Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 82 The Power of Artillery
"Ten more miles!"

The messenger slapped his horse and shouted loudly in the army, "Ten miles to go, cavalry, go out five miles!"

"The artillerymen and musketeers hid in the woods on both sides."

Huang Degong shouted to his men, "Cavalry, follow me five miles away!"

Sun Yingyuan followed suit and shouted, "Cavalry, follow me five miles away!"

"White-pole soldiers, follow me and go out for five miles!" Ma Xianglin also shouted.

"Five miles outside the Beijing camp..."

Going five miles away was the tactic the emperor decided for Cao Huachun before he set out, to show weakness to the enemy first.

Simply put, it is to let the enemy see that the Ming Dynasty has less than 20,000 cavalry.

What the Manchu Tatars were most proud of was their field battles and their cavalry, which was why they rode cavalry into the pass many times. It was impossible for them to bring artillery with them, so after entering the pass they would not be so stupid as to attack the city or fight positional battles. Their purpose was to plunder property.

In order to destroy the Ming Dynasty's manpower, if they saw that the Ming Dynasty was marching in unison and had formed a tight military formation, they might not rush forward rashly.

What the Manchu Tartars liked most was to encircle and annihilate the Ming cavalry.

The total number of cavalry from the Beijing Camp, the Yongwei Camp, and the White Spear Camp was less than 20,000. Led by their respective commanders, they rode out towards the open area.

The cavalry of the third battalion were wearing different clothes and at first glance, they seemed easy to bully.

……

The sound of horse hooves was like thunder, and the flying dust rose several meters high.

“Hu…ha!”

"Drive~"

The Manchu Tartar Beile Dudu came galloping with 25,000 cavalrymen, like gusts of strong wind sweeping the earth.

Although Yue Tuo said that he would give him 20,000 cavalry, he finally gave him 25,000 cavalry, and only had 15,000 cavalry left for himself in case of a battle in the rear.

Without him,

In his first battle after entering the pass, he must fight a good battle.

Yuetuo joined the military at an early age and followed Nurhaci in attacking Liaodong and conquering Mongolia. He was successively granted the titles of Taiji and Beile, and was in charge of the Bordered Red Banner. After Nurhaci's death, he fully supported Huang Taiji and followed the second Beile Amin to the expedition to Korea. He was highly valued by Huang Taiji.

He was granted the title of Heshuo Cheng Prince, but his upright character displeased Huang Taiji, so he was demoted to Duroberle.

So he planned to take advantage of this battle to get rid of the pent-up anger in his heart.

A few hundred people were already frightening enough to look at, and when 25,000 cavalrymen marched in one direction, it really was like a huge raging wave rushing towards them.

"Report!" The scout came galloping over, "Lord Beile, there are Ming Dynasty cavalry five miles ahead, about 15,000 of them."

"Fifteen thousand? Did you see which group of troops they were from?"

"I can't tell. The cavalry is divided into three colors. I can't tell which side is in charge."

The Manchu nobles under Beile Dudu couldn't help but laugh, "Three colors? Miscellaneous soldiers?"

"I thought it was some elite troops who dared to come, but it turned out to be a group of ordinary soldiers?" Yue Tuo's younger brother Mazhan also went with the army this time. Hearing this, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "My Lord, just give me 5,000 troops and I will go and defeat them."

Belle Dudu couldn't help but laugh and said, "Don't underestimate the enemy!"

"We must fight quickly and decisively. We must deliver the battle report to Your Majesty before Dorgon arrives."

Yuetuo's brother Mazhan laughed and said, "I didn't expect this achievement to be so easy!"

……

When the Manchu Tartars appeared in a black mass on the other side of the river, the sound of their horses' hooves was like thunder and the murderous aura was felt across miles.

The cavalrymen of the Yongwei Camp, the Beijing Camp, and the White Spear Soldiers looked at the flood on the opposite side and were dazed for a moment.

Ma Xianglin's Adam's apple rolled and he swallowed hard, "Is this the Northern Army? Can this battle... be won?"

He grew up among the soldiers and had a deep understanding of military training and combat effectiveness, with white-pole soldiers watching over him.

The Sichuan Army was already very powerful, and the enemy's spirit was no less powerful than theirs. With tens of thousands of people, they advanced like a mountain.

What's more, the main training place for their White Spear Soldiers was the mountainous area, but now the area was flat and there were 20,000 to 30,000 people on the opposite side, which was more than them.

Many people in the Beijing camp couldn't help but tremble when they saw Shi Zang's scene.

The blood flows rapidly through the body, squeezing into the heart and then being violently pumped out, bringing all the heat generated by the internal organs to the entire body.

A strange mood spread among the army.

I can’t tell whether it’s fear, anticipation, or frustration.

