Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 438

"Betbu! You lead 2000 people to the north! Give you an hour, and I will destroy the Ming army in the north! Ben Bele leads 1000 troops to defeat the Ming army in the south! No, you lead the rest of the troops to the center Support!"

Azig, who returned to the camp, immediately issued an order, and the two Jia Lazhang Jingbo Tebu and Huili left without receiving the order.

After a while, the Qing army barracks sounded horns again and again, and two thousand Qing troops followed Botbu's flag and headed north aggressively.

Putting on his mail armor, Azig jumped on his horse and galloped south with more than a hundred guards, closely followed by a thousand Qing troops.

The Ming army that came from the north was more than 3000 men and horses from the Beijing camp stationed in Xingping Fort, led by Zhang Xian, the general of the Beijing camp.

Xingping Fort is about [-] miles away from Azige and Zhenshan Fort. The purpose of the Qing army camping between the two forts was to monitor and guard against the Ming army stationed there.

After receiving Chen Qiyu's warrant, Zhang Xian immediately sent Ye Bushou to sneak northward overnight to get in touch with Lei Sheng, the guard of Desheng Fort dozens of miles away.

After exchanging voices with Lei Sheng, Zhang Xian ordered the whole army to start preparing for war, and opened the city gate on the day designated by Chen Qiyu's order to lead his troops to march south.

Several scouts from the Qing army were sitting on the ground two miles away from the city gate, resting and chatting, their expressions were extremely relaxed. At this time, they suddenly saw the Ming army making a big move, and several people got up and got on their horses in surprise. One of them hit the horse and went back to report. People kept a distance from the forwards of the Ming army and monitored them nearby.

After all the more than 500 people left the city, Zhang Xian gave an order to expand the [-] spearmen to the left and right, forming two phalanxes of [-] people to protect the two wings, and [-] gunners to form two phalanxes at the front and back. The rest of the archers, sword and shield players, tiger crouching gunners, and grenadiers followed closely behind.

After the formation was lined up, more than a dozen flag bearers held high the five-color flags and rode their horses forward, leading the army to move forward. The few dozen or so people in the battalion urged their horses to run towards the sentry cavalry of the Qing army not far away.

As the chief general, Zhang Xian was guarded by more than a dozen personal soldiers, and he drove his horse between the two gunner formations in the middle, followed closely by a flag bearer holding high the chief general's black recognition flag.

The sentry cavalry of the Qing army in the distance saw more than ten Ming troops galloping towards them. Although they were not afraid in their hearts, they did not want to force the enemy. Moreover, they had seen the number and equipment of the Ming army clearly, so they simply urged their horses to go south.

The Ming army's Ye Bushou followed and chased for four or five miles, then slowed down and stopped chasing.

Their duty was to go out to find out the whereabouts of the troops of the Qing army, and they didn't come here to show off their personal martial arts skills.

The current distance is enough to send back to the police in time, so there is no need to conflict with the Qing army.

Everyone knows that apart from the Mongolian Eight Banners, the Qing army is not good at charging with cavalry, but with heavily armored infantry assaults. As long as the Qing army's brigade appears, the Ming army has enough time to respond.

After traveling southward for more than [-] li, Ye Bubu received a report back to the police. The Qing army was found less than [-] li ahead. The number should be around [-], with more than [-] shielded chariots. The entire army had no firearms. There are about two hundred riders.

Zhang Xian ordered Ye Bushou to withdraw to the main formation first, so as not to be besieged by the Qing cavalry, and then ordered the whole army to march another three miles to meet the enemy.

Half an hour later, with the fluttering of various flags, Betbu, who learned that the Ming army had already lined up, rushed over with a large group of Qing troops.

"Hunlu, do you see that? The Ming army has small cannons in front of the formation, and it's not easy to hit from the front! You lead 500 people around, let the archers shoot arrows first, and then you lead the team to attack from the right! Dajite! You take 500 people The people rushed from the left according to the method just now! Tell the Ahhas to push the shield chariot up, the remaining archers step forward, the armored soldiers follow, and charge immediately when the formation of the Ming army's musketeers is out of order! The cavalry go to both sides and prepare to hunt down!"

After watching the formation of the Ming army, Jia Lazhang Jingbo Tebu issued an order, and the two Niu Luzhang Jing received the order and greeted and led the Qing troops under their respective flags to go to both sides.

Although the formation of the Ming army on the opposite side looks very strict, it is nothing to the old Botbu.

Fighting is all about courage, and the Eight Banners soldiers have firmly trampled the Ming army under their feet for more than ten years by virtue of their bravery and fearlessness.

As long as one of the three sides breaks through the formation of the Ming army, all that remains is to flee and chase.

Seeing dozens of coat-coated shield chariots slowly approaching, Zhang Xian ordered them to go on casually. He greeted him from behind.

As early as the daily operations of the camp in Gyeonggi, the Jingying and Yongweiying made a special solution to the Qing army's shield chariots: when there were no artillery, the Zhentianlei was the best weapon to destroy the shield chariots.

Dozens of Baoyi, who did not know that death was approaching, tremblingly pushed their carts forward amidst the shouts and curses of the Qing army behind them.

When they were more than a hundred steps away from the gunners of the Ming army, the packers shouted, pushed the cart forward with all their strength, and prepared to run dozens of steps before leaving the shield cart and running back.

