Dominate the Country

"There are at least two hundred noises!" Pan Mancang's team officer said. There was a sense of triumphant arrogance in his words, and a strong sense of self-satisfaction. Pan Mancang and others standing next to him also had smiles on their faces - such a powerful artillery team belonged to their Fuhan Army.

"Your Highness, there are 240 light and heavy artillery pieces that have been fired. This number will reach 300 pieces at four o'clock. Before five o'clock, it is expected that all the cannons will be in firing state." Liu Wu held the artillery piece in his hand. A report sent by Commander-in-Chief Huang Jingting. Now of the 530 cannons, 300 cannons have been placed in position, and 240 cannons have been organized to bombard them. There are two hundred and forty cannons. Even if each cannon fires one shot every two or three minutes - pay attention to the heat dissipation of the cannon barrels, the cannonballs falling on the Qing army's position in Changzhou will be as dense as raindrops. And the number of cannons firing is slowly increasing.

The fireworks directly annihilated the city of Changzhou. One after another, flower bombs exploded, one after another, iron bombs. The orange-red fireworks disappeared and appeared in the billowing smoke, and the wind could not blow them away.

The well-prepared Qing soldiers lay tightly in the sloping pits at the bottom of the ditch, covering their ears with their hands. They knew that this would be a torment comparable to that of the 18th floor. The explosions of the shells, especially the shells dropped by the ten-pound cannon and the twelve-pound cannon, made the earth tremble, and their hearts also trembled. Some soldiers of the Qing army lay down in the pits silently praying for good luck. Don't let the cannonballs fall into the tunnels and hit their heads.

The civil fortifications built on the position and the sturdy courtyards specially set aside on the position fell apart under the bombardment of explosive and iron bullets.

The parapets were destroyed, the fortresses made of earthbags and sandbags were destroyed, the few remaining reinforced courtyard houses in Xiguan, Changzhou were destroyed, and even the disc towers and turrets on the city walls collapsed under the sound of cannons. This is the power of concentrated bombardment from hundreds of cannons!

Such a violent bombardment was the first time in this time and space. Not only had the Qing soldiers never experienced it, but neither had the Fuhan army. Many soldiers couldn't help but open their mouths. Some Qing soldiers who couldn't hold back their fright climbed out of the tunnel like fools. They opened their mouths wide and screamed in panic. They fled around the position. In the end, they almost died. Obliterated in the sea of ​​explosive flames.

In the black powder era, the actual power of explosive bullets was average, and iron bullets were still relied on to destroy solid diamond fortifications. However, such a large-scale shelling and the continuous sound of artillery and explosions had an unimaginably huge effect on suppressing the morale of the Qing army and increasing the morale of the Fuhan army itself.

After only two hours of shelling, Chen Ming discovered that the morale of the Qing army was as strong as silk, while the morale of the Fuhan army was so strong that it was almost as high as the Great Wall.

The ground was shaking violently, and the thick smell of gunpowder smoke drifted over, making people unable to open their eyes. Chen Ming, Chen Erbao, Chen Yongsheng, Huang Jie and others all held a telescope and looked at everything in front of them as if they were possessed. Gao Jinghui of the Second Front Guard Division pulled open his collar and shouted, "Good fight, good fight!"

The two full hours of shelling seemed to pass quickly. Fuhan Army's six artillery positions were already covered with mountains of powder barrels and cartridges. The artillerymen were all sweating profusely, almost everyone was deafened, and some had their ears and noses bleeding from the shock. A large number of carriages were still replenishing ammunition to the artillery groups, because the bombardment was far from over.

"Continue the bombardment until night. Then..., Gao Jinghui!"

"The end will be here."

"Your 13th Brigade of the Second Guard Division will take the lead tonight, and all the 400 large, medium and small plywood trucks prepared for logistics will be handed over to you."

"Get me all the trenches outside Changzhou City." Chen Ming's goal tonight was never just the west and northwest corners of the city. His finger drew a circle on Changzhou City on the map, "If everything goes well, we will be able to completely surround the Changzhou Qing Army in the small Changzhou City tonight." By then, Chen Ming would like to see how the city of Beijing reacts. , the huge Jiangnan, the huge China, what is the reaction!

Will those 'people' who badmouthed the Fuhan Army when the main force of the Fuhan Army withdrew from Jiangnan, become speechless and then stick to it with a thick face?

Will the morale of Chen Han's officers and soldiers in Hunan be greatly improved? Will tens of millions of people in Hubei and Henan return home more?

The main force of the Qing army in the south of the Yangtze River was concentrated in Changzhou. Chen Ming loved Qianlong to death.

In a small courtyard at the north end of the village, three families were crammed in by the Fuhan Army. However, these three families all have the surname Zhu, and they all have the same ancestor. They are all from the same family and have nothing to do with each other. At this critical moment of war, more than 20 people from three families are crowded into a small courtyard. It is inconvenient to even cook and go to the toilet. I don’t know why, but in this situation, I feel a different kind of satisfaction. They didn't know why but it rose in their hearts.

Is it just because the three of them are a 'family' that can be trusted by each other? Does their family have a separate small courtyard?

The sound of cannons has been ringing all afternoon, and it is now dark. The Zhu family has almost adapted to it after so long, from being afraid at the beginning to becoming accustomed to it now. It's like listening to a really loud firecracker.

A few children at first climbed to the roof to watch the cannon play, but now they are no longer interested. I was hungry, so I lay down on the bed.

The Zhu family is not going to eat tonight. One is that they are not in the mood, and the other is that in order to save a meal, there are many farmers who skip meals after noon these days.

