Azig could hardly believe his eyes!
He knew about the Red Yi cannons, and he even knew that the Ming army was equipped with many Red Yi cannons. The Red Yi cannons on the many cities outside the pass were their formidable enemies in the Eastern capture.
If it weren't for these Hongyi cannons, they would have captured many cities outside the pass, including strategic locations like Jinzhou.
It is precisely because of this that Dongdu also attaches great importance to the Red Yi cannon. In the fourth year of Chongzhen, he tried to use captured craftsmen to imitate the Red Yi cannon, and he named it the "Tianyou Cheer Cannon". And established the 'Wuzhenchaoha', the artillery unit, and participated in the Battle of Daling River.
In the past few years, a group of Ming army generals such as Kong Youde, Geng Jingzhong, and Shang Kexi successively led their troops to surrender to the East. They also brought many Red Yi cannons and a group of craftsmen who made the Red Yi cannons to the East, which made the East. The pace of manufacturing Hongyi cannons is also on the fast track.
This makes Dongduo now use Hongyi cannons to assist in battles.
Azig, as a senior general in Dongli, even carried many Hongyi cannons when they went out to fight this time.
It's just that this time they left the border because of the long distance, and their purpose was not to conquer those fortified cities, but simply to plunder people, livestock, money and food. When encountering a city with strong defense, they would not be determined to fight... …
Wouldn't it be nice to just go to the countryside and plunder it?
Therefore, the Hongyi cannons they carry are not too many, but more for precaution.
As for now, these Hongyi cannons are still in the Chinese army. Azig did not bring these heavy and inconvenient Hongyi cannons to fight such a counterattack.
If they really brought the Hongyi artillery, by the time the artillery arrived, the Ming army on the opposite side would have already run away with oil on their feet.
But he didn't expect that the Ming troops on the opposite side would take out more than twenty Hongyi cannons at once.
Although these artillery pieces look quite small, they only weigh a few hundred kilograms when fully stretched. They are not the same as the two to three thousand kilograms of Hongyi cannons widely used in their Eastern tribes.
But this is still a genuine Hongyi cannon.
And most importantly, how did these Ming troops drag so many Hongyi cannons around?
Forget about pulling cannons everywhere. The Hongyi cannons they captured also used large two-wheeled gun mounts, and they could be pulled by many mules and horses for marching. At most, the speed was slower.
However, after these Ming troops pulled out the Hongyi cannon, they put it out directly without any additional reinforcement. What the hell was the point of directly loading and shelling it?
Is this still an artillery piece?
Even a blunderbuss is not so convenient.
No wonder Azig had doubts about the more than 20 field cannons under Hong Chengchou's command. The Dongji people had only used Hongyi cannons for a few years. Although the use of a two-wheeled gun mount enhanced the maneuverability of Hongyi cannons, .
However, the Hongyi cannons equipped by Dongduo are actually no different from the Hongyi cannons of the Ming army. They are both very typical long-barreled cannons.
This kind of artillery was originally installed on battleships or city walls, and was simply suitable for use in field battles.
Even though Dongduo used a two-wheeled gun mount, this gun mount is still very primitive. During combat, it cannot be the same as the new gun mount developed by the Chu army. After separating the lead vehicle and the artillery, it can be used directly. Load and fire.
In Azig's shock, the Ming army gunners on the opposite side fired shells one after another. The East Riding Cavalry that rushed forward suffered heavy casualties a few hundred meters away, and was forced to turn in advance.
Next, Azig did not give up and wanted to attack. Although Hong Chengchou's troops had field artillery to assist them, to be honest, the quality of these Ming army gunners was not very good, and their hit accuracy was very limited. In addition, the The two-and-a-half-pound field artillery is mainly used. Its shelling power is limited at long distances and it is difficult to cover the entire battlefield.
The most important thing is that there are a lot of troops in the Eastern captives, and there are thousands of cavalry in the Eastern captives who fight back with their carbines.
The short-distance maneuvering speed of these cavalry is quite amazing. After one side of the attack is blocked, they will quickly change the direction and continue to test the attack, possessing almost absolute tactical initiative.
Once you get close, you will quickly use a riding bow to throw the bow and arrow!
At the same time, some elite Dongjiu armored warriors will come forward and push shield carts to kill them.
After reaching a certain distance, he would bend his bow and shoot arrows, which would make the Ming infantry on the opposite side miserable.
After a fierce battle between the two sides for half a day, Azig saw that his side had suffered more than 200 casualties. He also learned that a Ming army had arrived from Shanhaiguan, and that the Guan Ning cavalry had outflanked them to the northwest, very close to their own central army. , hesitated for a moment, and immediately said: "Withdraw!"
The Central Plains Ming army that Hong Chengchou defeated was more difficult to deal with than expected, especially because their small Hongyi artillery fired fast and hard.
