The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 286 Sacrifice to the Marquis of Weining
Three thousand cavalry continued to go northwest.

In a chilling atmosphere, the team did not stop halfway, and it was Wang Shouren who knew that the situation on the battlefield would soon be found out by the grassland tribes at Haizi in Weining after dawn, and it would be difficult to complete the raid by then. Realistic.

After more than an hour of marching, when the sun had risen above the horizon, the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty stood on the top of a hill in a green grassland that reached the sky. In front of them was the endless Weining Sea.

Under the reflection of the lake and mountains, the waves and water patterns, the tents on the shore of the lake are connected to the sky, stretching with green mountains, clear water and blue sky, which is endless.

The herdsmen, who had finished their morning rest, were about to drive their cattle and sheep out of the pen, and some used horse-drawn carts to transport a large amount of forage to the camp. When they turned their heads and saw the soldiers standing on the top of the hill, these herdsmen didn't even show any tension. looked as if they thought it was their own cavalry.

"How much does this have to be?"

Cao Shun got off his horse with difficulty and climbed up the mound. When he saw the scene in front of him, he was almost stunned.

"The soldiers are divided into three groups, three groups from the left, middle and right, each with [-] soldiers and horses, in a long formation, advance!"

Changing his previous sneak attack tactics, this time Wang Shouren knew that it would be impossible to directly rush into the tribal camp without the other party being prepared.

The only thing is to fight steadily, keep the formation of the team in order, and slowly advance towards the tribal camp.

Cao Shun shouted: "If you don't follow the trend to cover up the killing, aren't you courting death?"

From Cao Shun's point of view, this kind of sneak attack can only be taken by surprise to catch the opponent by surprise. Like Wang Shouren, he lined up the army and let the cavalry walk slowly to the opponent's camp. What kind of tactic is this called?
But now Cao Shun's words are meaningless.

The team was already very loose. After Wang Shouren arranged the formation, the three thousand soldiers and horses lined up almost in a line, divided into three lanes, left, middle, and right, and slowly advanced towards the main camp on the north shore of Weining Sea.

……

……

The terrain is very flat, and the actual distance between the two sides is about five or six miles.

Just as Daming's soldiers and horses began to advance, the camp also began to warn immediately. Various horns sounded, and tribesmen and horses quickly gathered from all over the place. Afterwards, the Ming soldiers were surprised to find that the number of soldiers and horses of the other party was still higher than theirs.

In other words...without any firearms bonus, the battle between the two sides is no longer a camp attack and passive defense, but an "encounter battle".

In the case that Daming's own strength may not be as good as that of the grassland tribes, it can be regarded as a [-]-[-] battle at most.

The soldiers in the army obviously felt a sense of fear. In the past, when they fought head-on with the grassland tribes anywhere, they never gained even the slightest advantage in any battle. It was said to be [-]-[-], but Daming seemed to have [-]-[-]% The odds are pretty good.

But Wang Shouren wasn't afraid at all.

Grassland cavalry from all walks of life gathered quickly. When they found that this unknown troop was approaching their camp, they first demonstrated like a demonstration, with the sound of war drums and horns. side assault.

This is also the "thinking inertia" of the prairie cavalry.

In their view, Ming's army dared to line up, and it seemed that there were no follow-up soldiers and horses. Just expanding the cross-sectional area of ​​​​the battle in this way, as long as the length is not thick, it is easy to be punched by a wave of their cavalry, and then Then use the superior force to divide and encircle the Daming cavalry who cut off the formation, and complete the strangulation.

But even though the prairie cavalry had charged towards them, Wang Shouren still did not order a change of formation, nor did he even plan to charge forward.

"Array!"

Wang Shouren waved the command flag in his hand.

His purpose is to let the grassland cavalry concentrate their superior forces to rush over, so that the use of artillery is so convenient.

With the launch of various signal flares, the [-] light artillery brought by the army also completed the in-situ array at this time.

