The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 53 Coating
The first wave of attack by the Bordered Blue Banner caused casualties among more than 200 Ming army gunners on the earth wall, with nearly half of them killed or wounded.

Most of the soldiers were shot in the face. Within fifty steps, the heavy arrows shot by the Jiannu dead soldiers had amazing lethality and could easily penetrate the cotton armor. These musketeers were basically not wearing armor, and many of them were killed by a single arrow.

More than twenty people died from the explosion of their own muskets. There was no other way. The quality of the muskets in the hands of the Ming army was so poor that they could only make do with them.

The white-pole soldiers from each battalion blew their horns, and the musketeers who had suffered heavy casualties retreated to make room for the white-pole soldiers behind them.

A thousand white-pole soldiers formed a simple formation and slowly climbed up the long slope.

Among the seventeen-foot-long white-shafted spears, there were also some heavy swords, maces, and goose-feather knives. The owners of these weapons were all Liaodong Rangers, Jizhou Border Army, and Xuan Dayebu, totaling about two hundred people.

Many of them had a blood feud with the Jiannu, and there were also some fierce ones who, in order to gain military merit, appeared among the White Spear Soldiers as death squads.

Unlike the Zhejiang soldiers, the White Spear Soldiers from the southwestern mountains did not have strict requirements on formations and tactics, so they could tolerate other soldiers joining.

The White Spear Soldiers were between the Qi Family Army and the Wolf Soldiers. They had a strong fighting will and focused on individual combat effectiveness. Their military organization was not as modern as that of the Qi Family Army.

The so-called modernization of the army is not as simple as inventing a few new weapons.

Morris, a contemporary of Europe, created an infantry drill manual. Soldiers were required to drill every day and the entire army was required to do earthwork, including digging trenches and piling sandbags.

The Netherlands at the same time was rich enough to pay soldiers in full. Soldiers could not only eat well, but also support their families. This gave them the energy and motivation to carry out high-intensity training.

Of course, these are impossible to achieve in the current Ming Dynasty.

The white-pole soldiers were divided into more than twenty teams, each with fifty people, and advanced towards the protruding part of the earth wall.

As teams of soldiers arrived behind the earth wall, the bugle sounded again, and the entire army stopped advancing. The soldiers in the front row half-crouched, and the densely packed white spears pointed obliquely at the sky, like a motionless steel forest.

The thin Fan Youjin followed his master, and under the cover of the cannon fodder in front, the two ran across the bloodstained pontoon bridge and reached the north bank safely.

This was the first time that Fan Youjin went to the battlefield with his master. Half a month ago, he almost lost his life on the battlefield of Hunjiang. If his master had not pulled him onto the horse in the end, his head would have been hung on the opposite city wall by the southern barbarians.

Just now, when the Ming army bombarded the pontoon bridge, Fan Youjin and his master were standing behind the dead soldiers, preparing for the second wave of crossing the river. They were only a dozen steps away from the artillery shells, and saw with their own eyes that the body of a sturdy Jurchen in front of them was blown into pieces.

When it was Fan Youjin's turn to cross the river, God showed his mercy. The cannon behind the opposite earth wall suddenly exploded, killing several of the barbarian gunners. Fan Youjin and his master took advantage of the chaos in the Ming army and rushed to the other side.

"Master, why aren't the Ming troops on the other side firing muskets or arrows anymore?"

He held a round shield in his left hand and a heavy sword in his right hand. He carefully avoided the broken corpses of the people on the ground and followed his master closely, not daring to fall behind.

Fan Youjin's master was an old soldier of the Bordered Blue Banner named Baktu. He was already 45 years old. If he had not been lucky enough to catch up with the rumbling chariot of the Later Jin Dynasty, this old Jurchen hunter would probably still be chasing rabbits in the deep mountains and forests.

"Perhaps their muskets exploded, and they've run out of arrows. The barbarians' muskets will only kill their own people. Don't be afraid."

Baktu was wearing dozens of kilograms of heavy armor, and he began to pant after running only a few dozen steps.

Veterans like him should have been eliminated from the Later Jin army.

After the Battle of Hunjiang, the Bordered Blue Banner was short of troops, and this time they had to take on the main attack, so they had to recruit some veterans from various villages. The 45-year-old Bayintu was among them. His family was poor, and he only had one bondservant, Fan Youjin, who was not yet an adult, but was taken to the battlefield by him in order to steal more silver.

"Fan Youjin, when the dead soldiers burst through the earthen wall, you rush to the front. Remember, after the city is broken, don't go and chop off people's heads, steal silver, women... etc. If the dead soldiers burst through the city gate, we will have nothing to steal!"

Fan Youjin was a little timid. He was thin and had just turned seventeen. His arms felt a little sore as he ran after his master carrying a heavy sword.

"Don't use a heavy sword, just grab a smooth sword and charge forward. The southern barbarians are only good at artillery, and they will collapse in close combat. Don't be afraid!"

