Shen Zhixiang thought that his Niuru was hit by cannons and suffered hundreds of casualties. In fact, the Uesugi army on the opposite side not only used iron artillery ashigaru, but also used samurai and bows to fire at close range from behind to block the Qing Dynasty. The advance of the army cavalry.
The three hundred iron artillery ashigaru alone could not effectively delay the strong advance of the cavalry group, even if they fired at a distance of twenty steps. If the iron cannon is combined with the bow, it will undoubtedly be much more powerful, capable of killing both cavalry and war horses.
Therefore, the arrows flying out in the smoke made many Qing cavalry unable to react in time, and they were shot in an instant. It can be said that the Uesugi family warriors used the facial shooting technique that the Qing army was most proud of, giving the Qing army a The cavalry attacked head-on with unusual ferocity.
Compared with the iron cannon, the biggest feature of the bow is its fast reloading time and high shooting frequency. A well-trained warrior can shoot an arrow in three seconds. After the iron cannon ashigaru finished shooting, the samurai were moved to the front row.
The long spear ashigaru who had been lying down also got up from the ground to deal with the Qing cavalry that was about to rush into the formation.
But it is not easy to rush into the battle. Not all Uesugi troops are reckless and have absorbed the guidance of a certain prince.
There was a row of pits dug in front of the Naga Ashigaru. The density was very high. It can be said that if the Qing cavalry wanted to charge into the formation, they would inevitably fall into the pits.
These pits are different from those in the middle of the plain. They are covered by branches and cannot be easily discovered unless you fall in.
Behind the main formation, one person protected by dozens of warriors was the thirty-five-year-old head of the family—Uesugi Sadakatsu.
This time Uesugi Sadakatsu personally supervises the army in order to achieve some impressive results.
To prove that he is not a dandy disciple, and that the Uesugi family really needs to make some money to support their large team of retainers.
Therefore, Uesugi Sadakatsu politely rejected Naoe Kane's suggestion to stay in the fiefdom and led nine hundred retainers to Liaodong.
General Tokugawa did not make too many demands for this expedition except for the assigned number of troops.
Daimyos from various places could go out on expeditions in person or entrust their retainers to do so.
The ratio of expedition personnel is also freely arranged. There is no limit on the number of samurai and ashigaru, as long as the total number can be made up.
But all the daimyo knew that if their troops' combat power was low, it would be difficult to achieve ideal results, and they would not be able to exchange for much silver.
If you want to make a lot of money, you must send a certain number of samurai to fight. Otherwise, just relying on the ashigaru who are like rice buckets will really make a living.
Each of the four hundred samurai of the Uesugi family who went on the expedition were direct descendants and confidants of Uesugi Sadakatsu or Naoe Kanetsugu, so their loyalty was naturally unquestionable.
Only in this way can we loyally protect our master, be fearless in the face of danger, fight bravely, and show the outstanding style and powerful combat power of the Uesugi Army in the past.
"ah……"
After finally escaping the barbarian bullets, the cavalry under Shen Zhixiang fell into the pit again. Suddenly, the horse stumbled and the cavalry was thrown and screamed repeatedly.
They thought they would be able to rush into Gou Manzi's formation immediately and kill everyone in all directions, but they didn't expect that Gou Manzi had a hand in reserve. It was really abominable.
“...so long???”
The cavalry who were lucky enough to rush through the pit were also brutally assassinated by the spear ashigaru. Moreover, because the Japanese officers and soldiers were generally short in stature, for the sake of safety, the length of the spear was more than four or five meters.
Although the Qing cavalry was also equipped with long spears, they could not reach the length of their opponents. The sharp tip of the knife stabbed into the neck of the horse, and blood immediately spurted out.
Even if they do not have any advantage in individual combat power, as long as three or four spear ashigaru join forces, they can easily deal with a Qing cavalry, and the sounds of wailing and hissing can be heard on the battlefield.
"Well……"
Upon seeing this, the Qing cavalry had to abandon their dying horses and quickly got up from the ground. They were about to deal with these hateful dog barbarians, but the samurai fired an arrow at them.
The Qing army attached great importance to full-body protection, and its only weakness was the face gate, which had no protective measures at all, not even the ghost face commonly used by the Japanese army.
Being shot at close range by a Japanese samurai with a powerful and heavy arrow would mean death, because even the head would be shot...
There are two major assessment items for samurai, namely archery and kendo. The former is related to long-distance combat, and the latter is related to close combat.
A qualified warrior must be sure of everything whether he is firing a bow or drawing a sword.
However, the He Bow is not easy to carry due to its huge size, and its overall performance is inferior to that of the Qing Bow.
But the samurai don't mind this, as long as they can use it skillfully.
As long as a weapon can kill enemies on the battlefield, it is a good weapon!
The Uesugi army did not dig all the pits in front of the formation, but also left a gap about five feet wide for sending troops to counterattack.
For the Qing cavalry, this was a good breakthrough point, and some people were about to be "very lucky" to break out from here.
but……
"Boom~! Boom~!"
After two loud noises, there were more than a dozen corpses of war horses on the battlefield.
