Lord of the House - v12 Chapter 60

Zhang Xie, Fan Wenlan, Juqu and other princes and ministers were summoned to the palace after half an hour.

Hearing that Emperor Tianming put his vision on the sea defense line again, Zhang Xie said: “The sea defense line is as solid as a golden soup, and the Daoyu Village, Tieshan Village and Zhudao City Walled and fought against each other with the navy, although the Huaidong Navy is strong , how can you take advantage of it?”

The most famous example of fighting by city in modern times is the Battle of Jiyang at the beginning of Lin Fu’s rise to Jianghuai. At that time, She Feixiong led more than 4,000 East Sea bandits to attack Jiyang City. In addition to more than 100 old sword archers in Jiyang, there were only 400 guards led by Lin Fu and Gu Wuchen.

At that time, Lin Fu and Gu Wuchen could of course hide in Jiyang and wait for help, but they could not stop the East China Sea bandits from plundering and slaughtering the countryside. Lin Fu resolutely formed a formation outside the north city of Jiyang, fought according to the city, and took advantage of the favorable support of the city walls to fight against the enemy. After several days of fighting to the death, in the end, the Donghai bandits who were not nearly ten times his own were repelled, and they also achieved a record of annihilating more than a thousand enemies. This battle not only greatly increased Gu Wuchen’s popularity in Jianghuai, but also was the first time for Lin Fu’s outstanding military talents. Dazzling bloom. After the **** battle in Jiyang, Lin Fucai was able to lead the Jiangdong Zuo Army to the north with Cheng Yuqian to the King of Qin.

This example also proves from the side that it is an effective tactic to fight the weak against the strong if you want to be brave and fight according to the city.

The theoretical basis of the sea-locking line of defense lies in this: Compared with the Huaidong navy, the Dengzhou navy is naturally very weak, but as long as there are islands and fortresses that can be relied on and fight against the islands, defending the Bohai Sea is not a problem.

On other defense lines, Duxin attached troops to guard the outer defense line, and the elites of the Beiyan clan were concentrated on the inner line, but on the sea defense line, although Ye Jier used Su Tingzhan and others to lower the Han generals to the navy generals, he defended the island. The people in the plug are all loyal to the Beiyan royal family’s own children and elite soldiers, that is, they can survive and die with the island plug.

Everyone knows that Bohaikou is the soft underbelly of Beiyan. It is precisely because of this weakness that they invest so much resources to build the sea-locking defense line. It is really difficult for Zhang Xie and others to imagine that the Huaidong Army will still collide with the sea-locking line of defense.

“No,” Yejier stood upright, insisting on his own judgment, holding his pale, bloodless palm in the morning light and pressing it on the wall chart marked the sea defense line, “The sea defense line looks like a rock, but As long as it penetrates the sea-locked defense line, Huaidong’s troops can directly cross the Bohai Sea and threaten Dayan’s heart. We were confused by Huaidong’s suspected military strategy, and mistakenly thought that the focus of its use of troops was on the Bian and Si lines, but we ignored the most fundamental One point. Donghaihu has the heart of the northern expedition, and also has the intention of usurping the throne. Then he will be too slow to fight from Xuzhou to the north. He must consider what to do when he fights halfway in Shandong and the sudden death of Emperor Yongxing… …”

Ye Zier was so firm that he wanted to bring everyone’s attention back to the sea-locked defense line, and he couldn’t help but think about it.

Fan Wenlan frowned and pondered: “Just as the emperor said, the main force of the Huaidong Army is advancing northward from Xuzhou along the Bian and Si rivers. Quick. In this process, once Emperor Yongxing dies, will Lin Fu leave the army on the battlefield and rush back to Jiangning to usurp the throne first? Or should he withdraw his troops and return to Xuzhou and rush back to Jiangning to usurp the throne? Or is it a war? It doesn’t seem to be appropriate to keep usurped the throne and proclaimed emperor temporarily…”

Juqu Mengye, Nahe Wugu and other old officials also closed their eyebrows and meditated.

They are all veterans who can conquer and fight well. They know that once the army starts, it can’t stop if you want to – Lin Fu certainly wouldn’t be stupid enough to stop suddenly in the middle of the Northern Expedition. In that case, they would laugh in their dreams in Yanjing City. Awake. If the Northern Expedition cannot be stopped at the beginning, and troops are dispatched from Xuzhou, along Bian and Sibei, the pace of the whole battle will not be fast, and it will probably last for a year or two…

Emperor Yongxing’s terminal illness was confirmed by various sources, and it was not an illusion. In the past, Yanjing judged that Lin Bie could only choose between the Northern Expedition and the usurpation of the throne, which was the basis for this.

