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

Chapter 706
Tian Jianxiu said: "Their soldiers are also good."
He was a little puzzled: "They are also officers and soldiers, why are these people so powerful? Just like Wang Dou."
Gao Yigong suddenly said: "They must be full of energy."
He looked over there, and saw that the Ming army's formation was still in good order. The hungry people on Gezuo's side were attacked by waves, and they were quickly smashed to pieces. There was another sound, and the three rows of firecrackers pretended to be firing continuously, like a thunderbolt.
Their infantry and cavalry also cooperated very well. Every time the hungry people were defeated, the cavalry in the formation would rush out to chase and kill them. If there were not a large number of infantry and horse soldiers behind them, those hungry people would have been killed in such a cruel battle. Boom and scattered.
But even so, after the dead and wounded were lying all over the ground, and the ground was covered with corpses and blood, the starving people on Gezuo's side had no intention of fighting. .
He thought again: "No wonder the gunpowder of the new army is so durable. One shot of gunpowder can repel a wave of enemies. Even with only thirty rounds of gunpowder on the body, it can still fight for a long time."
A mere 20 hungry people has limited effect on the Ming army's new army. Generally, thieves use hungry people in units of 50 to [-].
After the beat of the drum, those hungry soldiers retreated, and Gezuo’s infantry battalion stepped forward. If the hungry people were amnesty, they retreated in panic. Some of them, fortunately, would become infantry. The selection of Gezuo’s soldiers is actually similar to entering the camp. .
The hungry people retreated, and the Gezuobu Battalion attacked.
These people will be better equipped. The sword and shield soldiers are at the front, and there are some archers and firearms soldiers behind, and the pike soldiers at the end. Compared with the barracks, their camp is more chaotic. There are few, the costumes are even more different, and the division of arms is also relatively chaotic.
They are not as crazy as the starving people, and they all look brave. In order to cover the arrows, many of them even lifted the door panels, holding pot lids and so on...
The Gezuobu Battalion was dispatched, and at the same time, the rear and right wings of the Ming army, and the Chuang army also launched an attack at the same time. The commander on the battlefield was the Chuang general Yuan Zongdi, and Li Zicheng nodded secretly when he saw his tactics.
He also used the hungry people, but he did not let the hungry people attack alone like Ge Zuo, or only followed by a small number of infantry or cavalry, but behind the hungry people, gathered a large number of archers, musketeers, and finally followed a large number Sword and Shield Soldiers.
However, they used the hungry people as human shields, but mixed long-range firepower and used diffuse to attack the vital forces of the Ming army. Those sword and shield soldiers can play a very good role in leading and supervising the formation, and can also be used to attack when opportunities arise. array.
The 6000 hungry people were divided into five waves by him, with more than [-] people in each wave. There were about a thousand archers and gunfire soldiers following each wave, and there were also thousands of sword and shield soldiers. Offensive, just [-] people.
However, the Ming army formed camps on all sides, and the strength of one side did not have 6000 troops.
The crowd tactics of the thieves are indeed frightening. To them, manpower seems to be endless.
The commander in charge of the rear and right flanks of the phalanx was Yang Shaofan. He stopped immediately, but just watched the looters approaching with cold eyes. The officers around him looked dignified. Damn it, Yuan Zongdi was beaten up yesterday, the one who raises a Han's wife, did he open his mind?"
He cursed angrily, but realized that his tone was so bitter.
Xiao Mingfeng, the conciliator who rode his horse on his right, sighed: "The bandits have been fighting for many years, and the famous generals in the army are ready, so you can't take a peek."
He looked at the army formation, the front was fighting fiercely, and the rear and right sides in charge of Yutian Town would also be in a hard fight.
The strength of the battalion is only more than 500, and the firecrackers only have [-] rods, and there are only [-] rods on each side. Fortunately, there are cavalry from the main barracks in the formation. Their killer team has many bows and arrows, which can be used as weapons. preparation.
Although the firearms team also has more than 1000 three-eyed guns, the three-eyed guns are easy to burn out, and the three-eyed guns of the cavalry will not step forward until an emergency.
