In the third year of Chongzhen, it was the ninth day of the sixth lunar month and the fourth watch.
The sky was dark and the moon was gone.
The sergeants of the Sixth Guards of the Lion Battalion lit up torches and gathered in a deserted village on a narrow official road in Huanglong Mountain.
Liu Chengzong stood on the roof, looking at the big flags on the winding mountain road, and commanding the positions of the sentry troops during the march.
He only had one chance to chase He Huchen through this mountain official road.
According to Li Laojie's information, the official road in Huanglong Mountain is narrower than that in Ziwu Ridge. The east and west ends of this road near Yanzhou and Yichuan are wider. The farther to the middle, the less visited are the roads, and the road becomes narrower. p>
At its narrowest point, including the dead leaves and dead trees piled up on the slopes on both sides of the road, it is only four steps wide, which is only about ten steps under normal circumstances.
I haven’t practiced official ethics for a long time.
But the place that is wide is also wide. Except for the 30 to 40-mile road between the two mountains that is inaccessible, there are abandoned villages more than ten miles apart in other places. The edges of the villages are the fields cultivated by the people in the past.
The widest part, including the fields, can have more than a hundred steps. In some places, there are mountain paths, and you can climb up the mountain ridges running north and south.
Li Laojiao still has vivid memories of those mountain ridges. Whenever the Ningxia Tang soldiers wave their flags, it won't take long for Tatar soldiers to ride over.
Wei Qian'er wrapped a cloth around Tang Qi's hooves, extinguished the fire, and sent a team of three cavalrymen toward the front official road in the dark.
The vanguard of the Lion Battalion is the rear outpost that is best at attacking tough targets. The outpost commander Wang Wenxiu pulled the troops from the deserted village to the official road, and formed an eight-way column with two teams and four lines in parallel.
Li Laojiao and his men sat on the hillside next to the official road, watching the Lion Battalion dispatch troops, with eyes full of envy.
Compared with them, the men and horses of the Lion Camp are too well equipped.
At Wang Wenxiu's post alone, two teams of people lined up side by side and formed a large group on the official road. It was said to be an eight-way column, but in fact there were twenty-six people in every four lines.
There are eight people in the first row, with one team member and heavy soldier on each side, and the six people on the inside are groups of soldiers belonging to the two teams.
Soldiers are equipped with bows, arrows, waist knives or golden gourds, and some carry short seven-foot spears.
The two auxiliary soldiers carried weapons such as spears, three-eyed blunderbuss, and javelins.
Any weapon less than one foot long is considered a short weapon.
In the second to fourth rows, on the outermost side are two mules led by heavy baggage soldiers, carrying shields and armor.
The following teams are basically the same, except that some of the auxiliary soldiers use firearms.
After the two groups of soldiers passed by, four mules carrying small cannons came together.
Wang Wenxiu was at the front of the squadron behind these four guns, leading the squadron forward with great vigor.
He left his horses and mules behind.
His sentry was not good at riding. From the sentry commander to the captain, it was built on the basis of the Guyuan Infantry Hundreds. Not to mention that on such a narrow mountain road, war horses running around in the team would only create gaps in the formation. p>
After Wang Wenxiu's rear sentry, there is Gao Xian's right sentry, then Cao Yao's artillery sentry, Liu Chengzong's servant team, the heavy baggage sentry, and Feng Yu's left sentry.
Zhong Hu's middle sentry and Li Lao Jackal stayed at the camp, and there were many people and mules.
Liu Chengzong's order to them was to stay here. If the advance failed, they would use the camp to block Du Wenhuan here.
If things go well ahead, dismantle the camp and continue westward.
In fact, it doesn't matter whether the camp is demolished or not. Liu Chengzong's main intention is to make Zhong Hu remember to collect the caltrops, which are the treasures Liu Chengzong got from Ai Mu.
Not long after walking out, Liu Chengzong calculated that it would be dawn soon, but the sky was still dark, and he even began to wonder if he had gotten up early.
On the way, he was still saying that it was a pity that the cannons cast in Shanxi did not come back. This terrain was very advantageous for firing cannons.
