Valley Emperor

Li Xuan and the others have been paying attention to the movements of the Ming army on the other side of the river, whether the troops have increased or decreased, and how many rafts they have made, all of which they tried their best to understand.

The more than ten spies sent by the new army of the Tang Dynasty to hide on the other side of the river have been staying on the other side of the river, and they have been in ambush for almost 24 hours to watch the movements of the Ming army.

Judging from the current situation, the Ming army on the opposite side was determined to cross the river at the Lanjiang ferry, because they did not see them dispatching a large number of troops to the upstream and downstream.

Li Xuan guessed that it was because the Ming army itself knew that within a hundred miles upstream and downstream, only the Lanjiang ferry was the most suitable for crossing the river. Although other places can also find some suitable places for crossing the river, the terrain is different. It must be suitable for more than 3,000 people to cross the river at the same time.

As for finding a remote place and spending a day or two sneaking across the river, the new army of the Tang Dynasty is not stupid. The main force of the Ming army is moving upstream or downstream. They will definitely follow the traces of the Ming army. The corresponding deployment will also be made.

Furthermore, to cross the river to other places, it also takes several days to make a raft. Otherwise, can three thousand people swim across it?

After all, the Lanjiang River is not suitable for navigation. Except for a limited number of ferries with some small boats, most of the river sections have no boats. If they do not have a large number of ready-made boats to cross the river, they can only rely on rafts to cross the river. Jiang.

And the above, these are Li Xuan's own conjecture, and the actions of the Ming army on the other side also confirmed that Li Xuan's conjecture is correct.

The Ming army on the other side of the river had never planned to go to other places to cross the river, but made rafts on the spot.

At the same time, there were no other disturbing Ming troops in the rear of the Datang New Army.

After they asked Zeng Zisong and other Ming army prisoners later, they found that although Zeng Zisong and the others came from the other side of the river, they were not from the same army as the Ming army in Fucheng. The hundred people were actually Zeng Zi Loose private soldiers.

Zeng Zisong, as Zeng Ziwen's younger brother, after Zeng Ziwen's death for his country, he joined the army in accordance with the tradition of father and son, brother and brother.

However, because Zeng Ziwen was killed because he underestimated the enemy, the court did not let Zeng Zisong take the position of a thousand households, but only gave it to a hundred households.

And of the more than 100 soldiers he led, only a few dozen were regular soldiers attached to it, and the remaining dozens were recruited privately by him. It's just for food, which is similar to the conditions for recruiting soldiers of the Datang New Army.

Facts have proved that eating well is more attractive to those poor than expected. At least Zeng Zisong easily recruited dozens of people, and finally pulled out an army of more than 100 people.

He has been training troops in his hometown, waiting for the opportunity to attack the new army of the Tang Dynasty and 'revenge' for his brother Zeng Ziwen.

Soon after the news of the Ming army's massive attack in Fucheng reached Zeng Zisong's ears, he felt that the opportunity for revenge had finally come. He brought more than 100 people all the way westward, but he did not go to Hefucheng. The main force of the Ming army Confluence, but chose a ferry to cross the river sneakily.

At that time, Li Xuan and the others were attracted by the 3,000 Ming troops who came from Fucheng. They didn't even notice that there were a hundred Ming troops sneaking across the river from other ferry ports.

After crossing the river, Zeng Zisong began to look for opportunities to attack the logistics line of the Datang New Army, intending to attack the logistics line of the Datang New Army first to relieve the pressure of the Ming army in Fucheng when crossing the river.

However, the more important purpose is to wait for the main force of the Ming army in Fucheng to cross the river, and then attack from the front and back to completely defeat the pseudo-Tang bandit army.

It's a pity that he was killed by Hao Bainian's army just after he crossed the river and didn't jump for a few days.

The series of actions by Zeng Zisong's department also attracted the attention of Li Xuan and other core high-level officials of the Tang Dynasty. As early as a few days ago, spies were dispatched to several other upstream or downstream locations suitable for crossing the river to monitor.

To monitor whether there are large-scale Ming troops sneaking across the river, not many people are needed, two or three people in one place is enough.

However, apart from Zeng Zisong, no other Ming troops have chosen other small ferry crossings to cross the river.

This also gave Li Xuan a little peace of mind and was able to focus all his attention on training and preparing for battle. He not only trained troops, but also set up many obstacles on the riverside to hinder the landing of the Ming army.

In addition, he also instructed the soldiers to build a temporary earthen parapet along the river. This breast wall faces the other side of the river and is two meters high, but facing the land, it is only a little more than one meter. , this is because there is a half-meter-high place behind the parapet where people can stand.

To a certain extent, this parapet is already similar to a city wall, but because of the urgency of time and the length of the river beach, it is impossible for the soldiers to build a thick city wall on this vast river beach. , can only be replaced with a temporary parapet of the earth.

However, even if it is a simple earthen parapet, it can play a great role in defensive operations.

