"He is a deputy general." Zhu Mingxia felt regretful, "I thought he was at least a deputy general..."
Xiong Maozhang squatted on the corpse and looked at it for a long time and said: "There is only one deputy general in Guangdong. People in the big library said that the general, deputy general and generals are very valuable. It is not as good as later when the streets were filled with generals and deputy generals."
"General Huizhou, General Huizhou..." Zhu Mingxia thought for a long time and then thought about it. Isn't this one of the five Ming army generals who came to encircle and suppress the guerrillas mentioned in the "Enemy Situation Report"? At the time of the report,
It has been clearly stated that these six generals belong to the imperial military generals who have established their own teeth, and they are not the same as ordinary generals participating in guerrilla warfare.
To put it this way, this battle was almost as good as killing a major general and division commander of the enemy.
It was his first time to command a battle and he achieved such a great victory. Zhu Mingxia couldn't help but be secretly happy and couldn't help but say "good" and "good" repeatedly.
Several soldiers around him saw that the battalion commander was so happy, and knew that he must have captured a general in the army. According to the practice at that time, he had to behead him to show his merit. A soldier picked up a big knife next to him and was about to chop off the head.
"Don't chop." Zhu Mingxia stopped him, "He died for the country. He should be properly dressed and buried with military honors!"
At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the 3,000 troops led by Sha Jianbi appeared less than three kilometers away from Shishan. Because he strictly followed the imperial edict and urged the troops to leave quickly, many infantry fell behind, and in the end he had to fight the Kun bandits with insufficient troops.
He was defeated, so he did not urge his men to leave quickly. He also collected many defeated soldiers of the Yan tribe along the way, and learned the entire battle process from their mouths.
But he couldn't get any information except what he could see from the front, back, left, and right of the post road. No matter how many detective horses and craftsmen he sent, none of them could come back. There was an injured detective horse who ran back wildly, but he hadn't arrived yet.
He was suddenly hit by a gunshot and died as he approached.
What annoyed Zhang Huang the most was that he didn't know where the cannons were fired - there was no smoke and no one. He sent a team of infantry to search back and forth for 400 steps around Tan Ma's fallen horse, but found nothing in the end. Only two of Tan Ma's bodies were found.
The small black hole indicates that he was shot to death with a cannon.
The fear of the bird cannon, which has no smoke, no people, and even no sound, started a few days ago. The officers and soldiers secretly called it the "shadowless cannon."
Sha Jianbi's troops also suffered a lot of "shadowless artillery" while marching. They lost forty or fifty officers and soldiers along the way, which made everyone panic. If they hadn't known that Li Guang's two thousand troops were behind him,
Reinforcements are coming, but these three thousand soldiers will disperse before they can reach Shishan.
After walking blindly in such panic for most of the day, the forward reported that the stone mountain was already four or five miles away.
"Where are the enemy's formations?"
"It's just under the stone mountain." Mr. Qian, who was at the vanguard, reported.
He stood up straight in the stirrups. There was a camp on the stone mountain, and the red flag of the Kun bandits was flying. This was part of the original grain platform for the officers and soldiers. The stone mountain that was originally lush with vegetation has now become bare. The Ming army and Fubo
The military capital carried out the work of clearing the shooting boundary. A gray array lay across the foot of the mountain, blocking the post road.
This array was very thin. Sha Jianbi saw that there were only a thousand soldiers arrayed at the foot of the mountain, but they set up a 200-step front. This was simply crazy! With such a thin depth, wouldn’t it be possible for someone to
It was broken in one rush? Are the Kun thieves so confident in their firearms? You must know that Chengmai and the others are guarding the earth embankment!
However, the disastrous defeat the day before had already caused the army to panic. Sha Jianbi did not even dare to get too close, for fear of being hit by the "Shadowless Cannon". He immediately ordered his men to stand up on the spot and prepare for battle.
Sha Jianbi summoned his subordinates, Qian Zongzong.
"Everyone has seen that there are only a thousand Kun bandits, and the array is weak. In a hurry, they can only rely on the low walls of the trench to form an array. If we gather all the troops and horses to attack, we can break the array for him!" Sha Jianbi pretended.
With a look of confidence, he said, "Look, his long snake formation only has two rows of people. No matter how powerful the firearm is, it can only shoot several rows of guns!"
"General Sha!" General Qian said, "Listening to General Yan's advice, the bandits will form an ambush one by one. When our troops attack fiercely, they will ambush my flanks..."
