Chapter 136 Decisive Battle of Zhang Xianzhong - Part 2
Although Zhang Hualong's former army cannon fodder battalion did not perform well, 15,000 people were temporarily held back by more than 3,000 people.
But until this moment, Zhang Xianzhong, as the commander-in-chief of the entire army, still has a solemn expression but not one who is depressed.
He firmly believed that everything was still under control, and so far the official army had not shown unusual combat power, so he dared to let Ma Weixing join the reserve team of Henan Old Camp without hesitation.
"The soldiers under Chen Shuren are indeed much more elite than other officers and soldiers, and their morale is high enough. In this way, they can withstand the attack of several times the enemy.
Fortunately, the information given by Lin Chengchang should be correct. As expected, the official army was short of ammunition because Shen Gouguan did not know how to exercise restraint! This opportunity must not be missed before it comes again. We must take advantage of today to severely damage the main force of the official army! Then again
Consider withdrawing safely! If we can annihilate the official army... we can live in Huguang forever!"
Zhang Xianzhong was thinking so quickly in his mind, apparently because the important information that "Jiang Shoude's reinforcements also lacked muskets" gave him confidence and made him even more convinced that Lin Yangcheng had not betrayed his old teammates.
Although Jiang Shoude was very brave, and his bloody close combat and crossbow shooting also made Zhang Hualong retreat slightly, but as long as firearms are not used on a large scale, that is good news! No matter how difficult it is, you must keep fighting! If you miss today's opportunity, you will be in trouble in the future.
It will only be harder!
And this kind of belief makes Zhang Xianzhong like a gambler who dares to follow the cards, and he still firmly places his bets even when the odds are getting bigger and bigger.
Zhang Xianzhong's judgment was quickly conveyed to generals at all levels as a morale-boosting rhetoric.
Some generals who were not very keen did not notice this at first. After listening to the king's instructions, they suddenly became enlightened and expressed that they would seize this opportunity.
…
In front of the two armies, Ma Weixing led Zhang Xianzhong's old camp in Henan and quickly joined the front-line battle.
When he arrived, Zhang Hualong's Huguang cannon fodder had already become somewhat loose.
Countless soldiers were killed and doubted their lives. They were frightened by the heroic momentum of the Huguang officers and soldiers in defending their hometown, and were suppressed by the fearless fighting spirit of the border troops who returned from Liaodong.
Fortunately, Ma Weixing's investment can finally prevent the soldiers from the first level of "mental shock" - these Henan soldiers have been wandering around for many years, killing people and robbing everywhere, and have developed a bloodthirsty attitude that does not regard human life as their own.
There will be no local sway.
They don't take the ridiculous feelings of Huguang officers and soldiers to defend their hometown seriously. How many people have they robbed and how many cities have they massacred?
In those places that were massacred, who wouldn’t want to defend their hometown?
But these southerners are not martial! They deserve to die in these troubled times!
Why should working hard in farming, having the brains to do business, being good at studying, serving as an official, working in the camp and dedicating money to work are considered talents? Being good at wielding a knife, shooting, killing and robbing is not considered a skill? What a bullshit Ming Dynasty system! This does not allow those who are good at murdering to get ahead.
The Master’s ruined court!
In troubled times, there should be rules for troubled times! Northerners have their own unique advantages, and this advantage should have a way to express it, kill people and seize officials! A dog court that does not respect martial arts, even if it is a Han court
, you should die too! By the way, kill all the reading dogs in the world! It was the same in Song and Ming Dynasties!
"Kill! Kill all those bastards who work for reading dogs!"
As the old camp in Henan fought bravely, Jiang Shoude on the opposite side quickly began to struggle.
In particular, these Henan veteran soldiers were not hit by firearms at all during the investment process.
Because the front row of the officers and soldiers were already stuck by the Huguang cannon fodder battalion, the firearms team had no chance to fire on the reserve teams that were gradually investing in the distance.
Being able to directly engage the entire army in melee combat without any loss kept the morale of Ma Weixing's troops very high.
