In the distance, the foot of the Iron Mountain was filled with smoke, in which flying military flags could be seen, two No. 2 Fu boats were firing with the Hongyi cannon on the bow, and two sand boats of the boarding camp were firing arrows from a hundred tigers, and fireworks-like arrows were flying, trying to break up the formation of the Houjin soldiers.

Chen Xin looked out from the bow of the boat, and the bird boat leading the way called the flag, indicating that under the Iron Mountain was the Houjin soldiers, Chen Xin looked through the telescope, there were yellow flags and flags inlaid with red flags, and it seemed that there were not many people.

If it was the period of World War I, Chen Xin would defend all the hills to the north and east of Lushun, and use long-range fire to control all the surrounding terrain, but with the power and range of the current artillery, he could only defend Lushun and ensure the passage of the port.

The military flags on the Golden Mountain and Xiguan Mountain were flying, showing that they were still under the control of Dengzhou Town. There was a cannon fire from the north of Lushun, which was clearly audible, and the Houjin soldiers were launching a new round of attacks.

The sails of the wave-opening boat he was riding adjusted the sails, the two long oars were lowered from both sides, and the water was rowed towards the tiger's tail, and the Dengzhou fleet behind him followed, loaded with the 1st Guards Division, the 3rd Battalion of eight-pounder guns that had just completed training, and a large number of colors and gunpowder.

Chen Xin asked for supplies from the imperial court, and the gunpowder of the imperial court could not be used as guns, but it could make mine cannons and thunderbolts, as well as all kinds of simple 10,000 enemies.

Chen Xin's return made Wang Tingchu feel relieved, he was very aware of the consequences of losing southern Liaoning, tried his best to mobilize materials, and even wanted to transfer his cronies Liu Zeqing to Lushun, but Chen Xin resolutely refused, Liu Zeqing's two thousand soldiers were half of the empty salary, that is, two or three hundred families could fight, and it was meaningless for defense, and if Liu Zeqing got military merits, he might surpass Geng Zhongming's status, which affected Chen Xin's plan to lay out Qingzhou. The governor of Shandong also received an order from the Ministry of War. asked them to provide enough color to Dengzhou to ensure the war in southern Liaoning, which became the most important item in Xu Congzhi's performance evaluation.

Wu Jianzhong strengthened the attack, and the Tiger once attacked the edge of Jinan Mansion, cutting off the road from Jinan to Denglai, Xu Congzhi finally couldn't help it, and began to complain to the court, saying that it was not his problem that he couldn't get through, and hoped that Denglai would send troops to exterminate the Tiger of the Valley.

Everything outside the battlefield is taken care of. Now there is only the war body left, it may be simpler for Chen Xin, what Liu Minyou said reminded him that the key to a qiē is in Dengzhou Town, and he seems to have spent too much energy on other aspects.

The nimble wave-breaking boat slowly docks at the pier outside the water city. Zhu Guobin and Zhou Shifa were waiting there, Chen Xin stepped off the springboard, Zhu Guobin came up and saluted: "My lord, Liu Pojun is commanding the battle on the city wall, and Dai Zhenggang is on the first earthen wall defense line, they can't get out of the way for a while, and they can't come to greet them." ”

Chen Xin cares about these face-saving efforts. Asked directly: "The deployment of defense." ”

"The first general of the third battalion is in Xiguanshan, the first division of the second battalion is in Jinshan, the first line of defense in the middle has two thousand headquarters and Lushun garrison, and one thousand dragoons serve as reserves. In addition, there are 3,000 auxiliary soldiers to assist in the defense, the 1,000 infantry headquarters of the fourth battalion is on standby in the second earthen wall defense line, the south city wall has a division of the second battalion and 1,000 auxiliary soldiers, and the water city wall has 500 auxiliary soldiers. Jiannu had an attack two days ago, and it stopped for a day yesterday. Today, they are still attacking the earthen wall, and many coats are sent to fill the holes outside the horse ditch. ”

"Granary, powder magazine, fire prevention, anti-infiltration."

"Grain and gunpowder are divided into five warehouses for storage, and the warehouses are solid, and they are guarded by the calming soldiers of the General Army Law Team, plus the heavy troops of various departments, and there are plans for fire prevention and moisture prevention."

