Chapter 448 - The End of the Second Year of the Apocalypse - Siam 2
"Plop, puff, puff..." The war elephant stepped on the dry farmland that had been harvested. It walked forward steadily. The dark skin of the Siamese army elephant slave was clearly visible. The elephant's back was fighting against the Siamese upstairs. Before the Chinese army opened fire, the firearmsmen first lit their firearms: most of them were Folang machines and the like.
"Bang bang bang..." Miscellaneous firearms fired on the backs of more than a hundred battle elephants on the front line. Green smoke rose up accompanied by the long roar of the elephants raising their trunks. The Siamese army on the battlefield was imposing. There was a lot of momentum. He had a head start. He just shot with a French rifle from a mile away. Basically, he had no accuracy.
The banana tree above Zheng Zhilong's head made a roaring sound. The metal projectiles fired by the Folan machine caused many branches and leaves to fall off the tree. The people around him were unharmed. Zheng Zhilong called out while beating the leaves on his head. A staff officer said: "Go downstream to inform the Marine Corps that they can cross the river to attack." He waved his hand and called a messenger: "Pass my order. The cavalry sentry and the regiment's cavalry are released twenty miles upstream. Mobile sentry to prevent Siamese troops from sneaking across the upper reaches."
He waved. Captain Li of the Guards immediately stepped forward to salute. Zheng Zhilong ordered: "You ride my horse to the mouth of the lower river and inform Brother Mai. Oh, I guess he doesn't have many people on hand. The main force of the fleet goes north to Peking University. Years have passed. Forget it. As much as you have. Ask him to take everyone north to cross the river immediately and attack the Siamese army from the flank."
He turned back, frowned and said, "What's going on? The artillery isn't firing yet."
As soon as he finished speaking. "Whist, whizz, whizz..." After a series of whistles, smoke rose from the artillery camp. A gust of wind blew. The first batch of long-tailed rockets were launched. In order to shock the enemy to the greatest extent, all rockets The missiles were all equipped with whistles. The sharp whistle sound accompanied by flames and smoke quickly filled everyone's hearing. This time the rockets were launched. All the rockets were launched at a lower launch angle. Half of the first batch of rockets landed in front of the first row of war elephants. .exploded into colorful fireballs. These were incendiary rockets.
At the same time as the first batch of rockets exploded, the eardrums of all the Chinese soldiers on the south bank of the Kelantan River were impacted by a loud bang. The artillery positions opened fire.
In the first round, 50 cannons of various calibers that had been loaded with ammunition opened fire at once. Then all the gunners fired shells at the fastest speed.
20 three-pound field guns, 20 six-pound field guns, two rounds per minute. 3 bronze siege guns (30 kilograms of metal bullets) fired one round per minute. 5 Hongtianlei light mortar guns, one round every two minutes. Two The heavy mortar cannon, Thunderbolt, is the slowest - it fires once every three minutes. The first round is all shells. After that, shrapnel, grapeshot, solid iron bullets, and shells are used in turn.
War elephants move very slowly and have poor maneuverability. As shooting targets, they are too obvious and too hard to hit. More than ten war elephants in the first row of the Siamese Royal Army were killed by dense bombs in an instant. In the next two minutes, more than ten war elephants were hit by solid iron bullets in their broad and thick bodies. As blood and flesh flew everywhere, the war elephants screamed and fell to the ground dead. The second round of rockets had also landed at this moment. In the middle of the three rows of war elephants, sparks burst out. A series of war elephants screamed and fell to the ground. Several cannonballs broke the trunk of one war elephant. Suddenly the war elephant spurted out a large amount of blood and turned around and ran wildly. Get up. The elephant slaves and gunners carried by some elephants were killed by shrapnel. The ownerless war elephants circled in circles, constantly bumping into their companions...
A war elephant was hit by a 50-pound explosive bomb from Zhentian Lei. Its whole body was wrapped in fire and smoke, and it suddenly turned into a huge pile of meat.
The elephant slave in the first row has put down the blindfold of the war elephant. However, it is impossible to cover up the huge explosion. Moreover, the heat of the fire in front, the shrapnel and shrapnel pellets hit the thick body of the war elephant. That is The real feeling of pain has far exceeded the limit that the Siamese war elephants can endure. Although these behemoths from ancient times have undergone rigorous training and have combat experience, they have never experienced being bombarded by such fierce artillery fire. train.
After the artillery battalion opened fire, only five minutes passed. Nearly half of the 100 Siamese war elephants in the front line had been killed. Finally, starting from the second line of war elephants, these poor big guys began to go crazy. They turned around and started running wildly. Those elephant slaves could not control the war elephants under them at all. The mad war elephants were thrown off their backs one after another. Then they were trampled into pulp by other crazy war elephants.
Dozens of the frontline war elephants actually ran forward like crazy, crossing the preset firing range of the Chinese army's artillery.
"Lower the muzzle. Lower it ten degrees. No. Fifteen degrees."
"The shotgun is loaded."
"Quickly light the fire. Light the fire."
"It hit. Mazu bless you! He didn't die. These big beasts are really tough to beat."
"Lower the muzzle. There is no time to use the gun gauge to measure the angle. Just lower it by ten degrees."
The artillery position was busy for a while. Everyone was busy. But it was busy but not chaotic. The ammunition hand listened to the gunner's command, grabbed the propellant package and stuffed it into the muzzle. He tamped it with force; the loading hand was naked and sweating. He held the cannonball and stuffed it into the muzzle. The gunner ordered: "Fire."! The shooter immediately pulled the match rope. The flint fired the propellant. A stream of flames and thick smoke erupted from the muzzle. The cannonball roared out.
On a temporary watchtower behind the artillery camp, Kelantan Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and the Kelantan Sultan Guard Captain were holding on to the railing. Their heads were sweating profusely. Both of their legs were a little weak, especially after seeing that battle. It's like being hit by an explosive bomb, with smoke and flesh flying everywhere.
The captain of the guard saw that the elephant array was beginning to collapse. He smiled bitterly and said: "Such firearms, such firepower, and shooting so accurately. Even if the Siamese bring in 300 more elephants, it will not help."
Mahadiya sighed, shook his head and said: "The Siamese army still has infantry. Let's see how the battle situation changes."
The captain of the guard also shook his head: "It won't change. The Siamese army uses the elephant formation as the main force. Once the elephant formation is broken, the infantry will be under the power of such firearms... May God bless them."
The captain of the guard forgot a key question: the Ayutthaya dynasty of Siam believed in Buddhism. Only those Malay coalition forces such as Pattani and Perak were mostly Muslims. Will God bless the Siamese who believe in Buddhism?
While the elephant formation was advancing, the Royal Siamese Army and the Allied Infantry were also advancing. There were criss-crossing fields starting 2 miles away from the river bank. This made the Siamese infantry marching team very confusing. Most of the Royal Siamese Army soldiers were They are civilians recruited temporarily during the war. They belong to the "Nai" (free people) or "Paizhen" (dependent people) class of Siamese society. There are only palace guards and part of the army led by the king. The personal guards of the prefects in various places are Standing army. Therefore, these Siamese infantry troops cannot be said to have strict tactical training, nor do they have battle formations. In the wars of Southeast Asian countries in this era, there were often hundreds of thousands of troops. During the battle, they basically relied on the strength of one soldier, their bravery and the strength of many. win.
In the battle formations of the Siamese army, the bravery of the generals often plays a decisive role. Emperor Naresuan the Great, the leader of the resurgence of Siam, is said to be the master of martial arts who founded Muay Thai. He once fought against hundreds of thousands of Burmese troops in a big battle. . A single man riding an elephant rushed to challenge the Myanmar Crown Prince, the commander of the Myanmar army. It is also said that King Naresuan's war elephant was frightened and rushed directly into the Myanmar army.
