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

Chapter 82 Easily Defeat the Enemy
The sentry leader He Guozuo rode up to the enemy army holding a white flag and presented Danchu's handwritten letter with both hands.

Tian Qi saw that the tone of the letter was quite polite, and when he heard that He Guozuo was a Yao, he ordered an audience. He raised his head and shouted, "He Guozuo, I heard that you are a Yao. Why are you working for outsiders and attacking your own brothers?"

The Yao people were divided into tribes and belonged to different chieftains. They would attack each other from time to time in order to seize mountains, forests, lakes and swamps.

He Guozuo smiled secretly in his heart and said in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "Marshal Cen loves his soldiers like his own sons. There are many Yao people in the army who are happy to serve him."

"What is your position in the Yong'an Army?"

"Captain, take charge of the thirty personal soldiers for Marshal Cen."

Tian Qi was shocked, for the personal soldiers were the generals' followers. Cen Danchu dared to let a Yao man be the chief of the personal soldiers, which showed that he had the ability to control people.

He remained calm and said, "During the Wanli period, Emperor Shenzong appointed mining supervisors and tax collectors to extort money from the people. Although Jinxiu is located in a remote area, there are also corrupt officials who pretend to be mining supervisors and collect iron taxes, which aroused the miners to revolt, causing great suffering to the people.

"The chieftains of the Tian clan have followed the teachings of their ancestors. They do not flatter their superiors, do not resist the government, and do not impose mining taxes. The people have relied on mining as their livelihood for nearly a hundred years, and finally reached the current situation.

"Marshal Cen first wanted to set up an inspection office, but I refused. He then wanted to appoint a mining supervisor and tax collector. Before I could reply, he led his troops to come. His intention is self-evident. He said he wanted to help with mining, but in fact he just wanted to imitate Emperor Shenzong and levy heavy taxes."

He Guozuo was not good at speaking, but he often followed Danchu and actively participated in his education, which increased his knowledge. He said:
"You are wrong, Captain. Marshal Cen is a man of unparalleled military strategy and has many talented people under his command. The army employs many craftsmen, including Portuguese gunsmiths, who are good at smelting fine iron and casting guns and cannons.

"What the Marshal wants is to increase the output of Jinxiu Iron Mine to facilitate the manufacture of guns and cannons, not to levy heavy taxes, and certainly not to fight for the territory of Qianhu. The Yong'an Army is well-trained and strong, and it is really beyond the reach of the Tusi soldiers. Qianhu cannot..."

"No need to say more!" Tian Qi interrupted He Guozuo rudely and said, "I spared your life because I thought you were a Yao and Cen Danchu was quite polite in his letter. Go back and tell Cen Danchu to prepare for war. The Tian clan chieftains have always been in Jinxiu and will never surrender."

As soon as He Guozuo left, Tian Qi said with a smile: "Cen Danchu came here through a small path, but did not move his troops. He sent an envoy here to delay time and wait for the main force to arrive. Pass the order, attack!"

"Boom, boom, boom!" the chieftain's soldiers beat the war drums and lined up to attack.

The Yong'an army quickly got the news, and the soldiers stopped eating and drinking, organized their weapons, and gathered their formations. Danchu was unusually calm, and used a telescope to observe the formation of the Tusi soldiers.

Although there were many Tusi soldiers in front of them, most of them were not wearing armor. Their personnel were scattered, with a mixture of infantry and cavalry. Their weapons were also varied, and their formation was a mess. Except for the two or three hundred people in the middle whose formation was relatively neat, the Tusi soldiers on the two wings had no formation at all.

The basis of battle formation is organization, and the basis of organization is organization. The chaotic battle formation of Tusi soldiers shows that their organization is chaotic, or they are not "regular troops". Most of them are temporary militia, local soldiers, or even captured men.

After two battles, Danchu had already developed a preliminary battlefield judgment. These Tusi soldiers were a mob, unable to even form a basic battle formation, and could only give away their lives on the battlefield.

The intelligence was accurate. The chieftain of the Tian clan only had 300 regular soldiers. This time they would surely be defeated. Danchu remained calm and said, "Hold still. Do not open fire without my order!"

The matchlock guns, three-barreled guns, tiger squat cannons, Weiyuan cannons, and falconets have been loaded, the iron rods have been burned red, the matchlocks have been ignited, and they are ready to fire at any time. The bowstrings have been tightened, and the arrows can be fired at any time.

During this forced march, the battalion did not carry the sky rockets or red-haired cannons. These two types of cannons were too heavy, and the four-wheeled cannon carts were inconvenient to maneuver on the mountain trails, so they were simply not carried.

