According to Murphy's Devil's Law, whenever something has the potential to develop on the bad side, it must develop faster and worse than you think. In fact, Hong Chengchou's worries were not unfounded, when his letters and inscriptions were sent to Beijing and Nanjing by the fast horse and clipper respectively, the Eastern Route Army of the southern general Le Kedehun had been defeated.

And the defeat was very miserable, not only the soldiers and horses suffered heavy losses, but also the heavy grain, grass, carts and horses were all lost, and even the coach Luck Dehun died on the battlefield. However, he did not die a heroic death, and even had some. However, with his death in battle, according to the law of joint sitting formulated by Dolgon, the officers and generals at all levels of the Southern Expeditionary Army had to kill a number of people!

We turned our attention back to Hongqiao Town, on the border between Shanghai County and Qingpu County.

This area is all plains, with dense water networks, criss-crossed ports, fertile land, and dense populations, and is originally a wealthy village and town near Shanghai County. Not far from Hongqiao Town, is the Shanghai Business District after the expansion, near the water and the first month, Hongqiao Town has also made a lot of money over the years, and many people have become very rich. It is the ordinary people, relying on the convenience of coming and going, they can bring in and out a lot of small objects and a small number of goods from the business area every day, which adds up to a lot, and the days are also so fart that they can oil the crotch of their pants.

As the war approached, this Hongqiao town, as an important support base for the defense of Shanghai County, was stationed in a newly opened garrison brigade to be responsible for defense.

The commander of the garrison brigade, Ji Kaiming, stood on the tower of the town and looked west. The city wall at his feet is about eight meters high, and the circumference of the city wall is only about two miles. At this time, the people in the town, the elderly, the weak, women and children, have basically been mobilized into the business zone, and those who remain in the town are all young and middle-aged people who have been screened, received simple training, and served as auxiliary law enforcement envoys such as urban management in the business zone.

Under the city, almost next to the city wall, there is a river more than ten zhang wide that winds around the town. In order to prevent the Qing army from setting fire by boat or on rafts, several wooden fences were laid in the upper reaches of the river, which was about a few hundred steps away from the town, and about one-third of the river was intercepted. Not to mention how many wooden fences in a row? In this way, under the suppression of the artillery fire of the tower gun position, the Qing fleet can be prevented from breaking into the city.

Outside the river, there is an official road with a width of three zhang that can be lined up with two carts side by side, paved with ashes. At the junction of the official road and the river, there is a wide stone bridge.

The bridge was also built in recent years, and the bridge deck is wide enough for two large cars to travel in parallel. On both sides, there is also a pedestrian passage that allows trolleys to pass, which can be regarded as separate passage for pedestrians and transport vehicles. The high arched bridge allows the passage of ships with maximum draft. There is also a stone monument at the head of the bridge, which is engraved with the names of those who donated money to build the bridge and the number of donations.

On the other side of the bridge, there is farmland as far as the eye can see. It was already late autumn, and war was approaching, and the rice that had been sporadically planted in the farmland had been harvested, and the straw bales were placed one in the east and one in the west. In the eyes of outsiders, it looks messy and abnormal. However, in Ji Changming's eyes, these straw bales are excellent markers in this plain area. Through the lenses of the telescope, he could clearly see the hidden signs on the straw bales, which were used to show the effective killing distance of the city wall and the defensive line, and various firepower.

"It's a pity that there are large areas of vegetable fields in this area, and there are too few rice fields!" Ji Changming was a little unsatisfied, smacking his lips, looking at the straw bales scattered scattered in the wilderness. "Otherwise, our firepower network will be better arranged! Not only are we not enough for ourselves at the moment, but we also have to set aside some for the grandmasters of the rangers! ”

Qi Tianyue, the commander of the guards battalion beside him, was grinning: "Eh! Brigadier, you're in love! Without this large vegetable field, our tens of thousands of horses, as well as the more than 100,000 horses who have been withdrawn from the direction of Nanjing, will have a problem eating vegetables. Although this Jiangnan is much better than Jiangbei, it is also much colder and drier than Nanzhongling and Lingnan. ”

"You have a point! A few of you, go to the town and pick up a few buckets of red paint, and look for a marker in those fields, at a distance of every hundred paces, and mark it with red paint! He arranged for a few officers around him to do this. This is not difficult, in the field, what boundary site stone monuments, ground stumps, and tree stumps cut down in order to clear the shooting boundary can be used as a mark.

