"Boom, boom—"

In the early morning, before the sky was white, the artillery of the Bohai Navy woke the Ming army from sleep.

Three hundred shells flew in, but this time their target was not the city wall, but the wall of cattle and horses.

Compared with the thick city wall, the thick ox and horse wall made of rammed earth and stone blocks was destroyed in an instant, and most sections began to collapse.

"Beep!!"

The soldiers on duty at night blew the wooden whistle and called the whole battalion to get up and prepare for the enemy, and in the midst of the shouting and muttering, the hour passed quickly, and the sound of artillery came again from the other side of the river.

Under this round of blows, the cattle and horse walls could no longer stop the shells, and the shells fired from 500 paces away entered the camp.

Some of the soldiers were unlucky and were killed in tents on the spot, while others were stoned to death after being ricocheted.

The picture of seeing the robe die in front of him as soon as he got up made many soldiers stand upside down, and they sped up to get up and put on their armor.

Before the third round of shelling by the Bohai Navy arrived, they had already found the ruins of the collapsed cattle and horse walls, as well as the rammed earth wall that covered the camp tents as shelter.

I have to say that even though the Ming army trained by Lao Zhu painstakingly has been destroyed by the Jianwen New Deal for a year, it still maintains the efficient response and adaptability of the Hongwu period.

It's just that the opponents they faced have changed from the Mongols and Southwest Yi in the Hongwu period to the Bohai Navy, which also belonged to the Ming military system, and this Bohai Navy also mastered more advanced firearms technology and faster mobility than them.

For the Bohai Navy, the battle has not yet begun, but for the Ming Army, the battle has been going on for two days.

"This rammed earth wall and wooden plaque can't stop the rebels' artillery......"

Standing behind a rammed earth wall and a wooden sign, Wu Gao, who was wearing armor, looked at the broken rammed earth wall and the broken wooden sign, and his mood was indescribable.

The elite of the Bohai Navy made him feel difficult to deal with, especially now that the strength of the two sides is not much different, the situation is even more difficult to deal with.

"Master Hou!"

Geng Xuan's voice sounded from not far away, and it didn't take long to find Wu Gao, and at the same time he saw the broken anti-artillery fortifications.

Looking at the terrifying appearance, he swallowed hard, and then said: "The rebels on the north shore built the ferry overnight, and they are building boats in the ferry. ”

"At their speed, they could build enough boats for thousands of people to cross the river in five days at most."

Geng Zhong was worried both inside and outside of his words, after all, with the width of the Chai River, at most one word could be used to reach the south bank with the combined efforts of the soldiers.

In this way, as long as there are dozens of exchanges, the Bohai Navy will be able to land on the south coast, and then this battle will be even more difficult to fight.

The fortifications arranged by Wu Gao were originally intended to let the Ming army rely on the fortifications and defend layer by layer to consume the Bohai Navy, until it was pushed to the back of the Ox and Horse Wall, and then use the Hongwu iron cannon and the bowl mouth gun to kill and injure the soldiers of the Bohai Navy.

There was no problem with his arrangement, but he didn't expect the artillery of the Bohai Navy to be so sharp.

At present, the Bohai Navy relied on artillery to defeat the Ming army against the Niuma Wall, and even the Niuma Wall could not stop their artillery, and even had to retreat into Tieling City.

Once these 36,000 troops retreated into Tieling, the Ming army would really become the point where Zhu Gaoxu surrounded the point to send reinforcements.

"Disperse the people, give each of them a bucket of military rations, and let them go home."

Wu Gao gave an order to Geng Xuan, and Geng Xuan nodded with a solemn face when he heard this, he was very clear about Wu Gao's intention to dismiss the people, which meant that Wu Gao was not sure that he could hold Tieling, and he would even be unable to take care of the people because of the retreat.

Once the Bohai Navy crossed the river, judging from the speed of the march they had previously demonstrated, these 70,000 people would be intercepted and captured by him, and whether Zhu Gaoxu used them as people or selected them as soldiers, it would be a heavy blow to Liaodong.

Sixty percent of these 70,000 people are military households in Liaodong, and the remaining forty percent are people transferred from Shandong.

If they fold here, then Liaodong will really be finished.

Without hesitation, Geng Xuan turned around and went to carry out Wu Gao's military orders, and Wu Gao also lowered his head and looked at his feet.

There, the rebel shells collected by the Ming army were placed, not stones, but all iron shells.

In just two days and seven rounds, the Bohai Navy fired 2,000 such iron shells, which shows not how powerful the artillery is and how far it can hit, but the old bottom of the four cities of the Bohai Sea.

