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

Chapter 96 Rushing into the formation
How could a large army fight so carelessly? If the commander led the charge and was trapped in the enemy's formation, wouldn't the towns be leaderless and fall into chaos without a fight?

Danchu looked through the telescope and confirmed that the general who charged was Jiao Lian, and he was extremely anxious. But then he thought that although Jiao Lian's move was reckless, it might have a deeper meaning.

When two armies were at war, they would often send out cavalry to test the enemy first. Jiao Lian led the cavalry to attack, which could both test the strength of the Qing army and boost the morale of the Ming army.

Perhaps he had seen that the enemy was strong and we were weak, and if we fought according to the rules, the Ming army would not have much chance of winning. If we wanted to defeat the enemy, we had to take a risky move and mix with the enemy, so that the enemy's advantages in firearms and bows and arrows could not be brought into play.

Looking at the central army from afar, He Tengjiao seemed to be in a panic and did not issue any new military orders. The entire army paused, as if waiting for the Qing army to attack. It seemed that Jiao Lian did not obtain his consent for this move. He Tengjiao was at a loss and did not know how to respond.

When the battle was about to begin, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses lined up to meet the enemy, and they had to obey orders carefully. If anyone disobeyed the order, they would be executed. If they did not receive the order from the central army, the soldiers could not even move forward.

On the battlefield, the opportunity was fleeting and the commander could not hesitate. Dan Chu looked down on He Tengjiao from the bottom of his heart. In a split second, he made a decision on his own and resolutely issued an order: "The cavalry and personal guards of the standard battalion will follow me to reinforce the commander, and the rest of the battalions will continue to follow the front army."

On the Yong'an Town side, the formation began to loosen. A ten-step-wide gap appeared between the First Infantry Battalion and the Second Infantry Battalion. Danchu personally led the cavalry, the personal guards, and the teaching team through the gap and attacked the left wing of the Qing army.

As soon as Danchu made a move, generals Bai Gui, Zhao Xing, Ma Qijiao, Bai Yu, and Feng Zhiji seemed to have received military orders. They all left the battle formation and led their respective standard bearers to reinforce Jiao Lian.

Jiao Lian's army was isolated and surrounded by Qing soldiers, with arrows raining down on them. He only had less than 200 men and horses with him, but fortunately they were all heavily armored cavalry, so he was able to hold out.

Danchu led a cavalry, personal guards, and teaching team with more than 300 people, less than 100 of whom were heavily armored cavalry, and the rest were lightly armored. In the late Ming Dynasty, when cold and hot weapons were mixed, heavy armor had a good protective effect on the battlefield and was necessary for charging into battle.

Danchu had three sets of armor: one set of imperial gold armor, one set of chain mail, and one set of Ming armor. This time, when fighting against the Qing army, he wore the chain mail inside and the Ming armor outside as usual.

The Ming army had many types of armor, which can be roughly divided into three categories: Ming armor, Qing armor and cotton armor. The protection effect of Ming armor is better than Qing armor, and Qing armor is better than cotton armor.

Ming armor is of the highest quality, and the production process is complicated. The iron sheet is on the outside, coated with raw lacquer, and lined with cotton cloth. The weight often reaches more than 45 kilograms. According to "Wu Bei Yao Lue", each set of Ming armor requires more than 100 kilograms of fine Fujian iron, about 45 to 500 kilograms of coal from the north, and about 10 to 100 kilograms of charcoal from the south. The more iron there is, the more refined it is, and the better it is to use.

Qingjia, also known as dark armor, is made of cotton cloth on the outside and iron leaves on the inside. It is a heavy cloth armor. According to the "Da Ming Hui Dian", Qingjia weighs 24 to 25 kilograms and is matched with a Ming helmet.

The cotton armor is made of cotton, which is light, warm and has poor protection effect. In the north, the cotton armor also has a good warming effect and is popular among officers and soldiers.

The Ming Dynasty's border troops were better equipped, with a high proportion of Ming helmets and armor. Even the most ordinary infantry often wore cotton armor.

According to the report of the Ministry of War in the fifth year of Chongzhen, also in Hebei, under the command of the Lieutenant General of Shimen Road, there were 1229 officers and soldiers equipped with 800 sets of iron helmets and armor; under the command of the Taolinkou garrison, there were 1528 officers and soldiers, but only 50 iron helmets and 100 sets of iron armor.

The reason is simple. "Shimen Road" is located in Shimenzhai Town, Funing County, Hebei Province, at the front of the Jizhen Great Wall defense line. Taolinkou is also located on the Jizhen Great Wall defense line, guarding the Qinglong River, but its location is farther back and on the inner line, not as dangerous as Shimen Road.

