"He is a general. [Read full text]" Zhu Mingxia regretted, "I thought he was at least a deputy general..."
Xiong Maozhang squatted on the corpse and looked at it for a long time and said: "There is only one deputy general in Guangdong. People in the big library said that the generals, deputy generals and generals are very valuable. It is not as good as later when the streets were filled with generals and deputy generals."
"General Huizhou, General Huizhou..." Zhu Mingxia thought for a long time and then realized, isn't this one of the five Ming army generals mentioned in the "Enemy Situation Report" who came to encircle and suppress a guerrilla? It was clearly stated in the report at that time that these six generals belonged to the imperial military generals who had established their own teeth, and were not the same as ordinary generals participating in guerrilla warfare.
To put it this way, this battle was almost as good as killing a major general and division commander of the enemy.
It was his first time to command a battle, and he had achieved such a great victory. Zhu Mingxia couldn't help but be secretly happy, and couldn't help but say "good" and "good" repeatedly.
Several soldiers around him saw that the battalion commander was so happy and knew that he must have killed a general in the army. According to the practice at the time, he had to kill him for meritorious deeds. A soldier picked up a big knife next to him and was about to cut off the superman.
"Don't chop." Zhu Mingxia stopped him, "He died for the country. He should be properly dressed and buried with military honors."
At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the three thousand troops led by Sha Jianbi appeared less than three kilometers away from Shishan. Because Yan Zungao urged his men and horses to leave quickly, many infantry fell behind. In the end, he had to fight the Kun thieves with insufficient strength and lost. Therefore, he did not urge his men and horses to leave quickly. He also collected many defeated troops of Yan's tribe along the way. He learned from their mouths that the entire battle.
But he couldn't get any information beyond what he could see in front, back, left, and right of the post road. No matter how many scouts and craftsmen he sent out, none of them could come back. An injured Tan Ma once ran back wildly, but was suddenly shot to death before he could reach him.
What frightened him the most was that he didn't know where the gun was released - there was no smoke and no people. He sent a group of infantrymen to search back and forth for 400 steps around the area where Tan Ma fell, but found nothing in the end. Only the two small black holes on Tan Ma's body indicate that he was shot to death with a cannon.
The fear of the bird cannon, which has no smoke, no people, and even no sound, started a few days ago. The officers and soldiers secretly called it the "shadowless cannon."
Sha Jianbi's troops also suffered a lot of "shadowless artillery" along the way. They lost forty or fifty officers and soldiers along the way, which made everyone panic. If they hadn't known that Li Guang's 2,000 men were coming for reinforcements, these 3,000 men would have dispersed before they could reach Shishan.
After walking blindly in such panic for most of the day, the forward reported that the stone mountain was already four or five miles away.
"Where are the enemy's formations?"
"It's just under the stone mountain." Mr. Qian, who was at the vanguard, reported.
He stood up straight in the stirrups. There was a camp on the stone mountain, and the red flag of the Kun bandits was flying. This was part of the original grain platform for officers and soldiers. The rocky mountains that were originally lush with vegetation have now become bare, and both the Ming Army and the Fubo Army have carried out the work of clearing the shooting boundary. A gray array stretched across the foot of the mountain, blocking the post road.
This array is very thin. Sha Jianbi saw that there were only a thousand bandits arrayed at the foot of the mountain, but they had set up a 200-step front line. This was simply crazy. Such a thin depth, wouldn't it be broken by a single charge? Is the thief so confident in his firearm? You must know that Chengmai and the others are guarding the earth embankment.
However, the disastrous defeat the day before had already caused the officers and soldiers to be in disarray. Sha Jianbi didn't even dare to get too close, for fear of being hit by the "Shadowless Cannon". Immediately ordered the people to stand up on the spot and prepare for battle.
Sha Jianbi summoned his subordinates, Qian Zongzong.
"Everyone has seen that there are only a thousand Kun thieves, and the array is weak. In a hurry, they can only rely on the low walls of the trench to form an array. If we gather all the troops and horses to attack, we can break the array for him." Sha Jianbi pretended to be confident. A hundred times better, "I saw it, his long snake formation only has two rows of people. No matter how powerful the firearm is, it can only shoot several rows of guns."
"General Sha" said General Qian, "Listen to General Yan's words of defeat, the bandits will form an ambush one by one. When our troops attack fiercely, they will ambush my flanks..."
