Thanh Hoa City, the second largest city in Annam, is second only to Dongguan (Hanoi) in size, but it is still far from being compared to the important cities of the Ming Dynasty. This is an ancient city, and the moss-covered bricks on the walls seem to tell its heritage.

In early October, Liu Sheng led more than 20,000 officers and army and land divisions, which were already stationed on the banks of the Majiang River and stationed troops in the east of Thanh Hoa City.

Liu Sheng rode a horse and looked at the city head in front of him at a distance of more than 100 steps from the city wall. A few arrows were thrown from time to time in the air, which made the soldiers and guards very nervous, for fear that the boss would make a mistake. Liu Sheng looked calm, listening to the scout generals who had just arrived to report on the military situation.

"On the day we arrived at Majiangkou, Chen Jikuo's men and horses went south. The most recent report was at noon today, and he found that Chen Jikuo's rebel brigade was not far from Yanzhou (Huangmei). As he spoke, the general nervously turned his head to look at the rebel archers on the wall.

Liu Sheng said: "Ignore Chen Jikuo for the time being. Capture Thanh Hoa City first, so that the army can secure the grain route and transport the baggage. ”

The generals clasped their fists and said: "Handsome and wise!" ”

Liu Sheng said that, and finally patted the horse and left the place. He still ran along the road not far from the wall, but it was much better than standing there just now, and the moving target was less likely to be hit by a crossbow arrow.

A general admonished Liu Sheng: "The official army is not besieging the city, the big camp is in the east, and the commander beware of the traitors going out of the city to counterattack." ”

Liu Sheng didn't think so, he felt that Chen Jikuo ran so fast, the rebels had been frightened, and the rest of the people didn't dare to go out of the city at all.

The group went around a small half circle along the city and came to the southwest of Thanh Hoa, where there was a military village of the Ming army, and the soldiers of the baggage battalion were quarrying stones to make stone bullets on a stone field. The sound of metal banging and the shouting of people working ...... all over the place.

The terrain around Thanh Hoa City is flat, and after the Ming army patrolled the area, they found that only this place and the side of the mountain had a quarry.

The Ming army landed from the sea, and the fleet was very large; However, in addition to Hou Xian's fleet of seagoing ships, the ships and transportation capacity mobilized by the coastal naval division were limited. There were nearly 200 warships, and the actual number of Ming army land divisions transported was only more than 20,000 people, as well as a large amount of baggage. More than 20,000 people attacked the city, but of course they could not besiege it.

Therefore, now the main force of the Ming army is in the east of the city, and everyone is building fortifications, assembling return cannons, and erecting Hongwu cannons (mortar cannons) in order to use the ammunition unloaded from the ship. As soon as the stone bullets shipped by the ship were finished, the stone bullets made in the stone quarry on the southwest side had to be transported to the eastern position as soon as possible.

On the other three sides of the city, there was no main deployment of the Ming army, and only some cavalry were watching.

Liu Sheng led a team of cavalry and personally ran around the city, and sure enough, he didn't encounter the enemy army attacking out of the city. Only the defenders on the city walls, from time to time, fired and threw some arrows from a distance with their bows and crossbows, and the threat was not great.

When Liu Sheng led the horse team back to the camp by the river, he saw the fire flickering on the position from a distance, and then several loud roars came.

The stone projectiles fired from the Hongwu cannon flew towards the city wall. Stone bullets weighing dozens of catties or even hundreds of catties were transferred from the air to the land outside the city, and the "dong dong" sounded and fell to the ground. A stone bullet fell on the city wall, and I saw the stones on it splashing dust, and I don't know whether the stone bullet broke or the masonry bounced.

The cannon rang out a few times, and then it stopped for a while, and the soldiers should be adjusting the angle and recalibrating the distance. The artillery of the Ming army aimed at the target, mainly relying on experience and observation, and readjusted the elevation angle before it hit. Therefore, it is difficult to hit smaller targets, and can only be used against dense infantry phalanxes, or bombardment of such walls.

The sound of the cannon stopped, and the pig iron thunder fired by the cannon flew up and down the city wall in a moment, exploding one after another. The lead of a pig iron mine seemed to be a little shorter, and it exploded in the air, and a huge explosion sounded from a high place, literally throughout the four fields.

......The Hongwu cannon on the Ming army's position was soon ignited again, and the huge roar came and went, and the entire ground seemed to be erupting like a volcano, with dazzling flames flickering continuously, and the billowing gunpowder smoke soon filled the entire land.

Two or three hundred steps away, the city of Thanh Hoa was ravaged by countless large stone bullets, and pig iron thunder exploded everywhere, gradually shrouded in dust and gunsmoke. The bricks and buttresses on the city wall collapsed everywhere, and it was a mess.

The battlefield where the Ming army gathered heavy troops was very violent, and the war was covered by thunderous firepower. At the beginning, the defenders of Annam still had heavy crossbows, firearms and other counterattacks, but soon there was no movement, and under the continuous shelling, it is estimated that it has been completely destroyed.

There are still some dilapidated houses outside the city, which are the people who live in the attached city, and most of them should be peddlers and pawns. The artillery of the Ming army was not very accurate, and some shells did not hit the city wall and landed outside the city, causing those houses to suffer; Bursts of artillery fell, and the outside of the city was almost in ruins.

