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

Chapter 97: The brave one wins when we meet on a narrow road
Danchu brandished his horse spear like a god of war, beheading three Qing soldiers in a row. However, the Qing soldiers were outnumbered and soon surrounded more than 200 Yong'an soldiers.

A Qing general took advantage of Danchu's unpreparedness and attacked him with a boring knife, stabbing Danchu in the back. Cen Yong followed Danchu and used his spear to block the boring knife without hesitation.

The boring knife, shaped like a three-pronged fork with a long handle, was invented in the Sui Dynasty and was often used as a ceremonial tool. In the Ming Dynasty, the boring knife began to become popular on the battlefield. However, the boring knife, like the horse lance, was long and heavy, and it was difficult for ordinary soldiers to use it freely because they were not strong enough.

The boring knife was blocked by Cen Yong's spear, and its direction was deflected, and its power was reduced, and the boring head stabbed towards Dan Chu's right armpit. The armpit is a weak part, and fortunately Dan Chu wore armpit armor, which blocked the enemy general's boring knife.

The Qing general was strong and powerful, and the boring head pierced through the armpit armor and chain mail and pierced into Dan Chu's armpit.

The skin under the armpits is relatively tender, and a piercing pain came over him. Danchu looked back and saw that the Qing general who had attacked was smug, and he immediately became furious: How dare someone attack me? You are so bold! I must kill you today.

He turned his horse around to fight the Qing general. Seeing that he was full of vigor and enthusiasm, the Qing general did not dare to neglect him, so he pulled himself together, put away his boring tool, and prepared to fight again.

"Bang", the lance blade and the boring head collided, making a crisp sound. Firelight flew everywhere, and Danchu gently relaxed his palm to avoid being injured by the lance. This was battlefield experience, and it had become a habit over time.

The opponent's force was so strong that it was transmitted to the spear through the boring head, causing Dan Chu's right hand to tremble.

Fight violence with violence, and become stronger when you meet a strong opponent. Danchu felt a dull pain in his right armpit, and suddenly he felt furious. He swung his spear again, raised it high, and chopped at the enemy general.

The enemy general was not to be outdone and raised his halberd to block the spear blade. There were forks on both sides of the halberd head, which could be used for both offense and defense, and could block the horse spear.

There was another "bang" sound. Dan Chu gripped the spear tightly, withstanding the impact force generated by the collision of the weapons, and pressed down the horse spear hard.

The enemy general also held the boring bar tightly, not daring to let go, otherwise, the lance blade would fall on him, and the consequences would be disastrous.

The two men were in a stalemate, and their personal soldiers stepped forward to help. If they could take advantage of the opportunity to stab the enemy general, the enemy general would be exhausted and would undoubtedly be defeated.

Cen Yong was eager to make a contribution, so he led his soldiers forward bravely.

Danchu was delighted to see this, and took the time to instruct him, "When facing a battle, you must concentrate, use the majority to defeat the minority, and you will surely defeat the enemy."

Cen Yong was inspired and shouted, "Yes! Third Squad, focus, follow me!"

After all, they were Danchu's personal soldiers. Although they had little actual combat experience, they had been trained for a long time and were full of blood. Most of Cen Yong's personal soldiers were boy soldiers selected from the boy troop, and they were extremely brave in battle.

Danchu's horse lance was on top, and he used gravity to suppress the Qing general, which made him look more relaxed. The Qing general was running out of strength, and the soldiers around him were also at a disadvantage, so he used all his brute force to lift the boring tool hard, trying to block Danchu's horse lance.

"We've fallen into a trap!" Danchu was delighted. He used the force to raise his lance and slashed at the Qing army again.

The Qing army didn't dare to take it head-on and used a boring tool to block the horse lance diagonally.

When two men meet on a narrow road, the bravest will win. The enemy has shown his weakness, so he should strike bravely and defeat him. Danchu used the heel of his boot to lightly kick the horse's belly. The chestnut horse, which had understood human nature, understood his thoughts, and immediately rushed towards the enemy general.

Encountering a tough opponent, the Qing general was already afraid of fighting, turned his horse around and tried to retreat. However, the retreat route was all Qing troops, and the Qing general was blocked by his own army and could not retreat, so he had to use a surprise attack and stabbed Danchu fiercely.

