Chapter 151 Attacking Yangzhou - Battle in the Rain (Part 2)
But at this moment, an unexpected thing happened. The front row of soldiers of the Qing cavalry who were charging at full speed suddenly "splashed" and "splashed", and all fell below the ground level, as if the earth suddenly cracked a big hole. - And many Qing soldiers rushed to squeezing the horses, which also made the horses neighed quickly. Although the forelimbs were lifted up like a man, their hind legs could not stop moving forward.
Of course, the earth would not crack. What blocked the Qing army was actually the trenches dug by the merchant army. This time, the merchant army dug the trenches very wide, at most 16 feet. Because of the rain and water accumulation, all the soldiers of the merchant army evacuated the trenches and retreated to the Sheep and Horse Wall after retreating to the Sheep and Horse Wall to defend. The trenches were not completely useless, but instead became protective trenches in front of the Sheep and Horse Wall.
If it is normal, the distance between 100 and 100 and 100 feet is not difficult to resist the war horses. Most war horses can jump past with the inertia of running at full speed. But the problem is that there is a wall of mattresses more than two feet high on the side of the trench. The soldiers of the merchant army are evacuating the trench, but the wall of mattresses has not been removed.
Of course, under normal circumstances, a two-foot-high earthen cloth bag wall cannot block the war horse. Even a dog can easily jump over it, but it is different from the trench that is ten or six feet wide behind it, because the war horse must jump over the trench while jumping through the trench, which is equivalent to adding a hurdle in front of the running and long jump, and it must exert force at the same time and forward. Moreover, it is raining now, and the war horses push the ground and exert force greatly. As a result, although the Qing soldiers leaped over the earthen cloth bag wall, they could not reach the opposite side of the trench and could only fall into the trench.
Fortunately, the deepest part of the trench was only seven or eight feet, and there was not much water accumulation, so I would not die. However, new people continued to fall into the trench. As a result, before the people in front got up, they were immediately knocked down and pressed down by later generations. They were dizzy and broken and fractured, which was inevitable.
At the trenches, although many Qing soldiers tried their best to squeeze their horses, many people fell into the trenches because of their inertia. Of course, some Qing soldiers stopped but were knocked into the trenches by their companions rushing from behind.
All this happened in a flash. The seemingly unstoppable cavalry charge of the Qing army was stopped by a combination of a small wall and a trench, and stopped in silence. It was impossible to cross the merchant army position that was close to the close.
But the soldiers of the merchant army did not watch the fun. They raised their muskets, regardless of the three-row platoon shooting. Anyway, they used their fastest speed to shoot at the Qing cavalry who were only more than ten steps away from them. At the same time, thirty organ machines also began to show their power, spraying the bullets on the Qing soldiers. Because the distance between the two sides is too close now, and the purses are crowded in the trenches, and there is almost no need to aim at them. As long as they fire in the forward, they will not be hit.
At this time, the Qing army cavalry could only watch the enemy shoot at them, and even every move of the soldiers of the Merchant Army, clearing the chamber, filling the bullets, pressing the chamber, installing fire hats, and shooting. Even between these more than ten steps, a small wall and a trench was powerless.
Although many Qing soldiers threw their spears out like javelins, the soldiers of the Merchant Army had covered the walls of sheep and horses, and not many were exposed, so their actual lethality was limited. The Qing army was beaten to the ground, and the tragic neighing of the war horses, the wailing of the soldiers, and the sound of the people and horses falling to the ground, all of which were concentrated. The Qing army, who had previously fallen into the trench because they could not hold back the rush, became lucky at this time. Although they were in mud and water, at least they didn't have to be shot.
In fact, only two or three minutes passed at most, but in this short period of time, most of the Qing cavalry were killed and injured. When the rest saw that the momentum was wrong, they all pulled their horses and retreated. However, a low wall of people and corpses was left by the trench. The blood quickly dyed the earth red. At this time, although the rain gradually became heavier, the strong smell of blood was endlessly wet even the dense rain, and with the rain, it spread infinitely on the ground, and a considerable part of it rushed into the trench.
At this time, the infantry following the cavalry attacked was still two or three hundred steps away from the position of the merchant army. They were very excited when they saw their cavalry about to enter the merchant army's territory, and they didn't realize that their feet were tightening and they all started jogging. But suddenly, they found that the cavalry had retreated, and they felt inexplicable, not knowing what had happened, and they didn't know whether they should continue to attack or retreat with the cavalry.
But just when the Qing army was stunned, all the artillery of the merchant army had completed a new round of filling, and another roar occurred, spraying large patches of shotguns at the Qing army. The retreating cavalry, at a loss, were immediately killed and injured. The courage of the infantry disappeared with this attack, and withdrew with the cavalry. The five thousand cavalry who went out to fight were defeated and returned to their original formation, less than two thousand.
