Chapter 114 Hearing Shen Futai's name will boost his morale
Zhu Wenzhen didn't talk nonsense to a coward like Liu Shunchen. He just took out the basic monocular telescope issued by Shen Shuren and observed the enemy's situation from the Chenglingji watchtower.
After confirming the size and distribution of Jiao Guangqi's troops on the opposite side, Zhu Wenzhen asked his men to rest for half an hour, eat something to regain their strength, and then attack on time at noon.
Firstly, his troops had traveled a long distance and would definitely be tired. Secondly, it was almost noon, and if they didn't eat, both the soldiers and the horses would be further exhausted.
At the same time, experienced generals all know that if a tired soldier only rests for a quarter of an hour, the gain will outweigh the gain. The muscles will become sore and swollen, making it difficult to exert force.
The ancients may not have known the scientific principle behind this: "Once the muscles stop exercising for a long time, lactic acid will accumulate and begin to be excreted." However, they still had simple battlefield experience.
If you need to rest, rest for at least half an hour, just in time to digest the food you just ate, so as to avoid intestinal carbuncle (appendicitis) and give your horse a rest.
During this half hour, the bandit army on the opposite side would not rest. They were still building blockade fortifications.
Perhaps half an hour's time difference allowed them to dig the trench in front of the camp one foot deeper and wider, but this negative impact would not make much difference to the cavalry. The extra energy they expended while digging the trench might be
It will have a greater negative impact in subsequent battles, and the officers and soldiers will make money no matter how you look at it.
…
More than half an hour passed quickly, and the time came to the first quarter of noon.
It was a hot time in the early sixth month of the lunar calendar. The scorching sun was shining brightly in the sky, and the more than ten thousand men and horses under his command were as tired as dogs from setting up camps, digging trenches, and felling trees.
And because everyone is working, they are quite tired. The food in the army is also replenished by killing and robbing along the way. There are different kinds of rice, noodles and mixed vegetables. Even if it is just a simple pot of porridge, it will be better than cooking a single type of food.
It's a bit more complicated and takes more time, so the rogue army will eat later.
Jiao Guangqi never thought that the army might go out of the city to fight back in the field, so he did not do any optimization at all regarding the soldiers' meal time.
He just looked at the sun and felt that the weather would get hotter and hotter after noon, so he ordered everyone to work quickly and wait until the sun passed noon before eating at 3:30 noon.
Reading at midnight
This is also in line with common sense in life, because the hottest time in summer is from one to two o'clock in the afternoon, even hotter than twelve o'clock at noon.
Even the migrant workers of later generations who built houses in the summer knew that they had to take a lunch break between twelve and two o'clock. Jiao Guangqi asked the soldiers to seize the time to do more work before noon, and to have a meal and rest in the afternoon, which was very considerate of people's hearts.
Who would have known that Zhu Wenzhen was so ungrateful to martial ethics.
Just after the first quarter of noon, he took advantage of the official cavalry to finish lunch first. After the lunch break and the time difference between the rebel army and the rebel army, he opened the gate of Chenglingji and led two thousand cavalry to fight out.
"How dare the officers and soldiers attack?" Jiao Guangqi, who was in the big tent, heard the roar and noise of horse hooves in the direction of the enemy camp in the north. He immediately stopped caring about eating and jumped up with a piece of dog leg as a snack in his mouth, shouting loudly.
He shouted and ordered the soldiers to line up to attack.
Li Dingguo gave him a total of more than 10,000 horses. Even if a considerable part of them were cannon fodder for the new annexes, at least three to four thousand were veterans, and the number of cavalry was no less than that of Zhu Wenzhen.
There are two to three thousand cavalry, plus more than 8,000 infantry. Zhu Wenzhen on the opposite side only has 2,000 pure cavalry. No matter how you look at it, there is a gap of five or six times in strength between the two sides!
Even if the morale of the officers and soldiers is high, well-equipped, and well-rested, can they bridge the five or six times strength gap?
