Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 269 Mysterious Combat Power Must Be Suspicious (Part 2)

Under Zhu Jue's earnest instruction, Sun Chuanting had already figured out how to manipulate the Jurchens.

To put it simply, it was a feint attack, with both sides taking turns attacking what the enemy would have to defend, causing the Jurchens to run around in disarray.

This tactic isn't difficult to execute; they have plenty of men, and a simple scare is enough to make Huang Taiji break out in a cold sweat.

Sun Chuanting's side has no problems at all. Let alone using feints, they can't even defeat the Jurchens by going head-to-head.

However, Pan Yunteng encountered a problem.

After the Hanzhong army entered Qinzhou and Liaozhou, they were stuck there and could not take the cities of Qinzhou and Liaozhou no matter what.

What is going on here?
Upon hearing the news, Pan Yunteng had no choice but to rush to the outskirts of Qinzhou City to investigate carefully.

In fact, Qinzhou City is nothing special. In terms of terrain, Qinzhou City is not even as strategically important as the counties they captured, such as Pingshun and Yangcheng.

This is because the county towns of Pingshun and Yangcheng are all built in the middle of valleys, giving them a natural advantage of being able to hold off ten thousand men.

Qinzhou City was built in the middle of a small basin in the mountains, which was more than ten miles in circumference, and the surrounding mountains were relatively low and not dangerous at all.

The only advantage this place has over other county towns like Pingshun and Yangcheng is that it has a moat.

However, the moat of Qinzhou City is not wide, not even half the width of Zhengzhou City, and the moat on the south side has been filled in by them.

Pan Yunteng stood on the makeshift platform, carefully surveyed the situation in the city, and then asked, "Tianlin, what's going on? There seem to be only about 100,000 troops in Qinzhou City, why have you been fighting for so long without taking it down?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Tianlin cautiously said, "Master, the general guarding Qinzhou City seems to be an expert in military strategy. We've tried every trick in the book, but he can still come up with a solution."

Moreover, the garrison in the city was not like the rabble of the past, fighting haphazardly; they seemed to be fighting with a certain order and method.

Furthermore, their weapons seemed to be much better than those of the previous rabble; swords, spears, halberds, and the like appeared to be standard equipment of the border troops, and many of them were even wearing armor.

More importantly, they were well-prepared for the city's defenses, with ample supplies of rolling stones, logs, boiling water, and even hot oil and rockets.

What are the standard equipment of the border troops?
Could there be a large number of border troops mixed in with these rebels?

Otherwise, it would have been impossible for a ragtag group to suddenly become so powerful.

Pan Yunteng frowned and pondered for a while, then decisively said, "You guys build catapults, build a lot of them, and keep hurling them at the city walls. Don't just use stones for the catapults, find some grease and tattered cotton blankets, and throw some fireballs too."

He wasn't in a hurry, because his goal wasn't to quickly take over Qinzhou and Liaozhou and then destroy the strongholds of the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants in Puzhou. He was simply trying to attract the Jurchen cavalry.

Besides, once the catapults are built, even if the city's defenders are all border troops, they still won't be able to hold it.

Therefore, he doesn't need to rush at all.

Zhu Jue was not in a hurry, because the Ming Dynasty was booming at the moment, and the longer it dragged on, the stronger their fighting force would become.

Sure enough, the first batch of medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ships has been built at the Haihe Shipyard.

And the first batch of small Weiyuan warships here is almost finished.

Around 1:00 a.m. that day, he led Zheng Zhilong, Wang Chengen, Fang Zhenghua, and others straight to the Haihe Shipyard.

At this time, Zheng Zhihu was leading newly recruited naval officers and soldiers to take over the medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ship.

Many medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ships have even sailed into the main channel of the Haihe River and started to line up.

This time, they have 1,250 medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ships.

If all of them were to be discharged into the main channel of the Haihe River, there wouldn't be enough room for even one row.

At this moment, a long line of more than 100 miles had already formed on the south side of the Haihe River.