After Duoduo learned of the dramatic changes in the battle from the defeated cavalry, he couldn't help but be stunned on the podium for a while, unable to say a word, and he seemed to be wooden. Hong Chengchou held the railing with his hand and stared at the opposite side from afar. Who would have thought that this battle would be defeated like this. It was both incredible, and he had to admire Shang Yi's calculations so accurately.
After a while, Hong Chengchou said: "Prince Yu, the rain is getting heavier and heavier now. I think we might as well withdraw our troops temporarily and make plans."
Duoduo stayed for a while, finally nodded, and said mutely: "Send the order, stop the troops."
In fact, after the Qing army retreated, Shang Yi estimated that the Qing army must withdraw its troops today, so he had ordered the clearance of the close-range battlefield. First of all, of course, the Qing soldiers and horses in the trench naturally became prisoners of the Shang army, and then collected the horses without owners or slightly injured on the battlefield. After seeing the Qing army withdrawing troops one after another, they began to clean up the bodies, collect supplies, and count the results of the battle.
The final statistics are that in this battle, more than 8,600 Qing soldiers were killed, more than 300 prisoners were captured, and 212 war horses and more than 20,000 other swords, spears, weapons and flags were harvested. The merchant army itself only killed 34 people in battle, and more than 50 others were injured. The Qing army's plan to attack in the rain was also declared completely failed.
Just after the Qing army withdrew, the rain stopped for a day and a night. The Qing army's attack was defeated twice in a row. As today's victory also greatly increased the morale of the entire army. The entire Yangzhou city was full of joy, and the whole city was circulating news of the victory of the merchant army. At the same time, tens of thousands of people came out of the city to comfort the soldiers who defeated the Qing army.
Shi Kefa was also full of elegance. He walked around the battlefield regardless of his mud, and watched the soldiers of the merchant army and the people of Yangzhou get along so harmoniously, and his heart was filled with emotion. If the Ming army could be like this, then would it have fallen to this point today?
Just as Shi Kefa was thinking, Liu Zhaoji, Zhuang Zigu and other generals of the Ming army also came to him. It turned out that the merchant army had defeated the Qing army twice in a row. The people in the city praised the merchant army's reputation. Even if the merchant army was an ordinary soldier, as long as they walked around in Yangzhou, at least twenty people would express their gratitude to him. Ten hotels invited him to have a meal for free, five merchants and auxiliary merchants delivered things, and three media protection.
It is also considered that the generals and soldiers of the Ming army are envious. Everyone is in the army. Why can they be praised by the people? When they see themselves, they are like seeing the plague god, and they are too afraid to avoid it. It is not because they have worked hard with the Qing army for several battles, and after a series of previous propaganda and mobilization, and the leading demonstration role of the merchant army, most of the Ming army soldiers have also aroused a lot of blood and want to fight with the Qing army, and they are proud.
But in these two battles, the soldiers of the Shang Army were all the soldiers, so the soldiers of the Ming army were a little unable to sit still. They asked Liu Zhaoji and Zhuang Zigu to come forward to find Shi Kefa, and let themselves fight in the next battle.
After hearing the purpose of Liu Zhaoji and Zhuang Zigu, Shi Kefa was also very happy. This was also called military morale available, and he also hoped that the Ming army under his command could perform some things. Therefore, he also brought them to Shang Yi.
At this time, Shang Yi was looking at the map in the big tent. Seeing Shi Kefa and the other three coming, Shang Yi immediately greeted him and said with a smile: "Supervisor, I just received the news that we have recovered Fengyang. It seems that the time to defeat the Qing emperor is not far away."
Shi Kefa, of course, knew that Feng Yang’s location was important, and couldn’t help but be very excited and said, “Is this news true?”
Shang Yi said: "It was Luo Yuanbin, Li Dingguo, Duan Peng and the others who worked together to regain Fengyang." Then he briefly told them about the regaining Fengyang.
Shi Kefa then fully believed it and said, "According to Heng's opinion, will the Qing emperor retreat?"
Shang Yi thought for a while and said, "I don't think the Qing throne would retreat so easily. I guess they would still make a desperate move to launch a final attack on Yangzhou. Only when this attack fails will they withdraw their troops wholeheartedly."
Shi Kefa nodded and was about to speak again, when Liu Zhaoji also looked at him fiercely and felt it was also awkward, so he told Shang Yi about Liu Zhaoji and Zhuang Zigu's intention to fight.
Shang Yi thought for a while and said, "Governor Liu, General Zhuang, I am naturally welcome if you can kill the enemy. Then when the Qing barbarians come to attack Yangzhou again next time, we will fight side by side and defeat the Qing barbarians together."