The cold wind outside the ferry port was cold, the Jin army covered the land, all kinds of banners were blown by the howling cold wind, 30,000 Maya birds were silent, only the artillery lined up in front of the front line, raising clouds of white smoke, flashing orange cannon flames, and making bursts of thunderous sounds.

Next to more than 20 red-coated cannons, the gunners finished lighting the guns, covered their ears and squatted, waited for the guns to roar and the guns retreated, and then hurriedly got up to clean the chambers, loaded the ammunition, restored the gun positions, and prepared to bombard again.

Tens of thousands of Jin troops stood still, watching as iron bullets roared down the mountain, splashing clouds of yellow dust in front of the earthen walls on the mountainside and the top of the mountain.

The Ming troops on the top of the hill on both sides and behind the low wall in the middle were silent, and they all lowered their heads and hid behind the tunnels and earthen walls to avoid artillery bombardment, and there was no return fire.

After observing the positions of the Ming army, Meng Qiaofang decided to attack the hills on both sides first.

Although this will cause heavy casualties, once the mountain is taken, the Jin army can condescend and set up artillery to attack the Ming army behind the earthen wall between the two mountains, and the Jin army can also bypass the trench in front of the earthen wall and only attack the back of the earthen wall from the top of the mountain.

The heavy artillery of the Ming army could not be transported, and the range of the small cannon on the top of the mountain was not as good as that of the red-coated cannon, and it could only withstand the artillery bombardment of the Jin army.

The heavy artillery of the Jin army squatted in the gun pit, the muzzle of the gun was raised high, and the mountain was bombarded continuously. The slope of the hillside made it impossible for the artillery to hit a line, and even bounced the shells away, but as long as they were hit, almost all the Ming troops were left with no bones.

The Ming soldiers all lay down in the deep ditch to avoid the bombardment of the artillery fire, and the mud splashed by the shells fell like rain and smashed on their bodies, and the soldiers buried their heads and remained motionless, waiting for the shelling to end.

Looking up from the foot of the mountain, Meng Qiaofang could not see the Ming army outcropping, only a few Ming army flags hunting, declaring their sovereignty over the mountain.

After three rounds of bombardment by the red-coated artillery of the Jin army, the cannon body was hot and stopped.

At this time, Meng Qiaofang, who was stationed in front of the formation on horseback, waved his hand, and the war drums in the Jin army's formation were beating, and a battalion of nearly 3,000 soldiers suddenly shouted, pushing two hundred shield carts, leaving the big formation, and advancing to the hill on the right.

Although the first attack was often more tentative, Meng Qiaofang still sent a battalion of new troops, the time did not wait for anyone, at most a month, after the weather warmed, the Ming army in Shanxi would reinforce northern Shaanxi from the new, and it would be unlikely that he would want to recapture northern Shaanxi at that time.

Participating in the attack was the newly trained Xingping battalion, the battalion general was called Zheng Wencheng, a clansman of Zheng Jiadong, the general of Sun Chuanting's army, who was once a member of the Qin army Qianhu, and was born in the official army of the Ming Dynasty, but he did not have a good impression of the Ming Dynasty.

At the urging of Emperor Chongzhen, the Qin army went to war, and the superintendent Sun Chuanting was killed in battle, and the horse leather shrouded the body, but Chongzhen thought that he had absconded by fraud and did not give him a gift, so that he was disappointed in the Ming Dynasty and fled back to Guyuan to live in seclusion.

Although the Ming Dynasty later invited Sun Chuanting to the Martyrs' Shrine and told him that he had changed some of his views on the Ming Dynasty, the Guanzhong crisis made his good impression of the Ming Dynasty disappear.

At this time, he heard the sound of drums and saw the flag waving in the army, Zheng Wencheng pulled the war knife from his waist, pointed forward, and shouted: "Xingping camp, attack!" ”

The three thousand gold troops roared in unison, their morale was like a rainbow, pushing more than 200 shield carts, forming a one-mile-long line, and the soldiers behind them held fire guns, swords and spears, followed behind the shield carts according to the formation, straightened up and went to the hillside on the right flank.

Meng Qiaofang looked at the Xingping camp where he saw the battle, and bowed slightly, although it was a new army and had not experienced war, but after more than a year of training, Meng Qiaofang was still quite satisfied, and the morale of the secret path was available.

The slopes on both sides are not steep, they are slopes that can be pushed up by shield carts.

The shield cart is simple and not heavy, just two wheels and a plank.

The Jin army pounced on the wooden planks with a layer of cowhide and a layer of cotton armor, which could resist the long-distance shooting of the Ming army.

The wooden planks in front of this shield cart were eight feet high, almost higher than all the Jin troops, and the soldiers in front pushed the shield cart upwards with all their might, while the soldiers behind them lined up in a string, holding weapons, carrying planks and short ladders, and following the shield cart.

Zheng Wencheng was behind a shield cart, and behind him were three rows of gunners with muskets, and after the army had advanced to a certain distance, they would shoot at the Ming army on the top of the hill from the gap in the shield cart to counteract the advantage of the Ming army's earthen wall.

Behind the musketeers were the sword-and-shield men and pikemen who fought against planks and short ladders, who charged in close combat, and then attacked the hill under the cover of the musketeers.

From Li Zicheng's occupation of Beijing to the entry of the Manchu Qing Dynasty into the customs, and then to the establishment of the Jin State, Zheng Wencheng was at home and had never seen the Ming army fighting.

