More than 100 small gunboats of the Ming army rushed up, this kind of small gunboats that can pass through the Ling Canal, the displacement is not large, there are only more than 20 people on the ship to operate, there are two 100-pound franc machine guns, although the firepower is not fierce, but the ship is small and flexible, more than 10 oarsmen on the ship take turns paddling, the speed is very fast, it is not easy for the Qing army's naval guns to hit them. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

The hundred-pound franc machine of the small gunboat kept spitting out tongues of fire, and the shells hit the Qing army ships one after another.

The height of the Qing army's big ship, once it was drilled into a dead corner by the Ming army's small boat, it was the fate of being passively beaten.

The warships of the two sides were already very close, in order to avoid accidentally injuring their own warships, the Ming army field artillery on the shore turned the muzzle and launched a bombardment on the rear of the Qing army, leaving four three-pounder front-loading hexagonal rifled guns, which still provided fire cover for the small sampan of the Ming army that was approaching the Qing army, and constantly sank the Qing warships to the bottom of the river.

The Ming soldiers rowed small sampans and kept approaching the large warships of the Qing army. After approaching, he threw the mine down and let it drift down the river to the Qing warship.

The Qing warship went upstream, and when they saw the wooden boxes floating on the river, they knew that it was not good, but they couldn't run away. It was very troublesome for the big ship to even turn, and the distance of the mines released by the Ming army was very close, and they were all multiple mines against a big ship, and the Qing army had no way to escape if they wanted to.

On the surface of the river, explosions sounded one after another, and columns of water rose up one after another. Every violent explosion sounded, and a Qing warship was sunk by a mine.

"Defeated!" Seeing that his powerful Hunan Navy Division's warships were sent to the bottom of the river one after another, the Qing Army's Navy Division Counselor said bitterly.

The Qing army's sailors didn't think at all that they couldn't beat the Ming army on the sea, because the Ming army's ships were strong and sharp, and they bullied the small with the big, and it was normal for the big ships to beat the small boats, and the Ming army's sailors at sea were too fierce. But today, the Ming army broke into the Xiangjiang River with only a batch of small sampans. The Qing army thought: Xiangjiang is my territory, how can I allow Haikou to spread wild here? So the Hunan Water Division, the most powerful inland water division of the Qing army, attacked, but still suffered a defeat.

This time, the Qing army couldn't figure it out, now that they are fighting small boats, why can't they beat them?

In fact, it is normal that they can't be beaten, and the sailors of the Ming army all came out of the strong wind and waves, even if they are all small boats, their combat effectiveness is not bad. A few decades earlier, the Ming army had been able to defeat the mighty Dutch fleet with small boats and win the Battle of Liuluo Bay. No matter how powerful the Hunan naval division of the Qing army is, it can't compare to the armed Galen ships of the Dutch, right? What's more, this time the Ming army was equipped with a new type of weapon, which replaced the fire attack ship with mines, making the naval division more powerful.

The Qing army's naval division was defeated and retreated, and the morale of the Ming army, which had won a great victory, was high.

"Wan Sheng! Wansheng! Tens of thousands of people from the two Ming armies shouted in unison, the shouts shook the sky, and the morale was like a rainbow.

After repelling the Qing army's Hunan naval division, Hengzhou was completely exposed to the Ming army's artillery fire.

The main force of the Qiongzhou Army, which went north from Chenzhou, crossed the Xiangjiang River and entered the west bank, forming an encirclement of Hengzhou City.

In the city of Hengzhou, Zhang Qixun, the prefect of Hengzhou, saw the retreat of the Qing army's sailors, and his face turned white with fright. Hearing the earth-shattering shouts outside the city, he knew that Hengzhou would definitely not be able to hold it. The defenders of the green battalion of the regular army of the Qing army in Hengzhou are very few, only more than 3,000 people, and most of the defenders in the city are practicing courage and people's strength, with 15,000 practicing courage and 23,000 people's strength.

However, Hengzhou's combat effectiveness is relatively strong, and it also belongs to a branch of Xiangyong, a local armed force formed by the local gentry.

At the head of the city, a young man wearing a Confucian costume and holding a folding fan in his hand said to Zhang Qixun: "Lord Zhang, my Hunan scholars have the same hatred and hatred, and Hunan is brave and dares to fight, if the thieves want to attack the city, the thieves will definitely be killed and injured!" ”

"If the whole world is full of scholars like Zeng Gongzi who are loyal to the monarch and serve the country, then the thief will not be able to move an inch!" Zhang Qixun returned the salute to the scholar.

This scholar's name is Zeng Fanchao, a scholar of Shigu Academy, although his family is not a famous family, but he also raised 1,000 taels of silver in order to form Xiangyong, and let his tenants go to Xiangyong. At this time, Zeng Fanchao's two younger brothers were taking their tenants to help defend the city.

After the two armies met, Wang Xinyu and Bai Wenxuan met, Cen Jilu and Cen Qidai, the leaders of the Guangxi Tusi, came to see Wang Xinyu, and the brothers Cen Shizhong and Cen Shipei, who first raised the anti-flag, also came to see Wang Xinyu.

"Everyone! Our army can quickly break through the Qing army in Guangxi, and you are indispensable! Wang Xinyu looked around and was very satisfied with these toasts and soldiers. Although the wolf soil soldiers are currently being incorporated by Bai Wenxuan, they are also the power of the Ming Dynasty.

In the battle of Xiangjiang, the Cen family Tusi had already seen the combat effectiveness of the Qiongzhou army. Now that it is close, this elite force has shocked the Cen family's large and small toasts. When they saw Bai Wenxuan before, they already felt that Bai Wenxuan's army was a strong army in the world. But when I met Wang Xinyu's army today, I realized that there was still a big gap between Bai Wenxuan's army and the Qiongzhou army.

