"Military Gate, let's fire from the side."

When Yang Guozhu was staring at the enemy situation outside the earthen wall, a guerrilla general on the side loudly suggested to him.

At this time, the artillery on several passages, of course, fired from the front to stop the attack of a large Qing army along the passages. However, at present, the Qing soldiers have obviously learned to be obedient, and only attack from low walls and trenches. In this way, the artillery on the passage becomes an ornament. However, according to the careful observation of the guerrilla general, the artillery on the passage could fire from the front, and of course it could also be fired from the side at the Qing troops in the low wall trenches, blocking their front troops.

Listening to the guerrilla general's words, Yang Guozhu groaned, and then said: "The artillery on all roads is strictly guarded in front, if the artillery is recklessly fired, the slaves and thieves take the opportunity to rush up, and the soldiers have to use swords and guns to fight with them and drive them out of the wall." ”

The Ming army on both flanks had only four flat passages, and the rest of the earthen walls were also fronted by low-walled ditches. At this time, looking out from the earthen wall, dozens of steps away are the layers of wooden shields of the Qing army, which cover the archers or auxiliaries of the Qing army behind. Looking out of the gap between the wooden shields, about every hour, the color of the armor of the Qing army behind the wooden shield changed a batch, so as to constantly replace the new force to maintain the continuous combat effectiveness of the various units of the Qing army.

The Qing soldiers had filled in three or four trenches, and in front of the low walls near the passages, there were tall and rough wooden shields erected in the shape of foxes, each of which was supported by rough wood. Behind the wooden shield, a large number of Qing army heavy armor was also gathered to cover.

Apparently the Qing soldiers considered the possibility of firing guns and artillery from the sides of the passage, or the possibility that the Ming army might rush out of the passage and surprise the archers and auxiliaries between the low walls.

However, with the power of artillery shotguns, concentrating a few artillery pieces to bombard, even if a number of rough wooden shields were erected in the shape of a fox over there, they could still cause a lot of casualties to the Qing army behind the wooden shields. Of course, after the artillery in the passage fired a volley from the side, it was necessary to consider the problem of the Qing army's heavy armor on the other side taking the opportunity to rush up.

"No matter what, no matter how many kills you can kill like this, it's better than putting these guns here and becoming scrap metal, right?"

Yang Guozhu frowned, and shouted loudly: "If the Tartars rush in through the passage, let the brothers drive them out." ”

Indeed, at this time, the Qing army was getting closer and closer, and the heavy armor hiding behind the wooden shields on the side was still shooting hidden arrows towards the passage, and although those gunners had shield cover, they finally had to take refuge behind the earthen wall next to them, leaving a few artillery pieces there to be useless.

At this time, Yang Guozhu finally made up his mind and immediately ordered those artillery guns to fire sideways.

At this time, in the frontal defense line of the new army in Xiahezhai, Liu Yan and Qian Yan, the commander of the artillery team, also thought of this problem. The layers of wooden shields of the Qing army had been pushed closer to the earthen wall forty paces, and because the Qing soldiers did not attack from the various passages, the five tiger guns under Qian Zhang's department were all idle. Seeing the Qing soldiers approaching step by step, Qian Jian was also anxious like an ant on a hot pot, but he couldn't help at all.

After careful consideration, Qian Yan suggested to Liu Yan that five Huzun cannons be used to shoot from the side: "My lord, my subordinates think: The artillery in my passage can shoot from the side from the gap and shoot the thieves in the low wall trench. The five Tiger Zun cannons under his subordinates, as well as the artillery supported by the Supervising Battalion, can be side-fired, so that those Tartars can't eat and walk around! ”

Liu Yan pondered for a moment, and then said: "After the artillery bombardment, the projectile hits the low wall, will it bounce back and accidentally injure your brother?" ”

Qian Jian was immediately stunned, he hadn't thought about this problem, he thought for a while, and said: "Probably not, in my Xiahezhai New Army, each passage is more than ten steps or more than twenty steps wide, move each artillery to the far right or left of the passage and then bombard, with this distance, even if the projectile shot rebounds against a low wall, it may not be able to bounce back so far." ”

