Of course, these troops, which were composed of the generals of the Southern Ming Dynasty, were still not something that thousands of native soldiers could shake, especially in the flat field battles, and they were not opponents.

When I was cannon fodder at the beginning, I still don't feel at ease now! The right governor of the "Loyal and Brave" battalion glanced at Ba Keyong, the leader of the guard army in front of him, with the corner of his eye, and he couldn't help but feel resentment in his heart. They all worked hard to do this, but Wu Sangui still sent cronies to supervise it. Could it be that the thousands of dead and wounded, and the main generals who took the lead and bravely rushed to kill, could not show loyalty?

"The Governor of the King." Bakyong suddenly turned around and smiled: "If those native soldiers don't dare to come and just bluff, will our army keep waiting here?" ”

Wang Hui was stunned for a moment, and said with a smiling face: "Master Ba said that he was laughing." The prince must have a bamboo in his chest, first break the enemy's reinforcements on the east road, and then use a roundabout strategy to smuggle in, which can make these thousands of native soldiers become turtles in the urn. ”

"Hehe, Wang Dudu's words are quite strategic!" Bakyong was obviously instructed by Wu Sangui, although it was to monitor and supervise, but he had to speak warmly, no matter whether Wang Hui was right or not, he praised it, "When Yuanjiang City is broken and meritorious deeds are rewarded, the loyal and brave battalion is indispensable, and Wang Dudu can also be promoted one step higher." ”

"Thank you for your cultivation." Wang Hui looked grateful and arched his hand in the direction of the Jiangbei camp.

Bak Yong pretended to pat Wang Hui's shoulder affectionately, and said with a smile: "Doesn't the prince know the loyalty and dedication of the royal governor? Let's go, those native soldiers and mountain monkeys, let's wait, let's go back to the camp for tea and rest! ”

"Your Excellency is right." The king would be a little behind and stretched out his hand to ask.

………………

The cannon roared, and the Hongyi artillery of the Qing army continued to bombard the city wall in the northeast. But the generals standing in the northwest corner of the city wall were unheard, and Wu Zisheng, the Duke of Chen, raised his binoculars from time to time to look at the river in the distance. Several generals passed two binoculars in their hands, and they also looked around from time to time. whispered.

Na Song was the most disturbed one, opened his mouth several times, but swallowed back the words, pacing up and down the city wall from time to time, and his face was also changeable.

Wu Zisheng put down the binoculars and rubbed his eyes, which were stinged by the reflection of the river. After a while. He squinted at the sun, counted the hour, and raised the telescope again.

Suddenly, a black dot appeared in the telescope's field of view, and then it rapidly expanded and lengthened, and in the distance, at the junction of water and sky, the tip of a mast appeared, followed by a second, and then a third......

"It's coming!" Wu Zisheng was so excited that his voice changed pitch a little. There was an immediate coaxing beside him, and all the generals widened their eyes and rushed up to Lu in unison.

The four galleons sailed in a triangle in a row, taking advantage of the wind to cut through the river and appear in everyone's field of vision. Behind are more than 20 boats, large and small, with large and small sails, coming along the river. Because there is a large distance between the boats. The flotilla looks very long.

"Are the respective units ready?" Chen Guogong Wu Zisheng turned around and asked loudly to the generals.

"The last general Zhao is victorious, and the three thousand men and horses of the department are ready."

"The last general, Xu Mingchen. The 3,000 men and horses of the department can go out of the city at any time to kill the enemy. ”

"The last general, Gao Yingfeng, has 3,000 people on standby, just waiting for the order."

"The Governor will lead 5,000 men and horses to ensure that the city is not lost."

Wu Zisheng nodded to Na Song as a sign of politeness, then turned around and continued to stare at the river. Counter-offensive and combo. It's up to him to see how well he can put together the water master, and his palms are slightly sweaty.

"Lower the sail and slow down, lower the boat." With a command, the speed of the galleon that was moving first slowed down, and the pontoon bridge in the distance was already in sight.

Several small sampans were lowered into the water from both sides of the large boat. There were two sailors in each sampan, with thick iron spikes sticking out of front of the sampan, the fore compartment was tightly covered with tarpaulin, and the boat had a small sail that had been temporarily erected.

As soon as the rope was untied, the sailors paddled hard and adjusted the sails. Several sampans grew faster and faster, leaving the slowed galleon and heading straight down the current.

