So what if you bully the weak and beat the weak with more?
As long as you can win on the battlefield, you are a winner!
There is a principle on this gambling table, no one will think that their chips are short.
Zheng Guangying thought that it was his first time to compete with Hongyi, and it was appropriate to have so many chips in his hand.
He just wanted to use the thousand men in his hand to eat the twenty or so red barbarians on the opposite side. After the victory, no one could say anything idle.
For a moment, the flags embroidered with the Chinese character "Zheng" fluttered in the wind, and the soldiers all rushed to be the first, just like dogs chasing rabbits, intending to rush forward and surround the nearby Red Yi soldiers.
The distance between the two sides gradually shortened, and in the end there was less than forty steps left. The Hongyi people were about to escape into the forest, and they were only twenty steps away by visual inspection.
“Tum…Tum…Tum…Tum…Tum!”
At this moment, bursts of gunfire suddenly came from the forest. Immediately afterwards, Zheng Guangying saw a continuous stream of white smoke, and his expression suddenly changed. This sound was all too familiar to him.
The Folang machine used by our own ship made this sound when it fired, which meant that our troops were ambushed by the red barbarians, and maybe they fell into a trap that the other party had planned in advance.
The Fo Lang machine fires a large number of small-weight shotgun shells at close range, using a jet attack. It is very lethal to enemy targets, especially large groups of infantry.
The sergeant Zheng, who was still in high spirits, was immediately caught off guard. The Tan Ma who was rushing at the front was directly knocked down by the hail of bullets. Zheng Guangying saw that the situation was not good, so he turned his horse and ran away.
But before he could run very far, his mount was hit in the hind legs by Hong Yi with a musket. It lost its support and fell to its knees on the ground. No matter how hard its owner whipped it, it was difficult to stand up again.
This made the surrounding soldiers anxious. General Ya and the five or six surviving men hurriedly approached, pulled Zheng Guangying onto his horse, and ran away quickly. If he stayed here any longer, he would die.
In the blink of an eye, nearly fifty people from Zheng's army, who had been on the offensive just now, were shot dead on the spot by Hongyi with a Folang machine, and no less than thirty people were killed by muskets, and they were completely beaten and disoriented.
There were screams in the grass, and everyone was unprepared for Hongyi's ambush. They were hit by a hail of bullets. With the eldest son taking the lead in running away, many people followed him.
"There are few Hongyi people, come on over to me!"
Guo Huai, who was holding the battle nearby, was very anxious when he saw this. If there was a defeat, everyone's backs would be left to the red barbarians to fight at will. The casualties would be even more severe. For now, he could only bite the bullet and order his subordinates. Attack the woods.
The two armies combined totaled 1,500 people. Even if all the Hongyi troops on the shore were hiding here, the total number was only 400. We had almost four times the strength of the Hongyi troops, so a forceful charge was completely feasible.
"Kill Hongyi!"
Under the command of the commander-in-chief, the officers and soldiers of the Zheng Army also recovered from the confusion just now and reorganized a round of offensive. Relying on their own strength and numbers, they could kill even the bloody Red Army with their lives. Yiyi.
The fighting distance between the two sides was only about fifty steps, so even if Zheng Jun attacked with all his infantry, it would be very easy to rush in. As long as he was not afraid of death and had good luck, he could rush into Hongyi's position even if he was wearing armor. In the woods.
"The Folan machine continues to bombard the pirates! Use matchlocks and pistols to delay their attack! The whole battalion is ready for close combat!"
Major Simvet, commander of the infantry battalion, hid behind a banana tree, stuck half of his head out, coldly observed the enemy's movements, and then shouted orders to the officers and soldiers around him.
His infantry battalion brought six Franc aircraft this time, one of which was washed away by the mudslide. The five Franc aircraft in front of them were their only heavy firepower.
Originally, the Dutch East India Company equipped its infantry companies with other types of light artillery. However, considering that the indigenous troops on the island were too terrifying, the Franco machine, which can quickly load ammunition and fire, became the well-deserved artillery of choice. .
Ordinary artillery requires at least a minute to complete one firing, but when the Franchise is firing at extremely high speeds, the firing time between each shot is only a dozen seconds. This is undoubtedly a huge firepower for the Dutch army, which is at a military disadvantage. Replenish.
The Dutch Army's Franchise was well maintained, had a long range and a high rate of fire. It was deployed in the woods by Major Witte. It had one door on the front and two doors on each side, forming an angle of 45 to 60 degrees, which could form cross fire. , cutting through the pirate infantry with a hail of bullets.
From the actual combat point of view, this arrangement is undoubtedly very wise. Since the firing distance is very close, even if the Folang aircraft uses shotguns to attack, the hit accuracy is not low. The pirates in the front row were knocked down by the rain of bullets, almost like cutting Grass is generally easy.