"No problem." Sha Jianbi said, "I want to use chariot warfare. The three thousand troops are divided into three teams."
Three teams of men and horses attack alternately. The Chinese army is waiting to deal with unexpected situations. One team goes forward to fight, and the other team shoots arrows behind the formation to cover. When the front team is tired, the rear team takes over.
Sha Jianbi believed that first of all, this would prevent the Kun thieves from resting - after all, the enemy had few people and no rotation. Even if their firearms were pure, setting them off would tire the soldiers. When the enemy's guns were sparse, two teams of men and horses came out together to defeat the enemy's formation in one fell swoop.
"... As soon as the enemy's ambush came out, our army responded with a thousand men from the central army. According to what the defeated soldiers said, the ambush of the Kun thieves was only a thousand people. Moreover, when the Kun thieves fought, they always prepared camps, used firearms to control me, and stabbed me with white blades. He is not good at it. Our soldiers fight with spears and broadswords. The enemy's weapons are nothing more than short blades attached to blunderbuss. We will not be able to fight for a long time." He said sternly, "General Mao."
"The humble general is here." A general responded immediately.
"You bring a thousand men forward to attack first," Sha Jianbi gave him the opportunity. "The firearms of the Kun thieves fire very fast, and the team does not need to be organized as long as it rushes fast. Let the soldiers bring more bows and arrows, and go to the trench to fire one round before charging into the formation - ―Kun thieves have no armor, and those who are hit by arrows will either die or be injured.”
This General Mao was not one of Sha Jianbi's troops. He was originally a training guerrilla subordinate. He was temporarily assigned to Sha Jianbi's subordinates. He knew that Sha Jianbi wanted him to take the lead and leave the great achievements to his own Chinese army. . But he did not dare to disobey the order, so he had to lead the troops to form a team.
"General Zhao"
"The humble general is here"
"You should bring a thousand men to meet General Mao one mile behind, and you should also bring more bows and arrows. If General Mao retreats without support, it is up to you to continue the attack." He patted General Zhao on the shoulder, "General Mao charged the Kun thieves for a while. , if you take the people and go there right away, you will be able to perform well."
General Zhao forced a smile and said, "Thank you, General Sha, for your cultivation." But in his heart, he cursed Sha Jianbi for asking them to rush ahead and roll the nail board, and he and his troops were ready to take the credit.
Sha Jianbi did not completely intend to send Generals Zhao and Mao to the tiger's mouth, but he did not have many troops, and his troops had never been defeated at all, so their morale was good. It should be used at a critical moment - he still has no information about where the Kun Thief's ambush is, and it is impossible not to have a capable and reliable man in hand.
So the officers and soldiers quickly set up a stronghold on the road and divided the troops into three teams to prepare for battle. Sha Jianbi's troops also took in more than 200 remnants of Yan Zungao's troops along the road. He ordered a general to take temporary charge and stay with the Chinese army to serve him.
The position Xiong Maozhang set up at the foot of Shishan consisted of a parapet half as high as a man. In front of the parapet is a deep trench, and in front of the trench are many temporary collections and piles of deer stockpiles, including many chicken carts seized at the grain platform. The 1st Infantry Battalion formed its formation behind the low wall and directly intercepted any troops trying to pass through the post road at the foot of the stone mountain.
The 1st Infantry Battalion deployed a standard two-row formation - the Minie rifle fired much faster than the flintlock, and of course there was no need to use a three-row formation. Xiong Maozhang expanded the battalion's six infantry companies into a 15o meter horizontal line. The battalion grenadier company serves as a reserve behind the entire battalion, covering the flanks when necessary. The 1st light infantry company and the light infantry company of the 4th Infantry Battalion were separately drawn out to form a garrison, which together with the logistics troops defended the camp on the stone mountain, while covering one wing of the 1st Infantry Battalion.
Two of the four 12-pound mountain howitzers brought directly strengthened the 1st Infantry Battalion, and the other two were arranged in the camp on the top of the stone mountain to provide artillery support at any time depending on the situation.
Xiong Maozhang used a telescope to observe the officers and soldiers a few miles away. According to the report of the special reconnaissance team, there were three thousand enemies in this group, with another two thousand people following them about ten miles away. However, Chen Sigen made it clear: "The two thousand people behind are obviously here to make soy sauce." They stopped and walked, but their fighting spirit was not strong.
