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

Chapter 468

On July 14, 21th year of Chongzhen, the army of aid set out from Ningyuan.

It was more than 100 miles from Ningyuan to Songshan Fort, and the army walked very cautiously. The forward of Liaodong General Liu Zhaoji was less than [-] miles away from the distance from the supporting general Yang Guozhu.Yang Guozhu's soldiers and horses were less than thirty miles away from most of the central army.If the army moves slowly, it is only a day's journey. If the cavalry travels fast, it will only take an hour or half an hour.

They also used cavalry to respond to each other. Once they encountered the enemy, they could meet up within one or two days.In the event of a strong enemy, the forward and supporting troops can also buy a day for the main force.

Sergeants with various accents in the brigade were walking on the land in western Liaoning. Each army had a lot of luggage in their vehicles, and behind most of the central army were countless civilian men, transporting food and fodder.All kinds of donkey carts, horse carts, mule carts, rickshaws, and even camels, etc., densely meandering to the end.

The situation of the enemy ahead is reported every hour. On the road, sentry cavalry sergeants can be seen from time to time, as well as flag officers wearing green cotton cloth waist armor, wearing bright helmets, hanging tokens, and holding command flags running back and forth.

Information from the front came from time to time. On the second day, the forward soldiers and horses had already passed Gaoqiao Fort, and the supporting soldiers and horses also passed Tashan Fort.Here, the forward was intercepted and harassed by some Donglu sentry cavalry, but was defeated one by one by the sentry army and beheaded eleven levels.

Liu Zhaoji, the commander-in-chief of Eastern Liaodong, sent a report from Tang that the Mabuda thieves had thousands of people with red flags and white flags, and thousands of slaves in armor.The guard of Xingshan urgently asked for help from the forward, and the situation was very critical.Asked the Chinese army if they were going to help, Tang reported that the siege army had not seen the Hongyi artillery chariot.

The Chinese army replied that if there were only a few thousand armored Nuguo soldiers, they could go to help, and sentries and horses should be spread widely to prevent the captives from setting up ambushes around Xingshan.

Liu Zhaoji's forward has about 1 people, including [-] cavalry in the main barracks. Their equipment mostly uses cold weapons, such as horse lances, boring palladium, lances, knives and sticks.Even the hot weapons used by cavalry often use three-eyed guns.

These three-eyed guns are all spiked with iron nails on the outside of the gun body, like a three-eyed mace, and sometimes they are better than swords and sticks in the face of heavily armored enemy troops.

There are two more chariot battalions, ranging from 2000 to 20 people, with a total of [-] chariots, each with [-] people, divided into two teams.They are all in the style of two-wheeled light vehicles, with a cover plate on the front, and several spears under the front plate of the vehicle, which can repel war horses. There are many rockets, Buddha wolf machines and other equipment on the vehicle.

The Liaodong army likes to use Baizi guns, such as large tiger squatting guns and nine-headed birds, which contain hundreds of lead and can hit a hundred and fifty paces.Therefore, there are still a large number of Baizi guns in Liu Zhaoji's car camp.

In addition to the gunner, the gunners on the vehicle used to use rockets, three-eyed guns and other weapons, and the bird guns were rarely used.However, after Liu Zhaoji got the [-] Jinggong East Road bird guns drawn for him, he had a large amount of powerful medicine, and the number of bird gunners in Che Ying increased greatly.

Liu Zhaoji himself was skilled in martial arts, he got off his horse immediately, he was very skillful, he could also swing the bow left and right, shooting many arrows in one breath, he was quite brave.Moreover, as the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, he was stationed in Songxing Second Fort in the past. In his heart, he wanted to rescue Xingshan Fort.

Besides, Liu Zhaoji is eager to make meritorious service. Although he is the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, his headquarters has no more than [-] people, but Wu Sangui, the commander-in-chief of Ningyuan, has [-] Liao soldiers under his command, including [-] powerful servants, more than his own servants. He also won the respect of Hong Chengchou, governor of Jiliao, if he didn't show it again, his position as the commander-in-chief of Liaodong would not be guaranteed.

