The continuously roaring heavy artillery, like a huge hammer, hit the spirit of the soldiers on both sides.
Because the bandits chose the wrong target at the beginning, they wasted nearly ten rounds of firing opportunities and made no achievements.
This also caused our side to be bombarded by at least sixty or seventy more artillery shells. Before the battle even started, nearly a hundred people had been killed directly, and the number of soldiers screaming and wailing with broken arms and legs was no less than that.
Even if at least half of the army's artillery shells were shot away, as long as the remaining ones could hit the crowd, they would basically be able to make a bloody path.
In particular, the bandits were ready for a general attack from the beginning, and a large number of elite and heavily armored soldiers were also gathered on the front line. As a result, the proportion of elite soldiers among these casualties was very high - before the artillery, all living beings are equal, no matter whether you have thick iron or not.
With cotton armor, if it covers the torso, you will be instantly killed; if it covers the limbs, your hands and feet will be severed.
However, He Jin and He Yilong, in the process of learning lessons and adjusting their deployment, still failed to see the true evil intentions of the officers and soldiers in building forts in the camp.
In their view, the officers and soldiers built the fort higher than the wall to overlook the shelling, just to allow the projectiles to pass over the wooden wall of the camp and prevent their own camp wall from accidentally being blown up.
This idea would seem ridiculous to modern people who understand ballistics, because any modern elementary school student knows that cannons can be regarded as ballistic fire. Building the fort higher must have some evil intentions.
But the thieves in the late Ming Dynasty did not know that they lacked cultural and theoretical literacy, and their only tactical and strategic skills were based on long-term combat experience and instinctive sense of smell.
When commanding infantry, cavalry and crossbowmen, you may be able to rely on experience, but for artillery, a technical arm that requires a theoretical foundation, it is basically used blindly, and there are few opportunities for practice.
After the bandit army adjusted their deployment, they fired at each other for at least ten more rounds, and one or two more doors of the Franco machine stalled.
I don’t know whether it was because the gunners suffered too many casualties and there were not enough manpower to operate the gun, or because the barrel of the gun was overheated and required a temporary ceasefire to dissipate heat.
The rebels suffered hundreds more casualties, and finally saw the walls on both sides of the army camp. Three gaps were opened on the left and two on the right.
He Jin's face was ashen. He also knew that he could no longer maintain this state of being beaten unilaterally and unable to stop it. It would damage morale too much, so he finally issued the order for a general attack.
"The whole army attacks! The archers go up first, and when they get under the wall, they rely on the army's stronghold wall to eject crossbows for cover! The Tiezha cotton armor soldiers wait for the archers and crossbowmen to attract firepower, then go up, and rush straight into the gap!"
He Jin had some ideas. He knew that his own strength was at least seven or eight times that of the enemy, and it was important to take advantage of the deployment of troops. So he not only let the elite troops charge, but also let the miscellaneous troops charge together to share the firepower of the official army.
The crossbowmen rushed towards the part of the official wall that was still intact. Although it was not easy to climb in after rushing in front of it, they could still shoot arrows on the inside.
And once the elite Tiezha cotton armor soldiers took advantage of the chaos and rushed in through the gap, while the official firearms soldiers were still shooting at their own archers and crossbowmen across the wall, the cotton armor soldiers could immediately circle around to both sides and kill them from behind.
If the long-range soldiers of the army are willing to retreat, they will be surrounded by front and rear, and the army will collapse in an instant!
…
"The bandits have finally charged! Brothers, the sound of the bandits' cannons has almost stopped! They dare not take the risk of accidentally injuring their own people and fire randomly! Get ready to stand up and fire in three columns!"
On the wall to the left of the camp gate, General Qian Lu squatted with a gray face. After hearing the noise outside, he patted the dirt and jumped up bravely.
If I said I wasn't afraid just now, that would be absolutely false.
The sound of Folang machine guns on the opposite side is also endless. One can be heard every ten breaths, and seven or eight cannons fire in turn. Every time a round hits the wooden wall, it directly blasts a big hole, and with it Break three or five strong wooden stakes and scatter them everywhere.
When hit on a mound of rammed earth, although no one was hurt, one could still feel the earth within a ten-step radius vibrating slightly, as well as a loud noise and the falling earth.
The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty did not know much about physics and physiology. When Shen Shuren left, he also forgot to pay more attention to some small countermeasures that were too detailed, such as "open your mouth wide when you hear the sound of cannons to prevent the air pressure in the internal and external auditory canals." Too much difference can damage hearing and cause dizziness."
Many soldiers forgot to open their mouths and were inevitably made uncomfortable by the sound waves. Some of them were in poor physical condition and even vomited blood slightly.
Fortunately, after carrying it for so many rounds, there were basically no casualties. Lu Datou's nerves and will finally withstood this wave of experience. The soldiers next to him stopped shaking their hands and stood behind the wooden wall again with their guns ready. , one hundred and twenty steps later, Lu Datou saw two hundred light and heavy muskets firing at once.
