The sound of gunfire echoed over the forward position of the right flank of the Ming army, and the bullets flew by, and there was a continuous whistling sound in the air.

The two of them were lying together behind a low wall that had just been built with sandbags almost a mile away from the front of the Ming army's position, holding binoculars, and watching the offensive and defensive situation in front of them.

At the front of the Ming army, facing the position of the Qing army, the simplest trench firing fortifications have been constructed. Not only trenches were dug, but also improvised barriers to the rejection of horses were erected. Although it is far less complete and solid than the fortifications in the mountain, but to dig such a fortification in such a short period of time, the ability of this earthwork is really not ordinary! The Qing army's progress was also extremely fast, they did not rush as hard as before, and began to build fortifications a hundred paces away from the Ming army's position.

The Qing infantry troops who had been pressed up by the accurate fire of the Ming army's artillery shells and rifled guns were carrying sacks filled with dirt on their backs, and after standing up a hundred paces in front of the Ming army's formation, they did not immediately open fire, but built up the sacks they were carrying and built an intermittent low wall.

Subsequently, some of the Qing troops leaned against the low wall and fired cavity bullets from their smoothbore guns at the Ming army, while the other part took shovels and shovels and began to dig up dirt and pile up on the low wall.

Well, the current Qing army is really studious, and they are so stunned that they have turned the queue into a trench war!

Of course, they didn't learn new tactics immediately after a trench battle. In fact, after the Qing army obtained the cavity bomb, they began to improve their tactics, but they did not have a tactical golden finger, and the speed of improvement was relatively slow.

After all, after the appearance of cavity bullets, a simple improvement that can increase the effective range of flintlock smoothbore guns to more than 100 paces, as long as you are not a brainless military strategist, you can guess that the tactics of queuing for shooting will inevitably change - queuing for shooting is originally because the accuracy of the smoothbore gun and round bullets is too poor, and it is a last resort.

The tactic of rushing to within 20 paces of the enemy's front line with the enemy's bullets and crushing the enemy by a dense rain of bullets was simply a death sentence in an era when the effective range of ordinary smoothbore guns could reach 100 paces away.

It takes about 100 seconds to walk 80 steps (one step with the right foot and one step with the left foot, which is about 1.5 meters), which is enough for a musketeer to shoot three or four times. If you use ordinary round bullets, the opponent who is lining up can probably withstand it, but if you change to a cavity bullet with excellent air tightness, the opponent's casualties will at least double, and the iron-clad troops will also collapse. If it is replaced with rifled gun and parmini bullets, it will be a direct annihilating blow!

In this case, digging trenches, piling up breastworks, it seems to make sense.

In fact, in the American Civil War, when rifled guns, mini bullets, and cavity bullets began to appear on the battlefield, this tactic of digging trenches and repairing walls was very common. At the same time, the Xianghuai army, which grew up in the Taiping War, was also very good at digging trenches and building fortifications.

In addition, Li Yat-sen also developed a wooden-handled grenade for the Ming army that was easy to throw and highly reliable. The lead of this grenade is hidden in the wooden handle, so it is not easy to extinguish, and it is easy to throw it with great force, and it does not roll around after landing, so it is also highly accurate!

If anyone still wants to learn how to shoot lobster soldiers in a close-range queue, they will not only have to be hit by Mini bullets and cavity bullets, but also have to be blown up by grenades, and basically there will be no living people

However, as soon as the trenches were dug, the breastwork was repaired, and the cavity bullets and mini bullets were added, the rhythm of the battle slowed down.

Originally, after the artillery bombardment, the infantry rushed again, and it was clear whether it was victory or defeat. But now just to get a favorable starting position, I have to work for half a day.

And because the rifled gun using Mini bullets poses a great threat to the artillery position - the range of 200 steps away from the rifled gun plus the mini bullet is not the limit, such as the condition of the shooter, gun, and ammunition is ideal, 300 or even 400 steps are possible! Therefore, if the artillery wants to shoot at close range, it has to build more complete cover.

When the Qing army was digging trenches, building forts, and building bunkers, the Ming army on the opposite side would not be idle, and they would also step up the construction of fortifications. Over time, their defensive positions will become stronger and stronger, and they will even build a second line of trench breastwall defense after the first trench breast wall line as a reserve position. At this point, it will be too difficult to break through!

And in the current situation, once the battle drags on, the Ming army will be able to win. Because the Baima River in the rear of the Qing army - the area of Zou County, it may be broken through by the Ming army with a number of 100,000 at any time!

At that time, the Qing army in the area of the Jiehe-Beisha River will fall into the predicament of being attacked by the enemy on their backs.

Lang Tan and Peng Chun, who understood their own situation, did not dare to delay for too long, and the two saw that the gunpowder smoke on the forward position was accumulating more and more, and it had reached the point of fog, so they glanced at each other, and then Lang Tan, who was older, took a deep breath and asked loudly: "The first and second battalions of the red flag, the first and second battalions of the red flag, have you rested enough?" ”

"Enough rest!" Immediately there was Goshha to answer.

