Zhu Yihai led two battalions of thousands of people in the dark on the roads of the Jiangnan water town. The moonlight was dim. Fortunately, it was midsummer. After several sunny days, the roads were dry and easy to walk. Among his two battalions, except for the few hundred men from the Shenji camp, In addition to the foreign mercenaries, there are also hundreds of veterans left, and the additional recruits are also selected young and strong.
There was basically no night blindness. The officers asked everyone to move forward holding a wooden stick between their teeth and were forbidden to make any noise.
Many recruits were recruited from Ningbo, so they were very familiar with the road conditions in this area and could move forward accurately even in the dark.
Shen Chenquan, wearing a short robe, followed Zhu Yihai all the way, with a gloomy and uncertain face.
He had always felt that King Lu would not be so content with staying behind, so he kept a close eye on him. In the end, King Lu suddenly led his troops out of the city in the middle of the night. Although the action was quiet, Shen Chenquan discovered it immediately.
He chased him out and tried to stop him, but Zhu Yihai asked someone to cover his mouth. Finally, Shen Chenquan quickly said that he could just take him with him, and Zhu Yihai stopped his servant Yang Boxing.
Following Ye Xing all the way, he was very annoyed. He blamed himself for not telling others about King Lu's actions earlier, and also blamed himself for not persisting in admonishing him. He actually followed him out, keeping everyone else in the city in the dark.
He was originally from Guanhai Town, Cixi. When he heard that Chen Wu's troops were plundering Guanhai Cixi, he was worried about his family's safety. He also complained about King Lu's reckless behavior and supervising the country. Why did he have to work part-time as the bannerman and battalion officer Zhu Wu?
What's the idea?
Sometimes I feel that King Lu is very reasonable, even rare decisive and brave, with a big picture and a pattern, but sometimes I feel that he is very impulsive and naive. Just like now, two generals, Wang Zhiren and Zhang Mingzhen, led their troops to suppress the rebels. Not enough?
Do you have to run out and join in the fun?
But when I turned around and saw that resolute face under the moonlight, I was speechless.
Maybe King Lu like this is what we need in these troubled times. Wasn't it just because of this thought that he finally decided to go out with him for a while?
There was a sound of horse hoofbeats.
In the dark, several horses came running without stopping at night.
"We found a town ahead, which was being besieged by rebels."
Shen Chenquan immediately said, "The town of Minghechang should be ahead. There is a salt farm there, and commerce is also very prosperous. Although it is only a township, the city wall is very high, and there are two major clans, Ye and Yu, in the city, so the rebels should be unable to do anything."
But Ye Bushou, who came back, said that they had observed that rebels had already entered several cities. It seemed that the town could no longer be defended.
"The rebels had guns and even cannons, and they attacked very skillfully. They feigned a few places, and then attacked the weak points with heavy troops. They used the cover of the night to make it difficult for them to defend themselves. I don't think they can hold on for long."
Zhu Yihai asked, "How far is it from here?"
"It's about ten miles away."
"Do you know how many rebels there are?"
"The momentum was huge, but it was a bluff. The real rebels were estimated to be no more than a thousand people."
Thousands of regular troops attacking a small town at night will indeed put a lot of pressure on the small town.
"Here's the order. The whole camp will stop. Let's take a tea break and check the weapons and equipment. If you need to poop or pee, hurry up. If you have time, eat some dry food and drink some water to replenish your strength."
Before going into battle, take a rest.
Shen Chenquan's heartbeat suddenly accelerated. Although he had led his tribe to gather local warriors and drove the puppet officials to Ningbo to gather justice, he had never really fought in a war. He had served as a censor and a supervisor in the army before, but he had never really fought in the war. battlefield.
"Your Highness, with thousands of people on the other side, do you want to send someone to find Mr. Wang and ask him to send troops to support you?"
Zhu Yihai smiled and said, "What are we afraid of with just a thousand rebels? We don't have two battalions with a thousand people. What's more, this is calculated and unintentional. They are caught unawares. The rebels are attacking the city. They are probably tired and exhausted, and there are also casualties." , if we suddenly attack from behind, they will definitely be defeated."
"At that time, we will light more torches and bluff. Those deserters who only know how to bully the people will be scared to death."
If two armies of equal numbers were to fight in parallel, each would definitely suffer casualties.
But if you conduct a surprise attack in the middle of the night, especially when the opponent is attacking the city, and the soldiers and horses are scattered, and you are shot from behind, the chance of defeat is 99%.
"It's better to be careful." Shen Chenquan reminded, don't be afraid of 10,000, just be afraid of the unexpected. Who knows if there are any people near the rebels?
"There is no one who always looks forward and backward when fighting. Just wait for the opportunity and do it."
After Zhu Yihai finished speaking, he walked to the roadside and poured water happily.
