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

Chapter 400 With my Shun Township Army here, who can break the city?
"Simon played hard."

The cold wind was still coming and going, and in this bitterly cold weather, people stood at the city wall for a while and became frozen stiff.At the northwest corner of the Beiguan city wall, Wang Dou and Chen Yongfu both held binoculars and looked towards the west gate of Luoyang.

Puffs of smoke floated from the west to Beiguan, with a pungent smell of nitrous, and a faint smell of blood.Looking up, the field to the west seemed to be covered with an army formation of intruders, surrounded by groups of roaring cavalry.

And on the east, north, and west sides of Beiguan about two miles away, there are one after another on the Pingchuan, which looks like tens of thousands of soldiers.These intruders encircled Beiguan without fighting, and their function was to restrain the soldiers and horses of Beiguan so that they could not go out to rescue the soldiers and civilians in Luoyang City.

It seems that although Li Zicheng has poor strategic vision, he is still proficient in various tactics of using troops.

Hearing Wang Dou's words, Chen Yongfu beside him thoughtfully replied: "Yes, but Luoyang City is defended by our Vanguard Battalion and [-] elite Shunxiang Army, so there should be no problem in defending the city."

His face was calm and unchanging, only a hint of worry in his eyes revealed his inner unrest.

There were shouts of killing from the east, south, and west gates of Luoyang City, but the west gate was the most violent. Obviously, the main direction of the intruders' attack was there.In fact, the Chuang Bing also tried to attack the North Gate, but Wang Dou and Chen Yongfu were guarding the North Gate. The North Gate was only two miles away from the North Gate of Luoyang, and was within the range of the artillery at the top of the city.

When more than ten thousand intruders attacked the north gate of Luoyang, the gunners of the Shunxiang Army at Beiguan opened fire immediately. The ten Hongyi cannons of the Shunxiang Army and the thirty captured General Frang machine guns fired together, forming an extremely dense battle. In the rain of bullets, within a quarter of an hour, the Chuang army attacking the north gate of Luoyang collapsed.

Moreover, when the gunners of the Beiguan Shunxiang Army fired, the Ming Army gunners at the North Gate also fired in response, flanking back and forth, which made these invaders who attacked the gate miserable and accelerated their collapse.In the end, Li Guangheng led the cavalry from Beiguan to chase and kill them for a while, which made them run wild, and never dared to attack Luoyang Beimen.

This is the advantage of a main city and four small passes. If coordinated properly, the three-dimensional defensive firepower will increase the defensive power of the city several times. However, if the defenders have no fighting spirit, no matter how strong the city is, Useless.

Wang Dou held up the binoculars and looked out for a while. It was the first quarter of Shen Shi, about three o'clock in the afternoon, and he estimated that the offensive of the Chuangbing soldiers should be about the same today.

Unexpectedly, after receiving the report, a personal guard next to Wang Yinchang, the deputy envoy of military preparations, came urgently to ask for help. For reinforcements, in addition, I also hope that Wang Dou will transfer the thirty general cannons to Ximen for use.

Wang Dou and Chen Yongfu looked at each other, and sneered in their hearts, it seemed that Li Zicheng was very determined, he wanted to go to Luoyang in one day, but with himself, he was doomed to tragedy.

……

There are more than 1000 soldiers from Chen Yongfu's Qianfeng Battalion in Beiguan, as well as Wen Fangliang, Gao Shiyin, Li Guangheng, Gao Xun and others from the Shun Township Army. The troops are extremely abundant.

Wang Dou and Chen Yongfu had a brief discussion, and decided to send another [-] troops under Gao Xun's command, together with [-] generals, Frang's machine guns, into the city to support Luoyang Ximen in the battle.As for the sub-gun ammunition of the thirty general cannons, it is natural to need support from the city.

Under the cover of Li Guangheng's cavalry, Gao Xun led his army and related gunners under Zhao Xuan's command to escort [-] generals Frang's machine guns out of the city from the south gate of Beiguan, and entered the city from the north gate of Luoyang along the official road.

Although the invading army outside Beiguan was aware of the movement in the city, they were far away and feared the artillery fire and cavalry at Beiguan, so they could only watch helplessly as this reinforcement entered the city.

