Caozhou Mansion, Heze County, the Qing Emperor is here.

Emperor Kangxi, who had already finished his hatred and oath on the banks of the Yellow River, moved to Heze, the westernmost capital city of Shandong Province. This city, which is located on the Luxi Plain and has no danger to defend except for the Zhaowang River and the Nanqing River, is transformed into a huge fortress when it was transformed!

Outside this boxy city, a low outer wall with eight sides was built with rammed earth, and outside each "side", there was a solid rammed earth fort in the shape of a triangular platform, protecting the octagonal outer wall and eight small city gates. On the periphery of the eight solid forts are two zigzag trenches – both of which are built against the eight solid forts, thus forming two octagonal shapes one on the other.

And on the eight solid platforms, 12 bronze cast 6-pound cannons are placed, which can form a dense crossfire on the enemy who is trying to attack the city!

Don't look at the sloppy construction of this fortress, but whoever wants to conquer it has to dig parallel trenches and advance a little bit to the side of the city wall, and finally deploy cupola cannons (mortar cannons) in the trench near the city wall at the dead end of the cannon on the triangular platform, and then attack with flowering shells, probably only besieged the city and starved for food.

If anyone wants to build a fortress like Heze Fortress by storming and piling up human lives, it is not impossible, but this loss will be too big to bear!

But the city must be sieged by digging parallel moats. According to the experience of the Franco-Dutch War, even with several times the strength and firepower, it would take about a month to break through this octagonal fortress with a double fort.

If you add the time to march to Heze and the time to clear the outlying strongholds of Heze, and complete the siege, it will take at least two months.

"Good! Good! Master Chen, your fortress is well repaired, it doesn't cost much, but it is impregnable, and the inside of the fortress is quite large, and it is not a problem to garrison tens of thousands of troops. If Li Zhongshan wants to break the Heze Fortress, it will take at least two months and he will have to use 100,000 troops! ”

Standing on a tower in the core fort of Heze Fortress, Kangxi crossed his arms and looked at the fortress that Chen Tingjing had spent several months to build, looking quite satisfied.

Chen Tingjing lowered his hands and shoulders, standing beside Kangxi, although there was a smile on his face, but his forehead was full of beads of sweat - he was transferred from Shanxi to Caozhou Mansion by Empress Yang, and he was still an auxiliary minister in Beijing at that time, so he didn't need to go to Caozhou in person. And Empress Yang's purpose in transferring him over was to strengthen her control over Shandong Province, and he didn't think about blocking the Great Tomorrow soldiers in Heze at that time. Heze is a place that is not safe to defend, and it seems that it is no longer on the main road.

But no one expected that as soon as Kangxi came back, he drew an arc on the map from Heze in Caozhou in the west to Zijin Pass in Yizhou in the east, and then said that it was a line of defense against the Northern Expedition of the Ming Dynasty, which was not long on the map, but in fact it was a long defense line of 400 miles. And this 400-mile line of defense can be easily bypassed. As long as you start from Xuzhou, go west along the Huiji River south of the Yellow River, push it all the way to the territory of Kaifeng Prefecture, and then directly cross the Yellow River.

If Kangxi still wants to extend this defense line all the way to the foot of Taihang Mountain, it will have to be extended for at least another 400 miles. It's impossible!

At the same time, Chen Tingjing learned of Kangxi's plan of "one country defending one city", so he took it for granted that Kangxi's 400-mile defense line was a disguise, at most it was to repair a fortress that could involve the hind legs of the Ming army in the Northern Expedition.

Subsequently, Chen Tingjing found that his backstage Empress Yang was gradually losing power, as Kangxi's teacher, Chen Tingjing knew too well how much he liked to settle accounts after the autumn! Once Empress Yang completely falls, he will definitely be implicated.

And at this time, Kangxi handed him a ladder - let him go to his own domain Caozhou to repair the Heze Fortress, and also gave him a large amount of funds.

