Dominate the Country

The first day of October is the birthday of Chen Ming's eldest daughter. Why is it called the eldest daughter? That's because Mrs. Shi gave birth to a little daughter to Chen Ming not long ago. Today, the Prince's Mansion in Nanjing must be bustling with activity, but in the open fields across the canal in Yangliuqing Town in the west of Tianjin, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses from the Han and Qing Dynasties are facing off, and a war is about to break out.

Beijing never thought that the Fuhan Army would come all the way from Shandong along the land route. They looked at the Fuhan Army's naval superiority and the level of activity of the Fuhan Army's navy, and they made a hundred-hearted determination. The Fuhan Army will definitely attack Tianjin and kill them. So Yangliuqing is still an ordinary town.

Of course, even if Yangliuqing Town was a military point, Chen Ming would not be afraid. But this saved him a lot of trouble. He immediately sent a battalion across the canal and occupied the empty town of Yangliuqing without any bloodshed.

After the Fuhan Army occupied this place, Chen Ming specially asked someone to find several New Year painting engravings from the local area. Yangliuqing during the Qianlong period was at its peak. New Year pictures, such an inconspicuous gadget, have been included in the textbooks of later generations along with Yang Liuqing.

But no matter how wealthy the town is, it is still insignificant and ignored when faced with the overall military situation. No one will take the town of Yangliuqing seriously. The local people fled one after another, and the entire Yangliuqing Town almost became an empty city. The only role it could play in the subsequent war was to cover the flanks of the Fuhan Army from the other side of the canal.

When the Grand Canal reaches Yangliuqing, it makes a 70- or 80-degree turn, and Yangliuqing is at the top of that turn.

The Fuhan Army on the south bank also relied on this bend to set up their campsite.

The Qing army did not expect that Chen Ming would fight all the way from Shandong to Tianjin, but at the same time, what they did not expect was Chen Ming's military strength. The total strength of the Fuhan Army that appeared in Yangliuqing was only 13,000 people. Hahaha, isn't it ridiculous? Thirteen thousand people came to Beijing and Tianjin? There are one thousand cavalry among them.

But for Chen Ming, this was really helpless. Starting from Wudingfu, Shandong, Dezhou - Dongguang, Dongguang - Nanpi, Nanpi - Cangzhou, Cangzhou - Xingji Town - Qingxian, Qingxian - Tangguantun - Jinghai, Jinghai - Liang Wangzhuang-Yangliuqing is a straight line along the north of the canal. Although it cannot be applied to the canal itself, Yinglian had already ordered people to sink ships in many places without large-scale dredging and cleaning. Now the canal in Hebei is abandoned.

But for this series of strongholds, if the Fuhan Army did not want to cut off their retreat and logistics lines, they would have to divide their troops to defend each one. Moreover, the troops left behind are not purely defensive in the form of depots, but have extra troops that can take the initiative to attack the enemy. This cut off too much of Chen Ming's strength. If part of the Shandong Army's First Division hadn't rushed north urgently, Chen Ming's troops would have been less than 10,000 when they arrived at Yangliuqing.

The Qing army opposite Chen Ming quickly gathered 30,000 cavalry from more than 10,000 cavalry at the beginning, including Xiaowanqi in the light cavalry team.

Every day, large groups of horse soldiers were blatantly sent southward from outside the Fuhan Army camp, trying to cut off the Fuhan Army's transportation lines. Little did he know that Chen Ming had long since stopped counting on the string of beads behind him to actually serve as a "transportation line". He divided his troops to stay behind them more so that they would have a backup and a place to stay when retreating in the future. Further information also came. The Qing Army's Eight Banners New Army not only dispatched, but also dispatched at least 20,000 people in one fell swoop, and carried more than 50 new cannons. They have now descended from Tongzhou to Wuqing.

Gao Jinghui and Lu Long were very interested in the new army of 28,000 Banners. "The Tatars are actually willing to take out their capital."

"We have already reached Yangliuqing, can Tianjin be far away? Tianjin is not far away, can Beijing be far away? The whole Beijing and Tianjin are in shock. The Tatars will send people to attack us even if they want to calm people's hearts."

