The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 335 The entire army was wiped out
The crackling sound of flintlock rifles continued to ring out, and a large number of the Chongsheng Temple Beihe Army, which was marching at full speed, suddenly fell down.

Gaiqi Ruanpeng, who was in charge of this side, felt his head swelling. He had no choice but to order the musketeers to go out and drive them away.

When the Xing Tang Army's Longxiang Hussars saw hundreds of musketeers coming out and shooting with rifled rifles in the distance, they immediately retreated, then jumped on their horses and avoided them.

The musketeers, whose work was in vain, had no choice but to leave the team and continue to be on guard to prevent the cavalry from harassing them again.

However, their defense was in vain because Zhu Wenjie decided not to continue harassing this side. He led his cavalry around to the other side, found a flank of the Beihe Army that had few musketeers, and started harassing them again.

Although the rifled gun at that time was slow to load, almost like a cannon, taking nearly a minute to fire a shot, it was extremely accurate!
If two armies were to fight, this loading speed would mean suicide in front of a line infantry formation composed of smoothbore rifles, but it would be perfect for harassment.

There was another crackling sound, and more than 30 Beihe soldiers who were marching fell down.

To be able to join the Dragon Cavalry Battalion, one must not only be a good rider, but also an excellent archer. Otherwise, they will not be eligible to receive three times the salary of the line infantry.

Huang Fengji, the commander of the army, could not bear it any longer. He collected the war horses and riders used by various armies to deliver messages and formed a cavalry team of 400 people.

Before this, there were not many cavalrymen in the 30,000-strong Beihe Army of Chongsheng Temple. More than a hundred of them were killed by the cavalrymen of the Xingtang Army a few days ago, and another 300 were taken away by Nguyen Van Hue, so now Huang Fengji had very few cavalrymen.

Seeing a group of cavalry coming out from the opposite side, Zhu Wen's eyebrows were filled with joy. "These must be the last cavalry of the Beihe bandits. Kill them!"

However, while saying that they would kill them, Zhu Wenjie actually ran away with his men. They also had horses, and the opposing cavalry could not catch up with them.

Sure enough, as soon as the opposing cavalry saw Zhu Wenjie and others approaching their horses, they immediately stopped chasing them and began to retreat towards the main marching formation.

Zhu Wenjie came back at this time, but before they could open fire, there was a drum sound from the opposite side, and the Beihe cavalry began to trot towards them again.

Zhu Wenjie retreated again, and then waited until the opposing cavalry returned to the formation, and then he came over to harass them again.

This must have made the opposing cavalry so angry that they wanted to yell at Zhu Wenjie, "You don't want to fight, and you don't want to retreat, why?"

Then, he saw Zhu Wenjie coming again, and he was quickly forming a formation.

Gai Qi was just feeling overwhelmed when he heard the sound of musketry from the opposite side like frying beans, and one or two people on his side fell down one by one.

"The southern bandits made a mistake. They fired from too far away. Now they don't have time to reload. My men, follow me and kill them all!"

Gaiqi's judgment was very accurate. Although he had never seen a rifle, he had already discovered the disadvantage of the opponent's musket, which was that it was very slow to load.

The first few times he didn't dare to chase because he was afraid of the slow-loading but highly accurate musket shooting. Now he is not afraid at all!

One hundred meters later, the Beihe cavalry began to trot.
Sixty meters, the speed gradually increases.

Forty meters, ready to charge.

The only thing that made the cavalrymen feel a little strange was that the southern bandit cavalry on the opposite side did not retreat to mount their horses, but stood there very calmly to reload.

'Why aren't they afraid?' Gai Qi thought doubtfully.

Then, he immediately knew the answer. With a cannon shot, more than 200 ghost cavalrymen rushed out of the jungle howling, and were less than 100 meters away from them.

Gai Qi still wanted to fight, but the Xingtang army on the opposite side suddenly threw dozens of bombs, blowing them up.

In the chaos, many cavalrymen had just dispersed when the foreign cavalry arrived.

Pierre Ney, wielding his saber, led more than 200 European cavalrymen wearing French hussar uniforms and easily cut through the North River cavalry. Then he only had to chase and kill them.

After dealing with the cavalry of the North River, Pierre Ney became even more unscrupulous. With the support of the 5th Guards Artillery Battalion, 400 Dragon Cavalrymen, armed with four four-pound cannons, launched a large-scale harassment directly on the flank with flintlock rifles and artillery.

At this point in the battle, Pierre Ney made full use of the advantages of cavalry such as mobility and flexibility. From the initial shooting of rifles to now, after defeating the cavalry, he even pulled out four-pound cannons.

The 23,000 Beihe troops of Chongsheng Temple had only walked seven or eight miles when they were killed by Pierre Ney and Zhu Wen, with more than 500 of them killed and about 1,000 injured. In particular, the previous wave of cavalry was ambushed and more than 200 of them were killed.

