A sudden turn of events

Author: Scholar Wu

A sudden turn of events

While Cao Shanbao was struggling to hold on in the west of the city, Hu Hitizheng was leading 1,000 cavalry to attack Huang Binqing's camp.

When he saw the Qing cavalry coming from the direction of Xicheng, Huang Binqing turned pale instantly. He knew that the 5,000 men and horses of the Emperor Dynasty had probably been plotted by the Qing army, and the situation was in danger.

Fortunately, he still has the support of the camp and is not facing the Qing cavalry in the wild.

Seeing that the number of Qing troops was not large, they should still be able to fight.

The morale of his 6,000 troops is indeed low now. Everyone has guessed that the brother who went to steal the city may have been brutally murdered.

However, after all, these people are Huang Binqing's elite direct descendants, and they are equipped with relatively good equipment. Almost everyone wears armor.

Huang Binqing shouted: "The Qing army took the initiative to leave the city and die, which is a good opportunity to capture Ningbo. As long as the Qing army in front of them is defeated, each person will be rewarded with 10 taels of silver, and for each Qing cavalry head cut off, he will be rewarded with 20 taels of silver."

"

Huang Binqing's prestige as the "Lord of Zhoushan Island" is still there. Coupled with the encouragement of money, the 6,000 Ming troops in the camp instantly became highly morale, as if what was charging was not the cavalry of the Qing army, but running ingots.

of silver.

The Ming army's camp was located on a high ground in the north of Ningbo City. If the Qing army wanted to attack the camp, they could only attack from the front.

If it were during the day, it would be very difficult for this small force to attack the camp from the front, let alone at night?

The previous great victory of the Qing army came too easily, and Hu Hitoli was also a little hot-headed at this time. He wanted to use the remaining power of the victory to see if he could take advantage of the situation to overwhelm the Ming army's camp.

The Ming army quickly completed their formation. The outermost part of the camp was surrounded by some antlers to resist the horses, which were used to slow down the impact of the Qing army's cavalry.

In the front row are 1,000 gunmen holding bird cannons, followed by 500 shield soldiers holding large iron-clad shields. Behind the shield soldiers are 3,000 spearmen, and finally 1,500 archers.

The bird cannons of the Zhoushan Ming Army were inferior to the Lumi cannons of Qian Mo's army. Facing the Qing cavalry wearing cotton armor, they might not be able to break through the armor within 50 steps.

In fact, soldiers in this era were generally malnourished and had night blindness to some extent. Fortunately, when faced with a dense frontal charge by cavalry, they did not need to aim. Whether it was bows, arrows or muskets, they only needed to blindly shoot in the direction of the charge.

Facing the charge of the Qing army, the archers in the back row fired a round first, and only a few Qing cavalry fell to the ground after being hit by arrows.

After all, Hu Hitoli's Green Battalion Cavalry was not the Eight Banners of Manchuria, otherwise the Qing army's arrow rain would have followed one after another at this moment.

Seeing that the Qing army was approaching, the Ming army's fire cannon soldiers began to fire in units. Although they only had a chance to shoot one round and could not see the target clearly at night, the Qing army's frontal attack was still relatively dense.

After the "bang, bang, bang" shooting, many Qing soldiers were still hit by bird cannons and fell to the ground. Although many people were only injured, most of the Qing soldiers who fell to the ground were trampled to death by their comrades behind them.

Seeing that the Qing army was approaching, Huang Binqing shouted: "The gunmen retreated, the shield soldiers and spearmen stepped forward, and the archers continued to fire arrows."

Although they did not have the riding and shooting skills of the Eight Banners soldiers, the Green Camp, which was about to rush to the Ming army camp, also began to throw spears, throwing axes and other weapons.

Fortunately, there were many shield soldiers in the front row of the Ming army. Although some Ming soldiers were hit and fell to the ground, it did not affect the overall formation.

Seeing that the Ming army in front had a stable formation and orderly offense and defense, Hu Hitili immediately felt that something was wrong, but at this moment he had "an arrow on the string and had to shoot".

The two sides ushered in a direct collision. Some antlered horses were placed in front of the camp, which largely offset the impact of the Qing cavalry. Many Qing horses were knocked down directly in front of these horses. The Qing soldiers above

They also fell off their horses one after another.

