Chapter 51: Siege of Ping'an Town, Huge Artillery Bombardment of the City Wall

When Fan Chengkun commanded the fleet to advance towards the bay of Ping'an Town, the first task was to destroy the batteries on the coast, otherwise the coastal artillery would be a great threat to the fleet.

The five steel-hulled warships did a division of labor, Qinzhou and Fenzhou were in charge of the right, Liaozhou and Zezhou were in charge of the left, and Fan Chengkun and the Xiurong and the Liusou steam fortune ship were behind and followed.

At the entrance of Weitou Bay into Anping Bay, Zheng Zhilong and they built many forts to block this sea mouth. The four kiln warships that sailed in front also had to be taken seriously, this time they did not skimp on the 203 mm cannons, and when they approached the front batteries, they first fired directly at the 203 mm cannons. This is a direct fire at close range, and the 230 mm cannon, whichever part of the battery on the shore hits will overturn the battery directly, lifting the artillery on the battery into the air along with the artillery. Many of the soldiers who were not directly hit by the shells were also bled to death by the shock wave of the shells. After overturning a few batteries, the artillerymen on the nearby batteries abandoned the batteries and fled for their lives.

Fan Chengkun, who was watching the battle from behind, ordered to put down some small speedboats, carried people to investigate, and told the warships in front that if there were indeed no artillery guards on the battery, there would be no need to bombard. Now Fan Chengkun is already thinking about the task of guarding this place in the future, and the forts here will be his own in the future, whether he can destroy it or try not to destroy it.

The four warships entered the bay and also advanced while firing their guns, and the 130 and 203 cannons fired alternately, blowing up the Zheng Jiajun batteries that were ready to return fire one by one. The cannons of the Kiln Gang warships, which now entered the bay, fired at the batteries on the coast at close range, almost like shooting a rifle at their head. Whoever is careless and needs a second shot at any of the turrets will provoke a laugh from the sailors.

Zheng Zhilong didn't expect that the fort that he had spent a lot of effort and spent countless silver taels to build would be so vulnerable, and the fleet that he thought was invincible in the world would not be able to deal with the kiln gang people. Zheng Zhilong secretly rejoiced that he was still very wise to think of sending his family away. I have made the right decision many times in a hurry, and it seems that I did it right again this time.

When he sent a team to block the Yaogang people, the sound of cannons fired with the Yaogang people outside Ping'an Town reached Zheng Zhilong's mansion, Zheng Zhilong knew that the army he sent was about to end his mission, but they did not and could not complete the task of blocking the Yaogang people. When the soldiers reported that the Yaogang people were besieging Ping'an Town, reports from the sea also came in. Before his own warship entered Weitou Bay, one of the warships that did not approach the Yaogang people was broken, and the other ships retreated to Anping Town. This made Zheng Zhilong feel even more that he was very wise to let his family leave in time. To be honest, until now, Zheng Zhilong is not very clear about his situation, he thought that in such a big Fujian, there would be many troops loyal to him who would fight against the Yaogang people. However, when it was reported that the warships of the Yaogang people had been destroying the forts on the coast and had driven towards Ping'an Town, Zheng Zhilong understood that no matter what the situation outside was, Ping'an Town was finished. Zheng Zhilong knew that it was time for him to think about how to get out, although Zheng Zhilong had gathered more than 20,000 soldiers and horses to squeeze into Ping'an Town, and more than 10,000 people in Ping'an Town had sworn to guard Ping'an Town together, but Zheng Zhilong knew that Ping'an Town could not be defended.

Zheng Zhilong is not worried about the safety of the vault left behind after he leaves, the entrance to the vault is only known to himself and a few few people, and they will not say it, and outsiders can't find it at all.

The army that is actively preparing for defense does not know that they can't hold Ping'an Town, in their eyes, Zheng Zhilong is invincible in the world, and after Zheng Zhilong's personal design, the Ping'an Town built at a huge cost is even more impossible to break, but Zheng Zhilong's guard captain knows that Zheng Zhilong can send his family away so early because Zheng Zhilong has no confidence in guarding Ping'an Town. The 20,000 or 30,000 troops trapped in Ping'an Town are difficult to defend without the advantage of the water army. Zheng Zhilong, the captain of the guard, is a brother who has followed Zheng Zhilong for many years and can say everything.

