A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 379

"Tomorrow's battle, Brother Sun Sanjie stayed in the camp, and the rest of the army went out with the general. Our army first used red cannons to disperse the formation, and then Brother Gao Shiyin led the horses to charge forward, and the infantry lined up. Li Guangheng and Wen Fangliang led the battle. The cavalry attack the bandit cavalry from both wings, and the bandit can be wiped out."

"After the enemy's cavalry fled, the three cavalry took turns to pursue them, without giving the enemy a chance to breathe, and pursued them all the way to Linru, Daxing and other places..."

Looking at the map, Wang Dou and the generals planned carefully, and everyone's eyes showed excitement.

Through these two days of watching the battle, the Shunxiang Army can be sure that the opponent does not have long-range weapons such as artillery.The ten red cannons in one's own army are fired calmly, which can easily disrupt the enemy's formation and cause the enemy's collapse.Then the cavalry took the opportunity to attack, and the rogues would surely end up blowing away thousands of miles.

Regardless of how many of them there are, under the fierce artillery fire of the Shun Township Army, they can only be beaten and cannot fight back.

In the past, capable infantry was needed to break the formation, but with this artillery, it is more effective.In the past, the Qing soldiers could not stand the fierce artillery fire of the Shunxiang army. How could the rogues withstand it?

The gunners of the Shunxiang Army are well-trained. After the gunpowder formula is perfected, the artillery has a longer range and more firing times.According to Zhao Xuan's estimate, the Hongyi six-pound guns in the army can now hit more than two miles, and the Hongyi three-pound guns can also hit nearly two miles.Each cannon can fire five shots before dissipating heat. It is estimated that after a few shots, the bandits will collapse.

As long as they collapse and the formation is not in place, the battlefield will be dominated by the cavalry of the Shunxiang Army. If these people are stubborn, the artillery will bombard them with cannonballs.

The range of shot fired by a Hongyi six-pound cannon is as long as 300 meters and the width is 50 meters. Ten Hongyi cannons fired together...

"The most worrying thing for the thieves is their old battalion and cavalry. These backbones are not lost, and the intruders can easily gather tens of thousands of troops, so tomorrow we will focus on attacking their cavalry. As long as their cavalry suffer heavy losses, Ruzhou The enemy will be severely injured."

Wang Dou looked at the map and pondered for a long time.

According to Zhao Xuan, after his artillery bombarded the infantry for several rounds tomorrow, the focus is to extend the firepower and bombard the cavalry behind the infantry.In the past two days, watching the formation of the Chuang army, he was always one or two miles away from the formation of officers and soldiers, within the range of his artillery.But if they run away, there is nothing they can do.

"Looking at the battle, the bandits always run fast when they see the situation is not good, especially those cavalry, they are good at escaping. It may not be so easy to think about the backbone of the wounded."

Wen Fangliang put forward his views.

Wang Dou also considered this point, the horse team in the Chuangjun, especially the old battalion, was definitely the best of the best, everyone had horses, some even had two or three horses.If they want to escape, intercept and chase, it is really not an easy task.

If you want to intercept and ambush, you must first determine their possible escape route, and set up an ambush in Linru and other places. Chuangjun must be aware of it, and maybe tomorrow's battle will not exist.

If they are chasing the enemy on the battlefield, they will definitely run away without a trace in the first place.

After pondering for a long time, Wang Dou said: "As for the bandits from the old battalion, you can outflank them as much as you can. If you can't, then that's all. the goal of."

……

"Father, are you still asleep?"

When Chen De walked into Chen Yongfu's room, he couldn't help but heaved a sigh of relief.The house where Chen Yongfu lived was a local gentry's house, and the thick fire sandwiched walls lit the fire, making the house as warm as spring.It is indescribably comfortable to walk in from the outside in the freezing weather.

Chen Yongfu hummed, just staring at the map on the table in a daze.

