Chapter 270
Zhang Xianzhong's method of using troops was very cruel. Most of the troops under his command, except for the elite of the Shaanxi old battalion, were cannon fodder, and these cannon fodder troops were divided into three, six or nine grades by Zhang Xianzhong, who arranged different supplies for each.
Under Zhang Xianzhong's order, these cannon fodder troops began to flock towards the Ning Haijun Formation. During the charge of these cannon fodder troops, there were also rogue bandits with Shaanxi accents who kept confusing the cannon fodder bandits.
"We haven't opened Macheng yet, and we've eaten everything around us. Ji Zai's only way is to defeat the army. The army has food!"
"The army has tens of thousands of horses. If we defeat the army, we can eat horse meat!"
"If we don't defeat the army, we will starve to death!"
"Without food and without an attack by the army, we will die in pieces!"
"Charge forward and eat the officers and soldiers!"
"dash forward!"
As more and more rogue bandits unified their slogans, the faces of these rogue bandits' cannon fodder troops showed a look of madness. They were like floods that burst their banks, coming in large groups, seemingly endless. Their expressions became more and more crazy, and they used practical actions to tell Cheng Shijie that the bandits were not afraid of death.
The relaxed look on Zhao Wencai's face disappeared and was replaced by a solemn look: "Commander, there are too many of them. This battle is not easy to fight!"
"A rabble is always a rabble. No matter how many troops there are, it is still a rabble."
Cheng Shijie said with a disapproving smile on his face: "No matter how many people there are, how long can they hold out in front of our Ning Haijun cavalry? A quick charge will resolve the battle!"
"No, Marshal, what the general means is that if we are facing Jiannu, let alone these few of them, even if there are ten times more, the general will not blink an eye!"
Zhao Wencai smiled bitterly and said: "They are deceived people after all, so should we persuade them to surrender?"
"With their momentum, whoever tries to persuade them to surrender will die. It's not too late to persuade them after the fight is over first."
After Cheng Shijie finished speaking, he slowly raised his right hand: "Let them see the true strength of our Ning Haijun!"
The cavalry division of Ning Haijun is just a unit number. They are not just cavalry. Although the cavalry is important on the battlefield, the problem is that cannons are not a new thing. Whether they are slaves or bandits, let them take out a few at will. One artillery piece or dozens of artillery pieces is not a big problem.
In the era of hot weapons, Cheng Shijie's biggest characteristic was that he suffered from the phobia of barren firepower, and it was still in an advanced stage. As early as the establishment of the Ninghai Navy Cavalry, the cavalry could have infantry fire support posts in the establishment, that is, the cavalry was armed with thunder. The running gun is different from the infantry version of the Thunder Gun. The cavalry version is disassembled into three parts, thirty barrels, a base, and an ammunition tray.
After being disassembled into three parts, the Thunder Gun became the long-range support firepower of the Ning Navy cavalry. Especially after the development of guns and artillery, the Fire Dragon Water was improved. This thing is a two-stage rocket launcher. It is very light and is naturally equipped with cavalry units. Of course, infantry units There are also troops.
With the establishment of the Ning Navy Cavalry for more than four years, the Ning Navy Cavalry discovered that no matter how they trained, they were always inferior to the Jiannu Cavalry in riding skills. If their skills were not good enough, they would have to make do with equipment.
In fact, if the Ning navy cavalry were to pursue the Jiannu cavalry on the prairie, they really couldn't do it because they carried too much weight. This was the real reason why Cheng Shijie was eager to improve horse breeds.
At this time, the originally neat cavalry of the Ning Navy suddenly dispersed left and right, revealing the support firepower of the Ning Navy Commander-in-Chief. Thirty-six thunderbolts without wheels had already been loaded and were just waiting to be fired.
In addition, there are more than sixty four-unit Fire Dragon Izuku. The non-cavalry version is called Fire Dragon Type 2. This is a personal use type. Compared with the Fire Dragon Type 1 sold to Catherine, the range is nearly twice as long, reaching 1,500 to 2,000. Kilometers, the power is more than twice as big.
The explosive charge of the Fire Dragon Type 1 is 689 grams, but the explosive charge of the Fire Dragon Type 2 is two kilograms. This power is almost equivalent to the charge of the 120mm mortar of later generations. Of course, the power is much higher. A little less so.
