Chapter 062 Landing in Gaizhou
"The east side of the island is a sandbank. The water is shallow and can only be landed by light boats. If our army of 30,000 troops starts landing after dinner, it will take tomorrow's hour at the earliest to complete the crossing." Song Che was appointed by Chen Cao As the temporary river crossing general manager.
It would be a long night with many dreams, so Chen Cao directly planned to cross the river at night.
"How far is it from Gaizhou Acropolis after landing?" Chen Cao asked again.
Xin Zhao held his hands aside: "Twenty miles."
Chen Cao rolled his eyes: "Send the order and order the right guard to land first. After landing, set up a vehicle formation, and then wait for the follow-up troops to cross the river before withdrawing the defense."
"Uncle, you are too cautious. The Tatars definitely don't know what happened to us here, not to mention that we came from the sea." Xin Zhao joked.
Chen Cao sneered: "Be careful with the Wannian Ship, don't be so careless."
Even the famous Normandy landing in later generations did not dare to be carried out at night, let alone the cover of heavy firepower and aerial firepower on both sides.
Lianyun Island is only five miles away from the sandbank on the coast. Chen Cao's Southern Army troops were swaying like a long dragon. The right guard soldiers, led by Song Che, came ashore first. According to Chen Cao's instructions, they immediately followed the ship's troops. The convoy formed a defensive posture, and every right guard soldier stared at the dark open space in the distance with loaded guns.
It was only three hours after the entire right guard landed that Dahewei and Songjiangwei completed crossing the river. Even so, there were still three remaining guards crossing the river.
Tuk-tuk-tuk...
There was a rapid sound of horse hoofbeats, and a scout who had gone ahead to explore came back on horseback. He was hit by three arrows: "Uncle, there is an ambush..."
Chen Cao had just landed ashore with the ship. The soldiers on the right guard had been trained for a long time and were neatly dressed. They stood there without saying a word. On the other hand, the Dahe Guard and Songjiang Guards were noisy with their soldiers and horses. It was suppressed by households, but it was also extremely noisy.
The commander at the front was Tang Kainian, the official of the Qianhu Branch of the No. 1 Thousand Household of the Right Guard. Hearing that the scout had been hit by an arrow and rushed back, he was shocked and immediately shouted to the messenger beside him: "Quickly report to uncle, there is an ambush ahead. .”
The ordering soldiers threw away their hands and ran away. Tang Kainian paced back and forth in front of the car formation with a long sword with a wild goose feather, and shouted: "The whole army is ready..."
Swish, swish, swish...
Relying on the cover of the car formation, the right guard soldiers behind the car took off their flintlock rifles after receiving the order, bit open the paper shells and put them in from the muzzle of the gun. On call.
Chen Cao stood on the spot, stepping on the sand, and was looking back at the landing fleet behind him. At this time, the Jin Yiwei who received the news ran quickly, and even stumbled on the sand and fell like a dog.
Xin Zhao frowned when he saw this: "How can you behave in such a panic?"
The captain did not get up, but lay down and shouted: "Uncle, there is an urgent military situation from the forward camp, there is an ambush, and the scout troops have been killed."
"Ah?" Xin Zhao was anxious immediately.
The criterion for judging an excellent general is to see his performance on the battlefield. Chen Cao is calm in the face of danger, but he is anxious inside. Instead of thinking about countermeasures, he immediately thought of another thing, so he coldly Voice: "We have been betrayed..."
Xin Zhao's body was trembling a little. It was not that he was afraid of the Tatars, but that he knew the principle of "attacking the middle stream before crossing the river" in the art of war. He was relieved on the right guard, but if the remaining inland guard posts were attacked this night, they would definitely The whole army is defeated, with the sea behind them. If the right guard is defeated, they will either surrender or feed the fish.
Song Che also received the news and came with his helmet on: "Yao Zhong, I will bring people to support first. You should prepare the troops immediately. You must not let them get into chaos."
Chen Cao calmed down, and after being reminded by Song Che, he immediately seemed to be too rich, so he took a deep breath and said sternly: "Instructions are sent to Nanjing Right Guards' Qianhu Station to follow the wartime policy of engaging the enemy and immediately launch an attack. Action; order, order the Dahe Guards to immediately form a team to cover the right wing, and the Songjiang Guards to form a team to cover the left wing. No units are allowed to attack without permission without Benbo's military order."
"As ordered..." The ordering soldier ran around quickly.
Chen Cao turned around and said: "Light the torch quickly and order the troops behind you to stop crossing the river and wait until the shore is safe before crossing the river. In addition, let the navy get as close to the coast as possible and cover us with Hongyi cannon."
"yes..."