Chen De rubbed his hands vigorously. Seeing his father lost in thought, he found a chair and sat down quietly, not daring to interrupt his father's thoughts.Although his father loves him, he is usually strict with him, especially when he is thinking and interjecting, which is a big taboo.

After a long time, Chen Yongfu withdrew his eyes from the map and said to himself: "General Wang said that he will go to battle tomorrow, so I don't know how to fight."

Chen Dedao: "It should be the first battle. If the first step wins, then the cavalry will charge."

What Chen De was talking about was the mainstream tactics of the battle formation at this time, and Chen Yongfu remained silent again. After a long time, he breathed out slowly: "No matter how General Wang fights, De'er, you need to watch carefully tomorrow, how General Wang arranges troops When setting up the formation, the soldiers of Shun Township need to think carefully about how to fight. If I learn a few things from General Wang, my father and son will enjoy it forever."

Ever since Kaifeng and Wang Dou jointly dispatched troops, Chen Yongfu has completely lost his temper.What the Shunxiang Army did made Chen Yongfu see a whole new world, and he already had the idea of ​​imitating the Shunxiang Army in training a new army in the future.

In Chen Yongfu's view, the destructive power hidden in the Shunxiang Army represents the mainstream trend of the formation of the Ming army in the future. Those who do not learn the formation of the king's battle method will have no foothold in the Ming Dynasty in the future.

Especially the two days of fighting made Chen Yongfu feel a lot. The officers and soldiers under his command were brave, but they did not gain much from fighting the bandits.You know, the forward battalion under his command is the most effective officers and soldiers in Henan.

In the eyes of the soldiers and civilians in Ruzhou, he had won quite a victory, but there was a sense of sadness in his heart.In the past, the rogues fled when they saw the officers and soldiers, but now they are inseparable from him.If it weren't for the Shunxiang army protecting the two wings, we don't know what the battle will be like in the past few days.

On the other hand, Wang Dou's subordinates, with only a thousand forwards, defeated more than ten thousand bandits. The combat power is really far apart.

According to Chen Yongfu's judgment, Wang Douyuan did not use his strength, what would happen if thousands of people were all bet on it?I am really looking forward to tomorrow's battle.

……

In the old camp of Chuangjun, Liu Fangliang and Li Guo also stayed up late, sitting withered under the dim oil lamp, the two days of fighting went smoothly or not.It all depends on whether you are deceiving yourself or not.Being able to fight with the most elite local officers and soldiers in Henan is inseparable. In the past, this is something to be proud of.

You must know that since the rise of their Chuangjun, tens of thousands of people were often defeated by hundreds of officers and soldiers in the past, but now they can fight against the most elite battalions of Henan provinces.Although Chen Yongfu's soldiers and horses are much less than theirs, and there are soldiers and horses from Xuanfu Town guarding them.

This kind of remarkable progress is enough to make people happy.

But the two couldn't be happy, after all, they didn't achieve the strategic plan they set up a few days ago.Moreover, the two became more and more worried and fearful. Among the officers and soldiers, the most elite Shunxiang Army did not go out to fight, but watched from the sidelines, watching the battle calmly, not knowing when the thunder would strike.

Judging from their attitudes, it seems that they don't take their side seriously at all. The two days of silence are like a prelude to cat and mouse.

"With Wang Dou's troops in front, my rebel army's feigned battle will not work at all. Brother Liu, we have to think of a way."

After a long time, it was Li Guo who spoke first.

Originally, Chuangjun's proud style of play was either an ambush or a feint.When the two sides confront each other, the Chuangjun is always lured by infantry or horsemen, and then returns to the carbine, often defeating the officers and soldiers who are entangled in the battle.However, in the two days of fighting, with the guards of the Shun Township Army, the soldiers and horses in Chen Yongfu's camp could fight calmly, but their carbine guns could not be activated at all.

Whether the infantry or the cavalry came back to fight, their cavalry was dispatched. In order to avoid excessive losses, they had to retreat again.The difference in strength, it seems that no strategy will work, it is really hard to fight.

