Chapter 356: Rain of Rockets, Great General Offensive
Misjudgment, misjudgment, misjudgment!
A series of misjudgments caused Huang Taiji to fall into the trap set by Guo Dajing.
Of course, he also has his difficulties, his pride, his ideals, and his plans, so he must do this.
Guo Dajing put himself in his shoes and thought that he would probably take the same action as Huang Taiji. Taking a detour to enter the border was an adventure in itself. It was a smooth journey, so how could he be timid in the end?
Huang Taiji's biggest misjudgment was that he did not know that under the guidance of Guo Dajing, the Dongjiang Army had been preparing for this decisive battle for a long time.
Not only did they build many ships, they also rented several large sea-going ships; although they did not carry heavy artillery, they had rockets to make up for it.
Therefore, he did not expect that the Dongjiang Army could quickly deploy more than 20,000 troops across the sea. He did not expect that in addition to artillery, the Dongjiang Army also had secret weapons that were not used. He thought it was a hasty action.
At this point, Jianlu has no chance to make a comeback. Even if Huang Taiji suddenly wakes up, it will be too late.
Regarding Zunhua City, Huang Taiji sent men and horses to monitor it, but the number was not large. He arranged a thousand cavalry at each of the south and east gates.
"Since the enemy dares to leave the city, we should attack fiercely, or we may take the opportunity to seize the city." Daishan said, "We can ask Saha Lian to go there with two thousand riders."
Daishan was also very miserable. In Korea, Guo Dajing killed two of his sons. Yue Tuo and Shuo Tuo were men who were accustomed to fighting. Their death in battle made the influence of the Two Red Flags less than before.
Later, in the battle to defend Port Arthur, his fourth son Wakda was beaten to a disability. Now, only Sahalian can still jump, and the other sons are still young and cannot take up important posts.
Among the senior officials of Hou Jin Dynasty, they were more aware of the general situation and were concerned about the development and growth of Hou Jin Dynasty. Because of this, they took a back seat in the battle for the throne and recommended Huang Taiji, who he believed to be outstanding.
Regarding Daishan's initiative to ask for a job, Huang Taiji showed admiration, smiled and said, "Very good, Saha Lian is worthy of this important task."
Saharian took the order and led two thousand cavalry to the south gate.
The battle was still fierce, and Huang Taiji did not hesitate to mobilize his troops to attack again. This time, he put on a pendulum with a yellow flag, ready to win with one blow.
In Jianlu's sight, the defenders' defensive position, which was more than two miles deep, now only had less than 300 meters left. If they work harder, they can achieve a breakthrough.
With victory in sight, Huang Taiji naturally hopes to succeed in one fell swoop.
He seemed to see the passage being opened, vehicles loaded with grain and grass supplies, people and livestock as far as the eye could see, passing through Zunhua, and exiting the customs safely.
The success of this detour into the customs is of great significance. Not only can he survive the Great Famine, but it can also improve his reputation and take a crucial step towards becoming emperor.
Moreover, the rich looting proceeds will make those Mongolian tribes who are still on the sidelines throw away their last hesitation, and come to the next action without being called, enthusiastic and enthusiastic.
Although the Ming Dynasty looked like a behemoth from the outside, its internal weakness was completely exposed. Although the Dongjiang Army was powerful, it was located in a remote place overseas. How could it still conduct rescue operations across the sea?
Huang Taiji let out a long breath, feeling much relieved, as if he had won, and the noise on the battlefield turned into cheers of celebration.
Although the battle at the South City Gate started, it was not fierce. The Dongjiang Army fighting out of the city did not advance too far, and was even within the range of the heavy muskets on the city wall.
In front were dozens of boxcars, including Fran cannon carriages, behind them were strict musketry formations, and on both sides were frozen barriers surrounding the city wall.
When Saharian arrived at the south gate, he was a little stunned. Needless to say, this was a quick attack and victory, it was simply a waste of bows and arrows against the enemy again.
There are various obstacles scattered outside the city wall, which are almost more than 200 meters long.
The Dongjiang Army took the lead with vehicles and artillery, and continued to fire Franco machine guns and light and heavy muskets, slowly but surely advancing to the front line that was almost level with the obstacles.
Jianlu fought back with bows and arrows, but was still driven back by fierce and continuous firepower. It was not until the Dongjiang Army stopped advancing that they stabilized their position.
It was definitely impossible to attack in a roundabout way, and a head-on firefight with the enemy was obviously still slightly inferior. Sahalian could only wait for the opportunity, hoping that the enemy would move forward.
