The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Dong dong dong"

After three dull war drums, the Ming army's queue began to change. The soldiers in the front row slowly advanced amidst the command of the commander. Most of them carried bows and arrows on their backs, and they were mainly archers. In front of them, , or nearly a hundred people pushing more than twenty carts slowly forward.

People who are familiar with the history of the Ming Dynasty may be able to tell at a glance what these more than 20 carts are. They all have huge bodies, and a high baffle is erected on one side of the cart. There are also small and large baffles on the baffle. Different shooting ports.

On the huge firing port located at the lower part of the car body, an artillery was placed there. If Wei Guangde were here, would he recognize these artillery pieces at a glance as the bowl-mouth blunderbuss he had seen?

In fact, if you look carefully, you will find that in addition to the bowl-mouth blunderbuss, there are also Fran cannons one after another.

In this era, the Ming army, especially the Ming frontier army, has been using Franco machine guns for a relatively short period of time. Although it cannot be compared with the bowl-mouth gun, it still has a history of 30 to 40 years.

After the Fran cannon was sent to the border town, it was quickly liked by generals at all levels of the border army because of its rapid firing. However, for the sake of safety, this thing was made of all copper, resulting in a higher cost. Naturally, regardless of the Ordnance Bureau, Hebingzhan Bureau was unable to mass-produce and deliver them to military towns in various places for use.

Some of the large Franco cannons were inconvenient to transport, so they had already been placed on the walls of important cities and fortresses. The Ming army infantry carried some small Franco cannons when they went into battle.

Just as the chariot camp and the archers were moving forward, several figures were already running in front of them. They quickly found the right position and unloaded the dry firewood from their backs. When the chariot was pushed next to them, the fire was already lit. .

The changes in the wilderness were naturally noticed by the soldiers on night watch in the Anta military camp. From the beginning, the sensitive Tatar soldiers felt a slight tremor on the ground, which was a sign that there were horse teams moving nearby.

The sound of drums came later, and then a fire appeared about a hundred steps away from the military camp. They didn't need the dogs to call the police. They knew they were being attacked by the Ming army. They picked up the swords, guns, bows and arrows around them, and fired at them. Warning in the military camp, he ran towards the wooden fence of the camp, ready to shoot bows and arrows to stop the Ming army from approaching.

The appearance of the Ming army was very sudden, and the Anda army had been stationed here for a long time. When they first confronted the Ming army, the Anda army was still more cautious. Not only would they set up light and dark sentries every night, but they would also The patrolmen went out to inspect the military camps for more than ten miles, and even often wandered around Baoan Prefecture and the Ming army camps to observe the movements of the Ming army.

But as time went by, seeing that the Ming army on the opposite side seemed to have no intention of starting a war, their vigilance gradually relaxed at this time.

It has been more than ten days, and the military camp has not arranged for anyone to patrol outside at night. They only arrange guards at the entrance of the military camp, and patrols inside the military camp.

The patrols in the camp were naturally not to guard against sneak attacks by the Ming army, but to guard against accidental fire breaks and unpredictable events caused by soldiers making noise at night.

It was precisely because of Andabu's arrogance that the Ming army had the opportunity to complete preparations for assembly very close to the Andabu military camp.

The chariots were put in place, but the archer formation was still moving forward. They passed through the gaps between the chariots. They had to get closer to the Anta military camp in order to pose a threat to the enemy camp with their arrows. .

As the sound of rushing footsteps sounded, the Ming army's infantry were already standing behind the gunner. The red mandarin duck war jackets illuminated by the fire looked even more bloodthirsty.

At this time, the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty and the young sergeants were very excited. They had never seen such a large battle since they joined the army, with tens of thousands of people gathered together to form a military formation.

For those veterans who have experienced the Gengwu Incident, they have seen large armies gathering many times, but this is the first time that they have set up an offensive formation.

Even the team leaders of each team became excited at this moment. Most of them had such an experience for the first time.

It was many years ago that the Ming army set up such a military formation with tens of thousands of people in the wild. At that time, it was probably the Zhengde Dynasty.

That is to say, when Emperor Wuzong was still on the throne, the nine-sided official army of the Ming Army began to have the opportunity to assemble and break out of the Great Wall to launch attacks against the Mongolian tribes, plundering their resources and weakening their strength.

But now, such a thing is no longer possible. It would be good if the Mongols don't attack.