Despite this, this Fire Dragon Type II already possesses considerable power. However, the biggest problem is that the appearance of the Fire Dragon II rocket launcher is very simple. It is one meter and a half long and has a warhead similar to a mortar shell. It is filled with two kilograms of collodion and a certain amount of collodion. It serves as propellant, and then there is a long iron pipe that serves as a balance rod. There are four flying wings behind the iron pipe that serve as a balance.
When launching, use a torch to light it, and you will see all four rockets shoot out in a whoosh. Of course, this is only the cavalry version. The infantry version of the rocket launcher is quite crazy, with as many as twenty-four units. In other words, a Fire Dragon rocket launcher can have the firepower of an artillery battalion, but the range is a little shorter.
Seeing that the rogue army was getting closer and closer to Ning Haijun, and had already entered the effective shooting range, Zhao Wencai's hand fell heavily: "Fire!"
As the artillerymen of the Ning Navy Cavalry moved the torch closer, the fuse at the rear of the rocket launcher began to hiss and smoke.
After a while.
"Whoosh whoosh..."
The screams that made people's scalp explode, and the dazzling firelights like meteors chasing the moon. Not to mention the killing effect, the sound and light effects alone caused the army of rogue bandits to be in chaos.
After the sixty-four rocket launchers were fired, 256 rocket shells flew towards the rogue formation. However, these rocket shells did not miss. After all, there were too many rogues. Even if they shot with their eyes closed, they would not be able to hit them all. Rogue bandits.
As the rocket shells landed, orange-red fireballs exploded in the bandit array. The exploding rocket shell shrapnel and the shock wave of the explosion began to cut into the bodies of the bandits. Many bandits who were far away from the explosion point were lifted into the air and turned into human bodies. Debris or flesh and fire rained down.
One-third of Rao Zhang Xianzhong's troops are veterans who have survived hundreds of battles. They couldn't help but change their colors in horror when they saw the purgatory-like sea of fire!
In fact, not to mention that the bandits were frightened, even the naval officer Ning, who was using this device in actual combat for the first time, could not help but turn pale, probably because of the anger of ghosts and gods.
Sun Kewang, Zhang Xianzhong's general, was still called Zhang Kewang. His face was pale and he murmured to himself: "Sorcery, sorcery, sorcery!"
In just half a stick of incense, 256 rockets fell from the rogue formation. Then, after firing, the Ning navy soldiers quickly loaded the rocket shells and prepared for the second round of firing.
With these 256 rocket shells, at least thousands of rogues were killed and injured. However, compared to the hundreds of thousands of rogues with hundreds of thousands of soldiers, the casualties of thousands of people were still within the tolerance range.
Zhang Xianzhong was not intimidated by Ning Haijun's artillery, but he was very excited, with greedy eyes bursting out. Looking at the tragic scene of blood and flesh, and listening to the extremely sad screams, Zhang Xianzhong thought He can capture these artillery pieces. With these artillery pieces, wouldn't the world be free to him?
Zhang Xianzhong sneered and said: "Hopefully, Dingguo, come on and take down those cannons!"
Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo responded and each led their three or four thousand cavalry to rush toward the Ning Haijun artillery position.
Zhao Wencai said with a sneer on his face: "Commander, Zhang Xianzhong is so arrogant. He thinks that he can take us down by sending seven or eight thousand cavalry. He is simply seeking death! The last general is asking for a fight!"
"cut!"
Cheng Shijie smiled disapprovingly and said: "Let's play for a while, who will let them play cavalry shooting? The real role of the cavalry is to chase the defeated enemy. Just wait and see! The rocket adjusts its shooting range and adjusts the target to the rear of the enemy's cavalry. The thunderbolt gun is ready Fire!"
Playing cavalry battle with Ning Haijun, let alone Zhang Xianzhong, even if Huang Taiji comes, he has to kneel down, not to mention the cavalry under Zhang Xianzhong, even the Mongolian cavalry is inferior. Otherwise, Guan Ning's army would not have been able to chase them with more than 20,000 cavalry with only three thousand cavalry, and flee in embarrassment.
"Kill!"