After receiving the report from the Chinese army, Liu Zhaoji immediately decided to rescue. What made him happy was that the opinions of his subordinates were also inclined to rescue Xingshan.

In Liu Zhaoji's army, most of their family members are in Songxing, and they marched to drive back many slaves and soldiers, and most of the Chinese army is not far away, which gave them courage.

What's even more gratifying is that the thieves who besieged Xingshan were no more than [-] people, and there were only a few thousand armored slaves. Even the rescue army of our own side and the guards of Xingshan had tens of thousands of soldiers.Even if these enemies cannot be eliminated, it is still possible to support each other.

Therefore, everyone wanted to make meritorious deeds. After Liu Zhaoji gave an order, the army rushed towards Xingshan Fort.

Gaoqiao is only more than 20 miles away from Xingshan. Once out of Gaoqiao, there are many plains and rivers.At this time, it was afternoon, and the heat wave hit us, and there were large tracts of abandoned land everywhere, and everywhere was bare, and it was almost difficult to see green no matter whether it was up or down the mountain.

Under the long-term drought, the big river that used to be turbulent is now not even a small ditch, and the land is also dry and hard, which is convenient for the army to walk.

With the enemy at hand, Liu Zhaoji did not dare to be negligent, and launched a chariot camp battle formation, with cavalry guarding his flanks, and rode quickly to Yang Guozhu's troops who were supporting him, so that they would be ready to respond at any time.

Liu Zhaoji launched a battle formation. The soldiers were sweating profusely under the scorching sun and their clothes and armor were drenched, but they did not dare to be contemptuous.

Along the way, the sentry cavalry in front continued to fight with Qing cavalry. Liu Zhaoji dispatched Ding Jingqi one after another, forcing the slave bandits to shrink back continuously.After the army crossed the Qili River, Liu Zhaoji received the news that because the reinforcements were too strong to take advantage of, the bandits who had besieged Xingshan Fort had withdrawn their troops and gathered a few miles north of Xingshan.

Xingshan Fort was released from the siege, and the Liaodong army cheered. Liu Zhaoji immediately claimed the victory to Hong Chengchou, Governor of Jiliao.At the same time, I still have a feeling that I am still unsatisfied. I am waiting for the battle, but I have solved the siege of Xingshan without firing a single shot, and I am far away from my desire to make great achievements.

Looking at the subordinates, they all have such expressions, even the soldiers and small troops have expressions of regret, and several lieutenants, generals, and guerrillas in the army can't get enough of it.Everyone believed that they should take advantage of the strong morale of the army to start a fierce battle with the slave army in the north of Xingshan and capture some heads.

Liu Zhaoji hesitated for a long time, but could not be persuaded by the generals, so he decided to fight.

Two miles away from Xingshan Fort, Zheng Yilin, the deputy general stationed at Xingshan, saw that the slave army was retreating, and also dispatched 3000 troops to join the army, including [-] cavalry, and everyone was even more courageous.So the army assembled and pressed the Qing army. The infantry of the chariot camp was still in the middle, and the cavalry protected the two wings, pressing towards the Qing army to the north of Xingshan.

Less than three miles away from the Qing camp, horns sounded everywhere, but seeing the Ming army approaching, they also started to fight.

The two sides kept approaching, and saw a low rocky slope not far from the right. Liu Zhaoji ordered to occupy the land, and deployed cavalry on the mountain, while chariot infantry gathered in the wilderness at the foot of the mountain.

……

Under the scorching sun, beside the Shuai flag, Liu Zhaoji rode his horse on the top of the mountain, looked towards the Qing army's position, and saw a sea of ​​flags.In front of the army, there were densely packed shield chariots, and those following behind were all knights in white armor with red borders, and red armor with white borders.

