Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 1054 The Prodigal Son Hu Cang

The general who led the troops to attack Wuqu City was Hu Cang, the second son of Hu Jinyao and the second son of the Hu family.

For Hu Jinli, this army of more than 10,000 people was the foundation of the Hu family, his most trusted confidant, and the most elite army of his Great Yu Dynasty. The attack on Wuqu Port required a quick victory, and the opponent was the Ming Dynasty after all. Not every noble family had the courage to openly confront the Ming Dynasty.

If the armies of other noble families were dispatched, they might not dare to attack the Ming Dynasty with all their might.

Hu Jinli usurped the throne, but because he did not like his eldest son Hu Cheng, he did not appoint a crown prince.

This gave Hu Cang some imagination. He was Hu Ji's favorite son, and he thought he was much better than his elder brother Hu Cheng. But he was unlucky and was born a little later than his elder brother Hu Cheng... This attack on Wuqu Port was his best chance to seize the position of crown prince.

In Wuqu Port, there are military supplies that are extremely important to the Hu family. As long as he brings these military supplies back, he will be the number one contributor to the Hu family. Moreover, if he can defeat Zhou Wang Zhu Su on the battlefield, he will become famous, and then return to Thang Long City with the prestige of a great victory, and he will win the hearts of all the nobles in the court. Even his eldest brother Hu Cheng has to avoid his edge.

As long as the nobles support him, why worry that Hu Cang will not become the crown prince? If his military achievements are great enough, he may even be able to ask his father to abdicate and become the emperor!
So Hu Cang fought very hard.

But the elite troops of the Ming Dynasty were too elite. Although they only had 2,000 men, they relied on those fancy muskets, artillery, and bows and arrows to defend the city walls perfectly. The Hu army, relying on their high morale after arriving at the city, launched a strong attack, but they were defeated and did not even touch the edge of the city wall.

This made Hu Cang, who was full of confidence, feel like he had been hit by a huge punch.

"Attack! Keep attacking!" At the military meeting on the first night, Hu Cang was furious.

Today's siege was his first battle. He led an army of more than 10,000 to attack a small town with only 2,000 garrisons... As a result, more than 10,000 people were killed before they could even climb up the city wall, and they had to sound the retreat.

In this way, not to mention that he could go back and compete for the throne of crown prince with the power of a great victory, the fact that his prestige did not plummet was a blessing from heaven.

"Second Prince, the Ming army has powerful firearms and relies on the power of the city walls. It is not advisable to attack by force..." The general in command advised with a depressed look. This general was called Li Hanman, a trusted and capable general under Hu Jilin. His original surname was not Li. When Hu Jilin was still called Li Jilin, he changed his surname to Li to express his trust in him.

Now that Hu Jilin's surname has changed to Hu, General Li feels a little embarrassed. He is now struggling over whether he should also change his surname to Hu to save face.

If he really changed it, Zhu Su would have to give him the nickname "a slave of three surnames".

"In my opinion, it would be best to... surround the Ming army but not attack it, and cut off their food supplies."

"There are many civilians in the Ming army city, so food and fodder must be in short supply. The sea is windy right now, and it won't be that fast to recruit them from the Ming country and then transport them by sea."

"As long as the city is short of food and grass, the morale of the Ming army will be shaken, and our army will win!"

The general servant said confidently.

Hu Cang was so upset that he could not help but throw the tiger talisman on the table at Li Hanman's face. "We have mobilized 18,000 troops, but we are stopped by 2,000 people? We have to wait until they run out of food?"

"By the time they run out of food, that traitor Nguyen Duo Fang will have already reached Thang Long City!"

"Besides, we attacked the Wuqu City of the Ming Dynasty to get their military funds and food supplies...they have eaten up all the food supplies, so how can we recruit soldiers to attack the rebellious bandit Ruan Duofang?"

Li Hanman didn't dare to say anything after Hu Cang threw the tiger talisman at him. After all, what Hu Cang said did make sense.

He was a general and indeed had not considered this aspect of politics.

"Then... I have another plan." Li Hanman was indeed a general that Hu Jinyi valued. He used his little brain that was hit by the tiger talisman and quickly came up with a plan. "Our army can wait until it rains to attack the city. When it rains, the Ming army's muskets and artillery will definitely be greatly affected."

"Then we will attack the city again and we will surely be able to take it down in one go!"

Hu Cang thought about it and finally couldn't wait that long, so he shook his head and said, "The sky is full of sunset glow these days, I'm afraid there won't be heavy rain in the short term."

Li Hanman fell into deep thought again. "Then... then, I will only have one last plan."