Fire ship? The sudden appearance of the fleet on the river not only saw it by the people in Yuanjiang City, but also alarmed Wu Sangui in the Jiangbei camp, who was watching and observing from the walled tower of the camp at this time. When he saw a few small sampans suddenly rushing down the river towards the pontoon, these two words came to his mind. Although he is not accustomed to water warfare, he has read a lot of books, and he has roughly guessed some.

"Order the troops guarding the bridge to intercept, order the artillery bombardment of the riverbank." Although Wu Sangui was not sure, he still shouted orders to the downstairs of the wall.

But it seems to be a little late, and the four small sampans are extremely fast, at a distance of fifty or sixty meters from the pontoon. The sailors had already lit the fuse under the tarpaulin and rolled into the river.

A few solid shells flew sporadically from the riverbank, but in a hurry they could not hit the boat that crashed into the pontoon. With the help of the wind of the small sails, the four small sampans hit the pontoon one after another after ten seconds, and the iron nails in the bow of the ship were deeply rooted in the wood of the pontoon.

"Hold up, hold the boat." The Qing soldiers on the pontoon bridge ran over, and through the rope that was pulled up, they pushed with their spears under the roar and order of the officer, trying to push the boat away from the pontoon.

The nails in the bow of a small sampan were a little loose and seemed to be about to be pushed off the pontoon. But the sudden explosion of the small sampan turned the Qing soldiers' attempts into sawdust and black smoke.

In the sound of the explosion, sawdust flew on the pontoon bridge and broke into several pieces. There were screams on the bridge, and the nearby Qing soldiers were blown up and fell into the river.

The two galleons were supposed to be in the second row, but after the first row of big ships slowed down, they accelerated out from both sides and rushed to the front. Approaching the pontoon, a rumble sounded, and white smoke rose from the bow of the ship. Several large artillery shells dispersed in the air and turned into dozens of small shells, which smashed into the Qing artillery on the shore.

The two galleons were odd in appearance, but they were actually made of four boats, covered with wooden planks, and their speed was affected, but their stability was good, and they became the launching platform for the cannons. In the fleet, there are several ships that have been modified in this way, one is to bombard the pontoon, and the blasting ship constitutes a double insurance for destruction; The second is to suppress the enemy on the shore and prevent the enemy from building pontoon bridges again.

Wu Sangui did not have many artillery pieces on the shore, all of them were small cannons with a relatively close range, but the firing time was about the same as that of the cannons, and it was still slow. The bombardment of the sampan just now had no effect, and the fashion had no time to divert the muzzle. The sky-bombarding cannon from 300 meters away gave them a head-on blow.

These flying shells were also different from the usual, some bounced on the ground, and some were nailed to the ground at once, which was an improved arrow shell specially designed for bombing pontoons.

To bombard the pontoon, the biggest difficulty is the bounce of the shells, there is no sensitive contact fuse. The timing of the delay in the fuse was difficult to grasp, and it was almost impossible to get the shell to explode right on the narrow pontoon.

Zhu Yongxing also thought hard about this and had a headache. Later, he stumbled upon several old-fashioned bed crossbows in the Erhai Acropolis and curiously asked the soldiers to demonstrate the bed crossbows. When the stout arrow pierced the city wall, he couldn't help but suddenly feel enlightened, and thought of some secrets of the expeditionary force in Tengchong in history.

He remembered attacking Tengchong, because the Tengchong city wall was built of volcanic stone, which was very flexible. As a result, the bombs dropped by Allied aircraft were often bounced away for a distance before exploding, and the damage to the city walls was very small. Later, the American pilot came up with a solution, as if tying steel bars to the bomb, or installing a metal thorn, and then flying at an ultra-low altitude to bomb. In this way, the bomb could penetrate the city wall with the help of steel bars or spikes and explode, thus blowing up the northwest corner tower of Tengchong. Conquered Tengchong City.

With ideas, the improvement of techniques is not complicated. It is to install an iron cluster on the head of the shell of the cannon, so that it can be tied to the pontoon bridge and no longer bounce and roll. After testing, it was proved feasible and effective. So, in addition to blasting the pontoon bridge with a powder boat. Zhu Yongxing has another powerful weapon, and he is even more confident in breaking the Yuanjiang pontoon bridge.

Of course, Zhu Yongxing didn't know that there were similar arrows in Lu Dao for a long time, but they couldn't explode, but were really big iron arrows. It seems to be a celestial and ground cylinder cast in the middle of the 16th century in Korea. It is to fire a general's arrow shell weighing more than 20 kilograms.