Liu Fangliang was thoughtful: "It is difficult for the army in Shun Township to take advantage of the loophole if the oil and salt are not entered."

In the past two days, the Shun Township Army gave Liu Fangliang the impression of that kind of upright strength, which seemed to be able to overwhelm everything.Although they only had 3000 people in front of Chen Yongfu, the pressure on Liu Fangliang was enormous with only these 3000 people. He was always thinking, even if the officers and soldiers were really hooked, what would happen if he killed himself.

The result of the calculation is frustrating. With the outstanding combat power of the Shun Township Army, it is completely possible to defeat one's own side, and no one can take advantage of it.It's just like when more than [-] people of my own ambushed and besieged the vanguard of the Shunxiang Army that day, but they were killed and defeated.

Such an army is neat, uniform, indifferent, mechanical, and seems to have no joy, anger, sorrow, or joy. It really makes people don't know where to start.

After thinking for a long time, Liu Fangliang could only let out a long sigh. He was a battle-hardened veteran, but he was completely confused about how such a strange army appeared in Ming Dynasty.

Suddenly Li Guo gritted his teeth: "Brother Liu, we will fight again tomorrow, and we will use tens of thousands of infantry to lure our cavalry into ambush. After they chase for more than ten miles, our cavalry will fight back. I don't believe those officers and soldiers will not be fooled. "

Liu Fangliang shook his head: "It's difficult...Chen Yongfu may be fooled, but it is difficult for Wang Dou. Even if they are lured, our cavalry will fight back, and the two sides will fight together. It is hard to say whether we can win. If not, our foundation will be wasted." .”

Liu Fangliang saw it very clearly, not to mention the infantry of the Shun Township Army, the three thousand cavalry soldiers of the Shun Township Army who had marched in the formation for the past two days were not as good as their own cavalry. The gap is too big.It's hard to say whether they will be able to ambush, and it's also hard to say whether they will be able to kill them after the ambush, after all, lessons learned from the past.

The old battalion and the cavalry are their foundation, and Liu Fangliang is unwilling to put all his eggs in one basket.

His eyes flickered coldly: "Indeed, brother Li is right. We should fight again tomorrow. I guess that Wang Dou can't help but want to make a move. Tomorrow, we will use the lives of tens of thousands of hungry soldiers to see how Na Shun fights." How the township army fights. After seeing it clearly, we will leave, and all the infantry will be gone."

……

Chongzhen 13th November 23rd.

"The thieves are out in force."

The dense fog has dissipated, only the cold wind is still blowing on the opposite side. The sun rises, and in the telescope, you can see the mighty army and horse banners coming from the opposite side.All those flags were written with the word "Chuang" in big characters. Under the flags, there were dense layers of Chuang soldiers, with red scarves on their heads, and dense spears that seemed to pierce Yun Xiao.

How many did they come, 2, 3, or 4?According to Wang Dou's estimate, there should be more than [-] people. Counting the rogues who gathered in Ruzhou, they have almost come, and they are considered to be out in force.

"The thief is so powerful."

Qian Zuozheng, the magistrate of Ruzhou beside Wang Dou, took a breath of air. The number of officers and soldiers dispatched was less than [-], and the number of thieves was several times that of his own side. We are outnumbered.

In the past, the number of officers and soldiers at this time is of course considered large, because often hundreds or thousands of people can defeat tens of thousands of rogues, but this contrast has become a thing of the past, and it has been reduced to the level where the officers and soldiers of Henan provinces dare not fight in the field. Zuo Zheng is not worried.

He also watched the formation today, that is, he was in the middle army position with Wang Dou and others.Beside him, Wang Dou held a binoculars and looked straight into the distance, and Chen Yongfu, also holding a binoculars, looked straight at the bandits with a high air, which made Qian Zuozheng quite envious, binoculars are good things Ah, he just watched it for a while, and was forced to take it back by the impatient Chen Yongfu.

