When the ancient riverbed of Zhangye Gobi was rolled over by the footsteps of the Ming army, the yellow sand was lifted into the sky, blocking the sky and the sun.
The Zhenyi Ranger Battalion of more than 2,000 people was divided into four divisions and five lines. The three infantrymen formed a four-step wide column, ten steps apart, to form a thirty-two-step wide battle line. The remaining armored cavalry Divide the general's troops into two groups and provide cover on the left and right wings.
Lines of sergeants marched southward in the dust. The soldiers in the military formation could not see anything except the flags fluttering behind the guard team, and their vision was completely blocked by the yellow sand.
The marshal's flag was fluttering in front of the waiting marshal's army, and the artillery fired the powder line. The granular black powder wrapped in silk burned fiercely in the copper-cast barrel. The light and the shells broke through the smoke and swept across the battlefield with a deafening roar.
Most of the soldiers in the Ming army column had no time to respond to what happened. They only heard the sound of cracking wind in their ears. The seven-pound iron bullet had passed through the gap in the column and crashed further behind them. Then they continued to leap forward and finally crashed. Five hundred steps away from the front line, embedded in the majestic chest of a maroon horse.
The war horse fell to the ground in mourning, and its hooves kept beating until it lost all its strength.
People had no time to worry. They waved flags in front of the marshal's army, cleaned the gun barrels, and replaced silk ammunition in one go. The Zhenyi army formation was still advancing, and the infantry columns on both sides each separated an artifact management team, carrying two people on the Franco machine. The invincible general's chariot was pushed into the gap.
There were no mountains of earth in the camp. Tang Tong, the commander-in-chief of the Marshal's Mansion, stood on the back of his horse with his saddle on his horse, his eyes fixed on the Ming army column coming from the smoke, and he murmured to himself: "Your choice of forwards" where?"
The war situation was changing rapidly, and he couldn't tell whose reinforcements would come first.
Therefore, Tang Tong was prepared with two things in mind. There was no other way to stand still and wait for help. If he couldn't stand, he would have to run. If he couldn't run, he would die. But if he was more aggressive, this would be a battle that belonged to him after all.
Tang Tong didn't have much qualms in his heart.
On the one hand, he has discovered that he is the most comfortable group of people in the Marshal's Mansion. They seriously lack central bureaucracy. The entire system is almost a replica of the fifth generation. Bandits follow the leader, the leader follows the military leader, the military leader recommends the general, and the general recognizes the marshal.
The core of power in the Marshal's Mansion is Liu Chengzong's small circle, and there are almost no civil servants. Liu Xiangyu's attributes as the Supreme Emperor are much more important than those of the head of the civil service.
The only difference between them and the military rulers was that Liu Chengzong himself was a scholar, and he respected Confucian generals more than the bravery of ordinary men. Even if he was in charge of a team, he could not do it without literacy.
Liu Chengzong set up a number of rural schools and academies in Hehuang. Those who performed meritorious service on the battlefield were sent to study. The higher you go in the Marshal's Mansion, the less illiterate and reckless you become.
Strictly speaking, the Marshal's Mansion only needs one kind of person, and there are only two conditions. First, he is educated, and second, he can fight. Tang Tong is this kind of person.
On the other hand, Liu Chengzong was neither a cannibal nor a barbarian with a feud between different races. He was nothing more than a traitor who didn't sound good. Rebellion required capital. From Tang Tong's point of view, Liu Chengzong's capital was already sufficient. .
The equipment, supplies, baggage and support from superiors of the field headquarters of the Marshal's Mansion he led far exceeded the treatment he received when leading troops for the imperial court.
The last remaining little awkwardness is just the moral conflict of fighting against the old club under the banner of the Marshal's Mansion. But in this moment when everything is shattered, how can there be right or wrong?
Li Si has a saying: The virtuous and dishonest people are like rats, they are in their own place.
So at this moment, Tang Tong only had one idea in his mind, to fight alone and win.
Tang Tong had a clear view of the incoming Ming army's organization. The enemy army was obviously composed of four complete generals, each with five hundred generals.
The picker he is looking for is not a servant. In some places, servants are called pickers. However, in terms of organization, servants are miscellaneous. They are on the same level as the engineering and military bureau where Tangqi, Liang, and Road Opener work. In fashionable terms, both of them are the same. It is a non-staff support unit.
What he was looking for was the first division of every department in the regular army.
According to the Ming Army's traditional method of selecting forwards, the first division of each department selects the forwards, the first round of each division selects the forwards, and the first team of each round selects the forwards. They have the best quality, the highest morale, and the most skewed equipment. Likewise, Also bear the greatest risk in the war
mission.
Tang Tong believes that in this kind of offensive battle, the enemy general will definitely put the choice of front to use, which is exactly what he wants. After all, directly defeating more than 2,000 enemy troops is tantamount to wishful thinking, but the essence of war is to destroy the fortress. It is not impossible to seize Qi and concentrate superior strength to defeat a selection of five or six hundred people.
His target was hidden in the five-pronged large column, but the sand and dust obscured his eyes, so that he could only clearly see the small lines at the front of each column, and in those small lines, the soldiers holding shields were marching forward. Undoubtedly, they are all the forward selection teams of each division.
