Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 644
"He's a general." Zhu Mingxia was not without regrets, "I thought he was at least a lieutenant general..."

Xiong Maozhang squatted on the corpse and looked at it for a long time and said: "There is only one lieutenant general in the whole of Guangdong. I heard from the people in the big library that the generals, deputy generals and generals will be very valuable. It's not like the streets full of generals and deputy generals."

"Huizhou general, Huizhou general..." Zhu Mingxia thought for a long time and remembered, isn't this one of the five generals of the Ming army who came to encircle and suppress guerrillas mentioned in the "Enemy Situation Bulletin"?At the time of the notification, it was clearly stated that these six generals belonged to the court-managed generals who established their own teeth, and they were not in the same breath as ordinary guerrilla generals.

To put it this way, this battle is almost as good as killing a major general and division commander of the enemy.

The first time he commanded a battle, he won such a big victory. Zhu Mingxia couldn't help but secretly happy, and couldn't help saying "yes", "yes" repeatedly.

Several soldiers around him saw that the battalion commander was so happy, and knew that he must have captured a general of the army, and according to the custom at that time, he would be beheaded for meritorious service.A soldier picked up a big knife next to him and was about to chop off his head.

"Don't chop it up." Zhu Mingxia stopped him, "He sacrificed his life for the country, so he should be properly packed and buried with military ceremonies!"

At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the 3000 troops led by Sha Jianbi had appeared less than three kilometers away from Shishan.Because Yan Zungao urged his troops to leave quickly, causing many infantry to fall behind, and finally had to fight against the bandits with insufficient troops and lost, so he did not urge his troops to leave quickly. He also collected many broken soldiers of Yan's troops along the way. throughout the course of the battle.

But he couldn't get anything outside the range of eyes around the post road. No matter how many scouts and secret workers he sent, none of them could come back.There was a wounded scout who ran back, but before he got close to him, he was shot by a bird and died.

What made him Zhang Huang the most was that he didn't know where to put the blunderbuss - no smoke, no people.He sent a team of infantry to search back and forth within [-] paces around the fallen horse, but found nothing in the end.Only the two small black holes on Tan Ma's body showed that he was shot to death by a shotgun.

The fear of the bird gun, which can't see smoke, see people or even hear the sound, has begun a few days ago. The officers and soldiers secretly called it "Shadow Cannon".

Sha Jianbi's troops marched all the way, and also suffered a lot of "shadowless guns", losing forty or fifty officers and soldiers along the way, which made everyone panic.If it hadn't been known that 2000 of Li Guang's troops were coming for reinforcements, the 3000 people would have dispersed before they could reach the rocky mountain.

After walking blindly for most of the day in such a panic, the forward reported that Shishan was four or five miles away.

"Where is the enemy's formation?"

"It's just under the rocky mountain." Mr. Qian of Qianfeng reported.

He stood upright on the stirrups, and there was a camp on the rocky mountain, and the red flag of the gangster was flying.This is part of the original grain platform for officers and soldiers.The stone hills that were originally verdant with vegetation have now become bare. Both the Ming army and the Fubo army have carried out the work of cleaning up the shooting circles.A gray array spread across the foot of the mountain, blocking the post road.

This array is very thin.Sha Jianbi saw that there were only 1000 thieves in formation at the foot of the mountain, but they formed a line of [-] paces. This is simply crazy!Such a thin depth, wouldn't it be broken by someone's breakthrough?The thief is so confident in his firearms?You must know that Chengmai and the others are guarding the earth embankment!
But the disastrous defeat the day before made the officers and soldiers have long been panicked.Sha Jianbi didn't even dare to get too close, for fear of being hit by the "shadowless cannon".Immediately ordered people to stand on the spot and prepare for battle.

Sha Jianbi summoned the generals under his command.

"As you can see, there are only 1000 Kun bandits, and the formation is relatively thin. In a hurry, we can only rely on the low walls of the trench to form an formation. If we concentrate the entire army and attack fiercely, he will be able to squeeze through the formation!" Sha Jianbi pretended to be confident. He looked a hundred times, "I see, his long snake formation has only two rows of people, no matter how powerful the firearms are, he can still shoot several rows of guns!"

