Zhu Cixiang turned his head and looked in the direction of Daqianling. On the low and gentle hillside, starting from the place close to the mountain, the fire was lit for the first time, like a spark of fire starting a prairie fire, and it suddenly covered half of a large slope.
Needless to say, these lights must be the torches lit by the Tatar soldiers who have completed their formation!
Judging from the pattern of torches, the Tatar soldiers formed a roughly rectangular square formation. The front is relatively narrow and the depth is large. The troops spread from the west bank of Qingliu at the foot of the mountain to the eastern slope of Daqunling near the ridge.
"Master Chitose, there are about 20,000 Tatar soldiers...and they have already set up their formation! Apparently they have left the camp long ago!" Wu Sanfu's voice was a little hoarse when he spoke!
20,000 Tatar soldiers! And he came prepared... He didn't have any numerical advantage here!
"It doesn't matter..." Zhu Cixiang was still calm, "With the clear stream blocking them, they can't rush over. We can calmly set up the formation!"
Qingliu Creek can be forded. At this season, the water depth is less than a person's waist. But in the waist-high stream, neither man nor horse could rush forward, so they could only pass slowly. Less than half of the Ming army marching along the river were firecrackers, carrying at least seven or eight thousand firecrackers!
In addition, there are 24 3-pound regimental guns in four regimental artillery batteries, which are also loaded with lead bullets and ready to fire at any time!
If the Qing soldiers launched an attack blindly, they could turn the Qingliu River into a bloody stream with just these muskets and artillery.
"The Qing Dynasty will be victorious! The Qing Dynasty will be victorious..."
The Qing soldiers on the hillside let out earth-shattering cheers, shouting in Manchu dialect. Although Prince Zhu could not understand, he had to admit that the momentum of these Qing soldiers was not weak!
Of course Zhu Cixiang would not show weakness and immediately ordered: "Light the torch! Light the lantern! Let the Tatars see our majesty!"
"Here!"
With an order, the fire started from Zhu Cixiang's position and quickly spread to the north and south. Soon it formed a fire dragon, lying at the foot of Daqian Ridge and beside the clear stream.
"Emperor Taizu Gao is reincarnated...invincible! Long live! Long live! Long live!"
Then the Ming army also started cheering, and the voice was a bit louder than that of the Qing army arrayed on the hillside!
"Haha, your voice is quite loud!" Hauge, who was riding his horse on the ridge on the east slope of Daqiang Ridge to watch the battle, laughed, "But fighting doesn't rely on your loud voice!"
"Your Majesty," Maile Zhangjing Luotuo, who was in charge of the Han army at the side, took over the conversation with a smile, "The slaves have already set up the Hongyi cannon. Do you want to fire a few cannons to scare the southern barbarians?"
Hauge went south with six 12-pound Hongyi cannons. Although the number was not large, it was quite effective when used well. Because the Ming army had fewer cavalry and more infantry, the most feared thing was that the formation would be destroyed.
"Okay!" Haug smiled, "Just aim... aim at those big flags and blast!"
He had already discovered Zhu Cixiang's "Flag of the Reincarnation of Emperor Taizu Gao" and the six dragon flags. These seven flags were illuminated by lanterns hung on the flagpoles, making them very eye-catching in the dark night. Although Hauge couldn't see the words and patterns on the flag clearly, he could roughly judge from their location and the direction they were moving that it was probably Zhu Cixiang's flag!
"twitter!"
"Boom boom boom..."
Luo Tuo responded, and was about to send someone to give orders to Hongyi Cannon Niu, when the booming sound of cannons sounded first.
However, it was not the Hongyi cannon of the Qing artillery team that roared, but the three-pound cannon of the Ming army. It was Hao Yaoqi and Shi Ruien who started the fire.
Luo Tuo pricked up his ears and listened, then said to Hauge: "Your Majesty, it's the south and the west that are fighting! There are a lot of cannons, I'm afraid there are no less than thirty. I don't know if they are Hongyi cannons... .”
"It's not the Hongyi cannon," Hauge smiled. "The thirty red cannons can't fire enough to shake the world? Are they louder now? They're like general cannons that stand in the sky."
"Then don't be afraid." Lotto said, "Bahana is a veteran and should be able to hold off those Nikans!"