Jiao Guangqi viciously took a bite of the dog's leg, threw away the rest, and drew his saber with a grin on his face. He supervised the battle and ordered the soldiers to line up for defense. At the same time, the cavalry was stationed on both wings, intending to wait for the infantry to rely on the newly dug trench to stick to Zhu Wenzhen.
Finally, let the cavalry outflank and countercharge.
The two sides quickly approached each other, and a fight was imminent.
…
Zhu Wenzhen fought in Liaodong for many years. Not only did he fight with Cao Bianjiao, he also followed Cao Bianjiao's uncle Cao Wenzhao to fight across the country. He had been in the army for more than ten years.
Like the two Generals Cao, he was originally from Shanxi.
Without Chen Shuren's butterfly effect to save him, historically he would have been wiped out along with the main force of the 130,000 Ming army frontier troops when Hong Chengchou was destroyed.
Now, every extra day of his life is something he has picked up.
Among the generals who withdrew from Liaodong, Zhu Wenzhen, an official and a senior general, was the highest-ranking general who was willing to give up his original identity and follow Shen Shuren.
The reason why he was so open-minded was related to the fact that during the fierce battles at Xingshan and Bijia Mountains, he suffered some disabilities and had several fingers cut off. Therefore, he could no longer hold a weapon with one hand, nor could he take the lead in leading the cavalry to attack.
ability.
Even if he returns to the north and continues to serve in the army with his original official position, he may not have a better future. However, Chen Shuren is particularly generous to veterans with honors.
For those who concealed their names and pretended to be dead to whitewash the Liaodong troops, Shen Shuren would retain their original treatment. If military pay was difficult to keep accounts for, he would make up the difference out of his own pocket.
Zhu Wenzhen had seen those senior generals who were disabled and useless, and had a miserable life. This made him even more grateful to Shen Shuren, and he was eager to prove that "even if a general is missing one hand, he can continue to exert his remaining energy and command with determination."
At this moment, he had a saber hanging on the left side of his waist and a revolver that had just been produced at the end of last month in his right hand. He was in the center of the army in an unhurried manner, commanding the soldiers to charge in an orderly manner.
The left hand, which is missing two fingers, cannot hold a saber or a revolver, but it can be used to depress the revolver's wheel and hammer——
Chen Shuren's latest revolver installed in the army is of course about the same level of automation as the oldest Colt revolver from the 1800s, so it cannot be done by "pulling the trigger to directly complete one click of the revolver and tightening the hammer."
, the three major movements of firing the hammer."
With the old-fashioned runner, the hammer must be manually released to charge, and pulling the trigger is only responsible for firing. Therefore, many cowboys playing "American Iai" in Western movies have to use the pistol with both hands, and one hand is responsible for tightening the hammer.
Accumulate power, pull the trigger with the other hand and fire.
Zhu Wenzhen's hand with missing fingers was just perfect for charging the hammer. In the past two months, when he had free time, he focused on practicing this hand. He knew that this would be the opportunity for him to continue to use his remaining energy in battle in the future.
, the most efficient opportunity to kill the enemy personally.
You must use this battle to prove that you are worthy of the treatment given by Shen Futai as a general!
…
The two sides quickly approached within a hundred steps. The bandit side relied on the advantage of the infantry and soon began to launch long-range attacks sparsely. For a while, rocks were flying everywhere, and there were occasional roars of firecrackers.
Because the bandits came over mountains and ridges and fought long distances, they naturally had very few firearms. The few Folangji captured by the county that surrendered halfway were all left by Li Dingguo on the Baling siege battlefield and were not brought to the battlefield.
This side of Chenglingji.
Therefore, Jiao Guangqi's entire army only had two to three hundred old-fashioned fire muskets, not even accurate bird muskets or Lumi muskets. The crossbows also had no equipment, and they mainly relied on a large number of bows and arrows to cover their shooting.
Jiao Guangqi didn't know any advanced musketry tactics. The muskets opened fire when the two sides were just a hundred steps away, using captured single-point bullets.
