The person responsible for garrisoning the north bank of the Yellow River was Zhang Shijie, Tian Jianxiu's subordinate.
He divided the infantry into groups of 500 men and built simple fortifications one mile apart.
Wang Hui was now between two groups of enemy infantry, and the nearest group was already heading towards him. It was not Zhang Shijie himself, but an unknown officer who led the troops.
When these 500 enemy troops arrived, friendly troops also arrived from Wang Hui's side, including two rafts and a total of 15 Datong troops.
Fifteen people, carrying five hundred, must hold on!
The melee soldiers erected two rafts to block the enemy's bows and arrows. The musket soldiers placed their gun barrels in the holes of the rafts and fired first at the enemy.
Eight firecrackers hit three people.
The enemy rushed to about ten meters and had finished loading their ammunition. The second round of salvo fire hit all eight bullets.
"Form up, fix bayonets!"
At this moment, a burst of gunfire came, and another sheepskin raft approached. The Datong troops on the raft were shooting towards the shore...
Unfortunately, the current was too fast. Even though I rowed with all my strength, I was still washed more than 20 meters downstream of Wanghui before reaching the shore.
After landing on the shore, the eight soldiers rushed over immediately, and Wang Hui's side had already engaged the enemy.
The other side of the Yellow River was not flat, and was also washed out of ridges layer by layer. More than 400 enemy troops surrounded them and jumped down from the ridges to fight. Because they were running so fast, they had no time to form a formation. The leader and tail of the team were full.
It stretched more than thirty meters long.
Four words, sparse, like a gang fight.
This can't be blamed on the Dashun army being too weak. All the elites were taken to Hebei by Li Zicheng. There were only about 6,000 capable veterans left behind in Tongguan, and the rest were all new recruits who had been trained for three months.
Six thousand elite troops guard Tongguan, which is more than enough!
Cross the river?
Li Zicheng never thought that the Datong Army would dare to cross the river.
Because even if they crossed the river, they would all be washed away by the water, just like this situation. A dozen people rushed to the beach and dared to form a formation to resist five hundred people. There is no such army in the world.
"kill!"
Faced with the siege of more than 400 people, Wang Hui did not hold on to his position, but took the initiative to rush forward.
Taking advantage of the loose formation of the Dashun Army, we must rush out. If we defend in place, the enemy troops will become more and more surrounded and denser.
Then a heroic scene occurred. Fifteen Datong troops countercharged towards the more than 400 loyal troops.
Wang Huiting stabbed one person to death with his gun, and cooperated with friendly troops to kill another person.
Fifteen Datong troops rushed forward, killing wherever they went. They rushed for several meters in a row, knocking down twelve enemy troops in front and behind.
On local battlefields, a situation has arisen in which more troops are fighting than fewer troops!
The Dashun army was clearly larger in number, but those who fought head-on were so frightened by the momentum that they cowered, and some even took the initiative to dodge.
The Dashun officer leading the team shouted: "Form up, quickly form an formation!"
This guy thought that after five hundred people surrounded and killed fifteen, he would surely capture him, so he ordered him to run at full speed. Some people ran faster, and some people ran faster. The team got longer and longer, and also became more and more scattered. Only then was Wang Hui given him the order.
Find opportunities.
Under the order to form a formation, only about a hundred people near the officer began to form a formation very obediently. Those who were too far away did not know what the order was.
"Fuck...kill!"
After rushing forward a few steps, a fire rifle soldier was seriously injured and was shot from the side by the enemy.
The fire gun soldier roared in pain, raised his bayonet and charged out, stabbing the attacker to death. Unfortunately, he was injured and could not follow the charge, and was quickly surrounded and killed by four Dashun troops.
Wang Hui saw signs of the enemy forming a formation from a distance, and immediately shouted: "The enemy general is over there, follow me and kill him!"
There were still fourteen people left, and under the leadership of Wang Hui, they rushed towards the place where the enemy was most concentrated.
After rushing a few steps, another Datong soldier fell to the ground, this time it was a spearman.
The eight Datong friendly troops downstream also imitated Wang Hui and charged towards the enemy's flank after landing.
There is only one exception.
Yang Zhi ran for a while, then stopped and took aim. He did not shoot in the river.
About forty steps or sixty meters away, Yang Zhi aimed at the enemy general who was gathering troops.
"boom!"
A shot of the enemy general's personal soldiers frightened the enemy general into shrinking his head and hiding among the crowd, never to show his face again.
"Crooked!"
Yang Zhi felt very regretful and reloaded his ammunition at a speed far exceeding that of an ordinary soldier.
The remaining seven Datong soldiers killed them from the flank. The enemy troops here were even more scattered, and more than ten people were killed by them. In the process of escaping, they took more than twenty others with them.
In fact, it is not a rout. These escaped Dashun soldiers want to return to their generals and wait for them to form a formation before fighting again. They are scattered, have no formation, and no organization. No matter how many people there are, they can't fight against each other.
It is difficult to cooperate.
Yang Zhi poked the projectile with a prod, looking up while poking, but saw that the enemy general didn't show his head at all.
When he saw the thirty or forty defeated troops again, he suddenly thought: "The enemy general is dead, the enemy general is dead!"
Unfortunately, the battlefield was noisy and Yang Zhi's voice was too quiet.
"To the right!"
The enemy formation in front had initially formed, and more than a hundred people were crowded together. Wang Hui knew that it would be difficult to break up, so he took the lead and rushed to the right, hoping to cooperate with the friendly forces coming downstream to meet him.
When turning around, two more people were lost, leaving Wang Hui's team with only eleven people.
Eleven people from the west and seven from the east, a total of eighteen Datong troops, charged at each other and routed more than sixty enemies among them.