Hauge nodded, raised his hand and pointed at the moving pile of Zhu Cihong's flags, raised his voice and said: "Pass this king's order, where the big flag is in the southern army formation ahead is the middle army of the young prince of the Zhu family!
In this battle, I don’t want anything else but Zhu Cixiang’s head! Get Zhu Cixi's head and be rewarded with six prospects! "
The so-called "Qiancheng" is actually the name for military merit in the Qing Dynasty. It was not until the Qianlong period that the "complete body" came into existence, with a total of nine levels and twenty-seven grades, that is, twenty-seven futures. However, there are not so many prospects at the moment. For ordinary Eight Banners soldiers, the starting point for future military meritorious officials is the third-class Niulu Zhangjing - Ang Bang Zhangjing, Mele Zhangjing, Zhalan Zhangjing (Jia La Zhangjing), Niu Lu Zhangjing The four chapters of Jingjing are now the names of the missions and the future of military merit. The difference is that when it comes to future prospects, one, two, and three are equal to twelve future prospects. Further up there are one, two, and three other princes, princes, and so on.
As for the six prospects, ordinary Eight Banners soldiers can jump to the first-class Zhalan Zhangjing (Jia La Zhangjing) at once, which is almost the third rank!
There must be brave men under a heavy reward, and the Eight Banners soldiers in this era are already brave. Now that there is a heavy reward, the army is even more jubilant!
The hundreds of shield carts arrayed at the bottom of the hillside near Qingliu Stream have been assembled and began to press towards the bank of Qingliu Stream driven by the coated slaves. There were also some firecrackers from the Zhenglan Banner Han Army who flew down from the mountain, each carrying bird cannons and turtledove foot cannons.
The six Hongyi cannons set up halfway up the mountain were also set up at this time and began to fire at the Ming army forming their formation across the Qingliu River.
Boom boom......
The six Hongyi artillery pieces of the Qing army were aimed at Zhu Cixiang's flag. It was impossible to hit him. The two sides were six miles away. However, the cannonballs flew overhead and still frightened Wu Sanfu.
"Master Chitose, this is still too far forward. How about moving back?"
"What are you moving?" Zhu Cixiang said angrily, "The Tatars only have a few cannons, and they are still so far away. How can they hit them? If I move back, I won't be able to command them."
Can't direct it? Wu Sanfu thought to himself: I was the one in charge! Just take a look...
"Sanfu," Zhu Cixiang saw him in a daze and gave him a loud order, "hurry up and set up the formation!"
It turns out that Zhu Cixiang didn’t command others, he only commanded Wu Sanfu...
"I accept the decree!"
Wu Sanfu had no choice but to receive the order, and then called all the soldiers and cavalrymen from the Model Military Division to convey the order to them one by one.
Those who joined the army were all "honored generations" who could boast and write. They had attended classes at the Nanjing Military Academy and knew a little bit about Western military strategy. They were responsible for recording Wu Sanfu's orders. The messenger put a recognition flag on his back and rode on horseback to deliver the order. If necessary, Wu Sanfu will also send joining the army and Chuanqi to give orders.
And his order today is not complicated. It basically covers two aspects, one is to set up the formation; the other is to fly the cannon.
To set up the formation, let the 44th Battalion of the Tenth Regiment of the two divisions that had arrived on the battlefield retreat and deploy - retreat to the rear of the official road, and then deploy a large hollow square formation.
Among them, twenty-four model battalions (battalions equipped with muskets and spears that can form the Morris Square) were divided into two parts. One part consisted of twenty battalions, which were divided into two large columns and placed in a line, forming a large hollow formation. of the front.
Another four battalions were mixed with the four cavalry battalions and were placed behind the Chinese army where Zhu Cihong and Wu Sanfu were located, forming the back of the large hollow formation.
Sixteen "pike battalions" (either uniformly equipped with pikes or non-model infantry battalions) were divided into two parts and placed on both wings of the large hollow square formation.
This arrangement is actually ordinary and nothing extraordinary. What is really powerful is the "flying artillery", which means that all four regiment artillery batteries are centralized and handed over to Feng Sizhong for unified command, centralized use, and mobile deployment!
That is to say, 24 three-pound regimental guns were allowed to maneuver on the official road in front of the hollow square formation of the Ming army and concentrate their firepower. This method of using artillery was not taught by Western instructors, but was given to Feng Sizhong by Zhu Cixiang. It is called the flying artillery method.