"We must defeat these three thousand people as soon as possible," Xiong Maozhang said to Zhu Mingxia. "Otherwise, when the next two thousand people arrive, it will be difficult for the enemy to attack the enemy."
Zhu Mingxia did not speak. He looked at the officers and soldiers lining up in the telescope: "It seems that the enemy's main attack direction is still your position. But you have to prevent them from attacking the stronghold on the mountain."
Xiong Maozhang put the helmet on his head: "I have to go to the battlefield, otherwise I won't worry."
While they were talking, the official cannon fired at the flag gate, and a thousand men and horses, led by a general, attacked. When they had rushed out more than a mile, another trumpet sounded, and another group of officers and soldiers came out to attack the 1st Battalion's position.
"The enemy wants to fight on wheels." Zhu Mingxia said. He continued to watch the movements of the officers and soldiers, and saw that the first group of troops was very powerful and quickly rushed to a place less than a hundred meters away from the position. The soldiers shot arrows while running, because the distance was too far to pose a threat. Xiong Maozhang's six battle infantry companies opened fire at the same time from a distance of 150 meters. The bullets swept across the running queue. The officers and soldiers fell on their backs and were in disarray before they even got close to the trench. Then the second row of infantry fired a volley. Zhu Ming and Xia felt a little nervous in the thick smoke. The enemy has retreated.
Zhu Mingxia vaguely felt that something was wrong. The enemy would not simply repeat the frontal attack tactics like this. To be cautious, he did not ask the two mountain grenades in Shishan Village to open fire, and was prepared to provide artillery support at a critical moment.
There were many officers and soldiers in Sha Jianbi's forward battalion whose courage had been broken yesterday. Now they had to face the Kun thief's firearms. The officers and soldiers looked very cowed. After receiving several rows of volleys, they refused to move forward. The officers and generals shouted desperately, threatened with beheading and offered incentives with money, and finally managed to get the troops to continue their attack.
At this time, the second team of officers and soldiers rushed up again.
"Shoot the arrow! Shoot the arrow"
The officers and soldiers hurriedly fired a row of feathered arrows, but most of them scattered them randomly before they entered the shooting range. Almost no arrows fell into the queue, and most of them fell in the trenches and deer villages.
"Steady the ruler 12o meters" the officers constantly corrected the shooting distance and "released"
The volley guns roared and the smoke filled the air. The officers and soldiers could not even get close to the trench. Every time they managed to get within a hundred meters, they were defeated by the volley guns. Although the soldiers were constantly urged to rush forward by the officers, they soon retreated again. . Sometimes, under the leadership of a few brave officers, they could assault the front of the trench, but at this time the double shot of the 12-pound mountain grenade would ruthlessly kill them all at the edge of the trench.
Smoke filled the air, shouts of killing, groans and shouts enveloped the entire stone mountain. The battle lasted for more than an hour. No matter how much Sha Jianbi and his generals encouraged and urged the soldiers to charge, the assaults of the officers and soldiers became increasingly weak. Especially after Shandi Grenade began to bombard the formation of officers and soldiers 800 meters away with grenades, the officers and soldiers had to ask the team to retreat two miles away before regrouping. The soldiers spent a lot of energy on this journey back and forth. Many officers and soldiers had been marching on the road since noon. For most of the day, without food and water, they were exhausted after several attacks. Some soldiers simply fell on the roadside and refused to move.
Sha Jianbi saw that his so-called wheel tactics had no effect at all - after attacking for less than half an hour and rotating the team several times, there was no progress except for leaving a pile of corpses in front of the Kunthi trench. The enemy's volleys of guns were still The beating was steady and hard, and when it didn't seem to get any thinner at all, I felt very anxious. If you continue to waste it like this, before the enemy's ambushes appear, your entire army will collapse.
He instead ordered the entire army to storm the stockade on Shishan Mountain. There were only two light infantry companies and some logistics troops in the stockade, but they were supported by two howitzers. Grenades, shotguns, and solid bullets beat down the officers and soldiers who tried to climb the mountain to seize the stockade.
Although there was a young officer in the army who was very brave, under his leadership, more than a dozen tough soldiers followed him and rushed to a place more than ten meters away from the wall of the village. Just as he waved the flag and stood up to rush towards the wall, a 12-pound mountain grenade shot hit him.