Chen Cao had some considerations. He had three guards in total when he crossed the river like this, and the number of soldiers alone was more than 15,000. The opponent attacked at night, and they should all be cavalry. The number would not exceed 10,000, but if his side was defeated When they were about to retreat, there were landing troops behind them, which hindered the opportunity to retreat. Obviously, the subsequent situation showed that Chen Cao's order was very successful.
The soldiers of Guanhaiwei were landing and had just passed through six hundred households. After receiving the order, they passed it on by speedboat. When the troops on Lianyun Island learned that someone was attacking, they were all shocked and stopped their actions.
Tang Kainian's younger brother, Tang Yannian, serves as the Deputy Qianhu of the No. 1,000 House. Both brothers were born as refugees in Shaanxi. Qianhu's position is very enviable to others:
"Yan Chun, your team takes fifteen steps in front of the right wing of the vehicle formation, opens up the formation, and hits them with the Five Thunder God Machines first."
Yan Chun was also a refugee. It took him a year to be promoted from a small flag officer to a hundred household officers. He trained hard and never dared to forget the "Arms Training Record" written by Chen Cao: "The whole team is ready and goes out in formation."
The sound of horse hooves was loud, and fire began to appear in the dark sky in the distance.
"Sir, the enemy is coming."
The two brothers Tang Kainian and Tang Yannian looked into the distance. This was their first time fighting the Tatars. Although they had been trained for a long time, they were still novices on the battlefield.
"Prepare..."
squeak squeak...
A sharp whistle sounded, which meant that the entire army was preparing for battle.
The forward battalion belonging to the 1,000th household was the elite of the right guard. With the order, the soldiers behind the car array raised their guns and took aim.
The fire was getting closer and closer, and Chen Cao immediately ran to Song Che's center position: "How many people are there estimated to be?"
Song Che is in Liaodong and has rich experience: "Listen to the sound of horse hooves, the number of people will not be less than 3,000. The Tatars like to attack from the flanks to break through our army's formation, so be careful and guard against it."
"Behind us is the beach." Chen Cao looked back at the dark heads.
Song Che's face was full of seriousness: "We have only one direction, and we must first guard against the Tatars in front."
"coming..."
The enemy cavalry rushed out first, and wherever the torch touched, human faces could finally be seen.
'Whoosh whoosh whoosh...'
Arrows came through the air, and Tang Kainian's troops who were in the lead were attacked by the arrows. Although they were well prepared, some of the soldiers were still hit by the arrows.
"put..."
Bang bang bang...
Tang Kainian was not a stick, and he would not avoid being beaten. After the first round of mounted shooting, when the Tatars were about to retreat, they were hit by lead bullets that suddenly rose up. At that moment, more than a dozen people fell off their horses and wailed.
"First attack with cavalry and archery, then attack with maces and meteor hammers. Then the cavalry rushes into the formation. If the situation is unfavorable, they will pretend to be defeated. Once our army catches up, we will learn the Mongolian method of running and shooting at the same time. Alas, , most of the imperial troops died due to this method of warfare." Chen Cao sighed as he looked at the battle formation in the distance.
Song Che turned around and said in surprise: "Yao Zhong, how come you know the Tatars' tactics so well?"
Chen Cao said intently: "This method of warfare was invented by Li Chengliang back then. His servants used this method to defeat the Mongols. Don't forget that Nurhachi is Li Chengliang's adopted son."
"put..."
Yan Chun gave an order, and the entire Baihu team fired out all the Five Thunder God Machines in their hands. Although the Five Thunder God Machines were advanced compared to the flintlock guns, they were not at the same level as the flintlock guns. Its range was only one A hundred steps, and the damage is limited. The Tatars have been fighting against the Ming army for many years, and they know the range of firearms very well. Tang Kainian killed a dozen people in the first wave and then retreated more than a hundred steps, but they had no idea that their opponents had new weapons. firearm.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh...
This time the sound was loud. It wasn't the sound of arrows, but something huge and powerful flying towards them. The location was Yan Chun's headquarters, who was a dozen steps ahead.
"Shield..."
Yan Chun shouted loudly, and only when the things got closer did he realize that what was flying towards them were large offensive weapons such as maces and meteor hammers.
"ah..."
"ah..."
There was a wailing sound, and one of the soldiers was hit in the head by a meteor hammer, and his brain burst and died on the spot.
Xin Laosan, the commander-in-chief of the accompanying team, was horrified when he saw the miserable condition of his soldiers, but the scene in front of him. Commander Song once said that either the enemy will die or we will die. Xin Laosan suddenly shouted loudly: "Raise the gun and fire. ..”
'Bang bang bang...'
The attack distance of the flintlock gun is much farther than that of the Five Thunder God Machines. Normally it exceeds 150 steps. After being engraved with shadow patterns, it reaches a distance of 250 to 300 steps. The Tatars' strong The longest range of the bow is only 150 to 200 steps. Obviously, the leading Tatar leader had no idea how far the opponent's musket range was.
