Chapter 42 Tongguan changes hands and circles the building department store

Hearing that Li Wei felt that the caliber of the cannon was small, Zhang Zhimu said: "The bore pressure of this kind of cannon is higher than that of mortars, and the range of shells of the same caliber is longer than that of mortars, and the exit speed of shells is also high. It is even more convenient to deal with direct targets. If we push the cannon into the target, we can aim the barrel at the target and reload the shell. Besides, the shells have high rotational stability, and the accuracy of shooting is much better. You should first engage in this caliber, and after you have experience, you will engage in large-caliber ones. After you finished 60 guns, didn't you get another 120 guns? ”

Li Yunhe said: "This cannon is much more difficult than mortars, and I am afraid that the rifling cannot be squeezed out by the same method as the rifle barrel." But pulling it out with a milling cutter is going to be a lot of work. This kind of manganese steel, when it is processed once, it is too difficult to process again. ”

Zhang Zhimu remembered that when he was interning in the factory, he heard the master say that the characteristic of manganese steel is that it has a characteristic called work hardening, that is, after a processing of manganese steel, a hardened layer will be produced on the surface after processing, and this hardened layer is exceptionally hard, which is both an advantage and a disadvantage. The advantage is that the mechanical strength of the machined surface is better, and the disadvantage is that it is difficult to process again.

Zhang Zhimu smiled and said: "What you are talking about is the unique phenomenon of manganese steel, work hardening. To solve this problem, the amount of feed must exceed the hardened layer when you process it a second time. However, this hardened layer is still good for our barrels and barrels. Now we can't chrome our rifling, life is a problem! ”

"What are you talking about chrome?" Li Yunhe asked.

Zhang Zhimu knew that he couldn't explain it now, and said: "I'll tell you about electroplating in the future." You should study how this rifling is processed, right? In the future, we will also engage in large artillery, and this rifling processing is a problem. ”

Li Yunhe said: "This size of the barrel is easy to do, and it can be processed when stuck on the lathe." However, if you are talking about processing large artillery, you will have to engage in special equipment. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "The pressure of this kind of gun chamber is higher than that of mortars, and the steel of your gun barrel must be forged." ”

Zhang Zhimu and Li Yunhe were studying the matter of infantry artillery, and Chen Yufeng sent someone to invite Zhang Zhimu to come over.

Zhang Zhimu had no choice but to say to Li Yunhe: "That's all I can say about artillery, you can watch the rest." ”

When he came to the command center, Chen Yufeng and Ouyang He were waiting for him.

Ouyang He said: "Mr. Zhang, Li Zicheng's army has begun to attack Tongguan. They didn't wait for the Yellow River to freeze. ”

"It seems that they have found that most of our warships have withdrawn." Zhang Zhimu said.

Chen Yufeng said: "According to the letter from Tongguan, our warship can barely cover the north and east and west sides of Tongguan. To the south, Li Wei's 120 heavy mortars could not be supported as soon as they were withdrawn. In the past two days, Li Zicheng's army has attacked very fiercely, but fortunately, the ** we gave them still played a lot of roles. However, Li Zicheng's artillery fire was too fierce. They also suffered serious casualties in Ningde, and many wounded soldiers had already quietly crossed the Yellow River through the water gate at night, and were being sent to us by car. ”

"It's a pity that there are so many state capitals in the Ming Dynasty that don't have the nearest wounded soldiers. It's going to be so far away to get to us. Ouyang He shook his head and said.

Zhang Zhimu said: "The wounded officers and soldiers in Tongguan know that they will be saved when they come to us, and this is also a good thing for us. But it's best to persuade Ningde, keep the green mountains here, and don't be afraid of no firewood. They won't be able to support it for long. ”

Chen Yufeng said: "It's useless. Ning De knew that if he escaped Tongguan alive, the imperial court would also kill him. He was even more afraid of the suffering of the people of Tongguan. ”

Ouyang He said: "I want to go to Tongguan to talk to Ningde face-to-face, in fact, he can negotiate with Li Zicheng's army." It is not difficult for them to be sorry for the people of Tongguan, and he himself withdrew from Tongguan. Anyway, he couldn't hold it, and if we hadn't supported him, he wouldn't have been able to hold it a long time ago. Withdrawing still retains a little bit of strength. They have consumed a lot of Li Zicheng's troops. I think Li Zicheng stormed for a day, and the number of dead and wounded would be thousands. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "No, Tongguan is a dangerous city now, and it is too dangerous for you to go there." ”

Ouyang He said: "Don't worry, I know about Tongguan, and I can enter Tongguan through the water gate at night." Tongguan has two water gates, one south and one north. We have our ships in control to the north, and I think it's okay to be safe. In fact, Ning De was afraid that the side of the court would be bigger, so it was better to talk about it. Anyway, their families are also in the kiln, so let him be happy. In the future, he is willing to return to Tongguan, and after we take Tongguan, can we still ask him to return to Tongguan. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "If you say so, you can go back quickly." I'll let Li Jing accompany you. But I'm afraid that when you get to Tongguan, Tongguan has already changed hands. ”

"Then let's see what happens to Ningde's life. I won't delay and I'll leave right away. Ouyang He said.