The officers and soldiers who attacked the mountain stronghold were constantly harassed and shot by gunfire from the thief infantry arrayed down the mountain. The officers and soldiers desperately attacked several times. As more and more bodies were dropped on the hillside, the momentum of the attack became weaker and weaker. The team attacking the mountain stronghold retreated again - but this time they were not even halfway up the mountain. They didn't even arrive, so they yelled a few times in response to the story, and then rolled and crawled back as soon as the blunderbuss was fired in the village.
Sha Jianbi's troops had not been dispatched. He saw that his troops had lost their energy. Not to mention defeating the Kun thieves and retaking Shishan, he even had a group of Kun thieves in front of him. He had killed and wounded many troops in vain. Wouldn't he be blamed by his superiors? He glared and ordered loudly: "Tell General Zhao and General Mao to attack with all their strength. We must open up the post road, otherwise we will come to see you with your head."
"Reporting to General, General Mao has been killed." A young general who came to report to him said breathlessly.
Sha Jianbi was even more frightened when he heard that one of his generals had been killed in battle. He took a breath and saw that although the young general in front of him had a crooked helmet, he was very tall and strong, with a round face, a pointed chin, and a few beards, and his nostrils were turned up and he had small eyes. It also looks capable.
"May I have your name?"
"The humble general Cao Xiangjiao was originally a partial general under General Mao..."
"Okay, General Cao will now order you to defend the forward battalion and lead General Mao's troops." He pointed his riding whip at the line of the 1st Infantry Battalion at the foot of the rocky mountain. "You will immediately lead the team to bypass the paddy fields and attack. As long as you defeat the enemy's formation on one wing of the battle formation, I will recommend you in front of Master Zhentai."
"General Xie cultivates humble generals who will move forward bravely." Cao Xiangjiao was originally a newborn calf and was not afraid of tigers. At this time, he was inspired by his few words and had the hope of promotion, and he suddenly became more energetic. Immediately he mounted his horse and charged into the formation with his sword in hand.
After issuing this series of orders, he also knew that relying on Cao Xiangjiao, a stupid young man, to charge into the battle was not very reliable. He had to personally lead the soldiers into the battle and attack fiercely.
So he shouted: "Bang the drum and line up"
Although the Kun Thief ambush has not appeared so far, he doesn't care much anymore. He thought that as long as he broke through the battle formation and the Kun thieves came out to ambush, he would have time to turn back and fight. Sha Jianbi believed that as long as they did not attack the Kun thief's camp, the white soldiers from both sides would never be a match for the officers and soldiers.
Amidst the deafening sound of war drums, Sha Jianbi got on his horse, and his soldiers quickly brought his sword. He held the sword, and his soldiers and servants were lined up in bright armor, waiting to go out.
Sha Jianbi stood in the stirrup and looked over, and saw that Cao Xiangjiao's men had already circled into the paddy field and were moving towards one wing of the Kun bandit array. However, the paddy field was muddy and the movement was very slow. From time to time, people fell down with gunshots. But Cao Xiangjiao waved his sword and urged the soldiers to leave quickly. General Zhao's troops were still attacking feebly.
He waited nervously for Cao Xiangjiao's roundabout to be successful. After about a meal, he saw Cao Xiangjiao's flag appearing on the flank of the bandits' array. With the sound of gunfire and smoke filling the air, he knew that Cao Xiangjiao's attack had begun. He waved his sword and shouted: "Kill, break through the formation of the bandits, and each of them will be rewarded five taels of silver." His soldiers howled. Follow him and charge forward fiercely.
Cao Xiangjiao's detour did pose a threat to the 1st Infantry Battalion. Xiong Maozhang immediately ordered the battalion grenadier company acting as a reserve to immediately move to the flank formation. Two rounds of platoon fire repelled the first charge of the officers and soldiers, and then Zhu Mingxia ordered the soldiers to attack the mountain. The 2 mountain gates opened fire.
"Hit with shrapnel" In the rice fields, solid bullets cannot bounce, and their lethality is limited. The range of the shrapnel is not enough, so shrapnel that blooms in the air becomes the best long-range killing weapon. One after another shrapnel quickly drove Cao Xiangjiao's men back. The muddy rice fields made it difficult for the soldiers to move quickly and they fell under the precise fire of the grenadiers.
Sha Jianbi's central army threw away the already chaotic General Zhao's troops, and the whole army rushed towards the center of the battle line in one go. Prepare to take advantage of Cao Xiangjiao's interference on the flanks to attract the firepower of the Kun thieves and break through the front line in one fell swoop. v! ~!
