The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Prepare the bird cannon, aim at the Burmese army on the elephant's back, and shoot."

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In front of the Ming army formation, guerrilla Chen Tao shouted.

After the Burmese army gathered more than 200 war elephants and rushed towards the Ming army's formation, although he was a little surprised by the generosity of the Burmese army, guerrilla Chen Tao still responded calmly.

Since knowing the power of the Burmese army's war elephants, the Ming army generals have all been thinking hard about how to deal with the enemy.

They also carefully studied the process of several battles with the Burmese army's war elephants, and gradually discovered the shortcomings of the war elephants.

In the past, when the Han people fought against elephant soldiers, most of them could only choose to set up ambushes in special locations and attack the defeated elephant soldiers with fire.

Because elephants are afraid of fire. They are still animals after all. Once attacked by fire, they will lose control and will no longer listen to their handlers.

But now that the Ming army is chasing the Burmese army, the strategy of setting up an ambush and setting fire to attack will certainly not work.

Fortunately, even if the skin is rough and the flesh is thick, it is difficult to be hurt by a sword, but it is still afraid of pain after all.

The Ming army was equipped with a large number of Fran cannons. Although they could not kill the war elephants with one blow, they were still a full deterrent to them.

You can't kill them from a distance, but you can hurt them, and the war elephants will go crazy and lose control.

Perhaps, in the war elephant's mind, continuing to move forward means being tortured by pain, and the driver just wants them to die.

Rather than being killed by the driver, it is better to resist.

Therefore, after the Ming army's artillery fired at the war elephants, the originally neat queue immediately became chaotic. The war elephants continued to collide with each other and became a mess.

However, there were too many war elephants rushing over this time, and they quickly rushed to the Ming army's formation.

In the past, the war elephants mobilized by the Burmese army would also depend on the terrain, ranging from dozens to hundreds at a time, but this time it was obviously beyond the carrying capacity of the terrain.

As they rushed closer, Chen Tao did not dare to neglect, and shouted again: "Fire the Fran machine gun at full speed, kill these beasts, fire the tiger crouching cannon, shoot."

The Ming army is now at full firepower, and almost all firearms have been used.

Except for the archers behind the strong shield formation, it can be said that all long-range firepower was invested.

The reason why archers are not used is because the Ming army has already tried it, and arrows are almost completely ineffective against war elephants.

Yes, these war elephants are like wild boars, covered in a thick layer of mud.

The wet mud is relatively soft, but when it dries, it becomes a little hard.

Moreover, even without this layer of mud, arrows are ineffective against elephants.

Some people have even proposed using rockets to shoot at the fence on the elephant's back, which is where the elephant soldiers stay, where they direct the movements of the war elephants. They can also kill the enemy with arrows and stab the surrounding enemies with spears.

But the war elephant is always moving. If you want the archers to shoot the rockets into the basket, you have to ignite them. This is more difficult. The soldiers above will also pull out the rockets and throw them away.

Even if a large number of archers are gathered, it is difficult to do it.

Therefore, the Fran machine gun is still the Ming army's weapon against war elephants.

If you are far away, it will only hurt, but if you are close, a hit to the head may still knock the war elephant unconscious or even kill it.

It is not that the Ming army has never killed war elephants. After the Burmese army retreated, they even captured several injured war elephants. However, only two of them were still usable, and the Ming army was also looking for someone to tame them.

Several others were seriously injured and lost their fighting value.

At this moment, the Ming army gunner was hurriedly loading ammunition into the sub-cartridge of the Fran machine gun. Even for the Fran machine gun, which dissipates heat quickly, the sub-cartridge already felt a little hot when it fell into the gunner's hand.

The firing speed in this section is really too fast. Looking at the approaching war elephant, it is abnormal for the gunners not to panic.

"Bang bang bang"

Just when the Franco machine gunner was replacing the sub-cartridge and preparing to fire again, a row of more than a dozen squatting tiger cannons in front finally opened fire at this time, and then a dozen Ming army gunners dropped the squatting tiger cannons and ran back quickly.

"ah"

"all."

Among the war elephants at the front, someone fell off the elephant's back. He was accidentally injured after being injured by shotgun shells from the Ming army's squatting cannon.

"Push the wooden cart up, quickly."

The firing of the Tiger Crouching Cannon proves that the Burmese army's war elephants are very close to the Ming army's military formation. If this continues, the military formation will definitely be overwhelmed by these beasts.

Therefore, Chen Tao could only use the last solution they thought of, which was the unicycle chariot.

The Ming army's military formation rippled, and passages appeared.

In the passage, dozens of wheelbarrow chariots with one-foot spears stuck in front were pushed to the front of the formation.

