However, Shang Yi also saw clearly from experience that although this small group of people are brave and brave, they have no overall organization. Although they cannot be said to fight independently, they have no structure at all. They are just like a swarm of bees, among the thieves. They killed and invaded indiscriminately, relying only on their personal force to fight against the thieves.
Generally speaking, when a small number of troops are besieged by a majority of troops, they will either form a circular formation and wait for reinforcements. If there are no reinforcements, when choosing to break out, they must form a conical formation, with fierce arrows as arrows, and be protected by other soldiers. On both sides of him, the entire army formed an arrow shape, cooperating with each other to charge outwards.
In this small group of people trapped in the bandit formation, although there was also a fierce general, the others did not follow him closely to protect his two threats. Instead, they rushed forward to kill each other. As a result, it turned out that It seemed that everyone was working hard, but this not only dispersed their own strength, but also prevented this fierce general from fully displaying his abilities. On the contrary, it caused mutual restraint. Therefore, while Shang Yi was observing for a while, there were several people in the small group. The man was knocked off his horse by the bandit soldiers and died tragically on the spot.
At this time, Shang Yi also estimated that although his total military strength was only more than 300 people, it was more than enough to deal with the five to six hundred bandits. Therefore, he immediately ordered the entire army to attack as a whole.
At that moment, the Muling army immediately formed a formation, with the cavalry on both sides, the infantry in the middle, the spearmen in the front, the musketeers in the second, and the archers in the back. Then they marched side by side in the direction of the battlefield.
At this time, the bandits were trying their best to encircle and annihilate this small group of people. They found that a group of people suddenly appeared, so everyone was a little surprised, and unconsciously the siege of the small group of people was relaxed a lot. Although this small group of people did not have much But after all, everyone was brave. Now that I felt the pressure was relieved, I immediately became energetic. The strong man who was leading the spear wielded a spear, and he fought hard and finally cut a bloody path from the group of thieves. , led the others to break out of the tight encirclement.
The bandits didn't care to chase them at this time, and all focused on the Muling Army. But now they also discovered that the number of the Muling Army was not large, only about half of their own, so they were all larger. To feel reassured, they also began to approach Muling's army and come up to fight.
Seeing the bandits taking the initiative to fight, the Mu Ling Army immediately stopped their advance and stood ready. When the bandits were a hundred steps away from them, the spearmen in the front row knelt down on the ground, and the soldiers in the second row knelt down. The musketeer also touched the ground with one leg and half knelt down. The forty longbowmen in the back row lined up and opened their bows and arrows at the bandit soldiers.
The arrows shot out of the air and shot down more than a dozen bandits in a row. However, they could not stop the bandits from continuing to move forward. After a while, the bandits were within a distance of sixty steps. Many thieves raised their hands. Holding their shields, they moved forward. Some even started to trot.
At this moment, the musketeers of the Muling Army were already ready, and Luo Yuanbin shouted: "Firegunners, fire."
Sixty-two musketeers, arranged in a row of twenty people, used a three-row firing method to fire violently at the rebel soldiers. But it was not three musketeers who took turns to step forward to fire their muskets, but one soldier. , the remaining two soldiers reloaded the firecrackers. After loading the ammunition, they handed the firecrackers to the soldier responsible for firing. This avoided confusion when the soldiers changed positions.
Just listen to a series of thunder-like sounds of "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom", and instantly a large amount of choking smoke filled the Muling army formation. In the rebel army formation, people kept falling to the ground in response to the sound.
Although Shang Yi is no stranger to muskets, this is the first time in this era that he has used muskets on a large scale on the battlefield. In the past few months, he has been accustomed to using cold weapons to kill. Now he sees muskets fired in a row. It is indeed very powerful.
Within a distance of sixty steps, muskets are obviously more powerful than bows and arrows. They can provide certain protection against bows and arrows, as well as shields, bullets or armor. As long as the musket is hit, no matter how The armor and shields of the soldiers could not withstand it, and they were all smashed to pieces. The thieves were also beaten to pieces, and some people continued to die unexpectedly. However, there are not many muskets available in the Muling army. If everyone can have one musket , were launched together, the power at that time would be so terrifying.
Despite this, the archers in the back row continued to shoot arrows, thus causing a large number of casualties to the bandit soldiers. The bandit soldiers obviously did not expect that the army in front of them would have such powerful long-range weapons, and the nature of bullying the weak and fearing the strong was once again Undoubtedly exposed, they all turned around and ran away. Mu Ling's army chased and shot for another round before stopping. More than 200 corpses were left on the ground. Some of them were still alive, lying on the ground screaming in agony.
At this time, there were only a dozen people left in the small team that broke through the siege of the bandits. However, they did not escape, but just watched from a distance. Seeing that the bandits were beaten by the Muling army with several rounds of bows, arrows and muskets, the bandits were killed. After being repulsed, he immediately rode towards Muling's army.
However, they dismounted when they were far away and left their weapons on their horses to show that they were not hostile. When Shang Yi saw this, he also ordered his soldiers to loosen their bow strings and lower their muskets, so that they could come closer.
After getting a little closer, the man at the head of the group let go of the horse's reins and spread the fingers of his hands to show that he was not holding a weapon. He took a few steps forward, then clasped his hands and said, "I dare to ask you, sir. Where did the chariot come from?"
