Make the best use of people's materials and materials.

Meng Jiucheng's biggest secret is to be able to mobilize the masses and get more and more people involved. No matter what industry you are engaged in, no matter how capable you are, even if it is just an old man who takes care of the children and cooks, it is also contributing to his ideals and the country in his mind.

This philosophy has been followed from beginning to end, from top to bottom, since Meng Jiucheng was able to do so.

There's nothing new about that. The theory of the people's war should be applicable now, until the advent of the atomic bomb.

The more powerful Meng Jiucheng is, the greater the influence of his ideas, the more widely they spread, and the more people follow them.

Change should not be temporary, or short-term; It should not be applied only during war, but should be sustained later and in the future.

He Tiejiao, Zhen Niang, and the little girl are just a small microcosm in this great change. Thousands of people are also in the midst of this great change that is different from the ordinary sense of the dynasty.

For officials, it is necessary to try to adapt in the midst of change; For the people under Meng Jiucheng, most of them have benefited from the change; As for the enemy, the Jin army felt lost, confused and frightened in the midst of change.

The change involves the military, not only the change of weapons and equipment, but also the strategy and tactics, the offensive and defensive system, and so on.

To the south of Weizhou, Huang Slap Aruta's army confronted Han Shouzhong's more than 10,000 men and horses, and several battles failed to repel their opponents.

If they could not remove the threat, they did not dare to attack Meng Jiucheng's army in the east.

The delay in time gave the Red Turban Army the opportunity to consolidate the area, reorganize the troops, and launch another offensive.

Local consolidation is underway and may take some time to bear fruit, but the regrouping of the army does not have to wait.

After almost sweeping Jiaodong, the troops led by Meng Jiucheng increased instead of decreasing, reaching more than 40,000 people.

And this is still the result of some investigation and selection of prisoners and troops, cutting the weak and retaining the strong.

Of course, the expanded army will have to go through training and run-in before it can reach its previous combat strength.

However, the increase in the number of people has somewhat compensated for the shortcomings in this regard. At least, the attack on the Laizhou Jin Army will not be greatly affected, and it is also an opportunity to train with battle.

Meng Jiucheng first transferred 10,000 horses to Anqiu, under the command of Han Shouzhong, to form greater containment and pressure on Huang Slap Aruta. He personally led nearly 30,000 horses to move far, and after the preparations were completed, he went west to Laizhou.

The defenders of Laizhou, plus the reinforcements sent by Zhang Lin, had a total of seven or eight thousand men. At the beginning of the war, Laizhou raised the control of Wulinda Shijianu and sent troops to rescue Pingdu. It's just that Pingdu fell too quickly, and the reinforcements were intercepted by the Red Turban Army again, and they had no choice but to return.

After the successive losses of Pingdu, Laixi, Laiyang, and even Zhaoyuan, Wulinda Shijianu also realized the strength of the enemy army, so they did not dare to fight, and only cared about strengthening the city defense, collecting grass and stockpiling grain, and planned to defend the infant city by itself.

The advantage of the Red Turban Army's equipment lies in defense and fortification, but field combat is not its forte. In other words, Meng Jiucheng deliberately avoided field battles, but it did not mean that the Red Turban Army could not fight in the field.

In the face of the menacing Red Turban Army, Laizhou raised the control of Wulin Dashi slaves to completely dispel the confidence to go out of the city to fight, and made every effort to hold the city.

The city wall of Laizhou is tall and strong in Shandong. At the beginning, the siege of this city was not only very long, but it was also succeeded by opening the city through internal traitors.

Therefore, Wu Lin Da Shi Jianu felt that it was still very promising to persevere.

Therefore, when the Red Turban Army was encamped outside the city, the slaves of Wulinda Shi stood on the head of the city and looked at the city, and confidently cheered up the surrounding soldiers.

"How can thieves and thieves last long? When his division is exhausted, or he withdraws on his own, or our army attacks, he will surely win. ”

"My lord!"

"Adults are familiar with the art of war, and they know how to see it!"

"In my lord's words, it really made the last general's mouth open!"

A group of sighing voices sounded around him, and Wu Lin replied to the Shi family slave and smiled, showing a smug face.

It's just that Cheng Youde, the commander of the reinforcements sent by Zhang Lin, had a solemn face, looking at the enemy army under the city, and didn't know what he was thinking.

There were also two officers of the defenders in the city, Yu Hai and Mu Zuo, who exchanged glances with each other after complimenting them, and pursed their lips imperceptibly.

There is a moat outside the city of Laizhou, although it is not very wide, but it is also a favorable barrier to defend the city.