In terms of military strength, it is true that we are outnumbered.
Seeing them being oppressed and oppressed by hungry people, they were just ordinary and kind people in the past, but now they all look ferocious, distorted, and inhumane, how can they look like ordinary people?I couldn't help but sigh again.
"Kill officers and soldiers!"
Suddenly there was a drumbeat, and the first wave of hungry people who approached the rear wing two hundred steps shouted in unison, raised all kinds of weapons in their hands, and rushed forward frantically.
The Ming army was still waiting in full force, and the gunmen held up their firearms layer by layer. They gritted their teeth and waited for orders. Many of them had blue veins on their hands because they held the guns too tightly.
They just watched, and they knew that many thieves in front of them were being coerced. Maybe not long ago, they just yearned for the life of their wives and children, just like themselves before joining the army. Ordinary people struggled to survive, but Now, they are thieves, they are soldiers, and they deserve to be killed.
The dense crowd of hungry people rushed close, and in a blink of an eye, they rushed a hundred paces.
Yang Shaofan raised his hand violently, and the golden hand beside him blew the horn vigorously, and the sharp swan sound stopped the clouds.
The sound of gunfire volley sounded, and the two hundred gunmen on the first floor of the rear wing fired together. Even if the wind and dust were blowing up, the excellent firearms of the East Road allowed them to fire more than 160%. The hungry people in front were all shocked. The blood mist was shot out, and more than [-] thieves rolled to the ground like a headlong onion.
"what!"
The companions beside him fell down in a blink of an eye, and blood spots with a fishy smell splashed on their faces. Even though there were more than 4000 hungry people in this wave, just like Ge Zuo's side, their courage disappeared in an instant.
Although they were crazy and easily aroused blood, this blood came and went quickly, especially the hungry people who rushed to the front, felt the fear of death more clearly.
Therefore, they screamed frantically, dropped their weapons, and fled desperately to the rear, which also drove the people behind to follow suit.
However, what was different from Ge Zuo's side was that the intruders who led the formation immediately drew out their weapons and killed the fleeing people one by one. In the middle, there was a cry of pleading.
A young man who was only seventeen or eighteen years old just dropped the stick in his hand in a daze, turned around a few steps, and a waist knife had already pierced his lower abdomen, and then pulled it out. He was stunned to watch his colorful intestines flow out Come out, and then wailed heart-poundingly.
He frantically tried to stuff his intestines into his stomach, but the flow became more and more. He rolled on the ground and cried desperately, and finally cried his mother to die in pain.
There was also a young man who wanted to escape, but was viciously hit on the head by a three-eyed musketeer behind him. He fell to the ground in a daze, and crawled on the ground, trying to keep himself away from danger.
The three-eyed blunderbussman chased after him cursingly, and with a few more forceful blows, the iron, heavy three-eyed blunderbuss heads hit him one after another, smashing his head into a mess.
Seeing the frightened look of the hungry people beside him, he showed a trace of complacency on his face, and then roared ferociously: "Whoever dares to retreat will die!"
Under the suppression of the supervisory soldiers, the hungry people continued to move forward, but the sound of the Ming army platooning guns continued, as well as the sound of uniform passing and chest clearing.
Layers of hungry people were overturned before fifty steps in front of the battle, but they were still unable to cross the thunder pond. The blood they shed seemed to merge into a stream, and people vomited in the smell of gunpowder smoke and blood.
There are still many survivors lying in a pool of blood struggling, or constantly crawling on the ground, while crying and begging loudly, desperately reaching out to the crowd for help, but no one looks at them.
This situation is like hell.
The archers in the army who followed behind the hungry people also continued to shoot towards the front. One wave did not stop, and another wave came again. Every time they advanced, they were shot like locust arrows. Diffuse multiple rounds.
Although the accuracy is not high, the gunmen of the Ming army also wear fire-red cotton armor, which has a good ability to protect arrows, but the arrows are too dense, and the arrows are shot very fast, and some gunmen still snort and hit the arrows fall down.
