Chapter 22 Luochuankou Offensive and Defensive Battle (1)
"Attention, everyone, the traitor soldiers are here." Cheng Jin put down the telescope in his hand and said to the soldiers in the regiment security squad beside him: "Inform the deputy regiment commander and chief of staff to prepare for battle."
Although the monocular telescope he used was not as good as Shang Yi's high-power binoculars from the 21st century, it was still enough to see objects five or six miles away, and the focus could be adjusted manually. In China of this era, it was also a
An extremely rare item, it is one of the most advanced telescopes in Europe.
With the use of monocular telescopes, coupled with the reconnaissance of soldiers from the reconnaissance battalion, the merchant soldiers can discover the traces of the enemy a considerable time in advance, gaining valuable preparation time for themselves. Unfortunately, the merchant army currently only has ten monocular telescopes in total.
, each group can only be assigned one.
But this time, before Cheng Jin discovered the Chuang army, the Shang army had already prepared for battle. After capturing Guangzhou, Shang Yi considered that the Chuang army would definitely come to recapture Guangzhou, so he sent out scouts.
Find a location to stop the invading army from Guangzhou to Xinyangzhou.
The place finally chosen is called Nachuangkou, which is located about fifteen miles west of Gwangju. It is a series of undulating hilly areas, and it is also the only way from Xinyang to Gwangju. The merchant army's defense line is built on three small hills. Although
These three hills are not too high, but they are relatively steep and easy to defend and difficult to attack.
The position of the merchant army still uses trenches, divided by a hill in the middle, into two front lines on the left and right. The end points of the trenches are two small hills facing the outside. The hills are formed to protrude forward, and the defense line is concave inward.
, spread out horizontally for about four to five hundred steps. Moreover, the dug trench was not a straight line, but a shallow dish-shaped curve, a bit like a mountain-shaped three-point-two-line structure.
Since there was enough time to build the position this time, the trench was dug deeper, reaching more than three feet and eight feet wide. Only more than one foot of cloth and earth bags were placed on the edge of the trench, and at the rear of the trench,
It is an artillery position, forming a double-layered defense line.
On the two defense lines on the left and right, three musketeers were deployed on each side. On the hills at both ends, a company of musketeers was deployed on each side. There were also four No. 2 Fran cannons to guard the two wings of the army.
Deputy regiment commander Cheng Gang and regiment chief of staff Zhao Yingjie commanded. On the artillery positions behind the left and right defense lines, four Hongyi cannons, three No. 1 Fran machine guns, three No. 3 Fran machine guns, and Tiger
Six squatting guns.
The small hill in the center of the defense line is also the command center of the entire defense line. Cheng Jin's regiment headquarters is also located here. There are two reconnaissance companies guarding the hill. The entire defense line has a total of more than 2,300 muskets.
, forty artillery pieces, and well-organized, making it stronger than the defense line in the previous battle.
This time was also the first time that the merchant army fought independently without Shang Yi. On the one hand, Shang Yi wanted to practice their independent combat capabilities, and on the other hand, the tactical arrangements for this battle were similar to the previous battle.
The experience from the previous battle makes it easier to command, so I took this opportunity to let them all experience it.
Therefore, the three generals of the third regiment were excited, excited, and a little nervous. They were also determined to hold on to their position this time and successfully complete this combat mission.
At this time, the men and horses of the invading army gradually appeared in the normal field of vision, and stopped in formation about 500 steps away from the merchant army's position. Cheng Jin looked at it from the top of the mountain, and felt quite ridiculous in his heart. It was probably the enemy.
I learned from the defeated soldiers last time that the Merchant Army’s artillery fire was very far away, so they didn’t dare to get too close. They felt it was absolutely safe when they were about five hundred steps away. And more than five hundred steps away, it was almost as close as the naked eye could see.
The ultimate distance.
However, the generals of the Chuang Army did not know that in fact, the range of the 2,000-jin Hongyi cannon could reach more than a thousand steps, and the range of the 1,000-jin Hongyi cannon could reach 800 to 1,000 steps; the No. 1 Folang Machine
The range of the artillery can also reach 600 to 800 steps, and the range of the No. 2 Franco machine gun is between 400 and 600. Therefore, the distance where the Chuang Army is located is still within the range of some artillery strikes of the Merchant Army.
, but Cheng Jin obeyed Shang Yi's order and in order to cooperate with the flanking attacking troops, the Hongyi artillery and the No. 1 Folan cannon were not fired for the time being.
At this time, the Chuang Army began to launch an attack. This time, the direction of the Chuang Army's attack was on the left line. There were 5,000 troops dispatched, all of which were miscellaneous infantry. From this point of view, the Chuang Army and the Qing Army
There are similarities. When encountering an opponent whose details are unknown, first let the cannon fodder go up to the bottom to test the enemy's strength.
Cheng Jin saw it very clearly, and immediately ordered the flag bearer to hoist a flag on the hilltop on the left, telling them that the enemy had launched an attack since the war. At the same time, he raised his arms and used the distance measurement method taught by Shang Yi to calculate the arrival of the invading army.
distance. Although this distance measurement method is relatively primitive and has a relatively large error, it can basically measure a rough distance.