Using iron to cast cannonballs is something that the Ming army has not been able to do, because the cost of fighting in this way is too great, and the shells that are shot out may not be recovered, so every time they fight, they are making money.

Zhu Gaoxu's ability to make cannonballs with iron without blinking his eyes can already explain some problems.

The development of the four cities of Bohai is more prosperous than they know......

"Your Highness, the camp of the southern soldiers has been beaten to pieces!"

Not far from the artillery position, Wang Yi happily clapped his legs, and Zhu Gaoxu also smiled at the corner of his mouth, although he already knew that Wu Gao could not hold Tieling City, but he still attached importance to it: "This Wu Gao is cautious and resourceful, maybe he will come up with some way to fight us, don't underestimate the enemy." ”

"Your Highness, rest assured, as long as you cross this Chai River, we will definitely take down this Tieling for you!"

Wang Yi spoke on behalf of the other fifteen guards commander, and Zhu Gaoxu also bowed his head and said: "This Tieling City is not prosperous and there is not much arable land, it is estimated that Wu Gao will not leave us too much money and grain, and when we enter the city, if it is as I expected, then the reward will be put on hold for the time being, and when the money and goods are captured, I will reward you again." ”

"Thank you, Your Highness!!"

Everyone has no opinion, even the Jurchen Eight Guards Commander in the Land of Six Cities.

Among the 30,000 guards' spoils, Zhu Gaoxu didn't ask for any of them, they had already taken the benefits, so they were naturally embarrassed to come forward and ask for a reward for such a city.

Anyway, after conquering Tieling City, behind it is the vast Liaoshen Plain, as for the three thousand households such as Gonghe, which is blocking Tieling and Shenyang, they are mantis arms as cars, and they cannot hinder the footsteps of the army.

All the generals can know it, and Zhu Gaoxu and Wu Gao are naturally extremely clear.

Both of them understand that the loss of Tieling means that the entire territory of northern Liaobei is lost, and the remaining Shenyang and Liaoyang will also be taken by Zhu Gaoxu, after all, the terrain is wide and flat, although there is an obstacle by the Hunhe River, you can see the firepower displayed by the Bohai Navy at the moment, the Hunhe River cannot stop the footsteps of the Bohai Navy, and the plain can allow them to give full play to their mobility.

In other words, once Tieling is lost, then Liao Shen will not be spared.

Once Liaoshen is lost, the four states of southern Liaoning do not need to repeat the results, and what can be left is probably only the land of western Liaoxi that relies on the west of the Liao River.

After all, there are a large number of river flats at the mouth of the Liaohe River, which can limit the artillery and marching of the Bohai Navy to the greatest extent.

"Wu Gao, how do you guard ......?"

Zhu Gaoxu raised his chin unruly, as if he had seen the end of Wu Gao's retreat.

"Boom, boom—"

The cannon sounded again, the morale of the Ming army continued to suffer, and there were fewer and fewer bunkers to rely on, and finally Wu Gao could only let them retreat to Tieling City, abandoning the cow and horse walls and moats.

At this time, Zhu Gaoxu remembered Fu Youde and Feng Sheng's teachings to him, including how to teach how to cross the river and fight.

Taking this opportunity, Zhu Gaoxu and the generals pointed to the Chai River and said: "You are outside the Guan, but you still don't know that the water network inside the Guanai is dense, and this Chai River is just an ordinary river for the Guannei water network, so if you encounter a river crossing battle in the future, you must remember the ways and means." ”

"These rivers are divided into mountains, hills, and plains, and how to fight, all look at the terrain and judge it by geography."

"Although the Chai River flows out of the mountains, it has become a river in the plains when it comes to Tieling."

"Plain rivers, often to both sides of the terrain flat, open terrain, convenient transportation as the main, there is no obvious river valley, and the river bed is curved, there are many tributaries, the river surface is wider, there are usually wide beaches on both banks, the water flow is gentle, the bottom is mostly sediment."

"It's very easy to cross such a river, because the current is not strong enough, you can build boats and boats, and you can build pontoon bridges, but it's a bit more troublesome."

"The only thing that needs to be guarded against is the arrows that come from the flat and some stone bullets."

"If you go to the hilly rivers south of the Yangtze River, you need to pay attention to the topography and seasonal weather."

"The hilly rivers are usually close to the mountains and valleys, the river valleys are obvious, although the water flow is slow, but the water depth is irregular, the bottom of the riverbed is hard, and the river beaches on both sides are also wide and narrow, so it is necessary to select a suitable location to cross the river, and send people to measure the water depth in advance."