The use method of this kind of cannon is different from the previous ones that need to be transported in horse-drawn carts and tanks. It is directly unloaded from the horseback and set up on the spot. Only one person can complete the filling and insertion of a cannon. Fuze and ignition steps.

In order to confuse the opponent, Wang Shouren tried his best to block the artillery behind with the cavalry in a long snake formation, so as not to let the opponent know that the Ming army had brought a new type of artillery.

……

……

There was a rumble of horseshoes.

The ground seemed to be shaking.

The [-] soldiers of Ming Dynasty also held their breaths, the firecrackers in their hands were already in their hands.

At the place where Wang Shouren's army was located, that is, where the artillery was erected, the [-] short flint guns provided by Zhang Zhou were already in the hands of the soldiers. After the key firepower was suppressed, he rode his horse into the enemy's formation.

There are some people in the army who are not afraid of death, but most of the soldiers are afraid in their hearts. They just stand on the hillside and line up, waiting for the Tatar cavalry to stab them with sharp knives. It is no different from waiting for death in the past.

The distance between the two sides is gradually narrowing.

Cao Shun was so nervous that he was wiping cold sweat, and he was still muttering: "The herdsmen in the camp are still there..."

It means that the other party didn't take us seriously. They sent cavalry to fight us head-on. The herdsmen didn't even intend to retreat westward. It seemed that those tribal herdsmen felt that we were waiting to die.

at last.

When the vanguard of the tribal cavalry was about a mile away from the Daming cavalry formation, Wang Shouren waved the command flag in his hand.

Immediately, the surrounding Daming dragon flags were raised, and more than a dozen dragon flags suddenly stood up. With the swaying of the flag bearers, the Daming dragon flags once again appeared in this area of ​​Weining Sea.

At the same time, the tribal cavalry finally confirmed that it was Daming's army that was attacking.

Naturally, they didn't know why Da Ming's army appeared here, and they didn't know why Da Ming's army would form a long snake formation to fight under their iron cavalry charge as if they were looking for death, but when the roar of artillery firing came When it came, almost at the same time, there were black iron balls shining with sparks, falling from the sky.

Daming's army is on the eastern hillside, which is the direction of the rising sun.

The Tatar cavalry charged against the sun, which was already a bit dazzling. When they realized that the situation seemed a bit wrong, the reaction time given to the vanguard charging troops... was almost nonexistent.

With such a rushing momentum, it is impossible for them to temporarily turn their horses and retreat, which is the same situation encountered by Duoyan Sanwei when he charged outside Ningyuan City.

Open the bow without turning back the arrow.

Even if they knew that the Ming army would attack with artillery, they could only bite the bullet and continue to charge, and in their original impression, the artillery of the Ming army was just sending a big iron ball over, hitting them just not so inch, plus The Ming army appeared in the hinterland of the grassland, how could it bring long-range artillery?

Maybe the Ming army just wanted to inspire the army by firing cannons, and the shells would fall on the open space where the two sides were about to fight.

That's it.

"boom!"

The first shell fell into the charging formation of the cavalry of the grassland tribes.

Accompanied by a muffled sound, followed by a "wow", the land on the prairie that had not been turned and cultivated for hundreds of years was blown up instantly, and the cavalry fell to the ground when the shells landed around them, forming a great deterrent effect .

But before there was any further reaction from the surrounding or following cavalry, more shells fell from the sky.

"Bang bang bang..."

The artillery used by Daming this time is no longer like Ningyuan City, only twelve.

This time there are sixty cannons. Even if the caliber is small, the explosive power of the shells fired will be much smaller, but after all, they have been improved, and the proportion of yellow powder contained in them is greater, and the sixty cannons can form The suppression effect is not comparable to that of twelve sub-cannons.

Just this round...

There were about three or four thousand tribal cavalry, and three or four hundred were killed and injured by the bombing. One round of artillery made the opponent lose [-]% of their combat effectiveness.

This [-]% battle loss may not be a big deal in the usual cold weapon combat.