He picked up his pants and didn't bother to wash his hands. He grabbed the dry food bag, took out some meat jerky and chewed it quickly. After filling his stomach, he was about sixty-seven full. He took out his gun again and checked to make sure it was fully loaded and ready to go at any time. Fire it and check the ammunition on your back again.
Seeing this, Shen Chenquan felt a little thirsty and said, "Your Highness, please stay here. I am willing to go with General Zhang to fight against the thieves!"
Zhu Yihai put the gun in place, pulled out the knife and held it in his hand, "I am Zhu Wu, the commander-in-chief of the Banner Battalion, but Mr. Shen can wait here."
When the time came, Zhu Yihai waved his sword and said, "Let's go."
Ten miles is a long way, but it's not that far.
In order to maintain his physical strength, Zhu Yihai did not march in a hurry, but maintained a normal speed. After about an hour, they finally heard the cry of death and saw dots of fire in the dark night.
A small town was surrounded by countless flames, and there were shouts of killing.
The siege battle under the night seemed to have reached its climax, and the rebels had already entered the city.
Although the two major families in the town took the lead in providing money and food and offering huge rewards, a group of common people were no match for a regular army.
Seeing that Minghechang didn't show any respect, Chen Jun directly ordered a night attack.
For them, it is actually more convenient to attack the city at night than to attack the city during the day. Under the cover of night, the ordinary people cannot understand the reality at all, giving them more opportunities to take advantage of.
Chen Jun followed Chen Wu to fight across the border. He had rich combat experience, especially as he had a team of elite servants under his command. His night attack tactics were also very simple. He used bluffs and feints to attack the nearby people captured by the vanguard. After fighting for half of the night, the young men in the town were exhausted and tired of coping. They even wasted most of their bows and arrows.
Chen Jun kept watching at the bottom of the city. When he saw that the top of the city was obviously tired, he began to send out his troops.
First, several groups of troops were separated and attacked the city from several sides. However, the most elite group of troops remained stationary.
In the middle of the night, when several city walls were attacked in fierce close combat, Chen Jun sent out the troops he had been preparing for for a long time. Under the leadership of the Jing Ding team, they suddenly launched an attack and attacked the city walls directly. He quickly broke into the city and opened the city gate for them.
This guy put his tactical experience gained from many years of fighting to full use.
Chen Jun smiled ferociously and urged his horse to run wildly, leading the remaining servants and horses straight into the city.
The rebel army laughed wildly, and another prosperous town in the south of the Yangtze River was captured. The countless gold and silver money and countless women in it were all allowed to be picked by them.
Amid the wild laughter, no one noticed that behind them, there was a troop launching a surprise attack.
Zhu Yihai ignored Shen Chenquan and Zhang Mingyang's persuasion at all, and rushed forward with his sixty servants and swords in hand.
A thousand men and horses were surrounded by two battalions.
Each battalion has four sentry men and horses, divided into four groups according to the formation of one head, one tail and two wings, and respond to each other.
"Your Highness, please slow down." Pedestrian Shen Wenzhong also wore a pair of cotton armor and held a leather shield in one hand and a knife in the other. This frail beggar scholar was not slow in running. He was always one step ahead of Zhu Yihai and protected him. In front of him, the servant Yang Boxing, who was a woodcutter, was holding a spear to one side, his eyes scanning both sides from time to time, ready to cover His Highness at any time.
Sixty servants, with swords, shields, spears or blunderbuss, were like a blooming plum blossom surrounding Lu Jianguo.
"While the thieves are not noticed, hurry up and rush into the city. Control the city gate first, close the door, beat the dog, and catch the turtle in the jar!"
"Damn it, don't let any of the rebels escape!"
Zhu Yihai didn't ride a horse. Riding a horse was not a good choice when entering the city at night.
The entire army did not use torches. The original plan was that if the thieves had not yet broken through the city, they would suddenly raise fire and bluff, pretending to be an attack with thousands of troops, and defeat the thieves one by one.
Unexpectedly, the rebels moved so quickly, and they had already entered the city. They happened to be entering the city again, and other groups were still fighting on various city walls. Zhu Yihai made a quick decision and went straight in.
Two battalions and eight sentries, plus two battalion officers' personal troops, rushed forward.
The wind whistled in his ears, and Zhu Yihai's heart could not help but beat fast.
So exciting!
The strong smell of blood wafted in the wind, and the excitement of adrenaline increased even more.
We rushed all the way to the west gate of the town, where the smell of blood was even stronger, and we could even see corpses lying scattered at our feet, and there were even some people lying on the ground covered in blood, moaning and screaming.
Rush rush rush.
Zhu Yihai felt like his brain was swollen, and the hand holding the knife couldn't help but use all his strength.
Finally rushed into the city.
The Shenji Camp outpost has received fire.
Those Franco mercenaries were worthy of being veterans of the Thirty Years' War in Europe. They were not afraid at all and were very calm. After rushing into the city, there was a burst of gunfire, and they beat a group of rebel soldiers guarding there to pieces. Then another group of ghost guys rushed forward, carrying spears and rushed over.
