Daming kill

Chapter 240
In September of the 16th year of Chongzhen (around October in the Gregorian calendar), the north bank of the Han River was already cool.This year's temperature has dropped more obviously and faster than in previous years, and the temperature difference between day and night is also very large.

Still, the midday sun was nice and warm.

But not the wind.

On a small road in a vast forest, a group of troops armed with various weapons and uniformly dressed in cyan livery with earth red sides are advancing quietly.

Sunny today, but windy, but the woods are alright,

They numbered about forty, without horses, and without armor or helmets.

They come from the fourth regiment newly formed by Li Ping. It is a platoon that implements the new formation model. It has three squads with mixed equipment that can fight independently. Each squad is equipped with bird guns, spears, knives and shields.

This equipment method refers to Qi Jiguang's typical 11-man mandarin duck formation, which is very suitable for tasks that require high flexibility and team nature.

The task of this platoon today is to search and move forward to reach a village they have never reached before the road, and continue to cause oppression and disturbance to Hanchuan County not far away.

Although it seems that this way of using small groups of infantry to stay away from the river and go deep into the enemy's territory is a bit risky, the danger is actually not great.

According to various sources of information, Li Zicheng did not have many troops left in the entire Chengtian Mansion, and the total strength excluding his family members was probably less than [-], and there were very few cavalry.

Compared with Li Ping, such a force not only has no advantage, but is even at a great disadvantage, because the peasant army left behind by Li Zicheng must defend a very large area, especially in some core areas, such as Zhongxiang County, the prefecture.

The contacts between the two sides also support this conclusion.

After Li Ping was stationed in Hanyang, neither the neighboring Mianyang Prefecture nor the Hanchuan County not far from across the river sent a single soldier to attack and harass him.

On the contrary, after Li Ping, with the help of Zhang Kuang, the former magistrate of Mianyang, began to harass and harass Mianyang, which is adjacent but far away from the prefecture, the peasant army in Mianyang quickly shrank. Not only did they fail to organize any serious counterattacks, they quickly abandoned their military presence in most of the countryside.

The strength of the Peasant Army is obviously insufficient, and the number of cavalry is extremely small.

Li Ping and his staff naturally became more optimistic after considering all aspects of the situation.

Moreover, their judgment was indeed correct, and they even overestimated the strength of the peasant army.

After Li Zicheng's army went north, its total garrison strength in Xiangyang, Jingzhou, Yiling, Jingmen, Lizhou, Chengtian, Anlu, Xianling, Hanchuan, Runing, Xinyang, Yuzhou and other super vast areas was only about three. Ten thousand (excluding family members and handymen).

There are as many as 6000 garrisons in Xiangyang, Jingzhou, and Lizhou, and as few as 600 in Jingmen.

In response to this situation, Li Ping decided to reduce the actions of his own cavalry in an all-round way.

He felt that it was necessary for his cavalrymen, whose sources and compositions were very complex, to receive more regularization and obedience military training first, so as to ensure that they were firmly grasped first and allowed them to integrate more quickly. .

He feels that most of the tasks can be handed over to the infantry at present.

At the same time, Li Ping also decided to send troops across the Han River to harass Hanchuan County, which is closer to them, and ordered the navy battalion to go up against the Han River to deter them according to the wind direction and try to approach Han River, which is located on the edge of the Han River. Sichuan County.

Li Ping wanted to see if he could seize the opportunity.

If it succeeds, it will undoubtedly be the best support for the Ming Dynasty's northern front, and it will be worthy of Yuan Jixian and Xu Wenqi.

According to the Yellow Book of the 21st year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, Hanchuan County recorded a total population of just over 500, including 610 males and 890 females.During the Chongzhen period, although the population had further increased, the population also dropped to a lower figure again because of the war.

Therefore, some records that Li Zicheng seized four or five thousand ships in Hanchuan when he marched into Wuchang are very unreliable.

The book is back to normal.

Hanchuan County is not only small, but also sparsely populated. It is not impossible to seize it, even if the combat effectiveness of Li Zicheng's troops is obviously higher than that of Zhang Xianzhong's troops by more than one grade.

The officers and soldiers of the platoon advancing through the woods knew all of these situations. They had all heard the enemy's introduction and believed that their superiors would not lie to them. They generally believed that encountering the enemy today was still unlikely, just like yesterday and the day before yesterday.

Besides, they were not alone. The other platoons of the company were not far behind them and could quickly support them.

So although everyone continued to keep quiet and maintained the basic battle formation, including the fire ropes of the gunmen who were always lit, everyone was very relaxed.

The only bad thing is that they always don't get intelligence support from the local people, and they are completely blind to the situation ahead.

The peasant army stationed in Chengtianfu has a good military discipline. They do not harass the people, let alone kill and loot indiscriminately. Support.

This was a fact that Li Ping was very surprised and had to admit, and it also caused him unprecedented difficulties in attacking Hanchuan and Mianyang.

As he walked, a larger open space suddenly appeared in front of him.

It turned out that there was a small river running across the front.

Because they have been walking for a long time and have been safe all the time, the platoon leader who led the team did not ask everyone to cross the river first, but ordered everyone to stop and drink some water without thinking too much, and then refilled the gourd filled with water, and then Go across the single-plank bridge over the river.

However, just when the exhausted troops happily dispersed on the river beach, a group of mixed-clothes soldiers in leggings with about the same number as them suddenly rushed out from the woods and the hidden path across the river.

These mixed-clothed soldiers were obviously preparing to go down to the river to fetch water, and they were obviously tired and short of water.

However, they seem to be very familiar with this place, and most of them went straight through the woods without taking the hidden path.

Seeing each other, both sides were stunned.

Although both sides are wearing leggings, it is easy to see from the clothing that the two sides do not belong to the same army.

