Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 642 Night Attack
Under the cover of the light infantry, the sanitation team and militia who cleaned the battlefield opened the gate and came out. They first packed up the dead on their own side who died in front of the embankment.Many of the Fubo Army dead who fell from the embankment had their heads chopped off, and the ID cards hanging around their necks were also lost. We can only check their names and troops one by one from the cloth tickets sewn on their clothes. Register for burial.Then began to clean up the bodies of the officers and soldiers who died in battle, including those that fell in the trenches, and dragged them out one by one with hooks.The weather is already hot, and so many corpses left on the ground will soon cause plague once they rot.

The Ming army saw the Kun thieves opening the gate of the village and coming out in a big way, thinking that they were about to launch a counterattack, they climbed up the wall of the village and prepared to fight.However, after leaving the stronghold, the infantry of the Kun thief stopped and formed after advancing [-] steps.Many people in white robes came out from behind, their heads and faces were surrounded by white cloth hoods, and they held long poles in their hands.The corpses were hooked and pulled together, and then transported to a deep ditch with a trolley for burial-the engineering team buried a column of gunpowder, and quickly blasted a deep ditch to bury the corpses.

Abandoned officers and soldiers and wounded soldiers can be found from time to time in the pile of corpses. As long as they can still move, they are loaded on trolleys and transported back to the stockade for treatment.

What makes He Ming and the veterans regret is that the officers and soldiers did not leave behind the corpse of an officer of the rank of Chief Qian and above, let alone the wounded.Even their personal surname flags have not been picked up.

He Ming did not ask to take back the swords, guns and weapons left by the Ming army scattered on the ground, but he collected all the military flags discarded on the ground without leaving them-this is a mark of military exploits.

"The thieves didn't cut off their heads!" The officers and soldiers watched the enemy's actions curiously. Not only did they not cut off their heads, but they even took the wounded back.In the army at that time, once injured in battle, there was a danger of death, not to mention serious injuries that were unable to walk.When the general army cleans up the battlefield after winning, regardless of the enemy or the enemy, as long as the seriously wounded are generally made up on the spot.

For the sake of safety, the Fubo Army's action of collecting corpses and cleaning the battlefield was only advanced to a place more than 200 meters away from the earth embankment.This distance is also the place where the most corpses are left.

While the health team was busy cleaning up the battlefield, lightning flashed in the thick clouds, and there were waves of dull thunder.A rainstorm is coming.

After the war, there are often heavy rains, especially in June and July, when the water vapor is abundant and the clouds are dense. A large amount of dust and gunpowder smoke provide sufficient condensation nuclei.

"The corpse is going to be swollen with soaking water now," Ren said with a frown as he withdrew the hasty health team, "As soon as the sun comes out tomorrow, I feel scared thinking about the smell on the battlefield. "

"Let's make do with this first, let's deal with it later." He Ming seemed to smell the smell of corpses along the road when he marched to Lang Son. "Disinfectant should also be sprinkled in the camp."

Ren took off his burqa, which smelled of disinfectant and blood, and threw the oilcloth boots into the burning boiler, which was boiling water to supply the troops.

"The 6th Infantry Battalion is on guard, pay attention to rain protection! The other troops eat immediately and then rest." He Ming ordered loudly, "Tell the logistics department to ensure that every tent and shack is dry."

"Understood." Xie Shu saluted, turned and trotted away.The sound of roll call sounded on the square in the camp, and soon the third and fifth infantry battalions reported the vacancies of each battalion, and the dead and injured officers and sergeants had to be replenished immediately, and meritorious soldiers were promoted to upgrade.The vacancies of soldiers were filled by the militia.In this way, all the troops can go to the battlefield with full strength tomorrow.

With the sound of violent thunder, sparse bean-heavy raindrops fell on the ground, and there was a smell of mud and blood. A gust of cold wind blew, and everyone shivered. The sound of thunder, the golden snake danced wildly between the sky and the earth for a while, the white rain curtain enveloped the sky and the earth, and the sound of the clattering rain made it difficult to hear each other's voices.

He Ming's orderly had already brought his rain gear, and put it on for him as soon as it rained.He Ming was not in a hurry to go back to the headquarters, and asked, "Is the wounded covered?"