However, at this time, the naked eye could clearly see the army of rogues who were approaching. Seeing how vast and mighty they were, Qian Zuozheng let out a deep breath.Only the Shun Township Army, who was waiting in full force in his own formation, could calm him down.

It seems to be a sea of ​​red armor, one side after another of the king's banner, a forest of spears and firecrackers, those Shunxiang troops lined up in awe, gave Qian Zuozheng great comfort.Their three thousand infantry troops are listed in the front army position.The three cavalrymen of Qian Zong lined up on the left and right wings. With them guarding the front army and the two wings, both Qian Zuozheng and Chen Yongfu felt very at ease.This is the psychological hint brought to people by the elites of all battles.

It was Chen Yongfu's turn to watch the battle, and he led his vanguard battalion in the middle army. He couldn't wait to see how the Shunxiang army fought.

The Chuang army got closer and closer, from four miles to three miles, to two miles.The Ye Bu Shoumen of the Shun Township Army also kept reporting the military situation they found, estimating the number of their troops, the generals of each battalion, and so on.After the Shunxiang Army and the Qianfeng Battalion left the camp this morning to go out to fight, they heard the news that the officers and soldiers were going to fight. Liu Fangliang, Li Guo and others also hurriedly led the army out.

The battle between the two armies requires proper terrain. If the officers and soldiers are forced too close, it may be difficult to shoot the ground, and it is impossible to list a suitable army formation. Without the formation, it goes without saying that the time will definitely lose.So after hearing the news that the officers and soldiers were going to fight, Liu Fangliang and others also went to fight immediately. For them, there was no reason to stick to the camp, because they were the ones who came to attack Ruzhou.

After the two sides set up camp, of course, it is inevitable to have a lot of sentry and probing, and each other's sentry horses and Yebushou are the best testers.However, it can be clearly seen that the Chuangjun side has already gone all out, and their cavalry and old battalion keep coming out, especially their old battalion, many of them are quite elite, so the officers and soldiers did not get too close.

The two sides line up and meet slowly. The surrounding area is flat and dry, and the yellow land is full of dry and flat yellow land. There is no ground to prove it. The final battle depends on the combat effectiveness of both sides.

In the binoculars, Wang Dou saw that the Chuang army stopped a mile away from his army formation.Although Chen Yongfu did not use artillery during the battle these days, Wang Dou estimated that they were actually afraid that the officers and soldiers would have artillery.

However, according to the experience of the Chuang army, the No. [-] General Cannon of the officers and soldiers has a maximum range of only one mile, and the ammunition weighs two to three catties. This range, power and accuracy are greatly weakened.Moreover, there are few such large general guns. Most of them are No. [-] and [-] Francophones weighing less than a thousand catties.

Therefore, according to the experience of Chuangjun, it is safe to form a large formation one mile away from the officers and soldiers, and it is also the case at this time.

Wang Dou sneered, Yili, very good, the Zhao Xuan Cannon Qian Zong in front of his former army had ten Hongyi cannons.Needless to say, the two Hongyi six-pound guns are eight Hongyi three-pounder guns, each of which has a range of nearly two miles.

The Shunxiang army had done a good job of covering up the intelligence. Wang Dou estimated that even if the Chuangjun knew that the Shunxiang army had brought the artillery, they would only think it was the Buddha Wolf machine artillery, but he did not expect it to be the Hongyi cannon.In Henan and other places, except for Kaifeng and Luoyang, the rest of the prefectures did not have Hongyi cannons. Even the Hongyi cannons in Kaifeng and Luoyang were very heavy and were only used to defend the city.

It is this poor intelligence that can deal an extremely severe blow to the army.

He put down the binoculars and shouted: "Ready to fight!"

"Prepare for battle!"

The general of the Chinese army gave the order.

"blame!"

There was a tidal wave of cheers, not only all the Shunxiang troops raised their guns densely, but also Chen Yongfu's forward battalion of the Central Military Department raised their guns like a forest of halberds.

"Should the flag."

"Boom, boom, boom!"

