weaving

Chapter 1587 Encirclement
Even with two layers of armor, the Mongol Plain Yellow Banner's northern cavalry could not withstand the bombardment of the Xuanwu Camp's improved Yunzhou-style rapid-fire muskets at a distance of eighty paces.

As the volleys of musket fire rang out and smoke billowed, the Northern barbarian cavalry's charge came to an abrupt halt. Men and horses fell, screams and cries of agony filled the air, but those behind could not stop and continued their charge...

The stampede increased the casualties among the Northern Barbarians!

However, although the new type of rapid-fire gun was incredibly powerful, its accuracy was still difficult to guarantee. Even when the skilled gunners of the Xuanwu Battalion executed a brilliant three-stage firing tactic, they could not completely stop the Northern Barbarian cavalry's charge.

Commanding the battle here is Ma Benshan, the newly appointed commander of the central Xuanwu Camp. He was originally an old comrade who followed Li Jiyu in the rebellion.

Back when Li Jiyu pacified Tiefo Village in Mi County, Ma Benshan was just a minor bandit leader in charge of fifty or sixty men. But now he has accumulated merits and been promoted to the position of a centurion.

Ma Benshan personally participated in the Battle of Songjin in Liaodong and the Battle of Kaifeng last year, making him a veteran soldier who has been through many battles.

After the Battle of Kaifeng in the Central Plains, the Xuanwu Camp did not suffer heavy losses, but two of its commanders were transferred elsewhere. Therefore, after returning to Xuanfu, the camp underwent another reorganization, during which Ma Benshan was promoted to commander.

As the newly appointed commander-in-chief, Ma Benshan also wanted to achieve good results to repay the head coach Li Jiyu for his recommendation.

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"Gunners, retreat and load your ammunition; shield bearers, raise your shields; spearmen, prepare to engage!" Ma Benshan shouted the order.

The soldiers in the central part of the Xuanwu Camp moved in an orderly manner. The musketeers quickly retreated from the gaps in the formation. After the musketeers withdrew, the shield bearers in the front row immediately placed their large shields on the ground, braced them tightly with both hands, supported their bodies and shields with one foot behind them, and squatted with the other foot, using their knees to brace against the large shields.

At the same time the shield wall was erected, the spearmen rushed forward. The first rank crouched and poked their spears out from the gaps in the shield wall. The second rank stood and poked their spears out from the top edge of the shield wall. The third rank held their spears up at an angle. The fourth rank held their spears upright with the butts on the ground and the tips pointing upwards.

Thus, a formation resembling a hedgehog covered in thorns was formed!
At this moment, the Mongol cavalry on the opposite side also rushed forward. They split into three groups. One group charged straight at the shield-armored hedgehog formation, while the other group charged diagonally to the left and right flanks. They rode towards the back of the shield formation, harassing the shield formation and the musketeers behind it with mounted archery.

The Mongol soldiers' warhorses rammed against the shield formation with a loud "bang," but this was drowned out by the "thud" of spears thrusting into them. Meanwhile, arrows shot from both flanks struck the iron armor, producing a series of clanging sounds.

Many Mongol cavalrymen spurred their horses and leaped up, intending to bypass the shield formation and attack the spearmen behind them directly. However, they did not expect that the Xuanwu Camp's shield formation was like a hedgehog, leaving no place for their warhorses to land.

One after another, the northern barbarian warhorses were riddled with thorns by spears, their screams of agony echoing for a long time…

However, the heavy warhorses fell into the shield formation, and the northern barbarians on their backs, though injured, struggled desperately. Coupled with the fierce charge of the Mongol cavalry, the shield formation of the Xuanwu Camp immediately broke down.

Seeing this, Gadahun had no time to feel sorry for the losses of his warriors. He roared and commanded the Northern barbarian cavalry behind him to charge forward.

The shield formation was in grave danger, on the verge of being broken through and thrown into chaos by the Mongol Plain Yellow Banner cavalry...

... During the previous Battle of Songjin, Yu Ziwang was only a captain of the third rank in the second bureau of the left division of the Dengfeng camp. Even after the expansion of the Yongyi Army, he was still just a musketeer officer in the second bureau of the rear division of the Xuanwu camp.

Now, after this reorganization, Yu Ziwang has been transferred from the rear to the central region to serve as the centurion of a bureau, which can be considered a promotion that reflects the rise in rank.

"Fire at will!" Yu Ziwang shouted. "Loaded, fire immediately!"

As a centurion in the bureau, Yu Ziwang is also an excellent marksman. His reloading speed is entirely determined by his proficiency. Even after being promoted to centurion, Yu Ziwang did not neglect his reloading skills. Although he was not the first to complete the reloading, he was still among the top ten in the bureau.

However, as a centurion, he was equipped with an independent waist knife according to military regulations. After firing the quick-firing gun, he threw it aside, deftly drew his waist knife, and shouted: "Reverse the quick-firing gun and smash those dog Tartars to death!"

After speaking, Yu Ziwang bravely took the lead, brandishing his waist knife and charging forward to join the melee between the spearmen and shieldmen and the northern barbarian cavalry.

After loading their weapons, the other musketeers immediately aimed at the nearby Northern cavalry, whether on horseback or off, and fired a shot without checking if they hit their targets. Following Yu Ziwang's orders, they grabbed the slightly hot musket barrels, used the wooden musket handles as hammers, and charged forward, indiscriminately smashing the Northern cavalry in front of them.

After this battle, countless new-style rapid-fire guns were smashed or destroyed. Many gun barrels broke, and some wooden handles shattered. Almost half of them could not be repaired on the battlefield.

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In the battle between the Mongol Plain Red Banner and the central Xuanwu Camp, the northern barbarian cavalry of Gadahun gained the upper hand and almost completely suppressed the central part of Ma Benshan.

However, the battlefield was not only in the central region of Ma Benshan's army. More than 300 cavalrymen led by Zhou Ruli of the central army were the first to arrive to reinforce them. They changed their previous guerrilla tactics and charged into the battlefield like a pack of hungry wolves, engaging in close combat with the northern enemy cavalry.

Zhou Ruli was like a god of death, his long-handled axe flashing left and right, cutting down four Mongol Tartars in succession, yet he showed no signs of exhaustion, and like a wolf, he plunged into the Northern Barbarian cavalry formation.

The cavalry that fought against Zhou Ruli's group were the unarmored Northern Barbarian cavalry that had fallen behind. Facing the elite cavalry of the Xuanwu Camp, whose men were all fully armored, the unarmored Northern Barbarian cavalry had no advantage whatsoever in close combat.

Before long, the vanguard of the Xuanwu Camp, which had been lying in ambush in the south, also rushed towards the battlefield in the north under the leadership of Vice General He Shihui, and it looked like they were about to encircle the Mongol Plain Red Banner under Gadahun.

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Gadahun was only slightly confident; he wasn't a fool who only knew how to act recklessly.

When he saw the cavalry, who had been feigning retreat to lure the enemy, charging towards him, he knew he wouldn't gain much advantage against this Ming army today. Ignoring the current casualties, he shouted, "Adali, take a hundred men and rescue the unarmored cavalry..."

Just as Adali led his troops away, Gadahun shouted a reminder to him: "Adali, after we rescue the people, let's fight our way west together."