Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 183: Northern Expedition Nahachu! Hot Air Balloon Experiment [Please Subscribe]

Influenced by later generations, although Liu Kuan was already 28 years old in the Ming Dynasty and had been married for nearly two years, he never worried about having children.

However, he was still very happy when he heard that Su Caiwei was pregnant.

He immediately looked at Su Caiwei and asked, "What did the doctor say? Are you feeling well?"

Su Caiwei had a smile on her lips, and her face seemed to have a layer of maternal radiance. She said, "The princess sent someone to invite the imperial physician Lou to take my pulse. The imperial physician said that I am in good health and can continue to take care of the baby as usual."

Liu Kuan nodded and said, "Since you need to take care of the pregnancy, you can ask Xia He and Tao Yao to handle more of the affairs in the mansion. Don't overwork yourself."

"I know."

Then, the three of them sat in the side hall and chatted for a while before having dinner.

At night, in the master bedroom of the central courtyard.

Zhu Huilan was obsessed with Liu Kuan for a while.

"Husband, I turned eighteen last year... I wanted to give you a child soon."

In fact, Zhu Huilan's age of eighteen was calculated according to the customs of the time. According to the customs of later generations, she was still a few months short.

However, Liu Kuan could see that Su Caiwei's pregnancy had a significant impact on Zhu Huilan, and now that she was so obsessed with him, Liu Kuan agreed.

"it is good."

Zhu Huilan was immediately happy when she heard it, and she was very enthusiastic...

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On the 18th day of the first lunar month in the 16th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang appointed Feng Sheng, Duke of Song, as the general of conquering the enemy, Fu Youde, Duke of Ying, and Lan Yu, Marquis of Yongchang, as the left and right deputy generals, and Zhao Yong, Wang Bi, Hu Hai, Guo Ying and other veteran generals as lieutenant generals. He also ordered Shang Yan, the commander-in-chief of the front army, to assist in military affairs. He led an army of 160,000, claiming to have 200,000, to attack Nahachu, the Taiwei of the Northern Yuan Dynasty and the King of Kaiyuan!
On February 27, Feng Sheng led the main force of 80,000 Ming troops to Tongzhou and joined forces with other Ming troops that were on the northern expedition.

Since the fifth year of Hongwu, the Ming army has fought many battles with the Nahachu tribe in Liao. Now it has occupied most of the areas south of the Liaohe River, including Liaoyang, and established the Liaodong Regional Military Commission, which is under the jurisdiction of Jinzhou Wei, Fuzhou Wei, Gaizhou Wei, Shenyang Wei and other garrisons.

In western Liaoning, they only occupied some areas near the coast south of Huanghe River and Chifeng, and established garrisons such as Guangning Wei and Yizhou Wei.

In the northwest of Hebei, the Wanquandusi was established, which was under the jurisdiction of Kaipingwei, Longmenwei and other garrisons.

As for the large area between Wanquandusi and Liaoxi, just north of Peking, no garrisons were set up there.

Because this section of the Great Wall later built by Ming Dynasty had not yet been built, the Ming army could only garrison at dangerous passes and fortresses between the Yanshan Mountains and other mountain ranges, relying on cities such as Peking and Tongzhou in the rear to adopt a defensive strategy against the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

Of course, because the Ming army was now very powerful, the Mongol army led by Nahachu of the Northern Yuan Dynasty never crossed the Yanshan Mountains even when they went south.

The large area east of Zhangjiakou, north of Yanshan Mountain, and south of Chengde, Chichifeng, and Huanghe River in later generations is actually the battle zone between the Ming army and the Northern Yuan Dynasty, and neither side has actual control over it.

According to information obtained by Guangmingwei and Ming army scouts, the Nahachu tribe was now defending against the main force of the Ming army to the south and stationed in Qingzhou (the area of ​​Balin Right Banner in Inner Mongolia in later generations).

On the ninth day of March, Feng Sheng ordered Lan Yu to lead more than 10,000 cavalrymen as the vanguard to launch a surprise attack on Qingzhou, which delayed the tens of thousands of Northern Yuan troops stationed in Qingzhou.

Feng Sheng led the main force of the Ming army of 80,000 and arrived a few days later.

At that time, Qingzhou had a city, which was built in the Liao Dynasty. Although it was not as big as many big cities in the Central Plains, it was one of the most famous "major cities" on the grassland today.

