Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 431 Muddy Waters (VIII)

The two thousand cavalry of the Qing army walked around the front at a moderate speed. They were very cautious. After being shot down by a volley of guns at the beginning, they immediately kept the distance outside the range of the muskets.However, the solid iron eggs fired by a few four-pound cannons that were pushed over temporarily still caused them to lose seven or eight cavalrymen, which forced them to speed up and stay away from the area covered by the artillery.

The soldiers of the Eight Banners New Army have been fighting for a long time, and their spears are firmly held forward. Facing the cavalry of the Qing army who are about to rush over, they have no sign of retreating at all. The sharp 3.5-meter spears make those who have not rushed forward The weak Qing army had to turn around and leave.And this moment of deceleration when they turned around was an excellent target for the musketeers. The officers had given the order for free fire, and they rushed out of the spear jungle in a leisurely manner. There is nothing to do to help the Qing cavalry.

After the cavalry of the Qing army passed the formation of the Eight Banners New Army, they began to approach the formation of the infantry squadron of the Standing Force behind them.The soldiers of the stand-up team held spears of different lengths, and they did not seem to be elite. Some nervous North Korean musketeers started shooting randomly before the Qing cavalry entered the range, so that the Han army banner soldiers vaguely found the They were very excited by their sense of confidence in the face of the flustered Ming army.However, although the spearmen of the Peasant Army who lined up at the outermost edge of the array had never fought against the Qing army, their morale was pretty good after fighting against the Ming army all year round and with a high winning rate. They didn't move at all under the pressure, which made them feel a little bit competitive, and they couldn't let these black soldiers compare!

The Shandan hunters and Japanese samurai in the spear array also turned pale, and their finger joints were a little stiff from holding their weapons tightly.Although these Shandan hunters often fight with wild beasts, it is nonsense to say that they are not afraid of the Qing army's two thousand cavalry. Sending money and goods on time every month is regarded as a great favor from others, so you have to be willing at critical moments.The Japanese samurai held the Taidao tightly, and some of them trembled slightly, but the dignity of the samurai made it impossible for them to put down their faces and run away. That would definitely end in worse than death.In addition, many people still have families living in Dabo and Heishui. Knowing the policy of the people on the east coast, they know the fate of fleeing, so they all gritted their teeth at this time and gave up the idea of ​​retreating.Only the North Korean gunners in the formation panicked, but it didn't affect the overall situation.

The Shandan hunters threw a round of bows and arrows, killing several Qing cavalry who failed to retreat in time.After all, the Qing army did not have the courage to charge forward. After seeing the small cannons of the people from the east bank pushing over again, they decisively steered their horses away from this area.

In addition to these hedgehog-like spear formations, there are only the car formations left behind by the people from the east coast.There were a lot of baggage piled up in the chariot formation, and there were also a thousand weak soldiers. At this time, these soldiers were a little panicked when they saw the Qing cavalry approaching, but after all, there was still a layer of carriages, and the Qing army was on horseback. The thrown horse bow arrows are also soft, causing limited damage to them.On the contrary, the bird guns fired by some Ming soldiers with better psychological quality left a few of the Qing cavalry behind.Naturally, it is impossible for the Qing army to stay here and spend time with these soldiers, otherwise the musketeers and small cannons in front of them will suffer a lot after reinforcements arrive, so they turned away again after seeing that they could not break through quickly. go.

After going around like this for a few times, the Qing army cavalry had left dozens of corpses on the battlefield, but found nothing.They were just light cavalry, all wearing leather armor, and they didn't have the conditions and determination to force their way into battle.Of course, even those white-armored soldiers in cotton armor will probably be defeated if they come to the battle. Just look at those thick spear shafts and shiny sharp spear points. If you don’t want to be turned into meat skewers, don’t try this. will die.

Faced with such a tortoise shell, even Li Soltai, who has rich experience in war, scratched his head.This kind of spear formation is basically difficult to break through if the soldiers have a strong will to fight.Just like the white soldiers from Sichuan outside the pass, they were surrounded by cavalry and then blasted away with red cannons. Otherwise, they would have been impossible to defeat.In the Battle of Hunhe, Hou Jin suffered a great loss in front of white soldiers, so the memory of this kind of enemy is still fresh in the whole Qing Dynasty.However, the formation of these yellow-clothed thieves in front of us is obviously an upgraded version of the original white-armed soldiers. The small cannons and muskets are painful, and they dare not stay close. Nima's battle is quite aggrieved. Li The more Soltai thought about it, the more depressed he became.