"Canopies and big tents have been set up for the wounded."

The thunder gradually faded away, but the rain was getting heavier and heavier, and people and things could not be seen clearly at a distance of about ten steps. He Ming still went around and saw that all the places had been properly arranged before leaving. After returning to the headquarters, he sent an officer under the escort of the special reconnaissance team to visit the two lurking infantry battalions.

The 1st Battalion and 4th Battalion in charge of lurking are in the wild. Seeing the heavy rain, He Ming is afraid that they will not be able to camp in the wild, and may even be in danger of encountering flash floods.

"Tell them not only to pay attention to safety but also to pay attention to concealment!" He Ming told the messenger, "Prevent the enemy from sneaking at night."

However, both battalion commanders reported that the current campsite is safe, and the soldiers are not flooded and are resting.

At this moment, the city tower of Chengmai was full of gloom.Today's whole day of fighting has shown that the Kun bandits are not only excellent in firearms, but also extremely powerful in combat.Although the exact number has not yet come out, it is certain that the total casualties exceeded 2000.This is already very serious for an army of more than 2 people.Morale was low throughout the battalion.Many people are afraid that they will be driven to fight the Kun bandits tomorrow, and they already have the idea of ​​fleeing.It was only because of the heavy rain and the darkness outside that there was no large-scale escape.

On the one hand, He Rubin ordered reliable troops to control the roads and key passes, and on the other hand, he called a meeting of generals to comfort the generals, asking them not to be discouraged and to wait for tomorrow's decisive battle.Zhao Ruyi also said some words to all the generals to serve the country loyally.Several generals were temporarily promoted, and they were asked to lead the troops who had lost their chief generals.The troops with the most serious losses were transferred to the rear to garrison, and replaced with new and cutting-edge troops to the front line.

He then ordered people to kill more than a dozen runaways captured by rangers who were scattered and did not return to the camp and tried to escape to Qiongshan, and the leader ordered the entire camp.Then this murderous power sent cronies, staff and generals to the most unreliable military and village bravery to express comfort, and asked them to "work together with one heart" with both soft and hard methods.After finishing all this, he returned to the big tent.Zhao Ruyi was sitting in the tent, twirling his beard.He Rubin knew that he seemed calm, but in fact he was very scared.

"General Yinzhi, what is the chance of winning tomorrow's battle?" Zhao Ruyi asked.

"It's only six or seven points!" He Rubin said, "Our army suffered a setback today, and the morale of the army is quite shaken. The morale of the gangsters is booming..."

He didn't go on with the rest of the words, and everyone present knew the subtext: Tomorrow's battle may be more defeats than victories.

Zhao Ruyi coughed and said, "The Kun bandits have sharp weapons and strong morale. Our army must not fight against them in the wild. According to the students, it is better to dig deep ditches and build high walls to drain the gun bandits' spirit."

He Rubin remained silent, this method of warfare is useful against ordinary enemies, even against the enemy of the imperial court, Donglu. The officers and soldiers have many firearms and infantry. With one heart and one mind, soldiers can always hold on with their lives.Not a bad tactic.

But the Kun thief was different from any enemy the Ming army had fought against.Even the red-haired man most similar to the Kun thief is different.The enemy has cannons that can shoot farther and more accurately than them. Digging trenches and defending will only be slowly shelled by the enemy from a distance. Before the enemy attacks, the morale of the entire army will collapse.

"Lord Zhao, the bandit's cannons are far above me. Dig trenches and hold on. The enemy's cannons can reach me, but my cannons can't match the enemy. People are swords and I am fish!"

Zhao Ruyi made sense when he heard it: "It's just to attack tomorrow, I'm afraid..." He didn't say anything, just sighed.

An aide said: "Your Excellency, don't worry, no matter how far his cannon is, he can go out of the village to shoot. The enemy soldiers are few, but depending on the sharpness of the firearms, he may not dare to go out of the village to shoot."

At this time, Chang Qingyun stepped in and said: "My lord! The gangsters have defeated my soldiers today, and they must have been lazy and arrogant, and neglected to take precautions. It is raining heavily again tonight, and the enemy's firearms cannot be used. Please send a brave general. , use a lot of money to raise hundreds of dead soldiers, follow the example of the attack on Caizhou on a snowy night, and surely smash the thieves!"

