Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1858

In the formation of the Ming army, Ma Gui looked coldly at the Japanese army coming out of the west city, and did not immediately issue a military order.Qi Jin beside him asked: "Admiral Ma, Kato Kiyomasa has taken the bait, are we..."

Ma Gui shook his head slightly, and said: "No hurry, your artillery will continue to bombard Hanyang, but you should increase the interval between firing, so as not to let people see the flaws. As for Kato Kiyomasa, the reason why he is so rampant is because It's because he hasn't really encountered a bayonet platoon, but only fought two small fights with the Liaodong Army, so he doesn't know the heights of the heavens and the depths of the earth.

Hmph, the commander of the Li family's army is good at attacking cavalry and taking turns to force them. It happened that Li Yangcheng was seriously short of troops at the time of Bishou Pavilion, so he was forced to fight defensively.

However, that battle gave the Japanese pirates an illusion, thinking that my soldiers are only good at cavalry and not good at walking. What a joke!Today, the Admiral Ben invited all the generals of the Southern Army to show off their heavenly soldiers, to give these short melons a lot of insight, and to recognize whose musket formation is authentic. "

Qi Jin laughed, turned his head to look at Wu Weizhong and Mao Guoqi who were beside him, and said, "I'm going to the artillery battalion. I'm just singing an opera today. I have to excuse the two uncles for instructing the Japanese pirates' musket formation."

Wu Weizhong and Mao Guoqi are both old subordinates under Qi Jiguang's command. As Qi Jiguang's nephew, Qi Jin calls them uncles even in the army, which obviously means that they have a close relationship.

Because Qi Jiguang had a son very late, Qi Jin is actually the young master in the hearts of many veterans of the Qi family army, so when Qi Jin spoke, Wu Weizhong and Mao Guoqi hurriedly clasped their fists and said, "Don't worry, young commander, it's just seven thousand Japanese pirates, and we can handle it well." Come."

Having said that, Qi Jin still didn't dare to be careless, and reminded: "These Japanese pirates are not only real Japanese, but also the elite descendants of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The two uncles must fight hard, and don't break our southern army. reputation."

Wu Weizhong and Mao Guoqi nodded seriously, and said: "The two of us run the army completely according to Qi Shuai's new law in recent years, and we have never slacked off at all. Today we are fighting Japanese pirates, so I just invite the young commander to review."

Hearing that they mentioned his uncle Qi Jiguang, Qi Jin also said solemnly: "Very well, please let the two uncles go and fight." Then he turned his head and cupped his fists at Ma Gui: "Admiral, the Southern Army please fight!"

Ma Gui nodded slightly, and said: "Li Ziqing led the main force of the Liaodong and Xuanda cavalry to go south, and the time should be on the way back. Therefore, the Southern Army only needs to withstand the Japanese pirates' attack for about an hour. Yes, there is no need to turn defense into offense to ensure that your own casualties will not expand."

He paused, and emphasized: "This admiral knows that it is not difficult to defeat Kato Kiyomasa on the spot with the power of the southern army. However, the defeat of the infantry often cannot be completely wiped out. This is not what the admiral wants to see, let alone the Marquis Therefore, please strictly follow the military order: you are only allowed to defend, not to attack!"

In fact, this principle was agreed before the war. Ma Gui emphasized again that he was afraid that the Southern Army would be unable to control the fight, and subconsciously launched a counterattack after discovering that the Japanese army was defeated—this is actually the habit of the Qi family army—so he emphasized again over again.

After all, as he said, what he wants in this battle is to wipe out Kato Kiyomasa's First Army, not to be satisfied with a defeat battle. Therefore, he must wait for Li Rumei to rush back to the position after a false shot, complete the cavalry netting, and finally Then surround and annihilate.

Qi Jin raised his chin slightly, and said: "Admiral, please don't worry about this. The greatest advantage of our Southern Army's various departments on the battlefield is to resolutely execute orders. If they say they will not counterattack, they will not counterattack. Will not step forward to cut off its head."

Ma Gui's heart trembled when he heard this, especially when he saw the pride on Qi Jin's face when he said this, he couldn't help secretly applauding, thinking: No wonder Hou Ye wants to use Qi Shuai as the commander of the Imperial Guard!Although there are many powerful armies in the world, they are as meticulous and resolute in carrying out military orders as the Zhejiang soldiers. How can I find a second one among the millions of armored troops in the Ming Dynasty?It seems that if our Ma family wants to go further, we must make up our minds on this point.

Following Ma Gui's order, the two generals Wu Weizhong and Mao Guoqi divided their troops, leaned to the right wing of the Ming army in two formations, and blocked the coming Kato Kiyomasa First Army.

The two formations of the southern army quickly formed a well-trained big mandarin duck formation, one left and one right like stone lions guarding the gate, staring at the rushing Japanese First Army Corps but not advancing an inch, only waiting for the Japanese army to attack.

