Loading a matchlock gun at night, especially when shooting at close range, is a difficult task for soldiers on both sides, especially for Sergeant Zheng whose quality level is lower than that of the Dutch mercenaries. It takes almost a minute to load a matchlock gun.
This gap in thermal firepower output can only be filled by archers. Although they can shoot an arrow in three seconds, generally after firing ten arrows in a row, their arm strength will be greatly reduced, and the lethality of the arrows will also be reduced. It will be worse than before.
It was the first time that Sergeant Zheng had a head-on confrontation with Hongyi. In addition to being uneasy, he could not help but feel a little in a hurry. The established procedures that were originally extremely proficient became clumsy due to the rapid approach of the enemy.
"Puff puff puff puff..."
What's even more frightening is that each Dutch soldier is equipped with a round flint gun, which is almost fatal to the Zheng soldiers in close combat, especially within a distance of twenty meters.
"Ahhh!"
The Zheng army was standing on the top of the mountain with torches illuminating it, but the Dutch army, although halfway up the mountain, was in the dark. As a result, a sudden attack with short muskets almost knocked down the entire row of Zheng army soldiers standing on the outside. land.
The Dutch soldiers gave up their awkwardly loaded matchlock guns and instead used a combination of iron swords and wheel flint guns. After firing the wheel flint guns, if the enemy was close at hand, they could use the iron sword to assassinate them. .
"Hold on! Don't retreat! Anyone who disobeys the order will be killed!"
Because the Hongyi soldiers rushed too fast, with too much momentum, and their firepower exceeded their own imagination, they were able to shoot again at close range, causing great damage to their own soldiers. The line they had just set up seemed to be showing signs of collapse. Zheng Ju was so anxious that he shouted in a hurry.
Fortunately, Zheng's army was numerous and he had an absolute advantage in strength. Seventy-five percent of Zheng Ju's two thousand soldiers were gathered on the east side, which was the direction where they were attacked by the red barbarians. The remaining soldiers were protected in the north. Wing safety.
There are not many Hongyi in the entire army. Their total strength is only one thousand. In addition to the damage caused by the artillery bombardment in the evening, the maximum number of troops that can be dispatched tonight is only 500. Therefore, Zheng Ju believes that his side has the upper hand in terms of numbers. Absolute advantage.
If a mere few hundred Red Yi soldiers were to overwhelm the two thousand soldiers under his command, it would really be a disgrace. Even if they could still lead troops to fight in the future, they would mostly be guilty of meritorious service.
"Hongyi is coming to kill!"
"Stop pretending to be a gun! Use a knife to chop!"
Seeing that the Hongyi soldiers were charging at an unusual speed and the distance between them was less than ten steps away, Zheng's army also gave up using blunderbuss and began to fight with cold weapons.
The soldiers held various types of long and short knives, including bent knives, square knives, eyebrow-tip knives, hand knives, horse-cutting knives, and phoenix-mouth knives, and rushed towards the oncoming red barbarian soldiers.
Through the Battle of Liaoluowan, the Dutch officers and soldiers had the impression of Zheng Jun that their generals were cunning and rude, and their soldiers were short but aggressive. They were not as easy to bully as they seemed.
During the battle, both generals and soldiers possessed the spirit of chivalry, risking their lives and fighting one after another. This was something the Dutch army lacked.
The same is true tonight. Only in the field, especially in the hand-to-hand combat stage, can the Dutch soldiers truly appreciate the ferocity of this group of pirates.
The Dutch army was able to defeat the arrogant Spanish Imperial forces on its homeland, relying on Prince Maurice's new tactics and bastions everywhere.
In the east, especially in Formosa, they only have a handful of bastions, and until now, the only strategic island left is the Castle of Geranze.
Due to insufficient troops, let alone a confrontation, they did not dare to attack during the day, and could only choose to use night attacks to destroy the pirates' artillery positions.
Now to complete this difficult task, we must defeat these vicious pirates in front of us, but this is by no means an easy task.
"Kill Hongyi! Each kill will reward you with a hundred taels of silver!"
Zheng Ju, holding a waist knife, shouted loudly to his surrounding men that as long as General Zheng takes the lead, the soldiers will naturally follow and charge into the battle. In this way, the morale of the whole army will be strong, and they can fight to the death against the unkind red barbarian soldiers.
The infantry on both sides were like two surging torrents. The distance between them was quickly shortened, and then they met at the edge of the ridge. In an instant, dozens of people were knocked to the ground by the opponent's weapons, shouting and fighting. The sound of bumps is endless.
After the large-scale hand-to-hand combat began, the powerful combat power of the Red Yi soldiers also shocked Sergeant Zheng. The opponent was indeed capable of occupying large numbers of people.
The height of Sergeant Zheng's soldiers is generally about five feet and one or two inches, while the height of Hong Yi opposite him, based on visual inspection alone, is over five feet and five inches, which is still relatively short for some people.