When the Qing cavalry came into contact with the Ming army's shields and spears, they were unable to break through the Ming army's formation.

In the dark night, only the loud sound of the war horse hitting the shield was heard.

Although some shield soldiers were still knocked down by the Qing soldiers, the spears behind them still pierced the bodies of the Qing soldiers.

These green camp cavalry were not heavy cavalry in the first place, so attacking the shields and spears of the Ming army would naturally not have a good effect. The battlefield was filled with the sad neighing of war horses and the wails of fallen soldiers.

Before the Qing army broke through the Ming army's formation, the Ming army's second round of cannon fire sounded again.

"Bang, bang, bang"

After a burst of white smoke dissipated, almost all the Qing soldiers rushing to the front fell.

Even Hu Hitili himself was injured by the fire gun. Fortunately, he was wearing iron armor outside and cotton armor inside, so the injury was not serious and he did not fall directly from the horse.

Seeing that the Qing cavalry attack was blocked, Huang Binqing raised his sword and shouted: "Everyone, follow me and rush out, kill the Qing soldiers and avenge the dead brothers!"

At this time, the Ming army exploded with astonishing combat power and killed them instantly. The heads of those Qing soldiers who were not dead after landing were immediately cut off by the Ming army. This was all for nothing.

Hu Hitili quickly turned his horse around and retreated with the remaining Qing troops. These Ming troops seemed like evil ghosts thrown out of hell. If they were too late, they would be dead.

Fortunately, the Ming army in Zhoushan did not have many cavalry. After dumping more than 400 corpses in front of the Ming army camp, Hu Hitoli successfully withdrew from the battlefield.

At the Wangjing Gate of Ningbo City, Cao Shanbao was very anxious. The Ming army had already pressed towards his west city from the north and south sections of the city wall.

During the confrontation, the Qing troops under his command suffered more and more casualties, and their positions continued to shrink. It seemed that it was only a matter of time before Xicheng fell.

At this time, the Ming army had already reached the city gate of Wangjing Gate. A Qing soldier shouted: "Mr. Cao Qian, the Ming army is already fighting with the brothers at the city gate. We can't use fire cannons, otherwise we will accidentally hurt you."

To your own people."

Cao Shanbao glanced at the city and saw a melee between the two sides. However, the Ming army became more and more courageous as they fought, and the Qing army gradually became exhausted.

So he was heartbroken, holding a big sword and shouting: "All gunmen and archers listen to my order and fire at the city without distinction."

Regarding this order, all the Qing troops on the city were stunned, and no one reacted.

Attacking their own people under the city wall? They couldn't bear to do this, so they froze on the spot.

Seeing that the Qing soldiers on the city were still hesitant, Cao Shanbao directly killed the two firecrackers beside him and shouted: "Everyone listen, set firecrackers on me quickly. Anyone who disobeys the order will be killed without mercy!"

"

"Bang, bang, bang"

At this time, countless muskets and bows and arrows were poured down from the city walls. The soldiers of the Ming and Qing armies who were entangled in each other were shot at indiscriminately.

A Qing soldier who was just about to raise his sword to kill the Ming army suddenly felt that he was hit by a lead bullet from a gun in the back, and he fell down with doubtful eyes.

The same one who felt incredible was the Ming army who was about to be killed. He thought that this Qing army was really ruthless and even shot his own people.

But his luck did not last long, as a second round of attacks on the city wall followed, claiming his life.

Taking advantage of the moment when the Ming army under the city was suppressed by firepower, Cao Shanbao quickly led hundreds of his followers to kill the city wall.

The Ming army, which was busy avoiding the attack on the city, was now in a mess and was unable to resist the sudden attack of the Qing army. After a slight resistance, they retreated and asked for help from the Ming army in the distance.

Cao Shanbao had no time to think too much at this time. Taking advantage of the opportunity, he quickly opened the Wangjing Gate and led hundreds of his followers to run out of the city.

Seeing that the general abandoned them and fled, the Qing soldiers on the city wall began to curse.

"This Cao Shanbao, who suffered a thousand blows, actually abandoned us and ran away. Brothers, we can no longer be cannon fodder and surrender to the Ming army."