Qian Jian continued: "Moreover, the height of each artillery and artillery cart in our army is about the same as that of a low wall, and the projectile is still less likely to rebound if it hits out. ”

After listening to Qian Yan's explanation from a professional point of view, Liu Yan nodded reassuringly, this is also a method. Perhaps not only the Spearmen should be killed, but also the pikemen and the Swords and Shields. After the artillery fired, Liu Yan expected that the Qing army would definitely take the opportunity to rush up from the other side, so he used the guns and pikemen in the army to let the Qing army bleed continuously in front of the various passages.

In this way, after Qian Yan got Liu Yan's consent, at this time, the two passages in front of him were each twenty-five steps wide, and one Hongyi six-pounder gun, two Franc machine guns, and two Tiger squat guns were arranged respectively. Under the command of Qian Yan, the officers and men of the artillery team, together with the gunners of the Supervisory Battalion, stepped forward, pushed one artillery gun to the far right of the gap, and quickly prepared to shoot.

At this time, the soldiers of the Ming army first pushed the Hongyi six-pounder cannon to the front, aiming at the Qing army's wooden shield group on the left dozens of steps away, and between each low wall and flat ground, a number of tall wooden shields were erected in the shape of a fox, and they didn't know how many Qing army heavy armor were hidden inside.

Seeing that the black pressure muzzle of the Ming army, which had not been seen for a long time, was aimed at this side, the heavy armor of the Qing army behind the wooden shield suddenly became agitated. Of course, they understood the power of the Ming army's artillery shotguns, and they all hid far behind wooden shields or inside low walls.

Although these Tartars are strong in battle and cruel enough to treat the people, it can be said that they are inhumane, but in the face of death threats, these Tartars also know that they are afraid, and at this time, the hearts of these Tartars are extremely nervous.

The heavy armor of the Qing army on the right side of the low wall saw that there was an opportunity, and under the order of a white flag armor Lazhangjing, the shouts of a group of officers rang out one after another. Everyone was ready, and after the artillery fire, they immediately rushed straight into the front of the passage, trying to break through the Ming army's defense line in one fell swoop.

A few steps behind several artillery pieces in the passage, Miao Shao led nearly 100 bird-gun soldiers of the General Department of the personal guard, with more than 30 people per platoon, lined up in three rows of firearms and waited for them. Behind the firecrackers, Chen Xun personally led the pikemen in the headquarters to divide into three rows to guard and kill the enemy, and dozens of sword and shield soldiers in the headquarters were distributed behind the sides.

In addition, Wang Yue and Shen Tuo also gathered their respective subordinates, and gathered their bird gunners to use, lined up behind the gap, and the pikemen and sword and shield men were also ready, just waiting for the artillery to shoot and when the Qing army rushed in, they fought bloody battles with those Tartar soldiers to the end.

As for the general officers and men of the cavalry, Liu Yan ordered Xu Ming to lead his troops to temporarily retreat and stand by between the new army of Xiahezhai and Lu Xiangsheng's central military headquarters.

The general officers and men of the cavalry were all trained by Liu Yan with hard work, which was far more difficult than training the infantry, and Liu Yan would not let these cavalry officers be used as infantry until the last resort.

"Bang!"

The new army of Xiahezhai stopped for a long time in front of the formation, and the earth-shattering artillery sound sounded again, and the Hongyi six-pounder cannon opened fire first, and in the thick and sharp gunsmoke, dense iron ball projectiles shot away. Dozens of paces away, the Qing army's wooden shield group on the low wall on the left side was immediately knocked down.

Even though these wooden shields were supported by thick wood behind them, at a distance of dozens of paces, in the face of the fierce fire of artillery shotguns, a large number of wooden shields were knocked to the ground. Behind the wooden shield, many Qing soldiers and heavy armor were affected by the projectiles, screaming and rolling to the ground, and the Qing troops here were suddenly killed and wounded.

