On the bank of the Yalu River, Zhenjiang Fort.

The red flag of the Ming army fluttered on the head of the city, and this important castle once again fell into the hands of the Ming army. Just last month, the nine-headed bird had just blasted open the Zhenjiang Fort with cannons, captured hundreds of Qing troops in the city, and then moved all the people in the city, and organized the people to tear off a city wall before leaving.

After the Ming army withdrew, the defenders of Phoenix City of the Qing army sent troops to regain Zhenjiang Fort. However, because the people within forty or fifty miles around Zhenjiang Fort were moved away by the Ming army, the villages, towns, and crops were also destroyed, and the city wall was also stripped off, the Qing army only stationed dozens of vests with a group of clothed minions, a total of two or three hundred people.

As a result, it didn't take long for the Ming army to come back, and the group of Qing troops stationed in Zhenjiang Fort, which was missing a city wall, was tightly blocked in their sleep, several resisting were killed, and the rest were all taken prisoner.

The 5,000 officers and men of the Fourth Association of the Third Division of the Ninth Town of the Chu Army who captured Zhenjiang Fort again took the Beiyang warships and went directly up from the mouth of the river, taking the Qing army by surprise.

After recapturing Zhenjiang Fort, the Fourth Association began to repair Zhenjiang Fort, arrange city defenses, and build forts.

Zhenjiang Fort is the largest fortress among the dozens of forts at the eastern end of Liaodong, and it is also the end point of the original Liaodong Post Road. Originally, there were castles built here since the Jin Dynasty, and there were nine stone forts along the river in the Ming Dynasty, so it was called Lianlian City. Later, the imperial court built a number of new forts in the Kuandian area, expanded the defense to the northeast, and Jiulian City gradually abandoned.

However, when the Japanese were rampant, Liaodong also reorganized the coastal defense, and then built a new city not far from Jiulian City, which was Zhenjiang Fort.

Zhenjiang Fort is only five miles away from the Yalu River, and across the river is North Korea.

Later, the imperial court opened a border market with the Jurchens and Koreans in Zhenjiang Fort, and it became lively. The fort is often home to thousands of people, and outside the fort are large farmstead fields. Countless villages are dotted around.

It's an open and flat plain. The terrain is flat and well-watered, and the annual harvest is excellent. Every year, cattle, salt, timber, medicinal herbs, etc. from North Korea gather at the Zhenjiangbao wharf, and Liaodong also transports ironware, farm tools, cloth, etc. into Zhenjiang, and the mutual market makes this place more and more prosperous.

However, later after the rise of the Jin Dynasty and the capture of Liaodong, many people of Zhenjiangbao fled into Korea. At this time, Dongjiang Town was established on Maowen Longpi Island. After many counteroffensives, Zhenjiang Fort was extremely close to Phi Dao and repeatedly became a key point of contention. The perennial offensive and defensive battles have made the prosperity here no longer and the population has been greatly reduced.

At the most lively time of the year, the imperial court stationed troops in Zhenjiang and set up a city, how lively.

At this time, within a radius of dozens of miles, only the lonely Zhenjiang Fort remained.

After the Fourth Association Nine-Headed Bird was stationed. Many craftsmen and people were transported by large ships to take charge of the renovation project of Zhenjiang Fort. And repair the nine castles of the size of the Jiulian City, and add forts to make it the screen of Zhenjiang City.

In the past few months, the craftsmen and people have successfully built the Lushun Fortress, the Zhenhai Fortress and the Jinzhou Fortress, and also built forts on Changsheng Island, Shicheng Island, Hiroshima Island and other islands, and participated in the excavation of the Jinzhou Canal.

Most of the people who built the city were built after the city was built. He was divided into the newly built Tunzhuang Tuntian in Jinzhou and the islands, and was given his own land. Some also chose to go to Taiwan. Go there and reclaim the fields.

But there were still some people, mainly some of them who had learned a lot of experience in building cities, and these people who had initially mastered a lot of experience in civil engineering and construction, they were also assigned to the fields, but in the end they also accepted the employment of the East India Company, and now they are employees of a specialized construction firm under the Daming East India Company.

Liu Jun directly contracted some large projects that needed to be built to construction firms. They and their experienced subordinates are fully responsible for the material budget and construction. Building a city with professional people is undoubtedly faster, better in quality, and more worry-free.

And these builders in the construction firm. You can also get a good salary.

Zhenjiang Fort, like Yizhou Fort and Tieshan Fort, was built by a construction firm. Zhenjiang Fort was the first to start, and after the Zhenjiang Fort was built, it would then be followed by the construction of Yizhou and Tieshan Fort. The new Zhenjiang Fort is completely built in the style of the castles of Jinzhou and Lushun, a new type of fortress in the artillery era, with stronger crossfire, and a new castle with a special fire cannon design.

Liu Jun has decided to firmly nail this iron nail at the mouth of the Yalu River, and Zhenjiang Fort will also become an immovable fortress.

The city is still under construction, and Ingordai has arrived.

