"Beheading a thief at the first level will reward you with twenty taels of silver.
Those who behead the thieves at the fifth level will be promoted to one level.
The first to attack the city will be promoted to the third level.
Of course, with rewards comes punishment.
Anyone who shrinks from battle, disobeys military orders, or retreats without permission will be punished in accordance with military law."
At the Ming Army camp in the east of Puzhou City, Pingyang Prefecture, the commander-in-chief Yu Feng was giving lectures to his subordinate officers.
The entire tent was filled with officers, as many as thirty or forty people.
All officers from more than a thousand households in Shanxi soldiers were here, including Shanxi's commander-in-chief Jiang Yu.
Since Chen Yue led his troops into Shanxi from Datong in the north, he has successively recruited Shanxi defenders along the way.
Now there are nearly 50,000 Shanxi soldiers accompanying the army to Puzhou.
A few days ago, after using strong tactics to transfer Jiang Yu and other generals to the Chinese army, and then killing a group of officers who refused to obey orders, the Shanxi soldiers immediately became obedient.
Facing the supreme power of Qi King Chen Yue and the powerful combat power of the Northern Expeditionary Army, these soldiers did not dare to make mistakes.
After all, in the army, the strong is king, and only strong strength can make people obey.
This is why the Ming army, which originally had poor combat effectiveness, immediately improved its combat effectiveness to a higher level after surrendering to the Manchu Qing Dynasty.
Because under the tough tactics of the Eight Banners soldiers, these Green Camp soldiers did not dare to fail to contribute.
The situation now is very similar.
Of course, Chen Yue's approach to these Shanxi local troops was not just tough, but a combination of kindness and power.
As long as the army can complete the mission as ordered, a large number of rewards will be given out, and the officers will be promoted and rewarded.
It was still wartime, and Chen Yue had no time to reorganize these Shanxi soldiers, so he could only use war to transform them.
He relied on war to eliminate the weak and retain the strong, and finally achieved the goal of completely integrating into the Northern Expeditionary Army.
So now, no one from Jiang Yu down to ordinary officers dared to despise Yu Feng's orders.
After announcing the rewards and punishments, Yu Feng then made arrangements for the attack on Puzhou, and then asked the generals to go back and prepare.
"General Yu, although Puzhou City is not big, it has high walls and deep trenches.
If we attack by force, we may suffer too many casualties.
Should we make full preparations before attacking the city?"
After the generals retreated, Jiang Yan said to Yu Feng with a troubled expression.
Although Jiang Yu still retains the position of Shanxi Commander-in-Chief, he has been separated from the army.
Apart from hundreds of servants, he can no longer command any army.
He is only equivalent to a senior staff officer in the army.
Jiang Yan himself also knew that he was not a direct descendant of King Qi.
If he wanted to have a good future in the Ming Dynasty, he had to show his abilities and have a good attitude, so he had been working hard to cooperate these days.
However, now, Yu Feng wanted to expel the Shanxi soldiers and attack Puzhou.
Thinking of the casualties that would occur during the siege, Jiang Gu couldn't help but persuade him.
"What kind of preparations do we need to make?
There are only more than ten thousand traitors in Pucheng City, but we use a hundred thousand troops.
Is there still a problem in capturing Puzhou?"
Yu Feng asked with a cold face.
Jiang Quan hurriedly explained: "That's not what I mean.
What I mean is that relying on ladders to attack the city will cause a lot of casualties, so we should prepare more collision shields and the like."
Yu Feng shook his head: "We don't have that much time.
That's it.
Mr.
Jiang, you just need to do your own thing well."
"Yes" Jiang Yan could only agree with his fists clasped.
Jiang Yan's current task is to lead his personal guards as a supervising team.
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Any Shanxi soldiers who violate military law in battle will be dealt with personally by him.
Although the power seemed to be great, Jiang Guan felt very bitter in his heart.
Qi Wang Chen Yue had completely controlled the Shanxi soldiers and could deal with the soldiers who violated military laws on his own.
However, he handed over the power to Jiang Guan.
He seemed to respect Jiang Guan.
The power of the Shanxi General Soldier undoubtedly caused the conflict between Jiang Yu and the Shanxi officers and soldiers.
Using tough methods to deal with officers and soldiers who violate military laws will undoubtedly make other officers and soldiers fear and dislike him, and then alienate him from his former boss.
If he bends the law for personal gain, Yu Feng will be justifiably taken down and set off.
Therefore, Jiang Yu knew that it would be impossible to treat Shanxi soldiers as his own private army from now on.
The city of Puzhou is three feet and eight feet high, and the saucer is seven feet high.
It is surrounded by moats on three sides, southeast and north, and to the west of Puzhou is the roaring Yellow River.
As an important ferry connecting Shanxi and Shaanxi, Puzhou has been extremely important for thousands of years and is also a battleground for military strategists.
Whether entering Guanzhong from Shanxi or from Guanzhong to Shanxi, Puzhou must be passed through.
