Although Nikan was harassed in the rear and all his friendly forces chose to return to Huai'an for rescue, he was exhausted and lost his fighting spirit. He only waited for Dorgon's order to allow the retreat to be sent before he officially retreated.
But he still has basic military literacy. No matter how depressed he is, he still has to arrange night patrols and vigilance in the camp at night, and he is not so mentally retarded that he even omits such basic operations.
Therefore, although the Ming army's sudden sneak attack was caught off guard, it was not so exaggerated that it was discovered only after "touching into the camp gate, pulling out the antlers and resisting the horse".
At most, they were only a mile or two away from the main camp when they were bumped into by Ye Busuo, who was patrolling the night of the Qing army, and then the two sides started a fierce fight.
The Qing army patrolled with few cavalry, and the Ming army cavalry dispatched by Cao Bianjiao immediately suffered heavy casualties as soon as they charged. Moreover, in the dim light before dawn, the fighting distance was generally very close, and it was difficult for both sides to sprint and accelerate long in advance. It was almost a low-speed hand-to-hand confrontation.
shooting state.
This situation of being unable to charge forward made the Ming army's revolvers very easy to use. They could get within five steps of the enemy before firing. The Qing army's cavalry had no time to turn and speed up, so they charged forward with their lances and were almost massacred one-sidedly.
After defeating the patrolling cavalry of the Qing army, the main force of the Ming army rushed directly to the Chinese army camp, and a large-scale and fierce battle began instantly.
If it was a normal battle in the wild, staying two miles outside the camp at night before discovering an enemy attack would be considered a dereliction of duty, and you would definitely be prosecuted by military law when you return.
This time the Qing army was conducting a siege. The siege camp was only three to five miles away from the city wall. It had to protect the siege artillery position nearby, so it was within easy reach. If it was not closed at night, it could only come from
Spread out two or three miles outside the camp. If you go further, you may be hit by the Hongyi cannon at the top of the city.
Everything made it objectively convenient for the Ming army to launch a sneak attack.
…
Nikan was awakened from his sleep by the screams of the patrolling cavalry outside the camp when they were intercepted and killed. The distance of two or three miles left little time for people to react, only a few minutes.
For late winter and early spring, when the weather is still cold, it takes much longer to wake up from the warm bed and go into battle than it does in the hot summer.
Nikan didn't even have time to put on the cotton-padded jacket lined with iron armor, so he had to force the guards to help him put on the iron-clad cotton armor. Although the cotton armor also had layers of cotton cloth and compacted cotton sheets, the skin would not be in direct contact with the metal.
After all, the thermal insulation effect is much worse than that of a coat, and Nikan shivered instinctively from the cold.
Even if Nikan is like this, ordinary Qing soldiers are naturally even more miserable. They have no one to serve their armor, and they may not be able to wear cotton linings and laminated cotton sheets with intact armor and stomach.
The cold leather and iron sheets in the damaged areas are directly pressed against the inner clothing, which is absolutely uncomfortable.
And even if they put on their armor, most of the soldiers didn't have time to find their own team and form an orderly array to respond to the enemy. They could only find a random section of the camp wall and directly move in to resist on the spot.
Taking advantage of this gap, the Ming army's vanguards had already rushed to the front of the camp in large numbers, and the two sides launched a fierce battle.
Speaking of which, I have to mention a little bit about the strength gap between the two armies in today’s battle——
As mentioned before, when Duduo led his troops south last year, he brought 140,000 Qing troops, of which 110,000 were given away by him. Therefore, what was left in Jiangbei was only more than 30,000 genuine Qing troops (including
Manchu, Mongolian and Han banners are not all Manchu soldiers)
Coupled with the newly added Han people from Huaihe and Han Dynasties, as well as the Mandahai tribe who had just been reinforced by Azig, and the Shandong Qing army that urgently went south, the difference between these two groups was more than 10,000 and more than 20,000.
