In the Qing army's formation, Zhasuka was riding on a white horse, looking coldly at the Ming army's formation that was slowly pressing in from three sides.
The Ming army's military formation was extremely tight, especially the Ming army that mainly attacked the front. Even when they were marching, they still did not change much.
The Ming army came under pressure and the Chinese army was divided into two formations, the front formation and the rear formation, with about a thousand people in each formation.
The formation they arranged was also very puzzling. The entire formation was stretched very long, forming two broad red lines and slowly approaching. The formation showed different curves as the ground undulated as they marched.
The Ming army in the front row was holding a strange-looking weapon that looked like a spear, but it was not a spear because Chasuka did not see the reflected cold light.
Most of the Ming troops in the back row carried spears. Under the flags and drums, they were like a forest of moving spears.
There seemed to be a lot of artillery in the middle of the Ming army's formation. The artillery looked quite strange, and they couldn't be seen clearly from a distance, but they seemed to be dragged forward by three or four pack horses.
Zhasuka frowned. The infantry of the Ming army pressing from the left and right wings looked like elites among the Ming army, but they were not weird.
But the Ming army in front of them looked weird from top to bottom...
He lived in Ninggu Pagoda in this life. When the Xian Khan was still there, he joined the army as an official and participated in almost all the wars against the Ming Dynasty.
In the early years of Chongde, he was transferred to the literary library and given the title of Bakshi.
Baksh means a knowledgeable scholar, a doctor born in Chinese, and he is considered to be both civilized and military.
If the team is led by an ordinary general who only knows how to fight, Chasuka once followed Huang Taiji on the battlefield and read a lot of military books.
He was not blindly arrogant because of his successive victories, so the order he gave at the first moment was to retreat, not to attack.
It was a pity that the Mongolian cavalry at the rear was quickly defeated, and his plan to retreat was in vain.
Zhasuka's face was cold. The strange Ming army in front of him kept merging with the two armies he saw during the Battle of Hunhe River.
From this Ming army, he not only saw the shadow of the Zhejiang soldiers, but also the shadow of the white pole soldiers...
"What are those Nikans to be afraid of? According to me, these soldiers look powerful, but they are rotten to the core. They are just a bunch of bastards."
Sele laughed contemptuously, interrupting Zhasuka's thoughts. He was Jia La Zhangjing who was in charge of another Jia La.
Compared to Chasuka, who was serious and ready, his expression seemed much more relaxed, even disdainful and contemptuous.
It was not like they had never seen these Ming soldiers with bright armor and majestic appearance.
In the third year of Tiancong's reign, they encountered a Ming army when they attacked the city of Beijing. They looked menacing and majestic, but in the end, it was just a charge, and the Ming army was defeated by them. .
I heard that they were soldiers from the Beijing camp of the Ming army in Beijing. The bright and beautiful armors they captured were even armors made of paper, which did not offer much protection at all.
Zhasuka's expression was cold. Sele's words only caused his eyes to shift slightly, but there were not many waves in his heart.
This Ming army that came from afar had a great military appearance and a strict military formation, especially the Ming army that came from the front and oppressed them.
The military formation of more than 2,000 people marched in an orderly manner. They only formed once after marching for nearly a hundred steps. When marching, the formation was neat and orderly, like a rolling wave.
Everything can deceive people, but the murderous aura that rushes towards his face cannot deceive people.
The Ming army in front is by no means just a piece of gold and jade, but looks like a mess.
"It's not like you don't know the Mongols' cavalry fighting skills. I left more than 800 people behind, and the Ming army's vanguard cavalry dispersed the cavalry formation with just one charge."
"There is obviously something wrong with this Ming army. Confidence is a good thing, but pride is not good. There is an old saying in the Ming Dynasty that is right - a proud army will be defeated."
Zhasuka's eyes were slightly stern, and his sharp gaze swept across the surrounding generals. His voice was terrifyingly cold, like an ice spring flowing in the crevices of a glacier.
"When engaging in battle, everyone must be at their best and deal with it in a strict manner."
"Those who pass on my general's orders, who underestimate the enemy and lead to defeat, or who do not respect orders, will be killed immediately regardless of their origin or official position!"
Sele suppressed his smile, and all the generals who originally looked disdainful also looked slightly grim.
Zhasuka's military order was issued, and all the generals, including Sel, responded in unison.
