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

Chapter 259 Countermeasures
Everyone looked at the Qing army, most of them retreated two miles away, and they were still densely gathered there, the chariots and flags were lined up strictly, they did not attack, and they did not retreat into the camp.It may be to rest, or it may be to discuss countermeasures.

At this time it was almost noon, Lu Xiangsheng sent an order to clean up the battlefield, and the Central Military Department lit a fire to cook meals and reward the soldiers.

A dense crowd of Xuanda sergeants came out to clean up the battlefield, and some of the Qing army sentries rode up.But they were afraid of Xuan Dajun's firearms, and Xuan Dajun also had many cavalry scattered outside at night, those Qing cavalry seemed unwilling to be troublesome and did not dare to get too close.

The three sergeants Wang Dou, Yang Guozhu, and Hu Dawei each cleaned their own positions, collected the Qing army's weapons and flags scattered on the ground, cut off their heads, and stripped off their armor.After the fierce battle in the morning, Wang Dou ordered Wen Fangliang's troops to take over Han Zhong's line of defense and let his subordinates go out to clean up the battlefield.

The soldiers under Han Zhong's command all laughed and cleaned the battlefield with the joy and pride of victory.

"Unfortunately, many heads were broken."

While Han Zhong was in high spirits, he also muttered from time to time.

The soldiers under his command carried the corpses of the Qing army between the low walls and ditches in a dense crowd, and conveniently made up for the wounded soldiers of the Qing army who did not die.The corpses of the Qing soldiers among the ditches on the low walls were alright, but the bodies of many Qing soldiers on several passages were smashed to pieces, including their heads.

The puddles of flesh and blood parts on the passage cannot prove that they are the heads of the Qing army, and the loss of military achievements made Han Zhong very sad.Accompanied by several guards, he patrolled and shouted to make his subordinates more agile.

The chill was overwhelming, and there was an unpleasant smell of blood. The pungent smell of gunpowder smoke had not completely dissipated, and it was inhaled into the lungs, causing Han Zhong to sneeze several times.There were constant clanging and clanging noises in the surrounding area. Although the weather was extremely cold, all the soldiers were still busy with their work, exhaling thick white breath, while the sound of excited discussion came from everyone.

"Mr. Han Qian, isn't it easy to move the corpses of the Tartars in the trench?"

Several sergeants with bruised hands and feet complained to Han Zhong.The corpses of the Qing army between the trenches on the first low wall were quite full. Although their corpses were stiff and condensed with frozen blood to form a firm mass, it was still easy to carry.

There are only a few ditches left, the high ditch is slippery, and there are many sharp wooden thorns underneath. It is obviously not a wise choice to jump into the ditch.Everyone saw that there were many corpses of Qing soldiers in various trenches. They were killed in different ways, some were killed by firecrackers, or they fell into the trenches and were stabbed into meat skewers.

"Stupid, won't you find some long hooks? And borrow some hook and sickle guns from the brother army."

Han Zhong hated iron for being weak and cursed, while lamenting his own cleverness.

The sergeants came to their senses, and hurriedly searched for the long hook.

Accompanied by the generals, Wang Dou stood quietly on a passageway. His feet were covered with the viscera and blood of the Qing soldiers, as well as their scattered thighs, calves, palms and arms.Without exception, they were all frozen into a hard piece in the extremely cold weather, mixed with blood, and frozen together with the soil on the ground.

The cold wind was blowing, and Wang Dou stood motionless on the battlefield of flesh and blood, quietly thinking about something, only the cold wind lifted his bright red cloak from time to time.

From time to time, the sound of soldiers cleaning up the field happily came from the surrounding area.They moved the corpses of the Qing army into the earth wall defense line, cleaned up all the weapons and flags, and pushed the broken chariots on the various passages into the earth wall.

In any case, these dilapidated chariots are also good for lighting a fire to keep warm.It is also a consideration to keep the passageway smooth so that those Qing soldiers can charge again.

The corpses of the Qing army were moved into the earthen wall, and slowly piled up like a hill.

"There should be hundreds of heads and thousands of armor..."

Wang Dou heard the discussions of the generals around him, he walked around outside the defense line, and then returned to the earthen wall.Beside the pile of corpses, many of the soldiers of the Zhongtiaoyang supply team took hatchets, like butchers chopping pigs, chopped off the heads of those Qing soldiers one by one, and stripped off their armor.

The township officials of the battalion took the papers and registered the seizure of the heads.

