Liuzhou in the mid-Ming Dynasty was not very good, but it was not very bad either. It was definitely not as good as Wuzhou Prefecture, let alone the prosperous prefectures and counties in the south of the Yangtze River.
But if you say it is bad, it is not bad at all. At least it is much better than Liping Mansion and Xingquan Mansion!
First of all, because of the existence of the Liujiang River, the two sides of the Liujiang River are traditionally impact plains. Although the plains on both sides of the Liujiang River are very small, they can still grow food, and at least feed the people on both sides is not a problem.
Secondly, because of the existence of the Liujiang River, inland river shipping is more convenient and has great development potential. Especially for armies like the Tang Dynasty King's Division that rely more on logistical supplies, the Liujiang River, a tributary of the Xijiang River, is even more important.
If a large army wants to launch long-distance operations, it is unrealistic to rely solely on civilians to transport ammunition and other supplies. Convenient transportation is necessary.
If it's modern times, it's the railway. Before the railway appeared, river shipping was extremely important.
For these reasons, the Imperial Army of the Tang Dynasty is bound to win Liuzhou. To say the least, the Imperial Army of the Tang Dynasty may not be able to conquer Guilin and other Guangxi prefectures, but it must conquer Liuzhou.
Without capturing Liuzhou, there would be no way to continue marching eastward, let alone conquer Wuzhou, and finally march to Zhaoqing and Guangzhou, Guangdong.
To conquer Liuzhou, we must pull out the nails at Rong County, the north gate of Liuzhou.
And this is why Hao Bainian sent the Second Infantry Regiment south to Rong County before taking Huaiyuan County!
But Hao Bainian probably did not expect that the Second Infantry Regiment would encounter the Ming army who launched a field charge against them outside Rong County.
According to previous battle examples, because they were afraid of the Tang Army's firearms, most of the Ming army, even those that had never fought against the Tang Army, would be more cautious. At that time, Zhu Zhihai was bent on entering Liping City and relying on Liping City to fight.
A stubborn battle.
It is a pity that he did not underestimate the field capability of the Tang army, but he still underestimated the offensive ability of the Tang army, or he overestimated the defense ability of his troops. In the end, he fell short and was defeated.
Liping Fucheng, and caused himself to be kidnapped by Qian Dafei, and finally died!
However, not every Ming army will be as cautious as they are. For example, the three thousand Ming army in front of them is obviously different from many Ming armies that the Tang Dynasty King has encountered in the past!
When the Second Infantry Regiment arrived in Rong County, they took the initiative to go out of the city to fight in the field.
Maybe they don't know how strong the Pseudo-Tang rebel army is in the field, or maybe they know it, but they still think they can defeat the Pseudo-Tang rebel army in front of them!
No matter what the reason was, they all rushed out and launched the charge with fearless courage!
The officers of the Second Infantry Regiment who looked across the street were shocked!
Even the Ming troops in the garrison who fought with the Second Infantry Regiment surrendered, but they still couldn't understand why the Ming troops in front of them had such strong self-confidence!
Haven't they heard that our Tang Dynasty King's Division has the most powerful field combat capabilities?
The three thousand Ming troops on the opposite side are getting closer and closer. They are arranged in a crowded and chaotic formation, rushing towards the formation of the Second Infantry Regiment of the Tang Army like a tide!
Although Li Chunjing didn't quite understand their charge, it was a good thing for him. If these three thousand Ming troops were huddled in the city, his Second Infantry Regiment might have to take down Rongxian County.
It took a lot of effort.
Since they took the initiative to go out of the city to fight, they would take this opportunity to completely defeat them, then easily capture Rong County and complete the combat mission assigned by Hao Bainian.
After Li Chunjing arranged for the troops to fight, he did not interfere too much in the command of the troops. Instead, he stayed on the hilltop with several staff officers under his command to observe the changes on the entire battlefield.
At this time, the officer in the artillery team of the battalion of the Second Infantry Regiment had already drawn his command knife!
"Team ready!"
"aim!"
When the three thousand Ming troops on the opposite side crossed a distance of 150 meters, the captain of the battalion's artillery team decisively commanded his command sword: "Fire!"
As soon as his order was issued, six 150-pound battalion guns spewed out smoke and flames almost at the same time.
When shotguns are set up within the effective range, their power is extremely powerful, especially when the enemy troops are still in dense array, the lethality is even more amazing!
After the six shotguns fired, the tide of three thousand Ming soldiers seemed to have stopped for a few seconds. A large number of Ming soldiers in the front row fell uniformly and neatly.
However, the fallen soldiers in the front row were quickly destroyed, because the Ming soldiers in the back row stepped over their soldiers and continued to charge forward!
The Ming soldiers in the back row who continued to charge may not know what happened at all. Maybe they knew, but they didn't care.
Looking at the three thousand Ming troops in front, although they suffered many casualties in the first round of shelling, they still continued to charge without any pause.