But this is after all... The tribal cavalry has not yet reached the forward position of the battle, and there is such a large loss at a distance of about one mile. The biggest difference between the troops of the Huosie headquarters and the rest of the tribe is... Among them Many of them have experienced the tragic battle at Biantouguan. For them... the shadow of yellow gunpowder will be engraved in their hearts for a lifetime.

Among this batch of charging troops, there were those who were injured in the battle and lost their combat effectiveness, and could only be placed in the rear as reserve cavalry.

When they found out that it was Daming's army, at the beginning, they might have thought that the Ming army's expedition to the hinterland of the grassland would be a good time for them to avenge their shame.

But when they saw Daming playing long-distance projectile explosives again, they felt only one word in their hearts...

Dangerous!
After a round of artillery suppression, the loading of the light artillery will be more complicated than that of the sub-cannon. The short range can only ensure that another round of loading and firing can be completed before the tribal cavalry charge over, and not every artillery can Hit the second serve.

The tribal cavalry's charge slowed down significantly, but they still charged forward without hesitation. Even if they lost troops in the first round of artillery suppression, they were still confident that they could break through the long snake formation of Daming.

"Firearms ready!"

Wang Shouren waved the flag in his hand again.

While the second round of artillery is still being prepared, the guns in hand need to be used right now.

Whether it was the flint guns provided by Zhang Zhou or the matchlock guns brought by the soldiers, they were all in hand at this time.

Their bows and crossbows were also prepared.

As the distance between the two sides was further narrowed to less than 200 meters, the tribal cavalry had already begun to bend their bows and set arrows, but the effective range of bows and arrows was only about a hundred steps. They were still just preparing at this time and did not intend to release them immediately.

However, although the matchlock guns and flint guns of the Ming Dynasty have an effective range of about a hundred steps, the penetrating power they can create is much stronger than that of bows and arrows issued by human power.

"boom!"

Sporadic, there is still the sound of artillery firing.

But it was not the second round of guns, but the fuze modification of the previous first round of guns that misfired.

This can no longer cause effective damage to the enemy.

"put!"

"Bang bang bang..."

The volley of guns began to fire almost 100 meters away from the head of the tribal cavalry approaching the Daming position.

The firecrackers in the hands of the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty emitted red and blue coquettish light. With the sound of the guns, the first row of tribal cavalry was not surprised, almost smashed into a sieve.

At the same time, the loading and ammunition of the Ming side's artillery was basically completed. The gunners had undergone repeated training in the Beijing camp. The formation of the enemy formation.

"kill!"

By this time, Wang Shouren's three opening axes had all been used up.

The artillery is now mainly suppressing the tribal cavalry in the middle and rear. What he has to do now is to gather the long snake formation to form a pocket, and surround the three or four thousand tribal cavalry from all directions.

……

……

The hand-to-hand combat began.

Wang Shouren did not flinch at this time, and Ma Yi led a group of troops, and started a horse battle with the Tatars from both sides.

After Jingtai, this is a scene that rarely happened. In the past few decades of border wars, the combat logic of the two sides is not this kind of fighting on horseback, but more like a kind of harassment with a tacit understanding. .

But this time it was a head-to-head bloody battle.

The soldiers and horses dispatched by the two sides did not seem to be many, but the degree of tragedy was no less than any war.

The Ming side has a geographical advantage, that is, it is condescending, coupled with the blessing of platoons of guns and platoons, it has an absolute advantage at the very beginning of the war.

It is also related to the fact that the troops left behind by the opponent are mainly old, weak, sick and disabled. At first they could show the brave and good fighting side of the cavalry of the grassland tribes. , Immediately the Daming long snake formation gathered into a pocket formation, and they felt that there were soldiers of Daming in all directions.

What's more terrible...Wang Shouren's Dragon Banner Formation of the Chinese Army still had the flint blunderbuss given by Zhang Zhou.

During the battle, the firecrackers raised their hands. Thirty or forty steps away, a tribal cavalry in armor could be knocked down with a single shot. Even this kind of individual killing has formed a great deterrent force. .

This would make the tribal cavalry suspicious.

