Faced with a sudden "grenade rainstorm", none of the Eight Banners soldiers had ever seen Barbarian resist in this way.
When they felt inexplicable surprise, they were knocked to the ground one after another amidst the explosions, dust and fire.
The Japanese officers and soldiers were also very afraid that the Qing army would rush up and lead to hand-to-hand combat between the two sides, because the more than 3,000 iron artillery ashigaru in the position had no close combat capabilities at all.
Although the combination of samurai and spear ashigaru can provide necessary protection for the iron gun ashigaru, everyone still does not want to engage in close combat with enemy soldiers.
Close combat means that the two armies are fighting together. Iron cannons cannot be used to kill the enemy, and bows and crossbows are also very likely to cause accidental injuries.
Unlike keeping a certain distance to block the enemy's advance, there are enemies on the opposite side, so you can shoot your bow and cannon at will without worrying about accidentally injuring your comrades.
Therefore, when the samurai saw that the Qing soldiers were advancing very fast and were about to draw their swords to fight the enemy, they ordered the spear ashigaru to start throwing grenades.
About a thousand of them were thrown out at one time. The intensity of the explosion was comparable to the firecrackers during the New Year, and almost the land near the forward position was turned over.
"Boom boom boom boom..."
Hand grenades are different from oil barrels. Not only are they small in size, the probability of being hit is extremely low, but they are also large in number and very fast. It only takes less than four seconds from sighting to explosion.
Among the Eight Banners soldiers, only sharp soldiers holding shields and wearing triple armor can withstand the flying iron balls. This has to be done sideways. If they are hit in the face, they will still die.
Others do not have such conditions. With the outfit they are wearing, they are betting on their own luck. Once a grenade explodes under their feet, they will be both dead and crippled.
The arrogant Eight Banners soldiers had never been attacked like this before, and they didn't know how to defend themselves. Most of the people at the front were waving their sabers to rush over.
As a result, there was a sudden explosion, and everything went dark, and I didn't know anything at all. The companions at the rear only saw pieces of them being knocked to the ground, and only a few of them could still get up to fight.
The remaining guys were either motionless, almost dead, or they were struggling on the ground, screaming for help with their broken gong-like throats.
But soon, something more terrifying happened!
A figure flashed across the street, and a black, slender object could be vaguely seen passing through the firelight background, and then disappeared into the night.
Then came the screams of the Eight Banners soldiers. These were the guys who had been hit by arrows. For the Japanese samurai, even in trench warfare, they could still use Japanese bows to kill the enemy.
Samurai are considered experts in using bows. Not only can they shoot accurately, but they can also shoot very quickly. Basically, the arrow will leave the string while straightening up.
It didn't take more than two seconds. The warriors knew very well that at such a close distance, as long as they stood up for a long time and were targeted by the opponent's archers, they would also become prey.
Therefore, the speed of shooting is the fastest that one can achieve. Even if one arrow misses, one can still shoot again. If one hits the arrow, it will be very bad.
From the perspective of the Qing army, the opponent's archers were like gophers. They would appear in the blink of an eye, and then in the blink of an eye, they or their nearby companions would be hit by arrows...
This kind of barbarian is extremely hateful. Most of its targets are on the face, and very few of them shoot arrows on the torso. As long as they are hit by an arrow, almost 90% of them will be killed on the spot.
The Eight Banners soldiers with red flags and red flags were stunned by this extremely special tactics. They wanted to retreat but were unwilling to do so. The result was very serious casualties.
Coupled with the coordinated strike action of bows and crossbows, the Japanese army defeated no less than two thousand Eight Banners soldiers in an extremely short time. This kind of lethality was extremely shocking to the Qing army.
After a series of explosions, most of the Eight Banners soldiers who rushed to the front were lying on the ground and lost their combat effectiveness.
And they couldn't go anywhere, they could only wait to die slowly, either by the grenades that fell later, or by the Japanese army's iron cannons.
The Japanese army's combat principle is to use its own capabilities to the best of its ability so that as long as the Qing soldiers rush up, they can't even think about going down!
Because a Qing soldier is worth two hundred taels of silver!
Anyone else would not miss this opportunity to make money.
In the eyes of the warriors, a Qing soldier was worth a war horse.
In the eyes of the Ashigaru people, one Qing soldier can keep their whole family alive for a year.
The daimyo from various places and the generals who were commissioned to go on expeditions never thought of returning empty-handed.
Yesterday, the troops of the foreign daimyo were responsible for the defense, but today it was replaced by the gōdai daimyo.
These people are not as good as those who are pro-vassal. If they want to get the opportunity to send troops in the future, they must perform well.
Therefore, the three groups of upper, middle and lower groups will kill the enemies in front of them, and they will not let anyone go!
"Ah~! Damn you bastard!"
