Before the Qing cavalry projected debris into the Ferrera camp phalanx, Yang Yandi did not believe that the cavalry alone could break through the Ferreira camp phalanx, after all, this was composed of experienced veterans, many of whom were Macao mercenaries who had experienced countless vicious battles, and the most recent were also involved in the Battle of Qinghe.

But as it turned out, there was no perfect formation.

It's just that Yang Yandi didn't have any fear and panic, and when the officers of the formation were at a loss, Yang Yandi issued an order that made his officers hesitate, and the four companies of infantry in the east of the formation opened fire in the direction of the Ferreira battalion.

There is no doubt that the Qing cavalry will drive the rout to attack their own formation, and the only way is to shoot and block them without distinguishing between the enemy and the enemy.

The battalion commander of the Ferreira battalion was by Yang Yandi's side at this time, and unlike many people imagined, the basic combat unit of the line infantry was the company, and when a large-scale operation was carried out, such as divisional and brigade-level operations, the battalion and regiment-level commander would stay by the commander's side as an assistant.

This was the luck of the soldiers of the phalanx of the Ferreira battalion, as their commander was Zhang Fo.

Zhang Fo is a native of Macau, and in his early years, he converted to Catholicism in order to survive, and his Christian name is Adam. He was a friend of Ferreira's and also knew Ho Leung Tao, who worked at the Macau Fortress before entering the army of the Oriental Trading Company.

In the early days, Zhang Fo belonged to Ferreira's mercenary detachment and assisted the Eastern Trading Company in the war, but with the establishment of the Eastern Brigade and the regularization of the trading company's army, Zhang Fo was forced to make a choice.

Ferreira's group of Catholic mercenaries were selected separately and could serve as instructors to teach recruits combat techniques, but could not preach to recruits or serve as official officers in the army.

It's just that the expansion of the Eastern Brigade is too fast, and there is an extreme shortage of grassroots officers and veterans, so it can't just be because of the problem of faith.

So Li Zhaoji gave them two ways out, one was to reorganize a reserve battalion of the Eastern Brigade at that time into the Ferreira Battalion, and all Catholic soldiers and officers recruited from Macao or Nanyang could only serve in it. And if these people don't want to limit their future because of religion, then they have to make a second choice, conversion.

Zhang Fo is the person who chose the second path, he converted to Catholicism, not because of his belief in God, but just to find a job in Macau, in order to prove that he converted, Zhang Fo not only restored his original surname, but even changed his name, in the name of Buddha, is to prove that he no longer believes in Catholicism.

In fact, this is the name that Yang Yandi helped him change, if according to his meaning, he wants to call Zhang Buddha.

Because of his conversion, Zhang Fo could serve as an officer in other battalions, and when the Eastern Brigade landed in Liaodong, he was already a company commander. Because he was familiar with many people in the Ferreira camp and had the trust of Yang Yandi, Zhang Fo acted as the battalion commander of the Ferreira camp when Ferreira went to Dashun as an observer.

"Are you ordering us to open fire on our own soldiers?" Zhang Fo grabbed Yang Yandi's hand and asked seriously.

Yang Yandi's expression was cold: "Zhang Fo, are you questioning my military order?" ”

Zhang Fo bowed his head and didn't dare to face it. If the establishment and rules and regulations of the Eastern Brigade were compiled under the auspices of Li Zhaoji, then what Yang Yandi injected into this army was blood and rules. Yang Yandi has always governed the army with iron-blooded means, and if he disobeys military orders, he can be directly executed.

"Give me a chance, I have a better way." Zhang Fo pleaded.

Yang Yandi is not a cold-blooded person, he said: "Zhang Fo, I order you, command the rear team, and resist the enemy cavalry. ”

Zhang Fo received the order and immediately went to do it, at this time the phalanx of Ferreira's camp had completely collapsed, and a large number of routs were pouring towards the hollow phalanx, and many Qing cavalry were following behind, shouting and shouting, and after the dust splashed by the iron hooves, there was a tighter formation, a larger cavalry.

