In the main formation of the Ming army, Hong Chengchou was holding a telescope to observe the shelling in the distance. Hong Chengchou was very satisfied with the results of this series of shelling. The performance of the artillerymen of the Ming army was indeed remarkable. Extraordinary performance.
Before the war started, Hong Chengchou did not expect that the artillerymen gathered from various departments of the Ming army could actually do such a thing. It was really unexpected.
Hong Chengchou had already made up his mind to rely on Liu Yan's new army to fight a tough battle in this battle, and to support the overall situation with the troops of Yang Guozhu, Wu Sangui, Cao Bianjiao and other fierce generals. As for the remaining soldiers and horses of the general military officers, to be honest, Hong Chengchou didn't actually place much hope on them.
However, at this time, the artillerymen mobilized and gathered from various towns performed exceptionally. Not only did they greatly improve the morale of the army, but they also caused countless casualties to the Qing army. Even the Qing army's front line The defense line showed signs of collapse, which Hong Chengchou never expected.
Thinking of this, Hong Chengchou was very optimistic about the prospects of the Battle of Jinzhou. The goal of this battle had changed from the original goal of relieving the siege of Jinzhou and forcing the Qing army to retreat, to being able to severely damage the main force of slave thieves after relieving the siege of Jinzhou!
At this moment, Hong Chengchou put down his telescope, listened attentively, and said to Zhang Ruoqi and Ma Shaoyu beside him: "Listen to the two supervisors. Is the movement at the artillery array weaker?"
Zhang Ruoqi and Ma Shaoyu were both stunned when they heard this, and then listened for a while, both of them said they didn't notice it.
At this moment, a general from the Supervisory Biao Battalion rode up on horseback, clasped his fists and said: "This is to inform the Superintendent, there is a report from the artillery array: most of the artillery is overheated, and the bombardment must be stopped. Please give me your instructions." !”
Hong Chengchou looked at the results of the artillery array in the distance, nodded and said, "Please order the artillery array to stop."
"yes!"
Then Hong Chengchou said to Yang Guozhu and Li Fuming, who were already waiting beside him: "Two generals, start attacking the mountain!"
At this time, Yang Guozhu and Li Fuming looked at the tragic situation of the Qing army in the distance, and their confidence increased greatly, and they clasped their fists to accept their orders.
At this time, Liu Yan and several other general officers also rushed to the Chinese army. Liu Yan looked at Yang Guozhu who was about to return to the army, followed him on horseback, and then solemnly said to Yang Guozhu: "General Yang, be careful in everything." , although the slave thieves were hit hard, their main force was not damaged. This battle is still difficult, so don’t rush forward!"
Yang Guozhu nodded heavily and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Liu, I will handle it carefully."
Then Yang Guozhu and Li Fuming also said goodbye with fists clasped, and they each rode back to the army.
Yang Guozhu immediately ordered the entire army to form sparse teams, with each team being one foot or eight feet apart to minimize the damage caused by the Qing army's artillery fire.
Trumpets sounded from the two armies in Xuanfu Town and Shanxi Town. The attacking army led by Yang Guozhu slowly spread out from the front and back, making the gaps between each team in the military formation even sparser. The same is true for the Shanxi Town army led by Li Fuming.
Yang Guozhu looked at the soldiers who were ready, and then ordered the trumpets to be blown to advance.
The horn of the central army in Xuanfu Town sounded, and the tide-like army slowly set off, separating from the Ming army's formation. Almost at the same time, the Shanxi soldiers and horses led by Li Fuming also sounded the horn and set off.
The two armies, one on the left and the other on the right, advanced together and attacked different positions in Huangtu Ridge. The 20,000 troops in Xuanfu Town were the main force of this attack, and the main direction of the attack was the Qing troops at the pier of the Empress Temple.
As the two armies of Xuanfu Town and Shanxi Town attacked, the nearly 200,000 soldiers of the Ming Army suddenly burst into cheers. The sound of "Ten Thousand Victories" broke through the sky, and the morale of the army reached its peak.
Bai, the leader of the left general group of the new army rear camp in Qinglai Town, also blushed and shouted at the top of his lungs. Shen Wen, the captain next to him, also roared at the top of his lungs. This was the first time for both of them to participate in such a battle. , my blood was boiling at this time, and I wanted to join the soldiers from Xuanfu Town and Shanxi Town to go into battle and kill the Tatars!
