Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 380: Main Force Confrontation, Don’t Take Risks

This battle was quite strange.

Both the Qing and Wu armies were very cautious and were busy sending in reinforcements!

1: p.m.
The Wu army burst into thunderous cheers. The supreme commander of the Jiangbei Campaign, Lin Huaisheng, arrived.

Under the eye-catching banner,
Lin Huaisheng wore chain mail armor inside and the standard military uniform of the Wu army outside, a flying saucer helmet on his head, and rode a black horse, looking very majestic.

at this time,

A breeze blew across the battlefield, bringing cool breezes.

There are no clouds in the sky, so there is no risk of rain.

……

Hailancha, wearing a cotton armor with yellow flags, reined in his horse and stood behind the army.

He stared at the opposing coach with his hawk-like eyes for a while and said disdainfully:

"The thief chief is also a martial artist."

Hamam, the general of Liangzhou Town, flattered:

"In front of the governor, any martial arts master is useless."

The coaches of both teams were very relaxed.

The middle and low-level officers were very busy, deploying troops.

Wu's army was in the east and the Qing army was in the west, with a distance of 3 miles between them.

The Qing army's formation had three layers.

The first floor is the artillery camp of Lieutenant General Li Jiulin, which has 1 artillery pieces of various calibers.

The second level (infantry) is Yansui Town, Hezhou Town, Xining Town, and Ningxia Town.

The third level (infantry) is Taiyuan Town, Yanzhou Town, Daming Town, and Nanyang Town.

Then there was the central army, where Hailancha led a group of senior officers. 800 Solon soldiers guarded the central army and served as a strategic reserve.

On both wings were the cavalry from Liangzhou Town and Suzhou Town.

The Qing army had an unwritten rule for troop deployment.

Generally, reinforcements from other provinces are drawn in proportion, and never exceed 5% of the total strength of the town.

So these towns did not come out in full force. Some had only a thousand people, while others had nearly three thousand.

……

On the other hand, Wu Jun

The military formation is rather odd.

The front bulge was composed of four square formations of the 1st Expeditionary Army, as well as small groups of skirmishers interspersed around the square formations.

Next came the 1st Army.

The battalion was formed into three rows, and from the air it looked like a long, thin water snake. If you looked more closely, you would find that there were many gun bearers mixed in.

Next came the infantry phalanxes of the 2nd Legion, with seven phalanxes lined up in a row.

Finally, there are the Guards Corps and the Central Army.

The artillery was actually deployed on both wings of the army.

Total military strength comparison:
The Qing army had 1 troops.

The Wu army had 1 men.

The number of artillery pieces is roughly equal, both exceeding a hundred.

In addition, the Qing army had a total of 2000 cavalry on both wings, while the Wu army was composed entirely of infantry.

If Hailancha does not follow the moral principles of martial arts,
With the Jiangbei camp behind him, he can mobilize all 6 soldiers.

……

"Commander-in-chief, the baggage camp has already unloaded the carts. Shall we ask them to move back?"

"No, go to the flank and protect the artillery position."

"Yes."

As a result, the Wu army's flank artillery position had an additional discontinuous circular fortification consisting of baggage vehicles.

Hailancha watched the whole process patiently.

Preach to those around you:
"There must be European officers among the Wu army."

Hamam was stunned and asked:

"How did the governor know?"

"Their uniforms, weapons, and tactics all have a strong European military flavor. I have seen them during my expeditions to Dzungar and Burma."

"The fake King Wu turned out to be a traitor."

Hamamu cursed.

……

Wu Jun Zhongjun,

Miao Youlin frowned:
"Everyone says that Hailancha is a demon general, hot-tempered and impulsive. How can this subordinate view him? Is he as steady as an old dog?"

Lin Huaisheng still had no expression on his face and raised his whip:

"Then let's attack for a while, beat the drum."

The messenger holding a small red flag rode his horse through the gap in the army formation and rushed to the front of the formation.

Shouting:

"1st Expeditionary Force, attack."

The soldiers in the formation were in commotion, attracting scolding from the officers.