Like a strong wind blowing, in the face of the roar of the rain of artillery shells, the Qing soldiers on the low wall on the left screamed and fled from this place. Not only that, but many projectiles also shot at the low wall, bouncing back and forth between several low walls, forming a barrage of flying barrage, causing greater casualties to the Qing soldiers there.

Seeing this, Qian Yan showed a satisfied smile on his face, and Liu Yan also nodded with satisfaction when he saw this, this time the side shot effect was good. Moreover, after the artillery bombardment, although the projectile hit the low wall, it rebounded, but it was far from affecting the soldiers of the new army in Xiahezhai on this side of the gap. It's just that the scattered area of the shotgun bombardment is large, and the artillery of one door has to be fired sideways, otherwise the bullet rain will definitely affect their own people inside the earthen wall.

The earth began to tremble again, and after the bombardment of the Hongyi six-pounder cannon, the remaining two small and large guns of the Franc machine on the passage, as well as five tiger squat cannons, were pushed up and fired one after another.

The deafening cannon rang out one after another, and one after another dense lead pellets roared towards the left side of the low wall, causing the wooden shields of the Qing army on that side to fall to the ground one by one, and there was a mess everywhere.

The Qing soldiers over there shouted and fled, and many people ran back and forth, not knowing what to do. There were also some people who lay on the ground and did not dare to move, but they also dodged the rain of bullets. Seeing that they had an effect in doing so, suddenly there was a dense crowd over there, and there were Qing army heavy armorers lying on the ground everywhere. These Qing army heavy armor who were originally invincible could never have imagined that they would be so embarrassed one day.

At this moment, the shouts and shouts of the Qing army sounded, and the dense heavy armor of the Qing army flashed out from behind the wooden shield on the right side of the low wall, waving weapons, and rushed towards the new army defense line of Xiahezhai with a shout.

Looking at the color of the armor of these people, it was the heavy armor soldiers in the white flag led by Dolgon. This passage was twenty-five paces wide, about thirty-seven meters wide, and each row was crowded with about 30 heavy armor soldiers with white flags, and the number of people rushing up to them reached seven or eight rows, more than 200 people.

The rows of white flag heavy armor rushing to the front were all holding thick shields, and the large shields in the hands of many of them were actually made of fine iron. Such a large fine iron shield is one meter high, half a meter wide, and five millimeters thick, which is very strong!

However, this shield also has a significant drawback, that is, it is extremely heavy, weighing thirty or forty pounds on each side.

In the face of this kind of big iron shield, it is difficult to shoot through and break it even if it is the flintlock bird of the new army of Xiahezhai. In addition to these large iron shields equipped by the Qing army's heavy armor, the rest of the white flag heavy armor soldiers also held thick shields, all of which were covered with thick fur outside of hardwood, and their protective capabilities were also extraordinary. They held shields in their left hands and large swords and axes in their right hands, and they were all fierce and vicious, and they just rushed with wild screams.

In addition to these people, the several layers of white flag heavy armor behind them, each wearing two layers of heavy armor, or holding iron-handled long knives, or holding eight-flag spears or tiger guns, also roared wildly.

"Put!"

At this time, the gunners at the entrance of the passage had already hidden far away, and the bird-gunned soldiers on both sides of the gap also withdrew partially, replacing the sword and shield soldiers and pikemen for defense. Seeing a large number of Qing soldiers roaring wildly, Miao Shao, Wang Bo, and Zhang Yi decisively ordered to shoot at almost the same time, and suddenly there were more than 1,000 bird gunners in the front row, divided into three rows, and took turns to pull their board machines.

The deafening sound of bird guns rang out, and more than three or four hundred flintlock bird guns per round hit the shields held by the Qing army. The protective power of those iron shields was really strong, and thirty or forty paces away, although several shields were hit, and the parts of the bullets were also deeply convex, they were not broken and pierced.

However, some of the Qing soldiers next to them were holding heavy shields wrapped in leather with hardwood, but they were broken by the projectiles that came one after another, and the heavy armor of the Qing army that rushed over suddenly suffered many casualties, and many brave and good Qing soldiers fell on the road of impact unwillingly.

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