Chapter 350 Secret Weapon?

For Ye Mingsheng, sending troops to attack Song Wenhui is a certainty!

But when to send troops to fight is something he needs to think carefully about!
The reason why Ye Mingsheng attaches so much importance to the battle situation in Changqing Prefecture now and spends a lot of manpower and material resources every day to get the latest intelligence on the situation in Changqing Prefecture as soon as possible is actually for nothing else but to calculate the timing of sending troops...
Just like the last time he attacked Posuo Mansion, Ye Mingsheng, who had the smallest power and the shallowest foundation, was still thinking of how to take advantage of the conflict between the snipe and the clam to gain the greatest benefit for himself!

As for when to send troops, Ye Mingsheng had his own considerations in mind. In his opinion, the troops must be sent just right, not too early or too late.

If the troops were dispatched too early, the Zhenwu Army would not be beaten badly enough by Song Wenhui, giving them a chance to catch their breath, and the Zhenwu Army would threaten Fengzhou instead. If the troops were dispatched too late, the Zhenwu Army would collapse, and Song Wenhui would have no worries and could withdraw all his troops to deal with him.
Besides, Song Wenhui was not a fool. He was not unaware of the threat from Ye Mingsheng. Although Ye Mingsheng scolded Han Chen back last time, Song Wenhui still persevered in getting Han Chen to go on a diplomatic mission to Fengzhou and promised Ye Mingsheng various benefits.
At first they invited Ye Mingsheng to attack Changqing Prefecture together, but later when they saw that Ye Mingsheng would not take the bait, they changed their strategy and told Ye Mingsheng that as long as he did not take any action, they would give him gold, silver, treasures, beautiful women, etc.
In addition to winning over Ye Mingsheng, Song Wenhui was also prepared for Ye Mingsheng to lead his troops to join the war. Shortly after the war broke out in Changqing Prefecture, Song Wenhui dispatched 10,000 well-equipped Liaoyang troops to station in Shoucheng, Xuantu Prefecture, in order to guard against Ye Mingsheng.

Shoucheng is the transit hub of Liaoyang. It is well connected geographically and can be said to be a battleground for military strategists. Judging from the current situation in Liaoyang, this place is also very critical. Whether Ye Mingsheng sends troops from Fengzhou or Posuo Prefecture, if he wants to attack Dongning Prefecture, he must pass through Shoucheng!

Shoucheng has tall walls and a moat, and all the defense facilities are very solid. The original garrison had 3,000 people, and now another 10,000 people have moved in. In addition, several thousand able-bodied men can be drawn from the city in times of crisis. All the garrison troops in Shoucheng are probably around 15,000 to 20,000 people!

The city is strong and has sufficient water and food, plus a garrison of up to 20,000 people. This is the biggest challenge Song Wenhui has given Ye Mingsheng...
You should know that the total number of troops Ye Mingsheng planned to dispatch was only 15,000 from Yuan Song, 13,000 from Lin Huaiwu, and 10,000 from Guo Zhiping, with a total force of about 38,000. This was the maximum number of troops Ye Mingsheng could dispatch to guard against possible sneak attacks from the Khitan and stabilize the situation in Posu Prefecture!
Let’s not talk about whether Ye Mingsheng can capture Shoucheng with these troops. Even if we assume that Ye Mingsheng can capture Shoucheng, how long will it take?

Three days? Five days? Seven days?

Or longer?
After capturing Shoucheng, how many casualties would the Fengzhou army suffer in the first offensive operation?
Are the remaining troops enough to continue the mission of attacking Dongning Prefecture?
These are all the issues that Ye Mingsheng needs to consider!
Honestly speaking, although Ye Mingsheng was very confident in the Fengzhou Army that he founded, he was not sure how much combat effectiveness the army would have after such a large-scale expansion in a short period of time...

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One hundred and fifty miles away from Fengzhou City, at the sparsely populated Panshi Ridge, thousands of Fengzhou soldiers were on high alert guarding the surroundings. They had received orders that the area around Panshi Ridge had now been designated as a military restricted area, and if any outsiders were found refusing to leave after being warned, they would be killed without mercy!

Just as the soldiers were on guard, three huge objects covered with black cloth came to a flat ground pushed by the soldiers and horses.

Looking at these three huge buildings, Ye Mingsheng's eyes instantly became hot. For the sake of this thing, he had lived frugally and tightened his belt in the past few months, gritted his teeth and spent tens of thousands of taels of silver, and finally turned this thing from a blueprint into reality.

Now is the time for Ye to witness the power of this thing. He wants to see with his own eyes whether this thing is worthy of his efforts! Huang Hao, who was standing next to Ye Mingsheng, looked at Ye Mingsheng like this, and couldn't help feeling a little nervous. He was originally a craftsman in the Ministry of Industry. Half a year ago, Ye Mingsheng used Deshengchang's channel to dig him to Fengzhou with a high salary, just for these things in front of him.

"Open these black cloths and let me see what they look like!" Ye Mingsheng, full of expectation, ordered his left and right:

"Yes!"

As Ye Mingsheng's order was issued, the soldiers around him took action and lifted the black cloth on the giant object to protect it from rain. Then three black cannons mounted on wooden wheels appeared in Ye Mingsheng's sight.

These three guns have one feature, that is, their barrels are long, the walls are thick, and they gradually become thicker from the muzzle to the breech, and they can all be used to fire solid bullets...
Ye Mingsheng walked to the three cannons with unbearable excitement, and stroked the cold and hideous cannon bodies in front of him as if he was caressing the skin of his lover.

In addition to firearms such as the three-barreled gun, the bird gun, and the tiger crouching cannon, a very small number of elite troops in the Great Zhou army were also equipped with some iron cannons. However, they were all bowl-mouth iron cannons, which had many shortcomings and were not sufficient for the current form of war. In addition, due to other reasons such as the complicated workmanship, most of the iron cannons were used to defend the city, and you would rarely see them in field battles.

Ye Mingsheng has always regarded the development and understanding of firearms as his greatest advantage in facing various powerful enemies, and as his core competitiveness in fighting for the world and the Central Plains!

He wanted to lead the trend of the times and create a firearms unit that represented the world's advanced level. Ye Mingsheng has always done this, starting from the Po Lu Gun and then to the Wei Yuan Gun, and now it is time to take this historic step!

Ye Mingsheng has never forgotten that artillery is the king of war. From the beginning of the establishment of the craftsmen camp, Ye Mingsheng has been recruiting talents everywhere, wanting to build the red cannon, which he thinks represents the highest level of firearms at the time.

After investing countless manpower and material resources, Ye Mingsheng's efforts paid off. Under his guidance and financial encouragement, the craftsmen in the artisan camp worked overtime for several months and finally replicated the red cannon in this world.

Ye Mingsheng believed that the Red Gate would become his secret trump card, his greatest weapon to break through Shoucheng, and make his enemies shrouded in nightmares of fear.
(Today I went out for a team building with my colleagues. I drank some wine and ate some barbecue. My stomach was bloated and my head was dizzy. After I came back at around 8 o'clock, I forced myself to write more than 2,000 words. Now I finally can't hold it anymore. I'm sorry, but I think I need to sleep for a while. As for the fewer words, I will find a chance to make up for it. Thank you all for your support and love!)
(End of this chapter)