Chapter 179 Entering the ground has no door and virtue
Xu Du led more than a thousand elite troops and divided his troops into several groups to counterattack the Qing army. In order to prevent the Qing army from finding out the specific number of troops leaving the city, he specially ordered the soldiers to scatter dust and divided his troops into several groups in order to achieve pretentious momentum.
Evenly divide the Qing army's strength to meet the enemy and intercept it.
Dorgon's remaining troops in the Chinese army's position only had Kong Youde's group of several thousand troops. Although their strength was several times that of Xudu, they included a large number of artillerymen with poor melee combat capabilities, and they were in a passive position.
They must split their ways to attack the protruding death squads in the city.
Kong Youde's situation is not optimistic either.
King Sanshun's troops were not large, Geng Zhongming was still in Jinan, and Shang Kexi had been destroyed. Kong Youde originally thought that he would stay in the rear and grasp the Qing army's retreat, and he could jump left and right at any time to seek benefits for himself.
He never expected that the Xuzhou garrison, with such a weak force, would dare to take the initiative to attack!
Under the fierce artillery attack of the Qing army, Xuzhou, which was already in ruins, regained the majesty of a majestic city. The city gates were opened on all sides, the flags of the Dashun Army were standing everywhere, and the sergeants filed out. Due to the flying dust of the battle, Kong Youde could not distinguish the Shun Army at all.
He only saw the total number of troops in Dashun. The formations were unpredictable. After each detachment rushed out of the city gate, they rushed in all directions, with the intention of interspersing the Chinese army's positions surrounding the Qing army.
"How many people are there in the Xuzhou garrison?!"
Kong Youde was frightened. His general, Xian Guoan, was frightened and blurted out: "Your Majesty, the defenders of Xuzhou are no less than 10,000 people. The bandits have attacked in large numbers. They are bound to win. The number of troops and horses will not be lower than our multiples."
.”
The Qing army had thousands of troops, but most of them were gunners, and the actual number of other combatable infantry and cavalry was even greater. Even if Kong Youde really figured out the exact number of Xuzhou defenders, the remaining Han troops under King Sanshun would probably be
We cannot meet the enemy in separate ways without leaving any loopholes.
What's more, now the Shun army is covered in dust, the army is hidden behind the smoke, and the formations are constantly changing. Xu Du has put all his military experience over the years into the battle. When the Shun army rushes through the Xuzhou moat, along the
When the old pipe flew towards the Qing army's position, Xu Du's eyes and ears could only see where Kong Youde's banner was and where Dorgon's royal tent was.
The few cavalrymen in the city of Xuzhou took advantage of the situation and galloped out of the city. The ground of the old official road was full of holes and pits, all showing signs of being bombarded by the Qing army's Hongyi artillery. People, horses, vehicles and all kinds of siege troops
The remains of equipment were scattered between the Qing army's camp and the Xuzhou city wall. Everyone wanted to rush faster, but the Qing army was shocked and only a few people were still firing artillery in an orderly manner.
Kong Youde panicked, and he quickly ordered the gunners in each department to put down all tasks in their hands and draw out their wild goose feather knives to engage the "rogue bandits". However, in a hurry, the Qing army's dispatch was in chaos, and many troops were crowded and jammed.
On the narrow road between various artillery positions.
Originally, the trenches dug by the National Security Bureau were to resist the counterattack and breakout of the Shun troops in the city, but now they hindered the mutual support between the various Qing troops.
The cavalry of the Dashun Army were moving vigorously and swiftly, and they were the first to arrive on the battlefield. Less than half of what they held were spring wheel pistols, and the other half were ordinary muskets - because the situation of the defenders of Xuzhou City was already very difficult.
Nervous, it is rare to be able to assemble such armored equipment for the breakout troops.
"Fire! Fire! Fire!"
Xu Du galloped on his horse and urged repeatedly. The soldiers of the Dashun Army still had firearms in their hands. Everyone opened fire with all their strength. The guns and artillery fired in unison, fighting with the Qing army's gunmen who relied on trenches, parapets and artillery positions to fire. It was originally
The dusty wilderness was even more covered with countless white smoke.