The Tatar cavalry was almost a myth in the Ming Dynasty. From the moment they joined the military camp, they heard from veterans that all the strategic field battles starting from Fushun, Qinghe and Sarhu were almost all failures.

He talked about how powerful the Tatar cavalry was, how the Ming soldiers were defeated before them, and how he escaped from the enemy's hands.

Three people make a tiger. When more people talk about it, the Tartar soldiers become like tigers and wolves, spreading in the hearts of the Ming soldiers.

At this moment, not only the Beijing Camp, but even the Yongwei Camp and the White Spear Soldiers were trembling with fear.

Fortunately, although they were frightened, no one moved. After this period of training, they also knew that even if they were afraid, they had to rush forward.

Zhang Shize, the son of the Duke of England, felt his chest heaving and his heart pounding. He couldn't help but ask, "Why are there so many people coming? Didn't they say there would be at most 20,000 people?"

Huang Degong bared his teeth and said, "It looks like there should be at most 30,000 people, which is still within Cao Gong's expectations. Damn it."

"Brothers, get ready!" Sun Yingyuan held up his spear and sneered loudly, "Don't be afraid. Even though they look like strong men now, they will turn into bears in a moment."

"Everyone, control your horses and don't move!"

Suddenly, a cavalry officer came on horseback and sent down the order. The troops behind followed closely, and the sound of orders continued.

……

Beile Dudu had already seen the cavalry of the Ming Dynasty. As the scout had said, they were wearing three-color uniforms. He couldn't help but sneer, "It seems that the Ming Dynasty has really fallen on hard times. They even need to mobilize these few cavalry from the three major camps?"

"Are kings, princes, generals and ministers of different races? This beautiful land should be ruled by people of virtue. It is time for us, the Qing Dynasty, to sit on it."

"Everyone listen up!" Beile Dudu pointed at the area where the Ming army was, his face as cold as ice, and murderous intent in his eyes, "Kill them and take the credit for this."

"Kill!" Yuetuo's brother Mazhan laughed and said, "My sword is thirsty!"

boom!
The earth shook and the sky was filled with yellow sand.

A black torrent rushed towards the Ming army.

……

"Don't move!" Sun Yingyuan looked at the Tatar cavalrymen who were getting closer and closer. When he could see the faces of the people on the other side clearly, he finally shouted loudly: "The rear soldiers will become the front soldiers and retreat five miles!"

The signal flag was flying, and at the same time the messenger shouted and passed the order on.

In the eyes of the Manchu Tartars, the Ming cavalry actually began to retreat, which made them extremely excited.

"The Ming soldiers are frightened, they want to flee..."

"We can't let them get away." Yuetuo's younger brother Mazhan bared his teeth and said fiercely: "Chase them, we can't let them fly away like this with the meat in our mouths."

Baylor Dudu also smiled, turned around and shouted to his bondservants: "Charge forward, whoever kills the most today will be rewarded."

"Thank you, master!" The bondservants laughed and galloped forward on their horses.

Not only Beile Dudu, but also many nobles in the army, they brought their own slaves with them to join the army, just to gain military merit. Seeing such a good opportunity, they no longer hesitated at this moment, and let all the slaves come out in full force.

"Go...faster...faster..." Yuetuo's younger brother Mazhan took the lead. In one mile he would come into contact with the Ming soldiers. His face began to turn red with excitement. He took out the big bow on his back.

Fifteen strong bows.

There are not many things in the army that can be used in battle, so this time he must show his skills.

The other Manchu Tartars who followed closely behind him, each sticking close to their horse's back, also took out their bows from behind.

Five miles away.

The horses started running and soon arrived. Seeing that the Ming cavalry were about to enter the valley, the Tartars became anxious and chased them even more urgently.

front,

The Ming cavalry had already reached the foot of the mountain valley and rushed into the forest almost without stopping.

At this moment, Beile Dudu had already seen the valley ahead. He instinctively felt that something was wrong and was about to ask the Qing soldiers to stop.

boom!
Thunder on the ground!

With a loud noise, the warhorse under his crotch was startled and raised its front hooves suddenly. He was not paying attention and was thrown off.

The next moment, a huge projectile brushed past his side, and the three people behind him, including their horses, were smashed into a ball of meat without even a groan.

"Puff~" Blood and flesh splattered on his face and body... He looked at the protruding hillside of the valley in surprise.

boom!
boom!
boom……

Thick smoke rose up and countless artillery fires came towards the Qing troops.

The boss, Belle Dudu's eyes widened, and asked in disbelief: "Cannons? How can there be so many cannons?"

Even he, a beile and a leading figure, was like this, and the Qing soldiers rushing in the front were even more confused.

