Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 944: Digging? False surrender?
"Why are you saying this? We are all people who have fought in many battles. Everyone knows that if Jinzhou City was so easy to attack, Huang Taiji would have broken it long ago. Huang Taiji is not stupid. How could he not think of what you can think of?" Huang Degong could not help but retort.

"Huang Shuai is right. Although there are many ways to break a city, there are limitations to their use. For example, among the methods I just mentioned, water attack is ruled out first. Jinzhou is not the heartland of the Ming Dynasty, and there are no major rivers near the city, so diverting water to attack the city is absolutely impossible."

"As for finding an insider to attack the city, it is useless. The Jinzhou defenders are united. Even if a few people are afraid of death and want to surrender the city, as long as the commander is determined and the army is under control, it is impossible for the insider to open the city gate. As for the strategy of making a feint to the east and attacking the west, it is also difficult to do. Jinzhou City is not big, and there are sufficient troops in the city. Huang Taiji mobilized troops outside the city to attack fiercely. Even if all four gates were attacked at the same time, Jinzhou would have enough strength to hold on."

After ruling out three methods, Zhang Xianzhong continued, "Although the Mongolian tactics are good, the climate is the key. This tactic can be used in midsummer, but the weather in Liaodong is not as hot as in the south, so even if there is a plague, it will be difficult to spread as long as proper precautions are taken. And the price of a full-scale attack is extremely high. Although the Eight Banners have a large number of soldiers, the Jiannu population is far less than that of the Ming Dynasty. They have so few people, and one less person dies. Human life is very precious. How dare we put the elite Eight Banners into the consumption of siege? Even if we spend a lot of money to capture Jinzhou, the Eight Banners will inevitably suffer heavy losses. This kind of tactic that is not worth the loss is absolutely not done by Huang Taiji."

"After saying so much, this doesn't work, and that doesn't work. Do you have any other solution?" Cao Wenzhao couldn't help but ask.

Zhang Xianzhong shook his head and said with a smile, "Of course not. If I were to attack, I would never use the above tactics because they are simply not effective. Moreover, there are too many variables in a long-term siege. Once the Ming army in Shandong and Pi Island attacks the heartland of Liaodong, there is no other choice but to retreat."

"We have to attack Jinzhou quickly. The longer it takes, the more trouble we will have. Once we surround Jinzhou, we just need to find a way to break through the city wall, and the battle will be won..."

"Break the city wall? Hahaha, Zhang Xianzhong, ah Zhang Xianzhong, do you think you are a god? Can you make the Jinzhou city wall collapse by just blowing a breath? How do you break it? Tell me." Huang Degong thought it was ridiculous and retorted immediately.

Zhang Xianzhong was not angry, but was confident. He asked, "According to what I know, Huang Taiji's Jian Nu army has Han troops? And these Han troops are good at using firearms? Especially cannons?"

"Yes!" Wu Xiang's face was a little bad. Speaking of this matter, it was Yuan Chonghuan who was to blame. He killed Mao Wenlong, which led to several mutinies in Pi Island. Finally, Pi Island fell into the hands of Huang Taiji. At that time, the Pi Island defenders surrendered to Huang Taiji in order to protect themselves, including Mao Chenglu's deputy general Shang Kexi.

After Shang Kexi surrendered to Huang Taiji, he was highly valued there, and Huang Taiji specially set up the Eight Banners of the Han Army with Shang Kexi's army. Shang Kexi brought with him not only the navy of Pidao, but also the elite troops and firearms troops of Pidao, and even craftsmen who could cast cannons.

It was precisely because of Shang Kexi's surrender that Huang Taiji truly possessed a combat-ready firearms unit, and this unit also posed a great threat to the Ming army.

But even so, it was impossible to break through Jinzhou City with artillery alone. Jinzhou's city walls were not only tall and strong, but Jinzhou was also guarded by artillery. Artillery against artillery, Jinzhou's power and range far exceeded that of the attacking side. If Jinzhou City could be broken through by artillery, then Jinzhou City would not have been able to hold out for so long.

When Wu Xiang asked this question, Zhang Xianzhong shook his head and said, "Of course, it's not just artillery. Artillery and other firearms can only contain the defenders in the city, but they can't really break through the city wall. But don't forget, what do firearms rely on? Isn't it gunpowder? If I were Huang Taiji, I would just besiege Jinzhou first, then use firearms against firearms to contain the top of the city, then adopt the method of digging the ground to attack the city, and then use gunpowder to blow up the city wall. At that time, dig a tunnel to sneak into the vicinity of the city wall, bury thousands of pounds or even more gunpowder, and light the fuse at the right time. As long as the gunpowder explodes, no matter how strong the city wall is, it will not be able to withstand it. Once the city wall collapses, Jinzhou will have no defenses. At that time, I will directly lead the troops into the city, and Jinzhou will naturally be taken..."

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment, speechless for a moment. Zhang Xianzhong's method sounded incredible, but after careful consideration, it was very feasible.

The tactic of digging underground to attack a city is not new. It has existed since ancient times. Because the city walls are difficult to break, you can dig tunnels to sneak into the city, and then send soldiers into the city through the tunnels to ambush when the city is unprepared. Then, when the battle is most intense, you can suddenly attack, and then attack from both inside and outside to take the city in one fell swoop.

However, this method also has limitations. First, digging a tunnel takes time and manpower, and if it is not dug accurately, it is easy to be discovered by the city. If it is discovered in advance, the defenders in the city only need to blow up the tunnel exit or wait for the soldiers who sneak into the city to fall into the trap, and this tactic will be directly defeated.

