After Hu Dawei asked the guerrilla generals under his command to ask for help, Lu Xiangsheng quickly sent a thousand generals to lead his troops to support, bringing two teams of birds and horses, including one team of Lu Mi guns and one team of self-generated firearms, with a total of more than 200 firecrackers.

At this time, there were more than 400 firecrackers in the Governor's Battalion, half of whom were bird-firecrackers, and the rest were Lumi firecrackers and self-generated fire-crackers. Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei both urgently asked Lu Xiangsheng for help, although Lu Xiangsheng still had nearly 2,000 people in the Xuanfu General Zhang Yan, but the firearms in Zhang Yan's army were not even as good as the two general soldiers. Lu Xiangsheng had no choice but to split his firecrackers into two to support Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei respectively. After reaching the two flanks of the defensive line, these musketeers turned the tide of battle on both flanks.

The bird guns of the superintendent battalion and the powder pool are equipped with a fire door device that automatically opens and closes, so that they can fight in cold weather. Moreover, the range of these bird guns is the same as that of the flintlock bird guns of the new army in Xiahezhai, although the armor-piercing ability is slightly inferior, but it is just as sophisticated, and there is no danger of exploding.

The bird gunners of the Biao Battalion are also strictly trained, and they spend a lot of gunpowder and projectiles on weekdays for live firing, and in terms of combat effectiveness, they are much stronger than the bird gunners of the two wings of the main barracks.

In fact, there were more than 1,000 bird guns in the Supervising Battalion, but before Lu Xiangsheng led his troops south, most of them were robbed by Chen Xinjia.

In addition to the Bird Gunner, Lu Xiangsheng also supported the Lu Mi Gun on both wings separately, and the Lu Mi Fire Gate device they used was also peculiar, and they could fight in the cold wind. Although the body of the Lu Mi gun is heavy, it has outstanding armor-piercing ability, and the effective range can reach 150 paces, and the accuracy is very high, almost comparable to the rifles of later generations.

For a big killer weapon like Lu Mi Gong, Liu Yan also felt itchy when he saw it, such a sharp weapon can make a few shots, even if it is used as a sniper rifle.

It's just that the ability of the Firearms Supervision Department is limited, and it is still not enough to build a technology like Lu Mi Gong. However, under today's battle situation, Liu Yan was surprised to find that in many armies of the Ming Dynasty, Lu Mi Gong has been widely used. As early as the Apocalypse, the Ministry of Industry at that time issued 2,000 Lumi guns to Shanhaiguan in one go, except for a few unqualified Lu Mi guns, most of the rest were excellent.

This is a terrible number, which proves that Daming's ability to mass-produce high-quality artillery and firearms is strong. Just like all kinds of Franc machine artillery, the Manchu Qing Dynasty was unable to master this kind of high technology until the later Westernization Movement, but in the military forts around the Ming Dynasty, the Franc machine artillery was just a very common firearm.

Therefore, in Liu Yan's view, the Ming Dynasty did not lose in terms of whether the weapons and equipment were advanced, but more political factors in all aspects. Moreover, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the warlordization of various towns was serious, coupled with the bad logistical supply, these factors greatly affected the popularization and use of various advanced firearms. Firearms units need systematic and rigorous training, and all aspects of support are a complicated issue.

And the cold weapon hand, casually pull some strong men, give them swords, guns and sticks, you can fight, and you can boast to the outside world that you have tens of thousands of male soldiers, occupying an important position in the eyes of the court, why not? 33

Back to square one.

At this time, in addition to supporting some of the bird gunners and Lu Mi gunners on the two wings, Lu Xiangsheng also had a team of self-generated firemans. With the emergency support of the firecrackers of the supervising battalion, the Qing soldiers outside the two wings of the defense line encountered great resistance when they marched towards the third layer of low wall trenches, and the number of casualties soared instantly.