Amidst the thunderous shouts, the armies of the two towns marched firmly towards the Qing army's positions.
Along with the soldiers of the second town, there were also a large number of mountain attacking equipment and four vehicle camps. The soldiers in these four car camps were selected from Liaodong Town and various towns. There were hundreds of large and small Folang machines, Baizi blunderbuss, captive cannons and other light cannons in the car camps. These artillery pieces provided close fire support to the soldiers of the two towns as they approached the wall.
Taking into account the possible bombardment of the Qing army's artillery, the Ming army soldiers attacking the mountain used layers of tanks to cover the front. The baffles on the front tanks were covered with thick quilts, and some They were also covered with cowhide and iron sheets, and the chariots at the back were also wrapped in thick quilts as much as possible.
Looking down from the Loess Ridge, one can clearly see such a scene. Following the undulating terrain, the red armors and banners of the Ming Army in the two towns and 25,000 soldiers surged in like a stormy sea, seeming to sweep the Loess away. The ridge was completely submerged.
On the pier of Dongling, Dorgon's triangular eyes revealed an evil spirit, and the Ming army finally arrived.
At this time, Dorgon looked at the huge artillery array set up here. Thirty heavy artillery pieces, each capable of firing ten-pound cannons, had been deployed. Each artillery piece could fire three or four miles away. When the Ming army attacked, they would Can inflict maximum damage on them.
The artillery array at this time was filled with gunners from the Qing army's Wuzhenchaoha camp, and many of the gunners were Portuguese.
Although the commander of the Wuzhen Chaoha Artillery Battalion was Kong Youde, the specific command of the artillery battle was still under the command of Melesesdo and other Franco-Ji officers, as well as the Franco-Ji soldiers who were captured together.
The gunners of Wuzhenchaoha camp also had telescopes. Like the Ming army gunners, they also used measuring instruments, muskets and gauges. Even some of the Hongyi cannons at Zhongling are still cannons produced by the Bugalao Cannon Factory in those days, with shield and sail emblems on the cannon bodies. These artillery pieces were all sophisticated artillery pieces that Sun Yuanhua purchased from Europe and were brought to the Qing army by traitors such as Kong Youde. 33
At this time, the black artillery group on the mountain was already aimed at the Ming army formation at the bottom of the mountain, and the cattle pulling the artillery were concentrated behind the mountain ridge, where there were also dense Qing army camps.
On the other side, Jin Zidian looked back at the thirty red cannons, a look of fear flashing in his eyes. Seeing his expression, Dorgon was very satisfied. He summoned the artillery battalion commander Melesesdo and asked: "Mezuo leader, can our Qing artillery inflict maximum damage on the Ming army?"
Meleses was very disgusted by the Manchus calling him Mezzoling, but he did not dare to say anything. At this time, Dorgon asked questions in Chinese. Meleses had lived in Macau for many years and was naturally able to use Chinese proficiently, so he respectfully He said: "Dear Your Highness, the cannons of our artillery battalion have been positioned at three miles. From now on, they will be marked every twenty steps. Especially at a distance of more than two miles, as long as the Ming army enters the firing range, Regardless of the artillery on the main ridge or the artillery on the middle ridge, they can carry out cross-bombing on its base. The artillery of the Ming army is four miles away. Most of them are light artillery and cannot hit our artillery camp, and those of the Ming army can't hit our artillery camp. The Chinese infantry has no ability to fight back. Under our artillery bombardment, they will definitely suffer serious casualties, which will severely damage their morale. The closer the Ming army gets, the greater their losses will be!"
Seeing the joyful expression on Dorgon's face, Melesesdo said cautiously: "Of course, the terrain at the foot of the mountain also has disadvantages for our artillery battalion, that is, there are too many hills and mountains. If their military formation is hidden behind the hills, Because of the slope, the artillery of our artillery battalion poses little threat to them. If their military formation goes up the hills, the ricochet cannot deploy, and the threat is equally small. Only when they are exposed in the plains is the time when the artillery can exert its maximum power. , and even one shot can cause more than a dozen casualties to them!"
