Chapter 662: Oxcart Formation

When Shen Xi finished speaking, everyone present looked at each other.

Respect you for giving face to the Duke of Baoguo, and at the same time giving you the face of the status of Qincha, but you are not qualified to give orders to us.

Sun Yi, the eunuch guarding the town, sneered: "Speaking of responsibility, can you afford it?" ”

To be precise, Shen Xi really had no confidence to take responsibility, because he was neither a military general nor a civil servant sent by the emperor to lead the troops, but simply came to deliver artillery.

Zhu Hui was empathetic, took the initiative to relieve Shen Xi, and said with a smile: "Lord Shen came from afar, carrying the emperor's order, yesterday we saw the power of the new cannon, but...... Out of the city, the artillery is useless, and I am afraid that it will not be able to rush to the rescue. ”

That's telling the truth.

No matter how powerful the Franc cannon is, it can only be used at a fixed point, and the defensive effect is good, but if you want to send it to the battlefield to kill the enemy, you have to wait for the imperial court to study the improved version of the handcuff.

Even Zhu Hui did not agree with Shen Xi to take responsibility for sending troops, and those generals attacked Shen Xi more...... After all, people have the psychology of conformity.

"Report ......"

Just when all the generals questioned Shen Xi one after another, the herald outside rushed in and brought the latest battle report on the battlefield: "...... The main force of the Chinese army took advantage of the fact that the Tatars did not realize the siege before they fought back, fought a bloody way, and retreated, and now they have retreated to the big camp 20 miles away...... The Governor urgently ordered Yulin City to send troops to the Yuxi River and erect a pontoon bridge so that the army could cross the river! ”

In a word, everyone in the hall was shocked.

The "governor" in the war report was none other than Liu Daxia, the secretary of the household department who temporarily replaced the governor of the three sides.

Liu Daxia finally broke through and returned, and the old man was bold and decisive, but unfortunately he was in a little trouble now.

Eight miles north of the Yulin Acropolis is the Red Mountain section of the Great Wall, and now the Tatars have broken through this section of the wall, and then seven miles to the north is the Yuxi River.

The main body of the Yuxi River in the Ming Hongzhi period is in the west-east direction, roughly the Baimiao River and the wave river in the later generations, and the current Qiqiu River is a tributary. To go south from the grassland in the north, you must cross the Yuxi River.

Although the Yuxi River is not as wide and deep, it is more than a dozen zhang wide, and the deepest part is about one or two zhang, which cannot be crossed.

There was originally a pontoon bridge on the river, but it was destroyed by the Tatars, and now Liu Daxia led his troops to retreat south and was about to retreat to Yulinwei, but the army must have boats or pontoon bridges to cross the river.

"What can I do about this?"

A bunch of people talked about each other, and finally looked at Zhu Hui, waiting for him to decide.

Zhu Hui himself had no opinions, so he could only ask for help from his group of generals and staff, but no one dared to talk nonsense at this time...... Giving the wrong advice, that's going to be a loss of head.

"I'll lead the troops to build a bridge!"

Shen Xi saw that these generals were prevaricating again, so he couldn't help but get angry, and took the initiative to stand up and say.

"Lord Shen, don't be reckless, go out of Yulinwei to the north, the road is not smooth, this artillery can't be sent to the front line by manpower alone."

Yesterday, Shen Xi did win the respect of the defenders in the city, but what they admired more was the power of the Franc cannon sent by Shen Xi.

At present, Shen Xi volunteered to lead the troops out of the city, but in the eyes of these people, it was purely beyond his strength.

One victory was a fluke, and you want to come back for a second time?

"Give me five hundred soldiers and horses, thirty ox carts, and you don't have to worry about the rest!" Shen Xi's tone was filled with unquestionable determination.

At present, only Zhu Hui, the governor of Yansui, can decide this matter, and the largest official on the three sides is Liu Daxia, who temporarily acts as governor, followed by Zhu Hui, the governor of Yansui with the title of duke.

Zhu Hui hesitated for a long time before he said: "I can only seconded Lord Shen's three hundred soldiers and horses, as for the other two hundred...... Let's use the people from the headquarters brought by Lord Shen. ”

Really push the blame!

I asked you for 500 soldiers and horses, but you gave me 300, you must know that the 200 officers and soldiers of the Beijing battalion were forced to fight hard yesterday, and let them out of the city today, can they not retreat?

Shen Xi himself knows that in terms of combat effectiveness, the border army is stronger.