Major Witte knew that if he didn't give the following enemy a head-on attack, his troops would be bitten by them sooner or later, and it would be difficult to escape. After thinking about it, he decided to ambush here first.
Only when the pirates are hurt by the beating and have lingering fears about their own combat power will they slow down the pursuit. Using this time, he can retreat to a safer place with the few soldiers.
Everything is based on the opponent's commander breaking away from his main force and advancing alone. There is a lot of spinach in it, but the opponent seems to be very cooperative with his plan and sends thousands of pirates to his door.
The Dutch army only had more than 250 people. Faced with so many menacing pirates, Major Witte believed that it was not necessary to annihilate them all. Just killing a hundred of them would be enough, which would make the remaining pirates They turned around and fled.
Major Witte's men are definitely well-equipped. The artillery's individual equipment is roughly the same as that of the infantry. Each man is equipped with a matchlock gun and a sword. Rich guys can also buy a wheel flintlock for self-defense. .
The spearmen, who accounted for one-fifth of the total force, were also armed with a round flint gun, which could be used in close combat. Everyone was wearing helmets and armor. These armors were originally intended to protect against the chattering natives, but now they have become everyone's life-saving weapon.
In order to prevent the enemy from discovering the ambush in the woods, Major Witte also asked his men to use tree branches to simply camouflage the Franco machine. The soldiers hid behind the grass and trees before opening fire to reduce the chance of being discovered as much as possible.
However, due to the large number of enemy troops, even if their presence is discovered, they will rush over without hesitation. As long as they can rush into the Dutch army's position, they will almost definitely win.
However, Zheng Jun's reorganized offensive encountered extremely fierce firepower from the opponent, especially the previous hesitation and retreat, which gave the Dutch soldiers time to reload ammunition. This was a fatal mistake on the battlefield.
This period of time was less than thirty seconds, but the skilled and experienced Dutch mercenaries were enough to finish loading and aim and fire.
Many mercenaries from Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland and other places fought ambush warfare, no less than the Dutch regular army trained by Prince Maurice.
Many people can reload ammunition in more than ten seconds. The match rope is held very short, and the required firing time is also shorter.
Even though the enemy troops were close at hand and extremely dangerous, their expressions did not change, their hands did not shake, and the whole process seemed orderly. These were things that most of the Zheng Army soldiers could not do.
The third and fourth firing almost killed no fewer than thirty Zheng Army soldiers. Because the fighting distance was too close, Major Witte only asked his soldiers to line up in two rows and fire. There was no need to carry out the standard "three-stage attack" .
If the enemy is really fearless and able to break through his own firepower network, he can directly use the wheel gun to make the final interception, and then he can draw his sword and engage in hand-to-hand combat.
The position where the Dutch army was located was facing a crosswind, and the white smoke produced by firing would not hinder the soldiers' aim. This made the Zheng army, who could only attack the opponent's position by force, miserable.
Zheng Guangying's men were originally responsible for feinting on the flanks, and their mission was to intercept and pursue Hongyi after the defeat. Therefore, they did not carry large guns at all, and even the Crouching Tiger Cannon was not unloaded from the ship.
Guo Huaiyi's troops were transferred to him from Zheng Mingying. The muskets Zheng Mingying relied on were comprehensive mortar companies. At this time, they, the old men from the capital, were still resting behind to enjoy the cool air... …
Therefore, Hongyi's five-door Folang machine seemed to have weak firepower, but when facing the Zheng army, which did not even have a squatting cannon, it appeared to be very powerful and could almost kill everyone.
A Franco machine is equipped with ten muskets. The firepower output level when firing in close combat is equivalent to two hundred flintlock muskets. Five guns are one thousand. This is equivalent to more than a thousand Dutch soldiers ambushing the same number of Zheng Jun. Soldier.
Guo Huaiyi, who planned to attack by force, and Zheng Guangying, who held firm, could not get any advantage at all in front of the fierce Red Yi soldiers. Their soldiers were knocked to the ground like being harvested by the opponent.
Although the morale of Zheng's army remained unabated on the battlefield, they fought one after another with loud killing noises. The soldiers charged forward, firing and releasing arrows, hoping to rush into the forest and kill Hongyi at one go.
But the reality was that corpses lay everywhere, rivers of blood flowed, and soldiers of the Zheng Army were shot and fell to the ground at every moment. This kind of attack was completely unable to achieve the goals expected by the two generals.
Seeing the tragic death of his subordinates on the battlefield, Zheng Guangying was already furious and could not believe that there were less than four hundred Red Yi soldiers on the opposite side. Even Guo Huaiyi began to doubt whether his intelligence was wrong.