At this time, the grenadiers of the Ming army had already bypassed the musketeers and tiger squatting guns in the front line. After seeing the shield car suddenly accelerate, the sentinel of the team gave an order, and the grenadiers lined up in a row and strode forward. Moving forward, after estimating the distance between the two sides, he threw out the Zhentianlei one after another.

A series of explosions sounded loudly, setting off a cloud of dust and smoke near the shield vehicle. Each of the grenadiers quickly threw three thunderbolts forward and then retreated back.

All this happened within tens of breaths, and the Qing army archers following behind the shield car had no time to react, and their vision was completely obscured by dust and black smoke.

When the dust and smoke cleared, what appeared in front of the two armies was a hellish scene.

Dozens of thunderbolts blasted most of the shield carts to pieces, and all the coats of the carts were blown to the ground. Except for a few who were seriously injured and still screaming, the rest died tragically on the spot.

At this time, more than a thousand Qing troops had circled to both sides of Zhang Xian's troops, and launched an attack on the Ming army amidst the sound of explosions.

Due to the greater lethality of firecrackers, many archers in the Jingying and Yongwei Battalions have been replaced by blunderbussmen. Zhang Xian's troops only retained more than a hundred archers, and this time they were assigned to the two wings.

There were more than a hundred Qing army archers rushing over on both sides. After a few short rounds of mutual shooting, the Ming army archers retreated after more than half of the casualties, and then the Qing army archers fired at the Ming army spearmen phalanx .

Although there were shields held by the shields, the heavy arrows of the Qing army fell through the gaps in the shields and fell into the formation of the Ming army. In the blink of an eye, hundreds of spearmen on both sides were injured or killed. There was a loosening, and many soldiers were already panicked.

Although the daily drills of the Jingying soldiers are assiduous and conscientious, after all, there are too few actual combats.

Seeing the teammates around him fell down one by one, the screams still made some soldiers who had not fought in the battle extremely terrified. If it weren't for the iron-like military discipline burned in their brains over the past few years, some of them would have thrown down their spears long ago. Ran away.

Fortunately, the archers of the Qing army retreated exhausted after eight rounds of shooting, and the spearmen who gritted their teeth breathed a sigh of relief, and the sword and shield fighters also retreated quickly, leaving the spearmen with the distance and space to assassinate.

The vacancies of the casualties were quickly filled by the soldiers in the back row, and the Qing infantry had already rushed over.

Niu Luzhang Jinghunlu on the right rushed to the front in heavy armor.

After seeing the frightened look on the faces of the soldiers of the Ming army opposite, Hunlu's eyes were full of contempt.

These damned Nikans don't deserve to wear such bright armor. Once their heads are all cut off, these armors will all belong to the Eight Banners.

As thoughts flashed in his mind, Hunlu had already rushed into the killing range of the long spear, and several long spears more than ten feet long stabbed at him at the same time.

Hunlu swept the shield horizontally with his left hand, and several long spears were knocked sideways by the shield. Taking advantage of the situation, he swooped forward with force from his waist and legs, and slammed down the seven-jin iron bar with one hand, with a crisp cracking sound. The head of a spearman who couldn't dodge was smashed to pieces by the iron rod, and his body hit the ground like a log.

Immediately afterwards, Hunlu's iron rod swept across, and the two spearmen were swept by the iron rod. The spears fell to the ground amidst the screams of pain. The two fell to the ground wailing.

Hunlu held his shield to protect his upper body and continued to rush forward, trying to open a gap and let the follow-up Qing army follow up, completely breaking the formation of the Ming army.

Suddenly, two long spears stabbed one after another in the oblique stab, and Hunlu's left rib and right thigh were shot respectively. The sharp spear points pierced the three layers of heavy armor he was wearing, and blood flowed from his thigh immediately. It also spewed out along with the withdrawal of the gun head, and dripped down the body.

Hunlu staggered, threw the shield in his hand violently, and then smashed down the iron rod with both hands, killing a spearman in front of him. Before he could retract the iron rod, a long spear pierced into his right eye. In the process, Hunlu let out a loud roar, his body slowly collapsed and he died.

At this time, the Qing army on the left had already broken through the formation of the enlightened army's spears and entered the formation. People on the field were constantly injured and fell to the ground, and the two sides soon fell into a melee.

Zhang Xian didn't expect the Qing army to be so fierce and break into the spear phalanx so quickly.

The current situation is extremely unfavorable to the Ming army. As long as it continues, the phalanx of spearmen will be broken, and the gunners will face the danger of being attacked on the flanks. When the Qing army in the middle comes over again, a big defeat will be inevitable. .

Zhang Xian first ordered the grenadiers to be divided into two teams to join the battle, and then sent more than a dozen personal soldiers to the two sides, and all the sword and shield fighters were also thrown into the battle.

Booming explosions sounded one after another, and the rapid attack momentum of the Qing army on both sides was slightly contained under the blow of Zhen Tianlei, but the situation was still extremely unfavorable to the Ming army.

At this moment, in the mountain forest on the east side about two miles away from the battlefield, a bright red color suddenly appeared. With the unfurling of various flags, a large group of Ming troops rushed out of the forest, and then quickly formed a formation, He rushed towards the two sides that were fighting.

(End of this chapter)