The Japanese army dug trenches day and night. Looking from the fortress, the dust and fog were thick even on sunny days and did not stop even on rainy days.
Zan Jurun and his generals observed for a few days and determined that the Japanese army's method of digging trenches was similar to the shape of a "Z", which seemed to be inspired by ships sailing against the wind. Between two adjacent horizontal trenches, there are many oblique vertical trenches connecting them.
But even so, the Japanese army could not expose themselves to the artillery of the Xu army from the side. It was just that at a long distance, the threat of artillery was much smaller.
Zan Jurun took out the drawings of the Ministry of Works officials when they built the earthen fort and compared them with the artillery regulations. He used a wooden ruler to measure the angles on it, and looked up at several civil and military officials and said: It is difficult to avoid the enemy soldiers approaching the fortress. The trench can be attacked in the map, but the artillery shells are a little far away and cannot be so accurate. What's more, our ammunition is not enough to use too many artillery.
Zhang Jiankui said: Our troops must be more prepared for night attacks in the future.
Zan Jurun looked at him, nodded, and pointed at the black line with a wooden ruler. He thought that other generals would not understand, but Zan Jurun thought that Zhang Jiankui could understand, and Commander Zhang was right. At a distance, the angle was not good, and the farther the artillery was fired, the greater the unpredictable deviation would be, and it would be difficult to hit the trench exactly; but as long as you get close to the corner wall, please see
He pointed with a ruler, no matter how the trench is dug, its side and back will be exposed to the firepower of a corner wall. The copper cannon has a sight, and the deflection is very small at a distance of 100 steps, which will definitely cause effective damage to the enemy. Therefore, after the Japanese trenches approached, they could only launch a surprise attack at night, otherwise they would be covered by our artillery fire.
He then repeated, "It's just that the ammunition will gradually run out."
The dilemma Xu Jun is facing now is not food, but the shortage of gunpowder and iron balls used in artillery. When the fort was built, although it was equipped with a large number of firearms, the ammunition required for copper artillery was too large, and it was consumed very quickly if it relied solely on reserves. Therefore, Xu Jun's artillery could not even exert half of its power in order to save ammunition.
Zan Jurun wrote in the file: I personally observed the actual combat of Liuhua Fort and I think the current fort has at least two major defects. First, it relies too much on artillery firepower, and artillery consumes a huge amount of ammunition. If there is no reinforcement route, the fortress cannot last long. Second, the fortress is too small and can be easily besieged by the enemy. Long-range artillery fire cannot effectively extend the radius and can be broken by digging trenches. I think that in order to support the defense under the siege of a large army, several layers of fortifications must be set up on the periphery to supplement the artillery firepower with muskets and increase the defense distance.
As expected by Zan Jurun, the Japanese army dug trenches close to the perimeter of the fortress, but did not attack despite risking their lives under artillery fire. At night, a small group of soldiers attacked and shot Xu's army with bows and arrows.
The harassment could not cause much damage to Xu's army, but Xu's army could not do anything about it. Troops and ammunition were gradually consumed every night.
A month later, even the common soldiers felt that the situation was not good. Xu Jun’s artillery rarely roared, and some people said that the gunpowder and shells were almost exhausted.
Because of the lack of heavy weapons firepower, at night, the Japanese army began to attack the city from time to time with wooden ladders. And in the distance, the enemy camp seemed to be rushing to build ladders.
Xu Jun's soldiers took turns on duty, with only four hours a day for eating and sleeping, and the surroundings were very noisy.
A soldier in the wounded camp had his right arm chopped off, so the doctor notified General Yu Liang to discuss the matter. After the soldiers of Xu's army were injured, the doctor would clean and treat the wound to prevent it from festering; but it still could not completely prevent some people from festering. Once a deeper wound festered, if it was on the torso, the person would die, and if it was on the limbs, it had to be chopped off, otherwise it would not heal.
Although Yu Liang was a military general, he was actually a scholar. He witnessed the scene of arms being chopped off in the wounded camp and was greatly shocked. The man eventually died.
Yu Lianghao couldn't sleep well during the rest periods. The face of the wounded soldier kept flashing through his mind, and he felt very depressed.
It was a noisy environment, with nearly thirty men crowded in one house. They had been stuck here for several months since before the siege. It was inconvenient to take a shower, and the smell inside was quite bad.
Yu Liang lay on the felt mat of the wooden bed, staring at the gray-black ceiling, motionless.
At this time, someone asked: General Yu, did the higher-ups say when the reinforcements will arrive
Yu Liang said angrily: Who knows? I heard that Jiangning Shipyard was building the Mulan warship. The large ship displaces thousands of tons and can carry hundreds of people. However, such a large ship is slow to build. It may take one or two years to complete.
