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

Chapter 698
Hundreds of thieves rode one by one under the instruction of the generals who broke into the camp, and came one after another, posing a harassing and attacking posture. The focus was on the rear and two wings of the Ming army formation.

Whenever they approached, there were some small square formations on the two wings. Under the command of the officer, the spears in the formation would be erected densely. When they kept walking, they looked like a jungle of hedgehogs moving one by one.

The firecrackers on the outside of each small formation kept shooting when the enemy cavalry approached fifty paces. They were well-trained and could load ammunition while moving forward. , already very elite.

From time to time, the two wings of the army burst out the sound of the bombardment of firecrackers, puffs of white smoke rose into the sky, and some of the galloping cavalry were knocked down, and then a large group of them panicked and did not dare to approach. Ladies and gentlemen, the sharpness of their firecrackers has already caused a strong psychological shadow on many thieves.

In particular, the horse soldiers of the Fifth Battalion of Ge and Zuo lacked the will to fight. Often hundreds of cavalry were killed or injured, and most of them decisively stayed away.

In fact, although the new army formation is flexible, the outermost firepower will inevitably be reduced a lot, because many small formations are inside, and the only ones that can contact the enemy are some protruding small formations on the periphery of the large formation, and there are not many in general.

And in these small formations, there are two hundred warriors in one formation, and only one hundred firecrackers, and they have to be surrounded on four sides. There are only 25 birdbattles on one side, and they have to be divided into several rows on the other side. There are only a few guns left.

However, because the commanders of the small formations, and the commander Qian who commanded several small formations, have relative command power, so each person's ability is brought to the extreme.

Many people decisively dispatched the firecrackers in the formation according to the situation, such as moving the remaining three-sided firecrackers to the side facing the enemy, so that the small square formation became a long and narrow strip array, and the small formation was mobilized and moved very quickly.

They also used the firecracker passing tactic similar to that of Shenjiying. Most of the 25 people shooting from the outermost row were people with relatively good shooting skills in the corps. Auxiliary soldiers exist.

In this way, not to mention increasing the firepower, the gunner does not have to move forward or backward - this situation is more inconvenient to move from right to left, avoiding confusion, and at the critical moment of life and death, everyone's wisdom is reflected to the greatest extent.

The cavalry warriors of the Chinese army are also frequently dispatched. They have hundreds of cavalry behind the formation. As the rear, if there are few harassing enemies, they will resolutely meet the enemy. If there are many, they will hide in the formation again, and then the enemy will retreat. Time to rush out and fight back.

On the two wings of the army array, some knights were also arranged according to the situation to intercept small groups of wandering cavalry.

The Ming army responded well, coupled with the flexibility of the new army formation, although the thieves harassed frequently, it did not slow down the progress of the formation, and they continued to march towards Xiayi under the increasingly livid faces of Liu Zongmin and others.

"We can't let them go on like this!"

Liu Zongmin roared again.

Harassment is useless, there must be another battle with the Ming army, but compared to when Cao Bianjiao first set up this army formation, the generals of the bandits are much more cautious, they have already roughly seen the power of this army formation.

Not long ago, a group of brave knights rushed straight into the formation, but the result was that the meat bun beat the dog, and they never returned. Everyone watched the sound of gunfire and the smoke filled the air, and none of the more than 300 riders escaped. .

How powerful is this weird army formation?It was as if thousands of troops were ambushing in the midst of the battle. Usually when the cavalry attack the infantry, they can at least escape if the situation is not good, but this time none of them can escape.

In addition, each of the bandit generals knows their own abilities. Although they have [-] cavalry and the Ming army has no more than [-] horses, it is unknown who will win the battle after the battle.

Just can't wait.

The sentinel learned that King Chuang led the last main force and was still in a hurry, and it would take time to arrive. Not to mention Cao Bianjiao's marching speed, it means that if the Wang courtiers who had broken through the siege earlier stood still in Xiayi, and then turned around to meet them, Jie Shiwei is even more difficult, and they must be held back.

After a short and intense debate, the generals of the camp finally reached an agreement with the [-]th Battalion of Ge and Zuo. All parties assigned [-] cavalry as a garrison and defense force. Cao Ying's attack must achieve the purpose of holding them back.

All the thieves are willing to go all out, especially for the members of Ge and Zuowuying, who have never invested such a large amount of capital.

Although they claim that there are more than tens of thousands of good fighters, "Xincai County Chronicles" says that when their troops passed through the north of Caicheng, the armored soldiers were excellent, from Mao to You, and the camps were not exhausted, but the number of horse soldiers was only about 5000, including some A lot of water, some people are only proficient in horsemanship, not much ability to fight on horseback, and they are also considered cavalry.

The three families unite, and they have more than 6 cavalry. Luo Rucai, Li Dingguo and others count three or four thousand cavalry, not to mention, the strongest is the camp. There are more than [-] cavalry. At this time, [-] thousands of cavalry gathered here Li Zicheng led the remaining [-] cavalry to hurry over.

His leadership is much more elite, and many of them are old battalion fighters, a considerable part of which can be compared with Bayala in Qing Dynasty.

