Chapter 40: The decisive battle against Li Zicheng
Because the mission of the Second Regiment is very important this time, it will take about two to three days to defend the position alone. If an unexpected situation occurs, the holding time may be extended, so Shang Yi also added a lot of additional equipment to them. In terms of artillery,
Except for the heavy and difficult-to-move Hongyi cannon, the No. 1 Fran cannons were all left in Gwangju. They only carried No. 2 Fran cannons, eight No. 3 Fran cannons, and twelve Tiger Crouching cannons, for a total of twenty-eight pieces.
Each gun is equipped with one hundred and sixty rounds of artillery shells.
In addition, all the rocket launchers in the army were also allocated to half of the second regiment, as well as 2,400 grenades. Each musketeer was equipped with 200 rounds of ammunition. Five musketeers and five medics were also assigned to them.
In addition, they also brought five days' rations. The configuration of firepower and ammunition was almost doubled. In addition, they were equipped with three telescopes.
The abandoned Zhuangzi that Zhou Shaohuan chose as a defensive position was not big. It was basically in the shape of a square, with the length of each side between fifty and sixty steps. However, this was also conducive to shrinking his troops for defense. Although the village wall collapsed a lot,
However, it is completely feasible to use it as a shooting bunker. At the same time, in order to strengthen Zhuangzi's defense, Zhou Shaohuan dug many prismatic trenches outside the village wall, and together with the village wall, formed a three-dimensional defensive front.
Moreover, there are three wells in Zhuangzi, and the water supply can be guaranteed to be sufficient. This is what Shang Yi specifically asked him to do. In fact, many siege battles did not last, not because of lack of food or because the army could not resist, but because the water source was cut off. Moreover,
The cooling of the gun barrel also requires water, so the water source for the defensive position must be guaranteed.
Zhou Shaohuan set up the regiment headquarters on the bell tower in the middle of Zhuangzi, which is the tallest building in the village. He, Tong Dayong, and Huang Zhen commanded the overall situation and allocated troops here. The two musketry battalions of the second regiment were assigned to guard Zhuangzi.
There are two companies on each side of the southeast, northwest, and four hundred and twenty-four men. The artillery battalion's musketry company, the scout company, and the pike battalion are all reserve forces. Among the twenty-eight artillery pieces, eight are No. 3
Fran cannons and eight No. 2 Fran cannons were allocated to the four sides, with two on each side. The remaining twelve tiger squatting cannons were all used as reserve artillery because of the convenience of operation. At the same time, each side was equipped with
Four hundred grenades were allocated to each. The remaining 800 grenades and rocket launchers were all left in Zhuangzi and will be allocated and mobilized according to the progress of the war.
After everything was arranged, Li Zicheng's army also surrounded them.
It turns out that in response to Li Yan's plan to separate the Merchant Army, Li Zicheng did formulate a tactic of luring the enemy in-depth and then working together to encircle and annihilate them. Watching the Second Regiment of the Merchant Army being lured step by step from Guangzhou to Xinyang, and then from Xinyang to De'an Prefecture,
Li Zicheng thought he had a plan and was very happy. He immediately dispatched his troops to ambush near Suizhou, planning to launch an attack when the merchant army attacked Suizhou. He would surround and annihilate the merchant army before they had time to set up their positions.
Unexpectedly, after the merchant army entered De'an Prefecture, they did not continue to attack Suizhou. Instead, they stopped at Wanhe Town and were actually setting up positions again, preparing to hold on for a long time. This completely ruined Li Zicheng's ambush plan. At the same time, Li Zicheng
He also understood that Shang Yi had probably seen through his plan.
However, this merchant army went deep alone after all, so although the ambush was not completed, Li Zicheng did not intend to give up this opportunity. He immediately ordered all people to come out of the ambush position, fight to Wanhe Town, and surround the merchant army.
We must destroy the Merchant Army before the reinforcements arrive. Even if it means paying a heavy price, we will not hesitate. At least we can break the myth that the Merchant Army does not need to be defeated.
Therefore, Li Zicheng also dispatched his entire army and stationed 50,000 troops in Wanhe Town to besiege the merchant army. At the same time, he sent the mighty general Li Shuangxi to guard Yingshan, the mighty general Xin Sizhong to guard Pingjingguan, and General Guo Yi to guard Chushan Town.
Block reinforcements. The biggest battle between the merchant army and Li Zicheng
"Oops...Oops." Zhou Shaohuan put down the telescope in his hand and couldn't help but change his face.
Tong Dayong and Huang Zhen hurried over, and Tong Dayong said: "Shaohuan, what's wrong?"
Zhou Shaohuan pointed to the south, smiled bitterly, and said, "See for yourselves. I never thought there were artillery among the rebel army."
After hearing this, the two of them were both surprised. They quickly took out their telescopes and looked in the direction of Zhou Shaohuan's finger. Sure enough, they saw Chuang Jun picking, lifting, pushing or moving, and pushed out thirty or forty doors.
Artillery. This was beyond the expectations of the three of them. Although Shang Yi considered many possible situations when he sent the second regiment to complete this task, he did not expect that the invading army would also use artillery. Shang Yi
After all, he was an ordinary person, so it was impossible for him to get that far. Moreover, after checking the historical data, there was no record of the Chuang army using firearms in combat.