If a single projectile fired from a musket is more than a hundred paces away, the hit rate is very poor. There have been rigorous tests in later generations. Even if the shot is aimed, the hit rate of a single projectile at a distance of 150 yards is very poor.
Definitely not 10%,
What's more, the bandits were targeting at will, and the captured equipment was in a state of disrepair and even stained with rust.
After more than two hundred guns were fired, only a dozen people on the cavalry were shot down. Not all of them were killed. Instead, more than half of them were shot on their horses, throwing people off.
Fortunately, single-ended bullets also have the advantage of single-ended bullets, that is, the projectiles are extremely powerful and cannot be blocked by iron-clad cotton armor, so if they are hit, they will basically die, or at least be seriously injured.
Of course, these casualties cannot shake the morale of these official cavalry, which can be regarded as "quasi-Guanning cavalry".
The ensuing bow and arrow coverage relied on the huge number and fast design speed to ensure that the cavalry fired three rounds before they rushed in front of them, taking away more official cavalry.
It’s just that the armor penetration rate of bows and arrows against Tiezha cotton armor is basically zero, so as long as they are not shot in the face or wrists, people will not be hurt. Most of the people who were taken away were horses that were shot and thrown off.
Falling injuries are almost never fatal, leaving only some fractures or internal injuries. As long as the battle is won, the battlefield can be cleaned and the wounded rescued.
"This army cavalry is very elite. Where did the troops come from?" Seeing that the army was not moved by long-range attacks, Jiao Guangqi's expression became serious for the first time and he became very serious. He had seen many officers and soldiers in the past.
The cavalry has never been so calm and solemn in killing.
Unfortunately, he had no time to think about it anymore. The official cavalry quickly rushed to the bandit formation thirty or forty steps away.
Then, in accordance with Zhu Wenzhen's orders in advance and the new tactics he had practiced diligently in the past two months, the cavalry team temporarily adjusted its direction and instead swept across the front of the rogue infantry formation.
The bandit musketeers only fired two shots in total, and then retreated to the back of the formation. At this moment, the spearmen were already pushing forward, waiting to attack the horses. The sudden change of formation of the army's cavalry also caught Jiao Guangqi off guard.
"What is this doing? Is it possible to imitate the Tatars' mounted shooting and harass them? If you want mounted shooting, you have to be at least fifty steps away, or a little further away? How can you get so close that you pass horizontally in front of the formation within thirty steps?"
Jiao Guangqi was stunned and immediately ordered the archers of each department to start throwing blind arrows again, and the fire gunners were also preparing to reload——
He had never thought of this tactic just now, because the Han cavalry never used fancy tricks similar to that of the Tatars, they just charged directly. The Han cavalry has not had such sophisticated shooting skills since ancient times, how could it be possible to do this?
Therefore, in order to prevent the long-range soldiers from losing too much, Jiao Guangqi had already asked the long-range soldiers to retreat in advance before Zhu Wenzhen rushed in front of him. The front row was filled with pike soldiers. Now if he wants to use the long-range soldiers to output again, of course he has to waste a little bit.
Time change scheduling.
Unfortunately, just when Jiao Guangqi was preparing to change the formation for the second time, there were violent roars in front of the formation. Thousands of Ming army firearms suddenly fired in turn. Although the sound was not uniform, it was continuous and seemed endless.
Zhu Wenzhen's troops were equipped with two months' production capacity of Shen Shuren's iron yard in Daye, a total of 1,200 short-barreled double-barrel nozzles, and wax shell ammunition for rear loading.
Plus three hundred revolver pistols.
Of the two thousand cavalry troops, 1,500 are equipped with riding firearms, and only 500 are pure melee cavalry. This is due to Chen Shuren's production capacity not being able to keep up. If he could produce it, he would wish to have all of them.
Everyone is equipped with a musket.
Anyway, there is no conflict between carrying a musket and carrying a melee weapon. You can still have powerful melee force with a musket.
More than a thousand guns are all double-barreled, which is equivalent to firing more than 2,000 times, all using shotguns.