"General Sha!" said one of the chief executives, "Listening to General Yan's defeat, the thieves lined up one after the other in ambush, and when our soldiers attacked fiercely, they sent out ambush soldiers to attack my flank..."

"No problem." Sha Jianbi said, "I want to use the wheel method. The 3000 troops are divided into three teams."

The three teams attacked alternately, the central army waited for the battle to deal with emergencies, one team went forward to fight, and the other team shot arrows at the back to cover. When the front team was exhausted, the rear team took over.

Sha Jianbi thought that this would firstly prevent the thieves from resting—after all, the enemy is few in number and there is no rotation, even if their firearms are fine, even setting firearms will make the soldiers exhausted.When the enemy's guns are sparse, the two teams will go out together to defeat the enemy's formation in one fell swoop.

"...As soon as the enemy's ambush comes out, our army will fight with 1000 Chinese soldiers. According to what the defeated soldiers said, the Kun bandits have no more than a thousand men in ambush. And when the Kun bandits fight, they all set up camps, use firearms to control me, and attack stabbing tools with white blades It is not his strength, our soldiers fight with spears and broadswords, and the enemy uses only the short blades on the blunderbuss, so we must not fight for a long time!" He said sharply, "General Mao!"

"The humble general is here!" A partial general responded immediately.

"You lead 1000 people to attack first," Sha Jianbi gave the opportunity face-to-face, "The gunfire fires extremely fast, and the team does not need to be neat as long as they charge fast. Let the soldiers bring more bows and arrows, and shoot a round before rushing to the trench—" Kun thieves have no armor, and those hit by arrows will either die or be injured."

This General Mao was not Sha Jianbi's headquarters. He was originally a guerrilla subordinate in military training. He was temporarily assigned to Sha's subordinates. He knew that Sha Jianbi wanted him to lead people to the front line and leave the great achievements to his own central army. .But he didn't dare to disobey the order, so he had to lead the whole team to go.

"General Zhao!"

"The humble general is here!"

"You bring 1000 people to meet General Mao one mile behind, and you also need to bring more bows and arrows. If General Mao doesn't retreat, you can continue to attack!" He patted General Zhao on the shoulder, "General Mao charged the bandits for a while. , if you take people to go immediately, it will be successful!"

General Zhao forced a smile, and said, "Thank you, General Sha, for cultivating it!" But he secretly scolded Sha Jianbi for asking them to rush ahead and roll the nailboard, and he took the troops to take the ready-made credit.

Sha Jianbi wasn't entirely aiming to send Generals Zhao and Mao to the tiger's mouth, but he didn't have many troops in his headquarters, and his army had never suffered a defeat at all, and its morale was good.It should be used at a critical time-he still has no information on where the gangster's ambush is, and it won't work without a capable and reliable army in hand.

So the officers and soldiers hurriedly set up a stronghold on the road, and divided the men and horses into three teams to prepare for battle.Sha Jianbi's troops also housed more than 200 remnants of Yan Zungao's troops along the road.He ordered a general to take charge temporarily and stay in the Chinese army to listen to him.

Xiong Maozhang's position at the foot of the stone mountain consists of a half-person-high parapet.In front of the parapet is a deep ditch, and in front of the ditch are many temporary collections of deer villages, including many chicken carts seized at Liangtai.The 1st Battalion of Infantry launched its formation behind the low wall and directly intercepted any troops attempting to pass through the post road at the foot of the stone mountain.

The 1st Battalion of Infantry deployed a standard double rank—the Minie rifles fire much faster than the flintlock, and of course there was no need for three ranks.Xiong Maozhang deployed the six battle infantry companies of the whole battalion into a 6-meter horizontal line.The battalion grenadier company served as reserve behind the battalion, covering the flanks when necessary.The light infantry company of the 150st Light Infantry Battalion and the 1th Infantry Battalion were drawn separately to form a garrison, and together with the logistics troops defended the camp on the stone hill, while covering the wing of the 4st Infantry Battalion.

携带来的4门12磅山地榴弹炮2门直接加强给步兵第1营，另2门安排在石山顶的营寨中，随时视情况进行炮火支援。

Xiong Maozhang observed the officers and soldiers a few miles away with a telescope. According to the report of the special investigation team, there were 3000 enemies in this group, and 2000 people followed about a dozen miles away.But Chen Sigen made it clear: "The 2000 people behind are obviously here to make soy sauce." They stopped and went, and their fighting spirit was not strong.