Although Sele and Chasuka were both members of the Jia Lazhangjing and participated in the leadership, this time when going south, the flag master designated Chasuka to lead the army.
Normally, the two of them are on the same level and can communicate equally.
But on the battlefield, as long as Chasuka raised the flag and issued military orders, he was the commander-in-chief of the army.
The Qing army was highly hierarchical, more strict than any other army at the same time, and because of this, the Qing army's combat power was also extremely terrifying.
Even after being scattered and plundering, they could take the plundered gold, silver, property, livestock and people, and regroup according to the set time without falling behind or being late.
Even after the defeat, they ran back to the rear and gathered together.
For the average army, this is almost a fantasy.
In Europe at the same time, during the wars between them, they would also send troops to plunder local territories.
Although various countermeasures were formulated, many soldiers still took the opportunity to escape and slip away.
After the defeat, it is almost impossible to gather again.
The reason why the Qing army was able to do so was, on the one hand, its pride caused by its almost invincibility, and on the other hand, its grassroots military system.
The Qing Dynasty established by Huang Taiji learned from the Ming Dynasty in many places. On the surface, it seemed to be a feudal empire similar to the Ming Dynasty.
Later, after the Qing Dynasty took over the Central Plains, it was said that the Qing Dynasty inherited the Ming Dynasty system, so that many people in later generations blamed the problems of the late Qing Dynasty on the Ming Dynasty system.
It is believed that it was precisely because the Qing Dynasty inherited too many systems from the Ming Dynasty that it caused the decline of modern China.
But in fact, the Ming and Qing Dynasties are fundamentally different.
The Ming Dynasty was a feudal country, but the Qing Dynasty at this time was actually a semi-slavery structure under the leadership of military clans.
The Eight Banners system originally originated from the Jurchen hunting organization. Due to the increase in the number of people, hunting activities that went together required unified command. The commander was called Niu Lu Ezhen, and this group of people was called Niu Lu.
The Jurchens during the Nurhaci period were still in a tribal system.
After the deaths of Li Chengliang and Li Rusong, the Liaodong Ming Army began to decline. Nurhachi, who was originally his subordinate, seized this excellent opportunity and took the opportunity to raise troops with the Seven Hatreds.
Nurhaci spent a long time, when the Ming army in Liaodong was at its weakest, to complete the unification of the various clans and establish a so-called country.
At that time, Houjin was actually just a tribal alliance under the guise of a country, which was actually extremely unorganized.
Nurhaci brought them all under his command with iron-blooded methods.
Huang Taiji is very clear about these things, not only the appearance, but also the internal response.
Therefore, after he came to power, he promoted a large number of Han ministers in order to change this situation.
After his disguise, the appearance of the Qing Dynasty in the north is beginning to resemble China's usual centralized regime, which is the so-called feudal society.
But no matter what, he has no way to truly and completely replace the Ming Dynasty...
However, although they cannot replace the Ming Dynasty, it is precisely because of the nature of military clans and semi-slavery structure that their combat power is so strong.
Zhasuka narrowed his eyes, not knowing why he always had a bad feeling.
At this time, he finally noticed that the entire team of the Ming Army seemed to be longer than the previous times.
"The Ming army stopped..."
…
"Three hundred steps away, form a team in each round!"
"Woo————"
The low horn sound sounded again, and the high-spirited step drum sound also slowed down at this time.
As the flag of the Chinese army waved, the soldiers of each bureau stopped one after another, and then began to quickly form their teams under the command of generals at all levels.
"Whoosh——" "Whoosh——"
Rapid whistles sounded in the lines of each bureau, and as the flags waved down, orders also sounded in each bureau.
"The artillery team comes forward!"
The chief executives of each bureau had already dispersed the military formations in advance to make way for artillery vehicles to move.
"The artillery team comes forward!!"
A group of artillerymen repeated the officer's orders loudly and moved forward.
The horses pulling the artillery, driven by the grooms, quickly arrived at the front of the formation.
A group of artillerymen who were following behind them all stepped forward one after another. They each performed their duties. Some unloaded the ammunition boxes, some released the traction ropes, some took the artillery carts, and some pulled the war horses.
After becoming artillerymen, they had rehearsed these actions countless times, so they didn't make the slightest mistake now.
Nowadays, the artillery of the Hanzhong Army are basically trained by Bo Jue. At first, Chen Wang's original plan was to recruit several Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch artillerymen in Macau, that is, Haojing.