The boring tool was heavy, with a heavy head and a light shaft, and was not suitable for the tactic of a stab attack. When it was swung, the force had already been exhausted, and it could not achieve the power that a stab attack should have. Danchu easily dodged the boring head, discarded the horse lance, and grabbed the enemy general's boring shaft.

The two men argued endlessly, and as if they had a tacit understanding, they gave up their boring knives almost at the same time. The Qing general tried to draw his sword to defend himself, but the Danchu warhorse was already approaching.

He stretched out his arms and clamped the Qing general under his left ribs. His left arm was like an iron clamp, tightly clamping the Qing general's neck. With the help of the horse's horse, he easily dragged the Qing general off the warhorse. The Qing general was choked by Danchu's iron arms, and his head was full of stars and he was foaming at the mouth. He waved his hands vigorously, trying to pry open Danchu's iron arms.

Danchu was like a ferocious demon, wanting to avenge the right armpit, so he swung his right fist and smashed towards Qingjiang's face. Qingjiang was about to die, and he burst out with a strong desire to survive, opened his mouth wide, and tried to bite Danchu's finger.

His fingers were slightly hurt, probably because they were bitten by the Qing general's teeth. Dan Chu was furious and pulled off the Qing general's helmet with his right hand. Then he used his index and middle fingers to dig into the enemy general's eyes and dug out his eyeballs.

"Eat it!" Danchu stuffed the enemy general's eyeballs into his mouth and laughed.

A strong smell of blood rushed to his mouth and nose. The enemy general was in agony, screaming and stumbling on the ground.

Damn it, when did I become so cruel? Digging out the eyes while alive, how cruel.

Cruelty has its benefits. The Qing general screamed in a heart-wrenching voice, which made people's hair stand on end. The surrounding Qing soldiers were shocked and hid when they saw Danchu.

"General! Your lance!" Cen Yong was quite smart. He had already picked up the lance and handed it to Dan Chu.

Danchu was very happy to have his revenge. He held his spear across his chest and said, "Everyone, follow me! This is the time to perform meritorious deeds!"

The morale of the Yong'an army was greatly boosted. Although there were only more than 200 people, under the leadership of Danchu, they moved left and right like a dragon.

Ma Qijiao, Bai Gui, Zhao Xing, Feng Zhiji and other brave generals each led their standard-bearing troops and rushed into the enemy camp to fight.

Bai Gui was the most valiant. He did not go around to the left or right wings, but instead took advantage of the gap in the front of the Qing army and directly penetrated into the enemy's battle formation.

Feng Zhiji was the worst person and was not on good terms with the other generals, but this time he also attacked bravely and flanked the Qing army's right wing.

The infantrymen fought one after another, but the formations of both sides were in disarray, and the orders were not given, so each town fought on its own. Before both sides had finished firing their arrows and firearms, they were in a melee.

It’s all chaos, it’s all chaos!

Today's battle really broadened my horizons!
When a large army of more than 10,000 people is engaged in battle, and the various units have just received orders and have just joined together, they should at least organize the battle formation, discipline the battalions, advance step by step, bombard, engage the enemy, send out cavalry attacks, and wait for opportunities to fight.

Unexpectedly, Jiao Lian, as the main general, led his light troops to break into the enemy's formation before the battle. The other generals followed closely, each leading their elite troops to charge into the enemy's formation, disrupting the enemy's battle formation, breaking the enemy's firepower and bow and arrow advantages, and seizing the initiative on the battlefield.

It's a stroke of genius!

Danchu couldn't help but think of an anecdote.

Yue Fei, a famous general of the Song Dynasty, was once attacked by the enemy. The enemy was outnumbered and his troops were terrified. Yue Fei thought that he should take the initiative to attack while the enemy was still unsettled. He rushed towards the enemy alone. The enemy took advantage of his small number and surrounded him. Yue Fei raised his sword and killed an enemy general. The rest of the troops were defeated. The morale of the Song army was greatly boosted and the enemy was defeated.

The Biography of Yue Fei in History of Song Dynasty records Yue Fei's discussion on the art of war, saying: "The formation is followed by battle. The common sense of the art of war and the subtlety of its application are all in the mind."

It seems that there is no usual practice in the use of troops, and we must not follow the old ways. A general cannot just talk about military strategy on paper, but should seek truth from facts, accurately grasp the characteristics of the enemy and the actual situation on the battlefield, seize the opportunity in time, and even go all out when necessary, so as to have a greater chance of defeating the enemy.

(End of this chapter)