Huang Fengji had no choice but to stop his army by the river and then divided it into two armies, the front and the rear. He ordered 5,000 soldiers of the rear army to intercept the cavalry of the Xing Tang army, and the remaining 18,000 soldiers continued to move closer to Huang Tingbao.

The idea was good, but there was a huge flaw, that is, the rear army left by Huang Fengji not only had no camp, but also no strategic location to defend.

Although they had 5,000 men, most of them were recently conscripted farmers, and less than 10% were veterans.

Such a team can build a strong camp and fight a stupid battle, just like the Hunan Army. After the team is trained through a series of safe battles, it can indeed be used as a real combat force.

However, the Beihe soldiers simply did not have the time and money to upgrade the recruited peasant soldiers into combat soldiers, so Huang Fengji's arrangement was of no use at all.

Mo Zibu saw Huang Fengji dividing his troops from a high position, and immediately said with a smile to Colonel Jean Pierre, the commander-in-chief of the Fifth Guards Artillery Company, "Pierre, bring your artillery battalion and help me defend this castle.

Frederick, Chen Guangzu, Li Quan, Wang Wuchu, each of you will lead your company to support Ney. Make sure to capture Beihe's rear and block their retreat."

After the arrangements were completed, Mo Zibu retreated to the castle that originally belonged to Ruan Kezun with a relaxed mood.

The reason why he led the Yuan Cong Guards to stop Huang Fengji was not because of the importance of this Beihe soldier, but simply for training.

The Yuancong Guards Regiment is the only team on Mo Zibu's side that has a complete range of infantry, cavalry, and artillery, as well as independent grenadier and chasseur companies. After the reinforcement, the entire regiment has a total of 4,000 people.

In the future, they will be the main force in the decisive battle with the Qing Dynasty, so Mo Zibu hopes to practice the ability of coordinated combat between infantry, cavalry and artillery on a real battlefield before that.

The sound of continuous artillery roars rang out. Although the sand on the river beach would greatly slow down the ricochet of the shells, you could not resist and could only take the beating without being able to fight back.

Moreover, the Xing Tang Army not only has direct-fire cannons, but also a large number of mortars. Who can withstand being bombarded while standing there?

Soon, the commander of the Beihe Army, Huang Fengji, gave another order, ordering General Ruan Peng to lead three firearms generals and three infantry generals, a total of 3,000 people, to attack the artillery positions of the Xingtang Army. They could not just stand there and take the beating.

Unfortunately, they had just started moving when Chen Guangzu, who took over the command, waved his hand and the cavalry of the Longxiang Cavalry Battalion set out.

Although they are hussars, fortunately, Reinstein is a cuirassier, and Xingtang can also cast a whole piece of half cuirass on its own. Therefore, at critical moments, these hussars can still play the role of cuirassier.

The Beihe infantrymen who had just advanced let out cries of terror. In the dim sunlight, a group of cavalrymen wearing half-breastplates and European-style Chiskage helmets slowly advanced on them. Although European plate armor had passed its golden age due to the development of muskets, the development of firearms in the East was still slow.

Therefore, this kind of armor made entirely of fine iron not only looks threatening enough, but is also very practical during wartime.

Gai Qi Ruan Peng was suddenly embarrassed. If the infantry wanted to fight against the cavalry, they had to at least form a formation. But once the formation was not moving, the infantry would become sitting ducks for the artillery.

"Two odd formations on the left wing will block the cavalry, and the rest of you will continue the attack with me."

Nguyen Peng made a choice quickly. He hoped to use 500 musketeers and 500 spearmen to block the cavalry of the Xing Tang army.

Well, that was a good idea, but when he had just completed the deployment, Pierre Ney suddenly arranged the slowly trotting cavalry into a large horizontal row.

Then, the crackling sound of muskets rang out. At a distance of ninety meters, the cavalrymen on their horses fired a volley of shots with their carbines.

The Beihe soldiers were caught off guard. They had never imagined that there was a lance that could be quickly loaded on horseback.

Seeing their comrades falling to the ground one after another, the Beihe musketeers in formation panicked and began to fight back, not caring that at a distance of ninety meters, their crudely made muskets had little killing power.

The smoke produced by the black powder temporarily obscured the battlefield. After the musketeers finished firing, they retreated one after another, leaving the spearmen at the front.

Little did they know that the cavalry of the Xing Tang Army liked this the most, because the muskets would produce more smoke, and as long as they were fired in front of the formation, it would greatly weaken the impact of the spear forest on the war horses.

After all, if the horse can't see, it won't be afraid.

Therefore, as soon as the Beihe musketeers opened fire, the cavalry of the Xingtang Army immediately began to speed up.

The cavalry could not see the enemy's forest of spears, so their horses did not slow down or move to the sides out of fear, and they moved forward very quickly.

The spearmen of Beihe felt the earth shaking, but they didn't know when the enemy would arrive, and they became even more nervous.

Soon, the fifty vanguards passed through the black powder smoke and suddenly appeared in the sight of the Beihe spearmen. Immediately afterwards, the Beihe spearmen were fired at again by the Xingtang cavalry with their pistols.