As soon as I finished speaking, it started to rain.
Liu Chengzong was so dumbfounded that he rode on the back of the red flag and wiped the rain from his face.
The rain wasn't heavy, but it made Liu Chengzong frown.
Raining is troublesome, both when it rains and after it rains.
Especially in the current terrain, if it rains lightly, the roads will be muddy and soldiers will get sick; if it rains heavily, water will accumulate on the official roads, and it may also cause soil and rocks on the mountains that are thirty to forty feet high on both sides.
Rush down.
The rain brought a lot of chaos to the team. The other sentries were fine. They just let the mules carry the three-eyed guns and bird guns, so they didn't have to carry them.
Cao Yao's artillery post exploded directly.
The 500-man artillery post is almost a full complement of firearms troops, including hundreds of artillerymen and more than 200 gunners.
The Lion Battalion, which Liu Chengzong had just dispatched, was forced to suspend its march. After a short discussion, each sentry handed over the three-eyed muskets and bird muskets to the baggage sentry, cut down the tents, took off their clothes, wrapped their bows and arrows, and each carried ten small cannons forward.<
/p>
The artillery post marched with forty small artillery pieces and one red barbarian artillery piece, leaving seven Fran machines weighing more than 100 kilograms and using artillery carts, leaving the general artillery behind, which was taken over by Zhong Hu.
Liu Chengzong's order to Zhong Hu was that if the frontline battle went smoothly and the rear posts needed to advance, the gun holes of the seven cannons should be blocked and the artillery carts should be pushed to the ravine and abandoned.
Liu Chengzong was afraid that Zhong Hu would not want to throw away the Hongyi cannon, which weighed a thousand kilograms, so he temporarily carried it with the cannon sentry. If it affected the march, he personally ordered it to be thrown away with his own eyes.
Soon, the marching speed of the team was visibly reduced. Rainwater accumulated on the official road. Liu Chengzong's horses never traveled on good roads, and the dirt road became sticky.
The torches were also extinguished. The soldiers in front and behind were fine with short spears, but those with bare hands and those carrying spears began to fall and fall as they walked.
Liu Chengzong took out the wolf skin lining from his cotton armor and wrapped it three times around the two arrow pots.
There will be some rain in the north for a while, but there will be no tide. As long as the bow is not exposed to rain for a long time, the impact on the bow will be that it is easily damaged.
In a battle, your life will be lost, and no one cares whether the bow will break. Moreover, with a war bow like theirs weighing more than 80 pounds, even if it doesn't rain, if a battle is fought with high intensity, it will not work.
Even if the bow is not good, it will be bad.
However, rainy days have a great impact on arrows. The arrow feathers cannot be exposed to water at all. The width of the feathers when exposed to water will be reduced to 30 to 40% of the original value, and the arrow will be inaccurate.
After walking for three miles, the sky became a little brighter, overcast, and the rain became heavier.
A hundred steps away, the water mist was hazy. Wei Qian'er's Tangqi returned from the rain. He was soaked along the side of the road so hard that he couldn't even open his eyes. He cupped his fists and said: "General, the officers and soldiers are marching in the rain. We are still ten miles away from here."
Three miles away, Tangqi has already engaged him in battle, and he cannot win with four soldiers."
After saying that, Tang Qi shook his head and said bitterly: "Captain Wei ordered the retreat eight miles away."
Liu Chengzong nodded to indicate that he understood, and asked Tang Qi to come to the front to support him.
It's not surprising that Tang Qi couldn't win.
Wei Qian'er's Tang soldiers are all good spies, but not the best warriors.
Spies do not need to be skilled warriors, although sometimes they must fight to suppress the opponent's soldiers.
But most of the time, as long as we can detect the enemy's location and cover up our troops' movements, the mission will be accomplished.
Such a line of mountain terrain cannot conceal the movement, as long as the enemy can be detected and given an early warning.
The servants rode on the muddy road to the front and rear of the troops, conveying the news that the enemy was still eight miles away, and that the troops were preparing to wear armor.
