The reason why Tan Bai was selected by Dorgon as a general shows that he is not an ordinary general in the Qing army. He has studied Chinese since he was a child. Of course he knows what the Ming army opposite him sings. Seeing that many Baya soldiers around him still had arrogant looks on their faces, he was very cautious about the coming war, especially after being ordered by Dorgon.
At this time, Tan Bai has regarded the Ming army opposite him as his biggest enemy in his combat career, and he must not underestimate it.
Tan Bang was not an ordinary character in history. He was from the Tara family of Manchuria and a member of the Zhengbai Banner. He was surrounded by the Daling River for five years after Tiancong of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Zu Dashou sent more than a hundred cavalry to break out of the siege. Tan Bai and Niu Lu Zhangjing Buyan Tu pursued and killed more than 30 people and captured 24 horses. In the eighth year of Tiancong's reign in the Qing Dynasty, Niu Lu Zhangjing was awarded the world title.
In the following years, Tan Bai made many achievements. This year, when the Qing troops invaded, Tan Bai followed Yue Tuo and entered Qiangzi Ridge to attack Fengrun. He also defeated the troops of the Ming eunuch Feng Weicheng.
In history, Tan Bai then led the Baya La soldiers to perform many meritorious deeds. He successively defeated the Ming governors Zhao Guangchao and Fan Zhiwan, as well as the generals Wu Sangui and Bai Guangen, and entered the third-class La Zhangjing with his merits. In the third year of Shunzhi, Tan paid tribute to the Minister of the Ministry of War, and fought against Zhang Xianzhong from Prince Su Haugexi. He repeatedly defeated Zhang Xianzhong's troops. In the fourth year of Shunzhi, he transferred the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel to annihilate Zhang Xianzhong.
Although Tan Bai is now the most prudent and sober one in the Eight Banners Manchuria Zhenghong Banner Baya La camp, like most Manchurians, he does not have a good appearance, is not tall, but has a handsome face and a mouth that is... A mouth full of yellow teeth, extremely disgusting.
At this time, Tan Bai was also wearing fine mercury armor, riding his horse with the tide of Qing army camp, rolling towards the Ming army camp opposite.
The Qing army's infantry and cavalry were approaching in dense layers, and the black calls were rolling in the wind. They were getting closer and closer, five miles, four miles, three miles, two miles.
When the Qing army entered a distance of two miles, the tidal Qing army camps on three sides stopped. The horns sounded, their formations separated, and countless densely packed shield carts were pushed out.
Among those shield cars, the front row is full of sophisticated shield cars, with wheels, fenders, wrapped in thick cowhide, and sprinkled with water. The shield cart at the back is tied together with rough wood to form a rough wooden shield.
Densely packed auxiliaries and followers of the Qing army came up pushing a large number of shield carts and wooden shields. Behind them, followed by the dark Qing army archers. Then dense layers of heavy armor followed each other, and they were seen holding large shields in their left hands and thick short weapons in their right hands. Finally, there are countless Qing army horse infantry and Baya soldiers riding on horses. They surrounded them from three sides, and it was not clear which side they were attacking mainly.
The officers and soldiers of the Ming army were waiting in full formation. Looking at the densely packed shield vehicles of the Qing army, one could imagine that there would be a fierce battle, and everyone tightened their grip on the weapons in their hands.
The Qing army marched another half mile, and there was a sound like huge thunder, and bursts of artillery shells roared towards the Qing army camp. At this distance, the five Dubiaoying Hongyi six-pound cannons arranged in the defense line of the Xiahezhai New Army can already be hit. All they need to do is raise the muzzle high. Moreover, the soldiers of the Xiahezhai New Army also specially prepared for These cannons were stacked on a high platform, which increased the range to a certain extent.
Amidst the whistling sound, hot iron balls weighing several kilograms were smashed down one by one. The shells of the Hongyi Cannon were either smashed into the Qing soldiers' shield vehicles or into the crowd of Qing soldiers. They bounced and rolled on the hard ground and were taken out directly. A bloody road. The dozen or so small bullets fired from the cannons were flying around, and the Qing soldiers screamed and fell to the ground one by one.
