Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 984: Camp Attack and Defense

The Tatar soldiers holding shields slowly advanced, and when they were two hundred steps away from the Ming army's trench, they launched a charge towards the Ming army camp.

"Musketeers, fire!"

In the trench, the musketeers of the Daningdusi began to display their prowess. A volley of dense barrage of bullets directly thinned the line of 3,000 people.

Alutai had anticipated this scene. After all, he had experienced the sharpness of the Ming army's firearms many times.

"Don't stop! The rear team will use the corpses as shields and continue to charge forward!"

This group of Tatar soldiers were really brave. The remaining soldiers even continued to charge forward carrying the bodies of the dead soldiers.

"What!" The Ming army musketeer guarding the trench line was shocked. Looking at the frenzied Tatars in front of him, he couldn't help but feel a little scared. He was educated in the Central Plains and it was hard for him to imagine that someone would use his comrades' bodies as shields to resist the shooting of muskets.

This act of desecrating the dead has undoubtedly far exceeded the bottom line of Chinese nation's morality.

"This bunch of... beasts!" The generals in the trench were also angry, and kept urging their musketeers to shoot at these beasts who were using the corpses of their comrades as shields.

The Ming army's muskets were still in a very primitive state, far from being improved to the point where they could penetrate the human body. But even so, under the dense rain of bullets, the Tatar soldiers fell one after another.

Looking from the observation deck from afar, it looked like a strong wind was blowing through the wheat fields, and the wheat was being cut down to the ground piece by piece.

"Duke." A general said to Chang Mao. "The Tatar troops are advancing."

Chang Mao raised his head and looked into the distance.

Just as the general said, the huge Tatar army was beginning to advance slowly with the first 3,000 people as the spearhead.

"Tell the musketeers on the trenches to retreat to the camp," Chang Mao said. "With a large army, they alone are no match for the Tatars."

This trench tactic was only passed down from the Fifth Prince Zhu Su's battle against the Timurid Empire in Samarkand, and these generals have not yet mastered it. Since the Tatars are pressing forward with their entire army, it is better to simply abandon the trenches and use the camp walls they are familiar with to organize defense.

The musketeers relied on the trenches to fight and retreat, and soon retreated into the camp, while the thousands of Tatar soldiers in the vanguard also arrived near the camp wall. Chang Mao's face was solemn, and he waved his hand: "Shoot!"

"Shoot!" The archers on the camp wall were already ready. In an instant, a rain of arrows poured down.

The rain of arrows pouring down from above could not be defended by the Tatar soldiers who charged forward with the bodies of their comrades on their shoulders. After all, the bodies were very heavy, and it was fine to carry them in front of the body, but it was impossible to hold them above the head.

After a hail of arrows, only 1,000 of the 3,000-man vanguard remained, and they finally reached the Ming army's camp wall. These 1,000 men threw away the corpses they used as shields and began to try to climb up and attack the camp.

However, the wall of the Ming army camp was by no means an ordinary earth wall.

The camp walls were densely packed with swords, spears, and halberds. Although it looked easy to climb, these swords and spears were all sharpened.

Outside the camp wall, there is a dense forest of guns...

"Ah!" A Tatar soldier screamed. He was trying to grab a bulge and crawl through the forest of spears, but was distracted by the Ming army's bows and arrows. With just a stumble, the spear blade cut into his palm mercilessly. Under the severe pain, he reflexively let go of his hand.

As he let go, he fell down, and then with a few "puffs", he was hit by the forest of guns.

There are many similar scenes.

At the same time, the archers on the camp wall did not stop shooting. They pulled the bowstrings with all their strength and reaped the lives of the Tatar rear army with arrows.

"The second wave of Tatars is coming," someone shouted.

Chang Mao looked into the distance and saw that a vanguard had been separated from the Tatar formation again, this time with a total of 5,000 men, who were rushing towards the camp wall.

"The Tatar infantry is approaching the camp wall. Archers, replace them with crossbowmen and musketeers. The shieldmen will be responsible for carrying the dead off the camp wall."

The Ming army methodically replaced the archers on the camp wall who were capable of long-range killing with crossbowmen and musketeers who were more powerful at close range.

At this time, the Tatar front was only four or five feet away from the camp wall.

Amid the roar of crossbows and muskets, the Tatar soldiers in the second formation fell like wheat being cut. The leather shields in their hands were simply unable to resist the powerful crossbow arrows and projectiles pouring down from above.

But the problem is that even in such a dangerous situation, the Tatar infantry still had to slow down.

There was no way, because of the forest of spears, the densely packed spears fixed on the ground at an outward angle, and the threat hidden in those sharp spear tips, forced the Tatar soldiers who were attacking the camp to slow down.

The functions of these things are similar to those of chevaux de frise and deer horns, but they are more luxurious and powerful. If these 5,000 Tatar soldiers dared not slow down and stop their charge, they would surely be completely pierced by these long spears that were frozen hard in the cold wind.

The corpses of the Tatar soldiers in the front team lying on the forest of guns are clear evidence of this.

"Clear the obstacles!" a Tatar general shouted anxiously.

He didn't dare let the soldiers crawl through the forest of gunfire again. The corpses strung on the forest of gunfire were too eye-catching.

But just as he finished shouting, he was shot in the chest. He could only stare with his eyes wide open and make a few strange "cough cough" sounds from his throat.

Then, he fell to the ground and died in the horrified eyes of the surrounding soldiers.

Too close. The place where they were forced to stop because of the gunfire was too close to the wall of the Ming army camp.

Their chests and heads seemed to be directly exposed to the Ming Dynasty's crossbows and muskets.

At such a close distance, even if one is wearing heavy armor, one would not be able to withstand the powerful crossbows and roaring muskets.

The Tatar soldiers were terrified and helpless. The camp wall was only a few feet away from them, but this distance seemed so far away that no matter how hard they tried, they could not cross this natural barrier.

They faced the rain of arrows from the Ming army, grabbed the long spears that were firmly fixed on the ground with both hands, and tried hard to pull and shake them, hoping to remove the obstacles that blocked their way, but unfortunately, most of the Tatar soldiers were shot to death by the Ming soldiers on the camp wall with crossbows just as their hands touched the long spears.

The warm blood of the Tatar soldiers flowed out a shocking bloody area about ten or two feet away from the Ming army camp. On this land covered with blood, there were densely packed corpses of the Tatar soldiers who died with their eyes open.

(End of this chapter)