"Bah, bang, bang, bang..." Suddenly there was a knock on the door in the outer courtyard.

"Open the door, open the door."

Along with the knock on the door, there was a strange and impressive voice, that of the young soldier. It was this voice that led the three of them into this small courtyard this morning. This voice also preached to them the rules of the Fuhan Army. Killing, looting and insulting women were crimes punishable by beheading in the Fuhan Army. If they encounter this kind of thing in the future, they can come to the army to complain. No matter who is in the team, once verified, they will be severely punished!

"I..., I'll open the door."

"Don't go alone, let's all go. All the men will go, but the women and children will stay in the house."

Pan Mancang was knocking on the door, but his mind flew to the front line. He knew there would be an attack at night, but the attacking force was the 13th Brigade of the Second Guard Division.

The artillery positions to the east were still bombarding non-stop, and the artillery fire turned the sky red.

"Master Bing..." The door opened, and all the men in the small courtyard came out. First of all, an old face smiled at Pan Mancang in a fawning way.

Pan Mancang didn't feel anything about the smiling faces of these people. He handed over a bag of military rations in his hand and said, "See, you didn't light a fire. Eat the dry rations to make up for it." After saying that, he waved his hand, turned around and left. The soldiers following Pan Mancang also hurriedly followed. Tu left a few people to open the door nervously. The old and young men of the Zhu family were dumbfounded looking at the heavy bag of dry food. This is completely different from what they thought in advance.

"Haha, platoon leader, it turns out that you can also make up stories." After walking away from a house, the soldier behind Pan Mancang covered his mouth and said with a smile. Pan Mancang's cold face did not change at all, "What's the difficulty in making up lies? I didn't say anything during the half year I was a beggar." So Pan Mancang is eager to fight, he is eager to get ahead, and he is eager to help Chen Han completely overthrow that damned country. Big green fruit.

Pan Mancang sent out more than just the bag from Lao Zhu's family on this trip. The opened or unopened military rations collected by their platoon amounted to four large bags, and each person in the platoon had as much as seventy, eighty, or ninety yuan. .

They don't really want to eat these things, they've had enough. When the team marched, they didn't fire and just ate dry food. Now, all the dry food left by Pan Mancang is what they should eat on the ship. But it’s uncomfortable to sit on a boat and be swayed around. How can you still eat the dry food on time and in the right amount? These are what's left of their row. Now the platoon does not eat military dry food - the team has set up camp, and there are soups, steamed buns and rice to eat. Who eats the hard military dry food? But it feels like a pity to throw it away. Pan Mancang thought of the people in the north corner of the village. I picked the four closest ones without fires and sent them directly.

The men and women of the Zhu family, old and young, were surrounding two oil lamps, looking at the bag of military rations with curiosity. Several children also had greedy looks in their eyes.

The oldest old man banged the long-extinguished cigarette pot on the table leg.

"Don't think about it, let's eat."

"Based on the cannons outside Changzhou, I don't think the imperial court will come back again. Eat——"

"This thing looks like a snack, and it's wrapped in oil paper without a top. Eat them all——"

While he was talking, the old man even touched the silver dollar hidden in his belt. It was real silver, weighing seven or eight coins. It was the fee for the Fuhan Army to borrow his house. "Such a team is so benevolent and righteous..."

…

At eight o'clock in the evening, it was completely dark.

The artillery fire of the Fuhan Army suddenly stopped. The Qing army didn't realize it at first, and many people were still stuck in the tunnels. Then slowly, slowly, more and more people woke up.

They stood up with great difficulty. After lying in the trench for four or five hours, their bones were already stiff.

The shelling continued for five hours, with increasing intensity. This was too intense.

Who among the 70,000 to 80,000 Qing troops in Changzhou City had ever experienced such a powerful and lasting bombardment?

These are not iron bullets, at least half of the shells are explosive shells!

The intensity of the Battle of Taizhou was a small case compared to this shelling.

After listening to the sound of gunfire for five hours, Yin Jishan and Feng Sheng'e felt as if they had aged five years. The only thing they could be thankful for was the trenches, deep trenches.

How much harm did the trenches dug out of the earth prevent the Qing troops outside the city?

Without them, the Qing army could only set up strongholds outside the city. Under such fierce artillery fire, the iron-clad camp also melted.

Fengsheng'e did not take it lightly. He knew something was wrong when he saw the cannons of the Fuhan Army in the morning. In the previous Battle of Danyang, the Fuhan Army's cannons were so numerous that he was shocked. Unexpectedly, in the Battle of Changzhou, Chen Ming could really bring out 500 cannons.

At noon, the Fuhan Army's cannons had not yet fired. Fengsheng raised his forehead to the top of the city and glanced at the opposite side. Although the cannons were not illuminated by the sun, the dark muzzles still made him dizzy.

"Instruct all frontline battalions to be on strict guard."

"Chen Shun is especially good at night fighting. All battalions must not slack off!"

The circumference of Changzhou City is eleven miles, and the west and northwest corners are the Fuhan Army's main attack directions. The Fuhan Army's cannons are all deployed at the due west and northwest corners, and the city is more than four miles away. Five hundred cannons were concentrated at such a short distance, and the firepower was so dense.

Feng Sheng'e's confidence had completely disappeared after the Battle of Danyang, and now it has completely sunk to the bottom. He was even more worried about the defenders on the front line. After staying under artillery fire for such a long time, would they be able to move freely at this time?

“Tell Changling and Duan Xiulin to lead the troops to the positions in the west and northwest corners immediately.” The third order was issued immediately afterwards.