Although Kato Kiyomasa had not directly fought against the most elite infantrymen of the Southern Army of the Ming Army, he was a veteran general after all, and he had seen some things in the world.At this moment, just looking at the posture of the Ming army in the opponent's two formations, he knew that he had encountered a difficult situation. He couldn't help but feel terrified, and quickly stopped the First Army Corps, which was advancing rapidly and was about to catch the Ming army by surprise.

Kiyoshi Kato glanced left and right, carefully checking the situation of the Ming army, and the uneasiness in his heart soon became more and more serious, even a little hairy.

Kato Kiyomasa noticed that the soldiers of the two Ming armies looked neither timid nor fanatical, they stood there like wooden posts and stone pillars, and there were no waves in their eyes at all.

As a veteran general, he certainly knew what kind of army would behave like this—an elite in all battles!
They regard the battlefield as their own backyard, no matter who the opponent is, they cannot arouse their unnecessary emotions.At this moment, the only thing they pay attention to is probably the orders that may be issued behind them at any time.

Kato Kiyomasa was a little hesitant, and at the same time a little manic. He always felt that he should not hesitate. As one of the famous generals of Qiyue's seven guns, he should adhere to the concept of meeting a narrow road and the brave wins, and go forward regardless, and kill everything. Block your enemies to crush them!

However, he had to hesitate at this moment, because the First Army under him was no longer the elite Second Army in Renchen Year.

At the beginning, the Second Army was one of the vanguards. It fought a big battle all the way, and later suffered a lot, losing many experienced veterans.Therefore, this time, when they conscripted North Korea again, they had to recruit a lot of new ashigaru. Most of these people used to be peasants and soldiers, or even mud legs. Quite inferior.

If this kind of strength only bullies the North Korean army, it is more than enough, but what if it is against the two Ming armies in front of it?But anyone who is in charge of the army can tell that they are not trash like the Korean army at all. They are undoubtedly the elite of the elite. This First Legion?

It was extremely rare for Kato Kiyomasa to feel that he was being reckless, and if he attacked hard like this, he might kick his foot on the iron plate.

However, I don't know if it was a coincidence or what, when he was hesitating and vigilant, there was a loud drum beating on the tower of Hanyang.Kato Kiyomasa turned his head to look, but found Yoshihiro Shimadzu in full military uniform, beating a huge drum with two drumsticks himself, which was encouraging himself and the First Legion.

"Baga..." Kato Kiyomasa cursed inwardly.He didn't know Yoshihiro Shimadzu's true intentions, he only thought that Yoshihiro Shimadzu was sincerely cheering for him, and said to himself that if I was scared by the Ming army and retreated without a fight, how could I be able to support myself when I returned to Japan? Start to be a man?

"Adjust the formation, move closer, load and hold guns, and move forward slowly!" Kato Kiyomasa shouted, and finally gave the command to attack.This order is indeed an offensive order, but it actually means giving up the previously planned surprise attack—of course, because the Ming army responded so quickly, the so-called surprise attack has already become an impossible task, and it is imperative to change the order. must do.

At this time, the artillery battalion of the Ming army launched a new round of salvo. Although the firing was sparse and far less deterrent than yesterday's shelling, the Japanese troops on the tower still had to evade, and Shimadzu Yoshihiro was also forced by his generals pull away.Kato Kiyomasa saw it, and he didn't know whether to be angry or relieved.

Such sparse shelling actually interrupted Yoshihiro Shimadzu's drumming and cheering in person. It stands to reason that he should be angry, but if Yoshihiro Shimadzu had been watching the battle on the tower, Kato Kiyomasa was worried that the Ming army on the opposite side was too strong. Shimadzu Yoshihiro made fun of the poor performance of the First Army, so it seems that they should breathe a sigh of relief.

But no matter what he thought, the war continued.

The First Army Corps of the Japanese Army took advantage of the fact that the artillery camp of the Ming Army had not changed its target and always attacked the city wall of Hanyang as a shooting target. They dared to form a dense formation and began to move forward slowly. What they formed was the usual offensive formation of the Japanese Iron Artillery Corps .

Since the Portuguese brought iron cannons to Tanegashima, from Tanegashima in southern Kyushu to Kishu Genlaizhong and then to the whole of Japan, iron cannons have developed rapidly and gradually improved in Japan. This new weapon brings not only war technology and The update of tactics has accelerated the unification process of Japan in the overall form.

Since the Battle of Nagashino, the functions and effects of matchlock guns have brought rapid progress in various aspects such as the evolution of tactics. Compared with individual single-shot iron cannon shooting, group shooting of about 15 to 30 people is more effective. Therefore, the organization of the bow and gun groups is regarded by Japan as an important source of combat power.

