weaving

Chapter 174 Why don't you go together?

The deafening sound of gunfire continued, and it seemed that the entire perimeter of the Xuanda camp's outer defense line was shrouded in thick smoke.

No matter how biting the cold wind in winter, the pungent gunpowder smoke and bloody smell will not dissipate. Just around the camp of Jia Zhuangxuan's army, soldiers from both sides of the Ming and Qing Dynasties are tearing away their lives. kill.

After the strategy of driving the captives of Ming Dynasty to fill the trench failed, the Eight Banners soldiers of the Qing army had no choice but to push the shield cart and continue to move forward slowly. They stopped in front of the first trench and picked up earthen baskets and Earthbags, constantly thrown over the shield car.

The artillery of the Ming army kept bombarding the walls of villages and villages, but they never fired a threatening volley. The Qing army gradually figured out the rules. When the artillery bombarded, they could dodge freely, and when the artillery was loaded, they moved forward. Fill the trench.

However, the passages reserved by the Ming army everywhere were empty, and the Qing army completely bypassed these places, and did not even advance their shield vehicles to these places.

Although the artillery of the Ming army also fired salvos on the walls of the villages and villages, and the artillery fire roared, the damage caused to the Qing army was greatly reduced compared to yesterday.

Urged by the sound of drums, densely packed Qing soldiers in various armors have gradually advanced to the second ditch. They either carried or pushed the shield carts through the first ditch with difficulty, and then rushed to the second ditch. The trench continued to slowly approach.

The artillery on the walls of the villages and villages of the Xuanda Army continued to bombard. Although it caused some damage to the Qing army's shield vehicles, it was somewhat insignificant. The Qing army's shield vehicles were so densely packed that there were too many.

Standing on the turret at the south gate, Zhang Cheng felt fine. Although there were many Qing Army shield vehicles slowly approaching, they were not threatening, but he didn't know that the east side of Jiazhuang was approaching. The end of the war.

The Qing army seems to have concentrated all the artillery here, the sound of "booming" can be heard endlessly, and Lu Xiangsheng's relative, Chen Anzheng, stands on the wall of the village in disgrace.

The two sides fought back and forth for nearly half an hour, and the earthen walls outside Jia Zhuang were destroyed by the slaves in many places. Although they also destroyed a lot of artillery in front of the Qing army, Lu Xiangsheng also suffered heavy losses.

Two of the Hongyi cannons under his command were bombarded, and several more were bombarded. Most of the sergeants had already retreated into Jiazhuang, and were forced to abandon many of the outer lines of defense.

…………

Fortunately, the firearms of the Ming army were slightly superior to the Qing army in terms of quantity, operation, and firepower. Although under the fierce offensive of the Qing army, all armies retreated and gave up some outer positions, but the overall defense line On the face of it, it's pretty safe.

At noon of the battle, the Qing army retreated again, and the soldiers of Xuanda breathed a sigh of relief. When Lu Xiangsheng's military order came, the battalions stepped up to cook lunch, and another wave of wounded soldiers was transported off the battlefield.

According to simple statistics of the whole morning's battle, the Qing army had more than a thousand casualties, but the Xuan Da army also suffered nearly a thousand casualties, and the artillery was damaged more.

In Lu Xiangsheng's camp at Jia Zhuang, Yang Guozhu said in a deep voice, "Minister, the casualties of our army are increasing day by day due to repeated battles with the slaves. If the battle becomes more intense in the afternoon, it may not last long!"

Before Lu Xiangsheng could say anything, Hu Dawei answered, "The slave bandits are attacking more fiercely than yesterday, and the artillery in our army has exploded four doors."

Zhang Cheng immediately answered: "Minister, we are not afraid of death, but a man deserves to die, even if we wipe out all the troops and Jia Zhuang today, can we prevent the Tartars from continuing to plunder the interior of our Ming Dynasty?
Otherwise, if you lead the army to another direction, you can turn the crisis into safety, and you can also restrain the slaves and thieves so that they dare not be presumptuous! "

Hearing this, Lu Xiangsheng's eyes flashed brightly, but then dimmed. After a long time, he said in a deep voice: "We have suffered from the emperor's grace, and we should serve the king. Now that we are surrounded by slaves, we should stand up and fight!" ,

How can I abandon the camp and run away? In the future, all the princes in the court will say in panic, how will we face the emperor's grace, and how will we face the second ancestors? "

Zhang Cheng and others knew that Lu Xiangsheng had made up his mind, so they could only follow him and fight to the end.

