A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 112 Field Battle

The Qing army came out slowly on infantry. Looking at the smoke and dust in the distance and the banners and positions of the Qing soldiers, they knew that their attack would be divided into three directions. In the wave of attacks, at the end, a Niu Luzhang Jing led the elite cavalry to carry out a decisive assault.

Seeing that their battle formation of men and horses is like the tip of a knife, they basically follow the sharp formation of Jin soldiers in the early Southern Song Dynasty.

Under the sun, the Qing soldiers and horses coming slowly made the air feel suffocating and stuffy. The people around Wang Dou could not help but make a strange inhalation sound. Wang Dou looked to the left and right, The guards and flag bearers next to them had serious expressions on their faces.

However, although everyone was tired, their eyes were firm and their eyes were shining.Not far from Wang Dou, Zhenfu Chi Dacheng stood with a straight face, as if his expression hadn't changed for 1 years.There is also the medical officer Wang Tianxue, wearing his crumpled Confucian shirt, looking at the enemies approaching from a distance, his face is a little pale, and the faces of the doctors beside him are not much better.

Han Chao stared at that side, and he said: "Wei San Que Yi, it seems that the first attack of slave bandits is inevitable."

Wang Dou sneered and said, "Today, I'm going to let them sever a few front teeth and let them know that I, Wang Dou, are not easy to mess with."

He shouted loudly: "Make a round formation."

Immediately, the command flag in the hands of the flag bearer beside him was raised, and the officers of the sentries who were staring at his flag immediately said one after another: "Change formation."

With the whistle of the Chinese army, the three small square formations on the field quickly closed, and then slowly stretched to the four sides, and finally turned into a large formation with an inner hollow and an outer circle.This large formation is one of the top ten formations in ancient China, and it is most conducive to defense in the field.

Wang Dou's headquarters was located outside the Dongjiazhuang Fort, surrounded by flat areas, and there was no place to rely on for defense. Wang Dou and others came to help in a hurry without bringing any repelling horses or other things.In this field, there is no distinction between front, back, left, and right, and the highly mobile Qing soldiers can choose to attack from any position as they like.

As long as they think, as long as they find an opportunity, the flanks and the rear will all be their goals.

Wang Dou didn't have cavalry, so he couldn't protect the two wings and the rear. If he didn't accept him for less than forty nights, he was reluctant to take it out to fight the Qing soldiers.In the absence of enough cavalry, it is inevitable to deploy defenses on all sides in the field.And laying down a circular array is the most suitable.

In the field, the phalanx is an offensive formation, while the circular formation saves more troops and is more conducive to defense.And as long as the battle situation is strong, the circular formation can become an offensive square formation as long as it is slightly expanded.

Wang Dou was going to defend desperately first, and then turn defensive to offensive after the Qing soldiers' morale was greatly frustrated, so as to show the Qing soldiers a little color.

……

Thanks to the harsh training at the Shunxiang Fort, the Shunxiang Army changed in an orderly manner without the slightest noise or disorder.

Accompanied by the order of drums and drums, when the Qing soldiers were still more than 200 paces away, the Han Dynasty’s right sentry central military department first formed an formation, most of them formed in front of the circle, and the sergeants laid out according to the sentinel flag.When the drums sounded for the third time, everyone stood still according to their own positions, with firecrackers, knives, guns, and guns in their respective positions. Hundreds of officers and soldiers suddenly shouted in unison: "Guard, Hu, Hu!" It was deafening, they drank three times in a row, and then stood still.

Han Zhong's left sentry unit was formed on the left side of the circle, and the sergeants separated step by step, each taking their position. After they opened up, the guns, guns and cards were all in combat posture, and they sang "Tu, Tu, Tu" in unison. , also standing still.

Soon, Sun Sanjie's troops on the right side also finished their formation, and they sang "He, He, He" together.

After the entire formation was completed, all the sergeants shouted "Kill, kill, kill" in unison. After shouting three times, the Central Military Headquarters slammed a cymbal, and the entire circle was silent immediately. sound.

Wang Dou stood in the center of the array. He looked around. At this time, a large circular array had been set up around him.

It is not appropriate to say that it is a circular array, it should be called a square array.In front of the circular formation facing the large formation of the Qing soldiers, a straight large side was laid by the Han and Korean troops, consisting of a small square formation.At the forefront, there are 45 firecrackers from the right post of the Han Dynasty. They are divided into three rows holding blunderbuss, and each row has 15 people.

Every firecracker is wearing armor. Wang Dou brought more than 650 pairs of armor, and there are more than 660 three sentinels. Almost everyone can get a pair of armor.While there are good and bad armor, some armor is better than no armor.

