The Ming army occupied the first small village called Yang Da, and immediately mobilized their forces, set up defenses around this small village, and rested for a while, preparing to attack the small village called Dongzhai Village in the afternoon.

After a brief rest of the army, Wang Xinyu summoned the soldiers to hold a meeting in the small village they had just occupied. The bloody battle just now was much more difficult to fight than imagined, especially the capture of this small village from the hands of the Huguang New Army, and the Ming army paid a lot of casualties. In order to seize this small village, the Ming army lost more than 1,100 people and destroyed six cannons. This does not include the losses from the battle with the Manchurian Eight Banners.

However, the losses of the Qing army were even greater, and the Huguang New Army lost more than 1,600 people, three artillery pieces were destroyed, and five artillery pieces were captured by the Ming army when they were defeated.

In the battle with the Manchurian Eight Banners, the Qing army lost more than 1,000 people in the Manchu Eight Banners, the Ming army lost more than 600 infantry, the gunners also suffered more than 70 casualties, and the cavalry lost more than 80 people, almost killing 1,000 enemies and losing 800 themselves. However, it is already very good to be able to play such a record against cavalry with infantry.

"Those fake tartars from Huguang are really powerful! Their combat power is still above the real Tartar! Especially firearms, they are more powerful than the firearms army of the Han Eight Banners! Wu Zhudan sighed.

Looking at the five artillery pieces captured from the hands of the Huguang New Army, as well as a large number of flintlock pistols captured, Wang Xinyu also sighed that the Huguang New Army has sharp firearms, the gun manufacturing level is not below the Qiongzhou Army, and the artillery of the Huguang New Army is also a cannon with big wheels, which can be transferred quickly. Because of this, they could not hold the village and retreated, so they took most of the artillery with them, leaving only five eighteen-pounder guns, which were too heavy to move.

The Qing army's eighteen-pounder cannon is a new type of artillery made by using iron-core copper shell technology, which not only has the advantages of light weight and not easy to explode the bore of copper cannons, but also has the advantages of low price and not easy to deform iron cannons. The barrel wall of the gun is very thin, so the weight of the eighteen-pound gun is about 3,300 catties. Because of the new gun carriage and large wheels, the heavy cannon is not very slow to move.

Looking at the flintlock pistols captured from the Huguang New Army, they are all imitations of French dog-lock flintlock muskets, which are also the most advanced muskets of this era.

"I can't imagine that the Tartars can make such advanced firearms!" Wang Xinyu sighed.

Wang Yuyou said: "I have heard that it seems that a person named Xue Fengzuo helped Zhou Peigong build these new weapons. According to the information of our Heaven and Earth Society, Xue Fengzuo also has a student named Mei Wending, both of whom are proficient in Taixi disciplines, astronomy, mathematics and calendars, and both of them are geniuses! ”

Wang Xinyu, who has very poor historical knowledge, regrets it to the extreme, why didn't he know about these two scientists earlier? If they had known and dug them up, the achievements they could have made under their own hands would definitely be much higher than Dai Cang's father and son! Although Dai Zi and Xu Zhengming are also geniuses, they are too young after all, and they are still at the age of learning knowledge. And judging from the weapons made by Xue Fengzuo and Mei Wending, these two people are indeed extraordinary.

"Can you kidnap these two people?" Wang Xinyu turned his head and asked Hong Xiguan, who is in charge of the secret service intelligence industry.

Hong Xiguan replied in embarrassment: "Zhou Peigong got these two people and treated them as treasures, and he took care of them very closely, so I'm afraid I won't have a chance to do it." ”

"It's okay!" Wang Xinyu is also very open, "When we take Huguang, such a talent is not ours?" Both of them are also Han Chinese, so I don't believe that they fell into our hands and don't do things for us! ”

At present, Wang Xinyu's situation of scientific and technological talents here is a bit of a problem, Song Yingxing is old, and Dai Zi and Xu Zhengming are too young. Although Song Yingxing's two sons have also learned a lot of things, they only have the ability to imitate, and they have not yet innovated. In order to create more advanced weapons in the future, talents like Xue Fengzuo and Mei Wending will be needed.

However, in addition to weapons, what surprised the generals of the Qiongzhou Army even more was the combat effectiveness of the Huguang New Army.

"God knows how Zhou Peigong did it, he could actually make the Han people die for the Tartars, and they were fearless in life and death! That Huguang New Army is a hundred times more powerful than the ordinary green battalion! Wu Zhudan sighed.

In this era, the combat effectiveness of ordinary green battalion soldiers has not decreased too much, and it is still relatively powerful. The vast majority of the green battalions were formed by the Ming army that had surrendered, and they were a bunch of garbage when they were in the Ming army, with low combat effectiveness and ineffective use. But after transforming into a green battalion soldier, his combat effectiveness has increased many times. It's just that those green battalion soldiers are also ordinary people, they are just as afraid of death, they will retreat when they encounter hard stubble that can't be gnawed, and they will retreat if the casualties are too large, and they have not yet reached the point where they can sacrifice their lives and forget their lives to do things for the Qing court.

And the Qiongzhou Army, which has been brainwashed by military officers, is really a group of madmen who don't want to die. But the Qiongzhou Army, which was so strong in combat, didn't take much advantage when it met Zhou Peigong's Huguang New Army! That's weird to say.

"What method did that Zhou Peigong use to turn a group of people into deadly madmen?" Wang Xinyu also feels that this question is a bit incomprehensible.

can fight an almost tie with the Qiongzhou Army, this is definitely the most elite army in this era, I am afraid that even those Manchurian Eight Banners outside the Guanwai who are not degenerate and corrupt are only at this level.

