With a dull roar, white smoke rose from the small village, and more than a dozen shells smashed in the direction of the Ming army's twelve-pounder artillery position.

The distance was too far, and the Qing artillery shells also failed to hit the target, only splashing a puff of dirt on the open ground. Except for an unlucky Ming soldier who was injured in the arm by a splashed stone, the Ming army suffered no other losses.

Hearing the sound of the Qing army's counterattack, Wang Yuyou smiled proudly: "Sure enough, as the old man expected, the Tartars really had an ambush in the village, and they arranged the Hongyi cannon!" Just waiting for us to pass the middle road, they bombarded us in the villages on both sides, which is indeed insidious! Fortunately, the old man saw through it! ”

The distance was very far, and the Ming army's artillery bombardment was inaccurate. However, Wang Xinyu did not order the shelling to stop, but continued to bombard the village with a twelve-pounder gun. Not to be outdone, the artillery of the Qing army stationed in the village desperately fired a counterattack. For a time, the two sides launched a seemingly fierce artillery battle, the shells came and went, it looked spectacular, the posture was amazing, and the sound was earth-shattering, but in fact, neither side had any losses.

Zhuo Butai was dumbfounded and watched this artillery battle like a broken battle, it was almost like two women fighting, it looked like it was menacing, but in fact, neither side would be hurt.

"What are those Ming dogs doing?" Zhejiang Admiral Yu Yongshou asked in surprise.

Wu Ruyu reminded: "My lord, beware of the barbarians' deception!" They're probably going to attack! ”

Zhuo Butai picked up the monocular and glanced in the direction of the Ming army's large array. I saw that the formation of the Ming army was really changing, and all the phalanxes moved to the right, leaving the middle avenue, facing the village where the Qing army was stationed. After the Ming army set up an offensive posture, the shield carts were pushed out and approached in the direction of the small village. The Ming gunners behind slowly pushed the cannons, followed the auxiliary soldiers and advanced step by step, the infantry phalanx stepped on a neat pace, from a column to a horizontal line, covering the entire front, and the neat forest of spears approached step by step towards the village garrisoned by the Qing army.

In fact, the Ming army shelled the Qing army just now, not to defeat the battle, but to test the power of the Qing army's artillery fire.

After the Qing army's artillery counterattacked, Wang Xinyu was shocked: "I didn't expect that the artillery technology of the Tartars is not under us!" Their guns are on par with us in range and accuracy! ”

Originally, Wang Xinyu thought that with the advantage of his crossing, he would definitely be able to crush the Qing army in technology and weapons. Who knew that the opponent actually had cattle and could produce artillery no less than that of the Ming army.

In that case, the only way to destroy the opponent is to use courage and brutal melee combat.

"Sure enough, Minggou is going to attack! Our infantry strikes! Prepare for the shelling of the Minggou infantry! Zhuo Butai, who was on the other side, put down his binoculars, turned around and shouted.

In the large camp of the Qing army, the pro-soldiers of the Green Battalion and the Eight Banners Goshha standing on the high platform waved small flags and directed the movement of infantry, cavalry and artillery. Under one banner after another, the Qing soldiers and horses rushed back and forth, the infantry formed formations, and the artillery advanced forward.

If you don't consider the factor of artillery, only compared to the infantry, the infantry of the Qiongzhou army can be said to be invincible in the world, no matter whether the Qing army uses infantry or cavalry, it will be in front of the impenetrable array of the Qiongzhou army. But with the addition of the artillery of the Qing army, can the Qiongzhou army still be invincible?

If you take the initiative to attack, you will definitely have to pay the price of casualties, and the casualties will not be small. Once the artillery of the Qing army opened fire on the dense Ming infantry formation, many people would fall on the land.

After the Ming infantry approached, the artillery would also fire at the same time to suppress the artillery of the Qing army, and the artillery would also bombard the equally dense Qing infantry, that is, the Qing army would have to take a step forward and pay a heavy price to approach.

It can be said that because of the arrival of Wang Xinyu, the Ming army entered the era of artillery as the main force on the battlefield, and artillery became the god of war in this era, so that Napoleon's concept came to this era in advance. But on the side of the Qing army, Zhou Peigong and a group of scientists he recruited also made the Qing army enter the era of artillery as the main force.

"Huguang New Army, go to war! Target the village ahead! Liu Liangzuo shouted.

The soldiers waved the green Flying Tiger flag, and a group of Huguang new army musketeers, led by a large banner of the Zhangba General Army, lined up in a neat formation to reinforce the small village that was attacked by the Ming army.

The Qing army has been fully mobilized, and the ranks of tens of thousands of people are not in sight, but seeing the flags like a forest, the swords and guns like a sea, the continuous military array seems to be about to reach the horizon.

"Daqing, mighty!" Tens of thousands of Qing troops roared in unison.

The overwhelming sound of long live was higher and higher, and the huge whistling sound was even more depressing.

The artillery garrison officers of the Qing army on war horses immediately crossed their swords, and mules and horses passed one after another with large-wheeled artillery wagons, and rushed to the small village with the infantry of the New Army.

"The Tartars have also imitated our gun carriages!" Wang Xinyu picked up the binoculars and looked at the Qing army's artillery carriage that was not running slowly, and was very shocked. I didn't expect the Qing army to learn quite quickly, and the Qing army also imitated this kind of large-wheeled artillery carriage that they made. Although the Qing army certainly did not have bearings, it was not slow to move.

