Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 28 Defeat the Enemy
After advancing fifty steps, the Ming army used another killer weapon: the bird gun.

The bird gun is actually a matchlock gun. The Ming army called the matchlock gun a matchlock gun because it was highly accurate and powerful and could hit flying birds in the sky, so it was called a bird gun.

In the early years of Jiajing, the Ming Dynasty introduced the matchlock gun. During the Wanli period, Zhao Shizhen, a firearms expert, successively improved the Lumi gun and invented the Xunlei gun, the Zhedian gun and other matchlock guns.

Bird guns were expensive, and the Ming Dynasty's craftsman registration system was backward, so the bird guns produced were of poor quality and reliability. Actual combat required reliability and practicality, and the border troops in the late Ming Dynasty would rather be equipped with low-powered three-barreled guns than bird guns.

The Qing army was also not equipped with bird guns. The matchlock guns at that time were weak in power and reliability, and were even inferior to the Manchurian long-shou bows.

In contrast, European armies were already widely equipped with matchlock muskets and were constantly improving flintlock muskets.

More than a hundred Portuguese mercenaries, led by Captain Ferreira, finally arrived at the front and lined up in three rows.

They skillfully placed poles on the ground and placed the muskets on the poles.

This is a heavy matchlock gun!
Ferreira blew the whistle and the first row of soldiers opened fire!
After the smoke cleared, the Qing army on the opposite side fell down.

Thirty to one hundred steps has always been a blind spot for the Ming and Qing armies, as they lacked suitable offensive weapons.

Whoever can make up for this blind spot will be able to gain the upper hand in the match.

According to the experience of the Qing army, the matchlock gun could only penetrate heavy armor at a distance of thirty steps. At this distance, the power of the Manchurian bow was no less than that of the matchlock gun, and its reliability and firing rate far exceeded that of the matchlock gun.

Unexpectedly, the foreign soldiers used heavy matchlock guns that could penetrate armor at a distance of fifty steps.

Ferreira was very proud and blew his whistle, and the soldiers behind him took turns to move forward and shoot in a circle. The soldiers used the line shooting tactics skillfully, and every shot was fatal. The front row of Qing soldiers kept falling down.

At this point, the Qing army became nervous and took the beating passively. Soldiers in the front row kept falling down, so they had to speed up their pace and advance to thirty steps.

The Ming army was well-rested and the archers came out from behind the heavy infantry in advance and stood in two rows with the musketeers.

At a distance of thirty steps, the archers of the two armies shot arrows, and arrows rained down. Bows and arrows can shoot quickly, and when soldiers are about to fight, one bow is often equipped with twenty or thirty arrows. At a distance of thirty steps, a large bow with heavy arrows is enough to penetrate iron armor.

The Qing army had many large bows and had the upper hand within thirty steps.

The Ming army quickly withdrew their archers, and the heavily armored infantry held out their spears, tilted upward at a 45-degree angle. To save effort, the ends of the spears rested on the ground. The spears in the front row were often more than 18 feet long, or more than five meters long.

The swan-sound trumpet sounded, which was the signal for the whole army to shout. Every time the trumpet sounded, the soldiers shouted and moved forward.

This means that the final decisive battle is about to begin.

On the right wing, Cen Danchu, covered in blood, led his troops to fight the enemy for a long time. He had only one trick for commanding cavalry in battle: shrink the formation as much as possible.

Only in this way can we concentrate our military forces in a small area, use the majority to defeat the minority, and have a better chance of winning.

The boring, repetitive, and rigorous flag training in the early stage came in handy at this moment. A flag bearer always held a yellow flag and followed Danchu closely. This was the order to close the formation and move closer to the central army.

The yellow flag also became a symbol of the commander-in-chief. When the yellow flag was there, the captain was there, and when the captain was there, the soldiers could feel at ease.

The Qing army had a slight advantage in numbers and also noticed the yellow flag. They concentrated their troops and attacked Cen Danchu's position.

The Ming army, especially the three teams of soldiers, consciously or unconsciously moved together to protect Cen Danchu at the core.

Military law states that if a captain is trapped in battle and his subordinates do not rescue him, the three squad leaders will be beheaded.

The first sentry leader Wu Jie was the most courageous. He risked his own life in battle and protected Cen Danchu.

One of his soldiers, He Guoju, was wearing rattan armor and had blood gushing from his left arm, but he was unaware of it. He had picked up a horse lance at some point and was swinging it like the wind on his horse, like a heavenly soldier descending from heaven.

The infantry were about to make contact, the archers stepped back, and the spearmen raised their spears horizontally, with the tips of their spears already touching.

The enemy was already in front of them, and they could see each other's faces clearly. With the sharp blade in front of them, the soldiers were all terrified, and their steps became heavier. Despite the constant scolding from the superiors, the soldiers' steps became smaller and smaller, and they crawled forward like ants.

