Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 1346 Attack on the Mountain
The cold wind was cold outside the ferry, the golden army spread all over the ground, and the flags of various colors were fluttering under the whistling cold wind. The 3 Maya sparrows were silent, only the artillery lined up in front of the front line, billowing white smoke, flashing The orange-red cannon flames were moving, and there were bursts of thunderous sounds.

Beside more than 20 cannons in red, the gunner finished lighting the cannons, squatted down with his ears covered, waited for the cannons to roar, and after the cannons retreated sharply, he hurriedly got up to clean the barrels, reloaded ammunition, restored the cannon positions, and prepared to bombard again.

Tens of thousands of gold troops stood still, watching the iron bullets whizzing towards the top of the mountain, splashing clouds of yellow dust on the mountainside and in front of the earth wall on the top of the mountain.

The Ming army on both sides of the hilltops and behind the low wall in the middle was silent, and they all lowered their heads to hide behind the tunnels and earthen walls, avoiding the shelling, and did not return any fire.

After observing the positions of the Ming army, Meng Qiaofang decided to attack the hills on both sides first.

Although this will cause heavy casualties, once the top of the mountain is taken down, the Jin army will be able to commandeer and attack the Ming army behind the earth wall between the two mountains. behind the wall.

The heavy artillery of the Ming army could not be transported, and the range of the small artillery on the top of the mountain was not as good as that of the red cannon, so they could only withstand the artillery bombardment of the Jin army.

The heavy artillery of the Jin Army squatted in the artillery pit, with the muzzle raised high, and continuously bombarded the top of the mountain.The inclination of the hillside made it impossible for the artillery to hit a single line, and even bounced the shells away, but as long as they were hit, almost all the bones of the Ming army remained.

All the soldiers of the Ming army lay down in the deep ditch to avoid the bombardment of the artillery shells. The soil splashed by the shells fell like rain and hit them on their bodies. The soldiers buried their heads and remained motionless, waiting for the shelling to end.

Looking up from the foot of the mountain, Meng Qiaofang could not see the Ming army outcropping, only a few Ming army flags flying around, declaring their sovereignty over the mountain.

After the golden army's red cannon bombarded for three rounds, the cannon body was hot and stopped one after another.

At this time, Meng Qiaofang, who was stationed on horseback in front of the formation, waved his hand, and the drums of the Jin army were beating. A battalion of nearly [-] soldiers suddenly shouted, pushed [-] shield chariots, left the formation, and advanced towards the hill on the right.

Although the first attack is often more tentative, Meng Qiaofang still sent a battalion of new troops. The time does not wait for anyone, at most a month. When the weather gets warmer, the Ming army in Shanxi will send reinforcements to northern Shaanxi again. At that time, it would be impossible for him to regain northern Shaanxi.

Participating in the attack was the newly reorganized Xingping Battalion. The battalion commander was Zheng Wencheng, who was a member of Sun Chuanting's general Guyuan General Soldier Zheng Jiadong. He used to be a member of the Qin Army. Zhao didn't have a good impression.

At that time, the Qin army went to battle under the urging of Emperor Chongzhen. The supervisor Sun Chuanting died in battle and was shrouded in horse leather. He didn't come out to participate in the martial arts until the country was stable in Guanzhong, and he was quickly reused and became the commander of the first battalion.

Although the Ming Dynasty later invited Sun Chuanting into the Martyr's Shrine and posthumously named Wen Zhenggong, which made him change some of his views on the Ming Dynasty, but this Guanzhong crisis made him lose his goodwill towards the Ming Dynasty.

Hearing the sound of drums and seeing the flag waving in the army, Zheng Wencheng drew the saber from his waist, pointed forward, and shouted loudly: "Xingping Battalion, attack!"

The three thousand gold troops roared in unison, their morale was like a rainbow, and they pushed more than 200 shield chariots, forming a long line of one mile. The soldiers behind held the firecrackers, knives and spears tightly, and followed the shield chariots according to the formation, straightening The body went to the hillside on the right wing.

Meng Qiaofang looked at the Xingping Battalion, which had seen the battle, and nodded slightly. Although it was a new army and had no experience in war, after more than a year of training, Meng Qiaofang was quite satisfied, and the morale of the secret channel was available.

The hills on both sides are not steep, but a slope, and the shield car can be pushed up.

The shield car is very simple and not too heavy, just two wheels and a wooden board.

The Jin army put a layer of cowhide on the wooden board, plus a layer of cotton armor, which can withstand the long-distance volleyball shooting of the Ming army.

The wooden planks in front of this kind of shield chariot are eight feet high, almost higher than all the Jin troops. The soldiers in the front are pushing the shield chariot upwards, while the soldiers behind are lined up in a row, holding weapons, carrying wooden planks and shorts. Ladder, follow the shield car forward.

Zheng Wencheng is behind a shield car. Behind him are three rows of musketeers holding firecrackers. After the army advances to a certain distance, they will shoot the Ming army on the top of the mountain from the gap in the shield car to offset the Ming army's earthen wall. The advantages.

After the gunners, there are sword and shield soldiers and spearmen who resist the planks and short ladders. They are responsible for charging close combat, and under the cover of the gunners, they attack the top of the hill.

From Li Zicheng's occupation of Beijing to the entry of the Qing Dynasty to the establishment of the Jin Kingdom, Zheng Wencheng was at home and had never seen the Ming army fighting.