Finally, the statistics came out: "General, in this battle, our army beheaded a total of 570 five-level, more than 31 and [-] sets of armor..."

After all, many Qing soldiers who died were in heavy armor. In addition to their armor inlaid with iron wool, they also had chain mail inside.Although these armors were broken by firecrackers and artillery, they can still be used after repairing.Up to now, Wang Dou has seized more than 4000 pairs of armor from Qing soldiers.

Everyone around smiled happily, especially Han Zhong, who opened his mouth and laughed.It was a mere battle, and such a military exploit was captured, it was really a big profit.

With so many beheads on his own frontal defense line, Wang Dou estimated that the actual casualties of the Qing army were even greater. After all, the troops on the two wings must have gained something.Moreover, in long-distance combat, there were many Qing soldiers who were killed and injured by artillery rockets.It's just that the bodies of those wounded must have been snatched back by the retreating Qing army.

Wang Dou ordered the captured armor and weapons to be stored in the warehouse, and at the same time ordered Zhong Tiaoyang to select a part of the armor that had been repaired before, and put it on all the gunfire soldiers in the army to increase their protection. force.

……

All the gunfire soldiers, cavalry, and heavy soldiers in Wang Dou's army can wear a red cotton wool coat on the outside because they wear breastplates.Those pikemen in full armor each had a warm red cotton wool cloak.

Perhaps it was because of the rejection of the armor of the Tartars, or perhaps because of the fear of accidentally injuring one's own people during fierce battles, so when the gunmen chose to increase their armor, most of them chose chain mail.After all, although the armor uniforms of the Manchurian Army followed the Ming Army style and slightly improved, they were still different.In particular, the white borders and red borders inlaid on the outer edge of the armor of each flag are the eye-catching signs of the Tartar soldiers.

Chain mail can effectively protect against the shooting of bows and crossbows, and it can also defend against the attacks of slashing sharp weapons, but it cannot prevent the stabbing of sharp swords and spears.However, the biggest threat to the firecrackers is still the bows and arrows of the Qing army. In close combat, they are protected by the pikemen brothers, so there is nothing to worry about.

And after putting on the chain mail, you can also put on the red cotton wool coat to keep your body warm in the cold winter.If you put on the rest of the Tartar cotton armor, after all, there are not many woolen cloaks carried by the army, and there is no Shunxiang Army's own logo. Big fight?
The gunfire soldiers in the army happily received the chain mail and other armor, and the number of casualties in the army was also counted. The Shunxiang Army suffered more than 120 casualties in this battle.Most of them were arrow wounds. The large rockets fired by the Qing army were caught off guard, and many gunfire soldiers wearing breastplates were hit by arrows in their arms. Most of these people were slightly injured.

However, during the war, Qing army chariots stormed the passage, and more than a dozen gunfire soldiers were shot in the face and suffered serious injuries.The most serious thing was the artillery fired by the Qing army. More than 30 pikemen or firecrackers were hit by the jumping and rolling artillery shells, or died on the spot, or lost their hands and legs.

In this kind of severe cold weather, many people with serious injuries and disabled limbs may lose their lives.After Wang Dou led the generals to see the wounded and dead, he felt very sad. After the siege of the Qing soldiers was over, how many more soldiers would die.

Smoke billowed up from the kitchen, and the soldiers of each battalion prepared meals. After the battle, the Xuanda defense line burst into bursts of laughter. Everyone surrounded the fire, eating and drinking hot meals with open bellies, while excitedly discussing the battle just now. .

Wang Dou was summoned to Lu Xiangsheng's tent of the Chinese army. Here, Yang Guozhu, Hu Dawei and others had arrived, and everyone was overjoyed. Obviously, they had won a lot in the battle in the morning.Seeing Wang Dou's face, Guo Yingxian, the general of Yang Guozhu's army, shouted: "General Wang, I am beheading 230 level [-] in the barracks, how many beheads in your security army?"

Wang Dou smiled and said, "The last general will behead 570 level five."

Guo Yingxian took a breath and grunted: "Good guy..."

Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei also looked at each other meaningfully.

……

In the tent, Lu Xiangsheng looked at the battle results reported by the battalions with a smile on his face, and he gained a lot on three sides of the defense line.Wang Dou beheaded 570 levels, Yang Guozhu beheaded 230 levels, and Hu Dawei beheaded 210 levels. There have been more than [-] beheads here. Lu Xiangsheng estimated that the actual number of casualties of the Qing army was even more.