The spear tip was right in front of them, only one step away from the first row of soldiers. The spear shafts collided, the wood collided, and the heartbeat accelerated. The spear shafts trembled, the red tassels shook, and the spear blades flashed with faint light.

Every soldier was plunged into great fear. No matter how the officers urged or scolded them, the heavily armored soldiers at the front line refused to move forward and stood still.

This is a common occurrence, and no one dares to face the dense spears and die. Therefore, both armies will reward heavily for the heavily armored soldiers. Soldiers who dare to stand in the front row will be rewarded before and after the battle, regardless of whether they have made military achievements, and will receive generous pensions after death. Jiao Lian has moved to the rear army, and his heart is as hard as iron, and he ordered to continue to advance. If the soldiers in the front are unwilling to die, the commander will urge the rear army to move forward.

The rear troops pushed the front troops, and the pressure was eventually transmitted to the soldiers in the front. Even if they did not want to move forward, they would be pushed forward by their comrades behind them.

"Kill!" At that moment, a heavily armored soldier from Bai Gui's unit on the right army took the lead in making contact with the enemy and thrust his spear at the enemy.

Someone led the charge, and the remaining warriors instantly regained their courage and continued to advance with their spears. They only needed to take one or two steps before the spearmen of the two armies were already in contact. They were six or seven steps apart, and could only use the tips of their spears to find the other side's face or throat, and then stab them hard.

"Ah!" Screams were heard continuously. The death warriors in the front row kept falling down, and the death warriors in the back row took over and rushed forward.

There was also a team of rat soldiers, holding daggers, who sneaked into the enemy's formation from under the spears and stabbed the enemy's calves. If the enemy fell down, they would use the daggers to cut their throats.

The scene was extremely bloody and cruel.

Since the infantry had engaged in the battle, Jiao Lian felt relieved and ordered the remaining cavalry to gather and go to the flank to provide assistance.

When two armies met in close combat, the final victory or defeat was often decided by the cavalry. Jiao Lian had been in battle for a long time and was well versed in this. The most valuable thing was that he always took the lead in battle. Although he was the commander-in-chief, he dared to charge into the battle, which often led to victory.

The cavalry on the left wing was already in a weak position and should have been rescued. However, Jiao Lian did the opposite and placed all the remaining cavalry on the right wing to support Cen Danchu.

Fighting a war is like gambling, you have to put all your chips on the right bet. Cen Danchu has his own way of training soldiers and fighting. He is not at a disadvantage against the superior Qing army on the right wing, which is more worthy of Jiao Lian's bet.

Jiao Lian's reserve force of less than 200 cavalrymen had been resting behind the battlefield for a long time. After receiving the order, the cavalrymen rushed to join the battlefield.

The morale of the Ming army was greatly boosted, and the balance of the right wing battlefield was broken. The Qing army also deployed reserve troops to strengthen the right wing, but it was too late. The main general, Lian Guoan, was already over fifty years old and did not dare to go to the front line in person. The balance of victory had already tilted towards the Ming army.

It's time to launch the final blow!

Cen Danchu shouted loudly: "Brothers, follow me!"

The cavalry on the right wing received support, and seeing the commander personally coming to help, their morale was greatly boosted. The Ming army fought more and more bravely, while the Qing army was struggling and gradually lost its strength.

Jiao Lian came to the front of the formation from behind, smiled at Dan Chu, and said, "Boy, I will break the enemy's formation with you!"

Danchu responded: "Commander, I will attack the rear wing and you attack the flank!"

"Good! Do it!"

When Cen Danchu received the order, the flag bearer raised the red and yellow flags and led the troops to attack the rear wing of the Qing army.

The Qing army hastily sent out cavalry to block the attack, but was defeated. Danchu refused to give in and rode his horse to attack the enemy's rear wing.

The Qing army's rear wing was also guarded by spearmen, but they were far less elite than those in the front.

Danchu rode on horseback, looking down from a high position, first shooting with a bow and arrow, then when his arrows ran out, he used his horse lance to sweep across the spears, breaking three or four spears. The soldier He Guoju was even more heroic, riding his horse and leaping into the enemy formation, engaging the enemy in close combat.

The Qing army was defeated and its rear wing was shaken. Soon, some enemy soldiers broke away from the battle formation, and the enemy general killed several of them, but to no avail.

The Qing army's rear wing had been broken, morale collapsed, more people turned around and fled, and the battle formation collapsed.

It was a complete defeat! To escape, soldiers dropped their weapons, took off their armor, and assassinated their comrades who stood in their way.

It's all chaos! It's all chaos!

Cen Danchu took the opportunity to shout, "Surrender and you won't be killed! Surrender and you won't be killed!"

More Ming soldiers shouted: "Surrender and you won't be killed! Surrender and you won't be killed!"

Some Qing soldiers were unable to escape and began to kneel down and surrender! More people desperately fled.

The Ming army rode in pursuit, killing indiscriminately.

(End of this chapter)