Outside the west gate of Jiujiang City, a new standard army of a thousand people wearing Ming army uniforms marched slowly forward in the standard line formation of the Chu army.
In front of them were the main line infantry of the Chu Army's 23rd Infantry Regiment wearing gray military uniforms.
The officer who led this force, which amounted to more than 1,500 people and formed three battalion-level phalanxes, was a young man wearing the rank of lieutenant colonel.
This man was Wang Yongnian, the first graduate of the first official class of the Da Chu Empire Army Officer Academy, who once served as the first combat staff officer of the First Division.
When the Sixth Division was first established last year, this person was transferred to the First Battalion of the 24th Infantry Regiment as battalion commander to gain practical experience in leading troops.
While serving as the commander of the First Battalion, Wang Yongnian participated in the preparation and training of the battalion from beginning to end. Later, he led the battalion and other troops of the 24th Regiment to participate in a series of campaigns to eliminate bandits and landlords' armed forces. Wait for low-intensity fighting.
In this process, not only the ordinary soldiers of the first battalion were trained, but also Wang Yongnian's own ability to lead troops.
At the beginning of this year, he was transferred to the 23rd Regiment, which is also part of the Sixth Division, and still served as the deputy commander with the rank of major. Two months later, he was successfully promoted to lieutenant colonel.
In June, the former commander of the 23rd Regiment was promoted, vacating the throne of commander of the 23rd Regiment, and it naturally fell on Wang Yongnian's head.
That month, he was promoted to commander of the 23rd Infantry Regiment with the rank of lieutenant colonel. However, although he became the commander of the regiment, he had not yet been promoted to this rank.
After all, he was only promoted to lieutenant colonel in April, and at the same time, he had never led troops in any big or tough battles before.
Although the superiors value his talent, they are not willing to promote him rashly.
During the Eastward Campaign, the Sixth Division was incorporated into the First Army. As the first line of troops attacking Jiujiang, he naturally followed the troops to the Jiujiang front line.
After the Battle of Jiujiang began, the Sixth Division was responsible for the western front, that is, the area around the west wall of Jiujiang City. His 23rd Infantry Regiment was deployed to the front of the No. 3 large fortress, together with the 24th Regiment, which also belonged to the 12th Brigade. , as the main force to attack the No. 3 fortress.
In yesterday's battle, Wang Yongnian took command of his assault sentry, sword and shield sentry and ordinary troops, and successively conquered a number of small fortresses.
This year, when the No. 3 large fortress was attacked, Wang Yongnian naturally had to go to the front line to command the troops in person because of the large number of troops participating in the battle.
Now he was riding a horse, looking at the new Ming army's new standard troops who were approaching slowly on the opposite side. After observing for a moment, he immediately ordered: "The two and a half kilogram field cannon can be fired!"
At this time, the distance between the two sides was relatively close, and they had also passed some places with relatively complicated terrain. They were in a flat and open area, which was suitable for firing small field guns with flat trajectories such as the two-and-a-half-pound field gun.
As for the eighteen-pound mortar cannon and the five-pound field artillery that provided support from the rear, they had already opened fire.
Not only the artillery of the Chu army was firing, but actually the artillery of the Ming army was also firing.
Therefore, from time to time, cannonballs can be seen flying into the formations of the Chu army or the Ming army, causing casualties to the soldiers.
While the shelling continued, the infantry's movements did not stop.
Wang Yongnian continued to lead the infantry forward in formation!
After approaching a distance of about a hundred meters, Wang Yongnian's face showed joy.
Because he saw the Ming Army's new standard army musketeers on the opposite side open fire!
"Didn't you say that the New Standard Army learned everything from us? I don't remember that we would fire from hundreds of meters away!"
Wang Yongnian was immediately in a good mood. Fortunately, he paid great attention to the new standard army on the opposite side at the beginning. When lining up, he treated the opposite side as the main force of friendly forces to deal with it.
