Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 482: We have more people, the Ming army can’t stop us!

Tong Yangjia was very depressed.

He had seen artillery installed on city walls and on defense lines, but this was the first time he had seen artillery installed in a camp in all his years of leading troops.

Of course, artillery is not as easy to load as muskets. His troops had retreated to a safe position before the second round of firing. However, he felt bad that such a good victory was finally lost to the Ming army.

"Come on, this is your celebration party after all."

A whisper came into his ears, and Tong Yangjia, who was originally listless, looked up. However, after saying this, Lekedehun raised his wine glass and went to the table outside the hall. He could only straighten his back.

He was not an inflexible person, nor was he a rookie in officialdom. He was well aware of the plans of Hong Chengchou and Lekedehun.

But in the fierce fighting during the day, more of his subordinates died than those of the Southern Army, and that scene was known to qualified generals.

Under such circumstances, it would be too embarrassing for him to toast at this crappy celebration party.

As he was thinking, the atmosphere at the table suddenly became heated. When he looked outside, he saw Lekedehun talking to the local gentry.

"The false emperor of the Southern Dynasty is extremely cruel! In just the past two months, dozens of gentry and elders in Huaidong have been killed by him!"

Having said this, Lekedehun paused, and at this time, bursts of whispers were heard from the table, and everyone's faces showed some fear. Obviously, the actions of the Ming army in Yang and Gao prefectures had already reached Huai'an, and the gentry and wealthy families were afraid of becoming targets for the Southern Dynasty to establish its power.

Seeing this, Lekedehun did not give them a chance to relieve their worries. When the buzz of people at the table gradually rose, he continued: "My Great Qing Dynasty follows the will of heaven and responds to the will of the people. Here in Huai'an, we fight against the tyrant of the pseudo-dynasty. Fortunately, with the help of heaven and the sacrifice of our soldiers, we won a great victory outside the city. I specially invite all the wise men in Huai'an to celebrate the triumph together!"

Before he finished speaking, Lekedehun raised the wine glass in his hand high, and after everyone in the room stood up, he drank the glass of wine in one gulp.

"Great Qing! Long live the Qing!"

"Great Qing! Long live the Qing!"

"Great Qing! Long live the Qing!"

Although Tong Yangjia stood up, he did not join in the cheering. The atmosphere at the table then reached a climax, and everyone went to find familiar people to raise their glasses and drink together. But at this time, Tong Yangjia went out from the porch, and only when he reached a secluded place did he let out a long sigh.

In the eyes of others, the casualties of the Ming and Qing armies in today's battle were not that great, and there was nothing wrong with doing such a thing to stabilize the people's hearts. His behavior was somewhat sabotaging.

But then again, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.

Although the Tong family was highly respected, it had gradually declined since the deaths of several older cousins.

By this time, some tribesmen were planning to send their daughters to the palace, hoping to emulate Nurhaci's past deeds; some were considering which prince had a better chance of success, hoping to gain the credit of following the dragon.

However, after learning that the court was forming a new army, he, who had no idea at all, decisively put his entire fortune on this matter.

According to his original idea, although the Ming Dynasty was good at using firearms, the Ming Emperor had only been in power for a short time and did not have many musketeers. As long as he could win a few battles with the more than 10,000 musketeers under his command, his status in the court would surely rise.

By then, not only will he be granted a title and become a general, but the family's glory will also be able to continue.

But who would have thought
He could see clearly that the Ming army was extremely vigilant today, and it would be extremely difficult to find their weaknesses later.

Under such circumstances, let alone a great victory, it is likely that there will not be many serious battles between the two armies, and his plan to restore the family's prestige may also fail.

Alas~~~~~, I still have to discuss it with them tomorrow.

Thinking of this, Tong Yangjia was about to return to the table, but at this moment he heard footsteps from behind. When he turned around, he saw Hong Chengchou had arrived.

"Why did the Grand Secretary come here?"

"They are looking for someone to toast me. I can't hold my liquor so I came out to hide."

Tong Yangjia naturally didn't believe a single word of this excuse, but he had no idea what the old man's intention was so he could only respond with a few words.

After that, the two of them talked to each other for a while, and after a while, Hong Chengchou finally got to the point.

"General Tong, do the princes have any plans before you come out?"

Tong Yangjia immediately became confused when he heard the words. He then cast his eyes on the other person's face. After three or five breaths, he slowly replied, "Prince Rui didn't say much. He just said that the battle in Huai'an would have far-reaching consequences and asked me to be cautious, cautious, and cautious."