"With such a strong army with a big handsome, are you afraid that the Ming Dynasty will not be able to recover the country?" Cen Jilu laughed.

Wang Xinyu asked Bai Wenxuan again: "King Gongchang, what about the Qing army generals in Guangxi?" ”

Bai Wenxuan replied: "They are still behind and have not come up yet. ”

Hengzhou is a big city, and there are 41,000 defenders in the city, although only 3,000 people are included in the official establishment of the Qing army, but the 15,000 Lian Yong is estimated to be above the Qing army in the green camp. In addition, the Qing army's naval division was not completely annihilated, if the Ming army attacked the city, the Qing army's naval division came from the Xiangjiang River and harassed the Ming army besieging the city with artillery, which was also a headache.

Wang Xinyu did not rashly attack the city, but ordered to dig a trench outside the city, build a barracks, build a fort and an earthen city, and was ready to prepare for a siege battle in Hengzhou for a month or two.

The Ming army auxiliaries were busy, digging a trench one zhang wide and three feet deep outside Hengzhou City to protect the barracks; He also dug up earth to build an earthen city, and built forts by the river. In addition to the original four three-pounder rifled guns, the Dongfan Gun Factory built two more three-pounder rifled guns, which were also sent to Hengzhou.

Six three-pounder front-loading rifled guns were placed on earthen batteries to defend against a sneak attack by the Qing Army's sailors.

A large number of Ming army auxiliaries and Minzhuang entered the woods near Hengzhou, cut down wood, and built various siege weapons. In order to take Hengzhou with minimal losses, Wang Xinyu is ready to build a large ladder truck and a large nest car. In order to create enough siege weapons, it takes about half a month.

Just as Wang Xinyu was dispatching and commanding and preparing for the siege, he heard that the sister and brother had arrived. He didn't care either, he was still arranging his troops and directing the battle. When it got dark, after returning to the Chinese army's tent, a woman in military uniform walked into Wang Xinyu's camp.

"The slave family sees the handsome!" The female general bowed like a man.

Wang Xinyu glanced at the female general, and saw that she was tall, at least 1.7 meters tall! has big eyes and a small mouth, her skin is so white and tender that she can pinch out water, and she looks even more heroic when she wears a military uniform. I have heard before that Lian Guoan's daughter is a heroine, and in real history, she and her younger brother also rose up against the Qing Dynasty, but later because of Sun Yanling and Kong Sizhen, their sister and brother returned to the Qing court.

"It's Miss Lin?" Wang Xinyu asked.

"It's a lowly position!" Miss Lian arched her hand and replied. When Wang Xinyu looked at her, she was also looking at Wang Xinyu, she didn't expect that a county king who came up completely on his own military merits would be so young! The victory of the Ming army in the south, it can be said that Wang Xinyu alone accounted for most of the credit!

Seeing the person she always wanted to see, Miss Lian was a little tempted.

The Mid-Autumn Festival arrived, the Ming army under the city of Hengzhou had a battlefield Mid-Autumn Festival, in addition to the sentry soldiers, the officers and soldiers carnivaled around the bonfire, Bo cakes, performed samurai, and performed on stage. For dinner, everyone also let go of their bellies to eat, and Wang Xinyu provided a sumptuous dinner for the soldiers. It's just that the Mid-Autumn Festival is in the battlefield, and I don't dare to be too ostentatious, and it is forbidden to drink alcohol.

After dinner, Wang Xinyu stood up and walked around the barracks, inspecting the preparations for the siege.

"General Wang!" At this moment, a woman's voice came from behind her.

Wang Xinyu turned his head, but saw that it was Miss Lian standing behind her, but today she was not wearing a military uniform, but a white dress and a long skirt, a standard Han woman dress, soft and beautiful, and faintly revealing a trace of heroism.

"Miss Cable?" Wang Xinyu asked at a loss.

Miss Lian smiled: "The little girl just came out for a walk, but she didn't expect to meet the general here." ”

"The girl is a heroine, it's really admirable! I heard that when the girl was in Guangxi, she won the hearts of the military and civilians in Guangxi! From this point, the clan admires it very much! Wang Xinyu arched his hand.

Miss Lian said quietly: "Actually, they are all fathers, and my fathers are strict in governing the army and are forbidden to disturb the people." The little girl just took advantage of her father's reputation. ”

When Wang Xinyu saw these Guangxi Green Battalion troops a few days ago, he saw that although their weapons and equipment were good, the clothes on their bodies were very old and tattered, and they were not even as good as local training! This shows how harsh Kong Sizhen is on them. However, despite the tattered uniforms of the Guangxi army, its mental outlook is very good, and it is obviously an elite and strong army.

In the next few days, the Qing army's sailors did not dare to harass, probably because they were afraid of the Ming army.

On the fifth day after the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Ming army began a tentative attack on Hengzhou to test how much strength Xiangyong had in the city.

The tentative siege cannon fired, and hundreds of cannons fired a sea of cannonballs at the city's head, smashing the city's head with stones and bricks, among which the shells of the twelve-pounder field guns were the most powerful, hitting the city wall, which was a pit. However, this Hengzhou city is quite strong, and if it is to be destroyed by artillery, it will take a lot of gunpowder.

Next, Wang Xinyu ordered the auxiliaries to push the shield cart and go to fill the moat.

As expected, the Xiangyong in the city were quite tenacious, and they braved the fierce artillery fire of the besieging Ming army, constantly poking their heads out and shooting at the auxiliaries pushing the shield cart forward. (To be continued.) )