"We are an outpost here, and we are the only way to the county seat of Shanghai, and the Qing soldiers will definitely attack in a big way. As long as the Qing army does not arrive for a day, our fortifications cannot be stopped for a day! ”

In fact, not only did the construction of fortifications and the transformation of the terrain not stop, but the river that crossed from Hongqiao Town was also constantly transporting various supplies day and night.

The reason why Li Huabao did this, in addition to the strategic significance of Hongqiao itself, was because of Li Shouhan's words back then.

"This is our giant deer, our Hongqiao!" These are the inspiring words that Li Shouhan shouted under the city of Wucheng in Hexi when he went north to King Qin. Back then, he took Li Hongzhang's Battle of Hongqiao as an example, but he didn't know that many people didn't know where Hongqiao was, and Li Shouhan could only deal with the past vaguely. However, when Li Huabao deployed the defenses around Shanghai County, he suddenly discovered the importance of Hongqiao.

On the one hand, the significance of the place itself is Hongqiao, and on the other hand, the inspiring slogan shouted by his father back then has long been widely known, and the political significance is different. Li Huabao then mobilized 120,000 points of spirit to arrange troops and material reserves.

The material reserves are naturally easy to say, and the materials withdrawn from Nanjing all the way to Shanghai, plus the materials stored in the business zone, not to mention the reclamation of mountains and seas, are almost the same. This massive amount of materials can't be pushed into the Huangpu River, let alone cheaper Qing soldiers. Food, ammunition, medicine, clothing, non-staple food. As long as the materials that are needed or may be needed, they are all transported by the whole ship. In Hongqiao Town, artillery forts and bunkers have begun to be built with grain and rice bales.

However, which troops to send to garrison here is a lot of trouble for Li Huabao.

Everyone knows that this place is a place where the lord has a name in his heart, and it is also used to motivate the whole army. As long as it is guarded here and fought, what is Jane in the emperor's heart, what is rich and glorious, what is called a wife and a son, and it is passed on to the descendants, it is not a thing! As a result, the water and land departments stationed in Shanghai are vying for the task of garrisoning Hongqiao, and they are about to start.

In the end, it was Zhang Xiaohu, a veteran of the water division, who came forward to suppress the generals of the battalions of the water division, "All calm down for Lao Tzu!" The place of meritorious service is not Hongqiao! Tartars are everywhere, let's take you to fight! Grab a bird! ”

"Sixth Master, where are we going to fight the Tartars?" The officers of the army battalion of the naval division were still a little unwilling.

"! The envoy sent by the lord to us escorted the supplies sent to the various departments of Heilongjiang to the north, and along the way, weren't there any Tartars? ! I'm happy, when we go back, I'll take you to land in Beitang and take a trip along Tianjin Wei to Beijing! Give the badger in Beijing a good look! I don't know if it will scare the thing in his crotch so soft that he can't get on his sister-in-law's kang! ”

Zhang Xiaohu's rude joke immediately made the officers of the Navy Division excited, and many people couldn't stop shouting.

"Good! Let's follow the sixth master to the north, first complete the lord's mission, and then go to Beijing City, go to Shenyang City, first burn the grave of the wild boar skin, and then let the badger not get on his sister-in-law's kang! ”

The generals said that if we don't get involved in the trivial matter of Shanghai, Li Huabao's work will be much easier.

Fiddling around, the task of garrisoning Hongqiao fell on the head of Ji Changming, a newly opened garrison brigade. The public reason, Li Huabao said, is high-sounding, "Lao Ji's brigade has just been formed in Nanzhong, and the children of Nanzhong are well-equipped and their morale is flourishing." Moreover, the establishment is complete and the physical strength is abundant. The various units that were originally in Shanghai and Jiangnan withdrew from Nanjing to Shanghai, and fought a lot of battles, large and small, and suffered losses in both physical strength and organization. It is just right to take a rest in Shanghai County, recover your strength, and replenish your troops. ”

This is a public statement. Privately, the generals of the various ministries don't understand it that way.