They had seen Ming Dynasty artillery before, but they had never seen so many artillery pieces and such powerful artillery pieces.
Red Cannon? Aren't they all used on the city walls? Even if they were dismantled and set up on the mountain, there couldn't be so many of them!
Hundreds of cannons, spitting out flames, formed a fan shape and covered the entire open space under the valley.

If I had to describe it in one word, it would be plowing!
Plow the land with artillery!
And it's not just plowing once, but plowing the land continuously, repeatedly.

The valley instantly turned into a sea of ​​corpses and blood.

Howling all over the place.

……

On the hillsides on both sides, the lieutenant general of the Yongwei Battalion, who was in charge of the artillery, held up flags and kept shouting, "Reload, fire!"

"Put it back!"

White smoke suddenly rose up, and flames burst out from the iron pipe.

Immediately afterwards, a soldier pulled the sub-gun out of the Francois cannon, and another soldier put another sub-gun into the belly of the mother cannon from the side.

The soldiers waiting beside the mother gun suddenly mobilized and fired the cannon.

At this moment, more soldiers were in position with paper shells.

The one hundred improved cannons are smaller in mass and better sealed than before, and with the addition of granular gunpowder, their power is more than twice as strong as before.

At this time, there were at least a dozen shells placed around each cannon. If it weren't for these shells, they would have arrived earlier.

But at this moment, all the efforts are worth it.

The lieutenant general waved his flag violently, his ears buzzing from the shock, but he still shouted: "Fire again!"

boom!
boom……

……

This scene not only shocked the Tatars, but even the White-Pole Soldiers from Sichuan were stunned.

Everyone looked at the tragic scene in front of them with horror.

The white hair was sweating, his whole body was cold, and the blood seemed to be flowing backwards.

Ma Xianglin's heart was beating violently, his throat felt like it was on fire, and he kept swallowing his saliva. He looked at the Yongwei Battalion and the Jing Battalion, "No wonder His Majesty asked us to see the artillery, no wonder they are so confident, no wonder..."

He was mumbling something to himself, not even knowing how many words he had said, but the great sadness in his heart was hard to conceal.

Ma Xianglin was like this, and the White Spear Soldiers were even more so. Their throats were so dry that their jaws almost dropped.

The fear of the Manchu Tartars in my heart was shattered at this moment by the gushing artillery fire.

Such a year emerges in everyone's mind.

So, war can be fought this way?

The Beijing Battalion was a little better than them, but not much better, because they had only trained before, but had never seen actual combat scenes. Now that they saw blood, except for the veterans, the new recruits were trembling all over, not knowing whether it was because of excitement or other reasons.

The Brave Guard Battalion was in the best condition, as the backbone members of the army had all seen blood.

On the other hand, many of them had participated in suppressing Duke Cheng before, so although the scene was bigger this time, they were just more exciting.

Ma Xianglin kept looking at the cannons on the hillside, his eyes glowing green, and he said in his heart: "No, after I go back this time, I have to ask Mother and His Majesty to bring some over."

……

A large number of Tatar cavalry were hit.

The Tatars were in complete chaos, and anyone hit by a shell would either die or be injured.

The man who was just speaking was smashed into a pulp the moment he turned his head... There was a commotion among the Tartar soldiers.

The horses were all frightened and in complete chaos.

The cavalry in front had not yet completely stopped, and the cavalry behind had already rushed over. Some horses were frightened, some were hit by shells, and some were tripped by the dead horses in front.

But this horrible nightmare was not over yet. The dirt, body parts, and flesh on the ground were flying everywhere.
The horse of Yuetuo's younger brother Mazhan was also hit by a shell, and he was thrown to the ground, with a heavy load on him. His two bondservants quickly dragged him out from under the dead horse.

The next moment he was hit by a shell, his face was shattered without a sound, and only half of his head was left.

The huge smell of blood rushed into his nose, making him want to retch, but he held it back and looked at the Ming artillery on the hillside with red eyes.

"Kill!" After saying that, he led his men and rushed towards the area where the hillside was.

Baylor Dudu also reacted at this time. With red eyes, he pushed a bondservant who was protecting him to the ground, mounted his horse, pointed at the cannons on the hillside and shouted: "Take these cannons, and we won't lose!"

He looked at the cannon on the hillside, and his intuition told him that it was a good thing, something good that they had never seen before.

Otherwise they would not have suffered such a huge loss all at once.

……

The Ming army's central army saw that the Tartars suffered heavy casualties, but their fighting spirit remained undiminished. A flag bearer came out with a signal flag and waved it.

"Musketeers, get ready!"

"Wait until they are 100 steps closer." The lieutenant general of the Yongwei Battalion who commanded five thousand muskets took a deep breath, stared coldly at the Tartars rushing forward, and counted the distance silently in his heart.

Only when he got close did he shout, "Get ready."

"put!"

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(End of this chapter)