The Cangzhou defenders have been passive in the past few days of fighting. The main reason is lack of troops. The few improvised and miscellaneous troops under Shen Zhixiang can only fight with more than a thousand soldiers, and their equipment and combat capabilities are far inferior to those of the regular army. No matter how much they sacrifice their lives, they still have to deal with the Ming army that is more than ten times larger. Very strenuous.
If it weren't for the city fortifications as a barrier, Shen Zhixiang's small number of troops would probably not be able to survive even the first day.
Fortunately, Ma Hao led the reinforcements to Cangzhou in time, temporarily easing the crisis. However, the Ming army has not yet withdrawn, and Cangzhou is far from truly returning to a safe state.
Ma Hao raised a question: "Master Shen, since the main target of our army's operation is Shuntian Prefecture, supplies of materials and personnel can also be transported to the front line through Tianjin. Cangzhou does not seem to play a big role. Why must the commander occupy this place?”
Although Shen Zhixiang had not led troops to fight for a long time before this, he had been working as a staff officer in the Northern Region Headquarters. The level of information he had access to was much higher than that of Ma Hao. He had some problems with Ma Hao. understood.
Shen Zhixiang said: "The answer is actually in the west of the city."
Ma Hao said: "You mean the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal?"
Shen Zhixiang nodded and said: "The Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, together with the north and south, is a very important inland shipping channel in the Ming Dynasty. At present, the shipping section south of the Yangtze River is basically controlled by our country. In comparison, the north The progress will be much slower. ”
"Capturing Cangzhou is equivalent to strangling the neck of Shuntian Prefecture. We have captured the sea and canal transportation. From now on, if the Ming Dynasty wants to transport supplies from the south to Beijing, it will have to use land transportation!"
Ma Hao responded with a smile: "Then the Ming Dynasty must first be able to protect the capital. The commander-in-chief has mobilized all the troops who can fight to the front line this time. I think the emperor of the Ming Dynasty will have a hard time getting through this!"
Shen Zhixiang shook his head slightly and said: "Things may not go in the direction you think. Of course there is no suspense about our country winning this war, but whether we want to capture the capital or not, I think there are still variables."
Ma Hao said: "Are you saying that the fight is almost over or will you stop and negotiate? Since our army has the advantage, why should we give Ming a chance to survive? After a wave of defeats, wouldn't it be better to let the Executive Committee rule the world? ?”
Shen Zhixiang smiled and said: "One push is easier said than done! Look at how much space we have occupied, and the mobilization of troops is already stretched. To capture a city, we need to garrison a certain number of troops. How many cities do you think our troops are enough to capture?"
Ma Hao said: "As long as we occupy the place, we will have a larger population, and we will be able to recruit troops very quickly. It will take two or three months to train the new army. These troops only need to maintain local security and do not need to go to the front line to fight. Just form an army according to the standards of the militia.”
The two have no doubt that this battle will eventually be won, but they have different views on where this battle will end.
This happens to be the two main views within Haihan on the current situation, whether to swallow the Ming Dynasty in one go, or to eat it slowly bite by bite. Both sides of the opinion have countless arguments, but it is difficult to convince the other party.
At the beginning of the year, there was a lively debate in newspapers about the direction of internal and external development, whether Haihan's armed forces should conquer overseas or annex the Ming Dynasty first. Now it seems that the latter should have the upper hand for the time being.
Of course, the Executive Committee has long said that Haihan's ultimate goal is to become the most powerful country in the world, so replacing Ming should only be a matter of time, and the line dispute will not cause internal divisions of opinion.
The next day, both Shen Zhixiang and Ma Hao arrived at the formation early to command their men to prepare for battle. However, the Ming army did not launch an offensive as early as the previous three days, and there was no movement in its camp. Shen Zhixiang suspected that the Ming army had left an empty camp after withdrawing overnight, so he sent several cavalry to conduct reconnaissance.
But when the scout cavalry approached the Ming army camp, there were cold arrows shot from inside, obviously they were wary of this. The scout cavalry confirmed that Ming troops were still stationed in the barracks, so they didn't delay there much and came back immediately to report the situation.
"Maybe they are tired from playing and need to rest for a day or two." Ma Hao guessed.
Shen Zhixiang said: "They fought hard for three days, then failed again, and finally exhausted. They fought for three days, and finally fell short. Their morale will definitely be greatly affected. They just don't know that they are waiting for reinforcements and are still waiting for news from the north."
Ma Hao responded: "At this time, Shuntian Prefecture is fighting vigorously. I'm afraid no reinforcements will come to Cangzhou, unless we can mobilize the militia to go out in a short time like we did."
Of course, the Ming Dynasty also had local armed groups such as militia groups, but most of them were just civilians who had been issued weapons. They were not the same as paramilitary organizations like the Haihan Militia Group, which had a certain combat effectiveness, let alone traveled long distances to fight in different places.
What's more, at this time, the main force of the Haihan Army has already entered Shuntian Prefecture and is getting closer and closer to the capital. At such a critical moment, self-protection is a problem for the Ming court. I am afraid that it no longer cares about the gains and losses of Cangzhou.
Even if the Ming army could recapture Cangzhou from Haihan, it would not be able to solve the crisis in Shuntian Mansion. If nothing unexpected happens, the Ming army outside Cangzhou City should soon receive an order from the north to rush to Beijing to serve the king.
However, they still did not dare to be careless. The more than ten artillery pieces brought by General Ma Hao were all deployed on the front line, and an iron mesh buffer zone with a depth of seven to eight feet was set up outside the position to prevent the Ming army's cavalry from charging into the formation.
Shen Zhixiang, on the other hand, asked his men who could still fight to go to the top of the city with weapons, and deployed a large number of spears made overnight on the city wall to resist horses.
These long spears were all weapons of the Ming Army seized from the city's weapons depot. They were originally of little use to the Haihan Army. However, after the battle yesterday, Shen Zhixiang suddenly remembered this matter and sent people to collect all the long spears and short spears in the depot. Take it out.
These horses are placed close to the outside of the city wall, with the spear heads sticking out of the city wall. It is like adding a spiked eaves to the city wall, which can effectively prevent the situation like yesterday where you just put up a ladder under the city and climbed directly to the top of the city. .
However, these deployments seemed to be of no use for the time being. From morning to noon, there was still no movement in the Ming army camp.
At this time, a telegram came from the north, informing the Cangzhou defenders of the current battle situation. The Haihan Army led by Chen Yixin has already broken through the front lines of Gu'an, Dong'an and Wuqing, which are only about a hundred miles away from the capital.
But the closer you get to the capital, the greater the resistance you encounter. The Ming court probably transferred all the troops from the Shanshan and Shaanxi areas. There are currently tens of thousands of Ming troops gathered there.
Although the Lu Sixth Division on the northern line has broken through Shanhaiguan, it has also paid a heavy price. It is still fighting with the Ming army in Yongping Prefecture. It is estimated that it will take a day or two to advance to Shuntian Prefecture.