Bright Spring

Ruan Zhi was very greedy for life and afraid of death, and his uncle Ruan Gonggui was also reused because he was born in a nobleman and surrendered to the Hu family.Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but wonder, Ruan Gonggui really has a general?

Zhu Gaoxu believes that the level of human ability is related to innate talent and acquired experience.Status can be divided into high and low, but talent is not. No matter noble or commoner, there is a certain probability of giving birth to a person with good talent.Therefore, the proportion of mediocre qualifications among nobles is similar to that of ordinary people; but the chances of nobles to occupy important positions are much greater.

So Zhu Gaoxu judged that Ruan Gonggui was most likely a mediocrity.

He then felt that there was an opportunity to take advantage of it, and ordered the whole army to prepare to attack Muwan Prefecture regardless of March 21 and [-].

Outside the city of Mumaru Prefecture, ditches, fences and other siege fortifications have been built, and soldiers and craftsmen are cutting wood to build ladders, which is a busy scene.The Ming army could not besiege the city, because the city had water gates, and Annan's army had sailors.The fortifications were built before the siege, Zhu Gaoxu was to prevent the people in the city from rushing out to counterattack and destroy his siege equipment.

Back then when Zhu Gaoxu was guarding Yongping, he was attacked by the Liaodong Army of Wu Gao, Marquis of Jiangyin.Zhu Gaoxu has all these methods in mind.

... Zhang Fu came to the dusty camp, got off his horse and saluted Zhu Gaoxu.Zhu Gaoxu also got off his horse first, and bowed politely. He respected this Marquis of Xincheng very much.

After all, Zhang Yu, the father of Xincheng Hou, gave his life for the great cause of the Yan Palace and the imperial power of Zhu Di's family.Zhang Yu fought to the death in the siege, was shot like a hedgehog, and had no good skin on his body; he was worse than Zhu Neng, he didn't even have a good day, and he was honored only after he died.

While exchanging greetings, Zhang Fu carefully observed the scene in the camp.The place is very noisy, the noise of saws sawing wood, clanging and knocking, and men yelling and singing in unison as they lower their strength, as if on a construction site or a mine.

"I was very sad when I heard the sad news of Duke Cheng, and I didn't sleep well for several nights," Zhu Gaoxu said.

Zhang Fudao: "Mr. Cheng's misfortune is really regrettable. The soldiers are all sad. But I have comforted the soldiers so as not to damage the morale of the army. Let me tell you an old story. Back then, King Kaiping (Chang Yuchun) Unfortunately, the Yuan Dynasty died in the army, Cao Guogong (Li Wenzhong) replaced him, and finally defeated the Yuan army."

Hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but take a second look at Zhang Fu, this handsome young general in his early thirties.Zhang Fu's demeanor is calm and serious, and his demeanor is calm and calm, with a bit of bearing.

People who have received the merits of their parents are also promising, and Zhang Fu may be that kind of person.If his father Zhang Yu hadn't worked hard for Zhu Di, Zhang Fu would not have been able to become a Marquis at a young age and lead an army of 10,000+.

Zhu Gaoxu said kindly: "Fortunately, Cheng Guogong has a son, and my father will definitely not treat the hero's empress badly."

Zhang Fu sighed: "Cheng Guozheng is a mature man, if there is no such catastrophe, why would Brother Zhu Yong be helpless? Zhu Yongfang is in his teens, so he has to shoulder the responsibility of the whole family, alas!"

Zhu Gaoxu nodded calmly and said yes.He thought to himself: Zhang Fu has indeed completely got rid of his dependence on Zhang Yu, and only those who can control one side alone can say such words.In the past, Zhu Gaoxu had seen some young people who were happy when their parents were gone, because they could spend as much as they wanted without control.

The two of them thought about Zhu Neng for a while, and then Zhang Fu asked about the business. He pointed to the large area of ​​fortifications in front of him and said, "The Annan Army built a line of defense along the river. His Highness the King of Han has laid siege to Muwan Prefecture. Open a gap to the west?"

Zhu Gaoxu said casually, "I'm thinking about it."

Zhang Fu was taken aback when he heard this.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu hurriedly said: "I attacked Muwan Prefecture, it has nothing to do with the overall situation, I just think this city can be pulled out."

Zhang Fu: "..." He was stunned for a long time, and then gently reminded: "Before paying homage to the King of Han, I took a look at the city. The city is very strong, and there are many defenders on it."