Taken together, there are now 70,000 to 80,000 Qing field troops in Huainan, as well as some strong men defending the city.
Of course, these 70,000 to 80,000 people are not all on the Yangzhou front line. Some of them must be guarded in other directions. Previously, Zhang Mingzhen secretly attacked thousands of second-line troops in Huai'an. Therefore, before Mandahai and the others left, the Yangzhou Jiangbei camp had a total of
That's fifty to sixty thousand people.
Man Dahai, Shang Shan, and Li Chengdong evacuated first, taking away at least two-thirds of the people. The number of people around Nikan at the moment was between 15,000 and 20,000. Zhu Shuren couldn't estimate it too specifically.
.
Now that he knows the size of the enemy, Zhu Shuren wants to make a sneak attack, so of course he has complete certainty and confidence. He has never liked to play the thrilling trick of defeating more with less like the protagonists of those Internet articles, let alone now that he has the conditions to bully more.
Why don't you bully me?
Even in defensive battles before, the total force he invested was basically guaranteed to be more than that of the Qing army. The total force of the Ming army in the entire eastern Huainan section of the defense line had exceeded 80,000, and it was nothing more than dividing the troops and stationing them in multiple cities.
There is also the Yangtze River Navy in the rear who is dispatching reinforcements at any time.
In today's battle, Zhu Shuren invested 60,000 Ming troops in one go! This took into account the maximum deployment limit of the Yangzhou battlefield. No matter how many people there were, the troops would not be able to spread out, otherwise he would like to add some insurance.
When a lion fights a rabbit, he must use all his strength!
When he fought against Duduo last year, he had a numerical advantage of two to one and the right time and place. Today, he wants to have a numerical advantage of at least three to one! He also needs to take advantage of sneak attacks!
Not taking advantage is a shark arm! It is irresponsible for the lives of soldiers! In war, you don’t need to be handsome to win beauty, as long as you win!
…
With three times the numerical advantage, good equipment, and a sneak attack, the first phase of the battle naturally progressed very smoothly.
The fighting started at the beginning of Mao hour and lasted for just over a quarter of an hour. Shortly after Mao hour, the Qing army's outer camp completely collapsed.
The Ming army pushed forward too quickly and occupied the outer camp wall as soon as they came up. The crossbowmen and musketeers were able to climb up the rammed earth wall with pickets, relying on the densely packed picket fence as a cover, and headed towards
The tents inside the village wall were shot at indiscriminately.
As the defensive side, the Qing army deployed slowly and failed to occupy the favorable terrain. The crossbowmen had no time to reach the wall, so the Ming army's crossbow musketeers seized the commanding heights from the outside. Naturally, they suffered huge losses in the exchange of fire.
During this period, the Qing army organized several counterattacks, either trying to recapture the camp gate, or trying to block the entrance and re-mount the wall, but they were all killed back by the Ming army, with extremely heavy casualties.
After resisting for a long time, Nikan finally had to make up his mind and issued an order at the top of his lungs in the chaos: "Let all armies retreat to the central camp and the north camp to defend, reorganize, and completely abandon the left and right outer camps!
There must be no mistakes!”
The messengers immediately went to inform various ministries, and the Qing army slowly regained some order in the process of gradually shrinking and retreating, trading space for time.
As mentioned before, Jiangbei Camp was originally built to accommodate 60,000 people. Even if we go back two days and before Mandahai Shangshan and Li Chengdong left, the camp could be full of people. So now there are less than 20,000 people left.
In the case of people, the living conditions are actually very relaxed.
When Mandahai and the others withdrew, they also left in a hurry. They did not dismantle the tents. At most, they took away the small belongings of the troops and left the rest to the friendly forces. As long as Nikan's quartermaster reconciled the accounts.
A battalion of 20,000 men guarding 60,000 men is naturally relatively sparse, and there is a large area that can be abandoned. In the hasty battle just now, the number of casualties and casualties escaped reached thousands. Nikan estimated that he only had 10,000 men left at most.