In the dangerous mountain fort dozens of miles away from Zhenjiang, he saw the second team of scouts sent out. Niu Lu Zhangjing, who led the team, reported to Ying Erdai that Zhenjiang Fort was once again occupied by the Ming army, and the red flag of the Ming army was flying at the head of the city.

"There were about four or five thousand Ming troops in Zhenjiang Fort, and they not only occupied Zhenjiang Fort, but also stationed in Jiulian City. The Ming army also brought many craftsmen and people, and they are stepping up reinforcement and maintenance of the city. ”

"Are you sure there are only four or five thousand people?" Inordai asked.

"There are indeed only four or five thousand people in blue uniforms, and there are thousands more who are just craftsmen and craftsmen who build the city."

Futar, who participated in the politics of the Ministry of Households, shouted, "There are only four or five thousand people, and they dare to build a fort in Zhenjiang, and they still want to rely on it, it is really bold." My lord, please immediately send troops to attack Zhenjiang Fort, and your subordinates are willing to be the vanguard. "Although Futar is a household minister, he is also Niu Lu Zhangjing. He was still very brave in battle, and when he heard that the army was only a few thousand people, he immediately became a little angry.

Inordai was still thinking.

Zhenjiang Fort was a key border point with North Korea, and if it was controlled by the Ming army, the attitude of North Korea would be shaken. Even if he can change his route to North Korea, North Korea will promise to continue towards the Qing Dynasty, but it is also a trouble to have Zhenjiang blocking the Yalu River.

"It is estimated that the Ming army in Zhenjiang is not alone, and now the sea is controlled by the Ming army, and I estimate that there must be Ming troops stationed on Phi Island, and there are horns on each other."

"What are you afraid of, he dares to come, let's just come to a siege to help." Maforta Road. "My lord, while the Nanban Castle has not yet been repaired, we are just in time to attack."

"Okay."

More than 4,000 Qing troops immediately continued to move south, heading straight for Zhenjiang Fort.

In the afternoon of the same day, we had arrived in front of Jiulian Fort in the north of Zhenjiang.

The nine forts are of different sizes, and the nine cities are connected. It is twenty miles away from Zhenjiang Fort, twenty-five miles away from the Yalu River, and there is the Grass River in the northeast. The southeast is the Yalu River, and behind is the Zhendong Mountain, and the terrain is dangerous.

After the 3rd Division and the 4th Association were stationed, they immediately sent troops to Jiubao, and sent craftsmen and craftsmen to repair each fort first and add forts. When Ingordai led his army to the front of the fort. I noticed the difference right away. He had to go to Korea almost every year, and every time he had to pass by here, it turned out that these nine cities had fallen into decay early, and only a small number of garrisons remained.

But now, the castle was a great change, full of sharp corners, and moats and slopes.

"Take it!"

Yingordai did not hesitate at all, since he came. Then hit it.

In the fortress that was attacked was a company of officers and soldiers, and this fort was also named Sanlian City. Seeing the arrival of the Qing army, the Ming army on the fort did not have the slightest fear.

"Ring the alarm bells and light the beacon smoke."

The alarm bell was ringing, and wolf smoke rose from the top of the castle.

Qing Jun listened to the crisp alarm bell and looked at the rising wolf smoke, with only pride and mockery in his eyes. In their opinion, this small fortress. It simply can't withstand their attacks.

"Pull the cannon up!" Mafuta shouted.

This entry into Korea was to strengthen Korea's pro-Qing stance, so Yingordai specially carried several cannons. There are six of them, and there are dozens of light tiger squat guns and small Franc machines. These cannons were originally intended to deter the Koreans, but now, they are being used to take the fortress first.

On the castle, the soldiers guarding the fort with nine birds in blue military uniforms and red uniforms watched as the Qing army dragged several Franc machines from behind. Immediately someone laughed and shouted, "Company commander, the Tartars are pushing the cannon up." ”

"Shouting souls, shouting, do the Tartars also have cannons, you can see clearly. Is that a cannon? Zhao Minghai, the highest officer in the fort, said with a laugh.

The Franc machine, a piece of equipment that has been eliminated in the Hydra Army.

The Qing army pushed the cannon to the front of the battle, and stopped about 200 paces away from the city.

Zhao Minghai's expression was quite relaxed, "Brothers, look at the Tartars, directly push the cannon under our noses, isn't this bullying our gunner, gunner brother, being looked down upon by the Tartar like this, can you bear it?" ”

The captain of the artillery team in the fort sneered, "Report to the company commander, we have aimed the cannon at the Tartars, please give the order to shoot!" ”

"Ready so soon? Are you sure you've taken aim? ”

"Yes, sir."

Zhao Minghai patted the battlements, "Then fuck it, what are you waiting for." ”

Under the city, a group of Han gunners were pushing the gun truck into the designated position, and then began to aim and adjust the angle. At this time, a gunner suddenly found that several large flags on the head of the city were suddenly withdrawn, revealing the cannon muzzles of the black holes behind them.

"Cannon, cannon!"

Someone exclaimed.

