Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 421
In the Qing camp, a high platform was quickly erected, and Hauge and several Manchurian officials climbed up to overlook the entire battlefield.

The sound of horns and the sound of war drums could be heard in the camp, and the flags were waving. Countless green battalion soldiers who had just broken into the camp were still panting, and they were urged by the officers to take up weapons and guard the camp.

On all sides of the Qing camp, the gates of the camp were wide open, and nearly [-] cavalry of the Eight Banners were lined up in several square formations, and they rushed out of the camp as soon as Hauge gave an order.

The reason why Haoge built the big camp at Jitouguan was actually to facilitate the defense of the green battalion soldiers. At this time, the infantry of the Qing army formed formations under the wall of the village to resist the attack of the Western army with the big camp, while the cavalry was arranged in the four-sided camp. The door is ready to rush out at any time and walk outside.

The Qing army's nearly [-] cavalry were a little scattered and rushed to their positions. Hauge and the somewhat embarrassed Meng Qiaofang were on the high platform observing the Western army that surrounded the Qing camp from all sides.

Zhang Wenxiu has the least force in the east, only 2 people, but he is the most murderous. Zhang Neng in the south is the second largest, with [-] horses. Judgment, but he did not line up his troops under the Guancheng to cooperate with several western troops, which made Hauge slightly puzzled.

To the west are Zhang Xianzhong's [-] main force and Zhang Kewang's [-] troops. They are the most powerful, with uninterrupted banners and dazzling swords and guns. Among them, there is a cavalry of more than [-] people wandering outside the infantry.

Zhang Xianzhong traveled all over the world and fought in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Anhui, Hubei, Sichuan and other places. Even when Chongzhen was recruited by the Ming Dynasty for ten years, there were still [-] people. This is different from Li Zicheng who was beaten to only eighteen riders. , Zhang Xianzhong has always held a considerable number of troops in his hands.

The most important thing in the battle between bandits and the official army is speed. Zhang Xianzhong can move thousands of miles, from east to west, and choose the weak link of the official army, because every time he occupies a place, other things are not valued, only horses and mules , must be included in the army.

After several years of accumulation, Zhang Xianzhong bought some rough horses from the poor people in Qinghai, and also gathered such a small-scale cavalry.

Hauge watched. This was probably the largest cavalry of the Western Army they had encountered since they fought against the Western Army.

Although the cavalry of the Western Army was less than one-tenth of the Qing cavalry, Hauge knew that it was impossible to take advantage of the cavalry to attack the enemy's formation today.

At this moment, Hauge withdrew his gaze. He decided to ignore the [-] Western Army to the west, and instead set his sights on Zhang Wenxiu's troops, which had the least troops.

In this battle, the Qing army was few and the Western army was numerous. Hauge had no way to defeat Zhang Xianzhong's main force, so at the end of the day, it was easy and then difficult, and the accumulation of less made more, and he was going to attack Zhang Wenxiu first.

At this time, Zhang Wenxiu's troops had already stopped five miles away from the Qing camp, and did not continue to move towards the Qing camp, but he didn't move, but Hauge was about to move.

As the eldest son of Qing Emperor Taizong Huang Taiji, he fought with Qing soldiers since he was a child. Under Huang Taiji's tent, he strived to be the first in everything. The most important thing is that he is brave in battle.

At this moment, Zhang Xianzhong's large formation to the west was protected by two thousand cavalry from the Western Army, but Zhang Wenxiu was not there, so he decided to defeat Zhang Wenxiu first.

"Order Gushan Ezhen Bayan of Zhenglan Banner to go out of Dongying Gate and surround Zhang Wenxiu with Xing Na." Hauge gave the order decisively without discussing with anyone.

As soon as the military order was issued, the drums and horns of the Qing camp's civil war suddenly sounded. At the east gate of the Qing army camp, a line of blue-armored cavalry immediately got on their horses.

At this time, the blue flag on the high platform waved forward, and three thousand blue armored cavalry slowly drove out of the camp gate, and then slowly increased their speed, killing the western army in the distance.

