We all know that since modern armies have unified training standards, the same number of troops will have similar levels of combat effectiveness. However, the combat effectiveness levels of the Ming Dynasty's armies were uneven.
In addition, just as most people are accustomed to using their right hands, generally in army formations, the combat effectiveness of the troops arranged by the commander on the right wing is often much higher than the combat effectiveness of the troops arranged on the left wing. So when the two thousand rebels
After approaching the Ming army, the left wing of the Ming army was somewhat confused.
But the two thousand men sent by Kong Youde were not the strongest troops of the rebels. They were composed of veterans of Liaodong, bandits who had defected after the rebellion, and refugees. The two thousand men were divided into two teams of one thousand men each.
When the rebels approached the Ming army, both sides began shooting with muskets and bows and arrows.
Since ancient times, at the beginning of a battle, long-range weapons have always been used to disrupt the opponent's formation. This has been the case from throwing stones at each other between primitive tribes to missiles and artillery in modern warfare. Of course, this battle will not
exception.
But after such a battle, the shortcomings of the Ming army were revealed. The Ming army's troops, whether in the capital camp in the capital or in other places in the mainland, had not received any baptism of war. Besides, the left wing
The Ming army was originally the weaker force in the Ming army. So when the rebels were one hundred and fifty steps away from the Ming army, the Ming army gunmen and archers standing in the front row could not bear the psychological pressure and hurriedly attacked.
Fireguns were fired and arrows were shot.
It is completely conceivable that the muskets and arrows fired from outside the range basically did not cause any casualties to the rebels. The rebels continued to advance, and the panicked Ming army carried out the attack at a distance of about 110 steps.
The second shot was fired, but it still had no results because the range was too far.
Just as the Ming army was busy loading ammunition, the rebels were already only eighty steps away from them. At this time, only a few archers of the Ming army shot a few sparse arrows, which brought a lot of damage to the rebels.
Casualties were also minimal.
The rebels stood firm under the order of the military attache. The gunmen in the front row raised their bird guns and fired the first salvo. No matter how small the power of this bird gun, it has extremely powerful impact at such a short distance.
Huge lethality. Besides, the soldiers of the Ming army did not have much armor. Therefore, the musketeers and archers in the front row of the Ming army fell down.
In fact, according to the general situation, the muskets will still be reloaded for a while, but the musketeers and archers of the Ming army were afraid that the rebels' muskets would fire again, so they all dropped their muskets and bows.
He turned around and fled towards the back of his formation. The collision immediately caused chaos in the Ming army's left formation.
Seeing the chaos in the Ming army's queue, the rebel military attache immediately gave the order, and the rebel soldiers in the back row, holding swords, shields, spears, axes and other weapons, sprinted towards the Ming army.
Seeing the rebels coming, the firecrackers and archers in the front row of the Ming army fled faster. Because the firecrackers and archers were like lambs waiting to be slaughtered in close combat, with no combat effectiveness at all.
. As a result, the left wing of the Ming army became even more chaotic, and it was impossible to organize a complete combat formation.
In an instant, the rebels in the front line rushed into the ranks of the Ming army. They slashed and killed the Ming army's gunmen and archers who had their backs turned. They immediately caused a large number of casualties to the Ming army.
The Ming army in the back row finally waited until the gunmen and archers were exhausted before they could fight the rebels head-on with the weapons in their hands.
But the morale of the rebels had already risen, and the speed of their charge had a certain inertia, so the rebels beat the Ming army back steadily.
However, the Ming army was outnumbered. After suffering a large number of casualties, and under the command of some brave Ming military attachés, it gradually restrained the rebels' advance, and it seemed that the two sides were about to engage in a head-on stalemate.
But at this time, the thousand rebels in the rear team saw that the front team was fighting smoothly, and they rushed towards the Ming army at high speed. After the addition of this new force, the formation of the Ming army's left wing was gradually
They were scattered. The troops on the left wing of the Ming army were also on the verge of collapse.
Kong Youde was also shocked by the situation. To be honest, the purpose of sending these two thousand men was just a tentative attack.
Kong Youde's main force this time was the more than 4,000 cavalry he led, and more than 600 chariots improved by Sun Yuanhua based on the sidecar designed by Qi Jiguang, a famous general in the Jiajing period.