Dorgon was still very satisfied with Meleseth's answer.
In Dorgon's opinion, the skills of using firearms are better than those of the Francois. Since Meleses said with certainty that they can cause heavy casualties to the Ming army, it must be possible.
At the same time, the Qing artillery array was also paying close attention to the situation of the army in Xuanfu Town and Shanxi Town. Meleseth also bid farewell to Dorgon at this time, returned to the artillery camp, and began to make final preparations before firing.
I saw Meleseth holding a telescope, looking at the various artillery marks at the foot of the mountain, and constantly reporting the distance data of the Ming army.
Finally, when the Ming army's chariot passed by piles of stones, there were signs sprinkled with lime, indicating that the Ming army had entered within three miles.
At this time, all the gunners of the Qing army were standing ready. After adjusting the parameters of each artillery, they all looked nervously at Meleses, waiting for the order to fire.
Meleseth also took a deep breath, and then shouted loudly in Chinese with a strange tone: "The Ming army is a thousand steps away, shoot!"
The Qing army also used trumpets to give orders, and the sharp swan sound sounded. Beside the thirty heavy cannons on the Qing army's position, the gunners who had been waiting for a long time stepped forward and lit each one with a long matchlock pole. The cannon's fuses hissed and sparkled, some burning quickly and some burning slowly.
Suddenly, the thunderous sound of cannons on the Loess Ridge was endless, large thick white smoke rose up, and the shells weighing ten kilograms roared towards the Ming army's position.
There was a constant loud noise, and the shells hit the hard ground one after another, then bounced hard and rushed forward desperately.
boom!
A Ming army tank was instantly hit by a Qing army artillery shell. The shell, which weighed at least ten kilograms, hit the baffle in front of the tank heavily. Even the thick quilt covering the baffle was suddenly smashed into pieces. The quilt was torn into pieces by the huge force on the spot, and the baffle made of hardwood became countless sharp wooden thorns. , shooting in all directions.
Several civilians pushing carts immediately rolled to the ground and howled. Their faces and bodies were covered with blood. They covered their heads and faces full of spikes and were in pain. They regretted that they should not be greedy for the silver reward and came to push this damn person. chariot.
Behind them, there were several Xuanfu Town soldiers holding blunderbuss who were hit by sharp wooden thorns or broken pieces of wood. A, who was a little far away from the chariot, was relatively lucky. He was not hit in the head and face, and the wooden thorn did not penetrate deeply into his body, but it was still so painful that he broke into cold sweat all over his body.
Only one soldier was hit in the lower abdomen by a long and thick wooden thorn, which penetrated deeply into his body. In addition, several civilians next to him were also injured. Their blood sprinkled all over the soldier, making him whole. The person looked like he was soaked in blood, and the companions around him were all shocked when they saw it.
At this time, the Qing army's artillery fired shells continuously, and one shell after another roared in. Because the Ming army's array was very sparse, and the terrain was also undulating, many Qing army's shells were shot empty, or It is difficult to form a bounce. However, some soldiers were hit by the jumping and rolling shells, and their hands and feet were broken on the spot.
In particular, a cannonball happened to hit, heading towards a line of Xuanfu Town spearmen. At this time, the ground where the soldiers were passing was hard and fairly flat. The cannonball hit about two meters in front of the soldiers. Then under the fearful eyes of the lead armor commander, the cannonball jumped up suddenly and headed straight towards He rushed towards the armored body.
The cannonball looked very slow, but in fact it shot very fast. The armor commander subconsciously wanted to dodge, but the cannonball had already come out from his chest, with bloody flesh and blood, and with a crackling sound of fractures, the shell was fired. Several soldiers behind him fell to the ground, and there were mutilated corpses everywhere. The scene was very bloody.
And the cannonball still didn't stop. After defeating the soldiers of the first armor, it actually changed its direction and hit the formation of the first armor behind. Then there was another sound of broken legs and bones, and amid a burst of screams , the legs of several Xuanfu Town soldiers were broken off alive, and the soldiers fell to the ground wailing. Everyone's legs had been broken, and the pale leg bones were exposed, and their broken legs were scattered everywhere. It was not far away, and the surrounding soldiers all changed their colors in shock when they saw it.
Some people died, but not completely...
