After issuing several military orders, Zhu Youxiao looked at the generals and said with great seriousness:
"This battle has a very broad layout. All ministries and armies must stay in contact at all times, cooperate closely with each other, adapt to changes, and face the battlefield situation flexibly. Don't be too rigid!"
"When I arrive, I will also lead the escort and move the camp to Jinyinyan to direct your operations."
"I hope you won't disappoint me. As long as you win the battle and make meritorious deeds, I will faithfully reward you according to your military exploits. Whether you want to be promoted to a higher rank or you want to receive a silver reward, I will satisfy you."
"But if the overall situation collapses due to poor command or fear of the enemy and the cultivation of thieves, I will not ignore it hastily."
"No matter what happens on the battlefield, you must send a sentry to report to me as soon as possible. In case of emergency, the leader of the army has the right to change the direction of attack or encirclement in a timely manner, and does not need to follow the current layout plan."
"But remember, it is true that I gave you the right to kill first and report later, but afterwards, you must explain the details of the situation one by one in both letters and in person, and explain why adjustments and changes were made.
"
"If anyone dares to make up nonsense that is inconsistent with the facts, once verified, he will be punished for the crime of collaborating with the enemy and treason, and will not be tolerated. Even if you capture She Ni, it will be the same. Remember what I said, military law will not tolerate it.
Affection!"
"only!"
All the generals responded in unison.
Early the next morning, after an overnight march, the main force of the more than 10,000 Yulin army leading a frontal attack led by Qin Bangping arrived at the outskirts of Chongqing as scheduled.
After resting and replenishing food and water, before noon, the bronze artillery of Shenji Battalion finally fired the first shot of this encirclement and annihilation battle.
More than fifty cannons, plus a variety of rocket launchers such as a swarm of bees and a hundred tigers running together, roared at a rebel military camp outside Chongqing.
Since the rebels captured Chongqing, both She Chongming himself and his soldiers have felt a sense of elation. Everyone thinks that the Ming army is nothing more than this.
Therefore, in the past few days, most of them were burning, killing, looting, and plundering people's property in Chongqing. They did not have the basic vigilance of an army, and they had no idea about the sudden attack of the Ming army.
Suddenly being bombarded by such fierce artillery fire, the rebels were stunned. Many of them were killed on the spot before they even knew what happened.
The military camp was in chaos, with all kinds of screams going on. Some of the low-quality rebels, who were basically just grassroots, had already begun to run for their lives.
"Don't be chaotic. Commanders of each battalion, quickly organize your troops, retreat to the rear, and abandon the camp!"
After Zhou Ding finished speaking, he ordered his Yi soldiers to maintain order, gather up the defeated troops, and then led the large army back five miles before he sent sentries back to Chongqing to report.
After just a few rounds of shelling, thousands of rebels were defeated. Qin Bangping was already confident about the confrontation, and he immediately led his army in pursuit.
Zhou Ding hurriedly accepted the challenge, but among his more than 6,000 people, there were only less than 2,000 Yi soldiers, and the rest were all recruited. How could they be the opponent of the Yulin Army?
Under Qin Bangping's dispatch, Sergeant Taishan, who was wearing heavy armor and holding a fine sword, launched the attack first, charging straight at the rebels and instantly smashing the hastily formed formation of the rebels to pieces.
This rebel army, which had just transformed from refugees and surrendered troops into bandits, had no resistance. The heavy armored soldiers killed many people on their backs, and it was basically a one-sided massacre.
Moreover, most of the heavy armored soldiers in the Yulin Army were reorganized from the original Baigan soldiers. They were familiar with mountain and jungle combat and were more brave than the Yi soldiers.
Zhou Ding had just organized a thousand Yi soldiers to launch a counterattack against the Ming army in three groups. However, not only did the Ming army not be repelled, but the Ming army became more and more courageous as they fought, making them unstoppable.
Qin Bangping had never fought such a one-sided battle before. Seeing the rebels being killed and running away, his heart was filled with shock.
In fact, this is very normal. The strength gap between the north and south armies of the Ming Dynasty is really too big, not to mention these bandit armies without training, equipment, or tactics.
Let’s not talk about the frontier army and the Liao army. Let’s just say that the southern army has no comparison with the northern army. Although the northern army is also terrible, at least it can still fight and looks like a national army.
As for the Southern Army, they are preparing old weapons that have been eliminated long ago, and they are all cold weapons, such as firecrackers and cannons. They have never even seen them. They want to change their equipment unless a war breaks out and forces the court to allocate weapons.
New weapons and new equipment.
Their armors are all leather armors or breastplates, which are very simple and crudely made. To put it bluntly, the symbolic meaning is greater than the actual use. If the court didn't want to save face, they probably wouldn't even have this kind of vest-style armor.
There will be.
This is true for the regular army, not to mention these rebels who look like bandits. The extravagant and rebellious army of one hundred thousand, except for his own real elite Yi soldiers, equipped with armor, the rest are all civilians.
The combat effectiveness of the two cannot be compared. War breaks out in the north every year. The Northern Army is always in a state of intense combat readiness, and they are still facing the fierce cavalry on the grassland. Not only are they not equipped well, they are also incapable of fighting.
As for the South, perhaps there will be no war for decades or hundreds of years. The army will not fight, and the civilian and military generals will deduct and exploit you in various ways. In this case, not to mention maintaining combat effectiveness, there will still be some left for you.
Seed, even if it gives the emperor face.
Therefore, in the southwest, the imperial court had to rely not only on the local chieftains politically, but also on the military. The same was true in the southeastern coastal cities, where they also relied on the local gentry and officials to maintain and consolidate their rule.
The fundamental reason why these chieftains dare to be so arrogant and can mobilize tens of thousands of people with a wave of their hands is because in the hearts of the local people, the emperor and the court have long been gone, or in other words, they do not have as much deterrence as the chieftains.
Just like Zhou Ding, the leader of the rebel army, he was originally a Han Chinese, and his ancestors were from a hundred households. He was also a well-prepared general, but so what, he didn't still follow She Ni and raise an army to rebel.
But he had only been in glory for a few days when he was defeated by Qin Bangping. If he hadn't run so fast and disguised himself so well, he might have been killed by the Ming army.
In the first battle of counterattack and suppression, the Ming army suffered less than 300 casualties. In two battles, the Ming army beheaded and captured more than 4,000 rebels.
Although it was not as good as Zhang Fengyi's record in ambushing She Ni during the frontline days, the ones he defeated were not the main elite of the rebels.
But as the saying goes, it was a good start. In his first battle as the commander-in-chief of an army, Qin Bangping lived up to the emperor's expectations and successfully completed the mission.