The real selection department is hidden inside.
He originally thought that the enemy's vanguard would carry heavy artillery, but he never expected that the officers and soldiers would just overlap and advance amidst the shouting of drums and horns. He could vaguely see the soldiers on the outside of the infantry columns on the left and right wings with their horses, and then he saw the soldiers on both wings pushing out. A heavy cannon.
Two invincible generals appeared a hundred steps away. This scene made Tang Tong so scared that he didn't even bother to let the flag bearer hold the flag. He jumped off the horse and shouted: "Fire the enemy's artillery three times quickly. Avoid the cannons!"
He is very familiar with the application of the Invincible General in field battles. This is an improvement of the old front-loading General's Fran machine when Qi Jiguang was Prime Minister in Ji Town, and it is the Mongolian version.
In the past, the biggest advantage of the structure of the Franco machine was the fast rate of fire. The biggest disadvantage was not air leakage, but the small size.
Even Western-style cannons have about one-fifteenth of the play. Most cannons in this era will leak air. Even as long as the air leakage is within a controllable range, it is not entirely a bad thing given the material science and technology level of this era. It can effectively reduce the internal pressure of the gun barrel and increase the speed of loading ammunition.
There is no play in the artillery, and the soldiers' standing equipment must have a hammer to smash the shells into the barrel.
The reason why the Franco machine is not large is because its structure does not use the barrel to withstand the pressure of the barrel, but uses the musket as the barrel, which is why it has a high rate of fire.
In the past, the general's cannon required several or even a dozen soldiers to tilt the gun body to load it because it was not strong enough. The invincible general's sub-gun is much lighter than the entire artillery, but the problem is that it requires manpower. Lift it up to change the ammunition.
The larger the caliber, the more charges, and the greater the pressure on the blunderbuss, the larger it needs to be. Even the largest blunderbuss can only weigh 200 kilograms, and it will be difficult to lift it no matter how heavy it is. , the advantage of fast fire rate no longer exists.
Therefore, Ye Mengxiong was not satisfied with this cannon and further improved the blunderbuss, which inspired future generations to use materials that can withstand high chamber pressure to make blunderbuss under the condition that the total weight is fixed. It is obvious that copper is better than pig iron. , wrought iron or even steel is better than copper.
Therefore, the invincible generals in the late Ming Dynasty basically used forged muskets. As field artillery, they were light, durable, and highly lethal. Therefore, even with the popularity of the red barbarian artillery, it was still active on battlefields in various places.
Because this kind of gun is a Mongolian gun, its basic usage is to fire solid bullets. It is a mother gun equipped with three sub-guns. Each sub-gun is loaded with 500 loose particles, and three rounds of rapid fire can be completed within twenty seconds.
In the midst of Tang Tong's shouts, the flag bearers and drum holders around him also hurriedly waved flags and drums, and more people followed and shouted together, and the sound was transmitted directly to the front of the formation.
But in fact, the soldiers in front of the formation were protected by the earthen ramparts and did not panic at all. The commander in front of the formation, his eyes looked deep under the shadow of Bowei's eyebrows, looked back at the army, straightened his body and calmly ordered the soldiers to raise the flag.
Five hundred commanders on the front line commanded eight lion artillery pieces, firing at the Ming army's heavy artillery team; at the same time, the rest of the soldiers quickly crouched under the protection of the earthen ramparts, and the soldiers in the back row put their chest-high shields on top.
Then, amid the roar of cannons, all levels of management and generals crouched down one after another. Wai Liangzi also squatted on one knee after all his subordinates were on guard, but he still raised his neck to try to observe the enemy's movements.
Eight one-pound artillery shells were fired at the Ming army's artillery. Several shells grazed the barrel of the Invincible General's cannon, knocking several Ming army artillerymen to the ground. Only one shell hit the artillery carriage on the right. However, the gun carriage was not destroyed, it was just embedded in it.
Accurate shooting of artillery is itself an act of having a chance of hitting the target. It is no different in structure from a cannon. They are both a tube, but the magnification ratio is much lower and aiming is more difficult.
Even the most experienced gunslinger would find it difficult to accurately hit an artillery piece with a birdgun at a distance of a hundred paces, let alone artillery.
The suppressive firing of the Ming army was only slightly delayed. Although the injured artillery fell to the ground and groaned loudly, it was quickly suppressed by the roar of the artillery.
The first to be bombarded was the unaffected invincible general on the left wing. Under the smoke, hundreds of loose particles shot out like slugs, spreading sixty steps wide from a hundred steps away, like a violent wind and rain, all over the front line of the entire marshal's army. There was a popping sound on the earthen base.
There were more projectiles flying back over the half-man-high earth barrier, like hundreds of muskets fired from volleys, hitting the long shields set up by the soldiers at the rear. Some were embedded in the shields, and some penetrated the shields. and hurt the soldiers behind them.
The muffled sound of being shot resounded in the formation one after another. Crooked Liangzi did not look back, and the sound of wounded soldiers being dragged away from the front line could also be heard.
