Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 36 Battle in Chizhou, heavy troops gather
The Hongguang Dynasty faced the double attack of the Qing soldiers and the Zuo army, and the same was true for the Zuo army. Behind them was Li Zicheng's 20 army. Therefore, if Chizhou could not be defeated, they would be trapped in Anqing until they were defeated.

The battle of Chizhou, whether it was against Daming or against the Zuo army, was a life-and-death battle. In order to defeat the Chizhou Ming army, Zuo Menggeng did his best.

The left army attacked Chizhou for three consecutive days. The moat of Chizhou was filled by the left army in the previous attack.

Li Zicheng's army has followed the Zuo army and occupied Jiujiang. The Zuo army was pinched by Chizhou Ming army and Jiujiang Shun army in a hundred miles around Anqing.

This time, the rebel army summed up the failures of the previous few days, and instead of sending old and weak cannon fodder to fight, they dispatched 18 elites and [-] young and strong, trying to break the city in one fell swoop.

Wang Yan and others on the mountain watched the Zuo army getting closer, and the sound of orderly footsteps came to everyone's ears, which was extremely shocking.

"Coax~ coax~ coax~"

20 rebels, divided into more than 50 square formations, moved to Chizhou City.

In the infantry phalanx, the soldiers wielded the sword in one hand and the shield in the other, and knocked on the shield every step forward. The sound was earth-shattering. What's more is a large number of infantry archers and fire commanders.

Such infantry, with more than 5000 people in each formation, has [-] square formations. They marched in front of the army, and the dust they stepped on covered the sky and the sun.

Behind the infantry phalanx, there were auxiliary soldiers who pushed and crashed into carts, carried ladders, and heavy soldiers who pulled red cannons.

Zuo Menggeng and other rebel generals walked in the middle under the guard of their own soldiers, with a large number of spearmen and a small number of cavalry on both sides.

Seeing the rebel army with spears like forests and banners like clouds, Wang Yan couldn't help worrying whether Chizhou could withstand the rebel attack.

"Boom!" "Boom!"

Bursts of smoke and loud noises resounded from the city, but it was the red-clothed cannons in Chizhou City that fired first.

Different from Wang Yan's embarrassment when he was in Qingzhou, the troops of Huang Degong and Liu Liangzuo were assembled in Chizhou city, and the army of Fang Guoan, the general army of Chizhou, was assembled in Chizhou city.

In addition to the heavy soldiers gathered in Chizhou City, there are also plenty of equipment, such as red cannons, Fran cannons, flying cannons, and countless firearms.

The Zuo Army traveled within two miles of Chizhou, and had already entered the range of shelling. However, although the Ming Army fired artillery, it could not kill the Zuo Army much.

Although the cannon in red can shoot nearly two miles, most of the shells are solid shells. Unless they hit right, it is difficult to cause damage.

Wang Yan watched the rebels on the left continue to advance towards Chizhou City under artillery fire like this. The rebels who were occasionally smashed to death could not affect the entire army formation at all.

About a mile and a half away from the city, about 1000 rebel central troops stopped on a small hillside, and more than [-] cavalry on both sides were also left behind.

More than 5 horsemen made a detour to the south, 5 people stayed to attack the south city, and [-] people went to capture the east city.

These are miscellaneous soldiers with extremely poor combat power, they can only play a diversionary role, Zuo Menggeng does not rely on them to break the city.

The remaining troops in the west continued to push forward with the ramming carts, the auxiliary soldiers carrying the ladders, and the artillery team.

When the distance was one mile, all the rebel formations stopped, and the rebel artillery team was pulled onto a small soil bag and began to set up artillery.

The rebel army is the most populated town among the five towns of the Ming Dynasty. It has been guarding Huguang for a long time. It has fought against Zhang Xianzhong's Daxi Army and Li Zicheng's Dashun Army several times. Army, so the rebels also have everything in Chizhou City.

"Boom!" "Boom!"

The rebels wanted to attack the city, so they brought [-] red cannons that fired solid bullets. After the artillery team was set up, the rebels began to bombard the artillery on the city, jumping off a corner of the city wall from time to time, and being shot by the city from time to time. The last shell hit, and the cannon was destroyed.

At this time, a solid bullet hit the wall, and immediately a piece of the city wall collapsed, and gravel flew, and several Ming soldiers quickly surrounded an old general. "Master Hou is in danger! Hurry up and go down to the city with the last general!"

The old general wore a boa robe inside, a mountain armor on the outside, and a Longquan sword on his waist. Although his beard and hair were white, he was majestic. He gently stroked the broken stones that splashed on his body with one hand, and said majesticly: "No need! Zuo Menggeng, son, I can't hurt you!"

The old general was Huang Degong, Marquis of Jingnan. He put his sword on his hand, looked at the rebels below the city, and then ordered: "The rebels are about to attack the city, so you don't need to stay here, go and command the army and attack the rebels head-on. .”

"Here! The last general is waiting for someone to take orders!" A group of Ming army generals clasped their fists in response, and the armor on their bodies clattered as they moved.

When the generals left, a group of personal guards quickly raised their shields and knives to protect Huang Degong in the middle.

"Boom-boom-boom-"

There was a sound of war drums, but on the hillside, Zuo Menggeng finally conveyed the general order.

In ancient times, when two armies confronted each other, it was like a battle formation. If they rushed forward, it was not a war, but a group fight.