Chen Tingjing thought that this ladder was not bad, no matter what happened in the future, he would always be able to get a castle like a turtle shell. If Kangxi wants to deal with him, he can surrender to the Ming according to the city, and if the Northern Expedition of the Ming Dynasty comes, he can also wait and watch according to the city, and the big deal is to "surrender and go ashore". He and Li Fuchen and Li Zhongshan have no deep hatred, they were all colleagues who bowed their heads and didn't look up, and after handing over the Heze fortress and the army, can't they be crowned an earl or viscount?

So he happily came to Heze to build a city and accumulate valleys, and was ready to hold on to it.

But no one thought that Kangxi would be so bad now. The Yellow River dam was dug and a yellow flood area was created in the territory of Guide, Xuzhou, Fengyang, and Sizhou, which not only cut off the grain route of the Ming Northern Expeditionary Army, but also blocked their route westward along the Huiji River!

Now the Heze-Zijin Pass defense line looks a little valuable!

This is not the most troublesome, what makes Chen Tingjing the most big is that Kangxi also transferred Fan Chengxun, the direct murderer of the Yellow River, from Guide Mansion to Heze. It is also beautifully named: Help Chen Tingjing defend the city!

Is this to help Chen Tingjing defend the city? This is to watch Chen Tingjing not let him surrender

Kangxi glanced at Chen Tingjing, and when he saw his teacher sweating profusely, he had an indescribable pleasure in his heart, and then said with a smile: "Master Chen, you don't have to worry about the safety of your family!" ”

My family?

Chen Tingjing chuckled in his heart, knowing that something bad was going to happen again!

Kangxi then said: "Master Chen, Fan Chengxun! ”

Chen Tingjing followed behind Kangxi, his face was even more ugly than Chen Tingjing, and Fan Chengxun hurriedly responded together: "The minister is here!" ”

Kangxi said with a smile: "The two of you and the families of your subordinates, don't stay in Heze, these people consume military rations, and they can't go into battle to kill the enemy, and let the soldiers worry." It's better to follow me to Dongpingzhou first, and then to Beijing, so that nothing goes wrong. ”

Chen Tingjing knew that it was really going to be bad, and his family members were all circled to Beijing. There is a bigger unlucky guy Fan Chengxun next to him watching, so does he still have a way to live?

"Minister Fan Chengxun thanks the emperor for his great kindness!"

Chen Tingjing still wanted to struggle, but Fan Chengxun had already knelt down to thank him.

He was cheated by Kangxi this time worse than Chen Tingjing!

Chen Tingjing doesn't want his family at most, he can still surrender to the Ming Dynasty to save his life. If Kangxi really slaughtered Chen Tingjing's family, Li Zhongshan might still reuse Chen Tingjing. But he Fan Chengxun has no way to live!

The Yellow River was picked up by him, and he could still bring it down?

Before picking up the Yellow River, Kangxi said that he would let him go to the head of the military state outside the gate to retire, but now he asked him and Chen Tingjing to defend the Heze fortress together!

And Kangxi still wants to take him and his subordinates' families, now he can only defend to the death and fight to the end!

"Chen Ting, Minister Chen Ting respectfully thanks the emperor for his great kindness!"

Chen Tingjing had no choice but to kneel down and thank him. He only had two brigades and 10,000 soldiers on hand, and the army that Kangxi brought to Heze had ten brigades and 50,000 people, and there were 10,000 people who could only follow Fan Chengxun who could follow Kangxi, so he could only honestly hand over his family, and then stay in Heze and wait for death, or wait for Li Zhongshan to retire from the army.

Kangxi laughed, with Chen Tingjing and Fan Chengxun working together, Heze Fortress can always be held for two months. And how long can Li Yat-sen's military rations last? Trimester? Four months? At most, even if he can take a fortress like Heze, there is not much surplus grain to march to Dongpingzhou, which Kangxi himself guarded.

