Chapter 86: The Nanmanzi Water Village can't be attacked on land, so let me, Da Qingshui
"Twelfth Prince, I'm afraid the barbarians on the opposite side will be difficult to deal with. They have already taken advantage of the danger and there is a fleet of ships behind them. If we use cavalry to attack the camp, I'm afraid it will take a lot of effort.
Even if we fight to the death and drive them into the sea, those Nanbarbarians can escape with a plank of wood, and we, the Eight Banners, can only shoot arrows at the sea. Today comes too fast, and we have no weapons to attack the camp."
In the wilderness outside Bijia Shanshui Village, three to four thousand banner cavalry were loosely lined up at a distance, and the banner owner, Prince Azige, was preparing for a tentative attack.
A general beside him, after observing the battlefield situation, advised him in this way, hoping that he would be cautious.
This general's name was Yin De, and he was sent by Jierhalang. After receiving the news of the Ming army's breakout in the early morning, he brought two Jiala deployed by Jierhalang between Xingshan and Jinzhou to reinforce Aji.
Jige met and joined forces not far away before arriving at Beacon Mountain.
Yinde is the nephew of the late Jurchen general Yangguli. And Yanguli is the son-in-law of Nuerhaci, the brother-in-law of Azig, and the brother-in-law of Jierharang. Therefore, in terms of seniority, Yinde is better than Azige and others.
Everyone is a generation below.
"The Point Guard Is Here"
At this moment, in front of the Bijia Mountain battlefield, despite Azig's high status, only one-third of the troops were his direct descendants. The other two-thirds were brought by guest generals and temporarily dispatched by him.
It's not easy for Azig to use too much force on other people's troops. He has to discuss with Yin De on how to fight.
Otherwise, Jierhalang might come back to settle the score with him, misunderstanding that he wanted to borrow a knife to kill people to preserve his strength, and let Jierhalang's bannermen be used as cannon fodder.
So after listening to Yin De's complaint, Azig had no choice but to touch his beautiful beard, pretend to ponder for a while, and still insisted: "The beating is necessary, otherwise if I let Cao Bianjiao escape, I will lose the spirit of the Qing Dynasty!"
It's my fault that I came in a hurry and didn't fully understand the enemy's situation, otherwise I would have brought more troops."
Yin De let out a long sigh and asked in confusion: "The general also felt strange. Since he knew that he had to fight hard, why did the prince only bring one Jia La? Where are the other troops stationed in Racecourse Town?"
Azig was also helpless: "A while ago, I just received a secret order from His Majesty, saying that His Majesty had sent a special agent to incite and liaise with the rebels, and within this month, he was going to storm Songshan, which Hong Chengchou was guarding.
It is said that the food in Songshan City has long been exhausted, the people have been eaten, and the soldiers have begun to eat each other. Songshan Lieutenant General Xia Chengde has promised to submit his troops in exchange for the fact that after the city is broken, five thousand of his men will not die.
It was only a few days before the day of dedication that we had agreed with Xia Chengde. Suddenly something happened last night. Nanmanzi actually had the courage to rescue Li Fuming by sea. Cao Bianjiao, I am afraid that if this news reaches Songshan City,
It will inspire the defenders to continue fighting to the death.
Especially if Xia Chengde knew that the barbarian court had sent reinforcements to them, and he regretted not offering his gate, wouldn't something happen to Songshan City?
Therefore, when I got the news last night, I immediately divided my troops into two Jia La and completely surrounded the south and west gates of Songshan. I didn't dare to tighten the outside and tighten the inside, for fear that the news would be leaked.
I also asked people to go to the south gate tower where Xia Chengde was stationed and write a secret agreement, asking him to advance the date of the gate dedication to tonight. At the same time, I also sent an urgent report to His Majesty in the rear to explain the situation and request reinforcements to arrive as soon as possible and to attack Songshan.
It is better to cut off one finger than to injure ten of the enemy's fingers. Even if Cao becomes a dragon and Li Fuming runs away, he is just a small fish, but Hong Chengchou cannot tolerate any mistakes."