Most of these Henan soldiers followed Zhang Xianzhong before and after the Fengyang Imperial Tomb was excavated in the eighth year of Chongzhen's reign. They had been fighting for seven or eight years. They were all capable of surviving the waves. Their combat effectiveness was certainly not comparable to that of Huguang's cannon fodder who had only been in the army for two years at most.
Moreover, the rate of these Henan soldiers wearing armor was relatively high, and the bows and arrows fired by the officers and soldiers gradually lost their effectiveness.
After Jiang Shoude recognized the situation, he immediately asked all the rear troops to prepare knives or set up long rifles to block the gap. All reserve teams were deployed on the front line and there was no need for long-range firepower.
The bloody fight between the elite border troops in Liaodong who had been fighting for many years and the old thieves who had been wandering around for seventy-eight years was many times more brutal than the previous fight between recruits on one side.
Jiang Shoude was victorious because of his tenacity, but Ma Weixing put in a lot of force and his momentum was like a rainbow. Neither side gave in.
Blood and flesh were everywhere on the battlefield, and broken limbs and arms were lying on the ground. The blood-filled lines between the ravines looked like an extremely evil rune circle when viewed from the sky.
After a while, more than half of the soldiers under Lu Datou's command were already dead and wounded, and they were gradually dying.
Although the number of people killed in direct combat was acceptable, there were already too many injured, and the entire defense line was almost mainly supported by Jiang Shoude's people.
Lu Datou's battalion had a total of more than 2,000 people, and more than 400 people were killed directly in the battle. The wounded were impossible to count. Jiang Shoude's men had also lost more than 200 people in the battle.
Fortunately, Jiang Shoude was always sober in his mind. He drew his sword and repeatedly shouted loudly in front of the formation: "Brothers, hold on! General Zhu's cavalry will arrive soon! When Zhang Xianzhong left the city, he fell into Shen Futai's trap!"
The reinforcements sent by Shen Futai will arrive soon!"
The Liaodong soldiers were already a little panicked, but when the guerrilla master mentioned Shen Futai, they gained confidence again.
If Shen Futai says he wants to rescue, then he will definitely rescue!
A few months ago, when he was surrounded by the Tatar Azige and Jilhalang banners on Bijia Mountain, didn't he also escape back? If Shen Futai said he would not abandon the friendly forces, then he would definitely not abandon them!
No matter how arrogant Zhang Gou's men are, they can still be stronger than Azig, but can't Jierhalang? Who is he?
Thinking of this, the soldiers who had withdrawn from Liaodong all had blood-red eyes, and they were fighting to the death with their eyes open and closed.
After a stalemate for a while, Ma Weixing, who was always working hard, had a tendency to "fall back again".
And Chen Shuren did not disappoint them. After Jiang Shoude finished shouting these words of encouragement, less than half a stick of incense, there was already billowing smoke on the eastern horizon.
The series of flags were covered by Zhengchen and could not be clearly seen for the time being, but the morale of the officers and soldiers was greatly boosted, and they all firmly believed that this was Zhu Wenzhen's cavalry camp.
Everyone under Jiang Shoude shouted loudly, and Ma Weixing's morale was suffocated by the killing before the cavalry could reach them.
On the side of the bandits, Zhang Xianzhong, who was in charge of the central army, couldn't help but feel slightly frightened when he saw the powerful cavalry reinforcements.
He subconsciously touched the wound on his pockmarked face that was still aching, and told Bai Wenxuan to let the Shaanxi Laoying Battalion, as the final strategic general reserve team, also be ready to invest.
…
Zhu Wenzhen's troops actually rushed back to the front line of Hengzhou City siege camp from the Hengshan Guard Battlefield before midnight last night. They have slept and rested for three times now, and also had a midnight snack before going to bed.
Therefore, although sleep was not sufficient, as long as he cheered up, flushed his face with cold water, and slowly marched for more than ten miles on horseback to the battlefield in the north of the city, everyone was almost awake, and his fighting state and fighting will were maintained well.