The army emphasizes collective combat, not individual bravery, which is why trained officers and soldiers can often chase and kill tens of thousands of thieves with thousands of people.

The battle of hundreds of thousands of troops is inseparable from the command of the commander-in-chief of the Chinese army. When the army fights, it advances when it hears the drum, and withdraws at the sound of gold. The dispatch of the army depends entirely on the sound of drums, horns, and waving of flags.

Wang Yanzang observed on the mountain, he heard the rebels' war drums and horns, and then saw the flags waving. A moment later, the left army's infantry, which had stopped a mile away, changed.

Some of the auxiliary soldiers who carried the ladder and pushed the ramming chariot went forward, and together with ten infantry phalanxes, they pushed forward to Chizhou City again.

"put!"

As the rebel army advanced, other artillery pieces on the city wall also exploded immediately. The shells fired by the Franc machine gun and the flying cannon exploded in the rebel formation, killing nearly a hundred people immediately, and the poisonous smoke floated up. The rhythm of the rebels was disrupted.

The Fran cannon was pre-equipped with four sub-units loaded with ammunition, so the rate of fire was very fast, causing great confusion to the advancing rebels.

Seeing this, Zuo Menggeng on the hill hurriedly ordered his drums to beat faster. The advancing rebels heard this, and immediately accelerated their pace, braving artillery fire and rising poisonous smoke, rushing towards the city wall.

"The Bird Commander is ready! The archers return to their positions!"

As the left army got closer and closer to the city wall, the generals of the Ming army on the city began to shout anxiously.

"Quick! Quick! Quick! Don't dawdle, the rebel army is nothing but a mob, and there is nothing to be afraid of." Amidst the sound of chaotic footsteps, a group of soldiers armed with firearms, bows and arrows, and spears climbed to the top of the city.

Before Wang Yan came to Chizhou, the rebel army had been attacking Chizhou for three consecutive days, but they were still unable to form an effective threat to the city defense, so the generals of the Ming army had full confidence in defending Chizhou.

Unlike the self-confidence of the Ming army generals on the city wall, Jingnan Hou Huang Degong had a little worry on his face. He squinted his eyes and looked at the rebels below the city. He could feel many differences.

The rebels who attacked the city a few days ago were disorganized and their formations were chaotic. They only knew how to swarm up without understanding the military orders. Quality, order and prohibition, and action upon hearing the sound are obviously the main force of the rebel army.

Chizhou City has been bombarded by artillery for three days, and many cities have been damaged. If the bombardment continues today, it is inevitable that there will be no accidents.

It was precisely because of this that Huang Degong felt a little worried. Today's battle might not be as easy to deal with as before, and a hard fight would be inevitable.

At this time, the sound of artillery on the city and outside the city was in harmony. Amidst the explosion, the rebels finally rushed a hundred steps away from the city wall.

"Let go!" As the generals of the Ming army waved their hands in a hurry, the bird commanders on the top of the city immediately ignited, and the archers threw their first wave of arrows.

"Raise the shield!" The rebels under the city ran wildly and raised the shield in their hands, but facing the incoming birds and bows and arrows, they were still knocked down in an instant.

"Let go!" Three-eyed Tong, Four-eyed Tong, Kidnap Tong, Wu Leishen Ji and various firearms, under the command of the officer, bombarded the rebels below the city.

The rebels under the city fell in pieces in an instant, while the rebels behind stepped on the dead bodies and rushed forward regardless of casualties. Bloody.

"Fight back!" As the rebels approached the city wall, the rebel archers who rushed behind began to run while throwing arrows at the top of the city.

At this time, the Ming army began to be killed by arrows on the city, and some were hit by firearms and fell to the city wall, and the rhythm of defense slowed down.

"Freedom to shoot! Shoot! Bounce~~~~~"

After losing more than 1000 lives, the rebels finally rushed under the city wall, and the shooting from the two sides made the battlefield even more tragic.

The cart that crashed into the city was pushed under the gate by the rebels, and it slammed into the city gate violently, but it was immediately burned by the tens of thousands of enemies smashed down from the city, and the rebels who pushed the cart were also completely lost.

A ladder was erected and then overturned. Countless rebels fell from the top and fell to their deaths. From time to time, ladders were burned down, and birds were blown up from time to time. Overwhelmed by the rising rebels, trampled to death.

The kerosene poured from the top of the city, the rolling stones and wood smashed down caused the blood and flesh of the rebels below the city to splatter, and for a while, the screams, shouts of killing, and the sound of weapons colliding filled the world.

It has to be said that the rebels on the left who attacked the city today were very elite, and under such a tragic battle situation, they still rushed to grab the city.

After paying nearly thousands of casualties, the left army finally began to climb the city wall.

However, the Ming army guarding the city was nearly [-], of which [-] to [-] were elite. The Zuo army wanted to destroy the city, but it would not be that simple. Seeing this, Huang Degong on the city wall quickly dispatched a captain of gunmen from the city to help the battle.

Not long after, the left rebels who had just entered the city were all picked down by the Ming army on the city.

Seeing this, Zuo Menggeng on the hill frowned, then waved the command flag in his hand, and the drums and horns sounded rhythmically again on the hill.

Hearing the sound, ten infantry phalanxes were immediately separated from the front army on the left, and with a group of ladders, they crashed into cars and rushed towards Chizhou City suddenly. With the addition of new forces, the siege battle became more intense.

(End of this chapter)