The price was that the Datong army lost two people again.
The Datong army gathered together, and not counting Yang Zhi, there were only sixteen people left. And everyone was injured. They stood on the shore panting from exhaustion.
Dashun's army gradually formed its formation, and lined up neatly, slowly approaching Wang Hui.
"boom!"
Yang Zhi fired his second shot and hit the soldier next to the enemy general again.
"Why can't I hit again?" Yang Zhi was frustrated.
The unknown general of Dashun Army was so frightened that he completely shrank to the back of the team.
The 500 Dashun troops stationed in the west also began to engage in battle to surround and kill the Datong Army who had landed at another place. The situation there was very bad. All eight Datong Army soldiers were killed after landing.
"General, we are coming!"
Two more sheepskin rafts came and docked at a distance of 23 meters. This time fifteen soldiers came. Together, Wang Hui's army reached thirty-one.
Yang Zhi was still not included. He was alone far away, squatting on the ground and reloading ammunition.
After the enemy general suffered a loss, he did not dare to be careless and formed a formation to approach little by little.
"Bang bang bang!"
As the Dashun Army was marching, the Datong Army fired another salvo.
"boom!"
Yang Zhi also fired again. He could not find the hidden enemy general, but one shot killed the enemy team. The team fell into panic, causing Dashun's army to advance even slower.
The enemy general finally couldn't bear it anymore and sent thirty soldiers, pointing in the direction of Yang Zhi and roaring: "Go kill that guy!"
Yang Zhi took his time and reloaded his ammunition.
On the frontal battlefield, this Datong army was mainly composed of new soldiers, with a small number of archers. After the Datong army fired a salvo, more than thirty archers came out to shoot at Wang Hui.
When Wang Hui charged, he threw away all his shields and had a raft beside him as a shield.
They could only cover their fatal parts and use cotton armor to carry bows and arrows.
The troops crossing the river were all wearing cotton armor. If they fell into the river, they would definitely die!
Seeing several rafts approaching the shore in the east, Wang Hui shouted: "Run downstream!"
When the Datong army moved, a corpse was left on the ground, which was shot to death by the enemy just now.
When the enemy general saw Wang Hui running again, he was obviously hesitant. He didn't know whether to continue to advance in formation or to give orders to catch up at full speed. What if he ran away again?
After some thought, the enemy general ordered them to pursue at a trot. The entire army should not run too fast and should try to maintain their formation.
The troops were successfully joined up again, and Yang Zhi also returned to the army, with the strength reaching forty-six.
"General, look!"
Wang Hui turned to look at the river and saw hundreds of sheepskin rafts rowing towards him.
However, the Datong Army crossed the river in pieces, and had been observing the situation with hot air balloons. The situation on Wang Hui's side was the best, so the follow-up troops concentrated here to cross.
The unknown enemy general also saw it and shouted in horror: "Kill at full speed!"
"The reinforcements are coming, the world is united!"
Wang Hui shouted excitedly.
The unknown enemy general did not bother to hide, so he drew his sword and led his troops to charge.
Yang Zhi picked up the blunderbuss and took aim again.
"boom!"
The enemy general fell down in response.
Wang Hui was stunned for a moment, then he was ecstatic, raised his spear and shouted: "The enemy general is dead, follow me to kill him!"
Forty-six Datong troops attacked more than 400 enemy troops with great momentum.
The enemy troops seemed a little overwhelmed when their generals were killed. Some continued to charge towards them, some stopped at a loss, and some fled directly.
The two sides were already very close. As the Datong Army counterattacked, more than 400 enemy troops collapsed in an instant.
Sometimes, a little luck can determine the outcome of the battle.
The most famous one is undoubtedly the Red Army's forced crossing of the Dadu River.
The river is more than 300 meters wide and the current is fast. The Red Army only has one boat. Eighteen warriors crossed the river to seize the position and had to use this boat to cross in two parts.
The enemy's machine gun position was under heavy fire. The Red Army only had three artillery shells left, and the mortar's mount was broken.
Master gunner Zhao Zhangcheng stood up, holding the barrel of the gun in his left hand and measuring the distance with his right hand. All three shells hit, destroying three machine gun positions, and the Eighteen Warriors took the opportunity to land.
How could the Red Army cross the Dadu River without the three remaining shells hitting the target?
At this moment, Tian Jianxiu's cavalry had chased the Datong Army to the lower reaches, and was now rushing upriver.
Here at Wang Hui, a landing position is initially constructed.
Further upstream, there are also several sheepskin rafts crossing the river.
He Zhen watched the battle on the other side, where the Tongguan defenders were killed and retreated, which further strengthened his idea of defecting.
When the sheepskin rafts docked, He Zhen immediately took five hundred people there. His soldiers all thought he was going to fight, but the guy said: "The Emperor Renyi of the Zhao family in Nanjing heard that everyone can share the land.
Do you want to live like this without collecting corvees or paying heavy taxes?"
The soldiers were all stunned.
Because He Zhen was not trusted, all the old troops were taken away by Li Zicheng. Now the five hundred people are all new recruits.
"Who doesn't want to surrender?" He Zhen asked.
No one spoke.
Seeing that the soldiers still didn't respond, He Zhen shouted: "If you join the Datong Army, you will be popular and drink hot food. If you are willing to surrender, just follow me!"
He Zhen took the lead and walked towards the Datong Army. The soldiers looked left and right. At first some people followed him, and finally they all followed.
The Datong army on the shore was preparing for battle. He Zhen stepped forward alone and shouted: "Don't use blunderbuss, don't use blunderbuss. I am willing to lead my troops and submit to the Datong imperial court!"