Cao Yao's artillery post was still in a mess, and it was already more than a hundred steps away from the two sentry troops in front. Liu Chengzong sent someone to urge him, saying: "If it doesn't work, just throw away the red barbarian cannon."
Not long after, the servant came back and said: "General, Commander Cao asked you to go over and take a look."
When Liu Chengzong rode up to the horse, he saw that many of the artillery whistles were shirtless.
In fact, there were many barefoot people at every post. The road was originally filled with water, but after hundreds of soldiers at the front stepped on it, it became a dirt road. Sometimes the soldiers couldn't pull their feet out once they stepped down.
After pulling it out hard, the shoe was left on the ground.
The soldiers behind were still walking, so they had no choice but to go barefoot. Some of the auxiliary soldiers who came from poor families had already taken off their shoes and hung them on their waists or put them on the backs of mules.
The soldiers at the artillery post were struggling to push the Hongyi artillery cart. The soldiers in front were pulling with the mules, and the soldiers behind were pushing.
The four wheels of this artillery cart are small and wide, and the chassis of the gun carriage is low. It is almost towed on the dirt road by human power.
Liu Chengzong said: "I know you feel distressed, but if you walk ten miles like this, you will exhaust your troops to death and delay the battle ahead."
Cao Yao waved his hand and said: "No, look, I have dressed it. The artillery post has forty-one cannons, all of which are equipped with guns. Soldiers' uniforms are draped over the cannon holes, and two pieces of clothing are stuffed into the muzzles to protect them from the rain." As he spoke, he tore open his sleeveless cotton uniform, raised his face and gestured to Liu Chengzong, pointed at the muzzle of the Hongyi Cannon and said, "My mid laner will stuff it inside to protect the cannon from the rain."
"This is our first red barbarian cannon, the lion."
Cao Yao wiped the rain off his face, raised a finger, and said in a pleading tone: "Let it hit you again."
Speaking of this, Liu Chengzong couldn't bear to refuse and nodded: "I'll ask Chengyun to get you a few more mules."
After saying that, he stopped his horse and waited for the Chinese army to come forward.
This thousand-pound bronze cannon cannot be saved.
The outcome of the fight with He Huchen is yet to be determined. After this fight, many people in the Lion Camp will get sick from the rain and will have no energy left to go back and fight Du Wenhuan.
It was still raining in the morning.
My clothes are soaked, and even in summer it is so cold that I can’t help but shiver.
Tangqi in front reported one after another. The distance between the two armies changed from eight miles to six miles, six miles to four miles, four miles to two miles, and finally only one mile remained.
Wang Wenxiu, who was at the forefront, had already put on armor.
Liu Chengzong ordered the team to slow down and climbed up the mountain ridge with difficulty with sticks.
Through the heavy rain, the outlines of He Huchen's troops arrayed on the narrow mountain road could already be seen. Wei Qian'er's Tangqi said that they were retreating.
It seems that he is looking for a wider place.
But Liu Chengzong took a fancy to the mountain ridges on both sides of the road in front. Soldiers with light armor should be able to climb over them, so he ordered the servants around him: "Let the army continue to press forward and not let them retreat. Call the two sentry commanders Gao Feng to come see me." The troops paused briefly to allow Cao Yao's artillery sentry to keep up with the larger troops. Then the troops continued to move forward, moving towards the enemy's front line at a faster speed than before.
Gao Xian and Feng Rui came over quickly, and Liu Chengzong said: "Have you seen the two mountain ridges in the north and south? They should be able to climb over."
The second general nodded and said: "Shall we turn over and attack the enemy's flank?"
Liu Chengzong shook his head: "No, the cost of overturning is too high. You have to watch out. If the officers and soldiers turn over, their soldiers will be lightly armed and tired. Stop them and defeat them."
The two responded with clasped fists, and each returned to the sentry and advanced, selecting a small team wearing armor to protect the flanks. Gao Xian also sent a team of people to climb up the mountain with wooden sticks.
Then Feng Lun also wanted to give it a try and sent a team, but the hillside on his side was too steep and several people slipped down, so he had to give up.