"No problem." Sha Jianbi said, "I want to use chariot warfare. Three thousand men and horses are divided into three teams."
Three teams of men and horses attack alternately. The central army is waiting to deal with emergencies. One team goes forward to fight, and the other team shoots arrows behind the formation to cover. When the front team is tired, the rear team takes over.
Sha Jianbi believed that this would prevent the Kun thieves from resting first - after all, the enemy had few people and no rotation. Even if their firearms were pure, setting off firearms would make the soldiers tired. When the enemy fired weapons sparsely, the two teams would
The men and horses came out in unison and defeated the enemy in one fell swoop.
"...As soon as the enemy's ambush came out, our army responded with a thousand men from the center. According to what the defeated soldiers said, the ambush force of the Kun thieves was only a thousand people. Moreover, when the Kun thieves fought, they always prepared camps, used firearms to control me, and stabbed me with bare blades.
We are fighting with spears and broadswords, but the enemy's weapons are nothing more than short blades attached to blunderbuss. We will not be able to fight for a long time!" As he spoke, he said sternly, "General Mao!"
"The humble general is here!" A general responded immediately.
"You bring a thousand men forward to attack first," Sha Jianbi told him. "The firearms of the Kun thieves fire very fast, and the team does not need to be organized as long as it rushes fast. Let the soldiers bring more bows and arrows, and go to the trench to fire one round before charging into the formation -
―Kun thieves have no armor, and those who are hit by arrows will either die or be injured.”
This General Mao was not one of Sha Jianbi's troops. He was originally a guerrilla training subordinate. He was temporarily assigned to Sha Jianbi's subordinates. He knew that Sha Jianbi wanted him to lead people to the front line and leave the great achievements to his own Chinese army.
.But he did not dare to disobey the order, so he had to lead the troops to form a team.
"General Zhao!"
"The humble general is here!"
"You should bring a thousand men to meet General Mao one mile behind, and you should also bring more bows and arrows. If General Mao retreats without support, it is up to you to continue the attack!" He patted General Zhao on the shoulder, "General Mao charged the Kun thieves.
After a while, if you go there immediately with others, you will definitely be able to perform!"
General Zhao forced a smile and said, "Thank you, General Sha, for your cultivation!" In his heart, he cursed Sha Jianbi for telling them to rush ahead and roll the nail board, while he and his men prepared to take advantage of the achievements.
Sha Jianbi didn't exactly have the intention of sending Generals Zhao and Mao to the tiger's mouth, but he didn't have many people in his unit, and his troops had never suffered a defeat at all, so their morale was good. He had to use it at the critical moment - Kun Thief's He still had no information about where the ambush was, and he couldn't do it without a capable and reliable force.
So the officers and soldiers quickly set up camp on the road and divided the troops into three teams to prepare for battle. Along the road, Sha Jianbi's troops also took in more than 200 of Yan Zungao's remnants. He ordered a general to temporarily take charge and stay with the Chinese army. use.
Xiong Maozhang's position at the foot of Shishan consisted of a parapet half a man high. In front of the parapet was a deep trench, and in front of the trench were many temporary collections and piles of deer villages, including many chicken carts captured at Liangtai. The Infantry Division The 1st Battalion formed its formation behind the low wall and directly intercepted any troops trying to pass through the post road at the foot of the stone mountain.
The 1st Infantry Battalion deployed a standard double-row formation - the Minie rifles fired much faster than the flintlock rifles, so of course there was no need to use a three-row formation. Xiong Maozhang deployed the battalion's six infantry companies into 150 The Grenadier Company of the Mi Heng Group Battalion served as a reserve behind the whole battalion, covering the flanks when necessary. The 1st Light Infantry Company and the 4th Infantry Battalion Light Infantry Company were separately drawn out to form a garrison, and together with the logistics troops defended Shishan The camp on the ground also covered one wing of the 1st Infantry Battalion.
Two of the four 12-pound mountain howitzers brought directly strengthened the 1st Infantry Battalion, and the other two were arranged in the camp on the top of the stone mountain to provide artillery support at any time depending on the situation.
Xiong Maozhang used a telescope to observe the officers and soldiers a few miles away. According to the report of the special reconnaissance team, there were three thousand enemies in this group, with another two thousand people following them about ten miles away. But Chen Sigen made it clear. : "The two thousand people behind are obviously here to fight for soy sauce." They stopped and walked, but their fighting spirit was not strong.
"We must defeat these 3,000 people as soon as possible," Xiong Maozhang said to Zhu Mingxia, "otherwise, when the next 2,000 people arrive, it will be difficult for the enemy to take advantage of them."