Most of the more than 200 casualties suffered by the Dongji were killed by these small Hongyi artillery pieces in the Ming army.
Although in the previous fierce battles, Dongdu also killed at least several hundred Ming troops and had an almost absolute advantage in battle loss ratio, it is probably not easy to completely defeat this Ming army, and it is also Need more time.
Now that the flanks of the Chinese army were threatened by the Guan Ning cavalry, Azig could not afford to waste any more time here. He needed to return quickly and reinforce the Chinese army to prevent the Chinese army from being attacked by the Guan Ning cavalry.
But before leaving, Azig looked at the small Hongyi artillery in the Ming army array opposite with a look of regret.
Both intuition and actual combat told him that this small Hongyi artillery was different from the Hongyi artillery used by the Ming army in the past, and also from the Hongyi artillery used by his own family.
But it's not that it's more powerful, but it's more suitable for field use.
Its maneuverability, rapid deployment ability, and early burst of fire rate are quite impressive.
It's a pity that the fierce attack for a long time failed to hit the core of their Chinese army. Otherwise, if they captured even one of these small Hongyi cannons, they could take it back and imitate it.
Then the artillery troops they captured can reach a higher level.
However, now that this Ming army has appeared in Beizhili, there will definitely be opportunities to fight with them in the future. When the time comes, just look for an opportunity to capture one.
Besides, even if such small cannons cannot be obtained on the battlefield, then other methods should be used. For example, through those Shanxi merchants who have closely cooperated with their eastward raids, one might be able to get a few of these small cannons. The red barbarian cannon.
Those Shanxi merchants could even sell them grain, iron materials, copper materials and even almost all other strategic materials. It was not difficult to sell them a few Hongyi cannons.
And there is no need to worry that these Shanxi merchants have no connections. They have great connections.
Thinking of this, Azig felt a little relieved and immediately led the army to retreat.
The Dongjiu people retreated very decisively and quickly, and they disappeared from the sight of the Ming army in a short time.
At this time, Hong Chengchou and a large number of Ming army generals were ordinary soldiers, and they all looked at Dongduo retreating as if they had narrowly escaped death.
It took a long time before someone murmured: "You're leaving now? Are you really leaving?"
"They must have really left. Now they can't even be seen."
"But we can't let down our guard. Maybe they are just spreading suspicion and want to pretend to retreat, and then wait for us to let down our guard and get out of the way before returning."
"In my opinion, this formation should not be messed up, so be careful!"
Hong Chengchou also looked frightened: "The ruthlessness of the East Riders is indeed well-deserved!"
Cao Wenzhao beside him also said: "Yes, this charging posture is far from those of the Liu bandits, and even those of the Chu bandits are incomparable."
"When they charged into the formation, all the units were organized and coordinated properly. They advanced and retreated freely without any sloppiness. It was difficult to deal with them!"
"Fortunately, we brought the thieves-killing cannon this time, otherwise we would not be able to escape death in today's battle!"
Hong Chengchou nodded slightly: "It seems that we need to build more of these thief-killing cannons!"
He had seen the strength of Dongjiao's field battle today. If he had not formed a formation in time today and then relied on more than 20 thieves-killing cannons for a tight defense, I am afraid that instead of over a thousand casualties, the entire army would have been destroyed.
Hong Chengchou and others were so frightened that they no longer had the courage to pursue them. Instead, they continued to set up defenses on the spot and even excavated parapets and other defensive fortifications.
Then……
On the morning of the third day, Hong Chengchou received a messenger from the Guan Ning Cavalry. As soon as the messenger came, he yelled: "We are kind enough to help you attract the attention of Dongji, help you rescue you, and even want to cooperate with you to cut off part of Dongji. Baggage rear team."
"It would be better for you to not only let the main force of the East kidnappers return, but also not to follow them to contain them, and you didn't even send a letter to inform them. Are there any fucking people who want to fight like this? Even a fool knows how to send people to follow them. Let’s talk!”
"So much so that we were attacked by Dongjie Jingqi yesterday, but you also stood still and watched our army suffer heavy casualties."
"The generals have said that this time we admit defeat, but in the future..." The envoy met Hong Chengchou's eyes without fear: "Even if the King of Heaven comes and kneels down to beg us, he will never think of us sending troops!"
After saying that, he immediately turned around and left.
Immediately, a guard general came forward and yelled: "You are so brave, how can you talk to us adults..."
The messenger drew his sword directly: "If you say one more word, I will chop you with one strike!"
The sword was unsheathed, and a cold light flashed through it. The general of the guard couldn't help but take two steps back.
The messenger snorted coldly, got on his horse and ran away.
During the whole process, Hong Chengchou said nothing and his face was gloomy!
Someone on the side muttered after a long time: "They didn't send anyone to us for help. Can they blame us for not sending troops?"