Seeing the current situation, the captain of the guard came to Zheng Zhilong's room, without any disguise, and said, "Big brother! Change your clothes, let's pretend to be the people and go out!" Only when you go out can you mobilize all your strength to deal with the kiln people. ”

"Brother! We can't deal with the Yaogang people on land, except for them and Li Zicheng's people. Unexpectedly, we can't deal with the kiln people at sea. I'm afraid that my second brother Zheng Zhihu and their fleet have already suffered an accident. After speaking, Zheng Zhilong lowered his head and paused for a while, and then said: "I have never felt like this, I don't know how to deal with these kiln people." A few years ago, I felt the horror of the Yaogang people, otherwise I wouldn't have spent so much money to ask the people of Qiankun Sect to deal with them. ”

"Anyway, we can't be trapped here, I've heard that the cannons on the Kiln Gang Warship are very powerful, and they are very accurate, and our batteries can be blown away as soon as they take a single shell. We can't defend this safe town, so you better leave as soon as possible! Let's talk about it when we get out! The captain of the guard tried hard to persuade him.

"Humph! Needless to say, the Yaogang people have already surrounded Ping'an Town, and the possibility of us going out is very small. Even if I can get out, what can I do? Zheng Zhilong is now disheartened and resolutely refuses to leave.

"Then fight with them!" The captain of the guard is also a master who does not shoot to death, and when he saw Zheng Zhilong, he made up his mind not to leave, so he also made up his mind.

"Let's go! When I go to the city, I want to see if the people of Yaogang are born with three heads and six arms? Zheng Zhilong made up his mind, so he raised his spirit and wanted to fight with the kiln people.

However, when he went out, Zheng Zhilong said to the captain of the guard: "We only have one chance, when the Yaogang people enter the city, there will be chaos." ”

The captain of the guard nodded and said, "Understood! He knew better in his heart that Zheng Zhilong's martial arts were strong, and ordinary people couldn't help Zheng Zhilong one-on-one. During the scuffle, Zheng Zhilong, with his extraordinary martial arts, had the opportunity to take advantage of the chaos to kill.

Just when Zheng Zhilong took people to the city to take a look at the situation, the Yaogang people suddenly began to shell the city wall of Ping'an Town.

It turned out that after Li Jing led the infantry to surround Ping'an Town, he found that the city walls of Ping'an Town were indeed built extremely strong, and what he hated even more was that there were rows of artillery on the city. Although the cannons in the city can't be compared with the cannons in the kiln gang, they are also lethal if they are shot. So Li Jing told the infantry division commander: "Immediately organize artillery to bombard the artillery in the city for me." Don't use the 130 cannon just yet. ”

The 130 heavy guns have already been pulled over by tracked tractors. The reason why heavy artillery is not used now is to wait for Fan Chengkun and his fleet to come over, and then use it when they attack together.

The division commander concentrated the artillery regiment and the battalion artillery, whether it was 120 heavy mortars, 60 guns, and infantry guns, they all used them in a centralized manner, and after assigning their respective targets, they opened fire together. The artillery fire suddenly turned the city into smoke and dust, and the soldiers in the city had never seen such fierce artillery fire, and all of them were not blown up, but they were all ghosts crying and wolves howling. The cannon was also blown up into the city.

It was this shelling that Zheng Zhilong caught up. The captain of the guard hurriedly grabbed Zheng Zhilong and didn't let him go to the city again, but under the city, seeing the bloody and wounded soldiers who were carried down, Zheng Zhilong's heart was also like a knife. Such a battle could not be fought at all, and the opponent's artillery was outside the effective range of its own artillery fire, and it was so that it had no power to fight back. However, to Zheng Zhilong's relief, although these artillery fires had some damage to the city wall, the damage to the stone-covered city wall was not too severe. This made Zheng Zhilong suddenly feel a little more confident, and felt that with the strong city and the morale of the army, he might be able to fight.

Zheng Zhilong ordered to leave some observation posts in the city, and other officers and soldiers should not go to the city, and when the Yaogang people attacked, no matter how powerful their artillery was, they would not dare to fire, and then we would go to the city again. Zheng Zhilong turned around, and the morale of the officers and soldiers defending the city and the people was greatly boosted.

Just when Zheng Zhilong was about to go back to rest, suddenly, the kiln artillery outside the city suddenly opened fire again. This time, however, there was no loud explosion in the city, and the shells that exploded in the air scattered pieces of paper.