However, people who went to Macau found that most of the gunners aimed by feeling, and there was no way to aim at all. Moreover, the language was difficult to understand, so they simply did not recruit them.
This situation is actually normal, because most of the people who come to Macau at this time are desperadoes and businessmen, and they don't need to know so much.
And those Europeans who knew how to use artillery and whose incomes were high, why did they leave Macau with a group of people of unknown origin?
Not recruiting European gunners as instructors is actually not too important.
The gunners of the Ming Army also had techniques and tricks for firing cannons. They even calculated the impact point and angle when the artillery came out.
They had their own way, but it was not scientific enough in the eyes of later generations.
The arrival of Bo Jue also solved this problem. Bo Jue had read some European classics about the use of artillery.
And he also has his own opinions, and he is integrating them and combining many of their advantages.
Under Chen Wang's instruction, Bo Jue compiled a set of drills for training artillery.
The artillery training period is not short. Some of them have at least three months of experience in using the artillery. They are basically familiar with the range and impact point of the artillery.
With the sound of rolling wheels, twenty three-pound cannons and four five-pound cannons were quickly set up.
The artillerymen operating the cannon were all concentrating and quickly adjusted the angle of the barrel.
The observer responsible for the observation used instruments to measure the approximate distance to the Qing army's formation, and continuously reported the data obtained.
…
"Red-coated cannon?!"
Zhasuka's heart skipped a beat. He saw a lot of war horses suddenly running out of the Ming army's array, and saw the busy Ming army.
The Ming army stopped at a distance of three hundred steps, which was within the range of the red cannon.
Those things in front of the Ming army's formation looked like artillery from a distance.
However, the red-coated cannons are basically very heavy. This Ming army obviously came from a long distance, covered with dust, and came in a hurry. How could it be possible to bring the red-coated cannons with them?
Zhasuka looked solemn, and what happened in front of him made the uneasiness in his heart aggravate again.
"Zhang Jing..."
Beside Zhasuka, a lieutenant hesitated and wanted to give advice.
But before he could finish speaking, Zhasuka's attention was instantly drawn to the Ming army's formation directly in front.
Zhasuka saw before his eyes large clouds of white gunpowder smoke rising from the front lines of the Ming army. The orange-red firelight looked extremely eerie under the reflection of the setting sun.
Two seconds later, a huge roar reached Zhasuka's ears.
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!!"
That's the sound of artillery!
Zhasuka's heart felt cold, as if he had fallen into an ice cave.
The next moment, Zhasuka was almost blind.
He watched helplessly as the front formation suddenly exploded with a large amount of blood mist and limbs flying everywhere, and a shrill wail resounded throughout the formation in an instant.
The nearest shell even landed right in front of him.
Zhasuka watched the cannonball smash into the array of armored soldiers in the front line. The speed of the cannonball was extremely fast and could not be seen in the air. He could only see clearly when it hit the crowd.
The artillery shell smashed into the formation obliquely, like a giant hammer, almost destroying half of the upper body of the vest soldier standing at the front.
Then like a sharp blade, he directly cut off the thigh of the armored soldier standing behind him, and then cut off the calf of another armored soldier without stopping.
After the cannonball hit the ground, it bounced up again, forming a ricochet. The low and flat trajectory expanded its killing range again, and knocked the two armored soldiers behind it to the ground.
Broken limbs, broken arms, as well as fragments of shields and weapons were flying everywhere, causing chaos in the originally tight military formation.
After killing and injuring nearly seven or eight Qing soldiers in succession, the energy of the artillery shells finally decreased, and the flesh and blood of several armored soldiers finally rolled down on the grass.
The bombardment came too suddenly. The time from the Ming army's horses coming out, to setting up the artillery, to firing the artillery was horribly short.
No one in the Qing army thought of it, nor did they anticipate such a situation in advance.
When the Hanzhong army opened fire, the Qing army was still in a tight formation used for close combat.
"Blow the conch horn and advance forward! Kill these Nikans!"
Zhasuka's face was distorted and he roared. At this moment, he really felt the threat of death.
Now in the army, the artillery they have can only fire a hundred and thirty paces at best.
At present, they are three hundred steps away from the Ming army. Above this distance, they can only be beaten passively.
The Ming army's artillery can hit three hundred paces. Just by the sound, there are nearly twenty of them!
Sitting there and waiting for death is the only way to die!
(End of chapter)