Since the Fen River had begun to freeze, Ouyang He and Li Jing had no choice but to take the land route. First went to Yuncheng and then to Fenglingdu, contacted the warship in Yaogang, and after learning some information, Ouyang He gasped. He knew that if he came a little later, he would not be able to enter Tongguan. Because just today, Ningde was already seriously injured. He was wounded by a shell while organizing a battle at the head of the city.

Ouyang He came to Tongguan that night.

Ning De was seriously injured, but his mind was still very clear, and when he saw Ouyang He, tears fell. At this time, there are still people who dare to come to Tongguan, he didn't expect it.

After Ouyang He asked everyone else to go out, he said to Ning De, "My lord, we don't have time to gossip. If you are injured, you can't hold Tongguan anymore, and our suggestion is that you write a letter to Li Zicheng's army, and if they promise that it will not be difficult for the people of Tongguan, you will withdraw from Tongguan. It's good for everyone. ”

Ning De was just about to speak, when Ouyang He said, "My lord, let me finish, I know that you are afraid that it will be difficult for the court to investigate it in the future." But have you thought about it, Governor Sun Chuanting doesn't know where to hide. Does the imperial court still have the ability to turn the tables again? As a soldier, you have done your best, and you are worthy of the imperial court, and now you need to think about your surviving subordinates and the people of Tongguan. Don't worry, sir, we will definitely take back Tongguan. At that time, if you like Tongguan, you will come back. ”

Ning De understood Ouyang He's words, and he said, "If you can still come to Tongguan at this time, I will listen to you." ”

Ning De called and dictated a letter for someone to write, and then stamped it with the Great Seal of the Garrison.

The letter was addressed to Tian Mixiu, the general of the power who besieged Tongguan. The gist of the letter is:

General Tian:

You and I fought for many days, with countless casualties, and countless innocent people in Tongguan were killed and injured. If the battle continues to increase the casualties of the people, I have a proposal, if General Tian can guarantee that he will not harm the people of Tongguan, I am willing to lead his troops to withdraw from Tongguan. In order to avoid the continued suffering of the people of Tongguan.

If General Tian can take care of the people of Tongguan and agree to my suggestion, we will make a truce tomorrow. The general will be able to take over Tongguan the day after tomorrow.

Tongguan garrisoned Ningde

December 15, 16th year of Chongzhen

After writing the letter, Ning De stubbornly found people and asked them to ride outside the camp of Li Zicheng's army, and shot an arrow into the camp of Li Zicheng's army.

Due to Ningde's desperate resistance, Tian Jianxiu also suffered countless casualties. The soldiers fought very coldly, although they were all soldiers of a hundred battles, but after all, the troops could not be spread and could only attack from the north, and Tongguan could concentrate on defending one side. So Tian Jianxiu is also worried about the casualties. Although he told the soldiers: "Our loss of Datongguan is not small, and tomorrow we will attack Tongguan with all our strength." But he didn't know the bottom in his heart, although he knew that Tongguan would be captured sooner or later, but seeing the tenacity of Tongguan's defense, he really didn't know which day he would be able to capture Tongguan.

But at this moment, the soldiers came to report that "someone has shot into the camp and a letter is addressed to you, the general." ”

Tian Jianxiu took the letter and opened it to the lamp to see that it was a letter from Tongguan guarding Ningde. This made Tian Jianxiu overjoyed, and said in his heart: "Lao'er, you finally can't stand it anymore." However, when he thought about it, Ningde's suggestion was not unacceptable. That way, there won't be a bloody battle. It is not difficult for Ningde to bring it up for the people of Tongguan, and it is easy to accept. King Chuang also repeatedly demanded that the people who surrendered to the state capital should not be offended.

Without consulting with his brothers, Tian Jianxiu wrote a letter under the lamp and sent someone to shoot an arrow into Tongguan. Then he said that he would inform him to go down and make a truce tomorrow.

Ning De was also in a daze, stiffening up and waiting for the letter. When he heard that Tami-su agreed to his suggestion. So he ordered his men to be brought in and told them of their decision. Of course, the soldiers were very happy to hear such news, and finally Ning De said: "All the soldiers who have withdrawn from Tongguan must obey the command and arrangement of the Yaogang people, otherwise they will be dealt with by military law." From now on, I will follow Mr. Ouyang's arrangement. After saying that, Ning De couldn't stand it anymore and fell asleep groggily.