With the support of Wang Dou's army, Wang Yinchang and Yang Shoubing of Ximen were overjoyed, and the soldiers at the top of the city were more motivated.After the defenders used fire cans to repel the wave of intruders, they also repulsed another wave of intruders.

And this time is quite difficult, after all, it can be used as much as you like, and there are not many stocks such as ten thousand enemies and cupping cans in the city, so it needs to be used sparingly.As soon as the density of the thousands of enemies and the cupping cans thrown out was low, the wave of raiders almost came to attack the city. There were too many densely packed raiders, and it seemed that the wave after wave would not stop.

Fortunately, they were repulsed, and now with the support of the artillery of the Shunxiang Army, Wang Yinchang and others are more confident.

But as soon as Gao Xun entered the city, his army was dispatched to the south gate.Now the offensives of the east gate and south gate are getting more and more fierce. Although the defenders at the south gate are supported by Chen Yongfu's [-] vanguard battalion sergeants, they are still unable to catch up.

One of Zhao Xuan's artillery forces commanded the commander-in-chief to pull the [-] cannons of General Frang to the west city. He ignored the greetings with Wu Zhengchun and the others, and immediately went into battle, because the horns sounded again in the army position behind the earthen platform. , Another wave of attacks is about to begin.

According to the usual practice, before each wave of attacking troops, the artillery on their earthen platform had to perform to their heart's content.

Wang Yinchang and others in Luoyang Xicheng also suffered a lot from the artillery of these Chuangjun. The more than 100 cannons of the Chuangjun continued to bombard the defenders at the top of the city. It was also knocked down by them several times, and if they don't suppress it, I'm afraid that the city wall will always be blown out of the gap by them.

But this time is different, those Chuangjun artillery met a strong opponent. Not long after the Chuangjun outside the west city fired, the Shunxiang Army at the head of the city had already set up the artillery. target, and counterattack violently.

Thirty General Fran's cannons fired at the same time, perfectly explaining what bullet rain is, what is the perfect combination of speed and accuracy, and what is classic shelling.

Perhaps a skilled Franco gunner can fire a shot in 20 seconds, but most of the original officer gunners in Xicheng can only fire a shot in 1 minute, and the accuracy is hard to say.

However, the gunners of the Shun Township Army didn't even need 20 seconds to fire a cannon. They fired, reloaded the guns, and fired again, accurately and ruthlessly.The perfect artillery operation opened the eyes of the officers and soldiers in the city. It turns out that the artillery can still be fired like this.

The stormy shells poured down on various earthen platforms, but the distance of only two hundred steps made the gunners of the Shunxiang Army amazingly accurate, and the artillery of the invading army was fixed there.After the angle is determined, there is no need to move, and it is condescending, just like shooting a target.

The howling five-jin heavy cannons smashed down on the earthen platforms one by one, causing the artillery wheels of each earthen platform to roll wildly, flying with broken limbs and blood, and undead intruders scurrying around.

At the top of the city, the cannons of the generals were also concentrated, and they bombarded the large earthen platforms at the same time. Some of the generals' Buddha wolf machine guns were placed there. Those artillery just now were the greatest threat to the west city.After a rain of bullets passed, not to mention all its artillery pieces were smashed, and all the invaders on an earthen platform died.

It didn't take long for the more than [-] army cannons that the officers and soldiers at the top of the city had brought into serious trouble, to be almost muted, and there was no threat to the top of the city anymore.Wang Yinchang and Yang Shoubei were stunned, and the Luoyang Xiangyong and officers and soldiers on the west city also looked at each other in blank dismay. Those Shunxiang army men are really amazing.

The Chuangjun camp outside the city was also quiet for a long time, and even the sound of the drums stopped, as if they couldn't believe what they saw.After a long time, their horns sounded again, and another wave of intruders rushed in against the cloud ladder.

The ruthless cannonballs fell on their heads, and waves of five-jin cannonballs swept across their heads and faces. Those charging soldiers were either cut into two by the cannonballs, with bloody red flesh flying, or A huge blood hole appeared on the body, and the inner intestines coiled in the middle were ruptured.Or the whole thigh, the whole arm was broken, blood gushed out like a fountain, the flesh and blood of the severed limbs, the blood mist filled the air, and it looked even more cruel in this cold weather.

This is an asymmetrical war, even though there are many invaders, they still appear so insignificant in front of these sharp weapons.