The troops at the front can be mobilized, and there is nothing wrong with retreating back to the strongest center camp.
With the buffer and delay of the outer camp, the walls and gates of the middle camp were tightly guarded by the Qing army. The Qing army could regain control of the geographical advantage.
There are even temporary rammed earth platforms used as simple forts at some of the most critical places within the camp wall. Although it is impossible to install heavy Hongyi cannons weighing more than three thousand kilograms, it is still enough to install a thousand kilograms of Folang machine.
It is true that some artillery firepower points can be used as defensive support.
In this way, although the Ming army generally captured the outer wall, when the Ming army needed to further attack the inner camp wall from the outer wall, they would be killed by the Qing army from a distance while passing through the open area between the two camps and lacked bunkers.
As for whether to stand firm and wait for reinforcements or escape after guarding the inner camp, that will be discussed later. It was precisely for this reason that Nikan ordered the northern camp not to give up and to ensure a way out for himself.
Even if the Ming army can outflank the land in advance, in an emergency, Nikan is still sure to let the troops from the Chinese army camp throw wooden fences, rammed earth and other construction waste into the Hangou Canal to create reefs and destroy the already shallow canal.
The narrow artificial canal was temporarily blocked by reefs to prevent Ming army ships from pursuing through Hangou.
(Note: When the Qing army set up camp in Jiangbei, they camped across the Hangou Canal. This way they could ensure that the main transportation routes were guarded. When fighting in the Huaiyang area, the most important military throat was the Grand Canal. The reason for fighting for Huaiyang was
The core purpose is also to compete for the Grand Canal between the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers)
And he himself could take the Qing army's canal boat in the camp and retreat north to Huai'an via Hangou. Even if the Ming army's navy was much stronger than the Qing army, there was no way to fly over and pursue it when the river was cut off. As long as Ni
After retreating to Gaoyou Lake, we can move around and get support from the Huai'an Qing army behind us.
As for the interception of the Ming army on land, Nikan was not very afraid, because the land infantry and cavalry would definitely suffer when shooting against the soldiers on the ship. The field infantry did not have any bunkers, but the archers on the ship could rely on the wooden cabin to block the missed arrows.
Bullets, the archers of the Qing army are also better at shooting, and they will definitely suffer against the Ming army.
However, the soldiers in the Chinese military camp were temporarily asked to ram the camp walls with earthen piles and fill them into the ditch and block the canal. All these operations also took time. The Qing army had to hold on to the camp for at least several hours to complete this emergency construction.
It's still extremely sloppy.
If they can't hold on and block the canal, even if the Qing army flees hastily, the Ming navy will catch up. Then everyone will be shooting at each other from boats, and the Qing army will have no advantage.
Nikan made up his mind. After abandoning the outer camp, he naturally defended the inner camp very resolutely. Thanks to others, the camp was large and he had the capital to squander it. After being defeated for a while, he could still organize a resistance. But if there were fewer soldiers, the camp would be smaller.
, and now he is gone.
On the opposite side, Huang Fei and Liu Zhaoji were overjoyed at first after breaking through the outer camp. They continued to attack with great momentum. However, as the attack reached the open area between the inner and outer camps, the Ming army's charging soldiers who lacked bunkers suffered a sudden increase in casualties.
Quite a few.
The Qing army was well-prepared and had occupied the commanding heights of the inner wall. The firepower of bows and crossbows was deployed very skillfully. Large and small Folan aircrafts were used to cover the bombardment, and for a time they fought vigorously.
Although the Ming army was not unable to attack, the casualty exchange ratio in the whole process was reversed. At the beginning, one Ming army could replace several Qing troops, but it was reversed to less than one to one. Every person in the inner camp
If a Qing army crossbowman died in battle, at least one or two Ming army soldiers could be taken away.
Huang Fei and Liu Zhaoji worked directly under Zhu Shuren for the first time. They also wanted to perform well in front of the prince, but they did not hesitate to invest. For a while, the battlefield briefly fell into a meat grinder.