Li Dingguo and Sun Kewang, one on the left and the other on the right, were like a pair of huge horns, slamming towards Ning Haijun with thunderous momentum. The flying knight on horseback straightened his back and raised the sword, gun or riding bow in his hand.
Only one-third of the cavalry under Zhang Xianzhong are equipped with riding bows. Obviously, only one-third of them can play cavalry archery, which is more than 2,000 cavalry. Compared with Jiannu, everyone can draw a bow and ride and shoot. Not even close.
"Eight hundred steps!"
"Six hundred steps!"
"Five hundred steps!"
"Four hundred and fifty steps..."
As the observers reported the distance from time to time, in fact, these cavalrymen had already entered the effective range of the Thunder Gun. Although the Thunder Gun was defined as a gun in Cheng Shijie's eyes, in fact, it was actually an artillery. If you returned with the Thunder Gun, On the battlefield of the Anti-Japanese War, even the small Doudin tank couldn't carry it, let alone the human body?
"Bang bang bang..."
More than 30 thunderbolts fired out tongues of fire, and the sound of gunshots shook people's eardrums like thunder. Three hundred and fifty steps away, hundreds of bandit light cavalrymen or war horses suddenly exploded with large clouds of blood mist. Screaming, hissing, and falling down with a crash, almost everyone on the front line was wiped out.
Sun Kewang almost fell off his horse: "Damn it, the army's firecrackers actually hit so far and so accurately?"
Seeing this scene, Cheng Shijie showed a sinister smile.
Due to technological breakthroughs, each barrel of these thunder guns has four riflings, and the propellant is no longer black powder but nitrocellulose. The bullets hit farther and are more powerful.
These improved versions of Thunder Guns were actually prepared for Jiannu. However, since the Battle of Baliwan, Jiannu became more honest. This time, Zhang Xianzhong’s troops suffered a big loss!
As the thunderbolts and rocket launchers fired one after another, the menacing rogue cavalry suffered casualties!
Sun Kewang gritted his teeth and cursed: "Damn it, how come these officers and soldiers have so many muskets, and their power is unheard of!"
He raised his saber high and roared loudly: "Charge over! Charge over and chop down these damn gunners!"
The rogue cavalry was hit by a round of rocket launchers, thirty-two thunderbolts, and thirty semi-automatic machine guns. They were a little panicked, but when they saw Sun Kewang charging forward, they calmed down and charged after them.
They all know that retreating now is definitely not a good idea. Retreating will only give the officers and gunners the chance to reload and aim calmly, and blow them up with corpses everywhere. Only by rushing forward and cutting down these gunners can they have a chance to survive.
Fortunately, the cannon reloads slowly. After firing one round, I don’t know how long it will take to fire again...
It's just a pity that the loading method of the Fire Dragon II is a bit like the guerrilla warfare artifacts of later generations. Seeing the rogue cavalry becoming more and more crazy, these rocket launchers are no longer loaded. Instead, they pile soil on the ground to form a small slope, and roughly aim the rockets. Rogue cavalry.
"call out……"
A Fire Dragon II rocket launcher flew towards the rogue cavalry. As for the Thunder Gun, it is more convenient to reload. To put it simply, the Thunder Gun works like a revolver. This is actually an enlarged version of the revolver.
The tragedy of Zhang Xianzhong is that although his men are said to have tens of thousands, they can only fight fifty or sixty thousand. Of course, if they are given to two Wowotou, they can rush forward and risk their lives. If included, the strength would have doubled.
Now nearly half of Zhang Xianzhong's elite cavalry are basically within the range of Ning Haijun's rocket launchers and thunder cannons. They can't retreat even if they retreat, and they can't charge forward even if they want to fight.
As Cheng Shijie said, a rabble is always a rabble, no matter how large the number is, it is still a rabble.
Zhao Wencai said: "Commander, the last general invites you to fight!"
"Not urgent!"
Cheng Shijie said: "These are Zhang Xianzhong's elite veterans. No matter how good we give them, they will never follow us. These are old thieves who have eaten human flesh. It is too difficult to change them. The best way is Destroy them physically!"
As Cheng Shijie's order was issued, the rocket launchers and thunder cannons continued to fire, especially the sound of the rocket launchers. It was too loud. Fire dragons flew towards the rogue bandits, and the entire battlefield seemed like Shura Purgatory.
