Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 344 You Fight Yours, I Fight Mine (Part )
The terrain of Anqing is very disgusting. It is backed by Dabie Mountains in the west and faces the Yangtze River in the east. It is a narrow and long terrain along the river running from north to south. There is also a large Lei Chi Lake next to Susong in the southernmost part. All the land north of Lei Chi is occupied by the Shengwu Army.

Therefore, if the Yuan army wanted to attack Anqing, it had only three options. They could either attack head-on, send troops from Huangmei to attack Susong, or force their way through. However, the Shengwu Army had the Lei Chi navy on its side, and the Lei Chi area was very large. If they did not keep an eye on the Lei Chi navy, or completely eliminated the navy, the Shengwu Army could land unexpectedly anywhere behind the Yuan army at any time.

Therefore, if they wanted to attack Susong, they had to deal with the navy first. If they wanted to deal with the navy, they had to attack the water fort first. The road to the north was completely blocked.
What about going around from the flank? Sorry, the Shengwu Army had already taken precautions. They wanted to go around from the mountains in the west. There were also bastions in the valleys west of Taihu County. They wanted to land along the Yangtze River in the east. There were also bastions and artillery batteries built at the ports that were easy to land. There were a total of five bastions, which Feng Guoyong personally supervised for half a year. If they wanted to break through this mountain and water defense line, the Yuan army would have to fly over.

Since they had to attack the fort first no matter where they attacked from, knowing the current situation, Xingji, Yu Que and others had no choice but to go and see what was so strange about the fort that Xiang Ying mentioned.

When Xingji, Yuque and Aslan came to the front of the bastion with their respective subordinates, everyone gasped at the sight of this large bastion with a strange shape.

Xingji frowned and said, "You call this a fort? Just looking at the area covering several miles, with walls inside and trenches outside, it's not an exaggeration to say it's a small city."

Xiang Ying said helplessly, "But there are really no civilians living here, and there are only about one or two thousand defenders, so it is indeed not considered a city."

Yu Que looked around while riding on his horse. Three miles to the east was the shore of Lei Chi. Many ships and masts could be seen in the distance. It seemed that there were quite a few naval ships. To the west, he could vaguely see the city wall of Susong. The location of this fort was simply perfect.

So Yu Que also said, "The location of this fort is also very good. Susong County is only 12 miles away from the Leichi at its closest point, and this fort is about four miles in radius. It is less than three miles away from the Leichi in the east and only about five miles away from Susong County in the west. It is right in the middle and can take care of both sides. It seems that if we want to capture Susong, we have to attack this fort."

After saying this, he looked at Xiang Ying and asked, "Why didn't you stop the enemy soldiers from building a fort here?"

Xiang Ying said aggrievedly, "Sir, it's not that I don't want to stop them, it's just that the enemy army is so powerful. When I counterattacked Susong, I was almost surrounded and attacked from both sides by the enemy navy. After that, I could only take a defensive position. If the enemy army had no intention of continuing to invade the south, with the limited number of troops in Huangmei, I'm afraid I can't even defend Huangmei, so how can I have the energy to stop them from building a fort."

Aslan was also riding on a horse, wearing a Mongolian hat, and looking at the fort in front of him with a frown.

He waved his whip and pointed forward, saying, "Look, although this place covers an area of ​​more than four miles in radius, the real city at the innermost part is not that big. It is not an exaggeration to call it a fortress, but it is not just one fortress, but a large array of fortresses that support each other.

"The outermost part of this formation is a moat, and inside the moat is a circle of triangular gentle slopes, like a river bank. How can a city wall be built like this? Once the outer moat is filled, can't we just ride across on horseback?"

Xingji, the governor of Jiangxi Province, retorted, "You can think of it. How could you not know that the enemy army deliberately set up this fortress formation? Look, there is a long distance between the outer dike and the main city. There are also some sharp-cornered enemy towers in the middle. There may be deep trenches in front of the enemy towers. If you really rush up, you will probably fall into the trenches and be slaughtered."