In the defense area on the other side of the camp gate, there were almost as many muskets, doing the same thing.
"Fo Langji is nothing more than that! He did it! Brothers, fight well, Mr. Futai has kept his promise. We fought well last year and drilled well. We have expanded our recruitment from pikemen to firearms soldiers." , we can’t be embarrassed!”
After shooting to kill, the soldiers became more and more numb and could no longer care about fear. The second row and the third row came up one after another. Everyone fired two rounds, and the entire army fired nearly 3,000 rounds of ammunition.
The bullets that fall in front of the enemy's crossbowmen are still as powerful as before. As long as they hit, they will either die or be maimed. Unfortunately, the formation of the crossbowmen when they come forward is also relatively loose. As long as they miss the target, it is difficult to blind them. The person next to him.
A small number of gunners from the army close to both sides of the gap were aiming at the Tiezha cotton armored soldiers rushing across the gap. At the beginning, it was impossible for the officers to predict the deployment of the enemy troops, so they still pre-loaded shotguns according to normal operating procedures.
After a blast of shotgun shells, only a few of the cotton-armored soldiers fell. A firearms soldier with a close relationship next to Lu Datou had a keen eye. After firing, he saw the situation clearly and couldn't help but exclaim:
"Mr. Qian! I'm afraid the thieves got into the cotton-armored soldiers! Shotguns can't break the armor!"
"Replace the single-ended bomb for the second round! After the attack, retreat as planned!" Lu Da felt a headache, but he couldn't direct everyone to reload. He could only ask the brothers around the gap where he was personally stationed to do so. bomb.
The last salvo of cannonballs was fired within fifty steps. Although the number of projectiles dropped sharply, fortunately the distance was close enough and the enemies were gathered together. Before leaving, they still knocked down at least thirty or forty heavily armored elite soldiers, temporarily giving way to the enemy. The momentum of the thieves rushing towards the gap was suffocated.
After firing, the well-disciplined firearms soldiers immediately retreated according to the original plan and retreated behind the second trench wall in front of the fort.
The pikemen of the official army completely abandoned the first camp wall from the beginning and set up a formation behind the trench in advance, leaving only some corridors for the friendly firearms soldiers to pass.
Zuo Zixiong's deployment in this way also has profound meaning. He has trained his own soldiers for a year, and he knows best what their quality is.
The elite soldiers have all been selected into the bayonet and musketry corps, and the new recruits first serve as pikemen, or they also practice some bows and swords, so jobs that require retreating and changing positions during war can only be left to elite soldiers. .Otherwise, you won’t be able to hold it back once it runs away.
"We've captured the camp gate and the gap! The rear army hastened up! We will annihilate all Gou Guan's men today!" He Jin and He Yilong saw from a distance that their heavily armored elite soldiers finally rushed into the gap like a tide of ants. , finally shouted out with joy.
Previously, due to the threat of artillery bombardment from the army, dozens of soldiers in their flag formation had been killed and injured. The two thieves did not dare to rush forward to supervise the battle again, for fear of being blinded by the army's artillery.
Not only did they delay and move their positions, they didn't even dare to stay with their own flag. There were only some soldiers carrying the flag under the flag formation, and there were no senior officers at all.
This also made it inconvenient for them to observe the battlefield situation, and they could not see the real truth clearly for a while.
…
He Tianming, wearing the highest quality and heaviest iron-clad cotton armor, followed the elite old camp brothers beside him with great excitement and anxiety, and rushed into the gap opened by the explosion in the army camp.
Until this moment, he finally relaxed a little: the morale of the officers and soldiers was so low! They didn't dare to defend when the wall was broken! Then the follow-up would not be a hand-to-hand combat like chopping melons and vegetables! The total strength of the troops was low. Seven or eight times more, the army must be doomed today!
He Tianming is the distant nephew of Marshal He Jin. He followed his uncle and became a captain in the army. The captains are Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai. They are the names of military attachés in the Gezuo Fifth Battalion system, which is equivalent to the sixth rank of the army. Quality defense.
If I can make my first achievement today, I'm afraid I won't be able to get the title of general when I go back!
When I think of this, the resentment caused by seeing batches of brothers being killed with muskets just now is no longer so deep.
Unfortunately, He Tianming was not happy for long. Just a few breaths after he stepped into the gap, there was a sudden loud noise, and thousands of iron sand, nails, and gravel roared towards his face.
Even though he was quite agile and there were many guards around him, he subconsciously held his head and lowered his head, but he was still splashed with blood.
"Ah——" Countless screams instantly echoed throughout the audience.
12 pounds of iron sand gravel can contain at least two to three thousand fragments, each of which weighs about three to half a penny. If it is sprayed over a hundred steps away, even if more than half of it is sprayed into the sky or stuck on the ground, it is still enough to form The storm of blood rain.