"The second son is right. In a war, can't you pull out all the big names as soon as you come up, and use a slaughtering knife to kill chickens? Defending the city, it is better to let Lao Ji's new troops go up, and our old battalion still has to reach a critical moment, such as when he Lao Ji can't bear it, let's kill it again! ”

"Our Lao Tzu followed the lord to fight the Tartars in the first time under the city of Hexi, at that time it was the Liaodong Tartars who were in the right place, we only had 3,000 men and horses back then, and we faced tens of thousands of Tartars! At that time, our Lao Tzu was still a team officer under the lord, and over the years, he actually became a brigade commander! You are the same, we have fought a good battle in Hongqiao, and we will have the opportunity to be promoted and make a fortune in the future! ”

"That's it! Our team is full, and the brothers are full of physical strength and morale, and they are eager to fight! In this battle, let's show the brothers in our neighbors, and let the Qing soldiers in the south and north of the Yangtze River know us! ”

It's all the benevolent and the wise wise. However, they are all full of self-confidence and pride.

Ji Changming was one of the 3,000 soldiers and horses who followed Li Shouhan thousands of miles north to King Qin, but he was just a team officer back then, in charge of dozens of pikemen. Because of his outstanding performance in the First Battle of Hexi, he was promoted after returning to Nanzhong, and he has established military merits in all times to suppress bandits and quell chaos, and has accumulated merit to become the brigade commander of the garrison brigade in the past ten years. Although most of the subordinates are mobilized soldiers, strong men, and watchmen recruited from all over the country. However, Ji Changming is full of confidence in his own army.

In addition to his subordinates, in addition to the three infantry regiments, a guards battalion, an artillery team, and a cavalry signal corps, Li Huabao also reinforced an artillery battalion for him, 12 12-pounder guns, 15 8-pounder guns, 10 big Buddha machines, and 20 groups of rocket launchers.

"We still have more than 2,000 young people in this town, although they have not experienced the battle formation, but they are also trained and know military discipline! If you can't go into battle, it's still okay to carry ammunition, carry the wounded, and patrol the town to fight fires! ”

The more than 2,000 young and strong men were organized into 10 battalions by Ji Changming according to the establishment of a team of 50 people and a battalion of 200 people, which were unified under the management of his brigade headquarters.

"Qingbing, you'd better hurry up. I can't wait! However, Lao Tzu still hopes that you will come later, so that Lao Tzu can repair the fortifications better! ”

Ji Changming held the binoculars, looked towards the west road, and muttered to himself.

"Brigadier Commander, are you looking forward to the Tartars coming, or do you not want them to come?!" Lan Wei, the general manager of the brigade headquarters camp office, smiled and found the fault in his words.

"Come early, and we can have a good fight. Later, our fortifications will be better and more! Brothers, you can shed less blood! ”

Ji Changming was deeply impressed by the field fortifications that played an important role in Hexi in those years. Therefore, after receiving the task, he built fortifications in Hongqiao and transformed the terrain.

When the sluices in the upper reaches are closed, several rivers that are not very important gradually dry up, and the silt in the river is picked out, and it becomes a natural barrier and trench. Relying on these ditches, they were transformed, and part of the river channel was filled with earth and rock, and covered with civil engineering, forming a section of covered ditch. In addition to digging trenches outside the town and stacking the earth walls with the excavated earth, artillery barricades were set up, and the battalion's six-pounder guns were lined up, with an average of two or three emplacements for a cannon, ready to be shifted and shelled to greet the pigtailed men. He also learned from Dorgon's experience and practice in Tower Hill, and set up bunkers, bunkers, and gun emplacements in the trenches. After preventing the Qing soldiers from rushing into the trench, they lost their advantage and quickly entered a one-sided hand-to-hand combat situation.

"You can rely on the fortifications to kill and injure a large number of enemies, why do you want your brothers to fight with their lives and stabs?" This is Ji Changming's view.

