Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

After rushing for a long time, at 6:15 pm, the soldiers from the Beijing camp finally arrived near Jiazhuang.

The soldiers in the Beijing camp had been on a forced march for several days since they set out from the capital. In addition, they only slept for less than two hours last night, so many soldiers inevitably looked tired.

However, as they got closer to the enemy, this fatigue was soon covered up by solemnity and excitement. They had been training for this day for half a year.

Before this, soldiers in the capital and even all over the world regarded them as cowards. Now that the opportunity to prove themselves has come, how can they not be excited.

"Report! The Jiannu have already set up their battle formation one mile away from the enemy camp." A Yebushou came on a flying horse to report.

"Explore again." Zhang Shikang ordered.

"Firearm Battalion, listen up and march in formation." Zhang Shikang rode his warhorse around the Firearm Battalion and gave the order.

"Roar--" Five thousand musketeers stopped in unison and shouted before lining up.

Due to the rigorous training, in less than half a quarter of an hour, the five thousand people were divided into ten small teams according to the established requirements, with each team about fifty steps apart.

"Wen Bangguo and Niu Gang, line up and prepare to meet the enemy!" Sun Weifan said to the two deputy generals.

After the firearms battalion was deployed, the two deputy generals Wen Bangguo and Niu Gang led their respective infantry battalions to begin to assist in defense. Two of the battalions protected the firearms battalion on both sides, and the remaining battalion was distributed as sentries among the ten firearms formations.

This was a battle formation and tactics discussed by Zhang Shikang and Sun Weifan, with the firearms battalion as the core.

From marching formation to combat formation, although the Beijing Camp's marching speed slowed down, the coordination of the entire army was fully demonstrated.

The musketeers marched in neat steps, advancing as one, with flag bearers riding war horses passing orders back and forth from time to time. Although the battle had not yet begun, the atmosphere was already filled with solemnity.

The soldiers of the Beijing camp finally stopped when they were 400 steps away from the Jiannu. Zhang Shikang looked at the enemy coldly. He knew that the Tartar named Yuetuo was also looking at them at this time.

Since his army was composed entirely of infantry, Zhang Shikang was prepared to fight a defensive battle against the Jiannu from the beginning. Moreover, based on his understanding of the Jiannu, it was impossible for them not to take the initiative to attack in such an open terrain.

Yue Tuo was wearing heavy armor and was indeed watching the soldiers from the Beijing camp not far away.

He originally wanted to charge directly with his most elite heavy cavalry to quickly resolve this meaningless war, but when he saw the appearance of the army in front of him, his frown never relaxed.

“King Gongshun, you will lead the attack in this battle. Bayala, you will lead two thousand archers to assist, and Ayantu will supervise the battle.

Zu Dachun, you lead 5,000 Han troops to resist Lu Xiangsheng, and don't let them disrupt the war here, ahem—"

Yuetuo finally changed his mind and decided to test the enemy's strength first. If the enemy was just a show-off, he would order the heavy cavalry to charge.

Just as he finished speaking, he suddenly coughed twice. He had been feeling tired and weak recently, and his back was always aching. At first, he thought it was a recurrence of an old illness and did not take it too seriously.

It had become increasingly serious in the past two days, and he even had symptoms of fever and headache, but the war was imminent and he had no time to take care of it.

"I have obeyed your order!" Zu Dachun said with relief in his heart.

Compared with the soldiers from the Beijing camp not far away, it was much less risky to defend against the exhausted Lu Xiangsheng. He felt that it was not in vain to send his niece to warm the bed of the prince.

King Gongshun Kong Youde on the side was not so happy, but the battle in the morning had already made Yuetuo very dissatisfied. Now that he was asked to serve as the vanguard, he did not dare to say anything and could only grit his teeth and obey the order.

Half a quarter of an hour later, the war drums sounded and Kong Youde ordered his men to attack. He had already seen the musketeers from the Beijing camp, so he led the shield soldiers in a wedge-shaped formation to meet the enemy.

Behind the shield soldiers were the archers led by Kong Youde and Bayara, with spear and sword teams on both wings and the rear. There was also a team of cavalry of about a thousand men on each side of the infantry to assist in the defense in case of any emergencies.

Three hundred steps, two hundred and fifty steps...

Watching the enemy approaching little by little, Xu Wenyuan's breathing became heavy in the firearm battalion formation.

Unlike other veterans of the Beijing Camp, although Xu Wenyuan had excellent training results, he was actually a rookie.

