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

Chapter 360: Auxiliary Troops Show Their Power
The next day, the Qing army attacked Yudu, the Manchurian Firearms Battalion attacked the north city, and the Mongolian Eight Banners attacked the east city.

Yudu is similar to Ganzhou, built at the confluence of two rivers. However, Yudu is a county town with a smaller scale, with Gongshui River to the west and south, Meijiang River to the east, and open space to the north.

The Qing army attacked Yudu from the north and east of the city, leaving no way for the Red Army to retreat. This was obviously extremely arrogant.

"The Tartars are so arrogant that they dare to attack two city gates at the same time. Go to the tent, I will personally go to the North Gate to supervise the battle." The Red Army was defeated yesterday, and today they have to fight the Qing Army again. Danchu ignored the dissuasion of his left and right and decided to go to the North Gate in person to boost morale.

"Lord, the Manchus should not be underestimated. Their firearms are quite powerful."

"This clan is acting on behalf of Heaven and leading the Red Army to the Northern Expedition. Even if there are artillery shells, they will avoid me."

The guards held up a golden canopy and led Danchu to the north gate. When the soldiers saw the canopy, they knew that the king had come to the city wall in person, and they cheered loudly.

"Lord of the country!"

"Lord of the country!"

Dan Chu was very approachable. When the soldiers saw him, they did not need to kneel down but greeted him one after another.

"Brothers, I will fight alongside you today. We must defeat the Tartars and avenge Mo Xietai!"

"Revenge for Mo Xietai!"

At 9:00 pm, the battle began. The Manchurian Firearms Battalion first sent out artillery teams to bombard the Red Army's north gate. There were no heavy artillery, let alone Red Cannons, so they mainly used light shotguns such as the Hundred-shot Cannon and the Mother-and-Sub Cannon, which could knock down bricks on the city wall. Occasionally, there were Weiyuan Cannons, which were equipped with solid iron bullets. When a bullet hit the city wall, it would surely break several bricks and create a deep pit in the rammed earth, causing the earth to fly. Occasionally, shrapnel shells would fall into the city, but they were not very powerful.

To strengthen their protection, the Red Army also followed the example of the Dashi Army, covering their heads with cloth scarves and wearing quilts and mattresses. Although cloth scarves, quilts and mattresses may look old-fashioned, they are actually quite practical and are very effective against bows and arrows and lead bullets.

The artillery was not afraid of bullets and arrows, and fired back from the top of the city. In addition to the sky-rocketing cannons that fired shrapnel shells and the mountain-splitting cannons that fired solid bullets and lead shot, the Red Army also had a powerful weapon that could fire large solid bullets - the Ten-Center Cannon.

One artillery brigade had 6,000 men and their artillery was far superior to that of the Qing army in terms of quantity, power and range. After a short battle, the Red Army gained the upper hand and beat the Tartars so hard that they could not raise their heads.

The Shicheng Cannon had the longest range and the greatest power, and was specifically aimed at the central flag of the Qing army. The solid iron bullets had an amazing firing speed, and could bounce back after hitting the ground, destroying everything in their path.

Soon, Chen Jin simply ordered the flags to be taken down to avoid providing guidance for the Red Army's artillery.

Danchu laughed loudly and ordered, "Tell Ferreira that the artillery team fought very well. This clan is very satisfied and will reward you handsomely after the victory."

Ferreira is a Flemish, originally a mercenary. After five years in the army, he has been promoted to commander of the artillery brigade and can speak fluent Chinese.

The Qing army changed its strategy and sent heavily armored soldiers forward. Some of them were covered with quilts, some were carrying door panels, and they carried axes and chisels on their waists and ran straight to the city wall.

During the Later Jin Dynasty, the Tartars did not have red cannons and were helpless in the face of strong cities, so they often used shield carts to attack the city. The death squad hid under the shield carts and used axes and chisels to chop the city walls, and forcibly dug large holes in the walls for the main force to enter the city.

"Hahahaha," Danchu laughed and said, "The Tartars are out of tricks, so they have to learn from their ancestors to poach people! Pass the order, for every Tartar killed today, there will be an extra reward of ten taels of silver, which will be drawn from the private treasury of this vassal."

Cen Danchu invested in many companies in the form of technology shares. The business gentry relied on his status, he valued the businessmen's funds, and the people also recognized his brand.

His fantastic ideas often turned stones into gold. In addition to iron smelting and making arms, Danchu also dabbled in the civilian field, and most of them were successful. For example, he founded a newspaper and improved honeycomb coal, which were quite successful, and Danchu also accumulated a lot of money.

The Qing troops risked their lives to get to the city wall, but the Red Army used battering rams and rolling stones to bluntly attack them, leaving corpses all over the ground. Occasionally, the Qing troops broke through the city wall, but the Red Army was ready to fight, using their numbers to defeat the few, first killing the Tartars with muskets and bayonets, and then immediately repairing the breach to prevent the Qing troops from infiltrating the city.