This kind of firepower is equivalent to the Zheng army's thousands of soldiers. If the strength of both sides is evenly matched, then there is no guarantee of victory by force.
Seeing that there were only more than ten steps away from the forest where Hongyi was, however, this was the farthest distance Zheng Jun could advance.
Because under the crisis, the opponent's round gun opened fire, killing sixty or seventy Zheng Army soldiers on the spot, which directly knocked away the last trace of Zheng Army's vigor. Suddenly, the offensive was gone and the whole line began to collapse.
"No retreat! Let me charge forward!"
Zheng Guangying was unwilling to fail. Victory was within easy reach. If he retreated like this, all his previous efforts would be in vain, but his subordinates did not listen to his orders at all.
The Red Yi soldiers were so powerful. Their firearms were even sharp and could be resisted by non-flesh and blood bodies. In close combat, Zheng Jun's armor was penetrated by bullets. How could he have the nerve to rush in and engage in hand-to-hand combat right in front of his eyes?
Not to mention that our side didn't even have a big blunderbuss, so we just charged in hard and were greeted with a slap in the face. No less than a hundred brothers died from the mouth of this blunderbuss.
After losing more than 300 men and more than one-fifth of his troops, Zheng's army fell into decline and was no longer able to organize an effective attack.
"Oh~! It really pisses me off!"
Zheng Guangying, who was full of resentment, had no choice but to be dragged down by the defeated troops. It was useless for him to rush up alone, so he had to retreat first and then make plans.
In general, this battle was fought under clouds and fog, and his mind was in a daze. He only remembered that Hongyi's bullet rain was extremely fierce, and the soldiers who had been with him day and night were felled one after another.
Before, he planned to use dozens of Hongyi's heads to ask for credit from his third uncle Zheng Mingying. Unexpectedly, the failure came so suddenly that Zheng Guangying could hardly bear it.
In front of the Red Yi soldiers, Zheng Jun's attack seemed very amateurish. He was not only arrogant and underestimated the enemy, but also did not know how to adapt to the situation, which directly cost hundreds of lives.
There is no doubt that if those soldiers with gunshot wounds do not receive effective treatment, they will die one after another in the next few days, which is equivalent to a direct loss of more than 300 people.
"Hurry and report to the coach! This is the main force of Hongyi!"
Guo Huaiyi was already sure that the opposite side was the Hongyi tribe he had scouted before. Even if his attack failed, he would still look for opportunities to hold them back and try to get Zheng Mingying to lead his army to besiege them.
"Uncle Guo! Before my third uncle leads the army, I will fight again!"
Zheng Guangying still didn't want to give up. It was too embarrassing just now. The first attack was repelled by Hongyi, and the second attack was repelled by the opponent. He was ashamed to even report the results of the battle because there were no results at all.
If you want to get Hong Yi's head, you must at least let his men rush into the forest to snatch it. If Hong Yi takes the body away when he retreats, why should he pay for the victory?
More than 300 soldiers were lost, not a single gain was achieved, the morale of his troops was low, and the soldiers were dejected. Zheng Guangying felt that in just a short while, it seemed that even the sky had turned dark...
I didn't expect the Red Yi soldiers to be so capable. Judging from their combat strength, they were even inferior to the Qing cavalry outside the pass. It seemed that I had underestimated the threat of the Red Yi soldiers.
Full of regret and annoyance, Zheng Guangying is still reviewing his mistakes. If he hadn't been too frivolous before, he wouldn't have been hit so hard now. He really doesn't know how to face his third uncle.
However, in Guo Huaiyi's view, it would be fine as long as his nephew was fine, and there was no harm in losing some soldiers and horses. Zhen Haibo was determined to win the big officials, and the hundreds of red barbarians on the shore would be annihilated by his own side sooner or later.
"Retreat immediately! We can't stay here, take away all the bodies of the fallen soldiers and bury them somewhere else!"
The goal has been achieved. Major Witte feels that he can give up as soon as possible. If it is too late, when the main force of Zheng's army arrives, it will be difficult for the soldiers under his command to escape.
"Do we need to join up with the Min soldiers nearby?"
If the commander is willing to do so, Lieutenant Reedmacher, deputy commander of the cavalry company, can lead his men and take the initiative to take on the task of liaison.
"You can consider it, but let's see what the situation is over there. Let's retreat from here first!"
Major Witte believed that Zheng Yiguan's pirate regiment was not good at land warfare, and the facts proved that this was true. However, his own troops were too small to confront the opponent head-on, so he had no choice but to adopt an ambush strategy.
If you want to increase your military strength, you must join up with the Min soldiers on the island. In this way, the total military strength can be increased to thousands, and you no longer need to fear the harassment of a small group of Zheng troops...
