Chapter 1177 Hitting the wall
After hearing these three requests, Zheng Taisheng's face couldn't help but change color. If he could agree to this, it would not be Ming Dynasty's style. At that moment, he shook his head and said: "General Wang's words are wrong. It is the responsibility of the government to find out the truth. Needless to say, this case is within the territory of the Ming Dynasty. It should be governed by the laws of the Ming Dynasty. Once the prisoner is caught, he should also be punished. It should be handled by the Yamen of the Ming Dynasty. How can the compensation be borne by the government? As for the third point... I am willing to send a message on behalf of General Wang. If the Ming Dynasty and Haihan can trade, it will be a good thing for both countries. But there is no guarantee what the adults above will think.”
Wang Tom said with a sarcastic smile: "Do the officials in Hangzhou really want to solve this case? Why, the news I heard is that the murderer's background is so great that the government does not dare to continue to pursue the case? I think it is better to The murderer is left to us. After all, we don't have as many scruples as the government. As for compensation, something happened to our people in the territory of Hangzhou Prefecture. If the government can't catch the murderer, who should we ask for compensation if we don't ask the government? More than 20 lives were lost. If you don’t pay money to compensate, are you going to pay for it with lives?”
Wang Tom's words were so harsh that Zheng Taisheng couldn't accept it. Although he boldly accepted the job, he didn't really intend to risk his life for the Ming Dynasty or the gang of officials in the city. Regarding the truth about the Tongsheng Wharf fire case, he has naturally heard a lot of rumors. Although there are still many unsolved mysteries, the Ming army is currently the most suspected. If this matter was really done by the Ming army, then the government would indeed encounter great resistance when investigating the case. It is reasonable for the case to remain unresolved. Haihan had a lot of people killed and a lot of money lost, so he naturally refused to give up. However, the amount of compensation demanded was too large, and Zheng Taisheng did not dare to accept the matter on behalf of the government.
But if he just goes back like this, it will be difficult for Zheng Taisheng to communicate with his superiors. He can only plead with a grimace: "General Wang, everything is easy to discuss, why bother to go to war? I dare to say that if your country can take the initiative to withdraw its troops, the government will also be willing to sit down. Slowly discuss the solution with your country. In this way, both parties can avoid a lot of trouble. If the general can agree, I can persuade you to consider the conditions that the general just proposed after returning to the city. "
Wang Tom waved his hand gently and said: "The conditions I just proposed are not a bargaining chip for the officials in the city to use. You don't have to agree to the conditions, as long as you see the truth on the battlefield. I know that those gentlemen in the city are still Even if it doesn't hurt, I will still have illusions in my heart, but when they come back to negotiate after a bloody collision, the conditions will not be as good as they are now. If Boss Zheng thinks that we can't continue talking, that's okay. Reluctantly, just go back and tell the officials in the city what I said."
Zheng Taisheng responded tremblingly: "I just accepted the order in the face of danger. I have no intention of going against Haihan. I hope the general will not blame him."
Tom Wang smiled and said: "I heard that Boss Zheng had a lot of business cooperation with us before this. I also hope that this incident will not affect our business relationship. We fight wars and we still have to continue to do business. After this matter subsides, I welcome Boss Zheng to visit Dinghaigang again.”
Zheng Taisheng did not ask for any concessions from Wang Tom, so he could only return to the city in despair with the three demands made by the other party. In the eyes of the officials, these demands are naturally unreasonable ideas that cannot be compromised. Seeing that the Haihan Army has begun to set up camp on the bank of the East River in the city, making a posture of long-term fighting, no matter how bad the Ming army in Hangzhou is, You can't just watch the other party camp unscrupulously outside the city, you have to react to it.
So the day after Zheng Taisheng returned to the city, the Ming army showed its attitude with practical actions. Zhejiang Dusi Commander Qian Shi Qi Jie, General Gao Xuewu and others led more than 2,000 Ming troops out of the city from Wangjiang Gate in the east of the city and marched slowly towards the Haihan camp on the lower reaches of the Qiantang River.
As soon as the forward troops of the Ming army left the city gate, they were discovered by Haihan's reconnaissance cavalry far outside the city. By the time they were assembled outside the city and marched towards Haihan's camp, Haihan's side had already advanced. Be prepared for the challenge.