After the sound of gunfire, the throwing weapons in the distance suddenly stopped, because all the five thunder divine machine firearms in his hands were used up, and the logistics team was only equipped with enough equipment for one shot before setting off. Yan Chun drew his knife and shouted: "Back off, Return to our formation."
Yan Chun's Hundred Household Office took action. Upon seeing this, Tang Kainian immediately ordered his subordinates to release guns to cover. Many of the Tatars that Chen Cao saw with his naked eyes fell off their horses.
"Master, Ming Gou's firearms are very sharp, and we have lost many warriors." A Tatar cavalryman with a money rat tail rode his horse to the rear to supervise the formation, and faced a man wearing a yellow cloth-breasted armor. The tall, middle-aged Tatar knelt down on one knee and said, "I ask my master to send more troops."
"Hasi Hu," a knight in armor of the same color rode up from a distance. He looked like a senior officer: "Master Zhang Jing's reinforcements are at Gaizhou Guard. They will arrive in three hours. You lead the troops to attack from the front. I will divide my troops and move around from both wings, trying to break through their formation within one round."
The middle-aged Tatar just now was called Hashu. When he heard the other party's answer, he immediately nodded: "You go first. When I lead my troops to attack, you take action immediately."
"Xu..."
Chen Cao frowned and watched the torches leave in the distance. On the surface, the Tatars had stopped attacking, but the real decisive battle had not yet begun: "They are just testing, and the decisive battle will begin later." After saying that, Chen Cao immediately ordered: "Password Our army ordered Dahe Guard and Songjiang Guard to immediately set up their positions in order to prevent Tatar attacks."
"yes..."
When Song Che saw the Tatars retreating, he also knew that they were just testing, so he quickly led his people to reinforce Tang Kainian's troops in the forward camp.
"Uncle, all our artillery are still on Lianyun Island." Zhao Xin said anxiously: "Why don't you bring someone to transport the artillery here alone?"
Chen Cao raised his hand to stop: "It's too dangerous. It's too late. Let all the brothers be smart and not be careless."
"Raise the gun..."
Sure enough, after the Tatars tested it, Hasihu personally led 1,500 cavalry and came quickly. Although it was dark, there were still torches lit on Chen Cao's side. Since the two sides had already encountered each other, there was no need to hide their heads and start fighting directly. .
Tang Yannian went out in person with two hundred households, commanded the formation, and then the battle began: "Each team fired their guns according to the drill, and retreated quickly after being ordered."
Bang bang bang...
The sound of the gunfire was messy, but the force was not diminished. After Hasihu rushed to about 250 steps, he was hit mercilessly. The cavalry around him fell off their horses, but he just thought of his opponent's gun and fired a shot. There is at least ten breaths of reloading time. With his horse speed, he can rush to the front of the formation and kill his opponent in pieces within ten breaths.
However, imagination is beautiful
Two breaths later, a gunshot rang out immediately. Ha Sihu was shocked, and the slave beside him shouted: "Master, be careful."
He pounced forward and threw Ha Sihu off the high-speed running horse. The horse immediately fell to the ground and neighed.
Arrows and thrown weapons struck again, and fierce fighting broke out.
The commander of Songjiang Guards, Tian Xiaonian, was in his thirties. His ancestors were hereditary to thousands of families. In the 23rd year of Wanli, he took the military examination and was promoted to the commanding officer. During the Battle of Saerhu, Songjiang Guards participated in the Liaodong War. After returning to Jianjian, he was promoted to Songjiang Guards. Commander.
Tian Xiaonian was afraid of the Tatars from the bottom of his heart. When he fought with the Tatars in Liaodong, his entire army was defeated. If the commander hadn't died, he would probably be accused as the one who was taken advantage of.
"Sir, there are Jianlu cavalry." The scout who was sent out from the front had just galloped back and was immediately hit by five arrows and died miserably.
Tian Xiaonian shuddered. If it weren't for Chen Cao's encouraging words before going to the island and the three months' salary he gave them after going to the island, he was determined to order a retreat now.
The commander, Wang Xiaojie, also had a martial arts background. He had worked with Tian Xiaonian for a long time and knew very well what kind of person this animal was. Seeing that he was timid, he immediately stood up and said, "Sir, just let me go."
Tian Xiaonian looked Wang Xiaojie up and down, and then nodded: "Okay, you lead the team to stop the attack. I will give the order right now."
Wang Xiaojie sneered in his heart, feeling that Tian Xiaonian was really like mud, and then led two of his men from Qianhusuo to go forward and lined up in front of Songjiang Wei's main formation with a shield formation and long spears.
Wang Xiaojie led his team forward at least two hundred steps, and then formed a large shield formation to fight in front of the formation. Although it was still summer, the sea breeze in the early morning was still cold.