At this moment, they were placed next to the Fran cannon.

The chariot was already filled with fire starters.

According to the ideas of the Ming army generals, they lit the chariot and pushed it in front of the war elephant. Even if those beasts couldn't see the fire, they could still feel the temperature of the flame, and they would naturally be afraid to move forward.

Those tanks have actually been treated as disposable tools, and they have almost no recycling value after being ignited.

However, the cost of this thing is cheap, so it doesn’t matter to the Ming army. They can just ask the craftsmen of the Weisuo to build it again.

The manufacture of a wheelbarrow should not be too simple. It only requires some wood and a small amount of iron.

Different from the one-wheeled chariots used by the northern frontier army, the handlebars of these chariots are relatively long, and the spears on the front of the chariots are shortened a lot because they are not used against cavalry.

After all, if the fire gets too big, the rider pushing the cart behind will also be burned.

Longer handlebars can avoid such injuries.

Just because the handlebar is lengthened, for the pusher, the control needs to be more precise, and it must be aimed in the direction of the war elephant. If the spearhead inserted at the front of the cart can be inserted into the elephant's body, the effect will be the best.

The wheelbarrow chariots in the North have spears at the front of the chariot that are at least five or six feet long, and are used as mobile horseback horses.

"Light the fire, go up, and the gunman will cover."

Chen Tao once again shouted loudly in front of the formation, giving final orders to his soldiers.

Yes, the Burmese army's war elephant is now less than ten steps away from the Ming army's Fran machine gun position, and they can clearly see the faces of the Burmese soldiers on the elephant's back.

"Papa pa pa"

There was another intensive sound of gunfire, and the bullets flew towards the Burmese army on the elephant's back. The driver had already taken fire from the brazier next to the gunner, lit the torch that had been prepared for ignition, and threw it on the car.

These torches are all stained with tung oil, which is very good at igniting fire.

Unless you encounter a bad rainy day, you don't have to worry about ignition failure at all.

There was no rain today, so dozens of chariots were quickly set on fire, and the riders pushed the wheelbarrows towards the approaching war elephants.

The Ming army's idea worked. Although they couldn't see the fire ahead, these beasts could still feel the changes in temperature.

He wanted to dodge left and right, but the temperature was getting higher and higher.

This is the importance of an agile driver. He must promptly respond to changes in the movement trajectory of the war elephant and block the chariot in the path of the war elephant.

So soon, the chariot that had been ignited with raging fire was pushed in front of the war elephants, and the war elephants either retreated, or interrupted their circles on the spot, and were no longer willing to move forward.

On the back of the elephant, the remaining Burmese soldiers found that the road ahead was blocked by the Ming army's train, and knew that their attack had failed.

Not to mention the war elephants, it would be very difficult for them to rush over. The war elephant behind quickly turned around and began to retreat under the control of its driver.

Yes, failed again.

However, this is not the first time. This time it is just another method of dealing with war elephants forced by the Ming army.

As for the war elephant in front, it had been bombarded by the Fran machine cannon and fell to the ground. It could only lie there and howl in joy.

Along with it, there are Burmese soldiers on the elephant's back.

Many people were injured and then shot dead by the gunmen of the Ming army behind them.

Chen Tao just wiped the thick sweat from his forehead at this time. If the chariot could not block the way of the war elephant, he planned to turn his horse and leave.

Even if he had to be punished by Li Chengliang, he was not willing to die in front of the battle.

Keep the green hills without fear of running out of firewood. This is the psychology of the Ming army from generals to soldiers. No one wants to die, they all want to live, no matter how difficult it is.

Don't look at those generals who slap their chests loudly in front of their superiors. When it comes to risking their lives, they often choose to avoid danger and protect themselves wisely.

After all, ants are greedy for life, let alone humans.

"Come here, report the victory to the Governor. Our army defeated the Burmese army. More than 300 war elephants attacked. Now the Burmese army has been defeated. Our army will take a short rest and continue the pursuit."

Chen Tao gave an order to the soldiers behind him, and he ordered his soldiers to go back to Li Chengliang to report the victory.

After all, he had won a battle and had to show his face in front of Li Chengliang. When he wrote down his merits in the future, he only hoped that his position could be improved.

Even if it's just a few positions, maybe I can get promoted instead of accumulating merit.

After ordering people to go back to report the victory, and looking at the dozens of fire piles still burning in the distance, Chen Tao felt a little lucky.

Fortunately, he followed the advice of others and prepared this kind of wheelbarrow, otherwise the military formation might have been broken.

Chen Tao no longer remembers who came up with this idea. He only remembers that it was not long after he left Lujiang City and encountered the Burmese elephant soldiers again. Everyone was drinking and eating meat in the tent when someone came up with the idea.