On both wings, there were more than 400 supervising battalion firecrackers, constantly aiming at the auxiliary soldiers who flashed out of the trenches behind the wooden shields of the Qing soldiers, and knocked them to the ground one by one. Yang Guozhu and the archers in the Hu Dawei Zheng barracks were also desperately assisting in shooting. At this time, the Qing soldiers who attacked on both flanks had already pushed closer to the position of fifty steps in front of the earthen wall, and their archers also posed a great threat to the Ming army behind the earthen wall.

Towards evening, the Qing army retreated, and in the defense line of Liu Yan's department, the Qing army filled two trenches and pushed them closer to the distance of fifty paces in front of the earthen wall. In front of the defensive lines of Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei on the two flanks, those Qing soldiers filled in three trenches and pushed them closer to the distance of forty paces in front of the earthen wall.

After Mingjin withdrew his troops, the Qing army retreated like a tide. When they retreated, they also brought back the bodies of their own casualties, so that the Xuan army did not know how many of them were killed and wounded. When they retreated, the rough wooden shields were left between the low walls and trenches.

It seems that the Qing soldiers were not afraid of the Ming army dragging those wooden shields away and destroying them, presumably how many of these rough wooden shields in their camp were.

After cleaning up the battlefield after the war, the officers and soldiers of the Ming army dragged back all the wooden shields left by the Qing army as firewood, and Liu Yan, Lu Xiangsheng, Yang Guozhu, Hu Dawei and others urgently discussed military affairs.

For this tactic of the Qing army, everyone could not think of any good way, and the artillery had to strictly guard the passage and not act rashly, so it seemed that they had to rely on the trenches for bloody battles.

In this battle, the Xuanda and Shandong armies still had terrain advantages, and every step of the Qing army's advance required greater casualties than the Ming army, depending on whose will to fight was stronger and more able to withstand the losses of the soldiers in their own army.

That night, Lu Xiangsheng, Liu Yan and others also interrogated the captured Qing prisoners, but they could not get any useful information.

Early the next morning, the Qing army once again flooded in, and under the cover of excellent chariots, they braved the artillery fire of the Xuanda army to approach the low wall and ditch, and sure enough, they once again pushed out dense layers of wooden shields.

Yesterday, the Qing soldiers filled several trenches, the roads are flat and hard, extremely difficult to dig, in order to maintain the physical strength of the sergeants, Lu Xiangsheng ordered to give up digging. Along the filled trench, many rough wooden shields of the Qing army jointly carried over the low walls and approached the unfilled low wall trench.

The flames of war were ignited between these low walls and trenches, and many Qing soldiers stormed the frontal defense line of the new army in Xiahezhai, and their armor was of different colors, seemingly from the archers and auxiliaries of the Eight Banners of Manchukuo or the Eight Banners of Mongolia.

Those Qing soldiers used wooden shields to shoot arrows at the new army gunners in Xiahe Village behind the earthen wall to cover the entrenchment of the followers. When one group of people ran out of shots, they immediately replaced another batch, and there were archers who kept shooting, and it seemed that they would not stop.

These dense archers pose a great threat to the soldiers of the new army in Xiahezhai, and the key is that they are too numerous. Not to mention the lightly armored archers in the Qing army, they are the auxiliaries in their banners, although they have not obtained the qualification to wear armor, but they have also practiced archery and horses since childhood, and their combat ability is not bad, and the arrows they shoot are also tricky.

In the face of the dense archers of the Qing army, Liu Yan had already bet Wang Bo and Zhang Yi on all the two general bird soldiers. In addition, Shen Tuo and Miao Shao were also mobilized as reserves, ready to support the front-line battles at any time.

From morning to afternoon, the Qing army's fierce offensive was non-stop, and they were so numerous that they could constantly replace their men and horses to rest and eat, and then take on several waves of men to attack.

Moreover, when the Qing archers were shooting, the heavy armor soldiers of each banner were guarding both sides of the wooden shields to prevent the Ming army from rushing out of the passage and raiding the archers between the low walls.

