Four hundred and seventieth eight chapters surrounded
Two six-pound shells did not cause much damage to the peasant rebels. One shell hit the water, causing waves to rise into the sky; the other shell hit the shore, only killing a few peasant rebels.
Brought to the water.
However, under the threat of artillery shells, the peasant rebels crossing the river were immediately in chaos. The four pontoon bridges under the control of Li Dingguo were better. As long as someone was disobedient, they would be immediately pulled out and beheaded. The other seven pontoon bridges were in chaos.
! People rushed to get on the bridge, and the pushing and pulling of the crowd slowed down, and many people were even pushed into the river.
Fortunately, there was no artillery calibration for long-range bombardment in this era, and the artillerymen did not have any telescopes to observe the bombardment, so the two six-pound artillery could only estimate the launch. As for whether it would hit the pontoon bridge? Then
It depends on the luck of the peasant rebel army.
Compared with the threat of the six-pound artillery, the remaining artillery showed its lethality. Nearly 100,000 peasant rebels crowded into a river floodplain about three miles long and two miles wide. There were no obstacles to hide, and they could only
He fled to the pontoon under gunfire.
The Runing Army's artillery fires concentratedly, shooting wherever the peasant rebels gather. In addition to killing and injuring the peasant rebels to the maximum extent, it also aims to disperse all the people gathered together.
However, the manufacturing quality of the artillery at this time determined that the number of artillery firings could not be too many. In order to prevent the spontaneous combustion of gunpowder caused by high temperature, the Runing Army could only increase the interval between artillery firing times to give the artillery more time to cool down.
But even so, after more than twenty rounds of shelling, the Runing Army still had to suspend the firing of artillery. By this time, the artillery had been firing for more than an hour.
It is not that there are no peasant rebels who want to take out the artillery position of the Runing Army. But that kind of unorganized attack, met with the tight defense of the peripheral Runing Army, is just a moth flying into the flame, highlighting the stupid bravery of those peasant rebels.
That’s all.
At this time, more than 40,000 peasant rebels had crossed the river. Zhang Xianzhong summoned the leaders such as King Sweeper and King Taiping together and asked: "Have your old camp men crossed the river?"
King Sweeper still stayed dejectedly without saying a word. King Taiping replied: "Basically everyone is here. It's just that everything was left on the other side of the river. Now he is busy letting other soldiers cross the river!"
Zhang Xianzhong suddenly became anxious. He shouted: "What do those useless people care about? Drag the things here first. At this time, you still don't understand. Keep the green hills. Don't worry about not having firewood! We have our old camp.
More than 40,000 people are enough. As long as you have money and food, how can you not afford to recruit an army?"
Then Zhang Xianzhong patted the sweeping king on the shoulder again and said: "Brothers, don't be discouraged. We have been through many storms and waves, and it is not without exception when there are only a few dozen people left around us. With fewer people, we are more flexible."
It’s a lot!”
…
The long-term shelling will defeat the peasant rebels. Then it's time for the cavalry to come on stage.
This time the Runing army will send all the cavalry. In addition to the two cavalry regiments of the cavalry corps as the main force of the charge, there are more than 600 cavalry who have just surrendered, and most of the soldiers and cavalry guarding Wu Shigong, a total of more than 700 cavalry.
, more than 1,100 guest cavalrymen from the Artillery Regiment and the Engineer Regiment's packhorses who were temporarily equipped with horse harnesses will become the follow-up troops and enter the battle.
By this time, all the cavalry had already prepared their horses.
When Wu Shigong saw Tao Xin riding a horse and looking eager to try, he immediately frowned and asked: "Xiao Xinzi! Where do you want to go? Your position is to protect me!"
Of course Wu Shigong has selfish motives. There are always dangers in war. If something happens to Tao Xin, then Xiaojie will die of grief? It is better to keep this brat by her side and rest assured.
Unexpectedly, Tao Xin replied: "Master! It's okay! I have grown up and can fight. When I go back this time, I will ask my mother to come to you to propose marriage."
Wu Shigong almost spat out a mouthful of blood. Looking at Tao Xin's hairless look, Wu Shigong was so angry that he couldn't even speak. His standard kindness was misunderstood.
And now that the soldiers are still surrounding him, Wu Shigong's favoritism cannot be too obvious. So after thinking for a while, Wu Shigong waved his hand and said: "Go!" and then warned: "Be careful!
"
The cavalry were divided into two groups, the left and right, waiting for the last round of bombardment to end. God seemed to give the Runing Army an opening. A six-pound shell happened to hit a pontoon bridge, destroying the entire bridge.
It became two pieces.
People and horses on the pontoon fell into the water one after another, and screams and calls for help came and went. The team of peasant rebels crossing the river became more chaotic. The crowd behind them swarmed up, pushed away the carts that were crossing the river, and squeezed themselves onto the bridge.