"Third row, raise your gun, hang and shoot!" Zhang Fo immediately gave an order.

The soldiers in the third platoon followed Zhang Fo's order and fired a volley into the air, which was a crucial salvo that saved the lives of many of the routed soldiers, although the wounded among them only survived for a few more moments.

The routs fled from a distance of ninety meters to the hollow phalanx, and suddenly heard a crackling volley of muskets, and their eyes saw that the friendly troops were shrouded in gunsmoke, and they immediately fell to the ground in fright, they knew that at such a close distance, the salvo of muskets was much more dangerous than the cavalry behind.

Of course, if it was really a frontal salvo, their reaction would have been too late, but fortunately, Zhang Fo frightened the rout with a round of meaningless hanging shots.

Immediately afterwards, the infantry of the first two rows and four companies fired a volley, and when the routs heard the sound of bullets whizzing on their heads, they did not dare to get up, and lay on the ground to cover their heads, and then there was a ten-minute free fire of random guns.

The cavalry of Yue Lebu, which followed closely, was put down a lot by this round of random guns, and the cavalry sent by Abatai to follow did not dare to approach immediately, and the hollow phalanx regained its tranquility again.

Yang Yandi immediately arranged for the phalanx to move eastward, first gathered the defeated soldiers lying on the ground into the phalanx, and then rescued the wounded soldiers.

The phalanx of the Ferreira battalion included most of the soldiers of the two companies of the Ferreira battalion's chasseur company and grenadier company, a total of 180 people, who were accidentally wounded after the Qing cavalry rushed and scattered, a total of 42 people were killed on the spot, 67 people were fatally wounded or seriously injured unable to move, and dozens of others were slightly injured.

But who this is only the beginning of the disaster of the Camp Ferreira.

After Yang Yandi gathered the stragglers on both wings and returned, he prepared to retreat in the direction of the ferry.

His original plan was to destroy the heavy artillery of the Qing army with infantry, kill and wound the Qing cavalry as much as possible, and then defend the ferry, but by now, most of the ammunition has been lost, and more than 100 wounded have been produced.

But at this time, the heads of the infantry suddenly heard the screech of a cannonball piercing the air, and then a solid cannonball hit the open space in the middle of the hollow phalanx, splashing a large cloud of sand. Because of the soft sand and the fact that the red-coat cannon occupies the high ground, the shell did not form a jump, but it still relied on its strong potential energy to drill out of the sand and roll forward in a bounce, breaking a soldier's calf before it stopped advancing.

Immediately afterwards, there was one cannon after another, and there were constantly shells entering the phalanx, and Yang Yandi saw with his own eyes that a cannonball hit the queue of the rear team, causing a bloody storm, and at least four soldiers' bodies were smashed, as well as flying arms and heads.

The enemy's position was clearly visible, just above the sand dunes to the south, where muzzle flames erupted, and each time a solid cannonball flew out and hit the queue. And at this time, the infantry was in an absolutely disadvantageous position, and even the formation was unfavorable.

At the beginning, in order to cooperate with the small phalanxes on the two wings, Yang Yandi set up two battalion-level phalanxes, and as the phalanx was closed, it could still provide fire support for the two wings, and the new regiment-level phalanx was not a square, but a rectangle.

There were four infantry companies in the front and rear, and all the soldiers who had been added in were placed in the front and rear. Assuming that a shell has enough kinetic energy, it can penetrate more than a hundred people in one go.

"Enemy artillery position, six o'clock direction, distance, nine hundred and fifty meters, height difference fifteen meters ......." Yang Yandi's adjutant gave a relatively accurate figure, and all the officers looked at him, expecting his choice, and it was clear that waiting on the spot was undoubtedly suicidal, and no infantry could withstand the prolonged artillery bombardment.

"We should now turn around, first about 400 meters to the east, and then turn to retreat towards the ferry. Or suffer casualties and retreat directly to the ferry. Zhang Fo said to Yang Yandi.