After listening to Azig explaining so much to him, Yin De respected him enough and had sufficient reasons. It was not good for him to refuse to fight a tough battle just because he was Jierharang's subordinate.
In fact, in history, Songshan City was finally betrayed by a traitor because it could not bear hunger, and it did happen around late February in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen.
But it is only the fourth day of March, and the butterfly effect of history on this issue is not yet obvious.
The Qing army was indeed at the critical juncture to attack Hong Chengchou, which indirectly led to the relaxation of defenses in the direction of Tashan and Xingshan, making it relatively easy for Zheng Chenggong and Zhang Mingzhen to succeed.
But Zheng Chenggong didn't know that all this was a rough design by Shen Shuren. He thought it was just his ability that made things so beautiful.
…
After Yin De was persuaded by Azig, of course he had no choice but to bite the bullet and launch a comprehensive and thorough attack on Bijia Shanshui Village.
Bijia Mountain is originally a peninsula protruding into the sea, and the dock water village is at the tip of the peninsula.
Therefore, the width of the entire land from left to right is no more than three or four miles, and then there is the sea on both sides.
This kind of terrain actually makes it relatively easy for the well-prepared and defensive side - the cavalry can only attack from the front of the peninsula and cannot make a detour from both sides.
Therefore, the Ming army only set up two lines of defense near the broken double-layer wall.
The first step was a simple shallow trench and temporary piles of logs to resist horses. Then the soldiers under Cao Bianjiao were mainly supplemented by a part of Li Fuming's troops, mainly spearmen, forming a close combat formation.
Some soldiers were equipped with shields, but not many. Because they had to march overnight, it was too troublesome to carry shields. After running for dozens of miles, many of the soldiers who had shields lost them.
There are also a small number of soldiers who are sword and shield soldiers. They are also used for cavalry charges and pike soldiers to get into close combat. After losing their impact, they can block up and fill the position. Spears are not very flexible when close to the body, so a small number of sword and shield soldiers are still necessary as supplements.
of.
Behind the first line of defense, there are still many piles of rammed earth and broken sharp piles. Although they have been repeatedly damaged and the bunker effect is very poor, after all, the terrain is six or seven feet higher than the front row.
This kind of gap is perfect for the output of the musketeers. There is no need to worry about shooting the spearmen in the front row, nor will the enemy cavalry quickly get close to them.
"Brothers! The Nanmanzi on the opposite side are just defeated by our army. As long as we, the Eight Banners, rush into battle, Li Fuming's useless soldiers will immediately collapse and flee!
Many of you should have chased and killed the Nanmanzi who wanted to jump into the sea to escape in September last year, right? In that battle, we drowned at least 30,000 Nanmanzi! I, the Qing Dynasty, will win! Kill!
!”
Yin De made all arrangements and briefly boosted morale. More than two thousand cavalrymen from the Jierhalang Division with blue flags howled and launched a charge.
As mentioned before, due to the terrain restrictions, there was no way to take a detour this time, so the cavalry did not have the weakening link of riding and shooting by passing through the formation horizontally. They just charged forward while shooting arrows straight ahead in the style of a wild horse with a split mane.
The Eight Banners elites are indeed the best in the world in cavalry and archery. Thousands of armor-piercing arrows with withered feathers and cone-heads roared and shot away in the wind in an instant. The effective range was no less than that of muskets, but the explosiveness of the firepower was a few percent lower.
, but you can’t see it when you first engage the enemy.
Several of the pikemen under Li Fuming's command on the opposite side were shot down in a scattered manner. Even if some of them were covered by trees and shields, there were always those who were unlucky enough to be missed by sharp arrows at tricky angles.
Become slightly looser.
"Li Fuming made the right choice as the main attacker! You know this barbarian is not as good as Cao Bianjiao!" Yin De was behind the formation, watching the progress of the charge, feeling slightly happy in his heart and feeling more confident.
All of this, up to this point, is so similar to the battle at the end of September last year when 30,000 Ming troops were drowned in Beacon Hill!
And "re-enacting history" has always been the best way to boost the morale of the army. If you used this method to win one side back then, you will have a huge psychological advantage now.