It doesn't matter anymore, though. The explosion of the powder ship had already blown the pontoon into several sections, and the galleon re-set sail and accelerated, and under the cover and suppression of the bombing platform, it rushed forward with the ships behind it, crushing and sailing over, destroying the first pontoon bridge that had been scattered.

Countless planks, debris, and ropes were carried downstream by the fleet, and the two bombardment platforms lowered all the sails, and the shore was slow, still shelling, and also receiving several sailors who had fallen into the water.

"It's broken." Chen Guogong Wu Zisheng stomped his foot violently, and the telescope moved with the fleet, staring at the next pontoon bridge.

Wu Sangui was taken aback, hurriedly climbed down the walled building, took his personal guards and entourage, ran out of the camp, and rushed down the river to the lower reaches of Lu. Despite being surprised by the speed with which the enemy broke the pontoon bridge, Wu Sangui did not realize that the situation was already extremely critical. After all, according to the intelligence and the careful arrangements he had made, even if the pontoon bridge was completely destroyed and communication between the two sides of the strait was lost, the army in Jiangnan would not be something that the enemy could defeat.

It is just a temporary isolation, and the strength of Jiangnan is not something that the enemy can shake; Grain and grass supplies are enough to support seven or eight days. By that time, the pontoon bridge will be able to be erected again. It's just that the enemy has a sailor, how to deal with it? Wu Sangui rode on his horse, thinking not about the safety of the army on the other side, but about how to prevent the pontoon bridge from being attacked like this.

"Boom, boom, boom......" Two more bombardment platforms in the flotilla drove out and fired specialized arrows towards the second pontoon.

Dozens of small bombs were scattered in the air, most of them fell into the river, but more than a dozen fell on the pontoon, and seven or eight were successfully nailed.

The smoking shells caused the Qing troops on the pontoon bridge to panic and dodge, and there were no warriors who forgot their lives and threw their shells with their bodies. Unlike anti-infantry shells, this type of arrow shell is made to be slightly larger, and only five or four shells can be divided into one cannonball, in order to increase the destructive power and destroy the pontoon bridge in the shortest possible time.

To be on the safe side, two powder boats were still released in the flotilla and rushed towards the pontoon.

Explosions, one after another, white smoke rose on the water, sawdust flew sideways on the river, and Qing soldiers fell into the water on the bridge. This was followed by the collision of two powder ships, followed by two louder bangs.

A ship was hit by artillery on the shore, and the mast broke and the sail fell, but before it could lose control, the oars rowed and landed behind the most part of the flotilla.

"Light the wolf smoke!" Wu Zisheng watched the fleet rush across the second pontoon bridge, his heart was settled, and he finally put down the binoculars, turned around and ordered: "The generals will go down to the city to lead the army, and prepare to go out of the city to attack the enemy in the west of the city." ”

Two wolf smoke rose in Yuanjiang City, indicating that most of the attack had been successful. It also marked the official start of the joint attack operation.

"Look at Guogong, it's another fleet." Na Song suddenly pointed to the northwest.

True, more than twenty ships appeared on the river, and this was the second wave of attacks to break the pontoon. Obviously, the smooth operation made them useless. Not to mention the third wave that followed.

"His Royal Highness Min is really cautious." Chen Guogong Wu Zisheng couldn't help but smile, showing his heartfelt appreciation, and said to Na Song: "Please ask the governor to guard the city, and I will also go to the west of the city to command, and welcome the arrival of His Royal Highness Min's army." ”

"Guogong can rest assured that Yuanjiang City is worry-free." The expression on Na Song's face was full of relaxation, although the defense of Yuanjiang City was very effective, and there was no danger of being broken for the time being, but until this time. His heart was basically let go.

……………

Lower reaches of the Yuan River.

Ma Bao led the army to set up camp more than 30 miles away from the camp of the Qing army, dug trenches and defended them, and confronted the camp of Wang Fuchen's headquarters ten miles away from the battle. It was less than a day, and the two sides had only engaged in a tentative scout battle, apparently cautious.

But five or six miles to the east, where Ma Bao camped, was a narrow river. Since early this morning, the ships that have been going up the river have begun to anchor and moor, lined up one by one. Extending from the river banks on both sides to the center of the river, the construction of the pontoon bridge has been completed for the most part.

When the two wolf smoke of Yuanjiang City passed through the transmission of Ma Weixing's department in Jiangnan. After Ma Bao learned about it, the construction of the pontoon bridge suddenly began to accelerate under his strict orders. An hour later, with two large ships anchored, the pontoon bridge was finally basically completed.