But although Zhang Xianzhong's proposal today is somewhat similar to digging underground to attack the city, it also has some differences. That is, his so-called digging underground does not need to be dug into the city, but only needs to be dug under the city wall. In this way, the possibility of being discovered by the defenders in the city is extremely small, and there is no need to accurately calculate the direction and length of the tunnel, and the engineering work is much simpler and more convenient.

After digging under the city wall, a large amount of gunpowder was transported in, and then the gunpowder was ignited to cause an explosion. At that time, no matter how thick the city wall was, it would not be able to withstand such a powerful explosion. Once the city wall collapsed, the city could not be defended. Digging the ground was not difficult for Huang Taiji, and this amount of manpower was a piece of cake. As for gunpowder, it was not difficult either. The Jiannu already had a firearms unit. Not to mention thousands of kilograms of gunpowder, even tens of thousands of kilograms or even more of gunpowder could be obtained with just a little time and effort.

If Huang Taiji had adopted such tactics in the Battle of Jinzhou, Zu Dashou would have been in trouble. When the tunnel was dug, the gunpowder was transported in and buried, and then the city of Jinzhou was broken, not only the soldiers and civilians of Jinzhou, but also Zu Dashou, the commander, would have fallen into the hands of Huang Taiji.

Thinking of this, everyone was still in shock, and their expressions when they looked at Zhang Xianzhong suddenly changed. How could this guy come up with such a vicious trick? Fortunately, he had surrendered to the court long ago and became an official of the court. If he was still the leader of the bandits before, with strong strength, it would be uncertain who would win or lose in a real battle on the battlefield.

Although Zhang Xianzhong's method was the best way for Cao Wenzhao's attack, Cao Wenzhao was not happy at all. Instead, he felt a little cold in his heart. He was stunned for a moment, looked at Zhang Xianzhong with complicated eyes, and then asked: "What if you were the defender? What would you do?"

"Haha, if I were asked to defend Jinzhou, I would definitely not defend it to the death. I would probably run away with my men before the Jiannu army besieged Jinzhou. Why defend it to the death? Isn't this a passive response? I can't win the fight, and I don't want to leave. Only a fool would want to end my life here."

"The commander of the Ming army lost the city..." Cao Bianjiao raised his eyebrows and said immediately.

Before he could finish his words, Zhang Xianzhong waved his hand and said, "How can you say that in a war? If you know you are going to lose, but you don't preserve your strength and cut off your retreat, won't the result be the same? Moreover, the latter not only lost the city, but also lost all the troops. Even in business, you don't do this! Avoid the enemy's sharp edge, take the initiative to retreat, and then rely on the reinforcements to strengthen your strength, and then find an opportunity to push back. By then, the attack and defense will be easy. Will the other side also defend Jinzhou to the death?"

"But what if we are surrounded now?" Cao Wenzhao asked back.

"There's nothing we can do about it." Zhang Xianzhong spread his hands and said, "In this case, apart from other factors, there are only two results: early death or late death. I don't know about other people, but if I were the commander, I would hold out for a while and see how things go. If there is still no reinforcement or a breakout, I would probably surrender directly. Anyway, we can't hold out any longer, so it's better to surrender early than late."

"Asshole! Where is the military integrity with such behavior? Surrender to the Qing army! Where is the dignity of our Ming Dynasty!" Huang Degong was so angry that his nose was crooked and he slammed the table and stood up.

"You are going to lose your life, how can you have integrity?" Zhang Xianzhong asked coldly. At this time, Wu Xiang hurriedly persuaded Huang Degong a few words, and Huang Degong sat back angrily. Then Wu Xiang asked Zhang Xianzhong with a smile: "What Bingwu said just now was intentional, right? If my guess is correct, Bingwu's surrender was a fake surrender?"

"General Wu is awesome!" Zhang Xianzhong pinched his thumb and laughed, "Of course it's a fake surrender. Although I came from a humble background, I know the difference between Chinese and barbarians. How could I really surrender to the Jiannu? Since we know that a desperate defense will lead to defeat, we might as well take a gamble. While the food in the city is not cut off, let the soldiers have a few good meals, recuperate, and then pretend to surrender to the Jiannu."

"As long as the Jiannu fall for it, I'll have a chance. I can suddenly attack them and catch them off guard. If I can win, that would be great. Even if I can't win, I can teach the Jiannu a lesson. And in this way, I'll have a chance to break out. Even if I can only break out partially, it's better than being completely wiped out. What do you think, General Wu?"

"Haha! Hahaha!" Wu Xiang burst into laughter. He couldn't help but admire Zhang Xianzhong's ability to take things as they please. No wonder he had such a great reputation when he was a bandit. Anyone who meets such a person would have a headache. He does things in an imaginative and unrestrained manner and does not care about details. He does everything for his goal. He is truly a hero!

Moreover, Zu Dashou had used this method before. When he ran out of ammunition and food, he surrendered to Huang Taiji, but Zu Dashou finally escaped. Unfortunately, Zu Dashou was too concerned about his reputation. Unlike Zhang Xianzhong, he was so shameless that he pretended to surrender when he could no longer support himself. At that time, the soldiers in the city, including himself, were so hungry that they could hardly stand, so how could they continue to fight?
Therefore, Zu Dashou's surrender and then rebellion did not have a very good effect in the end. He only caused some troubles for Jiannu and escaped alone. His family members were all trapped, and most of his subordinates were also unable to break out. It is a pity.

(End of this chapter)