…
Zhu Shuren, who was far away in Yangzhou City, had been looking at the battlefield in the distance to the north with his telescope.
He had slightly violated his promise to the princess's wife today - when he came to Jiangbei, he said that he had been staying at Guazhou Ferry, and under the protection of the navy, he would never go to Jiangbei mainland to fight with the Qing army.
In today's attack on the camp, he did not personally take command of the front line, but at least he entered Yangzhou City and climbed up to the tower to look out from the commanding heights.
The specific details of the battle ahead were naturally reported by fast-horse scouts constantly running back and forth. The battlefield was less than ten miles away from the north gate of Yangzhou, and messengers could bring the latest situation every quarter of an hour.
Therefore, Huang Fei and Liu Zhaoji were locked in a battle of attrition, but Zhu Shuren found out about it in just half the time it took to burn incense. When he heard about Nikan's latest strategy, he couldn't help but frown.
"Nikan traded space for time, giving up the outer camp in exchange for organizing an orderly defense in the inner camp in advance? Then why not immediately re-deploy the cavalry artillery between the inner and outer camp walls and blast the inner camp wall directly?
Forget it, Huang Fei and Liu Zhaoji have been with this king for too short a time, and their studies are too careless. Let them immediately consult the artillery officers accompanying the army and deploy wall-breaking artillery forward!
After this battle, let them go to Wuchang to study for a few months! From now on, all generals, generals, deputy generals and above under my command must learn the mobile warfare deployment and temporary deployment of cavalry artillery. Those who cannot master it will not be reused! Go back
Defend the city from behind!"
Zhu Shuren's instructions naturally sent Pegasus to the front line. After hearing this, Huang Fei and Liu Zhaoji were surprised and hurriedly implemented it - in the final analysis, they came to surrender too late and were not familiar with Prince E's army combat drills.
, unfamiliar with tactical deployment.
Of course Huang Fei and others knew how to use cannons, but their application of Hongyi's cannons was still based on "attacking and defending the city" and "building defensive forts long in advance before firing cannons, or at least spending a day and a half on building siege cities."
artillery position".
Regarding the flexible use of the "6-pound cavalry gun" that Zhu Shuren put into actual combat for the first time during the battle against Duduo at the end of last year, they still lacked a clue in their minds and could not remember it in an emergency.
Isn't the cavalry gun with a wheeled gun mount used in such flexible situations that "as the position advances, it can be deployed at any time and can be deployed and fired again with just a stick of incense"!
For cavalry artillery, the range is not important, nor is the firepower. The most important thing is to follow the army forward and fire the artillery as soon as it is deployed! The main thing is to be flexible and maneuverable!
…
After more than a quarter of an hour of bloody fighting on the front line, the sky was almost completely bright, and it was almost midnight. The bloody battle was still going on, and Huang Fei and Liu Zhaoji finally received the prince's latest instructions from the messengers at the rear.
They also slapped their thighs fiercely, secretly regretting that they relied on experience to fight, and in their haste they forgot the wonderful use of new things like cavalry artillery.
Cavalry artillery can be temporarily deployed between the two walls of the inner and outer camps! It won't take long!
"Quick! Hurry up and pull the cavalry artillery in through the gap in the outer camp wall. Just deploy it four hundred steps away from the inner camp wall! Don't get too close and don't get hurt by the crossbows and firearms of the inner camp! The one in the middle blocks the firing range.
Several tents were immediately burned down and collapsed!"
"Hey, wait a minute! The two tents on the left will stay for a while. They will just block the Tatars' observation from the commanding heights! Don't let the Tatar sentry tower see what we are doing here too quickly!"
After only one stick of incense was deployed, the first batch of cavalry cannons were ready to fire. They didn't have time to adjust them, so they fired at the inner camp wall in a hurry.
