Traveler Major League

Chapter 261 Captive

Boom boom boom, explosions in the distance suddenly sounded, along with gunshots that sounded like fried beans.

The sound of "Woo-Woo" bugles sounded from the military stronghold in the distance, causing the soldiers on the top of Zhengzhou City to look back, and then the same sound and smoke came from the other three sides.

"Go back to the city quickly! The bandits are coming! The bandits are coming!"

"Prepare for war! Prepare for war!"

The gate of Zhengzhou City, which was originally relatively peaceful, was in complete chaos. Soldiers and civilians shouted in unison, and they rushed to the gate that had begun to close.

Yuan Chonghuan led the main force of the Ming army, about 50,000 people, to station in Zhengzhou, and the remaining about 40,000 people set up military strongholds outside the city along the north-south rivers such as Zhengshui, Jingshui, and Qinshui, extending to Xinzheng in the south and the Yellow River in the north, intending to use these The terrain is used as a blocker, and other troops are allocated to Ruzhou, Jiyuan and other places in the north and south of Luoyang as containment flanks.

The main layout is still focused on defense. Logically speaking, Kaifeng, which is 120 miles east of Zhengzhou, is a fortified city. But thanks to the vast plains surrounding Kaifeng, there are no north-south rivers and no natural dangers. Although it is suitable for cavalry to move freely, considering the previous After Mangui's disastrous defeat, Yuan Chonghuan really didn't have the confidence to play there.

When most of the people at the city gate fled into the city, the city gates were immediately shut tightly. Only the east gate remained. The other gates were wrapped in sand, stone and earth and blocked. The city head was full of soldiers with swords and guns. , and the Ming troops who did not enter the city in time were ordered to circle the city.

Several more groups of Ming army cavalry rushed over. Seeing this scene, they had no choice but to rush away like the Ming army in front. Behind them, the crowds of people were surging, and the broken troops could not form a queue. No, at most he carried his sword and followed the cavalry groups just now.

"Failed, defeated, run for your life!"

Yuan Chonghuan on the top of the city frowned when he heard the faint sound. After returning to Zhengzhou, he mobilized the people in the city to build trenches and set up barricades. He worked day and night, using all the methods he could think of. After using it, I didn't expect that even the messenger came in advance, and the defeated troops in front arrived.

How fast was this defeat? No time to react?

The view above the west city gate is wide. At a glance, it is clear that these defeated soldiers were originally stationed by the Zheng River. In the distance, there was thick smoke and fire in the direction of the military stronghold. Then, at the end of the field of vision, small squirming dots like ants appeared, like a tide. They advanced in a line, getting faster and faster, and the red flag held high was dazzling. It was the infantry team of the People's Army. The slightly larger and fast-moving ones in front were the cavalry and box-like all-terrain vehicles and off-road vehicles.

"Send the order! Anyone who dares to go out of the city to fight without my military order will be killed!"

In fact, without his military orders, no one dared to meet the enemy. These Liaodong soldiers had already been wiped out in small-scale contact battles. Now they can only stay in the city. If they had been in the wild, they would have done nothing. After running away, Yuan Chonghuan had no confidence in victory, and the same was true for his soldiers.

The wait did not take long, because there was no obstruction from the Ming army out of the city, the people's army quickly surrounded Zhengzhou City, and the other interspersed troops began to divide and surround the entire Ming army's defense line.

A strange scene appeared. Zhengzhou City, the central focus of the battlefield, was very calm, but the periphery was bustling with activity.

The artillery fire of the people's army was like a violent storm, pushing the confrontation with the elite Ming army on the periphery to a climax.

The combination of advanced individual weapons and mortars, although the tactics are rigid and even still used to the queuing mode of hedgehogs and regiments, but in general, the advanced tactics of artillery plowing and infantry coordination are still used, which has completely broken the The military advantages established since the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

This is not only a war showdown, but also a contest of strength, tactics and ideas.

On the smoke-filled battlefield, even if the soldiers of the People's Army are new recruits, every trigger pull and every shot they take is so deadly.

In contrast, the soldiers of the Ming Army seemed to have fallen into an abyss of loneliness. The comrades around them seemed to have become lifeless ghosts, unable to provide any effective support.

