The gunfire stopped, and the smoke that filled the battlefield slowly dissipated......

Standing on the city wall, He Guozhong, whose face had been completely blackened by the gunsmoke, subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.

After glancing at the subordinates around him who were also relaxed, He Guozhong opened his mouth and ordered: "Order the brothers, work harder, clean up the battlefield, treat the wounded, and count the casualties...... After it's finished, I ...... rest."

"Half an hour later, Ben will know the specific losses in the battle just now......"

In a simple tent behind the city wall, He Guozhong had just finished eating two steamed buns and a bowl of mutton, and he hadn't had time to rest. The first team of the former musket battalion, who had been appointed as the commander of the regiment, walked into the tent with a solemn face.

Facing He Guozhong's inquiring gaze at him, the regiment commander with a solemn face directly spoke: "Division commander, the loss of equipment and the loss of troops have all been counted......

"Under the repeated attacks of the officers and troops outside the city, the old man we brought from Datong lost a total of 128 people, of which 85 were killed in direct battle. The first batch of 1,000 recruits who have completed training have lost as many as 482 people, of which 410 were killed in direct battle......"

"After the inspection of the dead soldiers, more than sixty percent of the more than 600 brothers we lost were caused by the archers of the officers and soldiers......

"Archers of the official army ......" Hearing these words, He Guozhong, who was full of anger, couldn't help but grit his teeth and scolded loudly.

"I really didn't expect that we would ignore the bow and arrow, a long-range attack weapon that we have eliminated...... This qiē is all the fault of the general. If we can return to Datong alive, Ben will definitely go to the big boss in person to ask for guilt......"

Hear here. A subordinate standing in front of him. Hurriedly opened his mouth to comfort.

"Division commander. You're not wrong...... Although we lost more than six hundred people. However, the officers and troops who attacked us suffered much more losses than we did. Although the brothers did not go out of the city to make specific statistics, they can still estimate the approximate number. ”

"There are as many as 3,000 corpses left on the battlefield outside the city by the attacking troops of the official army......

"Two siege teams of officers and troops on the front line of the city wall. More than 1,000 officers and soldiers, almost all of whom were killed by us with grenades. ”

"A thousand archers, less than five hundred escaped back under the counterattack of the musket battalion."

"As for the two thousand officers and musketeers, except for the five or six hundred who were killed by the musket battalion. The remaining more than 1,000 people, under the attack of nearly 200 rounds of shells from six mortars, managed to escape back, and there were less than 1,000 people......"

"If the battlefield continues to fight according to this casualty ratio, the officers and troops attacking us outside the city will definitely be wiped out by us first...... The final victory. It must belong to us, too. ”

The words of his subordinates did not make He Guozhong show even the slightest smile on his face.

Under the gaze of a pair of eyes full of incomprehension. He Guozhong shook his head and replied, "The battle situation is definitely not as simple as you imagined. ”

"If you look at the loss of troops, we did win a big battle."

"However, for us, in addition to the loss of troops, there is also the loss of equipment. And what really affects us is the loss of equipment. Therefore, with a large number of troops and no equipment, the salt works still cannot be defended. ”

The regiment commander nodded in understanding, and continued to pray: "Division commander, you are right, in terms of equipment, the situation we are facing has become worse and worse......

"In less than an hour of fighting, we had 81 fired muskets scrapped because they had been fired for a long time, and there was no way to continue using them."

"The musket is equipped with lead bullets, because we have a lot of training ammunition in stockpiles, and we are still very adequate. However, judging from the use of the remaining muskets, the remaining muskets should not last too long, and they will be scrapped and face the danger of exploding. ”

"In addition to this, there are 120 flowering shells and 1428 grenades left......"

He Guozhong nodded, and asked rhetorically in a low tone: "In other words, with our existing ammunition and equipment, we can only fight an offensive and defensive battle of the scale just now." ”

The head of the regiment standing in front of him, although he didn't want to admit it.

However, under He Guozhong's clever eyes, he still had to nod his head in approval......

At this time, the solemn expression on He Guozhong's face became deeper.

After taking a deep breath, he said to the regiment commander in front of him: "Hearing this, General Ben can already say with certainty that with the existing equipment, we will definitely not be able to wait for the equipment sent to us by the Governor's Palace. ”

"Therefore, in order to defend the salt farm, we must try our best to be self-reliant......"

Speaking of this, He Guozhong's face was already unconsciously replaced by Yan Sù. Facing the head of the regiment in front of him, he continued to analyze.

"There are so many military households living in our salt farm, and if you can find thousands of cold weapons from the military households, you will definitely be able to find gunpowder."