Rows of bamboo rafts were paved, and the pontoon bridge was completed. Ma Bao's army quietly left the village and hurried five or six miles. Begin to cross the river. And the banner in the camp did not fall, and a thousand false soldiers feint, which concealed the scouts of the Qing army and the Qing general Wang Fuchen.

Ma Bao led the army across the river to advance eastward, at this time. The wolf smoke has already become three. The success of the sabotage operation made Ma Bao both excited and anxious, and urged the army to speed up the march.

……………

The situation of the war was changing drastically, but Wu Sangui and other Qing generals did not realize it, or underestimated the seriousness of the danger.

The three pontoon bridges were destroyed, and the Qing troops on both sides of the strait made corresponding adjustments. Wu Sangui mobilized the army to deploy defenses on the shore, although there were few artillery, but he was able to temporarily rush to make rockets, and pulled all the more than a dozen crossbow machines guarding the camp, and sent auxiliaries to prepare wood and prepare to build a pontoon bridge.

Xia Guoxiang in the south of the Yangtze River stopped bombarding the city wall and sent people to transport the Hongyi cannon to the shore, preparing to flank the enemy's naval division with friendly troops on the opposite bank to ensure the rebuilding of the pontoon bridge.

But the tide of battle took a turn for the worse, and although Wu Sangui and Xia Guoxiang's remedial measures were reasonable and swift, they were a little late. The first breakthrough of the Ming army was to the east of Yuanjiang City, where the Zhongyong battalion was falling into a sudden outflanking.

Buck Yong's smile froze, panic shot out of Wang Hui's eyes, and the soldiers of the Loyal Battalion were dumbfounded, and the ease and disdain just now disappeared in an instant.

On the right side of the military formation of the Loyal Battalion, the black and oppressive Ming troops were surging, and the armor scales on their bodies, as well as countless weapons and white blades, were emitting a cold light in the sunlight. Although there are still more than two miles away, the murderous aura seems to have spread and invaded.

And on the other side of the mountain beams and woods a few miles away, native soldiers are constantly popping up. The enemy, which seemed to be easily defeated by the loyal battalion generals, suddenly gained the strength of the enemy on the side, and it seemed that it became difficult to defeat.

"W-what's going on?" Wang Hui stared intently at the enemy on the flank, and did not forget to order the army to turn, where it was the most threatening.

"Where is this enemy coming from?" Buck swallowed with difficulty, his face full of incredulity.

No one answered, and there was no need to answer, a big flag was raised in the military formation of the Ming army, and the yellow characters on a red background fluttered in the wind, "Min" was impressively displayed in front of the Qing army.

"Pseudo-clan—" Buck Yong's eyes almost fell out, his mouth opened into an O-shape, and he couldn't close it for a long time.

Wang Hui opened his mouth and didn't say anything, but a complicated look flashed on his face. Mortified? Guilty? Afraid? …… As a general, when he saw the royal clan he had been loyal to, his mood was really indescribable. Not only him, but also a low discussion sounded in the military formation. Obviously, the imperial power has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and it is not something that can be completely changed by shaving the head and changing clothes. The sudden appearance of the royal family still oppressed the psychology of the Qing soldiers.

After the formation was over, Zhu Yongxing's face was grim, he drew his sword in his hand sharply, pointed at the Qing army, and shouted angrily: "Attack." ”

"Attack!"

"Kill!"

With the louder and louder roars, heavy footsteps sounded around Zhu Yongxing, and the Ming army in battle formation pressed towards the Qing army like a rainbow. And Wei Junzhong, the son of the general soldier Wang Sancai and the Marquis of Mengjin Wei Yong, led another group of men and horses to the back of the Qing army.

"Fight, kill! Those who behead the pseudo-clan will be rewarded with 10,000 taels. Buck Yong came to his senses and roared loudly, but few responded.

In the face of the Ming army, which had an absolute superiority in strength and was personally commanded by the imperial family, the momentum of the Zhongyong battalion was completely suppressed.

Knowing that the Ludao pseudo-sect would appear here, he should not have sent these loyal and brave battalions to surrender his generals, Ba Keyong regretted it in his heart, but at this time there was nothing to be done, only to fight to the death. He set an aggressive gaze on Wang Hui and the generals beside him.

Wang Hui gritted his teeth, waved his sword and pointed forward, and shouted loudly, "Fight." ”

"Rush!"

"Kill!"

With the shouts that resounded on the battlefield, countless people rushed together, shaking the earthquake slightly. Then, the sounds of fighting and jingo filled the ears, and the sound of muskets and shells exploded.

…………… (To be continued......)