Behind the hungry people, there are also groups of three-eyed gunners, or bird gunners, flashing out and firing guns at the army formation.
Even if their firearms were not good enough, and their training was not good enough, but the bullets flew around, and some gunmen were still injured from time to time, and even unlucky, some of the pikemen behind the gun array were also knocked down.
On the rear wing of the army formation, there was a general, Qian Zong, who was shouting and commanding. Suddenly, he saw the sound of gunfire from the bandit army in front of him. In the white smoke rising from that side, he felt his helmet suddenly fell off. Quickly picked it up, and saw an obvious bullet hole on the top of the helmet.
Mr. Qian couldn't help being afraid for a while, but fortunately he was wearing an iron hat, if it was a phoenix-winged helmet, he was afraid that he would be reimbursed on the spot.
"My cousin raised me."
The more Mr. Qian thought about it, the more he broke out in a cold sweat. He took the helmet handed over by the guard, and couldn't help cursing in his native language.
The guard smiled and said: "Lian Jin'er, you are really lucky, this is called surviving a catastrophe, there must be a future..."
Suddenly he fell to the ground, but it was a bullet that shot him in the throat. His eyes were wide open, and blood clots gushed out of his mouth. He struggled, and finally spit out a word slowly: "……blessing……"
"Three..."
Mr. Qian let out a loud roar. This guard is his relative. He followed him through life and death, and escaped from death many times. Unexpectedly, he couldn't pass this test. He bit his lower lip fiercely, his body trembling, blood dripping still self-knowledge.
……
Yang Shaofan's face was cold. The bandits really had talents. Compared with the [-]th Battalion of Gezuo who attacked the front, their tactics were used properly, and their combat effectiveness was obviously higher. Under their organization, the first wave of hungry people who rushed into the battle actually suffered six or more casualties. Seven hundred, he retreated after being bombarded by four layers of firecrackers.
They carried archers behind the hungry people, and the tactics of firearms soldiers also caused a lot of trouble for their subordinates.
Even if the lethality is not enough, but the shooting speed of bows and arrows is too fast, they can shoot several arrows with one blunderbuss shot by themselves, even if their three-eyed blunderbuss and bird blunderbuss shoot messy, inaccurate, and the quality of firearms is not good, they still cause damage from time to time , Someone on our side kept falling.
What is particularly cruel is their wave of attacks, one wave stopped, and another wave came again, causing strong pressure on their own side. In the third wave, they also released rockets from nowhere to cover and shoot the entire army formation.
Ordinary rockets are more powerful within a hundred paces. If you are caught off guard, your gunmen and spearmen will be shot down by them...
The corpses piled up even higher before the battle, the battle continued, the wounded were lying all over the ground, and blood was flowing everywhere, but the rear wing had just repelled the third wave of thieves' attack, and their fourth wave started again.
This wave of hungry people persisted in the two rows of shooting casualties. When the rear supervising army was about to force them to continue, Yang Shaofan ordered the spearmen to fight.
"Kill the thief!"
"Tiger!"
The rear wing spearmen shouted in unison, and amidst the beat of the drums, they came out in a row. Amidst the beat of the drums, they trotted forward with their guns upright. Their cloud-wing helmets, red mandarin duck jackets, and blue waist armor, In the cool sunlight, it shines brightly.
They lined up in a dense formation, charging forward layer upon layer. The thieves on the opposite side saw the Ming army rushing out, and they seemed a little flustered. Or the firecrackers shoot at these spearmen.
Cao Bianjiao's financial resources are not as good as Wang Dou's. Every soldier can be equipped with long body armor and arms. The protection of the pikemen in his town seems to be a little insufficient. The soldiers still stepped forward without hesitation.
More thieves ran away in panic. Even though the Ming army had sharp weapons, the long-range bombardment damage was completely different from the pressure of close-range melee combat. Many armies could fight well in long-range confrontation and suffered high casualties. But when fighting at close range, they often run away.
Therefore, the spearmen pressed forward, and more than half of this wave of thieves dispersed. No matter how they were suppressed, they couldn't be suppressed. The rest either couldn't escape, or tried to resist stubbornly, but the layers of spear stabs were already approaching them. .
