On the east bank of the Liao River, under the Liangfangkou Pass, in the early morning of September 19.

The gunshots rang out sporadically, and there was never a time to stop. Outside the Liangfangkou Pass, on the wide surface of the Liaohe River, a fleet of more than 200 large sand boats is using small boats to transport artillery and baggage. The three mound forts belonging to Liangfangkou Pass were arranged in an equilateral triangle, and all of them were controlled by the Ming army. After Doni led the main force to retreat from Liangfangkou Pass, more than 200 people from Niu Lu were left behind in these three fortresses, which was not enough to resist the 17,800 young guard division of the Ming army. Fortunately, Niu Lu Zhangjing, who led the troops, was clever enough, and when he saw the Ming army fleet rushing into the mouth of the Liao River, he asked his subordinates to prepare horses, and as soon as the Ming army landed, the whole team abandoned the pass and left.

What killed and injured more than 100 people in the Ming army is all nonsense.

Although the soldiers completed the landing and the battle to occupy the three castles of Liangfangkou Pass without bloodshed, the entire landing operation did not end. There were six infantry regiments, a baggage regiment, six artillery companies, and a divisional battalion. The wharf at Liangfangkou Pass had already been burned down by the Qing army, and there was no ready-made wharf to use, so it could only be transported by small boats, and the workload was amazing.

However, the Young Guards Division is not an ordinary army, this unit is composed of 8,000 nine-sided youths, more than 2,000 young non-commissioned officers who teach martial arts, and 5,000 or 6,000 veterans selected from various divisions of the New Army. Seeing them, the sailors on the Beiyang sand boats (most of these sand boats were hired temporarily) were also infected, and they all worked like crazy, on water and land, for two days and two nights. The 26 artillery squads equipped with the six artillery companies all went ashore, and the baggage wagons and horses carrying grain also began to be bargeed, and the division commander Qin Mingtao and the Beiyang Naval Division commander Liu Chongwen also did not close their eyes for two days and two nights, and personally sat down to direct the troops to go ashore.

The youth army of the brigade had already begun to assemble and march north of Liangfangkou Pass to occupy the stronghold and establish positions. Although the Qing army's Niu Lu left without a fight, he did not go far, but scattered into a small group of cavalry, swimming near Liangfangkou Pass, trying to delay the movement of the Ming army. And the Ming army that landed did not carry cavalry, so it was difficult to annihilate them for a while. However, the flintlock pikemen drawn by battalions were still difficult for these Qing cavalry to compete with.

The establishment of the infantry company under the Young Guards Division is close to that of the line infantry of the flintlock era. Of the four platoons in a company, three were flintlock platoons, and one platoon was called a pikemenade, a combination of pikemen and grenadiers - theoretically they could perform both tasks at the same time, protecting the flintlock in a spear formation against cavalry and throwing grenades in a storm. In reality, however, these particularly tall and sturdy boys were skilled in the use of flintlock pistols and bows and arrows, and could charge on horseback...... Almost an all-round soldier!

Five to six years of rigorous training has turned these seventeen or eighteen-year-old youths into the sharpest sharp knives of the Ming Empire!

So a battalion of youth army infantry can definitely fight against a comparable number of Manchurian white-armored soldiers!

After two days and two nights of busy survival, Qin Mingtao and Liu Chongwen, who were already old, were a little unbearable, sitting on a pile of wooden boxes loaded with solid bullets, listening to artillery staff officer Sun Shining report on the landing of the artillery team.

"Division commander, all six artillery companies have gone ashore, 16 3-kilogram bronze cannons, 4 12-kilogram cast iron short cannons, and 6 24-kilogram cast-iron mortar cannons, all of which are intact, and all the artillery trucks and ammunition trucks are also intact and ready to be deployed at any time!"

Qin Mingtao nodded with satisfaction, the Young Guards Division did not carry cavalry, and if there were no artillery, it would not be able to exert its power......

He yawned, and was just about to find a place to squint, when suddenly a dense burst of gunfire like fried beans suddenly came from somewhere in the distance.

