[Full text reading] Chen Guangfu is also experienced in battle formations. After watching it for a while, he also found it difficult - this is much more troublesome than fighting Huang County. At the beginning, Huang County did not have many armed forces and the morale was not high from top to bottom, so it was easy to defeat him. After being defeated, this group of local warriors still won a victory in Baimatang. Both their combat power and morale are on the rise. I am afraid that I will not be able to take advantage of this.
It's clear that I want to gnaw a hard nut.
But if they can't crack this hard nut, they won't be able to attack Laizhou with peace of mind. Whether it's easy or hard to conquer, Qimu Island must be conquered.
Mao Chenglu and Chen Guangfu discussed for a moment and decided to launch an attack early tomorrow morning. Mao Chenglu led a large force to attack Qimu Island from the sand embankment, attracting the attention of Dao Dao Xiangyong. Chen Guangfu led the elite to bypass the ice and raid Qimu Island.
"The capture of Qimu Island was my first achievement," Mao Chenglu said with a smile on his face. "I heard that Qimu Island has a large population, food and property. If we take it, our brothers will make a big fortune."
Mao Chenglu played a trick. He had already suffered a heavy loss from Qimudao Xiangyong in the Battle of Baimatang. Although he did not personally command at that time, he still knew from the mouths of the defeated troops who later fled back that the opponent's firearms were extremely sharp. Not only It shoots far and fast. After a few rows of guns, the soldiers can no longer hold on.
If one person says this, Mao Chenglu can think that he is shirk-ing, and if dozens of people say it in unison, the authenticity of this statement will be greatly improved.
So Mao Chenglu encouraged Chen Guangfu to lead his troops to make a detour, and he led a large group of troops to attack from the front - no matter how sharp the enemy's firearms were, they would never be able to withstand the huge shells of his six Hongyi cannons weighing more than ten kilograms each. No matter how strong his fortress was, his own giant cannons Under the bombardment, if the refugees are allowed to rush into the formation and fill the ditch, the enemy will naturally be disorganized and then he will have an opportunity to take advantage of it.
As for Chen Guangfu, it would be best if he can attack the island. If he can't attack, it won't be a big deal.
Chen Guangfu didn't know his plan, and he thought it was related to him leading the reinforcements. Mao Chenglu wanted to give him a favor and immediately agreed. He also said that if he captured Qimu Island, he would share the wealth equally and never let Brother Mao suffer.
Now it's time to make a plan and go back to rectify the troops.
Among the nearly 10,000 people brought by Mao Chenglu, there were actually only 1,500 who could be called combatants. In Huang County, plus the reinforcements brought by Chen Guangfu, there were a total of 5,000 people. Although the rebels held nearly 10,000 people in Huang County, they were known as There are 100,000 troops, but only 3,000 of them are combat troops. Mao Chenglu left half of the combat troops to guard the county town and took the other half of the combat troops and 2,000 auxiliary troops to attack Qimu Island. Most of the rest are refugees brought here.
Because the warehouses in Dengzhou are extremely rich, these 1,500 soldiers are fully equipped with weapons and equipment, and all have iron armor. Although the quality varies, at least everyone has armor, which is already a rare thing for the Ming Dynasty's army. Many of the soldiers also had a cotton or leather armor. The most exaggerated thing was the firearms. In addition to the six Hongyi cannons, these 1,500 soldiers were actually equipped with 800 various guns and cannons. When it came to The popularity of firearms was considered world-class at the time.
These huge assortments of firearms and ammunition were either mounted on handcarts or carried on people's shoulders. The six "big cannons" were transported by the refugees who were kidnapped, and the six "big guns" were pulled by the captive cattle, and slowly moved towards the sand embankment.
Walking in the lead were the recently "recruited" refugees, who were said to be "soldiers". In fact, they were all young, old and weak, and there were even women mixed in. As for weapons and equipment: most of them just held a wooden stick, and there were others who could do anything. There are no rebels who just use refugees as cannon fodder and labor force. Naturally, they have no intention of arming them, and there is no training at all.
Only after a few battles have been fought and most people died in obscurity, will the battle-hardened survivors be absorbed into the army and become a member of this team - this was among the various rebel armies in the late Ming Dynasty. It is the most common growth model. Those who survive in the end must be the most powerful soldiers who have experienced hundreds of battles.
In order to prevent the refugees from escaping, a team of servants on horseback constantly patrolled around the large group of refugees and used whips to drive them in the designated direction.
Chen Guangfu's team quietly separated from the large group of people. He only led 500 people. Except for his servants and some night guards, the rest were all veteran ruffians with many years of experience. They were all extremely fierce and wanted money. The desperate man heard that there was a village on Qimu Island, and there were tens of thousands of refugees. Every one of them had bright eyes. As long as he attacked it, he would not worry about grabbing dozens of taels of silver and a few beautiful women.
Under the city of Dengzhou and Huang County, a large number of women robbed by the rebels have formed a human market. The rebels went out to rob and sold the captured women to their accomplices in the human market, and the business was very prosperous.