Each ammunition contains at least six small lead beads weighing half a penny, as well as some finely divided iron sand to fill the gaps. In total, there are more than ten thousand small lead beads, which are like a roaring steel storm, sweeping towards the bandit front.
The only disadvantage of this kind of shotgun is that it cannot penetrate armor. Other single-ended bullets have three-cent warheads, but wax-shell shotguns only have half a cent, only one-sixth of the single-ended bullets, and their kinetic energy is also reduced in proportion.
However, what Zhu Wenzhen was fighting now was not the Tatars with fine Tiezha cotton armor, but Zhang Xianzhong's troops.
“Ah!” “Pfft——” “My face——”
All of a sudden, Jiao Guangqi was screaming miserably in front of the formation. Almost within a few breaths, hundreds of soldiers fell down clutching their bodies in pain. The blood had not had time to penetrate, and the wounds were not obvious, but each and every one of them fell down.
The cries of ghosts and howls of wolves made the uninjured comrades feel as if they had fallen into hell.
Although Zhang Xianzhong's army was much more elite than the 5th Battalion of Gezuo, it had traveled through mountains and rivers on an expedition, and its armor rate was still very low. A lot of heavy equipment was left behind at Sun Kewang's place in Zigui.
In addition to Li Dingguo's previous fierce battle, which continued to be consumed, many iron bars on the cotton armor of the main force were also lost, depreciated and dropped——
The frontal defense of the iron-plated cotton armor is not much worse than that of the old-fashioned iron-plated armor and scale armor, but the disadvantage is that the gaps between the iron-plated armor pieces are relatively weak. In order to allow for flexible movement, the iron-plated armor in the cotton-padded armor does not overlap and punch holes.
It is fixed, but the cotton outer skin and lining are sewn together. Some high-end ones use nails to drill holes in the nails and nail them together with the cotton lining.
This causes the iron ties in the cotton armor to fall off relatively easily. If the cotton layer is cut by an enemy's knife, the iron ties may fall out after losing the restraints of the cotton fabric. The cotton fabric must be cross-stitched and fixed again.
In the past two months, during the bloody battle between Li Dingguo's troops and the enemies of the Miao and Tu tribes, every time they encountered a difficult attack, the Tiezha cotton armored soldiers from the army would be the first to attack.
Facing tribal soldiers who lack elite sharp weapons, their Miao knives and hatchets may not be able to cut through the iron bars, but they can definitely easily cut through the inner and outer linings of cotton.
Li Dingguo didn't have time to stop and mend and repair. Many of the iron-clad cotton armor worn by the warriors in the army had pieces missing, with pieces missing here and there. He had to wait to find a tinker to sew them on again after he rested.
Unfortunately, now, they obviously don't have this opportunity.
Even if there were, just a little bit of armor rate wouldn't change anything.
Jiao Guangqi's front line was so attacked by several rows of trolls within thirty steps that they could no longer take care of themselves, and all the dense spearmen staggered here and there.
Only a small number of soldiers carrying makeshift large wooden shields temporarily escaped the bad luck of the trolls. But as their comrades staggered around, once the massed line of pikemen relaxed, the isolated and helpless soldiers would only be chopped down from the side.
Kill and reap.
But all this is not over yet.
What the Ming Army used this time was not only a carbine spray used by the cavalry, but also a rear-loading one! The wax-cased ammunition could be used on a bumpy horseback, ensuring that reloading could be completed in just ten seconds.
After the Ming army's cavalry queue swept across the formation for a while, they quickly completed their reloading and fired another round of close-range bombardment. When Zhu Wenzhen's troops passed the entire formation, they actually fired a total of four rounds of firepower.
Jiao Guangqi's counterattack bows and arrows were simply not of scale.
Because there were many rebel soldiers, tens of thousands of them, the frontal width of the front was much wider than that of the Ming army. When the Ming army adopted the sweeping tactic, when passing through each section of the rebel front, the situation was locally "two thousand people versus two thousand."
people",
After running in front of the first 2,000 people, I came to the second 2,000 people, and then I almost finished loading another round of ammunition. The mobility of the rebel army was low, and the remaining 6,000 people had no front.