However, he soon discovered that once the hedgehog formation in front of him moved, it was very efficient. After they played a strange music, the four small square formations in front began to split into two.That is to say, the two troops in shining heavy armor in front began to put away their spears and move forward slowly, and there were probably many small and light cannons that followed suit.After the infantry action, hundreds of gunners from the two teams also moved.The whole process of queuing up, turning, approaching, moving forward, turning left and right, etc., was completed without the slightest blockage, busy but not chaotic, it can be seen that they have been trained for years.Moreover, the psychological quality of the soldiers is also very high, but they can do all kinds of movements basically without losing shape on the battlefield. This must have excellent psychological quality.As for the last two formations with messy equipment, they were slowly gathered up and defended against the chariot formation.

"This is an army that is going to attack me!" Li Shitai was shocked and angry. 2000 people dared to attack [-] enemy infantry surrounded by cavalry. Who were these pirates in yellow?Although he had never seen this kind of fighting method before, he also thought it was quite clever. He thought they were defending well, but he didn't expect to have such a strong sense of active attack.Seeing that they are quite proficient in turning and changing directions before the battle, their [-]-foot infantry formation led by [-] soldiers may not be able to deal with it, not to mention that they also have a lot of light but powerful weapons. the cannon.

Li Soltai quickly returned to his own formation with his two thousand cavalry.At this time, the band of yellow-clothed thieves on the east bank armed with spears and firecrackers had stopped after advancing for a certain distance. Of course, it was not that they were not ready to attack, but that their artillery fired again.An explosive bomb fell just above the cavalry, and the shrapnel scattered in the air caused a crowd of horses to scream.However, most of the flying ones are solid iron balls fired by cannons. The hard ground in winter maximizes the power of these iron balls, and they often need to bounce on the ground a few times before exhausting their kinetic energy.At this moment, Li Shutai's infantry has finally suffered the feast of artillery shells that Zhang Ruxing's troops had just "enjoyed" at this moment. In just a quarter of an hour, the extremely fast-firing artillery on the opposite side fired several rounds of shelling, making Li Sui Soltai's infantry suffered very heavy casualties.

"Retreat!" Li Sutai, who had been sullen all this time, finally ordered at this moment. After all, being beaten all the time and not being able to fight back is very damaging to morale. It is better to retreat early to avoid increasing casualties.He didn't have the confidence to let his [-] infantry, who were mostly coats and followers, push forward despite the fierce artillery fire and musket fire from the bandits in yellow. How strong the Ministry is, so he decisively ordered a retreat.

At this moment, he understood that the opponent was fighting with artillery as the core.My infantry can't match them at all, and my cavalry can't restrain their spear formations, and they can't even approach them—because they will be hit by artillery, so there is no need to fight such a battle , It is better to go back to Qingzhou early and report the situation to the court with Hetuo.

This time, I and others dispatched troops in a hurry, so I didn't bring artillery at all in order not to slow down the marching speed.Therefore, facing the new tactics of the yellow-clothed thieves on the east bank at this time, they seemed to have nothing to do.But does Beijing have enough red cannons now?Wouldn't Yechen, Azig and others be taken to Shanxi?But that kind of cannon is so cumbersome, and it is often tiring to carry it in the field. It is not as light as the yellow cannons of these pirates.Many of these thieves' cannons can often be dragged away by two horses. In the future, when we meet our Qing army in the wild, it will not take advantage of it. After all, the Qing army that can be equipped with red cannons is only a very small number.

It seems that the future battle is not easy to fight!Li Shitai sighed with some worry, the pirates were so arrogant and stubborn, this was something Li Shitai never expected before the battle.Remembering that before the battle, the regent ordered the two of them to quickly calm down the situation in Shandong in order to open the way for the Duduo tribe’s conquest army that was about to go south. Li Sutai sighed involuntarily when he thought of this, he and others still failed the regent’s wishes Thank you so much.

Li Shutai's two infantry formations of about 6000 people began to retreat while the artillery on the east bank was cooling down. He himself once again led the cavalry and more than 1000 people from Zhang Ruxing's department that had been contained to cover.There was a rhythmic sound of drums and horns from the troops of the people from the east bank on the opposite side, and the formation of carts that had stayed in place behind them began to slowly move away. The two troops also sorted out their formations and sent messengers to communicate with the front line.Not only that, the west city gate of Anqiu County, which had been closed during the previous battle, was also opened at this time, and cavalry in yellow clothes on horses began to file out from the city gate hole, and then slowly lined up in the open space outside the city .This discovery made Li Shutai's heart suddenly tense. The cannons disrupted our army's infantry, and then chased them with cavalry. These people are not small pirates. Master of making.

(End of this chapter)