Yang Guozhu observed the front of the army with the help of a telescope, and saw a continuous stream of trumpets, drums and flags in front of him. The soldiers of the army surged forward wave by wave with the ups and downs of the terrain, like a stormy sea.
At the same time, the Qing army's firepower also began to exert force. Yang Guozhu had to admire that the Qing army's counterattack in this battle was indeed very different from before.
Yang Guozhu also led his troops to fight against the Qing army before, especially in the Battle of Julu. In the past, the long-range firepower of the Qing army basically consisted of bows and arrows, sometimes mixed with some firecrackers. As for artillery, it will only appear at critical moments, and the firepower will never be as fierce as it is now.
At this time, Yang Guozhu saw that the soldiers of Xuanfu Town were constantly bombarded by Qing artillery during the march. He saw artillery shells one after another, whizzing past the soldiers, taking away Xuanfu Town one after another. The lives of soldiers.
Even Yang Guozhu saw with his own eyes through a telescope that a solid tank, covered with thick quilts and leather, was blasted into powder by artillery. Some of the musketeers behind the chariots and the civilians pushing the carts were in bad luck. Their bodies were covered with sharp wooden thorns, and they lay on the ground wailing in pain.
The chariots that Yang Guozhu remembered with great success seemed to be unable to stop the artillery of the Qing army at this moment. Moreover, Yang Guozhu heard that there were many blunderbuss among the Qing army. The impression of shooting is completely different.
Seeing the miserable condition of the army officers and hearing the continuous roar of Qing artillery, the soldiers in the army were a little uneasy. Yang Guozhu shouted loudly to the messengers around him, and ordered everyone to ride their horses to the military formation, and try their best to stabilize the morale of the army. As long as they hold on and continue to advance, it won't take long to cross the range of the Qing army's artillery and pass through this death zone.
Yang Guozhu knew that the Qing army's artillery could not continue to bombard without limit. At a certain time, it would definitely stop to dissipate heat. Therefore, the Qing army's artillery bombardment at this time was destined to be only temporary.
So Yang Guozhu couldn't bear it and ordered the soldiers of Xuanfu Town to speed up the advance. At the same time, the soldiers of all departments should also be prepared to attack the Qing army's defense line.
At this time, the artillery of the Qing army kept roaring. In the military formation in Xuanfu Town, Qing army artillery shells continued to fall into it, constantly taking away the lives of the Ming army soldiers. Many soldiers had their hands and feet broken and fell to the ground screaming. Wail.
The exciting marching drum music in the Ming army's military formation continued and became louder and louder. With the sound of drum music, the continuous military formation in Xuanfu Town continued to advance.
The huge sound of drums on the battlefield also reduced the fear in the hearts of the soldiers in Xuanfu Town. Then Yang Guozhu, protected by the Chinese army's personal guards, rode his horse to follow the soldiers in the formation and continued to advance with the music.
At this time, Yang Guozhu was furious. He only hoped that the soldiers could get close to the Qing army's trenches as soon as possible, so that they could use various firearms in the army to kill the Qing army Tatars in the defense line. Soldiers take revenge!
In the Qing artillery array in Huangtuling, huge rumbling sounds continued, and the artillery array was filled with pungent smoke. Many gunners of the Qing army continued to skillfully load the barrels, and then carried out artillery fire!
I saw that the gunners of the Qing army were well-trained, especially many Portuguese gunners, who were actually more capable than the gunners of the Ming army. Not only did they shoot faster, but their shooting accuracy was also more accurate.
Moreover, the artillery of the Qing army had also been improved by the traitor gunners. They all used a four-wheel millstone gun mount to place the heavy artillery on the gun mount. This kind of gun mount can flexibly rotate left and right. When you need to aim at the target, you only need a few strong gunners to insert a thick wooden rod into the wooden hole of the gun body, rotate the gun body and adjust the angle with a little force, and then you can Bombard the target.
This kind of gun mount is considered an original creation of the Qing gunners. It can be seen that the gunners of the Qing army at this time were all excellent people. It is a pity that Sun Yuanhua spent a lot of manpower and material resources to create elite gunners. Now they are all cheaper than the Manchu and Qing Tatars. son!
As the heavy artillery shells were continuously fired, they were shot towards the advancing Ming army formation and fell into the Ming army formation, constantly causing casualties to the Ming army soldiers. Especially when the Ming army was more than two miles away from the main ridge and not far from the first Qing defense line in Huangtu Ridge, the six-pound cannon, eight-pound cannon, and ten-pound cannon deployed by the Qing army in the middle ridge also opened fire one after another. The firepower of the Qing army increased instantly, and the advancing Xuanfu town army formation suffered a huge blow.
For the Qing army stationed in Huangtuling, the soldiers of Xuanfu Town were only more than a mile away from them at this time, and they were just within the effective range of the artillery. If Yang Guozhu hadn't sent servants to suppress the various ministries in the formation, plus this battle It was a national war, and the soldiers of Xuanfu Town were holding back a sense of bloody courage. At this time, facing the fierce bombardment of the Qing army, this army had already collapsed.
In the center of the Ming army, Hong Chengchou looked at the fierce bombardment of Qing artillery, his face was livid and his teeth were clenched. He kept sending people to the artillery array to ask if he could launch a counterattack against the artillery deployed by the Qing army on the Loess Ridge.
However, the reply Hong Chengchou received was that at this time, the Ming army's artillery array was three miles away from the Qing army's artillery array at Huangtuling. The Ming army's artillery bombarded from bottom to top and could not reach the Qing army's artillery array. Even if it was forced to fire, the artillery shells would not reach it. It will only damage your own soldiers and horses.
"The slave is treacherous and abominable!"