Counting the 1 white-armored Mongolian soldiers brought out by Xing Na earlier, there were more than [-] Eight Banners soldiers who came out to attack the formation. Zhang Wenxiu led [-] horses in formation, and there was no cavalry to protect the front. How could this be resisted? Outflanked by five thousand cavalry of the Qing army?
But seeing the cavalry of the Eight Banners attacking, Zhang Wenxiu was not panicked. All the troops were still forming in an orderly manner. The spears, swords and shields were in the front, and the bows, crossbows, and blunderbuss were in the inside. After the muzzle is placed in the obstacle, the soldiers pack the gunpowder and are ready to fire at any time.

The Western Army had been planning for this battle for more than two months, knowing that a decisive battle with the Qing Army on the plain was unavoidable, so they had already made a lot of preparations. In addition, Zhang Wenxiu’s troops had fought against the Qing Army in Yang County for nearly two months. , The soldiers have been tempered by the flames of war, so even if they face the Five Thousand and Eight Banners, they will not panic.

The Blue Armor Eight Banners, which were killed from the Qing camp, gradually picked up their speed. After leaving the camp, they joined the wandering Baijia Mongol on one left and one on the right. The intention couldn't be more obvious, that is to attack Zhang Wenxiu's left and right sides and outflank them. .

The infantry fights against the cavalry, and the purpose is to defend against the impact of the cavalry. To do this, the infantry must be thick enough, that is, it must be deep enough to prevent the enemy cavalry from piercing through. If the square array is thick enough, the waist will definitely be narrow. This is like a rectangle with a fixed area. If you guarantee its length, you cannot guarantee its width.

Usually, when forming this kind of infantry formation, both flanks need cavalry guarding the two wings, otherwise the square formation will be easily killed by enemy cavalry.

This kind of formation is the ultimate in Wu's triple formation that was arranged according to the terrain in the Song Dynasty, but right now Zhang Wenxiu has no cavalry, and he is forming a circular formation with the strongest defense.

It's just that his circular formation is not a perfect circle, but an ellipse. The characteristic of a circular formation is that it has strong defensive power, but lacks offensive power. Zhang Wenxiu listed Suiyuan, obviously not satisfied with being passively beaten. A part of the defensive power was given up, and there must be other changes in the formation.

At this time, the Qing army carried out outflanking from left to right, aiming to avoid the front, but to attack the relatively weak oval waist and attack its two ribs, trying to break Zhang Wenxiu's waist, causing the Western army to be in chaos.

If the Qing army succeeded, and the cavalry repeatedly charged back and forth in the formation, Zhang Wenxiu's soldiers and horses would definitely collapse, and Zhang Xianzhong's strategy of encircling on all sides would basically be over. When the battle situation is unfavorable, Hauge can also abandon the green camp , calmly withdrew from the battlefield from the east.

But Zhang Wenxiu is one of the four kings, how can the title of King Funan be called in vain?Zhang Wenxiu was in the formation, watching the Qing army split into two groups and rush forward with the momentum of Mount Tai, he didn't even move his eyelids.

At this time, the artillery of the Western Army was lined up in front of the formation, the muzzles of the black holes were raised high, and the ammunition had been filled. The gunners holding torches stared at the galloping enemy horses without any fear.

"Fire the cannon!" Zhang Wenxiu gave an order, and the army ordered the flag to wave.

Although the firearms of the Western Army were not as elite as those of the Ming Army, they were the furthest weapons they could fight.

Although this kind of firearm is actually not very lethal except for the earth-shattering sound, the soldiers of the Western Army listened to the sound and watched the Qing army being knocked off their horses.More than a dozen cannons fired at the two Qing armies respectively. The cannons of the Ming Dynasty were all cast with lugs, which enabled the cannons to adjust the elevation angle and allow the gunners to easily adjust the range of the cannons. In the first round of shelling, the gunners all adjusted the cannons to maximum elevation angle. "Boom~" There was a loud noise, and more than a dozen iron bullets whizzed out from the muzzle with gunpowder smoke. The soldiers of the Western Army saw that the black shells drew an arc in the air, fell into the enemy group, and splashed on the ground. There was a piece of rock and soil, and there was a thunderous cheer in the Western Army's formation.

(Thanks to Jinyiwei Tongzhi, yeyeye for the monthly ticket, and thanks to Yuedong Woxin for the reward)

(End of this chapter)