"As for the mountainous rivers, they are generally in the southwest or in the Tibetan area, often located between the mountains and narrow valleys, not only the banks are steep, the river valleys are narrow, and the terrain is also very dangerous."

"If you have the opportunity to go to the southwest to make meritorious service in the future, you will know that the water in that place is deep and rapid, and the bottom is mostly pebbles and reefs, and it is several times more difficult to cross the river."

"To cross such a river, you can only search for a slightly flat and straight section of the river to cross the river within a range of hundreds of miles."

"There are generally two main ways to cross rivers and attack operations."

"One is divided into surprise soldiers, for a rapid attack and forced crossing, and the other is a regular soldier, as our army is doing now, preparing to cross the river under the nose of the southern soldiers."

"These two methods of crossing the river, you will slowly see what I will show you in the future, and for now, let you see how to cross the river with soldiers."

After that, Zhu Gaoxu turned the horse's head and instructed Meng Zhang: "Let your people stop, and prepare to cross the river tomorrow." ”

"But Your Highness, we don't have enough boats." Wang Yi hurriedly made a move when he heard this, but Zhu Gaoxu said proudly: "As long as the front army arrives on the south bank, our army can calmly cross the river, and you can just watch it." ”

"Yes......" Wang Yi nodded helplessly, and Meng Zhang also ordered the artillery to stop as Zhu Gaoxu said.

"Go and prepare these things, they will be useful tomorrow."

Zhu Gaoxu took out a piece of paper from his armor and handed it to Meng Zhang, who nodded continuously after taking it, and then left the position happily.

It seemed to be the calm before the storm, and the banks of the Chai River fell into calm.

Wu Gao saw that the Bohai Navy did not move, so he boldly got on his horse and led people to the river beach on the south bank.

Here, he saw rows of swarthy field artillery, although he couldn't see it very clearly, but they stood like a black line on the river beach at the foot of the mountain, which made people worry.

Turning his head to look due north, the Bohai Navy has urgently made a lot of boats, although these boats are not brushed with waterproof tung oil, but for the Bohai Navy, as long as they can be used, it is enough to pull them back from the river and then slowly concoct them after crossing the river.

"Their ship is so fast, I'm afraid they will be able to cross the river in two days."

A commander couldn't help but speak, but Wu Gao looked at the anxious Bohai naval camp and shook his head: "I'm afraid the people of Bohai can't wait for that time." ”

Wu Gao's judgment came from the number of shelling of the Bohai Navy today, and he did not believe that the Bohai Navy would stop the shelling because of the lack of gunpowder shells, if this was the case, they should have used the artillery at the most critical time, rather than on the first day to deter.

The reason for stopping the shelling is probably because it is preparing to give a big shock to its own side.

"Repair the cattle and horse wall, and let the people who are preparing to go south transport all the grain of Tieling City to the south, leaving only ten days to spare."

The meaning of Wu Gao's words was as if he was saying that he could only guard for ten days, which seemed to the several commanders beside him to be a little ambitious and destroy his own prestige.

But on Zhu Gaoxu's side, Wu Gao's words were just boasting.

After a short time, Wu Gao withdrew to Tieling City, allowing the army to return to the city and repair the multiple fortifications that had been destroyed by artillery.

However, it was only one day, which was not enough for them to repair all these fortifications, not to mention that the construction of fortifications was even slower without the help of 70,000 people.

"Beep beep!!"

The next day, the shrill whistle woke up the entire Ming army camp, and all the Ming troops put on armor and went to the multiple fortifications outside the city.

Wu Gao got up and Geng Zhen came to the back of the first heavy thistle terrestris and antler wooden fortifications.

Behind the antlers there is a trench and rammed earth wall that was made yesterday.

The trench is four feet deep, and the rammed earth wall is two feet high and four feet thick, and is made of river beach silt.

After yesterday's shelling, Wu Gao found that the watered clay wall was stronger than the rammed earth wall, and it could reduce the lethality of the Bohai Navy's iron shells.

A three-hundred-pace-long trench and clay wall became the first line of defense behind the staghorns, and on the north bank of the Chai River, twenty-seven boats were launched.

Since this heavy line was thirty paces from the river, and the Chai River was forty paces wide, the situation on the north bank was not clear.

"They're going to cross the river?"

Geng Xuan's voice was a little surprised, obviously he didn't expect Zhu Gaoxu to cross the river in a hurry.

