Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Riverbank Blockade
Qi Jiguang's Qi Army, as the main force guarding the southeast coast, seems to have become the most powerful army in the Ming Dynasty. In addition to the strict and even harsh military law formulated by Qi Jiguang, the miracle army's victory in a hundred battles is based on the most advanced weapons and equipment in East Asia. The breech Shenwei general cannon, Franc machine gun, large-caliber cannon fire, bird gun, Japanese sword, iron armor, the equipment of the Qi family army is definitely the first in East Asia and the forefront of the world. As a local army, the Qi Family's army is close to the level of weaponry and equipment of the Kyoto Shenji Battalion.
Just when Qi Jiguang ordered Liu Dazhuang and Wang Qishan to go to the ambush, he ordered them to also bring a few breech guns. When half of the Tartar cavalry had crossed the river, they ordered the cannons to be fired. At that time, although the explosion power of the artillery was not very powerful, the huge impact of the shells was indeed very powerful, and it was more than enough to break the ice on the surface of the river. The breech guns fired quickly, and as the shells fell, the Tartars were smashed into meat sauce, and the ice under the feet of the Tartars gradually began to crack, and the cracks became larger and larger, until they could no longer support the pedestrians and horses above, and shattered.
"Help!" "Pull me up!" "Don't panic, hurry up and get to the shore!" The desolate plains were constantly heard the cries of cannons and fallen Tartars for help and the shouts of Tartar generals. In such cold weather, if you fall into the river and there is ice floe floating on the river, you basically don't want to climb up or someone will come to save you. The man fell, howled, fluttered twice, and sank; The war horse fell, neighing and moving its limbs, but there was nothing to be done.
"Damn, damn the Southern Dynasty!" Zarlie's eyes were blood-red, and he gritted his teeth and said that he couldn't save his soldiers, and there was no way to make the Ming army stop attacking. The powerlessness of the situation made Zarlie's heart extremely angry and resentful, and under the anger and rush to his heart, he spat blood alive.
"General, are you alright?" Seeing that his master was vomiting blood, Zallie's guards hurriedly came over to check.
"Get out of here!" Zarlie angrily pushed away his guards, called his generals, and said with a hideous face, "Quick, get the soldiers to the shore for me!" ”
“…… Be! The general of the Tartars did not know what to do, and just wanted to refuse, but when he saw Zarreh's expression, he was afraid that he would cut himself down in a fit of rage, and he should have done it immediately.
The general of the Tartars began to direct his men to slowly retreat to the banks on both sides of the river, and only a small part of the Tartars crossed the river at this time, and there were several thousand Tartars who fell into the water. There are still nearly 10,000 Tartars on the river, walking on thin ice, not daring to move, and the artillery of the Ming army is still bombarding the fragile river surface, and people are constantly falling into the water. Most of the Tartars had not yet crossed the river, but they were all frightened by the sight before them and were at a loss for what to do. At this moment, 5,000 Ming troops on each side came out. The Tartars could not cross the river, so they had to meet the battle, and in the distance there were shells that continued to bombard the river. The tartars on the shore were not damaged, but after the scene just now, they were all scared half to death, where did they still have the heart to fight. The two teams of men and horses of the Ming army were like two knives straight into the center of the Tartar cavalry brigade. More than 10,000 Ming troops did not hesitate at all, all the Tartars around them waved their knives at each other, and the merciless killing made the Tartars who were already frightened and panicked even more chaotic, and the more chaotic the Tartars, the more brave the Ming army was to kill the enemy.
Zarlie spat out a mouthful of blood, the resentment in his heart was slightly vented, and he immediately found that he was raided by the Ming army, and he wanted to organize a counterattack, seeing the appearance of his soldiers, he couldn't fight at all, so he immediately ordered to gather men and horses, and retreated to the way he came. The Tartars' ranks were extremely chaotic, and the Tartars usually did not abide by the discipline of the army, and now they wanted to rally them, and Zarri and his generals almost broke their throats. As for the Tartars on the river, Zarri could only let them fend for themselves. After a while, most of the soldiers were finally assembled, and the Tartars began to resist the attack of the Ming army, and the situation was slightly reversed. Zarlie immediately led his men and horses to the south, and from here he knew that Taiyuan Mansion was almost a flat river, and the war horses of the Ming army would definitely not be able to catch up. But providence made people, and before Zarlie could breathe a sigh of relief, he saw the smoke and dust billowing in front of him, and before he could react, a rain of arrows came to him.