"These 3000 people must be defeated as soon as possible," Xiong Maozhang said to Zhu Mingxia, "otherwise, when the follow-up 2000 people arrive, it will be difficult for the enemy to have too many people."

Zhu Mingxia didn't speak. He looked at the officers and soldiers lined up in the binoculars: "It seems that the enemy's main attack direction is still your position. But you have to prevent them from attacking the stockade on the mountain."

Xiong Maozhang put the helmet on his head: "I have to go to the battlefield, otherwise don't worry."

While they were talking, the official army's flag gate guns rang, and 1000 troops led by a partial general attacked.When they rushed out for more than a mile, another trumpet was fired, and another group of officers came out to attack the position of the 1st Battalion.

"The enemy is going to fight with wheels." Zhu Mingxia said, he continued to watch the movement of the officers and soldiers, and saw that the first team of troops was very strong and quickly rushed to a place less than 100 meters away from the position.The soldiers shot arrows as they ran, because the distance was too far to pose a threat.Xiong Maozhang's six battle infantry companies fired at the same time at a distance of 6 meters. The bullets swept across the rushing queue. The enemy has retreated.

Zhu Mingxia vaguely felt that something was wrong, the enemy should not simply repeat the tactics of frontal attack like this.For the sake of caution, he didn't ask the two mountain grenades in Shishanzhai to fire, and prepared to provide artillery support at a critical time.

In Sha Jianbi's vanguard battalion, there were many officers and soldiers whose guts had been broken yesterday, and now they had to face to face with the guns of the bandits, and the officers and soldiers seemed very cowed.After a few volleys, he refused to move forward.The officers and generals desperately shouted and urged, threatened with beheading and encouraged with money, and it was hard for them to continue to attack upwards.

At this time, the second team of officers and soldiers came up again.

"Let the arrows! Let the arrows!"

The officers and soldiers hurriedly shot a row of feathered arrows, but most of them threw them indiscriminately before they entered the range. Almost none of the arrows fell into the queue, and most of them fell on the ditches and deer villages.

"Steady! The ruler is 120 meters!" The officers kept correcting the shooting distance, "Let go!"

The platoon of guns roared, and the smoke filled the air. The officers and soldiers could not even approach the trenches. Every time they barely entered within a distance of 100 meters, they were defeated by the platoon of guns. Although the soldiers were constantly urged by the officers to rush up, they soon retreated again.Sometimes they can rush to the front of the trench under the leadership of a few brave officers, but at this time the double shot of the 12-pound mountain grenade will mercilessly kill them all at the edge of the trench.

Gunpowder smoke filled the air, shouts of killing, groans and shouts enveloped the entire stone mountain.The battle lasted for more than an hour. No matter how much Sha Jianbi and his subordinate generals encouraged and urged the soldiers to charge, the assault of the officers and soldiers became weaker and weaker.Especially after the mountain grenade began to bombard the formation of officers and soldiers 800 meters away with grenades, the officers and soldiers had to retreat two miles away every time to regroup.The soldiers exhausted a lot of physical strength on this back and forth journey.Many officers and soldiers have been marching on the road since noon. For most of the day, food and water have not been brought in. At this time, they have been exhausted after several attacks. Some soldiers simply fell on the side of the road and refused to move.

Sha Jianbi saw that his so-called wheel tactics had no effect at all—after attacking for less than half an hour, he also rotated the team several times, and there was no progress except for throwing a lot of corpses in front of the gangster's trench in vain. The beating was steady and ruthless, and when there was no sign of any spalling, I was very anxious.If this goes on, before the enemy ambushes, the whole army will collapse.

Instead, he ordered the whole army to storm the stockade on Shishan Mountain.There are only two light infantry companies and some logistics troops in the village, but they are supported by two howitzers. Grenades, shotgun shells, and solid bullets beat down the officers and soldiers who tried to climb the mountain to seize the village.

Although there was a young officer in the army who was very brave, led by him, a dozen fierce soldiers followed him and rushed to a place more than ten meters away from the wall of the village.Just as he waved the flag and got up and rushed towards the wall, a shot from a 12-pound mountain grenade hit him.

