Dominate the Country

Feng Sheng'e destroyed 90% of the bridges in the Baihe River and Desheng River basins in the west of Changzhou, not only wooden bridges, but also solid stone bridges. One bridge after another was blown up or burned by the Qing soldiers. In one sentence, there were only those they did not have time to destroy, and there was no one they did not want to destroy.

So facing Changzhou City, this prefecture city that was sandwiched between Jiangyin and blocked the Fu Han Army east of Taihu Lake, the first thing the Fu Han Army had to do was to build a bridge.

In the Battle of Changzhou, in the water town, there were so many troops on both sides, and it was impossible for Chen Ming to only rumble troops and transport supplies from the westernmost side.

It was March, the spring was warm and the flowers were fragrant, and it was a good season in the south of the Yangtze River. Being in the water town, the whole sight was as clean as if it had been washed by clear water. The villages in the distance were clearly visible, with chalky houses in the south of the Yangtze River, dark blue tiles, and willow trees with tender leaves by the river. The south of the Yangtze River in this era was really beautiful.

In the spring breeze, the large force of the Fu Han Army arrived outside Changzhou City, and the artillery position was built first. The entire garrison division was sent by Chen Ming to help build the artillery position. This is an unprecedentedly powerful artillery position. Chen Ming also asked Huang Jie to lead the tens of thousands of the Third Division to guard the safety of the artillery position.

310 five-jin cannons, 120 eight-jin cannons, 80 ten-jin cannons, and 30 of the most powerful twelve-jin cannons.

The Fu Han Army deployed a total of six artillery positions, completely covering the west wall of Changzhou and the positions outside the city in the northwest corner of the city. Compared with this powerful artillery, the artillery positions deployed by the Qing army on the top of the city and the positions seemed so unbearable.

"This battle must break the confidence of the Qing soldiers!" Chen Ming put forward this requirement for this battle.

Tunnel warfare must not be allowed to become an obstacle to blocking the Fu Han Army's offensive. In the Battle of Changzhou, Chen Ming wanted to send a message to the world - tunnel warfare was a method used by the Fu Han Army. The Fu Han Army could stop the Qing Army with tunnel warfare, but the Qing Army could not stop the Fu Han Army with tunnel warfare!

"Simply put, we are going to use cannons to completely annihilate the Qing Army."

"In this battle, in addition to shrapnel shells, we also have special shells; in addition to special shells, we also have plywood carts!"

"We are going to use the Battle of Changzhou and the 70,000 to 80,000 Qing troops here to test our ability to overcome difficulties." Hundreds of cannons, this is a powerful firepower that the Fu Han Army has never had. Chen Ming wants to test the power of cluster artillery. Even if the power of artillery shells in this era is far from comparable to that of 100 years later.

Chen Ming not only wants to solve Changzhou cleanly, but also wants to rely on the Battle of Changzhou to summarize a set of tactics for a systematic battle. Just like in the bayonet battle, the triangular formation became the first choice of the Fu Han Army, so what should they do in the battle? Can they only fight at night and dig during the day?

Considering the inconvenience of the shield car, he specially asked the logistics department to make an improved plywood car. This plywood car is first of all much lighter than the shield car in weight, and secondly, it is much faster than the heavy and difficult shield car. Of course, the defense of the plywood car is not comparable to that of the shield car.

Shield cars can withstand shells, and high-quality shield cars will not be hurt even if they are hit by small cannons. Moreover, even if they are hit by shells, they can be used as reliable shelters. Plywood cars are not like this. Plywood cars are made of red pine wood, which is light and hard and easy to process. The car proposed by Chen Ming should run fast and strong, so red pine wood became the first choice of the logistics department.

In addition, the reason why the car is called a plywood car is because the deck of the car is not pure red pine wood, but red pine wood chips and silk cotton.

The silk floss is made in the same way as cotton armor. It is hammered piece by piece with a hydraulic hammer, and then attached with wire mesh, sandwiched with red pine wood pieces, and finally fixed with iron nails inside and outside. The wall of the vehicle is only two fingers thick, but it can resist the bombardment of rifles and small-caliber artillery at a distance of fifty steps, but it is far from enough to resist the shells of cannons. If this flexible plywood vehicle is really hit by a cannon, the only outcome is the destruction of the vehicle and the death of people.

A simple musket cannot penetrate it even if it is only ten steps away. It can also resist grenades, and of course, so can shotguns!

Compared with the previous shield vehicles, the former is a medium and heavy tank, and the latter is an armored vehicle.

There are three types of plywood vehicles: large, medium and small. The large one is four-wheeled, the medium one is two-wheeled, and the small one is a wheelbarrow. Even the heaviest large plywood cart, with people inside pushing the cart, two people can push the cart on a flat road, because as a guarantee of the speed of the car - its wheels and bearings are made with the best skills in China at this time, and only two people are needed to push it on a flat ground.

Not to mention the medium and small plywood carts.

The three types of plywood carts, large, medium and small, all have a cover function, and the latter two are even more convenient. It is an improved shield car with a serious reduction in protection, but a significant increase in speed. Chen Ming hopes that they can cover the attacking troops - such as mortars and flying thunder cannons, and quickly approach the front of the enemy's tunnel.

As for the special shells, Gao Yanming's "inspiration" looked absurd, but Chen Ming felt that this kind of shells could really have a surprising effect if used well. The current battle of Changzhou is just right for a test.

On the top of Changzhou City, Yin Jishan and Feng Sheng'e were dumbfounded when they looked at the artillery positions outside. This number was completely beyond their imagination. A large number of infantrymen of the Fu Han Army set up two defensive positions around them. Even if the Qing army used all its cavalry to launch a surprise attack, it would be impossible to succeed.