As for the firearms force, Kong Youde only carried a group of small cannons, fire blunderbuss, and eagle blunderbuss. Because after all, he still had to ensure the siege and siege pressure on Laizhou City and prevent the Ming army in Laizhou City from rushing out and fighting with the Ming army coming to the rescue.
The main force comes to cooperate inside and outside.
However, when Kong Youde learned that the Ming army was coming to encircle and suppress him, he had no idea at all. Because the spies he sent could only detect the approximate strength of the Ming army, but could not detect the composition and combat effectiveness of the Ming army at all.
.
Therefore, at the beginning of the war, Kong Youde sent out an army of two thousand men with weak combat effectiveness to test the strength of the Ming army. However, what Kong Youde never expected was that this army was weak in combat effectiveness and had a small number of people.
, but almost defeated the left wing of the Ming army in one fell swoop.
So after being surprised, Kong Youde was immediately overjoyed. He immediately ordered the cavalry to prepare, following the collapse of the Ming army on the left, to attack the flank of the Ming army's center, preparing to overwhelm the entire Ming army's formation in one fell swoop, and completely gain this victory.
victory in the battle.
But the commander-in-chief of the Ming army, Governor Liu Yulie, was helpless about the defeat of the Ming army's left wing. You know, in order to ensure his own safety, Liu Yulie placed the Shenji Battalion, the cavalry and several of the most powerful Ming troops in his center.
military.
At this moment, it was impossible to mobilize the Shenji Battalion and the cavalry in the Chinese army to his left wing, because the Ming army on the left wing was defeated too quickly. Liu Yulie could only watch the unfavorable situation of the battle and could not do anything.
Make any necessary troop movements.
But at this time, a change occurred.
The Jiang guerrilla from Henan had an impressive appearance, so the army he led was considered very capable by Liu Yulie, so he was placed in the central army.
But after all, the number of troops led by Jiang Guerba was too small, and they were guest troops from Henan, so his troops were placed in front of the left side of the Chinese army, which was a more dangerous place.
When Jiang Guerbi saw that the Ming army on the left was about to be defeated, he did not care about military orders or the formation where he was standing. He just led his army and attacked the flank of the rebel army of 2,000 people.
But this ridiculous behavior was beyond everyone's expectation. It was completely an unreasonable attack.
Part of the 2,000-strong Henan army led by Jiang Guerrilla came from his own guerrilla camp, while the other part came from the governor's Biao camp.
After Jiang Guerrilla's defeat against the Holy Spirit Society rebels, he did devote himself to training and trained an elite army. Of course, in Wu Shigong's eyes, the combat quality of this elite army was definitely unqualified compared to his own Runing Battalion.
, but at least these elite soldiers are very brave. But most of the time in the Ming Dynasty, soldiers only needed to be brave.
The Governor's Biao Battalion is fundamentally the personal soldiers of the Governor of Henan. Therefore, the soldiers and equipment of this Biao Battalion must be top-notch in Henan.
In addition, Jiang Guerrilla wore a white helmet, white armor, white spears and white horses. His appearance was particularly eye-catching. He took the lead and charged in front, which also gave his army a lot of morale.
Therefore, this blow on the flank immediately dealt a painful blow to the rebels. When they saw the friendly forces coming to help, the Ming army on the left was also morale-boosted. They also stopped retreating and organized themselves to fight forward.
In just such a moment, the Ming army gained the upper hand. Although the veterans of Liaodong still fought desperately, the number of people fighting on both sides was hugely different. There was even a rebel army that was divided and surrounded by the Ming army.
At this time, Kong Youde had not had time to mobilize the cavalry in the center to his right wing, and of course it was impossible to arrange for his own cavalry to charge. Therefore, as soon as he saw that the troops he sent out were in a hard fight, he no longer wanted to fight, and immediately
Ming Jin withdrew his troops. Facing the right-wing troops of the rebels who stepped forward to respond, the Ming army's left-wing troops, which had been fighting for a while, retreated as soon as they were ready.
As soon as the troops on both sides broke away from contact, Kong Youde slapped his thigh with regret. He regretted that he was too careful and lost an opportunity to completely defeat the Ming army.
In this confrontation, the Ming army suffered more than a thousand casualties. The rebels left more than 400 corpses in front of the Ming army's formation, as well as the surrounded rebels. Seeing that they had no way out, there were three
More than a hundred people surrendered to the Ming army. In addition, there were also injured soldiers among the rebels who returned. Therefore, it can be said that the two sides barely fought a draw in this first battle.