The Rise of Ming Dynasty 1646

Chapter 293 The Mantis Catches the Cicada Oriole Behind
"Steady, wait for the enemy to approach before shooting."

There were Portuguese officers shouting orders, and at the same time several mercenaries who could speak Chinese were in Tong Yizhen's team, helping to direct their bows and muskets.

Soon, artillery fire from the Ming army on the other side also began to fight back.

Fausto immediately judged from the sound of the cannon that it should be about [-]-pound to [-]-pound cannon, probably as many as six or seven.

No wonder these guys seemed so confident, he murmured in his heart, so they were equipped with so many cannons.But then he snorted coldly: "But what's the use of shells that can only hit the earth barrier?"

In order to defend the narrow waters of the Pearl River, he ordered people to pile up the earth barrier nearly eight feet thick, and with the power of eight to nine-pound guns, it was impossible to blow it up within a day or two.

However, the firepower on his side can cover the enemy ships rushing on the river without any obstruction. With such a consumption of cross-fire, the battle can be over in at most two or three hours.

He turned his head and ordered the adjutant, "Send a signal, let the gunboats ambushing on both sides prepare to attack, it is best not to let an enemy go ashore."

"Yes, sir!"

……

Just ten minutes before the Ming army on the east bank began to forcibly cross the Pearl River, in a bush on the west bank, Zhang Jiayu finally saw the hour and minute hands turn to the position where he was waiting.

He closed his pocket watch and put it in his breast pocket, waved to the herald and said, "Let's go."

"Yes!"

His order was quickly passed on, and then more than 900 Dragon Guard soldiers set off quietly and quickly attacked Tong Yizhen's line of defense.

After they walked a hundred or two hundred steps, the boats crossing the river on the other side began to launch, and after a while, they finally heard the cannons from the Cantonese Army's position.

This kind of extremely precise and simultaneous military action was probably the first time in the Ming Dynasty.You know, in this era of war, the difference of an hour before and after is almost negligible.

I think that during the Battle of Saerhu, it was because several Ming armies failed to reach the position at the same time that Jianlu was given a chance to defeat each of them.If at that time they also equipped the officers with standard pocket watches like the Dragon Guards, supplemented by appropriate tactical arrangements, and attacked from multiple directions at the same time, they would be hard-pressed by numbers alone, and Nurhachi would definitely not be an opponent of the Ming army.

For a distance of ten miles, it would take less than 10 minutes for the Dragon Guards who were all mules and horses.

The flames of the Portuguese cannon clearly marked his position. Zhang Jiayu estimated that the distance was almost there, and immediately said to the herald: "Execute the plan A."

"Yes!"

……

Satisfied, Fausto looked through the cracks in the gunpowder smoke, and saw all kinds of boats sank in the middle of the Pearl River one after another, and a large number of gunboats on both sides gradually formed a siege. It seemed that the enemy army was really hard to find a single soldier. On the west bank.

But he always felt that there seemed to be something missing, what was it?

He was concentrating on contemplating, when he suddenly heard several gunshots behind him.

What are you doing?Could it be that the soldiers from the supply battalion went off fire?He frowned and turned his head to look, only to see a Cantonese army cavalry galloping over in panic, shouting hoarsely, "Sneak attack! There is an enemy sneak attack from behind!"

How can it be? !Fausto was shocked when he heard the words. All four thousand Ming troops were on the other side of the river. He had been watching closely for the past few days without hesitating his manpower. Where did the enemy come from for a sneak attack?
He ordered the adjutant to bring the summoned cavalry in front of him, and asked sharply, "How many enemy soldiers are there in the sneak attack?"

The cavalryman listened to the interpreter's question and hurriedly said: "The sky is a little dark, I can't see clearly, there seem to be hundreds of people."

"What banner is it playing?"

"Their banners only have a blue background, but no font size. Oh, by the way, these people are dressed in all kinds of clothes, but they have a lot of firecrackers."

Fausto lowered his head and pondered. There was no uniform and the flags were chaotic. Could it be that they were rioters?

He turned around and glanced at the Ming army crossing the river fleet surrounded by gunboats. It seemed that it was only a matter of time before they were all wiped out, so he ordered the adjutant, "Nunez, order our people to turn around and form formation." , Clean up these blind people."

He also remembered that in order to resist the Ming army's beach grabbing, almost all the mercenaries under him were fighting with matchlock guns, and it would take a lot of time for the spearmen to change weapons.

He said to Nunez again: "Let the boy general deploy eight hundred swordsmen and spearmen to cover our people on both sides."

"Yes, sir!"

As soon as the messenger turned and left, Fausto suddenly heard several thunderous bangs from behind his line, and his face turned black immediately—it was clearly a cannon of about six pounds, how could the rioters have it? this kind of thing.

He didn't care about wondering who these people were. In short, there was a group of enemy troops equipped with cannons behind him, which was definitely not a good thing.

His earth barrier was used to defend the Ming army from crossing the river, so there was only a row of wooden frames on the west side for the gunners to fight, and they had no defense against the shelling behind them.

A few shells accurately hit the crowd of Cantonese soldiers huddled behind the earth barrier, and there was a burst of howling and howling in the whole fortification.

Fortunately, the Portuguese mercenaries were experienced, and they were able to deal with the sudden shelling calmly. By the time the sneak attacking Ming army fired for the second time, they had barely formed a five-row musket phalanx.

It was just that the Cantonese troops who were covering them were so frightened that they lay on the ground, and it took a long time to gather 300 people.

A shell whistled from the west side and hit a twelve-pounder still firing towards the river.Bento watched helplessly as his loader was slapped on his chest by the blasted cannon barrel, and his internal organs spewed out from his back. He turned his head slowly in fright, but the dim light in the morning made him only able to see a few things in the distance. Stop the flashing gunfire.

He immediately raised his voice and shouted: "Infantry, where are the infantry? Hurry up and cover us!"

His voice reminded Fausto that if he allowed the enemy to bombard him like this, his position would soon collapse, and there was no need to wait for Tong Yizhen's soldiers, since they had little fighting power anyway.

Regardless of the rioters or whatever behind them, they are all a group of orientals. As long as your musketeers rush over and fire a few rounds of guns, they should be able to break them up.

Thinking of this, he immediately said to Nunez: "Assault the enemy's artillery! Quick!"

"Yes, sir!"

Immediately, the sound of drums and bagpipes sounded, and the Portuguese mercenaries pressed towards the west side with their muskets in unison.Seeing this, the Cantonese troops on both sides who were responsible for covering them had no choice but to bite the bullet and follow.

When the backs of the mercenary phalanx were blurred, a sentry boat came from the center of the river, paddling desperately. When the boat was on the shore, several sailors quickly jumped off the boat and ran towards the Cantonese army's position like flying. Waving and shouting.

Fausto frowned and looked at the interpreter beside him, "Song, what did they say?"

"They said... there was no one in those boats on the river... they were all wearing military sacks..."

Fausto's head buzzed, no wonder he felt something was missing just now, and then he remembered—the voice!The "enemy soldiers" who fell into the water on the Pearl River did not make a scream.

(End of this chapter)