Therefore, after Yuan Zongdi retreated from Pingyang Prefecture, most of his troops retreated across the Yellow River, but he left an army of ten thousand people to defend the city in Puzhou, east of Hedong.
Although Puzhou became an isolated city, the Shun army could provide support through the Yellow River.
After losing Puzhou, the Ming army could cross the river from the ferry into Shanxi and attack Daqing Pass where the Shun army was entrenched on the other side of the river.
Yu Feng's method of attacking Puzhou was very simple, which was to use ladders to forcibly attack the city.
Groups of Shanxi soldiers were driven to the bottom of the city and carried ladders to attack the city.
Arrows rained down on the city, and from time to time some Ming soldiers were hit by arrows and fell to the ground.
Although Yu Feng used the Shanxi soldiers as cannon fodder, he had no intention of destroying the Shanxi soldiers through war.
In order to capture Puzhou as soon as possible and suppress the Shun army on the city, he sent out elite gunmen to fire suppressively at the Shun army archers on the city wall to cover the Shanxi soldiers' siege.
Dozens of carts were pushed into the moat, and more than a dozen temporary pontoon bridges were built.
Under the cover of the gunmen, the Ming soldiers carrying the ladders approached the city wall along the pontoon bridges and put the ladders up the city.
At the beginning, the Shanxi soldiers began to climb up and attack the city.
Rocks fell like rain from the top of the city.
Ash bottles and boiling oil were thrown down from the city wall from time to time.
Countless Ming troops fell from the top of the city screaming.
Normally, it would be impossible for local Ming troops like the Shanxi soldiers to carry out such a brutal siege.
They would retreat if they suffered even the slightest casualties.
However, now, tens of thousands of heavily armed Northern Expeditionary Army soldiers were arrayed a few miles away from the city wall, and Jiang Yu was standing just a mile away from the battlefield with hundreds of servants.
No one dared to retreat at this time.
Even in the Shanxi army, there are many brave men.
Thinking of the rewards promised by the generals, many soldiers climbed up with red eyes.
The Ming army's life-threatening siege also put a lot of pressure on the Shun army on the city.
Especially the artillerymen of the Ming Army under the city forced the archers of the Shun Army to dare not show their heads at all.
Soon, Ming troops climbed up the ladder to the top of the city, and were shot down by soldiers from the Shun army.
The first was followed by the second.
Throughout the morning, the Ming army attacked the city several times, causing heavy casualties to the Shun troops defending the city.
Under the pressure of the siege Ming army, the Shun army on the city did not see at all.
Just under the city wall twenty feet away from the city gate in the east city, a group of Ming soldiers holding iron picks and chisels had already dug out the foundation of the city.
A large hole was dug, more than three feet wide and one foot deep.
A coffin filled with gunpowder was carried across the pontoon and stuffed into the hole, which was then refilled with masonry.
The long fuse was ignited, and the nearby Ming army fled like crazy along the pontoon bridge back to the outside of the moat.
More than ten breaths later, after an earth-shaking loud noise, the earth shook and the mountains shook.
Under the gaze of tens of thousands of eyes inside and outside the city, a section of the city wall several feet wide flew into the air, and then fell heavily.
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The earth shook.
The mountains shook, bricks and stones flew, and dust filled half the sky.
At this moment, the Shun troops on the city wall and the Shanxi soldiers who were attacking the city a little further away were shocked to the point where they were deafened and bleeding from their mouths and noses.
Many more were hit by flying bricks and stones and suffered severe injuries to their heads.
Under the fearful eyes of countless people, the dust gradually dispersed, and a section of the city wall that was more than twenty feet long had disappeared without a trace.
Puzhou City was like a girl whose clothes had been stripped off, revealing the mystery within the city to the Ming army outside the city.
Gunpowder was once again used in siege warfare.
After being shocked, the Ming army outside the city was overjoyed.
Countless soldiers shouted excitedly and rushed towards the gap in the city wall with weapons in hand.
At this time, the morale of the Shun army in Puzhou City was completely gone, and most people were filled with fear.
They had never heard of the methods used by the Ming army to attack the city.
They had no idea why the city wall was like this.
They thought it was the Ming army using ghostly methods such as thunder.
This unknown fear left them no longer able to resist, and countless people fled down the city wall crying.
The west gate of Puzhou opened, and countless soldiers fled towards the Yellow River ferry in the west of the city.
Naturally, Yu Feng would not let go of this opportunity to beat up the drowned dog, and had already sent Ma Chuang to lead an army to intercept.
The Ming army used tiger squatting artillery fire, muskets and rockets to violently attack the Shun soldiers who fled to the ferry.
Countless Shun soldiers fell in a pool of blood, and more people were forced to jump into the roaring Yellow River.
Those who could grab the ferry successfully escaped to the other side.
There were very few soldiers.
They captured Puzhou in one day and annihilated tens of thousands of Shun troops.
At this moment, the strong fighting power displayed by the Ming army shocked Yuan Zongdi on the other side of the river.
It also frightened everyone in the Ming army, including Jiang Gu and other Shanxi generals.