This terrifying metal storm almost caused the intruders to collapse on the spot, but they still fought back their fear and continued to charge in front of the old battalion of cavalry marching in formation.

Maybe this was the last wave of attacks today, or maybe Li Zicheng had the idea of ​​going down to Luoyang City today, so there were extraordinarily many intruders in this wave of attacks, and their postures were also extraordinarily crazy.

Wu Zhengchun held up the binoculars and looked at the dark crowd outside the city. There were shield soldiers who broke into the army, and more were hungry soldiers holding spears and sticks. Apart from red scarves wrapped around their heads, they wore casual clothes. They are of all kinds, but the only thing they have in common is that they are tall and straight, yellow and thin.Their flag formations were also chaotic. Many of the flags were a piece of cloth hung on a wooden stick, with something scribbled on it, perhaps only they could recognize it.

Of course, their expressions were the same, shouting at the top of their lungs, their faces distorted and crazy, with a kind of hope on them.

Perhaps they were all thinking that after conquering Luoyang, they and their families would be able to eat and clothe themselves warmly, but what should they do after Luoyang City is finished?This is something they couldn't think of, perhaps, and they didn't want to think about it.

"Poor thing."

Wu Zhengchun was silent for a long time, then turned around and shouted: "Ready to fight!"

"Protect!"

There was a thunderous shout, and all the soldiers of Shun Township stood up and responded. Although they were less than a thousand people, their momentum was stronger than thousands of troops.Their unanimous shouts like thunder also frightened the Luoyang garrison officers and township soldiers beside them, and they all looked at them in horror.

The military order of Shun Township prohibited it. After Wu Zhengchun's order was handed down, the officers immediately handed down the order layer by layer, and the shouts of orders from the top of the city sounded one after another: "Ready to fight, line up."

The city wall was wide, and the sergeants under Wu Zhengchun's command lined up on the city one by one, with the blunderbuss soldiers in front and the pikemen behind.This tactic was handed down after fighting the Qing soldiers in Shunxiang Fort, and it has proved to be effective.

And all the soldiers knew that this raid was very likely to attack the city, so they all held the weapons in their hands tightly, with nervousness in their expressions, and more excitement.

For them, they are not afraid to fight the enemy, on the contrary, they are full of desire in their hearts.

The atmosphere of the East Road is that military merit is the most important, no matter how rich you are, your status in the East Road is not as good as an ordinary soldier in the Shunxiang Army.It is a common atmosphere in the Shunxiang army to be happy after hearing the war.The more military exploits, the richer, more powerful, and more prestigious you will be in the future.

Wang Yinchang was startled by the rushing army, he came to Wu Zhengchun involuntarily, and said, "Mr. Wu Qian, the bandits are fierce. Can this city be defended?"

Looking at the expectant eyes of those soldiers and civilians in Luoyang, Wu Zhengchun said, "With my Shunxiang army here, who can break the city?"

His tone was very flat, but there was an unspoken sense of arrogance in his words, which made Wang Yinchang feel relieved.He glanced at the soldiers of the Shun Township Army who lined up on the city, wondering: "Mr. Wu Qian, what is this?"

Wu Zhengchun clasped his fists and said: "Bingxian, the banditry is so powerful this time, the general thought that it would be better to put the bandit soldiers on the top of the city, kill the bandits fiercely at the top of the city, and inflict heavy damage on the bandits."

Wang Yinchang was taken aback: "Put it on the wall?"

He knew his own affairs. If the local soldiers and civilians in Luoyang defended the city, it would be fine. If the bandits entered the city and fell into hand-to-hand combat, the city would most likely be destroyed and lost.

But seeing Wu Zhengchun's resolute expression, and looking at the armored army behind him, Wang Yinchang gritted his teeth fiercely. This army is famous all over the world. Wu Zhengchun must be very confident in saying this.Although just a few waves of Ximen officers and soldiers and the soldiers of the village brave society fought happily, their confidence is still based on this army. Wu Zhengchun is so confident and the military situation is so good, so he gambled.

He said viciously: "Forget it, just follow Mr. Wu Qian's words."

He passed on the order to defend the city resolutely. If the rebel soldiers were really unstoppable, the officers and soldiers and the township soldiers would retreat to the side of the Shun Township Army.