The officers and soldiers who attacked the stronghold were constantly harassed and shot by the javelin infantry in the mountains.The officers and soldiers tried their best to attack several times. As more and more corpses were left on the hillside, the momentum of the attack became weaker and weaker. They didn't even arrive, and they shouted a few times in response to the story, and they scrambled and retreated as soon as the bird gun was released in the cottage.

Sha Jianbi's men and horses have not been mobilized. He saw that the spirit of his men and horses had lost, not to mention defeating the bandits and taking back the stone mountain, even the team of bandits in front of him could do nothing. Many people were killed and injured in vain. Wouldn't he be blamed by his superiors?He squinted his eyes and ordered loudly: "Tell General Zhao and General Mao to attack desperately. We must open up the post road, otherwise come and see me!"

"Report to General, General Mao is already dead." A young general who came to report to him said out of breath.

When Sha Jianbi heard that one of the generals had been killed in battle, he felt even more terrified.He took a deep breath, and saw that the young general in front of him, although his armor was crooked, was tall and strong, with a round face, a few beards on his pointed chin, his nostrils turned and his eyes small.It also looks tough.

"What's your name?"

"Humble General Cao Xiangjiao! He was originally a partial general under General Mao..."

"Okay, General Cao! This general will now order you to guard the vanguard battalion and lead General Mao's troops." His horsewhip pointed at the line of the 1st Infantry Battalion at the foot of the stone mountain, "You immediately lead the team to detour through the paddy field Attack one wing of the battle formation! As long as you break through the enemy formation, I will recommend you in front of Lord Zhentai!"

"Thank you for your cultivation, General! The humble general will definitely move forward!" Cao Xiangjiao was originally a newborn calf who is not afraid of tigers. At this time, he was excited by his few words, and he had the hope of being promoted again, and he was immediately full of energy.Immediately step on the horse, hold the big knife and go to the battle.

After issuing this series of orders, he also knew that it was not very sure to rely on Cao Xiangjiao, a stunned young man, to charge into the battle, and he had to lead the soldiers to attack in person.

So he shouted: "Beat the drum! Line up!"
Although the Kun thief ambush has not appeared so far, he can't care less.He thought, as long as he broke the battle formation and the bandits came out in ambush, he would have time to turn around and fight.Sha Jianbi believed that as long as they did not attack the barracks of the thieves, the thieves would not be opponents of the officers and soldiers when the white soldiers of the two sides met.

Amidst the deafening sound of war drums, Sha Jianbi got on his horse, and the soldiers rushed to bring his sword.He was holding a knife, and his Chinese army and personal servants had already lined up with their armor on, waiting to set off.

Standing on the stirrups, Sha Jianbi looked as far as the eye can see, and saw that Cao Xiangjiao's men had circled into the paddy field and were moving towards one wing of the bandit array, but the paddy field was muddy, and the speed of movement was very slow, and from time to time, some people were shot and fell down. But Cao Xiangjiao waved his sword and urged the soldiers to leave quickly.General Zhao's troops were still attacking feebly.

He nervously waited for Cao Xiangjiao's successful detour. After about a meal, he saw Cao Xiangjiao's flag had appeared on the flanks of the thieves' array, guns were rumbling and smoke filled, and he knew that Cao Xiangjiao's attack had begun.He swung his big knife and shouted: "Kill! Break through the big formation of the thieves, and everyone will be rewarded with five taels of silver!" The soldiers under him howled.Following him, he charged forward fiercely.

Cao Xiangjiao's detour did indeed pose a threat to the 1st Infantry Battalion. Xiong Maozhang immediately ordered the grenadier company of the battalion serving as the reserve team to immediately shift to the flank formation. The 2 mountain grenade opened fire.

"Hit with shrapnel!" In the rice fields, solid bullets cannot jump, their lethality is limited, and the range of the shotgun is not enough. The shrapnel blooming in the air has become the best long-range killing weapon.The shrapnel after another shot quickly drove Cao Xiangjiao's men back again.The muddy rice fields made it difficult for soldiers to move quickly and fell under the precise fire of the grenadiers.

Sha Jianbi's central army threw off the already chaotic General Zhao's troops, and the whole army rushed towards the center of the battle line in one go.Prepare to take Cao Xiangjiao to break through the front line in one fell swoop when he interferes with the flanks to attract the firepower of the thieves.

(End of this chapter)