The man responded with disappointment, and then said: Didn’t the Koreans say they are on our side and will reinforce us at sea
Yu Liang sneered: Who hasn’t heard that those who are not of my race must have different hearts
The man was stunned and asked: What do you mean
Yu Liang was still looking at the roof. He didn't need to turn his head to tell that the person who was talking was Zhang Da, who couldn't read a single word. Yu Liang then explained in a boring way: What he meant was, if it didn't do much good for the Koreans, why would they risk their lives to help you
That's true. Boss Zhang seemed very disappointed.
The two fell silent. The dim house was filled with a mixture of strange smells and snoring. Almost all the soldiers in Yu Liang's guards were born in poverty. These people who were used to hard times were also very good. They were completely adapted to such an environment. After all, they could eat their fill. But Yu Liang was not so good. He was pale and thin recently.
Yu Liang turned over and saw that Boss Zhang was still awake.
Zhang Da noticed that Yu Liang was looking at him, so he turned around and said, "I was thinking, it's a good thing that the third brother was not allowed to come, otherwise his new wife wouldn't even have borne any offspring and would have to be a widow."
Suddenly a voice came out of nowhere: They all belong to the Zhang family, why don't you take over
The room was suddenly filled with suppressed laughter, making the place seem less heavy.
Zhang Dadao: We can still go back alive
No one could answer this question. If the army was isolated on the East Island without reinforcements, even a god would die. Besides, most of them were just farmers, not gods.
After a while, Zhang Da forced a smile and said, "But it's not a loss. Our house has been renovated, we have bought some land, and the third son has married. I am poor, and it is worth it to exchange these."
After hearing this, Yu Liang couldn't help but say: Have you ever thought about yourself
Zhang Da was stunned for a moment, then he touched his head and said with some annoyance: I shouldn't have let that Japanese girl go. If she were still here, I would spend all my valuables and still sleep with her for a night.
Yu Liang felt a little strange after hearing this, and looked Zhang Da up and down. This man's real age seemed to be in his early thirties, but he looked older. Zhang Da, you haven't touched a woman yet, have you
Zhang Da said disapprovingly: "In the past, we couldn't even have enough food to eat. Which woman could get me? After joining the army, I built a house and bought land. The money I earned for my third son's marriage was not enough. The income of the guards was not high and they almost all depended on fighting. I did get a ewe from the wealthy man Li in the neighboring village once."
Before he could finish his words, several people couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Yu Liang also felt that it was not good to hear such an embarrassing thing, but Zhang Da did not seem to feel that way. He was still serious. Yu Liang said: Lao Zhang is a very funny person. He felt that this kind of person is quite capable, that is, to make others laugh until their stomach hurts, but not to laugh himself.
Zhang Dadao: This is the only thing that made me die uncomfortably. I have lived my whole life without ever experiencing the joy of love.
At this point, the few people who were still awake talked about a topic that they loved to hear again. Yu Liang only then realized that these rough men also had a delicate side, which was when they talked about women.
It's really not easy to do this job. Yu Liang didn't speak as vulgarly as the soldiers. He sighed and said, "I think there's nothing good about it, but why did I do it until now?"
Yu Liang couldn't explain it clearly, but there was always something indescribable that made Yu Liang reluctant to leave. The overall sentiment of the Xu Army, the glory brought by victory and dignity, and the brotherly relationship within it were indeed better than other armies at other times.
Yu Liang exhaled, smiled and said to Zhang Dadao: Let me put it this way, as long as we return alive, I will pay for Lao Zhang to have a taste of it.
Zhang Da immediately said, "Hey, you all heard it, General Yu Shi must keep his word.
At this moment, someone suddenly said: Commander Zhang, General Zhang
The few people who were still awake stood up hastily, and some of the people who were asleep also woke up. Those who were standing hurriedly clasped their fists and saluted.
Zhang Jiankui raised his hand and said, "No thanks. I'm just looking around at my brothers, nothing else."
Life was hard. Zhang Jiankui understood this as soon as he came in. He was a middle-level officer in the imperial guards, with a very good income. He must have lived a good life in Tokyo, not much worse than Yu Liang.
Zhang Jiankui added: "It's just a small deal, I will make sure you guys have a good meal and drink spicy drinks."
The reaction this time was not as enthusiastic as before. Everyone went to the fortifications to defend every day. Even the dumbest person could roughly feel what the war situation was like.
Zhang Jiankui saw this and said: The court is building ships, I assure you that reinforcements will come.
Still no one said anything.
Zhang Jiankui's method of boosting morale at Shijianbao consisted of just these two sentences, which he repeated many times. There was nothing else, but these two sentences were indeed the only real ones, and no matter how good the other sentences were, they were all nonsense.
Maybe some people were influenced by the atmosphere of justice, but for ordinary soldiers, having money and food to improve their lives was the most important thing, so they talked about rewards. But if you have money and food, you also need to have a life to spend it, so you have to talk about reinforcements. Simple, direct and crude.
At this time, Zan Jurun also walked into the barracks. Zan Jurun was a civil servant, but he had more dealings with the army, so he came in very directly and said: Even for those brothers who died fighting for the country, the court will still honor the rewards. When the time comes, the Ministry of War and the Military Department will give your families what you deserve.