"This Taixi Bastion is indeed very different from my Ming Dynasty fortress."
"Yes, brother among men.
You see, the concave surface made here can cover the enemy's firepower.
The gunman only needs to stand there, and one man will be able to block the enemy."
Zheng Chenggong waved his fists excitedly.
This was also the first time he saw a bastion, and the impact on him was no less than that of the Dutch's new warships.
After setting off from Nanjing, they went all the way north to Dezhou, Shandong Province.
Under the arrangement of Dezhou Commander-in-Chief Qin Gongming, they visited the fortress that had been built.
Although some of the bastions were still under construction and they could not enjoy the panoramic view of the bastions, they were satisfied.
Chen Zilong stroked the inner wall of the bastion, closed his eyes and imagined how the Tatars were being beaten by gunmen and running away.
It was very refreshing.
"The only question is, can this bastion really withstand the bombardment of the Hongyi cannon?"
At this time, Qin Gongming, the commander-in-chief of Dezhou, ordered people to bombard the bastion with a six-pounder after the bastion was built, and found that the bastion wall was undamaged.
This somewhat proves the authenticity of what the Taixi instructor said about the bastion's excellent defensive capabilities.
However, the six-pounder cannon could not compare with the power of the Hongyi cannon.
At present, there are no Hongyi cannons in Dezhou City, so it is impossible to conduct an actual test of the bastion's ability to withstand attacks.
"We'll find out when that traitor Kong Youde comes."
Chen Zilong is naturally optimistic.
In his opinion, even if the Qing army mobilized Kong Youde, who had heavy artillery, to come to Shandong, the dense group of bastions would be enough for him to eat.
The most important role of the bastion group was to block the Qing army's advance, forcing the assault battle to turn into a positional battle.
Different from ordinary siege warfare, the Qing army could not allocate enough manpower to attack all bastions at the same time.
The most important thing is that the Qing army does not have that many Hongyi cannons.
Facts have proven that artillery pieces below the six-pounder pose no threat to the bastion.
No matter how many Hongyi cannons Kong Youde has, there are only a dozen or so at most.
And there are hundreds of bastions outside Dezhou City.
Don't look at your head but not your buttocks "Hey, I'm afraid the Tatars won't be able to catch up soon.
I heard that the thief Li Chuang mobilized a heavy army to garrison at Tongguan and vowed to fight the Tatars to the death."
Gu Yanwu was very concerned about the war on the Western Front and talked eloquently: "Although this intruder is rebellious, I have to say that he still has two fights.
In the battle of Shanhaiguan, he probably suffered a hidden loss.
If the Tatars hadn't taken advantage of him and Wu Sangui suddenly burst out during a fierce battle, how could he win so easily?
" "Yes, let this guy and the Tatars fight dog by dog.
When they both lose, the court will come out to clean up the mess."
Chen Zilong said excitedly.
"I'm afraid Li Zicheng cannot stop the Tatar offensive."
Zheng Chenggong suddenly spoke up, but gave a completely different opinion.
"why" Chen Zilong said in confusion.
"This time the Tatars are devoting all their national strength to attack Shaanxi.
Not only are there troops heading towards Tongguan, but there are also troops detouring around northern Shaanxi."
Zheng Chenggong paused for a moment and said: "If the Tatars attack only one place, Li Chuang can still hold on, but if he resists two places at the same time, he doesn't have the strength.
I think one place will collapse first.
His elite has been lost.
Most of it is not enough to hold on.”
In Zheng Chenggong's view, Li Zicheng lost a lot of troops in the battle of Shanhaiguan, which was a serious loss of vitality.
Although Li Zicheng had been able to quickly regain his strength after facing an encirclement and suppression by the army in the past, the situation this time was different.
In the past, Li Chuang's losses were all the refugees who were coerced.
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Although they were said to be hundreds of thousands or hundreds of thousands, their real combat effectiveness was very limited.
They just waved flags and shouted to fill trenches and rush into the city to serve as cannon fodder.
Even if these people die, Li Zicheng will not feel the slightest heartache.
As long as the main force is still there, there is no need to worry about recruiting new soldiers if Li Chuang's flag is placed there.
But once the elite are lost, it is very difficult to replenish them.
A recruit needs to go through many actual battles to become a veteran, and a veteran needs to fight many times to become an elite.
It can be said that it is difficult to cultivate an elite without three to five years.
"Why did Mingyan conclude that Li Chuang Elite had suffered heavy losses?"
Chen Zilong said in confusion.
"It's very simple.
If not, why would Li Chuang give up the capital without hesitation and why wouldn't he even stick to Shanxi?"
Zheng Chenggong's vision can be described as vicious, and he hit the point in one sentence.
It is impossible that Li Zicheng did not know the importance of Beijing, otherwise he would not have hesitated to send troops from Guanzhong later this year, capture Ningwuguan, and attack the capital.
The political significance of the capital is very important.
Whoever can occupy the capital can make a big fuss about this and promote themselves as orthodox.
As a result, after Li Zicheng returned to Beijing and proclaimed himself emperor, he led his troops to retreat westward without hesitation, refusing to even defend the fortified city.
What does this mean?
It means he has a guilty conscience.
It stands to reason that even if Li Zicheng cannot defeat the Qing army in the field, he can still fight with a strong city behind him.
He didn't even dare to defend the city, which only shows that the main force suffered serious losses, and he really didn't dare to fight and couldn't win in a short period of time.
If abandoning the capital can be explained as Li Zicheng's personal decision-making error, it is even more difficult to understand that he took the initiative to cross the Yellow River and return to Guanzhong.
Shanxi and Shaanxi are integrated.
If Shanxi cannot be defended, the Qing army can cross the Yellow River without any scruples.
Without the natural defense line of the Yellow River, there would be no place to defend east of Tongguan.
Li Zicheng gave up a large area of land to the Qing army.
With Li Zicheng's knowledge, he would not be able to see this.
The correct approach is to have Li Zicheng personally sit in Taiyuan after retreating to Shanxi to collect the broken troops, rest and train, and mobilize Guanzhong soldiers and horses to enter Shanxi to strengthen defense.
Even if Li Zicheng himself is not in charge of Shanxi, he must send Liu Zongmin to be in charge.
Only in this way can the army realize its determination to defend Shanxi.
As a result, both Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin returned to Guanzhong.
This can only show that Li Zicheng is really unsure, because he has almost lost all his capital.
When people lose in gambling, they have two mentalities: one is to be conservative and give up, and the other is to continue gambling.
Li Zicheng is obviously the former.
He did not want to risk everything and fight the Tatars in Shanxi, so he retreated to Shaanxi, hoping to use the banner of defending his hometown to inspire the fighting spirit of the men of Qin.
But little did he know that he had already lost in terms of momentum.
The most important thing is that Li Zicheng lost consecutive battles.
Since retreating from the capital, he has been pursued by the Qing army and has almost no victory.
This is a devastating blow to morale.
It is true that Tongguan is a fortified city, but Tongguan has been conquered many times in history.
In the end, it still depends on the strength comparison between the two sides.
Zheng Chenggong believed that if Li Zicheng wanted to win in this situation, he must at least concentrate his forces to defeat one side of the Qing army.
But with his character, he would obviously not make such a risky move
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