"Woo-ho---"

"Woo-ho---"

The shouts were full of hostile challenge that the Qing soldiers had never heard before. Looking around, I could see a chaotic figure on the hill to the west. These small black figures, walking like flying on the mountains, can be seen very clearly against the canopy.

"Probably, they found us."

Qing army guerrilla Chen Yixin squinted his eyes, and was about to take a closer look, when the figure had already disappeared in the woods and grass.

But in an instant, the same shout appeared in the mountains to the east:

"Woo-ho---"

"Woo-ho---"

Chen Yixin moved his gaze to the mountains in the east, and soon, the figure of walking like a fly disappeared again.

It is a mountain hill with lush forests and bamboo forests near and far, and only a small patch of cultivated land. Nearby, there were a few houses, very simple, with walls made of bamboo, and the roofs were covered with planks and stones, but there was not a single figure in sight.

"His mother ×, I couldn't see anything in it, and I kicked it into the fire pit." A soldier came out of the grass hut, stomped the ashes on his feet, and cursed in frustration.

"Boom!" An explosion was heard in the grass hut next to it, and the smoke rose and the grass and trees flew sideways. The two Qing soldiers who were close were hit by the flying bamboo and wood, and they fell and cried out in pain while covering their wounds. Another Qing soldier who entered the grass house was obviously not so lucky, and crawled out of the collapsed grass house with a scream, one leg was blown to a bloody blur.

Self-inflicted steel wheel fire! Chen Yixin gritted his teeth, and then sighed silently, thinking in his heart: It seems that today's action will not go smoothly.

As a pioneer along the way, Chen Yixin was the first to see the "self-committed steel wheel fire", but it was all on a relatively narrow road. It's the first time I've encountered a mechanism in a grass house.

In any case, his task today is to lead the team out of this hill, occupy the commanding heights ahead, and wait for the arrival of the brigade. For the barbarians on the eastern and western mountains, Chen Yixin felt a headache. But he didn't think it was a great threat, nor did he think that these bare-chested, poorly armed brusses would dare to stop the attack of his troops.

But soon, as the battle ahead began, Chen Yixin realized that he was wrong. In the previous skirmishes, it was not that the Ming army was afraid of war, nor was it to use barbarian soldiers as cannon fodder, but to choose a suitable position in order to exert the greatest power.

Since many of the muskets used by the Ming army were captured from Annam and Burma, only half of the shotguns captured from the Han army. The muskets used in Annam and Burma were powerful. However, it was bulky and could only form a fixed position against the enemy under the cover of spearmen and breastwork trenches, and it was difficult to provide sufficient and flexible firepower for the infantry. Therefore, under the influence of Zhu Yongxing, the Ming army preferred to defend and block attacks rather than fight in battle formations.

Despite several victories, the Ming army was still a small fight. Zhu Yongxing before the situation was opened. The strategy was also to focus on defense and take advantage of the climate of Yunnan Province. and the mountainous terrain, which constantly consumed the strength of the Qing army.

As a traverser, Zhu Yongxing certainly knew the development trend of the musket in history. Flintlock pistol, bayonet, or bayonet, flintlock pistol. This can be done in any order. But now the muskets in the hands of the Ming army are too large in caliber and heavier, and even if they are loaded with bayonets, it is difficult to dance flexibly. So, he was in no hurry to get the craftsmen to make bayonets. Instead, we should make every effort to build weapons that are simple to make and have quick results. For example, mines, grenades, sky-blasting cannons, and sky-mighty cannons.

Of course, this does not mean that Zhu Yongxing has given up on innovation and improvement in weapons. Now, the West has produced muskets with a caliber of less than 15 mm and a size similar to that of modern rifles. Although the destructive power is sacrificed, it is still very feasible to spread it to the equipment of the whole army with a bayonet.

To achieve this, it is necessary to have strong financial resources. Zhu Yongxing is not ready to localize, but to import in large quantities. The criteria for importing are that the musket is of the right model, and second, it must be able to be transformed into a flintlock pistol, at least the barrel of the imported musket can be disassembled and utilized.

Now is not the time to advocate domestic products, the use of wrought iron rolling, the quality is not guaranteed; Direct drilling, the time is too slow, almost a month to drill one. With such a production speed, if you want to equip the whole army, the cucumber dishes are cold.