"The Huguang New Army is our No. 1 enemy in the future to oppose the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty!" Wang Yuyou sighed.

At present, there are only 10,000 Huguang new troops coming to Jinhua, which can greatly increase the combat strength of the Qing army and make the Qiongzhou army feel pressure for the first time. If we encounter more Huguang new troops in the future, it will be really difficult to fight after such a war.

Originally, the people of Hunan and Hubei provinces were fierce and particularly capable of fighting, and they were quite good soldiers. Later, the Hunan army in history was able to fight a balance of strength with the Taiping army from Guangxi, which shows that the Hunan people fought very well. The combat effectiveness of the Guangxi people is quite strong, and there are many Guangxi soldiers under Li Dingguo's command, but the Qing army is looking for teeth all over the place.

Wang Xinyu suddenly straightened his face, and his eyes showed firmness and determination: "Anyway, we must win this battle!" Our real weapon hasn't been used yet! When our swarm of bee fire vans exerts their power, no matter how he can fight the Huguang New Army, they are not dead when they encounter a swarm of bee fire vans! ”

Another big killer also had to be unveiled early, that is, hot air balloons.

There is no way, the Huguang New Army is too capable of fighting, they are good at using the terrain, they can dig trenches, make good use of long-range weapons, the location of artillery, and the use of musketeers, they are not lost to the Qiongzhou Army; In close combat, the combat effectiveness is not inferior to the Qiongzhou army.

Zhou Peigong is indeed a figure in real history, when Wu Sangui raised troops against the Qing Dynasty, the Eight Banners and the Green Battalion in the Guannai were no longer opponents at that time, but when they encountered the new green battalion formed by Zhou Peigong, the signs of Wu Sangui's attack were contained. Of course, Zhou Peigong also used the strong city to drag Wu Sangui. However, Zhou Peigong also suggested that Kangxi set up a Baoyi Army, and the Baoyi Army and the new green battalion also played a great role in dealing with Galdan later.

In the camp of the Qing army, Zhuo Butai was also discussing with generals at all levels.

Zhuo Butai secretly said in his heart: The thief's combat effectiveness is indeed strong! None of our most elite Eight Banners took advantage of them! But the Huguang New Army is too powerful, right? The combat effectiveness actually surpassed our Manchurian Eight Banners! In the future, the Huguang New Army will be the main force, and the thieves will be destroyed! But after destroying the thieves, if Zhou Peigong had different intentions, the court would be in danger! No, after the thieves are destroyed, Zhou Peigong must be relieved of his military power!

The other Qing generals didn't know what Zhuo Butai was thinking at this time, and Li Sang bowed his hand to Liu Liangzuo and said hello: "General Liu, the Huguang New Army you brought this time is really powerful!" The thieves will lose a lot of money if they only attack a small village! However, the new army is too small, only 10,000 horses, which is still not enough! ”

"Hahaha!" Liu Liangzuo laughed, "There are not many thieves and soldiers!" General Ben has enough 10,000 horses here! This battle will surely make the thieves flee! ”

Yu Yongshou said: "If we continue to fight according to the posture just now, we will win a miserable victory in this battle!" After defeating the thieves, we are powerless to pursue them, and I am afraid that we can only watch the thieves retreat! The thieves retreated to Hangzhou and relied on the fortified city to hold on, it was difficult for our army to conquer it! ”

"It's okay, I have a strong army like the Huguang New Army, and the thieves can only survive. As long as our new army reaches 100,000 and has siege artillery, it will not be a problem at all to recover Jiangnan! And don't forget, the red-haired ghosts have also made a pact with us, and they will help us cut off the foundation of the pirates from the sea! Think about it, our army recovered Jiangnan, and the red-haired ghost helped us break the foundation of the thieves on the sea, wouldn't the thieves wait for death? Liu Liangzuo laughed.

"Hahaha!" Zhuo Butai also smiled, "This world is calm, just around the corner!" ”

"By the way, you explain that the dog has just suffered a small loss, will it continue to attack in the afternoon?" Li Sang'e was a little worried that the Ming army would no longer attack, but would use the occupied small villages to arrange defensive positions, so that it would be difficult for the Qing army to attack.

"If the thieves don't attack, then it's good to spend it here! After a while, the new army of Huguang will come to reinforce, and that will be the day when the thieves will be destroyed! Liu Liangzuo was full of confidence in the Huguang New Army at this time. With such a powerful new army, he believed that the longer the time dragged on, it would also be beneficial to the Qing army.

"The thieves must have seen this, and now they are forcing them to fight quickly!" Zhuo Butai laughed.

The Qing army also began to make certain adjustments, and the ordinary green battalion Qing army was placed in front as cannon fodder, and the battle team was overpowered. The elite artillery of the Huguang Green Battalion and the artillery of the Han Eight Banners were behind, ready to shell the Ming army at any time; The cavalry was on both wings, because it knew that the heavy cavalry of the Ming army was powerful, the Qing army decided to use the Mongolian cavalry to lure the Ming cavalry first, and then concentrate nearly 10,000 cavalry of the Eight Banners to encircle and annihilate the Ming cavalry with more fights and fewer fights.

As long as the Ming cavalry was defeated, the two wings of the Ming infantry would lose protection, and the Qing army would fight a decisive battle with the Ming army with infantry and artillery horses. (To be continued.) )