"My lord, what do you want the oxcart for?" A general next to him asked.

"Transporting artillery, putting ten cannons on an ox cart, you can easily and comfortably send them to the front line!"

When Shen Xi said this idea, some of the knowledgeable generals present suddenly felt extremely smart...... The biggest feature of artillery is that it is bulky, and it is of course possible to let the carriage pull, but the carriage is relatively bumpy, and at the same time it is easy to be frightened, and it is difficult to control, so it is impossible to fire the cannon on the carriage.

But the ox cart was different, although the ox was slow, but it was strong and steady, and the cannon was mounted on the ox cart like a moving battery. When it's time to fire a cannon, just blindfold the cattle and plug their ears on.

Zhu Hui waved his hand and said, "What are you waiting for, order three hundred soldiers for Lord Shen...... and thirty ox carts! ”

After some haggling and "bargaining", Shen Xi finally got the opportunity to lead the troops out of the city, but the 500 officers and soldiers really did not play much role in the whole battle, and most of these 500 people had to shoulder the task of erecting pontoon bridges.

Shen Xi walked out of the house and strode out of the General Soldier's Mansion, Yu Niang secretly pinched a cold sweat for him, and waited for no one around before he asked a little hesitantly: "Lord Shen, just go out of the city like this, I don't know if I still have the life to come back?" ”

Shen Xi was not as arrogant as before in the General Military Mansion at this time, and smiled and said, "Could it be that Yu Niang is afraid of death?" ”

Yu Niang smiled bitterly: "The life of the slave family should have ended more than ten years ago...... Today, you should lay down your life to accompany the gentleman. ”

Seeing that Yu Niang also said such arrogant words, Shen Xi couldn't find a reason to retreat.

When Shen Xi met with Song Shu, Zhang Laowu and others, and conveyed the order, except for Zhang Laowu and a few people, everyone else was in an uproar.

Song Shu almost stepped forward to make a move with Shen Xi: "Lord Shen, you are trying to harm us." We just escaped death, and you can afford to let us die again? ”

Shen Xi said: "If you want to die, it's a big guy together." What's more, we are not going to die, but to the battlefield to obtain military merits, think about it...... We have a powerful Franc cannon, and we have the Yuxi River to block it, as long as we stop on the south bank of the river and fire the artillery on the north bank, no matter how strong the Tatar cavalry is, they can fly across the Yuxi River? ”

When the soldiers heard Shen Xi's words, the fear and complaints just now disappeared in an instant, and they began to look forward to the beautiful picture that Shen Xi depicted.

If this is the case, then the Tatars will die as many as they come, and it will be a good deal with all profits, and military exploits will be like pie in the sky.

Shen Xi said again: "Now that the border army in the city is greedy for life and afraid of death, we should feel fortunate to have given us such great military exploits in vain!" Ben Chin assures you that as long as you follow, you will definitely come back with glory and wealth on your back! ”

"Good! Go and make a difference! ”

Zhang Lao Wu raised his arm, raised his arms and shouted. He followed Shen Xi desperately not once or twice, his worship of Shen Xi was almost blind, as for the old mother and wife at home, he believed that even if he had any accidents, the court would not ignore them.

This is probably the fearlessness of the ignorant!

With people like Zhang Lao Wu taking the lead, it is easy for other officers and soldiers to be emotionally aroused.

Yesterday the wind and waves came, and today it was just to transport the Franc machine gun to the river bank to set up a bombardment and cover the bridge, how dangerous can it be?

There was still a lot of resistance before, but after Shen Xi's pre-war mobilization, the soldiers immediately became cooperative.

Even Yu Niang had to admit that Shen Xi was a good orator, and his words just provoked the desire of these Beijing soldiers to make contributions in their hearts, just like when they were in Quanzhou City.

The men and horses of the Beijing camp and the gunners trained by the military department who entered the city yesterday quickly gathered together, and they were almost in their early 200s.

Soon, the ox cart pulled the Franc cannon to the north gate of Yulin City, and at the same time came three hundred border soldiers, including the handsome guard from before.

"Isn't this brother Tai's personal guard?" Shen Xi looked at the young guard.

The young guard sighed gloomily: "Actually, I haven't been with Grandpa Guo for long...... This time, he went to Yulin City to serve as the governor of Yansui, selected personal guards in the border army, and saw that I was good-looking and literate, so he transferred me to the guard. Since I didn't take good care of Lord Shen, Grandpa Guo demoted me from the general to the general banner and sent troops with Lord Shen. ”

Shen Xi had a feeling in his heart that he had harmed this young man, but following him out to fight would not necessarily be sent to death, maybe it would be a great opportunity to make a contribution?