Zhu Mingxia did not speak. He looked at the officers and soldiers lining up in the telescope: "It seems that the enemy's main attack direction is still your position. But you have to prevent them from attacking the stronghold on the mountain."
Xiong Maozhang put the helmet on his head: "I have to go to the battlefield, otherwise I won't worry."
While they were talking, the official army's cannons fired at the flag gate, and a thousand men and horses, led by a general, attacked. When they had rushed more than a mile away, another cannon shot was fired, and another cannon shot was fired. It was a group of officers and soldiers who came out to attack the 1st Battalion's position.
"The enemy wants to fight on wheels." Zhu Mingxia said. He continued to watch the movements of the officers and soldiers. He saw that the first group of troops was very powerful and quickly rushed to a place less than a hundred meters away from the position. The soldiers ran as they ran. Archery, because the distance was too far, did not pose a threat at all. Xiong Maozhang's six battle infantry companies opened fire at the same time at a distance of 150 meters. The bullets swept across the running queue. The officers and soldiers fell on their backs, and their positions were disrupted before they even got close to the trench. Then the second column The infantry fired a volley, and in the thick smoke Zhu Mingxia realized that some enemies had already retreated.
Zhu Mingxia vaguely felt that something was wrong. The enemy would not simply repeat the frontal attack tactics. To be cautious, he did not ask the two mountain grenades in Shishan Village to open fire, and was prepared to provide artillery support at the critical moment.
There were many officers and soldiers in Sha Jianbi's forward battalion whose courage had been broken yesterday. Now they were facing the Kun thief's firearms. The officers and soldiers looked very cowed. After being fired by several rows of volleys, they even refused to move forward. The officers and generals shouted and urged desperately, threatened to behead and gave incentives with money, and finally got the troops to continue the attack.
At this time, the second group of officers and soldiers rushed up again.
"Fire the arrow! Fire the arrow!"
The officers and soldiers hurriedly fired a row of feathered arrows, but most of them scattered them randomly before they entered the shooting range. Almost no arrows fell into the queue, and most of them fell in the trenches and deer villages.
"Hold on! The scale is 120 meters!" The officers kept correcting the shooting distance, "Let it go!"
The volley guns roared and the smoke filled the air. The officers and soldiers could not even get close to the trench. Every time they managed to get within a hundred meters, they were defeated by the volley guns. Although the soldiers were constantly urged to rush forward by the officers, they soon retreated again. . Sometimes they, led by a few brave officers, can storm to the front of the trench, but at this time the double shot of the 12-pound mountain grenade will ruthlessly kill them all at the edge of the trench.
Smoke filled the air, shouts of killing, gunshots and shouts enveloped the entire stone mountain. The battle lasted for more than an hour. No matter how much Sha Jianbi and his generals encouraged and urged the soldiers to charge, the assault of the officers and soldiers still changed. They became increasingly weak. Especially after the mountain grenades began to bombard the ranks of officers and soldiers 800 meters away, the officers and soldiers had to make the ranks retreat two miles away before regrouping. The soldiers came here The journey consumes a lot of physical energy. Many officers and soldiers have been marching on the road since noon. For most of the day, they did not have food and water. At this time, they were exhausted after several attacks. Some soldiers simply fell on the roadside and refused to move.
Sha Jianbi saw that his so-called wheel tactics had no effect at all - after attacking for less than half an hour and rotating the team several times, there was no progress except for leaving a pile of corpses in front of the trench. The enemy's volleys of guns were still The fight was steady and fierce, and when there was no signs of sparseness at all, I felt very anxious. If this continued, before the enemy's ambushes could appear, my whole army would collapse.
He instead ordered the entire army to storm the stockade on the stone mountain. There were only two light infantry companies and a part of the logistics troops in the stockade, but there were two howitzers to support them. Grenades, shotguns, and solid bullets would attack the officers and soldiers who tried to climb the mountain to seize the stockade. Hit it.
Although there was a young general in the army who was very brave, under his leadership, more than a dozen tough soldiers followed him and rushed to a place more than ten meters away from the wall of the village. Just as he waved the flag, stood up and pounced on the wall of the village. , a 12-pound mountain grenade shot hit him.