"After this battle, I'll go back and carry your flag! I'll give you a Han Chinese woman as a reward!"

After hearing the last few words, Fan Youjin's eyes lit up. He immediately threw down his heavy sword, picked up the sword with the arm attached to it from the ground, pulled off the broken hand on the handle, and was about to rush forward. He had just taken a step when he was stopped by his master.

"Don't you want to die? We are poor, and you are not wearing armor, don't charge."

Bayintu slapped his Baoyi in the face. The roars of the dead soldiers in front of him were deafening, and he was about to stick his head out to look forward.

Suddenly, a scream was heard from the pontoon bridge behind him. The pontoon bridge was interrupted by the Portuguese cannon again, and more than a dozen soldiers supervising the battle were killed or wounded.

The others retreated far away, waiting for enough cannon fodder to gather before launching another attack.

"Fourth brother, fighting has broken out at the three gates, east, west, and east. The Red Banner and White Banner have surrounded the Liaozhen cavalry, while the Blue Banner is trying to intercept the Ming reinforcements. This Ming army is small in number. If the Baoyi soldiers charge forward and the combat troops press forward, we should be able to defeat them."

Amin looked at Fei Yangwu, who was full of murderous intent, and felt quite relieved. He said lightly:

"With my eighth brother here, we will definitely be able to capture Kaiyuan. However, we must not lose too many of the Bordered Blue Banners, otherwise, the attack will be futile."

Fei Yangwu knew what his brother was worried about. Several beiles were eyeing the Bordered Blue Banner. After the last Battle of Hunjiang, the Khan did not add any Niulu to the Bordered Blue Banner and even punished seven Niulu.

"Fourth brother, I'm going to ask the Zhenglan Banner and Zhengbai Banner for a few cannons. Once they arrive, we'll fight back the way those southern barbarians attacked us just now!"

We just crossed the river and lost five hundred guardsmen and more than a hundred dead soldiers. I don’t know how many more people will die if we take down the earth wall in front.

Although Baoyi Aha's life is cheap, it is a waste to consume it like this.

After the Battle of Jing'an Fort, several beiles knew that the Ming Dynasty's Portuguese cannons were powerful siege weapons. Although they could not directly destroy the city walls, they could cause a serious blow to the morale of the defenders.

Amin was not sure whether Manggurtai would lend the Bordered Blue Banner Portuguese cannons. Everyone was now attacking the city and needed cannons.

But since Fei Yangwu said so, it would be better to let him try. Amin said nothing more and nodded in agreement.

Fei Yangwu had just ridden away when war drums suddenly sounded from the direction of the north gate. The drumbeats became increasingly gentle. He knew that this was an order for the dead soldiers to charge. It seemed that another strong force of the Ming army had appeared.

Fei Yangwu was nervous, and he silently said in his heart:

"I hope we don't run into the spearmen from Hunjiang again!"

Two miles away, behind the Ming army's earthen wall, Jizhen soldier Qiu Ying looked at the Baoyi soldiers a hundred steps away and said coldly:
"Second Tartar, come and present your military merits to me!"

He wiped the dust from his face, took out the coconut scoop, gulped down a mouthful of wine, and with his bulging cheeks, brought it close to the goose-feather knife and spit it out. The wine splashed onto the blade, and the more than four-foot-long goose-feather knife became cold and intimidating.

Yang Tong placed the blade horizontally, wiping it carefully as if caressing a woman, and chanted:

"The general marched south with great courage, with a goose-feather sword on his waist. The wind blew the crocodile drum, and the mountains and rivers shook. Lightning flashed, and the flags were high as the sun and the moon. The unicorn in the sky has its own kind, how can the ants in the cave escape..."

A thin soldier with a white spear leaned against the side, also wiping the hook of his gun. He listened to Yang Tong reciting the poem and said in a thick Sichuan accent:
"You immortal, why are you crying every day? You are not a scholar, what's wrong?"

Yang Tong glanced at the white-pole soldier, suddenly closed his goose-feather knife, and sneered:

"You know nothing! I'm reciting a poem by Emperor Sejong. Great generals go to war with wild goose-feather swords, unlike you country bumpkins who only know how to use guns!"

After saying this, he no longer paid attention to the white-pole soldier, looked up into the distance, and said sadly:

"It's a pity that the Jizhen troops were scattered and my brothers died in the border area, so I ended up hanging out with a bunch of barbarians like you!"

The Sichuan soldiers had heard enough of these words and shook their heads with a smile.

Yang Tong gripped the sharkskin scabbard tightly and suddenly said loudly:
"I won't return until I've conquered Loulan! Wait and see how I kill the Tartars!"

The white-pole soldier was startled and cursed "immortal board", then turned around and went to set up a dragon gate with his Sichuan fellow.

Yang Tong glanced at the baoyi soldiers who were constantly coming and going on both sides of the moat. His fingers trembled slightly and his eyes were a little red.

