Chapter 163 Bloody Battle by the River

"Boom! Boom! Boom..."

The explosions of more than a dozen artillery fire suddenly sounded. The Qing ambush troops who received the signal immediately attacked, and the two low hillsides to the west of the river bank suddenly shook.

Under the cover of lush trees and mountains, nearly a thousand Qing troops who had been hiding behind the hillside poured out from the mountain roads in the middle and on both sides. Thousands of horse hooves stepped on the ground on the river bank and the hillside, and the sound they made together was still quite eerie.

Huge, like a rumbling muffled thunder.

Thousands of Eight Banners soldiers and green battalion troops rushed out at the same time. Three waves of people with different colors of military uniforms were on this narrow river bank, like a rushing river bursting its embankment. The flags on the charging army formation were rustling in the wind.

Roaring and rushing towards the Zheng Army's vanguard, who had just crossed the river less than halfway, and most of the soldiers who had crossed the river were still organizing their formations. They were completely caught off guard.

Li Anyong and Zhou Xiangcai were also startled by the sudden appearance of the Qing ambush. They looked up to the west at the same time, and saw dense helmets surging in front of them.

Zhou Xiangcai squinted his eyes and cursed loudly: "Damn it, I knew there was something complicated behind this hillside, but I didn't expect these Tatars to really dare to go out of the city to ambush!"

Li Anyong had suppressed the shock in his heart at this time and was estimating the strength of the Qing troops charging towards them. He had experienced too many dangers on the battlefield, and nothing could make him stop thinking when he was racing against time.

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However, looking at the three groups of Qing troops that were continuously coming towards him, Li Anyong couldn't help but frown: "Should we withdraw, or... fight? These three groups of Qing troops are estimated to only have about a thousand people. There are only about a thousand people in Zhangping City."

The elite Qing army will never exceed 2,000. Jihaxi dare not send them all at once. We have more than 700 people, so we may not lose."

Zhou Xiangcai had just withdrawn his gaze at this time. He turned his head and glanced across the river. He saw that General Qian under Hong Chengxian not only did not command the army to retreat after encountering the Qing army's surprise attack, but instead asked the remaining troops to speed up and cross the river.

, he gritted his teeth and said:

"What's the use of asking me? Someone has already decided for us. Let the artillery set up the four-pounder and the musketeers prepare. Let's go up and block it for a while. But we must not let these Qing troops rush over so quickly, otherwise we will all have to

Fold it here."

Li Anyong took a look and found that General Manager Qian under Hong Chengxian was not afraid at all. He had even personally held the flag and led his guards onto the pontoon, as if he wanted to lead by example and stabilize the morale of the army.

Not only that, among the more than 300 Zheng Army soldiers who had crossed the river at this time, the two bureau soldiers who completed the entire team, under the command of their respective commanders, had already taken the initiative to step forward, and they were completely fearless.
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Taking into account the tight time and lack of depth, the small square formation composed of the Zheng Army's musketeers chose to be on both sides, while the sword-shielders and spearmen were in the middle, thus forming a long, narrow and tight formation. It was as if this was just a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Just like the drill, except for a trace of panic on the faces of the soldiers, there was almost no fear.

Li Anyong is not surprised. This is the confidence gained from victory after victory. Since the "Battle of Guangzhou", the morale of Zheng Jun has been getting higher and higher day by day, and the fear of the enemy in the army has completely disappeared. Quan Xing

After the Great War and the Fuqing War, this contempt for the enemy reached a peak. Perhaps in the eyes of these soldiers, the so-called ambush of the Qing army was nothing more than a reward for military merit.

War drums and bugles rumbled around the hillside. Countless Qing troops pressed forward with unstoppable force, advancing as quickly as the turbulent waters of the Jiulong River. They looked like a strong army.

Jihaxi divided his troops into three parts, with the main force in the middle and the attacking cavalry divisions on the wings. He originally planned to annihilate the Zheng Army forward of more than 700 people, so he made such a cautious arrangement.

The purpose is to prevent the situation where Zheng's army is so powerful that it cannot be defeated in a long-term frontal attack.

After all, in a half-crossing attack, in addition to the frontal strong attack, there was also harassment from the flanks. Even if the strength of this Zheng army exceeded expectations, it would not be possible to withstand thousands of him in such an unprepared situation.

The offensive of the elite army.

Accompanied by the roar of gunpowder explosions, the Qing army deployed artillery positions on two hillsides. Thick white smoke rose up, and four iron bombs weighing more than ten kilograms were directed towards the Zheng army's position on the river bank.

