Chapter 229: More Powerful Than a Tiger【Subscribe】

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The governor's office of water transportation in Huai'an has welcomed its master. After Gao Jin fled to Suzhou, he quickly picked up his spirits and took a sea ship from Songjiang to the mouth of the Yellow River [the Yellow River in this era had not yet changed its course], and then traveled all the way to Huai'an. As for southern Jiangsu, General Rong Bao of Jiangning was there. He also held the post of governor of water transportation, so he was more suitable to come to northern Jiangsu to supervise the war.

The dripping plum rain prevented both sides from sending out troops. After Nantong Prefecture, Haimen Hall and other state capitals were raided by Huang Jie's troops, a large area of ​​prefectures and counties were in a state of anarchy. It can be said that every day that dragged on, the influence of the Manchu Qing Dynasty on the local area was reduced. The power and control will be weakened one day. The greater the impact on local people's livelihood and social order. In these days, the Fuhan Army's surface fleet has recruited two thousand sailors and sailors alone, most of whom are unemployed sailors and boatmen from northern Jiangsu.

The Fuhan Army was stationed in Gaoyou Prefecture. Five to six thousand Shandong Green Camp and 10,000 to 20,000 Northern Jiangsu Green Camp and Caoding Militia had accumulated in Huai'an City. However, they could only stay in the city and did not dare to attack. This resulted in The Qing court's prestige and control over local people's livelihood politics gradually weakened.

Of course, all the Qing troops in Huai'an City were very convincing: "Who told the Fuhan Army to deploy too many cannons inside and outside Gaoyou Prefecture? The cannons to be sent from the capital were not in place, which made them How to fight the Fuhan Army?" The latter deployed sixty or seventy artillery pieces, large and small, outside the city of Gaoyouzhou and at the top of the city, not including flying thunder cannons. With such firepower and sufficient ammunition, even if the Qing army had 100,000 people to attack the city, there would be no good results.

"Gong De, Chen Ni is still collecting copper, iron, tin and lead..." Gao Jin's close aides hurried over with newly arrived notes.

"In return, Chen Ni raided all the temples in Jiangning, Yangzhou and other places. He exchanged gold and silver for bronze wares, such as bronze Buddhas, bells, incense burners, etc., and brought them all back to the inner city. He also bought tin, lead and iron materials at high prices. …”

The Fuhan Army gathered disabled deaf-mute people along the way, especially those with sound hands and feet. It was originally rumored in the Jiangnan area that Chen Ming used the blood sacrifice of these deaf and mute people to bless the Fuhan Army with victory in every battle. Of course it was Chi Guoguo's slander, and Gao Jin didn't take it seriously when he heard it. As the Fuhan Army's shipyard and gunnery branch opened in Jiujiang, as the second gunnery branch opened in Nanjing, and as the Fuhan Army had more and more cannons, those disabled, deaf and mute people The effect of it is revealed little by little. It turns out that the Fuhan Army used them as gunners!

This is indeed a neat trick.

As long as you use your brain to think about it, you can guess why the Fuhan Army did this. The Fuhan Army's guns were sharp, and the casting and manufacturing methods must be innovated. Of course, the Chen family would not let this secret be exposed. They did their best to keep it secret. In this regard, disabled deaf-mute people are obviously more trustworthy than healthy people. Because they were originally the most discriminated bottom people in the entire society, but now they are supported by the Fuhan Army with good food and drink. Their loyalty to the Fuhan Army is much higher than that of healthy people. With loyalty, they will naturally not be exposed. The secret of the Fuhan Army.

The more sinister speculation is that once the Fuhan army was defeated, it would be easier to deal with them than healthy people.

Since the capture of Nanjing, Chen Ming has opened gun bureaus all over the city. In addition to recruiting disabled and deaf-mute people, another very obvious way is to collect copper and iron. Collect as much copper and iron as possible. After the gunpowder reserves are guaranteed, if you want to greatly improve the existing combat effectiveness of the Fuhan Army, you will of course rely on artillery.