The Ming army's cavalry, so the archers could only watch, or shoot randomly at an angle, regardless of whether they entered the effective range.
After Zhu Wenzhen passed by Jiao Guangqi's entire front line, from east to west, the bandits were already under fire and the entire army was staggering and out of position.
The soldiers would not sit still and wait to be killed, so many troops chose to fight on their own and no longer obeyed the command of the general. Some of the spear teams who were shot badly collapsed and began to escape.
Others, who suffered less losses, watched helplessly as the army cavalry passed by thirty steps in front of them, killing them with sprays. They were angry that their side was being slaughtered unilaterally, so they went to the headquarters and sentry headquarters.
Under the on-the-spot command, I chose to charge and chase out of the defense line, hoping to stick to the cavalry and engage in melee combat.
One part of the front line fled, another part charged, and the whole army was naturally in chaos.
Even if they were shot directly and less than 2,000 people were seriously injured, it could still cause chaos to the rest.
The only thing Jiao Guangqi could count on was the cavalry he deployed on both wings, which were also the most elite troops given to him by Li Dingguo. Because of the deployment, the rogue cavalry did not suffer heavy fire, and their strength was well preserved.
Jiao Guangqi looked at the tragic situation in front of him, and blood rushed to his head. He knew that after beating the fresh troops allocated by the second general like this, if he ran back with his life, he might not be able to escape the military law, so he might as well take the gamble of a full-scale assault.
"Come with me, my sons! The officers and soldiers relied on their sharp firearms to kill us unprepared! All the pikemen charge! Take the initiative to fight hand to hand! The cavalry all charge with me!"
He didn't care about the use of spearmen. He should have stood still and waited for the enemy to hit him, leaving each unit to fight on their own, and then charged at the nearest army.
For a while, the bandits trampled on each other and suffered heavy casualties, but they did find some opportunities for him to stick to Zhu Wenzhen. After all, the bandits were outnumbered and ran in chaos in several directions. Zhu Wenzhen actually found some opportunities for him.
If you can't reach the road and rush out directly, you have to fight your way out.
"The wheel-gun cavalry charges with me! The melee cavalry follows! The double-barreled gun cavalry switches to sabers! Break out of the encirclement!"
The bloody hand-to-hand combat quickly began. At this point, the double-barreled sprayers had no time to reload, so they had to empty their ammunition one by one, stick it in their backs, and pick up cold weapons to stab and slash like crazy.
However, the three hundred most elite soldiers under Zhu Wenzhen could still fire continuously with flexible revolvers, and they did not need to sweep across the formation, nor did they need to step back and reload like the "dragoon half-turn tactics" of later generations.
Just charge straight forward, fire intensively while charging, and change the saber after six shots.
Many rogue cavalry and pikemen were already within ten steps, or even within five steps of the melee range, before they were attacked by the Ming army's pistol cavalry.
Many thieves and spearmen looked in disbelief when they were shot: Obviously, as long as they rushed forward two or three steps and used the length of the spear, they could stab the spearhead into the body of the official cavalry, and hit them hard.
Make a hole...
But why can the officers and soldiers still fire a shot at a distance of only two or three steps? Or this kind of ammunition that flies like a storm of iron sand!
And if you are sprayed by a troll within five to ten steps, even if you are wearing iron-clad cotton armor, all living beings are absolutely equal and you will definitely die - let alone iron-clad cotton armor, even if you are wearing the third-level armor in Chichi.
Very useful.
The three hundred sharp-edged swordsmen responsible for the breakout, each with six shots, were enough. They just forced their way through Jiao Guangqi's encirclement, fought their way out, and directly penetrated the military formation.
Jiao Guangqi himself was not able to see the outcome of the battle.
Because his armor flag was too conspicuous, when Zhu Wenzhen broke into the formation, he was met by dozens of pistol cavalry, including Zhu Wenzhen himself. They rushed to an extremely close range and fired continuously with pistols, clearing the wheels.