After the order was handed down, Wang Yinchang held Wu Zhengchun's hand again and said, "Mr. Wu Qian, Luoyang City cannot be lost, it must be defended."

Wu Zhengchun looked resolute: "Don't worry about the military constitution, the city is alive and the people are alive, and the city is dead and the people are dead."

……

Sure enough, this wave of intruders went all out. Under their tide-like impact, no matter how the ashes on the city beat the stone, the enemy of thousands of people, or the cupping pot, the defenders at the top of the city fought from the front of the city wall, from the horse's face. It doesn't matter if you attack from the upper side.

The dark sea of ​​people still quickly filled the narrow area between the sheep and horse wall and the city wall. They frantically erected a ladder. A ladder was pushed down by the ramming pole and burned by the fire pot. They quickly erected it again. Another ladder.

Finally, a series of ladders were erected, and densely packed soldiers climbed up.

There was a tidal wave of cheers from the Chuangjun formation outside the city, and the city was about to collapse.

Wang Yinchang's complexion was pale, and beside him was Yang Shoubei, who also had the same earthy complexion. Sure enough, he couldn't defend the city, so he had to rely on the Shunxiang Army.They looked at the soldiers of the Shun Township Army in the direction of the inner wall. They were still standing calmly in line, as if they were not affected by the military situation in the slightest.

Under the yelling of the Luoyang officers, the sergeants under Yang Shoubei's command retreated to the side of the Shunxiang army.The formation of the Shunxiang army was divided into sections. After all, there were few people, and it was impossible to take care of the entire city wall.Just these officers and soldiers fill in the blanks.

They imitated the Shunxiang army in a chaotic manner, with soldiers holding rockets, bows and arrows, bird guns, and three-eyed guns in front, and soldiers holding spears or broadswords in the rear.As for the brave community soldiers, Wu Zhengchun meant to let them go down to the city to better clear up space to kill the enemy, but there are still some brave social soldiers and village braves staying, ready to beheaded in exchange for silver rewards.

Especially those social soldiers wearing worry-free sash, they are all children of rich families in the city, in this time of troubled times, every household is equipped with various weapons for protection.At this time, the weapons they held in their hands were either broadswords, long spears, or strong bows. Many of them also had bird guns or three-eyed guns. In terms of quality, they were even better than those used by officers and soldiers.This has always been the case among the people of Ming Dynasty. The weapons made by the people are often of better quality and more advanced than those used by the army.

Originally, these weapons were controlled weapons, and the government has always strictly prohibited private collection and use, but now it is a chaotic world, and the government's laws have long since become a dead letter, who will take care of it?The sale of various weapons by various officers and soldiers to wealthy households is one of their endless sources of income.

After Luoyang City established social soldiers under Wang Dou's suggestion, in theory, each society had fifty soldiers. Those with hundreds of gold assets would send one soldier, and those with thousands of gold assets would send two soldiers. There are servants, and the children of the family become social soldiers, and the servants must naturally accompany and protect them.

Especially those long-collars who lead a commune of 50 people, as well-known students and squires in the city, they have more guards and better weapons. Although there are more than [-] commune soldiers in Luoyang City, the actual number is more.

This society soldier can be described as a typical landlord's armed force, and it is impossible for him to have the idea of ​​compromise with the rogue bandits.In particular, some social soldiers were landlords and gentry who fled from the fallen states and counties of Henan Province. Their property was basically confiscated by the invading army. They had a deep-seated hatred for the rogues outside the city. It is not surprising that they stayed to kill the enemy. .

The city wall seemed to be quiet. Whether it was the Shun Township Army, the garrison officers and soldiers, and the Township Soldiers, they were all gasping for breath, just looking closely at the direction of the battlements.

The waiting time was short, but everyone felt that a century had passed. Finally, felt hats appeared one after another from the ladders. Under the felt hats, there were tense, ferocious or distorted faces. The shield soldiers in the game, as the vanguard death squad personnel.

They held shields, knives, hatchets and other weapons copied from the arsenals of the fallen states and counties, and they wanted to jump into the city one by one.

In an instant, the city walls were filled with the shouts of those officers and soldiers and the soldiers of the village valor, and all their weapons were aimed at the intruders whose heads were exposed.Rockets, bows, crossbows, bird blunderbusses, three-eyed blunderbusses, etc., all of a sudden the arrows roared inside the city walls, and the blunderbusses were loud.

