The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 51 Reversal
"Tell the defenders ahead to wait until the shield vehicles have passed before firing the mine cannon!"

"After the Baoyi formation is disrupted, the White Spear Soldiers will attack! Kill all the Baoyi. I don't want any prisoners!"

Liu Zhaosun was not interested in the loyal bondservants. It would take a lot of effort to reform these people, which was far from something that the lieutenant general could solve by just dancing and summoning their souls. In comparison, it was more cost-effective to kill them all directly.

After Liu Zhaosun finished giving his orders, he began to inspect the defenses of each camp under the protection of several servants.

When a large group of Baoyi soldiers were pushing shield carts and were about to reach the moat, they were blocked by two trenches in front.

Soon, several baoyi soldiers climbed into the trench to lay planks. One was pierced by caltrops and lay screaming in the trench, clutching his foot. The caltrops buried by the Ming army had been soaked in horse manure, and if they pierced the soles of the feet, they would cause tetanus. With the battlefield medical technology of the era, those who were hit would either die or be crippled.

Brigadier General Liu had no time to feel sorry for these ants in front of him. He looked at the horse-faced soldiers protruding from the top of the city wall and showed a slight sense of relief.

When the Ming army arrived at Kaiyuan City, the original horse-faced fortress was in a dilapidated state. Ten thousand Liaodong refugees worked day and night and finally completed the repairs before the arrival of the Later Jin army.

The horse-faced soldiers on the city walls can increase the side firepower, greatly reducing the blind spots under the city.

In the Ming Dynasty, almost all strategically important cities had battlements built outside them, and Kaiyuan, an important city in Liaodong, was no exception.

There are battlements on the three outer sides of the Kaiyuan city wall, and there are battlements on the left and right sides to facilitate the throwing of bricks and stones, and the firing of arrows and bullets to block the Later Jin army from attacking the city.

At this time, European bastions already had a concave shape, with basically no blind spots for shooting, but Kaiyuan could not do that for the time being.

Similar bastion technology was not introduced to China until the Chongzhen period. After this battle, Liu Zhaosun planned to send people to Macau to hire some Portuguese mercenaries to Liaodong. These mercenaries had more professional military technology and were more reliable than missionaries.

For now, we should defend Kaiyuan and save our lives first.

Between the moat and the city gates was Kaiyuan City's second line of defense. About fifty steps from the city wall, the Ming army had erected a makeshift earthen wall over ten feet high.

Last night, the auxiliary soldiers poured water on the earth wall. After a night, the water mixed with the clay and froze, becoming as solid as concrete. Heavy arrows could only leave spots on it.

Liu Zhaosun estimated that unless the Jiannu used the red cannon to bombard continuously, it would be difficult to penetrate the earth wall.

Since there were only 300 Korean musketeers left, Liu Zhaosun drew 500 musketeers from each camp, together with the southern archers, to make up a thousand people, and stood by behind the earth wall. They were responsible for launching long-range attacks on the enemy.

Behind the earth wall is a relatively flat open space, ensuring that the white-pole soldiers and the falconets can move freely.

The auxiliary soldiers built a gentle slope behind the earth wall. The slope was only about three feet lower than the wall, so the soldiers could expose half of their bodies.

In this way, the Ming army could be on higher ground, relying on the terrain advantage to attack the Later Jin army from a high position.

Qin Jianxun led the white-pole soldiers to form a battle array. The young general was still wearing the white robe. In front of him, a thousand white-pole soldiers stood quietly behind the musketeers and archers, waiting to attack.

Liu Zhaosun walked up to Qin Jianxun and patted him on the shoulder. Qin Jianxun, wearing chain mail, looked a little immature in front of Liu Zhaosun, and his acne-covered face showed a determination to die.

"The bandits are rampant. General, you may go ahead. I will be there soon! We will meet you in the underworld!"

After Liu Zhaosun finished speaking, he turned around and continued to inspect the city defense.

The earthen wall in front of the White Spear Soldiers was divided into dozens of sections, and the connected parts of each section protruded outward. The protruding parts were the entrances and exits of the Ming army.

The passage is about ten feet wide, just enough for about five soldiers to enter and exit. There is a two-foot-wide trench dug in front of each protruding part.

In other words, if the enemy wanted to break through the Kaiyuan city defense from the front, they had to cross the moat, then cross the trench, and finally climb over the earth wall.