Only then did Shang Yi take a look. This man was very young, about twenty-five or six years old. He was of medium-to-upper-middle build, very well-proportioned, with an ape-like back and a wasp-like waist, big hands and long legs, and a pair of bright tiger eyes. He also turned over and dismounted. , stepped out of the crowd and said: "I am Qian Qianzong Yi, the general manager of Muling Pass in Qingzhou Prefecture, and you are from there. Why are you fighting with the bandits here?"
After hearing this, the young man had a look of surprise on his face and said, "Could it be the same Shang Yi and Mr. Shang Qian who founded the Three Villagers' Group in Qingshui Village, and then used the power of the militia to annihilate the Qinglang Peak bandits? ?”
Shang Yi nodded, thinking to himself, it seems that he is now a well-known person in Shandong, and he couldn't help but feel a little proud, and said: "Yes, I am."
When the young man heard this, he quickly knelt on the ground, kowtowed, and said, "Master Shang, please save our village?"
The dozen or so people behind him also knelt on the ground and said in unison: "Master Shang, please save our village?"
Shang Yi frowned slightly. He was not used to others kneeling and kowtowing to him, so he took two steps forward, held the young man's arm, and said, "Get up and talk. What's going on?"
The young man stood up and told what happened. It turned out that the young man's surname was Yang and his name was Yang Wucheng. He was from Jiwu Village, more than thirty miles away from here. Jiwu Village is located at the foot of Jiwu Mountain , under the jurisdiction of Zhucheng County. Because Yang Wucheng has excellent marksmanship and his family is a wealthy family in Jiwu Village. His father is also the village chief of Jiwu Village. Therefore, when the militia was formed in Jiwu Village, he was also elected by the villagers as the leader. Militia leader.
The bandits surrounding them were the largest group of bandits in Qingzhou Prefecture, the men of Baihu Mountain Lao Miaozi. This time they led a team to rob the mountain and reached Jiwu Village. Yang Wucheng led a militia to resist, but the two sides were helpless.
There was a huge disparity in the number of troops. Secondly, although Yang Wucheng's spear skills were excellent, he was not good at leading troops. Therefore, although the militia in Jiwu Village resisted desperately, the bandits finally broke through the village. Yang Wucheng had to lead
With dozens of regiment soldiers fighting their way out of the siege, they wanted to rush to Qingzhou Mansion to rescue them, but they were caught up by bandits halfway and surrounded them. If they hadn't happened to meet Shang Yi leading the villagers to move, this time it would have been a disaster.
not enough.
When Yang Wucheng learned that Shang Yi had saved him, he was like grabbing a life-saving straw and asked Shang Yi to rescue his village.
After hearing what he said, Shang Yi thought for a while and then said: "Master Yang, although Zhucheng County is not under the jurisdiction of my Muling Pass, it is my duty to protect the people from thieves. But I have other things to do now.
I have important things at hand." After that, he also told the story of how he wanted to protect the villagers from moving to Muling Pass, and then said: "After I escort the villagers to Muling Pass, I will definitely send troops to rescue you.
What do you think of Jiwu Village?"
Yang Wucheng was also a sensible person and knew that what Shang Yi said was true. He could not force Shang Yi to send troops immediately. Therefore, he had no choice but to say: "My lord is willing to send troops to rescue me, and I am very grateful. As long as your lord can save our Jiwu Village, I will be grateful to you."
People are willing to follow the Lord forever, be a slave for life, and have no regrets until death."
Shang Yi smiled and said: "Master Yang, you are serious. It is the duty of our imperial officials to protect the people from thieves, so why should we say thank you?" But he was secretly happy in his heart.
It turned out that he had just seen that Yang Wucheng had excellent marksmanship and was good at riding on horseback, so he had a plan in mind to surrender him. On the one hand, he got a strong general, and on the other hand, spears were commonly used in battles on the battlefield.
Weapons. Although the soldiers of the Muling Army now only practice one type of marksmanship, it is not a long-term solution after all. Even if all soldiers are equipped with muskets in the future, even in modern warfare, bayonets are also a common tactic on the battlefield.
Therefore, if you want to build a strong army, you must improve your soldiers' marksmanship. At least it can't just be a single thrust.
Although Shang Yi is proficient in various fighting techniques, because he is only a special soldier, he does not specialize in practicing pure army skills such as bayonet fighting. Among equipment, he is only good at using weapons such as sabers and nunchucks for close combat.
The spear is only average, and the soldiers can still deal with it after being taught how to use it with a knife. However, it is useless to practice the spear, let alone the fighting skills on horseback. Now I actually meet a master who uses the gun, and he is also good at fighting on horseback. Naturally
Reluctant to let go.
If Yang Wucheng is taken under his command and allowed to teach the soldiers how to shoot and ride, it will definitely improve the combat effectiveness of the Muling Army to another level. Therefore, he agreed to send the troops after sending the villagers to their destination.
Rescue Kewu Village.
At that moment, Shang Yi returned to the brigade with Yang Wucheng and others, and immediately sent three soldiers from the reconnaissance team to check the bandits' movements near Jiwu Village. Yang Wucheng also sent two of his own regiment soldiers to guide them.
Then the large group of people immediately started back on the road and continued towards Mulinguan.