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

Chapter 811 block
Watching the bandits move, suddenly the sound of horns, trumpets and drums came down from the plateau. On the No. [-] line of defense, the commander of the Jingbian army who supervised the battle waved his hand and stared at his first low wall. Immediately, the general manager nervously issued an order: "Everyone is in position and ready to fight!"

"Bird shooter ready!"

All the new army battalion soldiers came to the low wall one after another, and put the bird guns in their hands on the low wall. Not only here, but also on the defense line of more than 20 miles, the officers shouted loudly one after another, and the gunmen from all defense lines flocked. When the bird rack was dropped, there was a clattering sound of metal.

On the first low wall of No. A[-], there were a hundred gunners from the new army, and they fired in three layers. Along with the first layer, there were more than ten gunners from the battalion firearms team.After they set up the blunderbuss, they all lit the matchlocks with torches, and the officers finally confirmed the status of their firearms.

They leaned against the low wall and watched the thieves rolling down the opposite side. They were wrapped in yellow turbans. When the crowd poured down from the plateau slope, they could not help but remind people of the water of the Yellow River, Hukou Waterfall, the kind that swallows everything. The torrent makes everyone look pale.

Even those battalion soldiers who claimed to be old in battle were all as pale as paper at this moment, and some of them might have fled if it weren't for the presence of the Jingbian army supervisor team.

The generals of the battalion and the generals of the new army watched the enemy nervously. They looked at the opposite side, and then at the armored commander of the Jingbian army who was supervising the battle. His face was sinking like water, and his expression was just motionless.

The sound of huge footsteps is getting closer and closer. In the dusty sky, the thieves charging down the path along the plateau have already descended into the ditch. The crowd seems to have disappeared a little, and then they suddenly appeared on the slope, and they roared. Shouting and shouting, they rushed towards the edge of the cliff along the uphill path.

There are too many of them. A rough estimate shows that the number of thieves coming to A-[-] is more than [-], which is five times the total number of the Ming army guarding the first low wall. This is due to the inconvenient terrain. Troop strength, otherwise ten times more, twenty times is just waiting for nothing.

The slope was full of their figures, and a mere path could not accommodate their density, and the crowd spread to the slopes on both sides of the road.

Everyone also saw their expressions clearly, all of them twisted and full of fanaticism. Seeing the ferocious appearance of these hungry soldiers, regardless of the soldiers in the new army camp, everyone's heart was beating violently, and the veins in each hand holding the blunderbuss were exposed, and they were just waiting nervously. .

The commander of the Jingbian army who supervised the battle was still calm, the general of the battalion and the general of the new army looked anxious, but they didn't dare to act rashly, otherwise the commander would kill them on the spot.

It's getting closer, it's getting closer, the tableland slopes on both sides are already full of thieves, and they have filled the road. Due to the large number of people, they even have the front of the team on the tableland slope, and the rear is still on the opposite tableland slope. superior.

Everyone could also see more clearly that most of the thieves who rushed were yellow and emaciated hungry soldiers, only wrapped in turbans, and most of them were holding spears and clubs. Among them were a few old thieves with swords and shields, and there were some war supervisors behind them. pawns.

The commander of the Jingbian army who supervised the battle still did not move. Not only him, but none of the Jingbian army who supervised the battle on Yuanpo gave the order to fire. .

The rogues coming in like a tide made everyone feel hot and cold. Seeing that the rogues were about to rush to the edge of the ladder, everyone's endurance was about to reach the limit. , the commander of the Jingbian Army who supervised the battle suddenly shouted: "Shoot!"

All the gunmen pulled the triggers at the same time, they roared and fired, and the pressure in their hearts erupted as the fire rope fell.The tinder ignited the priming powder in the fire door, and the flame and thick smoke came out, and then the priming powder ignited the gunpowder in the gun barrel, bursting out more fierce fire and smoke, and merged into a deafening sound of the gun.

Thick white smoke rises from the No. 20 defense line, and then connects with the smoke from the adjacent defense lines. Finally, thick smoke rises from the eighteen defense lines of Yuanwanggou. The plateau slope coverage.

There was a roar of firecrackers, bursts of heart-piercing screams, and with the salvo of Huo Nao, in front of the first low wall of No. [-] Jia, the wave of thieves pouring in like a tide stopped suddenly, and the stream of hungry people in front of them stagnated. A thief overturns a large piece like cut wheat.