"Pay attention to the formation, no talking, no looking back."

Zhang Laosan is now a battalion commander, and his armor has been updated. Plate armor formed by hydraulic hammering, an iron helmet that can cover the face, chain mail gloves, and a steel long sword.

Beside him,

They are Zhang the eldest and Zhang the second. The brothers share the same face and look very similar.

……

The four lonely square formations moved slowly forward to the beat of the drums.

Zhang Laosan saw it out of the corner of his eye.

That group of stragglers actually rushed out from the gaps in the square formation and came to him several dozen feet in front. He thought to himself that these guys were quite loyal and they could have a drink together after the battle.

The Qing army's artillery fire had not yet begun.
This group of stragglers opened fire first, and the gunfire was sporadic.

Hundreds of scattered soldiers, standing or crouching, fired at targets they considered valuable.

Ganzhou deputy general Li Jiulin sneered,
I thought these Jiangnan soldiers were really funny. They shot at us from a distance of less than 2 miles. Why didn’t they shoot across the Yangtze River?
suddenly,

There was a scream beside me.

A gunner holding a torch was shot and fell down.

As he fell, the torch touched the fuse.

boom.

The red cannon spewed out flames, and the heavy gun carriage suddenly retreated.

……

Li Jiulin shouted quickly:
"Don't fire."

However, it only stopped a few cannons around it.

Dozens of other artillery pieces further away fired one after another, and the sound of artillery fire on the battlefield was like thunder, deafening.

Li Jiulin's face turned pale with anger:

"Reload, quickly. No one is allowed to fire without military orders. Anyone who disobeys orders will be executed."

Hai Lancha, who was standing behind the formation, was also very unhappy when he saw this scene. He looked down on the descendants of Li Dingguo for some reason.
Dozens of shells.
This caused more than a dozen casualties to the four attacking phalanxes of the Wu army, which was very unsatisfactory.

Under normal circumstances,
With such a dense formation, one artillery shell could crush a group of people.

……

The scattered soldiers of the Wu army never gathered in groups.

The mental quality is very strong.

They walked at ease between the two armies, loading their rifles steadily and firing freely.

when,
A Minié bullet hit the barrel of the red cannon, leaving a noticeable scratch.

The gunners around were frightened.
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment, their necks lowered involuntarily. They couldn't figure out what kind of gun could shoot so far over a distance of less than 2 miles?
"The fake King Wu really knows how to use witchcraft."

"I heard he is a Zhang Jue-like figure."

The rumor that the fake King of Wu, Li Yu, was a sorcerer has long been popular in Jiangbei.

At that time, people had a fixed pattern of cognition:

All things and people that are beyond their knowledge are regarded as sorcery and evil people. This long-range shooting is just another verification of the rumors.

The demon Li Yu versus the demon general Hailancha.

They are quite a match.

……

Li Jiulin drew out his sword and walked back and forth in front of the artillery to stop the gunners who were about to move.

"Don't fire without permission. Hold steady."

Saying,

He glanced back again and saw that the scattered soldiers of the Wu army were less than a mile away, while the group of armored soldiers were more than a hundred feet behind.

Another round of gunfire~
The bullet arrives first, the gunshot comes later.

4 unlucky gunners were shot~
This made Li Jiulin's nerves collapse a little, and he pointed at a captain:
"You, take three submachine guns, push them forward and blast these monsters away. Each gunner will be rewarded three ounces of silver."

"Whoo."

……

The lightweight submachine gun was one of the main types of artillery of the Qing army.

Two gunners pushed the wheels, and one gunner followed behind, and the small four-wheeled artillery carriage slowly left the camp.

Behind them followed several wheelbarrows carrying cartridges (ammunition carts).

Li Jiulin's approach is correct.
You can't use hundreds of cannons to shoot at a group of scattered flies, right? Even if you can kill a few flies, it's still a huge loss. After a while, the dull sound of cannons rang out.
The Qing army's artillerymen quickly bombarded the scattered Wu army soldiers a hundred feet away.

After firing a shot, he would remove the ammunition chamber, replace it with a new one and fire again.