Soon, the Ming army on the opposite side also started firing muskets, and rows of single-point bullets filled with paper shells flew out in the roar. Because he had to break through heavy armor, Zhang Mingzhen still did not use shotguns this time, so his hit rate was
Only a measly single digit percent.
A salvo of thousands of muskets only killed and wounded dozens of horsemen. Fortunately, the Ming army fired quickly and used a stacked formation. The musketeers in the back row would quickly come up to fill their positions and fire.
The musketeers in the front row relied on paper shells to load ammunition, and the loading speed was at least twice as fast as the Ming army firearms that the Qing army had seen.
The Qing cavalry didn't know all this. Even when they heard the subsequent rounds of gunfire and saw more and more Pao Ze dying around them, the psychological advantage of "recreating history" still made them blindly believe it.
This is just the effect of a simple stacked formation method, and does not reflect on the fact that "the reloading speed of this batch of Ming troops is much faster than that of the Ming troops I have seen before."
In fact, not only Yin De's Qing cavalry did not think so, but also the troops of Li Fuming and Cao Bianjiao did not expect Zhang Mingzhen's musket fire rate to be more than twice as fast. Even they thought Zhang Mingzhen just divided the musketeers into several more teams and took turns firing.
They had never cooperated well with this friendly force before. They had just fought and cooperated in the dark, and could not figure out the details of the friendly force.
But in any case, the continuous roar was also a great encouragement to the soldiers in the front row of the Ming army who were carrying the line and suffering from injuries.
The armies of the Ming and Qing dynasties, with their morale very high and both convinced of their superiority, continued a period of high-intensity fighting for their lives.
"Kill all the dog Tatars! Kill one and it's enough!"
"Two! Dad, second brother, I have avenged you!"
Cao, a soldier under Li's command, stabbed and fought wildly. Even if he was hit by the rushing Eight Banners cavalry and suffered broken bones, he still held on to the spear and refused to let go. As long as the central nervous system could still direct the arm to send out even the last trace of strength, he would have to use it.
The weapon stabbed deeper in the direction of the Tatar.
The brutal fight lasted no more than a cup of tea. Yin De finally quickly discovered something was wrong: the Ming army's firearms fired at too high a density!
Although the Eight Banners' elite heavy armors, sharp swords, and martial arts and physical abilities are all good, even in close combat with Nanmanzi's spearmen, they can basically guarantee a one-for-one exchange ratio.
However, they were repeatedly bombarded by the musketeers high up on the wall, and the back row was constantly beaten to the point of bleeding, broken tendons, broken bones, and falling horses. Their morale soon succumbed.
On the sea, Zheng Chenggong's gunboat fleet also quickly moved back to position. In order to maximize the suddenness of the firepower and the killing effect, he only approached after the Eight Banners cavalry had launched a charge, and fought for the closest face.
Blast the output position and then fire.
It is obviously impossible for Zheng Chenggong to have studied ballistics, nor to know the "crossfire" in modern firepower theory. But because of the peninsular terrain of Beacon Mountain, with the sea on both sides of the land, Zheng Chenggong's gunboats were realized naturally and inadvertently.
"Crossfire".
Groups of Qing cavalry resembled a horizontal line of charge, and the formation was just on the axis of the artillery firing trajectory. Even if the soldiers who were directly targeted could not be hit, it would be easy to blind the comrades on their left and right.
What's even more frightening is that in the era of explosive bombs, the cross-fire effect of artillery was not obvious, and the cross-fire effect of machine guns was obvious. But now the Ming Army's Hongyi cannons still use solid bullets.
For solid bullets, trajectory coverage is very important. If you fire at the projection of the cavalry in line, if the coverage is accurate enough, the probability of causing secondary damage after penetrating an enemy will also double.
The more terrifying multiple kills come from ricocheting bullets - solid bullets kill one enemy and then bounce back to the ground. Its powerful kinetic energy can kill several enemies as long as it hits the enemy!