They fell to the ground with a heavy thump of flesh.

"shooting!"

The gunmen on the first level retreated, and the gunmen on the second level stepped forward and continued to emit gunpowder smoke forward, but the battalion firearms team had no bird gunners to move forward, because there were only a dozen of them, and the three-eyed gunners hadn't turned yet. until they fire.

After they retreated, they also used the lead bags of gunpowder cans on their bodies to load their ammunition. The bird guns they used were old-fashioned, with different sizes of muzzles and different thicknesses of tube walls. Not only did they have hidden dangers in quality, but they could not use fixed paper tubes. ammunition.

"shooting!"

The front of the low wall was full of smoke. The gunmen on the third floor stepped forward again and fired at the panicked crowd ahead. The hungry soldiers on the slope were crying and howling. These are the hungry people who have been threatened not long ago.

The hungry soldiers who were shot were rolling and howling on the ground. The bullets hit their bodies and smashed their bones and internal organs, bringing them a feeling of pain.

Although the new army and the battalion soldiers only fired more than 100 bird guns, and many of them were fighting for the first time, there were too many thieves on the roads and slopes.In particular, most of those who were shot were the bravest in each team. They rushed to the front and died the fastest.

When the blunderbuss hit them, the lead with weak penetrating power deformed and flipped inside their bodies, tearing and smashing many things inside, and there were even messy lead bullet fragments flying around, forming terrifying trauma.

Seeing the horrific appearance of these shot people waiting to be gutted, seeing them crawling, shouting and struggling on the ground, the cruel scene immediately wiped out the ferocious aura of the hungry soldiers, and many of them fled back while shouting.Most of them were just ordinary people before they joined the war.Once the brave people in the army died, their blood and courage disappeared instantly.

Seeing these people fleeing, the old bandits with swords and shields tried their best to suppress them, and the hungry soldiers in the rear rushed forward under the threat of infantry. Turned over a lot of people.

Seeing the chaos on the slope, the commander of the Jingbian army who supervised the battle took the opportunity to shout again: "Shoot the arrow!"

There was another roar of arrows, and a large number of hungry soldiers on the slope fell down again. The battalion archers behind the low wall shot waves of arrows at them. Although the bows and arrows they used were not strong, they were ineffective against them. The hungry soldiers in armor are enough.

Most of the special battalion soldiers used small bows known for their arrow speed, and some Kaiyuan bows. In a short period of time, the rain of arrows seemed to cover the range of the slope in front of the low wall.

There are more smoke trails in these arrows. The first low wall defense line has more than 100 archers, but there are more than [-] rockets.They are all equipped with iron and palladium, and matchlocks are tied to the front of the iron and palladium. I saw them take out the rockets in the quiver, put them between the iron and palladium thighs, aim at the enemy, and then move the lead wire to the matchlock. After igniting it, let go, and the arrow will be fired. Fly away.

Although their rockets are not as fast as bows and arrows, they don't require much effort, and they are easy to aim when mounted on palladium, as if using a bow and crossbow.Even if some rockets fly randomly due to quality problems, there are so many thieves and hungry soldiers on the slope path, and it is rare for them to fail.

The arrows propelled by the gunpowder are extremely powerful, and the strength of the arrows can reach the standard of a force bow. As long as they are shot by the rocket, the powerful force will cause these people to roll out. They knocked over the people behind them and took them from the slope. Roll up and down, causing even more chaos.

"catapult!"

Stones were thrown down like raindrops, and the hungry soldiers on the slope path ran around and howled like headless chickens.

……

"The thief blocked it?"

On the No. [-] plateau, the messengers continued to report the situation of the battle on the plateau slope. The new army chief Qian and the battalion guerrillas who were in charge of the defense here were very happy, while Han Kaihui was very calm. This was only the first attack by the bandits. No attack power, but our side...

Not to mention the excellent bird guns and firearms, but the fortifications, those cliffs, low walls and ditches, are not something ordinary hungry people can climb or attack.Coupled with the terrain of the plateau slope trail, the hungry soldiers with spears and sticks could only squeeze on the road and be beaten. It is normal to be able to block it, otherwise the Yuanwanggou defense line would be in vain.