However, when the main force of the Chu army is engaged in line combat, unless there are special circumstances, it rarely fires from a hundred meters away. Most of them fire at sixty or seventy meters, and many commanders prefer to fire at fifty meters. Fire within 30 meters or even thirty meters away.
Because if the distance is too far, the hit rate is very impressive. It is impossible to hit a few people, and loading the matchlock is also troublesome. If you encounter an enemy and rush towards you after firing, and your own musket cannot be loaded, it will be easy. The one that caused the Musketeers to collapse.
Wang Yongnian immediately waved his hand and said: "Keep going!"
Although a few unlucky ones inevitably fell in the queue, this did not affect the fact that the 23rd Infantry Regiment had a tactical advantage after the Ming Army musketeers took the lead in firing from a distance of hundreds of meters.
While the Ming army continued to reload, the Chu army continued to advance!
The arquebusiers in the front row didn't fire until they were about 70 meters away, and then the second row, third row, fourth row, fifth row, and sixth row took turns to fire.
The entire team fired gradually.
The musketeers of the Ming Army on the opposite side also counterattacked, but because their original strength was only about two-thirds of the 23rd Regiment, and they were the first to fire from a long distance, they lost the opportunity.
When they started the second round of shooting, many musketeers had already fallen, causing the firepower to become even thinner.
The distance between the two sides was fifty or sixty meters at this time, and the distance was still getting closer. The hit rate of bullets fired by the musketeers on both sides was also rising rapidly. The casualties began to increase. It was inevitable that many soldiers from both sides had fallen.
However, the Chu army's queue was still tight and complete. After the soldiers in the front row fell, the soldiers in the back row would consciously step forward to replenish them, always maintaining the dense strength of the front row.
On the other hand, the Ming army had fewer troops. In addition, they lost the opportunity during the previous exchange of fire, resulting in greater losses. The casualties were already significantly greater than those of the Chu army on the opposite side.
The casualties were high, and facing the Chu army that continued to press, many officers of the Ming army tried to maintain the formation and stabilize the morale of the army, but this still caused many soldiers, especially the musketeers who did not even have armor, to panic. .
Errors in reloading are trivial, and many of them are reluctant to go to the front row to fill their positions.
When the distance shortened to about thirty meters, Wang Yongnian raised the command knife in his hand: "The musketeers fired a volley, and the spearmen prepared to attack!"
Following his order, the musketeers of the 23rd Regiment no longer fired one row at a time, but two rows at a time, and in a short time all the bullets of the six rows of soldiers were fired.
In a short period of time, six rows of soldiers opened fire one after another, and a large number of people inevitably fell in the Ming army column opposite. Many of the surviving soldiers had involuntarily stepped back.
Seeing that the opponent's formation was scattered, Wang Yongnian did not hesitate at all and directly ordered: "The whole army attacks!"
The next second, the spearmen, who had been silently suffering one-sided casualties, finally strode forward, like a city wall with bayonets, pressing towards the Ming army array only thirty meters away.
But at this time, the Ming army's new standard army, which had been bombarded all the way and even exchanged fire with the Chu army, finally could not withstand the huge pressure, and the formation collapsed completely.
A large number of soldiers began to turn around and run backwards. In order to escape quickly, they directly threw down their spears and muskets that affected their escape.
Especially the four-meter-five-meter long spear. This thing will seriously affect the escape speed when escaping. Those spearmen threw this thing away immediately in order to escape faster.
Wang Yongnian was riding on his horse, looking at the Ming army's new standard army that had completely collapsed opposite him, and murmured: "This new standard army is nothing more than that!"
When the 23rd Infantry Regiment defeated the Ming Army's new standard army and thwarted the Ming Army's counterattack, on the hillside behind, Luo Zhixue and a group of senior generals were also paying attention to the battle.
Xu Zhixian said: "It seems that we overestimated them before. I didn't expect that these Jiujiang's new standard soldiers don't even have the courage to fight in close combat. They are worse than the fake camp sentry soldiers."