Another long dragon, over 100 miles long, is also being completed north of the Haihe River.

Wang Zheng was excitedly scanning the area with his binoculars, but he didn't react at all when they approached.

Zhu Jue glanced at the gradually emptying dock waterways and leaned closer to ask, "Liangfu, what kind of ships do you plan to build in these dock waterways next?" Upon hearing this, Wang Zheng quickly put down his binoculars, bowed respectfully, and then solemnly replied, "Your Majesty, after these dock waterways are emptied, I plan to build a batch of medium-sized Weiyuan warships to test them out."

That was a massive ship with a displacement of 3,200 tons.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "Why don't you build large Zhiyuan merchant ships first? Is there enough timber here right now?"

No, not here.

Wang Zheng explained in detail: "Large Zhiyuan merchant ships require fifteen zhang of timber to assemble, while medium-sized Weiyuan warships use twenty zhang of timber."

We've almost used up all the timber that's fifteen zhang long. We simply can't gather enough timber to build the large Zhiyuan merchant ship, not even enough for the hull planks.

The hull and sides of the medium-sized Weiyuan warships were made of timber that was about twenty zhang long. We had saved quite a lot of this and had been reluctant to use it. It should be enough to make enough bottom and side planks for more than 600 ships.

Furthermore, the bottom and side plating of the medium-sized Weiyuan warship still need to be finalized, and its construction time is longer than that of the large Zhiyuan merchant ship. Therefore, we must finalize the bottom and side plating designs as soon as possible; otherwise, it may not be able to be built this year.”

Oh, so you've been saving up about twenty feet of timber like a treasure.

It seems the timber problem can only be solved once the fleet from the Americas returns.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then asked, "Zhilong, the South Seas seem to be quite large. Although there aren't as many trees there as in the Americas, it's not something that can be cut down in just a few years. Can't they let us cut down more?"

They can't just cut as much as they want.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Zhilong explained in detail: "Your Majesty, the South Seas are not small, and there are many trees there. The key is that the population there is not large, and most people have to grow food. There are not many people who can actually be taken to cut down trees."

Oh, there really aren't many people in Southeast Asia right now.

However, the Ming Dynasty had a population.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then asked, "Zhilong, is it alright if we send people to cut down those trees?"

Zheng Zhilong estimated, "This shouldn't be a big problem. They just want to make money anyway. At worst, we can just pay for all the trees they haven't cut down."

Yes, problems that money can solve are indeed not problems.

They're not short of money right now.

Besides, their goods are money when they're transported to Southeast Asia; exchanging goods for timber is definitely not a problem.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and then asked, "Do you think that if we offer five taels of silver a month, are there any able-bodied men in the southeastern provinces willing to go to Southeast Asia to cut down trees?"

Five taels of silver a month!

Zheng Zhilong nodded repeatedly and said, "Of course there are. Back then, I didn't even offer five taels of silver a month, and there were still many young men willing to risk their lives with me."

That'll do.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue decisively said, "Zhenghua, send Wang Yingchao to convey my decree, ordering Xiong Wencan to recruit able-bodied men from the southeast to go to Southeast Asia to cut down trees. We will pay five taels of silver per month and provide them with water-cooled fans."

"Have Wang Yingchao tell Xiong Wencan to first recruit men and gather them in Dongfan to see how many are willing to go. I'll equip them with water-cooled fans and then transport them all over."

Upon hearing this, Fang Zhenghua quickly bowed and hurried away.

Soon, he strode in again, holding an envelope, and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, General Pan has sent a secret report."

Is this a secret report from Pan Yunteng?
Could it be that something went wrong in Shanxi?
Otherwise, it would be highly unlikely that Pan Yunteng would have reported it to the secret authorities.

Zhu Jue took the envelope, tore it open, and couldn't help but snort coldly.

The three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou actually mobilized border troops to help the rebels defend Qinzhou and Liaozhou!

These guys are really frantic.

(End of this chapter)