Behind the three rows of firecrackers, there are two more rows of pikemen, composed of pikemen from the right sentinel team. They all hold shields and become spear shield soldiers, protecting the sharp arrows shot by the Qing soldiers in front.Even the armor commanders of each team, in fact, there are 30 spear and shield soldiers here, which happen to be divided into two rows.

Behind them, Lei Xianbin, the team officer of the Right Sentinel Team A, led his two guards, a standard bearer, and a drummer commanding here.

In the left and right corners of the two rows of spear and shield soldiers, there are thirty more gunfire soldiers, 15 people in each corner, and they are divided into three rows.

In Wang Dou's plan, a part of the firecrackers from each sentry was left at the junction of each sentry in the circular formation, so that the firecrackers could be protected by the pikemen, and they could return to the formation after they finished firing the firecrackers. , After loading the ammunition, rush to the connection to shoot again.

After these gunfire soldiers who have finished shooting, they can also discard their guns and draw their knives after they enter the formation, and use them as a reserve team.

The same is true for the three rows of firecrackers at the front.

The firecrackers and pikemen in this area are all under the command of Lei Xianbin, the officer of the right sentinel team A, and Lei Xianbin is under the command of the Central Military Headquarters.

Behind the spear and shield soldiers, there is another battle formation composed of the spearmen of the right sentry team B and team C. They line up in four rows in two rows, without shields, and even the officers of the two teams guard the flag bearers. , a total of 70 people.The pikemen of Team C on the right are at the end. In addition to preparing for the battle, they also have to be used as a reserve team. It depends on how the battle develops.

In ancient times, the formation of troops should not be too dense between soldiers and ranks. It is necessary to leave a certain distance so that various weapons can be used and the formation can be changed.Each sergeant of Shunxiangbao occupies an area of ​​about one step, so the three troops of the Han and North Korean right sentries formed a small square formation with a length of more than 20 meters and nine rows of sergeants.

Look at the Han Zhong Department on the left of the circle and the Sun Sanjie Department on the right. They are also arranged in the same way, but their formation is slightly fox-shaped and not as square as the Han and Chao Department.

In the right post of Han and North Korea, there are four teams A, B, C, and D. In addition to the three teams A, B, and C arranged here, there is also D team, which is transferred to the last side of the circle. Also going were Team A from Han Zhong's left post and Team B from Sun Sanjie's rear post.

The Qing soldiers always used the tactics of attacking from the center and assaulting from the two wings and the rear. Especially when they had cavalry in hand, no place was safe. The even distribution of troops was also conducive to dealing with their offensive.

There are 240 nine sentries in Shunxiang Fort. Each sentry has a team of sergeants, including the captain, armor chief, and the guards, flag bearers and drummers. There are 60 people in total, including 50 warriors and sergeants. Soldiers each accounted for half.

After yesterday's battle, both Han Zhong's and Sun Sanjie's troops were dissatisfied. Han Zhong's left sentry had 49 casualties, of which the left sentry team A suffered more serious casualties. At this time, there were only 200 people left in his sentry.Sun Sanjie's back post suffered 25 casualties, among which Team B in the back post also suffered serious casualties. At this time, there were only 220 people left in his post.

In order to maintain the combat power of the two wings, the left sentry and the rear sentry can only take away the troops with the most casualties from their own sentries and arrange them behind the circle.As a result, the three teams of sergeants, including the officers guarding the standard bearers, had less than 160 soldiers at the back of the circle, and only 50 of them were gunfire soldiers.On the outermost side of this circular formation, only 30 firecrackers were deployed, and the remaining [-] people were also distributed in the two corners.

However, in the circle, there are eight guards of Wang Dou, and there are nearly forty others who will not be taken in at night. Apart from being reserved as the general reserve team, they can also be used as troops to support all parties in the circle.At the rear of the circle, Chi Dacheng, the governor, also commanded the battle, with several disciplined soldiers guarding him.

Wang Dou looked around and saw that the flags of the surrounding posts and teams stood up, and the soldiers were all ready to take their positions, and everyone held their weapons tightly, waiting for the next battle.

The rapid formation of the formation is all due to the strict formation training of Shunxiang Fort in normal times, so it didn't take much time for the Shunxiang Army to transform from three small unconnected square formations into a circular formation. In the meantime, it was clear that the soldiers had not entered within [-] paces, and the Shunxiang army had completed its formation change.

On each side of the circle, sentry officers Han Chao, Han Zhong, and Sun Sanjie led the battle with their own guards and standard bearers and drummers. At this time, they also showed complacent expressions on their faces, obviously for their own sentry team. I am satisfied with forming the formation so quickly, but Wang Dou still feels dissatisfied, in fact, it should be faster.