Although the Ming army dragged out two cannons from the city with great momentum, this was not a serious threat in the eyes of the Haihan Army. Before sunset yesterday, they had unloaded eight cannons from the supply ship to the shore and kept them on the shore overnight. Artillery positions were arranged on the camp's defense line. Although they haven't had time to practice shooting today, the artillery forces of both sides are also fighting in an unfamiliar environment. The Haihan Army has relatively large advantages in terms of artillery weapon performance and combat experience, and its chances of winning are definitely better than the other side.
"Don't fight too hard. What we want is a deterrent effect, not a battle of annihilation. Also, don't hit them away in a few hits, otherwise you won't have enough deterrence effect." Wang Tom did not go ashore to supervise the battle in person. He was on the flagship After hearing the military information reported, he just gave a few faint instructions and didn't even show any interest in walking out of the captain's cabin to watch the battle on the deck.
Although he also knew that the Ming army was also equipped with muskets and artillery, the tactical level of the two sides was too different. It was basically impossible for the Ming army to rely on its limited strength advantage to eat Haihan alive. Wang Tom is very confident in the combat capabilities of his troops. Two companies of land plus camp defenses should be enough to teach this Ming army some lessons.
For the Zhejiang Ming Army, which had lived in peace for too long, the Haihan Army's combat method was something they had never encountered before. In this kind of frontal battlefield, if they wanted to defeat the Haihan Army that had set up a good defense line, they basically only had to It can rely on pure strength advantages or having a large number of cavalry, and rely on human lives and mobility to offset its advantages in firepower output. But the Zhejiang Ming army obviously did not realize what a terrible opponent they were facing now, and they marched until they were less than one mile away from the Haihan camp before stopping. This distance has actually entered the effective range of the Haihan artillery. It can be seen that the opponent's commander does not have enough understanding of the Haihan Army's combat methods, and is still deploying battle formations according to the usual combat methods of this era.
Following Wang Tom's order, the Haihan troops who landed did not wait patiently for the opponent to set up an offensive formation, and then took the lead in firing artillery at the opponent. It is undoubtedly very difficult to accurately hit a specific target at a distance of one mile. However, fortunately, the Ming army is regrouping for the next attack. It is not difficult to hit a target area with hundreds of people. Han artillery.
After completing the ammunition loading and sighting, a roar was heard from the artillery position consisting of four six-pound cannons and four twelve-pound cannons. While the Ming army on the opposite side was still stunned and had not recovered, eight artillery pieces fired. The solid artillery shells roared into the Ming army's formation, and screams suddenly sounded.
The Ming army did not expect that their opponents would use this method to conduct a "sneak attack". Unprepared, more than a dozen people were injured or killed. The Haihan army's use of artillery for sneak attacks was second. What really shocked the Ming army was that the opponent's artillery had a much farther range than its own artillery. From this distance, artillery shells could be easily fired onto its own position. "Retreat! Retreat quickly!" The commander Qi Jie saw the formation, quickly twisted the reins of his mount and walked back. He was now very glad that he had not rushed to lecture his subordinates just now, otherwise he might have been one of the people in the front team who was injured by the shells just now.
However, as soon as he turned around and walked away, the large group of guards and soldiers who were following him and holding banners also turned their heads in confusion. The troops behind did not know where they were. After hearing the sound of cannons, they saw the chief officer turning around and running back, which immediately caused chaos. If General Gao Xuewu and other officers had not stopped them in time, a stampede would have occurred, and the military formation would have collapsed before the battle officially started.
However, considering the range of the Haihan artillery, the Ming army finally had to move their front line back by about twenty feet. In fact, as long as the angle of the artillery is adjusted at this distance, the range is still enough, but the accuracy is only further reduced. However, since Haihan deliberately wants to teach the Ming army some lessons, they will naturally not be in a hurry to drive them away - Ming If the army retreats further, it's almost time to retreat into the city. Haihan's action this time did not intend to attack Hangzhou City. Doing so would have no benefit to Haihan except further intensifying the conflict.
So in the next half day, the civil and military officials at the top of Hangzhou City personally witnessed how these two thousand Ming troops took the initiative to launch offensives again and again, and the result of each attack was a large number of casualties. You can't even touch the edges of Haihan Camp. A deep defense zone composed of a variety of roadblocks and a defense line composed of long-range guns and artillery was a nightmare for the Ming army, which lacked long-range fire strike capabilities.