In addition to garrisoning guard posts in various places, the Ming army's mobile troops were mainly battalions led by generals and guerrillas. The number of troops under their accounts was variable, ranging from three to four thousand to several hundred. Therefore, the Ming army In the process of fighting the invading Tatars, only a few thousand troops were often invested at a time, and battles involving more than 5,000 troops rarely occurred.

Only during the city defense battle, more soldiers may be invested in defending the city.

The Anda tribe was similar. Their attacks on the Ming Dynasty were mostly for the purpose of looting, so they often divided their forces.

There are as few as dozens of people, as many as two or three thousand.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, both sides seemed to intend to avoid a large-scale battle. Perhaps no one could afford to lose.

Only at this time, the situation seemed to have changed. The Ming army gathered tens of thousands of troops outside the Andabu military camp. He was unusual.

The news was quickly reported to the ears of thousands of households in Mongolia, and his scalp felt numb when he heard the news.

The Ming army showed up sooner or later, but it happened that he came out to fight when the Wanhu troops under his command were at their lowest. This was because he was well prepared.

Although Mongolians are bold by nature, they are not stupid. Ten thousand households in Mongolia obviously felt that they might have been deceived by the Ming army when they split their troops to Huailai County.

"Command to assemble."

While giving orders to his subordinates, he stood up and put on his clothes. He wanted to go out and see if the Ming army had really organized an army of tens of thousands to attack him.

This is in the wild. He wants to attack the Mongols. What a joke. As long as his army gathers together, he can smash the Ming army to pieces and even take Baoan Prefecture in one fell swoop.

Mongolian households quickly recovered from the initial shock. Not only were they not afraid, but they were also filled with ecstasy.

"The Ming army's military formations gathered to the west of our army's camp"

At this time, the soldier who reported the news began to introduce the situation, but was interrupted by Wan Hu before he finished speaking.

"Are you saying that the army did not gather in front of our camp?"

Wanhu scratched his ears in disbelief, why did he come to my side? Do you think the wooden fence can't stop their onslaught?

In fact, the purpose of the wooden fence is to prevent wild creatures from running in. The reason why the low wooden fence was built was not to facilitate the cavalry troops to attack.

After walking out of the big tent where he rested, Wan Hu looked to the west of the camp, but he couldn't see anything at this time, because his view was blocked by other tents.

In the distance, a general loudly called for his warriors to start forming a team. Soon they would go to the stables outside the tent to take out their horses, and transform into warriors who would make the entire Ming army frightened.

At this time, the reporting soldier told him the news that made him frightened. "Someone had felt signs of cavalry activities before. Behind our camp, there seemed to be no cavalry activity near the Ming army's formation."

"Is there anything going on at the Great Khan's barracks?"

Wan Hu asked quickly.

"No news has been sent from the rear camp"

Just as he finished speaking, a fast horse in the distance had already come closer. A Mongolian soldier dismounted and came to Wanhu. He knelt down and reported: "Master Wanhu, there is a fire in the Khan's camp behind you. There seems to be something." Crying to kill.

In addition, a Ming army cavalry appeared outside the gate of our army's rear camp, seemingly planning to rush into the camp."

"Bang bang bang bang."

Suddenly there was a sound like thunder from the west of the camp. All the Mongolians in Anda tribe knew that it was the sound of the Ming army's cannon being fired.

Sixty steps away from the Anda headquarters, the Ming army's archers had already taken a position. At the command of the team officer, the Ming army's archers took out arrows one after another. Soon, others walked past them holding torches and arrows. The fire starter in the Yamae section was ignited.

"Open your bow and shoot."

Without waiting for much time, after the rocket in the archer's hand was ignited, the team officer began to shout orders.

Following the command of the team officer, the archers unfurled their bows and nocked arrows, aiming at the Tatar camp in front. After the sound of the word "shoot" reached their ears, they released their bowstrings one after another.

"Swish swish"

Countless small fireballs were shot into the air, and then dropped rapidly, flying over the wooden fence of the Tatar military camp, but most of them landed in the open space.

Hundreds of rockets were fired, but only a few dozen hit the tents, because the Tatar tents were really scattered.

But there was another effect, and that was the sound of several wails coming from the Tatar camp, apparently Tatar soldiers being hit by rockets in the darkness.

Soon, more than a dozen arrows were scattered from the opposite side. It was the Tatar soldiers who had rushed to the fence and fired their bows to fight back.

The team officer made a prompt decision and ordered again: "Lower the height and shoot behind the wooden fence."

Since the attempt to set the Tatar camp on fire with rockets seems a bit futile, let's just shoot people.