In this little time, the two armies were within a stone's throw of each other.
I don’t know whether it was because it was raining that he couldn’t see clearly, or because He Huchen thought he was still facing Li Laojiao, so he actually sent a horse team to run along the official road first.
And it’s the Mongolian Yidin Cavalry.
The auxiliary soldiers of Wang Wenxiu's department, who were holding spears of three feet and five feet, were marching hard all the way, just for this moment. They changed their formations in a moment and formed a formation with the auxiliary soldiers who were holding swords and shields at the front.
Immediately, he raised his spear and walked towards the cavalry formation.
The cavalry started firing arrows every forty or fifty steps, but they were all wearing armor. It was difficult to hit the face from this distance and had almost no effect.
It seemed that they only saw the situation of Wang Wenxiu's troops when they got closer. They fired arrows at twenty or thirty steps and then returned to the formation. However, they were knocked down by the soldiers' rifle fire.
Then the infantry continued to advance, and several swordsmen and shieldmen left the team, stepping forward to kill the horse soldiers whose horses were shot over and fell to the ground or injured by arrows.
The first conflict was like this, which greatly boosted the morale of the auxiliary soldiers in the rear sentry.
Wang Wenxiu's troops continued to press forward and stopped when they were a hundred steps away from the enemy. There seemed to be chaos behind the team.
Liu Chengzong covered his telescope and saw shields being sent forward from the heads of the soldiers at the back post.
He hurriedly spied on the enemy's formation, and found out that it was true. The officers and soldiers had placed four small cannons in front of the formation, and built a simple small cannon shed with wooden sticks, long cards, and cotton-padded clothes.
There was a bang, the gunpowder smoke was dispersed by the rain, and the cannonballs were flying. They should be four gushing cannons. Liu Chengzong saw a big bullet flash past in the cannon.
Eighteen-liang large artillery shells and twenty one-liang small artillery shells sprayed out, sweeping in front of Wang Wenxiu's formation like a whirlwind.
Two direct-fire cannonballs pierced the shields and penetrated the soldiers behind them. Some of the cannonballs flew high and ricocheted backwards against the shields.
More artillery shells hit the hillsides on both sides and the open space in front of the formation, creating mud pits.
"You've committed a sin, are you the only coward with a gun?"
Wang Wenxiu saw several soldiers fell down and the small artillery shed a hundred steps away was still fighting. He cursed anxiously: "Where are the artillerymen? Use your cannons to attack him! Everyone, hold on to your formation!"
The artillery that Wang Wenxiu mentioned was not an artillery post. The Lion Camp only had more cannons on the artillery posts. The other posts also had ten small cannons per post.
It's just that they are a mixture of Yongzhu and Tiger Crouching, so the Tiger Crouching Cannon will not be used.
Not long after, Wang Wenxiu followed suit and built a simple artillery shed using long cards. The artilleryman took the mules to the side and unloaded the wooden frame containing the bead cannon and the wooden box containing the explosive shells, and assembled them under the gun shed. p>
There was another cannon shot in front of the army formation, and the artillery shells once again knocked down several people in front of the formation.
There was some commotion in front this time, and all the auxiliary soldiers knew that the sentry commander's posture was to fight with the officers and soldiers.
Their firepower is no weaker than that of the official army, but they are always at the front, killing and wounding a few with each shot, killing and wounding a few with each shot, and sooner or later they will all die. Who can bear this?
At this moment, Wang Wenxiu gave the order: "The first two rows retreated from the front line to the back of the post. Every time they received a shot, the first two rows retreated to the back of the post."
Behind him, mules carrying pearl cannons came forward to wait, and the baggage team carried down the wounded soldiers one by one from the muddy road beside the road.
Wang Wenxiu gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, wiped the rainwater from his helmet's eyebrows, and stood among the soldiers at the rear, with a look of cruelty on his bearded face.
"If they want to use cannons, we will use cannons. If they want to fight, we will fight with them until they are convinced and until the officers and soldiers make you stronger."