"Your Highness, let's have a big fight with them here. I'm even worried that they will only focus on pinching us from behind, but avoid fighting from the front." Lu Long's eyes flashed. The Second Cangzhou Garrison Division showed its face in the First World War. Not only did it contain Shu Hede who had escaped from Shandong, but the Zhili Green Camp under Ying Lian was also destroyed. But the greater honor was won by the Prince's cavalry in Shandong. To say the least, it was also won by the 13th Brigade. Lu Long's men were the 14th Brigade.

This time, although the 13th Brigade led by Gao Jinghui also came, the troops were severely divided along the way, with only one regiment remaining, while the 14th Brigade remained basically intact.

Lu Long desperately wanted to show his face. If he could be as glorious as Gao Jinghui once, and the Han army would expand greatly in the future, his position as division commander would be certain. What's more, this is Beijing and Tianjin, and the city of Beijing is right in front of us. This can be regarded as a battle to destroy the country!

Just like the Spring Festival Gala in Chen Ming's previous life, who wouldn't want to show off on such a grand stage? Roar? This is more honorable than dancing ten times on a small stage.

The Fuhan Army, whose confidence has been soaring, has really entered the realm of "don't ask how many enemies there are, just ask where they are" when it comes to the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Twelve thousand infantry and one thousand traditional cavalry faced off against 20,000 to 30,000 Qing infantry and large groups of cavalry, and the latter soon had 20,000 new Banner troops as reinforcements. Gao Jinghui and Lu Long didn't think about the question of 'win or not'!

With such high morale among his men, Chen Ming would naturally not destroy his own prestige. With the strength he has now, even if the Qing Dynasty's 50,000 to 60,000 troops attack together, he will not be afraid at all. "Of course it's good to have a decisive battle." Both sides will suffer losses in the fight, and the Fuhan Army will make a lot of money. "I'm afraid they won't retreat if they don't fight, and they will waste time with us."

The year and month are still wrong. If this is the ice-free period, Chen Ming is now leading the team to the beach. Even if the transport ships of the Fuhan Army could only park far away in the sea and could not reach the shore, Chen Ming was not afraid of anyone by relying on small boats to transport them.

Now, the various ammunition reserves in his hand "should be enough to fight two or three high-intensity battles."

Chen Ming was about to speak when the rumble of horse hooves suddenly came from the distance. He thought it was another cavalry troop galloping by the Qing army as usual. Liu Wu from outside quickly walked in and reported: "Your Highness, the Qing army has another cavalry. It did not join the Qing army and stayed on the other side of the canal. "We are now moving along the canal towards the Fuhan Army camp. Although separated by a canal!

"The Qing army can't calm down anymore?" Chen Ming's face lit up with joy, knowing that the Qing army's actions were about to begin, he swept his eyes from the faces of the officers present on his left and right, "Everyone, are you determined to defeat the enemy? "

Lu Long jumped up first, "Your Highness, as long as the Tatars dare to come, our brigade will kill them without leaving any trace!" Lu Long, as the deputy division commander of the Second Guard Division, is a part-time brigade commander of the 14th Brigade. But now it seems that, like Gao Jinghui, who also leads the 13th Brigade, he regards himself more as a brigade commander than a division commander.

The first large-scale contact battle between the Han and Qing Dynasties took place on the afternoon of the first day of October. The team moving from the north bank of the canal to the side of the Fuhan Army was none other than the cavalry team led by Hai Lancha.

In today's contact, in addition to Hailancha, the commander of the Qing army in Tianjin, Fu Seng'e, and the commander of the reinforcements, Fuller, were also present.

There were eight miles between the two sides in formation. The Fuhan Army arranged their positions in front of the turn of the Grand Canal, which was the front for Chen Ming and due east for the geographical location. The Fuhan Army did not build any fortifications. After they arrived here, except for a few camps, no fortifications were built at all. The same was true for the Qing army. The two sides were facing each other in formations in the wild, eight miles apart. There was no way, both the Fuhan Army and the Qing Army knew the range of their artillery. Five miles was no longer an absolutely safe number, eight miles was about the same.