The number of artillery battalions in the army increased from one to two, and then to four. The number of cannons has gradually expanded from the initial thirty to more than 200 now, and these are only army cannons. All four artillery battalions have eliminated two-pound cannons. All the artillery battalions are three-pound cannons and five-pound cannons, and the squatting tiger cannon has become the standard firepower configuration of the first-level formation.

The cavalry battalion was most affected by the massive expansion of artillery. Most of the horses obtained by the Fuhan Army from Jiangnan and other places were added to the artillery battalion. Up to now, the number of cavalry battalions is still at 900+, less than a thousand horses. It's just that for the Qing soldiers who had suffered from the Fuhan Army's artillery losses, they still focused on the artillery.

Unless you are a god, no one in Nanjing can conjure hundreds of cannons with bare hands, and this number is still growing at a relatively fast rate, because the cannons at the top of Gaoyou Prefecture and the cannon forts outside the city, The number keeps increasing. Gao Jin synthesized all kinds of intelligence and had to come to a conclusion that shocked him: the Fuhan Army's cannons were cast in Jiangning City.

How could they actually build a cannon in just a few days?

Gao Jin felt that there was darkness above his head.

The officers of Jiangsu Green Camp and Shandong Green Camp thought this was impossible and firmly believed that the cannon could not be built in just a few days. The cannons of the Qing army were all made from clay molds. The casting cycle of a cannon lasted several months, and the yield was worrying. These Green Camp officers had never eaten pork and had seen pigs running before, and they firmly did not believe Gao Jin's 'guessing'. Then the Qing army moved in and out of Nanjing, Yangzhou and other places. Anyway, the Han army did not close the door. Apart from the fact that the whole city is a military base and no one can get close to it, there is no difference between the current Nanjing city and that before the war. Even some shops and restaurants in Nanjing city have opened one after another. As long as the Qing army is careful and bold enough, it will be very convenient to travel to both sides of the Yangtze River and in and out of Nanjing.

All the indicators now indicate that Gao Jin's previous guess was correct. The Fuhan Army is really forging cannons!

Gao Jin's head hurt, it really hurt. What should he do in this situation?

He was not good at fighting, but the emperor had already ordered to drive the Fu Han Army out of Jiangbei as soon as possible, and then to transfer the Shandong Green Camp to suppress the Hunyuan sect bandits. The emperor was very angry about the uprising of the Hunyuan sect, and ordered the provinces in Jiangbei to suppress it within two months. Northern Anhui and Northern Jiangsu were all under the jurisdiction of the Governor-General of Liangjiang. The so-called provinces in Jiangbei were the Governor-General of Liangjiang and the Governor-General of Zhili working together to suppress it.

This made Gao Jin very worried. Of course, he was not afraid of the mob-like Hunyuan sect army, but he was worried about how to drive the Fu Han Army back to Jiangnan?

You know, Gaoyou Prefecture is located on Gaoyou Lake, which is a "hanging lake". The surface of the lake and part of the lake bottom are higher than the ground in the lower river area of ​​Yundongli, posing a threat of floods to the eastern part of the lake, that is, Gaoyou Prefecture; and Gaoyou Lake is adjacent to the Grand Canal in the east, and the east bank of the lake is the west bank of the Grand Canal.

After the failure of the attack on Huai'an, the Fu Han Army has not fought against the north again. The control line does not even reach Baoying, and the Ziyinggou line is used as the line, just to prevent the Qing army from making a move on the Gaoyou Lake bank. If the army attacks Huai'an City, the Qing army will tear down the east bank of Gaoyou Lake, and the lake will flood. The logistics line of the Fu Han Army will be gone, and even the retreat will be cut off. Will the team still have the heart to fight?

The Qing army is also on guard against this, and the Fu Han Army has strict defense inside and outside Gaoyou. The Qing army cannot afford such heavy casualties, nor does it have the determination and will to pay huge casualties.

"Write a memorial and give it to me for review. This matter needs to be reported to the emperor." Gao Jin's voice was a little exhausted. If such a memorial reached Qianlong, it would be Gao Jin's own "excuse book" for cowardice. Even if Qianlong would be shocked by this "fact", he would definitely be disappointed and dissatisfied with Gao Jin. It was not easy for Gao Jin to make this decision.