Hong Chengchou cursed angrily. At this time, he no longer had the elegance of the past. He frowned and looked ahead, just hoping that the two armies of Xuanfu Town and Shanxi Town would persevere.
Liu Yan also looked forward intently, admiring the performance of the soldiers of Xuanfu Town and Shanxi Town at this time.
These two armies are not like the new army of Qinglai Town. They have undergone rigorous training, are equipped with luxurious equipment, have sufficient money and food supplies, and have established drills and military regulations similar to those of modern armies. They are new armies with lofty ideals.
However, at this time, the two armies of Xuanfu Town and Shanxi Town were under heavy firepower from the Qing army. They continued to advance without collapsing despite suffering huge casualties. They could be called elites, and their performance was far from the best. Even more outstanding than in history, even Liu Yan had to admire him.
At this time, the Qing artillery in the middle and main ridges of Huangtu Ridge took turns bombarding. When one side cooled down, the other side fired, making the Qing artillery fire continuous with almost no interruption.
Then some Hongyi small cannons on the first line of defense of the Qing army also began to fire, but these small cannons were closer and could be hit by the Ming army's artillery array.
Upon seeing this, Hong Chengchou immediately ordered angrily and ordered the Ming army's artillery array to launch a counterattack, first clearing out the Qing army's small artillery on the first line of defense at the foot of the mountain.
So the Ming army's artillery array roared again, with countless solid shells, poisonous smoke bombs, gray bombs, thunderbolts and other shells, almost for free, just to greet the Qing army and artillery on the first line of defense, beating them Crying for father and mother, miserable.
Hearing that our own artillery was firing again, although it did not weaken the Qing army's artillery fire, it still boosted the morale of the advancing soldiers in Xuanfu Town and Shanxi Town. Many soldiers even roared excitedly. Shouting and marching forward.
However, under the alternating bombardment of the Qing artillery on the Zhongling and Main Ridges, the troops of Yang Guozhu and Shanxi General Li Fuming, who were forced to move forward in formation, still suffered huge casualties. A large number of mountain-attack equipment and four vehicle camps accompanying the Chinese army in the second town were also in a mess under the bombardment of Qing artillery. A large number of mountain-attack equipment were destroyed halfway. m.
Yang Guozhu rode his horse inside the Chinese army. Looking around, he saw soldiers dying under the gunfire of the Qing army. He couldn't help but feel heartbroken. Fortunately, there were a large number of mountain-attacking equipment around Yang Guozhu. These equipment acted like defense, and they also fired a few cannonballs at Yang Guozhu, which was a blessing.
However, Yang Guozhu was safe all the way, but the soldiers under his command were not so lucky. The Qing army's artillery shells continued to shoot into the military formation in Xuanfu Town. Huge artillery shells flew past, often accompanied by groups of shells. Each wave of shells was of different sizes. Hundreds of these cannonballs fell into the military formation, and they rolled and smashed randomly. Soldiers' hands and feet were broken off, and their flesh and blood flew everywhere.
In particular, some artillery pieces were specially designed to bombard the cavalry in the main barracks. The roaring shells hit the cavalry soldiers who had experienced hundreds of battles, but they could not stop the power of the shells. If you are hit by a cannonball, you will suffer fractures and die. Even the battle-hardened horses were hit by cannonballs, and they kept neighing and wailing, jumping around everywhere.
At this time, it was already halfway through the journey, but Yang Guozhu's face was very ugly, and he was extremely angry in his heart. Although his own military formation was sparsely arranged, he could not withstand such damage and bombardment.
In addition, the soldiers in the chariot camp of the Central Military Headquarters in Xuanfu Town were basically drawn by Hong Chengchou from various towns. Those soldiers were used to attack mountains with push-pull chariots, pointed chariots, nest chariots, mantle chariots, and trench bridges. The civilians who carried the equipment were all panicked and confused when facing the Qing artillery. If it weren't for the Xuanfu Town soldiers' efforts to suppress them, those troops would have dispersed by now.
Seeing this, Yang Guozhu was extremely anxious. The army was approaching the first trench of the slave pirates. Most of his own army formations were also under several layers of attacks from the Qing army's artillery on the mountain. The difficulty of attacking Huangtu Ridge was far more difficult than imagined. .
While Yang Guozhu was thinking secretly in his heart, he suddenly heard another sharp swan sound on the mountain. In an instant, the sound of artillery boomed, and another wave of heavy artillery shells roared in.
With a loud rumble, many heavy solid artillery shells hit the ground heavily, then rebounded and ran rampant in the military formation in Xuanfu Town.
boom!
A chariot from the chariot camp was blown away by the shells. The civilians pushing the cart suddenly screamed, and then a large piece fell. The chariot also fell to the ground, and even the Buddha on the cart fell to the ground. The machine guns fell far away and turned into a piece of unusable scrap metal.
boom!
A nest cart was also hit by Qing artillery shells and fell apart. Several civilians pushing the cart also fell down. The remaining surviving civilians all ran away screaming.
boom!
A big iron ball weighing more than ten kilograms roared and flew towards several people pushing a long cart. The longboard cart was filled with heavy sacks and earth baskets, which were originally used to carry soil for filling trenches later.
The civilians looked ashen as they saw the shells hitting their heads, and they all let out desperate screams.
They wanted to run, but their steps were weak and they couldn't move at all. They just stayed there in a daze, waiting to die.
In the flash of lightning, the shells were fired into the earth bags on the car. There was a loud noise and the car body shook violently.
However, what made the civilians overjoyed was that although the soil and rags were flying, the cannonball was embedded in the bag and did not move. The few civilians were safe and sound!
Some people died, but not completely...