Only now did they Understand how powerful it was to defeat Manchu's Northern Expeditionary Army.
At this moment, all those who had dissatisfaction stopped thinking about it and no longer dared to think about it.
After conquering Puzhou, the next step was to cross the Yellow River and march to Shaanxi on the other side.
However, this was not easy.
The current of the Yellow River is very fast, and most of the ferries are controlled by the Shun army.
It is not that easy to cross the Yellow River.
Since the Tang Dynasty, Pujin Crossing the Yellow River has been connected by pontoon bridges on both sides.
However, during the war between the Yuan and Jin Dynasties, Jin soldiers burned down the pontoon bridge at Pujin Crossing.
Since then, the Yellow River pontoon bridge has been destroyed and built.
However, during the Wanli period of the late Ming Dynasty, the Yellow River changed its course and moved westward for more than a mile, submerging the four iron oxen in Hexi that were used as ground anchors to pull the iron cables of the pontoon bridge.
Since then, people traveling to and from Shanxi Shaanxi can only rely on boat ferry.
Therefore, if you want to cross the river and enter Shaanxi, you must collect enough boats.
Yu Feng had to stop in Puzhou and send people upstream and downstream to collect ships.
At this time, the fighting in Tongguan was extremely fierce.
The Shun army deployed more than 100,000 troops in Tongguan and the north bank of the Yellow River in the nearby mountains more than ten miles away, firmly blocking the Ming army's way into Shaanxi through Tongguan.
Since ancient times, there has only been one road to enter Guanzhong from Luoyang, Henan, namely Tongguan and Hangu Pass.
However, the mountains and valleys here and the terrain are extremely complex, which is not conducive to the deployment of troops.
In order to enter Guanzhong, the only way is to storm Tongguan, which is heavily guarded by the Shun army.
The Shun army built more than ten fortresses on various plateaus outside Tongguan.
It was very difficult to defeat the Shun army and enter Guanzhong in a short time.
Therefore, Chen Yue ordered the mobilization of a large number of artillery.
There were more than 40 red cannons alone, and they fired fiercely at Shunjun's fortress.
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Amidst the thunderous roar of the red cannon, the soil of the Shunjun fortress flew into the sky.
The hastily built fortress camp could not withstand the bombardment of the red cannon.
Seeing that the Shun Army camp was blasted through, the Ming Army soldiers who had an absolute advantage in strength swarmed in, launched a fierce attack on the camp, and surrounded and killed the remaining enemies inside.
There are only more than a thousand soldiers stationed in one camp, and they cannot resist for long.
In just three days, the Ming army broke through five or six fortresses outside Tongguan.
Seeing that they could not stop the Ming army from entering, Li Guo had to withdraw his soldiers into Tongguan and abandon the fortresses outside.
"Your Majesty, all the Shun thieves are huddled in Tongguan.
Although we have the advantage of red cannons, it is difficult to break through Tongguan and annihilate the Shun army.
My subordinates suggest that an army can be sent to the west by boat from Fenglingdu.
Weihe, after bypassing Tongguan Shunjun, attack from behind, and we will definitely be able to defeat Shunjun in one fell swoop."
Li Yi suggested to Chen Yue.
Chen Yue shook his head: "It is too dangerous for a single army to penetrate deeply into the Shun Army.
Now that we have an absolute advantage, there is no need to take risks.
Remember, we are not trying to completely annihilate the Shun Army, but to force them to act according to our plan."
According to Li Yi's suggestion, it is of course possible to send an army to go around Tongguan, but because there are not many ferries at all, the army that can be sent is limited, only a few thousand people at most, but they face more than 100,000 shun troops.
The extent of its effect is still unknown.
Thinking about it carefully, Li Yi had to give up his idea.
At this moment, the news of Yu Feng's victory over Puzhou came, and Chen Yue was very happy.
"Yu Feng captured Puzhou.
It won't take long to cross the Yellow River, and then he can attack Tongguan from the north.
Li Guo will retreat."
"Your Majesty is wise," Li Yi praised.
In the next few days, Chen Yue did not try to send troops to attack the Shun army in Tongguan.
Instead, he deployed dozens of artillery outside the pass and carried out shelling every day to put pressure on the Shun army in Tongguan.
Dozens of red-coated cannons opened fire, and their powerful sound shook the sky.
The shells fell on the top of Tongguan City, smashing the city with piles of saucers flying, and the city walls were crumbling.
The hearts of the soldiers inside the pass were filled with fear.
Li Guo, the commander-in-chief of the Shun army, was worried that the Ming army would attack by force, so he sent troops from time to time to repair the destroyed city walls while the Ming army's artillery stopped.
At this time, hundreds of Yellow River ships mobilized from Luoyang were led by Xu Qingtian and pulled by thousands of soldiers with ropes, heading upstream along the Yellow River towards Puzhou in the north.
For Chen Yue, the key to victory or defeat was not in Tongguan, but in Puzhou to the north.
As long as Yu Feng can lead his army across the Yellow River, occupy Daqing Pass and open the way into Shaanxi, the situation in Shaanxi will be decided
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