Moreover, Zhu Wenzhen's troops were fully manned and magnificent. After following Chen Shuren, they had participated in several bloody battles, but they became stronger and stronger as they fought. They always received the best treatment and supplements, so that even the number of soldiers
, the bigger the more.
A month and a half ago, when he first arrived from Wuchang to experience the first battle at the Baling battlefield, Zhu Wenzhen had just over 2,000 troops under his command. Now, after several fierce battles, his troops have been supplemented to more than 3,000, or even more than 3,000.
five.
The reason why the battle was able to be like this was of course not because Zhu Wenzhen's troops would not suffer casualties, nor was it because Zhu Wenzhen could resurrect the dead, but because the Shen family army had no shortage of soldiers who could serve as cavalry, but only war horses.
After all the battles, the cavalry of Shen Shuren's tribe was relatively well preserved, and the loss of horses was always controllable. However, the enemy's established cavalry units were annihilated by the Shen family's army in several battles. When cleaning the battlefield, they could naturally collect all the remaining horses.
stand up.
As early as the Battle of Baling, because Li Dingguo didn't understand the Shen Army, he sent Jiao Guangqi to fight with him with two to three thousand elite cavalry, but in vain. After that battle, the Shen Army's cavalry eliminated their own horses.
The loss directly amounted to seven to eight hundred more cavalry.
The most recent time, when Wang Shangli's main force had just been annihilated, Wang Shangli's direct troops also had more than a thousand cavalry, but they were all given to them for nothing.
Although the equipment of Zhang Xianzhong's army is not as sophisticated as that of Shen's army, they are troops that have been fleeing from the north for many years, so Zhang Xianzhong's cavalry has a good foundation and the number of horses is much more than that of the southern army.
By fighting like this, by grabbing Zhang Xianzhong's war horses, and selecting soldiers with basic riding skills from the Liaodong infantry, who had transferred to different positions, after a few snowballs, there were only three thousand and five.
Unfortunately, the replenishment of new firearms is far slower than the supply of war horses and soldiers. Therefore, among the 3,500 cavalry, there are still only about a thousand who have double-barreled spray guns at the back, and even fewer have revolvers.
There are only two hundred riders.
The newly added 1,500 cavalry can still only use traditional cold weapons to perform close combat missions. Fortunately, they have a good foundation and have experience in the bloody battles in Liaodong, so they can barely be regarded as "quasi-Guanning cavalry".
However, Zhu Wenzhen felt that this was enough! Because he was more confident than Jiang Shoude, and he knew that the main force of the government and army had returned for reinforcements!
Thanks to Zhang Xianzhong's suspicion, after Shen Shuren deceived him, Zhang Xianzhong waited an extra day for stability, and the time difference of this day had already caused Zuo Zixiong's troops from Hengdong County to rush back to Hengzhou early this morning.
The battlefield! After a forced march, I had not rested yet, so I was very tired.
However, when it really comes to a critical moment, even if you haven't slept all night, it is better to sleep for an hour or two, eat something, and go back to the battlefield with strength than to have insufficient troops. When it is really a life-or-death situation in a battle, it is better to not sleep for two days and two nights.
There are all of them.
With the blessing of confidence, Zhu Wenzhen charged without hesitation. More than a thousand riders in the front row decisively used the "deformed version of the half-turn tactic" that had been tried and tested on the Baling battlefield last month.
That is to say, let the spray cavalry rush to the enemy's vicinity, and then move across the enemy's formation a dozen or twenty steps in front of the formation, get close to the face, and fire sprays.
"Not good, Your Majesty! Inform General Ma and General Zhang quickly and let their crossbowmen concentrate on shooting the official cavalry! It's not enough for the spear soldiers on the flanks to turn to meet the enemy! These official cavalry are good at running away as soon as they touch the enemy.
Before charging, shoot to disrupt our formation!"