After hearing this, Chen Xin smiled and patted Zhu Guobin, "I fought well in Jinzhou, and I fought according to the plan, what about the cavalry losses?" ”

Zhu Guobin said as he walked: "The cavalry lost one hundred and seventy people, the dragoons lost twenty-one people, the Tartars did not dare to attack the infantry position, in fact, the Kichang post could hold for a few more days, but Liu Pojun gave an order in the name of the military order department to let his subordinates withdraw to Lushun." ”

"Don't mind if it's a few days, although the Kiba Station is set for five days, the purpose is to frustrate the enemy's spirit, the cavalry must preserve their strength, and wait for the day when Huang Taiji withdraws, let's tear off a piece of his flesh again, Lushun This place is not so easy to come."

After Chen Xin finished speaking, he turned to Zhou Shifa who was following, "What information does Shifa have here?" ”

"The total number of soldiers in Jiannu is about 10,000, and according to the investigation of the sailors, there are continuous oxen and carriages along the way in Fuzhou Jinzhou, and a large number of supplies are transported. In addition, according to the intelligence of Ningyuan and Shanhaiguan, the Outer Domain Mongolia sent a total of about 10,000 troops, and our people can already enter and exit the Mongolian steppe with the caravan. ”

"Well done, what about Lushun?"

"Five days ago, we captured a white flag Niu Lu Ezhen, but this person turned out to be a white flag Ba Ya Layu Ezhen, called Bak Mountain, and he first led the army to attack our ferry during the Battle of Fuzhou, causing confusion in the formation. But after returning he was used as a scapegoat by Dolgon, demoted to Niu Lu Ezhen, and the population was cut down to thirty households, this time he was arranged to come to the sentry, and his men stepped on a mine in Dagu Mountain, his leg was broken by the flying stones, and was discovered by our mountain patrol team. ”

Chen Xin raised his eyebrows, "What happened five days ago, why didn't Dengzhou receive the news?" There is no such thing in the intelligence bureau's summary. ”

"My lord, he is willing to surrender, and his subordinates are worried that if this matter is known by the governor's yamen, he will be arrested and taken to receive credit, so he did not report this matter to Dengzhou, but Director Liu reported it."

Chen Xin continued to walk in silence, surrounded by groups of auxiliaries, who were in high spirits and were delivering food to the front line.

"There's some truth to what you're saying." Chen Xin stopped, "He said that he was going to surrender, what sincerity did he show?" How do you know if it's not a ploy of Houjin? ”

"He gave the route of another group of sentinels, and we were able to kill the other five Bayalas. This person has lost his position in the white flag, this time he has lost so many bayalas, and he has broken his leg, and it is a dead end to go back, he wants to take refuge in Dengzhou Town. ”

"That's a good start." Chen Xin said with a smile: "The first time a captured Houjin general took the initiative to take refuge, he is a person with status in Houjin, what should he do with his wife and daughter?" ”

"According to Huang Taiji's practice, perhaps the men will be executed, and the women will be slaves."

"Liu Xingzhi defected back then, and his family was just taken into custody."

Zhou Shifa followed behind Chen Xin, who was walking briskly. He kept talking, a little out of breath, "Liu Xingzhi fled to the Dongjiang River, and there are hundreds of Yiding under his command, but he is the only one in Bak Mountain, especially unlike Liu Xingzhi, he is Zhenyi." ”

Chen Xin thought for a moment, then nodded, "Your idea is to let Houjin know that he is alive." Or hide him for the time being? ”

Zhou Shifa bowed down and said: "Let the people of Houjin know that Huang Taiji has no other choice, he must kill Buck Mountain's family members to set an example, so that Buck Mountain's way back will be cut off." In that way, he can really be regarded as our person, and his subordinates can inquire about the news through Guò Mongolia to confirm whether this is really the case, and can also confirm whether Bakshan is a trap for Houjin. ”

"Don't let him have access to secrets, temporarily put him in the intelligence bureau to work, and he can't be imprisoned in Nancheng during Lushun, so he will be detained outside the city. Anyone who leaves the house must be blindfolded. Ask more things from him, this person used to be a banner Baya Layu Ezhen, knew the tactics of many white-armored soldiers, and interrogated them and handed them over to the Military Affairs Department and the Military Orders Department. ”

"Got it!"

Chen Xin went north along the moat of Nancheng. The protruding horse faces made him feel more pleasing to the eye, which could increase the side firepower and greatly reduce the dead spots under the city, and this improvement relied on the old city walls of Lushun South City. In general, it is still an old-fashioned defense with a convex surface.