"Ready to go!"

Shen Xi began to reorganize his troops and horses, although the team was not large, these five hundred people at least obeyed his dispatch.

Shen Xi is currently most concerned about the baggage used to build the bridge, as well as the situation of the ten Franc cannons, and he must ensure that the artillery does not have accidents on the way.

The north gate of Yulin City rumbled open, and Shen Xi glanced left and right, and there were only a few cavalry who followed the artillery team out of the city, and the number was less than a hundred.

The convoy had just left the city gate, and there was a "bang" behind it, and the north gate of Yulin City had been closed.

On the tower of the city gate, Zhu Hui waved his hand at Shen Xi: "Lord Shen, this lord wishes you success!" ”

Sun Yi, the eunuch who was guarding the throat of the male duck next to him, shouted: "It's a success!" ”

Shen Xi glanced back, with a little annoyance in his eyes...... These people are really a trick to say cool things, and they have the ability to come down with me to fight the Tatars.

When the ox cart procession departed, the border officers and soldiers at the head of the city raised their swords, guns and flags and shouted, because they had rarely seen such a spectacular scene, and they could not help but shout and cheer for the soldiers who went out on the expedition.

"Oh, oh!"

The shouts came and went, and the enthusiasm of Shen Xi's people was also ignited, and the city and the city were all excited.

The convoy went all the way to the north, and it took more than an hour to drive out of the Hongshan section of the Great Wall built in Chenghua for ten years...... After more than 100 years, the Wanli Emperor will build the north platform of the town on the red mountain, which is majestic and majestic, and is known as the three wonders of the Great Wall of China in later generations.

The ox convoy continued to move forward, and Shen Xi looked around, and the Red Mountain Mutual Market, which had been trading with the Mongols at the foot of the Red Mountain, had been closed, leaving only a piece of ruins. The city of Ima, which controlled the border trade in the north, and the tribute city for the Mongols, were also deserted, which shows the great impact of the war on the border economy and trade.

After walking north for about half an hour, billowing dust and smoke could already be seen in the distance, and it was estimated that Liu Daxia's headquarters was fighting with the Tatars at this time.

Seeing that the surrounding area was already a flat grassland, even if dozens of ox carts were running in parallel, there was no problem, so Shen Xi ordered loudly: "Divide all the ox carts into ten parts, every three are in a company, the artillery is centered, and then thirty ox carts are set up side by side!" ”

"My lord, why is that?" Song Shu asked puzzled.

Shen Xi didn't care to explain, at this time, he could only use the "iron lock boat", so that when he fought against the Tatar cavalry, he could provide a wide platform for the gunners to use.

Another hour or so passed.

"Lord Shen, the ox cart is connected, look!" Zhang Lao Wu was honest and reliable, and fixed the ox cart with iron chains and wooden poles.

Shen Xi jumped down from the carriage and stepped on the frame of the bullock cart with handrails in the center, he suddenly felt that something was missing, so he asked people to send the order flag over, hold it in his hand, and shouted: "Keep going!" ”

The cavalry was in the lead, and behind was the shield array, but the shield soldiers were only forty or fifty people, which seemed relatively sparse, mainly to prevent the oxen from being shot by bows and arrows. The biggest problem with this "iron boat" is that the cattle cannot be allowed to have problems, and if one car goes wrong, it is likely that all the ox carts will have problems.

Then there were the spear infantry, who were responsible for hand-to-hand combat with the Tatar cavalry who rushed up, and when covered by shield soldiers, the spearmen could exert some power.

In the middle of the battle formation were thirty ox carts side by side, on which not only the artillery was mounted, but also the matching gunners, loaders and shells. The ox cart is also equipped with shield soldiers, whose main role is to prevent the opponent's arrows, especially rockets.

If a rocket comes at it, igniting a cannonball or gunpowder and exploding, it will cause the oxcart to mess up.

Finally, there are the soldiers in charge of the rear of the temple, and these soldiers also have a role, after the death of the gunner and loader, they get on the ox cart to replenish their positions.

Standing at the top was Shen Xi, the commander-in-chief of the operation, whose task was to wave the command flag in his hand, dispatch the defensive troops, and issue the order to fire artillery.

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PS: The third update is here!

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