But this is only the first wave, and the thieves are dispatched by the most superficial hungry people. The battle in Tongguan has just begun, and there is a battle to be fought.

He sent an order: "You can't just defend and wait for the bandits to retreat. The defensive spearmen need to wait for the opportunity to fight, and take the initiative to expel the bandits and put strong pressure on the bandits!"

……

Sun Chuanting stood beside the border of the village in the north of the city. He kept looking at the opposite field through the binoculars in his hand. He occasionally looked at the situation on the slope below. He saw the sound of firecrackers below, and the smoke billowed up. in the nose.

The flow of messengers came over and reported to Sun Chuanting the situation of the various defense lines. Sun Chuanting remained expressionless, and the battle situation from A[-] to A[-] was as he expected.

The thieves are best at crowd tactics, but they can't use their greatest advantage in this kind of terrain defense line, and their new army is not easy to deal with. The rogues in each line of defense are blocked in front of the first low wall. Most normal.

What he cares about is the battle situation from No. 11 defense line to No. 18 defense line at the southern end of Yuanwanggou. Some worried.

He heard the sound of artillery and gunfire over there, and the messenger also came to report: "There are a lot of rogues, but our division's artillery fires fiercely, and the rogues suffered heavy casualties."

……

Amidst the shrill roar, an iron ball weighing several kilograms hit the ground heavily, stirring up a big cloud of dust.Then the iron ball flew up again, and crashed into a group of infantry wearing red uniforms. Wherever it went, blood, flesh and stumps flew everywhere. A sentry team in the right battalion lined up in this square was frightened and scattered.

Daiziying, Nantouyuan and other places are covered with soldiers and horses from the Right Battalion of the Invading Army. This side is at the southern end of Yuanwanggou. A large number of people and horses are arranged here.

At the beginning of the offensive, Liu Xiyao deployed tens of thousands of people along the No. 11 to No. 18 lines of defense in each line of defense, intending to pile up the Ming army guarding the original slope with the tactics of crowds.

There was no movement from the Ming army before the attack, so Liu Xiyao was able to calmly arrange his troops. He arranged one army after another along the bottom of the wide ditch. Of course, the hungry soldiers were in charge, and the infantry who supervised the formation were behind.Unexpectedly, as soon as the battle started, the Ming army violently bombarded the army formation at the bottom of the ditch. In particular, they ignored the hungry soldiers in front and only attacked the infantry in the rear, making the invading army in the right battalion miserable.

As early as when the Yuanwanggou defense line was established, the gunners of the Jingbian Army had measured the height of this side, and the artillery set up on the plateau slope was bombarded according to the unit, with amazing accuracy.

The firing rate of the Buddha Wolf machine artillery is also famously fast. As the shells roared, the raindrops of the shells fell on the infantry formations, blood and flesh flew everywhere, and limbs were broken. Every time the shells fell, there would always be a huge explosion. commotion.There are also a lot of poisonous smoke and ash bombs coming, and the chaos caused is no worse than that of solid shells.

In fact, the artillery deployed here is not too much, there are no more than [-] general cannons and [-] mortars on the plateau, and they are scattered on various defense lines.But the power of artillery in this era is too great, and the army that can stand and take the artillery calmly is an elite with very firm willpower. Obviously, breaking into the army is not considered a firm-willed army.

So even if the artillery on the plateau did not actually cause much casualties to the Chuangjun from the right battalion, the fear of being shot caused a lot of commotion in the army. Run, whether he is an officer or a soldier.

The reason why the thief's crowd tactics are sharp is that there are a large number of old thief infantry driving, supervising, and suppressing the hungry people who are coming, so that they can consume the enemy's bullets and arrows with their flesh and blood, and consume their vitality. Wait until about the same time, and then go to the main elite.

But at this time, the infantry who are driving and suppressing in the rear are too busy to take care of themselves, so how can they care about supervising the hungry soldiers in front?And most of those hungry soldiers are ordinary hungry people who have never seen a battlefield in their entire lives. Even if some bloody courage was aroused by the instigation and threats of the old thieves before the war, this anger came and went faster, and often only It took a volley of guns, and the brave people who rushed forward were killed and injured, and they immediately turned back into timid and fearful ordinary people.