The terrain here is undulating, and Shi Tingzhu arranged the artillery on the highest commanding heights of the large sand dunes, Zhang Fo's meaning is very clear, you need to move to one side first, use a sand beam, avoid the Qing artillery firing boundary, and then retreat in the direction of the ferry.

If you retreat directly to the ferry, you have to go all the way out of the firing range of the Qing artillery.

But it is clear that the cavalry of the Qing army will not remain indifferent, and they will constantly charge through them, forcing the phalanx to stop, or reducing the speed of the march so that the red-coated artillery has more time to fire.

Yang Yandi didn't hesitate for too long, and watched as a few shells made two bloody gaps in the phalanx, and he immediately ordered: "Zhang Fo, you take two companies on the left flank and immediately launch an assault on the enemy's artillery." ”

"Yes, General." Zhang Fo immediately agreed, but he asked again: "What about the others?" ”

"Leave it alone, act now." Yang Yandi ordered.

Immediately, Zhang Fo took the two companies south of the phalanx, immediately turned around, and arranged into four and a half company columns, each with twenty-five people, and rushed directly into the gap.

Yang Yandi ordered the two officers around him, ordering them to bring four companies in the front and four in the front and back to attack the Qing artillery.

And he personally brought the two chasseur companies and the two infantry companies on the right flank as the rear team to follow up the formation and prevent the Qing cavalry from galloping.

Zhang Fo led two infantry companies to rush in formation to enter between the two sand beams, and immediately, he turned around and saw that the infantry in front and behind the formation of the phalanx had followed, and on his two flanks, they attacked in columns, and spread out to the two wings, not only protecting the two wings, but also being able to deal with the impact of cavalry from both sides at any time.

But when he looked at the rearguard troops, he saw a scene that he would never forget, and because of this, Zhang Fo and Yang Yandi, who had resentment with Ferreira, were lifelong friends.

Yang Yandi personally led four companies to use the horizontal team as the rear guard to cover the movement of the whole army, but they were also moving in the direction of the big sand dunes of the Qing army, and those soldiers who were seriously injured and difficult to follow were directly thrown in place by Yang Yandi.

Smack!

Zhang Fo's military boots shattered a piece of ice on the ground, and he gritted his teeth and said to himself: "Yang Yandi, your heart is really colder than ice!" ”

But at this time, he couldn't change anything, in fact, Yang Yandi was worried that he would obstruct him, so he ordered him to attack at the first time. Zhang Fo could only move on, he pulled out his saber, raised his hat high, and roared loudly: "The bayonet is a hero, the bullet is a fool, rush up and chop that group of dog traitors!" ”

Echoing his roar, it was not only the two infantry companies under Zhang Fo's command, but also the friendly troops who were attacking on both flanks, and more than a thousand soldiers roared angrily, suppressing the sound of the Qing army's red-coated cannons firing.

Yang Yandi threw away his wounded and led four companies of infantry to follow Zhang Fo to attack, and his speed was also very fast, occupying a small sand dune as a commanding height, and the cavalry of the Qing army also rushed to kill at this time, because Abatai divided the cavalry into several teams, and only four or five hundred cavalry arrived first.

Yang Yandi did not order the formation of a phalanx, but ordered all the soldiers to open fire.

With the help of the terrain, the four companies formed a four-row horizontal formation, because the rear station was high, and the front and rear stations were low, everyone could shoot, and the firepower advantage was the most fully demonstrated, with only more than three hundred guns, Yang Yandi broke the first wave of the Qing army's impact, and then continued to turn to launch the attack, leaving only one company of hunters to deal with the small group of cavalry who tried to approach in a skirmish formation.

And at the top of the dunes, a bloody but not tragic battle broke out.

The bayonet is a hero, the bullet is a fool, this is Li Zhaoji's admonition to the whole army of the Eastern Brigade, this does not mean that the Eastern Brigade is an army that likes to fight bayonets and is good at fighting bayonets.

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