"Young people, the heart is high, and it is normal to ...... if you can't bear it"

A fifty-year-old commander spoke, but Wu Gao shook his head and said: "He is not a person who is not prepared, and he must have his own support if he dares to cross the river." ”

"Let the army prepare, and as soon as they come ashore and push away the antlers, they will be beaten with bronze guns."

Relying on the clay walls and ditches on his side, Wu Gao tried to use the bronze guns equipped in the army to traumatize the troops who had landed on the southern shore of the Bohai Sea first.

Under their orders, more than 1,000 soldiers in the trenches were ready, and Wu Gao also withdrew with Geng Zhen to the second heavy horse trap and horse gun fortifications.

Here, too, he dug a trench and built a longer and wider wall of clay, and the entire line of defense looked like a concave shape from the sky.

"Cross the river!"

On the bank of the river, when Meng Zhang personally led a merchant ship, twenty-seven boats three feet long and one foot three feet wide began to cross the river.

On each ship was placed a field gun and gun carriage, and there were many pieces of wood that could be assembled, equipped with a small flag.

That is, twenty-seven boats represent twenty-seven field guns, plus twenty-seven small flags, and more than two hundred and seventy people.

Crossing the river is the key to whether or not Tieling can be captured, if the river crossing fails, the Ming army will have enough time to prepare, and more resources can be transferred from all over Liaodong to Tieling.

This fate has long been precedent in history, so Meng Zhang knew that he had to cross the river successfully and gain a firm foothold on the south bank.

Although it is May now, thanks to the help of the weather, there has been no flash flood in the Changbai Mountain Range recently, so the speed of the Chai River is not fast.

In just one word, twenty-seven ships landed on the south shore.

Hundreds of soldiers dragged the three ships ashore, crossed them to serve as cover, and then began to methodically help Pao Ze disembark, lifting a cannon off the ship.

Zhu Gaoxu's original request became the key to the artillery being able to cross the river, and although the combined weight of the artillery and the gun carriage reached 920 catties, it could be disassembled separately and successfully lowered to the shore and assembled with the help of seven or eight soldiers.

For a quarter of an hour, the Ming army did not react, which made Meng Zhang nervous.

In a short time, twenty-seven guns were successfully disassembled and disembarked, and the timber that could be assembled was assembled in one word.

When the three river-crossing boats were pulled back into the water, what appeared in front of the Tielingwei commander was a row of wooden carts surrounding the Ming army.

The Ming army poured the sediment by the river into it, and this scene made the commander of Tielingwei frown.

Seeing that one-third of the 270 Bohai Navy men rowed away from the south shore, the Tielingwei commander decided to test the remaining Bohai Navy.

Soon, the 200 Ming army formed a long spear formation, and under the protection of the knife players in the front row, they began to walk out of the antler wood and approach the Bohai Navy.

The distance of thirty paces was just a running and sprinting distance for them, but when they appeared, Bohai Haijun raised his "weird" short spear.

The spark burned, and this scene immediately made the hundred household officials who led the team notice something, and hurriedly whistled: "Beep!" ”

Without words, the knife players in the front row formed a formation, and the next moment there was gunfire on the position of the Bohai Navy.

"Bang Bang Bang

"Uhh

"Rush forward!"

The wooden card was broken in an instant, and more than ten knife players in the front row bounced to the ground, and the scalp of the hundred household officials was numb, if it wasn't for his timely order, I am afraid that the people who fell would have to multiply.

Ignoring nothing else, he ordered the whole army to sprint.

Twenty paces were a fleeting distance, but when they rushed to the front, the rows of wooden carts were pushed vertically.

Behind the wooden cart, there were black holes in the muzzles, and the line of fire had burned out.

"Boom!!"

Iron bullets the size of fingernails were struck, and at a distance of less than seven or eight paces, a piece was harvested in an instant.

More than 200 charging teams fell in batches due to the too dense formation, and only the dozens of people at the back were left to charge in a daze.

Field artillery and arquebuses really could not completely conquer the era of cold weapons, and when these dozens of people rushed into the formation, the melee collision still happened.

However, in terms of courage and good fighting, the Bohai Navy is not inferior to any officer and soldier.

Dozens of people were soon surrounded by more than 100 people, and when the commander of Tielingwei finally recovered from the sound of artillery, those dozens of people were already in danger.

"Charge the whole army!"

The commander of the Tielingwei took the lead and rushed to the river beach with the remaining eight hundred brothers, but at this time, the artillery position on the north bank, which had not been attacked, broke out.

"Boom, boom—"

More intense than before, a large number of staghorn wood and clay walls were destroyed, and ricochets smashed into the shallow trench, killing countless people.

