Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 967 Vulnerable

"Bang bang bang" because of the lack of airtightness of the small Frang machine, the sound is relatively hoarse, and the range is relatively short, but even if the range is short, the Western Army does not have many countermeasures.

When the Frang machine opened fire, the heavy artillery of the Ming army on the south bank of the Yangtze River also began to shell the beach on the opposite side. The booming sound of the artillery sounded, and iron bullets roared across the river, and suddenly hit the sand on the river beach, splashing mud. Some smashed into the formation of the Western Army, and a line of blood was drawn with one shot.

The road for the Ming army to enter the southwest has been built to Guizhou, which made it possible for the Ming army to bring in red cannons in addition to armor, food and grass.

It took seven months to transport from Guangdong and Guangxi, and He Tengjiao borrowed craftsmen from Chen Zilong to cast it himself, so that the Ming army could carry forty red cannons during this expedition.

Along the river beach, the few artillery pieces of the Western Army also began to fight back. More than a dozen old artillery pieces were unable to bombard the heavy artillery positions on the other side of the Yangtze River. With a water column more than ten feet high, the river water was splashed into the sky, and then fell down again, instantly soaking the armor of the Ming army.

At this time, the huge difference in equipment between the two armies appeared. The Ming army artillery array on the south bank was filled with gunpowder smoke, and clouds of gunpowder smoke rose from the hillside on the opposite bank. The scene was spectacular.

More than 40 iron bullets weighing more than ten kilograms whizzed towards the beach, and the shield array in front of the Western Army formation was immediately smashed open. A Western Army soldier held a shield in one hand and a knife in the other. As soon as he got wet, a gap appeared next to it, and an iron bullet smashed the shield of the Western Army, flying upside down with his body, knocking down one piece, and the entire Western Army's front was in chaos.

The forty cannons in red posed a huge threat to the Western Army on the beach. The small Frang machine on the Ming Army's raft was not very accurate because of the turbulence, but it did not cause much trouble to the Western Army.

At this time, the raft had passed three-quarters of the distance, and the river began to reverse. The peasants on the raft immediately supported the raft with long poles. Several long poles supported the raft alternately and rushed to the north bank.

Bai Wenxuan looked at the chaotic front line before the battle, with a panic on his face, he waved his hands and shouted: "Archers, get ready!"

Hearing the order, the archers of the Western Army bent their bows and set their arrows in a panic, but at this moment, the gunners of the Ming Army on the raft squatted halfway up and raised their guns, and after a burst of "bang bang bang", The Western Army in the front row suddenly collapsed.

The equipment of the miscellaneous soldiers of the Western Army is extremely backward. The soldiers are all civilians without armor, and the shields are also wooden shields covered with a layer of leather. The defense is very poor. The soldiers of the Ming Army squatted on rafts and shot. Panic immediately formed, and the shield soldiers and gunmen in front retreated timidly unconsciously.

The entire battle line was covered by artillery and bullets. The soldiers in the front row were being beaten to death continuously. As soon as a few soldiers retreated, fear spread, forming a chain reaction. Army, but the arrow fell on the riverside and fell into the water.

It turned out that the effective range of the Ming army's new guns was about 150 paces, while the Western army generally used seven-dou-step bows, which could cause damage with a hundred paces.

"Don't mess up! Don't retreat! No arrows are allowed without orders!"

Bai Wenxuan's face was extremely gloomy, the gap between the two armies was too great, and there was no way to fight. Although the general of the Western Army shouted loudly, the entire front still retreated dozens of steps before re-stabilizing.

At this time, the raft had rushed to the shore, and nearly a thousand Ming soldiers jumped off the raft one after another. Because the Western army retreated, their bows and arrows could not reach the shore at this time.

The Ming army's musketeers went to the river beach, but did not launch a center forward to the western army. Li Dingguo commanded the soldiers and immediately formed an array on the riverside, with sword and shield soldiers standing on both sides. into three columns.

Under the command of Zhongsuo and Snare Drum in the queue, the gunners on the river beach quickly changed from scattered to bursts of fire. Three rows of gunners moved forward alternately, bursts of smoke filled the air. The gunmen and sword and shield soldiers, like a strong wind blowing through a wheat field, were beaten back and fell on their backs.