Jiao Guangqi and his close personal guards were all wiped out by the rain of bullets from the trolls. They died in a miserable state, with no trace of human form.
Zhu Wenzhen couldn't tell which troll Jiao Guangqi died under, but anyway, after Jiao Guangqi's flag formation was cleared, one of Zhu Wenzhen's confidants came forward, brandishing a saber, and chopped him into pieces.
Jiao Guangqi's head was dedicated to his own general.
Zhu Wenzhen had no time to think about it. He just nodded and ordered everyone to continue the charge to ensure that Jiao Guangqi's troops were completely scattered. Then he gathered his troops, regrouped, and pursued them due south in an orderly manner.
Zhu Wenzhen has not forgotten that the purpose of his battle today is not to kill many people from Jiao Guangqi's troops, but to tell the defenders in Baling City that Ming government reinforcements have arrived, so as to encourage them to have the courage to hold on.
, so as not to be deceived by the bandits and surrender directly.
On the bandit side, with the collapse of Jiao Guangqi, in less than half a quarter of an hour, Li Dingguo and Bai Wenxuan also received urgent reports from the defeated cavalry who had fled back, and knew the seriousness of the situation.
But no matter how hard they tried to organize the leak, it was already too late.
There was only about twenty miles from Chenglingji to Baling City, and the battlefield was several miles away from Chenglingji. Therefore, when Jiao Guangqi collapsed, Zhu Wenzhen was less than twenty miles away from the north gate of Baling City.
This distance can definitely be reached in a quarter of an hour for the cavalry.
So when Li Dingguo sent Bai Wenxuan again to intercept, Zhu Wenzhen had already entered the sight of the defenders of the north tower of Baling City.
"There is a cavalry coming from the north! There are quite a few of them! They look very impressive!" The defenders at the top of the city were anxious from the beginning, and the soldiers also looked northward.
They were not sure about the identity of this unit at first, but when they saw more scattered soldiers running away in front of them, and Bai Wen's selection team seemed to have divided their troops to intercept them, they more or less guessed that they were from the official army.
Reinforcements are coming.
"The imperial court's reinforcements are here! Baling City can definitely be defended! Ignore Li Dingguo's threat to massacre the city!" Such a thought arose in everyone's mind.
Then, the Ming army in the north of the city saw the most impressive scene for them: Bai Wenxuan's troops who were intercepting the attack were quickly repelled by the incoming cavalry, which used a series of fire weapons on horseback with flames and loud roars.
The reloaded 1,000 double-barreled carbine guns and 300 revolver guns were simply devastating to an enemy that could maneuver to intercept them. Bai Wenxuan didn't even form a formation, so of course he collapsed at the first touch.
Zhu Wenzhen had enough time to rush hundreds of steps to the bottom of the city, and then the whole army shouted:
"Listen to the defenders on the city! Shen Futai's 100,000 reinforcements have arrived at Chenglingji! We have come a long way today, so we won't have a decisive battle with Li Dingguo for the time being. We will only let us lead the cavalry to break the siege and report the news. You should work hard to repel Li Dingguo.
Later Shen Futai gave everyone great rewards!"
"Is it the reinforcements from Shen Futai in Wuchang? Not the reinforcements from Futai in Jiangling?" Some old-school-minded soldiers were still confused.
But more people with flexible ideas cheered: "You are stupid! What's wrong with Shen Futai's reinforcements! Who doesn't know that Shen Futai has many plans, is as rich as the enemy, and has well-armed soldiers and horses!
Only if Shen Futai comes to rescue us will our army be victorious!"
A group of well-informed soldiers were already spitting.
It seems that just by announcing the three words "Shen Futai", the morale of the army was instantly boosted. The effect was comparable to hearing that Zhuge Liang appeared again and came to rescue him.
——
PS: The war scene might be too much nonsense to explain, so I’ll give you a 7,000-word chapter. Today it’s 11,000 words.