Many of the soldiers who broke out of the trench were also attacked by shells, and countless casualties were imposed.

"Control the bullet point, don't fire intensively, if the Southern Army still wants to charge, then it is enough to keep a hundred artillery shells in turn."

Standing in the artillery position, Zhu Gaoxu frowned and gave an order while observing the battlefield with a monocular.

The reason he frowned was that two shells had fallen out of control into Meng Zhang's position, which made his heart hang in the air at that moment.

Fortunately, the two shells only knocked over the wooden cart filled with mud and sand, and did not hurt the Bohai Navy, which made him breathe a sigh of relief for the time being.

They shelled from east to west, while Meng Zhang and they were stationed from north to south, and the probability of accidentally injuring friendly troops was still very low.

It's just that their round of shelling still scared Meng Zhang and the others a lot, so they sped up and strangled the dozens of Ming soldiers in the formation.

However, the commander of the Tieling Guard, who said earlier that Zhu Gaoxu was young and vigorous, was unlucky enough to be hit by a ricocheting bullet under this round of shelling and was killed on the spot.

His death could not stop the Tieling guards from charging, but the artillery bombardment of the Ming army made them feel terrified and retreated into the trenches.

"Master Hou! The commander of Tielingwei made Wu Wen cannon! ”

Tang rode a horse to deliver the news, Wu Gao's face was ugly, and the surrounding commanders and envoys also turned pale.

Compared with the fierce war in the southwest, the Ming army in the north, especially the Liaodong Dusi, has not had a commander for many years, so Wu Wen's death has cast a haze on the hearts of many commanders.

Wu Gao had been paying attention to the generals, and seeing that their morale was low, he could only ask Natang Cavalry: "How did Wu Wen get defeated?" ”

Wu Gao's move is undoubtedly lifting Wu Wen's old bottom, after all, if he obeys the order and defends himself, Wu Wen's heir can still inherit the position of the commander, but if he does not obey the military order, then ......

"Commander Wu led the army out of battle, and was hit by a cannonball...... "Natang Cavalry said to the back, and his voice became quieter and quieter.

When Wu Gao heard this, he immediately spoke to the generals around him: "Wu Wen does not listen to military orders, and he goes out of the trench privately and is not in battle, you need to take warning, and every move must be in accordance with the old man's military orders!" ”

"The last general ordered ......" The generals responded, but they couldn't help but grieve at Wu Wen's death.

Wu Gao asked, Wu Wen's heirs don't say that they inherited the command, and it is good not to be removed.

Maybe Wu Gao didn't think about it so much, but just ordered the generals to listen to the military orders, but the generals still couldn't help but think about it this way.

However, Geng Zhen noticed this, so he spoke: "Wu Wen died innocently, but remembering his hard work and high achievements, he asked his son Qianhu Wu Ming to temporarily serve as the commander of Tieling. ”

There is no problem with Qi Tai's arrangement, Wu Gao is too rigid in doing things, and Geng Zhen can alleviate many contradictions by reconciling from it, and this is the case at the moment.

However, no matter how Rao is Qi Tai arranged, I am afraid he would never have imagined that Zhu Gaoxu's Bohai Navy was so good at fighting.

Soon, the second group of troop transports arrived on the south bank, and the Ming army could only watch them land, not daring to get out of the trench.

"It's not the way to go down!" Geng Zhen looked at Wu Gao, and Wu Gao could only frown when he saw this and ordered: "Adjust the bowl and go to the front of the battle." ”

"Yes!" When Geng Zhong heard this, he immediately transferred a large number of bowl-mouth guns from the Hongwu iron cannons and bowl-mouth guns on the Niuma Wall to the front line.

This scene was clearly seen by Zhu Gaoxu, who was using a monocular.

"Aim between the antlers and the rejecting gun, and test fire."

He opened his mouth lightly, but the artillery under his command only after a simple angle adjustment, began to shell between the two fortifications of the antlers and the horse repulsor.

"Boom, boom—"

"Run!"

More than 100 iron cannonballs roared, and the Ming army transporting the bowl immediately abandoned the bowl and jumped into the trench to save their lives.

Seven bowls were smashed on the spot, five others who were slow to escape were also killed on the spot, and seven or eight soldiers who had been grazed by shells were seriously injured and vomited blood on the spot, and they could not survive.

"Bastard!!"

Seeing this situation, Wu Gao, who was cautious and resourceful, was also angry, but his invincing could not prevent the Bohai Navy from landing on the south bank of the Chai River, let alone defending Tieling City......

The second shift was around half past eleven

(End of chapter)