This is a very flat battlefield, only one step away from a certain settlement.
Obviously, the opponent was ambushing here, just waiting for the safari team to come to the door. They carefully set up the battlefield and set up the formation. Perhaps when they arrived, the safari team was hunting him in the village.
The people turned a blind eye to all this and set up this trap here calmly and calmly.
No no no!
Jiang Wan looked at the ruins of the village that could be seen faintly in the distance and overturned his own conclusion.
If the safari team was reinforcements that came to rescue because of the attack on this settlement, they would not be able to get here in time and ambush the battlefield. Jiang Wan shook his head, thinking that this was more likely.
"Send someone to the village to take a look and search for any traces that may be useful!" He ordered the people around him: "Pay attention to living people, dead people, traces of battles, and all suspicious things!"
"yes!"
Someone around him hurriedly ran out. As for Kong Youde, he weakly reminded Jiang Wan that the village had been searched by his people. It was as if Jiang Wan had not heard these words.
The people around Jiang Wan were all his personal guards, more than a hundred of them. Kong Youde was worried about Jiang Wan's safety, so he specially brought two to three hundred people to escort him. The entire team at the exploration site was close to 500 people.
However, it was the people around Jiang Wan who were doing the whole thing. Kong Youde and his people had almost no right to speak here.
Soon the news came from the other side of the village. The village was deserted and was burned to the ground. Regardless of whether there were any traces of fighting, it was difficult to find. The only thing that was certain was that there were almost no traces of people in the village.
Corpses, let alone living people.
"With such a big thing happening here, I'm afraid the people in the village will have run away long ago!" Kong Youde muttered.
"That's not right!" Jiang Wan shook his head, and his words directly told him that perhaps, this village was more like an undefended bait, and this unlucky safari team was attracted by this bait and jumped in on its own initiative.
And when they turned back after finding nothing, they were attacked by the Tartars who had been waiting here for a long time. Due to the haste and the disparity in strength, none of them were spared.
"With this place as the center, clear a radius of five miles!" Jiang Wan's heart moved: "Immediately!"
Kong Youde was stunned and immediately had a bad premonition. He hurriedly called his men and sent people out to search the surroundings!
There was no need to check the scene anymore. The anomalies in the village had made it almost a flat terrain suitable for cavalry assault. Jiang Wan suddenly felt a strong sense of crisis in his heart. Since the Tartars had set up an ambush here to eliminate his safari team, then, what would happen next?
It is not impossible to kill the Ming army who came to check in one ambush.
With so many people dead, someone must take care of the corpses. If the Tartars didn't take care of them, and the scout team that came to reconnoiter couldn't take care of them, then the Ming army who came to deal with all this was the best target for a second ambush.
And on such a plain, even if there were hundreds of people around Jiang Wan, he didn't think he could resist the charge of hundreds of fine cavalry, not to mention that the opponent had an unknown number of fire gun soldiers to cooperate.
"Bury the body on the spot and be ready to leave at any time!"
Jiang Wan gave the order, and everyone immediately started moving. Everything was unfolding in an orderly manner.
However, the faint sense of crisis in Jiang Wan's heart has never disappeared. Among the hundreds of people among him, less than one-tenth is the cavalry. If he really encounters the Tartar cavalry, it will be more difficult to fight, and the more likely it is to escape.
Best my hunch is wrong!
He muttered in his heart. Time passed minute by minute. About half an hour later, the scouts scattered around gradually came back. The scouts on the left and right and those coming from the way did not notice the situation. Only the scouts sent to the front,
There has been no news.
That is the direction to Malanyu.
Without any hesitation, Jiang Wan began to order a retreat towards the abandoned village. The fact that the scouts did not return was enough to tell everyone how serious the matter was - not far in front of them, there were a certain number of Tartars.
.
"Send someone back to ask for help!" Jiang Wan told Kong Youde without any delay: "The soldiers and horses in the T-shaped fort cannot move. We must guard against enemy sneak attacks and ask Wu Sangui from the Nanhai Camp to send someone to help!"
"Understood!" Kong Youde replied seriously. He was also a veteran of wars and knew that if these hundreds of people dared to escape from the Tatars, their entire army would be destroyed on the way to escape.