The horses of the Ming Dynasty were not as suitable for long-term runs as the war horses of the Tartars, but their short sprints were better than those of the Tartars. The troops led by Qi Jiguang had been on the road since early in the morning, and now they had finally caught up. When the Tartars saw the 10,000 Ming Dynasty soldiers coming with swords and horses, all of a sudden, whether they were generals or small soldiers, their hearts were half cold. Now there is a strong enemy in front and a pursuer in the rear, where is there still a way to go. Before the Tartars could make up their minds to fight to the death, the Ming troops on both sides had already collided with most of the Tartars.
Suddenly, the bloody wind and rain, the stump and broken arm were flying all over the sky. The Ming army's knives are heavy, and they often go down with one sword, which can knock people away; The Tartar knife was fast, and the armor of the Ming soldiers could not resist it at all, and as soon as the knife went down, the lucky ones were cut in two with blood. The soldiers of the Ming army were not afraid, and now the situation was favorable to them, so they naturally fought bravely. And the Tartars because there are many people who haven't eaten for a day, and so many terrible things have happened in an hour from just now to now, they are shocked, even if they want to fight with the Ming army, where is the strength. A sharp knife, slashing at armor that could have been easily cut through without any strength, where can it do anything!
In the snow, there are constantly people who are cut off their horses and their heads are in different places, and there are constantly people who should be because the war horse is tripped by the "object" on the ground and falls off the horse, and before he can stand up, he is either beheaded by the enemy riding a war horse on the side, or he is trampled into meat sauce by his own people's war horse.
Zhang Fan looked at all this in front of him expressionlessly, the white snow was once again dyed bright red in his eyes, the corpses piled up on the red ground slowly became cold, and the lonely war horse wandered and neighed on the edge of the battlefield because it had lost its master. Maybe this is the immutable truth of this world, don't appease the enemy, let yourself become cold-blooded, as long as you can achieve the goal, you can do whatever it takes. For Zhang Fan now, he has already let go of the pursuit of the process in his heart, and the rest is just a choice of good and evil for different purposes.
Although 20,000 Tatars followed Zarlie out of the banks of the Yellow River, their numbers did not give them any advantage in this battle. And the Ming army is also 20,000 people, the Ming army, which was not as good as the Tartars in frontal combat, is indeed becoming more and more brave now, each as if they are invulnerable, fighting with the Tartars desperately, and the small injuries and pains on the body cannot stop their determination to kill the Tartars.
The two sides were fighting together, and the Ming army, in order not to injure their own people by mistake, did not use one of the weapons of artillery, and the form of the battle was still one-sided. The unimposing Tartars were completely lambs to be slaughtered in front of the Ming army, and some even died because of their own people.
The war continues, and the killing continues. In the face of killing, the Tartars were afraid, and some of the Tartars began to surrender, while the Ming soldiers continued to kill with hideous faces, even if the Tartars in front of them had put down the butcher knives in their hands. Yu Gong, they accurately carried out the orders issued by the imperial court; "Kill all the Tartars who invaded the south, and leave no one alive"; For selfishness, they hate the Tartars in front of them, occupy my fertile land, destroy my home, kill my parents and children, insult my relatives and sisters, all kinds of heinous crimes, where is there room for forgiveness.
Qi Jiguang did not go to the battlefield, for this kind of battle that must be won, he did not need to go into battle in person, but the soldiers themselves competed for merit. He rode his horse to Zhang Fan's side, didn't say anything, and silently watched the bloody scenes on the battlefield.
"Zhang Fan, are you okay?" Qi Jiguang looked at Zhang Fan and looked at the battlefield without saying a word, and he was not used to seeing this, so he asked.
"My lord, I've only been with the army for a few days, but now I don't care about any of that." Zhang Fan's face was steady, and he said slowly, "I don't know how, but there is still a sense of happiness in my heart!" ”
"Maybe ......" Qi Jiguang looked at Zhang Fan, didn't make a sound, and thought silently in his heart, "Maybe you shouldn't go to study!" ”