The height advantage means that the Red Yi soldiers have a strength advantage over Sergeant Zheng's soldiers. It can be said that when fighting with only swords without using hidden weapons, one Red Yi soldier can defeat three or four Sergeant Zheng's soldiers.
In front of the tall and powerful Red Yi soldiers, Sergeant Zheng could only rely on his long-handled broadsword and take advantage of the length of the weapon to fight with them.
However, a short sword like a hand sword has no advantage at all when fighting against a red barbarian soldier. In just one round, the brave and skilled red barbarian soldier will pierce his body with his slender iron sword.
Sergeant Zheng also noticed that the swords used by the Red Yi soldiers were very special. The sword blade was particularly narrow and the length-to-width ratio was extremely large. It seemed weak, but it was not easy to break when bumped. Instead, it could easily pierce the armor passed down by his companions.
Even if Sergeant Zheng wears armor with very small gaps like chain mail, in many cases, he will be penetrated repeatedly by the fierce offensive of the Red Yi soldiers, making him almost impossible to defend against.
The battle between Zheng's soldiers and the Red Yi soldiers was like a pack of wolves fighting against tigers. Every time a Red Yi soldier was killed, Zheng's army would lose two or three men, which was still the lowest casualty.
When encountering a Hong Yi soldier who is as strong as an ox, even if four or five of his brothers are killed, he still cannot kill the extremely fierce Hong Yi soldier on the opposite side.
This completely plunged Zheng Ju's troops into a bitter battle. One thousand five hundred men could not gain any advantage against almost four to five hundred red barbarian soldiers, which surprised Zheng Ju.
While the Dutch army attaches great importance to the use of various firearms, it also attaches great importance to the swordsmanship training of soldiers. Officers often train soldiers in targeted one-on-one combat.
In addition, the mercenaries in the army were experienced in many battles. Faced with pirates who were good at naval warfare but poor at land warfare, they took advantage of their fighting skills to the extreme.
The Western light sword can be mastered with one hand, and its attack methods are mainly stabbing and provoking. It is very different from the Eastern slashing swordsmanship. However, in armored combat, the thin and narrow light sword can exert great force and is easy to pierce. Zhajia and chain mail worn by soldiers of the Zheng army.
The various broadswords used by the Zheng army did little damage to the Dutch army's breastplates. In order to avoid accidentally injuring their companions, the archers did not dare to shoot easily.
This directly led to a sharp increase in the casualties of Zheng Ju's troops. In less than a quarter of an hour, no less than 500 people were killed or injured. The line formed at the beginning of the battle was driven back by the red barbarians.
"Pfft~!"
Zheng Ju, who was engaging in hand-to-hand combat with a Red Yi soldier, suddenly felt pain in his chest. When he lowered his head, he saw that the collarbone in front of him had been penetrated by a bullet. This was clearly a red Yi soldier sneaking up on him.
But it was too late, and it was impossible to use any more force. Under the desperate protection of the tooth general, he retreated from the front line. However, Zheng Ju was injured, which caused the morale of his troops, which was already under tremendous pressure, to fall to the bottom in an instant, and the entire army collapsed.
"I can't stand it anymore!"
"Withdraw~!"
Seeing that the general was injured by Hong Yi and his life and death were unknown, the surrounding soldiers of Zheng could only fight and retreat. Once they were in chaos, the other soldiers had no intention of fighting, and the entire defense line was declared lost.
"Quick! Crush them! Come on!"
Seeing that the pirate army had been defeated, Captain Frank de Boer hurriedly raised his arms and shouted, asking the Dutch soldiers participating in the battle to pursue the enemy, so as to create greater chaos and create opportunities for the troops to sneak attack the artillery positions.
Colonel Jansen estimated that Zheng Yiguan would deploy thousands of people on the top of the mountain to protect his artillery position from his own attacks, but the exact number of people was unknown and would have to be reconnoitred through actual combat.
The initial attack went smoothly. The pirates only put up fierce resistance for less than a quarter of an hour before being defeated by the Dutch army. They began to flee to the north and west, but the Dutch army's goal was the artillery position behind the northern ridge.
"Don't...retreat...hold...hold..."
Zheng Ju, who was sweating from the pain and his lips turned white, still wanted to continue to direct the battle, but his body could no longer bear it. After all, the power of bullets was witnessed and was beyond human power.
"I'm here! You go down and practice!"
Zheng Shao led a thousand soldiers to come to support. Seeing that Zheng Ju's troops had collapsed, he did not bother to collect the defeated troops. When he saw his injured brothers, he gave some brief instructions and led his troops to stop the Hongyi. .
As the commander-in-chief of the entire army, Zheng Zhi'ao had long received the news that Zheng Ju's troops had been attacked by the Red Yi. However, he was still not sure that the Red Yi had only sent a group of troops to attack. If he led reinforcements, he would be hit by the Red Yi. A plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain.