Smash it.

However, almost all of these powerful artillery shells missed the target. They either hit the river with a "dong dong" and splashed two huge water columns, or they flew directly over the head of Zheng Jun on the other side of the river. Only one hit the densely packed shells.

Zheng Junjun's formation caused a commotion.

Of course, Jihaxi had no expectations for this. After arriving in Zhejiang and Fujian, his understanding of artillery also improved rapidly. He knew that these things were of little use against small groups of troops and could only be used to defend and attack cities.

Only when the army is fighting can it be useful.

But all he wanted was to interfere with Zheng Jun's military formation. As long as the Zheng Jun troops who had just crossed the river were disordered and naturally unable to withstand the cavalry charge, then he would definitely win this battle!

However, Zheng Jun's reaction obviously exceeded his expectations. Instead of making an emergency retreat, the other party accelerated the movement across the river. The two to three hundred people who had just crossed the river had already formed two formed square formations.

, the speed is beyond imagination.

Not only that, there were dozens of Zheng Army cavalry who rushed forward. They were in small groups, throwing arrows from the side and attacking the Qing Army cavalry rushing forward. Then, the forwards of these two troops quickly advanced.

After fighting together, Jihaxi looked at the costumes of these Zheng Army cavalry and knew that they were the Zheng Army Sentinel Cavalry that were so powerful and fierce that they could even defeat the newly formed Eight Banners soldiers of the Sauron Tribe.

He knew how powerful the newly formed Eight Banners Armored Soldiers of the Sauron Division were. When they first dealt with the ordinary sentries of the Zheng Army, they not only succeeded repeatedly, but also suffered almost no casualties. However, with the appearance of the Zheng Army's sentries, the situation changed.

The situation was reversed in an instant. Even Barkadi, the Sauron warrior he admired most, was completely wiped out and escaped alone.

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The arrows of the two armies kept flying back and forth amidst the sound of horse hooves and shouts of death. Although the Flying Tigers were good at fighting, they were also unable to withstand the steady influx of soldiers and horses from the Qing army. They were also trained in combat.

The soldiers who came over were naturally not stupid enough to risk their lives directly. After some harassment and blocking, they immediately began to withdraw the flanks of the defensive formations of the two rounds.

After Li Anyong returned to his own military formation, he immediately turned his horse's head. The musketeers on the side of the military formation had already begun to fire volleys. The archers also shot out the heavy arrows in their hands. The continuous shields in front of the formation protected them well.

The Qing cavalry did not have muskets, and arrows were not very lethal to such well-made and strong shields.

Similarly, the soldiers in the front row of the Qing army also held shields. Their weapons were also well-made. There was not much difference in production technology between Zheng and Qing, but there was a huge difference in efficiency. With the same total factor input, Ming and Zheng could produce

To produce lower-cost weapons. And this efficiency lead, after accumulation of time, will gradually form an advantage that the Manchu and Qing Dynasties can never catch up with.

The Qing army's cavalry responsible for the raid continued to separate into small teams. These small groups of cavalry were like tentacles that could stretch freely, constantly entangled the Zheng army's formations in the two rounds, trying to find flaws.

However, these conventional harassments did not work. They were facing a well-trained marine infantry and the cover of the Flying Tigers. Without a substantial attack, it was impossible to disrupt the position.

But the Zheng army's musketeers and archers had just repelled those fierce Qing army cavalry, and the main force of the Qing army immediately behind them also attacked.

At this time, the soldiers of the third round had also completed their military formation. Taking advantage of the Qing army's forward being repulsed and the rear army slowing down the entire team, they quickly came to the middle of the soldiers of the first two rounds. Behind them were another

Soldiers from two bureaus have successfully crossed the river, while another bureau has stayed on the other side of the river and is preparing to cross the river at this time.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

When the main force of the Qing army's ambush troops and horses rushed more than fifty steps, the Zheng army's three rounds and six small musket squares burst out with a burst of gunfire. Another one followed the second round and was carried over by eight strong artillerymen.

The four-pounder guns also fired at the same time, and thick smoke spread quickly in front of the two armies' formations.

Dozens of soldiers in front of Jihaxi's surprise attack army fell instantly under the volley of Zheng's four-pound cannon and hundreds of muskets. The lead bullets hit the armor and shields with a crackling sound. The Qing army

The charge formation even had a brief pause and commotion.

