Pass, pass, pass... there was a dull sound, and the Tianwei Cannon fired shells one after another, arcing and falling into the ranks of the Qing troops.
The iron cannonball hit a Qing soldier on the head, immediately knocking the guy to the ground. The crowd behind him stepped over his body without hesitation, just treating it as an ordinary cannonball. But many Qing soldiers were puzzled.
The firing curve of this cannon is wrong. With such a small amount of force, it can't cause ricochet damage, so what's the use of it?
This question was quickly answered. With a bang, the world of a Qing soldier became lighter. He felt himself rising into the air, and a leg with messy blackened flesh, tendons and bones passed by his eyes.
In the ranks of the Qing army, blazing fireworks bloomed in clusters, shrapnel flew horizontally, each cluster swallowed up the people around them, and screams could be heard.
"Flower bomb!"
Seeing that the attacking team was bombarded by enemy artillery fire before they reached the range of their own artillery, Ma Xiong, who was commanding from the rear, and many veteran troops all screamed in surprise almost at the same time.
At the front of the battle formation are three relatively scattered square formations of the Ming army, with more than 2,000 people, arranged in a Z-shaped formation. At the rear are more square formations, arranged in a staggered manner, with rangers in the gaps between the square formations.
Running. Ma Xiong could see it and knew in his heart that the soldiers in the three square formations were well organized and must be the elite of the Ming army.
As Kong Youde's old unit and a member of the Dongjiang Clan, Ma Xiong was somewhat confident in his own unit. Not only did he conquer the east and west, he was experienced in battle formations, but he also had quite a lot of firearms. Needless to say, shotguns, even the Green Battalion was not prepared to equip them.
There are many red cannons and French cannons.
But as soon as the two sides exchanged fire, Ma Xiong realized that the Ming army's equipment was very good, especially the elite Ming army at the front. To his slight relief, his own artillery also rang out, almost a mile away.
The artillery fire started from a distance. This was the triple formation commonly used by the Qing army.
Boom, boom, boom... The Ming army continued to bombard the enemy formation with Tianwei artillery. As the Qing army approached, the six-pound cannon also began to roar.
The smoke rose, and the sound of the artillery was like muffled thunder, which seemed dull and heavy. The iron bullet roared into the sky. It pulled out a small arc trajectory, whining and smashing into the ranks of both the enemy and ours, taking away every life.
The reverberations of the gunfire were still moving in the sky, and another wave of sound began to rise. The sound of wheels and footsteps formed a background sound like waves, bringing a force that those Qing soldiers had never experienced before.
The power is pushed out.
Drums and whistles were used to adjust the forward speed of the Ming army's hollow phalanx, and in front was a shield chariot with its spear points extending outward.
The distance is getting closer and closer. The Qing army is adjusting, and the Ming army is also adjusting. The gap caused by casualties is gradually being filled. The two waves will soon collide violently, causing a brilliant and cruel collision of flesh and blood.
.
Two hundred steps, one hundred and fifty steps. One hundred steps, Ma Xiong clenched his fists tightly. He stared at the battle formation with wide eyes. It should be the shooting range of bows and arrows, then shotguns, and then hand-to-hand combat, with guns and knives in hand.
…
Suddenly, a horn sounded in the Ming army's battle formation, and the shield car in the front row stopped immediately. Then the front baffle was suddenly pushed down, and as soon as the black muzzle appeared, there was a roar and fire. Hundreds of shotshells came out of the barrel.
It came out and mercilessly stirred up the flesh and blood on the opposite side.
After two rounds of fierce shooting, the third shell was loaded. The shield car started again and moved forward. Five musketeers stood side by side between the cars. They adopted the backward loading method. The five rows took turns to come forward and shoot while
, while stabbing the Qing soldiers who fell to the ground mercilessly with bayonets. Thirty meters away, the shield car stopped, and there were two rounds of extremely fast reloading shots, making the Qing army's queue even more chaotic.
The sound of muskets rang out, the battlefield was filled with smoke, and his vision was blocked. Ma Xiong couldn't see the situation clearly, but his heart ached. The enemy used Fran machine guns to accompany the infantry attack, causing great casualties to his troops.
Moreover, this gunshot, this smoke...
Lines of neat white smoke erupted from the front of the Ming army's formation, and just fifty or sixty steps away, a line of scarlet blood bloomed neatly in the ranks of the Qing army's musketeers.
With the sharp whistle, round after round, the Ming army musketeers who had already passed the shield car were rolling forward row after row, and the flintlock guns fired fast and far. The performance advantage soon became apparent.
Suppressed the Qing army's shotguns.
Through the chaotic and flying smoke, Huang Shidao could even see that the enemy troops had begun to retreat, and the originally dense musket fire had become sparse. Several comrades had been replaced beside him, which meant that several comrades in the army had begun to retreat.
Casualties.
"Zhang Zhong fell down. I don't know how injured he is, or whether he is dead." The thought flashed in Huang Shidao's mind, but it did not affect his progress. The officer and the brothers who replaced him did not stop,
It seemed like his whole body was tied up. He couldn't stop and could only reload, move forward, and shoot repeatedly...
