While the fleet and Fort Niuzhuang were shelling each other, the marines who had already landed began to approach Fort Niuzhuang. Because of the lack of docks, the Marines only came ashore with light infantry and could not carry heavy firepower. Without the support of the fleet, their ability to attack fortifications is actually very lacking. However, they also have some high-tech weapons that are rare in this era.

Among the infantry units of the Model Army, the Marine Corps has the highest percentage of stragglers. Moreover, they were armed with the highest percentage of rifled guns using mini rounds. Two battalions, of nearly two thousand men, were armed with more than two hundred expensive rifled guns with steel barrels.

These guns, in the hands of well-trained soldiers, can effectively shoot at targets more than 200 paces away, and if a salvo is used, they can even effectively shoot at targets at a distance of 400 paces, which is far beyond the range of the Hongyi cannon when it used shotguns. (When using shotguns, the effective range of the so-called Hongyi cannon is only 100 steps), not to mention a little guy like the Furlong cannon. Even taking into account the fact that the guns of the Cow Village were all mounted at high places, the effective range of the rifled guns in the hands of the Marines was much greater than the range they could have used with shotguns. As for the use of solid shells, the range of that thing is of course much beyond that of rifled guns, but it is not very useful for striking dense infantry formations, and it is not easy to shoot skirmishers. So, on the battlefield, skirmishers who use rifled guns are often able to suppress the opponent's artillery.

Of course, in this battle, the skirmish tactics may not be so effective, first of all, because the opponent hides in the fortress and is protected by a female wall. And if you get too close, you have to worry about the attack of enemy cavalry. If it were a normal army siege force, it would have been possible to rely on artillery shrapnel to suppress the opposing cavalry, but the lack of ports, so that there were no heavy weapons available to the marines, and they had to rely on the naval guns of the naval fleet. Therefore, the advance of the Marine Corps must be closely coordinated with the approach of the fleet. Failure to do so may result in serious losses.

By this time, the fleet had completed its turn about two thousand meters from the fortress of Niuzhuang, and the sun had already risen, and the direction of the marines was facing away from the sun, which was the best time to attack.

"Contact the Marines, they can follow the plan." Shi Lang said.

The herald on the battleship waved the flag to the landing team, and after a while, he received a response from the marines, and then the marines began to approach Niuzhuang Fort, and the other marines also spread out in a straggler formation, following the stragglers, keeping a distance of about a hundred paces from them. The battleships of the fleet also put away their mainsails, using only the spinnakers in the bow, and kept walking in the Z line, maintaining a speed comparable to that of the Marine infantry.

"Master, look, Haikou is here!" One of the Eight Banners pointed to the approaching marines in the distance and said this to Sauron.

Sauron looked through the fog of the battlefield (the smoke of gunpowder weapons fired at the battlefield), which had been gradually blown away by the sea breeze, and he saw that at a distance of about eight or nine hundred paces, an enemy army in gray-green overalls was gradually approaching.

"Why don't these people line up? If you encounter the impact of cavalry, how can you resist such a chaotic look? Sauron thought.

"Master, those pirates really don't know how to fight. In this way, there is not even a formation, let the cavalry rush, and don't they all have to die? Master, let the minions take a team of men and horses to rush for a while! ”

Sauron was also quite moved, if it was Guan Ningjun or any other Ming army outside, I was afraid that he would immediately give such an order, but it was the "Zheng Family Army" on the other side! Sauron had fought with the Zheng family army on the battlefield, and knew that these southern barbarians were different from other Ming armies, not only were they fierce, but they were definitely well-trained. Although they called these southern barbarians "pirates" out of disparagement, these "pirates" were not real bandits, and Sauron would not believe anything that they would say that they would not be able to form formations, or that they would not be attacked by cavalry.

"Don't underestimate them, Twelve Baylors and Fifteen Baylors have suffered losses in front of them." Sauron shook his head with a calm face, "They're not that easy to fight!" …… Cai Shiying! Sauron suddenly shouted.

Cai Shiying was checking the situation of the cannon at this time, and when he heard Sauron's loud shout, he hurriedly ran over, flicked his sleeves, and half-knelt down and said, "Master, what do you command?" ”

"Look at those pirates coming up, how about it, can you hit them with your cannon?" Sauron stared at Cai Shiying and asked in a deep voice.

Cai Shiying also saw those marines just now, and now when he heard Sauron ask, he replied: "Master, the enemy army is already within range, but it's just ......."

"Just what?" Sauron asked, wide-eyed.

