At 11 o'clock in the morning on April 24, the sun was high over Zhaozhuang, and the sky was clear and cloudless. At the same time, there were gusts of breeze blowing through the fields from time to time, blowing away the smoke in the fields.
Looking down from the sky, the battlefield at this time is divided into two parts.
On the western battlefield, Wang Dazhuang's troops were rapidly approaching Chen Yongfu's headquarters, and their six artillery pieces could be seen moving forward at a speed not inferior to that of infantry, dragged by horses that exceeded the requirements for conventional marching.
The bumpy wilderness still failed to stop these artillery pieces from advancing rapidly!
The special gun mount that carries the 600-pound long gun has the maneuverability that even a horse can actually pull it on a straight road, but it can't go very long or very fast.
But now, in order to allow these artillery pieces to maneuver quickly in the roadless wilderness, Wang Dazhuang and the others went so far as to attach four horses to each artillery piece.
Four horses, pulling a cannon weighing 600 kilograms, can maintain a certain speed and maneuver even in the wilderness without roads.
Wang Dazhuang is leading the army on the west side to approach quickly, and it is expected that he will engage in battle with Chen Yongfu's headquarters soon.
On the other side of the battlefield, two cavalry posts led by Wang Xiazi restrained Chen De's troops, preventing Chen De's troops from retreating quickly.
The main force of the Zhaozhuang headquarters under the personal command of Luo Zhixue, namely the 1st Infantry Battalion and the 3rd Infantry Battalion, have quickly attacked, and their target is still Chen De's headquarters.
Zhang Malin, on the other hand, led the first artillery sentry down the mountain quickly and continued on the road behind Huang Dingquan and the other infantry.
It didn't take long for Luo Zhixue to hear the rumble of artillery from the battlefield on the west side. It was the sound of the second artillery sentry firing from the reinforcements on the west side led by Wang Dazhuang.
Luo Zhixue had heard the sound of the 600-pound long cannon being fired so many times that he could tell immediately that they were firing solid bullets at a rapid rate.
Whenever he heard the sound of artillery shelling, Luo Zhixue found it very pleasant.
However, to Chen Yongfu's ears, the sound of the rebel artillery was equivalent to a life-threatening talisman, and it was a life-threatening talisman that he could not understand for a while.
When these rural-protecting army thieves first set up small Hongyi cannons on the hilltop, he could understand and agree with them.
After all, the Hongyi cannons used by the Ming army were basically placed at the top of the city and on the fort's fort.
But when Chen Yongfu saw these rebel artillery pieces that were several hundred kilograms in weight running directly across the field, even faster than their infantry, he couldn't understand it.
According to his understanding, something like the Hongyi Cannon, even a small Hongyi Cannon, is a big thing that can weigh a thousand pounds and cannot maneuver quickly at all.
However, these damn rural-protecting army thieves actually pulled these small red barbarian cannons and galloped across the wilderness...
The mobility of these small-sized Hongyi artillery pieces of the bandit army is even more powerful than the two to three hundred kilogram light artillery pieces he has!
The artillery of the Baoxiang Army rebels maneuvered quickly and directly passed the infantry. After running to the front, it stopped when it was still three to four hundred meters away from Chen Yongfu's headquarters.
After they stopped, they did not need to remove the wheels under the frame carrying the artillery and anchor them in place like the Ming army did.
Instead, after directly pulling the front vehicle away, the following vehicle, that is, the gun carriage where the artillery is located, turned around and began to load and fire...
There is no pause in the middle.
Not only does it fire, but it fires very fast, and its rate of fire is not much slower than that of a matchlock gun.
Damn it, why the Hongyi artillery of these rural protector soldiers can run so fast and fire so fast is not in line with Chen Yongfu's understanding.
Moreover, he could also see that after one of the bandit artillery fired a shot, it seemed that it was not a good place to choose. Several of their gunners directly pushed the seemingly heavy artillery to perform short-distance maneuvers.
Run to the slightly higher ground on the other side and bombard again.
If the whole process goes smoothly, it will be as if the artillery in their hands is not a heavy cannon several hundred kilograms larger, but a light cannon weighing several hundred kilograms.
When will this extremely heavy long-barreled artillery be able to run around in the wild?
After the second artillery sentry opened fire, the thousand-man headquarters soldiers led by Chen Yongfu personally withstood the fierce bombardment.
They wanted to fight back, but the distance was more than three to four hundred meters and they couldn't fight back.
Their two- to three-hundred-pound light cannons couldn't hit that far, let alone blunderbuss and bows and arrows.
Chen Yongfu gritted his teeth and said: "Charge forward, charge forward and fight!"
Staying where you are and taking the bombardment unilaterally is no different from committing suicide. You can only continue to fight after rushing forward and closing the distance.
At least let your own light cannons, muskets, and bows and arrows have room to use.
When he saw the Ming army infantry phalanx charging ahead and wanted to rush over to fight, the second artillery sentry commander Huang Xiangbin showed a hint of ridicule.
If we could allow you to rush over easily, our rural protection army would not spend a lot of effort training a large number of field artillery.
He immediately ordered: "Get your shotgun ready."
According to the speed of the opponent's infantry attack, the 600-pound artillery under his command can be replaced with shotgun shells after firing two more rounds of solid shells.
Facing the impact of enemy infantry, firing solid artillery shells at medium and long distances and using shotgun shells at close range are the standard shelling procedures of the Baoxiang Army artillery unit.