He now hopes that the one who set a trap here is the Tartar fire gun team. If it is the fire gun team, if they persist until after dark, they still have a chance to escape. Facing the cavalry, they have absolutely no chance.
vitality.
"The enemy's scale won't be too big!" Jiang Wan comforted the nervous officers: "They probably didn't expect that there would be so many of us here. Otherwise, they would have launched an attack as soon as possible.
The pride of the Tartars is that their hundred cavalry dared to charge several hundred of us, so the enemy opposite us should be the Han flag men in Malanyu!"
"Commander, they want to eat us, we might as well bite them back!"
Someone said loudly, and everyone immediately agreed. Those who can stand here are either Jiang Wan's close personal guards or Kong Youde's capable men. There are almost no ordinary soldiers and officers.
It is not an exaggeration to say that these people are the elite of Zhenjiang Fort. As for the fact that the Tartars may have a lot of fire guns, these people directly ignored it. No one has fire guns. The personal guards around the commander, everyone
There are all of them, and it’s not a rare thing.
"Just know who the other party is. As for whether to bite them back or eat them completely, it depends on whether they cooperate or not!"
Jiang Wan smiled, and the officers around him laughed. The atmosphere that had been a bit solemn suddenly became relaxed.
Under Jiang Wan's order, everyone began to defend themselves. In addition to blocking the cavalry charge, the ruined walls in the village were also good fortifications against the Tartars' fire cannons. These ruined walls must be placed in appropriate locations.
Reinforcement and thickening don't take much effort.
In particular, Jiang Wan clearly told everyone that as long as they persisted until reinforcements arrived, the enemy might flee without fighting, and everyone was even more motivated.
They all set off from the T-shaped fort. They knew how long it would take for the reinforcements to arrive here. Perhaps, these defenses would not be needed at all by then, and they could just let the other side retreat before the reinforcements arrived.
Who will attack and who will defend at that time is still uncertain.
Time passed slowly, and finally, a figure appeared in the eyes of the soldiers on guard, and a harsh whistle sounded. All the busy soldiers dropped their work and hid behind their reinforced defenses, waiting.
Following Jiang Wan's order.
Group after group of enemies appeared in Jiang Wan's field of vision, not only in front but also on both sides of the village. Now the only direction where the enemy was not seen was behind them.
The number of enemies far exceeded the estimate of two days. The number of enemies in his eyes alone was estimated to be no less than a thousand in each direction, and the number of enemies directly in front would obviously be even greater.
"It is indeed a trap!" Kong Youde said fiercely: "Commander, I will take my brothers to cover your departure. There are so many people on the other side, I'm afraid we won't be able to wait for the reinforcements to arrive!"
"They have cavalry!" Jiang Wan looked around and shook his head slightly.
"We also have horses, Commander. It's still too late to leave now. If we delay any longer and wait until the enemy encircles us, we won't be able to leave even if we want to!"
"I won't leave my people and escape alone!" Jiang Wan said with determination: "I insist on coming here to check. If in the end I leave you all to the Tartars in order to survive, do you think I am such a greedy person and fear of death?
?”
Kong Youde wanted to say more, but Jiang Wan waved her hand: "There may be more people waiting for us in the rear, just surrounding us!"
"Then the people we sent out to ask for help..." Kong Youde's expression changed drastically.
"It doesn't matter. When I came, I had already given instructions to the Nanhai Camp and the Guards Camp. If I don't come back after dark, they will come to pick me up!" Jiang Wan waved her hand: "It's just that they don't know our specific location. Come here
It might just be a little late!"
It would be fatal if they were delayed for a while, not to mention they didn’t know the specific location yet!
Kong Youde felt a little uneasy.
"Leave the two sides of the village to you, and leave the enemies on the front to my personal guards!"
Jiang Wan saw him: "Can you avoid being flanked by the enemy?"
"Commander, if these guys want to rush in, they have to step on my corpse!" Kong Youde chuckled: "I will protect the commander to the death!"
"Go!" Jiang Wan said calmly: "Remember, defending until dark is victory. If the enemy breaks through, no one will survive!"
"Follow the commander's military orders!"
