Kuaiyun looked at Saihan who had fled back in a hurry covered in blood. For a long time, he couldn't believe that this was true.
The city wall has obviously been attacked. With the combat power of a thousand Cangtou troops, the Ming troops on the city wall are simply unable to compete. However, who would have expected that the change would happen so quickly. In just a blink of an eye, the Cangtou army was ejected from the city wall.
They were driven down and defeated. After Saihan ran back with his men, a rough calculation showed that more than 200 soldiers of the Cangtou Army were killed, and those who ran back were also more or less injured.
What is even more unacceptable is that the Cangtou Army paid such heavy casualties without causing any losses to the opponent. In other words, the opponent's fire gun soldiers severely damaged the most elite troops in Kuaibai's hands at the cost of zero casualties.
This private army.
"General Yi, you don't know that the fire blunderbuss in the hands of the Ming army are different from the ones we usually use. These fire blunderbuss fire very quickly and are extremely powerful. You see, the thick armor on my arms has been damaged.
Penetrated." Saihan pointed to his injured arm and said to Yiyun. Thanks to the soldier from the survey camp who shot at him, Saihan would not have had the chance to stand here and report anything to Yiyun.
.
"When did Pinglu Station equip itself with this new type of firecracker?" Yiyun asked in surprise, "Why have we never heard of it?"
"General Yi, those fire soldiers may not be sergeants from Pinglu Station." said a rebel soldier from the Ningxia Guard who had also just escaped from Pinglu City Wall.
Kuaiyun said: "You said they are not sergeants from Pinglu Station. Could it be that reinforcements from the imperial court have arrived?"
The soldier said: "No, I don't think their uniforms look like border troops, so I remembered something. Some time ago, a team came from the capital, called Kanyu Camp. In the opinion of villains,
, those fire gun soldiers should be the soldiers of Kanyu Camp."
"Kanyu camp?" Yiyun vaguely remembered such a thing, but he didn't take Kanyu camp seriously before. "Do you know how many people are in this Kanyu camp?"
"I heard there should be more than 2,000 people," the soldier said. This man is also a rather gossipy person. He likes to listen to people talking nonsense in teahouses and wine shops, and he accidentally got the relevant information about the survey camp.
"So, in Pinglu City, in addition to the more than 2,000 military households from the Pinglu Station, there are also more than 2,000 people from the Kanyu camp. Doesn't that mean there are four to five thousand people?" Kuiyun said.
"That must be the case!" Saihan said, "When I was on the city, in addition to seeing the Ming army on the wall, I also saw some people who were still in the city. There were four to five thousand people in the Ming army.
Our troops are comparable in strength, and with the city wall as our backing and these sharp firearms, we have little chance of winning."
"Come here, please return to Ningxia City and report to the prince. He said that the strength of the Ming army in Pinglu City is far greater than previously expected. Please increase the number of troops as soon as possible." Kuaiyun ordered.
A failed siege caused nearly a thousand casualties to the rebels. Yiyun did not dare to launch a new attack rashly. He asked the troops to set up camp on the spot and sent out sentries to closely monitor every move in Pinglu City and wait for reinforcements.
s arrival.
Inside Pinglu City, the sky was full of laughter and morale was high. In the first round of the rebel attack on the city, the sergeants of Pinglu Station lost over a hundred people and injured countless others. They could barely withstand the rebel offensive.
After Yiyun joined the Cangtou Army, the force of Pinglu was no longer able to resist. At this time, the Kanyu Camp made a brilliant appearance. They easily defeated the rebels with firearms, regained the city, and won a complete victory.
After this battle, the soldiers in the city, whether they were from the Pinglu Station or the Kanyu Camp, were more confident. When the sergeants from the Pinglu Station talked about the firearms from the Kanyu Camp, they were all full of admiration.
I don't think our frontier troops are any prouder than our inland troops.
In Xiao Ruxun's mansion, Xiao Ruxun held a grand banquet to entertain Su Hao and his party. The host and guest drank together and drank happily.
"Brother, my eyes have been opened today. It turns out that fire guns can be used like this. Why didn't I think about it before?" Xiao Ruxun said while toasting Su Hao's wine.
Xu Guangzu interjected from the side: "General Xiao Shen, this is because you have little knowledge. This three-stage attack method was first created by Prince Mu of Yunnan. Later, Qi Junmen also used it when he fought against the Japanese in the southeast.
, it is not our original creation.”
Xiao Ruxun already knew that Xu Guangzu was a veteran who dared to refute even the Minister of War, so he didn't mind these words. He said with a smile: "It seems that I am a frog in the well, short-sighted. When this battle is over,
I will also think about it to see if this method can be used in our army's battle against the Tatars."
Chen Dao said: "General Xiao Shen does not need to blame himself. In fact, the reason why he was able to use this method to defeat the enemy is because the fire blunderbuss equipped by Kanyu Camp are different from ordinary fire blunderbuss. The real name of the fire blunderbuss they used is
It is called a flintlock gun, which is fired by flint, and the firing speed is much faster than ordinary fire guns. Without this kind of flintlock gun, with the original fire gun in our army, even with these three-stage shooting
Even France cannot withstand the attack of the Tatar cavalry."
"That's it." Xiao Ruxun thought for a moment and understood what Chen Dao was referring to. The traditional fire gun fires slowly, and this three-stage strike method has a certain effect against infantry, but it has a certain effect against infantry that comes and goes like the wind.