Zhang Malin said with a smile: "Whether it is the pseudo-inland camp sentry soldiers or the frontier soldiers, they are all elites. Although the tactics and equipment are old-fashioned, most of them have been trained for many years. Basic melee combat is still possible.”
"As for these new champions on the opposite side, I estimate that they have only been practicing for a few months, and it should be their first time on the battlefield!"
Xu Zhixian said: "And if you look at their tactical movements and their body shape, they are obviously not as good as the Huguang new champions we met in Chunan before."
"I guess he doesn't even have enough to eat. Shi Kefa can't practice even if he wants to!"
"This Anlu's new standard-bearer is just like that. We can let go of our hands when we fight next."
A group of senior generals, just through a battle between infantry, got a good idea of the situation of the Anlu New Biao Army on the opposite side.
I was worried that the Anlu New Standard Army would be tough, but in actual fighting, it was just like that, and the overall performance was even worse than the Huguang New Standard Army Left Army in the Chunan Battle.
After all, the Huguang Zuo Army dared to resist in close combat.
The reason why they were completely wiped out was simply because they were surrounded, and there was a huge disparity in strength and artillery. It was the kind of people who were determined to kill the thieves but were unable to recover.
In the previous small-scale battle, although the Chu army had about 1,500 troops, the Ming army also had more than 1,000 troops. The difference in strength was not too great.
But Anlu's new standard army was unable to resist at all.
Now that Anlu's new standard-setting army has joined forces, naturally this group of senior generals of the Chu army have no intention of dilly-dallying.
He immediately suggested to Luo Zhixue to speed up the offensive and take down the No. 9 large fortress while it was still early today.
Now we are about to fully capture the No. 3 large fortress. If we can also capture the nearby No. 9 large fortress, it means that about two-thirds of the defense line deployed by the Ming army on the west city wall has been destroyed.
And there was enough space for the Chu army to directly attack the west city wall and even the west city gate area.
Although the subsequent direct attack on the city wall was impossible to win in a short period of time, with the Chu army occupying a strategic advantage, they used artillery bombardment to suppress it, regardless of whether it was blasting or directly letting the heavy armored infantry assault, tearing open the western wall. It was only a matter of time before the city wall entered the city.
Luo Zhixue had also been watching the battle, and he naturally saw that the new Ming army on the opposite side looked quite intimidating, but in reality the fight was average and did not cause much trouble to the Chu army.
At the same time, many of the Ming troops who came out to counterattack this time came from the No. 9 large fortress. Now that there are many casualties, the garrison strength in the No. 9 large fortress is insufficient.
It will be easier to fight.
If time continues to drag on, the Ming army will probably deploy troops from other directions to supplement the No. 9 large fortress, and it may be more difficult to fight by then.
He immediately approved the suggestions of Xu Zhixian and others and ordered the remaining two regiments of the Sixth Division to launch a fierce attack on the No. 9 large fortress!
Naturally, there were no big surprises after this attack. Most of the Ming troops stationed here suffered heavy casualties when they counterattacked before, their morale was even lower, and most of them also lost their equipment.
Such a Ming army faced a fierce attack from the 11th Brigade, and in the end they could only rely on the more than a thousand battalions of sentries within to resist stubbornly.
But this kind of stubborn resistance is of little significance. Without the cooperation of guns and artillery, it would be difficult for the battalion sentries to withstand the Chu army's fierce attack.
At about four o'clock in the afternoon, the Chu army completely captured the No. 9 large fortress.
At this time, Jiujiang City looked like a young woman who had taken off most of her clothes, leaving only two pieces of underwear. If the Chu army worked harder, they would be able to tear off the last layer of protection of the Ming army and plunge straight into the city!
At this time, not counting the few days of preparation time, since the official launch of the attack yesterday, it was only two days before the Chu army officially attacked the city.
To be precise, only more than thirty hours!
When the Chu army captured the No. 9 large fortress, they took the initiative to stop their storming and began to build fortifications in preparation for tomorrow's attack on the city wall.
Shi Kefa in the city just looked gloomy!
The two large fortresses at the West City Gate were completely lost, and they were lost in just two days. This was completely beyond Shi Kefa's expectations.