The Qing troops in the inner camp were still holding on to the danger, and several thousand soldiers were assigned to urgently dig earthworks to cut off the canal. In such a chaotic environment, the Ming army's shelling directly interrupted the rhythm of the battlefield.
In the shock and bewilderment of the Qing army, two small holes in the wall of the inner camp were directly blown away, arousing a chorus of cheers from the attacking Ming army - it was originally just a layer of sharpened wooden stakes inserted into the wall.
How could the rammed earth with such a solid level be able to withstand the bombardment of a cannon? Of course it would break with just one shot.
The Ming army briefly prepared several rounds of firepower, and then rushed in through the gap in the inner camp. The Qing army was stunned by the sudden artillery bombardment. The key was that they did not expect that they would also be bombarded during such a hasty campaign to attack the camp. Psychologically
Expectations were shattered, which naturally led to even more confusion.
When Nikan figured out the situation in the rear camp, he didn't even bother to think about "why the Ming army's artillery could advance so fast and be deployed so forward." He only knew that with the inner camp wall being broken, he had no time to stop construction work.
The canal is open, so the only option is to get on the boat and take as many people as you can, and if you can't make it in time, just break out by land.
If he had a large group of cavalry by his side now, he would have broken through the encirclement by land long ago! It wasn't because the cavalry and other quick reaction troops were taken away by Man Dahai and others. What he left behind was the siege heavy infantry and artillery. These
The troops are moving slowly. Who would want to retreat overland on two legs unless they are forced to do so?
With Nikan's retreat, the troops in the inner camp of the Qing army finally collapsed completely. They were killed by the Ming army indiscriminately and suffered numerous casualties. Once the remaining troops were cut and surrounded, they had to kneel down and surrender.
Nikan led thousands of remnant soldiers who had boarded the ship, and hurriedly moved north along Hangou. However, this time Huang Fei and Liu Zhaoji drew inferences - Zhu Shuren taught them that cavalry artillery can be deployed forward and flexibly, so they shipped it in advance.
Several cannons were sent to the north of Beiying, led by cavalry troops, responsible for cutting the Qing army's retreat.
Nikan originally saw Ming cavalry on both sides of the canal crossing the river to intercept, so he was not too panicked - he was not afraid of the cavalry standing in the open space and shooting at the canal boats.
However, the Ming army quickly took out their cavalry cannons and fired at the ships, throwing the Qing army into chaos. The wooden planks that could have easily protected against musket bullets and bows and crossbows were of course destroyed by the cannonballs, and
The flying broken wood chips can also form shrapnel, blowing up the people in the cabin with blood and flesh flying everywhere. It is several times more effective than solid bullets hitting open targets.
Nikan's boat was careless and he did not think there was any danger before, so he did not lower the flag of the flagship. At this moment, he was naturally greeted warmly by the Ming army's cavalry cannons. Everyone focused on firing the cannonballs at Nikan's seat.
Ship greeting.
"Master Beile, be careful!" The guards next to him tried their best to cover it. As the ship's planks were broken and collapsed, the guards used shields to cover it, but what was the use?
Yang Guo used the black iron heavy sword to swing a stone, and it could penetrate the five-layer shield of the Khan's guard (of course it is the martial arts world), let alone a serious cannon.
In the chaos of the battle, a cannonball plowed a bloody path through Nikan's bodyguards, followed by more blows. In less than a cup of tea, Nikan's boat was sunk.
However, the water in the canal was shallow, and after the ship sank to the bottom, it could not be completely submerged in the water. The fluttering broken military flag further weakened the morale of the Qing army, reminding everyone that their Lord Baylor was in danger.
The remaining Qing troops were completely defeated. With several sunken ships blocking the waterway, the Qing troops were like turtles in a jar. They either landed on the beach and broke out on foot and were eventually killed, or surrendered obediently.
Except for a few of the Qing troops under the Nikan tribe who broke out, most of them were annihilated on the battlefield in the north of Yangzhou City, all the way to the Gaoyou Lake.