The Qing soldiers' array of shield vehicles and soldiers was so dense that it was difficult to miss them. Hongyi cannon's long-range intensive killing effect is still good, but it is too heavy. The total weight of this six-pound gun alone, including the gun body, has exceeded one thousand kilograms, making it difficult to travel long distances.
The gunners of the Supervisory Biao Battalion, under the command of their own artillery team officers, calmly fired and loaded. These gunners are carefully supported in the Dubiao Camp on weekdays, and daily training is also carried out frequently. Although their launch results were slightly unsatisfactory in Liu Yan's opinion, it was undeniable that they were among the elites in the Ming army.
The gunner next to each gun continued to estimate the distance using the method of notation. As they gave orders, the other gunner continued to adjust the muzzle with the crank and screw. Under their targeted fire, one Qing army shield vehicle was smashed to pieces, and the Qing soldiers in the array were bloody.
The fierce artillery fire of the Ming army caused a commotion in the Qing army camp coming from the front. It seemed that the shield car beside them could not bring them safety at all. However, under the pressure of a group of Qing army generals, the Qing army continued to come forward despite artillery fire, and soon got within a mile.
Liu Yan couldn't help but feel a little pity when he saw this. In fact, if the quality of the artillery passed the standard and each artillery had several skilled gunners, then the firing frequency of the artillery would be much higher than the firing frequency of firecrackers. Even if the gunners of the Xiahezhai New Army used fixed ammunition and fired six guns, the artillery could actually fire eight rounds.
However, the casting technology of the artillery at this time was far inferior to that of later generations. After a few rounds of firing, the artillery had to stop firing to dissipate heat and clean the barrel, otherwise the gunpowder would easily lift itself.
In particular, the Hongyi cannon must not fire more than three times in a row. After every forty rounds, it must pause for one hour to allow the barrel to cool down. The operational requirements in all aspects are too high, otherwise it will easily cause a chamber explosion accident.
Originally, the Qing army entered within one mile, which was the effective killing distance of the Hongyi six-pound cannon. However, at this time, these cannons fired intermittently, and their power was greatly reduced.
Looking at the Qing army shield vehicles that were still coming up one after another, Qian Qian kept staring at the red cannons fired by the Hongyi gunners with a look of pride on his face, and shouted: "Prepare the Tiger Cannon!"
Under his order, the five Tiger Cannons on the Xiahezhai New Army's defense line all fired their muzzles in a dark voice. At the same time, it seemed that orders came one after another from all three sides of the Xuan Army's defense line: "Rocket preparation!"
"put!"
Like a huge thunder explosion, thick plumes of smoke rose in front of three sides of the Xuanda camp, and the overwhelming rockets roared, carrying fireworks with them, and rushed towards the entire Qing army's position like a sudden rain and wind.
The Ming army's sophisticated flying spears, flying knives, flying swords and other large rockets were loaded with thirty rounds and could travel three hundred steps after being fired. Hundreds of tigers galloping together and other large rockets, one hundred rounds, can reach more than ten miles after being launched.
As the supervisory battalion and the general soldiers of the two towns, Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei carried a large number of rockets. They also supported Liu Yan's large number of flying guns, flying knives, hundreds of tigers running together and other large rockets. And as the chief officers of the three towns, it goes without saying that most of their rocket equipment is excellent.
The explosions were like thunder, and many of the Xiahe Village's new army gunners acted as rocket launchers. They climbed on the earth wall, one of them aimed, and the other lit the fire. Every time a rocket flew out, thirty or a hundred arrows roared away.
It seems that an overwhelming rain of arrows has enveloped the Qing army's positions. The power of technology is unimaginable to the nomads. They may have needed thousands of people to fire in volleys to create such a rain of arrows. Even if the densely packed Qing troops raised their shields, people or horses would still be hit by arrows and roll to the ground, not to mention those Qing auxiliaries and followers who were pushing shield carts without raising their shields.
The thundering sound of the rockets caused many Qing army horses to jump in surprise. The shield carriages at the front of the Qing troops were riddled with flying rocket arrows like hedgehogs.