The drowsiness on Qin Mingtao's face disappeared all of a sudden, and then he squinted his eyes and stretched out his ears to listen. The gunfire rang out constantly, quite intensively, but not in a salvo, and it sounded a little messy.

After coming over for a while, the gunfire did not stop, and Qin Mingtao opened his mouth and said, "It should be the enemy's brigade...... But we shouldn't have suffered. ”

Whether you have suffered or not, just listen to the gunshots!

The Young Guards used the latest Hongxing ten-year flintlock pistol, which had a particularly light and brittle sound and was markedly different from the old arquebus.

Qin Mingtao heard the gunfire of Hongxing's ten-year-style flintlock pistol still remain dense, completely overpowering the dull sound of the Spanish light arquebus.

This shows that the youth army has the upper hand in musket fire...... Considering their marksmanship, the Qing army should have suffered a lot of losses!

At this time, the gunshots suddenly stopped, all of them were the sound of Spanish arquebuses, and there were faint shouts of killing.

Needless to say, it must have been the youth army that launched the bayonet and spear assault!

And in the era of flintlock pistols and arquebuses, the side that had the upper hand in the counter-fire could not have been defeated in the bayonet charge that was launched on its own initiative.

The myth that the inferior side of rifle and artillery fire is completely deceitful - if the rifle and artillery are unable to launch an assault, they will inevitably collapse in the process of being shot and killed.

And as long as the commander of the opposing side is not brainless, he will definitely not launch a bayonet charge prematurely...... The charge must have been launched when the enemy had already begun to crumble in confusion. The formation of one side has disintegrated, but the morale of the other side is high, and the formation is rushing, of course, one-sided!

Considering that the Young Guards had a great advantage in firepower, they took the initiative to launch an assault (because the flintlock pistols did not fire, and the arquebuses were still firing sporadically, indicating that the Youth Army was charging), indicating that the contact battle had already been decided.

Qin Mingtao laughed: "Victory!" It should be possible to catch the captives. ”

Sun Shining also responded: "If you catch the captive, maybe you can ask the whereabouts of the Dongyu brigade!" ”

Qin Mingtao smiled: "It's good to know where they are...... You can try to trick them into taking the bait! ”

Liu Chongwen also said with a smile: "The armed sand boat sent by the sailor has already explored the road, and it can be sailed 150 miles north from Liangfangkou Pass...... As long as you drive along the Liao River, the armed sand boats of the sailors will be able to support you. ”

The armed sand boat is an improved version of the centipede boat, driven by oars, the draft is also very shallow, the hull is reinforced, and with ribs (there is already a keel), a 24-pound roundabout bombardment can be installed!

"That's good!" Qin Mingtao had already stood up, "Let's go, go to the division headquarters to interrogate the prisoners!" ”

Of course, there were captives, a group of weeping peasant soldiers - of course they had to cry, they couldn't stay in the good Northeast, they had to settle down in the Gulf of America in the New World, and there would be no healthy coarse grains to eat in the future, so they would wait to eat meat, seafood, and ventilation......

"Don't cry, cry again!"

When a seventeen or eighteen-year-old young soldier saw Qin Mingtao, Liu Chongwen, Sun Shining, and Li Shaowen (Li Ruolian's son), the commander of the division, coming over, he opened his throat and roared.

At this time, all the captives held back their cries, and none of them dared to cry.

Qin Mingtao sat down on a chair and asked with a pleasant face, "Who will tell me?" ”

Say what?

The captives below did not understand.

"Don't even say it?" Qin Mingtao smiled, "Hard bones...... Then you have to fight! ”

Now someone finally reacted.

"Don't hit, don't fight...... If the big handsome man has anything to say, just ask, and the little ones know everything! ”

"Okay," Qin Mingtao said, "then don't fight for now." He pointed to the man who spoke first, "You stay, and everyone else is escorted away!" ”

You have to separate them and ask them again - one by one, and then confess, if you are right, you will not be beaten, if you are not, you will be beaten!

Seeing that the other captives were all taken down, Qin Mingtao asked, "Say, do you know where Doni's army is?" ”