He always felt that it was inconvenient for each team to use the firecrackers and pikemen separately in battle. Later, when the Qing soldiers retreated, he would form an all-one firecracker team and a longlance team, with two teams for each sentry. It is convenient to use in combat.

……

Wang Dou squinted his eyes to look at the sun in the sky. At this time, the sun was still fierce. The sun was shining on his thick iron leaves, and there was an indescribable hotness all over his body.He estimated that it was around three o'clock in the afternoon, which was the first moment of Shenshi in Ming Dynasty.

It is estimated that this afternoon, there will be a bloody battle. Wang Dou calmed down and ordered to wave the big flag. Immediately, the surrounding guards waved the flags in response. The army was full of banners, and Wang Dou felt proud. After the arrangement is complete, it's up to who wins.

Seeing that the soldiers were still far away, he shouted, "Sit side by side in the formation."

Immediately there was a bang, and the sound of armor leaves colliding. In the circle, except for Wang Dou and the flag bearers of the sentry officers, the rest were sitting on the ground, so that the officers' vision could be raised.Moreover, the heavy armor of the sergeants can also save them some energy and accumulate strength for the upcoming battle.

The sun was shining on the dry land, and the time passed by every minute. Slowly, the Qing soldiers in the dust got closer, and finally they entered more than 100 steps away from the circle.

Wang Dou could see clearly that there were about two hundred Qing soldiers in the first wave, and the ones at the point of sharp knives were the leading dozens of dead soldiers in vests. They were all wearing double-layer heavy armor, Holding a heavy shield in his hand, he was led by several sub-divided Shiku and Zhuanda.

Behind or around them, dozens of good archers in light armor followed closely, led by some infantry Pashiku.Then there was another group of black soldiers holding weapons, with or without armor. In the crowd, some people with tall red tassels on helmets and flaming pole flags on their backs looked like white soldiers, which were particularly dazzling.Wang Dou also saw a large official banner of Niu Luzhangjing appearing in this wave of Qing soldiers.

Wang Dou could already judge that the main attack target of this wave of Qing soldiers was the position directly in front of his circle.In addition to this time, there are two waves of smoke and dust rolling in, one wave is infantry and the other wave is cavalry. I don't know which direction they attack the circle.

Wang Dou stared at the Qing soldiers on the opposite side. He estimated the distance. After the Qing soldiers entered a hundred paces, he ordered the firecrackers in the square formation to stand up.

The flag bearer next to him raised the command flag, and Lei Xianbin, the officer of the right sentry team A, who was staring at his flag, immediately shouted: "The gunners stand up."

With the sound of rushing, the three rows of 45 firecrackers at the front of the circle, and the thirty firecrackers at the two corners of the circle stood up one after another. Hold it in your hand.

"The guns are ready."

The sound of lighting a matchlock or unpacking the firecrackers sounded, and the fixed paper tubes and ammunition in each of the guns had already been filled.They were originally standing in three rows, but after they lighted the matchlocks, the firecrackers in the front immediately squatted down, while the two rows behind were still standing, each still holding the firecrackers tightly in their hands.

Seeing that the Qing soldiers in front had quickened their pace, their voices became clearer and clearer, Lei Xianbin estimated the distance, and shouted: "Get ready to shoot."

Immediately, there was the sound of the firecrackers moving, and the two rows of firecrackers raised their guns to aim at the Qing soldiers rushing ahead. They found their targets according to the sights on the firecrackers.The sun was shining, and the faces of all the firearms soldiers were flushed, but they all pursed their lips tightly, and just focused on aiming.

The Qing soldiers quickly entered eighty steps, and with a cry, they began to speed up, screaming and rushing forward.

Seeing them rushing towards them, Lei Xianbin's palms were covered with sweat, he couldn't stop pressing his right hand, and said in one voice: "Hold on, hold on!"

Except for the shouts of Qing soldiers and Lei Xianbin's voice, the Shunxiang army on this side of the entire circle was still silent at this time. Except for the standing firecrackers, the rest of the sergeants were still standing in the sun. Sit quietly.It's just that many people's heads couldn't help looking at the direction where the Qing soldiers rushed.

Looking from the side of the Qing soldiers, the Ming army formed a circular formation on the other side, with some firecrackers in front, but their side was eerily quiet all the time. When they entered seventy paces, their firecrackers did not fire. At sixty paces, still no shots.

Looking at the dark firecracker hole over there, many Qing soldiers who were rushing into the formation were startled and uncertain.

※※※

Old White Bull:
The power went out again yesterday afternoon, and it lasted until after nine o'clock in the evening. There was really nothing I could do.

There is another chapter tonight.

(End of this chapter)