Considering it from another angle, if Lin Fu had the intention to take into account both the Northern Expedition and the usurpation of the throne, then breaking the sea defense line might be a good choice.

The Huaidong Army took the sea route and attacked the sea defense line. The biggest advantage was that it could advance and retreat freely——

Once Emperor Yongxing did not intend to die, and the Jinghai Division failed to penetrate the sea-locked defense line, there is no need to worry that the Dengzhou Navy would be able to pursue the back road, and the big deal would be to return to Haizhou. Leaving too many sequelae.

If Emperor Yongxing dies when Jinghai Division breaks through the sea defense line, Lin Fu can still rely on the powerful navy to defend the Bohaikou strongholds such as Huangcheng Island and Miaoshan Island, and first return to Jiangning to usurp the throne and become emperor. Then from the Bohai mouth to continue to attack Jinhai and other Yanji belly.

If the Jinghai Division penetrates the sea defense line, and the elites of the Huaidong horse infantry land from Jinhai and other places, and penetrate into the hinterland of Yanji, Emperor Yongxing will die-at this time, when Yanjing is in sight, Lin Fu’s reputation will inevitably rise to An unprecedented height, even if you are not in a hurry to go back to be the emperor, even if you drag the Yongxing Emperor secretly without mourning, others will not dare to play tricks with him at this time!

From this point of view, the Huaidong Army does have the possibility of strategically attacking the sea-locked defense line.

Of course, although there is such a judgment, the adjustment of the entire strategy is not an easy task; more importantly, the biggest question in everyone’s mind: how should the Huaidong Army attack the sea defense line by storm? Under the current tactical conditions, it is not an exaggeration to say that the sea-locked defense line is impregnable. How could the Huaidong Army think of storming the sea-locked defense line.

Fan Wenlan asked suspiciously, “Could it be that someone in Dengzhou has infiltrated Huaidong with sand?”

Ye Jier looked at Zhang Xie, Mengye, Wu Gu and other old officials. If he couldn’t attack by force, he would corrode from the inside. Huaidongwan’s old tactic was also done once or twice.

In the Jinan war, Huaidong first lured the Song family to be an internal response, and drove the She family out of Mindong in one fell swoop; in the Yuanzhou war, Huaidong first secretly lured Zhou Zhizheng to be an internal response – the battle of Jingxiang, suffered a severe setback, the biggest variable To put it bluntly, Wang Xiang had already surrendered to Huaidong, but Luo Xiancheng, Shewenzhuang and other scheming people were not aware of it in advance.

It is not impossible for Huaidong to repeat the old tactic in the sea-locked defense line.

After the battle of Jingxiang, many of the courtiers who had joined Han were unstable, and their loyalty to Beiyan was not enough to believe.

It’s just that at this time, a thorough review of the Suohai Defense Line and the surrendered Hanchen in Dengzhou will inevitably cause the army’s heart to fluctuate.

“The West Temple Supervisor is in Dengzhou, as long as Tong Huacheng and Na Hexiongqi are informed about this matter; if another senior official from Yanjing is sent to conduct an investigation secretly, there may not be any problems. If there is no problem with the generals on the sea-locking defense line, the envoys to Dengzhou can also check on behalf of the emperor whether there are other loopholes in the sea-locking defense line…” Zhang Xie said.

“Fan Wenlan, you just wait for me to go this trip.” Ye Jier said, with his body, it is not suitable for him to leave the capital at this time. Besides, if he leaves Beijing to go to Dengzhou, the movement is too big, but it will disturb the military’s heart. It does not stabilize people’s hearts.

Fan Wenlan had just answered the decree, when a courtier came in to report: “Wu Mancheng, the master craftsman, asks to see you…”

Seeing the courtier frowning in embarrassment, Ye Jier asked carefully, “What’s wrong?”

“Master Wu looked like he was scorched with a big bamboo pole and came over. The guards of Wenyuan Pavilion wanted to stop him. Master Wu cursed, saying that it was the treasure the emperor wanted to see, and he would not touch the guards of Wenyuan Pavilion. “

No matter how civil or military officials enter the palace, they have to remove their armor and blades. Wu Mancheng holds a big bamboo pole, and naturally he has to be stopped by the guards.