Inside and outside Changzhou City, the morale of the Qing army that had followed Feng Sheng'e in attacking Danyang was already very low. However, the silver and wine and meat brought by Yin Jishan saved their morale, and they instantly regained their vigor, as if they had been given a shot of chicken blood. . But this energy went away as quickly as it came. When the Fuhan Army's cannons were placed in front of them one after another, and the Fuhan Army outside the city had been neighing and firing at the cannons all morning, the entire Changzhou army The Qing army was as weak and wilted as if a bowl of blood had been poured out. No matter how much money was spent before Fengsheng's forehead, it was of no use.

Not to mention Duan Xiulin and a group of Han members under him, even the Eight Banners generals such as Fuchun, Ayintu, and Changling had lost their motivation.

The disparity between the two sides was too great. The Fuhan army suddenly brought out hundreds of cannons. Not to mention the Qing army, even Blanco and his group of Portuguese artillerymen were dumbfounded. In this era, Europe had just ended the Seven Years' War and had not yet entered the Napoleonic Wars. The European Army's emphasis on artillery was far from comparable to that after Napoleon's emergence. For Blanco to gather more than five hundred cannons in a war, it is as incredible as a fantasy.

If nothing can be done and military power is wasted, it is better to retract your fists and consider the future. Before the battle started, the Qing army in Changzhou City heard the sound of withdrawing its troops. With more than 500 cannons and the Battle of Danyang a few days ago, neither Feng Sheng'e nor Yin Jishan could suppress the excitement.

"Sergeant, let your men fire a cannon to see if they can hit the city gate tower!" Chen Ming inspected the artillery position and looked at the Qing army opposite. Compared with the arrival of the Fuhan Army's front troops yesterday evening, The morale of the Qing army at that time will undoubtedly be weaker today. This morning, the Fuhan army was busy placing artillery, and the morale of the Qing army continued to decline. On the No. 2 artillery position due west of Changzhou City, Chen Ming, who looked at Changzhou City with a playful smile, asked the artillery team at hand that had just completed its position to fire a few shots and listen to the sound.

"Each artillery team is in position!" the sergeant commanded. After a moment, the gunners of the artillery team were all busy. They untied the waterproof gun jacket covering the cannon and quickly loaded the shells.

"No. 1 gun position, fire!" the sergeant issued the command.

The artillery on position No. 1 has been loaded. Every cannon here is protected by a awning. The only thing to be prepared for is that God suddenly starts raining!

The cannon made a deafening rumble, and a bomb flew over Chen Ming's head, making a roar. The bomb landed a little to the left of the gate tower in the west city of Changzhou. It hit the wall and exploded at the point of impact. A flame was opened, and billowing smoke came out.

Six twelve-pound cannons roared in front of Chen Ming one after another. Chen Ming saw the morale of the Qing army on the opposite side swaying like flames blown by strong winds. Suddenly, soldiers cheered from the Fuhan Army's position, and their morale was boosted. They were cheering for the six gunshots.

"Let No. 1, 2, 3, and 4 artillery positions organize the artillery that has been placed to fire on Changzhou." Chen Ming didn't wait any longer and immediately gave the order.

Many cannons have already been placed, and the firing is about to begin, even though God had a dark look in the morning. Chen Ming originally planned to organize firepower to bombard Changzhou at noon. When he saw that the weather was about to change, he hurriedly had people build rainproof shelters on the artillery positions, which wasted a lot of time and delayed the bombardment until now. Many people in the Fuhan Army joked that God was pitying the Qing soldiers, but I don’t know how many Fuhan officers and soldiers still felt a little bit unhappy.

Pan Mancang lay on the bed bored, and this village outside Changzhou City had become their camping ground. So far today, the entire army has been busy with the placement of artillery. The infantry have either set up camp or been arranged directly into the surrounding villages. These villages can be regarded as natural fortresses!

Some people in the village fled, but some stayed. For example, in this village now, the Fuhan Army moved all the remaining villagers to the north end of the village.

The soldiers in the room were throwing poker cards. After this game was invented, it quickly spread inside and outside the Fuhan Army. Of course, Chen Ming also did some processing on this, giving poker more Chinese flavor.

For example, after the big and small kings became kings and kings, JQK became soldiers and generals. This kind of game is more contagious than Ye Zixi, and Chen Ming himself has developed so many 'playing methods'. Chen Ming himself liked to play Double Sheng the most, but he also handed over the Golden Flower, Piercing Sword, Landlord, Solitaire, Stud, 10:30, Blackjack, etc. to the people around him, and then quickly It spread.

Soldiers all like to gamble. But there are exceptions. Pan Mancang doesn't like gambling. Compared to gambling on cards, he hoped that this battle would start faster. The six gunshots just now made him almost jump with joy.

Until three o'clock in the afternoon, the rain had not fallen from the sky, and the Fuhan Army's artillery positions had begun to prepare for shooting. Not only the four artillery positions No. 1234, but also the two artillery positions No. 5 and No. 6 were added. The artillery teams that had been deployed were fired in a unified manner.

"Let go..." followed by an order. The rumbling sound of cannons resounded throughout the world in an instant.

Pan Mancang climbed onto the roof. He was not the only one to climb onto the roof. Many people climbed onto the roof, including the remaining people in the village. They were frightened by the cannons at first, and then pointed in the direction of Changzhou City. With some guidance, several half-grown men quickly hugged the big tree and climbed as high as they could.

Everyone was watching the power of the artillery fire. The sound of hundreds of cannons was earth-shaking. The flames dyed the sky red, and clouds of gunpowder quickly covered the position. From a distance, it looked like a sea of ​​clouds.