Everyone has horses: these people all have experience riding horses on ice, and the horses' hooves are wrapped with anti-slip cloth strips. Moreover, Chen Guangfu's purpose of equipping them all with horses is not to let them rush the horses, but to quickly pass through the ice. After landing on the island, they immediately abandoned their horses and fought on foot - actually they were mounted infantry.
Although dragoons were developed in Europe, mounted infantry has always existed in China. Riding maneuvers and dismounted infantry combat were not uncommon in the wars of the late Ming Dynasty.
Because they had to walk on the ice and heard that the opponent had many firearms, these people all put on cotton armor boots that were lighter and more effective in resisting firearms. The boots were wrapped with straw ropes. In addition to carrying swords and shields, each of them also carried a Javelin - In addition to being used for throwing before an assault, this javelin is also used to save oneself in case of falling into an ice cave: Dongjiang Army has been on the Liaodong Island for a long time and has relatively rich experience in ice combat.
In addition to weapons, each person also carries several small earthen bottles filled with strong fire oil and a slow-burning kindling. As soon as he breaks into the island, he immediately sets fire everywhere.
In his opinion, regardless of the large number of people on the island, as soon as his five hundred elite soldiers land on the island, the village heroes will be in chaos. By then, the entire Qimu Island will be at their fingertips.
The team stopped at the entrance of the sand embankment. Mao Chenglu's subordinates were in a hurry to straighten the chaotic team and barely maintain order.
Mao Chenglu rode on his horse and walked slowly to the huge crowd, surrounded by his servants. He shouted loudly: "Everyone fights with all their strength to enter the village. We can get as much money, silk and food as we want with buns." There was a sudden commotion in the crowd, and Mao Chenglu sneered, Then he said loudly: "There are thousands of women in the village, you have to get a few of them. As long as you get them, human life is as cheap as paper in troubled times. Everyone will have no tomorrow after today. If you are a man, Don’t say that you’ve already fallen head over heels for a woman without even touching her breasts.”
The crowd, which was originally a bit dull, actually let out a few cheers. Someone shouted: "If a man dies, a bird will look up to the sky. If you don't die for eternity, you have to eat enough. If you have had enough fun, a woman will die." The crowd around them suddenly let out a burst of cheers. Under the incitement of these few words, the primitive instincts in the hearts of these poor people who were kind-hearted people less than ten and a half months ago were exposed. Their eyes turned red, and their morale suddenly skyrocketed.
Mao Chenglu knew that these few words of his had already had a great effect, and immediately ordered the entire army to advance towards the sand embankment.
The sun gradually rose, and there was a cold white light in the surrounding fields. On a winter morning in the first month, the wind was biting and cold. The huge crowd of rebels was like a flood, rolling towards the sand embankment of Qimu Island. Tens of thousands of people were walking there. The white gas spurting out is spectacular
Chen Sigen stood on a watchtower on the wicker edge bastion, observing the advancing rebels with a telescope
The dense crowd made his scalp numb just looking at it - what made him sigh was that as Zhu Mingxia said, those walking in front were all poor people with ragged clothes and disheveled faces.
They were all in rags and rags, and many simply walked barefoot in the snow, their skin turning blue from the cold. They knew full well that they were going to die, just for a few empty promises.
Thinking of what Zhu Mingxia said to him, he knew that Captain Zhu didn't mind how many poor people he killed, and he was also worried that he was being soft.
Even if I want to be soft, I can't. Chen Sigen thought to himself, with the formation in front of him, I'm afraid it won't be possible without a river of blood flowing in front of the willow branch.
The defenses along the willow side have been urgently reinforced. The original willow fence has had its crown cut off and its top sharpened. The cut branches are chosen to be thick and straight and tied horizontally between the willow trees. The smaller ones are used to create a grenade throwing distance for the deer village. There's a heavy price to pay just for climbing over this fence.
The artillery on the bastion was mainly deployed on the two wings according to Chen Sigen's instructions. It could focus fire on the enemy from the front, or shoot on the ice. After all, the sea on both sides of the sand embankment was frozen, and it was entirely possible for the enemy to go down to the ice to get around. They crossed the willow-side obstacle and attacked directly towards the bastion. Therefore, a steep slope roughly as high as a person has been dug out on the coastline close to the bastion - most natural coasts have such eroded slopes. The detachment only repaired it and poured water on the steep slope to freeze the ice.
He noticed that six Hongyi cannons had been set up about 800 meters away from the wicker edge. Judging from the shape of the cannons, they should be half-snake guns that fired twelve-pound shells. The effective range of this cannon was nearly two meters. Inside, there are powerful artillery pieces
Chen Sigen learned from the intelligence materials sent that the rebels were very sophisticated in the use of firearms, and had repeatedly used heavy artillery maneuvers, repeatedly defeating the officers and soldiers. During the entire Dengzhou Rebellion, the rebels' use of artillery was the most outstanding.
The gunners under Mao Chenglu are busy here. These six Hongyi cannons were taken out from Dengzhou City. These gunners were also trained by the Portuguese. A general was watching and constantly giving commands. The soldiers They all performed their duties, setting up artillery positions and loading artillery very skillfully.
A gunner raised a wooden ruler, closed one eye and looked at the wicker edge - they used a relatively simple and primitive parallax distance measurement. Even so, it was rare among the Ming army at that time. rq