The attack surface was too narrow and the enemy's formation was thick, so the advantage of the cavalry could not be used. It was wise for Saharian to adopt such a countermeasure.
The shootings between the two sides gradually stopped, and they were facing off at a safe distance, which seemed a bit strange.
On the main battlefield of Guandao, Jianlu's fierce attack made progress again, and the defenders only had more than a hundred meters of fortifications left.
But unknowingly, Tushan was already on Jianlu's flank. The constant approach of Jianlu's brigade also greatly increased the range that the rockets could cover.
It's time to fight back!
Liu Xingzhi mobilized the fresh troops, which were his troops, and went into battle. At the same time, he gave orders to the artillery to prepare for bombardment.
Hundreds of rocket launchers have already been arranged on the mountain and behind the formation, with the same direction and different elevation angles. From the nearest four to five hundred meters to the farthest location more than three miles, almost all are within the bombardment range of the rockets.
Rocket launchers are very simple, consisting of an iron frame and a round iron cylinder, or a simpler rail-type launcher. Most of them are a combination of ten or twelve branches. They can only adjust the elevation angle. To adjust the direction, artillery is required.
move.
Since it is rudimentary, the shooting accuracy of the rocket cannot be complimented. However, it cannot achieve precise strike, but it can deliver the most ammunition in the shortest time through bombing with a wide range of coverage.
This is similar to the characteristics of later generations of rocket launchers when they were first used. The launch speed is fast, the firepower is fierce, and the surprise is good, but the projectile dispersion is large, so it is mostly used to carry out area strikes on targets.
The sudden investment of a thousand troops from both wings caught Jianlu by surprise.
The bullets were like rain, row after row, the musketeers adopted the forward shooting method, pressing forward while inflicting continuous damage to the captives.
Zhang Pan also joined the reserve team and launched a counterattack at the right time.
More than twenty Fran machine cannons fired condescendingly at the top of the hill, smashing solid shells into the enemy group one after another.
The counterattack was so fierce that the momentum of Jianlu's attack was severely dampened. Even the most elite Pangya La, with his flesh and blood body, could not withstand the ferocity of the iron and fire.
Huang Taiji misjudged again, thinking that the defenders were exhausted, but he did not expect that there was such a powerful counterattack.
On the relatively narrow official road with many obstacles and fortifications, Jianlu's cavalry advantage disappeared.
But this is nothing to the Jianlu. When attacking the opponent's position, they more commonly use the charge of carriages and heavy armored infantry.
On a battlefield with potholes, obstacles, trenches, and corpses scattered everywhere, even the effectiveness of the launch vehicle is greatly reduced. It can be said that the two sides have been fighting head-on, without any tricks or tricks.
Oboi held up the iron shield and bent over, using almost all his strength to resist the strong impact of the lead bullet.
Even so, his arm was in pain as if it was broken. The other hand was dragging a scimitar, stained with blood. With his excellent martial arts, he had already killed three enemies.
But his martial arts performance ended there. In the face of cheap lead bullets, his strong body was as fragile as ordinary people.
A cannonball as big as a lead ball bounced on the hard frozen soil. It seemed unpleasant, but it hit Obai's iron shield hard, knocking him away like a scarecrow.
The force of the impact was so great that Obai's arm was really broken this time, his ribs were also broken, and his internal organs should have been injured.
Obai fell to the ground on his back, blood gushing out from his mouth and nose. He was twitching, but he didn't even have the strength to turn over. He stared at the gloomy sky, his eyes gradually becoming lifeless and dull.
At this time, Obai was not well-known among the Jianlu, not even as famous as Fan Wencheng, a great traitor.
For Guo Dajing, he might be surprised when his name was mentioned. But he would not deliberately inquire about it or tell him who the troops wanted to kill.
Even the death of Obai was an insignificant matter to Jianlu and the Dongjiang Army. When the head was chopped off, it was just an ordinary and unknown Jianlu, and he would not receive much silver reward.
Seeing that Bai Yala, who had made great progress, was also repelled, Huang Taiji gritted his teeth. The enemy was more tenacious than he expected, and his hidden strength exceeded his expectations.
But he didn't realize that this was already the prelude to defeat. The opponent's major counterattack was about to begin. He still believed that this was the enemy's desperate resistance and final struggle.
Liu Xingzhi looked at the troops who had finished adjusting and were preparing to go into battle again.
Fortunately, Qiu Zhentai's troops have gone through the fighting in the first two formations. After removing the casualties, they have reorganized 1,500 to 600 soldiers each. Including Zhang Pan and Liu Xingzhi's troops, there are nearly 8,000 infantry in total.