The sound of war drums sounded, and as the flags of the Chinese army were raised, the flags of the front, rear, left, and right armies waved in response.

The semaphore in the Ming army is similar with minor differences.Each has their own detailed differences. The method of raising the flags of the Shunxiang Army is as large as following the flag orders of the Qi Family Army.Raising the red flag means that the former army is on standby.Raise the black flag, and the rear army is on standby.Raise the green flag, the left wing stands by.Raise the white flag, the right wing stands by.Raise the yellow flag, the Chinese army is on standby.The five flags are raised together, and the whole army is on standby. Wherever the flags go, the whole army goes.

While the flags of the Chinese army were constantly waving, the cheers of the Ming army were louder and louder.

Qian Zuozheng smiled with his beard, the morale of the officers and soldiers is good, the morale is good.

"Test the cannon."

Twenty steps ahead of the former army, Zhao Xuan looked at the bandits for a long time with his hands behind his back, and then he gave the order with a serious face.

"Test the cannon."

"Test the cannon."

The voices of the artillery commanders came one after another.

The observer of the Artillery Commander Qian has a gun mirror in front of him. With a lot of terms coming out of his mouth, the metallic sound of the constant adjustment of the angles of the guns comes out. side.

……

"Defeat the officers and soldiers and break through Ruzhou."

Seeing the waves of shouts from the officers and soldiers, the Chuangbing side was not to be outdone, but they didn't have the ability to wave the flag to respond.Familiar with the signal and drum order, that is, many officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty have lost this ability, not to mention most of the soldiers who have not been trained to break into the army here.

However, Liu Fangliang and others also have a way to strengthen the morale of the army. With the shouts of the Chinese army's position, the shouts of "kill officers and soldiers, destroy Ruzhou" spread, and the shouts of tens of thousands of troops finally merged into one.There are so many of them, it seems that the whole land of Pingchuan is their loud voice.

"Kill officers and soldiers!"

A shrill voice in the army shouted.

"or!"

"Broken Ruzhou"

"or!"

Numerous sallow and emaciated hungry soldiers with red scarves raised their spears frantically in response. They have been allowed to move freely in Ruzhou for three days as long as they defeat the officers and soldiers and break through Ruzhou.

This Ruzhou has always been rich, and the size of the city is about the same as that of Luoyang City. If the city is destroyed, everyone will have enough to eat and drink, and they will also get a lot of money and children. Why don't these hungry soldiers be tempted?
Seeing the cheers of the Chuangjun, it seemed like heaven and earth were falling apart. Following their shouts, spears rose in waves in the distance like a forest sea, and the waves of red scarves seemed to be undulating in the sun.Seeing the power of the thief, Qian Zuozheng felt uneasy and a little uneasy.Chen Yongfu also clenched his cheeks, his face hardened.

Only Wang Dou sneered, and looked at the artillery headquarters at the position of the former army.

"put!"

All the cannons had been adjusted, and following Zhao Xuan's shout, a Hongyi six-pound cannon shook violently, and a sharp flame spewed out from the muzzle, followed by thick smoke.The strong recoil made the two-wheeled gun mounts take a big step back,
Amidst the deafening sound of cannons, a round iron ball weighing five catties viciously smashed into the Chuangjun formation.

The tide of cheers came to an abrupt end, and all the soldiers looked at the direction the shell was coming from.

Like the wind blowing ears of wheat, there was a big commotion in the army formation around the area where the cannonball landed.The soldiers who felt that the cannonball would fall on their heads ran away even more, no matter whether they were officers or ordinary soldiers.

The cannonball smashed into the array of hungry soldiers at the front of the Chuang army. Although the soldiers scattered at the impact point like a tide, the cannonball would run and jump, especially on this dry and hard ground.

The cannonball bounced and ran for dozens of steps. It took away the head of a person, the arms of two people, and the thighs and calves of many people. It opened a bloody path and ran for a long time before finally stopping. Leaving a long and shrill howl of blood and wailing everywhere.