Flags were hung in front of the positions of the previous guns, and no one knew that the Ming army in the original fort also had artillery.

"There are also artillery underneath!" Someone exclaimed again.

The whole castle has six forts, each of which has a double-layer fort, which can accommodate nine cannons under five and four on the other, and in the main body in the center, there are twelve cannons on three floors, with a total of sixty-six cannons.

Outside the fortress, there was a trench two meters deep and four meters wide, and a sheep and horse wall was built between the trench and the city wall, plus six howitzers, which could fire both solid and grenade shrapnel and dispersed shells. There were also two wooden fences around the perimeter of the trench, which were five feet high.

For a small castle like Sanlian Fort, which only garrisoned about 200 people, the configuration of this artillery was already called a luxury. However, the nine-headed bird is a lot of cannons, and of course it will not be stingy.

Looking at the panic of the Qing army under the castle, the gunners in the city were quite comfortable, "Stupid Tartars, you also call them cannons?" Today, let the grandfathers let you know what is called artillery! ”

"Get on the shrapnel!"

Because of the shrapnel as a sharp weapon and the howitzer, the fort was mainly equipped with cannon howitzers for the defense of the city, and only the top three of the twelve guns equipped on the central main fort were twenty-four-pounder long-barreled cannons.

Although the howitzer is not as far as the cannon, for the defense of the city, what is needed is not the range, but the area of the area.

Because of the straight trajectory of the cannon, it is not possible to attack the enemy in front of the city wall, and the appropriate amount of three guns is only to deal with the enemy's long-range siege equipment, and it can also block the enemy from gathering at a distance outside the city.

However, the real weapons for defending the city are cannon grenades and shrapnels.

Like the other forts, the Triple Fort was prepared with four types of cannons, six-inch, eight-inch, ten-inch, and twelve-inch cannons, and the solid bullets used were twenty-four, sixty-four, one hundred and eight, and one hundred and fifty-eight pounds. Howitzers are lighter when using shrapnels, and howitzers are much lighter than cannons of the same caliber, but shells are much larger.

Especially through the variable charge, the range of the shell can be well controlled.

"Since the Tartars are so stupid to stand in line two hundred steps below our city, how can we refuse such a fat delivery!"

Zhao Minghai pressed the waist knife and said excitedly, "What are you waiting for, fire!" ”

"Fire!" The artillery captain waved the command flag and shouted.

One by one, when the gunners saw the flag dancing, they hurriedly tapped the barrels of the guns, told everyone to cover their ears and avoid the side, and then lit the fuse.

Sanlian Fort is a six-pointed star-shaped castle, the Qing army standing on the north side of the castle is within the attack range of the three fortresses in the north, and the main fort can also attack the Qing army.

In addition, in front of the three fortress walls on the north side, there are four sheep and horse walls, and each sheep and horse wall has six six-inch howitzers behind each wall. The Qing army was within the striking range of more than sixty artillery pieces.

But they didn't realize it, they still fought with their past combat experience, and they didn't think that such a fortress would have so many artillery in advance, and they didn't expect that two hundred steps away, it was still completely within the firing range of the artillery on the Ming fortress.

The first cannon roared, like a thunderbolt in the clear sky.

The first shrapnel whistled out of the chamber, then the second cannon roared, the third, the fourth

A deafening sound sounded from one cannon after another, and one by one the cannons were discharged.

For the gunners in the castle, this is not like fighting in the field, each time they have to temporarily push the cannon to the designated position, carefully measure the distance, and adjust the angle. They didn't need to, their batteries were fixed, and they had already planted many stakes outside the city, painted in different colors. Each painted stake represents a mark, a parameter that has already been adjusted to set parameters such as the angle of the shelling and the amount of the charge.

They can quickly adjust the amount of variable charge and launch angle according to the parameter table that has been set in advance, without the need to measure and calculate again.

Heaven and earth are changing color for it.

A gate grenade shotgun flew into the sky, and then fell with fireworks, like meteors and meteorites.

"Bang!"

A shrapnel fired from a twelve-inch cannon grenade exploded first.

About a zhang or so from the ground, the shrapnel weighing one hundred and eight pounds exploded in the air, only to see an orange-red flame rising up, the cast-iron shell shell was torn apart, and a hundred lead bullets inside screamed and shot away, each lead ball weighing more than half a catty with deadly kinetic energy, shrouding the Qing soldiers and horses within a few zhang below in his death threat.

A large number of Qing troops were shot by projectiles and fell to the ground, screaming and wailing!

"Yay! The tartar raised by the son of a bitch, this is called a cannon, how does it taste, it's cool! The white smoke on the fort cleared, and a gunner looked excitedly at the hellish screams below, and roared excitedly!

His gunner kicked under his ass, "What the hell is called, hurry up and continue to load, take advantage of his illness, ask for his life, hurry up and give Lao Tzu a few more fucking shots!" If we don't have more shells than the other shells in a while, all the thatched houses this month will be swept by you! (To be continued......)

PS: There will be three shifts today, and there will be one shift in the evening!