In the past, at this time, the old thieves in the army would try their best to suppress and drive them forward, but at this time, the rear pawns themselves are in chaos, so how can they supervise?
Because of the artillery, the right battalion attacking Nangou was even worse than other places. After all, even though the bird guns were sharp, they could only attack the hungry soldiers in front, and the infantry supervised in the rear were generally safe.They can comfortably drive and suppress the hungry people in the front, but here, they have to endure the treatment that the hungry soldiers do not have: being shot!

The sound of shells whizzing wave after wave, and the poisonous lime mist filled the air. Standing on the plateau slope, the right battalion general Liu Xiyao looked at the battlefield below, his face turned livid.

It was okay for the hungry soldiers in the front to be beaten into a rout by several rounds of guns from the Ming army, but the infantry in the rear were also bombarded by artillery and turned into wolves, unorganized mobs, which he couldn't bear.As the former general of the Fifth Battalion of Zuoge, he originally wanted to show himself well in this battle and organized the attack meticulously. He didn't expect that the attack he had placed high hopes on would turn into a farce as soon as the battle started.

On the plateau, Zhao Rongsheng retracted the binoculars, and the crowd below was like ants. At first, the bandits seemed to be very powerful, but after the heavy artillery fire, it was obvious that there was chaos everywhere, no matter which line of defense was on the battlefield from Jia 18 to Jia No. [-].

Such a result was expected by Zhao Rongsheng. In the 13th year of Chongzhen, he went to the south with the army. At that time, he was an ordinary spearman. Just hit the infantry in the rear, or even the old battalion.

Seeing the dark crowd below, he issued an order: "Continue to bombard, attack the infantry in the rear fiercely, order the spearmen of each line of defense to fight, and give the bandits a serious setback!"

"fire!"

The General Cannon on the plateau continued to emit fierce flames. Amid the deafening sound of the cannon, the thick white smoke merged with the smoke from the gunpowder, covering the gully plateau.

……

On May 20rd, the Battle of Tongguan, which attracted national attention, kicked off on the more than [-]-mile-long defense line of Yuanwanggou.Seen from the air, the entire Yuanwanggou is shrouded in smog, and through the smog, there is a sea of ​​people like ants below.

The sea of ​​people poured down the ditch from the plateau, like a flood that seemed to fill the plateau, but they were blocked by the defense lines between the plateau slopes, and the raging tide was suppressed by the strong dams.

On the side of Yuanwanggou, the Chuangjun was attacking fiercely. While the Ming army resisted tenaciously, more than 2000 cavalry cavalry set off from Jindouguan to try to spy on it, and even attacked the northeast sides of Tongguan.

At this time, the Chuangjun had already controlled Niutouyuan, but the five-mile natural barrier from Jindouguan to Dongchengmen was like walking on flat ground for them. More than 2000 cavalry teams galloped on the official road, and the rumbling hooves were like thunder.They rushed to the Yuanwanggou, not far from the Qilin Mountain, because the city wall and the East Gate Tower were built on the mountain, so there was no low wall defense line at this end of the Yuanwanggou.

Erqian Chuangqi stopped for a while in front of Yuanwanggou, and saw that the city wall in front of him was winding along the mountain, and the "Ying'en Gate" in the east was like a tiger on Qilin Mountain, and not far down the slope was the water of the Yellow River.

General Guoyi, the old battalion leading the army, was a little hesitant. He had seen the situation east of Tongguan from a distance on the Niutouyuan, but now he saw the east gate at a close distance, and felt the steepness of the east gate.

Finally, with a wave of his hand and a whistle, he always gritted his teeth, and led a group of fifty cavalry to rush out. They rushed down Yuanwanggou, followed the official road and rushed up to the top of Yuanmiangou.

After going up the ditch, they were divided into two parts, and one part ran along the official road to the "natural danger building" archery tower in front of the "Ying'en Gate".Part of it goes south, along the gentle slope path beside the ditch under Qilin Mountain, to see if it can go around to the south gate of Tongguan.

But as soon as they ran down the ditch, dense human heads appeared on the city wall. As soon as they went up the ditch and approached Qilin Mountain, they heard the rumbling sound from the mountain, and a large number of rolling wood and stones were thrown down from the city wall.The height of the city wall and the hillside here is more than ten feet. The force of the rolling wood and stone rolling down the hillside is unimaginable. When rolling down, it also stirs up a lot of dust and gravel, just like a mudslide.