The army's six original Dutch red barbarian cannons have performed stably so far and do not need to dissipate heat. When the bandits launched a charge just now, these cannons temporarily ceased firing.
But that's just because the officers and soldiers were urgently adjusting the gun mounts and muzzle orientations, sharpening their swords and chopping firewood, and using two less guns to fire two guns in exchange for accurately targeting every gap in the camp wall. Even if there was no firepower allocated to individual gaps, It doesn’t hurt, as long as most of it can be covered.
Just now, the brothers from the old battalion, who had been able to easily discharge bullets from Turtledove Guns and Lumi Guns, and who were still charging without fear of death when hit, were now easily covered with dozens of fragments each. No matter how sophisticated their armor was, it was completely useless. I can only die with the feeling that all living beings are equal.
It only took He Tianming a moment before he was stunned and paralyzed on the ground. Although he avoided the bullets in his face, he fell into a self-trampling that was equally terrifying.
The soldiers from the old camp of the bandits who followed rushed up like crazy, trying to pass through the gap as quickly as possible, but the ones in front fell down. They could only assume that the fallen ones were dead and step on them directly.
Those who were pinned below and not hit by bullets were unable to breathe, but they were able to avoid being bombarded again. No matter how many fragments of cannon shells there were, it was impossible to penetrate several layers of corpses and kill the people pinned below.
The official firearms soldiers who retreated to the fort also knelt and set up their guns behind the earthen wall that was almost only as high as the parapet, and fired in an orderly manner.
Their muskets have also been equipped with ferrule bayonets, which does not affect their firing. They can also switch to close combat at any time without having to worry about switching formations when they are approached.
Other long-range cold weapons such as bows and crossbows also rained down for a while. The officers and soldiers used all possible means to pile up all the available long-range output firepower.
Several gaps in the camp walls were soon filled with piles of corpses that were as high as the original rammed earth fences.
Those who want to rush in later still have to climb the pile of dead people. In the end, they find that it is better to carry a thick wooden board to build a slope and rush up the slope to be more stable.
The front army of the bandits was in a dilemma. Those who had already rushed in could not retreat. The rear army was stuck there and wanted to climb the wall, but the speed was too slow.
As a result, the number of bandit troops between the two camp walls was always at a disadvantage, with more troops being defeated and fewer troops being defeated. There were 40,000 troops but they could not display them. The only ones fighting with the official troops at all times were the most powerful.
There were one or two thousand people in front.
The dilemma of fighting only made morale worse, and the losses far exceeded the initial trial attack four days ago. As the rear troops were blocked there and killed in vain, and groups of deserters began to appear, He Jin and He Yilong
Finally, we had to consider withdrawing our troops.
"I fell into the dog officer's trick again! We can't continue fighting like this, and the troops can't deploy! Unexpectedly, the army actually built a second earth wall in the camp! The Hongyi cannon is so powerful! But retreat.
What to do next?”
He Jin's scalp was numb and he was still struggling to hold on. The soldiers in front were falling to death at a rate of more than a hundred people per minute. His brain was thinking hard, and after hundreds more people died, he finally came up with a solution.
"We can only let people set off rockets at night and throw torches for lighting! Then let the remaining Franchise bombard the village wall in the dark and far away! Completely destroy the army's defenses and make them completely undefendable. Let's launch again tomorrow morning
A general attack!"
He Jin finally thought that he had been too trusting at the beginning and did not know that the army had the Hongyi artillery to restrain his Fo Lang machine. He actually dared to openly deploy the artillery positions during the day and slowly blast the wall.
This led to all the subsequent passive situations!
If I had known that the army's artillery was heavier, more accurate and sharper, I should have bombarded the camp wall in the dark!
Anyway, the camp wall is dead, and it is impossible to miss it. The artillery position is a mile or two away, but it is difficult to accurately observe and aim through the occasional firelight in the dark night.
Erhe urgently reviewed the plan and felt that this strategy was feasible, so he finally chose to retreat again - in fact, it could not be considered as their active choice, because the former army had been defeated and retreated before ordering the retreat.
Today's casualties were at least twice as heavy as those in the first battle.
There were one to two thousand elite veterans of the former army camp, who were blocked in the camp. Because the way back was blocked by the corpses of their comrades, they could not escape even if they wanted to. Their morale collapsed and they knelt down and surrendered.
Zuo Zixiong did not rush to kill them all. He used muskets and cannons to force them to drop their weapons, and then asked the pikemen to come forward and tie them together in groups of ten. After counting, he actually captured more than 1,600 soldiers.
Most of them were stubborn old soldiers, numbering at least a thousand.
After this battle, the temporary battle losses of the bandit army were at least five to six thousand people. About one thousand six thousand were captured, two thousand were killed or seriously wounded and had to be repaired, and three to four thousand were slightly injured.
Trample each other.
More importantly, having been manipulated by the military for two consecutive games, the low morale caused by this losing streak has reached a very dangerous level.