On July 19, the Spanish Army outside Dingyuan Fort was still anxiously awaiting news. However, the Liao Meng detachment on the south bank of the Dayu River was reinforced, and a mixed force composed of the third outpost of the infantry, supplemented by 100 servant spearmen plus a small number of naval battery gunners and 4 artillery pieces, arrived in the south bank area and joined the main force of Liao Meng's army.

The victory on the South Bank was a great morale boost to the War Office, which was not entirely uneducated, and they were keenly aware that the victory seemed to have turned the tide of the battle. After some discussion, Peng Zhicheng, a guy full of gambling, decided to decisively increase the weight, he not only sent reservists to make up for the gap in Liao Meng's detachment after the battle, but also decided to continue to strengthen the troops on the front line.

The two remaining infantry posts at the War Office were sent out to one. In addition, Peng Zhicheng also pulled down his old face, and seconded a small number of gunners to Wang Qinian's navy, and these gunners directly pulled out 4 freshly cast guns from the armory, equipped with a certain number of spearmen, and went directly to the front line.

Liao Meng's troops now consist of two infantry posts, one mounted infantry post, one and a half artillery posts (12 artillery pieces), most of the cavalry battalions, and 200 spearmen who have been replenished and fully staffed, plus some baggage logistics personnel, for a total strength of more than 590 men. After replenishing a large number of supplies, Liao Meng directly led his army westward, and after a day's march, on the evening of July 19, he arrived at several villages on the south bank of the Dayu River, near which the Spaniards' crossing bridge was built.

Liao Meng's detachment naturally couldn't hide from the Spaniards, and the Spaniards' bridge guards on the south bank immediately put up fierce resistance. The Spaniards hid in the fortified bunkers and fired desperately at the third outpost of the infantry who had come to test the firepower with arquebuses. By this time it was almost dark, and the troops of the third outpost retreated after a little probing. Liao Meng was not in a hurry, his troops were standing here, and they had effectively blocked the way for the Spaniards to return south. It is no longer of much significance to seize the bridge or not, it is better to seize the time to lay artillery positions.

The villages were greatly damaged by the Spaniards, who demolished the bricks and timbers of many houses to build fortifications. Liao Meng looked at this scene with a gloomy face, thinking in his heart that he must leave these Spaniards here this time.

Nothing was said all night, on the morning of July 20. The Spanish bridge guards on the south coast, who had been reinforced overnight, opened their bunkers and lined up in the open field. Liao Meng raised his binoculars and looked over, only to see that the Spaniards were about 600 people, most of them were musketeers, and only a small number of spearmen were at the forefront. The infantry formation was flanked by four small guns, and some artillerymen were putting on the horses of the gun carriages, ready to maneuver forward.

"Array! Against! After Liao Meng's simple two-sentence order was issued, the five or six hundred officers and men of the entire detachment also acted quickly.

200 spearmen, assisted by heavy soldiers, put on the three-year-old full-body armor that had been brought in urgently. They discarded the shin armor that hindered movement, but retained their helmets, gauntlets, breastplates, and skirts. A 40x5 phalanx of 200 spearmen formed in front of the musketeers, a spear formation of European prisoners of war and charruas with 2.7-meter-long spears in the bitter westerly wind.

The two 246 flintlock musketeers of the three sentry units formed two 24*5 phalanxes on the left and right sides of the spear array, and the six sentry commanders and deputy sentry commanders stood at the head of the right row of the first row of the musketeer formation, and the non-commissioned officers and officers above the corporal level were all wearing full-body armor. In the gap between each of the two phalanxes, there were six guns each. In addition, there are two flag-bearers and two drummers each.

The cavalry battalion stayed with the baggage troops, acting as a force for action, ready to attack at any time.

Today's westerly winds are 5-6 and visibility on the battlefield is good. The hour hand pointed to 7 o'clock in the morning, and seeing that the Spaniards on the opposite side faintly began to move, Liao Meng gave an order, and hundreds of fighters in the three infantry phalanxes shouted in unison: "Wan Sheng!" ”

Two drummers took the lead, one of them took out the military horn and played the "Victory Belongs to the Army March" adapted from the later "Military Song of the Chinese People's Liberation Army", and the other beat the small drum hanging from his waist according to the melody. After hearing the melody of the military horn, the sentry commander picked up the brass whistle hanging around his neck and blew it, and then immediately shouted: "Victory belongs to the army, forward!" ”

As the sharp copper whistle sounded, the soldiers were in the platoon commander's "one, two, one... Left and right...". Two red flags embroidered with American vultures fluttered high in the wind, and the soldiers' steps seemed relatively steady, and although they were a little nervous, they still managed to restrain their emotions well.

The artillerymen were the undisputed protagonists of this battle. The eight four-pounder guns and four eight-pounder guns in the middle of the two infantry phalanxes of the Liao Meng detachment were the first to fire, and the ultra-long range allowed them to cover almost the entire battlefield, so they did not need to maneuver the guns on the horse-like ground like their Spanish counterparts.