Once Li Zhongshan runs out of food, the time has come for Kangxi to fight back!

And Wu Yingqi, the traitor, will definitely seize the opportunity to stab Da Ming!

Thinking of this, Kangxi turned back to the few powerful Qing princes and ministers behind him and said: "Fifth brother, Bahai, eldest uncle, little uncle, King Kang. The five fortresses of Jining Prefecture, Ziyang (Yanzhou Prefecture), Qufu, Juye, and Surabaya will be handed over to you to defend! These five fortresses are all double-layered fortresses similar to those of Heze Fortress, and each fortress has enough food and grass for twenty or thirty thousand troops to eat for three or four months. As long as we can hold on for three or four months, Li Zhongshan will inevitably run out of food and lose! ”

After listening to Kangxi's words, Chang Ning, Ba Hai, Tong Guogang, Tong Guowei, and Jie Shu all had an idea that they immediately reversed him, among them, Chang Ning, Ba Hai, Tong Guogang, and Tong Guowei, all four of them are inseparable from the sin of picking up the Yellow River!

Among them, Chang Ning is the king of the blame, Bahai is the minister of the blame, and Tong Guogang and Tong Guowei, like Fan Chengxun, are doing dirty work for Kangxi, although Li Zhongshan may not know about their crimes, but paper can't contain the fire after all!

As for Jie Shu, he is also an anti-Ming diehard! Moreover, Kangxi arranged for him to be located in Surabaya County, which is located on the edge of Yimeng Mountain, and he has to guard Baima Pass, Jiunu Pass, and Zijin Pass in Yimeng Mountain very much, so he doesn't have to defend Surabaya. And the position of this Surabaya County on Kangxi's "400-mile defense line" is not too important, and it is unlikely that Li Zhongshan's 800,000-strong army will bypass it from anywhere.

"The emperor can rest assured, the ministers are broken bones, and they will also defend the city for the emperor!"

Although Chang Ning, Ba Hai, Tong Guogang, Tong Guowei, and Jie Shu were reluctant, they were all forced to this role by Kangxi, and they could only stick to being the target.

But then again, the result of them holding the fortress will not necessarily die, because Li Zhongshan does not have enough military food and Kangxi spent three months on the front line of Heze, Juye, Jining Prefecture, Ziyang, Qufu, and Surabaya. After spending these three months, it is not the same as the end of the matter, there is a large fortress of Dongpingzhou 120 miles behind this defense line, which is a triple fortress built on the lake hills, and there are a large number of branch forts around, and the defenders may be as many as 50,000!

To defeat this fortress, you will have to send an army of 150,000 to besiege it for at least three months!

The distance from Pizhou to Dongping is more than 500 miles. This distance means that huge transportation consumption and logistics lines are under the attack of the Qing cavalry at any time!

"General, the grain and grass hoarded in Pizhou City can only keep the army stationed for four to five months at most, if the army wants to launch an offensive, then it would be good to last for three months!"

In the Pizhou camp, a pre-battle military discussion is underway!

The person who is speaking is Jin Fu, the head of logistics. Although the Ming General's Mansion had long expected that Kangxi would dig the Yellow River, but due to traffic conditions, Jin Fu only stockpiled grain and grass in Pizhou for three months - this is 800,000 people and countless livestock to eat grain and grass for three months under the condition of military operations!

It's really not easy to make up this amount!

But Kangxi's deployment will take at least six to eight months to break!

"Strategist, can we raise three months' worth of grain and grass from Shandong?" Luo Dawei asked.

"It's a little difficult," Zhou Chang said, "after all, our army has too many people, and we don't need a little bit of food and grass. And now that the Yellow River has been ripped up, our grain roads have been flooded, and most of the heroes and heroes who had agreed with us before will also be shaken. ”

Because of the preparation of food for the enemy, of course, it has been prepared for a long time, and this is not just the word "grab", but one or two hundred thousand people will grab it. 800,000 mouths, where to grab them? Therefore, you have to contact and buy Haoqiang in Shandong and Henan in advance!