With the support of the "strong city", and the fact that Lan Yu had led the Ming cavalry to attack a few days earlier and cruise around, the Northern Yuan troops in Gyeongju did not withdraw.

After the main force of the Ming army set up camp outside the city of Gyeongju, Lan Yu quickly led a large group of personal soldiers to pay a visit.

Feng Sheng immediately convened a military meeting.

Inside the central army tent, Duke Feng Sheng of Song sat on a throne covered with tiger skin, with a map hanging beside him.

After Lan Yu, Zhao Yong, and a large number of other generals had arrived, he said, "According to the intelligence gathered by the Guangming Guards and our scouts, all the Mongol troops in the Qingzhou area are now gathered in Qingzhou City."

"There are over 20,000 defenders in the city, including over 10,000 Han soldiers. They have firearms such as bowl-mouth cannons and fire blunderbusses, and are quite skilled in defending the city."

"Outside the city, there are three camps, each garrisoned with over 10,000 soldiers and horses, supporting the defenders inside the city."

"Obviously, if we want to capture Qingzhou City, we'd better eliminate these three camps first. And we have to do it quickly. If we delay for too long, Nahachu's reinforcements will arrive, and this battle will be difficult to fight."

After Feng Sheng finished speaking, Lan Yu was the first to speak up, "They're just three camps. General, give me ten Shenwei cannons, three hundred Hudun cannons, a thousand bird gunners, and five thousand armored soldiers. I can take down all three camps in one day!"

Lan Yu was not the only one who participated in the Yunnan battle in the big tent. There were even more who knew the power of the Shenwei Cannon and the Tiger Crouching Cannon. Therefore, many generals could not help but speak out after hearing Lan Yu's words.

"General, if you give us so many cannons and muskets, we can capture three large camps in one day."

"If you can give me twenty powerful cannons, I can destroy the camp with three thousand armored soldiers!"

"General, the last general invites you to fight!"

"···"

In this battle, the Ming army generals were full of confidence, so they were all full of fighting spirit and vied with each other to fight.

After hearing this, Lan Yu stood directly in the center of the tent, pointed at the other generals, and said, "Damn it, who among you dares to compete with me?"

"Lan Yu!" Feng Sheng slammed the table and frowned, "You're the Right Deputy General. It's just about taking out the camp outside the city. Why is it absolutely necessary for you to do that?"

"Besides, the enemy has many cavalry. To prevent them from abandoning the city and fleeing north when they see the situation is bad, you will need to lead the cavalry to watch from the side. Now retreat!"

Lan Yu was not as arrogant as he was after the Battle of Buir Lake. Although he was somewhat resentful of Feng Sheng's decision, he still withdrew.

Feng Sheng immediately called out his generals, "Wang Bi, Hu Hai, and Guo Ying!"

Three elite generals stepped forward and clasped their fists together, saying, "I am here!"

"Each of you will take ten Shenwei cannons, three hundred Hudun cannons, and ten thousand armored soldiers. After breakfast tomorrow, simultaneously attack the three strongholds outside the city!"

"I obey your orders!" Feng Sheng then pointed out four more people, "Zhao Yong, Guan Liang, Qi Zhen, and Chang Mao!"

"The general is here!"

"Each of you will lead your troops and set up camp on the east and west sides of Qingzhou City to prevent the enemy from abandoning the city."

"The last general takes command!"

"Lan Yu!" Feng Sheng finally called Lan Yu's name. "You should lead the cavalry and watch the north. You must be on guard against both the city's defenders fleeing and the reinforcements sent by Nahachu."

"If the defenders flee north tomorrow, harass, intercept, or pursue them, depending on the situation. If Nahachu does send reinforcements, have them reunite with the Qingzhou defenders. Do you understand?"

Military orders cannot be disobeyed. Although Lan Yu was unwilling to miss the siege mission, he still clasped his fists and said, "Understood! I will obey your command!"

The next morning.

The Northern Yuan Dynasty's Qingzhou garrison commander watched from the top of the city wall.

Among them, there were two main ones, one was Nahachu's subordinate Pingzhang Zhongshi Guolai, and the other was Nahachu's second son Bulanxi.

After watching for a while, he saw the Ming army split into three divisions and moved towards the three major camps respectively. Bu Lanxi asked in surprise, "The Ming army is going to attack the three major camps at the same time?"

Guo Lai, a white-haired Mongol veteran, sighed upon hearing this and said, "The Ming army has over 100,000 soldiers. They can divide their forces and attack the three major strongholds simultaneously, so that they cannot support each other."