Fortunately, Yin De himself did not lead the charge himself, so he escaped the fate of being killed on the spot like the two Jia La Er Zhen, Er Bi and Yong Gui. However, the cavalry under his command were hit by the cross ricochet of the Hongyi cannon.
Next, more and more blood and flesh were scattered, and the casualties were heavy.
Azige and Yinde stared blankly for a long time, so that in the first three or four rounds after the Hongyi cannon opened fire, they were at a loss as to whether they should give up, whether they should withdraw their troops, and let Pao Ze, who was already dead in front, die in vain.
Fortunately, the Ming army's continued and stable performance will eventually make them realize the reality.
Azig was the first to react. He knew that Yinde's people were all Jierhalang's men. If too many sacrifices were made in vain here, he would not be able to explain to Brother Wang when he went back.
Jirharang is a prince, but he is just a county king.
Therefore, when Yin De tried to ask him to withdraw first, Azig immediately agreed.
"Twelve Princes, why don't we withdraw first and think about it in the long term? There is something wrong with these southern barbarians! Even the Red Yi cannons have so many."
"You're right, we do have to retreat first. Even if we attack the water village, we won't be able to hit the gunboats at sea. We still underestimate the enemy!"
Yin De was granted amnesty and finally withdrew his troops. However, the brief and fierce confrontation just now resulted in the death of at least hundreds of elite Eight Banners cavalrymen and some Mongolian cavalry.
There were also many injured. Unfortunately, due to the retreat of the Qing army, the severely wounded who remained wailing on the battlefield had to be replaced by the Ming army who slowly practiced their marksmanship.
After retreating, the Qing army was also filled with sadness. All the generals gathered around Azige and asked him for advice.
After much deliberation, Azig had no choice but to order a defensive shift on the spot. He would first dig trenches to block the Bijiashan Peninsula and prevent the Ming army from coming ashore to push back. He was not afraid that the Ming army would actually counterattack, but that he would be afraid of another counterattack.
It was delayed until night, and the Ming army had not yet finished its march, so its morale was greatly boosted and a messenger was sent to contact Hong Chengchou.
Therefore, the Ming army here must be closely watched, and the nearby beaches must also be temporarily patrolled by cavalry day and night to prevent Ming army messengers from taking sampans ashore.
At present, the situation here is already like this, so we should first ensure the complete annihilation of Hong Chengchou, and then make long-term plans for the rest.
…
As Azig's probing attack failed miserably, the morale of the Ming soldiers in the water village became increasingly high.
This is not a random battle in the dark, but a serious defensive battle with the Tatar banner in broad daylight!
Although this flag leader temporarily brought less than half of his troops due to unknown reasons.
"General Zhang, your muskets are so sharp! When did the Ming Dynasty have such sophisticated firearms? During the chaotic battle last night, I still couldn't hear clearly. Just now the battle was going on in a dignified manner. I just came back to my senses. Come on.
Come on, I’ll give you a toast. Today’s victory is mainly due to the contributions of you and Zheng Tiju!”
"Don't be polite, Cao Junmen, Li Junmen. It's your soldiers who are fighting the Tatars on the front line. We are just hiding behind and firing cold shots. After this battle, Azig will definitely not dare to stop us from boarding the ship and retreating. I guess
We are just playing an empty city strategy, it doesn’t matter.”
Zheng Chenggong and Zhang Mingzhen also held wine bottles and were polite to each other. After drinking, they reiterated the old talk and hoped that Cao Bianjiao and Li Fuming would take the sick and wounded and the servants of Cao and Li's family first, take a boat and then retreat to Shanhaiguan.
After several consecutive fierce battles, the Ming army accumulated thousands of seriously wounded, sick, and exhausted people. In addition, the servants of the two families would definitely not want to follow them to the south, and there would be no way to recruit them.
Let these people go back to Shanhaiguan first to give an explanation to the court.
For the follow-up troops, after Cao and Li left, Zhang Mingzhen and Zheng Chenggong could easily make false accounts. At that time, they would say that they had blocked Azig here for another day or two, and then suffered thousands of casualties.
They were both Cao and Li's troops, and Cao and Li had nowhere to check the accounts.