Jingsuo Henuo, the Niulu Zhang with a red flag, was shot in the right hand and penetrated directly by the iron ball. The pain was so painful that he even dropped his waist knife.
"Master! Let's retreat first!"
The soldiers came up in a hurry, wanting to ask Sol and Nuo to leave the battlefield first.
"Fart! He's really supervising the battle behind us! Who dares to retreat? Keep charging!"
Sol and Nuo pushed away the soldiers, took out the fine silk handkerchief they grabbed from the pass, wrapped the wound, then held the knife in his left hand, and shouted to his men to continue the charge.
In fact, what the soldiers said was right. Even if Master Zhang Jing was not injured, their Niu Lu had already lost his offensive power.
Niu Lu, who originally numbered nearly 260 people, now only has about 40 people left after two bloody battles.
If the fight continues, I'm afraid that all Niu Lu's soldiers will be lost.
As the generals of this Niulu, how could Thor and Nuo not be clear about this matter?
But if the war comes to this level, even if the entire Niulu is wiped out, they will not hesitate.
Manda Haike was looking at him from behind. Whoever Niulu Zhangjing defeated first would probably have to engage in military law.
All the elites from the two red flags came out, and there were also two armored men and horses from the white flag to help out.
If you can't defeat him, the barbarian on the opposite side will be really unbelievable!
Sol and Nuo have been in battle for a long time, and they don't believe that the dog barbarian can fight better than his Eight Banners soldiers.
The current inability to attack is just a desperate struggle by the barbarian with that kind of exploding club.
As long as they use up those sticks, they will no longer be able to withstand the onslaught of the Eight Banners soldiers.
Not only Sol Henuo, but also Niulu Zhangjing, who led his troops to attack the mountain, probably also guessed this way.
At this moment, it depends on who can grit his teeth and stop. If he grits his teeth and can bear it, otherwise he will be completely defeated.
Not to mention the death of these soldiers, I still can't explain it to Prince Rui when I go back.
In the spring, they suffered a defeat outside Jinzhou, and now they were defeated again on their own territory.
It would be strange for Prince Rui not to deal with the timid Zhang Jing when he was so angry.
Therefore, even though the troops of the Three Banners suffered unprecedented heavy casualties, they just stayed on the mountainside and refused to retreat.
Dorgon, who was watching the battle with a telescope from behind, didn't know what happened on the target mountain, but he had a very bad premonition. It might be the kind of exploding mallet that Shang Keai mentioned.
This kind of weapon has a simple structure. Although the Qing Dynasty could imitate it, it had no time to put it into service. Now it was left to the Eight Banners warriors to resist the despicable tricks of the barbarians.
"Fire with the iron cannon!"
"Keep throwing grenades!!"
"do not stop!"
An unprecedented wave of "grenade rain" achieved a lot, but it only temporarily suppressed the beast in front of them.
But soon, the opponent completed the formation at thirty steps and immediately resumed the previous offensive.
The Japanese army also realized that the Qing army they encountered tonight was not a trivial matter and could not be defeated so easily.
After the samurai estimated that the enemy soldiers had entered the shooting range, they ordered the ashigaru of the two arms to continue dropping bombs and shooting.
Although the iron cannon has a dedicated person responsible for loading it, it is still unable to deal with thousands of enemy soldiers.
Since the oil drums were still being transported, the only melee weapons the Japanese army could rely on were crossbows and grenades.
The latter is the most powerful weapon that the Japanese army can barely hold on to the ridge defense line. Without grenades, they would have been in a state of hand-to-hand combat.
After receiving the command, the spear ashigaru said nothing. As long as he felt that he could reach it, he would throw it wherever there were people.
The new ashigaru has never thrown such an object, but you can practice it in advance and find a stone that is about the same weight as a grenade.
After estimating the distance of your own bomb and writing it down, when the enemy soldiers crawl to the approximate position, you can throw this treasure out with a spear and blow it up.
The newly replenished more than 2,000 long gun ashigaru had nothing to do for the time being, so they were responsible for igniting grenades and loading iron cannon ammunition.
Seeing the continuous explosions below, his expression was even more shocking. He thought that if this thing fell into his trench, he would not dare to imagine it.
Before the battle, the Japanese army was well ventilated, and there were strict regulations on the use of grenades. Each ashigaru must light and release the bomb under the supervision of samurai.
He was just afraid that his hand would slip or hit an object, causing the grenade to fall off his hands and explode in his own trench. One single grenade could knock over members of a combat team.
Once a similar situation occurs, the person closest to the grenade must immediately pick it up and throw it away, otherwise it will wait for others to collect the body of some loser.
The Qing troops who came to attack the mountain would not have thought that Abe once again equipped the Japanese troops on the front line with more than 14,000 grenades. These exploding mallets were equivalent to the "death charms" of the Eight Banners soldiers.