At the beginning, Shi Kefa felt that with the city defenses in Jiujiang City, plus the new standard army of 6,500 people, and finally the battalion sentries of more than 20,000 people, and more than 20 large and small Hongyi artillery Help out.
I dare not say that it is a sure thing, but holding Jiujiang for half a year should not be a big problem. Even if the Chu army is really fierce and the defenders cannot sustain it, no matter what, there should be no problem if they hold Jiujiang for a month or two.
Based on this idea, many of his preparations in Jiujiang City were centered around long-term persistence, such as hoarding enough food to feed the soldiers and civilians in the city for half a year.
If he didn't have enough confidence, he wouldn't be hoarding so much food in the city.
He even considered the loss of weapons and ammunition during long-term battles, so he hoarded a batch of iron materials and craftsmen to continue to build and repair weapons.
Shi Kefa, who had great confidence, did not expect that the Chu army had already captured the two crucial fortresses outside the West City within six or seven days of entering the city, and only two days after the official start of the battle.
You must know that because the west city wall faces the direction of the Chu army, when Shi Kefa reinforced the defenses before, he focused on strengthening the front line of the west city wall.
Especially the fortifications outside the city were built extremely thickly, because hundreds of civilians who were recruited to build these fortifications died.
At the same time, in addition to a large number of battalion sentries, there were also a large number of soldiers from the Anlu New Biao Army stationed at the West Gate.
Of the 6,500-strong Anlu New Standard Army, a full 4,000 people were deployed in this direction, while there were only a few hundred people in other directions, and a thousand people were left as reserves. use.
However, with such thick fortifications and a large number of elite troops defending the western city wall, two crucial outer city fortresses were lost within two days of the official start of the war.
As a result, the defenders on the west city wall could not rely on the city wall itself as the last line of defense.
Why is this happening?
Shi Kefa couldn’t understand!
“Is it because we don’t have enough guns or good enough guns?
Without waiting for a group of civil and military officials below to reply, Shi Kefa thought to himself: "Our new standard army is equipped with more than half of the muskets, and the equipment ratio is no smaller than that of the Chu bandits opposite. Although there are fewer artillery, there are still more than 30 Hongyi cannons. And there are hundreds of short cannons of various types to assist in the battle!"
"But why is this still happening?"
Among the lowly subordinates, no one dared to speak.
A few people could only murmur in their hearts: Why else? Not enough training, not enough guns!
Why not enough? Your ability, Shi Kefa, is limited, and the money and food you get are not enough.
Even the generals of the Ming Army knew that although the New Standard Army seemed to be the same as the main force of the Chu Army, they were actually very different.
How do the soldiers of the Chu thieves eat every day? As long as you are full, I heard that you can occasionally eat meat, eggs, duck eggs and so on.
As for the soldiers of your new standard army, they have three meals a day, but only two meals of dry rice and one meal of porridge, and they are absolutely not full. The amount of food that each person can eat every day is limited...
If you have enough control, think well.
And this is true on the surface. In fact, in many cases, even two meals of rice cannot be guaranteed, and it becomes one meal and two meals.
Don’t even expect the meat. Let alone eat it, I won’t even let you smell the taste!
Speaking of which, in fact, the ordinary soldiers of the Anlu Xinbiao Army did not eat as well as the elite soldiers in the Camp Sentinel Army.
Although most soldiers in the battalion guard post are treated very poorly, the treatment of elite soldiers is often not bad.
It was a common practice in the Ming army to eat empty pay and exploit ordinary guardsmen to support a small number of elite soldiers.
The soldiers of the Chu bandits are well fed and trained hard every day. The soldiers of your new standard army can only eat seventy percent full, and can only do some superficial things during training. Some training items that consume physical energy are basic Don't count on it.
The gap is so big during training, so it makes sense that there is a big gap in combat effectiveness.
It would be a miracle if the soldiers from the Anlu New Biao Army could defeat the Chu thieves on the opposite side today...