"We can dig a tunnel and attack Wuqu City from the inside. There are many civilians in Wuqu City. As long as we attack the city, there will be chaos."

"Then we can open the city gates and welcome the army into the city."

"This is a brilliant plan!" Hu Cang slapped the table and said excitedly. "Tomorrow, we will use the strong attack as bait to divert the attention of the Ming army."

"General Li, send your troops to dig tunnels and attack Wuqu... If you fail, you will die!"

"Yes!" Li Manhan responded loudly.

So the next day,
The Li, Manchu and Han people died for their cause.

The incident happened very suddenly. At that time, Li Manhan was commanding the army. Under the cover of the siege troops, they were openly building an earthen wall, and secretly digging a tunnel under the wall to attack Wuqu City.

At that time, General Li Manhan was commanding the soldiers who were digging a tunnel with sweat on his forehead. He had made preparations. As soon as the tunnel was dug, he would be the first to lead the men to attack Wuqu City.

You must become the first hero in conquering Wuqu City. If you are lucky, you may be able to capture Ming Dynasty's King Zhou Zhu Su alive.

In that case, I can use this great achievement to ask the head of the family, who is already Your Majesty, to grant me a surname again, and change my surname to "Hu".

Li Manhan only felt that his life as a slave was full of hope.

Then, the sky fell.

Countless roars rang out, countless artillery shells covered the sky, and for some reason all the Ming artillery on the city walls were aimed here.

Li Jinglong was not good at other things, but he had already mastered the art of firing cannons. He could operate the cannons of the treasure ship at sea and bombard the small fishing boats of the barbarians, let alone such a large earthen wall?
Under the relentless bombing of the Ming army, the earthen wall collapsed, and the Hu soldiers who were digging the tunnel were buried deep underground. General Li Hanman, who was directing the tunnel digging work, died.

At the military meeting the next night, Hu Cang continued to be furious.

"You are all useless! You are all useless! You have been unable to capture a military camp with 2,000 soldiers stationed there for so long!"

"Second Prince, I have a plan." After Li Hanman's death, besides Hu Cang, General Du Ziman had the highest status. General Du had been suppressed by Li Hanman for many years, and now he finally had the opportunity to show himself, and he was very happy.

"Your Highness, Li Hanman is incompetent and has forgotten the coast of Wuqu Port. Why should we go far away and dig a tunnel from the land to enter the city?"

"We only need to collect ships, and when we attack the city, we can send a cavalry to attack Wuqu Port from the sea. With a pincer attack from both sides, Wuqu will surely be defeated!"

"Great idea!" Hu Cang was overjoyed. There are many talented people under my Hu family.

"I will appoint you as the commander of this special force. When we attack the city tomorrow, lead them to attack Wuqu Port by sea!"

"Yes!" Du Ziman was full of confidence and had already started planning. Once he got the first credit, he would ask the head of the family to grant him the surname Hu so that he could become a member of the royal family of the Great Yu Dynasty.

"I will definitely help Your Highness to conquer Wu Qu! If this mission fails, I will die!"

On the second day, the siege continued. Du Ziman led a team of a thousand people and attacked Wuqu from the sea on a requisitioned fishing boat.

However, before he landed, the fishing boats had just approached the port, and Du Ziman felt that his boats were suddenly unable to move. When their soldiers finally pulled the oars out of the water to check, they saw that there was a thick layer of something wrapped around the oars.

"Fishing net?" Du Ziman's face changed drastically.

He was about to give the order to quickly clear the fishing nets, when he saw that the hulls of those terrifyingly tall Ming treasure ships had several black gun muzzles opened.

The cannons with cold gun muzzles were all pointed in their direction.

Boom boom boom! General Du Ziman died.

"...If you want to launch a surprise attack, choose the night." On the boat, Li Jinglong watched the Hu family's ship slowly sinking on the sea, and looked at the hot air balloon floating in the sky in silence. "Do you really think our Ming scouts are blind?"

"The food these Annan people eat is not as rich as ours in the Ming Dynasty. Perhaps it is because they can't see at night." The deputy general guessed.

"That makes sense!" Li Jinglong suddenly realized. "Then Uncle Wu can send troops to attack at night and accomplish his goal in one fell swoop?"

"...His Highness the Fifth Prince does not allow excessive killing or injury." The deputy general said sullenly.

Li Jinglong was speechless for a long time before he managed to utter:
"Uncle Wu is really frustrated."

……

Military meeting on the third night.

Hu Cang continued to be furious.

"A thousand people! A thousand people! They didn't even reach the edge of Wuqu Port! They were bombed and killed by the Ming warships!"