The "rain of grenades" just now was just the beginning. When the armored soldiers of the Three Flags came back, they realized that the mallets in the opponent's hands were far from gone.
Not only that, there is a tendency to throw more and more!
The Eight Banners soldiers who launched a strong attack from the front, especially the armored soldiers closest to the top of the mountain, were hit head-on by the opponent.
They did reach the position where their previous companions had reached, but their fate was not much different from those who were injured or dead.
The soldiers of the Eight Banners didn't believe that the dog barbarian had kept the explosive mallet that he didn't want to throw away, so they rushed upward despite the explosion.
But the reality is even more cruel. Victory cannot be won by mere bravery. The number of grenades thrown from the opposite side is no less than that of the Eight Banners soldiers.
The explosions that showed no signs of stopping completely submerged the Eight Banners soldiers who rushed up in a sea of fire and bullets.
Because the fighting distance was very close, most of the grenades exploded right next to the Eight Banners soldiers, which was equivalent to each Eight Banners soldier receiving a solid shot.
Although it won't be as brutal as being chopped in the waist, being shot in the face, especially if the iron ball hits the brain, will cause the Eight Banners soldiers unbearable pain and make them roll around on the ground.
They have no idea how terrifying the "rain of grenades" will be in close combat defense, which is equivalent to being shot by a burst of blunderbuss.
The Eight Banners soldiers had no place to hide, but the opponent's mallet kept falling, and they had a sad feeling of being hit by hailstones.
The most unlucky guy is the one who was hit on the helmet or face with the mallet first. Before he could react, this special mallet fell at his feet and exploded...
The Japanese Ashigaru defense force in the C-shaped mountaintop position alone dropped more than 3,000 grenades during the second bombing attack!
The scale of the bombing was more than double that of the previous one, and the lethality was naturally extraordinary. It bombed the Eight Banners soldiers who had resumed their early offensive momentum and made them miserable.
"Come on! Kill all the barbarians!"
Despite the heavy casualties, more than two hundred persevering Eight Banners soldiers were very lucky to reach the top of the mountain.
They thought that with their own strength, they could defeat thousands of barbarians nearby.
However, what awaited them were more than two thousand warriors on foot!
Only half of them were engaged in close combat, and only five of them besieged an Eight Banners soldier.
The attack power of infantry warriors is not much worse than that of Eight Banners soldiers in hand-to-hand combat, but the protective power of the armor equipped by the warriors is inferior to that of Eight Banners soldiers' face armor.
However, when the Japanese army had the upper hand, the weakness of the defense was well covered up, because the Eight Banners soldiers could not concentrate on attacking a single samurai.
In terms of combat effectiveness, an Eight Banners soldier can barely beat an infantry warrior. It is difficult to win with one against two.
If one fights five or even more samurai, let alone win, there is no chance of survival!
The soldiers of the Eight Banners thought that they were a tiger among the sheep, but it turned out to be exactly the opposite. They were chopped up by the opponent...
Through relevant research by a certain prince, it was discovered that the Eight Banners soldiers had three weaknesses.
Two of them can be used in long-distance combat, and the other will be revealed in close combat.
That's the arm!
Although it is still protected by armor leaves, it is completely unable to withstand the full force of a katana slash.
Cotton armor cannot protect the limbs, especially the arms, to the same extent as the torso.
As long as the samurai cuts off the sword-holding hand or even both hands of the Eight Banners soldiers with a sword, the opponent will instantly become a lamb to be slaughtered.
The specific operation was that one samurai held the sword of the Eight Banners soldiers with his sword, and the two other samurai slashed the prey's arm without saying a word.
This strategy has been tried and true, because no Eight Banners soldier can withstand the three-on-one pattern launched by the Japanese samurai.
Usually the Eight Banners soldiers are surrounded by enemies on all sides, and the warriors will not attack one by one like in a martial arts competition, but will all attack at the same time.
No matter how powerful the Eight Banners soldiers are, even if they can withstand attacks from the front, they cannot withstand attacks from behind.
Being penetrated by an extremely sharp samurai sword in any part of your body meant that you were stabbed to the core.
Once an injury leads to distraction, even for just a moment, it will be severely damaged again.
These Eight Banners soldiers only fought on the top of the mountain for less than five minutes before they were killed by a group of warriors.
The samurai were all following orders, which meant that the battle should be fought quickly to avoid delays that would cause the Ashigaru to be unable to fire against the enemy.
Although the so-called main force of the Qing army was relatively brave in the eyes of the warriors, it was nothing more than that.
Warriors are not afraid of fighting alone.
If they attack in groups, the warriors are even more comfortable.
The Qing soldiers did not understand the Japanese language at all. During close combat, the samurai could communicate verbally at any time and adjust their attack methods.