Since flintlock muskets and bayonets were difficult to achieve for the time being, Zhu Yongxing could only make small improvements to improve the defense capability of the Ming army. Like fixed ammunition, the projectile is wrapped in a silk cloth dipped in oil, one to increase the rate of fire and the other to improve the accuracy of the shot. The breastwork, trenches, and curved artillery, mines, and grenades made the Ming army's defense even more powerful.

………………

Shells bounced and rolled through the Qing army's attack ranks, bringing with them shouts of panic and fear, and confusion in the ranks. This is one of the effects of the time-delay fuse, which is more effective than triggering the fuse from the point of view of disrupting the enemy's formation.

"Boom", "boom", "boom...... The flying stones and shrapnel inflicted casualties on the Qing army, and the wails and screams rang out.

Chen Yixin stomped his feet hatefully, and the enemy was condescending, using complete fortifications to block the road out of the moll, and under several attacks, not only suffered heavy casualties, but also made no progress. Even if there is a Hongyi cannon, it won't play much role in such terrain, right? Chen Yixin had a headache about the defense system of the Ming army, but he couldn't think of a way to deal with it.

A general retreated with the defeated soldiers, with a face of shame, standing with his head bowed, waiting for Chen Yixin's thunderous anger. To his surprise, Chen Yixin did not get angry, but sighed softly, and then was silent.

After a long time, Chen Yixin spoke: "The enemy is condescending, and it seems that it will not work if he attacks like this. The only way to do this is to attack from the mountains on the east and west sides. It's just that the mountains are high and the forests are dense, so be careful of those barbarian monkeys. ”

"General, I am willing to lead a sentry and march through the mountains." The general hurriedly bowed down and asked for help.

Chen Yixin pondered for a while and said, "Then it's hard for you." Ben will lead his troops to make a feint here, and respond to your detour. ”

"Obey orders." The Qing generals bowed and went to recruit soldiers. Retreat into the mountain first, and then find a way to climb the mountain.

The sun was in the sky, and Chen Yixin spread his troops at the mouth of the mountain and continued to contain the Ming army that was holding on. But instead of continuing the attack, he patiently waited for news of the roundabout troops.

……………

The shouts of "Woo-ho-ho-woo-ho-" echoed in the mountains and forests.

The Qing army general shook his head, angry, angry, and a little helpless. The Ming army, a minority group hiding in the woods and grass, constantly caused trouble for the marching Qing army. Javelins, crossbows, traps...... They relied on their familiarity with the terrain to strike at the Qing army. Then he quickly broke away like a cunning rabbit, leaving the Qing soldiers helpless.

The enemy is delaying and buying time for the troops behind to rebuild their blocking positions. The Qing generals felt that they had seen through the enemy's conspiracy, and they became more and more anxious. Yokoshimochi gave the order to speed up his advance despite the harassment and attacks of the enemy.

Ahead is a jungle of Usensen, and the only road is passing through it. The Qing army general frowned, and he saw the faint wooden fence and walled wall in the distance. Is the enemy going to block it head-on? Whatever the attempt, he had no choice but to advance, advance, carry out the orders of the commander, and flank the enemy at the mouth of the mountain.

The Qing army's team walked into this road between the jungles, and the sound of the wind blowing the branches and leaves also made them feel creepy. Frequent raids and trekking through the mountains and forests left them physically and mentally exhausted.

The front team passed. The Chinese army was also about to come out of the shadows of the jungle, but the mutation occurred at this time.

"Boom", "boom", "boom...... Columns of smoke rose from the road, and gravel and dirt flew up like a long dragon.

This was supposed to be the largest mine detonation to date, with hundreds of mines sounding in quick succession, almost completely covering the jungle-lined path.

The Qing army was dealt such a sudden and violent blow. Not only were there heavy casualties, but there was also chaos in the smoke. The front team and the rear team couldn't see the situation clearly, and they didn't dare to rush into the smoke rashly, and the speed of reaction was slow, giving the Ming army ambushed in the jungle time to attack.

Silent, silent. Without shouting or shouting, hundreds of assault troops of ethnic minorities quietly pressed forward from the depths of the jungle. Just when the smoke had not completely cleared, he suddenly rushed out, swords and guns shining, and launched a fierce attack on the chaotic Qing army.

The bombardment of the mine array had already caused heavy casualties to the Qing army, and the fierce enemy who suddenly rushed out of the smoke made it even more difficult for the Qing army to resist. Whether they were injured and fell to the ground, or they were lucky enough not to be injured, they first withstood a dense rain of javelins, and then there were murderous weapons that slashed and stabbed.