.
The peasant rebels who maintained order quickly blocked the way, but the red-eyed crowd refused to give in. When a soldier held up a knife to intimidate these people, those who wanted to cross the bridge did not hesitate to slash with the knife in their hands.
After a while, the situation suddenly got out of control.
"Don't worry! Let's cross the river ourselves first!" shouted a leader who maintained order.
Other soldiers who were maintaining order also reacted. Now it was no longer a question of whether the carts carrying property could cross the river, but whether they themselves could escape in time. The world was big and the earth was big, but their own fate was the most important.
So without further ado, let’s fight our way out. The battle immediately broke out at the bridge ends of each pontoon bridge.
The two cavalry groups of the Runing Army moved horizontally towards the two wings, and then lined up in rows. Everyone could clearly see that the Runing Army was about to launch a general attack.
Not surprisingly, the seventy to eighty thousand peasant rebels who had stayed here and had not yet crossed the river began to flock to the pontoon bridge.
This is the result of the herd mentality and herd effect. Only a very small number of peasant rebels who saw that they could not get on the bridge fled to the upper and lower reaches of the river. On the contrary, these people were temporarily safe.
The cavalry on both wings of the Runing Army began to drive their horses away quickly. The two thousand-man phalanxes in the middle also began to press forward, followed by the Chinese army of more than a thousand people led by Wu Shigong himself. The engineering regiment stayed in place to protect
With the artillery regiment.
At the sound of sharp whistles, the cavalry began to charge, and they hit the crowd of peasant rebels like two sledgehammers.
After the first row of cavalry finished smashing it, they immediately moved to both sides to avoid it, followed by the second row and the third row. The continuous collision even pushed some peasant rebels towards the direction of the Runing Army's thousand-man phalanx.
The thousand-man phalanx that arrived just in time was immediately fired with firecrackers, and the dense bullets pushed back the squeezed-out peasant rebels.
The entire peasant rebel army was peeled off layer by layer like an onion. After more than ten rounds of collisions and killings, the peasant rebel army had been squeezed to the point of overcrowding.
After more than a dozen rows of cavalry collided, under the command of the cavalry on both wings, the cavalry formed again, and the entire battlefield suddenly came to a standstill. However, the peasant rebels looked at the Runing army approaching from three sides in horror, waiting for Their next round of massacre caused many people to burst into tears.
You must know that most of the peasant rebels who have not crossed the river are old, weak, women and children. Those young and strong have either crossed the river as members of the old camp, or they have been killed in the battle with the Runing army just now.
But the Runing Army would never be merciful. The second round of collisions began again. But this time, after only seven or eight rounds of collisions, the Runing Army's cavalry shouted excitedly: "It's through! It's through!"
The cavalry of the Runing Army has rushed to the Huaihe River, and the two pontoon bridges at the edge of the peasant rebel army have been controlled by the Runing Army.
Except for those who fought desperately to cross the river during this period and some scattered peasant rebels who escaped from the cracks in the Runing Army's formation, the remaining more than 40,000 people were completely surrounded by the Runing Army.
Seeing that his main force had completely controlled the situation, Xiong Zhengen also led 20 artillery pieces to come forward to support. This time the distance was close enough to be visually detected, and the first target of those artillery fire was the pontoon bridge on the Huaihe River.
After the cavalry of the Runing Army took control of the two pontoon bridges on both sides, they immediately poured tung oil that had been prepared on the bridge, lit it on fire and cut off the pontoon bridges. They saw that their own way of survival was cut off one by one. , the remaining peasant rebels became even more panicked.
Some peasant rebels began to flee by jumping into the river in a panic. However, in such a cold weather, those who jumped into the river would suffer from cramps and freezing after barely swimming a few steps. After all, not everyone has the physique for winter swimming.
Today's battle went quite smoothly, and almost every step was carried out according to the Runing Army's pre-war plan. So by now, it can be said that the morale of the Runing Army has been completely improved.
This Runing army has been fighting since November last year. It has gained the upper hand in several battles with the peasant rebels, but in the end it always falls short due to various reasons.
On the contrary, the Runing Army was mobilized by the peasant rebel army to put out fires everywhere, and even the Runing Prefecture and Guide Prefecture suffered heavy losses. This made the entire Runing Army suffocate.
But now, these tens of thousands of peasant rebels have finally been surrounded, and the Runing Army is ready to vent its anger on the enemy troops in front of them. So now the soldiers of the Runing Army are like predatory tigers. Hovering around this group of prey, ready to pounce at any time to enjoy this delicious meal.
Of course Wu Shigong would satisfy the eagerness of his beasts. He ordered: "Attack!" Then the Chinese army's command flag was immediately waved. (To be continued...)