Since ancient times, in the process of shortening the combat distance with the enemy, any army first started the bow and arrow shooting battle because it found the optimal range (the effective range of the arrow). According to the Portuguese arquebus that Japan acquired at that time, it could reach about one town (about 120 meters), so the offensive was gradually fired towards the iron guns approaching the enemy.

Due to the limitations of the current technical conditions, before the Japanese iron guns fired bullets, they had to open the fire vessel containing the gunpowder first, and then pull up the primer after aiming. It will trigger the gunpowder in the gun body, which will launch the projectile.

Therefore, among the various departments of the Japanese army at this time, "opening the fire cover" means starting a war.After all, the shooting of iron cannons mostly indicates the beginning of war, so iron cannon teams must be deployed on the front lines of all military formations.

However, Kato Kiyomasa soon discovered that fighting the current Ming army was completely different from fighting the Korean army. The first difference was that the Ming army opened fire earlier than his First Army.His order to "open the fire cover" was not ready to shout at all, and the Ming army had already fired the first round of salvo after their general gave the order.

The sound of the "Boom—" gunshot seemed to have directly hit Kato Kiyomasa's heart, causing his heart to twitch suddenly.He stayed in the middle army and was not in the iron cannon team at the front. Of course he couldn't be hit, but he knew that the reason why the Ming army fired so early was to rule out the possibility that the Ming army commander didn't know how to command the iron cannon at all. After sex, the only reason is that their iron cannons can effectively shoot farther!

If you use the weights and measures of later generations to mark, then most of the iron cannons in the Warring States Period in Japan were matchlock guns with a caliber of 15.8mm, and occasionally a heavy iron cannon with a caliber of 18.7mm was used.

Regardless of which type, the explosive power of the early matchlock guns is relatively weak anyway, with an effective range of about 200 meters and a maximum range of no more than 500 meters. This situation sometimes varies due to the amount of gunpowder and the proficiency of the gunner.

As for the shooting accuracy, it is obviously not very good. Although the effective range has reached about 200 meters, because of the poor accuracy, in the end, the various departments of the Japanese army often require that the distance of the first shot in the field should not exceed one town, which is about 120 meters. Fire allowed.

However, the Ming army's principle of firing is obviously different from theirs. Since Kato Kiyomasa was supposed to command the iron artillery team, he has been strictly visually measuring the distance. He knew that when the gunshots rang out, the two sides were still about two towns away from each other—could it be? The effective hit range of the iron cannons of the Ming army is twice that of our army?
Kato Kiyomasa gasped, and quickly scanned the front to check the damage of his side after the Ming army fired.

It's okay if you don't look at it, but you were shocked when you saw it. At least [-] people in the front line of the iron artillery team fell down. It was quite powerful, and there were some unconscious pauses in the forward momentum.

Kato Kiyomasa yelled: "Drum beats—start!" The drummers in the First Army immediately began to beat the drums. Because of the drum beats, the advancing Japanese army finally resumed their normal advancing speed, and the front line seemed much more stable.

However, Kato Kiyomasa knew that this was not enough, so he ordered again: "Drumbeat speed up!" The Japanese army's advancing speed became faster with the drumbeat.Apparently, Kato Kiyoshi was trying to avoid more rounds of iron cannon salvos from the Ming army.

It's a pity that the Ming army's performance in this aspect still exceeded Kato Kiyomasa's expectations. Not only did the second round of salvos arrive immediately, but the third round of salvos didn't even take long. It was enough for the accelerated Japanese army to walk out about 15 meters.

Fortunately, after these three rounds of salvos, the fourth round of salvos by the Ming army was obviously slower, but it was still completed before the Japanese army "opened the fire cover". At the same time as the order to "open the fire cover" was issued, the Ming army suddenly made a new move.

The original formation on the front line began to tighten in columns, and the rear rolled out a series of "iron armored vehicles" that seemed a bit strange to Kiyomasa Kato-it was a wooden vehicle covered with iron sheets on one side, and there were about one person. The side covered with the iron sheet is not completely covered tightly, but there are three bowl-sized holes for each car.

These "iron armored vehicles" are exactly the core combat equipment of Qi Jiguang's car battalion tactics based on the development of firearms in the past few years: partial compartment vehicles.In terms of design concept, the van is actually a movable shooting bunker.

Kato Kiyomasa watched these side vans blessed with Jinghua technology quickly pushed to the front line, and quickly lined up in front of the "iron gunners" of the Ming army, and he already guessed their role in his heart.

Sure enough, the "Iron Gunner" of the Ming army quickly entered the other side of the car, and all the black muzzles protruded from the bowl-sized holes on the side of the car.

"Oh!"

The Ming army fired the fifth salvo.
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PS: The recovery of the arm is not bad. It is slightly affected but the problem is not serious. It is expected that tomorrow I can make up for the 1K owed yesterday.

(End of this chapter)