Are we fighting people?

Why can soldiers of the Ming Dynasty use such a magical method to kill people?And we can only use the bows and arrows in our hands, and what about sabers?
……

……

The battle progressed very quickly.

After the first battle between the two sides, the tribal cavalry side has shown its decline. It is also because Wang Shouren did not send troops to make a surprise attack.

The use of flint guns also laid a great foundation for Wang Shouren's Chinese army, allowing him to use a few hundred soldiers to stabilize the Chinese army's formation, and did not let the tribal cavalry be broken up once.

When the Daming Long Snake Formation attacked like scissors, the pressure on Wang Shouren's Chinese army was basically gone.

The mission of the Chinese army is just to strangle forward, just like a meat grinder. The soldiers of Ming Dynasty charged all the way, and the sabers in their hands were sharper than those of the opponent... After all, this is the exquisite weapon created by Zhang Zhou. Steel alloy knives are mass-produced. It is an exaggeration to say that they are invincible, but there is still no problem in cutting melons and vegetables when the battlefield situation is dominant.

With the confrontation.

The tribal cavalry already felt powerless, and the cavalry behind the charge had begun to leave the battle formation.

The Huoshai Headquarters is not just a single tribe, but also a collection of various small and medium-sized tribes. Even if it is the same tribe, there will be geographical differences. Without the blood relationship of the clan, it is impossible to achieve both offense and defense.

It is precisely because we can share wealth but not share adversity. When the war is going well, the whole army will charge forward and make contributions together. When the battle is defeated, each tribe and small group also have their own small calculations.

Although they are also protecting their own clansmen at this time, facing such a powerful expeditionary force from Ming Dynasty, all they can do is to withdraw from the battlefield as soon as possible, escort their clansmen to escape as much as possible, and let others come out to defend them , Let others die...

……

……

The sun rises further.

The battle on the hillside was almost coming to an end when the artillery fired again.

At this time, the people from all walks of life in Daming were divided into four groups.

Two groups finished cleaning the battlefield, and the other two groups went directly into the camp that could not be seen at a glance.

In the camp, it is no longer the peaceful pastoral, nor the happy family carnival, but a hell-like strangulation on the forehead and nose. After the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty entered, the first thing they faced were the tribes who held weapons in their hands and wanted to resist. Men, they will be swept off their horses and beheaded. They don't even need to cut off their heads deliberately, because there are countless heads waiting for them.

The rest of the tribal cavalry, about 700 people, fled directly to the north.

Wang Shouren didn't give orders to pursue them either. His mission was to cover the Weining Sea in front of him.

"brush!"

At this time, Wang Shouren pulled out a saber that looked a bit old, not like it could be used on the battlefield.

That sword was gifted to him by the Wang family. It was the sword that Wang Yue used to command soldiers and horses when he attacked Wei Ninghai by surprise.

"Sacrifice Wei Ninghou! Kill!"

After commanding the strangling of the remaining tribal cavalry on the battlefield, Wang Shouren raised the long sword in his hand.

When he called out the name of "Marquis of Wei Ning", the blood of the surrounding soldiers of Ming Dynasty was boiling.

They would naturally think...the path they are walking and what they are doing are exactly what Weininghou Wangyue accomplished back then. This year is the day when Weininghou just passed away. The whole army still admires Wang Weining very much, and the current battle has added a layer of meaning.

That is to inherit Wang Weining's behest, fight on the battlefield, and promote the prestige of Ming soldiers.

What fear of death, what timidity, what interests...

Under the infection of this kind of pride, it seems that they no longer exist.

Wang Shouren seemed to be a battlefield orator, and instantly captured the hearts of this group of soldiers. They just wanted to follow Wang Shouren into the enemy's line and repeat the achievements of Wang Weining back then.

"kill!"

There were not many soldiers in Ming Dynasty.

But at this time, it seemed like a tide, pouring into the camp on the north shore of Weining Sea unstoppably, the camp stretching for twenty or thirty miles seemed to be undefended.

(End of this chapter)