……

At the beginning of Shenshi (three o'clock in the afternoon), because of the use of the new army formation, Cao Bianjiao successfully led the army to a place called Caomiaozhuang even if the enemies looked around.

The village has long been in ruins. To the east of the village, there are a few solitary big trees dotted. The surrounding fields are blank and silent, and there are no common people. It seems that the whole world has died.

A river flows not far from the west side of the village. The water volume has already shrunk a lot. It seems that it only reaches the bottom of the thigh, exposing a large number of dry riverbeds. Not far from the two banks of the river, there are some scattered or abandoned fields. It has long been covered with weeds. Looking at it, there is a wooden bridge leading to the other side, but the middle part has been destroyed.

Cao Bianjiao ordered the army to stop marching around the west side of the village. The soldiers stopped to drink water and dry food, and the horses and mules also watered and ate some beans and fodder to replenish their strength.

He also asked his subordinates to search the village, but they couldn't find anything good. Apart from broken houses and broken walls, the whole village didn't even have door frames or panels.

In the current situation, the army has traveled almost half of the distance to Xiayi, and the two places from Yongcheng to Xiayi are more than 100 miles away (without the expressway of later generations). Even on foot, it is possible to walk a hundred miles a day.

It's just the current situation, leaving aside the [-] li before the infantry camp, and marching in such an array, it has traveled nearly [-] li.

He rode his horse to the bank of the river and looked towards the other bank. At this time, the soldiers of the second town resting densely by the river, regardless of Yutian Town or Zunhua Town, when they saw his banner, they all cheered like thunder. He shouted: "Cao Shuai, Cao Shuai..."

No matter how critical the moment was, the commander-in-chief would not give up on his brother, which won the hearts of countless soldiers.

Coupled with the powerful new formation, although everyone is exhausted, their spirits are at the highest level. The fatigue and war-weariness of fighting in different places in the past and leaving their hometowns are gone. At this moment, the hearts of the entire army are closely united.

Amidst the cheers, Wang Tingchen, Deputy General Sun of the new army camp, and Yang Shaofan and other generals gathered beside Cao Bianjiao, all of them were honored. They held their heads high and looked proud, and the handsome flag bearer beside them even raised the big flag get higher.

Seeing the true feelings of the soldiers, Cao Bianjiao felt a sore nose, and his expression became more determined, and he would never abandon a brother.

He looked at the opposite bank. At this time, a stream of thieves was gathering from all sides, and more and more people gathered. It seemed that they wanted to have a big battle on the opposite bank, to stop his progress, and at the same time attack their own halfway. The intention of breaking into two pieces that cannot be connected head to tail.

After setting off from Yongcheng, I walked along the river that passed through Yongcheng and Xiayi. The locals called it the Xianghe River. While ensuring drinking water, I also used the river as a barrier.

This river is constantly fed by tributaries along the way. Most of the rivers are small and shallow, and the banks are gentle, so soldiers can easily cross. The river in front of us is the largest tributary of the Xianghe River in the territory.

This river must be crossed, otherwise, it will take a lot of detours to get to Xiayi City. The bandits also saw this, so they gathered on the other side. After fighting for so many years, everyone who entered the camp still has a high level of tactics. Well chosen.

"Cao Shuai, I am willing to lead the soldiers to attack the shore first and stand up for the army..."

Wang Tingchen's new army battalion chief general, Zunhua Town's deputy general Sun Ce, was on his horse, roaring loudly to Cao Bianjiao, Yang Shaofan beside him moved his brows and eyes. During the march, his new battalion and Sun's new army alternately covered, according to the time And road sections are listed in front or behind the formation.

In the early days, Vice General Sun’s new barracks was at the rear. Not to mention the dangers of marching in front of the enemy, the soldiers who walked in the rear were actually under great psychological pressure, because they always worried about whether they would be abandoned by the army.

But at this time, the relative danger is to seize the position on the opposite bank. After all, there are many cavalry on the opposite bank, and it is not so easy to stand firm. The heroes in Zunhua Town are fighting to be the first in everything, and how can the soldiers in Yutian Town be left alone? back?
He was about to speak when Cao Bianjiao waved his hand and made a decision: "Okay, I am here to wait for the good news of General Sun!"

He quickly arranged the layout and sent some cavalry to sweep across the bank in advance to drive away the many thieves who were spying on the other side. flank attack.

At the same time, the Chinese army quickly repaired the damaged wooden bridge for the passage of the army's baggage vehicles. The beam horses in the army all carried simple ladders, which was quite convenient for climbing up the mountain. The wooden bridge was only broken in the middle and used On the ladder frame, and then covered with wooden boards, it can still be used for vehicles.

He looked at the opposite bank with binoculars in his hand. The river was only more than 100 paces wide. Apart from the dry and cracked riverbed on both sides, there were forests of half-human tall withered grass. There were few trees. It is not difficult to cross the river.

However, about two miles away from the river, the bandits on the opposite bank had already gathered a large area in a dark mass. Some bandits sentry horses, and even stationed on the bank of the horses, spying towards this side. If our side crossed the river and went ashore, they would definitely be attacked by them.

(End of this chapter)