He snorted coldly, this slave's style of play is still the same, using a shield chariot in front, with archers and musketeers behind, and dead soldiers and sharp soldiers, this kind of trick, he is too familiar.He looked at his family's position and was determined.

The layout of his army formation is set up in front of the formation, followed by chariots, which are equipped with a large number of Flang machines, rockets, Baizi guns and other firearms, as well as sharp Donglu bird guns and powerful medicines.Behind is the supporting infantry, with layers of spears, swords and shields, and is close to the hillside. The rear is worry-free, and there are cavalry guards.

More importantly, most of the sergeants under his command had veterans who had fought against slaves and thieves, and they knew their tactics well. As long as the sergeants were courageous and united, they might not be unable to win this battle and make great military achievements.For a while, Liu Zhaoji was looking forward to it.

Amidst the sound of horns, the shield chariots of the Qing soldiers pushed closer and closer. Look at their shield chariots, with wheels underneath and thick wooden boards in front, all covered with thick leather quilts to cover up the bullets.But Liu Zhaoji was disdainful in his heart, the Flang machine and Baizi gun of his own car camp could penetrate these shield cars.

The Qing soldiers were getting closer and closer, and the Ming army was waiting in full formation. The personal guards of the generals were also ordered to patrol. They were not allowed to fire guns without reason before waiting for the order of the Chinese army. Anyone who violated the order would be beheaded on the spot.Those who dare to be intimidated and those who do not obey military orders will be severely punished immediately.

Not to mention the officers and generals giving orders, many of Liu Zhaoji's subordinates have many years of combat experience and have fought against the Qing people for many years.

When approaching [-] paces, suddenly the Chinese army fired a cannon. As the commander of a town, he watched the flag and listened to the orders, and was not embarrassed by the lieutenant general and the flag bearer.Countless flag bearers will immediately turn their heads to look at the top of the mountain, waiting for the next decision of the chief general.

At this time, the Qing army's position sounded passionate battle drums, and countless nonsense shouts were heard everywhere, densely packed shield vehicles, and countless flags behind them rushed towards the Ming army's position.

Liu Zhaoji's burly figure was riding on his horse, he was wearing a thick iron armor, and his face was sombre, he just stared at the slave army formation, and he didn't give orders for a long time.Countless Ming military officers and generals looked at the position of the central army, just anxiously waiting for their own fate, the fate of the army.

When the densely packed shield chariots had passed [-] paces, the flag of the Chinese army suddenly became anxious, and a shrill swan sound sounded, spreading throughout the Ming army's front.

The guns and guns of the Ming army battalion fired together, and a large amount of dense white smoke produced by the burning of black powder immediately filled the front of the entire chariot battalion under the hot sun.

The sound of smashing the shield car was loud, and the blood mist rose occasionally, and the howling of the injured was sandwiched between them.The oncoming shield chariots of the Qing army were hit by Fran's machine bombs, and debris flew across the board, and many shield chariots were shot through in an instant.

With a loud noise, the shield of a shield car suddenly exploded, and an iron ball directly pierced the heads of two Qing soldiers. The remaining momentum remained in the chest of a Qing soldier, leading him to roll out.

The mist of flesh and blood sprayed, the iron ball moving at high speed, and a large number of sharp debris produced after blasting the shutter, also swept away the soldiers around the rear of the shield vehicle.

These Qing soldiers, either lightly armored archers, unarmored bannermen, or coated slaves, have low defense.The sharp fragments that shot out were shot with such force that the sharp fragments covered their bodies and faces, and blood flowed profusely immediately.Many people covered their heads and faces, howled in disbelief, or knelt on the ground and trembled in pain.

The guns on the first floor of the car battalion were shot by ZhongFlang machine guns, which shot bullets weighing one or two catties. These Flang machine guns were almost all aimed at the shield vehicles and fired flatly.

If you hit a shield chariot, no matter how thick the wood is, or how thick the leather quilt is, there will still be a big hole, and many of the shields will be incomplete, and the debris will fly. Death is injury, a mess.

(End of this chapter)