The Qing army's fierce and incessant offensive surprised Liu Yan a lot, and now the reserves of the new army in Xiahezhai are numerous, and they can constantly replace the tired soldiers to rest. The fierce offensive of the Qing army could not shake the determination of their own army to fight, and it is not known whether the defenders on both flanks could withstand this huge pressure.

In the afternoon, the Qing troops who attacked the defense line of the new army in Xiahezhai finally pushed a trench town with layers of wooden shields closer to forty steps in front of the earthen wall.

Compared with the bows and arrows of the Ming army, the Manchurians and the Mongols had weaker bow power, but only seven buckets, and the effective range was about 70 steps, and only when they entered 50 steps did they have obvious lethality to the target. To break the opponent's armor, whether it is leather armor, cotton armor, iron armor, etc., it is necessary to close to about 30 or 40 steps. However, the arrows of their arrows are extremely long, their shape is like a chisel, and the arrows have been soaked in horse manure, etc., which is difficult to take out after shooting, not to mention, as the toxins of the arrows spread, the wounded soldiers are also easy to lose their lives.

At this distance, the bows and arrows of the Qing army threatened the new army of Xiahezhai with great threat, and their arrows were ruthless and accurate, and a fierce rain of arrows came over. Many of the new army birds in Xiahezhai were shot one after another. Although the bird guns in their hands were fierce, in terms of rate of fire and accuracy, they were far inferior to the bows and arrows of the Qing army.

The bird gunners of the new army in Xiahezhai are now equipped with sophisticated iron armor, even if some soldiers are hit by arrows, most of them can't break through the armor. Even if the armor is pierced, the arrow does not penetrate deep into the flesh. For these sergeants, Liu Yan still ordered them to be helped down to rest and heal.

The Qing soldiers continued to rain out fierce arrows at this time, and their number of archers was too many. The new army birds and gunners of Xiahezhai behind the earthen wall were suppressed by the fierce rain of arrows, so they had to lie lower one by one, and after a shot, they quickly lowered their heads and tiptoed back to reload.

The new army of Xiahezhai has a lot of experience in dodging bows and arrows, and half of them still have iron masks, but the whistling rain of arrows is coming, and there are still sergeants who can't dodge, and some people who don't have masks have been hit by arrows in the face, and some people's helmets are shot down and shot through.

Even so, the new arms guns of Xiahezhai behind the earthen wall still kept coming, and the deafening sound of the bird guns in their hands did not seem to be broken.

From the side of the Qing soldiers, the dense gunpowder smoke in front of the earthen wall was dense, and even the howling cold wind could not dilute them, which also affected the sight of the Qing archers. Fierce flames erupted from the smoke of gunpowder, causing the debris of the wooden shield on the side of the Qing soldiers to fly.

Including the two general baggage soldiers, there were more than 1,000 people under the command of Wang Bo and Zhang Yi, all of whom continuously attacked the Qing soldiers in front of the earthen wall. From time to time, Qing archers and auxiliary soldiers who filled trenches were hit and rolled to the ground, and the casualties on both sides continued to expand.

It seems that because of the fierce fire of the new army in Xiahezhai, the Qing soldiers attacking the front defense line advanced slowly, but the rain of arrows shot by their archers did not stop for a moment, and those followers still kept throwing mud to fill the trenches, so that the new army of Xiahezhai behind the earthen wall did not dare to take it lightly.

The battle on the front was stale, looking at the fierce battle in front of him, Liu Yan was calm on the outside, but he was secretly anxious in his heart. The battle seems to have become difficult, and from yesterday afternoon to this afternoon, the casualties of the bird-crushing men in his own army have reached more than 200 people.

Moreover, since yesterday afternoon, although the Qing army has also suffered casualties, most of the dead are the cannon fodder of the slaves and cannons such as Aha and Baoyi who filled in the trenches of various brigades. Their heavily armored soldiers, even wearing iron-inlaid cotton armor vests and infantry armor in each banner, did not suffer many casualties, and the prospects for this battle were not optimistic.

Some people died, but not completely......