Although there were more than 500 casualties in each battalion combined, more than 200 of them were killed in battle. After all, under the attack of Qing army artillery and rockets, each battalion was somewhat caught off guard.However, now that the battalions have a sense of protection and have solid earth wall defense positions, there is no problem in holding their positions.

While discussing military affairs, the generals ate and drank, during which everyone was full of praise for Wang Dou's fortifications.Under such fortifications, the Qing army's superior forces could not be deployed at all, and its own sergeants were massacred one-sidedly.Today's war has achieved such results. As Wang Dou said, it is completely feasible to shed the blood of the Qing soldiers in front of the Xuanda camp.

Lu Xiangsheng also praised Wang Dou, and then loudly encouraged the generals: "Today's first battle, the slaves have lost their spirit, as long as our army works hard to hold the position, within a few days, the slaves' army will be exhausted and exhausted. At that time, Eunuch Gao led the army with a thunderous blow, and tens of thousands of slave soldiers could be wiped out with one blow, and I, Ming Dynasty, got rid of this serious trouble, and everything is safe."

Everyone laughed, and during the banquet, Wang Dou took the opportunity to ask Lu Xiangsheng and the generals for some masks.In fact, the iron masks under the helmets have always been the standard equipment of the Ming army, and each mask looks hideous, like a ghost.Because Wang Dou thought that the mask obstructed his vision, and his firecrackers had experience in defending against arrows, so he didn't make any equipment.But right now, it seems necessary to equip part of this iron mask.

For Wang Dou's begging, Lu Xiangsheng and all the generals were generous, now everyone is like grasshoppers on the same rope, when it is time to share the same hatred.So when Wang Dou said goodbye and came out, he had already got a total of [-] pairs of iron masks, and the logistics officers in each battalion would soon deliver the masks to Wang Dou's army.

……

In the large formation of the Qing army at this time, the atmosphere was dull. Pieces of Qing soldiers lit fires, drank water and ate dry food in silence.Under Dorgon's Golden Dragon Banner, the flag owners of the banners, as well as the Baylors in the banners and other important figures gathered around him, and none of them said a word.

The casualties of each banner have been counted, which shocked everyone. In today's mere battle, the entire banner had nearly 2000 casualties, and the number of warriors killed in each banner was as high as more than 1000. The casualties of the heavy armored soldiers of each banner were really too great, no wonder everyone was sad and silent.

Dorgon had no expression on his face, and under the report of the bannermen who attacked the Xuanda camp, a rough map of the Xuanda army's defense appeared in front of everyone.Looking at this sketch, everyone took a deep breath, and Abatai said: "What a vicious line of defense, I'm sure, this kind of defensive formation of the camp must be what that Ming general Wang Dou thought."

Dorgon said: "After being tested by our army, the defense of the camp of the Ming State Army is clear. It is surrounded by three earthen walls and is about one person high. There are five flat passages, and the rest are low walls and ditches. It is not easy to cross. The front is about There are 75 large and small cannons, and the cannons are sharp. Looking at the flags, it must be the Ming general Wang Dou's defense. On the two wings, one is the Ming general soldier Yang Guozhu, and the other is the Ming general soldier Hu Dawei, each with sixty large and small artillery!"

"Among the five passages on the front, each is more than ten to twenty steps wide. At the gap in the earth wall in front, there are two or four cannons. The gunners can hide within the protective wall at any time. In front of these artillery, there is no low wall, only a few ditches!"

"In addition to these cannons, in front of the rest of the earth wall, there are low walls and ditches. The Ming army set up gunmen for protection. Since the gaps in the earth walls are fixed, their artillery is also fixed. If our army wants to attack, we can Attack from the low walls and ditches, avoiding their artillery!"

Jierhalang, the flag owner of the Xianglan Banner, led the soldiers in his own banner today, and the Mongolian Zhengbai Banner and Xianglan Banner of the Eight Banners attacked Hu Dawei's right wing. After that, I still have lingering fears.

He said: "As ordered by the general, the Ming army's earth walls are low. When our army attacks, the archers behind cannot cover the impact of the warriors in front. If you want to shoot forcefully, you will only shoot at your own soldiers!"

Dorgon said: "So, we need to fill in the ditch behind the earth wall!"

He pondered: "In the cold winter weather, those low walls are as hard as ice, and it is expected to be extremely difficult to dig out. However, the low walls are not high, so we only need to fill in the trenches. With the support of archers, our warriors from all banners can still break through the Ming Dynasty. Army walls."

