Chapter two hundred and sixty-ninth battle to the death
It will not take a while for Xie Ziwei's artillery to be trained. However, the battle with the Ming army is about to begin. If we want this Italian artillery to play a role in the next battle, we can only rely on those who made the artillery.
of craftsmen.
These artillery craftsmen are naturally the most familiar with the performance of artillery. With them here, there is no need to worry about the artillery not being able to fire or firing accurately.
Three days after the artillery arrived at Huangzhushan, in the morning, Li Xuan had just finished breakfast when someone came to report that there had been some unusual movement on the opposite side of the Ming army, and they most likely wanted to officially cross the river.
After hearing the news, Li Xuan naturally climbed up the mountain immediately to observe the Ming army on the opposite side in person.
I saw the Ming army on the opposite side appearing on the beach one after another, and at the same time many Ming soldiers began to carry the rafts on the river bank into the river.
At this time, even though Li Xuan was not familiar with fighting, he could still see that the Ming army on the opposite side really planned to cross the river.
And calculating the time, the Ming army should indeed have crossed the river in the past few days. The two sides have been fighting at the Lanjiang ferry for more than half a month. During this half month, both sides have been busy. The New Army of the Tang Dynasty is building
breastworks and forts, while the Ming army was building rafts. From time to time, the Ming army could be seen launching small-scale boats into the water, which was obviously training related to crossing the river.
Both sides have been preparing for so long. Naturally, it is impossible to continue the confrontation indefinitely. The war will always be fought.
This was not because Li Xuan was eager to fight. In fact, he wished that the Ming army would delay. It would be better to wait for a few months before crossing the river. However, it was obvious that the Ming army could not wait for such a long time.
These Ming troops had a clear mission, which was to destroy the puppet Tang traitor army.
And such a task cannot be delayed forever, otherwise, neither the generals leading the army nor Song Zhiwen himself will be able to explain it to his superiors.
It's okay to lead an army of three thousand to suppress a bandit without any results for a few months, but if there is no progress for several months, then the bosses above will be unhappy.
In addition, another very important point is that the army spends a lot of money outside, and every extra day is an extra day of expenses, and the superiors do not care about these expenses, and they have to take responsibility for themselves.
Of course, if any loot is captured, such as looting several large villages on the road, the loot obtained does not need to be turned over.
To put it simply, when local armies fight a war, especially a war to suppress bandits, they are responsible for their own profits and losses, and the court does not care!
This is why many history books record that when the imperial army passes through the border, people suffer along the way, which is no different from encountering bandits and thieves.
Why, because the bandit army needs to survive by robbing, and the officers and soldiers in many places, especially the guest soldiers, also need to survive by robbing. The only difference between them is that the bandit army has an unfair name.
It's not going well, but the officers and soldiers are just right. For the people, neither of them is a good thing.
Otherwise, why would there be a word called "a family of soldiers and bandits"!
The Ming army, which was under a lot of pressure, could not stay on the other side of the river to confront the new army of the Tang Dynasty. After completing many preparations, they would definitely cross the river.
And now, they are obviously about to start crossing the river.
"Send the order and let the soldiers make relevant preparations!" When Li Xuan said, he turned to look at the group of generals behind him, then took a deep breath and said solemnly: "Today, we will fight to the death with the puppet Ming thief army!
"
Li Xuan deliberately said it deeply, just to let them know that today's battle is related to the survival of the Tang Dynasty, and more importantly, the life and death of everyone here.
A group of generals below immediately said in unison: "I obey the order!"
Li Xuan nodded slightly, and then said: "Let's all prepare ourselves!"
Immediately, Fang Dongquan, Huang Xueren, Wang Shanxu, Hao Bainian and other generals bowed down and retreated. They were going to lead their respective troops to prepare for battle to face the largest battle since the founding of the Tang Dynasty. This battle was also the
The first large-scale frontal battle experienced by the new army of the Tang Dynasty.
In the past, the New Army of the Tang Dynasty generally avoided fighting against the main force of the Ming Army, and ran away directly when encountering them. In many battles, they chose to bully the partial divisions of the Ming Army.
But this time, they have to directly face the three thousand main force of the Ming army. Even if there is a Lanjiang River as their defensive barrier, whether they can win and whether they can stop the Ming army outside the Lanjiang River, Li Xuan
But the certainty in my heart is not enough.
This certainty is at most 60%. Half of this 60% chance of victory is brought about by the musketeers of more than 200 people, and the other 30% chance of victory is due to Lanjiang.
As for the remaining 40% chance of winning, it purely depends on whether God will give him face. If God gives him face, maybe there will be a flood when the Ming army crosses the river, and all the Ming army soldiers will be drowned.
If God doesn't give face, the Ming army crosses the river very smoothly, but is washed up on the beach by their main force, and even enters the stage of hand-to-hand combat with the new army of the Tang Dynasty, then it will be very difficult for the new army of the Tang Dynasty to win.
After all, no matter what, the Ming army had 3,000 men, while the Tang New Army only had a little more than 1,300 men. The strength of both sides was not small.
As for the quality of the soldiers on both sides, they are actually about the same. Only half of the Ming army are regular soldiers, and the rest are young and strong people brought in temporarily. The main force of the new army of the Tang Dynasty is only four to five hundred people, and the rest are all the same.
new recruit egg.
As the saying goes, both sides are equal, and no one can say who is wrong.
The Ming army on the other side of the river moved very quickly. Not long after they started taking action, they were already gathering on the other side of the river.
But at this time, the new army of the Tang Dynasty was the first to take action!
Following Xie Ziwei's firing, the only artillery piece in the New Army of the Tang Dynasty, the 'Italian Cannon', roared for the first time in this battle.
Under the loading and aiming of the cannon engineers, the Italian cannon took the lead in firing. Suddenly, the rumble of the cannon sounded on the river and spread far and wide.
The sound of the cannon was powerful for dozens of miles, and the soldiers on both sides of the Lanjiang River could hear it clearly.
Accompanied by the loud noise, there was thick smoke rising from the muzzle!
However, these are not what Li Xuan and the others pay attention to. At this time, Li Xuan is wearing a military uniform, wearing long leather boots, with a three-foot green sword hanging from his waist. He is also wearing a hand-made garment named Dong Yunyun, but in fact
The gray leather gloves were provided by Pearl.
The mountain breeze blew by, causing the tips of his long hair to flutter slightly, and also caused the hem of his military uniform to sway slightly.
At this time, he was standing on the hill like a green pine, motionless despite the mountain wind blowing on his face.
In his eyes, the Ming army on the other side of the river was densely and chaotically crowded on the river beach. They were heading towards the raft that was already on the river. Many officers of the Ming army were shouting and urging.
But at this moment, a small black dot fell from the sky, and then fell into the dense crowd of Ming troops.