The Rise of Ming Dynasty 1646

Chapter 471 Night Attack
South of Jurong City.

The battalion commanders went to Yu Xin one after another to report that the number of people had been counted, and the latter reported to Zhu Linmi.

"What time is it?"

"Return to my lord, it's past time."

Zhu Linmin nodded, "Let everyone eat some dry food first and have a good rest. There will be a tough battle tomorrow morning."

"Yes!"

Not long after Yu Xin left, there were fires flickering three times in a row in the east of Jurong City.

Seeing this, Shi Lin's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly pointed to the light of the fire and signaled to Zhu Linming, "My lord, I'm in a hurry!"

Since it was an ambush and it was very close to Jianlu, even if there was an emergency military situation, the whistle could not be sounded to warn.

Apparently other officers also saw the flames, and ordered their troops to prepare for battle in a low voice.The soldiers quickly dropped the dry food they had just eaten, and completed their formation in the dark.

Soon, some hussars came on horseback, and the hoofs of the horses under their crotch stepped on the ground with a muffled sound. It was obviously wrapped in thick cloth, but it also made the speed slower.

It took the cavalryman a long time to find where Zhu Linmi was, and he cupped his hands and said in a low voice, "Report, a large group of captives were found on the post road on the north side, and they are heading towards Yingtian Mansion."

"Big team of thieves?" Zhu Linmi frowned, "How many people are there?"

"Master, it's difficult to see at night. The exact number is unknown, but it must be more than [-]."

Under the conditions of the seventeenth century, night reconnaissance is definitely a great science.

If you want to find out the number of enemy troops during the day, you can count them from the heights, or you can judge them based on their footprints after the enemy troops leave. More directly, you can use binoculars.

And it gets complicated at night.If the moonlight is not bright enough, you can only see the bright spots of the enemy's torches from a distance, but judging the number of enemy troops with torches is extremely inaccurate, because each person can have one torch, or three people, or even a sneak attack. 50 people only use one.And the scouts didn't dare to get too close to the enemy, and in the dark environment, approaching didn't have much effect.

Therefore, night reconnaissance basically relies on experience and guesswork, and it is really impossible to give an accurate number of enemy troops in a short period of time.

Zhang Jiayu immediately cupped his hands and said: "My lord, according to the previous investigation, the main force of the captives has always gathered in one place. The subordinates thought that it was Le Ke Dehun who was being pressed hard by the old thief Hong, so it was only before dawn. Then we broke camp and set out."

Zhao Shichao nodded and pointed to the cavalryman who reported the news, "He said that the captives marched in a hurry, which is exactly what General Zhang guessed."

Zhu Linmi lowered her head and thought for a moment, but she really couldn't think of other possibilities. The only people who could mobilize tens of thousands of soldiers in this area were the troops of Luck Dehun.

It seems that the main force of Luck Dehun must be on his way at night!The opportunity for an ambush was fleeting, and once he had made up his mind, he no longer hesitated, and immediately said to Zhang Jiayu: "Order the whole army to implement the 'Ting' plan."

"Yes!"

Fortunately, all kinds of situations were fully prepared at the staff meeting outside Nanjing, among which was the departure of Jianlu in advance.

Artillery and cavalry equipped with horses were the first to act, and quickly circled out from both sides of Jurong City.At this time, the face cloth covering the horse's hooves had been removed, and the speed of coming and going like the wind resumed.

Although the infantry only rested for less than a meal, everyone was in high spirits, and then they trotted in formation and marched northward with the battalion as a unit.Based on the training level of this new Ming army, running ten miles in 25 minutes is the minimum standard. The previous marching intensity was completely "walking" for them.

"The Ming army often built watchtowers. When they arrive outside the city of Nanjing tomorrow, it is not appropriate to attack the Ming army's camp immediately. Let someone contact Hong Dutang first, and make an appointment at the time when the army in the city will come out, and I will attack from behind." Zhang Tianlu thought of this There was a smug smile on his face, perhaps before the main force of Luck Dehun arrived, the southern army would have been defeated...

He was dreaming of the Spring and Autumn Dream, when he heard the sound of horseshoes in the south, he was taken aback for a moment, thinking, could it be that Luck Dehun found out that I left the team without permission and sent Xiaoqi to chase me back?

He hurriedly summoned Bu Congshan, but before he could ask what was going on, there was a deafening artillery boom from the front left, and then the screams of Qing soldiers echoed in the night.

No matter how slow Zhang Tianlu's reaction was, he knew at this moment that it was an enemy attack—no matter how dissatisfied Luck Dehun was with him, it was impossible for him to bombard him with cannons!

He looked around with terrified eyes, and saw a large group of torches coming quickly from the south, densely packed with at least tens of thousands of people!

"Hurry up, pass the order!" He pulled Bu Congshan past him, "Send the order!"

"General, this subordinate is listening to that..."

"Ling, Ling..." Zhang Tianlu was in a cold sweat, but couldn't say a word.It was not easy to dispatch the army at night, and his men were marching in a hurry just now, and the team stretched back and forth for more than two li. No matter what military order he gave at this moment, it might be difficult to carry out.

Just as he panicked, the Dragon Guards led by heavy cavalry, followed by hussars, formed two wedge-shaped assault formations, and cut into the Qing army from the southeast without hesitation.

At the same time, all [-] dragoons and [-] hussars quickly circled to the west of Zhang Tianlu's troops.The dragoons immediately dismounted and formed an infantry line, blocking the enemy's way to the west.The hussars lined up on the left wing, ready to respond at any time.

The artillery, as if they were desperate, directly stood at a distance of more than 300 steps from the enemy, forming a semi-arc formation.All guns six-pounders and above were loaded with grapeshot, while the six-pounders and Francois were still fired with solid bullets, all firing at maximum rate of fire.

For the convenience of marching, the Qing army almost carried a torch, but at this time it became the most conspicuous target.The Dragon Guards and the Polu Camp have a total of 55 Hongyi cannons of various calibers, 60 Fran cannons, and a salvo can shoot more than 50 solid bullets, and more than [-] Hongyi cannons spit out The overwhelming shotgun.

Once the fire flashed on the artillery positions of the Ming army, a large number of torches would be blown up and flying around in the captive army's formation.

At such a short distance of three hundred steps, using shotguns to shoot continuously, the effect is just like a giant elephant dancing among the ants piled everywhere. There will be three or four hundred captive soldiers turned into powder.

Zhu Linmi's staff meeting had calculated very accurately in advance. Under the darkness, Jianlu was suddenly attacked, and it was impossible to organize an effective counterattack in a short period of time.Therefore, the Qing army watched hundreds of cannons firing repeatedly not far away, but no one stepped forward to attack.

Until the first infantry battalion and the hunting battalion in charge of covering the artillery battalion rushed to the artillery position, Chen Xiongfei commanded the gunners to kill no less than [-] enemy soldiers.

Prior to this, two cavalry teams had penetrated the Jianlu army formation, leaving behind two "passages" covered with corpses of the Qing army.The entire Qing army team was immediately cut into three pieces of different sizes. It was difficult for them to be dispatched in a unified manner due to the sudden attack.

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(End of this chapter)