Before the battle, the Ming army conducted experiments showing that an ordinary soldier could break through the chevaux de frise, the ditch, the moat, the trench, and the earthen wall, and rush from the moat to the city walls of Kaiyuan, while the defenders' muskets and bows were completely silent. If a soldier had walked this distance in actual combat, he would have been riddled with bullets.

According to the original plan, Liu Zhaosun wanted to build a breastwork behind the earth wall to further delay the offensive of the Later Jin army. He had enough manpower, but time was too short, so he gave up. He was also worried that if the defense was too tight, the four great beiles might not dare to attack head-on.

If the Jiannu had gathered tens of thousands of bannermen, surrounded Kaiyuan City without attacking, and starved it to death, Liu Zhaosun would have become a laughing stock.

During the Nurhaci era, the Later Jin regime transitioned from slavery to feudalism, and the Eight Banner leaders still had great power, unlike the cowardly ones in the later Huang Taiji era.

If the Later Jin army had been hurt at the beginning, Daishan and his men would not have cared about the Khan's military orders and would certainly not have continued to attack.

Sporadic explosions were heard in front of the position, and several unlucky soldiers stepped on landmines.

This type of mine cannon is most effective against densely packed enemy formations. The clay pot filled with black powder is mixed with rusty nails and stones. Each explosion is not very powerful, but it will cause a bloody rain near the explosion point.

A strong Baoyi Aha rushed to the horse-blocking ditch screaming. There was a flying iron nail stuck in his eye socket, and he let out a scream that was not like a human voice. He rolled down the horse-blocking ditch, and his body was pierced by the sharp wooden stakes at the bottom of the ditch.

"If you don't wear armor, I'll blow you up!"

In front of Lanmagou, the Baoyi team fell into chaos. Then, deafening explosions rang out one after another around them. The sound was so dense that it was difficult to distinguish between human voices and explosions.

The moat was completely shrouded in white fog, mixed with sand, gravel and dust, and countless people were wailing in pain in the middle.

When they rushed to the front shield carts, many of them had already stopped. The area around the shield carts was in a mess, with hundreds of Baoyi lying on the ground. Many were killed on the spot, and even more were hit by flying iron nails and stones. They ran around the battlefield like headless flies until they rolled into the horse traps covered with bamboo sticks and caltrops, and died in extreme pain.

The Baoyi people who were pushing the carts in front were frightened by the tragic scene before them, and many of them began to push back. The Zhenyi soldiers who were supporting the formation from behind immediately shot at them with heavy arrows.

"The Tartars are indeed very strict in their military discipline. Alright! Kill a few more of the baoyi for me! I'll thank you later!"

Liu Zhaosun was talking to himself when he heard the sound of orderly footsteps and the friction of armor plates from the city wall, which sounded quite pleasant to Liu Zhaosun.

As the main force of the Kaiyuan Battle, the 7,000 spearmen, mainly southern soldiers, will make the final appearance.

Liu Zhaosun prayed silently in his heart, hoping that this powerful army would not be destroyed in Kaiyuan, and that some seeds would be left for the Qi family army. There were no able-bodied men left in Yiwu. At least for the time being, only a few strong armies such as the Zhejiang soldiers and the White Spear soldiers could save Liaodong.

Surrounded by his servants, the lieutenant general walked through the corridor of the city wall and stood at the gate of the city wall.

The 7,000 newly trained soldiers were arranged in rows according to the organization of each battalion. The soldiers from all over the Ming Dynasty all had determination on their faces, and the training officers of each battalion were making the final mobilization.

"I don't care if you were a Zhejiang soldier, a Liao soldier, or a Xuanda soldier! Today, you are all Lord Liu's soldiers!"

A dark-skinned instructor with a slight Shaanxi accent stood in front of a group of soldiers. His neck turned red and he shouted loudly.

"If you are alive, Master Liu will divide the land among you. If you die, Master Liu will call back your soul!"

"Only Lord Liu pays us, only Lord Liu doesn't abandon us!"

"In the Battle of Hunjiang, thousands of our brothers died, and the bodies were all brought back by Lord Liu!"

The Shaanxi instructor yelled with all his might, his voice hoarse, and he shouted with all his strength:

"Lord Liu said that he would die in battle today! He doesn't want to serve the Tartars as a bondservant! Are you willing?!"

The surroundings fell silent, and the excited shouts of soldiers from the neighboring camps were heard. A moment later, soldiers speaking different regional dialects shouted in unison: "No!"

“I don’t want to!!”

"When all the Sichuan soldiers are dead, you guys go up! Find your teammates you usually train with, form groups of eleven, and form a small three-talent formation! If the front ones die, the back ones will fill in! Do you understand?"

"Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!"

Liu Zhaosun told his servants to hurry away. He didn't want to see these soldiers about to die, and he didn't want to remember these familiar yet unfamiliar faces. Fortunately, the soldiers around him were in high spirits, and no one noticed them.

Liu Zhaosun quickly climbed to the top of the city wall and felt sand in his eyes.

The army forbids playing tricks on ghosts, but Liu Zhaosun uses the little sacrificial knowledge he has before traveling through time to summon the souls of the dead.

The army forbade private payment of soldiers' salaries, but Liu Zhaosun paid the soldiers' salaries with his own money.
Although sworn brotherhood was forbidden in the army, Liu Zhaosun became sworn brother to Wei Zhongxian, a man of good character.

For many things, we did not have any utilitarian intentions before doing them, but we achieved great success after doing them seriously.

He rubbed his red and swollen eyes and tried to calm himself down.

In the direction of the north gate, the air was filled with smoke, and the musketeers began to shoot at the chaotic Baoyi soldiers. In the distant, in the vast blue flag formation, the dead soldiers holding thick shields and heavy swords were eager to try and avenge the arrow shot at Hunjiang.

From the direction of the South Gate, the sound of horse hooves like muffled thunder came faintly. Liu Zhaosun's heart tightened, knowing that it was his own cavalry setting out.

According to the battle plan, the two thousand cavalrymen under Yu Chengming and Shi Fengming were responsible for containing the Mongolian tribes. Unexpectedly, the Mongols came to take advantage of them so soon.

Liu Zhaosun was imagining the heroic scene of the Liaozhen cavalry charge when another explosion was heard at the north gate.

The baoyi soldiers who rushed forward withstood the attacks of the Ming army's muskets and bows and arrows, crossed the minefields around the trench, entered the moat, and began to build a pontoon bridge along the river.

The baoyi pushed dozens of shield carts and stopped in front of the pontoon bridge. They stopped moving forward. While covering the baoyi soldiers who were catching up from behind, they shot arrows at the Ming soldiers who showed their heads behind the earth wall.

These baoyi soldiers were quite brave and had excellent archery skills. With the protection of the shield carts, they could shoot calmly, and their accuracy immediately improved a lot. Soon a musketeer was shot in the face and fell to the ground with a groan.

"Tell Qin Jianxun that it's time to fire!"

The servant immediately conveyed the order from the lieutenant general to the south gate. Soon, twenty French machine guns ambushed behind the earth wall opened fire at the same time, and the earth wall was immediately covered with white smoke.

The Portuguese first aimed at the shield carts and then at the pontoon bridge. The shield carts were very close to the earth wall and were a huge target. They were surrounded by bannermen who were eager to make meritorious deeds for their master.

boom! boom!
The white smoke gradually dissipated. Liu Zhaosun and several servants looked up at the opposite side. The shield carts waiting to cross the river had been blown to pieces. The ground was littered with scattered wood and corpses. Countless people in the shield carts were rolling on the ground, and many of them rolled directly into the moat.

"After destroying the shield vehicles, we'll attack the pontoon bridge. Before the Jiannu's artillery arrives, fire a few more shots at them!"

Before Liu Zhaosun finished speaking, a cannon shot was heard from the front and a puff of thick smoke blew out from the shield cart.

When Liu Zhaosun looked carefully, he found that there were two French machine guns behind the shield vehicles at the back.

Judging from the style of the artillery, it is exactly the same as the one used by the French army of the Ming army behind the earth wall. It should be the one that Nurhaci seized from Du Song and gave to the Blue Banner.

Liu Zhaosun looked coldly at the Portuguese cannon, which was advancing along with several shield carts, occasionally firing a cannon at the Ming army's earthen wall. Fortunately, the Portuguese cannon's accuracy was not good enough, and the shells hit the earthen wall crookedly, only shaking off a few pieces of soil.

Liu Zhaosun sneered. Fei Yingwu was quite skilled in fighting, with a bit of blitzkrieg style. It was a pity that the slave chief was too stingy and only gave the Bordered Blue Banner two cannons.

"Order the gunners to concentrate all the artillery fire on those two Francois machine guns!"

Pei Dahu was shocked when he heard this: "Sir, the Baoyi soldiers are building a pontoon bridge. Our muskets can't penetrate the shield carts."

"With the White Spear Soldiers here, what's there to be afraid of? The Baoyi are here to die! The Portuguese behind us are the real trouble!"

Pei Dahu agreed and turned to leave. Liu Zhaosun looked ahead.

