The Song Army's military camp was completely destroyed and could no longer resist the Shenji Battalion's attack.
The defense facilities destroyed by artillery can no longer provide even a little cover for the Song army in the military stronghold.
It was not until this time that the Shenji Battalion's cavalry and musketeers began to take action.
The standard musket phalanx was quickly formed, and they advanced step by step at a faster speed.
When the crying and running Song soldiers in the ruins of the military stronghold entered the musket range, the musketeers raised their muskets and started shooting.
The sound of a series of gunpowder explosions rose into the sky along with clouds of smoke, and the Song Army soldiers within the range were viciously hit by lead bullets.
Suddenly, Xu Tong felt as if he had seen masses of blood blooming on the bodies of the Song soldiers.
Those soldiers of the Song Army were hit by irregular lead bullets. Even those wearing armor were hit and fell to the ground, bleeding profusely, let alone those soldiers without armor.
No matter what method they used, they could not stop the musket fire.
As the musket phalanx advanced, fewer and fewer Song soldiers survived the artillery bombardment.
The soldiers of the Shenji Battalion crossed the ruins of the military camp, passed the corpses on the ground, crossed the smoke-filled space, and moved forward step by step.
The First Shenji Battalion led by He Feihu followed the exact same method and destroyed five Song Army strongholds throughout the day.
It was all artillery bombardment that destroyed the defenses and shocked the morale of the troops. Then the phalanx came forward and fired a round of muskets, sending them directly into the sky. .
It is rare for melee troops to step forward to finish the job.
In fact, from Xu Tong's observation, he found that the equipment of these Song troops was pretty good, and the armor wearing rate was quite high, which was higher than that of all the Song troops he had encountered before.
But faced with the shooting of Shenji camp musketeers, they were completely wiped out.
The power of the musket is so terrifying that with one shot, few people are left alive if hit.
Xu Tong had never seen such a fierce firearm, at least not in the Southern Song Dynasty.
Although it was only a short contact, Xu Tong also roughly understood the powerful power of this firearm. If the two armies collided face to face, he could imagine the Song Army's field troops being beaten into sieves by the Ming Army's muskets.
Xu Tong followed He Feihu's troops and advanced step by step. He saw that they were invincible but had a well-organized and disciplined army.
Advance when the commander gives the order, and stop shooting when the commander gives the order.
When encountering the fleeing Song Army, He Feihu did not give the order to pursue. There would never be any Shenji Battalion soldiers who left the military formation to pursue them without permission. No matter what advantageous position they gained, they always maintained an extremely strict military formation.
The artillery roared and the muskets were fierce. In Xu Tong's eyes, the Song Army's military stronghold, which could not be broken without paying a huge price, was like a sand castle built by young children on the beach. Once the sea water came, it was flattened to the ground, and it was as if it had never existed. Same.
During the whole process, it was not as if there were no soldiers from the Song Army wielding steel knives and holding crossbows to launch a counter-charge towards the Shenji Battalion.
When attacking a certain military stronghold, the artillery razed the general's stronghold to the ground. However, some brave Song soldiers were not defeated by the fierce bombardment of the artillery. Instead, they launched a counterattack when the Ming army approached. It was indeed very rare.
But their countercharge was futile in the face of the musketeers' volleys.
Xu Tong saw with his own eyes a group of about twenty or thirty Song soldiers, holding steel knives and shouting, rushing out of the ruins. The speed was very fast and the momentum was amazing. However, the Shenji camp was motionless, and the musketeers followed the order. Raise your musket.
When they rushed closer, under the command of the officer, a row of musketeers fired at once. One round of shooting beat the twenty or thirty Song soldiers to a bloody pulp, and even blood mist exploded on their bodies. .
Blood splattered everywhere, and broken limbs flew everywhere.
None of the twenty or thirty Song soldiers survived, they were all dead. Some who were not dead for a while were stabbed to death by the spearmen who came forward later, or were hacked to death by sword and shield hands. Anyway, they died miserably. , all lost their lives here.
Shenji Camp remained motionless and continued to move forward without being shaken by the surrounding environment.
One day later, at sunset, He Feihu led his troops to destroy the third military stronghold and wipe out all the Song soldiers inside. After that, he withdrew his troops back to the camp and replaced other troops to clean up the battlefield and build an advance base to consolidate the results and prevent Song troops from attacking. The army attacked at night.
After returning to the military camp, according to statistical reports from all parties, Xu Tong learned that the Shenji Battalion destroyed a total of seven Song Army strongholds on today's battlefield.
The Shenji Battalion troops in each direction made great progress, pushing the front one-third of the way forward in one breath, killing and capturing about 1,600 Song troops in total, completing the task. strategic goals set before the war.
In this way, in just two days, the Ming army's large forces can advance under Fancheng and bring Fancheng within the shooting range of the general's artillery.
Then, you can watch the performance of the general's artillery.
Anyway, from Xu Tong's point of view, although the walls of Fancheng are tall and thick and tough, it is difficult to say how long they can last under the bombardment of the general's artillery.
As long as a gap is broken, even just one, the Ming army soldiers can quickly rush forward and start a fierce battle with the Song army in the city.
As long as the battle is fought hand-to-hand, the Shenji Battalion will be able to shine again, inflicting huge damage to the Song army and quickly advancing the front.
In this way, the defeat of Xiangyang City and Fancheng is close at hand.
Xu Tong was extremely excited.
At the same moment, at the top of Xiangyang City, Wang Yan fell into great panic and confusion.
He was very worried after hearing the roaring and crackling sound like gunpowder explosions all day long, and hearing that the fighting situation on the front line was not good.
The Ming army seems to be using firearms on a large scale to attack the Song army's stronghold.
He had heard of the Ming army's reputation for excellent firearms, but he didn't know exactly what was going on. As a result, when someone from Fancheng came to report the battle situation, he was frightened.
"Seven military strongholds? One day? Seven military strongholds were breached in just one day? Are you kidding me? Do you think I don't understand military affairs? Do you think I'm one of those Jinshi masters who don't know anything? Do you dare Lied to me!!!"
Wang Yan was very strong, and he picked up the messenger sent by Zhou Benyuan to report the battle situation with one hand. The messenger was thin and could not fight against the strong Wang Yan. After being picked up, he had difficulty breathing and his face turned red. It was useless to struggle desperately. .
Seeing that he was about to die, Wang Yan threw his hand and threw him to the ground.
Before he could get up and take a breath, Wang Yan followed up and stabbed his chest with a knife, killing him.
"Nonsense! Destroy the morale of our army! You can kill!"
Wang Yan did not believe the situation of today's battle at all, so he sent his own bodyguards to enter Fancheng through rivers and boats to ask Zhou Benyuan for "real" information.
