When Zhu Hongsan threw his last look at Wuchang, in the left camp outside Wuchang City, in the big tent of the chief soldier Jin Shenghuan. Jin Shenghuan, who was cheated by Zhu Hongsan once, was talking to his son Jin Dao*ming.

Jin Shenghuan said: "Tomorrow is the first day of the new year, you lead a thousand cavalry to Majiazhuang." Get the gunpowder recipe. ”

Jin Dao Ming hesitated: "Dad, Ruyun and I are married, and now we have given birth to grandchildren for you, isn't this good for the Ma family?" ”

Jin Shenghuan scolded: "Bastard, don't you listen to my words either?" What is the way of the world now? Like the troubled times of the Three Kingdoms mentioned in the book, our masters will die if they don't have a hole card in their hands. Ruyun gave birth to a boy, but that is also our Jin family. Besides, I didn't let me kill the Ma family, I just got a gunpowder prescription. What are you worried about? ”

Jin Dao Ming lowered his head and said, "I'm afraid that Ruyun will be unhappy." ”

Jin Shenghuan scolded angrily: "Son, how can you be like an old lady if you are a man, how can you inherit the family business after I die?" Alright, you go down. Tomorrow lead someone. ”

Watching his son bow out, Jin Shenghuan felt very helpless, his son is very good, benevolent, brave, and filial, but he is not ruthless, this is nothing in normal times, but now it is a troubled time. Look at the one around you is not like this, good people don't live long. Look at that Zhu Hongsan, he is decisive at a young age, and fifty or sixty thousand people will lose it. Thinking of this, Jin Shenghuan became more and more unconfident in the future of the Jin family.

Jin Shenghuan saw his son go out, and thought that his son would be timid when he went tomorrow, so he called the guards outside the door and arranged for him to go down to prepare. If the Ma family is obedient and obediently hands over the gunpowder prescription, it will be nothing to keep them alive. But that Zhu Hongsan must be killed. Thinking that Zhu Hongsan would blow up the city gate and let Kou into the city in order to run away for himself, Jin Shenghuan was shocked. This kind of character must be nipped in the bud.

Jin Dao*Ming returned to his account, Ma Ruyun saw that he was in a bad mood and asked him what was wrong? Jin Dao * Ming did not tell the truth to Ma Ruyun. Seeing his son who had just completed the moon, Jin Dao* thought in his heart: "Tomorrow I must protect the Ma family, and I can't be sorry like a cloud." ”

After breakfast the next day, Jin Dao*ming led his father's most trusted 1,000 cavalry to Majiazhuang. Half of these 1,000 cavalry were relatives brought by Jin Shenghuan from his hometown of Liaoyang, and the 1,000 households who led the troops were his own uncles. I couldn't mobilize them before, but I didn't expect my father to send this elite out for the sake of gunpowder prescriptions.

At noon, I rushed to Majiazhuang and found that the Ma family had gone to the empty house, and it seemed that it had been walking for a long time, and the empty house was full of dust. Let the soldiers grab a villager from Majiazhuang and ask, it turns out that the Ma family has moved away four months ago, and if you don't know where to go, you know that you have gone south.

The villager still said that Zhu Hongsan, the aunt of the Ma family, did not leave, and Jin Dao*ming asked where he lived? The villager said, "It's a big village fifteen miles west of Majiazhuang. ”

Jin Dao * Ming led people to Zhujia Farm, and found that it was more complete than Majiazhuang, there was no one, and a large number of empty houses were left.

However, these houses are still clean, and they should have been gone for a few days.

Jin Dao*Ming asked his uncle Jin Qianhu what to do next?

Jin Qianhu said: "The master made us have to get a gunpowder prescription, anyway, they have been gone for a few days, and they are too numerous to go fast, so we will chase down the road." ”

Jin Dao * Ming can't, only agrees. led the cavalry to chase down the main road.

Zhu Hongsan is now thirty miles away from the farm, and it is snowing, and there is too much baggage, so he can't walk fast. It takes more than 20 miles a day. Zhu Hongsan knew that only when he arrived at Yueyang Mansion could he be considered safe. Command to hurry up.

At the same time, he ordered Wang Xiaobao to pay attention to the surrounding situation, and to report immediately if there was an enemy.

On the third day of the first lunar month, the heavy snow finally stopped that morning. Zhu Hongsan went out to see that it was a good weather, and passed down the order to start rushing after breakfast, striving to arrive in Xianning County as soon as possible.

After eating, Qian Yonglai came to find Zhu Hongsan and said, "Sir, the front is my father-in-law's house." You see, I'm going to take them over, no. ”

Unexpectedly, it was Yangzhuang Town in front of him, Zhu Hongsan nodded and said, "Okay, you send someone to get them ready first, and let's set off immediately when we get there." ”

Qian Yong nodded and led people down to make arrangements.

At noon, they rushed to Yangzhuang Town, and the small landlord Yang Youcai and his family got more than 100 people. There are more than 20 large and small vehicles. gave Zhu Hong three angers, and found Qian Yong to be scolded. The small landlord also came over to apologize again and again.

After throwing away some useless furniture or something, there were also five carts. The Yang family joined the convoy and continued on their way. At this moment, Wang Xiaobao of the rear team arrived, found Zhu Hongsan and said: "Sir, I found a large group of cavalry ten miles behind, rushing towards us, it seems that they are looking for us." ”

Zhu Hongsan said: "What are you afraid of." Qian Yong! ”

Qian Yong said on the side: "Sir, I'm here." ”

"Take your battalion and the artillery company of the sixth battalion and build a position outside the village. Zhang Sanqiang, you lead the others to fortify the town to prevent the cavalry from breaking into the town. ”

Zhu Hongsan called Zhu Hongyi and said: "The eldest brother led the guard company to protect the men, women and children, and used the cart to form a circle outside. ”

Zhu Hongyi nodded and went down to arrange.