The Tatar cavalry was not enough. After thinking about this, he felt a little relieved, but then he had a new idea: "Mr. Chen, since we have such a sharp weapon, why doesn't the Ministry of War send it to our border troops? This
Isn’t it a little biased?”
Chen Dao said with a smile: "This is not partiality, but the cost of this kind of flintlock gun is extremely high, and the Ministry of War cannot afford to purchase it in large quantities. General Su purchased these guns at the Kanyu Camp with his own money. Is General Xiao willing to follow suit?"
"What the Ministry of War can't afford, now you can buy it with your own money. Instead, you are as rich as the country." Xiao Ruxun said half jokingly and half jealously.
Su Hao said: "Compared to the lives of soldiers, what does the money for purchasing these equipment mean? Brother Xiao, you have now witnessed the power of the three-stage shooting of the flintlock rifle. Do you think our army will be able to fight the Kuaibai rebels if they go out of the city?"
What are the chances of winning?”
Xiao Ruxun pondered for a while and said: "I'm really not sure about this. In today's battle, the opponent is infantry, and there is no room to move on the city wall. In addition, the survey camp suddenly attacked, and the opponent was caught off guard.
It's a big victory. If we go to the wild, the rebel cavalry is also very powerful. I don't know if the three-stage attack can withstand the impact of the cavalry."
"If you don't give it a try, how will you know?" Su Hao said.
Xiao Ruxun said: "This is too risky. Our main responsibility at the moment is to guard Pinglu City and hold off Kuaibai. If we want to break Kuaibai, we should wait for the reinforcements from the court to arrive. If we rush out of the city, if we can't
If we win, it will be a trivial matter to lose our troops and generals. Losing Pinglu City will bring endless trouble to us in the future when we defeat the enemy."
"In that case, let's forget it for now." Su Hao was helpless. Xiao Ruxun's caution was justified, and Su Hao didn't want to ruin the event because of his impulse.
The next step is to discuss the strategy for defending the city in the future. After realizing the role of firearms, Xiao Ruxun proposed that soldiers from the Pinglu Station and the Kanyu Camp be mixed to share the responsibility of defending the city. In the event of an encounter,
When the enemy attacked the city, the soldiers from Pinglu Station were responsible for resisting the enemies who climbed onto the city with cold weapons, while the soldiers from Kanyu Camp were responsible for carrying out long-range attacks with flintlock rifles. Xiao Ruxun also emphasized that when reporting military exploits to the court in the future,
, Su Hao will be evenly matched with him.
After having enough wine and food, Su Hao and others said goodbye to Xiao Ruxun and returned to their residence in Kanyu Camp. Su Hao asked Chen Dao and Xu Guangzu to go back to rest, and then went to the conference hall of Kanyu Camp, where Li Zhi and Xu Guangqi were waiting for him. Li Zhi
Because he was wearing the hat of an imperial prisoner, it was inconvenient to show his face everywhere, so he did not attend Xiao Ruxun's banquet. However, as Su Hao's think tank, at this time, he must keep informed of the relevant situation.
"How is the situation?" Li Zhi asked Su Hao.
Su Hao said: "The news I received from General Xiao is that the imperial court has appointed Wei Xuezeng, the governor of Shaanxi, as commander in chief, and will lead the troops from the four towns of Shaanxi to surround Ningxia. At the same time, the imperial court is preparing to mobilize troops from Liaodong and other places to quell the rebellion. However,
, the time for the arrival of these reinforcements has not yet been determined."
Li Zhi asked again: "How did Xiao Ruxun respond to the matter of taking the initiative to go out of the city to find the enemy and fight?"
Su Hao said: "He doesn't agree."
"What's the reason?" Li Zhi asked.
Su Hao repeated Xiao Ruxun's words to Li Zhi. Li Zhi thought about it and said, "Xiao Ruxun is so cautious, which is the way to be a general."
"Does Mr. Li also agree with General Xiao's approach?" Su Hao asked.
Li Zhi shook his head and said: "Now that the enemy is strong and we are weak, it is most appropriate from a military perspective to stand firm and wait for reinforcements. But from the perspective of our country, the Ming Dynasty, it is more appropriate if we can go out of the city to defeat the enemy and share the pressure of the court.
advantageous."
"How do you say this?" Su Hao asked.
Li Zhi said: "The rebellion in Ningxia is a major event. In the past, the imperial court would have mobilized a large number of troops to attack it. But judging from what Xiao Ruxun said, the imperial court has not yet decided how to attack it. What does this mean?"
"I don't know, kid," Su Hao said frankly.
Li Zhi said: "If I am not wrong, the imperial court wants to solve the Ningxia Incident at the minimum cost. The reason is that the imperial court's financial resources are overwhelmed and it is difficult to mobilize a large number of troops. In this case, we stand still and wait for help, and the imperial court will
We have no choice but to reluctantly send troops. Although there is no suspense about pacifying Kuaibai, the common people will inevitably have to bear more taxes for this battle."
"The war is all about logistics." Su Hao said, "In Mr. Li's opinion, what should we do to best benefit the country?"
Li Zhi said: "Look for favorable opportunities, take the initiative to attack the rebels, and consume the rebels' strength. In this way, the number of troops the court needs to send can be greatly reduced, and the consumption of military supplies can also be saved."
"I understand. I'll explain it to General Xiao Shen." Su Hao said. (To be continued...)