Chapter 20: Sunset in the West (5)

In the early morning, the fog had not yet dissipated. Zhu Zhi patted his horse and walked up the hill. Looking north, the Suzi River on the right and the Hun River on the left. The two rivers allude to a flat land. At the end of the flat ground were layered hills, and the Jurchen banners were hidden in the morning fog.

"Woo... Woo..." The sound of beeping with horns was filled with murderous aura, rising and falling one after another, slowly coming along the morning wind.

This is the horn for the Jurchens to set off. In the vague mist, teams of Jurchen cavalry walked out of the camp and arranged in a formation at the end of the flat ground.

"Dong...Dong..." Not far from Zhu Zhi, a burly man beat the drum with bare shirtless, and the drum beat was shocked in his heart.

The guards of the Liaodong Army gathered into camps, and a team of tens of thousands of people entered the position neatly under the bath of the morning light.

The green armor is Tieling Guard, the most defensive force in Liaodong. The front row is two thousand card swordsman, half a man-high shield, forming a complete block; the front row is a three-row refusing team, trotting forward.

The 10-meter-long horse-repelling gun is like layers of forest, and the head of the gun reflects the sunlight and the cold light.

Behind them are 6,000 light armored archers, which are the joint forces of the Tieling Guard and the Dingliao Right Guard. According to the marching record, they can fire 18,000 arrows within half a minute and shoot a death blockade line within a distance of 200 to 100 steps from the formation.

"Dong...Dong..." Another rhythmic drum beat sounded, and a messenger waved a red flag on the right side of the hillside. It was time for Dingliao's right guard to appear, and this secret weapon, which had been arduous for a year and a half, finally appeared.

A hundred crossbows were pulled behind the archer and arranged in two rows.

These crossbows can throw 200 flowering bullets into a distance of 400 to 150 steps in one minute. Before the cannon was developed, the crossbows will become the main long-range strike weapon of the Liaodong Army.

A team of soldiers in gray and green clothes lined up in four columns, trotting after the crossbow chariot. This was the most secret weapon of the Liaodong Army. The gray clothes unit was two thousand musketeers.

Their ground was built in August last year. The most advanced and perhaps the most mentally retarded weapon of this era.

The "Liao-type" flintlock rifle is 1.4 meters long and weighs 10 kilograms and 2 taels, with an effective range of 150 steps, a barrel life of 100 rounds, and a cost of 7 taels of silver.

The two thousand fused rifles currently equipped cost Zhu Zhi 15,000 taels of silver, plus gunpowder bullets filled with paper packaging. The training costs for each soldier, these two thousand people have already spent 30,000 taels of silver.

Now is the time for them to test their training results.

The gray-clothed musketeers lined up in the front row, half-kneeling in the front row and straight in the back row. According to the requirements of the Caodian, they attacked in two sections and carried out three rounds of volleys within a range of 150 to 100 steps.

Behind them were two thousand brand-name swordsmen, responsible for covering the firearms team against the attack of arrow rain.

The infantry positions are arranged in this way. At the front are two rows of two thousand musketeers, two rows of two thousand branded swordsmen, three rows of three thousand horse-resisted swordsmen, three rows of four rows of two thousand branded swordsmen, and six rows of six thousand archers in the fifth row.

There are two rows of crossbow beds in the sixth row. There are two thousand Yulin Right Guard Cavalry covering the flanks on both sides of the infantry phalanx.

On the hillside, Zhu Zhi controlled the reserve team of five hundred personal guards, three thousand Yulin guards, and four thousand Chenyang Zhonggu infantry.

After the soldiers of the Dingliao Right Guard stood at the front of the queue, a general with silver helmet and white robe ran to the open space in front of the array. This person was the commander Wang Yu.

The little horse king stepped back and the white horse raised its front hooves, as if it also realized that a big battle was coming.

The little horse king clenched his fist in the direction of Zhu Zhi and held his chest slightly bowed, and then ordered the army to: "Distance measuring soldiers, two hundred steps, and report the reading.

"Several range-finding soldiers trotted out of the line, bent their bows and arrows to shoot three feather arrows with red flags on each side of the flat ground, and landed accurately in similar places. Following one after another: "Two hundred steps, three mark distances. The wind is on the left."

"The distance-finding soldier, one hundred and fifty steps, report the reading." "One hundred and fifty steps, two quads of marking distance. The wind is on the left."

"Distance measuring soldiers, one hundred steps, report the reading." "Fifty steps, two marking distances. The wind is on the left." Three groups of arrow feathers with red flags are nailed to different distances on the battlefield. This kind of cover shooting.

Only musketeers and archers are required to follow these distance data and fire mechanically after the enemy enters the distance.

The little horse king ordered loudly again: "Four-hundred steps, let's go!" Three crossbow beds on the left, middle and right side shot out three distance-finding bombs with red flags, and landed far away at the far end. "Four-hundred steps, four-gear distance.