At such a close distance, it was basically impossible to miss a target, and the Beihe spearman was hit with a small gap.

The officers were still howling at the soldiers behind to fill the gap, but the spearmen, who were simply recruited from the fields and had only trained for a few months, dared not resist the charge of the cuirassiers and had suddenly lost so many people. Many of them cried and ran away in all directions when the cavalry crashed into the formation.

Pierre Ney and others easily broke through the spearmen's interception, and then it became simple. After the spears stabbed and the sabers chopped, the Beihe spearmen ran around, and the musketeers had no ability to resist.

Pierre Ney, who broke through the enemy's formation, did not stop, but rushed directly towards the remaining four generals who were advancing and attempting to attack the Xingtang Army's artillery position.

Ruan Peng never expected that his two thousand men would be defeated by four hundred cavalrymen in such a short time.

The chaos soon spread to his side, and Ruan Peng could only order his troops to stop and form a formation to defend against the cavalry, but he had already moved forward two hundred meters and was closer to the artillery positions of the Xing Tang Army.

This is too much. The artillery, which originally had little killing power, is now fully loaded. Every shot leaves a trail of blood.

If Ruan Peng dared to order his troops to move, the cavalry of the Xing Tang Army would immediately pounce on them.

If he left, he would die; if he didn't leave, he would also die. Ruan Peng didn't know how to give orders.

In the extreme chaos, the Beihe soldiers could not repel the threat of the cavalry, nor could they withstand the casualties caused by the artillery. After hesitating and being killed by artillery shells, dozens of people were killed. It was unknown who put down their weapons and ran back first, which instantly caused the whole army to follow suit, and more than 2,000 people collapsed directly.

Pierre Ney and Zhu Wenjie seized the opportunity and immediately rode their horses to attack, driving the fleeing Beihe soldiers directly into Zhujiang. Only a few escaped.

At the same time, on the other side, Huang Fengji also failed to break through the fortress guarded by Mo Zibu himself.

Because the fortress was already very strong, Mozibu also brought Jean Pierre's artillery battalion, which consisted of twenty cannons and six hundred flintlock rifles.

Not to mention that Huang Fengji led the Three Prefectures Army, which already had few elite soldiers, even the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty would not be able to break in in a short period of time.

The battle lasted until sunset. Reinstein personally led 10,000 main Xing Tang troops across the Zhujiang River via a pontoon bridge and attacked Huang Fengji from the right wing.

Huang Fengji wanted to retreat, but Chen Guangzu, who had dealt with Huang Fengji's rear army, also surrounded him. The Beihe Army had nowhere to escape, and the 20,000 people could only camp in a wilderness and resist desperately.

On the third day, the Xingtang army bombarded Huang Fengji's troops with artillery fire, making them unable to withstand it. Huang Fengji personally led his guards and more than 10,000 soldiers to try to break out.

However, the Beihe Army had already lost its combat effectiveness. After fighting for less than an hour, the entire army collapsed. Huang Fengji and others were killed in the chaos, and the Beihe Army of Chongsheng Temple was completely wiped out.

Afterwards, Mo Zibu immediately deployed a siege on Huang Tingbao's troops camped around Shuiyuan City.

On the seventh day of the fourth lunar month, Huang Tingbao's army was besieged in Shuiyuan City with only a few thousand men left. Internal strife ensued, and a group of officers from the Three Prefectures Army assassinated Huang Tingbao and attempted to flee the city in surrender, carrying his head.

Mo Zibu chose to deceive without hesitation. After tricking these people into opening the city gate, he quickly executed them all and then led his army into the city.

What a joke! How could Mo Zibu possibly accept the Three Prefectures Army, a warlord that still retains the martial customs of the late Tang Dynasty and has implemented the election law for the Guards?

At the same time, Nguyen Van Hue only made a brief test of the Xing Tang Army on Yuhuang Mountain, and after discovering that the defense was tight, he directly gave up the attack.

He had been keeping an eye on the battlefield, and as soon as he saw Huang Tingbao's troops defeated, he turned and flew north quickly, heading straight south to Zhentianguan Prefecture.

Halfway through the journey, Nguyen Van Hue met Nguyen You Zheng, who was unable to capture Tianguanfu and instead suffered heavy losses. The "two brothers" hugged each other and cried bitterly, and finally decided to flee back to Tokyo.

But Mo Zibu had already been keeping an eye on this enemy force, and Zhou Yuanquan on Yuhuang Mountain had warned them several times.

So, Mo Zibu ordered Wu Wenyong to lead all the cavalry to pursue. Huang Gongzhi's old general Deng Tingjia, Ruan Liqiu and others who were guarding Tianguan Mansion also quickly went out of the city to intercept, and a fierce battle broke out between the two sides.

Nguyen Van Hue and Nguyen You's army of more than 8,000 people were completely defeated. The two men only escaped with a few hundred cavalrymen because they were familiar with the road.

The entire front battlefield also entered the cleanup stage, and the main force of Beihe was basically wiped out.

(End of this chapter)