"Well, Your Majesty is far-sighted, and is truly incomparable to ordinary people." After praising him, Hong Chengchou paused. Seeing that the doubt on Tong Yangjia's face had not diminished at all, he continued, "We can neither win nor lose the battle in Huai'an. If we can hold out for a while, we can retreat calmly to the Yellow River."

"Grand Scholar"

Obviously, Tong Yangjia, who wanted to pave the way for his own glory with this group of people, did not agree with Hong Chengchou's statement. It was just that his official position was slightly less important than that of the other party, so after Hong Chengchou raised his hand, he could only listen with a little reluctance.

"After all, our army is not good at water battles. If we can fight the Southern Army in a place with fewer rivers, our chances of winning will be much higher." Hong Chengchou paused for a moment, and after glancing at Tong Yangjia's face, he continued, "An ordinary musket costs thirty or forty taels, and a self-made one costs seventy or eighty taels. The court has already spent a huge amount of money to build such an army. We can't risk everything in a place where the Ming army has an advantage just for our own titles and salaries."

Hong Chengchou's tone was very gentle, but what he said in this tone were serious and heart-piercing words.

It was obvious that he had discussed these words with Lekedehun, otherwise, given his style of doing things, he would probably not have offended this person.

But Tong Yangjia was, after all, a royal relative, and his face had flushed red before he had even finished speaking. If it hadn't been for the sound of hurried footsteps, he would have been tempted to have a good discussion.

"What's the matter!"

After a loud shout, the owner of the footsteps was so scared that he dared not move forward. Hong Chengchou sighed in his heart and then waved gently to the person who was coming.

With the backup of "Prime Minister of Ming Dynasty", the man walked over timidly, and then a rather surprising news came to the ears of the two.

"Your Excellency, the city has reported that the Ming army has made unusual movements."

Damn!
When they heard these words, their hearts sank suddenly. Then Hong Chengchou ordered the soldier to report the matter quietly to Lekedehun, and he and Tong Yangjia went straight to the city.

It has to be said that this news really surprised the two of them.

In essence, tactics like night attacks must either be used when the enemy's defense facilities are not sound, or when the enemy's morale is unstable and their vigilance is lax.

Now Huai'an is not only protected by city walls, but the morale of the soldiers inside is also quite high.

Under such circumstances, it seemed that the Qing army was the one that launched the night attack, so their surprise was understandable.

After about three or two incense sticks of time, the two men arrived at the top of the city. When they looked outside, they saw a fire dragon composed of tiny flames that had spread to a mile or two outside the city.

What's the point?
Sneak attack?

wrong
If you want to launch a sneak attack, you should do it secretly. Why use the word "steal" when it's going on so openly?

storm?

That’s also not right.

If they want to attack by force, they must have the help of equipment. Not to mention that the Ming army has only arrived outside the city for 932 days. Even if they are really the reincarnation of Lu Ban, aren't they afraid of knocking over the equipment in the dark?

After several turns of thought in his mind, Hong Chengchou still could not understand the transparent army's plan.

At this moment, Tong Yangjia seemed to have thought of something. He slammed the battlement and exclaimed, "Isn't this where the Ming army built a platform?!"

The Ming army relied on artillery to attack the city, which had been tested by one disastrous defeat after another. When thinking about what the Ming army did during the day, who could not understand that they wanted to build a platform at night to attack the city.

"Grandmaster, all of our troops are musketeers, so it is not appropriate for us to leave the city now. It would be better if the general issued an order to let the cavalry charge in."

After bringing Wu Zhen Chaoha with him, Tong Yangjia became more and more aware of the power of firearms.

He knew very well that if the Ming army built a high platform, the Huai'an city wall would not be able to withstand more than ten days.

By then, there would be no need to talk about making great achievements. Once the Ming army rushed into the city, I'm afraid that his more than 10,000 new troops would also have to die here.

With this understanding, he was extremely wary of the Ming army's behavior of building a platform. However, after he said this in a hurry, Hong Chengchou just lowered his head and thought, and after a few breaths he spoke hesitantly.

"General Tong, I am not familiar with earthwork, but according to common sense, if the Ming army's artillery wants to hit the city, the earth platform must at least be similar to the city wall. Is it possible for them to complete such a large-scale project overnight?"

Upon hearing this, Tong Yangjia was stunned.

If there are a large number of people, it is not difficult to build a mound of about two meters in one night.

But this pile is used to simulate artillery positions.

The land must be wide, otherwise it would not be possible to set up a few artillery pieces; secondly, it must be solid, otherwise it would collapse after a few artillery pieces were fired.