If one plan fails, try another. Oboi personally supervised the battle and ordered people to carry wooden ladders to climb the city. The city of Yudu was short, and wooden ladders were much more efficient than chisels. The Qing army risked their lives to attack, and from time to time some people jumped onto the top of the city and engaged the Red Army in close combat.

Oboi was as brave as ever. He climbed the city walls wearing armor and encouraged his subordinates in Manchu, saying, "We will go up first. We will break into the city, capture the thief Cen, kill the red bandits, and then we will be rich and powerful." The Qing army soldiers were greatly encouraged. They climbed the city walls and fought enthusiastically, and they managed to fight without retreating.

Danchu saw that the situation on the right wing was urgent, so he left the throne, drew his long sword, and said to the guards on his left and right: "My lords, follow me and rush forward to kill all the Tartars."

The guards had been holding their breath for a long time, and said in unison: "Yes! Go forward and kill all the Tartars!"

Just as he left his seat and walked a few steps, a cannonball suddenly hit him, and the canopy was reduced to dust. It turned out that the Tartars noticed his canopy and concentrated their guns and cannons to attack him fiercely.

Danchu was fearless and stood proudly, like a god of war. The guards on both sides were terrified, but the chief guard Yang Dingzhen was very obedient and said, "The king has received the mandate of heaven. Even if the bombs come, we have to avoid the king."

"God's will is in my hands, so why should I fear?"

The guards cheered and fought the enemy before Danchu. They were much more numerous than the Qing army, and they were well rested, so it was easy for them to wipe out the Qing army.

Danchu also refused to give in, holding the knife in both hands, he strode towards the Qing army. Soon, the Red Army guards and the Qing army turned around and met.

Unexpectedly, the Qing army was all wearing heavy armor and was not afraid of swords. The top of the city was narrow, the soldiers had to fight with swords, and it was difficult to use rifle firepower, so they could not gain the upper hand.

Damn it, I can’t beat him with a musket, and I can’t beat him in hand-to-hand combat? Danchu was furious, and he passed through the protection of the guards and raised his long sword to attack the Tartar.

"Crack!" He used all his strength and, taking advantage of the Tartar's unpreparedness, chopped the Tartar's right shoulder with the knife in both hands.

The blade touched the armor plate, sparks flashed, but did not injure the Tartar's vital parts.

"Double armor!" Dan Chu thought to himself, and when he drew back the long sword, he found that the blade was slightly bent.

This long sword was specially made for him by Xinning Iron and Steel Factory, made of fine steel. Considering that Danchu rarely used the long sword, the steel factory deliberately made it lighter and thinner for easy carrying.

If you want to use a long sword to break heavy armor, you must make the long sword heavier and thicker, such as the Tang Dynasty's Mo Dao. This kind of sword is not something that ordinary soldiers can wield. Dan Chu is strong and healthy, so he can naturally wield the Mo Dao. But in this day and age, most of the Red Army is malnourished, so how can they have the strength to wield the Mo Dao?

The long sword was not easy to use, so Danchu simply copied a Dinglu rifle and used a bayonet to fight the Tatars. The bayonet was triangular in shape, thicker than a sword, and easier to penetrate armor than a sword.

However, most of the Tartar warriors wore two layers of armor, and the Red Army was fighting on foot, so it was not easy to stab the Tartars from below the armor. Danchu seized the opportunity and stabbed the Tartar in the face with his bayonet, finally killing one of them and venting his anger.

The rest of the Red Army was not so lucky. The Qing army, with their advantage in armor, was able to defeat the larger force with a smaller force, and more and more Qing troops climbed onto the top of the city walls.

At the critical moment, a team of auxiliary soldiers rushed to the top of the city. They usually chopped wood and carried water, and were used to using axes. Swords could not pierce heavy armor, so could axes not pierce through it?

"Kill!" The leading auxiliary soldier, who looked only fifteen or sixteen years old, had a handsome face and held an axe in his hand. He gnashed his teeth in hatred and rushed straight towards the Tartar, using all his strength to hack at the Tartar's back.

The Tartar was caught off guard, and with a "crack", the axe pierced through the armor and cut off half of the Tartar's shoulder.

"Ah!" The Tartar screamed and fell to the ground. The Red Army soldier on the opposite side stepped forward and pierced his throat with a bayonet.

The rest of the auxiliary troops were greatly encouraged and followed closely behind, refusing to give in. They had never charged into battle, and even less often engaged in close combat with the enemy, but today, facing the Qing army's death warriors who had climbed the mountain first, they were able to move forward bravely, killing anyone who stood in their way, even gods.

It was really unexpected! Even the most elite personal guards could not stop the Qing army's death squad, and the least valued auxiliary troops could actually achieve amazing results!
"Kill! Kill all the Tartars!" Danchu shouted, and the morale of the Red Army was boosted, and the Qing army was forced to retreat step by step.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Aobai jumped down from the top of the city wall and limped back to his position. The Qing army surged in like a tide and retreated like a tide, leaving behind countless corpses that were flush with the city wall.

(End of this chapter)