Kong Youde hurried away. Kong Youde's various shouts and the excited screams of his soldiers could be heard in the distance. Jiang Wan turned his head and looked at the guards in front of him who were all looking at him.
"You didn't expect that you could find a fight just by going out, did you?" He smiled slightly.
"I am willing to die for the commander-in-chief and protect the commander-in-chief to the death!"
"Keep the front and save ammunition. I want to see whether the Tatars' firearms are more powerful or our Dongjiang Town's firearms!"
Several Western teachers around him also knew that the battle was inevitable at this moment, and they also took up their weapons, intending to join the ranks of the guards and prepare for battle.
"No, you are right by my side!" Jiang Wan stopped them: "Observe the battle with your eyes and experience, and if you have any advice, please tell me at any time!"
"As you command!"
The layout of the village had just been completed, and the enemies, who had already gathered in formation, could not wait to launch an attack.
Perhaps it was because the disparity in strength between the two sides was too great, or perhaps the Tartar generals simply did not pay attention to the Ming army that had fallen into their ambush. They almost did not even test it, and just
The attack was launched from the front.
Countless dark figures, armed with long knives and spears, rushed toward the village. Jiang Wan looked at the charging enemies and shook her head slightly: "There are no cavalry!"
"Advanced arms must play the decisive role in the battle!" The Western instructor beside him judged the battlefield situation: "The enemy's few cavalry will definitely not be used at the beginning!"
"Do you want to hide your strength?" Jiang Wan hesitated for a moment. Obviously the enemy didn't know that the Ming army in the village had a large number of firearms. Otherwise, they wouldn't have rushed over in such a formation.
He thought for a while and decisively suppressed the idea.
His personal guards can indeed fight at a distance or at close range, but once the enemy is brought in and they fight with cold weapons without using firearms, there will inevitably be casualties.
Even a replacement ratio of one for ten would be extremely disadvantageous to him now.
"Fifty steps, fire, first team, let go!"
The captain of the guard shouted the order loudly, and almost as soon as the order came down, a burst of white smoke rose in front of Jiang Wan's eyes, and at this time, the sound of muskets dispersed.
The next command from the guard captain could no longer be heard, but this did not prevent the first team of guards from squatting down and starting to skillfully load ammunition.
The soldiers from the second team started shooting without hesitation.
The sound of muskets continued, and then the soldiers in the third row fired again. After the soldiers in the third row finished firing, the soldiers in the first row had already stood up and started firing the second round with their loaded muskets.
There may be nothing but white mist in their eyes, and no moving figures can be seen, but they still follow the daily training content, loading, firing, squatting, and repeating the process again and again!
Three-stage shooting method!
This is a shooting method that Jiang Wan's personal guards must master. In the fire gun teams of other battalions in Dongjiang Town, the skill proficiency of the fire gun soldiers determines their firing and reloading speed. Being able to master the two-stage shooting skillfully has already
He is a qualified fire rifle soldier.
Jiang Wan's personal guards not only had to master three-stage shooting, but Jiang Wan's training methods also insisted that once the firing order started, they had to quickly finish the ammunition they carried.
Marshal Jiang's personal guards never worried about the loss of guns and ammunition.
The consequence of this is that even if they can't see how many enemies have been shot and fallen, or how many enemies are still active, as long as the order to stop shooting is not issued, they can keep shooting over and over again until the ammunition in their hands is exhausted.
Until the fight is over.
They couldn't see what was going on on the battlefield, but Jiang Wan, who was high up behind them, could see it.
In his field of vision, the first and second rounds of shooting knocked down nearly a hundred people. After encountering such intensive firecracker shooting, the enemy simply dropped these fallen corpses without any trace of them.
Nostalgically, he fled the range of the musket.
"Stop shooting!"
The soldiers around him conveyed his order, the sound of musketry stopped one after another, and the battlefield became quiet.
A gust of wind with a strong smell of gunpowder smoke blew by, thinning the white mist in the air. Jiang Wan's sight passed through the white mist and landed on the enemy formation in the distance, which showed no chaos at all.
It’s still a trial, but the scale of the trial is a bit bigger!
His face became much more serious, and he knew that this was just the beginning of the battle, and that the next battle might be more tragic and difficult than he imagined.