"Du Ziman is a piece of trash! A piece of trash! What on earth is he doing?!"

Hu Cang was furious for a while, then sat down angrily.

"Wait, do you have any other strategy to break into the city?"

"Say it quickly!"

Hu Cang was already in a state of desperation, trying every possible means to cure his illness.

An extremely ambitious general stood out from the crowd and said, "Second Prince, we can pretend to be refugees..."

The next day, the general and the disguised refugees were killed outside the city.

"...The army has already blocked the city, yet refugees are still able to break through the encirclement and come in. Does Hu Cang think I am a fool?" Zhu Su complained speechlessly to the people around him.

On the fourth day, Hu Cang adopted the strategy of building a well to suppress the people in the city from a high position.

The next day, the well was destroyed by several cannon shots, and the general who had offered the advice died in the well.

On the fifth day, Hu Cang adopted a strategy of feigning surrender and decided to send a general to pretend to surrender under the city by using the method of self-torture.

The next day, the general was showing the whip marks on his buttocks under the city wall in an attempt to win the sympathy of the Ming army, but he was shot in the anus by a dog from the city wall and died...

On the sixth day, Hu Cang sent people to move the catapult forward several meters, intending to throw stones into the city and cause panic among civilians.

The next day, Zhu Su discovered that the catapults had entered the artillery range, and ordered Li Jinglong to directly destroy all of Hu Cang's catapults. The general who suggested moving the catapults forward was killed by artillery fire.

On the seventh day, Hu Cang sent people to perform rituals in front of the battle formation, intending to kill the Ming army with heavenly soldiers and generals.

Zhu Su sent Li Jinglong to use cannons to bombard the city. The charlatan who claimed that he was invulnerable to swords and guns and could summon the Six Dings and Six Jias to protect him was killed by the cannons, and his body was not found.

Day 8…

"...Hu Cang is too persistent." Zhu Su, who had been sitting on the city wall for eight days, felt quite bored.

The Ming army's equipment gap had already appeared. It was simply a pipe dream for Hu Cang to rely on Annan's cold weapon era army to break through Wu Qu.

He never thought that the Ming army could not defend the city. Let alone two thousand people, even if there were only one thousand, the quality of his Ming army would be enough to defeat these so-called elite soldiers of the Hu family.

The money he invested in these two thousand personal guards is probably more than the military expenditure of the entire Annan army... How could he lose?

The only worry is that Hu's army cannot be hit too hard. If Hu's capital is destroyed, the balance between Hu Jinyi and Ruan Duofang will be broken.

But... I thought that after fighting for four or five days, Hu Cang, a young man, would stop and withdraw his troops after realizing the gap between him and the Ming Dynasty. Anyway, the Ming Dynasty had already won the righteousness, and it was Hu who first sent troops to attack the Ming Dynasty, so whether this battle was fought or not was actually of little significance to the Ming Dynasty.

But Hu Cang… seemed to be crazy. He tried all kinds of siege methods but they were all ineffective, but he was unwilling to retreat. The morale of his nobles had fallen to the bottom, and they even used the trick of shaman dance.

If this continues, Zhu Su is very worried that the soldiers under Hu Cang will mutiny on the spot... By then, this elite group of Hu's soldiers will be disbanded, and what will Hu Jinyi use to fight against Ruan Duofang?

The war has come to this point, and we are still worried about whether the other side will mutiny... This is really unbelievable. Zhu Su thought helplessly.

"Your Highness." Seeing Zhu Su waving at him, Di Meng hurried to Zhu Su's side and pretended to listen attentively.

"Di Meng, go and call Li Li and his group." Zhu Su said.

We can't let Hu Cang, this prodigal son, continue to defeat Hu Ji's elite soldiers and generals. No matter how rich the Hu family is, it is not enough to defeat this prodigal son... Zhu Su thought angrily.

He had to take the initiative and stop Hu Cang, the prodigal son, from destroying the Hu family's foundation.

"Le Li?" Di Meng was stunned. Seeing Zhu Su nodded, he saluted Zhu Su. "I understand."

Li Li and others have been recruited into the army by Zhu Su. Although they cannot go to the front line, they are responsible for maintaining public order in the city.

After a while, Le Loi came to the tower where Zhu Su was. Seeing Zhu Su sitting under the yellow silk umbrella, Le Loi quickly followed suit and saluted Zhu Su with a Ming military salute.

"General Li Li greets His Majesty the King of Zhou."

"Le Loi," Zhu Su said, "I have a major matter that will determine our success or failure, and I need you to do it."

(End of this chapter)