As soon as Cao Shanbao led 300 of his confidants to escape from Ningbo Prefecture, the remaining 800 Qing soldiers on the back wall surrendered to the Ming army.

Cao Shanbao had just deceived the Ming army and killed a large number of Ming troops. At this time, he would never dare to surrender to Zhang Mingzhen. Seeing that Xicheng could no longer be defended, he naturally had no choice but to break out and escape outside the city.

However, once he ran away, Ningbo Mansion was completely destroyed.

At this time, the corpses of the Zhoushan Ming army who had been lured to Wengcheng and massacred by the Qing army had not been cleared up in time. When he saw the tragic situation of a large number of Ming army corpses, especially the corpse of his former friend Wang Chaoxian, Zhang Mingzhen was furious and vowed not to

Will let Cao Shanbao go.

Although all six gates of Ningbo Fucheng have been captured by the Ming army, the city is still not completely occupied. Huang Wantian, the prefect of Ningbo, is leading hundreds of Qing troops to resist at the prefect's Yamen.

Hearing that Zhang Mingzhen wanted to pursue Cao Shanbao, Zhang Huangyan quickly dissuaded him and said: "Dingxi Marquis, it is wise to not pursue the poor enemy. At this time, we should first stabilize Ningbo. Besides, we don't have many cavalry, so we may not be able to catch up with the Qing army; late at night

It would be too risky to pursue him outside the city."

Zhang Mingzhen said: "Cang Shui is still too careful. This Cao Shanbao has designed to harm our Ming army soldiers. I will not spare him."

So Zhang Mingzhen ordered Zhang Jie to continue to lead troops to besiege Ningbo Fuya. Zhang Huangyan quickly deployed city defenses and stabilized the people in the city. He personally led 5,000 troops out of the city to pursue Cao Shanbao.

After Cao Shanbao led his people to escape from Wangjing Gate, they also faced a problem of choosing a direction. At this time, Fenghua County to the south of Ningbo Prefecture, Dinghai County to the north, and Cixi County to the northwest had actually been occupied by the Ming army.

Even the Siming Mountain in the southwest has long been defended by Zhang Huangyan, Wang Yi and other groups of grassroots bandits, who have taken over the mountain as king; and to the east is the turbulent Yongjiang River, on which a large number of Ming naval vessels are parked.

Boat.

It seemed that no matter which way he ran, he could not escape the control of the Ming army. Fortunately, Hu Hitili led 1,000 cavalry to attack Huang Binqing's camp. Currently, Hu Hitili was Cao Shanbao's only hope, so he decided to go to the northeast first and

Let’s talk about the reunification of Hu Hitoli’s Qing army.

However, Cao Shanbao did not expect that Hu Hitili's situation was not much better than him at this time, and Huang Binqing's men were chasing him from behind.

The only good thing is that Hu Hitoli's "four legs" left Huang Binqing's "two legs" far behind.

Not long after Cao Shanbao ran, he ran into Hu Hitili's team head-on.

Hu Hitili saw Cao Shanbao running for his life and asked in surprise: "Mr. Cao Qian, why did you run out of the city?"

Cao Shanbao gasped and said: "Zhang Mingzhen led the Ming army and took the opportunity to rush into Ningbo Prefecture from the south of the city. They had so many people that I couldn't resist them, so I managed to kill them out."

Seeing that there were only a few men left in Cao Shanbao, Hu Hitili knew that Ningbo City must have been lost at this time. Seeing the Ming army pursuing Zhang Mingzhen in the distance approaching here little by little with torches, Hu Hitili suddenly felt that something was wrong.

He thought to himself: There was Zhang Mingzhen in front of him and Huang Binqing behind him. He had to stand out before they encircled him. Youdao was a dead Taoist friend but not a poor Taoist. Cao Shanbao didn't know that there was Huang Binqing's pursuer behind him, so he just wanted him to hold off Huang Binqing for him.

.

He said: "Don't panic, Mr. Cao Qian. I have already broken through Huang Binqing's camp. I have killed the Ming army in all directions. You can lead your brothers to the front to capture the fleeing Ming army. I will lead the cavalry to meet Zhang Mingzhen."

"

So he shouted: "Everyone, come with me quickly, don't let the Ming army escape."
To be continued...