The deafening sound of firecrackers continued, and it seemed that the entire earthen wall of the Ming army camp was shrouded in thick smoke.
Although the cold wind was biting and fierce at this time, it could not dissipate the pungent smell of gunpowder smoke and blood. In this place by the river, soldiers from both sides of the Ming and Qing Dynasties were killing each other risking their lives.
The strategy of using the people of the Ming Dynasty to fill the trenches failed. Those Eight Banners Tatar soldiers could only use shield carts, crude wooden shields, and their own flesh and blood to compete with the Ming Dynasty bird gun soldiers behind the earthen wall.
The Qing troops had a plan in advance, which was to avoid the Ming army's artillery channels and focus on attacking the low-walled trenches on all sides. The first step was to fill in several trenches in front of the earthen walls.
After the morning's attack, the Qing army had gained experience. In front of the five channels where artillery was placed on each side of the Ming army's camp, all their chariots and wooden shields were kept far away, at least 200 steps away. . Although the Ming army's Hongyi six-pounder cannon and Dafolang machine artillery fired live ammunition from time to time, smashing these shield vehicles, the number of casualties among the Qing soldiers was greatly reduced compared to the terrifying shotguns.
And to be honest, many artillery pieces of the Xuan army were loaded with shotguns and stood ready to prevent the Qing soldiers from rushing in from the passage. Only the five Tiger Cannons in the New Army's position in Xiahe Village were still firing a few shots from time to time.
Amidst the passionate sounds of war drums, densely packed Qing soldiers wearing various armors gathered in front of the trench with a low wall. They were protected by chariots covered with furs, and the auxiliary soldiers and followers of each banner kept ducking behind the chariots. Go out and throw the mud bag in your hand into the trench of the first low wall.
Behind the earthen wall, the new gun soldiers of Xiahe Village kept firing at these people, knocking the people who stepped out from behind the chariot to the ground one by one. The Qing archers behind the chariot were also desperately covering and shooting. But the first low wall was seventy steps away from the earth wall. At this distance, the Qing army's arrows were not very powerful and could not break through the armor of the new soldiers in Xiahe Village. Even if they were hit by a few arrows, it would not matter.
There were fewer arrows shooting at the arms of the new army's gun soldiers in Xiahe Village. At this time, the Qing army's archers mostly shot at the chests and faces of everyone. At first, some bird soldiers saw the Qing army's arrows shooting at their faces. Still flashing subconsciously. However, after the arrows hit everyone's faces, the arrows fell powerlessly and could not break through their iron masks. They were only slightly hurt by the impact.
Sometimes a thunderous sound sounded, and some Qing army archers fired large rockets they had taken from various parts of the Ming Dynasty. With the experience in the morning, all the troops knew that the Tatars had rockets in their hands. When they heard the sound, they quickly shrank down the wall to avoid the dozens of flying rockets. After all, the Qing soldiers looked down upon the Ming Dynasty's rockets, so they didn't use many rockets in their army and the launch frequency was not high.
The musketeers slowly relaxed and ignored the incoming arrows except for the rockets. They just aimed specifically at a Tatar soldier and pulled the trigger. They fired row after row with muskets, knocking down the Qing archers, auxiliaries, and followers who were only wearing cotton-padded armor.
These people were carried down by the auxiliary soldiers who came from behind. Their blood was scattered on the ground. The soldiers of the Xiahe Village New Army could still hear their painful cries and howls.
The densely packed chariots in front of the low wall were also beaten loudly, with fur and sawdust flying everywhere. These chariots in the front row are all sophisticated shield vehicles, with wheels to push them, a baffle in front, covered with thick cowhide and iron sheets, and even sprinkled with water to increase their protection.
However, those baffles covered with thick iron sheets and leather still left big holes one after another under the blows of Xiahe Village's new weapons.
The trench behind the first low wall was still easy to fill. After the Qing army suffered certain casualties, the Eight Banners Manzhou Zhenghong Banner Yue Tuo Department that attacked the Ming Army's defense line still used earth bags to fill the trench with blood and viscera. Filled in.
Suddenly, behind each of the sophisticated shield carts, those rough shields tied together with thick wood or nailed together with several thick door panels were pushed past the first pass by the auxiliary soldiers with the white flag using poles to push them up. A low wall was densely packed in front of the second low wall trench.
Looking from the earth wall, in front of the entire defense line, there were dozens of wooden shields pushed over by Qing soldiers, and behind the wooden shields, there were no one knows how many people were following them.
After the Qing soldiers pushed dozens of rough wooden shields over, a fox shape was formed in front of the trench with different low walls for each passage to prevent fire from both sides. Then, under the protection of these wooden shields, densely packed auxiliary soldiers and soldiers carried earth loads and filled the original trench with earth. In order to prevent the Ming army from digging the trench again, they also brought water and poured it into the trench, making it freeze as hard as iron.
Not only that, in order to prevent the Ming army from digging another trench on the flat ground between the two low walls, Zhenghongqi, a Jia La Zhangjing, also directed the auxiliary soldiers carrying water to pour water on the ground, which was really painstaking. Fortunately, the Haoshui River is right next to it, so they have so much water to splash, and they don’t know how many people will be arranged to carry it.
Jia La Zhang Jing also tried to command his men to dig out the first low wall. Unexpectedly, after the earthen wall was built, water was poured all around, and the ice became extremely hard, just like a thick cement wall. It was really difficult to dig through it.
At this time, someone in the Qing army suggested pouring hot water to soften the earthen walls, but Jia La Zhangjing rejected it. Regardless of how many people are needed to heat hot water, in the cold winter weather, after the hot water is poured on it, it will only quickly cool and freeze, making the low wall freeze stronger and harder.
