Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 144 Defeated
At the end of the afternoon, the sun slanted down on the woods a mile away, casting a mottled tree shadow on the open space in front of the forest.

A gust of sea breeze blew by, and the light and shadow swayed in the forest. At this moment, the enemy's figure appeared from the woods and broke into Lin Hai's eyes.

There were only a few people at the beginning, but soon it turned into a line. In terms of frontal width, it was almost the same as the Zhoushan Battalion that opened the Xiao Sancai Formation. The thickness was not yet visible. Most of the enemy troops were still in the woods. come out.

There was a slight commotion in the Zhoushan Battalion's front line, which had not happened in training for a long time.

The dark woods behind the enemy troops caused huge psychological pressure on these new recruits who had never been on the battlefield. No one knew how many enemy troops there were in the deep woods.

The air seemed to freeze at this moment, and Lin Hai's breathing could not help but quicken. Land battles and naval battles were really different. The former was more suffocating than the latter.

At this time, the Chinese army sounded the sound of trumpets and swans, which was to ask all soldiers to shout together.

All the soldiers of the Zhoushan Battalion opened their throats and shouted three times: "Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!"

Ku Lie's military law has trained these new recruits to have a high degree of obedience. The more nervous they are, the more they will subconsciously obey orders.

The clubs and ghost-headed swords of the Zhenfu team showed their power at this moment. Lin Hai heard Wu Guoyi say that in just over three months, six or seven soldiers had been beheaded for violating military law.

Those who harm the common people will be beheaded, those who leave the military camp without authorization will be beheaded, those with improper equipment will be beheaded, those who lose firearms will be beheaded, and even those who make loud noises will be beheaded...

Beheading was a major feature of Qi Jiguang's military law. In addition, corporal punishments such as ear cutting and fixed-term imprisonment of one year in prison were common.

At the same time, the relationship between superiors and subordinates in the Qi family army is very strict. The ceremony of kneeling and bowing when ordinary soldiers meet officers and when officers of all levels meet each other are very detailed.

From the perspective of Lin Hai, who is accustomed to the equality of personality between officers and soldiers, this seems not conducive to the cultivation of soldiers' sense of honor, and is also harmful to the shaping of the collective atmosphere of the army.

But in the end, he did not change this law because he was afraid that it would affect the soldiers' obedience and awe of their superiors. At this time, he was very glad that he was not too smart.

In addition to the six or seven soldiers who were beheaded, there were many more soldiers who were demoted as auxiliary soldiers due to their unsatisfactory performance during the training process. The replacements were all outstanding elements among the auxiliary soldiers.

With these three shouts, the recruits felt the collective strength, and their courage suddenly became stronger. The brief commotion quickly calmed down, and the five rows of horizontal formations in front of the Chinese army were solemn again.

Lin Hai let out a sigh of relief, and then Lu Tiedan stood beside him and said, "Brother, I'll put on the armor for you."

Lin Hai nodded silently and put on his armor with the help of Lu Tiedan. This was a set of well-made golden lacquer mountain armor weighing forty kilograms. He Rubin asked He Ying to give it to him before heading south from Zhoushan.

This set of golden lacquered mountain armor is made up of more than 4000 pieces of mountain-shaped hooked armor, including chest armor, belly armor, leg skirts, waist armor, greaves, iron plates, shoulder guards, arm guards, and foot guards. There are golden swallowing beasts on the shoulders and abdomen, plus a small golden phoenix-winged dagger, and the whole is a golden man armed to the teeth and shining with gold, looking very mighty.

After putting on their armor, almost all the enemy troops on the opposite side came out of the woods. Lin Hai made a rough visual inspection and found that the number of soldiers should be between three and four times that of the Zhoushan camp.

This is similar to the remaining number of enemy troops estimated by Yang Lu, Yang Ce, Xu Letian and others. It seems that Chen Zhongji and Yang Tiansheng have pulled out all their men who can still fight.

"That's fine. We can defeat the enemy here in one fell swoop, and we won't have to go into the mountains to search and suppress them." Lin Hai thought silently in his heart.

After putting on the armor, his confidence skyrocketed. After all, none of the enemy soldiers on the opposite side had armor on them.On his way south from Zhoushan, he specifically passed through Tamsui and brought over 100 sets of well-made chainmail.

Each set of these chain armors weighed about thirty kilograms. He mainly distributed them to officers and gunmen at all levels. The rest were distributed to each squad of soldiers, and the captain distributed them to those who were appropriately dressed. At this time, Zhoushan The battalion's armor coverage rate was almost half.

Thanks to Qi Jiajun's training methods, the Zhoushan Battalion had sandbags tied to their feet during morning jogs, and the equipment used during training was heavier than in actual combat. Therefore, these soldiers who were wearing armor for the first time did not feel any obvious discomfort. .