The gun carriage of the cluster gun is very light and the direction is particularly easy to adjust, so the coverage area of ​​the shotgun is very wide.

visible to the naked eye,
More than a dozen Wu army stragglers fell, and the rest immediately dodged to the sides with their guns in hand.

……

Li Jiulin is pleased:
"Red cannon, aim at the Wu bandit formation and fire."

The sound of artillery fire continued and casualties continued to soar.

The 1st Expeditionary Army's formation stopped where it was and was bombarded, not daring to move forward or backward.

Zhang Laosan's scalp was tingling.

Looking around nervously, hoping to get support from friendly forces or an order to retreat.

He was not afraid of fighting with the Green Camp soldiers, but was afraid of being bombarded by artillery from a long distance.

The 1st Legion finally moved.

Three slender rows of infantry marched forward to the sound of drums.

The officers walked at the front of the line, holding their swords, and kept their peripheral vision on the line behind them. One body length behind the officers were the drummers and flag bearers.

The Qing army gunners were excited, it was time to perform.

All members are shirtless, with braids, and are fully loaded.

Soon, the entire artillery position was filled with white smoke from the burning gunpowder, and the smell was choking.

This is when there is still a breeze.

If there is no wind, the gunners would feel like they are in a fairyland, like blind men groping in the dark.

……

Hailan looked very calm.

"Pass the order. When the Wu bandits enter half a mile, Yansui Town, Hezhou Town, Xining Town, and Ningxia Town will immediately move out to intercept the Wu bandits."

"General, my Liangzhou cavalry is willing to fight."

Hamamu's request to fight was met with a cold glance from Hailancha.

During the war,

Everyone should obey the commander's orders. As a member of the Beijing Banner family, you'd better behave yourself.

The generals each took out a telescope and observed the battle situation.

Only Hailancha, with his excellent eyesight, watched his own shells fall into the attacking Wu army's formation, and the broken limbs flew into the sky.

The flag bearer of the 1rd Battalion of the 3st Corps held the camp flag high and walked forward mechanically with his eyes slightly closed.

suddenly,

A black dot appeared in his sight. It seemed to be moving very slowly, but he couldn't hide it.

Then the whole person flew up.

I saw countless familiar surprised eyes, looking at myself ascending.

He flew up for just a moment and then fell heavily to the ground.

Fall into endless darkness.

……

A passing musketeer avoided the pool of blood, put his flintlock on his back, picked up the almost intact military flag next to it, and caught up with the officer.

The commander of the 3rd Battalion nodded to him with satisfaction.

Raise the sword and move forward:

"Keep in formation and move forward."

Just a few seconds later,
A shell from a mountain-splitting cannon ricocheted and flew over. The arm holding his sword disappeared along with his head.

The flag bearer felt a warm mass slowly sliding down his right cheek.

He suppressed the throbbing in his heart:
He shouted in a changed voice:
"go ahead."

Li Jiulin's face changed and his right hand trembled slightly.

He was born as a juren, and changed his position from a civil official to a military official purely out of personal interest. He liked to study firearms, especially cannons.

During the Jinchuan Campaign, the detachable nine-section, ten-part cannon he supervised produced played a significant role, and for this he was commended and promoted by the court.

As for,
Are officials of the Qing court ashamed of their ancestors?

That doesn't exist.

This is a very delicate and complicated topic. All we can say is that the Qing court treated the Li family well. Although they did not hold high positions, they had no worries about food and clothing until the end of the dynasty.

……

Ningxia Town General, Ma Qingshu drew his sword and shouted:

"Brothers from Ningxia and Yansui, charge! If you cut off a head, you will be rewarded with three taels of silver."

The huge number of soldiers under his command shouted and crossed the cannons to block the Wu army.

Zhang Laosan was startled instantly and whispered:

"Big Brother, Second Brother, follow me closely."

Then he shouted again:
"Brothers, hold your spears flat, form a formation, and don't be cowardly. The first one to cowardly die first, and the last one to cowardly die last."

After shouting this, he immediately put down his iron mask.