When the intruders reached a distance of about 300 steps from the position, Cheng Jin ordered the artillery fire. Since the Hongyi cannon could not be activated, and the Tiger Crouching Cannon could not reach the distance, there were only three guns and one gun placed on the left line.
No. 2 Fran cannon, four No. 2 Fran cannons, and three No. 3 Fran cannons, a total of ten artillery were fired together, and the huge roar immediately shook the entire wilderness.
A cannonball whizzed past and hit the head of an intruder soldier who was charging at the front. It immediately shattered the soldier's head. Without even a grunt, the headless corpse fell to the ground.
Before the soldiers behind him could tell what was going on, they were knocked down in large rows by the unabated shells.
Although the Merchant Army only had ten artillery pieces activated, the infantry formation was more dense, and because the Chuang Army was only attacking the front line, although the troops could be concentrated, it was difficult to spread them out in a wide area, so the depth of the entire team was very large. Here,
In this case, although the artillery uses solid bullets, its lethality is naturally greater.
Some intruders were hit in the body by artillery shells, with blood spurting from the mouth and cracked bones. Their limbs were also torn apart even if they were grazed by artillery shells.
A large piece of skin and flesh. Ten artillery shells blasted open ten bloody alleys in the formation of the intruders, and in the trajectory of the cannonballs passing by, only a long strip of flesh and blood was left, covered with stumps and broken arms.
Come out through the passage.
There were also soldiers who were not injured but not dead. They were rolling in pain on the ground and letting out lung-piercing screams. The soldiers around them who were lucky enough not to be shot were also frightened and trembled.
Has.
Cheng Jin put down the monocular in his hand and was very satisfied with the results of the first round of bombardment. Although he was only nineteen years old, he had been following Shang Yi in continuous battles for more than half a year, and he was used to the battlefield.
He was unmoved by the killing scene and ordered the gunners to continue firing.
The Folan cannon is a breech-loaded belt gun, and its firing speed is much faster than other artillery. Although the Merchant Army has used fixed ammunition, the Hongyi artillery can only fire once a minute at the fastest, while the Folan cannon can only fire once a minute at the fastest.
The Lang cannon can fire three times in two minutes. If the gunner is skilled in operation, it can fire almost twice in one minute.
As the ten artillery pieces fired continuously, they ruthlessly smashed all the shells at the rebel army. Each round of shelling was able to kill at least about 150 soldiers of the rebel army.
They were all over the country. However, the military discipline of the Chuang army was also quite strict. They were sent to fight by miscellaneous soldiers, and all the troops were supervising the battle behind them. Anyone who escaped from the battle would not be spared. Therefore, although the Chuang army suffered a heavy blow, they were still able to survive for a while.
No one dared to escape without permission, so they had no choice but to rush forward, hoping to pass the artillery attack early and get close to the Ming army for combat.
After six or seven consecutive rounds of shelling, the casualties of the intruders had exceeded a thousand people, and the entire formation was in chaos. Moreover, behind the large group of people who continued to advance towards the Merchant Army's position, a large number of corpses were left behind.
Soldiers who were not yet dead, wailing and struggling on the ground.
However, at this time, the Chuang army was less than a hundred steps away from the merchant army. After at most two or three rounds of artillery fire, they could rush to the Ming army's formation and engage in a head-to-head fight with the Ming army. Moreover, the distance was now one or two.
The Franco cannons had no choice but to stop firing in the blind spot, which made many soldiers feel that they saw hope and stepped up their pace of advancement.
But this glimmer of hope only flashed by, and was immediately shattered. Because at this time, Yi Jing entered the musket shooting range of the Merchant Army, and with a roar like a row of exploding beans, there were also six tigers kicking
The artillery also began to fire. Bullets and artillery shells were like hailstones, hitting the intruders overwhelmingly. A large number of the intruders immediately fell down in the formation.
Far exceeding the previous artillery strike strength.
When the previous artillery was fired, there was always a little buffer time between each round of shelling, which allowed the intruders to adjust themselves. If they were smart, they would take advantage of this gap to seize the time and move forward after the shelling.
They rushed forward, and when they thought they were about to get there, they fell down on the ground and waited for the bombardment before getting up and moving forward. However, after the muskets started firing, there were rounds after rounds, continuously, and there was no room for relaxation in the middle.
The soldiers of the invading army fell down in rows and rows without stopping at all. The number of casualties of the invading army immediately began to increase rapidly.
At the same time, the No. 3 Fran machine cannon and the Tiger Crouching Cannon were also replaced with more powerful shotguns. After each bombardment, a large number of soldiers would be swept away. Only the intruders were only a few meters away from the Merchant Army's position.
At a distance of sixty or seventy steps, it was almost impossible to move forward. A large number of corpses were piled up in this area, and blood began to spread on the ground, adding a few more to the already very hot air.
The hot, warm air is mixed with the smell of blood, making you just want to feel sick.