In the eleventh year of the Ming Dynasty, on the tenth day of December, the sky was dark at noon, and the sun was hidden behind layers of dark clouds. Only the cold wind blew dust and danced all over the sky.
South of Julu City and on the official road east of Jiazhuang, Lu Xiangsheng's Chinese army was stationed here. Qing troops were found to the southwest, southeast, and northeast of him.
Although the number was only over 6,000, there were Qing troops coming from three directions. This situation was very strange, but one had to be cautious.
Now, all the generals, generals, and guerrillas in Lu Xiangsheng's army are gathered around him, and they are discussing the next response.
Just listen to Hu Dawei continue what Zhang Yan said: "There is a village under the official road. The walls of the village are quite complete. There are three wells in the village. It is quite convenient to get water and it can last for a long time."
All the generals nodded in agreement, and Zhang Cheng stepped out and added: "Supervisors, two military gates, a few miles west of Jiazhuang, there is the Haoshui River. The river is vast. Our army can rely on Jiazhuang and generals. The camp extended to the west and formed a stronghold.
In this way, it will be difficult to arrange troops in the place where the slaves and thieves are. Our army only needs to hold on to the north, east and south to fight against the slaves. "
Zhang Yan, the general of Xuanzhen, said again: "Although our army lacks food and grass, it can still hold out for one or two days, but it has plenty of firearms. It can be arranged properly to use the advantages of firearms to defeat its troops and wear down the thieves." spirit,
When reinforcements from the High Supervisory Army arrive, it will be a joint internal and external attack, and our army has a great chance of winning. "
Lu Xiangsheng nodded slowly and frequently. The words of the generals were roughly consistent with what he was thinking. As expected, they were all veteran soldiers who had experienced battles for a long time. They could figure out the safest method at a glance.
Especially Zhang Cheng, the guerrilla in Xuanzhen. According to what Lu Xiangsheng knew, although he had been in the army for many years, he lacked experience in war. He did not expect that he could have such insight.
"It's a pity... If I had carefully trained him for a few years, he could have become the head of the entire territory!"
He sighed secretly in his heart, and then thought again:
You should not lose this son to yourself, you should leave him to the country. Maybe one day, this son can save the country from the crisis.
…………
"So we set up camp in Jiazhuang to wait for the slaves and thieves."
Lu Xiangsheng immediately ordered the army to camp on the spot in Jiazhuang to wait for the slave thieves.
The army immediately descended from the official road and stretched westward along Jiazhuang. Although the officers and soldiers heard vaguely, there were Tatars on all sides announcing to me that the army was surrounding me.
However, at this time, Xuanda's army was already fighting vigorously in Gaoyang, and its self-confidence was at an all-time high. In addition, since they had not encountered the captive cavalry for several days, the soldiers were holding back a sense of energy in their hearts. Although they were slightly panicked, they were not very afraid of the captive cavalry.
Soon, more than 10,000 soldiers descended from the official road and marched in the deserted fields. The army crossed Jiazhuang and began to build a village wall in the fields to the west.
The army's artillery, baggage and other large vehicles were all pulled along the sandy road into Jiazhuang. There were only teams of elite cavalry left on the official road, galloping back and forth. They were running east and west, or north and south, and teams were galloping back and forth. go.
A sandy soil road leads from the village gate in the west of Jiazhuang to the direction of Haoshui River. The army camped along both sides of this sandy soil road.
From this sandy road to the northwest for about two miles, you can run onto another official road. The end of this official road is connected to a majestic stone bridge across the Haoshui River, which the locals call Haoshui Bridge.
As Lu Xiangsheng rode his horse on the official road, he looked around and saw endless loess wilderness. There was nothing except some trees or dilapidated villages as far as the eye could see.
His eyes were deep, and under his orders, the soldiers of each battalion were busy nervously, taking out tents from under their respective baggage vehicles, and setting up camp in an endless stream.
Soon, the continuous camps slowly appeared in front of everyone's eyes.
In a spacious courtyard in Jiazhuang, Zhang Cheng and Xuanda generals were gathering together to discuss military affairs. Everyone expressed their opinions on how to defend the camp.
Zhang Cheng fought consecutive battles and had his own unique insights. His status in the minds of Lu Xiangsheng and the two generals increased day by day.
Although he was only a small guerrilla general, everyone here, including Lu Xiangsheng, Yang Guozhu, etc., valued Zhang Cheng's opinions very much.
"Supervisor, you military officers and generals, I think that we can set up as many horses, wooden fences, earthen walls and other things as possible outside our camp, but we should not dig too many trenches to avoid trapping us in them.
Zhang Cheng believes that when our army fights against the slaves and thieves, we must not defend to the death. If the slaves attack, we will defend. When the slaves retreat, we will pursue. We can defend or attack. Only then can the slaves and thieves not dare to look down on me, and can we defeat the slaves' sharpness to the maximum extent. . "
Seeing Lu Xiangsheng and other generals all nodding silently in approval, Zhang Chengcheng became even more confident, and he continued: "The last general thought that our army wanted to use artillery to its advantage, so try to concentrate the artillery in one place, and fire a volley of artillery when you are close. , causing maximum damage to the slave.
Within the range of our artillery, no earthen walls were built, but trenches of more than ten feet were dug ten or so steps in front of the artillery, so that the slaves could not directly charge at our artillery.
On the left and right sides ten steps in front of the artillery, a half-man-high earthen wall can be erected. A platoon of musketry can be used to shoot at the slaves to cover the gunner. Behind the musketry, soldiers with swords, shields and spears can be arranged. If the slaves approach, they will Attack slave thieves hand-to-hand to protect the gun soldiers. "
The armies in the border towns of the Ming Dynasty have a very high proportion of firearms. Most of their cavalry use three-eyed muskets for convenience. After firing the three-eyed muskets, they can be directly used as sledgehammers without the need to switch to other cold weapons for cavalry warfare.
The infantry mainly uses matchlocks and quick guns, each of which has its own advantages. The matchlock is a musket, which is advantageous in that it can shoot continuously, and it also has a front sight and a rear sight for aiming.
Fan Jingwen's "Master's Law" also mentioned: "You don't have to throw away the handle to light the fire with your back hand, and it will not shake. Therefore, eighty-nine times out of ten shots will hit, that is, it can shoot down any flying bird in the forest, hence its name."
It is recorded in Zhao Shizhen's "Artifact Spectrum" that "there is a rear sight, and a front light star. The machine gun pops out. With both hands still, it is aimed at the slightest, and hits the square inch. In addition, the barrel is long and the energy is gathered, which can reach far and destroy the enemy."
The advantage of a fast gun is that after shooting, the gun head can be mounted and then used for hand-to-hand combat. The disadvantage is that it can only be fired once and cannot be fired continuously to form continuous firepower.
The generals in Xuanzhen now join the Guard King, and they are all led by elite soldiers. Especially the infantry has a very high proportion of firearms. What they lack is fighting spirit and morale. As long as they are used properly, it will be difficult for slaves and thieves to break through.
Zhang Cheng also had his own ideas about the deployment of these firecrackers, which was to dig two deep trenches about forty steps in front of the firecrackers' line, with the two trenches twenty steps apart.
The first trench is sixty steps away from the musketry. As soon as the slaves cross the first trench, they will be within the range of the musketry. Even if they rush up, there is a wider trench 20 steps away, but it will be difficult to jump. Pass.
There is an earthen wall half a man high where the infantry is, which is convenient for driving guns and can also play a protective role. In front of this earthen wall is the third trench. Even if the slaves and thieves rush in, the trench plus the earthen wall will be more than one person. It's so high that it's very difficult for them to climb over.