Jia Lazhangjing is still satisfied with such results at present. As long as he proceeds step by step, step by step, he will eventually advance to the edge of the earth wall dozens of steps away.
The Qing soldiers quickly filled in the first trench, which surprised the defending Wang Bo. He was wearing refined iron armor and a red cloak, looking very energetic. However, Wang Bo had a worried look on his face at this time, and he was just watching the movements of the Qing soldiers from outside the earthen wall, surrounded by guards.
At this time, the cannon soldiers beside Wang Bo, under the command of officers from various corps and brigade, were still shooting at the Qing soldiers outside the earth wall.
Now most of the people were shooting freely, and from time to time, Qing auxiliary soldiers and archery archers who were filling the trenches appeared on both sides of the wooden shields and were hit by them. At this distance, even the Qing soldiers wearing heavy armor could not withstand the shooting of the new gunmen of Xiahe Village. Not to mention the auxiliary soldiers and followers. Most of them wore cotton armor without iron leaves. As long as they were shot, a thick mist of blood would shoot out from their bodies, and they would roll to the ground in agony.
The blunderbuss equipped by the new army in Xiahe Village were very powerful. Not only did they hit the wooden shields with pieces of wood flying everywhere, but they also sometimes broke the thin cracks between the thick wooden shields and knocked the Qing soldiers behind the wooden shields to the ground. They create a lot of insecurity.
However, although the Xiahezhai New Army's deafening firecrackers continued and the Qing soldiers suffered constant casualties, their advance was still very determined. At this distance of about sixty steps, the threat from the Qing archers increased slightly. When they got closer to fifty steps, or even forty or thirty steps, the threat from the Qing archers became even greater.
"The Tatars have become cunning and patient, and they came up with this stupid method. Although the advance is slow, it is very effective. How to stop their advance?" Wang Bo thought silently in his heart.
At some point, Liu Yan also came to Wang Bo, thinking about the same problem. The frontal defense line of the new army in Xiahezhai is like this, and the situation on the two wings defended by Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei in the Xuanda camp is even more serious.
Each of the two camps has a thousand firearms and cold weapon weapons, of which the three-eyed gunmen account for the majority. Those three-eyed muskets had an effective range of only thirty steps. Now the Qing soldiers did not rush in as recklessly as they did in the morning, but filled the trenches under the heavy protection of the wooden shields of their chariots.
There are seven trenches with low walls, and the three-eyed muskets of the people will not be effective until at least three or four trenches have been filled by the Qing soldiers. It is still aimed at the auxiliaries and followers of the Qing army. Even at thirty paces, the three-eyed gun posed no great threat to the Qing archers wearing cotton armor. Thirty steps closer, the Qing army's archers posed an even greater threat to the Ming army soldiers on both wings.
The Qing soldiers who attacked in the afternoon were much smarter than those in the morning and did not attack the flat passages protected by artillery at all. They also did not attack the small gaps defended by French artillery and Tiger crouching artillery in formations with only trenches and no low walls.
In the blink of an eye, the Qing soldiers in front of the formation filled two trenches, and then moved towards the third layer of low-wall trenches with layers of wooden shields. The three-eyed gunslingers in the two camps were all staring at each other with big eyes and small eyes. They were all as anxious as ants on a hot pot, but they didn't know what to do. Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei were also worried, so they just ordered the gunners in the army to shoot.
However, the muskets used in the duo's camp were all matchlocks. The cold wind blew in waves, and the matchlocks of many muskets were blown out by the cold wind. Those musketeers pressed the triggers several times, and the muskets were completely destroyed. Unable to play the sound, they were so anxious that they broke into a cold sweat and had to quickly relight the fire from their bodies.
When this happens, it is better to fight in the trenches. If the formation is formed in the wild, then the Ming army is basically finished at this moment. The anxious shouts and curses from the officers beside him kept ringing out, making the gunmen even more flustered.
On the right defense line of Xuanda Camp defended by Shanxi Town Chief Military Officer Hu Dawei, a gunman took out lead from the lead bag and stuffed it into the barrel of the gun countless times, and did not forget to stab it hard with his stick. Give it a few clicks. The match rope of the gun in his hand was blown out by the wind many times, but this time it finally ignited.
The match rope ignited the primer inside the fire door, a flash of fire appeared, and then there was a loud bang. The gunsmith was seen with blood on his head and face, covering his head and face and screaming miserably. The gunpowder he loaded into the barrel was too high. There were countless pieces of lead stuffed inside, and the blunderbuss exploded on the spot.
The poor musketeer's eyes were blown out. Looking at his miserable state, some musketeers around him had earth-colored faces. They looked at the muskets in their hands and became even more hesitant to shoot. Those three-eyed gunmen were secretly glad that they luckily did not use this damn bird gun.
Hu Dawei, who had been looking at the enemy situation outside the earth wall, was alarmed. He asked several servants beside him and a doctor from the camp to lift the bird gun down and treat it. When the gunman was lifted off, he cried repeatedly to Hu Dawei: "Junmen, I'm sorry for you."
At this moment, a general rushed up anxiously and shouted to Hu Dawei: "Junmen, the Tatars are filling in the third trench. We can't go on like this."
That general was a guerrilla general under Hu Dawei. At this time, he gritted his teeth and said bitterly: "Why don't we let the last general lead some troops and go out to kill for a while."
Hu Dawei shouted: "No, keep tight in the trenches. Don't lose the lives of brothers indiscriminately."
Then Hu Dawei pondered for a while and said to the guerrilla general: "Immediately go to the governor for help and ask him to bring some bird guns. The governor's camp has hundreds of Lumi guns and self-made fire guns. They should be available in Fighting in the cold wind.”
Some people died, but not completely...