However, there were nearly a thousand soldiers and horses in the middle of the Qing army, and they had already rushed to a distance of forty or fifty steps. It was impossible for them to be defeated. Moreover, at such a distance, these battle-hardened Qing troops knew very well that Zheng

It is impossible for the army to fire another salvo, and melee combat is inevitable.

After several loud shouts were quickly issued from the Qing army formation, under the organization of officers at all levels, the Qing army soldiers immediately rose up and then dispersed the shields in front of the formation, roaring and rushing towards Zheng Jun.<

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Li Anyong had also dismounted at this time. The four detachments originally sent by the Flying Tigers to assist in the battle saw that the situation was not good and realized the critical situation. They also joined the military formation. At this time, the armies of both sides were about to cover up and kill each other.

Riding horses to cover the flanks is no longer effective.

Soon, the two equally well-equipped, brave and fearless armies fought together. The contact area between the two sides became larger and larger. The Zheng army still persisted in retreating under the impact of several times the Qing army, and red guns continued to fire.

The head thrust in and out between the two armies, shouts of killing, wailing, the clash of weapons, and the friction of armor were all mixed together. The Qing army kept squeezing up, and the densely packed helmets covered the river bank.

Li Anyong had already put on a spear at this time. He stood behind the shields of his soldiers, and the spear in his hand kept thrusting and withdrawing, and he and others attacked the Qing army that showed flaws in front of them.

He rolled and fell in front of him, screaming continuously.

But the Qing troops behind were not deterred by this. They quickly rushed forward with roars. Thirty to forty percent of the soldiers in the three rounds were musketeers. At this time, they could only retreat to the back first, and the remaining front-line soldiers

It was only equivalent to less than 30% of the attacking Qing army, and it soon stopped being established.

Li Anyong did not expect that this Qing army would be so powerful. Although the new soldiers under Hong Chengxian were well-trained, moved neatly, and fought bravely, they had never fought a bloody battle and lacked battlefield experience. The Qing army had many flaws and attacks.

They cannot react to the opportunities, and these cannot be made up for by training alone.

And his elite soldiers who have fought a hundred battles have also begun to suffer damage in such fighting. Under the innovation of the Ming and Zheng systems, although these veterans are now not as valuable to the army as they used to be, they are still the most core combatants in the army.

Every loss of strength is a huge loss, which makes him feel very distressed.

The banging sound of shields hitting each other kept sounding, and the sharp spearheads and sharp blades kept colliding with the strong armor. Scenes of blood and flesh flying continued to occur. The soldiers in the front rows of the Zheng and Qing armies fell one after another, and their bodies

They kept piling up in front of the formation.

The formations of both sides began to become chaotic in the process of attacking each other, and even became intertwined. The narrow river bank was crowded with people. Soldiers from the fourth round began to join the battlefield, and some musketeers were near the front of the formation.

Scatter, attack those exposed Qing soldiers at close range. The muskets are still accurate at such a distance, and some have already changed into long spears and waist knives for hand-to-hand combat and joined the military formation.

Li Anyong and his Flying Tigers fought very bravely and repelled several attacks by the Qing army. However, the Eight Banners Armored Soldiers of the Sauron Department were equally fierce. They were slightly weak against the strict military formation of the Zheng Army at first, but the battlefield

After the chaos, he immediately showed his strong fighting power.

The Flying Tigers soon clashed with them again. Li Anyong used the cover of his shield to stab a Qing armored soldier with half of his body exposed due to improper coordination during the charge. The Qing armored soldier's chest was covered with iron armor.

The tip of the pointed steel spear pierced through violently, and the whole person's face became distorted.

Then, Li Anyong immediately pulled out with force, and the blood-red spear head was immediately pulled out. At the same time, he also took the Qing army soldier to throw out the shield, and the Qing army soldier beside him who had been holding up the shield to cover was also dragged down by this.

His body was deflected by the shield that was tilted to one side, and before he could turn around, he was stabbed to death by Zheng Jun's spearmen in front of the formation.

However, the Qing army's offensive was too rapid despite its superior strength. Among the nearly a thousand soldiers and horses in the middle, there were more than 200 Sauron Eight Banners soldiers participating in the battle. The Flying Tigers had less than 40 people and could not cope with it.

However, they can only fight and retreat along with the soldiers' formation. Behind them, there are two soldiers who have not completed the entire team.

The battle became more and more intense. The sword and shield guard in front of Li Anyong was unable to escape in the melee. After dodging several times, he was stabbed in the thigh by the Qing army's spear that came one after another, and then was stabbed in the thigh by the Qing soldiers who came up immediately.
To be continued...