He said it emphatically.He Rubin secretly said: "Scholar's opinion!" With such a heavy rain, it is difficult to send hundreds of people out in the dark, even the direction may not be accurate.

But Chang Qingyun's "heavy rain is pouring, firearms must not be able to use this sentence" moved him. In his opinion, he was still defeated by the powerful firearms of the gangsters today.

Preferably it will rain tomorrow.He Rubin thought to himself.

However, Zhao Ruyi became very interested in this proposal, and the staff and generals around him also thought there was a chance—they felt that as long as the thieves could not use firearms, they would be nothing special.Even if you can't break the thief and let the enemy suffer a big loss, it is still possible to move back to a round.

"How's the rain outside?"

"It has turned down a little bit." The little principal who went out to visit reported back.

He Rubin got up and stood on the verandah of the city tower and looked along the verandah. The lanterns on the embankment of the Kun bandit camp a few miles away were brightly lit. It was obvious that the security was heavy, and it was impossible to expect to steal the camp and rob the village.However, the enemy's firearms cannot be used, and one's own side may not have a chance to win a small battle with white soldiers.

It's raining less now.He Rubin thought, if he could send people to rob the stronghold right away, if he could succeed, the entire army of the Kun bandits would be defeated, and the whole battle situation would be completely reversed. If the stronghold could not be broken, a small victory would also boost morale.

So he immediately sent someone to find other generals to discuss the matter of robbing the camp.Everyone thinks: after today’s failure in attacking the village, the Kun bandits never expected that the Ming army would go to rob the camp, let alone the heavy rain now. In a chaotic battle, the officers and soldiers' hand-to-hand stabbing skills can be displayed, and it may not be known to defeat the Kun bandits.

At the moment, it was decided that He Rubin's 500 town pacesetters would be the vanguard to brave the rain to climb up, and the Huizhou general Yan Zungao led 1000 people to respond.If the attack on the stronghold goes well, use Qihua as the name, and He Rubin will personally lead the main force to attack.

Yan Zungao let everyone have a good meal, and then quietly moved to the Qianzhai.In order to facilitate action in the rainy and muddy fields, the first 500 people took off their armor and did not bring spears, but only simple knives and small shields.Also prepare lots of portable ladders.All the soldiers' shoes are wrapped with straw ropes in several places to prevent them from being slippery and unable to exert their strength when climbing.After all the ministries were assembled, they immediately set off in the rain to guard the Chinese army. The guerrilla Ye Zhengfang led elite troops to the front, and Yan Zungao led a few guerrillas and led 1000 people to prepare to respond.He ordered everyone not to raise fire or make noise, and ran to the enemy camp quietly and quickly in the rainy night.

He Rubin quietly prepared another 2000 people, planning that once the night attack succeeded, he would immediately lead the main force to attack and break the stronghold in one fell swoop.

Ye Zhengfang led the team and walked quietly for several miles, only the sound of rain could be heard, and although there were lights on the embankment, it was pitch black all around.He secretly liked that the enemy's lights were bright, which meant that the enemy knew that our army was in the dark, and pointed out the direction for the attacking team. Otherwise, it would be almost impossible to find the right direction in the dark and rainy field.

Ye Zhengfang couldn't help being overjoyed seeing that the whole army had quietly reached under the earth embankment, and the follow-up troops also came up.During the day, thousands of men and horses had to break through this distance, leaving behind countless corpses, and now they managed to get under the embankment without losing any soldiers. After seeing the robbers, they were really slack!He listened quietly for a while, but there was still no movement on the embankment, only the hiss of the torches burning in the rain.

"Build the ladder!" He ordered in a low voice.More than a dozen ladders were slowly erected and leaned against the earth embankment.

The surroundings suddenly became brighter.In an instant, the officers and soldiers thought that it was dawn in an instant, and at the instant they were stunned, a loud voice reached their ears:

"put!"

The platoon of guns swept across the officers and soldiers between the salient forts who were about to rob the village in an instant. The strong light beams irradiated the officers and soldiers under the embankment dizzy. of.After being beaten, the officers and soldiers could even identify the direction of escape for a while, and they all died under the volley of guns.