"Bah bah... bah bah..." A few blunderbuss instinctively quickly loaded the matchlock and shot at the opposite side first, showing the good training they had received.

The distance between the two sides is less than 100 meters, and it is possible to complete the kill.

But the hasty shooting didn't produce any effect. Although they were beaten and shouted for a while, no one fell down.

And the other side was not to be outdone, and immediately started to fight back, and it was shocking that there were several screams from this side.

The opponent is also carrying a firearm, and the matchlock is always burning. The training is also not weak, and the effective range of the firearm is still very good.

A pair of firearms exploded, and someone was shot again, and the soldiers on both sides who did not hold firearms retreated wildly.Most of the soldiers with firearms were brave and stood where they were, manipulating their guns nervously and aiming at each other to fire.

Although the platoon leader of the Fourth Regiment was a little confused, he didn't retreat. He was far away from the river and relatively safe. He hurriedly observed through the smoke from the firearms on both sides.

The number of people on the opposite side was not as large as his side, there were about 30 people, but more than half of them had firearms, the others mainly held spears, and no one held bows and arrows.

But the problem is that they only have twelve blunderbusses on their side, and at this moment, someone has already been shot down by the opponent, and the other soldiers have also been shot three or four times, and this is only the first round of shooting from both sides.

After many battles, he immediately realized that confrontation across the river would definitely suffer a big loss. It would be more beneficial for them to rush forward for melee combat, and more firearms on the opposite side also meant poor melee combat ability.

Besides, the river is very shallow, so it won't cause them too much trouble.

Perhaps it was the superiority in numbers, or the self-confidence built up in many battles. This platoon leader never thought of retreating or disengaging first.

Before he had time to think again, he immediately blew the whistle hanging around his neck fiercely, and then shouted: "Every class will rush across the river with me and beat them down."

It's a pity that it was not easy to organize the troops in a panic. When several squad leaders gathered their men and prepared to move forward, the second round of shooting by the musketeers on both sides started intermittently again almost at the same time.

Reload speed is not slow on either side.

Although the wind was strong, the smog, trees, and chaos still interfered with the observation. No one could tell what was happening on the other side, but they all knew that someone had fallen on their side.

Must be fast!
However, although the river was shallow, the rocks and muddy riverbed still interfered with the advance speed of the troops. Fortunately, in the third round of shooting, the blunderbuss soldiers who had not participated in the crossing took the lead and provided a powerful cover.

But just after crossing the river, the enemy's third round of shooting started intermittently again, and this time the distance was very close, and the damage was greater.

And everyone can clearly see and hear that the enemy's firepower has not been weakened at all.

What's more troublesome is that several soldiers who were following the platoon leader clearly saw their platoon leader falling down with his hands on his chest...

That night, Li Ping, with a dark complexion, received a report of the Fourth Regiment's setback near Hanchuan County, and his shocked facial features immediately twisted together.

That wasn't the only bad news he received today.

The three warships of the Navy Battalion equipped with nearly [-] artillery pieces were ambushed by more than [-] artillery pieces hidden in the dense forest on the bank when they sailed up the river against the wind today, more than ten miles away from Hanchuan County, and were defeated.

Although no warships sank as a result, two of them were damaged to varying degrees, killing more than a dozen officers and soldiers, and dozens of others were injured.

However, although the naval battalion lost a lot, it did not reach the level that shocked Li Ping.

The ship guns couldn't beat the shore guns, they were ambushed, and they were still in the narrow Han River. Generally speaking, it was normal.Accident, no surprise.

But the infantry's defeat was unusual, even shocking.

The platoon with the advantage in the first battle with the enemy actually suffered more than half of the casualties and did not hurt the enemy much.

Then after hearing the sound of firefighting ahead, the company that quickly came up to support did not take advantage of the pursuit. Not only did the enemy escape successfully, but more than a dozen people were killed or injured.

The superiority and training of the enemy's firearms have greatly exceeded everyone's expectations. This is the first time they have encountered enemy firearms that are not only not weaker than theirs, but also seem to be good at them, and they are also well-trained.

This is too surprising and even more unacceptable.

Shocked, Li Ping ordered the staff office to immediately find out what was the reason for the disparity in casualties in this battle, and urgently ordered the reconnaissance company directly under it to get the bird guns used by the enemy.

Li Ping knew very well that the problem in command was not that big, and the battle shouldn't be fought like this!

But no matter what, he knew that he could no longer underestimate Xie Yinglong, the defender of Hanchuan, let alone Bai Wang, the general manager of the peasant army Yangwuzhou (Chengtianfu).

And this day is destined to be an extraordinary day.

Later, another shocking news came.

The [-] troops that Zuo Liangyu sent south to pretend to spy on Yuezhou and stopped near Puqi County were suddenly attacked by Zhang Xianzhong's tens of thousands of elites. Even Ma Jinzhong was almost killed, and Puqi County, which had just been captured, was lost again.

Notes:

Note 1:

Bai Wang and Xie Yinglong displayed extremely high military talents when they were stationed in Chengtian Mansion. They did not lose the slightest when facing Zuo Liangyu with hundreds of thousands of troops with a small force, and they still firmly controlled Li Zicheng when he returned to Xiangyang after his defeat. Covering the entire Jiangbei area (Mianyang was taken back by Zhang Kuang), and even "Jiangxia County Chronicles" did not deny that Zuo Liangyu "repeatedly fought against Chuangshuai Baiwang and was invincible in Mianjian."

Note 2:

In December in the original history, Zhang Xianzhong raised his army northward and defeated Zuo Liangyu near Jiayu and Puqi, which made "Liangyu's army slump". This time Zhang Xianzhong went north to attack Zuo Liangyu because of historical changes ahead of schedule.

(End of this chapter)