"Good!" Lang Tan stood up, "If you have rested enough, let's go up with Lao Tzu!" ”

The four battalions he mentioned were not involved in digging trenches and fortifications, but were repairing a hundred paces behind the trench line of the Qing army, ready to attack—they sat partly to save physical strength, and partly to avoid the damage of ricochets. Anyway, there was a line of trenches in front of them, and it was impossible for the enemy to break through to them in one breath.

"Brother Lang, I'll do this battle!" Peng Chun was much younger than Lang Tan, and seeing that the veteran with gray braids was about to get up, he hurriedly grabbed him and said with a smile, "I'll come this time, I can't beat you again." ”

"Grandpa Peng" Lang Tan also wants to compete with his little brother. As a result, Peng Chun waved his hand and said: "You call me grandfather, I am a first-class prince in the Qing Dynasty, who am I not going to go to at this time?" ”

This Pengchun's old surname is Dong E, a native of Manchuria's Zhenghong Banner, the fourth grandson of He Heli, the five great heroes of the founding of the Qing Dynasty, and a hereditary first-class duke!

Although this duke has been passed down for four generations, the heroism of his ancestors has been inherited by him a lot, and he has grown into a new generation of generals in the Qing Dynasty with the former Kangxi over the years.

As he spoke, the other public friends stood up and yelled at their own Goshha who were guarding the side, "Little ones, follow this duke out of battle. Kill him without leaving a piece of armor! ”

"Huh!"

Pengchun's Goshha are all warriors he recruited from the fiefdom outside the gate, all of them are born thick and stocky, very bit of the meaning of "the old woman's real wild flag" back then, and now they are all wearing double armor, holding a Pu knife, and carrying a bow and arrow behind them.

According to Peng Chun's idea, as long as the thousands of flintlock pikemen in front of him can rush into the Ming army's formation, then his warriors outside the gate will have a chance to capture the flag. In these years, the "heavy infantry" wearing armor, holding a simple sword, and riding a fierce horse to attack is really rare, and it will definitely catch the Ming army by surprise.

Peng Chun nodded with satisfaction, waved his hand and said, "Take the horse and follow me!" ”

While the infantry of the Two Red Banners launched a large-scale attack, their cavalry also engaged the mixed forces of two cavalry battalions and four infantry battalions of the Ming army on the right flank. They had a great advantage in numbers, and the horse team of the two flags was almost 8,000 people, and with the support of a team of 6-pound guns, they constantly attacked a large phalanx of Ming infantry troops. This Ming infantry phalanx was a hollow phalanx composed of four infantry battalions that drove out of the Ming army's right flank defense line, and there was also a team of artillery and two battalions of cavalry hidden in the hollow phalanx, with a total of about 6,000 people.

Although the cavalry of the Ming army also has a certain scale, and the training is quite strict, but due to the quantity and quality of the horses, it is still unable to confront the cavalry of the Qing army head-on - tactics such as wall charge, which are used to deal with nomadic cavalry who can only ride and shoot are indeed very effective, but now the cavalry of the Qing army also dares to launch a cluster charge, and the formation is not much worse, and they have a large number of Western Regions oceanic horses, and the impact is faster and more fierce. Therefore, the Ming army usually used infantry and cavalry to deal with the Qing army, and rarely adopted the method of large-scale cavalry group attack.

And this battle outside the right flank of the Ming army is now evenly matched, and the superior cavalry of the Qing army has rushed several times, but has failed to break through the hollow phalanx composed of the infantry of the Ming army. And the subsequent counterattack launched by the Ming cavalry did not cause any damage - the Qing army's horses were faster, and when they retreated, they were like gusts of wind, and the Ming army's war horses couldn't catch up at all, and they didn't dare to chase too far, for fear of being surrounded by the Qing army's large horse team.

And just when neither side could help the other, no one noticed that near a shoal in the Beisha River, which was four or five miles away from them, a huge cavalry group was stopping and watching.

This cavalry cluster is a roundabout cluster led by Belle Ye Chani, the Grand Governor Gui Gonggong, and the Minister of the Southern Study Li Guangdi, with four brigades (wings) and another battalion of cavalry, the number of which has reached 17,000!

When this number of cavalry moved, the sound of horses' hooves could make a "boom" thunder, and the smoke and dust raised could be seen from afar. If it weren't for the 8000 of the two red flags that attracted the attention of the Ming army, their whereabouts would have been discovered at once.

However, Chani, Gui Gonggong, and Li Guangdi are all careful people, but they don't dare to take the enemy lightly!

The 17,000 cavalry here is related to the rise and fall of the Qing Dynasty, and Kangxi also asked them to play the dragon flag representing the emperor - the national flag of the Qing Dynasty and the emperor flag are both dragon flags, but this is not a kind of flag, the national flag is triangular, and the emperor flag is square.