Ouyang He knew that now was the time, he must not mess up, but fortunately, Ouyang He and the generals of Tongguan were already familiar.

Ouyang He said: "Take care of Lord Ningde, let's go out for a meeting." ”

The generals all followed Ouyang He to the hall, and after sitting down separately, Ouyang He said, "We are also familiar with each other, so we won't bother talking." How many people are still in Tongguan now? ”

"There are more than 3,000 people left, and more than 1,000 wounded soldiers." Said one of the generals.

Ouyang He said: "Not counting tonight, we still have a day and a night to evacuate tomorrow." However, we must prevent the thieves from carrying out sneak attacks without keeping their promises. If nothing else, we have time to pull out. Before I came to Tongguan, I had hired a lot of ships to the north of the Yellow River, and I think there are many ships in Tongguan. We made this arrangement: 1,000 soldiers were evacuated overnight today to Fenglingdu on the north bank of the Yellow River, and a camp was set up to meet the families of the wounded soldiers who would be evacuated tomorrow. Tomorrow during the day, the wounded, their families, vehicles, horses, and baggage must be evacuated. We must not leave a wounded brother behind. Tomorrow night our soldiers will be withdrawn. Early the day after tomorrow, let the people of Tongguan open the city gate to welcome Li Zicheng's army into the city. Remember that the weapons must be taken away, the food is enough to eat on the road, and the rest is distributed to the people of Tongguan. ”

At this time, the deputy general of the Tongguan garrison said: "Mr. Ouyang He, we are not outsiders, you can come to Tongguan at this time, and we won't talk about it now, if you are polite, we won't talk about it now." We would like to ask you to take someone to the north shore first and help us organize the people who will welcome Tongguan to the past. We are familiar with the situation here in Tongguan, and we are responsible for resolutely organizing the evacuation as you say. But after crossing the Yellow River, it is Shanxi, and we are not familiar with the situation, so it is all up to you. ”

Ouyang He said: "It's okay, I have two requirements, one is that you must warn the soldiers, you are absolutely not allowed to disturb the people when you enter Shanxi, and those who violate it will be killed immediately; Second, Lord Ningde must not withdraw too early, otherwise the army's heart will be chaotic first. ”

The adjutant general said: "Mr. Ouyang has considered it thoroughly, and we will resolutely follow it. ”

That night, Ouyang He took Li Jing and others to withdraw to the north bank of the Yellow River with the first batch of soldiers, and set up camp near Fenglingdu. The next day, the wounded soldiers, and some family members were the first to come over, and then the carriages, horses, and baggage, etc., until it was almost dark in the afternoon, and Ningde was sent to the north bank of the Yellow River. However, Ningde's state is not very good, and most of the time he is in a comatose state. Ouyang He gave his rubber reel steel spring carriage to Ningde to use, and ordered people to send Ningde directly to the kiln without waiting for others.

Tian Jianxiu is still trustworthy and does not make trouble in the middle. Ningde's troops successfully withdrew across the Yellow River to Shanxi.

After Tian Jianxiu successfully took over Tongguan, he immediately notified Li Zicheng in Xi'an.

The change of hands in Tongguan has had a significant impact on several aspects of the attention here.

After Li Zicheng defeated Sun Chuanting in Shaanxi and occupied Xi'an, he swept through the entire territory of Shaanxi and was preparing to build the capital and become the emperor. Hearing the news of Tian Jianxiu's occupation of Tongguan, he was overjoyed. The heart said, this time Shaanxi is all mine. Besides, after occupying Tongguan, a place where soldiers must fight, we can choke the main road in and out of Guanzhong, and it will be much more convenient for us to enter and exit Shaanxi. The military advisor Niu Jinxing said: "King Chuang, I think this is God helping us." Knowing that we were going to build the capital, I sent a big gift. It seems that Jianxiu did not wait for the Yellow River to freeze, and he was very able to judge the situation. ”

Li Zicheng said: "Jianxiu is a person who can use his brain to fight. If only our generals could be like him. ”

"In my opinion, these generals of ours have all fought in a hundred battles, and each has its own strengths. It can't all be the same. Niu Jinxing said.

Li Zicheng nodded and said, "Yes, the herald commends Tongguan Jianxiu for their soldiers in Tongguan." ”

Emperor Chongzhen in Beijing soon got the news of the loss of Tongguan. Although Emperor Chongzhen was mentally prepared for this, he still reaped it in his heart. He knew that this meant that Shaanxi was all lost. Although he also knew that Tongguan had not been lost, it was because there were Yaogang people's warships supporting the Yellow River, and Yaogang's logistics supplies were supporting. Obviously, this will not last long. What made Emperor Chongzhen angry was that during the Tongguan crisis, Shanxi was so close that no one moved when he ordered anyone to support, and the wounded soldiers who retreated from Tongguan had to go far to the kiln gang to arrange. This time, the rest of Tongguan still arrived at Yaogang again. If there was no kiln, the Ming Dynasty would not be able to. Although Emperor Chongzhen himself received 500,000 taels of silver and 5 million yuan of kiln gang coins from the hands of the kiln gang people, he still did not want to admit that the Ming Dynasty would not work without the kiln gang people.