The soldiers sent Zheng Zhilong a few pieces of paper, and Zheng Zhilong took them to see that they were the military and civilian letters to Ping'an Town that were fired by the people of Yaogang with cannonballs. The letter said:

The military and civilians of Ping'an Town, we are the Yaogang People's Army. The barbaric rule of Zheng Zhilong's pirates is now over, and we have captured Quanzhou Gang and Quanzhou City. Zheng Zhilong, the leader of the bandits, knew that he was invincible, and sent his entire family out of Ping'an Town today, and now they have all been intercepted by us. Please don't die for Zheng Zhilong, we will ensure the safety of the lives and property of the people in Ping'an Town. Now we urge Zheng Zhilong to understand the overall situation, in order to save the people of Ping'an Town from being harmed by the war, not to make useless stubborn resistance, to surrender as soon as possible, and we will treat the prisoners preferentially. If Zheng Zhilong can take the initiative to surrender, we can no longer pursue your crime of hiring Qiankun Sect to poison us. Please Zheng Zhilong think twice, time is running out now!

After Zheng Zhilong read the letter, he immediately tore up the letter angrily. This letter hit him too hard, although Zheng Zhilong didn't believe that his family was intercepted by the Yaogang people, because he arranged for his family to leave was a sudden decision, and the Yaogang people had no chance to react. But I didn't get the exact news from my family, and I was still a little worried. The problem now is that the letter from the kiln gang people told the people and soldiers of Ping'an Town about the whole situation, which had too much impact on morale. Zheng Zhilong had to secretly say to himself, "The people of Yaogang are really too fucking vicious!" This knife stabbed directly at Lao Tzu's vital place. ”

These leaflets were quickly printed by Li Jing and her men on stencil and then fired into the city with mortars.

But after waiting for a while, an arrow suddenly shot out of Ping'an Town, and a letter came out of the arrow, which said that the walls of Ping'an Town were strong, and the soldiers and civilians of Ping'an Town swore to live and die with Ping'an Town. I, Zheng Zhilong, the general soldier, am an official of the imperial court, and your attack on Ping'an Town is a rebellion. And you don't have to threaten me with my family, my family is safe, don't bother with it. I advise you not to do this angry thing on this day, and to retreat your troops quickly, and perhaps the court will be exempted from your crimes.

After reading the letter, Li Jing sent a telegram to Fan Chengkun, explaining the situation here. Fan Chengkun telegraphed back that they would soon come to the front of Ping'an Town, but now that it was getting dark, it was not conducive to making greater operations, and it was agreed that they would use heavy artillery to open two gaps in the wall of Ping'an Town early tomorrow morning to kill their morale.

At the same time, Li Jing also sent a telegram to the squadron that intercepted Zheng Zhilong's family, informing them to release a member of Zheng Zhilong's family, send it to Ping'an Town, and send a message to Zheng Zhilong, so that Zheng Zhilong could confirm that his family was already in our hands.

Originally, Li Jing saw that the city wall of Ping'an Town was very well repaired and didn't want to destroy it, but if he didn't break the city wall of Ping'an Town, Zheng Zhilong had a fantasy that he could rely on the city wall for a period of time and wait until their other armies came to the rescue.

Li Jing's leaflets that they entered Ping'an Town did play a great role, and the people and soldiers of Ping'an Town knew that Zheng Zhilong's family had a large team of carriages and horses out of Ping'an Town, just like the people of Yaogang said, Zheng Zhilong also had no confidence in keeping Ping'an Town, otherwise, how could he send his family away. Besides, the artillery fire of the Yaogang people during the day today is too strong, and it seems that this Ping'an Town is difficult to hold. In particular, Quanzhou Port and Quanzhou City were also occupied by the Yaogang people, so could the small Ping'an Town be able to hold it?

Li Jing and Fan Chengkun didn't pay much attention to the affairs of Ping'an Town, and they slept well after the arrangement. But Zheng Zhilong was not in such a good mood, he couldn't close his eyes at all. This made Zheng Zhilong very dissatisfied with himself, he is also a person who has been through storms for a long time, what has happened, how can this be? Could it be that I really can't hide this time? Especially since it's hard not to think about your own family. Although Zheng Zhilong didn't believe that the Yaogang people would be so godly and just block their families, could it be that the Yaogang people would use such a thing to deceive themselves? Again, it doesn't feel likely. Zheng Zhilong couldn't sleep when he was upside down on the bed.

Finally, when it was dawn, Zheng Zhilong fell asleep in a daze, but was suddenly shouted by the captain of the guard. Zheng Zhilong didn't know when it was, but he knew that something must have happened.

