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Yang Shen sent troops to loot food and materials near Yongchang City to prepare to hold on, and on the other hand, he forcibly pulled the people to dig trenches and fortify the city, and at the same time ordered the recall of troops from surrounding counties and towns, while continuing to monitor the movements of the Ming army, and sent people to ask for assistance from Dali and Erhaiwei (now Xiangyun County).

After a series of measures were taken, Yang Shen accepted the suggestion of Shao Mengkai, a guerrilla in the Ganshan Green Battalion, and prepared items and means to deal with the Yangmen Formation of the Ming Army.

It should be foolproof, right? Yang Shen walked on the city wall, looked at the people who were busy digging trenches and erecting piles under the city, and looked up at the hot sun. The rainy season has passed, and it has not rained for ten consecutive days, and many trees have lost their leaves, and the change of season is obvious.

Ming Jun is the first to strike, Yang Shen patted the battlements lightly, a cloud of dry dust rose in front of him, he frowned, and took two steps forward. When the rainy season ended, it was supposed to be the time for our army to take action and go out to attack and suppress. Now it is the other way around, the Ming army took the lead in turning defense into attack, but he could only defend the city and shrink.

occupies most of Yunnan Province, but it seems to be a burden, Yang Shen finally has such a feeling. Kunming, Dali, Yongchang, Chuxiong, Yao'an, Qujing, Yuxi, these important towns, plus smaller counties, the army of Yunnan Province was thinly garrisoned, except for the heavy troops in Kunming, the mobile forces in other areas were actually stretched.

"Your Excellency." The guerrilla Shao Mengkai took the soldiers and the people to the city wall and stepped forward to salute.

Yang Shen retracted his thoughts and nodded with a smile. Although he is the chief soldier, he is still a newcomer, and he mainly uses Huairou to win over these subordinate generals, "Shao guerrilla, let them move the artillery to the west, and you and I will patrol the city defense together." See what else is missing. ”

"Yes, sir." Shao Mengkai handed over the messenger to an officer, and then patrolled the city with Yang Shen.

The ancient city of Yongchang, with a long history, was built when the king of Nanzhao was Sheng Luopi, that is, during the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, it was called "Zheyu City". In the fourteenth year of Hongwu, it was destroyed by Luchuan Silunfa. Sixteen years to build a new city, modeled after the planning of Nanjing City. The Taibao Mountain was included and a unified layout was made for the construction of Yongchang City. The eastern, southern, and northern city walls of the city are each two feet and two feet high, and the west city wall is slightly shorter. In the twenty-eighth year of Jiajing, the west city was added, and the Yongchang city developed into a city with a circumference of thirteen miles and fourteen steps, and there were eight majestic city gates.

Although the city is relatively strong, Yongchang has a flaw, that is, there is no moat. Historically, it was not until the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty that the Yongchang prefect led the people to dig Haochi. The river water was drawn from Yiluo Pond and Mill Ditch, forming a moat. Circling the city and flowing eastward.

"Mengkai." Yang Shen directly called Shao Mengkai's name to show his closeness, pointed to the trench that had been formed under the city, and said, "I heard you say that the enemy's artillery is sharp, but the range is relatively close. Look at the depth and distance of this trench, can it stop the enemy artillery bombardment? ”

Shao Mengkai was not taken care of by Daniel Zhang, his old boss. He became quite cautious, looked at the city in a pretentious manner, estimated the distance, and said, "My lord is very well arranged, and the distance between the moats is appropriate. The artillery of the city is condescending and will be able to suppress the enemy. ”

Yang Shen smiled slightly and said, "The current enemy is not the time to say these false words and compliments. In your opinion, how many people can the Ming army have to besiege the city, and what are the chances of our army winning? ”

Shao Mengkai lowered his head and thought for a while, and said: "The puppet king Li Dingguo should have more than 10,000 people, and if the puppet king Bai Wenxuan comes out, there should be more than 10,000 soldiers." If you add the rebel soldiers, there shall be twenty-five or six thousand. Our army has more than 10,000 soldiers, and we are defending the fortified city, and we will surely win. ”

Yang Shen nodded lightly and said: "The Ming army has soldiers and auxiliaries, there are always sixty or seventy thousand, and people eat horses and chew, and the cost is huge. Under the fortified city, the transportation of grain and grass is far and difficult to continue, and it will not last. When the enemy is tired and demoralized, our army and reinforcements will be flanked before and after, and we can win a complete victory. ”

"The adults are very well analyzed." Shao Mengkai complimented again and said: "In this way, the situation in western Yunnan can be determined, and the remnants of the puppet Ming army will have no chance to recover." ”

"Huh." Yang Shen laughed twice and said, "The prince has clear rewards and punishments, and the most important talent is solid and hard-working. When it comes to rewarding meritorious deeds, Mengkai is one step higher, that is certain. ”

"It's all about the good words of adults, and it's all about the cultivation of the king." Shao Mengkai hurriedly bowed his hand, and said it very beautifully.

Yang Shen stretched out his hand to stop him, and said some words that won the hearts of the people, before he took Shao Mengkai to continue to inspect the city defense.

……………

Not to mention that the Yongchang Qing army was ready to stick to the city, which frustrated the spirit of the Ming army. On September 27, the three Ming armies joined forces at Mulao Yuan, northeast of Shidian, and entered Yongchang County with great momentum. On September 29, the Ming army finally arrived at the foot of Yongchang City.

Among the three Ming armies, Zhao Wang Bai Wenxuan was the strongest, with 15,000 soldiers and horses, and 2,000 remained to defend Tengchong and Longling. After all, after Tengchong's victory, most of the captured auxiliaries and the discarded wounded and sick Qing soldiers were left to him. After two months of rest and rectification, most of these ready-made soldiers were replenished into the Ming army. And Li Dingguo, the king of Jin, brought more than 10,000 men and horses, and also left about 2,000 defenders.

