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Chapter 689: The Belated Cannon
At this time, they could only swing the engineering shovel and engage in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy near the trench. Then the dramatic scene stunned the soldiers and commanders on both sides, including Hong Tao.

The individual cold weapon combat capabilities of the army soldiers were indeed very poor. In a one-on-one fight, they would be knocked down in one or two rounds. Even when facing the Ming border troops in the south, they were not much better.

But the army soldiers soon found a solution, which was to form teams. Five people gathered together to advance and retreat, led by the sergeant, and fought and defended together, forming a numerical advantage in the local area.

No matter how strong the Mongolian soldiers were, they found it difficult to fight against the five shovels flying up and down. Often their weapons were broken or dropped out of their hands as soon as they hit them, and then they were chopped into bloody gourds.

In their eyes, the shovel is not a shovel, but a strange weapon invented by the Han people. It can sweep, chop, swing, split and twist, and its moves are similar to those of a knife, an axe and a hammer. It is also very tough and difficult to deal with.

After a short period of running-in and adapting to the feeling of facing life and death, the army soldiers' hand-to-hand combat team became more and more experienced and successfully blocked the gap with the help of rifle shooting.

Later, when a gap appeared somewhere, the army soldiers simply stopped thinking about how to quickly dry the firing mechanism of the rifle, and just shouted slogans and swung shovels together. As long as they could hold out for a few minutes, their comrades nearby would reload their ammunition and suppress the enemy with dense rain of bullets.

"Please remember that bayonets should be put on the agenda!" Hong Tao was absolutely responsible for most of the casualties among the army soldiers. In addition to bad luck, there were also deviations in the guidance of the army's weapons manufacturing.

Hong Tao designed the bayonet, an auxiliary weapon, a long time ago and made dozens of samples for the Marines to try out. However, due to lack of positive response, it was never put into mass production.

When the army was being built, they thought about giving it another try, and if it worked, they would equip it on a large scale. But at that time, the foundry, machine factory, and Royal Gunpowder Factory were all working hard to rush rifles and field guns. If they wanted to equip the rifles with bayonets, they would have to modify the rifles, which would seriously slow down the progress.

Then Hong Tao ignored the bayonet. He was not willing to let his soldiers engage in close combat. He always wanted to win by crushing them with the difference in weapons. He had always done so before and there had never been any problems.

But today's heavy rain made him understand a truth: no matter how excellent a weapon is, there will be times when it is not useful. This is why captains in later generations still have to use sextant positioning even when flying an aircraft carrier.

Without wasting money and resources and making major changes, equip as many items as possible. It doesn't matter if it only comes in once out of a hundred, because maybe that one time can save your life.

However, how to improve the army's weapons and equipment is a matter for the future. The current problem facing Hong Tao is whether to continue to let the army soldiers suffer increasing casualties or to abandon the plan of annihilating the whole army.

After a struggle in his mind, he chose a compromise plan. He wanted to relieve the pressure by disrupting the enemy's command system, delay the situation for a while, and maintain the possibility of perfectly implementing the plan.

"Messenger, order the artillery to fire intensively at the enemy's center!" In fact, if we want to win this battle, we can do it without relying on Sun Chengzong, and it is still not difficult even if it is affected by the rain.

The Mongols in the northwest and east may not have seen the power of artillery, let alone the range of field artillery, so a group of generals and their banners were brazenly set up on a high slope more than a mile away. The ones in the north were even more arrogant, standing on the tower of Xinghe City. In the daytime, you can vaguely see their attire with the naked eye without a telescope. The Ming border troops in the south were a little more cautious, but the general's flag was only less than a mile away.

If we were not afraid of scaring the enemy into retreating first, there would be no need to fight this battle. If each side was equipped with a dozen field artillery pieces, a barrage of shrapnel shells would be enough to carry out a decapitation operation and leave the enemy leaderless.

"Boom boom boom... Boom boom boom..." Before he finished speaking, bursts of muffled thunder came from the sky again, and then lightning flashed on the high slope in the west... No, it was fire, accompanied by a loud noise. A few breaths later, muffled thunder and flashes of light came from the east and north.

"Well done, well done, come again, come again!" Wang Chengen jumped up from the roof of the carriage and shouted to cheer. The emperor still had a backup plan. Now, even the enemy's central army was blown to pieces, and you are still so arrogant!

"…Your Majesty, our artillery is not ready yet?"

But the messenger was much smarter than Wang Chengen. The emperor's order was given by him personally. No matter how he counted on his fingers or toes, the gunners of each hundred households should not have acted so quickly.

"Oh no... Why did you come at this time, not earlier or later? It's obvious that you want to steal my credit! Anyway, cancel the bombardment order, and distinguish between friend and foe. Reinforcements are here!"

At first, Hong Tao was also confused. When did the artillery become so sharp that it could use dozens of cannons to achieve the effect of hundreds of cannons? It took him a moment to realize that it was not his artillery that did the damage. There was only one answer: Sun Chengzong's troops had completed their deployment and started the attack.

Judging from the direction of the bombardment, Sun Chengzong's troops had completed the counter-encirclement in at least the east and west directions, and largely cut off the Mongols' retreat route.

As for the south, humph, since Sun Chengzong's troops went north, Zhang Bingzhong and his gang definitely had no chance to return to the border wall. There was no need to consider where they could go. How far could a group of infantrymen go with just their two legs?

The Mongolian army, which was already at the end of its strength, was suddenly hit by a large-scale artillery bombardment. For a moment, they were even more confused than Wang Chengen. They thought it was the work of the besieged Ming emperor and did not know how to dodge. After being hit by three or four rounds, they finally realized from the sound that the enemy seemed to be coming from behind them.

At this time, when he looked for his commander again, the several large tents and the towering banners that were originally lit by the butter torches were all burning fiercely. The horses and people nearby were either dead or fleeing. It was like hell on earth. More explosions and fireballs were still concentrated nearby. Not to mention going over to rescue, even getting close became a luxury.

At this point, someone finally understood. Why bother attacking? Just find two horses and run home. It was obvious that the Ming emperor's reinforcements had arrived. Tens of thousands of troops surrounded the enemy's 5,000 people and attacked them for more than two days. In addition to huge losses, they gained nothing. Now they are definitely no match for the enemy.

As for why the reinforcements that the Khan had agreed with the Ming army and swore would not come came again, that was something the nobles would need to think about after returning home. Oh, no, there were probably not many nobles left, so there was no need to wait for orders.

(End of this chapter)