Chapter 45: Internal and external attack, the center blooms (1)
The Second Regiment of the Merchant Army, under the command of commander Zhou Shaohuan, deputy commander Tong Dayong, and chief of staff Huang Zhen, has been guarding the position in Wandian Town for two days.
In these two days, in addition to the first day when the military firearms troops launched a separate attack on the southern front, they tried to use firearms to make firearms, but they were defeated by the merchant army and turned into a civil war.
Then Li Zicheng also changed his strategy and launched an attack from all sides at the same time as the Merchant Army's positions, and did not hesitate to use handymen to consume the Merchant Army's ammunition. The battle began to become fierce.
In two days, the Chuang army launched a tidal wave of attacks on the Merchant Army's positions from all sides at all costs. The Merchant Army, under the command of Zhou Shaohuan, Tong Dayong, and Huang Zhen, used artillery, muskets, grenades and other weapons
, formed a fierce firepower network, severely hitting the offensive of the intruders, and repelled the intruders again and again.
However, although the firepower of the Merchant Army was fierce, the number of the Chuang Army was too large, and under the harsh military orders of the Chuang Army, they attacked upward as if they were not afraid of death, one after another, continuously. Therefore, the battle was very fierce.
On the four lines of defense, there were times when the intruders approached the dangerous distance of twenty or thirty steps from the defense line. Three or four times, the intruders managed to get within ten steps of the defense line. Fortunately, the three generals were still very calm and made full use of their reserve forces.
The role of the enemy constantly made up for the gaps in the defense line, so the danger was finally saved time and time again.
During the battle, the Chuang Army twice sent out elite troops to try to launch a strong attack, but neither of them worked. In the most dangerous time, a small number of Chuang Army soldiers even broke into the Merchant Army's position.
They started a hand-to-hand battle with the Merchant Army, and in the main formation of the Chuang Army, there were already reinforcements ready. Fortunately, Zhou Shaohuan immediately mobilized thirty Thunder Guns and two companies of spearmen to attack the invading army.
The intruders in the position carried out a series of intensive attacks, and at the same time used thunderbolt rockets to hit the main formation of the intruders, which delayed the time for them to send reinforcements. Only then did they finally stabilize their position and defended the position again.
At dusk of the next day, after another day of fierce fighting, the invading army finally retreated in vain again. At this time, corpses were piled up all over the battlefield, blood was flowing all over the earth, and there were corpses everywhere.
Limbs and arms were broken, and the entire air was filled with the disgusting smell of blood and the choking smell of thiophane.
Although the musketeers of the Merchant Army only had to stand in the trenches and shoot, and did not have to rush up and down, they were exhausted after two days of almost non-stop fierce fighting, and the invaders were large in number and could take turns to attack. The Merchant Army
It is difficult for the army to rest, and there is almost no time to eat and drink water. It is only when the attacks of the army are replaced that they can get a little breathing space, eat a few mouthfuls of dry food, and drink a few mouthfuls of water. If they had not suffered
Shang Yi might not be able to survive the rigorous training. At this time, the physical strength and energy of the soldiers were almost at their limit. They were sitting or lying in a twisted shape in the trenches, resting on the position. Everyone's face was
On the bed, the gunpowder smoked all over his body like black carbon, and the sweat flowed out, making his face black and white, resulting in a painted face.
After the truce, Zhou Shaohuan also came out of the bell tower and took a look around the battlefield. He saw that although the soldiers were tired, their morale had not diminished at all, and their morale was still high enough to fight. On the one hand, he ordered military doctors to treat the wounded, and then ordered The soldiers took turns eating and resting. Soldiers were also placed on sentry duty to prevent intruders from attacking at night.
After handling these matters, Zhou Shaohuan returned to the bell tower and summoned the other two generals to discuss tomorrow's battle.
Zhou Shaohuan asked: "How many casualties do we have today?"
Tong Dayong said: "A total of 213 people were killed today, and 47 people were injured, temporarily losing combat effectiveness. Including yesterday's casualties, we lost a total of 255 people, and 73 people were injured. .One hundred and seventy-six of them are musketeers, but the musketeers can choose people from the pikemen to make up for it, so it will have little impact on our battle tomorrow."
Zhou Shaohuan nodded. Although the battles in the past two days were fierce, because the Merchant Army focused on long-range strikes, overall, the losses suffered were not large. He turned around and asked Huang Zhen: "Are there many problems with artillery and guns? What about gunpowder? How much more is there?”
Huang Zhen said: "There are no major problems with the artillery. They can all be used tomorrow. There are more than 80 muskets that have problems, but basically they can be repaired. As for ammunition, there are still plenty of artillery shells and gun shells, but there are only 500 grenades left. There are many, and there are not many Thunderbolt rocket launchers left."
Tong Dayong frowned and said: "Thunderbolt rocket launchers are okay, but grenades are very useful in close combat. The remaining quantity will definitely not be enough tomorrow. Once they are all used up, we may We are under tremendous pressure. Tomorrow’s battle will not be easy. It seems like I should have brought more with me."