Fighting in formation, which had been practiced for thousands of years, turned into a death-defying act. The dense crowd made the 7.62mm caliber bullet appear a spectacle. It became a common phenomenon to kill two or more people when it passed through the soldiers.

Whenever they tried to organize an effective counterattack, even behind shield vehicles and fortifications, mortars would mercilessly engulf them.

This battle taught the Ming army what it means to be a true battlefield master.

Their artillery looked so clumsy and their infantry so helpless in the face of modern firepower. Personal bravery pales in front of bullets.

Therefore, when the bullets and artillery fire of the People's Army tore the charging Ming Army cavalry and infantry formations into pieces, these Ming troops who had been able to fight head-on with the Manchu and Qing Tatars on the Three Banners on the Liaodong battlefield without falling behind, For the first time, I felt real fear and helplessness.

What they faced was not a traditional classical army, but a red army that had reached modern times in terms of weapons and tactics, a force that was more powerful than they imagined.

The small number of military strongholds that were originally defended were now riddled with holes under the baptism of artillery fire.

The trenches gradually formed by the people's army were like an insurmountable gap, separating the outer Ming army from Zhengzhou. The sun gradually set, and the day's battle came to an end. The entire Zhengzhou was isolated. The Ming army who dared to resist was under artillery fire and The army was completely defeated by the double blow of the charge.

When the leading general was killed by decapitation tactics, most of the soldiers began to run away irrationally. In the end, the low-level officers could only follow the broken troops. The army lost its organization and became a scattered mass. sand.

"Those who kneel and surrender will avoid death! Preferential treatment for prisoners!" The loudspeaker of the airship suspended in mid-air repeatedly played to the battlefield, echoing the loud sound of recruiting surrender and accepting rebels.

Faced with such a tragic battle and various incomprehensible miracles, Yuan Chonghuan's military orders and the majesty of the court seemed so pale and powerless, and he knelt down and surrendered.

Even the Ming troops on top of Zhengzhou City appeared to be worshiping the airship in the sky.

As night falls, the bright moonlight shines on the devastated battlefield.

Groups of prisoners of the Ming Army lined up and began to be relocated. The glory of the Ming Army seemed to be an unreachable past at this moment.

The blazing flames jumped in the darkness, making the battlefield look like hell.

Driven by fear and helplessness, these Ming army prisoners were extremely obedient.

However, what surprised them was that there were no battles and fires in the centralized temporary prison camp. Instead, there were enough hot soup and meat buns. The instructors and members of the propaganda team had been waiting for them. The heavy work of identifying, transforming and releasing prisoners would soon They were told not to rest for several days.

The current prisoner policy of the People’s Army is:

Do not torture prisoners, retain personal legal property, feed the injured, and provide basic medical treatment. After disarming, identify the guilty and evildoers, break up the original organization, and then use the land-dividing and tax-free policy of Remembering the Sweetness of Suffering and the People's Alliance After the propaganda and education, those who wanted to go home were given travel expenses and sent away, and those who wanted to join the army were put into training camps.

In addition to the captured soldiers and some junior officers and technicians who strive to join the army, the remaining captured officers, old, weak, disabled, wounded soldiers and their families can be released according to the situation and sent back to enemy-occupied areas and enemy forces to expand their influence, because the officers are familiar with them. There are many, and the influence is huge, and it can even become a force to disintegrate the Ming army.

Those who were willing to go to Zhengzhou City were released the next day.

"How's the fighting going outside? Is there a lot of damage?"

"Oh, what a loss, the whole army was wiped out! The thieves' guns were too sharp, and half of us were dead just by looking at the figures."

"Why are you back?"

"The thief was kind and righteous. He treated the wounded man with medicine, gave him a meal of meat buns and mutton soup, and then put him back."

After nearly a thousand prisoners who had been "kindly treated" were released to Zhengzhou, the Ming army, which had lost confidence in victory and fell into fear, was greatly shaken in its thinking. Even the die-hard captives played a role in spreading defeat. The effect of emotions, and because of the People's Army's policy of preferential treatment of prisoners, he became an unconscious propagandist.

This was not only the case in Zhengzhou, but also under the Ming Dynasty further away.

(End of this chapter)