On the periphery of the Qing army's artillery position, through the Line National Security Command Organization, six more trenches were built compared to the outer ring trench position. After the early spring, the cold floods came, and the river water brought by the melting of the ice and snow in the upper reaches was introduced into the trenches by the Qing army.
, forming several moats near the Chinese army’s positions.
However, the Xian Guoan dug the trenches too densely, and the earth walls that served as breakwaters between the moats were too thin. After the Qing and Shun armies launched a fierce gunfire exchange in front of the formation, a large number of muskets fell on the earth walls.
, and suddenly there were potholes everywhere.
Xu Du quickly stopped his horse, and the surrounding Shun soldiers rushed forward to attack the Qing army's central formation, leaving hundreds of corpses in front of Kong Youde's formation.
Xu Dou knew that such a head-on fight would not lead to a decisive victory. One of the staff officers beside him, Yicheng, was a second-term graduate of the Suizhou Lecture Hall. At this time, he suddenly became anxious and shouted loudly:
"Blast the earth wall! Blast the earth wall! Break through the water and attack the camp!"
Xu Du immediately understood the emergency plan shouted by the staff officer Yicheng, and immediately dismounted his horse, led several warriors to pick up the "ten thousand enemies" raised in the city, and threw them desperately towards the trenches surrounded by the Qing army.
After a loud noise, sparks flew out. After the rapidly burning gunpowder detonated the ten thousand enemies, the huge impact easily destroyed an earth wall that was already overwhelmed. Under the chain reaction, the rolling river water in the trench quickly moved towards the low-lying area.
As they surged forward, they lost the constraints of the soil on both sides and immediately collapsed into large pieces.
Kong Youde himself deployed his artillery on high ground, but Dorgon's royal tent and the Qing army's camp where the gold and silver treasures obtained during the Southern Expedition were stored were placed at the lowest point in the middle of the three highlands.
At this time, the trench collapsed, and the river immediately washed away the Qing army's position, and the rolling turbid current rushed straight to King Dorgon's tent. The place where the Qing army stood turned into a muddy swamp, and men, horses and vehicles were stuck in the mud.
The terrain was slippery, making movement extremely difficult. Some soldiers stepped on muddy water and were swept deep into the trench by the river. The situation was even worse for the cavalry. Once they fell off their horses, it was impossible to get back on their horses.
The soldiers of the Qing army were also running in all directions to avoid the river. Most of them turned around and ran back to the high ground where the artillery was placed. The three narrow artillery positions were suddenly crowded with people. Some of the defeated soldiers were afraid that they would not have a place to stay.
Push the precious Hongyi cannon into the water with force.
Kong Youde was furious and shouted: "Xian Guoan! What good thing have you done?"
Xian Guoan was at a loss as to what to do. He did not expect that the multiple trenches he had carefully designed and dug would collapse into a fatal flood and wash away his own fort after being lightly exploded by the Shun army.
The order of the Qing army was in chaos. Dorgon's royal tent and the wealth that the Manchus had plundered were all submerged in the mud. However, Kong Youde's remaining troops and horses were also blocked by mud and water on several highlands, and Xu Du had nothing to cross for the time being.
With the tools and methods of crossing the swamp, we can no longer continue to attack the Chinese position.
Many soldiers of the Shun army were covered with mud and water, but Xu didn't care. Instead, he hugged the soldiers together. He took the hand of the staff officer Yicheng and laughed:
"Don't attack the big tent of the chiefs. Leave them here! Let's go to the right wing too! Go to the battlefield on the right wing! After repelling the Ming army, we will come back to deal with them!"
Yicheng was a refugee from Ruzhou and participated in the Chuang camp very early. He was one of the soldiers recruited by Li Laiheng when he won the victory of the village. The King of Jin went south to Huguang and after the establishment of the Suizhou government, Yicheng studied in the Suizhou Lecture Hall.
This caused him to miss several great victories in the development of Chu Chuang's army.
So Yicheng joined the camp so early, but now he is only a staff officer.
However, a staff officer like him, who had a well-established family background and sufficient cultural and military talents, had always been valued by Li Laiheng. After the battle in Xuzhou, he would be transferred to the field army and directly serve as a front-line officer.
It’s also easy.
After Yi Cheng gave a military salute, he immediately ordered:
"There is a summons order, the whole army moves south, to the right wing!"