The officers and soldiers who attacked the mountain stronghold were constantly harassed and shot by gunfire from the bandits' infantrymen arrayed down the mountain. The officers and soldiers desperately attacked several times. As more and more bodies were dropped on the hillside, the attack momentum also increased. Getting weaker and weaker, the team attacking the mountain stronghold once again retreated - but this time they did not even reach the halfway point of the mountain. They shouted a few times in response to the story, and retreated rolling and crawling as soon as the cannons were fired in the stronghold.
Sha Jianbi's troops had not been dispatched. He saw that his troops had lost their energy. Not to mention defeating the Kun thieves and retaking Shishan, he even had a group of Kun thieves in front of him. He had killed and wounded many troops in vain. Wouldn't he be blamed by his superiors?
He glared and ordered loudly: "Tell General Zhao and General Mao to attack with all your strength. We must open up the post road, otherwise we will come to see you!"
"Reporting to the general, General Mao has been killed in battle." A young general who came to report to him said breathlessly.
When Sha Jianbi heard that one of the generals had been killed in the battle, he felt even more frightened. He took a deep breath and saw that although the young general in front of him had crooked armor, he was very tall and strong, with a round face and a pointed chin.
He has a few beards, his nostrils are turned up and his eyes are small. He looks quite capable.
"May I have your name?"
"The humble general Cao Xiangjiao! He was originally a partial general under General Mao..."
"Okay, General Cao! I will now order you to guard the forward battalion and lead General Mao's troops." He pointed his riding whip at the line of the 1st Infantry Battalion at the foot of the rocky mountain. "You will immediately lead the team back through the paddy fields.
Attack one wing of their battle formation! As long as you defeat the enemy's formation, I will recommend you in front of Master Zhentai!"
"Thank you, General, for your cultivation! I will definitely move forward bravely!" Cao Xiangjiao was originally a newborn calf and was not afraid of tigers. At this time, he was inspired by his few words and had the hope of promotion. He suddenly became more energetic. He immediately got on his horse and raised his sword.
Go to battle.
After issuing this series of orders, he also knew that relying on Cao Xiangjiao, a stupid young man, to charge into the battle was not very reliable. He had to personally lead the soldiers into the battle and attack fiercely.
So he shouted: "Bang the drum! Get in line!"
Although the Kun thief ambush has not appeared so far, he doesn't have much to worry about. He thinks that as long as he breaks the battle formation and the Kun thief ambush comes out, he will have time to turn back and fight. Sha Jianbi thinks that as long as he is not attacking the Kun thief,
In the camp, white soldiers from both sides met, and the thieves were no match for the officers and soldiers.
Amidst the deafening sound of war drums, Sha Jianbi got on his horse, and his soldiers quickly brought his sword. He held the sword, and his own soldiers and servants were lined up in bright armor, waiting to set off.
Sha Jianbi stood on the stirrup and looked over, and saw that Cao Xiangjiao's men had already circled into the paddy field and were moving towards one wing of the Kun bandit array. However, the paddy field was muddy and the movement was very slow. From time to time, people fell down with gunshots.
However, Cao Xiangjiao waved his sword and urged the soldiers to leave quickly. However, General Zhao's troops were still attacking feebly.
He waited nervously for Cao Xiangjiao's detour to be successful. After about a meal, he saw Cao Xiangjiao's flag appearing on the flank of the bandits' array. Guns were rumbling and smoke filled the air. He knew that Cao Xiangjiao's attack had begun. He used his broadsword.
With a wave of his hand, he shouted: "Kill! Break through the large formation of Kun thieves, and each of them will be rewarded with five taels of silver!" His soldiers howled, and followed him to rush forward from the front.
Cao Xiangjiao's detour did pose a threat to the 1st Infantry Battalion. Xiong Maozhang immediately ordered the battalion grenadier company acting as a reserve to immediately move to the flank formation. Two rounds of platoon fire repelled the first charge of the officers and soldiers, and then Zhu Mingxia ordered the soldiers to attack the mountain.
The 2 doors of the mountain are open to fire.
"Hit with shrapnel!" In the rice fields, solid bullets cannot beat, and their lethality is limited. The range of the shrapnel is not enough, so the shrapnel that blooms in the air becomes the best long-distance killing weapon. One after another, the shrapnel will soon kill them.
Cao Xiangjiao's men and horses rushed back again. The muddy rice fields made it difficult for the soldiers to move quickly, and they fell under the precise fire of the grenadiers.
Sha Jianbi's central army threw away the already confused General Zhao's troops, and rushed towards the center of the battle line with all their strength. They were ready to break through the front line in one fell swoop when Cao Xiangjiao interfered on the flanks and attracted the firepower of the Kun thieves.