Liu Sheng rode back to the camp and saw that many soldiers were digging trenches and digging forward on the battlefield with gunpowder smoke and dust. The soldiers of the Beijing camp have accumulated a lot of experience in the civil war, and the method of storming the important town of Guizhou at the beginning is also quite practical in the battlefield of Annan at this time, and everyone is very skilled.

The soldiers in the back were already loading sandbags, which were filled with mud and sand and placed in front of the formation, and only waited for the trench to be dug in front of them, and the sandbags could be transported over to quickly build fortifications.

Amid the rumbling of cannons, shovels flew outside the city, and dirt was thrown everywhere, and the east of the city was busy. The soldiers dug diagonally forward, gathering seventy or eighty paces from the city wall, and the trenches and fortifications looked like many "zhi" side by side.

The artillery bombardment of the Ming army began early in the morning and continued until sunset, and the continuous and indiscriminate bombardment continued for several days, and the entire city wall of the eastern city of Thanh Hoa was in ruins. The city tower has long been smashed by stone bullets and pig iron thunder, and it is miserable.

But the soldiers who dug the trenches went into battle day and night, in turn. A few days later, several fortifications were erected with ditches and sandbags.

But at this time, the ladder of the Ming army had not yet been built. Some of the key parts of the ladder were brought on the ship, but it would take time for the huge ladder to be cut and perfected by a carpenter. However, many of the outlines of the huge ladders on the battlefield have been erected. The soldiers could only continue to face off with the defenders and attack.

On the distant city wall, the battlements had been almost destroyed by countless cannonballs, and all that remained was a rammed earth wall.

From time to time, some bows and arrows stood up, wanting to shoot the Ming army under the city. As soon as they appeared, the ditch wall under the city was "crackling...... and a flash of fire flickered, and countless firebolts opened fire together. I saw that the enemy soldiers seemed to be dancing on the wall, trembling all over, and I don't know how many lead bullets were hit, and then they fell down one after another.

The artillery and return artillery of the Ming army were not fired so frequently. Only when the enemy's bows and arrows are thrown from the wall, or when there is a catapult to counterattack, the heavy weapons behind will fire a volley, smashing the entire wall into smoke and dust.

The two armies had not yet begun to fight, and the Ming army's various long-range strikes alone had already caused huge damage. When the soldiers in the ditch withdrew, they all said that the smell was very bad, and the whole battlefield was shrouded in the bad smell of gunsmoke, feces, urine, and corpses.

This confrontation continued, and only after the Ming army's ladder was completed would the army climb the city and deal a fatal blow to the city defense.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, several white flags suddenly appeared on the city wall. Liu Sheng soon saw it, he looked at it for a while, then turned his head and shouted: "The enemy army wants to surrender!" A temporary truce was ordered for the ministry. ”

"Order!" The Chinese army's standard-bearers answered, and rushed to the ranks of the flag-bearers. After a while, there was the sound of beating brass instruments, and the artillery everywhere gradually quieted down. At the same time, some horsemen rushed forward, shouting and conveying military orders, and the shooting of the soldiers in front also stopped.

Two Annamites appeared on the city walls. They went down to the city in hanging baskets and were immediately escorted to the Chinese army by the soldiers.

They were two civil officials wearing black veils and official uniforms. When they saw Liu Sheng, they saluted, and one of them said in Chinese: "General Ruan Jingyi, the Taibao of Dayue, please General Liu not to hurt the people in the city and surrender the troops." As long as General Liu agreed, the Great Vietnamese Army opened the East City Gate to welcome General Liu's men. ”

Liu Sheng snorted coldly.

Seeing this, the Ming Dynasty official next to him spoke: "'Da Yue' has not been recognized by the imperial court, you should surrender to the official army as a rebel, and there can be no demands; if you dare to resist stubbornly, Thanh Hoa City will be razed to the ground and cease to exist!" ”

At this time, Liu Sheng finally spoke: "He is right. However, my Ming officers and soldiers are benevolent and righteous soldiers, and there is no need to wait for more, and we will not deliberately hurt the innocent. ”

The two rebel officials gave up, and said that they would return to the city and report the intention of the commander of the Ming army. Liu Sheng didn't make it difficult for them, and asked someone to send it back. The two men went under the walls and sat back on the hanging baskets.

For a while, the Ming army did not continue to attack, and the huge noise on the battlefield subsided and shrouded in a brief tranquility.

After a long time, the east gate suddenly and slowly opened, and a cloud of smoke rose from the dirt soot that fell on the city gate. Bursts of jubilant cheers soon came from the crowds of Ming soldiers from far and near, and many military flags were waving in the air in celebration. A group of cavalry was the first to rush towards the gates, followed by infantry who also climbed out of the trenches and rushed to the gates.

Liu Sheng said: "Order the generals in front to occupy the gate of the East City first, and ask Ruan Jingyi to lead his troops out of the city and surrender." ”

"Order!" Someone around immediately responded.

Liu Sheng turned over his horse and squinted at the ruined city tower. The war horse was vaguely impatient and kicked its hooves, and Liu Sheng didn't have a smile on his face, but he looked like he was holding his head high.

The smoke of gunpowder in Qinghua has not yet dissipated, and the choking smell of gunpowder smoke makes people feel that there is a different style at this time.

With only more than 20,000 people, they captured the rebel capital of the self-proclaimed "Da Viet" in a few days. The combat power of the Ming army is beyond expectations, and of course, the credit of the coach Liu Sheng is also obvious. As a conscriptor full of strength, Liu Sheng certainly felt quite good at this time.