"Let's go!" Ye Zhengfang was still in shock, knowing that the gangsters had already taken precautions, so she didn't dare to stay any longer. With the sound of a gong, the officers and soldiers rushed to flee.The white light beams on the earth embankment closely followed the defeated soldiers. For a while, the officers and soldiers were in chaos and trampled on each other in front of the trench. What kind of magic method, then the roar of muskets, Yan Zungao knew that the so-called "firearms are useless in rainy weather" is not a truth for the thieves.

The bandit's blunderbuss roared in the heavy rain, but the bows and arrows of the officers and soldiers were difficult to use in rainy weather. The 1000 men and horses led by Yan Zungao could neither attack nor take cover. Seeing the white beams of light swaying randomly, they crossed the trenches and shone on his troops. Go, before he gave the order, a row of random guns came, and a group of officers and soldiers who were waiting to cross the trench immediately fell down.The others dispersed immediately, and Yan Zonggao himself was surrounded by his own soldiers and fled away.

In the chaos, Ye Zhengfang ran away under the protection of his own soldiers and generals.After finally escaping the ditch, the guns on the embankment stopped, and a voice like a roar shouted:

"Listen up, people below! Throw away your knives and guns, take off your clothes! Put your hands on your head and squat down! Otherwise, no one will be left behind!"

The officers and soldiers in a mess had long been dazzled by the searchlights, and were beaten out of their wits by the platoon guns. They quickly dropped their weapons one by one, and squatted under the embankment with their hands high, not daring to look up.

Seeing that he was on the edge of the beam of light, an officer moved a few steps quietly, trying to hide in the darkness.Immediately, a gunshot rang out from the embankment, and they were shot dead in the open space. Everyone dared to move a little when they saw it, and they dared not move again.

Three ladders were placed on the embankment.

"Ten people in a team, climb up one by one. Anyone who is injured, bring them up!"

The naked officers and soldiers were trembling from the heavy rain, and a junior officer shouted: "It's convenient to go up, put a few more ladders down, brothers have no cover up and down, and the rain is cold..."

"Send troops and release horses, serve the court, and pay attention to serving the country with loyalty. You are not afraid of death, but you are still afraid of catching a cold?" Someone on the embankment answered with a smile.

"It's so loyal to serve the country! I'm just here to eat and get paid," the little officer saw someone answering the conversation, and his bastard's true colors broke out again. For the sake of the gown’s food, it’s a matter of accommodation!”

"It's easy to say! Brother is quite courageous, don't you know Gao's name?"

"Don't dare, Xiao Xingjiang, who has a humble name and meritorious service."

"Okay, let's put two more ladders down."

So the soldiers climbed up the five ladders tremblingly in groups of ten. The infantry on the top watched with live ammunition, and the militiamen prepared bundles of ropes. Arms, ten people tied into a string and then pushed down.The soldiers and militiamen saw the nakedness of the officers and soldiers, all of whom were covered in the heavy rain, and couldn't help laughing. The laughter became louder and louder, piercing through the rain and reaching the officers and soldiers' camp. up.The officers and soldiers who had suffered setbacks during the day heard gunshots, but they didn't know why the gangsters laughed like this, and they didn't dare to inquire, so they only talked quietly in the dark.Many middle- and lower-level generals and soldiers realized that this conquest was a complete failure, at least they could not see a chance of winning.

Teams of ten were escorted by bayonets to a prisoner-of-war camp in the corner of the camp.Many fires were lit in the bamboo sheds, but no clothes were distributed, and the prisoners were only allowed to rely on the fires to keep warm.After simple diagnosis and treatment, the wounded were taken away for treatment.

Jiang Yougong shivered while roasting on the fire.He saw that the place where they were detained was very simple, it was just a corner of the big camp, with earth embankments on two sides, and ditches dug on the other two sides, the ditch was full of sharp bamboo sticks, the lights were bright on all sides, and the gun soldiers on the enemy building held The bayonet on the bird gun was shining brightly, and it was murderous at first glance.

A dozen black tin buckets were brought over, steaming inside, and stacks of wooden bowls were also brought.

"Come on, get a bowl for everyone and prepare soup!" The cook yelled loudly, beating on the tin bucket.

(End of this chapter)