Chapter 198 The World's No. 1 Military
Chapter 198 The World's Most Powerful Army
It had been a whole year since Shao Quanzhong's western expedition, and more than eight months since he attacked Jinjibao.
Originally, Jinjibao had stored more than a year's worth of food and fodder, but with the arrival of Ma Guiyuan, Ma Zhan'ao and the Shaanxi bandits, the food and fodder were consumed at an accelerated rate, and now there was not much left.
The heavy artillery reinforcement regiment cost Shao Quanzhong two million taels of silver, but it successfully broke through the circular fortress group around Jinjibao, which was worth it.
However, facing the abnormally strong ten-meter-thick city wall of Jinjibao, the siege artillery with an eight-inch muzzle was not enough.
A 180-pound solid iron ball hitting the wall of this world's strongest city would have little effect. If it was hit slowly, it would take several months to break down even if the soldiers defending the city did not repair it.
Is there a cannon that can break through a super strong city? Of course there is, and you can order it in Europe right now if you are willing to spend money.
The problem is that a cannon of that level would take a long time to build, and the Dan River is not a good waterway to transport such a large ship.
There must be a railway running directly from Shanghai to Jinjibao.
Not to mention the investment in building a railway, which takes years, it would be better to use today's artillery to destroy it slowly. In fact, it would take less time to besiege the castle until all the food and grass are used up.
A month ago, after the Huai Army completed the trench encirclement of Jinjibao, Shao Quanzhong was no longer in a hurry.
The army was now only consuming food and ammunition. Food was collected by the court at no cost, and it was used to offset the court's taxes. The most expensive pension was no longer needed, and for the Huai Army, the cost of attacking the city was reduced at once.
A moat was dug around Jinjibao, relying on the terrain of the Qin and Han canals. Even without the moat, the high groundwater level near the Yellow River made tunnel digging and blasting impossible.
The thirteen-meter-high city wall also made traditional tactics of filling moats, building ladders, and constructing siege vehicles extremely difficult, not to mention that traditional tactics resulted in too many casualties.
Therefore, the Huai Army gave up other ideas and focused on besieging the city, waiting for the food and grass in the city to be cut off.
"Boom! Boom!"
The heavy artillery regiment was still continuing to bombard the city at a leisurely pace. Its main purpose was actually to provide a continuous deterrent to the defenders in the city and to undermine their morale.
It took a lot of effort from ordering the gun to firing it on the battlefield. Without the steam tractor, it would not have reached the battlefield.
So there was no way to make the sacrifices we made earlier. We couldn't wait for steam tractors to be produced before we started the war, right? When we sent troops out, who knew when tractors would be produced?
When these heavy artillery with eight-inch muzzles were first shipped, each gun was disassembled into six parts.
During assembly, an iron box filled with soil is used to bury the heavy gun pivot and secure it, then the gun carriage is installed on the gun pivot, and finally the gun barrel is installed.
After it was installed and fired, the recoil would cause the cannon to move back several meters, and it would have to be pulled back to its original position by dozens of horses, which was quite troublesome.
The shells alone weigh more than 100 pounds, and it is quite tiring work for three or four strong men to load the shells while shouting.
In addition to the original three 24-pound howitzers, four 32-pound howitzers, and twelve mortars, the siege heavy artillery regiment had a total of twenty-two 180-pound siege guns.
Including ten companies of the newly purchased twenty guns, and the two originally purchased guns that were not brought because they were too heavy, there are a total of eleven companies.
That's right, an artillery company of more than 200 people only served two guns, including five officers, 199 soldiers, 120 riding horses, and 122 draft horses.
It also needs a steam tractor to pull a cannon and several loads of ammunition during the march.
This kind of artillery can only be used to its full potential in Europe, where the railway network is dense. In the Qing Dynasty, it would take several times more effort.
After all the effort to get it, it must be useful. What if the enemy's food and fodder quantity exceeds the estimate? We still have to rely on artillery to bring down the city wall.
The heavy artillery regiment's position was quite large. Every time a shot was fired, dozens of draft horses were harnessed. The soldiers waved whips to drive the horses and pull the huge cannons back into place. The scene was spectacular.
Shao Quanzhong sighed, "Alas, when will the cannon and the cannon be put out? I guess I won't be able to catch up when I fight."
That thing is not only a matter of structural design, but also requires comprehensive progress in materials and comprehensive advancement in science and technology. It cannot be made in advance by taking shortcuts. You can only use this stupid trick to deal with it.
"Sir, sir! The gate is open!"
Shao Quanzhong raised the telescope and saw that a few miles away, the gate of Jinjibao was wide open, and thousands of people staggered out with white flags. Did this mean that Jinjibao had finally surrendered?
The soldiers held guns and watched the hungry surrendered soldiers slowly walking towards them with their hands raised. They were going to tie them up first.
After they were tied up, they found that the number of people was much less than the number in the fort, only 7,000.
"We are the remnants of the 18th Battalion from Shaanxi. There is not enough food in the fort, so Ma Hualong drove us out."
The enemy finally quarreled among themselves because of lack of food. Humph, the Eighteenth Battalion has committed more evil than the Gansu bandits. You are welcome. All seven thousand humanoid creatures will be handed over to Haiqing for disposal.