But Gao Jin felt that as long as he could save his life, it would be better than Ding Chang. Anyway, the Gao family would have other pillars without him.

After the staff wrote a memorial, Gao Jin read it once, copied it by himself, and gave it to someone to report it to Beijing by express horse. Then when he returned to his bedroom, he felt as if he had a serious illness. All his strength and energy were drained away, and his face was muddled.

This is the case with officials who have lost their power. Especially Gao Jin, who was proud at a young age, rose rapidly, and had power for decades, suddenly gave up his official career and power, and he aged a lot in an instant.

No one in the world knew that on this day, Gao Jin, the governor-general of Liangjiang, the governor of Jiangsu, and the governor of the grain transport, became a deserter in the face of the enemy. All eyes in the world were on Xuzhou, the border of Anhui, Henan, Jiangsu, and Shandong.

Five days ago, the Hunyuan Sect's rebel army used the method of burrowing the ground to blow down the walls of Suzhou and broke through the city of Suzhou. Now the army was heading straight to Xuzhou. At this time, Xuzhou City was on the south bank of the Yellow River. The curved Yellow River water twisted a "Ji" character here in Xuzhou City. The place in the middle of the "Ji" character was Xuzhou City. The infantry and cavalry mobilized by the Qing army to fight in the Henan battlefield also chased behind the rebel army, and the cavalry among them had already started fighting with the rebel army.

Huang Zhenggang still dispatched 3,000 people to the north when the Anqing Fu Han Army advanced north to Hefei. There were also the Shandong Green Camp militia on the other side of the Yellow River, and the Henan Qing army that came from behind. The purpose of the Qing court was very clear, which was to wipe out the Hunyuan Sect's rebel army in one fell swoop on the bank of the Yellow River.

Gao Pingshan received Chen Ming's order to contain the Qing army in northern Anhui with all his strength. He personally led his troops to attack Tongcheng and march north, captured Lujiang, and headed straight for Hefei, the capital of Luzhou Prefecture. However, the fast-moving Fu Han Army did not carry a single cannon along the way. Gao Pingshan could only do nothing about the Qing army inside and outside the city when he arrived at the city of Hefei. At least he could not capture Hefei in the short term.

Now the Fu Han Army in Nanjing is in a temporary "balanced" situation with the Qing troops on the opposite side, as are the Fu Han Army in Yangzhou and Gaoyou. Even Anqing and the General's Mansion in Western Henan are in a temporary "balanced" situation, excluding all battles outside the Yancheng battlefield. In the entire system of the Fu Han Army, only the Yancheng army and Chen Yongsheng's troops in Jiujiang are still in fierce battle with the Qing army at this time.

There is nothing much to say about the battle in Yancheng. On the whole, the Fu Han Army had a great advantage. The Qing Army mobilized a large number of troops to strangle the Hunyuan Doctrine Army. In addition, the Qing Army on the Yancheng battlefield had no logistical supplies, and the morale of the army was greatly affected. Chen Erbao, the left deputy governor of the Fu Han Army, commanded the troops to launch attacks against the Qing Army's Shahe Joint Camp again and again day and night, with the sound of artillery roaring.

Of course, such an attack was not to rush and fight without caring about the lives of the soldiers, but to gnaw down one camp after another on the Qing Army's Shahe line with superior forces and artillery power. The number of Qing troops on the Yancheng battlefield was not small, and they were on the defensive, with certain advantages. But the Fu Han Army had a greater advantage, especially in flying thunder cannons and close combat, and the Fu Han Army wearing armor had too much advantage.

Therefore, the balance of victory on the Yancheng battlefield was shifting towards the Fu Han Army little by little. As long as the other Qing troops on the Henan battlefield could not spare their hands to help Chen Huizu, the Qing Army on the Yancheng battlefield was doomed to fail. It was just a question of how much loss there would be.

