With 100,000 elite soldiers at the start, what should you call me?

……

"Quickly! Establish a defensive position immediately after crossing the river!"

Raindrops pattered on Zheng Youren's cheeks as he urged the soldiers behind him to hurry on their way.

After receiving Li Tian's orders, Zheng Youren crossed the Jianxi River at all costs and headed north along the river to build a defensive fortification north of Jianning Prefecture.

Their mission was to block the southward-bound Qing army and prevent them from seizing the fruits of victory.

After annihilating a fully armed Qing army force of 6,000 men, the army's equipment was replenished.

Li Tian even assigned more than a thousand prisoners to him as cannon fodder.

Upon arriving at his destination, Zheng Youren came to a relatively high mound, grabbed a handful of mud from the ground. It wasn't too hard, and there weren't too many stones in it.

"Build fortifications right here, and dig three layers of trenches today."

"Everyone, get to work!"

At Zheng Youren's command, everyone started working despite the rain.

Qing prisoners of war, along with soldiers of the New Army, picked up hoes and began digging.

The other soldiers went to the nearby woods to cut down trees and build shelter from the rain.

Zheng Youren wore a raincoat woven from leaves, as did the other soldiers of the new army.

He directed the progress of the construction, his skin already soaked by the rain.

"Chen Dabiao!"

"arrive!"

"Once your camp is set up and you have shelter from the rain, immediately start a fire and be responsible for boiling water and drying your clothes."

"Yes, mission accomplished."

Chen Dabiao accepted the order and immediately found a place to start a fire.

"Sun Quan, your battalion go to the riverbank and find some gravel to spread in the trenches later."

"Yes, mission accomplished."

Digging trenches on rainy days is no easy task. The muddy conditions make each shovelful a great struggle, and the sides of the trenches become unstable due to erosion from the rain.

Fortunately, the rain gradually subsided, and Zheng Youren learned from the Qing army intelligence obtained by the prisoners that the Qing army was extremely brutal in field battles, liked to use human lives to exhaust the enemy, and finally the cavalry would finish them off.

"The trenches don't need to be dug too deep, about half a person's height is enough, and we also need to dig a few drainage channels."

Under Zheng Youren's arrangement, a trench network resembling a spider web gradually took shape.

His mission was accomplished as long as the main force captured Jianning Prefecture and the Qing army did not break through the defense line.

~

~

The rain stopped.

The troop movements at the New Army headquarters naturally attracted Wang Qi's attention.

"Report! Li Tianjun has been spotted constructing fortifications outside Chaotianmen and Ningyuanmen."

"Report! Li Tianjun has been spotted making unusual movements outside Zhennan Gate; it seems he intends to attack the city!"

Jianning Prefecture has a total of nine city gates: six land gates and three water gates.

Upon receiving the report, Wang Qi immediately ran out of his residence and hurried up to the south gate of the town.

Sure enough, rows of soldiers marched in an orderly fashion toward Jianning Prefecture. The atmosphere was tense, and they were fully equipped, clearly indicating that they intended to attack the city.

"That Li Tian is indeed a wolf in sheep's clothing."

Wang Qi punched the city wall, a surge of anger rising in his heart.

"Li Tian, ​​since you disregard the overall situation and insist on your own way, then I'll let you know that you'll regret attacking Jianning Prefecture!"

"Pass on my order: block the water gates. If the enemy forces breach the city, blow them open immediately."

Jianning Prefecture has three water gates, which can regulate the city's water system and also serve as a defense system.

The river had just overflowed after the rain, flooding Li Tian's new army. This was the first solution Wang Qi could think of.

As a veteran of city defense, he had endless methods for defending the city in the face of the Qing army's three-month-long siege.

He refused to believe that he couldn't deal with a band of bandits who had no siege equipment.

"Since you don't want to negotiate, then go die."

Wang Qi felt a chill in his heart. He had originally planned to wait until the rain stopped to discuss with Li Tian how to incorporate these 100,000 people.