Li Chunjing, who was watching the battle from behind, frowned slightly!
These Ming armies are different from the Ming armies we encountered before!
This battle may not be as simple as I expected, so I must treat it with caution!
Immediately said: "Instruct the grenadiers to prepare for battle!"
"Isn't it too early to dispatch the grenadiers now?" said a captain and staff officer nearby: "The grenadiers are the elite of our army, and our army only has one team of grenadiers in total. Let's dispatch it now.
I’m afraid there will be unnecessary casualties!”
Li Chunjing said: "These Ming troops in front are not normal. They are different from the guards and recruits we have encountered before. They must be treated with caution. They must use the most powerful firepower and the most powerful lineup to defeat them.
The first wave of offensive collapsed!"
He still had something to say. He was worried that if he could not completely defeat these strange Ming troops on the opposite side in the first wave of attacks, if they entered the stage of hand-to-hand combat, they would probably capsize in the gutter!
After Li Chunjing gave the order, the grenadiers who were originally located behind the three main battalions also began to form formations and gradually entered the battlefield, preparing to fight the oncoming Ming army as soon as possible!
Boom! Boom!
The artillery in the battalion artillery team has begun to fire freely, but the momentum is not as loud as when it started the first salvo!
And limited to the pathetic firing speed of artillery in this era, it is impossible to fire quickly in a short period of time!
Artillery fire continues to suppress!
The infantry phalanx at the forefront is also ready for battle.
The heavy-armored spearmen of the Datang Army in the front row have experienced this kind of charge against the enemy many times. Maybe some of the new recruits will be timid, but some veterans are holding on to themselves steadily.
With his spear, he waited for the enemy to rush up and stabbed them one by one with his spear.
As for whether the Ming troops on the opposite side will break through their array?
This is unlikely!
Because this can be seen from the formation of the Ming army opposite!
Although their formation looks like a huge infantry square, it is actually not unified at all. Instead, they form a small team of six or seven people, and then multiple small teams merge together.
The soldiers in the front row are spearmen, in the middle are soldiers with swords and shields, hand crossbows and archers, and at the end are soldiers holding short knives who specialize in blocking the enemy's head.
In other words, after they rush up, the only ones who can really participate in melee combat are two or three spearmen!
And these Ming soldiers in the front row were not wearing armor either!
This kind of tactics and formation may be more effective in some small-scale battles, especially when fighting Japanese pirates or exterminating other bandits. However, if it is against the line formation of modern armies, it is basically courting death.
!
Because the soldiers in the line formation are all soldiers, and the formation is tight, what will be the result of such a fight? A Ming Army soldier on the opposite side may face three or four Tang Army soldiers at the same time.
siege.
The modern army relies on formations and military discipline, and firearms are secondary. Traditional ancient armies and modern armies play square formations to hedge, whether they are cavalry or infantry, it is basically an act of seeking death.
At this time, the Ming army had crossed a distance of 100 meters. At this time, the three infantry battalions and the 700 muskets in the grenadiers also began to fire in turns!
After reaching a distance of seventy or eighty meters, the archers in the reserve camp also began to bend their bows and shoot arrows!
Of course, the charging Ming army also began to bend their bows and shoot arrows to counterattack, but the counterattack was relatively weak, not even as strong as the Ming army's counterattacks Li Chunjing had encountered in the past!
After these Ming troops rushed to a distance of about 40 meters, although they were still charging, the casualties were actually very heavy. Out of 3,000 people, it was conservatively estimated that nearly 400 people fell on the charge!
Most of these Ming soldiers had hesitant and confused expressions on their faces, but they still rushed towards the square formation of the Second Infantry Regiment of the Tang Army.
At this time, the musketry officers in the three main infantry battalions all ordered: "Stop shooting, reload, and prepare for a volley!"
Soon, the musketeers of the Tang Army changed from the previous six rows to three rows, and the formation became tighter. The gap between the soldiers could not even allow the musketeers to reload for the second time!
The officers on the other side of the Lancers also shouted the command: "Everyone is here, prepare to charge!"
When the Army of the Tang Dynasty was engaged in hand-to-hand combat, especially in this type of decisive field battle, they generally would not defend in a fixed manner, but in the final stage, that is, after the musketeers had finished firing their volleys and the grenadiers had dropped their bombs.
Will launch a counterattack!
The officer of the grenadiers had already shouted the command to light the fire. Within a few seconds, he shouted the command: "Drop the bomb!"
The next moment, hundreds of grenades were thrown out!
The grenades crossed the short distance of thirty meters and landed in the front row of the Ming army on the opposite side!
When hundreds of grenades exploded in his own soldiers, killing and injuring countless people in an instant, Cen Xiong, the leader of the Ming army, finally said with a dull expression. Many Ming army generals who fought against the Tang army would say
A sentence that comes out: "How is this possible?"