It is destined to be a decisive battle of life and death, and it is impossible for the Qiongzhou army to win one victory after another without paying much price as in the past. But no matter how great the price to pay, this battle must be fought, and it must be won!

The attacking Ming army was close to the small village, and the Qing artillery turned around and fired at the shield cart in front.

Puffs of white smoke erupted from the village, and cannonballs whizzed and smashed into the shield cart. Most of the shells flew through the gap between the shield cart and the shield cart, plowing trails in the grass. Some of the shield carts were hit by shells, the planks in front of them were torn apart, sandbags on the shield carts flew up, and several auxiliaries fell screaming.

Of course, it is impossible for the shield cart to block the shelling, but the shield cart covered with wet soil in front and full of sandbags can reduce the bouncing damage of the Qing army's shells and effectively protect the cannons behind the shield cart.

"Remove it!" Chen Yongfu, who was in charge of commanding the auxiliaries, yelled.

Zhao Banggen and the auxiliaries pushed the shield cart, poured all the sandbags on the cart to the ground, and then pulled the shield cart and spread their legs to evacuate behind.

One by one, the shield carts dumped sandbags on the ground, forming improvised fortifications.

The artillery shells fired by the Qing army hit the sandbags, knocking many sandbags away, but also lost most of the kinetic energy, and the shells only bounced a few times after they landed, and then stopped moving. However, there were still many shells that swept over the sandbag fortifications and burrowed into the phalanx of the Ming infantry that came up behind.

The six-pounder cannon of the Qing army hiding in the small village spewed white smoke, and the shells weighing five catties plunged into the phalanx of the Ming army's infantry.

There was another dull roar, and more shells smashed through, smashing through the thin horizontal squad in one fell swoop, and the shells pulled blood lines through the crowd. However, the pace of the Ming army's advance did not appear chaotic, but advanced step by step in the face of the artillery fire of the Qing army. The gap that was blasted by the artillery of the Qing army was quickly filled by the people behind.

"Hurry up!" Gong Xiaoda anxiously urged the gunners who were pulling the cannon forward.

"Bang" a cannonball happened to hit a moving gun carriage, and the mule pulling the cart let out a terrible scream, raised its hooves, fluttered in the air a few times, and then tilted heavily to one side. The shell that pierced the mule hit the gun wagon again, the wheels of the gun car were knocked out, the gun car was crooked, the cannon weighing more than 500 pounds rolled to the ground, and the gunners also suffered many casualties.

The same was true of the artillery, which advanced forward under the heavy fire of the Qing army.

Arriving behind the sandbag fortifications that the auxiliaries had piled up at the cost of their lives, the artillerymen quickly untied their mules and horses and set up their cannons in the face of the dense shells of the Qing army.

White smoke rose from the village, and more than a dozen shells shot into the air.

"Mortar of the Tartars!" Wang Xinyu felt a pang in his heart. The Qing army also created mortar cannons, which means that they have also mastered the technology of flowering cannonballs!

The shell rose to the highest point, pulled out an arc, and exploded between the Ming fortifications. The flames were blazing, white smoke filled the air, and several more cannons were blown to the side, and the gunners fell screaming. There was also a cannon ammunition truck that was shot, which caused a violent explosion of ammunition, a huge fireball rose, the gun truck was torn apart, the wheels flew out, and even the barrel of a cannon weighing several hundred pounds was blown into the sky.

This kind of offensive was very disadvantageous, because the opponent's artillery was set up to launch Zhuyuan and waited, and the Ming army could only counterattack if it advanced to the firing range.

However, the artillery of the Ming army was not idle, before the cannon was running, the chamber had been cleared, and when it came to the back of the fortifications made of sandbags, the cannon was immediately erected, and the dense shells immediately counterattacked the small village.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of the frontal infantry and artillery to pin down the Qing artillery, the dragoons outflanked them.

Part of the artillery of the Qing army turned the muzzle and fired shells in the direction of the dragoons. Several shells burrowed into the crowd of cavalry, and more than a dozen cavalrymen fell off their horses. However, the artillery bombardment of the Qing army failed to stop the attack of the dragoons, and soon a dragoon approached the village, and a row of arrows flew into the sky with the sound of a swishing wind, and fell into the small village. The dragoons, armed with muskets, rushed all the way to the entrance of the village, turned over and dismounted, set up their long-barreled muskets behind the low wall, and aimed them at the village and pulled the trigger.

A large group of Qing infantry rushed in the direction of the small village, and black Qing cavalry appeared on both flanks.

"Let's go!" The dragoons would not go head-to-head with the main infantry of the Qing army, and after shooting dozens of Qing gunners, they immediately mounted their horses and rode away. Their task was to protect the infantry from being attacked by the Qing cavalry. If you resist the Qing infantry, it will be a senseless sacrifice.

The Ming artillery spat out balls of fire, and six-pounder shells pierced the village. Having entered a close-range position to shoot, this round of artillery bombardment was very accurate, and the revenge shells hit many Qing artillery positions, making the Qing gunners cry and shout.

The four-pounder gun raised its muzzle and aimed it at the Qing infantry phalanx, the cannon rumbled, and a row of shells smashed into the Qing infantry phalanx. (To be continued.) )