In addition to the difference in protective power, whether or not there is armor will also have a huge impact on the psychology of the army.The side with higher armor coverage undoubtedly has a strong psychological advantage. The commotion among the Zhoushan Battalion recruits when they first went to the battlefield was quickly calmed down. This should also have a lot to do with this.

At this time, a short conch sound sounded on the opposite side, and the enemy troops coming out of the woods stopped.Then I saw bosses, big and small, coming out and roughly forming a queue. Lin Hai guessed that those with firearms should stand in front, and those without firearms should stand in the back.

"Damn it, which unit of officers and soldiers are these, and why are there so many armors?" Chen Zhongji and Yang Tiansheng were whispering in front of the enemy's formation.

In fact, there is no formation of these two men. They just have firearms at the front and cold weapons at the back.However, due to the need for division of labor on the ship, they have many bosses, large and small, so their organization is still good, at least much better than the Leilang people they fought against in the Security Department.

This is somewhat similar to the Ming Army, which had a large number of grassroots officers. Western Europe at the same time was far from the level of the Ming Army in this regard.

"How did I know? The sentry didn't mention this when he reported back." Yang Tiansheng replied in a low voice with a pale face. How did he know that you can't wear armor when marching? It would be too exhausting for your physical strength.

In the age of cold weapons, a soldier's physical strength before a battle was often one of the most important factors that determined the outcome. Therefore, forced marches or rapid marches were completely undesirable. That would put an army in a very dangerous situation, and it could easily turn hundreds of miles away overnight. That's absolute bullshit.

In fact, infantrymen in ancient times could generally travel thirty to forty miles a day at most, basically walking for half a day and resting for half a day.Of course, that half day is not actually a complete rest. If you want to set up a more stable camp, it will take less than half a day.

For example, this time the Zhoushan battalion left the city to suppress bandits. After marching for about ten miles, Wu Guoyi ordered the entire army to stop and rest. This was also in accordance with Qi Jiguang's method.

"How about we just retreat? I don't think the gang of birds on the other side have any intention of attacking us." Yang Tiansheng was timid and whispered to Chen Zhongji in a low voice.

"If you don't fight us, why are they coming so far away? If we retreat now, we will die faster." After all, Chen Zhongji still has more knowledge, "Second brother, why are you going back as long as you are alive? There are far fewer people on the opposite side than us. , does this scare you?"

Yang Tiansheng really doesn't have the courage he had when he was young and sailed across the sea. In fact, according to his idea, he can just make a living in the gang, but he can't stand Chen Zhongji and refuses to obey his old man. He insists on betraying the old captain and helping Zheng Zhilong get the position. Now The two brothers have people under their command again.

Zheng Zhilong gave them 800 people, and also asked them to recruit a group of soldiers from Liu'ao Institute. This is the 1000 people they brought to the Zhongzuo Institute this time. Another 100 were killed and injured by the Yang brothers and Xu Letian. Multiple people.

"Blow the conch." Chen Zhongji ordered the boy next to him. The man picked up the conch, put it to his lips, and blew a long tune.

"Come on shoulder to shoulder!" Regardless of his age of over 50, Chen Zhongji drew his sword and rushed out first. Pirates fight differently from officers and soldiers. The leader pays attention to leading by example, while the army of officers and soldiers usually command and guard the formation from behind.As the sound of conches continued, the pirates roared and rushed forward. They fought with momentum and had no idea of ​​conserving energy.

At the Zhoushan Camp, the Chinese army still did not issue any orders. All the soldiers stood still and stared silently at the enemy troops that were coming toward them.

Fifteen-year-old Zhou Yifa stood in the center of the first row. When the enemy troops came out of the woods a mile away, he felt only uncontrollable excitement and no fear.

Because he didn't even think about what would happen if he was killed by the enemy. He just thought: I have practiced musketry for so many years, and today I finally have the opportunity to kill someone.

Since the Zhoushan Battalion only dispatched the first round this time, the battalion general and the first division commander were responsible for the command. He, the general manager, did not have much to do. In fact, he was equivalent to the commander of the gunners in the first round.

When it comes to battle, all actions are directed by the golden drum flag. Even if there are only thirteen bird gunners in his row, he actually cannot direct them because everyone is six feet apart and in the noisy His voice could not reach the soldiers on both sides of the battlefield.

At this time, he was just equivalent to an ordinary gunman, and Zhou Yifa felt that he was just what I wanted.

Shooting requires full concentration, directing only distracts him.

Finally, the enemy troops were getting closer and closer. When the two armies were about a hundred steps apart, a short trumpet sound came from the center of the rear formation. This was the signal for the first line to fire their guns.