Zheng Zhilong, who barely opened his eyes, asked, "What's wrong?" ”

"Big brother! Oh no, the warship of the Yaogang people sailed to the dock in front of our city, and shouted to the city with something that could make a loud noise, saying that if we don't surrender, the city wall will be blown down! The captain of the guard said.

"Humph! Knocked down my walls? Zheng Zhilong turned over, "I've seen their cannons, and it's not so easy to collapse our city wall!" ”

"However, I heard that they have a very powerful cannon on a ship, so I'm afraid of ......"

Before the captain of the guard finished speaking, Zheng Zhilong said, "Don't be afraid! Could it be that their cannons are more powerful than the cannons of the red-haired fan? Let's check it out! Zheng Zhilong said that he couldn't sleep anything.

Zheng Zhilong led people to the top of the city, and saw more than a dozen black smoke warships parked on the bay, obviously these were from Yaogang. Their ships are now on the dock, and the sailors have abandoned their ships and landed. They knew that the cannon of the Kiln Gang was so powerful that it could smash their ship to pieces with a single shot.

Zheng Zhilong saw from a distance that there were not many cannons on the Yaogang warships, and there were at most three cannons on the foredeck of each ship, could it be that they were cannons that could overturn the fort with one shot. What made Zheng Zhilong very uncomfortable was that the Yaogang people didn't know how to make such a loud noise on the ship. The sound of persuasion made his officers and soldiers tremble one by one.

Zheng Zhilong said: "We can't wait for them to fight first, we have to quietly raise the cannon up and fire first." ”

In fact, Fan Chengkun and the others used binoculars to see the people on the city wall of Ping'an Town clearly, it is estimated that Zheng Zhilong commanded on the city wall, and the observation post on the mast also reported: "They brought up the cannon!" ”

Fan Chengkun said to Mu Yi: "You can't wait for them to fire first, let's fight as planned!" Send a telegram to General Li Jing, and we will open fire at the same time. Be careful not to beat Zheng Zhilong to death! ”

Mu Yi said: "Don't worry! The city gate building where Zheng Zhilong is standing is very good-looking, it will be ours soon, and I can't bear it! ”

After waiting for a while, the telegraph operator reported: "General Li Jing has sent a telegram back, and they are also ready!" ”

Mu Yiyi said to the wireless microphone: "According to the original plan, the 203 main gun fired!" ”

As soon as Mu Yi's words fell, the five steel-hulled ships, except for the Xiurong, four 203 mm cannons, almost simultaneously made a deafening sound, and the sound of "dong dong dong" shook the sea water in the harbor with waves. Four 203-mm shells were simultaneously hit on the city wall on the right side of the city gate facing the bay in the town of Ping'an. If the sound of the four warships firing their guns was deafening, the explosion of four 203-mm shells was earth-shattering. Although the cannonballs did not land on the city gate tower where Zheng Zhilong was standing, several of them were still shocked to the ground by the loud explosion. The city wall, which had just been hit by the shells, had been turned into broken bricks, and the artillerymen with cannons who had just landed in the city did not know where they had flown to. The wall was blown open in one fell swoop. The captain of the guard, who finally stabilized his mind, supported Zheng Zhilong and hurriedly dragged him down the city. At this time, on the other side, on the north wall of Ping'an Town, there was another "boom" explosion, although it was not as loud as the explosion, but the shells were dense. Zheng Zhilong only brought over there, and there were also Xiong Duoji. The town of Ping'an is surrounded by three sides on land, northeast and west.

Just as Zheng Zhilong ran to his mansion, a soldier ran over and reported: "Report to the chief soldier, it's not good, the northern city wall has been blown open by the Yaogang people!" ”

As soon as Zheng Zhilong heard that Ping'an Town was in the north and south this time, he didn't say a word, turned around and ran into his house.

Zheng Zhilong, who ran into the mansion, ordered the soldiers to be gathered to plug the gap, and at the same time transferred back some soldiers to guard his mansion. Because his mansion still has a complete and tall wall. At this time, the loudspeaker of the kiln gang on the south side of the sea began to persuade him to surrender again.

At this time, Zheng Zhilong was not afraid, and the nature of an outlaw was revealed. He commanded the army very calmly, and ordered the army to fill the mouth as long as the kiln men did not attack. When the kiln gang people attack, they will use people to block the mouth, and those who retreat will be killed!

But Zheng Zhilong had just adjusted his military deployment, but he didn't expect the Yaogang people to give him another fatal blow!

Li Jing sent one of Zheng Zhilong's family members to Ping'an Town.