In the town, several ancestral halls and temples have become warehouses of the Nanyue Army, piled up with horsetail grenades, medicines, and cannons, like hills. The brigade health battalion set up a hospital in the Temple of Literature, and the chiefs of each battalion shuttled back and forth between the storehouse and the health camp with large and small vehicles to receive ammunition and bandage first-aid medicines.

"Brigade commander, the gun emplacements on the head of the city, the firing positions of the gunners, have already been seen, and the trenches, cover ditches, breastop walls, bunkers, and gun emplacements under the city are basically ready. There are only a few horse traps that have not yet been built. ”

Lan Wei held the drawings in his hand, pointing out the fortification positions marked on the drawings and the emotions in reality for Ji Changming one by one. He knew that he, the brigade commander, attached great importance to the Hongqiao War, so he also worked with 120,000 points of spirit to run his mission well.

At the head of the city, several reinforced twelve-pounder guns, the gunners wiped the barrels of the guns and carried ammunition in the forts. The muzzle of the black hole pointed to the west, and the gun commander was observing the firing boundary through the measuring ruler at the bolt. From his point of view, within a thirty-degree angle, at a distance of several miles, it was within the killing range.

"It's a pity that Hongqiao is not one of those cities in Jiangbei, there is no sheep and horse wall, and there is no closed box. Otherwise, our city heads, under the city walls, trenches, breastwork, bunkers, artillery emplacements, and wooden fences in the river are enough for the Qing soldiers to drink a pot! ”

Ji Changming always felt that his work was insufficient. Lan Wei exchanged glances with Qi Tianyue and the others, and pouted in unison. Because of Ji Changming's hobby of crazy fortifications, their 24th Brigade has become a joke ridiculed by the military horses around Shanghai.

"Do you dare to fight? If you don't dare to fight, you can dodge to the side! Let me come! Don't always dig trenches! ”

Ji Changming also had a little wind in his ears when he said this. However, Ji Changming just treated him as if he didn't exist. Just kidding! As long as Lao Tzu finishes the battle and wins, how do you care how Lao Tzu fights? Therefore, he came out early this morning to inspect the construction of the position.

It's already late autumn, and Shanghai County is a place adjacent to the river and the sea, and the autumn wind and autumn rain are blowing, making people feel a chill coming.

At the head of the city, under the city wall, all the soldiers of the Nanyue army, Ding Guanzuo, have changed into winter clothes. The cotton produced in Tianzhu was made into a thick cotton jacket, and the jacket of the Southern Yue Army was put on the outside, and the outer part of the uniform was a cuirass. On his head he wore a small hat made of wool, and then he put on an iron helmet, and with this wool hat, on the top of his head that had been shaved, the cold chill brought by the iron helmet was greatly reduced.

Because the autumn rain hates when it is big and sometimes small, almost all of them wear tung oil ponchos on their bodies and hats on their heads.

A gust of autumn wind mixed with rain came from the surface, Ji Changming and the others couldn't help but shiver, and a guard scolded in a low voice: "Damn, this ghost place in Jiangnan is much colder than Liangguang and Nanzhong!" ”

"Phew! You don't know anything! If you go to the two brigades in Heilongjiang to have a look, it is really called ice and snow! Compared with the Sauron people, we are in Shanghai, in this land south of the Yangtze River, which is equivalent to being in Liangguang and Nanzhong! ”

Lan Wei had followed the battalion office to several forts at the mouth of the Heilongjiang River, and he had some knowledge of the terrain and weather over there, and when he heard the complaints of the soldiers of the guard battalion, he had to open his mouth to teach him a few words.

"Lan Tou'er, they all say it's cold over there, but how cold is it?" Several soldiers of the Guards Battalion asked Lan Wei with a grin.

"How cold is it? Have you ever seen a scene where when you go out, it's all white? Hundreds of miles and thousands of miles are covered with snow. If you want to go out, you have to be thickly wrapped inside and out, fur fur, leather boots, fur gloves, leather hats, and cover tightly before you dare to go out. Otherwise, you will wait to be frozen to death! ”

Lan Wei was about to go deeper, when a firework rose on the distant horizon, drawing a line of fire in the rain curtain, and then quickly exploded in mid-air.

"Police! Alert! ”

Win 1617