Under their attack, the first wave of troops to enter the city was the most unlucky. Many talents showed their heads, and their entire heads were hit by an unknown number of bullets and arrows, and they fell down the ladder screaming.

There was a guy with a bearded face who was the most unlucky. Almost all the rockets from an officer and soldier hit him on the head. He couldn't even cry out, and just fell straight down the city like that.

The fierce hand-to-hand combat at the top of the city began. Compared with the haste of the officers and soldiers and the soldiers of the village, the soldiers of the Shun Township Army under Wu Zhengchun's command were much calmer.After all, at such a short distance, the firecracker can hit everyone, the only difference is whether it hits the head or the body.

The sound of popping bean guns sounded one after another, and bursts of white smoke scattered from all parts of the city wall. One by one, the intruders jumped down from the ladder screaming. Spears, starving soldiers with red scarves on their heads.

Although it was a new army, the harsh training still allowed the sergeants under Wu Zhengchun to fight calmly. They all had excellent and thick armor, iron helmets on their heads, and outstanding weapons in their hands.Those intruders jumped up one by one, although they had shields in their hands, except for a part of those shields, they were simple shields made by their army, which were only made of wooden planks.Some of the relevant parts were leather shields seized from officers and soldiers, or wooden shields covered with iron, but they did not work at all.

The several layers of heavy armor of the Qing soldiers couldn't stop the firearms of the Shunxiang army, how could the Chuang army stop them?The distance between the two sides was at most a few steps, more than a dozen steps, and they raised their guns to bombard them. No matter what shield they were holding, they were smashed to pieces on the spot, and the force was so strong that they almost vomited blood and flew out, falling heavily behind them. The walls of the city are half dead.

If the shield didn't cover the guns of the Shunxiang army and was hit on the body, it would be even worse, and a big hole would be cut in the body and flew straight out.Some of the intruders wore armor, but the bombardment of the Shunxiang army's blunderbuss might have brought them no safety at all.

This is the case with the infantry in the army, not to mention the hungry soldiers who jumped up, these red scarf soldiers with spears are even more crazy, because they want to enjoy the treatment of infantry.One meal a day has changed to two, so although they are yellow and thin, ragged, and equipped worse than infantry, their expressions and eyes are more ferocious, and their howls are hoarse.

Regardless of whether they are vicious or calm, in front of sharp firearms, the end result is either death or injury.

The deafening sound of firecrackers on the top of the city was louder and louder, watching the invading soldiers who jumped on the top of the city fall one by one under the guns of the Shun Township Army, the officers and soldiers and the soldiers of the Township Army were all stunned. However, the power of the Shunxiang army bird's blunderbuss chilled their hearts, and everyone wondered what would happen if they were shot with a bludgeon.

In particular, the indifferent expression of the Shunxiang army was like a neat and mechanical slaughter tool, which made them feel colder in their hearts.

Wang Yinchang and Yang Shoubei, who hid behind the city tower early and handed over the command to Wu Zhengchun, also felt chills in their hearts. They were glad that this army was not their enemy.They saw that not far from them, a Shun Township army bird blunderbuss could only be two steps away at close range, and shot through two rushing army hungry soldiers with one shot.

The two hungry soldiers opened their mouths wide, with incredible expressions in their eyes, and flew out heavily.

Unexpectedly, when they hit the city wall, they just knocked a pawn who was about to climb up from the crenel and fell off the ladder.The unlucky guy didn't want to say anything about himself, his falling body, like the wolf tooth shooter and Yi Yiye, knocked down all the dozens of intruders who climbed the ladder to the ground.

The formations under Wu Zhengchun's command consisted of a group of blunderbuss soldiers and a group of pikemen behind them. In this way, there were two long rows in front of the inner wall, with sections of officers and soldiers and village brave soldiers in between.After the bird gunmen fired their guns, if the intruders who jumped up from the front left and right did not die, then the pikemen stepped forward to assassinate them.

Cooperating with each other like this, at first these soldiers still fought according to their natural reaction after rigorous training, subconsciously still a little nervous, and the cooperation was a little flustered.But soon they calmed down, and their combat skills became more proficient.War is the best way to train a person and an army.

"Clap clap clap!"