Aslan frowned and asked Xiang Ying, "Do you know the details of this fort? What is its reputation?"

With three provincial leaders here, Xiang Ying dared not say anything, and hurriedly said, "I only know that this fort has six pointed enemy towers protruding outward from the main city. There is a triangular sub-tower between each of the six enemy towers, totaling 12 large enemy towers. The outer dike has 12 large corners and 12 small corners, totaling 24 pointed dikes. The entire fort formation has no front and back distinction, and it looks the same from any direction.

"Also, I once sent scouts to scout here, but they didn't dare to get too close. They only said that they saw the bandits practicing formations in this fort and heard the explosions of large muskets. I guess there are many firearms in this fort, but I don't know anything else.

"I am short of troops and cannot defend the city and send troops to attack at the same time. Therefore, I don't know the details of this fortress. I just think it is very strange."

Upon hearing this, Yu Que said, "No matter what's strange about this fort, we have tens of thousands of troops here. How can we let a fort of the bandits block our way? We will have to fight sooner or later anyway. Yang Tongguan, are you willing to be the vanguard of this battle and test the bandit army's formation?"

Generals under Yang Tongguan, such as Jiang Ying and Liu Zhen, immediately looked at their commander and secretly signaled to him not to agree.

But Yang Tongguan was not a fool. Yu Que obviously had no good intentions. When he came across this strange fortress, the first thing he thought of was to let the Miao army die first.

So he immediately pointed at the Huangmei garrison commander Xiang Ying next to him and said, "As a local garrison commander, he did not think about killing the bandits and serving his country, but instead watched the bandits build a fort here, which is a serious crime.

"Before, he had few soldiers and was responsible for defending the city, so we let him go this time. But now that the army has gathered and Huangmei is safe, we should let him test the formation first and make up for his mistakes. When he can test the strength of the enemy's formation, the Miao army under my command will volunteer to serve as the main force. I wonder what I think?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Que glanced at Yang Tongguan indifferently, then frowned and looked at Xiang Ying. Xiang Ying was stunned and immediately knelt down and kowtowed to beg for mercy, "Counselor, it is not that I am afraid of death and allow the enemy to build a fort. It is really that I do not have enough troops and am powerless."

Without waiting for Yu Que to speak, Xing Ji stroked his beard and said, "But General Yang just said that the past will be forgiven, so it's not your fault. Now that Huangmei is guarded by a large army, you have no reason to avoid the battle, right?

"General Yang's troops are from afar, and the soldiers have not yet recovered their strength. As a local garrison commander, shouldn't you also show some performance?"

"But."

Xiang Ying was about to cry, but he was about to say something else when Aslan, the governor of Huguang, who was standing next to him, shouted coldly, "A battle between two armies is no joke. Anyone who is afraid of the enemy and does not move forward will be killed!"

When Xiang Ying heard this, he opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word of refusal. After a long pause, he could only grit his teeth and said, "Yes, I am willing to try this formation!"

So the Yuan army immediately began to set up camp five miles behind the bastion, and at the same time sent a large number of civilians to fill the outermost moat of the bastion.

The defending commander of Lei Chi Fort is Miao Yi. The Lei Chi navy to the east of him is led by his eldest brother Miao Youzhen, and Susong City to the west is guarded by his father Miao Daheng. He, the youngest, is guarding the bastion in the middle. It can be said that the entire Susong Lei Chi defense line is almost guarded by these three sons of this family, a true father and son fighting together.

Miao Yi's military rank was only a battalion commander of a thousand households, but he had 8 company commanders under his command.

The core fortress of the entire Leichi Fort is a small city in the shape of a regular hexagon. There is an acute-angled enemy tower extending outward from each corner. Six long-barreled 14-jin field cannons are installed on it. They are arranged along the two outward sides of the triangular enemy tower and can fire to both sides outside.