Their purpose was to attract the Mongols to come over and shoot at the Ming army at the fence, so that they would not have the energy to support the Anda Khan camp behind them.

Soon, the team officer's order was transmitted to the ears of all the archers through small flags. After the second shooting order was issued, they all lowered the height of the arrows, and the shooting range was controlled at about 80 steps.

Just when the second wave of arrows hit the wooden fence of the military camp, the Ming army artilleryman not far behind the archer was also ready to finish. There was no need to ask the superiors for instructions on whether to fire, so the team officer directly gave the order to fire.

"Bang bang bang bang."

The Fran machine gun mounted on the tank opened fire, spraying solid bullets at the Anta military camp in front.

This time, more than 20 chariots in the camp brought out twelve medium-sized Fran cannons. They were manufactured more than ten years ago and have been well maintained. The cannon is about 4 feet long and weighs 100 kilograms. , several soldiers need to take turns to lift it, each time loading 6 taels of projectiles and 6 taels of powder.

The solid projectile flew out of the muzzle driven by the gunpowder explosion, broke through the air, and jumped into the Andabu military camp carrying unparalleled kinetic energy.

Several nearby tents behind the fence were instantly punched with large holes. The Mongolian soldiers in the tents who had not yet put on their armor were still wailing inside. In the tents that had been set alight by rockets, although there was no one inside, the shells penetrated the tents. The impact caused it to completely shatter, and the tent fell to all sides.

Soon, the Franco gunners had removed one sub-cartridge, quickly replaced it with a second one, loaded it and lit the fuse again.

"Bang bang bang bang."

From time to time, thick smoke came out of the Ming army's chariot, and then there was a thunder-like sound.

The hundreds of archers in front fired more than ten rounds of arrows to suppress the Mongolian soldiers behind the fence. Then, under the command of the team officer, they began to retreat slowly, still following the route they came from, passing between the gaps in the chariots. After that, go back to the back of the chariot and rest for a while.

After the archers retreated, the gun and shield soldiers behind slowly advanced amidst the sound of commands, completely closing the gap between the chariots.

This is the frontier army of the Ming Dynasty. Although their living standards are not as good as before due to the exploitation of officials, the tactics left by their ancestors have not been lost, and they all know what they should do.

Of course, this is also related to the perennial wars in Xuanfu. Although there is less training, the recruits can still quickly figure out basic things under the guidance of veterans. At least if they learn something, they will not go wrong.

After the Ming army archers stopped shooting arrows, a large number of Tatar soldiers with scattered clothes and armor quickly appeared behind the short fence of the Anda army camp. They were waiting with weapons such as swords, guns, bows and arrows in their hands to prevent the Ming army from attacking the military camp.

These people were all soldiers assigned to be stationed in tents nearby. They were sent here under the order of the general at this time. They needed to buy time for the other thousands of households behind them.

However, when they saw the chariots and rows of shields in front of the Ming army's formation, they were a little at a loss. They couldn't figure out whether the Ming army was going to steal the camp or demonstrate.

The Ming Dynasty's frontier army has a long history of using chariots. Most people in later generations only thought that Qi Jiguang compiled the chariot camp when he was in Ji Town. In fact, Qi Jiguang's biggest advantage was that he was good at using some available things and integrating them to make him Can exert greater power.

The sidecars of the Ming army should have first appeared during the Ming Dynasty Zong Zhu Qiyu's period, and the person who instigated the creation of chariots was the famous general Guo Deng.

Guo Deng, the grandson of Guo Ying, Marquis of Wuding, served as the governor of Datong in the 14th year of Zhengtong. It was during this period that he followed the ancients in making sidecars and four-wheelers, with firearms hidden in the middle, flags on top, and shackles. It can be used for liaison, formation, offense and defense.

His army consisted of five men, and Guo Deng taught them to swear an oath in the temple. If one person has merit, the five will receive the reward together, and the same will be done when receiving punishment.

Ten soldiers form a team, and the leader of the team is the person who can draw a sixty-pound bow.

The ten teams are led by a metropolitan commander, making them indestructible in their achievements and accountable for their crimes. This approach was praised for a while.

This was the predecessor of the chariot camp, which was the main force in infantry operations in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. However, Emperor Jingtai has been over a century now, and the sidecars manufactured at that time have naturally been scrapped and cannot be used.

The more than 20 sidecars placed in front of the Ming army's formation were manufactured more than ten years ago. Naturally, it was not because the Ministry of War was well-intentioned to purchase weapons for them, but because of another battle known as "The World Heared and Wronged" " brought about by the unjust case.