“Is the flame-throwing show made in kind?” Fan Wenlan asked suspiciously.

At this time, it has been three months since Tong Huacheng played the fire crossbow and Wu Mancheng trial-produced the flame-throwing show.

Yezier instructed his courtiers: “Let Wu Mancheng bring things in.”

The courtier said again in embarrassment: “Master Wu wants the emperor to go to Zuoyuan, so the place is empty.”

Na He Wugu scolded in a calm voice: “This Wu Mancheng, still know what the sky is high and the earth is thick, the emperor can be sent by him?”

Ye Zier was not annoyed, and said, “Since Wu Mancheng has made a real object, we will go to Zuoyuan to have a look. If it is not satisfactory, it will not be too late to scold him…” He asked the courtier to lead Wu Mancheng to Zuoyuan, and he and Zhang Xie , Fan Wenlan, Mengye, Wu Gu and other old officials also rushed to Zuoyuan to join Wu Mancheng.

The Royal Garden is divided into left and right gardens, which are originally one. Although Yezier said that his health was not good for these years, his martial arts style was still there, so he divided the imperial garden into a piece, and built a school field where he could perform martial arts in the palace, called Zuoyuan.

Yezier arrived at Zuoyuan a little later, and Wu Mancheng was already waiting there.

Wu Mancheng’s beard, hair and eyebrows were not burned, but he had just returned from the fire. Seeing Ye Zier coming, he was busy kneeling down with the workers who would be the master craftsmen to greet him. There are several bamboo poles under their feet, with different thicknesses, and the shape is almost the same as the ancient picture of the flame-throwing show presented by Wu Mancheng some time ago, except that the outer stubble is surrounded by several layers of copper hoops.

Ye Zier sat down under the brocade tent and said to Wu Mancheng: “Tong Huacheng also heard a secret report some time ago, saying that Huaidong Fuhuo’s body is like a giant tube, so it seems that it is indeed a new weapon created by imitating the flame-throwing show. However, I don’t know exactly how to operate it, you can try to show me…”

“There is quite a lot of movement, and the emperor needs to have a mental preparation.” Wu Mancheng said.

Yezier smiled, don’t look at him being ill at this time, but he was also skilled with bows and swords in his early years, and blood came and went on the battlefield. What scenes and movements did he not experience? Yezier waved Wu Mancheng to stop talking nonsense, and hurry up to perform the audition. He also called the ministers to discuss the matter of locking the sea defense line.

Wu Mancheng was afraid of an accident and asked the guards to stand in front of Emperor Tianming, but Emperor Tianming impatiently asked the guards to move away, so as not to stop him from watching Wu Mancheng perform the flame-throwing test.

The commander picked up a flame tube the thickness of the baby’s arm, filled a large bag of powdered fuhuodan through the opening, and connected the medicine stick out of the opening, so that the flame pointed to the outside, and ignited the medicine stick with flint. ——Yejier watched the sparks on the medicine stick, like a snake, and got into the mouth of the tube in the blink of an eye. Just when everyone thought that there should be five-color smoke coming out of the mouth of the tube, there was a sound of “chi” and the tube exploded. The mouth suddenly spewed out flames and white smoke. After the white smoke dissipated, I saw that the grass and trees outside the flame spouting mouth were blown to pieces and leaves fell, a mess…

Everyone did not expect such a big movement, and they were all taken aback.

Ye Zier suppressed the shock in his heart, and asked Wu Mancheng according to the long case covered with brocade: “Can this thing hurt people?”

“Please put a big target twenty steps away and try again,” Wu Mancheng said.

Ye Zier entrusted the guards to do all the work. Zuoyuan was originally used for performing martial arts, and the bow and target were all complete—Wu Mancheng also replaced the flame tube with another flame tube. After filling and twisting the medicine, he filled a stone pill and faced Twenty paces away, a man-tall puppet target ignited and shot.

When the guards brought the puppet target that Shiwan had beaten beyond recognition, the expressions of Yezier and the princes and ministers changed. Fan Wenlan was stunned for a long time, then recovered from his shock, saying: “Where is this flame-throwing show, it’s obviously a flame-throwing crossbow! Huaidong called it a fire-breathing crossbow, which is indeed appropriate. One crossbow fires dozens of arrows. , Although it is possible to shoot twenty or thirty steps, but suddenly approaching a close place and launching a powerful attack, who said that the power will be less than that of a crossbow?”