Bai Wenxuan couldn't help being stunned when he saw this scene. The fire rate of the Ming army's guns was too fast. They took advantage of the range and fired the guns beyond the range of the Qing army's bows and arrows. The Western army panicked and retreated. They did not charge, but followed the trumpet drums. Move forward at the same pace, and always keep the distance of a hundred steps away.

There is no need to fight if this continues. The Western Army hardly caused casualties to the Ming Army, but it did lose nearly a thousand people.

Seeing this, Bai Wenxuan quickly ordered: "Rush forward, the sword shields and spearmen will drive the enemy troops who have landed on the shore, and the bows and arrows will approach and suppress the Ming army!"

Seeing that this was not going to work, the Ming army's weapons were too powerful, and the Western army had no armor, so they were knocked down in pieces. Bai Wenxuan could only choose to press up and fight in close combat.

"Don't be afraid! Stick it on the enemy's firecracker and it will become a firestick! Kill!"

Hearing the sound of the war drums, the generals of the Western Army drew out their sabers and loudly urged the soldiers to charge forward. The soldiers of the Western Army panicked for a while. There was a burst of roar, and he rushed back to the beach.

"Kill! Drive out the lackeys of the government!" The heroes of the green forest couldn't stand in line, but they were braver than the soldiers of the Bixi army. When they heard the order to charge, they immediately charged forward.

Seeing this, Li Dingguo waved his hand immediately, the sound of the drums in the army changed, and the blunderbuss teams that were advancing alternately stopped immediately, and the three rows of soldiers began to shoot on the spot in turn.

The performance of the newly equipped self-generating guns is exactly the same as that of the Dutch and Portuguese. It is much faster than the original guns of the Ming army. The continuous firepower formed by the three rows of soldiers showed great power. The army only felt that the bullets were raining like a wall, and the soldiers who rushed to the front fell down in pieces.

A bandit leader led his subordinates to charge forward, and half of his nearly [-] subordinates died before reaching fifty steps. An accomplice next to him was holding a shield, but the gunballs of the Ming army actually smashed his wooden shield It was pierced directly, causing a blood hole in his chest, his forward body immediately softened, a soldier of the Western Army on the other side ran wildly, and a gunball hit his thigh directly, blood spattered, and his whole body ran away. He fell to the ground while running, with a wail from his mouth.

Seeing this, the bandit leader saw that the soldiers rushing forward died in pieces like cutting wheat, and the people around him became sparse. He looked at the Ming army musketeers in fear, fired the muskets mechanically, stepped back, reloaded the guns, and stepped forward. When he fired the gun, he was terrified in his heart, and suddenly turned around and ran back.

If it is cavalry, they may be able to break through the blunderbuss array by virtue of their speed, but it is obviously difficult for the infantry, especially the poor equipment of the Western Army. Beaten crash.

The bandits were also shocked by the firepower of the officers and soldiers. Almost when the leader ran away, the entire formation of the Western Army was defeated by the gunballs of the Ming Army, and they found that the Western Army with fewer and fewer comrades around them was like The frightened school of fish ran back frantically.

Seeing this, Li Dingguo smiled, and immediately drew his sword and said, "Kill!" The Ming army musketeers stopped shooting immediately, and the sword shields and spears on both sides immediately began to cover up and kill.

Before the Western Army came into close combat with the Ming Army, the bandits were defeated by the Ming Army's self-generated firecracker formation before they had time to display their personal force. In an instant, the Western Army and the bandits scrambled to escape. Shouting in fear, the army was defeated like a mountain.

Bai Wenxuan watched the rout soldiers running past him, feeling extremely depressed. He had never fought such a useless battle. He loudly stopped the soldiers from escaping, but the quality of this army was so poor that it could no longer be described as a mob. Several people, the broken soldiers still bypassed him and fled, so that he could only pull the reins and fled back to Luzhou with the defeated army.

In a forest in the distance, Wang Fuchen saw this scene with a binoculars. He put down the binoculars, with a complex expression, sighed heavily, then waved his hand, leading the soldiers hidden in the forest, and headed southward in a detour.

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(End of this chapter)