Nanjing, Chengxian Fang.

The gate of a restaurant near Li Street was full of guards on duty.

In a private room by the window on the second floor, a young man with a handsome face and elegant manners was holding a cup of fragrant tea and sipping it.

Sitting across from him was a middle-aged man dressed in a foreign suit and wearing a Dongpo scarf.

"Your Majesty, why did you leave the palace this time?"

It turned out that this young man with elegant manners was Zhu Cihong, the current emperor of the Ming Empire, and the "outsider" sitting opposite him was Lu Zhenfei, the secretary of the military department.

Zhu Cihong took a sip of tea and moistened his throat, and then said: "This soldier thinks that the Ming Dynasty is at war with the Eastern Prisoners, where is it long and where is it short? ”

The Son of Heaven asked, Lu Zhenfei had to answer.

He bowed his hand slightly and said: "Your Majesty, the strength of the Eastern Capture lies in cavalry and archery field warfare, and the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty are good at defending the city. ”

Zhu Cihong nodded and said, "That's right." In the art of war, emphasis is placed on promoting strengths and avoiding weaknesses. Only by playing to your strengths can you overcome the enemy. ”

Wen Anzhi was confused until now, and he didn't know what kind of medicine was sold in His Majesty the Emperor's gourd, so he just listened respectfully.

"Since I ascended the throne, I have been thinking about how to give full play to the advantages of officers and soldiers who are good at defending, and then I came up with an idea and found another person, who helped me realize my vision. This person may have also been seen by his own soldiers, he is a student of the Huangming Military Academy, named Song Yingxing. ”

Zhu Cihong paused and said, "I have been hiding this matter from my own soldiers because it has not been implemented before. Now it's time for the soldiers to take a look. ”

Lu Zhenfei had already aroused Zhu Cihong's interest, and said in a harmonious voice: "Please also ask Your Majesty to open your eyes." ”

"This soldier will come with me."

Zhu Cihong flicked the sleeves of his robe and got up and walked downstairs. Lu Zhenfei hurriedly followed.

After Zhu Cihong went downstairs, he did not leave the restaurant, but walked towards the backyard of the restaurant.

From the moment he stepped into the backyard, Lu Zhenfei was surprised.

I saw that many trenches had been dug out of the yard, and they were neatly arranged in rows.

When I walked in, I found that every trench was so deep that no one would jump out.

Before Lu Zhenfei could react, Zhu Cihong jumped down.

This scared Lu Zhenfei.

Zhu Cihong is a great tomorrow, if he bumps into something, won't he become a sinner.

"Your Majesty, be careful!"

Lu Zhenfei instinctively shouted.

"Don't panic, I'm fine. It's a big room in this trench, so you might as well come in and have a look. ”

The Son of Heaven said this, of course Lu Zhenfei couldn't refuse.

He gritted his teeth and jumped into the trench.

Although Lu Zhenfei is a civil official, he also practices martial arts and boxing on weekdays, so his skills are no worse than Zhu Cihong.

He stood firmly in the trench, without any help.

After looking around, Lu Zhenfei found that the internal space of this trench was really very wide as the Son of Heaven said, and it didn't seem narrow at all.

Not to mention squatting and turning around, even if you lie down and sleep in it, you won't have any problem.

"Your Majesty, what the hell is going on?"

How can a good restaurant dig so many trenches in the backyard?

"This restaurant and the house were bought by Song Yingxing to test the excavation of trenches."

Zhu Cihong explained: "Originally, I wanted to test it in the military camp, but thinking that this matter has not yet been implemented, I should control the scope of knowledge, so Song Yingxing thought of such a way. ”

Lu Zhenfei couldn't laugh or cry when he heard it.

His Majesty the Emperor usually looks very serious, giving people a sense of not being angry and arrogant.

But it's okay to be "not serious".

It is clear that this restaurant is not to make money, but to complete the experiment that His Majesty the Emperor has said.

It's just that Lu Zhenfei still doesn't quite understand how digging a few trenches will help the Ming Dynasty against the Eastern Prisoners.

"I call this kind of trench a trench."

Zhu Cihong explained: "Don't look at its appearance, but it can play an important role in blocking the advance of the cavalry. In addition, trenches can also reduce the threat of artillery. The strength of the Manchu Qing Dynasty is strong in cavalry and artillery, and if he is abolished, this fang is not to be feared. ”

General Lu Zhenfei was suspicious: "Your Majesty, although this trench is very wide and long, it is impossible to dig it all the way after all, so why not just bypass it?" ”

Zhu Cihong said with a smile: "What this soldier said is right, Donglu's first reaction when he sees the trenches must be to bypass, but my trenches are not dug casually, they are all stuck on the road that Donglu must pass, if he wants to bypass, it is impossible to attack important prefectures, counties, and prefectures." In addition, the trenches and forts are also coordinated, and there are hundreds of large and small forts along the Shandong line, right? This trench can be dug much faster than a bastion. I wanted the soldiers to fill in the gaps between the bastions with trenches. ”

Digging trenches does not require high technical skills, as long as a sample is given, people can refer to it.

The most important thing is to have enough manpower.

And this is what Da Ming lacks the most at the moment.

Whether it is Ding Zhuang or a soldier, they can go and dig trenches.

Zhu Cihong felt that he would be able to complete his request in a month at most.

"Your Majesty is trying to force the Eastern Captives to attack the fortress?"

Although Lu Zhenfei had not seen the fortress with his own eyes, he had seen the sketches drawn by Zhu Cihong.

As you can see from the sketches, the bastions are easier to defend than ordinary forts.

If the Eastern Captives choose to attack strongly, they will inevitably suffer heavy losses.

The problem is that there is an area between the bastions that cannot be covered. If the eastern captives detoured, the fortress group would be useless.

It seems that the Son of Heaven now wants to dig trenches to weave a net between the fortress groups, so that the eastern captives have no way around.

It has to be said that it was a gamble.

Because there has never been a similar example before.

If it were an ordinary person, he might have to come forward to admonish him a long time ago.

But Lu Zhenfei is an extremely enlightened type of person who is very willing to accept new things.

"Not bad! If you don't go to the fortress, you have to cross the trenches. And whichever they choose, there will be heavy casualties. ”

Although Zhu Cihong had never felt the benefits of trenches in actual combat, a large number of battle examples in later generations were enough to give him confidence.

For example, in the Franco-Prussian War, the trenches played an important role in it.

With the advent of muskets, artillery, the role of trenches will only increase.

And if the Dongyu chooses to storm the fortress group after hitting the wall, it will be even more Zhu Cihong willing to see.

The sturdy bastion could maximize the consumption of the Manchu Qing's living forces.

After losing their troops, the Manchu generals will definitely be annoyed and angry, and try to make a desperate bet to turn the tables.

When they were mired in the quagmire, the Ming army could fight from both wings to form an outflank.

Defending instead of attacking was the best choice for the Ming army at the moment, and the forts and trenches made this tactic possible.

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