Uesugi Sadakatsu received the only two tiger crouching cannons from the conquering general Abe Shigetsu and placed them here.
The Crouching Tiger Cannon, which uses shotgun shells as its attack weapon, has a short range, but it can deliver a devastating blow to enemy cavalry at close range.
Hundreds of small bullets were released, unfolding like an umbrella at an extremely fast speed, and pounced on the Qing cavalry that was charging over.
The result is naturally obvious. At a distance of only a dozen steps, the killing power of the Crouching Tiger Cannon is maximized.
"Oh~!"
Xushun Gong Shen Zhixiang originally thought that the two Niu Lu cavalrymen he charged at the front would be able to take the lead in breaking into Gou Manzi's infantry formation, and then kill all sides.
Unexpectedly, within a short time, they were almost completely killed by the opponent. The team of more than 500 people suffered no less than 400 casualties, and the rest were blocked by the corpses in front, unable to advance or retreat.
The arrows fell one after another, causing his men and horses to continue to reduce in number, making Shen Zhixiang feel heartbroken on the horse. All he could rely on were four powerful cavalry.
Unexpectedly, the dog barbarian in front of him was so powerful. Faced with the mass charge of the Qing cavalry, he actually refused to retreat and suffered frequent setbacks in his own attacks.
Even so, Shen Zhixiang did not dare to run away easily, because Shuotuo was watching from behind. The Ming army might not kill him immediately, but Bei Ziye Shuotuo was not a kind person.
"Eight Banners warriors! The dog barbarian is right in front of you, charge with Zhang Jing~!"
Although the slave soldiers are all useless, the role of Shen Zhixiang's subordinates has been fulfilled, which is to withstand the barbarian's bullets and bullets, and fill the pits at the same time.
In the eyes of the guard Niulu Zhangjinghar Guji and the more than 300 guards and guard sentries led by the guard Niulu Zhangjinghar Guji, no matter how powerful the dog barbarian is, he is still a commodity that can be destroyed in a rush, and the threat to them is not as good as those pits.
The guards and sentries are all warriors who have experienced hundreds of battles. Each of them is wearing three layers of armor. They can be said to be invulnerable. Even the horses under their crotches are armored. Their defense is no better than that of the Jin Army Iron, which was the lord for a time. How different is the pagoda?
The only disadvantage is that the cotton armor is warm but not breathable. Wearing it for a long time will cause dehydration of the body. Therefore, we must fight quickly. The longer the war drags on, the faster the Eight Banners soldiers' physical strength will decline.
"What a bunch of stupid pigs that get in the way and block the road!"
Xushun Gong's men were worthless in Harguji's eyes, and the dead bodies were blocking his own sprint path. The Eight Banners soldiers had to slow down, otherwise they would be in trouble if they tripped over the corpses.
The Eight Banners soldiers were very good at observing the battlefield situation. When they saw a place with a squatting tiger cannon that seemed to have no earthen pit, they could quickly break through the dog barbarian's infantry formation and immediately swarmed over.
The arrows fired by the Uesugi Army samurai did not achieve the same results as before. Firstly, it was because the Eight Banners soldiers were good at riding and they all leaned on the horses' heads. Secondly, the horses were also covered with a layer of armor.
"Raise the spear and stab the horse!"
Under the orders of their commander, the "Ashigaru General", the Nagasaki Ashigaru made instinctive defensive actions.
"Ashigaru General" is just a fictitious title used to command the ashigaru troops under the daimyo's command. It is not a formal title approved by the emperor or shogun.
Although the spears used by the Uesugi Army Ashigaru are very long, because Harguji's troops are all heavily armored cavalry, they have not suffered major attrition before, and they are almost fully deployed on the battlefield. The impact is definitely not that of Shen Zhixiang's men. comparable.
After losing more than a dozen cavalry, they quickly opened up a five-foot-wide gap in the opposing infantry formation, which was exactly the distance that Uesugi's army did not dig a hole.
The Naga Ashigaru was rushed back by the Qing cavalry, which directly caused large-scale chaos in the Uesugi army's infantry formation, and the battlefield situation immediately turned to the side of the Qing army.
Although the Uesugi Army was still resisting with its spear ashigaru, due to the huge advantage of the cavalry itself and the fact that the Eight Banners soldiers under Harguji were all "sharp soldiers" in the true sense, the Uesugi Army finally showed signs of collapse.
Uesugi Sadakatsu didn't want to invest his valuable samurai group unless it was absolutely necessary, but now that his troops were about to be defeated, he couldn't be stingier, and he had no time to hesitate.
The combat power and will of the samurai were obviously higher than those of the ashigaru. Among the approximately 400 samurai, there were only about 100 horse warriors, and the rest were foot warriors. They immediately replaced the fearful spear ashigaru and fought in a melee with the Eight Banners soldiers. Together.
Due to height limitations, samurai on horseback mostly used spears, while samurai on foot were good at using naginata.
Both spears and naginata are long weapons, and they will not suffer any disadvantage against the Eight Banners soldiers.
"Kill the barbarian~!"
