Hong Chengchou still did not give up on attacking Yuncheng, and made up his mind to attack again. Hong Chengchou is not completely reckless this time, he has a new reliance this time. In the past few days, he has gathered the firearms of the army, conducted simple training, and more importantly, some artillery collected from other places has been shipped.

The news from Taiyuan made the time seem very urgent, if something happened to the vassal kings and county kings in Taiyuan, no matter how much credit they had, it would be useless.

Hong Chengchou decided to call his master Zhang Shaotang to the newly established firearms battalion and artillery battalion to have a look. Now Hong Chengchou is relying more and more on Zhang Shaotang, and the other counselors and generals in the camp have no role at the critical moment except for shaving and patting horses. Now is not the time to listen to the puff of the ear, and if you are not careful on the battlefield, it will be fatal. After Zhang Shaotang proposed to dig pits to prevent artillery, the effectiveness of the security army's artillery bombardment was much reduced, and their attacks on the battalion were also reduced, and the officers and soldiers gained more time for ground activities.

The commander of the firearms battalion was a staff general, seeing Hong Chengchou arrive, he hurriedly came to greet him, several thousand generals on the school field were training with soldiers, the Ming army began to use firearms in battle very early, and the proportion of firearms in the team was still very high, but due to the problems of use methods and the quality of weapons, the combat effectiveness was not very strong.

This time, Hong Chengchou made up his mind to change the military system, gathered the muskets, three-eyed guns, and other soldiers in each team, and gathered together those who used rockets, divine fire flying crows, and other firearms to form a firearms battalion, with more than 10,000 personnel. And the current artillery and the newly recruited artillery in the rear belonged to the artillery battalion. The artillery battalion now also has more than 200 artillery pieces of various types. The number of soldiers operating the cannon reached more than 5,000. After the battle with the security army, Hong Chengchou has counted that the security army has fifty or sixty artillery pieces in the position in front, and more than 100 artillery pieces are arranged on the city wall, and the total number of artillery pieces is about 200. In terms of quantity alone, this time the officers and soldiers had more artillery than the security forces.

Hong Chengchou didn't want to use these muskets and artillery to defeat the security army, he had already thought about it, use these muskets and artillery to open a gap in the position of the security army, and then the officers and soldiers of the brigade could rush up and fight with the security army.

Hong Chengchou also learned a lot through the battle with the security army, and the strict military discipline of the security army left a deep impression on Hong Chengchou during the battle. Military discipline is something that every army will emphasize, but there are few armies in history that can really enforce it. The security forces could brave the artillery fire to advance and retreat to the sound of drums and trumpets, and the formation did not disperse, and Hong Chengchou hoped that his army could also reach this level.

At this time, Mr. Qian on the school field was also leading the team to train, some soldiers were practicing forward and backward with guns, and some were practicing the action of reloading. Hong Chengchou observed for a while, and saw that the queue was quite neat, the advance and retreat were orderly, and the loading and firing of the musket was also very proficient, and he was very satisfied.

In order to improve the morale of the firearms battalion and artillery battalion, Hong Chengchou also invested a lot of money. He suppressed the other generals, gave priority to the firearms battalion and the artillery battalion, improved the food of the soldiers, and ensured that every soldier could have enough to eat. and promised a high bounty after the war, and suddenly the morale of the team was boosted a lot.

Hong Chengchou gathered the generals who led the team together and encouraged them, and then left the firearms camp satisfied.

Returning to the big tent, Hong Chengchou passed the order and gathered all the senior generals under his command into the big tent.

Hong Chengchou sat on the handsome seat, looking at the generals standing with their hands hanging down, and the generals all had serious expressions and solemn voices. Although the war was unfavorable, Hong Chengchou's majesty as a general still existed. And these days of being beaten by the security army to dig holes in the ground make the generals very aggrieved.

"It has been some time since I besieged Yuncheng, and I have decided to attack the city with all my strength tomorrow, and I will finish my work in one battle, and I must take Yuncheng and capture the thief Zhang Chu alive." Hong Chengchou looked at the people under the tent and announced loudly. "Yes!" The generals responded in unison.

Hong Chengchou saw that the enthusiasm of the generals was not very high, but he just habitually answered perfunctorily, it seems that this group of generals has no fighting spirit. So he said: "The security army has now become the biggest bandit in Shanxi and Shaanxi, if we can defeat them this time and capture the thief Zhang Chu, I will play the Ming Sheng, and all the junior officers who have made meritorious contributions in the battle will be promoted to three ranks, and the rewards and promotions of senior generals are also indispensable." The thieves went all the way south and plundered many landlords and wealthy households, and most of the rich people around Yuncheng hid in the city, and these rich people did not escape after the thieves broke through Yuncheng. Go back and tell the soldiers that this attack on Yuncheng will take a three-day holiday after the city is broken, and all the seizures will be kept for themselves, and the official will not collect a tael of silver. Hong Chengchou made up his mind, as long as he broke the city, he didn't hesitate to do anything.

"Your Excellency Governor." Now the generals have a little spirit, Hong Chengchou is acquiescing to them to rob after the city is broken, the soldiers will grab something after the city is broken, and the generals will of course get no less, chasing thieves all the way, if there is something to gain, it is not worth the trip.

"Prepare separately and start the war early tomorrow morning." Hong Chengchou gave the battle order.

Next, the combat missions of the teams were assigned. The generals were ordered to retreat.

Early the next morning, the trumpets of the officers and soldiers sounded in unison, and groups of officers and soldiers drove out of the camp and assembled four or five miles in front of the position of the security army.

Through the battlering officers and soldiers in the past few days, they have also figured out the details of the security army, although the artillery of the security army is powerful, but they are all light artillery, and the firing range is only one or two miles. There is no threat to officers and troops at long distances.

At the forefront of the ranks were 5,000 men and horses of the artillery battalion, followed by 10,000 men of the firearms battalion in a phalanx, and the cavalry of the officers and soldiers were on their left and right to prevent the sneak attack of the security army rangers, and at the same time to look for opportunities to attack the enemy.

The officer and army brigade that used cold weapons in the rear followed closely behind the striker, and the black pressure was discharged far away.

The security forces discovered the movement of the officers and soldiers, and immediately issued an alarm, and all the soldiers entered the position, ready to meet the attack of the officers and soldiers.

The security forces have not been idle these days, and the trenches and fortifications outside the city have been built stronger, and some of the trenches have been roofed with wood and earth.

The artillery positions were also strengthened, and the soldiers came up with a new way to quickly build their positions, using wicker to form large baskets, which were stacked with earth to form an earthen wall. In this way, the soldiers built an earthen wall around each gun, leaving only a small gap in the direction of the muzzle. These earthen walls are effective against enemy solid bullets.

Seeing that the officers and troops had been mobilized in place, Hong Chengchou personally climbed to the high platform in the formation, waved the command flag in his hand and ordered loudly: "The attack begins!" (To be continued.) )