Yang An'er called the king in this place, and when Anzhen came to attack, the city defense was reinforced by the Red Jacket Army. The slaves of the Wulin Dashi family prepared the infant city to defend themselves, and made some repairs.

This made the walls of Laizhou stronger, but the appearance was ugly. The bricks, stones, and earth, in different shades and colors, look like a hundred garments with countless patches.

The main force of the Red Turban Army set up camp at the east gate, and the south and north gates were also tightly encircled, only the west side was more lax, more like the arrangement of the three ques.

After the army completed the siege under the city, it began to dig into the earth and build artillery positions.

"My lord, the thieves lined up at the east and south gates, and began to dig trenches outside the city gates."

Wu Lin Dashi waved his hand, indicating that he already knew. At this time, he was in the East Gate Tower, and the movements of the enemy troops under the city were clearly visible.

"Liezhai Chen Bing is going to attack the city? But what does it mean to dig up? Wu Lin replied that Shi Jianu was a little confused.

Is this Ming army going to attack, or is it going to besiege? After watching it for a long time, he didn't know the essentials, so he had to respond to all changes with no change, and ordered the soldiers defending the city to tighten their guard and not relax.

In fact, the judgment of Wulinda Shi Jianu was wrong, the Red Turban Army did not dig a trench to besiege it, but dug a mound of earth and walls, and slowly formed a shelter facing the city gate.

"In the battle of Guandu in the past, Yuan Shao once built a building turret, piled up soil like a mountain, and shot Cao Ying with arrows." Wu Lin replied that the slave of the Shi family was not a straw bag fool, and even knew some stories of the Three Kingdoms, and stroked his beard and said to himself cleverly: "Do the thieves want to follow suit?" ”

"Your Excellency is wise." A general immediately sent him a fart, "The thieves have a little trick, and it is difficult to escape the eyes of the adults, and this battle will be lost." ”

With a slap on the back, Wu Lin replied to Shi Jianu even more firm in his judgment, sneered and pointed outside the city, and said, "Build soil for mountains? How can a mud be built without stone and wood? The thieves are so clumsy in attacking the city, why should our army be afraid? ”

"Yes, yes! Although it has passed the spring and the surface soil has melted, it is really whimsical and foolish to think of building soil as a mountain. The adults are well versed in the art of war, Laizhou is impregnable, and the thieves will definitely return. Another sycophant was sent, and the slave of the Ulin Dashi pretended to be reserved, and cast his wise and profound gaze on the outside of the city, full of disdain and contempt.

If it weren't for the fact that the land had only melted very shallowly, Lao Tzu would have let you take a dirt plane.

Meng Jiucheng stood the banner of the Chinese army at the east gate and looked at Laizhou City with a telescope.

Now since the natural environment does not allow for tunnel blasting, Meng Jiucheng decided to use artillery bombardment and external blasting to attack Laizhou.

In principle, both the Flying Thunder Cannon and the Meteor Cannon are similar to large-caliber mortar guns, with a large firing angle and a high ballistic arc, which can be used to bombard targets with obstacles at intervals and unable to fire horizontally.

And there are also artillery pieces that can fire directly, similar to the cannons of the red coat, from two at the beginning of the campaign, to four now.

Attaching importance to firearms, to artillery, to artillery, this is the inherent opinion formed by the traverser based on the trajectory of the development of military history.

Although it was not very easy to destroy the walls of the city with these artillery, to open a breakthrough. However, the deterrent effect is very great, and many cities surrender under the power of artillery.

About two hours later, the Red Turban Army made all the preparations for the siege, not only to set up a protective artillery position outside the city gate, but also to prepare dozens of ladders, ready to cross the moat and climb the city to attack.

The artillery behind the simple earthen wall has been erected, and several artillery backbones have personally measured the range, and after conducting two test firing of solid shells, another door has fine-tuned the elevation angle, loaded with explosive shells, and waited for an order to open artillery bombardment.

The wooden carts behind the artillery positions were also ready, with several large wooden boxes on them, heavy and sturdy, filled with gunpowder to blast the city gates, and covered with tarpaulins.

Dozens of heavily armored sword and shield soldiers were already ready to go, their mouths and noses covered with wet cloths, ready to cover the demolition cart as they advanced through the city gate.

The sound of drums and trumpets first sounded from the direction of the east city gate, and then the drums and trumpets of the Red Turban Army in other directions responded, and the defenders on the city wall increased, some holding bows and waving knives, and some were placing rolling logs and stones, which seemed very nervous.

"Boom", a thunderous explosion in the distance, causing Jin Bing to look up at the sky, although there are some clouds, but this thunder is a little strange.

"Boom", "boom", thunder sounded continuously, black smoke rose from the east city gate, and the explosion shook the ground slightly.