During the Great War of the Central Plains, the Jin army went out of the customs to unite with the Qing army against the Ming army. At that time, he had just joined the Jin army, but he was very confident in the Jin army, but the result was that the Jin army was defeated, and after the victory of the Ming army, he quickly destroyed the Ming army's old enemy Manchu Qing.

This shocked him very much, especially in his impression that the Jin army was not lost to the Qin army back then, and the Qin army could be said to be the most elite army of the Ming Dynasty in Guannei.

Although it was tempting, Meng Qiaofang sent a battalion at once, and tens of thousands of troops were ready to go, hoping to take the mountain in one go.

At this time, Zheng Wencheng saw from the gap in the shield cart to the top of the mountain, the army had reached a distance of five hundred paces, and just as he looked at the mountain, a cloud of white smoke suddenly rose from the low wall, flashing orange cannon flames.

I only heard a "boom" sound, and a five- or six-pound shell suddenly shot at Zheng Wencheng with a "whoosh".

The cannonball went from small to large in his eyes, and it only occupied his entire pupil in an instant, and then a strong gust of wind blew up, jumped over his head, smashed behind the Jin army, splashed a cloud of dust on the ground, and then bounced up and rolled down the hill.

Zheng Wencheng's neck shrank, his face turned pale, and he was stunned for a while, before he wiped his face with his hand, his expression recovered, and he waved his knife and commanded: "Keep going!" ”

On the top of the mountain, the Ming troops hiding in the anti-artillery tunnel, one by one climbed out of the deep pit, took weapons on the earthen wall, the gunner turned the two big wheels on the gun carriage with his hands, dragged the cannon out along the dug tunnel, and then came to set up the loading, and aimed the muzzle of the gun at the shield wall that was advancing forward.

"Boom!" A series of artillery fires rang out, and the Ming artillery on the top of the hill opened fire. There are more than ten gaps in the entire low wall, which are used to place the field artillery of the Ming army.

White smoke rose from the mountain, and there was a sudden loud "bang" next to Zheng Wencheng, and an iron bullet hit one or two shield cars beside him, the shield body shook violently, and the car jumped suddenly, and then the lower body fell back, and the eight-foot-high wooden plank of the upper body was instantly shattered, bursting with countless broken wood chips.

Zheng Wencheng only felt a pain on his face, and when he reached out and touched it, his hands were full of blood. Jin Jun, who was behind the shield cart, was shot in the body and face, and immediately covered his bloody face and chest, and fell to the ground, rolling and wailing.

A Jin soldier stepped forward, looked at the injuries of several people, and waved his hand to let people carry away the slightly injured down the mountain, as for those who could not be saved, they could only end their suffering.

The Jin soldier panicked for a moment, but quickly regained his composure under the command of the officer, and the soldier who had lost the cover of the shield cart quickly moved behind another shield cart, walked past the dead corpse of the Jin army, and then continued to advance forward.

The soldiers are the new army, but the officers at the bottom are all veterans of the Jin army, and with them, the Jin army will not collapse so easily.

As the distance approached, the artillery of the Ming army became more fierce and accurate. The shield carts of the Jin army were hit from time to time, and the formation of the Jin army began to be a little staggered.

The Jin army continued to advance, Zheng Wencheng's screams sounded one after another, the number of casualties among the soldiers increased rapidly, watching the tragic death of his comrades, being beaten into minced meat by cannonballs, and the corpses of the Jin army were scattered on the hillside, the advancing soldiers couldn't help but panic, and their legs were weak.

"Don't look around, keep moving!" Zheng Wencheng sensed the mood of the army and waved his sword to command.

The deafening sound of artillery on the battlefield, the flying iron bullets, the brains bursting, the bloody corpses, and the tragic shouts all destroy people's spirits, make people feel frightened, and they don't know when they will be smashed on themselves.

Zheng Wencheng looked at a soldier in front of him, walking a little swayingly, patted him with a knife, and reminded: "Don't look at the corpse, keep an eye on your feet." ”

The soldier turned his head, his face pale, his forehead sweating, his lips trembling, obviously frightened, and on the verge of collapse.

Zheng Wencheng frowned, and sighed in his heart, although I tried my best to train, the surface kung fu of the Xingping camp can already be compared with the elite of the Jin army, but the soldiers have not been on the battlefield, so they will never be considered elite soldiers.

Zheng Wencheng was about to scold the soldier to watch the road, but there was another loud bang, and an iron bullet whistled and smashed the shield cart in front of him, and countless pieces of wood burst out, and the Jin army behind the cart fell to the ground.

The Jin Jun who turned back was directly inserted into his temple by a piece of broken wood, and blood shot out, hitting the pale face of a Jin Jun next to him, and his body fell in front of Zheng Wencheng's eyes as soon as he became weak.

Before he could come back to his senses, two of his own soldiers stopped in front of him and shouted urgently: "General, be careful! ”

A group of Ming troops on the earthen wall, raised the firearms, aimed at the gap of the shield car, pulled the trigger, and the sound of "bang, bang, bang" sounded, and the smoke on the earthen wall was filled, and countless projectiles roared.

The two personal soldiers who stood in front of Zheng Wencheng shook and were knocked to the ground.

Several other personal soldiers hurriedly escorted Zheng Wencheng to hide behind the shield cart next to him, and the Jin army was beaten into chaos, and the soldiers were scurrying in front of him.

Zheng Wencheng pushed away the soldiers who were protecting him, waved his knife and roared, "Don't panic, fire back, and give the sword and shield to the general!" ”

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(End of chapter)