But at this time, there were some subtle changes in my personal thoughts. However, these have nothing to do with the overall situation. The most urgent task is how to deal with the battle in the afternoon. The generals discussed with Lu Xiangsheng again.

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Many soldiers of the Ming army thought that the Qing army would be the same as yesterday, and would suspend the attack until the afternoon, so that the soldiers of both sides could take a rest, but this was not the case today.

Less than half an hour later, the densely packed shield chariots of the Qing army began to slowly approach the Xuanda army camp in Jiazhuang. In the turret, one could faintly see that the shield chariots of the Qing army were still two stories apart, with a distance of about About a hundred steps.

They pushed forward slowly, and still stopped steadily at a distance of [-] steps.

Suddenly, the first row of shield chariots to the north of Jia Zhuang quickly staggered to both sides. In those gaps, red barbarian cannons showed their figures. At a glance, there were dozens of them, let alone other Francois. Machine guns, mortars, tiger squat guns, etc., are even more uncountable.

Hu Dawei was secretly frightened, standing on the wall of the north gate, and shouted loudly to the people below: "Little Huzi, go and report to the governor, the slaves are attacking the northern line, and our army may not be able to hold on."

Hu Dawei's nephew Qian Zong Hu Zichen, who was organizing various soldiers to defend under the wall of the village, heard the sound and hurriedly took orders, so he rode his horse towards Lu Xiangsheng's camp.

At the same time, the Qing army outside the south gate also advanced to a distance of [-] paces. They did not have as many artillery pieces as at the two places, but the shield vehicles continued to advance slowly, and they crossed the first ditch again.

Three steps away from the second ditch, the shield car stopped, and as the shield car staggered back and forth, the coat-coated Aha and auxiliary soldiers in the banners, as well as some people who had relatives selected by the Qing army The people of Ming Dynasty kept flashing out from behind the chariot.

Two or three of them carried a large long plank, Kubu rushed up, and the long planks were laid on the trench one by one.

Although the blunderbussmen in Xuan Da's army opened fire one after another, there were repeated explosions, and the blunderbuss bullets flew horizontally, but these people were of extremely low status in the Qing army, and they did not dare to resist as cannon fodder.

The archers of the Qing army gathered behind the shield chariot threw shots one after another. Although they did not do much damage to Xuan Dajun, they still needed to be distracted to avoid them. For a while, the situation was extremely critical.

"Uncle, the Tartars have several times as many troops as I do. If this continues, Jiazhuang will be difficult to defend."

Zhang Cheng was on the turret, reminding Zhang Yan.

Zhang Yan's face was as cold as iron, and he said in a deep voice: "I, Zhang Yan, have been greatly favored by the emperor. At this time of national calamity, I should sacrifice myself to serve the country."

After finishing speaking, he turned around and shouted to his general Lin Zhiyi: "The horse team is assembled, ready for close combat."

When Lin Zhiyi and Liang Song got off the turret, Zhang Yan turned around and faced Zhang Cheng, with a sad look in his eyes, and said softly: "Cheng'er, uncle, I have fought all my life, and life and death have long been ignored, but you are the only child of my Zhang family. , should not have died here,

In today's battle, you must do your best, if you really can't do it, you have to lead your troops to break through the siege, and you must not fall into death, until my Zhang family dies! "

Zhang Cheng hurried forward, grabbed Zhang Yan's arm, and said in a deep voice, "Uncle, since it is impossible, why not go together."

Looking at the battlefield outside the village, Zhang Yan saw the Qing army slowly approaching, and said in a deep voice, "Silly boy, my Zhang family has been in the army for generations, and in this war with the slaves, someone must be loyal to the country!"

(End of this chapter)