This was precisely the reason why Li Zicheng was confident that he would destroy this army before reinforcements from the Merchant Army arrived. It was also largely based on the firearms force he had temporarily formed. Under Guangzhou City, Li Zicheng did not dispatch any troops.
This team, at this time, finally dispatched this team. This was also the first time that the Chuang army used firearms in large groups on the battlefield.
The firearms force of the Chuang Army had a total of thirty-seven artillery pieces, large and small, and more than 2,000 muskets. The chief general was Dong Liang. There were more than 4,000 people in the whole army, all of whom were Ming officers and soldiers who surrendered to the Chuang Army.
Because the Merchant Army mainly relied on firearms in combat, Zhou Shaohuan, Tong Dayong, and Huang Zhen were all well aware of the power of artillery. When they saw more than 30 large and small artillery pieces suddenly launched from King Chuang's formation, Xi was completely unprepared and couldn't help but panic.
There was chaos. Huang Zhen's voice was trembling a little as he said, "The rebels also have so many artillery pieces. What should we do? Can we still hold on here?"
At this time, Zhou Shaohuan took a deep breath and kept reminding himself to calm down. At the same time, he also remembered Shang Yi's final words to them: Situations on the battlefield are changing rapidly, and it is impossible for me to predict all situations.
So once an unforeseen situation occurs, you have to make your own decisions. Remember, you must make a decision quickly and never hesitate at all. Even if it is not the best decision, as long as it is made
, it is always better than making no decision at all. You must trust your own judgment.
Among the several teenagers in the small mountain village, Zhou Shaohuan is the oldest and the only one who can read and write. Although he and Shang Yi have known each other for less than a year, in his heart, he regards Shang Yi as his own.
As a division commander, he was both respected and convinced. In terms of behavior, he was imitating Shang Yi's image intentionally or unintentionally. So he immediately said loudly: "Don't panic, what's so great about the rebel army having artillery? Remember that we are guarding Muling"
During the pass? Didn't the Tatars also use artillery? Didn't we also defeat the Tatar artillery? Although the rebels also use artillery now, there is nothing to be afraid of. Huang Zhen, pass the order to the northwest and east
All the artillery on three sides have been moved to the south. Dayong, you personally go to the south formation to take command, bring all the tiger cannons over, and reassure the soldiers, telling them to be careful about hiding, but not to be afraid of the enemy's artillery.
We must believe that the artillery of our merchant army must be stronger than that of the bandit army."
At this time, both Tong Dayong and Huang Zhen were at a loss. When they saw Zhou Shaohuan issuing an order, they both had no time to think about it carefully and hurriedly made their own arrangements. After the two left, Zhou Shaohuan also let out a long breath and asked Guangzhou's people.
Looking in the direction, he said silently: "Sir, I don't know if what I am doing is right, but this is the only way I can come up with. What would you do if you were here?
As the intruder statue position approached, the soldiers stationed in the south also discovered that more than 30 artillery pieces of various types were launched from the intruder formation. Because this situation came too suddenly, and there were only four artillery pieces in the south.
Therefore, the soldiers couldn't help but panic. Fortunately, Tong Dayong rushed to the southern front with twelve squatting tiger cannons at this time, and immediately deployed the squatting tiger cannons on the position.
With the addition of these twelve tiger squatting guns, the soldiers guarding the southern front felt a little more confident. At the same time, Tong Dayong also tried his best to cheer up the soldiers guarding the southern front, making them believe that the Merchant Army had always been a warrior.
Invincible, one's own artillery will definitely be able to defeat the rebels' artillery.
Because the Merchant Army had binoculars, they were able to detect the movements of the Chuang Army much in advance, thus gaining a lot of time for their own adjustments. In addition, the artillery of the Chuang Army were basically small and medium-sized artillery, with a range of only two to three hundred paces.
However, the main formation of the Chuang Army is still thousands of steps away. It will take some time to get from the main formation to the range of the artillery. This is a precious period of time that also gives the Merchant Army ample opportunity to rearrange.
. Before the artillery of the Chuang Army entered the firing range, the artillery of the Western and Eastern Fronts were also concentrated on the Southern Front. Only the Northern Front was farther away and had not yet been transported.
However, Yi Jing could not wait any longer at this time, because the No. 2 Fo Lang machine gun still had a certain range, which could reach 400 to 600 steps. At this time, the artillery of the invading army basically entered this range with Yi Jing. And they took the lead in attacking
The enemy's attack will also be of great help to improve the morale of the own army and enhance the confidence of the soldiers. Therefore, after the six No. 2 Franco machine guns were ready for loading, Tong Dayong, who visited the southern front in person,
He also immediately gave the order to start shooting.
"Boom-boom-boom-boom-" After several loud noises, the merchant army really took the lead and launched an artillery attack on the opponent.
Although only six artillery were fired this time, the artillery of the Merchant Army was equipped with crosshairs, and the artillery troops of the Chuang Army were also very dense. After the six rounds were fired, five of them hit the target, and two of the artillery shells hit the target.
It also hit three or four soldiers who were invading the army in succession. One of them actually hit an artillery piece. Although it had a cast iron body, the artillery was still hit and dented a hole. Obviously, it could not
Use it no more.
The soldiers of the Merchant Army also cheered in unison, congratulating their comrades on the victory achieved by the first shelling.