A group of blunderbuss sergeants from Team B and C, Team A and Armor, holding their blunderbuss, calmly rushed forward to pull the triggers of several intruders who had jumped off the ladder. When these people were shot, their faces were still With a look of surprise, they were thrown flying with a strong force.

When they were lying on the ground or leaning against the city wall, they looked at the big hole in their bodies in disbelief, at the hot blood gushing out like a fountain, and even the large and small intestines flowed out of it, and then they screamed loudly.

No one paid any attention to them. After the gunmen in the group finished firing the guns, they immediately retreated, and the armored spearmen in the group behind them stepped forward.

These pikemen, they wear fine iron armor, thick and strong, with eight-petal caps and iron pointed helmets on their heads. In the Ming army, only officers, even officers of the general rank, can own them. Armor-piercing points are on their hands The steel long cone spear can pierce the opponent's excellent armor, not to mention that there are very few armored armors in the Chuang army, and there are not many leather armors. If you have cotton armor, you will laugh.

They stood silently with their guns in their hands, maintaining an assassination posture. When several intruders came up screaming and wielding their knives and guns, they shouted at the same time, and the spears in their hands pierced their vital parts like lightning.Although they were one army, they were actually divided into two groups. Every time, two people confronted each other, and the army leader held a spear to cover and command.

How could those rushing soldiers who came to the city cooperate, no matter how many people there were, they would not be able to show the advantage of manpower, and all of them were fighting alone.

An intruder came up under the cover of a shield, and a pikeman in the group stabbed at his right side like lightning. The intruder was also a veteran. He blocked the tip of the spear with his shield, but unexpectedly another long spear came viciously, " Puff!" With a sound, the long spear pierced his entire head, and when the gun was pulled out, the blood and yellow-white brain were shot out all at once.

When this Chuangbing fell down, he still had an expression of death. He was originally an officer and soldier, and he was considered a good fighter after surrendering to the Chuangjun. He had fought several battles in his life, and he had never seen blood, but unexpectedly he died like this without a sound.

In a blink of an eye, the soldiers with sabers and shields who went up to the city died, followed by a group of hungry soldiers holding spears. As soon as they went to the city, what they saw was blood all over the ground. Corpses, as well as many of our own soldiers moaning and screaming in pain.

Then their eyes were attracted by several officers and soldiers with flat-ended spears on the city wall in front of them. Their armor was already covered with blood, and the spears they held in a row like hedgehogs were constantly dripping with blood, but this Nothing could compare to their palpitating cold eyes.

They just looked at themselves like this. Before the hungry soldiers felt chills, before they could react, the group of officers and soldiers rushed forward. These hungry soldiers subconsciously wanted to swing their spears, but how could they move as fast as these Shunxiang soldiers?

A pikeman pushed the barrel of his gun, and the blade pierced directly into the soft belly of a hungry soldier. A cloud of blood mist was brought out, and the bloody gunblade was quickly sent into the heart of a hungry soldier behind him. He stabbed like a poisonous snake, and stabbed again, leaving a few dead bodies on the city wall.

The corporal leader was a veteran who had experienced the Battle of Julu, and he couldn't help nodding when he saw this. After this battle, the brothers under his command were considered mature.

At this time, the blunderbuss soldiers behind them had already loaded the gunpowder, and the corporal spearmen retreated behind them, waiting for another cycle.

Their effective killing, in the eyes of the nearby officers and soldiers and the soldiers of the village brave society, they all took a breath of air.

These Shunxiang troops are really scared.In the eyes of outsiders, their movements are orderly and aesthetically pleasing. When the bird guns shoot, a long column of smoke fills the top of the city, and then it seems that a silver light of guns spreads over the top of the city, pushing forward until the front All enemies are devoured until destroyed.

Killing an enemy is like walking in a garden, but it is extremely effective. It is beautiful, but it is unlucky to meet such an opponent.

Both Wang Yinchang and Yang Shoubei thought: "Fortunately, they are friendly troops. Otherwise, it would be bad luck for eight lifetimes to meet such an opponent. I heard that Mr. Wu Qian's command is just a new army in the Shun Township Army. If those who came from the Battle of Julu , how strong will the veterans from the Battle of Pinggu be?"

At the same time, the two were secretly happy: "Mr. Wu Qian said that he can defend the city, and it is true."

(End of this chapter)