Zhu Gaoxu said: "No matter what kind of city it is, people are guarding it, so it depends on the people."

Zhang Fu didn't argue too much, at this moment he nodded, noncommittal.

The two inspected the fortifications of the siege together for a while, and Zhu Gaoxu invited Zhang Fu to the camp of the Chinese Army.A few isolated tile-roofed houses, and the surrounding houses were demolished by the Ming army.There are mud-rammed walls, lots of furniture made of bamboo, and maps, files, paper and pens are placed in the simple camp of the Chinese army.

Zhang Fu looked at the pictures hanging on the wall for a while, then clasped his fists and said, "The Annan Army defending along the river must have been to delay the progress of the officers and troops, and to make them retreat without fighting in the plague and rain. If our army wants to break through Here, we must first cross the great river, and then capture the eastern capital of Annan Kingdom, Thang Long (the west is Qinghua). I don’t know if what I’m saying makes sense?”

"What the Marquis of Xincheng said is true." Zhu Gaoxu agreed.

After hearing this, Zhang Fu continued: "Duobang and Shenglong have the most enemy soldiers. If we want to capture Shenglong, there are two ways to go. If we go to the west, we have to pull Muwan Prefecture, Duobang City, and Shenglong successively. Dragon, all the way to attack the important town; the advantage is that if the King of Han can capture Muwan Prefecture and open up the intersection of the Baihe River and the Dajiang River, the Dajiang River here is narrower and it is easier to cross the river.

If you go to the east, the downstream river is wide, and the main force of the Annan Army's navy is here, and the battle across the river will take a lot of hard work.However, as long as you can cross the river from here, you can bypass the fortifications of Muwan Prefecture and Duobang City, and go straight to Shenglong City; if you siege the city and lure the enemy soldiers from Duobang City to come to rescue, there is no need to attack Dobang city.

I heard the news that An Nanguo Hu's father and son sent people to build Duobang City many times, and the fortifications of this city were built so strong that they were very difficult to attack. "

Zhu Gaoxu asked: "Which road do you think is better?"

Zhang Fudao: "In the law of war, the first is to attack the army, the next is to attack the enemy, the second is to attack the army, and the next is to attack the city. I think that the army builds warships on the Mijiang River. After the water battle, it goes straight to the city of Shenglong, so as to avoid Muwan. It seems to be easier for the two strong cities of the state and the state."

"Can the officers and soldiers temporarily build warships to seize the river?" Zhu Gaoxu asked.

Zhang Fu was rather hesitant, and said: "I will try my best to win the water battle."

Zhu Gaoxu took two steps, "Since there is no guarantee of success, we should cast the net widely to create more opportunities for success. The Marquis of Xincheng built a ship on the Bijiang River and prepared for water battles; our department first took Muwan Prefecture and tried to build a ship. Cross the river on the pontoon bridge. When the army can cross the river, the two armies will join forces again and concentrate their forces to attack the important town!"

Zhang Fu was silent for a moment, then clasped his fists and said decisively: "The last general obeys the order!"

At this moment, there was a loud "boom" in the air, which made people mistakenly think it was thunder.But soon the noise became more and more frequent. It was the cannon fire of the Ming army.

Zhu Gaoxu looked up at the sky outside the door, and said: "Tomorrow morning, our department will be able to officially start the siege. Let's do our own things first and try our best to succeed."

Zhang Fu clasped his fists and said, "Since this is the case, the last general will not stay any longer. He will immediately return to the army and follow the order of the King of Han to build warships. Farewell!"

Zhu Gaoxu personally sent Zhang Fu to the gate of Wafang, and then asked Zhao Ping to send Zhang Fu out of the camp.

Inside the fortifications of the Ming army, gunpowder smoke filled the air everywhere, the artillery was ringing one after another, and the flames flickered like lightning in the clouds; the infantry of the Ming army were all watching from behind the fortifications, but they hadn't stepped up yet.In the open space behind the fortifications, countless craftsmen and soldiers are still rushing to work on ladders, carts and other equipment.

In front of the fence, five hundred paces away was the city wall of Kimaru Prefecture.Only the artillery of the Ming army was firing, but the Annan army did not fight back... because it was useless to fight back, and the Annan army's artillery could not hit so far.