With these harsh conditions, let alone one night, even if it was three, five, six or seven nights, I'm afraid his Ming army wouldn't be able to build a usable platform.

just
Just letting them do this doesn't seem to be a solution.

"Grandmaster, do you mean to ignore it?"

"Well, judging from the situation during the day, the enemy generals are no ordinary people. I am worried that their plan to build a platform is fake, and they are really trying to lure our army out of the city."

After hearing the words, Tong Yangjia turned his gaze to the fire dragon outside the city.

Earlier, his mind was completely focused on preventing the Ming army from building the earthen platform, so he didn't think much of it. But when he looked at the situation outside, he immediately felt that there seemed to be a ferocious beast lurking around the fire dragon.

"Then let them be for now. I will lead the troops out of the city at dawn tomorrow." Tong Yangjia paused for a moment, but then he continued, "We will have to trouble the Grand Secretary to mobilize some militiamen."

"As it should be."

The purpose of mobilizing the militia is naturally to dismantle the earthen platform built tonight. For a project like this, it is easy to imagine that a large number of militiamen will be needed.

However, this was not something Tong Yangjia needed to consider. After he had agreed with Hong Chengchou, he stayed on the city wall. Afterwards, there was chaos in Huai'an City for most of the night. It was not until dawn that he saw the prime minister of the Ming Dynasty with red eyes.

In fact, such matters should not require Hong Chengchou to take action personally.

But facing a powerful enemy, we must always consider the mood of the leaders of each family.

There were already quite a few people in Huai'an City. After negotiating with each family, the government officials and the servants of each family went from house to house to recruit strong and healthy people. It was not until half an hour before dawn that they gathered two thousand strong men.

This is why the institutions left over from the Ming Dynasty were able to demonstrate extremely strong organizational capabilities under the threat of the sword. If it were the still-nascent regimes such as Dashi and Dashun, they would not be able to achieve such a level in the middle of the night even with the assistance of local gentry.

Of course, Tong Yangjia didn’t care how Hong Chengchou gathered these militiamen. What he cared most about was whether he could seize control of the mound before the Ming army set up a defense line.

"It will be dawn in a moment or two. I will go and order my men to prepare. You two can watch the battle from the city wall."

"General Tong, don't fight too long. Just occupy the platform."

"I'm not an animal, how could I fall into the same pit twice?"

After saying hello to Hong Chengchou and Lekedehun, Tong Yangjia went straight to the city.

Then the two people on the city turned their attention, and when it got light, they saw a mound about ten feet high and thirty or forty steps long appear in their sight.

Seeing this, Lekedehun didn't react much, but Hong Chengchou was a little surprised.

In essence, just transporting so much soil was a huge undertaking, not to mention that the Ming army had to pile it up into a shape in the dark.

Coupled with the Ming army arrays ready for battle on both sides of the mound, he, the "Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty", could not help but sigh with emotion.

If the prince was in power
The thought was extinguished as soon as it came to mind. Then a rather shrill creaking sound came from under the city, and then teams of musketeers filed out of the city gate.

At this point, both Hong Chengchou and Lekedehun had focused all their attention outside the city. Once the gun formation was formed, their sights gradually moved towards the earthen platform.

It must be said that Tong Yangjia was really used to leading Wu Zhenchaoha. As the gun formation slowly moved forward, not only did it maintain its integrity, but even the distance between each soldier did not change much.

One hundred and eighty steps.

Faint military orders were heard one after another, and both the Ming and Qing sides began to load gunpowder.

One hundred and thirty steps.

Soldiers on both sides raised their muskets at the same time.

Ninety steps.

"Bah!"

"Bah!"

"Bah!"

As the muskets were fired, gaps immediately appeared in the two approaching army formations.

But I don't know whether it was a problem with the quality of the musket or related to the training of the soldiers. Although both sides fired a shot, there seemed to be more gaps in the Qing army's formation than that of the Ming army.

Seeing this situation, Hong Chengchou and Lekedehun both realized that this distance was still too far for them, and they became a little anxious.

Fortunately, Tong Yangjia was aware of the situation and did not stop his troops just because they were within the enemy's firing range. The two sides were still getting closer.

Eighty steps.

"Bah!"

"Bah!"

"Bah!"

Another round of musket firing was heard, and the two people on the city wall stared at the Ming army formation with wide eyes.

Although the Ming army had fewer casualties at this time due to the slightly faster firing speed, the hit rate of their own muskets was much higher due to the closer distance.

"We have more people, the Ming army will definitely not be able to stop us!"

"Well, that makes sense!"

(End of this chapter)