In fact, many people present knew these things, but no one dared to say them.
Because, although the money and food obtained by Shi Kefa was not a lot, there was still no problem in keeping the Anlu New Biao Army under his command fed and trained.
As for why I still can’t get enough to eat!
That's because the money and food distributed by Shi Kefa will not all become rations for the soldiers. Shi Kefa's low-level civil and military officials, even the officers of all sizes in the New Standard Army, all have to support their families. …
Every time Shi Kefa distributes money and food, he basically loses 30% of it first according to the rules!
Coupled with the deductions from officers at all levels of the New Biao Army itself, in the end, in fact, the treatment of ordinary soldiers in the Anlu New Biao Army was better than that of the hard-working battalion and sentry soldiers, but it was only limited.
In fact, Shi Kefa knew a little bit of this, but it was difficult for him to turn the overall situation around by himself.
This can turn the deduction into nothing, and it also creates a consensus among the traditional Ming court officials, which everyone knows. It is absolutely impossible for Shi Kefa to do that.
After all, Shi Kefa directly took the largest share...
In fact, Shi Kefa is not short of that little money, but this is a tradition that the imperial court has continued for two hundred years. If Shi Kefa doesn't take it, people below him will have opinions and even complain.
Once people's hearts are not aligned, Shi Kefa will not be able to do anything.
In this kind of official environment, trying to be alone is no different than committing suicide.
——
The combat effectiveness displayed by Anlu's new standard army was far from what was expected. It did not meet Shi Kefa's expectations, nor did it meet the expectations of the Chu army's predecessors.
Shi Kefa estimated that Anlu's new standard army was powerful in combat and could at least lead the city's defenders to defend Jiujiang for more than three months or even half a year.
As for the Chu army, they were referring to the Huguang New Standard Army, and the combat effectiveness of the Huguang New Standard Army was much stronger than that of the Anlu New Standard Army.
But in actuality, the Chu army's prediction was not accurate!
This caused a headache for the senior generals of the Chu Army, because it was now increasingly difficult for them to distinguish the true combat effectiveness of these new standard armies.
The new standard troops under Zuo Liangyu are very strong. With the cooperation of the cavalry, Nima is very fierce. In battles with the same strength, the performance is not much worse than that of the Chu Army's Second Division.
I heard that the New Standard Army under Sun Chuanting was also very powerful. They beat the bandits to the point where they could no longer take care of themselves, and even Gao Yingxiang was captured.
The weak ones include the Guangxi New Biao Army, Guizhou New Biao Army, Jiangxi New Biao Army, etc. These Ming Army New Biao Army Chu troops with the name of New Biao Army have also been contacted on a small scale before, and their combat effectiveness is better than that of the Battalion Sentinels. Scum...
This is also the New Standard Army, but the combat effectiveness of different New Standard Army is so different that the generals of the Chu Army were confused!
And this has a great relationship with the unique situation of Mingting's training of the new standard army.
The New Standard Army in the Ming Dynasty was basically recruited and trained by the governors, governors or generals with real power. However, there was a huge gap in the strength of the New Standard Army trained by these people.
On the one hand, the training time is different.
The New Standard Army compiled and trained by various governors has been trained for more than half a year, such as the Huguang New Standard Army trained by Yang Sichang, the Anlu New Standard Army trained by Shi Kefa, and the few months younger, such as the Guangdong and Guangxi New Standard Army, Jiangbei The new standard army, even less, may take one or two months, such as the new standard army in southern Jiangxi, the new standard army in Shandong, the new standard army in Beijing, etc.
The training time is different, the training time is different, which will naturally affect the combat effectiveness.
At the same time, limited by the ability and willingness of the local governors, the size of these new standard-setting troops varied greatly, ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of people.
The equipment is also in a mess. Some of them are imitations of thieves' guns, but most of them are actually bird guns, and bird guns cannot be equipped with sleeves and spears.
There will even be some governors who will randomly change the military system of the New Standard Army, resulting in the formation of the New Standard Army in various places being in a mess.