Amidst the rumbling sound, people and horses could be heard screaming and neighing continuously, and from time to time, some riders would be hit and taken away. With such a high distance and such a strong force, as long as the people and horses were hit by the rolling wood and stones, they would break their tendons and fracture their bones, and vomit blood The fate of death.

Especially the dozen or so riders who went to the far side of the ditch and detoured to the south, because the road beside the ditch is narrow, and there is very little room to dodge. Throw them into the Yuanwang Ditch.

The old general Guoyi saw with his own eyes that Yiqi was hit by the stone, and saw their horses soaring into the air, screaming and falling into the ditch.The horse was still neighing in mid-air, and the cavalry howled mournfully. The distance looking ditch here was still high and deep, and it took a long time for everyone to hear the dull sound of people and horses falling to the ground.

Not only this rider, in the flying dust, rolling wood and stones fell like raindrops, and the dozen or so riders who had made a detour to the south were smashed into the ditch one by one, and none of them survived. , silent.

Those rushing to the east gate were not much better. The official road ran next to the base of the mountain wall, winding upwards until it reached the archery tower and urn city.As far as the defenders are concerned, these rogues running along the official road are within the range of their firepower, and even within the attack range of Rolling Trees and Stones.

The rolling wood and stones were thrown like rain, screaming again and again, and one by one the riders were hit, and the rest saw the dust flying above their heads, and the dense rolling logs or stones roared continuously, and they hurriedly pulled out their horses and ran back. , and even panicked, rushing down the steep hillside beside the official road and rushing towards the bank of the Yellow River.

General Guo Yi of the old battalion watched with a livid face, this time the snooping had suffered a heavy loss, he had lost more than [-] cavalry in a blink of an eye, not compared to the starving people, every death of such a cavalryman was enough to make the old battalion feel extremely distressed.

Taking back the remnant soldiers, General Guo Yi of the old camp looked around, and every officer avoided his eyes. The fact is obvious that this kind of terrain exploration is meaningless, and they don't want to die in vain.

Then listen to the howling and groaning of the wounded soldiers from the official road in the distance, it is so miserable, it makes people upset, everyone just pretends they didn't hear it, they don't dare to propose rescue, otherwise they might fold themselves in .

The old battalion general Guoyi thought of his military order, and finally he had a heartbreak, and ordered another department commander to lead two teams of soldiers down the slope to the bank of the Yellow River to see if he could spy on the situation of Beishuiguan and Beiguan. See if you can make a detour to Simon.

The boss secretly called it unlucky, he opened his mouth, intending to object, but seeing General Guo Yi Sen Han's eyes, he didn't dare to disobey the order.

He also saw the situation just now, so after leading the two teams of soldiers to set off, he rushed down the Yuanwanggou along the official road. As soon as he entered the ditch, he immediately led the cavalry to leave the official road and walked as far as possible to the bank of the Yellow River.

The banks of the Yellow River here are also wide, but when they reach the place where Qilin Mountain and the Yellow River are sandwiched, there is no more than a few dozen steps to walk on this side of the river. Even if they try to walk along the river, the general As soon as the cavalry approached, the rolling wood and rocks fell like rain on the hillside of the city wall, and several cavalry screamed and were thrown to the ground.

At the same time, arrows were raining down on the archery tower and the city wall, and there was the sound of firecrackers bursting like beans. The old general Guoyi could see clearly that at that moment, the army had lost [-]% of its troops.

Then the rest of the cavalry rushed into the corner and disappeared. The old battalion General Guo Yi waited anxiously.

After a long time, suddenly there was the sound of firecrackers like popping beans at the place where Qilin Mountain and the Yellow River were sandwiched, and then a bloody horse rushed out, desperately fleeing towards its own line.But within a few steps, the knight rolled to the ground, and the horse's feet went limp, and "Lilu" neighed.

The old general Guoyi's face was extremely gloomy, and his entire army was wiped out. This round of temptation was actually worse than the first round.

He somewhat understood why he had always attacked Tongguan from Yuanwanggou and Jingou. This time, the king of Chuang attacked Tongguan, and the main force was also placed in the southern section of Taojiazhuang in Yuanwanggou. When the gate is closed, there is no way for anyone to open it. Just rolling wood and beating stones can make it difficult for people to move an inch.

(End of this chapter)