The heavy artillery of the Ming army is called the Hongwu Cannon, which looks big, clumsy and thick. It is loaded with stone or iron bullets weighing dozens of kilograms. There are no accessories such as front sights, and it looks very rough.But it is still the most advanced iron-cast heavy cannon at this time. Without that casting technology, the iron-cast cannon is easy to crack.

The Hongwu cannon functions like a trebuchet at a relatively long distance. It throws heavy bullets, flies into the air, and then makes a hole on the ground, or falls on the city wall and smashes into landslides.At close range, you can also stuff wooden horses and ram fine soil to load loose bullets, and small iron pellets of crushed stones can kill and wound on the area. When the distance is closer, the effect is better.

Zhu Gaoxu rode a horse and patrolled along the fence fortifications, observing the soldiers firing cannons there.The ground shook and the mountains shook, and the battle was very large, but the accuracy and lethality of the shells were indeed limited. At a distance of [-] steps, most of the shells would not be able to hit a big target like the city wall, and the damage range would not be large.

This is the most powerful weapon of this era.Zhu Gaoxu knew very well in his heart that in the end, it was up to the people to rush to the front and decide the winner with swords, guns, bows, crossbows, and blunderbuss.

Chapter 3 The whole country resists the enemy (3)

The geomantic omen of Mumaru Prefecture is not good. It is located in the arch of the curved river, which neither hides the wind nor gathers water; if it is on the south bank of the river, and the city is built in the bend of the river, the geomantic omen will be much better... So now Mumaru State is under siege by 10,000+ people.

The clear sky has long been shrouded in smoky dust and gunpowder smoke, as if clouds have pressed down on the ground.In the hazy smoke and dust, roaring artillery fire flickered in all directions. There were cannons with relatively large flames, and there were also sparkling firecrackers.

Zhu Gaoxu, who was riding a brown horse, was surrounded by a group of cavalry, and crossed in the smoke of the battlefield.He saw ladders erected everywhere outside the city wall, and chariots, artillery carts, and countless infantry were constantly advancing.There was a turmoil of people on all sides, shouts of killing and screams could be heard endlessly.

There are people falling on the city wall all the time, including soldiers of the Ming army who were shot down on the ladder, and defenders of the Annan army who were shot down by bow | crossbow firearms.

The firecrackers on the wall fired as densely as fried beans, but the soldiers of the Ming army, wearing wide-brimmed iron helmets and holding shields, were still slowly climbing up the ladder without any signs of being hit by the firecrackers. .

Zhu Gaoxu did not interfere with the generals' siege tactics at all, he was just observing the progress of the siege.However, he personally went to the battlefield, which in itself was the supervision of generals at all levels.

Regardless of the soldiers and generals dissuading him from being wary of Liu Ya, Zhu Gaoxu still patrolled on horseback a hundred paces away from the city.He watched for a long time before he was sure that the firearms of the Annan army could not cause any harm to the soldiers on the ladder.

Shields and armor are useful, but the main reason is that the firearms of Annan's army cannot hit the soldiers of the Ming army who are sticking to the wall.When the muzzle is down, the ammunition seems to slide out; Annan's firearms can only attack the Ming army approaching on the road.

The square city at this time really can't allow firearms to play their biggest role, and the angle of the bastion | side shot is most suitable for firearms.However, the high wall can better prevent the climbing of the siege army.

Zhu Gaoxu rode a horse for a while, and came across a pond, so he had to go around the ruins of the village whose roof had been demolished.The terrain here is already flat and vast, but there are many water areas, and lakes and ponds can be seen everywhere.

When a group of cavalry crossed a large rice field from a main road, they could see the big river to the south.

"Woo..." Zhu Gaoxu made a sound, and lightly reined in the brown horse.He stationed his horse on the edge of the rice field and stood for a long time looking at the river.

The inside and outside of the city on the bank of the river was in chaos, but the surface of the river was still very calm.There is a piece of land in the middle of the river near Kimaru Prefecture, which forms a port with the riverside.Many warships anchored on the shore of the land in the middle of the river, as well as the city's water gate wharf.Because Zhu Gaoxu's men did not organize a navy, there was no war on the river.

Zhu Gaoxu made a tour and returned to the camp inside the siege fortifications.There were many more wounded soldiers in the barracks, and the screaming and groaning in the wounded barracks never stopped, shouting everywhere, very miserable.