Anyway, some of the various departments of the Ming Army have prepared this thing, while others have not. Perhaps they think it is of no use.

After all, it is a method that has not been tried before, and it is difficult to say whether it works or not.

It cannot be said that it is just empty joy and busy work in vain.

In the eyes of most people, the unicycle chariot is still not as useful as the cold Fran cannon.

If you have time to prepare for this, it would be better to ask Li Chengliang for mercy and ask for a few more cannons.

But after today's World War I, I believe that as long as the Burmese army still has war elephants, all ministries will have to prepare them to some extent.

"The whole army rests where it is, and the scouting horses are sent out to monitor the enemy's situation around them."

Chen Tao also ordered at this time.

In the battle just now, although it was the gunners in the front who really fought hard, and the gunners' effectiveness was limited, facing the impact of so many war elephants, the psychological shock of all the soldiers was still very strong.

Need to adjust and relieve the tension.

Chen Tao can also figure this out from his own psychological changes.

He just sat on the horse and did nothing, which was wrong. He gave a few orders.

But even so, he feels very tired now.

After the order was given, most of the gunners in the front lay down on the ground without moving, breathing heavily.

Everything that happened just now, they were the ones who were hit the hardest.

Most of the others sat down on the spot. Some took out the dry food distributed in the camp and ate it, while more people took out their water bags and started drinking water.

When people are nervous, most of the time they don't feel hungry, but only feel dry in the mouth. At this time, Chen Tao was pouring water into his mouth.

But not long after they rested, Chen Tao felt something moving behind him.

Riding on the horse, he looked back and saw the Ming army's banner appeared in the distance on the left. It was his flanking Ming army that had arrived.

The current Ming army is under the command of Li Chengliang, and all the ministries are arranged in an array like this, advancing forward layer by layer.

Even if one unit is defeated by the Burmese army, the Ming army will soon follow and continue to attack the Burmese army.

Although each unit has a small number of troops, mostly around 2,000 people, with such a dense formation, even if the Burmese army can win a battle somewhere, they will soon find that a new Ming army team is coming from a distance.

They had no time to clean the battlefield, so they either retreated and ran away, or regrouped to fight the Ming army.

However, so far, in the several battles with the Burmese army, except for two defeats at the beginning due to war elephants and Burmese army artillery, there have been almost no major defeats later.

Of course, in fact, the Ming army suffered losses and even suffered small-scale retreats. However, the leading generals blocked the news and did not report the failure to Li Chengliang.

Instead, after retreating and breaking away, they immediately regrouped and continued to march.

When registering battle reports in the camp, most of them mentioned the number of people they lost during a sneak attack by the Burmese army.

Would Li Chengliang not know that his subordinates were concealing their records?

Of course he knew, but so what.

But as long as his orders were carried out by the people below and no major incident occurred, he would just turn a blind eye and pretend not to know.

Often at this time, he would constantly send orders to Luo Rufang in the rear, asking him to bring up the food, grass and baggage as soon as possible.

Now the Ming army is fighting against the Burmese army. The biggest advantage is that everyone can have enough to eat, while the Burmese army is mostly hungry.

"knew."

At this time, Li Chengliang was in a temporary camp and heard the news that the soldiers from the front had returned to report their victory.

However, the good news ahead did not make him happy, probably because of a document in his hand, a battle report written by Luo Rufang himself.

Yes, there was a small problem in the rear, and Luo Rufang had to listen to his orders.

In the previous battle at Lujiang, although the Burmese king Mang Yinglong took most of the main force across the river, the remaining 20 to 30,000 people were still blocked by the river.

Of course, all the resisters were killed, but more than 20,000 Burmese soldiers were still captured.

Li Chengliang left two battalions of 4,000 men to guard the prisoners of war, while he led the Ming army to continue the pursuit.

The small problem that arises in the rear is that the 20,000 people are a little restless.

"The kindness of women."

Li Chengliang murmured something, and then asked someone to prepare pen and ink. He gave Luo Rufang the latest order.

To deal with those prisoners of war, one meal a day is enough, as long as they don't starve to death.

Anyway, what feeds them is the grain and grass stolen by the Burmese army.

Luo Rufang actually gave these prisoners of war two full meals. He didn't want to cause trouble when they were well fed and drunk, but he actually wanted to escape.

In Li Chengliang's order, he not only issued an order to cut the food by two-thirds, but also issued an order to randomly select a thousand people and kill them directly in front of the remaining prisoners.

To deal with these people, Li Chengliang only believed in using blood to make them awe and fearful.

Killing prisoners, this is what Li Chengliang wants to do.