It wasn't until the expedition horses he sent out found nothing, and only Zheng Ju's troops were fighting fiercely with the Red Yi soldiers, that Zheng Zhi'ao felt relieved and decided to let Zheng Shao lead his troops to support Zheng Ju, and not allow the Red Yi soldiers to break through the defense line and get close to Hu Dawei artillery positions.
But Zheng Shao arrived a step too late. The defense line organized by Zheng Ju had collapsed. He could only make up for it and lead his troops to stand in front of hundreds of menacing red barbarian soldiers.
There are at least nearly 400 Dutch troops in the five companies. Their combat effectiveness is extraordinary, especially after they have just defeated thousands of pirates, so their morale has been greatly boosted.
When the Dutch soldiers saw another group of pirates rushing towards them, instead of being surprised or panicked, they became even more excited and shouted loudly to kill this group of pirates, which numbered no less than a thousand people.
After the first confrontation, although the pirates had an absolute advantage in strength, they were still defeated by their own side. This victory gave the Dutch army great confidence and was very beneficial to the subsequent battle.
After actual combat testing, no matter how large the number of pirates are, they are just a ragtag group of people with broadswords. Their understanding and ability of land warfare are still at the local indigenous level.
After the official battle, the defense line formed by thousands of people was overwhelmed by our own soldiers. Nothing could resist the attack of the powerful and fearless Dutch warriors.
It's just that this group of pirates came from the south of Da Yuan Island, and the location they wanted to attack happened to be the two companies of Captain Williams and Captain Meyer. They were going to sneak attack the pirates' artillery position.
Now the rear team directly became the front team, and the Dutch army was forced to turn around and block the pirates who joined the war, otherwise they would really disrupt the newly assembled team.
"Fire!"
"Puff puff……"
The wheel gun once again exerted extraordinary power. This small-sized firearm is easy to load ammunition quickly. The Dutch soldiers in the back row can use the cover of their comrades in the front row to load during war.
A skilled veteran mercenary can complete the reloading in only ten seconds, and then pull the trigger on the pirates who are rushing towards him. Within ten meters, facing the pirate army in dense formation, the hit rate can reach almost 100%. Ninety and above.
Since these two Dutch troops were tasked with outflanking the enemy, they had not suffered much loss in strength before. Now they still have more than 170 troops capable of going into battle.
Captain Williams and Captain Meyer are both veterans who have fought fierce battles with the Western Empire's army in their homeland. Half of the soldiers in the company are mercenaries from the Europa region and have rich combat experience.
They were not afraid of the onslaught of pirate reinforcements, and showed no sign of panic even if they fought continuously. Under their leadership, the Min soldiers who were originally very scared became more and more courageous as they fought, taking advantage of their size and strength to significantly delay the attack. Zheng Jun's advance.
"Damn it! Fuck me!"
Zheng Shao made the mistake of underestimating the enemy. Taking advantage of the large number of troops on his side, the soldiers did not even load their cannons, so he ordered his troops to charge against the Hongyi opposite.
The result was that in the first confrontation, nearly a hundred people were shot to the ground by blunderbuss. These people were all directly attrited in battle. They were hit anywhere on their bodies by blunderbuss, making it impossible for them to continue fighting.
However, the remaining soldiers of Zheng were not intimidated by the sharp firearms used by Hongyi. They rushed into Hongyi's line with the flow and started a hand-to-hand battle.
Zheng Shao wanted to use his own superiority in troops to overwhelm the two or three hundred red barbarians in front of him. No matter how hard they fought, they could not stand it and were beaten to death by their own soldiers.
It's just that the ferocity of the Red Yi soldiers far exceeded Zheng Shao's imagination. Without a sneak attack, even if three Zheng Army soldiers surrounded a Red Yi, they might not be able to defeat the opponent.
The gap in strength is the biggest feature in cold weapon combat. The soldiers of Zheng slashed with all their strength. In the eyes of the Red Yi soldiers, it was just a blow that could be opened. However, with a thrust of their strength, soldiers of Zheng were powerless. Parry.
Many mercenaries have a mace stuck in their back, which is only two feet long. However, in close combat, they put away their flintlocks, hold a sword in one hand and a hammer in the other, and combine stabbing and blunt blows. It is a very difficult thing to deal with in the eyes of Sergeant Zheng.
The hammer is a weapon specially used to break armor. It does not need to penetrate the armor. As long as it is hit, the soft tissue will be damaged. The surface of the skin will only be purple-red, but the damage to the subcutaneous tissue far exceeds the epidermis.
Sergeant Zheng, who was hit in a vital part, would even spit out large mouthfuls of blood from his mouth. He had to cough several times with his hands on the ground before he could regain his composure. Some people even fell to the ground after just one blow.
As the fierce battle continued, they also understood that the Red Yi soldiers were by no means as easy to deal with as they seemed. Although these Hong Yi are clumsy in their movements, they use great power. Once their allies are hit, they will suffer considerable damage...