There were also many new recruits in the camp. When they first went to the battlefield, they felt excited, scared, and timid.

The whole battalion formed a battle formation, with familiar comrades on both sides and officers in front and behind to guard the formation. Being in a group, the soldiers were less timid. The veteran soldiers, wearing iron armor, standing in the front row, were full of fighting spirit, hoping to gain something from this battle. It was an early spring afternoon, the sun was shining and the spring breeze was warm. The soldiers were wearing armor, and although they did not move, they were already sweating.

Through the telescope, Danchu could see clearly that the Tusi soldiers' vanguard was already close to 100 steps. The Yong'an Army had marked the distance in front of the formation in advance. 100 steps was already within the effective range of the matchlock guns and tiger squat cannons.

Dan Chu kept his composure and still did not order to open fire, allowing the enemy to get closer.

The Tusi soldiers seemed to realize that something was wrong and tried to gather their troops. The local militiamen who were temporarily recruited were not even familiar with flags and signals, and they were like headless flies on the battlefield. The people in front were driven away by those behind, and the timid people were coerced by the brave ones. Everyone moved forward involuntarily, and no one cared about the Tusi's orders.

There were, however, three hundred Tusi soldiers in the middle, their formation was slightly more orderly, roughly forming a goose-feather formation.

Guangxi Tusi soldiers often use this formation: if the soldiers in the front row die in battle, the soldiers in the back row will replace them. On the contrary, if the soldiers in the front row flee in battle, the soldiers in the back row will kill them. This way, they advance without retreating and often win on the battlefield.

If the enemy army had advanced to 80 steps, they could then fire poison arrows 20 more steps. The chieftains often smeared poison on the arrowheads, and if they were hit, the skin would fester at best, or die at worst.

"Humph!" Danchu snorted and ordered: "Musketeers, fire!"

The musket team used matchlock guns, divided into three rows, aimed at the group of elite Tusi soldiers, and opened fire first. As soon as the gunshots rang out, the Tusi soldiers in the front row kept falling down, and the rest of the Tusi soldiers panicked and immediately started to attack without waiting for the Tusi's orders.

Most people were armed with spears, swords, and even bamboo spears. A few had bows and arrows or three-barreled guns, and there were less than thirty matchlock guns. Because there was no battle formation, the Tusi soldiers fired randomly and posed no threat to the Yong'an Army.

Tusi Tian Qi was in the army and was no longer able to control his troops, so he had to bite the bullet and continue to move forward. The firepower of the Yong'an army was not fierce, and as long as the Tusi soldiers rushed to the front of the Yong'an army, they could engage in close combat with the enemy. The Tusi soldiers were hardworking and had practiced martial arts since childhood. They could defeat the Yong'an army with their large numbers.

When they were fifty steps away from the enemy, Danchu ordered the artillery to open fire. The tiger squat cannon, the Weiyuan cannon, and the falconet cannon opened fire one after another, and the infantry and cavalry also dismounted and fired their three-barreled guns.

Danchu calculated that a salvo of artillery fire could fire thousands of lead bullets. Most of these lead bullets were fired from light artillery, which were not very powerful and could hardly penetrate armor at a distance of more than 30 steps.

The artillery team did not carry red cannons and sky rockets, so the firepower was not as strong as expected. However, most of the Tusi soldiers were not wearing armor and were shot and wounded one after another. The team suddenly came to a standstill. The timid Tusi soldiers had already begun to retreat, and the brave ones did not dare to move forward. They had to use bows and arrows, muskets and other weapons to attack the Yong'an Army.

Danchu was already confident of victory and ordered his cavalry to attack. The cavalry on the left wing and the cavalry scouts on the right wing could no longer hold back and rushed into the Tusi's troops.

The Tusi soldiers became even more frustrated, and without listening to the Tusi's orders, they retreated one after another.

Danchu ordered a pursuit while the enemy was victorious. The personal guards and the training team had been waiting behind the formation for a long time, and each mounted their horses to attack the Tusi soldiers.

The enemy was defeated and completely lost its ability to resist.

Danchu understood: After Li Chengdong surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, he served as the Qing army's vanguard and razed the southeastern provinces. This was not because Li Chengdong was so powerful, nor did the Qing Dynasty have any magic power. It was because Li Chengdong's opponents were too weak, most of them were voluntary armies without any experience in battle, similar to the Tusi soldiers in front of him.

To deal with such a weak enemy, you only need to form a tight battle formation, attack head-on with the infantry, and then send cavalry to plunder from both wings, and you will surely defeat them.

Cen Danchu spurred his horse and whipped it, looking at the defeated Tusi soldiers in front of him, and he suddenly felt confident.

(End of this chapter)