In this way, the Ming army already has more than 30,000, plus the local soldiers of the Long Clan, the Dao Clan, and the Meng Clan, and the number of troops participating in the battle went straight to 40,000. There are also more than 30,000 auxiliary soldiers, of which more than 20,000 were brought by Bai Wenxuan.

The local battle advantage had been determined, but before the capture of Yongchang, Li Dingguo, the king of Jin, and Bai Wenxuan, the king of Zhao, were not particularly optimistic. Siege of the city, without more than three times the number of troops, or a higher ratio, is not much of an advantage for the defenders.

Moreover, if this is already a battle in the enemy-occupied area, if the attack is delayed for a long time and cannot be overcome for a long time, not only will the veteran soldiers of the division be tired, and it will be difficult to continue with food and grass, but there will also be a danger of being flanked by the Qing army that is constantly coming to reinforce the Qing army.

However, Zhu Yongxing seemed confident, and after the army set up camp, he took the personnel of the guards, engineering teams, and artillery to begin to observe the city and look for a breakthrough. In fact, the general situation of Yongchang City has been understood through the intelligence of the Military Intelligence Department and the accounts of Yongchang soldiers in the army, and now it is only confirmed again.

Yongchang City is very old, and compared with the cities in the Central Plains, it can only be regarded as a small and medium-sized level. And it has also been repaired several times, and the wall tiles are of different ages and colors, like patched rags.

The western city wall is slightly shorter, which is undoubtedly a better breakthrough, but Yang Shen also noticed here, and more artillery was arranged on the city.

There are two ditches, there are more than zhang deep, ten feet wide, and the "plum blossom pile" is nailed under the city. The defending side arranged these stakes in a staggered manner to prevent the enemy's ladders and carts from approaching the city walls. These above-ground stakes are brand new and apparently have been nailed into the ground for a short time.

“…… The east is Shengyang Gate, the south gate of Zhennan, Longquan Gate, the west of Anding Gate, Yongzhen Gate, the north of Renshou Gate, Tonghua Gate, Gongbei Gate. Yang Guoxiang, who is a native of Yongchang, looked a little excited and excited in the face of the old land, and pointed out to introduce Zhu Yongxing, "The south gate of the town, the Gongbei gate, and the Tonghua gate also have the moon city, and it is not easy to capture. ”

Zhu Yongxing held a telescope to observe carefully, there were city towers on the city gates, more than three feet high; There are four corner towers, three enemy towers, one bell tower and one drum tower. The defense facilities are still relatively complete, much stronger than the city of Annam.

Several Ming soldiers held large shields to protect the members of the three engineer teams near the trench, and the three sappers hung them with ropes and went down to the bottom of the trench to check the soil quality and water accumulation.

The Qing army in the city did not open fire, and seemed to feel that it was not worth wasting shells on these few enemies. Moreover, according to the accuracy of artillery firing at that time, it was impossible to accurately hit the Ming army at a distance of 500 meters with only a few cannons, except for the group artillery firing at once.

There was artillery at the head of the city, but it didn't look like a Hongyi cannon, but like a light cannon captured during the battle of Tengchong. Zhu Yongxing observed carefully, and his confidence increased a few points. In fact, even if it is a Hongyi cannon, Zhu Yongxing also thinks that it can be a battle. The effective firing range of the Hongyi cannon mentioned in the history books is seven or eight miles, and the maximum firing range is within ten miles, which is an exaggeration and is by no means credible as the war report said that "one cannon will erode several miles."

It is important to know that at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the heavy artillery purchased during the construction of the Humen Fort had a maximum firing range of 3,000 catties of 3.5 miles, and the effective range was only two or three miles. Therefore, Zhu Yongxing believed that the maximum firing range of the heavy Hongyi cannon at that time should be within four miles, and the effective range should be about two miles.

Good at siege, clumsy in field battles, and poor at defending cities. This is determined by the characteristics of the Hongyi cannon, the rate of reloading and firing is low, the cannon body is bulky, and it cannot quickly move positions, which is far less flexible and fast than light artillery like the Furlong cannon, and is more suitable for defending the city.

"Your Highness, is the artillery position placed on the west side?" Artillery captain Qian Bangchen saw that Zhu Yongxing had been observing for a long time before putting down the binoculars, so he asked.

Zhu Yongxing wasn't sure, after all, the people from the engineering team hadn't come back yet, and he didn't know if it was appropriate to attack and blast from here. If the soil and water conditions allow, blasting from here is of course preferred, and the walls are low, so it is easy to blast and more powerful.

"Even if you are not here, you should also carefully measure and survey, so that you know in your heart." Zhu Yongxing pondered for a moment and replied: "Every side must be like this, and if you are holding on to your feet temporarily, won't you delay the fighter?" ”

"What Your Highness has taught you is that your subordinates know their mistakes." Qian Bangchen's face turned red and he retreated.

In history, the first to use tunnel blasting was the late Ming Dynasty Li Zicheng rebel army, but it was the Taiping Army at the end of the Qing Dynasty that really carried forward this ancient method of warfare and brought it to the extreme. For hundreds of years, the tactic of why is it extremely rare, and there are almost no successful examples, Zhu Yongxing was puzzled.

Until now, Zhu Yongxing didn't figure it out, and he didn't want to bother with it anymore. Anyway, if you use it well, Nanjing City can be successfully blasted by the Taiping Army, and this Yongchang City is nothing. (To be continued......)