzhou City.

The heavy artillery shells hit the city wall of Hangzhou, and a hole was immediately made in the city wall of Hangzhou.

Bricks and stones spattered, and spider web-like cracks spread rapidly, centered on the hole created by the shell.

The Ming army's heavy artillery is focusing on taking care of the Qing army's artillery positions on the walls of Hangzhou.

Artillery shells fell like rain, and the sound of artillery shelling was continuous.

Soon, several Qing army gun emplacements were knocked out one after another.

In fact, the reason why the Ming army's heavy artillery group was able to achieve success so quickly was thanks to Seth's stubbornness.

Wu Changshi, the admiral of Zhejiang Province, once made a suggestion that all the city defense artillery emplacements at the head of Hangzhou City should be reinforced with sandbag fortifications.

However, he was rejected by Seth!

In Seth's words:

This is not done in the military manual!

As for Agui and the others, they did this in Yuezhou and Jiangning.

that's not important!

Didn’t Yuezhou and Jiangning also fall one after another?

Doesn’t this mean that sandbag fortifications and the like are useless?

Therefore, when arranging defenses, etc., you still have to follow the military manual!

Yes, Seth's logical thinking is so rigorous.

Then, there is no more!

Now the Qing army's city defense artillery on the wall of Hangzhou is being called out one by one by the Ming army's artillery group.

"The shooting elements are adjusted, the distance is 45 meters, the direction is , the second round of salvo, let go!"

The Ming army's artillery officer shouted loudly and directed the artillery group to adjust and shoot at Zhu Yuan.

Boom!Boom!

After the second round of shelling, several more Qing artillery positions suffered devastating blows.

A cannonball flew in and hit an artillery piece of the Qing army.

The terrifying kinetic energy carried by the shells directly knocked the cannon away.

The cannon barrel rolled several times on the horse surface of the city wall, and then fell to the inside of the city wall.

With a bang, the cannon body deformed the moment it hit the ground.

The barrel is severely deformed and must be unusable.

Several unlucky Qing soldiers were directly hit by cannons falling from the sky. Iron lumps weighing more than a thousand kilograms fell down, and those who were hit lost their breath in an instant.

The Ming army's artillery continued to fire!

Guided by observation balloons, the bombardment continued one after another.

Cannonballs flew over the battlefield, and the walls of Hangzhou were trembling as they were smashed...

……

Zhang Shitou couldn't help but open his mouth wide when he heard the roar of the Ming army's artillery fire and the thunderous roar of the heavy artillery.

"The Ming Dynasty's cannons are really fierce!"

"The noise sounded like thunder..."

Wang Qiang on the side couldn't help but was speechless.

"The Ming Dynasty's artillery is really powerful. No wonder the Ming Dynasty is invincible!"

"Damn it, the iron-clad army probably won't be able to withstand a few rounds of shelling."

As time goes by, Wang Qiang's stomach feels better now, and it is no longer as uncomfortable as it was at the beginning.

Even Chang Kang and other generals couldn't help but open their mouths after experiencing the intensity of the Ming army's shelling.

When they were on the opposite side, they hated the Ming Dynasty's bombardment, but now they couldn't stop doing it.

Good guy, with such intensity of bombardment, no wonder Ming Dynasty is invincible!

……

The Ming army's heavy artillery bombardment lasted for nearly an hour.

After the Ming army's artillery group knocked out all the Qing army's artillery positions one by one, the Ming army's central military command flag waved, and the order to march was given to the forward battalion.

The forward battalion received the military order and began to advance without any hesitation.

In the wilderness outside Hangzhou City, the dark forward battalion of the Ming Army began to attack in the direction of Hangzhou City.

At the same time, the Ming army's artillery group also began to raise its muzzles under the guidance of observation balloons, preparing to launch an extended bombardment into the city of Hangzhou.

"Distance 800 meters, direction 35, let go!"

boom! Boom boom!

Accompanied by a burst of artillery shelling, shells pierced the sky and fell behind the Hangzhou city wall.

The shell landed, rolled and rotated forward, destroying buildings in Hangzhou.

Wherever the shells passed, there was a scene of collapsed buildings.

The Qing troops who were hiding from the shelling in the houses were beaten to death, and were even buried alive under the collapsed houses.

Several Qing troops had just finished gathering when they saw several artillery shells falling from the sky and landing among their crowds.

The cannonball rolled and rotated wantonly, venting its kinetic energy. Wherever the projectile passed, it tore the body of a Qing soldier into pieces, and the smell of blood rose into the sky.

At the same time, the forward battalion of the Ming army also rushed to the gate of Hangzhou city under the cover of its own heavy artillery.

Just as they rushed to the walls of Hangzhou City, the Qing troops who were avoiding the bombardment in Hangzhou City also began to climb the city in an attempt to counterattack.

At this critical moment of life and death for the city of Hangzhou, the Eight Banners of Hangzhou also rose to prominence.

Even though they knew they would face shelling from the Ming army after climbing the city, they still climbed the city.

Facing the hail of bullets and heavy artillery bombardment from the Ming army, although the Eight Banners soldiers in Hangzhou were scared, they still bent their bows and arrows, or raised their muskets to block the Ming army's siege.

The fighting on the front line became more and more intense, and there was constant shooting from below the city.

Rolling wood and stones, the hot golden liquid was continuously poured down from the top of the city.

Some Qing troops even started throwing ignited thunderbolts from the top of Hangzhou City.

Although the Qing Army's Zhentian Lei was far less powerful than the Ming Army's grenades due to the gunpowder distribution and production process, there were even many dumb bombs among them.

But even so, every explosion of the Qing army's sky-shattering thunder can set off a bloody storm in the array of the Ming army's forward camp.

Broken limbs and broken arms were flying everywhere!

The number of casualties of the Ming army is constantly rising, but as a price, the Hangzhou Eight Banners at the head of Hangzhou City also suffered heavy losses.

Hangzhou's city defense is gradually beginning to collapse!

(End of this chapter)