In the angles between these six large enemy towers, there are six outer triangular forts that are not connected to the main city. They are also six sharp-angled enemy towers, on which are installed six 8-jin long-barreled field guns. The entire bastion's defense system relies on these 12 enemy towers and 72 field guns.

With this arrangement, theoretically, no matter which direction the enemy attacks from, they will at least be hit by the concentrated fire of six artillery pieces. If the angle is right, they will even be hit by the joint attack of 12 artillery pieces. Although the density of firepower cannot be compared with the battle between Lu Jin and Xiaomaoshan, there is no blind spot for their shooting. Anyway, as long as they fire, they will definitely hit the attacking enemy.

The 12 enemy towers were divided into two circles, inner and outer, with a total of six groups. Each group of enemy towers was numbered A and C. The outer fort was C and the inner fort was A, so there were a total of 12 numbers such as "One A, One C", "Two A, Two C".

The reason why Yi and Ding were not used was to prevent soldiers from having dialect accents, which could lead to errors in the order. For example, Yi Yi would be easily misheard.
Each group of two enemy towers inside and outside is defended by a company, and there are six companies responsible for defending the periphery. Miao Yi leads the remaining two companies to stay in the main fort, ready to provide support to the periphery at any time.

When the Shengwu Army in the fort saw that the Yuan army had begun to fill the outer moat, the three company commanders defending the south immediately asked Miao Yi, "Third General, the Yuan army has begun to fill the moat. Should we fight?"

Miao Yi stood on the enemy tower No. 1 in the main fort facing south, looking at the Yuan army workers who were filling the river, and then said, "Once the enemy begins to besiege us, we must save ammunition. The strength of this bastion lies in its muskets and artillery. If the ammunition is used up, we will only be slaughtered by the enemy.

"Now the people filling the river are all civilians of the enemy army. It is a waste to use ammunition on them. It is better to shoot at the enemy's armored soldiers."

Zhao Xin, the company commander in charge of guarding a group of enemy towers, is also from Chaohu. He is only 15 years old this year. Later, he entered the artillery squad to study and was assigned here. He belongs to the second-term students of the artillery squad. The first-term students are the ones led by Yang Huan. They have already fought and made meritorious services on the battlefield. The second-term students were assigned to Anqing to guard the fortress. The third-term students are the new batch recruited in Jiangnan after crossing the river. They are now training in Jiankang.

Zhao Xin immediately said, "So are we just going to watch the enemy fill up the moat and do nothing?" Miao Yi said, "When we were building the bastions before, Chief Feng told us that the bastions are not indestructible. They are only used to delay the enemy. Letting the enemy fill up the trenches is also a way to delay time. Now there are civilians outside, and it would be a waste of ammunition to attack them.

"We must conserve our ammunition. When we have only three days' worth of ammunition left, we must light the signal smoke and ask General Liao in the rear to send troops to support us and get us out. Otherwise, we will all die here.

"Instead of attacking these civilians, it is better to wait for the enemy to fill up the moat and send soldiers up to inflict heavy casualties on them. If you want to attack, then attack them hard.

"But you're right. We can't just do nothing. Otherwise, we'll boost the enemy's morale. Let the two enemy stations, Yibing and Yijia, fire a cannon each. Unleash the grenades and scare the civilians away. Tell the enemy that we can't hit them, but we just don't want to fight."

Zhao Xin smiled and said, "Yes, General San, don't worry. I will fire the cannon to scare the enemy away."

Soon, when the Yuan army's civilian laborers were carrying sandbags and throwing them into the moat one by one, two clouds of white mist suddenly rose from the two enemy towers facing them, and then two huge cannon shots were heard, followed by two violent explosions among the civilian laborers on the bank of the moat, killing more than 20 people on the spot.

An iron shell bomb weighing more than two kilograms of explosives exploded, and pig iron shrapnel flew everywhere. Those who were close to the explosion point were torn to pieces by the explosion, and the civilians who were a little further away were also hit by shrapnel and fell to the ground screaming. Some people were even stunned and disoriented in the thick white smoke. They were already nervous, and now they were pushed into the moat by the panicked crowd and drowned alive.