Harguji only knew about a hundred or so Man Ming characters. When he saw the battle flag with the word "Pi", he naturally thought it was Man Ming's people.
What this word means specifically is not a question he needs to consider. Right now, he just wants to kill the opponent until his corpses are everywhere.
Since he has been defeated by his subordinates for many years, there is no need to worry about it and he can just let his subordinates kill him at will.
The Guards are the elite among the soldiers of the Eight Banners, and the Guards sentries are even more elite among the elites.
The two men and horses are the essence of the five Jia La under the jurisdiction of the entire Xianghong Banner.
Because of this, Harguji was so arrogant.
But unfortunately today, the department encountered a group of "troublemakers."
The Eight Banners soldiers fought hand-to-hand combat with the opponent for less than a quarter of an hour, which could be described as a bloody battle.
Although they gained a lot, they were still unable to break through the opponent's defense line, which only caused chaos in the formation.
It was as if all the barbarians were not afraid of death. As soon as a group of them were retreated, another group rushed forward. It was really endless.
Harguji defeated the Baigan Army in his early years, and later led his troops to defeat the Guan Ning Army. This kind of fierce battle scene had not been seen for many years.
Especially since the opponent had few cavalry and many infantry, and our own side was all cavalry, they still couldn't take much advantage, let alone be able to overwhelm the infantry formation instantly, which made Harguji both surprised and annoyed.
"Bah bang bang~!"
With the support of the Date family from Sendai and the Sakai family of the Shouchi domain, the reinforcements saw that it was difficult to attack the front, so they surrounded them from both sides. The pit was not convenient for cavalry to attack, but the Ashigaru could walk without any problem.
Although hundreds of iron artillery ashigaru cannot fight at close range, they can easily penetrate the thin armor of the horses when fired at close range. This caused Harguji's men and horses to be suddenly attacked on the left and right wings.
The Eight Banners soldiers guarding the army were unprepared and were knocked to the ground by bullets one after another. Many of them had a leg broken by their horses and became a burden, which caused the number of casualties in the unit to rise sharply.
Harguji's men are not ordinary Eight Banners soldiers. Every one of them is extremely precious. If one dies, one will be missing. It is difficult to get timely and sufficient replenishment.
Bei Ziye Shuotuo could only invest ten under-staffed Niulu, which totaled less than 2,900 men. The Japanese Fourth Army was nominally full, but in fact it had over-staffed more than 2,000 officers and soldiers who could be put into combat. As many as ten thousand people.
The Japanese army had a strength advantage four times that of their opponent. With the help of the mountainous terrain where they were better at fighting, they stubbornly blocked the strong advance of the Qing army's cavalry.
Since the Japanese army did not have the fear that the Ming army had towards the Qing army, every group of troops were fighting bravely to kill the enemy regardless of the cost, so Shen Zhixiang's troops had no chance to break through the Japanese army's infantry formation.
The guard Niulu Zhangjinghar Guji's troops rushed in and caused a lot of casualties to the Japanese army. However, because the number of troops was too small, it was difficult to complete the tactical objectives in a short time.
Shuotuo's task for Harguji was to lead his troops behind Shen Zhixiang to clear a path at the foot of the mountain for his main force. As a result, the entire escort and the escort sentries plunged in, and they were unable to escape for a while. .
Harguji's heart was bleeding at this time. Even if he exchanged the life of one of his men for five barbarians, he would have lost a lot, and his troops could not reach this battle loss ratio at the moment.
This group of dog barbarians have very high combat power, and they are brave enough to fight. They are especially good at hand-to-hand combat, and they are not afraid of death. They must fight with their lives in every battle. This is what makes Harguji feel terrible.
His men and horses totaled only more than 300 people, and they were not meant to die with these lowly barbarians. If they did not escape as soon as possible, not only the entire army would be annihilated, but more than half of them would be killed or injured.
But how can it be so easy to quickly escape from the battlefield?
More and more Japanese troops rushed down from the mountains, densely packed and innumerable.
Even the three Niulu Eight Banners soldiers led by Bei Ziye Shuotuo were firmly blocking the way.
How could this be?
This fight was really hellish!
Shuotuo felt a chill in his heart, because first, he saw that Man Ming's men and horses, instead of being overwhelmed, were gathering in more and more numbers.
Secondly, Hargu Ji's troops were completely surrounded by a large number of barbarians. They were surrounded by enemies on all sides and suffered constant casualties.
He originally thought that the 3,000 cavalry he led were enough to defeat Man Ming's 30,000 infantry, but when the battle came, he found that it was not at all what he expected.
More than half of Xushun Gong Shen Zhixiang's troops have been defeated, and his combat strength is almost negligible.
The rest depends on the ability of the Eight Banners soldiers. Shuotuo vaguely felt that his troops could no longer relieve the defenders in Lushun City.
But he was not willing to believe this intuition. After fighting with Man Ming for more than ten years, the Qing cavalry had never been defeated. How could they stumble outside this small Lushun?
It's just a fierce battle at the moment. As long as the Eight Banners warriors persist a little longer, the weak-willed dog barbarians will collapse...