"The crossbow artillery range-finding soldiers reported loudly, and the messengers on the hillside nervously recorded the readings they had just reported one by one.

At this point, all the Liaodong Army was ready, with swords like seas and guns like forests, and the two formations were facing each other, and they were about to break out. Faced with such a neat military formation, a stream of passion surging upwards irresistibly, Zhu Zhi finally understood the man's war complex.

In the neat military formation and the drum beats that urge anyone, any man will be excited, and life is no longer important at this moment.

The sun finally climbed the mountain in the distance with difficulty, "Woo... Woo..." The Jurchen camp sounded the horns in the opposite Jurchen camp, and the formation began to slowly move towards the Liaodong Army. At this moment, it seemed that it had been waiting for a thousand years.

...

Zahaqi looked at the neat infantry formation opposite, and smiled contemptuously on his lips, and said to Fei Yanggu, the youngest son standing beside him: "Castresses are natural enemies of infantry. If the Liao King still uses cavalry like last time in this battle, then it is difficult for us to deal with it.

You see, the formation of the opposite ground is 80% infantry, and soon they will be harvested by the Jurchen warriors like the wheat ears of the Han people.

Today, Father Khan will demonstrate to you how to break through the Han infantry phalanx head-on, you must look at it!" Fei Yanggu, who was less than the age of the weak, nodded as though he understood it, and his little hand unconsciously held the knife handle and was eager to try it.

Zahaqi ordered loudly: "Delenha, lead three thousand people to be the vanguard, greet with bows and arrows, and do not attack the enemy formation. A hundred steps away from the distance is divided into two routes. Wait until the rear team attacks the enemy formation, then turn back and shoot in depth.

"A tall and thin Jurchen man took the order and left.

"Mingzhang, you lead 5,000 people and 100 steps to rush forward, only forward, not backward, see the big flag on the opposite mountain? Can you cut it down?"

A burly man with a big waist and a round face was full of flesh and fat face, with a murderous look on his face: "Dahan is a joke about me, when will Mingzhang disappoint you?"

Zahaqi then ordered: "He Zheshun. Lead two thousand cavalry to cover the right wing; Mu Shitu leads two thousand cavalry to cover the left wing. See my order, do not act rashly, and those who violate the order will be killed."

"Zamuling, you lead three thousand khans to guard the palace and see my orders." A young general took the order with a rosy face and looked like a torch.

"Woo...Woo...Woo...Woo" three horns sounded again, and Delenhad said silently. He led the three thousand snatchers into one hundred people, and the thirty rows were neatly lined up to urge the horses to move forward.

Mingzhang ran to the second phalanx and screamed: "The Khan has an order, only allowed to advance but not retreat. Cut down the flag. The Jurchen warriors, follow me!" The Jurchen cavalry suddenly burst into blood, responding to the rhythm of the horn, gradually moving forward.

The horns and drums were accompanied by the neighing of war horses. The entire battlefield seemed particularly empty and quiet. This was a moment of tranquility before the storm. Whether it was the Han people or the Jurchens, whether it was the cavalry or the infantry, they were holding their breath.

Waiting for the arrival of a storm.

Cavalry impact cannot run for a long distance, and the distance starts at about 900 steps (600 meters). This distance can allow the cavalry's impact to reach its maximum speed beyond the farthest range of bows and arrows in this era. 2,000 steps.

One thousand five hundred steps... The war horses sniffed anxiously, the riders nervously pulled the bow and rolled the strings, and the vanguards of each row were occasionally aimed at the corners of their eyes.

Nearly nine hundred steps, Delenha pulled out a large bow from the arch bag on the left side of the horse's neck with his backhand, and pulled out a feather arrow from the right side with his backhand, shouting back: "Aim at the center of the Han people's square formation, and shoot arrows freely at 200 steps. Rush!"

Delenha grabbed the horse's belly and stepped on the green horse and rushed forward like an arrow leaving the string. Three thousand archers followed closely behind. Let the war horse run away.

Later, Mingzhang pulled out his giant sabre and waved his hand violently. Five thousand heavily armored cavalry lined up in five hundred people, and ten rows of waves gradually accelerated.

...

Wu Daming half-kneeled on the ground, with thousands of horses galloping in the distance, and the earth trembled slightly. He was a musketist, at the forefront of the entire position. He even felt the Jurchen war horses rushing towards him with the wind. He was very scared.

He was afraid of being knocked down by a war horse and being slashed down by the sabre. He looked at the general flag beside him without hesitation. He saw him holding a musket in his hand and looking straight ahead. He was about to say something, but general flag looked at him without squinting: "I'm afraid too, but I'm afraid there's nothing to do."