Although Chen Erbao's offensive was not sharp and swift in Chen Hui's eyes. He mobilized 20,000 troops to Yancheng, aiming for a lightning-fast victory, and then the army could take advantage of the gap left by the Qing army to sweep through Chenzhou City with lightning speed, pin down the Qing troops in Guide, and further create favorable conditions for the transfer of the Hunyuan Doctrine Army. As a result, Chen Erbao did not do it at all. He turned the battle of Yancheng into a slow battle!

Among all the battles of the Fu Han Army, only the battle of Jiujiang was at an absolute disadvantage. The Qing army divided into two groups, one group captured Huangmei on the north bank, and the other group landed in Ruichang, and the other group moved eastward, forcing Chen Yongsheng, who was short of troops, to abandon Chengzi Town and Ruichang County one after another.

In Poyang Lake, in a bay adjacent to Meijiazhou, hundreds of boatmen and carpenters gathered by the Fu Han Army were working hard here. This is the shipyard set up by the Fu Han Army in Poyang Lake. Except for the transport team that sent materials and food, no one was allowed to enter or leave. Each group of boatmen and carpenters had their own tasks and docks. If they failed to complete the shipbuilding task within the time limit, they would not get any wages for their work. If the progress was delayed, they would be punished. If the wood was burned or the quality of the ship was problematic, everyone would be executed. Strict laws are the whip that drives the shipyard's more than 3,000 boatmen and carpenters to work hard, and are the guarantee for the launch of one quality-assured inland warship after another!

The Fu Han Army sent these boatmen, carpenters and shipbuilding masters from Wuhan and Anqing to Jiujiang and Hukou, and from Yangzhou and Nanjing to Jiujiang. Hukou was not to let them slack off, but to be really efficient and see the warships launched.

"Five days, at most five days. The sailors and ship guns from Nanjing have arrived in Pengze. In less than two days, our navy camp will be officially established." In the prefectural government office of Jiujiang, Chen Yongsheng said excitedly to a group of camp officers with gunpowder smoke below.

Jiujiang Shipyard has been established for two months. Thousands of craftsmen and Fu Han Army collected ship materials, tung oil, canvas, ropes, etc. along the river. This is a huge burden. Even the Fu Han Army in Jiujiang was short of manpower in the face of the attack of the Qing soldiers upstream, because a considerable number of soldiers were dragged in the shipyard.

Now two months of hard work have finally paid off. The Navy Camp is about to be formed. Yang Shijin, Chen Dai and Xu Youruo have entered Pengze Ma'ao with two or three thousand sailors and boatmen who have been transferred to sailors, as well as hundreds of large and small cannons and a large amount of ammunition. In two days at most, the sailors and cannons from Nanjing will be in place, and the next three days will be enough for the Navy Camp to be formed.

Then the main force of the Navy Camp equipped with sixty large sampans can cooperate with the twelve fast crab boats and long dragon boats that have been launched a month ago, sweeping across the Yangtze River waterway, and sweeping away the hundreds of miscellaneous boats on the river that cooperated with the Qing army from Huguang and Sichuan to Jiujiang.

Chen Yongsheng was naturally excited. With the establishment of the Navy Camp, the shipyard's responsibilities can be relieved by 70% to 80%. The two old camps he arranged in the shipyard can be transferred to the battlefield, and at most one new camp can be returned. The combat power in his hands will be significantly improved. The new forces of the two old camps, of course, he is excited. Although the command of the Navy Camp will not be in his hands, after the siege of Jiujiang is lifted, these warships will quickly return to the Nanjing line.

The plum rain season will not always be there. When the rain stops, the war in Jiangnan will also be staged. The Fu Han Army spans across the south and north of the Yangtze River, but it has to rely on warships to help.

The large sampan is shuttle-shaped, with twelve oars, two rudders, one head pole, and six gunners. The guns are placed at the bow and stern of the boat and fired in a rotation. The speed is fast.

The long dragon boat, with twenty oars, four oars, and eight gunners, carries one large and two small cannons. The speed is much slower.

The crab boat was the largest, 70 feet long, with 30 oarsmen, two masts, one large and one small, eight oarsmen, two foremen and two for rudders, and twelve gunners. It carried two two-jin cannons and two three-jin cannons.

With this naval camp, Chen Ming and the Fu Han Army were even more powerful.