But the other side doesn't seem to want to join the imperial court, so there's no other way but to eliminate them and then take in their remnants.

Before long, a group of soldiers gathered outside the south gate of the town. The attacking soldiers numbered only one regiment, plus 1,500 prisoners.

Approximately five thousand people.

Yan Naichao rode his horse to a high place and looked at the city gate in the distance.

There were many cannons above the city gate, but they seemed to be unusable because it had just rained.

"Second Battalion Commander."

Wei Xiaoshuai, the battalion commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Regiment of the 8th Army, stepped forward and shouted spiritedly, "Present!"

"I heard your battalion has the best shooting accuracy, so this high ground is yours. Shoot whoever peeks out from the city wall, and pay special attention to Ming commanders; kill them if you spot one."

"Yes, sir! Thank you, Commander! Our battalion will absolutely not let any enemy commander escape!"

Wei Xiaoshuai's lips curled up slightly; this was a good job.

The high ground here is about 400 meters away from Zhennanmen, within the firing range of Hanyang rifles. However, this "high ground" is not high, less than half the height of the opposite city wall, so you can basically only see half of the opposite side.

But for Wei Xiaoshuai, who has excellent shooting skills, that's enough.

"The first and second battalions will be 200 meters away, providing cover for the vanguard. If the city falls, they will charge at any time."

"Capture one battalion and one company of prisoners, attack the city!"

With Yan Naichao's order, the siege officially began.

A company of one hundred prisoners of war rushed forward, carrying wooden planks and sandbags. Their primary task was to fill in the moat.

The Ming soldiers on the city wall also noticed the unusual movements of the enemy below.

The Ming soldiers hiding behind the parapet stood up, drew their bows, and began shooting arrows down from the city walls.

Whoosh! Snap!

The sound of an arrow leaving the bowstring and the sound of a gunshot rang out simultaneously.

Nearly two thousand dark gun barrels were aimed at the city gate, firing continuously.

The dozens of Ming soldiers who had just shown their faces were killed before they could react, their bodies lying on the ground.

This scene directly shocked the Ming army defending the city.

Wang Qi, hiding behind the parapet, narrowed his eyes.

"The opponent was clearly three hundred paces away, yet the shot could travel that far! And at that distance, its power was greater than that of a musket!"

"Something's not right. This army is suspicious. How could their weapons be better than the imperial army's?"

With a bang.

Just as Wang Qi was hiding behind the parapet, a bullet hit the stone brick on the side of his face, and pebbles splashed onto his face, making his cheek sting.

Wang Qi touched his cheek; the skin had been torn open, leaving a shallow cut.

He looked up at the watchtower next to him and found it riddled with bullet holes.

At that moment, he felt a deep sense of fear.

What terrified him even more was that the soldiers on the city wall dared not stand up, for they would be shot dead the moment they did.

You can only use a matchlock musket to fire from the top of the barricade; if your head sticks out even a little bit, you're dead!

"Impossible! With such concentrated firepower, where did they get so many bullets!"

Wang Qi turned his head and risked looking out from the crenellation. He saw that about three hundred paces away, a group of soldiers from two factions were arranged in a crescent shape, holding muskets and firing them. The density of their firepower was terrifying.

Besides, about a mile away, there was another group of soldiers aiming and firing in this direction. Their firing rate was even slower, but it seemed to be very accurate!

"Why can it fire so fast? Why can it hold so many bullets? At least ten!"

Faced with the musket he had never seen before, Wang Qi silently memorized its usage and the number of bullets. However, the firepower was too intense, and he dared not look at it for long. A bullet hit the wall, and the shards of stone that splashed out hit his eyes, causing a sharp pain. He immediately ducked back.

"No! At this rate, Jianning Prefecture won't be able to hold out for even an hour!"

"We must stall! Stall until the water level is high enough to drown Li Tian!"