Naturally, Wu Mancheng would not simply imitate the flame-throwing show according to the ancient books. Since the Huaidong Army had rumored that there was a fire crossbow, Wu Mancheng naturally followed the direction of the lethal crossbow to study the fire pill and the fire-breathing game. It took three months to create these weapons with a lethality that is not weaker than that of ordinary hunters. The “flame crossbow” of the crossbow comes.

After watching the audition, Ye Jier and all the princes and ministers can understand that the flames created by the Huaidong Army, even if they are different from this, should be more sophisticated and powerful.

Wu Mancheng groped for the flame-throwing crossbow he built within three months, which could kill a leather-armored **** within twenty steps, while the Huaidong Army secretly built the flame-throwing crossbow for at least three years. How powerful would it be?

Fifty steps to kill a pawn, a hundred steps to kill a pawn, or to the level of two hundred steps to kill a pawn?

Although Yezier and others tried their best to use their imaginations, they were only limited by the inertia of thinking. They only compared the fire-armed crossbow with the traditional arm-stretched crossbow.

Yezier asked Wu Mancheng to bring a flame-throwing crossbow that he had tried to come forward. He saw that the mouth of the tube was burnt black, with a strong smell of sulfur and burning. Although the outside of the bamboo tube was surrounded by copper rings, the flame-throwing crossbow did not crack as a whole, but the bamboo tube on the inner layer could not withstand such a violent explosion and had already burst. Obviously, this flame-throwing crossbow had been used once. , it will be obsolete…

“Is the bore tube made of copper and iron, which can be used repeatedly; if the medicine is filled more, the power will be greater?” Ye Jier is also a well-informed person, and he immediately asked the key point.

Wu Mancheng nodded and said, “That’s right, it’s just that the director can’t be spared for a while…”

Na Hewugu said: “Then quickly recruit people from all over the world, and make five or six thousand to spend; I think this is better than using a crossbow. Especially when defending the city, the enemy army climbed up to the top of the city and shot a crossbow in the face. If you spray it, you will hit a hundred shots…” He Wugu was also a veteran, he saw the range of the flamethrowing crossbow, but the spray was just one piece, which was used to defend the fortress and had a much stronger advantage than ordinary bows and crossbows.

Wu Mancheng smiled bitterly and said, “Master Wu Gu, it is easy to tie a few copper circles with a bamboo pipe, but it is not easy to cast copper pipes and iron pipes~www.mtlnovel.com~—one more fire-fighting pill needs to be used. When it comes to medicine nitrate. Nitrogen can be used as medicine, and it is available in drugstores, but the whole Yanjing’s medicine nitrate is about four or five hundred kilograms. We have used it in the past three months. In a city as big as Yanjing, one or two thousand catties can be harvested in a year, and two thousand catties of medicine can be taken to the sky…”

Fan Wenlan saw that the crossbow was built just now. A crossbow has two or three ounces of charge. Two thousand catties of fire pills can be used in a year. Five thousand flame-throwing crossbows can only be fired twice a year. What’s the point?

In comparison, the number of arrow clusters used in the manufacture of traditional bows and crossbows is as many as four or five million each year.

Furthermore, the cast copper and iron bore tube can be used repeatedly, but it is easy to say, but not necessarily easy to build. What if the real samples were captured from the battlefield?

The iron skeleton ship built by Huaidong is disassembled and placed in the Tieshan Shipyard. The structure does not look complicated at all. ships with iron skeletons.

Fan Wenlan admonished: “In my humble opinion, instead of rushing to build the flame-throwing crossbow at this time, it is more important to make the generals familiar with the characteristics of the flame-throwing crossbow and take precautions against it. The flame-throwing crossbow has its own advantages and has The shortcoming is that as long as the countermeasures are skillful and effective, it doesn’t matter how the Huaidong Army can rely on it.”

Ye Zier was right when he thought about it, and instructed Wu Mancheng: “The general manager quickly builds more flame-throwing crossbows, so that the engineers can go to each army to practice shooting, and make sure that the generals of the army understand their nature, so as not to be abrupt when engaging in battle. Helpless.”

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PS: I recommend Ziwei’s work “Super Jiading”, a chaotic history of an evil, insidious, funny, and playful little Jiading! Address: /book/126081.html