"Your Highness, the Tatars don't seem to be planning to take the initiative to attack. They are arrayed so far away from us. Is it possible that they will have supporting troops arriving?" That would boost the morale of the Qing army to a certain extent. Shen Shiying put down the monocular telescope he had held for a long time and said to Chen Ming.

He is Shen Guozhen's son. He graduated with first place from the Military Academy in the summer. He was transferred to the Governor's Office by Chen Ming, and then joined the General Staff. He is now one of Chen Ming's army staff officers.

"So what? Can a lamb turn into a tiger?" Chen Ming was now looking at the Qing army's 'morale', which looked like cotton wool. This is very demoralizing. On the other hand, the morale of the cavalry team across the canal looked like 'white chocolate', which was much stronger than the Qing army opposite.

Gao Jinghui chuckled: "It would be great to have reinforcements! It would be great if we could attract all the soldiers and horses in Beijing to Yangliuqing and defeat them all in one battle." This time there were a thousand pieces of troops accompanying the army. Rockets, except for 400 small rockets and 100 special bombs, the remaining 500 are all medium and heavy rockets. In addition to rockets, there are also 1,500 rounds of rocket shells.

Fifteen six-barreled rocket launchers!

Although the latter has a short range and poor accuracy, as long as it is fast, has intensive firepower and is powerful, it is a perfect weapon in the modern era.

Perrier and the Spaniard, Chen Ming did not take them, but left them in Jinghai.

"Don't worry about whether the Tatars want to wait for others. Let's arrange the caltrops and horse guns first." Chen Ming could not produce large quantities of iron wire. In this era, the speed of making iron wire was too slow and too labor-intensive. The economic benefits are not very good!

Chen Ming could only pick up the caltrops again. As for the anti-horse gun, a traditional Chinese protective equipment, as long as it is useful, then use it.

"Your Highness, I will take the lead this time."

"Okay. But you must win for me!"

"If we can't win, I won't come back to see His Highness."

The two sides had been in formation for an hour. Seeing that the layout of the Fuhan Army was completed, the Qing Army did nothing except send two groups of cavalry to visit from a distance.

"The clouds follow the dragon, the wind follows the tiger, fame and fortune come from dust and earth. Look at China, the people are suffering, and the fertile land for thousands of miles is barren. Look at the world, all the barbarians are there, and the broken way of heaven can only be repaired..."

The soldiers of the 1st Regiment of the 14th Brigade sang the "War Hymn of the Red Scarf Army" and pushed towards the right wing of the Qing army's position - against the canal - with their heads held high. In front of them, twelve eight-pound cannons were slowly pushed forward by the artillery; behind them, dozens of flatbed carts pulled by old oxen and strong horses, the oxen carts were loaded with ammunition, and a smaller proportion of the horse-drawn carriages were The contents are rattan baskets and sacks.

The three battalions of the 1st Regiment of the 14th Brigade were arranged in pins, with the regiment headquarters sandwiched in the middle. The entire military column moved very slowly, but the morale of the Fuhan Army soldiers who stepped onto the battlefield was like a burning fire. They lost the stability and dignity before, but became more aggressive. As for the Qing army on the opposite side, when the Fuhan army began to move, their morale dropped by another level.

The death of Qianlong, the defeat of Cangzhou, and the previous defeat of Shandong, a series of "failures", the Manchu and Qing Dynasties were really in trouble. Their morale was too low.

Of course, this may also be because the Fuhan Army has not yet truly reached the walls of Beijing.

Such a team should stay in the fortifications instead of being pulled out to fight in the field.

Chen Ming once again felt helpless about his family's bad luck. How great would it be if spring started? 56,780,000 people were transported by sea, even if Chen Ming had to wait at the beach for a month. The army gathered together and pressed forward majestically! He was really absolutely sure to crush the Qing army!

Now, it can only inflict trauma on the Qing army, rather than a fatal blow.

The Qing army in front of him had so many cavalry in hand. Even if their infantry collapsed, would Chen Ming dare to pursue them?