The little horse king strangled the horse with a cold expression, expressionless face, and silently stared at the four hundred steps in his heart. He got closer, but he was still a little short of it. "Prepawn the crossbow." The messenger quickly raised a flag.

The firecrackers immediately ordered: "Prepare to ignite!" When the first horse stepped into the sign, the little horse king shouted: "Let it go!" The flag that had just been raised was loose.

"Hu...hu...hu...hu..." Dozens of black shells jumped across an arc and flew over a distance of more than 300 meters, hitting the Jurchen archer formation. A archer was directly smashed by the black iron block.

Before the companions around him could not be surprised, the black iron balls suddenly made a loud noise, "Boom..." A cluster of unknown things rushed towards him, and the archer's eyes turned black.

The first group of Jurchens attacked the team was already in explosion and smoke, and countless war horses were frightened and jumped up. The Jurchens were good at riding since childhood, so this frightening was nothing.

But they were all shooters holding bows and arrows in both hands and could not control the reins of the horse. At the moment the shell exploded, dozens of riders were already overturned and immediately pulled under the hoof by the horse behind them.

Before Delenha could react, the black ball in the second round had already hit the cavalry, more cavalry were knocked down by iron slag and nails, more land horses were disturbed, and the shooter formation fell into chaos.

At this time, Delenha buried himself on the horse's back, just trying to rush through the control range of these terrifying black iron balls.

"Bow and arrow preparation, three-quarters mark distance, go to the left with the wind, put it..."

"Buzz..." Six thousand arrows soared into the sky.

"The musketman is on the shoulders! The first column is put..."

"Bang..." A smog of smoke rose in front of the formation.

"The first column is returned to the charge...the second column is put"

"Bang..." Another smoke rose in front of the formation.

"Bow and arrow preparation, two-quarters eight-minute mark distance, go to the left with the wind, put it..."

"Prepare to ignite! Put..."

In the entire Liaodong Army's formation, commands were rising one after another, with cannonballs, arrows, muskets, and Jurchen cavalry charging one after another radiating the seeds of death.

Delenha rushed out of the smoke and found that Li Ming army formation was within two hundred steps. He bent his bow and arrow and released one arrow. At the same time, he felt a piercing pain in his chest. A force pushed him behind the horse. The pain made him unable to control the horse anymore and fell down on his back.

The sky is so blue, this is the last look of Delenha’s life...

The main general formation was gone, and three thousand archers and cavalrymen suffered an unprecedented triple blow in this world. The formation gradually collapsed. Without the master, the war horses ran around, and they also collided with those cavalrymen who seized the road.

The scattered archers and cavalrymen disrupted the way of the charge cavalry behind them.

In fact, Mingzhang's fate is not much better than that of his comrades in front. Those black balls also hit their way, and smoke rose in front of them, hindering his vision.

The brave and unscathing Jurchen cavalry rushed forward in the smoke, and people were constantly knocked down by the sky and the rain of arrows and lead bullets. Although I don’t know what weapons the Ming army used, there is no way out to retreat except to advance.

"Catch the guns, the musketman retreated." "The horse-rejecting formation came forward." Various orders sounded in the formation. After firing two rounds of musketman and card-knife, they advanced and retreated in a wrong way with the horse-rejecting and riflemen behind them.

The retreating musketman retreated on both sides and retreated to the two wings of the formation to re-form the formation; the card knife hand and the card knife hand on the back layer form a new formation.

This formation change has been done hundreds of times during training. Although it was still a little busy and busy to catch the enemy for the first time, and although some nervous soldiers still went to the wrong position, the formation was still adjusted very quickly.

At this time, the Jurchen vanguard's vanguard was less than fifty steps away from the Ming army's horse-resisting formation.

Mingzhang, who was constantly harvesting his soldiers, was already extremely depressed. At this moment, he finally waited for the scene he had been looking forward to the previous minute and rushed to the formation!

But... there were three dense layers of horse-repelling guns in front of him, and the cold light shining on the tip of the gun pierced his eyes. It was too late to hold the war horse down, and a long spear penetrated into his beloved war horse.

What a Mingzhang. At this moment, Sheng jumped up from his horse, grabbed a spear with his left hand as a fulcrum, and jumped into the Ming army fearlessly.

When the remaining Jurchen cavalry were close at hand, Zhao Zhen, the commander of the Tieling Guard, shouted loudly: "The horse-resisting formation is as still as a mountain!"

Two thousand people spoke in unison: "Don't move like a mountain!" This is the slogan of Tielingwei. The mountain collapsed before it, and it was as motionless as a mountain.

Some people say that the bravest one in the Liaodong army was the pikes. They had to stand up spears to welcome the attack of the opponent's iron cavalry, endure the psychological fear of the war horses from far to near, and rush to the front, and also endure the first round of casualties in the military formation.
Chapter completed!