"kill!"
The spearmen stabbed in groups, screaming in front of them, and the hungry people in front of them collapsed at the touch, revealing the unprepared archers and gunmen who broke into the camp behind them, and then these long-range soldiers screamed and ran away loudly after being stabbed to death .
Some soldiers with swords and shields who broke into the camp tried to resist, but facing a group of guns, how could the brave soldiers be opponents?They resisted indiscriminately for a while, and fled in succession.
A Chuangjun holding a leather shield relied on his own courage, facing the row of long spears in front, and wanted to fight. gun.
This trick is his valuable experience. He was also a member of the Ming army and has always looked down on those pikemen. In his opinion, as long as you go close, the opponent's pikes are just decorations. Individuals can use it well, do you think Grandpa Qi's tricks are so easy to learn?
He still has his own plan. When the army is defeated, he will fight hard and chop off the head of another officer and soldier to go back. Not to mention horse soldiers, even the old battalion can enter. With military merits, he will conquer the world in the future. Or homecoming.
In fact, with my own courage, if I didn't know how to ride a horse, I would have gone to the horse camp a long time ago, and I would still be in this camp?
He had planned very well, but as soon as he swung his broadsword, a spear pierced his throat heavily. The force caused him to stagger back a few steps. It seemed that he did not expect this result. The shield soldier opened his eyes wide, subconsciously wanting to swing the big knife in his hand.
He is not reconciled, what about his military exploits and his return home?
Puff!Puff!
There were a few more sounds of long spears piercing into the body, and two more long spears pierced him, one in his chest and the other in his right eye. Cao Bianjiao's new army also learned from the Jingbian army—in fact, they all learned from Qi's army. Cooperate, and then stab the throat, heart, eyes, lower body and other vital parts of the person.
Extreme unwillingness kept the sword and shield soldier from dying. His face was covered with blood and his expression was stern. After shaking for a while, he rolled on the ground, and the sword in his hand continued to dance.
After a few more puffs, multiple long spears came up and stabbed randomly at his body, stabbing and pulling out, pulling out and stabbing again, each stab brought out a rain of blood, finally, the sword and shield soldier He didn't move, only occasionally his body twitched a few times.
His left eye is wide open, but his eyes are not closed. There is a huge blood hole in his right eye, and his appearance is terrifying.
Then all the spearmen stepped on his body and continued to move forward. There was no one to resist this wave of rogues. They all screamed and ran fast. Anyway, it doesn't matter if they can't outrun the enemy, as long as they can outrun their comrades...
Another wave of attacks failed, and it was already the fourth wave. There was a river of blood in front of him. It seemed that the stinging smell of blood could be smelled from far away, but Fang's Yuan Zongdi's expression did not change.
Not to mention him, the generals around him also had a calm expression. For them, killing some people has long been a common occurrence, and their hearts are as hard as iron.
Yuan Zongdi lightly waved his hand: "Go on."
His gestures are gentle, even if the person who died in front of him was not a human being, he would just wave away a piece of fleas by waving his hand.
He said: "Let the fifth wave go up, and then start from the first wave again, and it will start again and again, and the attack will not stop."
……
In the middle of Cao Bianjiao's cavalry formation, the generals were like a tide, and the smell of gunpowder smoke and blood was tangy. However, no matter how the bandits fought, their own army remained standing in the plain, but the soldiers continued to be killed and wounded. wonderful.
He looked around, looking forward, Gezuo's infantry camp was easy to deal with, but difficult to deal with, it was the intruders who attacked the rear flank, the right flank, or both flanks at the same time, and the bandit cavalry on the other side of the sound water also needed attention , although there is a river separating them, if they relax their vigilance, they may rush across the river and attack their left flank.
What worried him was that some rogue infantry and hungry people seemed to have arrived at this moment, their strength was almost endless, even if they were dealt more damage, they could still attack incessantly.
In any case, today you need to beat the surrounding infantry into fear before you can march, so stick with it, he said to himself.