Encouraged by their own artillery fire, more and more Baoyi pushed the shield carts forward to the edge of the moat. The dead soldiers behind them had already been dispatched and were slowly pouring towards this side.

Liu Zhaosun had a bad premonition. If he allowed these baoyi soldiers and dead soldiers to cross the moat and attack the earthen walls, would the white-pole soldiers be able to stop them?
His understanding of the White Spear Soldiers only remained in later historical forums.

It is said that this powerful army is good at mountain warfare and has caused considerable trouble to the Later Jin. However, now they are fighting on the plains, and it is unknown what effect the White Spear Soldiers will have.

Liu Zhaosun had no choice. He had no soldiers available. The troops in Wengcheng were Kaiyuan's last reserve. The Liaozhen cavalry was at the south gate to contain the Mongolian and Later Jin cavalry, and the other troops also had to defend the gates.

If the White Spear Soldiers don't go up, we won't be able to defend the North Gate by relying on the able-bodied men of Liao.

The Portuguese cannons of both sides began to bombard each other, and the Ming army temporarily gained the advantage. Iron balls weighing several pounds whizzed across the sky, smashing the shield carts into pieces.

The excited Baoyi soldiers were no match for the iron bullets, and their bodies were torn to pieces.

Despite this, there was still a steady stream of baoyi approaching the moat from behind. The increasingly approaching dead soldiers forced the baoyi forward, and the baoyi walking at the back were shot and killed by their masters.

These Jurchens from remote areas were more brutal than the Jianzhou Jurchens and showed no mercy when killing their own people.

Twenty French cannons were all aimed at the two cannons in front of the moat. After just two rounds of shooting, the shield carts next to the moat were turned into a honeycomb, wood chips flew everywhere, and the Later Jin gunners who had just joined the bombardment were all torn to pieces and killed.

After solving this problem, the gunners began to turn their artillery targets to the dark masses of Baoyi soldiers on the pontoon bridge. Some Baoyi soldiers had already crossed the river and formed a battle line, while more were crowded on the river.

Under the skillful operation of the Ming army gunners, twenty Portuguese cannons fired shotgun shells at the pontoon bridge at a rate of two rounds per minute, and some Portuguese cannons fired chain bullets. The baoyi soldiers who rushed up from behind and lost the cover of the artillery were like targets and were swept away by various shells. After a while, only broken limbs and bloodstains were left on the pontoon bridge.

The baoyi soldiers who rushed across the moat quickly formed a formation. Some of them held shields in their hands, crossed the horse traps and trenches, and covered their companions as they used bows and arrows to shoot at the Ming army behind the earth wall.

At this distance, bows and arrows have a certain advantage over muskets, and more and more Ming soldiers were injured on the earth wall.

After the massacre, the Portuguese gradually stopped cooling down. More Baoyi were forced by the dead soldiers to rush onto the pontoon bridge, stepping on the internal organs and limbs on the ground, and rushed towards the Ming army's earth wall.

The Ming army behind the earth wall was responding to the arrows fired by the baoyi soldiers who were rushing across the river, while shooting at the increasing number of baoyi soldiers on the pontoon bridge.

The bondservants were crowded on the narrow pontoon bridge. Some were pushed directly into the river. Some who were hit by muskets fell to the ground and let out screams that were not human.

At this time, the French, who had been silent for a long time, finally resumed their bombardment. Qin Jianxun ordered to directly break the pontoon bridge because thousands of baoyi and dead soldiers had already rushed over.

The two-pound shells turned the bridge deck into a honeycomb. Amid the screams of the pontoon soldiers behind, the pontoon bridge finally broke completely.

More than a hundred Baoyi who came up from behind saw that there was no shield cart to protect them and no pontoon bridge to cross the river in front, so they could only stand by the river and take the cannon shots. They fled in all directions, and some of them wanted to retreat to the main formation, but were killed by the dead soldiers behind them with swords and bows and arrows. Some mad Baoyi jumped directly into the moat and tried to swim to the other side, but were pierced by caltrops and hooks. They struggled in vain in the icy river water more than ten feet deep. This group of Baoyi were wiped out by both the Ming and Jin sides.

Liu Zhaosun breathed a sigh of relief. The pontoon bridge had been broken, and the Baoyi soldiers who rushed over were doomed to destruction. He was about to order the Baigan soldiers to attack when Zhang Mazi came running over, panting, and said to him:
"Lieutenant General Liu, Lieutenant General Yu, they have discovered wolf soldiers in the south of the city!"

(End of this chapter)