The Great Mongolian East India Company, managed by Shang Shuying, is doing this, and has already thrown out millions of deposits!

Many heroes have already said that as soon as the army arrives, they will eat pot pulp to welcome the king.

When the time comes, the people will have the people, and the grain and grass will have the grain and grass!

But the problem is, the Great Ming King has to prove that he will win!

Otherwise, those Shandong Haoqiang (Henan Haoqiang is busy fighting floods) would not dare to give food to the Ming army. They are all big clans, how dare they joke with the lives of a clan?

Originally, there was an expectation that Daming would win, but now this expectation has been broken by Kangxi's big water, so these Shandong Haoqiang must have to take another look.

Everyone in the hall felt that it was a little difficult, and they all turned their heads to look at Li Zhongshan, but Li Zhongshan looked confident. smiled and said, "Isn't it just three months' food?" What's so hard about it? ”

"General," someone asked at once, "is there any? . . Ready to abandon the Qing Dynasty and surrender to Ming? ”

If Shang Shuying can win over a Qing prince who is sealed in Shandong, then the food problem may be solved!

Li Zhongshan smiled noncommittally, and then said: "The Northern Expedition of 800,000 Heavenly Soldiers, the hearts of the people in the north naturally fluctuate, and now Kangxi is a big flood, and it will pull back a little people's hearts a little." But as long as we can prove that the heavenly soldiers are invincible, Shandong Haoqiang is still willing to bring food back!

Once Shandong Haoqiang returns, then Kangxi will either abandon the city and go north, or he will have to take the risk of sending troops to fight, and we will win! Maybe it won't take us three months at all to storm the city of Beijing! ”

"But how can we make people believe that the king will win?" Luo Dawei asked, "None of the six forts in the north are easy to gnaw on!" ”

"Then don't gnaw!" Li Zhongshan said, "Wear through! ”

"Walk through?" Luo Dawei shook his head, "What about logistics?" Hundreds of thousands of troops! ”

"We don't need hundreds of thousands of troops," Li Zhongshan said with a smile, "We don't need hundreds of thousands of troops to pass through Kangxi's defense line together, and a vanguard army composed of three divisions in the north bypasses west of the Heze fortress, and then marches north." ”

"Go around and go straight to Beijing?" Luo Dawei was stunned when he heard this plan, "Can it be done?" It's almost 1,500 miles north of Heze, right? ”

Li Zhongshan smiled and set his eyes on Zhou Changzhou's military division.

Zhou Chang said with a smile: "The army is in a hurry, a hundred miles a day, and it can reach the city of Beijing in 15 days!" When Li Zicheng attacked Beijing, he was only a tens of thousands of troops, attacking the city all the way and marching forward, didn't he also fight the momentum of a million army? Now everyone in the north knows that my 800,000 heavenly soldiers are on the Northern Expedition, and it is inevitable that people's hearts will fluctuate. If tens of thousands of heavenly soldiers rushed straight to Beijing, where would the northerners figure out how many people there were? Maybe they thought that there were millions of heavenly soldiers going to fight Beijing.

At that time, Kangxi can still sit in Dongping Prefecture? He just had to withdraw. Shandong Haoqiang will bring grain to return with the crowd, as for Heze, Juye, Jining Prefecture, Ziyang, Qufu, and Surabaya, it can be solved in two months with the parallel trench siege method, so there is no need to worry. ”

"High!" Luo Dawei gave a thumbs up for the first one, "General, this move is too high!" When the time comes, our army will divide its troops and approach those fortresses, and if the Qing army guarding the fort wants to run, it will inevitably be wiped out by us, and it will be a dead end if you don't run. If Kangxi is reluctant to give them up, he will be forced to come to fight us."

Li Zhongshan nodded, looked at Luo Dawei and said, "Dawei, are you willing to follow King Li Chuang's example?" ”

(End of chapter)