Half an hour later, Qian Yong's blocking position was arranged, and the 36 guns of the two artillery companies were lined up, and the pikemen and sword and shield soldiers stood behind the artillery.

As soon as the position was set, the opposite cavalry appeared on the horizon. The guys were on the road all night yesterday, and everyone was wrapped in the snow like a snowman. At this time, seeing a town appear on the opposite side, there were more than 500 people lining up in front of them to block the attack, and everyone cheered and finally caught up.

Jin Qianhu said: "On this plain, you want to use infantry against cavalry? Sons, let him see the real Liaodong Iron Horse, we are not comparable to those donkey riders in Guanli. ”

Everyone burst into laughter, half of this group of cavalry were from Liaodong. Although it is not as elite as Guan Ning's iron cavalry, it is not much worse. These are Jin Shenghuan's capital, whenever there are hard bones in the battle, there is nothing that cannot be gnawed down by investing in this elite.

Two miles outside the town, a thousand cavalry stopped. Jin Qianhu shouted: "Brothers, rush forward for a while, and leave no men, women, old and weak. ”

Jin Dao Ming shouted from the side: "Uncle, we are here to find Fangzi, what should we do if everyone is killed?" ”

Jin Qianhu said: "The master said before he came that Zhu Hongsan can't have a family, and only the craftsmen can be left." The young master still stopped charging for a while, and waited for good news in the back. ”

Jin Dao*ming didn't expect that his father would give Jin Qianhu a second order, and he led his own soldiers behind without speaking.

Jin Qianhu shouted: "Brothers, let these water rats see what Liaodong Iron Cavalry is." Rush! ”

After saying that, he urged the horses to reach the fastest speed a mile away, and a thousand iron horsemen rushed towards Zhu Hongsan's defense line like a row of black lines.

Zhu Hongsan on the opposite side was also very nervous, after all, this was the first time that artillery had been put into use. It was all theoretical, and I don't know how it was in practice. In the past, it was difficult for a thousand people to fight against two hundred rogue cavalry, but this time it was a real thousand real cavalrymen, and Zhu Hongsan's palms were also sweating.

The frontal defense line on Zhu Hongsan's side was 300 meters, with an average of one artillery per 89 meters, and 1,000 cavalry on the opposite side also lined up a charge line about 300 meters long. Qian Yong saw that the other party had begun to accelerate, and shouted: "Artillery preparation, four hundred meters away, shotgun, three salvos." ”

The loader first opened the ammunition box and took out a shrapnel made of a thin iron barrel, which contained sixty-eight submunitions. Then put a packet of granular gunpowder in the barrel, compact it with a stick, and then put it in an iron drum.

Then the shooter went deep through the hole with a long awl, pierced the outer skin of the cartridge, poured in the ignition powder, and waited for the order.

Qian Yong saw that the cavalry on the opposite side had entered four hundred meters, and it was a matter of more than twenty seconds to get to the front, and shouted at the artillery: "Fire!" ”

The shooter puts a torch on the ignition port, and after 0.5 seconds, the cannon shakes and the shell is fired. The loader then uses a pig* brush stained with tung oil to penetrate deep into the barrel to clean the barrel, while scouring out the incomplete powder pack. Then fill in a new cartridge, a new shell, then the shooter pours in the ignition, and the second shotgun is fired.

At a distance of 30 meters from the discharge, due to the difference in internal and external speeds, the submunitions inside the shotgun barrel squeezed through the barrel and scattered at a 30-degree angle to the front. The discharging speed of each submunition is about 1,300 meters per second, and the time from discharging to stopping on contact with the human body is only 0.2 seconds.

The cavalry on the opposite side was rushing to a distance of 400 meters, and encountered the first batch of 2,448 submunitions, and the first row of 200 cavalry was like hitting an invisible wall, and all of them were knocked to the ground, and each horse and man was basically hit by seven or eight submunitions with a diameter of one centimeter. Before the second platoon of cavalry could see what was going on, the second platoon of submunitions arrived, and this time because they had advanced more than 100 meters, more than 200 meters from the front, which was the distance where the shotguns were most powerful, and many submunitions were shot through the human bodies of two and three people one after another. The first person to bear it was often cut into two parts, and some horses were shot in the head, directly overturning the horse's skull, and the ammunition had more than enough to penetrate the rider's body.

After three shellings, only two dozen horses remained standing on the battlefield, and the riders on horseback were stunned. It's not that they've never seen bloody scenes, but they've never seen this kind of battle in which a thousand cavalry are all beaten into pieces of flesh in a matter of seconds.

The twenty or so riders were stunned for a moment, then turned their horses and fled, they wanted to stay away from this demonic battlefield, and some of them were so frightened that they peed their pants and didn't know it.

Jin Dao * Ming in the back looked almost scared to pee his pants, at first it was clear that his side had the advantage, and the cavalry rushed over must have been a massacre, but he didn't expect that the situation on the battlefield would be reversed in a few seconds, and the opposite team in front of the team was like a Franc machine, which could spray a large number of shells in a short time, and the thousand cavalry on his side were all wiped out without rushing as two hundred steps, which was beyond Jin Dao * Ming's ability to understand.

Seeing this Jin Dao * Ming's personal soldiers, he immediately led Jin Dao * Ming's horse and fled.