As for the inland areas, the armor equipment rate was uneven, and the southern Ming army was even worse equipped. In addition, the climate was humid and rainy, iron armor was easy to rust, and cotton armor was easy to absorb water. Many southern Ming soldiers did not even have cotton armor, and occasionally used rattan armor.

Yong'an Town was established not long ago, and the rate at which soldiers wore armor was low. Many soldiers in the infantry battalions did not even have cotton armor or rattan armor.

The Qing Dynasty inherited the Ming system, and most of the armor and weapons were inherited from the Ming army. The Qing army occupied more and more areas, continued to collect Liao tribute, had relatively abundant finances, and had relatively sophisticated military equipment.

Since traveling through time, Danchu has also collected more protective gear, not to mention arm armor, but also face armor, throat armor, and armpit armor. This time against the main force of the Qing army, of course, all of them were used. Cen Danchu was the first to approach the Qing army battle formation before all the generals, and there were only thirty steps left. Arrows rained down, and a few arrows hit the armor and made a clanging sound, but fortunately they were not heavy arrows that could penetrate the armor.

Armor-piercing arrows can penetrate transparent helmets and armor at close range. Who cares? Life and death are determined by fate, wealth and honor are determined by God, and there is no need to care about so many things on the battlefield.

Danchu drew his long bow on horseback, loaded it with heavy arrows that could penetrate armor, and fired several arrows in succession, knocking down four or five Qing cavalrymen in succession. The standard bearers followed suit, first using bows and arrows to fend off the enemy, and then quickly engaging the enemy in close combat.

After engaging the enemy, it is not appropriate to use bows and arrows. Danchu put away his bow and arrows, and wielded his spear to kill the enemy, with unstoppable courage. The generals acted like this, and the standard bearers also fought bravely, vying to engage the enemy.

The cavalry of the two armies were fighting on the left wing, and the formation was already in disarray. The Qing army was large in number and had a dense formation, and had surrounded Jiao Lian in the center. Danchu led his troops to tear open a hole in the Qing army's encirclement and went to meet Jiao Lian.

When they saw Jiao Lian, his face was covered in blood. He was also wielding a lance, swinging it up and down, unstoppable.

Danchu was very excited and shouted, "Marshal Jue, Danchu is here! Please withdraw quickly, I will cover your rear!"

When Jiao Lian saw the reinforcements coming, he laughed and said, "I knew you would come, so I rushed into the battle line first to encourage you to follow. I am trapped in the enemy's formation, not because I am reckless, but also because I want to break the formation!"

Is there such a saying? Could it be that the Duke was risking his life to survive? Danchu had no time to think about it and took the time to glance to the right.

The right side is the front of the enemy formation, which is relatively wide, about one or two miles long, and is mostly composed of Green Camp infantry. Affected by the left wing, the front infantry formation has become scattered and distorted, with several loopholes.

As the infantry of the two armies were about to engage in battle, a loophole appeared in the Qing army's battle formation. This would be fatal to the Qing army, which had been preparing for a long time: the Ming army could concentrate its elite forces to attack the loopholes in the Qing army's battle formation and tear a hole in the Qing army's frontal defense line.

The Qing army tried to stop and reorganize their formation, but the Ming army got closer and closer and began to use various weapons such as muskets, bows and arrows, and three-barreled guns.

Absolutely!
Danchu was greatly inspired. Although the Qing army before him looked elite, it was actually not that scary.

The Qing army came from afar, alone and deep in the enemy's territory, so it was in their best interest to fight quickly. However, Kong Youde deployed his elite troops in the rear, driving the Green Camp to fight in the front, showing his cowardice first.

Kong Youde was born in Tieling, Liaodong. He was born into a miner family and was a member of a low-class family. He was good at archery and horse riding since childhood. He was illiterate and did not work properly. After the Later Jin occupied Liaoyang and Shenyang, Kong Youde went to Pidao to join the army.

He was "brave and good at fighting, the first to go to the battlefield, and the best among all the generals", and was appreciated by Mao Wenlong, who adopted him as his grandson and gave him the name Yongshi. However, although Kong Youde was brave, he was not a general and was not qualified to take on the task.

In the second year of Longwu, the Qing court appointed Kong Youde as the General of Pingnan. From then on, Kong Youde began to lead troops alone and was active in the battlefield of Huguang.

In the early Qing Dynasty, the princes and beile were used to command the troops and take charge of the region, and were called generals. Kong Youde served as the general of Pingnan for two years, but his military achievements were mediocre and he was despised by many Manchus.

When it comes to war, being cautious is cowardly, and cowardice leads to low morale, and low morale means defeat. Even if the Qing army is strong, what can it do with such a commander?
Danchu was immediately inspired, wielding his spear to kill the enemy, and shouted to Jiao Lian: "General Jue, Danchu will help you break the formation!"

(End of this chapter)