Liu Xingzuo and Fan Dalin's two thousand flying cavalry and one thousand lance cavalry were all mounted and ready to go. In the cold wind, the flags were displayed and flying, just like the soldiers' uncontrollable murderous intent.
"Fire!" Liu Xingzhi's voice was passionate and trembling with excitement.
The command flag was suddenly waved down, and the artillery that had waited for several hours and made several firing adjustments finally had a place to use.
Countless torches stretched toward the fuses, and the sparks flew along the long fuses and quickly into the tail of the rocket.
Three flag-flower rockets were launched first, flying vertically into the high sky, and then exploded, with loud noises spreading in all directions.
This is the signal for a general attack, sent to the friendly forces in Zunhua City.
Guo Dajing took a long breath and turned to look at Liu Qishi. Without any extra words, he just nodded vigorously.
"The last general has received his order." Liu Qishi bowed, turned around and strode away.
Guo Dajing withdrew his gaze and shouted loudly to the messenger next to him: "Send the signal for a general attack!"
As soon as he finished speaking, waves of heart-stopping sounds rang out outside the city. They continued and became the main theme that echoed throughout the battlefield.
Rockets spraying tail flames rose from the reverse slope of the mountain. They were densely packed, like a meteor shower, passing through the sky, drawing an arc, and smashing towards Jianlu's squadron and rear team.
Almost everyone's eyes were attracted, and they looked up at this spectacular and shocking sight.
Nearly a thousand rockets were launched in a very short period of time. Such a density was unprecedented and a shocking blow.
Huang Taiji's eyes straightened, and he stared blankly. His head was dizzy for a moment. Is this an artillery piece? Or... he still couldn't tell clearly, and he couldn't make a judgment immediately.
Rockets rained down into a large area where Jianlu was located, extending over two miles from front to back.
Just a few seconds later, flashes of light burst out one after another among the enemy groups, accompanied by explosions one after another, and countless strands of black smoke rose into the air.
The salvo of thousands of rockets was like a volcano erupting with hot magma, pouring overwhelmingly among Jianlu's men and horses.
The flames and loud noises of the explosion were indistinguishable. They were like thunder and tiger roars, and they were overwhelming. They not only caused a large number of casualties to the Jianlu, but also gave them a huge mental blow.
The ground was shaking, and the people on the city wall were completely stunned.
They stared wide-eyed, looking at the flashes and smoke that appeared one after another in a large area, like fireworks blooming, and looked at Jianlu who was stumbling and rolling in the fireworks, screaming and screaming.
Cao Huachun opened his mouth wide and made an unconscious sound, and his saliva flowed out unconsciously.
Yang Chun and others couldn't even make a sound, staring at this shocking scene in stunned silence.
Caught in fireworks and surrounded by loud noises, the prisoners were thrown off their feet and suffered heavy casualties. But the biggest blow was psychological, shock, shock, fear, panic...
Daishan was thrown to the ground by the frightened horse, and was at a loss for a moment. His ears were filled with roaring noises, and his dull eyes were filled with the chaos of people and horses, as well as the constant bursts of fire and rising black smoke.
It's over, it's over, it's over!
The Dongjiang Army actually carried so many artillery pieces, almost a thousand, right? Thinking of this, Daishan's heart suddenly fell into the abyss, and he felt a bone-deep cold.
Before the explosions subsided, the sound of gunfire suddenly rang out again. The Dongjiang Army on the position stood up, opened the way with guns and cannons, struck at the disorganized Jianlu, and advanced steadily forward.
The reason why they did not launch a violent attack was because they did not hear the order for a general attack, because there might be rocket bombardment, which would cause enough heavy damage to the Jianlu.
Quite different from the thousand-arrow salvo fired on the main position, a rocket salvo was suddenly launched on the southern city wall, with only more than two hundred rockets.
The rockets spraying tail flames passed by the battle lines of the Dongjiang Army that were forming formations out of the city, and hit Saha Lian's troops in front of them.
The sudden changes on the battlefield left Saharian and the Jianlu led by him dumbfounded. They didn't know what to do for a moment. The violent bombardment suddenly struck, causing them to panic and commotion immediately.
Seeing the rockets smashing into the crowd, Jianlu had little room to escape. The queue was already quite dense, how could they disperse quickly?
Explosions one after another broke out among the captives without any suspense. People screamed and screamed, and more than 3,000 captives fell into chaos.
Guns and artillery roared, and the troops leaving the city who had been confronting Jianlu for a long time also launched an attack on the chaotic Jianlu.