She Chongming worked hard and pieced together, and finally managed to give Zhang Tong more than 900 iron shields. Zhang Tong also knew that this was their entire property.
His heart was full of unknowns. This iron shield could not block the firearms of the army.
After all the equipment was completed, Zhang Tong immediately ordered the Yi soldiers, who were the most well-equipped and the most courageous in combat, to launch a second round of attack on the Ming army.
In the Ming army camp, General Qian of the Shenji Battalion clearly saw the changes and new tactics of the Shetei rebels through a telescope.
"General Qin, the rebels have set up iron shields. Behind these shield soldiers, there must be archers and crossbowmen. When they get close to us, they will fire a volley. It seems that this extravagant rebel can still fight."
Qin Bangping also saw it, and he worriedly asked the president:
"Can our fire cannon penetrate their shields?"
Qin Bangping didn't know anything about firearms at all. It could be said that he was not even a layman, because like She Chongming, they were all chieftains and had no chance to see or come into contact with these hot weapons in the southwest.
He also knew that he was not good at firearms warfare, so the three thousand soldiers of the Shenji Battalion allocated to him by Zhu Youxiao were under the full command of General Qian during the war, and he did not bother at all.
Mr. Qian cupped his hands and replied:
"General, if we take our army's shield as an example, within thirty steps, a fire blunderbuss can penetrate it, but if it exceeds this range, even if it penetrates, it will be difficult to hurt the person holding the shield."
"The effect of a swarm of bees and a hundred tigers running at the same time with arrows is not very great, but if it is a stream of divine machine arrows, it won't be a big deal."
Qin Bangping touched his beard, then pointed at the bronze cannon set up in front and said:
"Then we can only adjust the angle of the artillery and bombard their shield array with horizontal fire?"
Mr. Qian nodded, obviously thinking so, and continued:
"Please also ask the general to prepare the shield bearers for defense. The heavy armored soldiers will attack at any time. These Yi soldiers are no better than those stragglers, and their psychological quality will be much stronger. When necessary, the heavy armored soldiers will be needed to attack."
Qin Bangping no longer hesitated and immediately ordered:
"Okay, just go ahead. We will respond at any time. In this battle, we will definitely defeat the rebels who come to fight!"
In the afternoon under Zhang Tong's personal command, the five thousand Yi soldiers slowly advanced towards the official formation in an orderly manner. They did not charge, but marched in an orderly manner at a very fast speed. No one fled or was afraid of the enemy.
Nine hundred iron shields were mixed with some reinforced rattan shields. The rebels were arranged in three rows, with the shields leaning against each other, making it airtight.
Behind the shield soldiers are strong archers who have placed arrows on their crossbows and are ready to go. As soon as they are within the range of the crossbows, they will draw their full bows and fire a volley at the opposing officers and soldiers.
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Behind the crossbowmen were Yi soldiers holding spears and knives. Everything was just like a normal formation formation.
She Chongming himself was also ready to go into battle in person. As soon as Zhang Tong restrained the officers and soldiers, he led the army to cover up the attack.
Under the control of General Qian of the Shenji Battalion, all thirty-three artillery pieces were aimed at the rebel shield formation at a straight angle.
"Load the gunpowder, fire a volley, and prepare to ignite!"
Bang!
A series of roars sounded from the Ming army's formation, the artillery soon emitted smoke, and a sufficient amount of gunpowder hit the rebels' offensive square.
The shield array they erected had no defense against the artillery. One shot would blast their shields to pieces. And because they were too dense, one shot could kill and wound several soldiers. The rebellion was instantly
Blood and flesh flew everywhere in the military camp.
Zhang Tong overestimated the defensive power of the shield and underestimated the power of the Ming army's firearms. For a moment, he couldn't believe that anything was different from what he saw in the book.
A gun of this caliber should not have such a long range and power.
What he didn't know was that this was the latest bronze artillery developed, and the firing device, muzzle and chamber had been changed, and the gunpowder was also carefully made.
In just one round of shelling, Zhang Tong's Yi soldiers suffered nearly a hundred casualties, and there were also gaps in the first row's shield array.
Zhang Tong knew that loading the artillery was very troublesome. He now had a safe period of time, so he seized the opportunity, raised his sword and shouted, ordering a full-speed charge.
But when they were still more than 200 steps away from the official army, the Ming army's artillery roared again. After the artillery was finished, the official army's hundreds of tigers rushed with arrows and a swarm of bees followed closely.
The rebels, who had a loose defensive formation, suffered heavy casualties. Almost all of the hundreds of people at the front fell.
When the battle reaches this point, the only option is to fight to the death. If they give up because of the dead spots, they will definitely lose.
For the sake of military morale, Zhang Tong climbed onto a boulder, raised his long knife and shouted loudly:
"Charge over, defeat the Ming army, and avenge the dead tribesmen and brothers. As long as we charge over, victory will be ours!"
The Yi people are inherently resentful towards the imperial court and the government. They have always had constant conflicts with the Han people and are extremely at odds with each other. It is commonplace for them to take action whenever they disagree.
Moreover, compared with the current Han people, their concept of nation is much deeper, and their own ethnic circle is generally very united.
At least they won't be like the Han people, who will rebel at every turn. This is also related to their size.
A concentrated group of hundreds of thousands of people like this has reached the pinnacle of both actual and ideological rule. As long as there are no external factors that cause major changes, their class hierarchy will never change.
The upper class people have been the upper class people for generations, and the poor peasants at the bottom are also the inheritance of their descendants. This is one of the reasons why the Shuixi'an family has been able to stand firm for more than a thousand years.
Now that a war broke out between the two sides, the new and old hatreds combined naturally made these Yi soldiers hate the Han and the Han dynasty even more.
Under the leadership of the Han general Zhang Tong, he also showed a sense of fearlessness in death, which surprised She Chongming.
When the Yi soldiers rushed within a hundred steps, the Ming army's firecrackers began to deal with the most commonly used and classic three-stage attack.
More than two thousand muskets and uninterrupted continuous shooting caused huge casualties to the rebels. Especially when they got closer to the Ming army and the roads became narrower, it was like the door of death calling.
After advancing eighty steps, the more than 700 crossbowmen who survived among the She army and entered the shooting range finally began to play their role.
Under the command of their respective commanders, they quickly gathered together and formed a crossbow array. Then they picked up arrows and raised their bows to the sky.
A general of the She Army saw that most of the men were already on their bows, so he ignored Zhang Tong's military order and immediately called on the crossbowmen to fight back against the Ming Army.