Ma Xiongyang's hand fell feebly in mid-air, and finally did not issue the order to "take the cavalry." Those were his last elite troops, and he could not risk all his capital. Defeat was a foregone conclusion, and dispatching the cavalry would only increase the enemy's strength.
casualties, but unable to reverse the defeat.
It was too fast. The enemy's muskets were like a dense rainstorm, bursts of white smoke, and rows of lead bullets. This was not the effect of three-stage or four-stage strikes, but the power of the gun itself. The shotgun, I still regarded it as
As a sharp weapon, in front of the enemy's guns, both the rate of fire and the range were completely suppressed.
The gunshots seemed to become sparser, the smoke dispersed slightly, and a row of Ming soldiers with bayonets rushed out, followed by another row of figures.
"Charge and kill!"
Continuous and sharp whistles sounded, drowning out the hoarse shouts of the junior officers. The Ming Army musketeers stopped shooting and began the first hand-to-hand charge on the battlefield.
The Qing army had begun to rout. The heavy rain and non-stop musket fire defeated the shotgun soldiers and the fighting spirit of other Qing troops.
Although the Qing army led by Ma Xiong had already mobilized one unit, and although Ma Xiong had no intention of fighting to the death, it was the first time that the Ming army adopted a brand-new tactics in a field battle, winning purely with firepower.
Facts have proved that with the same strength and fighting spirit, troops equipped with flintlocks and bayonets have a great advantage over the Qing army. If the factor of artillery fire is added, the advantage will be even more obvious. Of course, if they face a group of cavalry,
, whether to use a car formation to resist, or to retain the spearmen, is still an uncertain question.
In the battle of Simingzhou, the Qing army lost more than 3,000 troops. Under the pursuit of more than 20,000 Ming troops led by Ruyang Wang Mabao, they could not stand and retreated to Nanning, hoping to rely on Jiancheng for defense.
While Ma Xiong strengthened the city defense, he also asked for reinforcements from the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi and Heping Nan Wang Shang Kexi. However, before the reinforcements arrived, the Ming army took advantage of the victory to attack and had already reached the city. Twenty thousand versus seven thousand, an offensive and defensive battle began again.
.
………………
The waves beat against the side of the ship rhythmically, turning into a pile of spray and returning to the sea. Holding a telescope, Jameson stood on the rocking ship and looked at the island.
The island is not very big, but it has mountains, forests, and white, soft beaches. You can also see the French directing workers to build buildings with European characteristics.
Gallic rooster, French guy, Jameson cursed secretly, put down his telescope, and no longer looked at the uncomfortable sight. However, he was secretly jealous of the benefits the French had received, and regretted that the British had not taken action earlier to fight against the Ming Empire.
relationship.
The French not only got one of the largest islands in Cham Island, but also got the west side of Guan Harbor together with the Ming army. Da Nang is composed of three ports, the largest Son Tra Port still belongs to Nan Nguyen, and Quan Nguyen
The west side of the harbor and both sides of the river mouth became berthing ports shared by the Ming army and the French.
James also knew that the French had some privileges in Saigon and Haiphong ports, which meant that the French had a very secure route in the Gulf of Tonkin and the South China Sea, with several relay points where they could berth.
It's just craftsmen, machines, flintlocks, artillery, and joining forces with the Ming army to suppress Nan Ruan. With Britain's maritime strength and industrial capabilities, it can only do better than the French, not worse than the French, but it's just too late
Just a few. James compared angrily in his heart, but he was not sure what the outcome of this trip would be. He didn't know what the temperament of the regent prince of the Ming Empire he was going to meet was.
Britain, which was gradually encroaching on India, didn't care about the Nanming regime. It didn't matter if the Tatars occupied that ancient country. As long as trade was smooth, it didn't matter who ruled the continent. But the Qing court's coastal relocation
However, the world has completely interrupted mainland China's foreign trade. Tea, silk, porcelain, raw silk, etc., these best-selling Western commodities suddenly lost their sources, catching many countries off guard and trying their best to reopen trade routes.
Historically, the Dutch dispatched a fleet to help the Qing army, defeated Zheng Jing, and captured Jin and Xia. One reason was that they were resentful of losing Taiwan and wanted to take revenge on the Zheng family; the other reason was that they wanted to use this to restore trade with China.
contacts.
The purpose of James's trip was naturally very clear. He wanted to establish good relations with the Nanming regime, which was the only outlet for mainland China to go overseas and maintain commerce with the outside world, and ensure that British merchants could obtain the goods they needed.
The reason for this is also very simple. Because of the various agreements reached with Zhu Yongxing and their help, the French have received great care when their business in other countries has been hit. Of course this will
Arouse the attention and envy of others, including the British.
The French colonists had just begun to expand in Asia. They also established the East India Company to compete commercially with the old colonial countries such as the British and the Dutch. The coastal relocation implemented by the Qing court developed rapidly because of their good cooperation with the Nanming regime.
opportunity. This is certainly not what the British want, because France is increasingly becoming a challenger to British interests in India.
The ship rocked, and James's thoughts were churning, and he kept thinking about what conditions he had to offer to impress the Prince Regent and achieve the desired results. (To be continued...)