During the Great War in the Central Plains, the Jin army went out of the customs and joined forces with the Qing army to fight against the Ming army.At that time, he had just joined the Jin Army not long ago, but he was very confident in the Jin Army, but the result was that the Jin Army was defeated and returned. After the Ming Army won the victory, it quickly wiped out the Ming Army's old enemy Man Qing.

This shocked him, especially in his impression that the Jin army did not lose to the Qin army back then, and the Qin army could be said to be the most elite army in the pass in the Ming Dynasty.

Although it was a test, Meng Qiaofang sent a battalion with tens of thousands of troops ready to go, hoping to take down the mountain with all his might.

At this time, Zheng Wencheng saw the top of the mountain from the gap between the shield car, and the army had reached a distance of five hundred steps. When he looked at the top of the mountain, a cloud of white smoke suddenly rose from the low wall, and orange-red cannons flashed. flame.

There was only a sound of "boom", and a shell weighing five or six catties suddenly shot at Zheng Wencheng with a "swish".

In his eyes, the cannonball changed from small to large, and it only occupied his entire pupil in an instant, and then a strong wind blew up, jumped over his head, hit the back of Jin Jun, and splashed a cloud of dust on the ground , then bounce and roll down the hill.

Zheng Wencheng shrank his neck, his face was pale, he was stunned for a while, and then he wiped his face with his hand. After recovering his expression, he swung his knife and directed, "Go on!"

On the top of the mountain, the Ming army hiding in the anti-gun tunnel climbed out of the deep pit one by one, and climbed up the earth wall with their weapons. The gunner turned the two big wheels on the gun mount with his hands, and moved the gun along The dug tunnel was dragged out, and then the loading was set up, and the muzzle was aimed at the forward shield wall.

"Boom!" A series of cannons sounded, and the artillery of the Ming army on the top of the mountain fired.There are a total of more than ten gaps in the entire section of the low wall, which are used to release the field artillery of the Ming army.

Clouds of white smoke billowed from the top of the mountain, and suddenly there was a loud "bang" beside Zheng Wencheng, and an iron bullet hit one or two shield carts beside him. Falling back, the eight-foot-high board on the upper body instantly shattered, shooting out countless pieces of sawdust.

Zheng Wencheng only felt pain on his face, and when he reached out to touch it, his hand was covered with blood.Jin Jun, who was behind the shield car, was shot in the body and face. He immediately covered his bleeding face and chest, fell to the ground, rolled and screamed.

A thousand households of the Golden Army stepped forward, looked at the injuries of several people, and waved his hands to make them go down the mountain with minor injuries. As for those who could not be saved, they could only end their pain.

The soldiers of the Golden Army panicked for a moment, but quickly regained their composure under the command of the officer. The soldiers who lost the cover of the shield vehicle quickly moved behind other shield vehicles, walked past the dead body of the Jin Army, and then continued to move forward .

The soldiers are the new army, but the officers at the bottom are all old soldiers of the Jin army. With them, the Jin army will not collapse so easily.

As the distance approached, the artillery of the Ming army became stronger and more accurate.The golden army's shield chariot was hit from time to time, and the formation of the golden army began to be a bit jagged.

The Jin army continued to advance, and there were screams around Zheng Wencheng, and the number of casualties of the soldiers increased rapidly. Seeing the tragic death of the comrades, who were beaten into minced meat by shells, and the corpses of the Jin army were scattered on the hillside, the advancing soldiers could not help but panic. Legs are weak.

"Don't look around, keep moving forward!" Zheng Wencheng sensed the mood of the army and commanded with a knife.

This feeling of being shot at by someone as a target is really uncomfortable. The deafening cannons on the battlefield, the flying iron bullets, the brains split, the bloody corpses, and the tragic screams all destroy the spirit of the person. It makes people feel scared, and they don't know when they will hit themselves with a cannonball.

Zheng Wencheng looked at a soldier in front of him, walking a little wobbly, patted him with a knife, and reminded: "Don't look at the corpse, stare at your feet."

The soldier turned his head, his face was pale, his forehead was sweating, his lips were trembling constantly, obviously very frightened, and his spirit was about to collapse.

Zheng Wencheng frowned, and sighed in his heart, although I tried my best to train, the superficial skills of the Xingping Battalion can already be compared with the elite of the Jin Army, but soldiers will never be considered elite soldiers if they have not been on the battlefield.

Zheng Wencheng was about to yell at the soldier for watching the road, when there was another loud "bang", an iron bullet whizzed and smashed the shield chariot in front of him to pieces, countless pieces of wood exploded, and the golden army after the chariot was stopped was full. one place.

The Jin Jun who turned his head was directly inserted into the temple by a piece of broken wood, and the blood shot out, sprayed on the pale face of a Jin Jun next to him, and fell down in front of Zheng Wencheng's eyes as soon as his body softened.

Before he came back to his senses, two soldiers stood in front of him and shouted anxiously: "General, be careful!"

A group of Ming troops on the earth wall raised their guns, aimed at the gap in the shield car, and pulled the trigger. The sound of "bang bang bang" sounded.

The two personal soldiers standing in front of Zheng Wencheng trembled and were knocked to the ground.

Several other soldiers hurriedly protected Zheng Wencheng and hid behind the shield chariot next to him. The Jin army was beaten into chaos, and the soldiers ran wildly in front of his eyes.

Zheng Wencheng pushed away the guards guarding him, brandished his sword and roared, "Don't panic, the firecrackers will fight back, and the sword and shield will be charged by this general!"

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(End of this chapter)