"Let's get started!" Meng Jiucheng waved his hand and ordered.

Small green flags were raised on the various gun emplacements, indicating that the angle of the artillery had been corrected. Can be launched at any time.

An officer waved a yellow command flag and signaled for the gunners to prepare for firing. Although it is not expected that every cannon will hit the target directly, the same amount of charge and angle can at least ensure that the flight distance of the shell is about the same as the landing point.

The red flag was raised and waved heavily in the air. In an instant, twenty cannons made a dull noise, spewed fire and white smoke, and the cannonballs flew into the air and flew towards the enemy city.

More than ten seconds later, deafening explosions rang out one after another, bricks and stones flew everywhere at the head of the city, and smoke and dust rose high, obscuring people's vision.

The flowering shells fired by the Western twelve-pounder cannons are usually filled with about 900 grams of black powder, while the shells fired by the Flying Thunder Cannon and the Meteor Cannon weigh five, ten, and twenty pounds, but the weight of sixty or seventy percent is made of gunpowder, which is obviously much more powerful than that. The disadvantage is that the gun wall is thin, the propellant is small, and the firing range is shorter.

At this time, the "master of the art of war" Wu Lin Dashi slave at the east gate was groggy, deaf in both ears, and had wounds on his body that had been broken by gravel, and blood flowed all over his face.

The confident and calm appearance just now is gone, and even acquaintances can only identify themselves from their clothes.

A few loyal guards carried their masters on their backs and fled down the city in panic.

The two pitch-black craters on the city wall were still smoking, and the craters were scattered with weapon stumps, and beyond that, there were many golden soldiers who were bleeding from their ears and noses and were knocked unconscious.

Because the golden soldiers at the head of the city were unprepared, the dense formation of defending the city invisibly increased the power of the cannonballs several times.

The Jin soldiers, who were not killed or injured by the explosion, were stunned by the violent explosion, and they were like a pot of porridge in the smoke, and no one even paid attention to the injured soldiers.

"I'm going to fall, run!" Amid the exclamations, the simply built city gate tower crumbled in the smoke, and there were fires in several places.

The flying thunder cannons under the city were constantly adjusted, firing unhurriedly like broken beans, some shells fell outside the city, some fell on the city, and some flew over the city walls and exploded in the city.

Under the constant tremors of explosions and shock waves, the fragile city gate tower finally collapsed.

The chaos was intensifying, but it was still far from being dispersed, and several officers, surrounded by cronies, screamed hoarsely, brandished their weapons in their hands, and restrained the chaotic soldiers.

The young men in the city who were temporarily recruited to defend the city were even worse in psychological quality, and those who did not die were also frightened, and took advantage of the chaos to flee more than half of them, huddled in their own houses, and refused to come out again.

Before the smoke cleared, Meng Jiucheng had already given an order. Dozens of bamboo and wood ladders crossed the moat, and dozens of Ming soldiers raised shields, carts, or wooden boxes, and rushed to the city gate quickly, and then disappeared in the smoke and dust.

Obviously, the defenders of the east gate were blinded by the salvo of these dozens of artillery, and the routine of the Red Turban Army's attack could not be seen clearly in the smoke and dust.

Ten minutes later, dozens of Red Turban soldiers had completed their tasks, emerged from the thin smoke and dust, and ran hard one by one.

The fuse is long enough, you don't have to run so suddenly, right? Meng Jiucheng couldn't help but grin as he watched these heavily armored soldiers run away.

The smoke of gunfire slowly dissipated at the head of the city, and the effect of the round of shooting just now was fully displayed in front of him. A corner of the moat had been cut off, and the battlements were mutilated, and it was not known whether the oil was boiling or the wood was ignited, and several fires were rising.

And the figures of those golden soldiers who were originally dense are invisible. Oh, and a couple of probing guys peeked out from behind the walls, looking out.

Facing the tragic scene after the city gate was bombed, most of the recruits in the Red Turban Army also witnessed it for the first time, and they couldn't help but open their mouths wide, their eyes were round, and they didn't blink.

Meng Jiucheng had already turned his gaze to the city gate, the two carts had been wheeled off and were next to the city gate side by side, presumably the soldiers would not forget to nail the carts to the ground with iron drills, right?

Two hundred catties of gunpowder is enough to blow up the city gate, even if it is blocked behind the city gate, right? It's just that I don't know if this shaped charge has any effect, anyway, it's better than nothing, and it's a test.

Well, it's time to cover your ears.

Without waiting for the golden soldiers in the city to adjust, a deafening explosion sounded again, and the smoke and dust in the sky covered the city gate tightly, and nothing could be seen.