Chen Yufeng, who was on the side of the kiln, came to Zhang Zhimu's office and said to Zhang Zhimu after Ouyang He helped Ningde in Tongguan to evacuate smoothly: "Tongguan has been lost, let's build fortifications in Yaogang immediately." It won't be long before Li Zicheng will come over. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "It's best not to be too nervous now, I want to talk about it after the New Year, so let's have a good New Year!" ”

Chen Yufeng didn't speak, and then Lu Chengxiang came in with a happy face and said, "Mr. Zhang, our Huanlou Department Store is about to officially open, do you want to take a look."

Zhang Zhimu said: "Okay, Uncle Chen, let's go and see it together." ”

On the way to the department store, Zhang Zhimu said to Lu Chengxiang: "There is one thing, we have to prepare some in advance." ”

"What's that?"

Zhang Zhimu said: "Compress the biscuits. You have to puff wheat flour and soybean flour first, and then compress it into small pieces the size of a matchbox according to the ratio of five kilograms of puffed wheat flour, one kilogram of soybean flour, one kilogram of sugar, one kilogram of peanut oil, one or two salts, half a kilogram of sesame seeds, and half a kilogram of water. ”

Lu Chengxiang said: "You should first talk about what puffing is, right?" ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "You can take the wheat flour with larger grains, heat and press it in a pressure cooker, and when the temperature reaches a certain level, the wheat flour will become a liquid that can flow, and then you suddenly cool down and lower the pressure, and the wheat flour will become an expanded solid, and you will crush them to become puffed powder." Soybean flour can also be processed in this way. ”

"It's not delicious to make it as you say." Lu Chengxiang said.

Zhang Zhimu said: "It's not delicious. But let me tell you, a person can eat a piece the size of a matchbox to eat a compressed biscuit. You say that the march is fighting, and it is convenient for the soldiers to be brought. ”

Without waiting for Lu Chengxiang to answer, Chen Yufeng said: "Zhimu, if it is really like what you said, it is more effective than Niu Yougan." Then hurry up and get some more. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Beef jerky can also be brought to the soldiers together. Or simply grind the beef jerky into flour and make it directly into the compressed biscuits. ”

Lu Chengxiang said: "I understand, I'll get a few more formulas when I go back and let them all try it." It would be great if it was the size of a matchbox and could handle a meal. ”

"But this thing can only be used for temporary emergencies, and it can't be eaten for a long time. It doesn't work if you eat too much, it can swell people to death. It is best to soak in water and eat. Zhang Zhimu explained.

Chen Yufeng said: "As long as we can solve the needs of emergency warfare. That thing can save lives when it counts. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "In the future, Zhang Bingchen's red wound medicine will be developed, and our soldiers must each be equipped with a first-aid kit and compressed biscuits. These things don't weigh much, and they can save lives in an emergency. ”

"Alright, the cookie thing. I'll arrange it. How about you take a look at our Huan'er Lou department store? Lu Chengxiang said proudly.

Zhang Zhimu blurted out "spectacular! "Two words.

This building should be the largest building in Yaogang. It's not much smaller than the Fangcheng of Yaogang, and the Fangcheng of Yaogang can't be regarded as a building, it is composed of several parts. This building is said to be a circle building, but in fact it is not a circle building, but a square outside, counting more than 100 meters square, a circle of buildings, with five floors above ground and one floor underground. From the outside, the whole circle building looks like a castle. Only a doorway at due north leads into the circle building to enclose an internal space, and the doorway has two steel-welded gates. In addition, each side of the four-sided building has three doors to enter the building except for the north side, generally a gate in the middle, and a small door in the middle of each side. The door in the middle of the north side is occupied by the building, so there are only two small doors on the north side to enter the building. The building is made entirely of reinforced concrete and inverted frames, and then made of green bricks. The most striking thing is that the building is surrounded by large glass windows, and the edges of the windows are painted with red paint. There is also an iron window outside the window. On the roof of the building is a concrete platform, of course, if something can be garrisoned to defend.

Seeing Zhang Zhimu and Chen Yufeng looking at the circle floor and constantly staggering, Lu Chengxiang became even more proud and said, "How is it?" Don't just look outside, let's go inside! ”

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Mechanics of Materials, Theoretical Mechanics, Elastic Mechanics, Fluid Mechanics. --Progress of "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty".