Chapter 453 - The End of the Second Year of the Apocalypse
In this Jiangnan crisis, Yin Feng chose to strike preemptively. Although the trajectory of history has been deflected, it is difficult to open the golden finger of history again. But he now has the strength. Of course, the Military Intelligence Department has already heard about the imperial court through Nanjing's internal secret stakes. The plan to counterattack Jiangnan. Many of the Ming army troops gathered in Nanjing will be used in the counterattack south of the Yangtze River. In Jiujiang, Wuchang and other places, the Ming court is still requisitioning civilian ships and building warships. It plans to move along the Yangtze River by then. Go straight down the river.
Yin Feng chose to start "attack instead of defense" around November. Mainly considering that at this time, the Chinese company and its allies had completed the acquisition of silk fabrics in Jiangnan. In this era of sailing warships, Chinese merchant ships generally start from November to October every year. In February, they took the northeast monsoon to trade in Malacca. In April and May of the following year, they took the southwest monsoon back to China. They brought a large number of porcelain, pottery, raw silk and silk to Malacca's merchants from various Southeast Asian countries as well as merchants from South and West Asia. In exchange for a large amount of spices and other items.
Therefore, actually launching an attack during the rebellion in northern Zhejiang was the best time to disrupt the counterattack plan of the officers and soldiers. However, this was the peak period of acquisition of sericulture in the south of the Yangtze River. Therefore, the Chinese army did not take action until after winter. Yin Feng After learning that the merchant ships in Zhenjiang and Jinshan ports had basically finished, they ordered Chen Zhongji and Luo Quanxiu to take action. After all, the Chinese Army is an army whose main goal is to protect commerce.
In addition to some units of the Second and Fourth Divisions of the Chinese Army, the Chinese Army participating in the Jiangnan Offensive also had many battalion heads with "independent" designations: Siraya Aboriginal Battalion, Hainan Li Battalion, First Miao Battalion, etc. There are also some self-defense forces formed by Jiangnan locals under the banner of militia, and militia formed by the China Company. In short, this is a large-scale operation involving many different forces.
On the Yangtze River, the Taiwan Fleet's permanent detachment at Jinshanwei was supported by four Fei Zi battleships. Two of them were from the Beiyang Fleet. There were twenty three-masted schooner cruisers. Various modified Fu ships, There are more than 50 gunboats such as sand ships and nearly a hundred auxiliary ships. And the number is still increasing: the Chinese army spends heavy sums of money to recruit fishermen from the Yangtze River Estuary and Qiantang River Estuary to join the logistics auxiliary fleet with their ships and people. .
It is impossible for the Ming court not to know all this: the Chinese Army's Jiangnan defense line was open to merchants. The Ming Army's spies could still find out the news. There were also some die-hard Ming fans in the Chinese Army-controlled areas who secretly informed the court.
Therefore, the white-pole soldiers in front of me were just transferred from the southwest by the Ming Dynasty court. Less than ten days after they arrived in Suzhou, the Chinese Army's infantry brigade had already appeared in the east of Suzhou City.
At the moment, the 2nd Regiment of the 4th Division of the Chinese Army, using small fishing boats as pontoons, is slowly crossing the river. On the other side, white soldiers launch assaults again and again, fighting for the bridgehead with the soldiers of the 2nd Regiment who have just crossed the river. This is a low cotton Earth. A dilapidated and short Earth Temple stands across the field ridge.
Surrounding this small earth temple, the short and capable white-poled soldiers were arranged in five or six rows, firing muskets continuously. In the cotton fields on both wings, the white-polled soldiers held the famous white-poled spears and were arranged in formations under the cover of muskets. Charge in dense formation.
The Chinese soldiers boarded the bridgehead in a sparse manner. They hurried down to the cotton fields. They urgently arranged themselves into horizontal formations in units of teams and sentries. They raised their guns and took aim. Then they fired.
The infantry of the Chinese Army who have undergone long-term training. The front-loaded fixed-loading flintlock smoothbore muskets in their hands have reached an average rate of fire of 3-5 rounds per minute. At 200 steps in front of them, the musketeers of the white-armed soldiers are holding It is a Ming Dynasty standard matchlock gun, commonly known as a bird gun. The differences in the structure, material, quality and gunner training of the gun soon became apparent. The Chinese army sprayed bullets at a speed two or three times faster than the white-gun soldiers. The rate of fire and shooting distance are much longer than those of white-pole soldiers.
In the battles in recent years, except for the Spanish and Dutch, the Chinese infantry rarely encountered enemies who could compete with them in the "line-up and shoot tactics" (what Yin Feng said on some occasions).
And the Jiangnan battle had just started. They encountered such an opponent. All the soldiers had adrenaline surges and were very excited. They did not need Yu Zigao's supervision. His troops rushed to cross the pontoon bridge. But just because of the scramble This made the crossing of the bridge very slow. Yu Zigao was furious. He jumped off his horse and whipped the crowd in front of him, and led the team to cross the bridge himself.
"The Second Regiment is a bit messy when crossing the bridge. Look." Mai Yangtian pointed to Luo Quanxiu. Luo Quanxiu held up the binoculars and ignored his words. He said to himself: "The white-armed soldiers have strengthened their firearms. The firearms hands are not well trained either." That's bad. Look, their round shooting movements are quite smooth. Eighty percent of them were learned from our army."
Mai Yangtian said angrily: "That's all. Their muskets are really not good. Our army fired three rounds of bullets. They can only fire one round. And they can't hit us."
Luo Quanxiu nodded and said with deep feeling: "I remember when I first joined the army, my father's gun was made under the supervision of Marshal Qi himself. It was considered sophisticated... but compared to the muskets made by the captain of the ship. That's a huge difference... By the way. Do we still need artillery bombardment?"
At this time, the musketeers of the white-armed soldiers were shot in rows. Most of those who fell to the ground died. However, the Chinese army lined up to release the rifles. Only a few people fell down occasionally. Soon someone from the rear team filled the vacancies.
This kind of volley fire with a huge disparity in kill-to-injury ratios. No matter how strong the white-poled soldiers were and dared to fight, they would not be able to hold on for long. The charging Shitan Tusi spearmen also fell to the ground in the hail of bullets. The rear team stepped on the front team. The comrades moved forward. They could no longer speed up. Immediately afterwards, the soldiers in the rear also fell.
Finally, more than a hundred white pole soldiers rushed into the cotton field under the river embankment and crashed into the formation of the Chinese Army's Second Regiment. However, they rushed in sparsely, in twos and threes, and completely lost the impact of the dense spear formation. Each white-poled soldier was besieged by four or five Chinese soldiers. Their white-poled spears could only be pierced once. The next step was to be beaten by a group.
Yu Zigao personally led the guards to block the attack of the white pole spearmen. Then he shouted: "Follow me." He took the lead in brandishing the Japanese sword and rushed towards the Tutu Temple.
"Lead the attack personally. This seems unnecessary." Luo Quanxiu put down the telescope and shook his head with a wry smile.
The young staff officers around him were very fond of Yu Zigao. They all commented: "Lieutenant Colonel Yu fought bravely. The second regiment is progressing smoothly. The white-pole soldiers can't hold on any longer."
"...The reputation of the white-pole soldiers is not small. It seems like this..."
"Most of the second regiment on the south road has crossed the river. The movement of the second division on the north road is obviously too slow. Why do they need to transport the artillery across first? There is no one on the other side to stop it..."
"This is the way to be a general..."
Mai Yangtian was very dissatisfied with these discussions. He turned around and glared at the group of young people. He said to Luo Quanxiu: "Master Luo, except for the white-poled soldiers, the enemy can still fight. The rest are still hesitating. We are here." Let's fire artillery to cover the entire army's crossing of the river. We can enter Suzhou City before dark and spend the night in the city."
Luo Quanxiu didn't think the white pole soldiers could do anything. However, he himself was a veteran who had been fighting for decades. He still respected opponents like the white pole soldiers. He thought for a moment and said, "Just wait for Lieutenant Colonel Yu's second regiment." Defeat the white soldiers, and then we launch a general attack. No matter what, we will defeat our opponents. It doesn't hurt to give them a little respect."
He did not expect that respecting an opponent like Baiganbing would come at the cost of his own soldier's life.
So the infantry brigade of the Chinese Army was just busy preparing to cross the river. It did not fire artillery to bombard the opponent. Except for the white-pole soldiers who were fighting fiercely with the enemy, the rest of the Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers actually stood aside and watched the battle.
On the other side of the canal, Yu Zigao led his troops, braving sporadic bullets, and rushed into the Tu Tu Temple position of the white pole soldiers. They engaged in a bayonet battle with the opponent's gunmen. The white pole soldiers' bird guns were equipped with so-called "gun swords." .It is a kind of dagger that can be fixed by inserting the handle into the mouth of the blunderbuss. It is the prototype of the bayonet. The two sides stabbed each other with bayonets. At this time, the Chinese army's advantage in firearms no longer existed. But their flintlock muskets were connected to bayonets. Finally, it is longer and more stable than the blunderbuss and blunderbuss sword of the white-poled soldiers. This is an advantage to a certain extent.
The Chinese army rarely uses this kind of hand-to-hand tactics to defeat the enemy. More often, they rely on continuous hot firepower to defeat the opponent. The bayonet is only used as a means to finally defeat the enemy. Often the opponent has already retreated as soon as the bayonet is revealed. Already.
The white-armed soldiers in front of us are an enemy we have rarely seen in many years. Troops who dare to bayonet with the Chinese army's charge troops.
The soldiers of the second regiment crossed the canal one after another. They followed their regiment leader and rushed towards the Tutu Temple. In this way, they also exceeded their opponents in numbers. The spearmen of the white pole soldiers had been lost in the charge. The firearms of the white pole soldiers had been lost. The soldiers lost the protection of their left and right wings and were almost surrounded by the Chinese army. However, the rest of the Ming army, which was only two miles away, began to retreat slowly. Not a single soldier came to support the white pole soldiers in their hard fight. .
When fighting against the Eight Banners of Manchuria on the battlefield in Liaodong, the white soldiers were once let down by friendly forces, and finally had to independently resist an enemy several times their size. Now, the same phenomenon has appeared again.
"This group of barbarians still won't collapse. They can really take a beating." Luo Quanxiu saw the white soldiers gathered in a group and fighting to the death. He was worried: "Those cowards are probably going to escape. Let them go back to the city and stick to it. It will be troublesome."
Mai Yangtian was also anxious: "Division commander, order a general attack. Let the division's cavalry sentries attack first. Don't worry about the white pole soldiers and Yu Zigao."
Luo Quanxiu looked at Yu Zigao's second regiment who was fighting hard. He nodded and said: "There is no time. Order the entire army to cross the river. The cavalry will attack. The artillery fires. Set off fireworks signals. Let the militiamen also attack. Flowers bloom on all sides. This group of bright people It is unlikely that anyone in the army will be able to escape."
The sound of artillery was accompanied by a string of fireworks and rockets rising into the sky, bringing a signal of destruction and death to Suzhou City. The infantry of the Chinese Army, which had already had enough energy, began to cross the canal and rush towards Suzhou City. They formed an array outside the city. After being bombarded by the first round of artillery fire, hundreds of Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers were killed by explosive bombs. The entire army collapsed immediately.
An hour after the general attack started, a battalion of the Second Division of the Chinese Army rushed into Suzhou. Until then, the last white-armed soldier who resisted in the Tutu Temple was stabbed in the chest by several bayonets. All but one of the more than 2,000 white-armed soldiers were killed.
Except for more than a hundred people who were captured, almost all of them died in the battle.
The Second Regiment of Yu Zigao, the Fourth Infantry Division of the Chinese Army, also suffered nearly a thousand casualties in this battle. Among them, nearly 600 were killed. Most of them were killed in hand-to-hand combat around the Tutu Temple. Yu Zigao
Gao himself was injured in his hands and left shoulder. He was sent to Jinshan Guard that night. The second regiment of the 4th Division also stayed in Suzhou and became a garrison due to too many losses.
On that day, the Chinese navy fleet sailed upstream and began a large-scale westward operation along the Yangtze River.