Bu Lanxi continued, "I think the three Ming armies don't have many soldiers. They should be able to hold the three strongholds, right?"

Guo Lai, Bu Lanxi and others did not have a telescope. Even if they stood on the top of the city wall, they could only estimate the approximate number of each army based on the flags of the Ming army. It was impossible to find out the specific number of Ming troops.

For example, Feng Sheng and Lan Yu actually had only more than 90,000 soldiers and horses, less than 100,000, but Guo Lai believed the rumors and thought it was more than 100,000.

He took a look around and estimated that the three Ming armies should have more than 10,000 men each. He then said thoughtfully, "It's hard to say."

Bu Lanxi was young and had practically grown up on the grasslands. He suddenly pointed at a Ming army column that was closer to them and asked in surprise, "What are those Ming army carriages pulling?"

Guo Lai couldn't see clearly at all, so he could only shake his head and said, "Second Prince, the Ming army is coming with great force. I'm afraid it will be difficult for the three strongholds to defend on their own. We must be prepared to send troops out of the city to provide support."

"Pingzhang will take care of the arrangements."

After Guo Lai conveyed a series of orders and watched from the top of the city wall with Bu Lanxi for a while, the Ming army arrived at the designated position and prepared to attack the city.

At this moment, Guolai, Bulanxi and other Northern Yuan generals on the city wall felt even more puzzled.

It was seen that the place where the Ming army was lined up was one or two miles away from the big camp they wanted to attack, and then they pushed out ten carriages first.

After the carriages turned around, the Ming soldiers untied the red oilcloth on them. Even though they were two or three miles away, Guo Lai, Bu Lanxi and others noticed the flashing light on the carriages.

"Could that be a musket on that carriage?" This time, without even asking, Bu Lanxi had a guess. Then, he wondered, "The Ming army placed their muskets so far away. How could they possibly reach our main camp?"

Guo Lai frowned and did not answer.

After dozens of breaths, the Ming army gave Bulanxi an answer.

boom!
After a shocking loud noise like thunder, flames and thick smoke appeared in front of the Ming army's carriage. At the same time, a cannonball flew over a mile and landed in the big camp outside the south city!
Such a loud noise and such a long bombardment distance stunned Guo Lai, Bu Lanxi and others on the city wall.

Before they could come to their senses, they heard nine loud noises in succession.

Boom boom boom...

Nine iron bombs whizzed into the large stronghold outside the city. Three of them hit the stronghold wall, arrow tower or tent. These buildings were like paper-pasted floors, with big holes in them and some even collapsed.

Then noisy shouts were heard from the village.

Bu Lanxi finally came to his senses, his face filled with panic, even fear.

"Pingzhang, how can the Ming army's bowl-mouthed muskets fire so far and with such great power?"

Guo Lai did not answer, but murmured: "It's over, Qingzhou can't be defended..."

On March 17th of the 16th year of Hongwu, Feng Sheng led 100,000 Ming troops to capture Qingzhou.

Nahachu's subordinates, Pingzhang Guolai and his son Bulanxi abandoned the city and fled, but were both captured by Lan Yu.

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Capital.

Since the war against Nahachu began, Liu Kuan has arranged all the affairs of the Science and Technology Department, which makes him less busy than the period before and after the New Year.

After more than half a year of research, the hot air balloon experiment group had accumulated enough experience through repeated experiments and produced the first hot air balloon. Liu Kuan then led the students of the main hall to conduct the first hot air balloon launch experiment.

As the experimental site, Liu Kuan chose the large parade ground between Shangfang Gate and Shangfang Bridge in the outer city.

This large parade ground was used by Zhu Yuanzhang for military parades, so it is very spacious. In addition, there are not many people living in this area, so it is perfect for launching hot air balloons.

Not long after Liu Kuan arrived at the parade ground with his students and craftsmen, Zhu Biao also arrived.

After everyone saluted, Zhu Biao called Liu Kuan aside and asked, "Son-in-law, is this hot air balloon experiment dangerous?"

Liu Kuan smiled and said, "It's not a manned experiment, so how could it be dangerous? At most, we'll lose some materials."

"That's good." Zhu Biao's expression was obviously relaxed after hearing this. Then he asked curiously, "What are the chances of success of this experiment?"

　Second update.

　　Good night~
　　
　　
　
(End of this chapter)