The Qing soldiers and auxiliary soldiers fell down one by one, many shield chariots stopped, and some auxiliary soldiers ran back in fear. Without exception, these deserters were killed on the spot. Then a group of Qing army auxiliaries came up from behind the formation and supplemented the manpower of these carts.
"fire!"
The densely packed Qing army's shield vehicles braved artillery fire and pushed closer to within 300 steps. Amidst the sound of Hongyi six-pound cannons, Hu Zun cannons, flying guns, flying knife rockets, etc., and amid Qian Qian's hoarse orders, The five tiger cannons in front of the new army formation in Xiahe Village opened fire at the same time. At the same time, the roaring salvos of Franco machine artillery were also heard from the other two sides of the Xuanda camp.
The power of the artillery salvo was indeed great. After a dozen hinged balls were fired at the same time, Liu Yan saw a crowd of people on the opposite side screaming and neighing. The Qing army's position was in chaos for a while.
The result of the numerous artillery fire was good. Liu Yan looked at it from a distance for a while and couldn't help but nodded secretly. Now his army has enough food and grass. The ammunition is ready. Even if the fierce battle lasts until late today, the rockets can be used for at least five days. Artillery ammunition can also be used for ten days or half a month. As for the fixed-load paper cartridge ammunition for bird cannons, during the fiercest fighting, a cannon gunner could not fire more than twenty rounds a day. With the army's regular ammunition inventory, there was no problem in fighting off the siege of the Qing soldiers, and even until they retreated outside the pass. Liu Yan brought more than 800,000 rounds this time, almost destroying Xiahe Village. The inventory at the former Qianhu Office was emptied.
In Lu Xiangsheng's command camp not far from Liu Yanzhong's military headquarters, Lu Xiangsheng also nodded in approval. The slave thieves hadn't even rushed to the front of the formation, but these few waves of blows had severely dampened their energy.
"This Ming army is indeed a formidable enemy!"
In the Qing army's formation two miles away, a huge platform several meters high was built with mounds of earth and wood. On the high platform, Dorgon and Yue Tuo stood under the banner of the Zhijin Dragon, just looking at the front of the formation.
Listening to Dorgon's thoughtful words, Yue Tuo nodded in the same way and said in a deep voice: "Although there are a large number of tanks blocking the way, the warriors still suffered a lot of casualties. Their artillery and rockets were too fierce. Fortunately, we also We captured a large number of Ming army artillery and rockets and captured many Ming gunners, which are now just in use!"
He looked excited and said loudly: "In just a few days, the two red cannons of several thousand kilograms captured by our army from Tongzhou will be transported. By then, we will be more confident about breaking through the Ming army's Xuanda camp!"
Dorgon nodded slowly, and he ordered all the ministries: "Pull up the artillery, let the warriors continue to meet it, and continue to test!"
"put!"
Facing the Qing army shield vehicles that continued to come towards Mi Mi, Qian Qian ordered to fire again.
There was a commotion in front of the new army formation in Xiahezhai. A large amount of gunpowder smoke rose up, and the five Huzun cannons fired again. In the deafening sound of the cannons, several more Qing army shield vehicles were knocked to the ground, and the remaining cannonballs It even opened a bloody path.
Although the power and range of the Tiger Cannon are far less than that of the Folan Cannon, the Qing army was already very close at this time. Using the single, the Tiger Cannon can also achieve good results at close range.
Seeing the power of the Xiahezhai New Army's artillery salvo, the gunnery officer of the Supervisory Biao Battalion who continued to direct his Hongyi six-pounder to fire looked thoughtful.
At this moment, they suddenly saw the Qing army's shield vehicles surrounded from three sides, dodging passages. Then Liu Yan and others were even more surprised to see that the Qing army launched many Fo Lang machine artillery, and even some of them were Hongyi six-pounder cannon and three-pounder cannon. There were also many Qing soldiers who also raised densely packed large rockets.
There were actually artillery and rockets among the Qing troops. This was beyond the expectations of Xuanda officers and soldiers. Faced with this situation, many officers and soldiers were at a loss. Subsequently, the generals of each battalion issued urgent orders to cover up and protect themselves. Liu Yan also urgently ordered the sword and shield soldiers behind the earthen walls to use their shields to protect the gunners who were firing.
Some people died, but not completely...