He dared to look up again and just saw the outline of the Ming Army's three columns continuing to advance. From the corner of his eye, he saw the position of the heavy artillery on the right wing also emitting flashes of light. He quickly lowered his head. At this moment, hundreds more scattered bullets were fired. Spray to.
Under the suppressive fire of the two general cannons in turn, the soldiers on the front line of the Marshal's Mansion could only hide in the earthen barrier and listen to the continuous sound of lead breaking through the air above their heads. They were so suppressed that they did not dare to raise their heads.
The three infantry columns of the Ming Army took this opportunity to overlap and march forward. The whole army was like a big crab. The invincible general on the left loaded his ammunition, and the infantry on the left pressed forward; the invincible general on the right loaded, and the infantry on the right pressed forward. The infantry pressed forward, while the Chinese army marched forward quickly between the shots of the two cannons.
Amidst the continuous firing, Tang Tong saw from the relatively safe rear that the cavalry on the outside of the three infantry routes of the Ming Army were also idle. They took this opportunity to outflank the two wings of the camp, and quickly ordered General Li Baliang to lead his troops. To the left guard against cavalry.
As for the cavalry on the right wing, Tang Tong was not worried. There was a river on the right side of the camp, and the cavalry could not rush over there. They only waited around to prevent them from escaping after being defeated.
This couldn't help but make him smile in his nervousness: The enemy general seemed to be sure of victory, so much so that he was a little overconfident - why did he think he would win as soon as he got closer?
Wailiangzi was infuriated by the endless bombardment. The most important thing was that it was difficult for him to fight back. The only heavy cannon in Qianqian Headquarters was right next to him, but the artillerymen next to him could not load it.
The problem that the Ming army's heavy artillery was difficult to cock did not exist for them, because the ammunition in the Marshal's Mansion was made of silk fixed ammunition bags, and the ammunition could be stuffed in even if the muzzle was pointed downward.
The problem of their inability to load ammunition is also due to the ammunition package. If they are hit by loose powder when loading, the tightly packed gunpowder is likely to explode. The first 700 loose powder there are likely to beat the soldiers within ten steps around. sieve.
Seeing the two general cannons continuously spraying deadly projectiles, shattering the cart boards fixed with wet sand on the outside of the earthen fort, and even the inner boards were penetrated many times, injuring the frontline soldiers, which made Wai Liangzi very angry.
In the past, when he was in Qiufang, Ningxia, he didn't feel much when watching friendly forces use this thing to bombard the Mongolians. Now, a hail of bullets would hit his head, making him curse in anger.
The two large general cannons that alternately fired in turns were too powerful at close range. Even if they were protected by earthen barriers, the soldiers kept pressing forward in order to avoid the cannons. The crowds were so crowded that the formation was broken. There was no point in lifting the guns. The guns were huddled together and there was no way to fight back.
If this continues, when the enemy troops come up to fight, they will be defeated even if they don't have many casualties.
Because the death and injury in battle are not the most terrible thing, the most terrible thing is being beaten while standing without being able to fight back.
At this moment, Wai Liangzi clearly heard that after the general's cannon on the left wing was fired, the cannon on the right wing soon followed suit. The shooting gap between the two cannons was a bit short, which made him happy. He stood up and shouted several times to encourage morale. : "Fill the lion cannon with Sanzi and make those two cannons mute!"
During the entire six rounds of shelling in deathly silence, Wai Liangzi was the first one to stand up. Upon hearing this, the stunned chief executives also came to their senses. They all stood up to boost morale and shouted at the soldiers to stay away. Too close, maintain formation.
Soon, the soldiers took the risk of pouring the shorter 200-pound Lion Cannon into the powder bag and adjusted the angle. However, before they could start shooting, there was another muffled sound. The enemy's Franco-style general
The military artillery had finished loading and sprayed pellets in front of the formation again. In an instant, an artillery chief and several soldiers fell to the ground.
But they finally took action, and a lion cannon on the right wing fired at the enemy formation. However, it seemed that because the artillerymen were nervous, they did not hear the military order clearly and fired a shot at the military formation advancing directly ahead.
There was no shock of breaking out the blood, and the two sides were only forty steps apart. The top ten soldiers in the enemy's formation, who were holding shields and placing anti-captive cannons, fell silently.
Immediately afterwards, several loaded Lion Cannons were fired at the same time. Accompanied by the dull sound of cannons, there was the soft sound of loose particles cutting through the smoke. The lead shot and smoke drew dense lines on the battlefield between the two armies. , finally converged around two invincible general cannons.
Like a violent storm, it overturned the two artillery teams.
The artillery that suppressed them no longer existed. Taking advantage of this opportunity, every hundred commanders at the front of the position issued orders almost at the same time. The tripods for carrying guns were opened, and heavy muskets were placed on the earthen ramparts. On the side, the infantry line composed of spears and waist knives is also ready to defend against attacks.
The flags symbolizing shooting were held in the hands of President Bai and raised above his head. Wailiangzi did not speak. He just raised his arms and slowly lowered them. A high-pitched suona sound sounded behind him, and he was immediately shot away by large-caliber muskets. Covered by muffled sound.