There was a chill in everyone's hearts, they were afraid that they would only fill those trenches, and they didn't know how much blood the warriors in the banner would have to shed.The first trench is okay, the chariots of each banner can be pushed all the way to the front of the first low wall, and the auxiliary soldiers of each banner can throw soil bags into the trench, but the remaining few trenches...

Abatai said: "There are many wooden shields in our army. Although those wooden shields are thick and heavy, with the joint efforts of many warriors, they can still lift through the low walls and push forward to every trench..."

But when it comes to this, he also understands that even if this is the case, several trenches will be filled in the end, and I don't know how much blood of the soldiers in the banner will be paid.After all, there were many gaps in the Ming army's earthen walls, and behind the earthen walls, there were many gaps, which would be fired with firepower.When the warriors of each banner filled the trenches, they did not know how many people would be killed or injured.

Yangwu General Yue Tuo pondered for a while, looked at the sketch map of the Xuanda Army's deployment, and said: "In addition to the five passages and low walls and ditches, the remaining gaps in front of the artillery of the Ming Army are only a few ditches. It may be easy to fill them in." .”

Dorgon carefully looked at the defense map for a while, and said: "The passage in front of these artillery is only a few paces wide, and it can only accommodate two chariots or wooden shields. There will be a lot of casualties."

Everyone fell silent, and after a while, Doduo, the bannerman of the Eight Banners Manchuria and the White Banner, called out: "Why should we fight head-on with the Ming army? We can also dig trenches, leave some troops to guard, and the rest continue to go out to plunder. Most of our troops surrounded them for several months, trapped and starved to death!"

Dorgon shouted to his younger brother: "Stupid, if there are few soldiers, how to besiege? You have also experienced the combat power of Wang Dou and other famous generals. If you leave 2 to [-] people, do you think you can surround them? Breaking through, so what? The army has been besieged for several months... where will the tens of thousands of troops come from? Our army penetrated into the territory of the Ming Dynasty and did not fight quickly. After a few months, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty has dispatched their national reinforcements. Our army has lost all vigor in front of the Xuanda camp, do you think all of my Eight Banners warriors will stay in the pass?"

He glanced at everyone sternly: "With Lu Xiangsheng and Wang Dou around, my Eight Banners army will not be able to plunder smoothly. Not to mention their future harm, it is unknown whether the plundered gains can be shipped out of the pass. So Lu Xiangsheng, Wang Dou must be eliminated. However, our [-]-strong army has difficulty in supplying supplies, and things will change if they are delayed. Therefore, we had to complete our efforts in one battle. Within half a month, we captured the Xuanda camp. Our army has a large force, so we only need to fill in the trenches and attack within the earthen wall , It is only a matter of time before Lu Xiangsheng, Wang Dou and others are eliminated!"

Duo Duo was dejected by Dorgon's words, and secretly regretted his speech just now.

Buyan Daihu, the leader of the Eight Banners Mongolian Banner with the Red Banner, said: "Actually, it is not necessary for us warriors to go into battle to fill the trenches of the Ming army. Our army has camped everywhere, and many people from the Ming Kingdom have been captured. We can escort them to fill the trenches. !"

Dorgon took a deep look at him and shook his head: "A gang of mobs, let them face the artillery and guns of the Ming army. If there are few people, it's easy to deal with, but if there are thousands or tens of thousands of people. Those Ming people They will definitely break up. If they charge back, not to mention blocking our soldiers’ attack route, they may also break up our own formation. If the Ming army takes the opportunity to counterattack and pursue with all their strength, my army may..."

The flag owners of all the flags looked at Buyan Dai, as if they doubted his intentions, but Buyan Dai just said yes to everyone's eyes.

Abatai pondered for a while, then said: "Perhaps we can take some Ming people as a test. There are thousands of people, and we can see the reaction of the Ming army. If there are fewer people, our army can be controlled."

Dorgon nodded approvingly, and then sternly said: "In the afternoon, our army launched an attack, pretending to attack the front, restraining Ming General Wang Dou's troops, and storming the two wings, with waves of continuous attacks, killing their vigor. Tongzhou The Hongyi cannons brought in arrived very quickly, and it is expected that within a few days, they will definitely capture the Ming people's positions!"

"All the warriors of my Eight Banners must move forward bravely, and those who dare to back down will be killed without mercy!"

(End of this chapter)