The implication is very simple - the Qing Dynasty is the emperor and the country is bigger! Because the Qing Emperor is still the Great Khan of Mongolia, the material of the emperor's flag is cut in two, half of which can be made into a Qing dragon flag, and half can be made into a Mongolian eagle flag.

And once the emperor flag of the Qing Dynasty is played on the front line, it means that Kangxi is personally out of the battle. It's just fighting!

So before going desperately on behalf of Emperor Kangxi, Chani, Gonggong Gui, and Li Guangdi totaled it and sent some light horsemen across the river to investigate. What if there is an ambush? If there is an ambush, forget it.

By the way, they also found a mound, and took a good seat on their horses to watch the horse team of the two red flags fight the hollow formation of the Ming army.

"I can't beat it!" Chani looked anxious.

"Four or five thousand cavalry set up a hollow formation, why can't eight thousand cavalry rush away? The Ming army is too hard, right? Li Guangdi shook his head repeatedly.

"It's not like we're going to go to the fortress and camp of the Chongming army later. Will it work? Xiao Guizi's father-in-law looked worried.

"Hanging" Chani and Li Guangdi shook their heads together.

Li Guang said: "The emperor is good at everything, but he likes to gamble too much."

Xiao Guizi disagrees with this statement: "Jin Qing, don't talk nonsense, the emperor is a Ming Jun like Yao Shunyu soup, and he never gambles money." ”

Li Guangdi sighed: "Father-in-law Gui, the emperor's gambling is not money, it is the fortune of the country!" ”

"Gambling on national fortunes?" Chani nodded in agreement, "It's just that the gambling luck is not good."

When the three of them were discussing "gambling on the fortune of the country", a rapid sound of horses' hooves sounded, and then they saw several light horsemen galloping forward, and when they arrived at the bottom of the mound, they were stopped by Goshha of Chani and asked a few questions, and then a light cavalry leader led him up, and came to Chani, Li Guangdi, and Gui Gonggong, and reported loudly: "There are about 10,000 cavalry on the south bank of Beisha River in Beibei, Li Zhongtang, and Gui Gonggong, coming to our side!" ”

"It's over, it's been discovered!"

"Now the emperor hasn't gambled yet!"

"It seems that this national fortune is really a gamble!"

Chani, Li Guangdi, and Gonggong Gui all shook their heads and sighed.

How did they know that the more than 10,000 cavalry that were coming over were not coming at them at all, it was the cavalry of Li Zhongyi's roundabout corps led by Li Zhongyi who set off relatively late, so they hadn't reached the ground yet.

If Chani, Li Guangdi, and Gonggong Gui were not discussing Kangxi's "gambling luck" by the Beisha River, but were reckless, they would not have bumped into Li Zhongyi at all!

Although Li Yat-sen set up defenses in his rear villages, bridgeheads and camps, the 17,000 cavalry really attacked fiercely, and it was still possible to break through!

Even if these places can be defended, Li Zhongshan will inevitably mobilize a large number of troops to support his rear, and if he supports him in the future, there will be fewer frontal troops, and it will not be difficult for Kangxi to evacuate the front line of Jiehe at that time.

As long as Kangxi retreats north, he can easily bring all the troops into Qufu Castle, even if he loses all the 17,000 cavalry, there are more than 70,000 people on hand, plus the Zhengbai Banner troops deployed in Baima River and Wrinkle County and the Jieshu Domain Army in Qufu City, there are still 80,000 troops!

Kong Shenggong and Shang Shuying couldn't stop Kangxi, and if they were to be controlled by Kangxi, Li Zhongshan's military food supply would be difficult.

If it was Duoduo or Aobai who were "betting" on these 17,000 cavalry today, or even characters like Mulima and Yue Le, they would not have hesitated for so long by the Beisha River, and they would have made a decisive bet a long time ago.

It's a pity that there are no more generals of this kind in the Qing Dynasty now. And Kangxi himself didn't dare to play by himself, so that's the result.

"So, what are we going to do? Do you want to go back? "Xiao Guizi's father-in-law is a father-in-law, as soon as he heard that more than 10,000 Ming army cavalry were coming, he was immediately intimidated.

"How can I get back?" Chani shook his head, "They have 10,000 rides, and we have 17,000 advantages in me!" “

Li Guangdi also understands the art of war, 17,000 is bigger than 10,000, and the advantage is obvious!

Moreover, the combat effectiveness of the cavalry of the Qing army is no worse than that of the cavalry of the Ming army, this battle will definitely be won!

"Hit!" Li Guangdi slapped him, "If you cross the river and fight with them, Li Zhongshan will definitely be in chaos, in case it doesn't work, we can still retreat." “

"Offensive and defensible." Xiao Guizi nodded, "Or Li Zhongtang has a way. By the way, we still have the emperor's dragon flag, do you want to play it? “

"Fight, fight out to encourage the morale of the army!"

"Come out, the enemy will be terrified if he knows that the emperor is here!"

(End of chapter)