But even though he knew that the battle would only be a battle of defeat and not a battle of annihilation, Chen Ming still wanted to fight. If you can win a battle, it is a battle. If you can defeat the Qing army, it is a morale. If you can bite off a piece of their flesh, it is a piece of meat.

The Qing army's artillery did not move forward too much. When the Fuhan army's artillery carts advanced to about five miles away from the Qing army's artillery, the Qing army's general cannon and Portuguese twelve-pounder cannon opened fire.

The forward battalion of the Fuhan Army followed as the escort of the artillery, and the remaining troops temporarily stopped advancing. At the same time, the artillery troops' escorts and logistics soldiers urged the carriages to move forward. Rattan baskets were placed in front of the gun emplacement, sacks were used to hold soil, and high-quality shovels were mounted on the cart. How troublesome it is to lay out a complete artillery position! Still have to be under the gunfire of the Manchus!

When the Fuhan Army's artillery also opened fire, more than half an hour had passed. The construction of artillery positions is still in progress.

A regiment of scouts and snipers acted as skirmishers and took the lead in attacking. Behind them is the main force of the regiment. The first battalion returns to the sequence. The three battalions and the regiment headquarters have all turned into three long and thin lines.

The skirmishers, who numbered only forty or fifty in total, showed no fear in the face of the Qing artillery bombardment. If those iron balls want to hit them in scattered formations on the vast battlefield, it can only be said that God wants you to die at this time. Soon, gunfire rang out sporadically on the right flanks of both sides' positions.

When the shells fell one after another, and when the thin line of soldiers pressed over them, the Qing artillerymen expressed that they were under great mental pressure.

When the explosive bullet exploded, shrapnel flew in all directions, and its lethality and coverage were far greater than that of the solid bullet. The bilateral artillery battle has been going on for a quarter of an hour. There seems to be no damage to the Fuhan Army's artillery. At most, a few casualties were caused by the scurrying logistics soldiers, and a horse and an ox were lost. However, the Qing Army's artillery position But twenty or thirty gunners had been killed or injured. They were all killed by shrapnel!

When the Fuhan Army's private soldiers continued to shorten the distance to the Qing Army's artillery positions, Fu Seng'e also had to send out a phalanx of musketeers to fight.

The result is beyond doubt!

The Qing army's musketeers, who numbered three thousand, failed to shorten the distance between the two sides to fifty meters and fled in a big bang.

The 14th Brigade and the First Regiment did not pursue it, because the Qing army's cavalry had already trotted to respond when their musketeers were about to collapse.

The Fuhan Army's musketeers also rarely formed a hollow formation, but still lined up in three horizontal lines. Only the regiment headquarters itself formed a not-so-large hollow formation. And very bravely walked to the front of the three rows.

In the middle of the hollow array, a six-barreled rocket launcher was placed on each of the three four-wheeled vehicles.

…

Chen Ming looked ahead attentively.

"Whoosh whoosh..." The sound of rocket launchers, different from those of mortars and cannons, reached his ears faintly. Chen Ming's eyes were fixed on the sky, as more than a dozen black shadows dragged long tail flames through the air.

"Boom boom... boom boom..."

"Boom...boom..."

Like dazzling meteors falling from the sky, accompanied by deafening explosions, plumes of thick smoke rose on the battlefield ahead.

Streams of mushroom-like black smoke rose into the sky, and filling materials - iron sand, broken iron nails, etc. - were flying in all directions, tearing apart everything in front of him with so much kinetic energy that flesh and blood could not stop it.

The flesh and blood were blurred and dripping with blood. Every explosion seemed to rain blood. A Mongolian horse at the center of the explosion and the cavalrymen on its back were all shattered into pieces in the orange smoke.

"Charge, charge quickly, you can only survive if you charge in front of Chen Ni -" Jige, deputy commander of the Mongolian Xiangbai Banner of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, shouted loudly.

It didn't matter whether his shout could be heard by others in the noisy battlefield, or whether his order was correct, anyway, he would die in the next moment. A rocket shell landed less than a foot away to his left, and the violent explosions immediately shrouded Jigur and those around him in the debris and gunpowder smoke...