Sun Kewang was lying on the ground at this time. He had been pissed by the rocket launcher. Li Dingguo was even worse. He was knocked unconscious by an object. When he woke up, he realized that it was actually a thigh, which was blown away by the rocket launcher. human legs.
"咻咻咻咻..."
"Bang bang bang..."
There were only these two sounds left on the battlefield at this time. The slaughterhouse-like scene created by rocket launchers and thunderbolts still made everyone tremble. There were countless people shouting and running around like crazy.
Zhang Xianzhong repeatedly shouted at them not to move, but how could he control them? As rocket shells rained down, his army became more and more chaotic and was on the verge of collapse.
A team that has no faith or common pursuits and relies solely on looting to maintain itself, no matter how large the number is, will ultimately be vulnerable. Zhang Xianzhong's side was hit to the brink of collapse by the fierce shelling, while Li Dingguo and Sun Kewang had completely collapsed.
It was crushed by the rocket launcher of Ning Navy Cavalry!
This was a cavalry battle that made them feel extremely frustrated. Seven to eight thousand bandit cavalry roared in, but they could not get within two hundred steps of Ning Haijun's cavalry. No matter whether they were riding bows, spears or Even the saber couldn't reach Ning Haijun.
I tried my best but couldn't hit the opponent. The opponent fired a volley, leaving many casualties on my side. How should I fight this battle? How else to fight?
Sun Kewang was lucky. His horse died and threw him to the ground. Therefore, neither the rocket launchers nor the thunderbolts hurt him. His only injury was that he was injured by his own horse. It was not a big problem. .
However, the cavalry under Sun Kewang did not have such good luck. Looking at the corpses on the ground, Sun Kewang felt a little desperate.
Zhang Xianzhong watched as his 8,000 elite cavalry rushed forward, but many of them fell down. The smoke was so thick that he could not see clearly what was going on on the battlefield.
Zhang Xianzhong said angrily: "What the hell are these dog officers and soldiers using? Is there anyone who fights like this!?"
Enengqi took a breath and said: "They have always fought like this...against them, no matter how many people there are, it is useless. They will be completely overwhelmed by them a few times."
Zhang Xianzhong said with some frustration: "Since I raised my army, I have traveled across the northwest, with swords and spears like a forest, and arrows raining down on me. They can't capture me, but in the end I was defeated..."
"Father!"
Ai Nengqi heard Zhang Xianzhong's despair and hurriedly advised: "Father, the number of officers and soldiers is too small. Let's withdraw and leave these refugees to them!"
Zhang Xianzhong said: "Why don't you surrender to Cheng Shijie?"
"No surrender!"
Zhang Xianzhong said: "Why can't we surrender? Surrender first. If the government can't give us a good settlement, then we will rebel. Is this how we have been here all these years?"
Ai Nengqi said: "That's because the officers and soldiers are not strong enough and dare not forcibly disband us and collect our weapons. That's why we surrender when we want and rebel when we want! But this is Cheng Shijie!"
"What can Cheng Shijie do?"
Ai Nengqi smiled bitterly and said: "But Cheng Shijie is different, adoptive father, look at it, will he give us such a chance again? Once surrendered, we will never have a chance!"
"If we can't surrender, we will die!"
"If we don't surrender, we can retreat!"
"Where else can I retreat to?"
"Let's go into the mountains!"
Ai Nengqi was Zhang Xianzhong's adviser before he accepted Wang Zhaolin. Many opinions came from Ai Nengqi, including the strategy of going south to Fengyang.
Zhang Xianzhong was actually just making a gesture. How could he want to die?
Besides, it's not like he has never been defeated. He cooperated with Ai Nengqi. As long as Ai Nengqi spoke, he reluctantly agreed, letting Ai Nengqi take the blame.
If he said to retreat, he would retreat. Zhang Xianzhong didn't care about Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo, and directly led the troops of the old camp to retreat towards Macheng.
"I can not be reconciled!"
"Father, as long as the green hills remain, why worry about not having firewood?"
Ai Nengqi said: "Our strength is still there, so we may not have no chance of making a comeback!"
As Zhang Xianzhong retreated, a large number of rogue bandits also retreated.
