If you look at the map, you can see at this time that around Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the Ming army formed a defensive line, and in the various cities around Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the Ming army gathered heavy troops to prevent the enemy from suddenly attacking.

And the main direction of defense is Nanzhili, the main force of the 100,000 army, which is also gathered here.

Yuan Chonghuan himself, but he was in Anqing, holding more than 15,000 elites in his hands, as a mobile force, including Liao cavalry.

Although Jiangnan is not suitable for cavalry attacks, it is still possible to fight in an open area for a decisive battle, and it is too wasteful to use them to defend the city.

Once the troops of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang military governments are deployed, no matter which direction they attack, he can react in time, and then lead these troops to intervene in the battle at the right time, and even flank the front and rear, so as to inflict heavy losses on the Jiangsu and Zhejiang troops.

However, he knew that the opponent's main direction of attack was most likely Nan Zhili.

After all, the military governments of Jiangsu and Zhejiang only have a total of 60,000 people, but 30,000 are hoarded in Nanjing, and the intention is already obvious.

Moreover, if the other party dared to use the defenders in Zhejiang, then his mobile troops would mercilessly plunge straight into the heart of the enemy army and disrupt their base camp - Yan Yinghui, the supreme leader of the other side, could not be so stupid.

And around Nanjing, he also built a line of defense.

From Huizhou to Songjiang, the entire Ningguo Mansion and Nanjing are tightly wrapped.

If you count the original garrison army, the Ming army has invested more than 150,000 troops in Nanzhili.

……

"The anti-thief is coming, the anti-thief is coming!"

At the head of Hezhou City, there was a shout, accompanied by the chorus of golden drums.

Not long ago, the Seventh Army sent troops, launched a full-scale offensive against Ying Tianfu, the various cities were broken or even without a fight, in a very short period of time, Ying Tianfu was swept away, all occupied by the Seventh Army, within a few days, they had already arrived at the city of Hezhou.

Fortunately, Yuan Chonghuan had already sensed the increasingly anxious atmosphere, and had already ordered the cities to rectify their defenses, and the cities of Ying Tianfu were already in a state of semi-abandonment, and the meaning of their existence was to serve as a final warning - this was the only means Yuan Chonghuan could use after the sentry was massively eliminated.

So at this time, in the face of the sudden appearance, I was not too panicked.

A large number of Ming soldiers quickly climbed to the top of the city and aimed at the enemy with muskets in their hands.

And those who came to the city of Hezhou were the soldiers of the 36th Division of the Seventh Army. Faced with the tense atmosphere at the head of the city, they seemed to be at ease, and they did not hurry to set up camp and build siege equipment.

On the third day, they attacked.

Zuo Liangyu stood at the head of the city, watching all this.

He is the defender of the state.

At this time, facing the banner that was unfurled, the cruel battle situation of that day couldn't help but appear in front of him, and a fear appeared from the heart.

On that day, a cannonball almost grazed him and hit his own team, turning more than a dozen of his elite soldiers into mud along with his armor.

This scene left a deep shadow on him, so that when he followed Lu Xiangsheng to fight, as soon as he saw that the battle situation was unfavorable, he immediately turned around and fled, and finally caused a chain reaction, until the army was defeated.

In the past few months, although he has barely overcome it, he still has some fear in his heart in the face of the Seventh Army.

It's okay, Hezhou City is high and deep, relying on the city wall, they can't help me.

He comforted himself.

Hezhou was originally an important town to defend Nanjing, and was Yuan Chonghuan made a bloody investment, summoned tens of thousands of people to repair the city, and now the city wall has been thick and hard, and even the city gate has been blocked with bricks and stones.

Although the other party's artillery fire is sharp, it may not be able to destroy the city wall, and with the city wall, he has protection.

After all, the ancient city wall is actually very strong for the defense of artillery, and even heavy artillery like the red coat can only destroy the defense of some small cities and forts.

For example, Kong Youde rebelled in the original time and space to attack Laizhou, and attacked the city with more than 20 red-coated cannons, but "repeatedly attacked and frustrated", while Huang Taiji attacked Songshan with 23 red-coated cannons, and finally "the city wall was completely destroyed", but the city wall was not collapsed, and in the end he could only gnaw ashes bitterly.

Zuo Liangyu's judgment was not wrong, if he only talked about the eight-type cannon that participated in the battle that day, he really might not have been able to get this Hezhou City. Although the Type 8 cannon is better than the redcoat cannon in terms of range, accuracy, rate of fire and weight, its power is actually smaller than that of the redcoat.

The main thing is that Nanyang does not have too thick city walls, and the eight-type cannon is generally enough to break the city, but when it comes to the Ming Dynasty, there are many strong cities.

And the first round of tentative artillery bombardment by the other side also proved this, and many magic shells bombarded the city wall, although it stirred up a cloud of dust, and even beat the masonry and stone, revealing the rammed earth inside, but it never shook its solidity.

Zuo Liangyu was relieved.

Seeing this, the soldiers of the Ming army also relaxed a little, they clenched the muskets in their hands, adjusted the angle of the artillery, and prepared to wait for the place to approach.

The commander of the 36th Division on the other side waved his hand expressionlessly and ordered:

"Bring up Number Two!"

The No. 2 heavy artillery, as a siege weapon, is extremely heavy and troublesome to carry, but it has an extraordinary effect on fortified cities.

As the soldiers operated, the No. 2 heavy gun began to adjust the angle, and then six soldiers carried the shells and installed them.

On the other side, Zuo Liangyu was already stunned when he saw the rebels pushing a behemoth up from a distance - he had never seen such a huge cannon, and even the Ming soldiers on the side were dumbfounded, stunned in place and at a loss.

The heavy cannon slowly lowered its barrel and aimed it at the city wall, the black hole of the cannon hiding a destructive aura.

"Boom!"

The dull loud noise made the soldiers around him almost lose their hearing, and the huge recoil force made the heavy artillery unable to stop retreating, even if it was fixed with a large kick, plowing two deep marks on the ground, and filling the dust.

The cannonballs smashed the city wall, and the neat masonry turned into countless fragments in an instant, and in the middle of the entire city wall, a huge deep pit appeared, and cracks spread around it.

The people on the city wall felt a huge earthquake.

"Fire, stop them! If this continues, the walls will fall! ”

An officer hid behind the women's wall and shouted at the artillery soldiers.

However, the artillery soldier replied with a bitter face and a trembling voice:

"My lord, the distance between the other party...... It's out of range! ”

The officer leaned against the wall and did not reply.

He, of course, knew that the range was not enough.

It's just that under the tension and fear, I subconsciously want to seek some comfort in my heart.

Now, the fear is even stronger.

(End of chapter)