Although this Portuguese mercenary team is a musketeer team, in fact, they are mainly equipped with light matchlocks. Although flintlocks have long been available and the rate of blind fire is still low, matchlocks are more durable and cheaper. , and the production is simpler and faster, so mercenaries basically still use matchlock guns.
The matchlock guns they are equipped with are mainly light matchlock guns with a range of more than 100 meters. The gun is 1.5 meters long and weighs more than ten kilograms. It has 40 grams of lead bullets. They are also equipped with a small number of heavy matchlock guns with brackets, which have a longer range and more power. .
Of course, although the firepower of the matchlock is fierce, it still cannot withstand the impact of the cavalry. Therefore, on the European battlefield, they have long formed the habit of mixing the musketeers of the shooting troops and the pikemen of the melee troops.
Musketeers will also be equipped with short swords, and pikemen will also be equipped with blunderbuss.
During the battle, these tall spearmen held five-meter-long spears and moved forward intensively to defend themselves against cavalry charges.
The musketeers provide fire support, and sometimes there are also artillery squads carrying lighter artillery such as snake cannons to strengthen the firepower. Of course, if the enemy rushes in front of them, these musketeers will often directly lift the musket upside down and hold the musket handle.
He smashed them hard without bothering to draw his dagger to fight the enemy.
In the dark night.
The group of Chen Jun's men at the gate of the city were stunned. The dense row of fire cannons were shot down at such a close range.
When the spearmen with five-meter long spears rushed towards them, many of the surviving rebel soldiers screamed in fear. The main reason was that these mercenaries were either blond and blue-eyed, or had eagle noses and deep eyes, and looked like Rakshasa ghosts.
Especially in the middle of the night, this is even more scary.
The long gunners of the Franco machine each have a steel helmet and breastplate. Some rich mercenaries also provide their own back armor and gorgets. Of course, there are also some poor long gunners who don’t even have breastplates and only wear
They wore leather armor, and some even didn't even have helmets.
But this did not prevent them from charging forward with their tall and ferocious bodies.
The musketeers at the back had a six-meter-long fuse wrapped around one hand and carried a crossbody bag. The bullet bag contained twelve loose bullets. They were habitually called the Twelve Apostles. Their defensive equipment was worse than that of the pikemen.
grade.
In large-scale legion battles, musketeers often suffer heavy casualties, but in such small-scale raids, musketeers have an unparalleled advantage with their powerful firepower.
They passed by with a row of muskets, and the small group of enemies in front basically collapsed. Then the tall pikemen, wearing breastplates and helmets, yelling and carrying five-meter long spears, rushed over and stabbed randomly, and the battle was basically over.
Zhu Yihai finally rushed into the city under the escort of sixty soldiers. As a result, the battle was over, leaving only corpses scattered on the ground, and the smell of blood mixed with gunpowder smoke spreading everywhere.
The mercenaries from Sentinel Shenji Battalion had already rushed deeper into the town.
"Charge, charge, charge!" Zhu Yihai was a little unwilling to not kill even one enemy, and commanded to continue to charge forward, but his servants deliberately slowed down and kept a certain distance from the outpost. As a result, although Lao Zhu rushed in,
The front line was protected so that the enemy was never seen face to face.
When he rushed there, the battle was already over.
Mattim once again proved to Zhu Yihai that they, the Franchi mercenaries, were worthy of their reputation, and that they were worthy of Zhu Yihai's generous salary, unambiguous handling of cashiers, and no skulduggery in battle.
It's time to rush, it's time to fight.
Moreover, these Franco soldiers don't have the habit of cutting off their heads on the battlefield. They just keep charging forward after being killed.
However, some soldiers at the back were taking advantage of the situation and took the opportunity to cut off their heads. Regardless of the bloody mess, they excitedly cut off the heads of the killed rebel soldiers and tied them to their waistbands. In the dark night, they looked like reaping servants of the God of Death.
Inside and outside the city, two battalions, the Shenji Battalion and the Bannerman Battalion, with eight sentries, launched an attack at the same time, charging all the way and catching the random soldiers by surprise.
"Surrender without being killed, abandon your weapons and avoid death!"
Chen Jun was surrounded by a group of servants with a gloomy look on his face. Listening to the Chinese shouting from behind the ghost guys opposite, he couldn't help but yell, "Who the hell are you from? I don't know what grandpa is."
Is it Chen Jun, the governor of Zhejiang and Fujian in the Ming Dynasty and the Qianzong of Zhendong Bo?"
With a bang of a gunshot, Chen Jun fell down with eyes wide open with a face full of reluctance.
Zhu Yihai stepped forward and blew his cannon, "Noisy, you've already said that you can surrender without killing or abandoning your weapons to avoid death, yet you still dare to resist."