The ammunition was loaded in advance. Zhou Yi raised his gun and aimed it expertly with his cheek. All gunners in the first row had almost the same movements. None of them lowered their hands forward to release the gun, or the muzzle of the gun was pointed toward the sky or the ground.

The military law of the Qi family army is also the military law of the Zhoushan camp: during real exercises or in battle, those who do not perform well in firing cannons will be beheaded in public display!

The most important thing for a cannon soldier is not the shooting skills, but the fear of military law more than the fear of exploding the barrel. Otherwise, they will definitely end up fighting randomly on the battlefield.

Of course, this also requires that the quality of the muskets in the hands of the soldiers is indeed high. Otherwise, if the guns are exploded every three days, then the strict military laws will be of no use.

There were a few sparse and crisp sounds in front of the Zhoushan Camp. The sounds were not uniform and seemed a bit chaotic. Three of the thirteen muskets were not fired. A total of ten lead bullets were fired at the enemy in the thick smoke. Shot over.

Zhou Yifa couldn't see how many people were killed on the opposite side, but he was sure that his shot must have hit.

In fact, this volley of thirteen gunmen only killed three people. This was because the enemy's formation was relatively dense. The distance of a hundred steps was still a little far for the gunmen.

But only three people died, and the pirates on the opposite side immediately stopped. Those in the front row holding blunderbuss raised their blunderbuss to hit them randomly. They didn't bother to aim with their cheeks through the smoke. They all raised the blunderbuss in one hand and lit a fire with the other. The first one is a shot, and the main thing is a random one.

Explosions like fried beans resounded in front of the pirates' battle line. In addition to the smoke in front of the battle line, there were also smoke rings rising from the sky and dust rising from the ground. These were all shots fired toward the sky and the ground. Wan Zhang quickly retreated to the back.

However, the number of pirates firing guns was much greater than that of Zhoushan Camp, and hundreds of lead bullets were still flying towards Zhoushan Camp.

But again, a hundred steps is still too far for a gun. These lead bullets cannot penetrate armor and shields at all. Only a few unlucky ones who were hit in the face died in this wave of bullets. In the rain.

At this time, the sound of drums came from the center of the formation, and the soldiers of the Zhoushan Battalion began to move forward. The gunners in the first row automatically retreated to the back of the formation.

Monday's shot did not recede. He reloaded as he advanced, because he believed that with his speed, he could fire a second shot.

Wash the gun, dispense the medicine, deliver the medicine, place the lead, deliver the lead, launch the wooden horse, deliver the wooden horse, fire the door, remove the medicine, close the fire door, install the match...

Zhou Yifa walked forward while methodically making preparations for shooting again. His mind was empty, and all his movements were as smooth as clouds and flowing water.

In about eight seconds, the two armies were no more than thirty steps apart. There was a golden roar from the Chinese army behind the formation, and all the soldiers of the Zhoushan camp stopped.

Then there was the sound of blowing bamboo tubes again, which was meant to let the bird gunners spread out in front of the formation. The bird gunners in the second row passed through the gap between the first sentry soldiers and stood in the front row. .

Zhou Yifa took a big step forward and stood alone at the front, right in front of the two gunmen behind him.

There are 47 gunmen in this row, and each person is spaced three feet apart. This is the shortest distance between matchlock gunners. Therefore, matchlock gunners cannot adopt a dense formation. This is its biggest disadvantage compared to flintlock guns. one.

With a short trumpet sound, 48 gunners, including Monday's shooter, all aimed with their cheeks and then pulled the trigger.

bang bang bang...

The firing sounds of the 48 muskets were continuous. Although it was still not very uniform, more than [-]% of them were successfully fired.

Nearly forty lead bullets were fired directly at the enemy, and almost all of them hit the target. A large number of pirates in the front row suddenly fell down.

The sound of intensive drum beating came from behind the formation, and the soldiers of the Zhoushan Battalion charged forward. After passing through the smoke, all they saw were figures moving forward rapidly.

Such a close range volley would be unbearable even for the most powerful armies of this era, let alone this group of pirates who fought with bloody courage.

What's more, their firearms have already been fired in the first round of shooting. The distance of only [-] steps requires only eight fingers. They cannot complete the reloading on the battlefield in such a short time.

The first battle of the Zhoushan Battalion has now entered garbage time, and all that is left is just the pursuit of the small and talented formations.

"We won, our soldiers are all good." Lin Hai turned around and said to Wu Guoyi.

Wu Guoyi's face could not hide his excitement: "Yes, sir, we won, and the Zhoushan Battalion lived up to our trust!"

(End of this chapter)