The recruits in the first two rows were so nervous that they were numb. They mechanically lowered their spears and trembled all over.

The veterans behind are much better.

Holding a knife, he kept threatening the new recruits in front of him:
"Don't look back, don't run, or I'll stab you to death right now."

……

The number of Green Camp soldiers in Ningxia Town and Yansui Town still scared some of the new recruits.

Some dropped their spears and ran back.

The formation was so dense that he could not run two steps before the old soldier stabbed him in the neck, and blood spurted everywhere.

"Why are you running, you coward? Can you get away? If the supervisors see you, they will bomb you to death with their cannons."

The veterans are telling the truth.

Under the city of Nanchang, they had experienced the fear of being dominated by the war supervision team. In terms of brutality, the Wu army's war supervision team was ten times more brutal than the Qing army.

"Kill~"

The two armies collided fiercely, swords slashing, spears stabbing.

The rattan shield soldiers of the Shaanxi-Gansu Green Camp are good at fighting, and there are also many musketeers~
Zhang Laosan's ferocious expression was hidden behind the iron mask.
While wearing armor, you must not bend over.

He picked up a spear from the ground with the toe of his boot, weighed it twice in his hand, and then exerted force suddenly. The spear he threw nailed a Wushuang captain to the ground.

His peripheral vision was always on the phalanxes of teammates on his left and right, as well as the 1st Legion approaching rapidly from behind.

Suddenly, a Qing army soldier holding a rattan shield rushed towards him.

It looks like he wants to kill the general and seize the flag~
Zhang Laosan relied on his armor to take the blow, then slit the stomach of the man with the rattan shield nearby, and his intestines spilled all over the floor.

This kind of injury won't kill you in a short time.

Zhang Laosan also wanted him to live a little longer, but he was afraid that he would not be honest.

So he kicked the waist knife away with his military boots, stepped on the right wrist of the rattan shield holder, and swung the knife to chop down~
When he chopped the left hand of the unconscious rattan shield bearer, it was much easier. He didn't need to step on the wrist to position it, he just made a light stroke.

……

"Hezhou Town, Xining Town, go up."

The rattan shield bearers were in the front, the musketeers and archers were in the back, coordinating between long and short range.

The ferocious northwestern fighters fought forward desperately.

The 1st Expeditionary Army could no longer hold on and continued to fight and retreat, and the phalanx was immediately defeated.

Fortunately, the 1st Army arrived in time and stabilized the situation with two consecutive rounds of salvos.

then,

The two armies began to shoot at each other frantically from a distance of several dozen feet.

The battlefield was once again dominated by bows and muskets. All kinds of hand-to-hand combatants retreated one after another, avoiding this damn battlefield.

Zhang Laosan breathed a sigh of relief.

He could finally take a break. If he kept holding on any longer, his entire battalion would be wiped out. He had just replenished 1 men, but now only half of them were left.

Take a closer look.
He was delighted again.

Most of the casualties were new recruits, who were in the front two rows and bore the greatest brunt of the attacks.

……

Hailan was so excited that she raised her whip:

"Yanzhou Town, Nanyang Town, go up."

The 2nd town was newly equipped with a large number of matchlock guns, and the firearm penetration rate reached 7%. Holding the green triangular flag, they moved forward with their guns and heads lowered to the sound of drums.

When the distance is 50 feet,

The officers reorganized the team again to ensure the tight formation.

When they got within 30 feet, he shouted to the soldiers to open fire.

The battlefield was filled with smoke, and the sounds of gunfire and wailing were mixed together.

The width of the frontal battle was as wide as 3 miles.

This style of fighting is exactly what Wu Jun is good at.

The 1st Legion is mostly composed of veterans who are good at shooting, reload quickly, and have strong mental strength.

2 quarters of an hour later,
The Qing army's formation was obviously sparse, and the ground was piled with corpses. Groups of deserters also began to appear~
……

"Hai Du Tong~"

Facing the anxious generals, Hailancha remained calm.

Draw the sword:

"Left wing Liangzhou Town Cavalry, avoid the front and attack the enemy's artillery position!"

(End of this chapter)