Huang Xiangbin previously served as Zhang Malin's deputy and served as the deputy commander of the First Artillery Post for a long time. He has rich experience in commanding artillery operations.
As soon as he saw the movements of the Ming army infantry on the opposite side, he immediately prepared corresponding response strategies.
The advancement speed of Chen Yongfu's troops is not very fast, because they not only have to continue to advance, but also maintain the formation as much as possible.
They are not those guardsmen. When Chen Yongfu asked the guardsmen to rush forward regardless, it was because those guardsmen were just cannon fodder. Chen Yongfu did not expect them to fight in formation at all. He only wanted to rush up to disrupt the rebel army. Just deploy and create opportunities for subsequent soldiers.
But now, those who attack directly are not guards soldiers, but combat soldiers.
If a swarm of swarms rushed over quickly, it would be fast, but they would lose their formation. If they turned around and were counterattacked by the bandit infantry array, the whole army would probably collapse.
However, maintaining the battle formation and advancing so slowly was too slow.
The rebels' artillery shells landed in our own array one after another, and each shell that hit could knock out a bloody channel.
If they could still withstand the previous rounds of solid shell shelling, then when they approached more than 200 meters, the enemy's artillery suddenly fired several rounds of shotgun shells, and they were completely unable to bear it. .
The thieves of the Home Guard Army fired several rounds of rapid-fire shotguns at the fastest speed without caring about whether the barrel would explode. At the same time, the three 200-pound light cannons belonging to the Fourth Infantry Battalion, Also coordinated shotgun shelling.
Before the Ming army had time to launch a final rapid charge, and before the several light cannons on their vehicles had time to be unloaded, loaded and fired, they were completely stunned.
That's not all. Immediately afterwards, the thief infantry on the opposite side strode forward again. Its musketeers quickly approached and fired a volley from dozens of meters away. charge!
After the continuous bombardment of the Ming Army, these Ming Army soldiers were already on the verge of collapse. The reason why they have not collapsed yet is simply that they have not yet reacted...
However, as the Ming soldiers in the front row fell down after being hit by volleys of muskets, and then saw the dense spears and guns coming towards them, they finally collapsed completely.
Chen Yongfu in the rear watched the battle and final collapse of his troops from beginning to end!
But until now, he still couldn't believe why his troops collapsed so quickly.
Even before they had time to engage in close combat with the enemy infantry, they collapsed under the gunfire of the rebels.
Where the hell did these thieves come from, and why are there so many guns and cannons? And the guns are so good?
Chen Yongfu was shouting in his heart!
At this time, the soldiers beside him said to Chen Yongfu with a panic look on their faces: "General, it's time to leave, so that you can leave the green hills without worrying about having no firewood!"
Chen Yongfu closed his eyes and did not move!
Walk?
where to?
The world is so big, but there is no place for him anymore.
Of his more than 2,000 soldiers, one thousand have collapsed, and only 100 cavalry are left from the 300 cavalry. There is also a thousand soldiers led by his son Chen De who have been held back by the rebels and will probably be destroyed soon. .
It’s over!
All is lost!
Without these two thousand soldiers, there would be no place for him, Chen Yongfu, in this vast world.
Even if Chen Yongfu could escape all the way to Nanyang City under the escort of his own soldiers and the only remaining cavalry, the fate waiting for him would definitely not be much better.
Why could Chen Yongfu refuse Xuanmo's orders again and again before? He even tried to push back Hong Chengchou's orders, and Xuanmo and Hong Chengchou could only write letters to reprimand him.
It's because he has more than two thousand direct line soldiers under his command!
Coupled with the thousands of other guards under his control, when Chen Yongfu was stationed in Nanyang, his army was several thousand stronger.
Relying on the strength of several thousand men, he, Chen Yongfu, was able to sit firmly in Nanyang City, playing the trick of supporting the invaders with self-respect and being passive and lazy in fighting!
I offended a lot of people during this period!
However, once these troops are gone, who is Chen Yongfu?
Nothing counts!
He knew very well that in today's troubled times, a bare general who had lost his strength would not be more valuable to the court than a dog!
Once he has no soldiers or power, there is a 100% chance that the people who committed his crimes in the past few years will rush to bite him one by one, and there is a high probability that he will die without a burial place.
In addition, Chen De, his most valued son, is still trapped in a tight siege by the rebels. Moreover, the stupid son is clearly trapped in a tight siege, and his troops are being bombarded continuously and suffering heavy losses, but he is still resisting.
He knew his son very well. According to his son Chen De's temperament, he would definitely resist until the end and would rather die than surrender.
Chen Yongfu himself could certainly escape with a small number of cavalry, but what about his son?
Although sometimes he felt angry at Chen De's naive thoughts and felt that he had raised a stupid son, no matter what, Chen De was the son he valued most and he could not abandon him.
You have to find a way out for your son!
Seeing that Chen Yongfu did not speak or move, several soldiers around him could vaguely guess what Chen Yongfu was thinking at this time.
Sure enough, Chen Yongfu took a deep breath and said decisively: "Send the order, we surrender!"
After being defeated and losing his army, Chen Yongfu could not accept it no matter how the court dealt with him in the end.
He couldn't just watch his son die on the battlefield, so he simply made a more extreme choice: surrender to the thieves!
