Hearing that Xianning was in an emergency, Le Ke Dehun of Wuchang Mansion immediately sent 5,000 reinforcements.

Before and after the Chu army left Xianning, a small number of troops were sent to set up suspicious formations, and the cavalry patrolled back and forth on the road from Wuchang Mansion to Xianning, and the infantry made a big fanfare, digging ditches and setting up villages, making the illusion of blocking and setting up an ambush, until the main force of the Chu army entered the boundary of Xingguo Prefecture, they quietly retreated.

Although this kind of suspicious strategy is very simple, it is better than fiction and reality, and it is difficult to judge, like an ambiguous multiple-choice question, and there is never a fixed answer.

The Qing reinforcements did not know the strategic intentions of the Ming army, so they had to be cautious about these suspicious soldiers, and soon they received the news of the fall of Xianning, so they became more cautious, deliberately suppressing the speed of the march, so as not to step into the trap of the Ming army.

It was not until the third day after the Chu army withdrew that the Qing army finally belatedly recovered Xianning, at which time the Chu army had gone far, and the Qing army's reinforcements were limited and unable to launch a pursuit.

After Kong Youde received the news, he deliberately rushed back to Wuchang Mansion from the front line and came to Xianning with Luck Dehun, Geng Zhongming and others.

It stands to reason that the gains and losses of a small county town are not enough for the generals of the three armies to run back and forth, but the logistics and supplies of the Qing army must be transported from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, Xianning is too close to Wuchang Mansion, since the Ming army occupies here, it threatens the waterway of the Yangtze River, not to mention the heavy losses in the battle of Xianning, and the five hundred Aliha Chaoha soldiers were all wiped out.

At this time, the Ming army has been away for several days, but the traces after the vicious battle are still visible everywhere, so that Kong Youde and other Qing generals are shocked, the city wall around the south gate has been knocked down, only the city tower and a few broken walls remain, there are still blood stains and bullet marks on it, the broken city gate is still dangling on the door hole, and the river water in the moat is turbid. Qing troops are salvaging corpses in the river.

The top of the city tower was blown down by a cannon, which especially shocked Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming, they are both experts in using artillery, and they know that cannons with more than five catties have such power, but the cannons that can hit five catties of cannons weigh thousands of catties, how did the Ming army transport them to Xianning City in just a few days?

The Tianyou soldiers and the Tianzhu soldiers had dozens of heavy artillery pieces weighing more than 3,000 catties, and in order to transport them to the front line, they needed to build roads and bridges, so the Battle of Huguang would be delayed again and again. And the heavy artillery of the Ming army actually said to leave, and hit as soon as they said, which made Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming puzzled and itched.

It's a pity that the Qing troops in the city were either killed in battle or taken prisoner. They were all taken to Xingguo Prefecture by the Ming army, but they couldn't find a direct witness. It is impossible to understand what was going on the battlefield at that time. Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming had to go out of the city to check in person, and although the artillery position had been destroyed, they still saw some clues.

"The Ming army has more than a dozen red-coated cannons, and only one of them is powerful and can hit a five-pound cannon." Geng Zhongming's judgment is not far from ten.

A six-pounder cannon is a rough general term, and one pound is roughly equal to nine taels. The weight of the shells was between more than five and six pounds, and there were no strict regulations, and as the weight of the shells increased, the power of the cannon increased geometrically. For example, a six-pounder cannon has twice as many shells as a three-pounder gun, but several times as powerful as a three-pounder gun.

"King Huaishun has a good eye, but this cannon is indeed not simple!"

Kong Youde observed the rut marks behind the position, and after looking at it for more than ten minutes, he finally made a judgment that this six-pounder gun should be equipped with a special gun carriage to enhance its mobility. However, he still felt a little strange, judging from the road conditions behind the position, the weight of this cannon must not be too heavy, otherwise it would crush the road and could not be transported.

"This should be a bronze cannon." Kong Youde's expression was very stern.

Powerful and lightweight, only the copper red-coated cannon can meet such conditions, this is originally the secret of the Tianyou Army, I don't know how the Ming Army mastered this technology.

Under the guidance of the Fran machine, the Manchu Qing Dynasty made a batch of copper Shenwei General Cannon, weighing 3,800 catties, which can hit ten catties of cannon (similar to a twelve-pound cannon), and each time the cannon is fired with five catties of gunpowder, it is a sharp weapon for the Tianyou soldiers to attack the city and pull out the village, and made great contributions when attacking Yangzhou guarded by Shi Kefa, and the Yangzhou city wall was directly collapsed, and the Ming army in Huguang actually had this kind of cannon, which was by no means a good news for the Qing army.

There are some remnants of iron sand and lead in front of the artillery position, mixed in the middle of a pool of blood stains that have turned black, it is not difficult to imagine the tragedy of the Aliha Chaoha soldiers when they were shelled, from the battle of Xianning, although the range of the Ming army's artillery is not too far, but it is amazingly powerful in about one mile, and the shooting accuracy is also very high, and it can also use shotguns, light and flexible, and it is more practical than the Shenwei general's cannon.

"King Gongshun doesn't have to worry, the Ming army should only have this respect cannon." Geng Zhongming comforted Kong Youde that it was not easy to make a large cannon, it was time-consuming, labor-intensive and costly, and the Ming army should only have a six-pounder cannon.

"Hey, since there is the first one, the second cannon won't take long, and the battle of Huguang will not be easy to fight!" Kong Youde also miscalculated, thinking that this six-pounder cannon was made by Nanming, and the manufacture of this heavy artillery is a manifestation of national strength......

The two of them looked back and forth on the artillery position, and Luckedhun walked to the side alone, staring silently at a clearing on the edge of the city. This is the "crematorium" of the Aliha Chaoha soldiers, in the battle of Xianning, the five hundred and eight banner soldiers were all wiped out, the corpses were incinerated here, after the Qing army reinforcements arrived, the bones and ashes that were not burned out were put away, and the Sauron pole was erected here to pay tribute to the soul of the eight banner soldiers who died in a foreign land.

Luckard's brow furrowed.

Although he was very concerned about the artillery used by the Chu army, he was more worried about the combat method of this army and the fearless will to fight in the face of the Eight Banners Force.

What's even more terrifying is Wang Kefan's expansion speed, the army under his command is constantly expanding like a blow, and he can still maintain combat effectiveness all the time.

In the second year of Shunzhi, Wang Kefan had only about 2,000 people, when Luck Dehun first entered Huguang, he didn't take him in his eyes at all, and in the third year of Shunzhi, Wang Kefan left Huguang, and his subordinates had seven or eight thousand people, including two thousand cavalry, and at the beginning of the fourth year of Shunzhi, nearly 30,000 troops were used in this Xianning battle.

Of course, these 30,000 people are not necessarily Wang Kefan's descendants, but as the commander of Caojiang, the other Ming armies are under his control, if it continues to develop at this speed, it will definitely become the most important military town in the Southern Ming Dynasty and the biggest enemy of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. (To be continued......)