For the new recruits, the first battle is crucial. He turned his head and glanced at Zheng Chong and Wang Jingduo. Zheng Chong was gritting his teeth. Although Wang Jingduo did not gritting his teeth, Xu Wenyuan saw that his legs were shaking.

So Xu Wenyuan was not so nervous anymore.

Two hundred steps, one hundred and fifty steps...

The commanders of each team blew the whistle in unison, and the musketeers in the second and third rows took a step forward like robots. The musketeers in the first row stood upright and fired, while the second row bent over, and the third row squatted.

The effective range of the Rumi gun is ninety to one hundred steps, which is about one hundred and fifty meters in modern units.

Kong Youde felt something was wrong when he saw that the Ming army was ready to shoot. As a former Ming general, he had served under Sun Yuanhua and was familiar with the Ming army's firearms.

Most of the Ming army units were equipped with bird guns, which had a range of about sixty-five steps, slightly longer than the range of archers, but only a dozen steps.

Normally, as long as they survived the first round of volleys from the Ming army, the archers would be able to enter the shooting range. Judging from the current situation, could it be that this group of soldiers from the Beijing camp were also equipped with Rumi guns?

His doubts did not last long and he soon got his answer.

Seeing that the enemy had entered the effective firing range, the commander of the square shouted loudly:

"preparation!"

After receiving the order, the musketeers in the first three rows quickly pressed the metal hook with the fuse into the firing port, and then held the gun with both hands and calmly aimed at the opponent.

"put!"

bang bang bang-

bang bang-

Following loud noises, black smoke suddenly rose from the Beijing Camp's firearms battalion formation.

Hundreds of shield soldiers who were running forward fell down in an instant. Their shields could only protect the important organs of the face and chest, and the legs were not within the defense range.

The shield soldiers who were rushing in the front were a little dazed. In their inherent impression, the range of the Ming Dynasty's muskets was only more than sixty steps, and now it was still a hundred steps away.

But they had no time to think too much. They dared not stop without orders and could only rush forward as fast as possible. As long as they could lead the archers forward another fifty steps, their mission would be accomplished.

However, how could the soldiers from the Beijing camp give them the chance easily?

After a round of volleys, the commander blew the whistle, and the first three rows of musketeers turned around and trotted back to the back of the formation to reload ammunition. At the same time, the three rows of musketeers who had been ready for action took three steps forward and quickly assumed a three-stage firing posture.

"preparation!"

In addition to its range being thirty steps longer than that of the bird gun, the biggest improvement of the Rumi gun is the firing method. The old-style bird gun requires one to hold the fuse in one hand and the gun in the other, so the accuracy is naturally poorer.

The Rumi gun uses the right hand to pull the metal hook to push the burning fuse into the firing port. Don't underestimate this small modification. The accuracy of holding the gun with both hands soars, and it's almost like a trigger.

"put!"

bang bang-

bang bang bang-

There was another loud noise. Since the previous shot had created a gap in the enemy's shield team, the musketeers expanded their advantage with this shot. Many archers who had not yet entered their shooting range were also knocked down.

In the gap between two rounds of shooting, they only advanced twenty meters.

After the second round of volleys, less than half of the shieldmen were still able to stand. The shooting density of the Ming army was too high, even the border troops of the Ming Dynasty could not compare with it.

If they were still the Ming army, they would have started retreating by now. There would be no way to fight.

But behind them were the Qing Dynasty's supervisory troops. As Han people, they were looked down upon by the Jurchens. Once they were discovered retreating, these people would shoot them without hesitation.

"No retreat! Anyone who retreats will die!" Cavalry Captain Ayantu spoke the Ming language, which was not fluent in it. At the same time, his subordinates bent their bows and pointed them at the Han soldiers who were hesitating to move forward.

After enduring the third round of volleys, they finally came into the range of their own archers at a huge cost.

But just as they were about to fire, the musketeers' fourth volley arrived first.

Not only that, on both sides of the musket formation, under the command of Wen Bangguo and Niu Gang, the archers of the Beijing camp had gradually approached the enemy's flanks.

Almost at the same time as the enemy, the archers also shot their arrows.

At this time, the army formation of the Beijing camp soldiers turned into a huge U-shape, wrapping Kong Youde's wedge inside it, and shooting from three directions: the front and both wings.

Such intensive shooting made it impossible for the enemy's spearmen and swordsmen to advance. No matter which direction they rushed, there were always bullets and arrows shot from all directions.

Finally, after holding out for a quarter of an hour, the enemy retreated.

……