Yu Que, Xing Ji, Aslan, Yang Tongguan and others were startled when they heard the noise and looked over quickly. They saw a mess beside the moat that had just been bombarded. There were more than 20 dead bodies of civilians lying on the ground, and more civilians were running back desperately, shouting in fear as they ran, "Run! The enemy army knows magic, and it's thundering!"

"What's going on?!" Xingji was startled when he heard the voice, and looked at the civilian who suddenly ran back with some confusion.

Aslan smelled the gunpowder in the air and said immediately, "It's the bowl-mouthed musket. The enemy soldiers in the fortress fired their muskets!"

Yu Que frowned. A musket with such a long range was obviously beyond his understanding. He quickly asked, "Who can see which enemy tower the musket came from?"

Yu Que's nephew Fu Tong, who had been supervising the laborers filling the river, said hurriedly, "Uncle, the bullets were fired from the two enemy towers on both sides. Each tower fired once, and the bullets seemed to be filled with gunpowder. They would explode again when they flew into the crowd. Those laborers were blown over by the bullets."

Xingji was a little surprised, "What kind of bowl-mouthed gun can actually shoot so far and even fire flower shells?"

"So, those 12 pointed enemy towers in there are all equipped with this kind of muskets. No matter where we attack from, we will be hit by the enemy's muskets first?" Yu Que frowned and thought for a moment, then looked at Yang Tongguan again. Unexpectedly, Yang Tongguan didn't wait for him to speak, but took the initiative to speak to Xiang Ying who was frightened on the side.

"No matter where the bandits' muskets can reach, you have to go up and try. At least you have to find out what's behind those slopes on the outside, whether there are trenches, how wide and deep the trenches are, what kind of defenders there are, and what weapons they use.

"If you don't find out the truth, then it will be useless to send more soldiers. Anyway, my Miao army will not send a single soldier unless you find out the truth."

Xiang Ying gritted his teeth and said, "Yes."

This reasoning immediately blocked what Yu Que was about to say. Aslan also changed the subject and said, "The enemy's muskets have such a long range, how can we fill the river?"

Yu Que thought for a moment before saying, "We can build a cart and use it as cover. First, let the laborers carry the sandbags to the riverside, build a low wall, and then build a tunnel behind the low wall. The laborers will carry the sandbags in the tunnel and then throw the sandbags into the river from behind the low wall."

Everyone thought it was feasible and nodded in unison. The Yuan army quickly took action again, cutting down trees to build large shield carts with roofs, which were almost houses on wheels, and were pushed forward by civilians.

However, when the bastion was built, in order to clear the artillery firing range and collect building materials, all the trees within a few miles of the periphery had already been cut down by the Shengwu Army. It was not easy for the Yuan army to cut down trees to build vehicles, so they could only go ten miles to the rear to cut down trees. This back and forth delay the Yuan army for another day.

The next day, the Japanese army finally built the cart and sent it to the front line from ten miles away. When it was pushed to the edge of the moat by civilians, it was overturned by two solid iron bullets fired by Miao Yi, and several civilians were killed. Several Yuan army generals could not hold back when they saw the two bloody solid iron bullets sent by the soldiers.

What the hell is this gun of yours? Not only can it shoot far, but it's also so powerful. This iron bullet weighs almost ten pounds, and even a cart made of logs as thick as arms can't stop it. How can you fight with it?
Aslan was even more furious, "Even if the cart cannot be stopped, we have to continue filling the river. Although the enemy's muskets hit the cart, they did not directly disperse it. Only five people died. It is better than the last time when more than 20 people were killed. Isn't the cart still there?

"Let the laborers continue to fill the river, even if there are casualties. First, pile sandbags around the cart and build a small fort. Then throw sandbags into the river. Whoever doesn't move forward with sandbags won't be given food!"