Half a month ago, he was still a flag commander in Jizhen, bringing about a hundred brothers to aid Liao and was under the command of General Du.

The army left Fushun Pass and suffered a defeat at Jiefan before even sighting Hetuala. In the battle, General Du lost his head, and all of Yang Tong's brothers died, leaving only him.

As a foreign soldier, he could not return to Jizhou, so he had to drift to Kaiyuan. For more than ten days, he dreamed of his dead brothers every night, and their bloody faces kept swaying in front of him.

In the end, he was so dissatisfied that this hero from Jizhen finally became a soldier again and prepared to kill the Tartars.

A few days ago, when Yang Tong heard that Lieutenant General Liu was going to fight to the death with the Nu chieftain, he called a few Xuan soldiers and found Pei Dahu, insisting on coming to the north gate to serve as cannon fodder with the white-pole soldiers.

This tall soldier from Jizhou, although he had a delicate face and looked like a woman, his combat skills were very good. In Jiefan City, he single-handedly killed two Bayalas of the Zhenghong Banner, and later hid in a pile of dead bodies for three days and three nights. After the Tartars left, he fled back to Fushun Pass alone.

"Who says the Yanling Sword can't be used in battle? I'm going to kill Amin with it today!!"

Yang Tong had never seen the White-Pole Soldiers, and he didn't think much of the Tusi soldiers.

Except for the slightly unique white spear, everything else is ordinary.

This set of equipment is not only inferior to that of the servants, but even the border troops of Jizhen cannot match it.

The Baoyi soldiers approached the earth wall within fifty steps, and all the Baigan soldiers were on alert.

The number of Later Jin soldiers in this round of attack was about a thousand.

Further back, the newly joined dead soldiers were forming up in the empty space beside the moat. Some auxiliary soldiers were busy clearing the broken shield carts. The shield carts and corpses left behind by the front coats blocked the dead soldiers' advance.

The Portuguese behind the earth wall stopped firing. Standing in this position, due to limited vision, they could not see their own artillery positions, and did not know whether the two reckless gunners were dead or alive.

Fifty steps in front of Yang Tong, Cao Zhongqing, a bondservant who was as eager to kill the enemy as Yang Tong was, was also looking at the earth wall.

All the muskets and bows in front of him stopped firing. Cao Zhongqing was still surprised when he found a strange Ming army appeared on the earth wall.

Each member of this Ming army was armed with a spear, the shaft of which was similar to that of the previous Hunjiang spearmen, but this Ming army's spear had a blade at the front and a barb.

They were not wearing the common mandarin duck battle jackets of the Ming army, nor were they wearing cotton armor or chain mail. Instead, they were wearing rattan armor, and the felt hats on their heads were also very strange.

The Ming army in front of them did not choose to use the advantage of the earth wall to attack on the spot. Instead, they used the curved hooks on the tips of their guns to hang on the battlements, climbed down like monkeys, and rushed to the front of the earth wall.

"What kind of soldier is this?"

Cao Zhongqing opened his eyes wide and stared blankly at these monkey-like enemies.

Before he could figure it out, something even more surprising happened.

After the Ming soldiers on the opposite side borrowed their spears and got down to the ground, they did not rush to form a formation, but immediately used their spears to attack the surrounding Baoyi soldiers.

They were quite skilled in wielding their spears. The spears with sharp hooked blades could be used to chop, cut, stab or pick at anything, and they were always successful among the bannermen holding short weapons, as if... as if they were chopping melons and vegetables.

"Damn it, the Bordered Blue Banner has fallen again today!"

Cao Zhongqing had killed countless people, and his intuition told him that this Ming army was not easy to deal with. The Bordered Blue Banner might suffer another disastrous defeat in Hunjiang today.

This fierce Baoyi soldier had just shot and killed three musketeers with a bow and arrow. He was completely unharmed in the dense musketeer fire, which was considered a lucky escape.

When faced with such a powerful army, he was not afraid, but instead felt a desire to kill.

"Later, Master Gushan Ezhen will bring the cannons and kill you!"

At this time, a rapid horn sounded behind the earth wall. Cao Zhongqing was a little panicked. He found that more Ming soldiers holding strange long spears appeared on the earth wall.

After they climbed down the earth wall, they rushed towards the Baoyi soldiers without forming a battle line. They opened and closed their spears, and the sharp curved hooks on the spear tips cut through the Baoyi soldiers without armor like mowing grass.

In an instant, the battlefield was splattered with blood, and the earthen wall was soon filled with the bodies of people in baozhai.

"A bunch of useless trash, every time they charge into battle something bad happens!"

Cao Zhongqing cursed loudly. He picked up a big knife in one hand and a round shield in the other, followed a group of dead soldiers, and rushed towards the group of spearmen while roaring.

A few dozen steps in front of Cao Zhongqing, a sharp goose-feather knife was slightly raised, pointing towards the murderous bannerman.

(End of this chapter)