Zhou Shaohuan said: "Our entire army only has a total of more than 4,000 grenades, and 2,500 were distributed to us, which is not a small amount. We have consumed a lot in the past two days, but the casualties of the rebels are also small." Small, so tomorrow the bandits may not be able to launch an attack as strong as today. Moreover, my lord also said that he will definitely be able to lead his army to arrive in three days at the latest. Tomorrow is the third day, and I believe that your lord will definitely do it as scheduled. Come to rescue us, so don’t worry about tomorrow’s battle. Before you come, we must hold our position and never take a step back."
Tong Dayong said: "Don't worry about this, we will definitely be able to hold our position."
Huang Zhen also said: "Yes, even if we fight until the last person is left, we will never take a step back."
After withdrawing his troops, Li Zicheng also returned to the camp. Not long after, Liu Zongmin, Tian Jianxiu, and Li Guo also came to the camp to report to Li Zicheng the situation on the other three fronts.
In fact, there is no need to report in detail. The situation on the four fronts is actually similar. Under the tenacious blocking of the Merchant Army, they attacked for two consecutive days, but the Chuang Army did not make any progress. The Merchant Army still firmly defended this small area. On the position, not moving at all.
In these two days, the casualties suffered by the invading army can definitely be described as heavy. The entire army lost a total of more than 22,000 people, of which 2,500 were personal guards and elite troops of the fifth battalion. , and more than 3,000 people were injured and basically lost their combat effectiveness. This means that the combat attrition of the Chuang Army has reached more than 25,000 people, accounting for almost half of the entire army.
Although most of the casualties were casualties, Li Zicheng felt that such casualties were a bit unbearable. Judging from the situation at the end of the day, the resistance of the Merchant Army did not seem to have decreased much, and the firepower was still fierce.
, I really don’t know how much ammunition they still have. At the same time, most of the soldiers who went out to fight this time have been injured or killed, and there are only a few thousand left. I’m afraid they won’t have much effect tomorrow, and among the soldiers, everyone
Everyone complained, saying that King Chuang had risked his own death in vain. If he forcibly ordered the soldiers to attack tomorrow, it would probably cause a collective mutiny among the soldiers.
And if we don’t use the handymen, then tomorrow we can only use the guards and the elite troops of the fifth battalion to attack. But looking at the current situation, tomorrow’s attack will probably not end well. In the case of the Merchant Army,
In the face of long-range strike tactics, the difference between elites and handymen is actually not that big. But if it was the personal guards and the elite troops of the fifth battalion suffered such heavy losses, Li Zicheng would not be able to bear it.
Therefore, although the main generals and counselors of the entire army were sitting together, they were silent and no one could come up with a good idea.
After a long time, Tian Jianxiucai said: "King Chuang, I think it would be better to transfer some more troops from Xiangyang. I don't believe that their gunpowder will never be used up."
Li Zicheng shook his head and said: "Now the Ming army has sent out reinforcements to rescue this merchant army. Although we have deployed blocking troops, I am afraid we will not be able to support it for a few days. After they defeat the blocking troops, we will kill them."
When we get to Wandian Town, and cooperate with the merchant army inside and outside, we may be unable to resist. And if we mobilize people and horses from Xiangyang, it will take at least three or four days to go back and forth. I'm afraid it will be too late."
Tian Jianxiu thought for a while and realized that this was indeed the truth. At this time, Gu Junen spoke again: "King Chuang, in my opinion, since we cannot defeat this merchant army, it is better to retreat as soon as possible and go north to capture Guanzhong."
As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Zongmin couldn't help shouting: "What? We have spent so much effort and killed so many brothers, can we just forget it and walk away?"
Gu Jun'en said: "What if we forget about it?"
Liu Zongmin said: "Let's continue fighting tomorrow. If the handymen are gone, we will use the soldiers of the fifth battalion. If the soldiers of the fifth battalion are gone, we will use the soldiers of the personal guards. If the soldiers of the personal guards are gone, I will
Lao Liu took the risk and went into battle himself."
Li Yan shook his head and said: "As General Liu said, it can only increase casualties and will not help the situation. Take it if it is feasible, and retreat if it is not. What is the use of troops? In the past, we opened the seal three times.
, that’s it. What’s more, the Ming army’s reinforcements are about to arrive. If we insist on attacking forcefully, we may be defeated right now!”
Li Zicheng nodded. Of course he did not agree with Liu Zongmin's recklessness, but he felt a little unwilling to ask him to withdraw his troops now, so he asked again: "Mr. Li, do you have any good ideas?"
Li Yan said: "King Chuang, in my opinion, we should withdraw our troops as soon as possible as Mr. Gu said. There should be no delay."
Li Zicheng thought for a while and found that he really had no good solution. He said: "Okay, let's fight another day tomorrow. Send out the personal guards and five battalions of troops to attack with all our strength. If we still can't defeat the Merchant Army's position, then withdraw our troops immediately."
Li Yan and Gu Junen finally breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that Li Zicheng had finally been persuaded. At this moment, a soldier suddenly rushed into the camp and said: "Report to the intruders, something bad has happened. The North Camp was attacked by the Ming army."