Cheng Shijie also noticed Zhang Xianzhong's strange behavior: "Zhao Wencai!"
"The general is here!"
"Zhang Xianzhong ran away, chase him, don't let him get away!"
"yes!"
Zhao Wencai did not dare to take away all Ning Haijun's cavalry. He needed to leave thousands of people to protect Cheng Shijie. Anyway, Zhao Wencai finally led three thousand cavalry to bypass these bandits and pursue Zhang Xianzhong.
These rogue infantrymen saw Zhang Xianzhong running away, and the old battalion men and horses also ran away. They knelt down and raised their hands: "Master, stop fighting, we surrender!"
Seeing Zhang Xianzhong's escape, these bandits no longer had the will to resist, so they abandoned their weapons and surrendered.
The battle was finally over. Hundreds of thousands of bandits were killed and wiped out in one day. Such a great achievement was almost like a myth.
But in the eyes of Ning Haijun, this was nothing remarkable. They had expected such a result before the war. For them, defeating the bandits has never been a problem, but how to place them is the biggest headache.
Although there are enough grain reserves in Liaodong and enough farms and factories in Luzon to absorb these hundreds of thousands of people, there is definitely no way for Cheng Shijie to accommodate these many people in Macheng. It is undoubtedly difficult to rely solely on dry food from the Ning Navy cavalry to accommodate these rogue prisoners. It's a fool's dream.
The problem of feeding these hundreds of thousands of people must be solved immediately, otherwise, trouble will definitely occur, and we must take a long-term approach.
"Commander, what should we do now?"
When Han looked at the dark mass of rogue prisoners, being stared at by countless pairs of eyes, she felt a little nervous and very uneasy.
Cheng Shijie said: "Organize them into one, and every ten households will be one A, and ten A will be one hundred households, and each one hundred households will be managed separately!"
"What about food?"
Cheng Shijie pointed to the dead horses on the battlefield and said: "Each hundred households are assigned a few dead horses and let them look for firewood by themselves!"
In fact, Cheng Shijie had no good solution now. Fortunately, the rocket launchers and thunderbolts had shocked the bandits so much that even though there were only 3,000 Ning Navy soldiers in custody, these bandit prisoners did not dare to run away, let alone launch attacks. riot.
As time went by, the reorganized 100-household offices were reorganized one by one, and these reorganized 100-household offices began to assign tasks.
After all, the space in Heshun Village is too small to accommodate so many people. There are hundreds of thousands of bandit prisoners, and the area alone covers an area of more than ten square kilometers.
All Cheng Shijie can provide them is a small amount of dead horses and a small amount of fried rice or noodles. As for what kind of meals they can make to fill their stomachs, it all depends on their own abilities.
Those who were reorganized into hundreds of households either built tents or dug stoves and began to bury pots to make rice. Fortunately, the bandits did not have everything. There was also a small amount of food in their troops, especially the property left behind by Zhang Xianzhong in his haste to escape. Not a few.
The amount of silver seized alone amounted to 3.5 million taels, 80,000 taels of gold, and a large number of rare antiques. As for the weapons and armors, they were piled up like mountains. The capital that Zhang Xianzhong finally saved was all cheaper than Ning Haijun.
Cheng Shijie looked at the list and exclaimed: "There are 80,000 gold and 3.5 million silver. It's terrible!"
Han, who was responsible for counting the finances, put the account book in front of Cheng Shijie: "There are also more than a hundred carts of copper coins. In fact, we don't pay much attention to money during this period. The most important thing is mules, horses and food!"
Zhang Xianzhong's reputation in the Ming Dynasty was completely bad. Even if he had money, he couldn't buy anything unless he broke it into pieces and pretended to be other people in a scattered way to buy supplies with money.
The gentry of the Ming Dynasty would rather not do business with Zhang Xianzhong than sell supplies to Zhang Xianzhong. This is the real reason why Zhang Xianzhong does not value treasures.
Cheng Shijie looked at Qiao Siniang beside him and said, "Hurry Meng En, where did he transport the food?"
Without food, these hundreds of thousands of bandits would turn into a volcano that could erupt at any time.
PS: Shamelessly ask for a monthly pass.
(End of chapter)