Under the Chinese army's formation, Bai Wenxuan's sharp eyes saw Zhu Wenzhen's formation, and he immediately sensed the danger and quickly warned Zhang Xianzhong.
After all, among Zhang Xianzhong's army, only he and Li Dingguo had witnessed the power of Shen's army's cutting-edge firearms combined with cavalry on the Baling battlefield a month and a half ago.
Zhang Xianzhong was still a little unclear, but his intuition also made him feel the danger of the enemy, so he subconsciously agreed with Bai Wenxuan's opinion, immediately sent a message to the generals ahead, and asked Bai Wenxuan to attack immediately.
It is a pity that a military formation with tens of thousands of people cannot act like an arm and a finger after all, and all command orders are delayed. Even if the order is conveyed, it is still unknown whether the front can be implemented in place.
If wars were so easy and you could win them whenever you think of it, there would be no need to accumulate so many famous generals over the years.
As expected, Zhang Hualong and Ma Weixing failed to understand and implement it immediately. The troops under their command initially turned to meet the enemy with their right-wing troops, and the gun array anchored the position. Faced with the fierce spray in the face, the thieves soldiers were immediately cut into pieces with blood.
Wheat falls like wheat.
All beings are equal whether they wear a face spray within twenty steps, whether they have Tie Zha cotton armor or not.
"Kill!" Zhu Wenzhen saw that the first two rounds of firepower had caused the enemy's front row to stagger and tore open a big hole. He quickly asked his soldiers to reload, change formations, and directly launch a hand-to-hand charge.
The melee cavalry without firearms in the rear row also followed behind the elite vanguard. Once they penetrated the enemy's formation in a wedge shape, they would tear up the flanks and attack them sideways, tearing the hole wider and wider.
There is a clear division of labor between the two groups. Those with muskets are responsible for penetrating deeply, and those without muskets are responsible for tearing.
Zhu Wenzhen showed the same momentum as when he followed Cao Bianjiao in Songshan last year to attack Huang Taiji's flag formation. He did not even take a sword, but waved a revolver with one hand and went straight into the depths of the enemy formation to roar and kill.
His right hand, which had lost two fingers, was solely responsible for helping the revolver to move the charged hammer. His left hand focused on pulling the trigger to fire. The six-gun quickly emptied the magazine as fast as an American Iai, and his marksmanship was extremely accurate.
Killing six people in a row also instantly suppressed the momentum of the bandit soldiers who tried to intercept him.
No one can bear the visual impact of seeing several rows of comrades killed on the spot as they tried to block him within two or three seconds.
After the wheel was cleared, Zhu Wenzhen drew out his saber and slashed to kill him. However, the subordinates on both sides had already covered him and were carrying him forward.
"How can the southerners have such cavalry? This is impossible! These are definitely not the soldiers of Shen Gou Guan!"
Zhang Xianzhong, who was in the distance, was dumbfounded when he saw that Zhu Wenzhen quickly tore off a large piece of Ma Weixing's military formation and cut it through the flank into two parts.
He had heard the reports from Li Dingguo and Bai Wenxuan, but last time he only thought that Li Dingguo was exaggerating the enemy in order to reduce the blame for the defeat. Today, when he saw it with his own eyes, he knew that Li Dingguo was not bragging at all. If the Battle of Baling made him
Even if he personally directs, he may not be able to fight better than Li Dingguo.
However, he still regretted it and hated Li Dingguo for his lack of vision!
He didn't realize that these cavalry were not something that southerners could do! This was no longer a matter of well-equipped weapons and equipment! It was about the different spirits of people.
From a distance, Zhang Xianzhong felt from the atmosphere that the enemy had a fear similar to that of Guan Ning's cavalry.
The most frightening thing is that this kind of terrifying cavalry has also obtained a magical weapon that can fire several shots before charging, reaping, smashing and tearing the mouths of the Phalanx defenders in the front row.
But at this point, Zhang Xianzhong had no way out. He could only ask Bai Wenxuan to pile up all the old Shaanxi camps and engage in a war of attrition, risking lives to fill the gap.