Another person said: "That's right, and who knows if there are elite Dongluo soldiers ambushing us ahead. If we attack rashly, if there is an ambush from the Dongluo troops ahead, wouldn't we fall into an ambush?"
"What we are doing is a complete strategy. They, Guan Ningbing, foolishly ran to attack Dongdu's baggage train. Who's to blame for being caught by Dongdu's cavalry?"
"Yes, they said they were here to help us rescue them. Although we sent people to rescue them before, we only let them rescue them, and we didn't let them directly attack the Dongji people."
"You have no brains, and you blame us on the other hand. It's really unreasonable!"
At this time, Hong Chengchou slapped the table: "That's enough!"
Seeing a group of generals shut up, Hong Chengchou continued: "Are you all free? Have nothing to do? Everyone go back to work!"
The battle between Hong Chengchou and Dongji was a bit anticlimactic. Although Dongji had some results, they also saw the power of the Ming army's new field artillery.
Hong Chengchou also realized the power of the new field artillery.
The Hongyi cannon that can be used well in field battles is much more important than the Hongyi cannon that is limited to the city walls.
On the same day, Hong Chengchou, who was in a good mood, wrote a note to the court, strongly recommending that the court use money and grain to build a new type of artillery, that is, a bandit-killing cannon.
It is said that one hundred thieves-killing cannons will be built within one year, and one thousand thieves-killing cannons will be built within five years. By then, whether they are Chu thieves or Eastern captives, they can be destroyed by these thousands of thieves-killing cannons.
It's just that although Hong Chengchou was so successful, he also knew that even if the imperial court realized the importance of the cannon and wanted to build more cannons, it would never be able to spend enough money and food to build the cannons.
Therefore, if he wanted to build more thieves-killing cannons, Hong Chengchou thought that he would have to collect money and food himself.
Hong Chengchou's excerpts caused a huge sensation in the capital.
In a field battle with more than 10,000 people on both sides, the Ming army actually blocked the Donglu attack, which shocked many people. After many years, the Ming army was finally able to block the Donglu attack in a field battle again. Instead of being defeated again and again, we can only rely on the fortified city to carry out defensive operations.
Even in this outdoor battle, the gap in casualties between the Ming army and the Donglu was huge, reaching more than one to seven.
However, considering that the incoming Dongdu captives were all elite, the Ming army under Hong Chengchou was considered good on the Central Plains battlefield, but in fact it was very ordinary on the Jiliao battlefield.
Therefore, the ratio of one to seven is completely acceptable and even profitable in the eyes of many big shots in the Ming court.
Our Ming Dynasty has vast territory and abundant resources. As long as we can destroy the Dongluo, it doesn't matter if more people die.
What's more, our Ming Dynasty does not only have Hong Chengchou, but there are also many border troops. If these border troops are equipped with enough bandit-killing cannons, it will not be easy to kill the Dongluo.
Therefore, this thief-killing cannon is a good thing, and the equipment must be vigorously promoted.
As for the money and food needed, the Ministry of Revenue naturally didn't have a penny. In desperation, Chongzhen took the lead in saving palace expenses, scraping together 20,000 taels of silver, and then asked the officials to actively donate money and food to build new styles. Guns and artillery, organizing and training the new army and so on.
Under Chongzhen's strong call, the dignitaries of the Ming Dynasty donated generously, saying that they could not live without cannons, and no one should suffer hardships. Even if they tightened their belts and cut back on food and clothing, they still had to fund the construction of guns and cannons.
Immediately there were hundreds of taels more, dozens of taels or even several taels less, and a total of more than 4,000 taels of silver were raised.
A group of eunuchs couldn't stand it, so they gathered together and collected more than 8,000 taels to make up 10,000 taels of silver.
Then add the 20,000 taels of silver in Chongzhen's personal pocket, for a total of 30,000 taels of silver.
According to the court's agreement, part of the thirty thousand taels of silver was sent to the Ministry of Industry to build bandit-killing cannons, and part of it was sent to various border troops.
But this is only on the surface. In fact, most of them did not leave Gyeonggi Province or reach the workshops under the Ministry of Industry.
Even if it is donated money, it cannot destroy the two hundred years of irregular rules of the country!
After all, nothing works without rules, and rules are very important!
Even Chongzhen's private money had to be disbursed, and considering that a lot of this money was donated by ministers, a few percent more had to be added to the amount of dissipation.
You can't let adults really donate money to those lowly warriors for fighting... How unbecoming is this?
As a result, many officials donated dozens of taels of silver and got back hundreds of taels of silver. Not only did they not lose money, but they also made a lot of money.
As for the thief-killing cannon...
Just come back and make some random products to fool some His Majesty.
In this way, this matter has been settled, everyone has benefited, and His Majesty has gained face. Hello, I am well, everyone!
As for the frontier soldiers... these adults have nothing to do with it!
