weaving

Chapter 1623 The Sniper Team Moves Forward

"Ready for battle... Everyone to the trenches... The Tartars are coming!"

As the battle readiness orders were relayed one after another, the soldiers of the Second Supply Detachment of the Tengshe Battalion of the Yongyi Army came up from the trenches and stood by the earthen wall, looking north. Some of them were carrying long guns, some were carrying poles, torches and other items, and some had set up extra-long muskets on the earthen wall.

The cannon was indeed long and large, but its advantages were also very obvious. Its firing range could reach up to 150 paces. The only problem was that its accuracy was slightly lacking, after all, the precision of that era was still insufficient. But it was still much better than the cannons made by the Ming Dynasty.

However, this large gun is incredibly powerful. If operated by a skilled veteran gunner, its accuracy is acceptable. Once hit by a bullet fired from it, death is certain. It is very effective for sniping enemy generals and leaders.

To compensate for the low accuracy of the shots as much as possible, five guns were usually used as a group, all aimed at one person, and fired simultaneously in order to improve accuracy.

Using five against one is a last resort; if there were any other way, Marquis Yongning Zhang Cheng would not have used this stupid method!

Moreover, these large guns were so long and heavy that ordinary soldiers could not carry them on marches. They could only be issued to the tank and supply wagon units. Each supply wagon unit was issued only one hundred large guns, which were used to form twenty sniper combat units.

The Yongyi Army's supply wagons consisted of 120 heavy supply wagons, which mainly carried military supplies such as rations, gunpowder, cannonballs, and landmines. In addition, there were some light artillery pieces, such as the No. 5 breech-loading cannon, the tiger crouching cannon, and the mortar.

The supply wagon unit had 1,420 soldiers, an increase of 200 from the previous 1,200. These soldiers were snipers who were responsible for operating the large guns, and they formed their own detachment.

The remaining 1,200 men were organized according to the original structure. They were based on wagons, with ten men per wagon and one wagon commander; three wagons formed a team and one team leader; and four teams formed a platoon and one platoon commander. Each platoon was equipped with twelve supply wagons and 120 wagon soldiers, and could be used as an independent transport unit.

In terms of organization, five outposts form one division, with a total of sixty supply wagons and six hundred soldiers. One battalion commander is appointed to oversee all affairs of the division. Two divisions are then combined into one unit, with one captain and an unspecified number of deputy captains, along with twenty soldiers, guards, and other personnel.

Now, all 1,400-plus chariot soldiers have taken their positions...

They were either wielding long guns or large guns, or guarding behind various cannons, or holding a ten-thousand-person weapon in their hands. Each of them performed their duties, and everything was done in an orderly manner.

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Jin Yong's defensive line was located on the east side of a main road, and less than ten miles to the east was the Shu River beach.

This section of the defense system is not a straight line of earthen walls, but rather a progressive defense strategy, consisting of four sections of earthen walls. The first three sections are of varying lengths and are staggered in position, none of them being on the same horizontal line.

This deployment method was quite novel. As soon as the Jurchens came to attack, they could be hit. If the soldiers in front could not hold out, they could retreat along the trenches, and the soldiers deployed behind them would continue to kill the Jurchens and cover the retreat of the front ranks, and so on.

Of course, the last row was the defensive line they had to defend to the death. Once the entire line retreated to the last row, there would be no room to retreat further. They could only rely on the earthen walls and trenches they had built in advance to hold their ground and risk their lives to stop the Jurchens' attack.

"Pass the order down: move three sniper teams forward and target the Tartar heads, the bigger the better," Jin Yong commanded, his eyes fixed ahead.

"Here."

Huo Yuanshan was no longer as languid as before; he was now brimming with excitement. He readily agreed and added, "Master Jin, you stay here and provide support. I'll go ahead and keep an eye on things, so the brothers don't fail in this battle and ruin all the planning we've done these past few days." Jin Yong glanced at him and instructed, "Be careful. Go ahead!"

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The troops attacking Jin Yong were the Mongol Plain Red Banner Tatar soldiers from the east bank.

On the northern front, there was also a part of Wu Shoujin's Han Army Plain Red Banner and Zu Zerun's Han Army Plain Yellow Banner Tartar main force, but they had gone to attack other Yongyi Army defense lines.

Gadahun originally thought he had concealed his whereabouts well and that the Ming army had not noticed him. He even planned to take advantage of the situation to launch a surprise attack, break through the Ming army's defenses in one fell swoop, and strive to make a great contribution.

But when he commanded the warriors in his banner to lead their warhorses slowly toward the Ming army's defensive line, he was not surprised to see plumes of smoke and fire rising in the distance, and his heart sank.

Although the Ming army had taken precautions, Gadahun was now on the verge of defeat and had no choice but to act.

However, now that their whereabouts were known, there was no need to hide any longer. He immediately ordered the Mongol warriors of the Plain Red Banner to leap onto their horses and slowly advance towards the Ming army's defensive line, forming a battle formation as they went.

After nearly three thousand Mongol northern barbarians dispersed, they looked quite formidable. They formed a cavalry formation of about a hundred riders each, and about a thousand riders at the front formed ten cavalry formations, pressing towards the Ming army.

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Zhou Zhendong was a musket shooter. He and his loader He Qingcai arrived behind the second earthen wall. Just as they had set up their muskets, they heard the rough voice of Zheng Wei, the sniper team leader, shout: "Attention everyone! The third Tartar from the left, the third man from the left, take aim! Wait for my command, and fire all at once to kill that son of a bitch!"

"Yes, sir!" the other three archers responded in unison.

Only Zhou Zhendong replied, "Received, Zheng Tou."

Zheng Weicai put down his monocular binoculars. Although he was displeased that Zhou Zhendong had not answered him according to the standard military commands, he did not get angry at him immediately because Zhou Zhendong was the top marksman in the group. He just gave him a warning look.

Zhou Zhendong seemed to be used to this, and he just grinned, not taking it seriously at all.

However, as mischievous as he was, Zhou Zhendong was absolutely meticulous when it came to carrying out the orders of his team leader, Zheng Wei. He quickly leveled the musket, firmly rested the wooden handle on his shoulder, and peered through the sights to find the target he was about to kill.

"Number one has been targeted." Team leader Zheng Wei was the first to find the kill target.

"Number Two has taken aim... Number Three has taken aim... Number Four has taken aim..." Everyone reported the status of their aiming at the target one after another.

Zheng Wei, having not received any report from Zhou Zhendong, asked, "Zhou Zhendong, what's going on?"

"Team leader, number five is in sight!"