At this time, the fortress that flourished in the west was concave in shape, and there were almost no dead ends. Give the defender a big advantage. This method of construction also spread to China, Xu Guangqi once built yì in Jingshi and Jizhen to build a three-layer triangular hollow enemy platform, for the first time had the concept of an acute angle defense line, and later Sun Yuanhua learned in more detail, he wrote the "Diagram of the Guntai", clearly proposed the construction of an acute angle defense line (Note 1), he described "the shape is like a long claw, to save oneself", is the shape of the outer wall of a fortress formed by multiple acute angles, although he was sent to Ningyuan to assist Yuan Chonghuan in the construction of the city defense, but the decadent atmosphere of Liao Town made these improvements impossible.

Sun Yuanhua's forts were not self-studied, they were all from European missionaries, and the Macao mercenaries were more professional than the missionaries, and the Portuguese forts they built in Macao were the first Western forts in the Far East, and many of these methods were also transmitted to China.

When these mercenaries were instructors in Dengzhou, they did not play this role, because Dengzhou did not have the urgency of being attacked, but after the Dengzhou Rebellion, Chen Xin took over them, and began to ask them to systematically teach this knowledge.

After passing through the southern city, there was the second line of earthen wall defense, between which there was a flat ground of fifty paces and a two-zhang wide moat, behind which sat the infantry of the fourth battalion, who had been on standby, and behind the gaps in those gun emplacements were empty. If the first earthen wall is abandoned, the guns will be transferred here.

The earthen wall had an acute protrusion at intervals, and there was a trench two feet wide in front of it, and in this era, any attack would eventually face this trench, and the second earthen wall was different from the first, and there was no low breastwork behind the trench, but directly facing the earthen wall one foot and two feet high.

Chen Xin walked over the thick planks erected on the trench and looked into the trenches on both sides, which were covered with pointed wooden stakes, and according to the original plan, the defenders would also temporarily sprinkle patches of thistles.

Walking through this trench, the front is the first earthen wall, the smell of gunpowder smoke fills the air, the thunderous cannon sound is like exploding around you, a powerful password sounded everywhere, the sound of the Fran cannon on the earthen wall is like fried beans, under the training of Dengzhou Town, this kind of Fran cannon is also extremely powerful, Lushun's Fran cannon is as many as 300, and they are operated by the students of the Martial Arts Artillery Department, as well as some auxiliaries.

There are dozens of steps of flat ground between the two earthen walls, and the reserves and artillery of the Dengzhou army can be quickly mobilized behind the earthen wall, and the inner side of the earthen wall is at a gentle angle, and the soldiers can easily climb the wall from anywhere to fight. At this time, most of the men at the head of the wall were musketeers, and the spearmen sat in the open space at the base of the earthen wall, as did the medics.

A qiē in order, all showing the demeanor of the professional army of Dengzhou Town, Chen Xin felt a kind of excitement at this time, that feeling was completely different from his previous battlefield, it seemed that he was used to this, and he was very eager in his heart.

"Another battlefield syndrome?" Chen Xin shook his head, Liu Pojun's banner was in front, the root of an acutely angled defense line. Chen Xin walked quickly down the slope to the top of the wall.

The front of the earthen wall was covered with hundreds of shield carts, many shield carts were beaten to pieces, the ground was full of wood and corpses, and countless coatings in the shield workshop were filling the holes, and many people even ran to the front of the shield carts.

"Let the Xiguanshan defenders send two bureaus to move to the foot of the eastern slope of the mountain, contain the right flank of Jiannu, and dispatch three detachments from the middle embankment to ......attack with muskets at the end of the horse ditch" Liu Pojun was issuing an order, he found that Chen Xin had arrived, turned around and was about to salute, Chen Xin waved his hand to stop: "Do your thing, don't worry about me, I'll see the enemy situation first." ”

Liu Pojun knew his temper and continued to deploy to the heralds, at this time, a cannon sounded in front of the side, and a puff of smoke erupted from the Houjin Shield workshop, Chen Xin raised the telescope, and a small cannon appeared in his field of vision, which followed the shield car and used to suppress the firepower of Dengzhou Town.

"Houjin's field artillery." Chen Xin said in a low voice, "It's such an interesting copycat." ”

Note 1: Sun Yuanhua's "Diagram of the Gun": Those with sharp angles still push the enemy outside the corner, so they can hit me, so they are sharp, and the enemy is not close. "The sharpness of the horn is also, and the foreign law is also" "This is not a square corner city, a hollow platform can be used for the reason, and the Western Taiwan method must be used." "Shaped like a long claw, to save oneself"