……
The battle lasted from Chenshi to Sishi, and when it was approaching noon, Yuan Zongdi specially dispatched a phalanx of long spears.
The hungry people on his side have been exhausted to the point where they can no longer be consumed. No threats can make them move a single step. They would rather be killed by the intruders right in front of their eyes than face those terrifying officers and soldiers.
They couldn't figure it out, Daming had such an army, and they couldn't figure it out even more, Daming had such an army, why did the thieves still thrive?
Li Zicheng also issued an order that the hungry people on the side of the camp and the hungry people on the Gezuo side all withdraw from the battlefield and go to the upper reaches of Xiangshui to dig trenches. The cannon fodder on the battlefield will be taken over by the new hungry people.
However, he also believes that the number of hungry people on the battlefield is still small, and it is better to wait until the number of hungry people reaches at least [-] before using the tactics of hungry soldiers.
It was difficult to attack the formation in the past, and some generals had whimsical ideas. It is suggested that Yuan Zongdi organize a special firearms unit and archer unit to shoot at the Ming army under the cover of swords and shields. In order to improve the defense of the soldiers, let some swords and shields Soldiers raised door panels, shields made of trees, etc., and marched forward to fight.
Yuan Zongdi was very interested in this suggestion, and immediately recruited three-eyed gunners, bird gunners, archers, rocketmen, etc. from the infantry in the formation to form a firearms army of about 3000 people. Under the cover, he marched forward in a mighty manner, attacking the right wing of the Ming army's formation.
It's just that everyone thought very well, and when they fought, they realized that it wasn't the case. When they walked eighty steps in front of the Ming army and still wanted to move forward-according to the power of their firearms, the ideal combat distance should be fifty steps Even at thirty paces, the musketeers of the Ming army, who had been silent all this time, moved. They fired three volleys and defeated their own side.
In fact, the courage and fanaticism of these people are not as good as those of the hungry people. They were defeated after a single volley. Seeing the hungry people take fire from the Ming army's guns, they didn't take it seriously, but it was my turn to know the taste and pain.
The shields, door panels, etc. held by the sword and shield soldiers in front did not have any effect. Not to mention blocking the line of sight, they also could not withstand the bombardment of the firearms on the east road. They were shattered by the bombardment and at the same time, the flying spikes were returned to the sergeants around the rear. , causing secondary damage.
So they withdrew, and Yuan Zongdi didn't want them to go forward.
These are the elite of the army. Although they are not good at melee combat, they are still necessary for long-distance combat. Moreover, their inability is also for the new army. Against the ordinary Ming army, even ordinary archers can still fight one or two.
So Yuan Zongdi dispatched long spear troops.
Regardless of the Ming army or the Chuang army, the pikemen are cheap and low-cost expendable troops. In the hearts of Li Zicheng and others, the pikemen in the infantry battalion are second only to the hungry soldiers. Can make a lot.
There are also many spearmen gathered here. Yuan Zongdi counted more than 5000 at random. He gathered 3000 people and divided them into five waves of [-] people each. He was going to specialize in the Ming army The right wing, which is more flat, is advantageous for the guns to advance.
Yuan Zongdi and everyone around him believed that 5000 spearmen were enough to attack one side. After all, the Ming army had only more than 1000 new troops on one side. Bet on them wave after wave, each wave is only a few dozen steps apart, so there is no reason why they cannot be defeated.
Yuan Zongdi knew that Cao Bianjiao still had a regular battalion as a garrison. Even if he called in reinforcements, he would not be able to call in many reinforcements because he had to guard against the rebels attacking them from the other side. Yuan Zongdi knew these old-fashioned soldiers well. It is not much stronger than Chuangjun's combat effectiveness.
Yuan Zongdi lined up his troops, and one after another the spear formations gathered. This time, Yuan Zongdi didn't even want to arrange for these spearmen to cover up the sword and shield soldiers.
In his heart, sword and shield soldiers are obviously more important than spear soldiers.
After the horn sounded, the war drum sounded, and one after another, the guns of the army began to move forward.
Their spears were all erected, like a forest of hedgehogs one after another.

(End of this chapter)