"Kill, rush!" The shouts rang out, overpowering the exclamations and screams of the Qing army. Like a frenzy, the soldiers of the Ming army fought out from the left side of the path, ran over them unstoppably, and then turned back to kill, and returned to the jungle before the front and rear teams of the Qing army came to reinforce them, and never looked back.

The smoke of gunpowder completely dissipated, and the marching queue of the Qing army was like a long snake that had been cut off in the middle, and the miserable scene was presented in front of the remaining soldiers.

One by one, craters appeared in the middle of the path, and around the craters, there were corpses and wounded of the Qing army. There were not many people killed by the explosion, but there were many who were attacked by the Ming army. And many of the corpses had no heads, apparently taken away by the Ming soldiers.

The Qing generals fell miserably to the ground, their heads were gone, their bodies were charred and blackened, two javelins were erected, and their wounds were still bleeding.

The attackers were disappearing into the jungle, and a thousand were lucky enough to be the supreme commander, but he looked at the jungle blankly, and felt chills all over his body.

It's a bit like hunting, a hound runs up, bites, and walks away. The other one goes up again, bites again, and goes again. Then there was the third, and then the fourth, when the prey was exhausted by the bites of the hounds, the hound that suddenly rushed up finally showed its fangs......

The strength of the wolf and the dog is about the same, and they fight alone, and they can't tell the winner in half an hour. But that sudden blow ended the whole battle in an instant, and the lone wolf fell in a pool of blood, killing why he became so vulnerable.

Harassment, sneak attack, detour, escape, blockade, give up. Take advantage of the Qing army's inattention to take a bite, and then take advantage of the familiar terrain to quickly escape. The tactics used by the Ming army are similar to the combat methods of the rogues, and they are repeated over and over again, just a few tricks.

But there is no way for Xia Guoxiang to take this kind of rogue tactics. From the analysis of several skirmishes, the damned Ming army divided the troops into at least thirty teams, and the purpose of each team was one, delaying the fighters. The ethnic minority soldiers, who were extremely nimble in their hands and feet, hid in the woods and behind rocks, threw grenades at the Qing army, or attacked with rope mines.

If the Qing army stopped and sent a large group of men and horses to counterattack, they quickly escaped through the dense forest, allowing the counterattackers to pounce. If the Qing army ignored it, they looked for an opportunity to continue the attack, or suddenly rushed into the weak points or baggage ranks of the Qing army, burned them, and then quickly withdrew. If the Qing army divided their forces to advance, they built improvised walls with bamboo and stones on the road, dug several trenches, and carried out lethal resistance.

That kind of shabby walled wall may not be able to withstand several fierce charges of the Qing army. But the Ming army always used the walled wall, blocked several attacks by the Qing army, and then retreated when the wall was in tatters. By the time the Qing army had organized the most important wave of attacks, the people behind the walled walls had often disappeared long ago.

The Qing army set up camp, and the Ming army sent people to rob the camp, but they refused to even enter the camp gate, firing rockets from afar, beating gongs and drums.

Xia Guoxiang deliberately left a gap between the Chinese army and the baggage team, arranged a trap, and waited for the Ming army to come and rob the grain. As a result, the Ming army was still the same old-fashioned, running dozens of people, throwing a few grenades, and withdrawing with a small fire, and did not want to fight at all. Let the Qing army guarding the trap jump in a hurry.

After three days and three nights, the Qing army marched less than 70 miles. wiped out more than 200 Ming troops, but they suffered even greater losses, and the soldiers were also exhausted and frightened to the extreme.

However, when someone suggested that he should move forward lightly regardless of everything, Xia Guoxiang categorically rejected it. In the current state of the team, they traveled lightly and hurriedly, just to send them to death. Once another Ming army laid an ambush in front of it, the army would face the risk of total annihilation.

It is no longer possible to have food on the road, and the people along the way have been badly taught by the Ming army and have become Diao people. Before the army could reach their doorstep, the village would be ablaze. The people burned their houses, hid their food, and drove away their livestock. Even wells are filled with stones and dirt.

Therefore, Xia Guoxiang could only take it step by step, and he could only suppress the boredom in his heart and deal with the Ming army. He didn't want to think about the suggestion of a surprise win at all. The only hope is that, with the superiority in the number of troops, the Ming army will continue to be pressed back, and the last will be completely crushed. (To be continued......)