A very conspicuous high platform was also built in the middle of the parapet wall. This high platform also has a parapet wall as a barrier, but it is strange that this parapet wall is the same as the battlement. gap.

If someone with a little bit of modern military common sense sees this high earthen fort, then at first glance, they will see that it is a fort.

That's right, this fort is prepared for the artillery that has not yet arrived!

The Ming army on the other side came with two Wankou cannons. If there were no artillery on his side, wouldn't it be a huge loss to fight, so after finding out that the Ming army had brought artillery, Li Xuan also sent people day and night as soon as possible. Hurry back to Huangzhu Mountain, and then bring over the artillery that is still in trial production.

And the guards he sent back did not disappoint him. When the Ming army had enough rafts to cross the river and could cross the river at any time in the next few days, his guards finally brought the artillery. .

When he saw this cannon, Li Xuan couldn't help but go up and touch two of them himself. From the appearance of this cannon, it was no different from the modern pre-installed cannons in his impression. Thick tube, very thick gun body with thick gun mounts and wheels.

The whole cannon weighed 900 jins, which was far more than the 500 jins required by Li Xuan, and did not meet the requirements of the battalion-level infantry support artillery planned by Li Xuan.

If it is a march, even if it is a plain terrain, in order for this artillery to keep up with the marching speed, at least six horses are required.

Of course, as few as four or even two horses can be pulled, but it is difficult to maintain a continuous march, so it doesn't make much sense.

Because the gun is an experimental gun, it is mainly to test the technology of gun making, so it is relatively thick and has a relatively long barrel. This is actually a very typical front mount with the characteristics of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Smoothbore Cannon.

Such a cannon is not very suitable for the current requirements of the Datang New Army, and its power is naturally not bad. When the cannon was tested in Huangzhu Mountain, when it fired a round solid iron bullet, it reached the five required by Li Xuan. The effective range of 100 meters, this effective range refers to the effective range when shooting upwards at a small angle, its hit rate is high, and the lethality can still be maintained.

If it is shot at a high angle, its range can be increased to more than three kilometers, but at such a range, its hit rate is negligible, and such a range is not valuable in actual combat.

However, even with an effective range of 500 meters, this can be regarded as a big killer in this era. It can even be said that such a big killer cannot be used by the current Datang New Army. This is not only because the weight is too heavy , the new army of the Tang Dynasty did not have so many horses to pull the cannon, and because the copper material was expensive, and it was more difficult to manufacture long-barreled artillery, many craftsmen were busy for half a year to build such a gun by hand, which shows the difficulty of manufacturing, and Such artillery, which is difficult to produce and cannot be mass-produced, is difficult to equip in large quantities.

Because it is difficult to manufacture long-barreled artillery, the craftsmen in Huangzhushan have changed their minds. They have begun to try to build some short-barreled artillery, not for firing solid bullets, but for firing shotguns, which may not have such a range. far, but the weight and power are guaranteed.

And Li Xuan also supports this, as long as it is a cannon and can play a corresponding tactical role, then he does not mind whether it is a mortar or a cannon.

After the artillery arrived, Li Xuan personally directed the people to put the artillery on the fort, and its muzzle pointed directly at the Ming army on the other side of the river!

When the artillery was carried up, Butcher Chen on the side also circled the artillery with curiosity, and then said to an artillery craftsman who came over from Huangzhu Mountain: "Can this artillery hit the Ming army on the other side?"

The craftsman visually measured the width of the river, and then said: "General Hui, our cannon can only reach the beach on the other side of the river at most. The camps of the Ming army are a little far away. They can hit this far, but can they hit the beach? It's just not easy to say,"

The Lanjiang River is not a big river in the first place. The width of the river in this section is only two or three hundred meters. However, the Ming army on the other side is not directly stationed on the river beach. They are stationed on the bank a few hundred meters away from the river beach. Well, even the main camp is arranged behind a small hill~www.wuxiaspot.com~ The new army of the Tang Dynasty knows that the camp is arranged behind the hillside and dense forest. The Ming army is not stupid, but they will not be stupid and directly stationed on the shore. .

After listening to Butcher Chen, he felt a little regretful and said: "It's a pity, otherwise, the Ming army would not have been killed or injured in a single shot!"

At this time, Fang Dongquan on the side said: "The camp of the Ming army is not easy to fight, but if they want to cross the river, they must go to the beach, and then the Italian cannon will be very promising, and now they are not on the beach. Are there a lot of rafts on board, those can be hit."

After listening to Butcher Chen, he also gave it a try, then turned to Li Xuan and said, "Your Majesty, why don't you use those rafts to practice your skills first and give it a shot?"

When Li Xuan heard this, he looked left and right, and then half asked himself, half asked: "Then let's shoot?"

As soon as these words came out, Butcher Chen and Fang Dongquan nodded in unison like chickens pecking at rice!

Li Xuan immediately said with anticipation: "Okay, let's shoot a cannon."