In any case, the two men then rode on elephants to fight against each other in a duel. King Naresuan hacked his opponent to death on the back of the elephant. The whole battle ended. The Siamese army won.
The Chinese Army in front of them has been around since the founding of the army. Although it emphasizes that soldiers should see red with bayonets, it never advocates that generals fight in single combat, and they don't know what chivalry is.
Seeing the firepower of the Chinese army, the Siamese and allied infantry units moved slower and slower in fear and hesitation. Although during this period, the Chinese army's artillery fired at the central elephant array. However, nearly a hundred rockets were fired at random. It fell into the infantry formations on both wings of the elephant formation, causing great confusion. This was also the reason why the Siamese infantry was unable to launch a charge.
After the elephant formation began to become chaotic, Wang Shu, the commander of the Siamese royal army, began to hesitate. The generals of the royal army around him also quarreled endlessly. And the commander of the elephant team, Papi Luotan, was in the center of the elephant formation. His life or death was unknown.
The third row of the elephant array had been disrupted by the war elephants that turned around and ran wildly in front of them. The artillery fire of the Chinese army also began to gradually subside. At this time, a series of conch horns sounded leisurely, and a signal firework flew into the sky. Kelantan Henan There was a group of men and horses on the shore, raising their muskets above their heads, wading into the water, and heading quickly towards the north shore.
This is when the Chinese militia vanguard led by the Mai family began to cross the river.
On the other side of the artillery position, a sentry soldier from the Malacca garrison used grenades and muskets to kill several war elephants that rushed across the river on the river beach on the south bank. In the mud of the river, a gray-white war elephant seemed to be stuck in the river. The ground was stuck in the mud. The war tower on its back was gone. It was raising its nose and roaring in panic. It was swaying this way and that.
A group of curious Chinese soldiers jumped out of the trenches and came to the river to carefully look at the big guy. This sentry soldier was recently added to the Malacca garrison from Taiwan. Most of them came from southern Fujian and Chaozhou. They had never seen an elephant before.
"Hey, Commander, you were born here. Can you handle such a big beast?" Everyone gathered at the river. Some picked up stones and threw them over, teasing the elephant stuck in the mud.
"Goddess Mazu bless you. It is rare to see an elephant of a local prince in the countryside of Malacca. How can I drive such a big guy?" The commander of the post was a local Peranakan. He realized that all his soldiers had run out of the trenches. He waved his hands and shouted: "Go back. Go back. Prepare for battle. Damn the little guys. They are still fighting. Come here and beat this big guy to death."
"How to fight? This guy is thick-skinned. We shot him several times just now. Isn't he still alive?"
"At such a close range, aim at its head and hit it. I don't believe it can't be killed."
At this moment, suddenly there was another loud noise from the artillery position, as if the ground was shaking. The Chinese artillery, which had only rested for less than ten minutes, began to fire intensively again. Everyone quickly returned to the trenches and turned around to look. It was the Royal Siam Army. The infantry charged.
Just now, a total of more than 700 people from the Chenghai Battalion and the Hainan Liming Battalion of the Chinese militia crossed the river on sampans and rafts that had been prepared long ago. They carried the distinctive red Chinese-character military flag of the Chinese Army Infantry, as well as the flags of various militiamen. The flags were arranged in three rows on the north bank of the Kelantan River. They blew the conch trumpet and beat the war drum and began to move forward slowly. They fluttered their flags and deliberately marched there slowly.
This small group of people swaggered and moved in front of tens of thousands of Siamese troops. It was a direct insult to the Siamese royal army. The Siamese people like to fight one-on-one on the battlefield. They cannot stand this kind of provocation from the Chinese army. It turns out that Many generals in the Siamese army's main force on the left wing of the elephant formation had already led their troops to rush over before they received orders from the commander. They shouted slogans of Buddha's blessing. They were in a mess and were not organized into teams. They gathered in groups like this. The crowd rushed over.
From the very beginning, Zheng Zhilong wanted to attract the Siamese Royal Army to the river. The militiamen did not panic when they saw dozens of times the enemy force surrounding them. They formed a semicircle formation with their backs to the river bank and used three rows of rounds to resist the enemy. attack.
At this time, the Chinese artillery, which had adjusted the range of the artillery and other relevant factors, began to bombard the Siamese infantry.
The fierce artillery fire that had just dispersed the elephant array began to fall on the heads of the Siamese infantry. The dark Siamese Royal Army was constantly being bombarded by the explosions of artillery shells and the flames of rockets as they ran. They charged intensively. The closer the Siamese army got to the river bank, the sparser the crowd became. Bodies and screaming wounded were scattered along the road.
The Chinese army's artillery fired artillery shells at extreme speed. However, the Siamese army had too many people. The Siamese army, which risked their lives to charge, still showed a fighting spirit that was not afraid of death. Many soldiers rushed through the Chinese army's artillery fire interception area and quickly approached. We arrived at the north bank of the Kelantan River and were about to encircle the small bridgehead guarded by 700 militiamen on the north bank. The matchlocks and flintlock rifles of the militiamen were all items eliminated by the regular troops of the Chinese Army. Although the three-row shooting was basically done decently After all, the shooting speed could not be compared with that of the regular army. Seeing that the Siamese infantry was about to rush into the circle formed by the militiamen, the militiamen seemed to be a little panicked. The formation was chaotic.
However, just when the Siamese army rushed within 50 steps of the militiamen, the militiamen retreated in confusion. What appeared in front of the Siamese soldiers was a "small cannon" mounted on a two-wheeled cart.
The Siamese soldiers who have not yet had time to be happy should be able to see clearly: the barrel of this small cannon is actually composed of countless iron pipes. This is Zheng Zhilong's secret weapon. The ten "Lightning Honeycomb Guns" just shipped by sea. Another A knock-off version of the Mitriures manual machine gun.
Immediately, the air filled with the roar of cannons was filled with dense bursts of "bah, baah, baah, baah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah". The bullets of the lightning honeycomb gun were paper-packed fixed bullets ignited by mercury fulminate. The projectile body was smaller than a flintlock. Musket bullets are thick, so the sound of the gun is louder when the propellant is fired. And as long as this thick bullet hits the human body, no matter who it is, it is basically dead.
Ten manual machine guns each sprayed bullets at the Siamese infantry with a rate of fire of more than 150 rounds per minute. The Siamese soldiers rushing in the front row fell down in rows like sickles cutting rice. The Siamese soldiers behind had not had time to make a move. Explaining his reaction, he was immediately knocked to the ground by the dense rain of bullets. After the "Thunder Cell Gun" began to fire, the charging Siamese soldiers could no longer move forward. Instead, the soldiers who rushed forward fell to the ground and died. The whole team is getting thinner and thinner.
Kelantan Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who was watching the battle from the watchtower on the South Bank, knelt on his knees, closed his eyes and prayed, and was trembling all over. The guard captain next to him threw himself on the railing. Most of his body was almost in the air. But he was unconscious. He stared wide-eyed and murmured: "What kind of firearm is this? What on earth is this? Is it the devil's weapon?"
The commander-in-chief of the Siamese army and the commander-in-chief of the elephant team, Papi Luotan, who had narrowly escaped death, were sitting on the backs of the war elephants. They had a very clear view of the situation. They had a telescope given by the Dutch. They could see the tragic scenes of blood and flesh. It was clear that the bodies of soldiers who had been knocked down were piled up like they were cutting rice on the river bank. The earth had no time to absorb such a large amount of blood and suddenly erupted. The red blood had already gathered into several small streams.