There were a total of 60,000 Qing troops defending the three camps. Even though thousands of people were killed and injured by artillery in the early stage, the strength was still several times that of the three battalions of the Ming army.
There was such a huge disparity in military strength, and Jiannu was the defender, but the Ming army still broke into the camp and started a fierce hand-to-hand fight. At first, the Qing army dared to charge forward, but as the casualties on both sides increased, the fighting became more and more intense.
After the brutal and bloody battle, the traitor soldiers began to show fear on their faces, and some of them stopped moving forward, even faintly retreating.
Obviously, under the heavy reward, although these traitor soldiers were able to muster up the courage to fight hand-to-hand with the Ming army who were not afraid of death, they lacked the support of faith and could not withstand too many casualties.
On the other hand, although the Ming army also suffered heavy casualties, their morale and fighting spirit were not affected at all. Instead, they became more courageous and more crazy as they killed.
Because in the minds of all soldiers, in addition to meritorious service by killing the enemy, promotion and wealth, they also have the idea of loyalty to the emperor and serving the country. Even if they die in battle, they are still respected heroes. Their families will be able to walk straight in the future, and there is no need to worry about the pension after death.
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It is precisely because of this dual spiritual and material stimulation that all the Ming armies became extremely brave and fearless of life and death as soon as they entered the battle!
In particular, the students of the Martial Arts Hall take it as their highest honor to die in battle, to be wrapped in horse hides, and to serve the king and the nation. Often, even if they are heavy with swords, they will still continue to kill the enemy with swords until they die of exhaustion.
As the saying goes, generals have a will to die and soldiers have no intention of stealing their lives. Under the influence of these direct disciples of the emperor, almost all the Ming army became red-eyed and ignored life and death.
Dorgon and Hong Chengchou, who were watching the battle from a distance, were frightened when they saw this scene. Although they had overestimated the Ming army, they now found that they still underestimated the Ming army's combat effectiveness.
Just three battalions with more than 15,000 people not only attacked the main camp in one go, but also killed their 60,000-strong army until they were about to collapse and retreat.
Looking at the brave Ming soldiers who were not afraid of death, Dorgun felt a chill in his heart, as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.
"Your Majesty, please send out the cavalry to cover the defeated troops!"
Hong Chengchou reminded him, his tone full of helplessness and defeat, as if his whole body had been drained of energy.
This kind of crushing momentum and fighting spirit, coupled with the fact that the three camps are only so big, no matter how many people are sent there, it is impossible to reverse the defeat.
This is like locking up a group of sheep and a group of wolves. No matter how many sheep there are, they will all end up being slaughtered by the wolves.
Dorgun also woke up from the shock. After giving the order, he looked at Hong Chengchou and said, "Sir, just an earthen wall and Han soldiers may not be able to stop the Ming army's attack!"
Duo Ergun could see it, how could Hong Chengchou not see it, let alone these Han soldiers, even if the Eight Banners and the Mongols were sent to defend together, it is estimated that they would not be able to withstand the Ming army's attack in the end.
So he nodded and said: "The three camps in the middle will probably not be able to hold on for long. Fortunately, it is getting late. As long as we hold on until dark, we will have time to reinforce and arrange the last three camps."
While the two were still talking, the traitor soldiers in the three camps in front finally began to collapse and ran backwards along the passage reserved in advance.
Some of the defeated soldiers panicked and jumped over the one-meter-high earth wall into the ditch, then climbed up and ran forward using their hands and feet.
Just as the Ming army was about to take advantage of the victory and pursue the enemy, the rumble of horse hooves was heard, and five thousand cavalrymen were crushing directly towards the gap one mile wide.
Although thousands of traitor soldiers were trampled to death, they also prevented the Ming army from pursuing them.
At this time, the sound of ringing gold also sounded, and the attacking Ming army collapsed like deflated rubber balls in the newly captured camp.
Looking around, I saw that the three camps were full of corpses and flesh and blood. The first half was almost stained red. The total number of corpses on both sides was no less than ten thousand, and more than half of them belonged to traitor soldiers.
It was only then that reinforcements from three battalions arrived.
This was not due to Zhu Cihong's command error, which resulted in the failure of follow-up reinforcements to attack in time, but because the three attacking battalions were too fierce and too fast.
They broke into the camp almost in one breath, and then directly killed the Qing army. They collapsed and fled without any pause in the process. It is not an exaggeration to describe it as flowing and destructive.
Zhu Cixiang's original plan was that after the three leading battalions invaded the opponent's camp, they would be firmly anchored near the earthen wall. After the subsequent three battalions arrived, they would attack the three battalions directly from the gap between the three camps.
After the two sides reached a stalemate, the last three battalions pressed forward to completely capture the three camps of Jiannu.
But the progress of the war was completely unexpected by Zhu Cixiang. It was obvious that compared to Duo Ergun and Hong Chengchou, Zhu Cixiang, the emperor, not only underestimated the army he had forged with his own hands, but also had a lower understanding of the combat effectiveness of his own army.
Go up against two of your opponents.
It is true that although Zhu Cixiang knew that his education according to some modern training and methods had transformed the Ming army, and its combat effectiveness was definitely very strong, he had no specific concept or understanding of how strong it would be.
The reason for this is that Zhu Cixiang has not experienced any bloody wars. He lacks a clear understanding and understanding of the powerful armies of ancient times. He does not have a clear understanding in his mind, so naturally he cannot make accurate comparisons.
Evaluate.
However, Hong Chengchou and Duo Ergun were able to roughly assess the Ming Army's combat power from the march and formation of the Ming Army, as well as the series of measures taken by Zhu Cihong, so they always maintained a safe distance from the Ming Army.
I never dared to let the cavalry charge into the formation by force.
Especially Hong Chengchou, when he learned that Zhu Cixi actually set up a martial arts hall, selected soldiers from the army to train as his direct disciples, and then sent them to various towns and armies to train and teach ordinary soldiers, he knew the combat effectiveness and fighting will of the Ming army today.
, I am afraid it has already surpassed Qi Jiajun.
The person who knows the most about the current combat effectiveness of the Ming army is undoubtedly the Red Lady. Not to mention Zhu Cihong, not even Hong Chengchou can compare with her.
But at this moment, Zhu Cixi finally had a clear understanding of how powerful his army of more than 200,000 was.
At the same time, I also deeply realized the principle of having good soldiers, not too many.
No, there is no intention to give Jiannu any chance to breathe, nor is he afraid of wolves in front of him or tigers in the back.
Immediately, the left army and the right army were asked to move the carriage forward and start to detour from the left and right wings, allowing the three leading battalions to rest in place while the medical soldiers treated the wounded.
The three reinforcement battalions immediately launched an attack on the three camps in the middle of Jiannu, trying to capture all nine of Jiannu's camps before dark.