"As long as the old brother from Datong comes from Datong, he knows how to make such improvised explosives as zuò explosive packs. In order to hold out longer, we had to replace the grenades that were already small with explosives packets. ”

"So, even if we scrape the ground, we must also find enough gunpowder in the salt field, as long as the explosives are packed, and the salt field ......"

When the saltworks garrison began to collect gunpowder from house to house to make explosives packets.

Zhu Dadian, the governor of Shandong, was sitting in the big tent with a solemn face and without saying a word, listening to his subordinates report the losses of the day.

When he heard that his one-day attack had lost as many as 3,748 people. Zhu Dadian, who was sitting on the main seat, could no longer suppress the anger in his heart.

The whole person was like an angry lion, roaring loudly at the subordinates in front of him: "Waste, a group of waste...... The 5,000 imperial army attacked the salt pans, which had less than 500 defenders, and not only did they not take it, but they also suffered heavy losses......"

"You say, 'What are you not rubbish?' The imperial court gives you so much military pay every year, is it all in vain? ”

As the saying goes, the gun shoots the first bird.

At this time, the generals standing in front of Zhu Dadian usually looked arrogant. And at this moment, they all lowered their heads, and no one dared to stand up at this time.

It wasn't until Zhu Dadian's mouth began to be hoarse that he stopped, and thought of a few questions on his own battlefield.

After calming the anger in his heart as much as possible, he asked the general who was reporting in front of him, "Although the losses are large, they are far beyond the expectations of this officer. However, among the 5,000 people who attacked, after all, more than 1,000 people retreated......"

"Since you have already been defeated, you must know the reasons for the defeat. This officer wants to know how the Haw Par Army counterattacked on the battlefield...... What kind of equipment are they using......"

Under the introduction of his subordinates, the more Zhu Dadian understood the strength and tactics of the Haw Par Army, the stronger the jealous expression on his face.

At the same time, a trace of emotion also appeared in Zhu Dadian's mind.

A large part of the reason why the Tiger and Leopard Army was able to defeat the invincible Houjin cavalry on the battlefield again and again was because of its advanced firearms and equipment.

Since the Haw Par Army has so many powerful firearms, in the absence of equipment superiority, with only the superiority in troops, does it have a chance to defeat them and capture the salt pan......

Will the next battle be like just now, with heavy losses but no results?

Just when the jealous expression on Zhu Dadian's face was slowly covered by heartfelt worry.

A general standing in front of him suddenly stood up. In front of everyone, he said confidently.

"My lord, generals, I thought that we should not worry about the superiority of the Haw Par Army's firearms and equipment at all......

"In the eyes of the last general, the Haw Par Army's battlefield today has told us with facts that even if they have equipment and firearms that far exceed ours, the number of these equipment and firearms is very insufficient."

Zhu Dadian's eyes were one or two, and hope was rekindled on his face.

He asked loudly to the subordinates in front of him, "Tell me your reason...... That's right, this official will definitely write to the court and reward you. ”

"Lord Xie......" The general standing in the middle of the military tent looked happy and hurriedly replied.

"My lord, the last general's idea is that if the defenders of the salt field are really equipped with enough new firearms and equipment, they will definitely not launch a counterattack against us when the two armies are at a stand......

"According to Admiral's observations on the battlefield, the defenders were at least a few hundred of them wiped out by us before they counterattacked. If they were really armed with enough firearms, would they be indifferent to the death of their men? ”

"Therefore, the last general is sure that the number of such new firearms equipped by the Haw Par Army must be very limited. Only at critical moments, will it be put into use on the battlefield......"

Hearing this, two rays of light quickly shot out from Zhu Dadian's eyes. Then, with an approving face, he replied: "The analysis is very reasonable......"

"The equipment of the Yanchang defenders must be very limited, as long as we make good use of this shortcoming of the Yanchang defenders, we can still eliminate the Yanchang defenders, capture the Yanchang, and win the first credit of the imperial court's siege of Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces. When the time comes, the generals who participated in the attack will definitely be knighted by the imperial court and rewarded by the imperial court. “

After finishing speaking, the expressions on the faces of the subordinates in front of him had been replaced by scorching heat again.

At this time, Zhu Dadian, who also rekindled his confidence, continued: "Since we have found the shortcomings of the defenders of the salt works, then we must break the enemy against these shortcomings......

"Everyone talks freely and talks about what we should do......"

The general, who had just spoken, stood up again and said.

"My lord, the last general's idea is: since the equipment and firearms of the defenders of the salt field are insufficient, then we will use a lot of firearms and equipment in their hands through guò battles......" (to be continued......