Seeing the miserable state of the people around them, those hungry soldiers started to commotion, many of them ran around like headless chickens with ashen faces. With just one shell, all the morale of these hungry soldiers was lost.

Liu Fangliang could see it clearly, and couldn't help turning pale: "There are artillery in the Ming army, can they still hit this far?"

Before he came back to his senses, the sound that made all the soldiers who broke into the army frightened came again. This time it was not one cannon fire, but many.The whistling sound of shells sounded, and more than fifty iron balls of various sizes hit their faces again. They landed in the formation of the hungry soldiers of the Chuangjun army, smashing and rolling around, making the Chuangjun soldiers cry for their fathers and mothers, and just ran around.

The former army formation was already in disarray, almost defeated, and it would be useless even if the officers suppressed it. Li Guo's face turned ashen, and he murmured: "Brother Liu, what should we do?"

Liu Fangliang's face was livid, and he gritted his teeth and remained silent.

After a while, another wave of shells came, and dozens of large and small iron balls smashed into the infantry formation in the rushing army. With broken arms and legs.They also had bursts of violent commotion, and it was useless for the officers to suppress it desperately.

There was another loud bang of artillery, and another wave of artillery shells roared to arrive, but they smashed into the position of the central army of Liu Fangliang and others.

However, just like ordinary soldiers and hungry soldiers, those experienced battalion soldiers could not withstand the power of shells. They rode on horses and were beaten to death, maimed or lost their lives in vain. .There were also many horses that were hit by the shells, howling and neighing miserably, jumping around and bumping into each other.

Liu Fangliang and Li Guo were in a daze, not to mention the cavalry, these old battalion soldiers were the essence of the Chuang army. Many of them had nearly ten years of experience in fighting on the battlefield, and even one casualty made the generals of the Chuang army feel distressed. No, but right now they are being folded one by one in vain.

The artillery of the Ming army seemed to cover the entire camp, and no one was safe.A guard beside Liu Fangliang was hit by a shell and his right arm was taken away. Waves of blood sprayed from his severed arm. The guard sat on the horse with a pale face, and then fell straight down.

Another wave of shells whizzed over, and then hit Liu Fangliang and the others' positions in the middle army.In the dense array, more than [-] iron balls of different sizes each time caused at least [-] casualties to Liu Fangliang and others' cavalry and the old battalion.

Looking at the chaotic army formation beside him, Liu Fangliang woke up suddenly. He was about to say something when suddenly there was a shout in front of him, and with a bang, the entire front army collapsed.Then the tidal commotion of collapse spread to the infantry formation and then to the central army.

Liu Fangliang looked in horror, the sound of hooves was like thunder, and an unknown number of cavalry rushed out from the left wing of the Ming army, rolling towards his position in front of the army.

Following the shaking of the ground, the sound of hoofbeats sounded like a tide, and the left and right wings of the Ming army rushed out of densely packed cavalry again, outflanking their central army position from both sides.Hearing the sound of war drums over there, countless infantry, maintaining the battle formation, rushed after the charging cavalry.

Tens of thousands of intruders had collapsed, and there were soldiers yelling and fleeing everywhere. Liu Fangliang's face was ashen, and she just thought in her heart: "Is this how you lost?"

The current situation didn't allow him to think too much, together with Li Guo and the rest of the old battalion soldiers who hadn't dispersed, they hurriedly fled to the back of the formation, they ran fast and didn't look back.

Seeing the cavalry of the Shunxiang army spread out for thousands of miles, it was unstoppable. The infantry of the Shunxiang army lined up and charged. In front of them, countless intruder soldiers rushed forward, and no one dared to stop.Chen Yongfu and Zhizhou Qian Zuozheng couldn't agree with each other, so the bandits were defeated like this?The tens of thousands of bandits who besieged Ruzhou disappeared like this?

Chen Yongfu looked at Wang Dou beside him for a long time, murmured something, and he also gave an order: "Frontier Battalion, the whole army pursues."

(End of this chapter)