The landing point of the first round of shelling was not good, but it doesn't matter, it was just a test firing. Of course, the fact that these guns opened fire at such a distance was a demoralisation blow to the Spaniards, as it meant that they had to endure several more rounds of shelling than their opponents.

The distance between the two sides is narrowing. The artillery of Liao Meng's detachment opened fire again, and the almost straight trajectory passed through the space of several hundred meters between the two phalanxes, and rushed straight into the tight phalanx of the Spaniards.

"Poof! Burst! There was a loud sound, the sound of blood splattering, the sound of penetrating soft flesh. A few shells caused horrific damage in the crowd, and the Spanish officers shouted and cursed, trying to calm the slightly wavering morale of the soldiers. They rode tall horses and galloped in front of and behind the phalanx, ensuring that every soldier could see them clearly.

"Control the tempo! Walk to the rhythm of the drum and bugle! One, two, one... One, two, one..."Lan Guo, who had been promoted to the acting commander of the third outpost, shouted at the top of his voice, he was wearing a bright and thick three-year-old full-body armor, with an ammunition pack, a saber and a flintlock pistol hanging from his waist, and a 32-B flintlock rifle on his shoulder. The soldiers' steps were a little stiff, and many of them gradually stopped walking according to the melody and drums, and the queue began to skew a little, and Lan Guo had to be reminded loudly.

The artillery continued to bombard, creating gaps in the Spanish formation, but they were quickly filled by the personnel behind, and the Spaniards, who were almost in a desperate situation, finally showed a rare courage to fight desperately.

The trumpeter kept repeating "Victory Belongs to the Army March" when the trumpeter began to play the opening phrase "Forward, forward, forward!" again. "At that time, the Spanish artillery finally opened fire.

A four-pounder projectile roared through the phalanx of spearmen on Lan Guo's right, and the powerful kinetic iron projectile grazed the bodies of four or five soldiers in a row before finally running out of kinetic energy and falling on the grass. The soldiers who were grazed by the iron bullets were either dead or wounded, and it was better to say that the dead were better said, and a wounded soldier who had been grazed by the shell had his thigh broken was lying on the ground and wailing. The artery in his leg had ruptured, and the hot blood was gushing out, and he tried in vain to cover the wound with his hands, but that could not stop the blood from spreading on the grass.

Languo, don't look around, the survival rate of wounded soldiers in this era is very low. What's more, the soldier's thigh was blown off by a cannonball, and his arteries and blood vessels were ruptured, even the gods couldn't save him. The enemy artillery fire was still raging, it was two four-pounder cannons and two six-pounder cannons, and the Spanish gunners were quickly carrying out the steps of clearing, charging, and reloading, as if they were in a training session.

"Boom! Rumble! "This time it was replaced by the flintlock musketeers, and the phalanx suffered. A six-pound iron bullet landed in front of Lan Guo, and then jumped up and hit a soldier, the unlucky soldier's right arm was knocked out of the way in front of the iron bullet that jumped up and rushed forward, and the remaining projectile continued to whizz towards Lan Guo.

"Not good!" Lan Guo secretly screamed in his heart, and it was too late to dodge. At this moment, his mind was recalling his college career in his previous life, his military career after crossing over, and his wife who had just been newly married for a long time, and Lan Guo subconsciously closed his eyes.

"Whew!" A gust of wind swept through his ears, and the iron bullet slashed diagonally less than ten centimeters in front of him, then bounced off the ground and slammed into the abdomen of a spearman in his right rear. The little kinetic energy left by the iron bullet was completely absorbed by the soft belly, and the former pirate spearman from the Netherlands fell to the ground screaming. A large hole had been knocked open in his abdomen, and several pieces of intestines had flowed out of the hole and scattered all over the floor. He fell to the ground and screamed for help from his comrades, but no one stopped to help him. Maybe when the war is over, if he is not dead, the two Taoist priests of the Religious Affairs Office who accompany the army will come to overtake him, but he obviously will not live to that time.

Lan Guo felt himself break out in a cold sweat, and he thought he would definitely die at that moment just now. It's just that he didn't expect that God favored him at the last moment, making him pass by death. This taste is not pleasant, Lan Guo stabilized his mind, now is not the time to be distracted, the enemy is still ahead! Lan Guo's anger against the Spaniards gradually ignited in his heart at this time, and he held his saber and shouted, "Don't be afraid! Steady! Cannonballs will only find cowards! One, two, one... One, two, one... Steady pace! ”

The 8 guns of the artillery post finished another round. By this time the infantry on both sides had already come within range of the opposing muskets, and the Spaniards were at the forefront of the line with a hundred flintlock musketeers, who gradually flattened their loaded muskets and began to aim.

"Raise your gun... Aim... Preparation... Put! A sharp copper whistle sounded, and Zhu Liangqing, the battalion commander of Liao Meng's detachment who commanded the front battle, swung down the saber in his right hand.

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