Cao and Li didn't think this attitude was inappropriate, but they just tried to persuade again: "We are almost done loading the ship, and most of the people are already on board. Why don't we go together?"
Zheng Chenggong had already thought about it: "I was in a hurry to leave just now because I thought the Tatars were scary. Now that we have defeated them, we have found that Azigh is nothing more than that. We are very confident that we can hold on for another whole day! Or even longer. In this case, it is better to hold on again
Use up the tired enemy.
What if I can catch Governor Hong's troops breaking out? Anyway, it's a no-cost business for me, and the losses are completely controllable if I hold on for a little longer."
Cao and Li were right. Indeed, after this battle, the whole army's energy and energy returned. Everyone was also aware of the psychological shadow of the drowning and killing of 20,000 to 30,000 Ming troops here in Beacon Mountain last year.
Revealed.
Azig's underestimation of the enemy this time was actually a failure. Instead, it helped the Ming army increase their most important morale value.
Without further words, Cao and Li loaded up all the wounded from the latest battle and boarded the ship, letting the helmsman of the Shen family take care of them. The helmsman of the Shen family would go to whichever port he wanted.
It is estimated that they will return to the rear of Shanhaiguan in two days.
As for Zhang Mingzhen and Zheng Chenggong, they can completely free up their hands. They can make false accounts to help Shen Futai earn more private troops. They can also take the opportunity to make a small gamble and pick up more scattered troops in case Hong Chengchou breaks out.
As for the troops - although they still don't even know what the situation is at Hong Chengchou's side.
The Qing army on the other side was actually not idle. After Azig changed to blockade, he also began to deploy troops and generals in the next step, trying to cause Zhang Mingzhen and Zheng Chenggong more trouble.
Azig could not mobilize the army troops now, and everything had to focus on the Songshan battlefield. But he quickly thought that he could also mobilize the navy forces of the Qing Dynasty - the navy troops were originally unable to take part in the decisive battle of Songshan City.
It's idle, so it's better to use it to surround the Ming army!
If the bright general on the opposite side is really greedy and wants to save some of the breakout troops on the Songshan side, then he will directly sink the troop transport ship full of Nanmanzi on the sea! Let them go directly into the sea to feed the sharks! Kill them like that
It’s actually more convenient to get up!
Considering that this Ming fleet had Hongyi cannons, Azig did not think that the Qing navy could fight head-on.
However, there are always times when it gets dark and there are times when big ships are not flexible enough. The Qing Dynasty fought on the inside, which made it easier to mobilize small ships and even to temporarily deploy fire ships. These are all ways!
After thinking of all this, in the early afternoon of the same day, shortly after the defeat of the Bijia Mountain camp attack, Azig sent a letter to Jierhalang in the rear, begging him to send the troops who were still stationed at the mouth of the Daling River west of Jinzhou.
Kong Youde, a Qingshui division commander, quickly sent reinforcements secretly.
There is no doubt that among the Qing army, those who fought best in water warfare were all traitor troops. This is also in line with the historical inertia of nomadic civilizations when they took over the Central Plains.
This is because the use of water-based and technical weapons of the Eight Banners of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was inferior to that of the Han people. In the past, the Mongolian navy relied on the Han people, but now the Manchus also rely on the Han people.
Among the Han navy of the Qing Dynasty, the best performers were of course the surrendered generals who were born in Dongjiang Town and would be named Sanshun Kings in the future.
In addition, the Han naval generals who came to Shandong in the fifth year of Chongzhen and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty because of the Wuqiao Mutiny.
Azig first thought of Kong Youde, who lived not far from here, which is what the title meant.
In the afternoon of the same day, at the mouth of the Daling River in the west of Jinzhou City, Kong Youde, who was currently responsible for blocking the access to the Zudashou Waterway in Jinzhou City, received a transfer order from Jierhalang.
After understanding the enemy's situation, Kong Youde was also very decisive and immediately asked the entire army to rush to prepare as many small boats as possible and temporarily convert them into arson boats to attack the Daming Navy in the middle of the night.