Seeing that the Yuan army began to ignore casualties and force civilians to fill the river, Miao Yi stopped fighting and just watched, accumulating strength, waiting for the Yuan army to formally attack before opening fire to kill a large number of Yuan army soldiers.

However, there is no fortress that cannot be conquered. Building a fort here is only to delay the speed of the enemy's attack and buy time for friendly forces in other directions. The Shengwu Army in other directions will not be idle.

Just when Yu Que, Xing Ji, Aslan and others attacked Lei Chi Fort, Chang Yuchun and Liao Yongjian didn't care about the battle in Anqing at all, but rushed to capture the three cities of Wuhu, Fanchang and Tongling. The main force of Sang Shijie's Second Navy Regiment was also patrolling upstream, looking for the Yuan army navy of the barbarian Hague, preparing for a decisive battle with the Yuan army navy on the Yangtze River.

At the same time, Jiankang was not idle either. The generals of the East China Front Army had only spent a few days with their families. As soon as the fifth day of the winter month arrived, they led their respective troops to gather at the front line under the urging of Lu Jin.

Yang Huan and Zhang Wen's First Army had already arrived in Danyang. They also sent Zhang Long's cavalry regiment to conduct reconnaissance in Changzhou, and then had the cavalry surround Changzhou first.

Zhu Shou also led Xu Yong, Guo Zixing, Hua Yunlong, Xu Da and others to gather at Lishui, and sent scouts to Liyang for reconnaissance. They would launch the Eastern Expedition as soon as Yang Huan's Imperial Guard Artillery Regiment withdrew from Jiangbei.

The current situation is very strange. The Yuan army attacked Anqing and Xuzhou from the north and south respectively. According to the battle report from the front line, Zhu Liangzu of Huai'an had already fought a battle with Tuotuo's vanguard. The main force of the Yuan army led by Tuotuo himself had already reached the other side of Xuzhou and was building a pontoon bridge to prepare to cross the river. Xuzhou's Zhima Li was facing a formidable enemy.

It was under such circumstances that Lu Jin insisted on sending the main force to the East. Even the usually steady Li Shanchang couldn't help but feel a little nervous when he heard the battle reports from the front line. He ran to persuade Lu Jin to see if the East Expedition could be slowed down until this wave of Yuan army's attacks was repelled. The pressure of fighting on three fronts was too great.

Lu Jin insisted, "Sir, please relax. If we send our main forces to support the north and south now, it will only increase our army's consumption. If we send our main forces to attack eastern Zhejiang, although we cannot directly fight the main force of the Yuan army, we can cut off the most important supply bases of the Yuan army in the north and south at the same time. Without the food in eastern Zhejiang, I wonder how long they can fight us!

"You fight yours and I fight mine. The art of war is to use the strong to bully the weak and the many to oppress the few. The main force is not used to fight a decisive battle with the enemy, but to attack the enemy's weak points. I only need to use the second-line troops to block the enemy's attack, even if it is just a draw, to maintain the front line."

"But." Li Shanchang was still a little worried, thinking that Lu Jin was taking a risk.

Lu Jin waved his hand and insisted, "Don't worry, sir. If the Yuan army really reaches the city, I will lead the army to retreat. What's more, the situation is not that dangerous yet. I still have nearly 30,000 new troops in Gaoyou. If a crisis comes, I can also transfer Bian Yuanheng back. You just need to make good arrangements for the military rations of each army and make sure that the three armies are not cut off from military supplies."

Li Shanchang was relieved after hearing this and clasped his fists and said, "Well, I will do my best to ensure the supply of food and grass for the army."

Lu Jin stepped forward and held Li Shanchang's hand. "The most difficult half year is the past six months. As long as we can hold on until the beginning of next spring and take over the entire eastern Zhejiang, we will no longer be short of soldiers or food. Please work hard, sir, and let's overcome the difficulties together."

"My lord, rest assured. I will live up to your trust!"

(End of this chapter)