A similar situation occurred in Dengzhou, Shandong a month ago, but the Ming army that participated in the war woke up quickly and chose to retreat after two or three encounters. The Ming army commander who faced him outside Hangzhou this time was obviously much tougher. Seeing that there were three to four hundred casualties, he still continued to urge his men to attack the Haihan camp, which was quite a bit... The attitude of a moth flying into a flame.
The civil and military officials who were watching the battle on the top of the city all had dark faces. Although they did not really expect this Ming army to beat the shit out of their opponents, at least the fighting should be lively. However, the current situation is not It was obvious that they were defeated by the Haihan Army. If they continued to fight like this, even if more than two thousand people died outside the city, they might not be able to achieve any decent results.
"Retreat your troops!" The chief envoy Wang Ji said coldly, then turned and walked down the city. He really wasn't in the mood to watch this kind of almost fatal battle. Although the generals leading troops outside the city were commendable for their courage, this fighting method could not change the strength gap between the two sides. Although he was a civil servant, he could also see that the Haihan people had left some room, but they just stayed in the camp and showed no signs of increasing their troops or retreating. It seemed that they were very confident about the capabilities of the Ming army. He was furious at how confident the Haihan people were, but he couldn't find a place to vent his anger. Thinking about the three demands that Zheng Taisheng had brought back before, Wang Ji almost had an attack of angina on the spot.
In the current situation, the most disgraceful ones are the Zhejiang Dusi group. After all, they were the ones who fought desperately against the peace talks before, and now they are the ones who are being eaten to death by their opponents on the battlefield. Commander Liu Feng was so angry that he almost gritted his teeth, but he also knew that he could not act on impulse at the moment. Although there were thousands of soldiers inside and outside Hangzhou who could fight, they must not be thrown into the battlefield at this moment. If the Haihan people attacked Hangzhou City after this, they would have to have enough troops to defend the city.
Liu Feng knew before the war that the Haihan Army was powerful in fighting, but he did not expect it to be so powerful. He originally just wanted to take this opportunity to find out the details of the Haihan Army, but he did not expect that his opponent played extremely conservatively and did not show his true strength. In addition to the heavy casualties on our side, the most terrifying thing is that if this front line cannot be defeated, the morale of the army will be greatly affected.
But the matter has come to this, and it is difficult to gain anything by forcing the troops outside the city to hold on. It will only increase casualties. Although Liu Feng was unwilling to do so, he could only order the troops to retreat. When the Haihan army saw the Ming army retreating, they did not leave the camp to pursue it. It seemed that they did not care at all whether they could kill as many Ming troops as possible in this battle.
But Liu Feng still put on a full show and went to the city gate to greet the disgraced Ming army. The commander, Qi Jie, had been holding the battle from behind, and everything was fine. But the general, Gao Xuewu, personally led two waves of troops and was shot in the left shoulder. He came back with his arm hanging. This was thanks to the fact that the armor on his body weakened the power of the bullet, otherwise the injury would have been more serious. And of the more than 2,000 Ming troops they took out of the city, only 1,780 were left when they came back. According to preliminary statistics, the Ming army suffered more than 600 casualties in this battle, half of whom stayed on the battlefield and failed to withdraw. This can probably be regarded as the battle with the largest casualties among the Ming army in the Hangzhou area since the founding of the Ming Dynasty.
Liu Feng took the initiative and asked Gao Xuewu: "In General Gao's opinion, is there any way to retreat from the enemy?"
Gao Xuewu shook his head helplessly and said: "The Haihan people have sharp firearms and cannot be defeated head-on. If you want to retreat from the enemy, you must consider their retreat and cut off their supplies before there is hope."
Liu Feng thought that everyone in the world knew that Haihan's supply line was a waterway, but the problem was that it was useless to know. There were no troops on the ground in Zhejiang that could defeat the Haihan people on the water. If you want to cut off the supply line of the Haihan people and rely on the useless navy to fight, it is better to hope that God will quickly snow a few more times and freeze the entire Qiantang River. Of course, the possibility of such a special climate is very slim, and by then, if Haihan has not withdrawn his troops, thousands of people will freeze to death on the streets of Hangzhou.
(End of chapter)