After reducing their numbers, the Gansu bandits in the fort held out for another month. Seeing that the Huai Army had no intention of retreating, they finally gave up hope.
The food had not been eaten up yet, but the morale was completely lost and the army was on the verge of collapse and internal strife.
On the tenth day of the seventh month of the fourth year of the Tongzhi reign, Ma Hualong had himself tied up, walked out of the city alone, and surrendered to the Huai Army. "Please, Lord Zhongcheng, kill me and spare the lives of the ten thousand soldiers in the city."
Shao Quanzhong looked at Ma Hualong with a smile, "Don't worry, I am kind-hearted and will not kill any of the soldiers in the city."
With the surrender of 10,000 droopy-headed Gansu bandits, Jinjibao officially fell.
The 50,000 Huai Army soldiers at the scene burst into thunderous cheers.
It’s been too long. It’s really too long.
Although it took longer to capture Nanjing, it was the Hunan Army that fought in the early stages. The Huai Army also participated in the war in the later stages, relying on strategies, daily training, and acting with internal forces.
This battle was the first real bloody battle experienced by the Huai Army. The casualties were heavy, and even generals were killed. Now that they have finally won, everyone feels as if a huge stone has been lifted from their hearts.
Ma Hualong said it beautifully. He was just taking a gamble and voluntarily surrendered, so the court could not kill him.
Shao Quanzhong was really scratching his head. Killing an enemy general who surrendered voluntarily was very unkind. However, Ma Hualong's prestige among the rioters was too high. Even if he became a eunuch, he would still be very dangerous...
The task of operating on the Gansu bandits was given to Tong Lin. Hai Qing was very excited and led the military police into Jinjibao to monitor the soldiers carrying out the captured goods.
The captured items were moved around for a whole day. After counting, Hai Qing excitedly reported to Shao Quanzhong.
"We don't have much food and grass left, but we have countless swords, spears, bows, arrows, ammunition and gunpowder. We have captured several thousand good horses. Together with what we captured in Dongzhiyuan and other fortresses, we will have enough to turn all 80,000 Western Expedition troops into dragoons. We have captured hundreds of muzzle-loading cannons and more than a thousand Russian-made Ridge muzzle-loading rifles..."
"Wait!"
Shao Quanzhong immediately understood the key point.
"Based on the firepower displayed in the fort, there are only more than a thousand rapid-fire rifles? Why am I so unconvinced?"
"There are indeed only a little over a thousand of them. This time we have issued more silver--"
"Don't mention the money for now. There's definitely something wrong with the number of quick guns. Wu Ziyi!"
Wu Ziyi, who had just been replaced by Tian Xing, stepped forward and stood at attention.
"All the engineers, go into the fort and search for me. Even if you have to dig deep, you must find the remaining rifles."
This was really a three-foot-deep digging operation. The one square kilometer area in Jinjibao was dug up with holes by more than a thousand soldiers from the engineering battalion.
After digging for a whole day, Wu Ziyi reported the next day, "We have dug up more than 5,000 Russian rifles buried by the bandits."
Good, Ma Hualong was still thinking about making a comeback in the future, so this is good enough.
Ma Hualong and his son were tortured to death on the charge of "colluding with foreign countries and hoarding weapons". This was the only time the Huai Army executed bandits during its Western Expedition.
With earth-shaking explosions, tens of millions of kilograms of black gunpowder exploded everywhere, and Jinjibao was demolished by blasting by engineers.
Ma Hualong's forces were completely destroyed, the Shaanxi-Gansu bandit headquarters disappeared, and the most difficult battle of the Western Expedition was finally over.
Ma Hualong was as rich as a country, not less than the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but only more than 10 million taels of silver were found in Jinjibao, much less than Nanjing.
One reason is that the bandit is willing to spend money on buying weapons, building castles, buying horses and food. Another reason is that half of his wealth is invested in shops in various places.
Shao Quanzhong immediately called Tian Xing and ordered the insurance teams in his territory to mobilize militia to search the shops and homes of the bandits.
At the same time, he submitted a memorial to the imperial court, requesting that it send people to search and confiscate the bandits' shops in other provinces and major cities.
The silver from the confiscated property had to be sent to the inner treasury. This was a lucrative job, and the two Empress Dowagers and the Emperor also needed to replenish their blood. However, it was doubtful how much of the confiscated silver could actually be sent to the inner treasury.
Moreover, the money in the inner treasury was for the royal family's consumption, and it seemed to have no effect on alleviating the court's financial shortage.
The Huai Army finally left Jinjibao after nine months of fighting. Logically, with more than 14,000 veterans lost, the Huai Army's combat effectiveness should have declined.
However, when the 50,000 Huai Army troops who participated in the battle marched southward in rows, the expressions on everyone's faces were different.
Shao Quanzhong has been in the army for a long time and understands the reasons here very well.
A team that always relies on tricks to fight will never become a strong army, even if it has the best equipment in the world.
After the bloody battle of Jinjibao, the Huai Army had become calm, and something inexplicable began to emerge in the soldiers' minds.
Shao Quanzhong rode his horse and laughed loudly towards the sky, saying, "My Huai Army is now the best and most powerful army in the world."
(End of this chapter)