Cai Shiying shuddered and said: "Master, the formation of these pirates is too scattered, but now it is still far away, and it can only be hit with solid cannonballs, this cannonball slipped one by one, if the enemy is dense and hit, it can knock down a lot of people, but now, if this hits, it will only knock down one or two people!" ”

"Can only hit one or two people?" Sauron touched the hilt of his sword, "It's been spent so much money for you Nikan's cannons, but it's still such a waste!" ”

"Master, if you let them get closer to within a hundred paces, and use a shotgun to hit, you can hit a large area." Cai Shiying hurriedly said.

"Within a hundred steps, my Eight Banner Warriors will shoot directly with arrows, what do you want these wastes to do!" Another white-armored soldier next to Sauron also cursed.

"Fire a few shots first," Sauron said, "and kill a few of them." ”

"Huh!" Cai Shiying hurriedly responded. He kowtowed to Sauron again.

"Get out of here!" That Baijia Road.

Cai Shiying hurriedly stood up and ran towards the artillery team.

Under the command of Cai Shiying, soon, several imitation Hongyi cannons, as well as the captured "authentic" Hongyi cannons, were aimed at the target. As soon as Cai Shiying gave the order, the sound of the cannon suddenly rang out.

The muzzle velocity of the shells fired from the Hongyi cannon is not very high, only about two hundred meters per second. So when the shell flies out a little farther, it can be seen with the naked eye. Sauron's eyes widened at the shells.

A shell landed on the ground not far from the soldiers of the Marine Corps, smashed up some dust, then jumped again, then jumped a few more times, and then hit nothing. There was also a shell that fell directly behind the soldiers, and naturally nothing hit. And also...... Basically, in this round of shooting, although a few shots approached the target, none of them really hit.

Sauron wasn't actually surprised by this result. Because it's not the first time he's watched the people of Wuzhen Chaoha practice artillery, and he knows what the hit rate is when they shoot at such a distance. He asked Uzhen Chaoha to fire at such a distance, in fact, the main purpose was not to kill or wound the enemy, but to observe the reaction of the enemy army when it was shelled. He noticed that the enemy forces were largely unmoved, and they continued to advance in that loose formation, neither faster nor slower.

"Shhh Sauron took a deep breath, "These guys are not simple, they are all elites!" He knew that even the Eight Banners soldiers were not necessarily able to show such composure when they were shelled. Just looking at a little bit, this is the demeanor of a strong army!

"How can such a team reveal the loophole that can be destroyed by the cavalry? There must be something wrong with this. Sauron thought so, but he wasn't sure if it was a trap that the guy on the other side had dug for him, but he was not willing to let go of such an opportunity. He struggled like this for a while.

During this time, the marines advanced a few hundred paces, and now the distance between the two sides is only about five hundred paces, at such a distance, the accuracy of the Qing army's artillery bombardment has increased slightly, and some Fran cannons have also begun to join the shelling, and the density of fire has also increased. So the Model Army Marines also began to suffer casualties.

"If you don't rush it, it's really unwilling." Thinking like this, Sauron said to a white-armored soldier who was following him: "You go and tell Battle, then he will take two hundred cavalry, rush it, don't fall in love, and if you find something wrong, you will immediately retreat!" ”

The white armor answered, and turned away. Sauron turned his head again and looked at the situation below, and he noticed that the enemy fleet began to gradually accelerate, slowly chasing after the infantry about a dozen paces behind.

Gradually, the city gates opened, the drawbridge was gradually lowered, and a group of cavalry of the Eight Banners of Mongolia was about to rush out waving their sabers.

"Spread the mainsail and accelerate!" Seeing that the suspension bridge of Niuzhuang Fort began to be lowered downward, Shi Lang issued such an order. The sailors, who had been on standby on the mast for a long time, immediately unfurled their mainsails, and the fleet did not follow the Z line, but quickly rushed to the front of the marines.

Sauron was taken aback when he saw the fleet of the Model Army suddenly rushing forward, and he immediately understood that the enemy was planning to use the firepower of the warships that came out against his cavalry. He was about to give the order to "let the cavalry come back," but he quickly and calmly made his judgment: "The enemy warships are four hundred paces from the shore, and at such a distance their solid shells may not be able to hit very accurately, and as for shotguns, they cannot hit so far." So there's nothing too scary about it. ”

"Let those Nikans take aim at the warship!" Sauron, who had calmed down, immediately gave such an order.

At this time, the drawbridge was lowered, and more than two hundred Mongolian cavalrymen rushed out of the drawbridge brandishing sabers. At this time, the gun doors on the starboard side of the three warships, which had already gone some distance, also opened one after another, revealing the muzzles of black holes.