The geography of Zhangpu County is similar to that of Wuzhou Prefecture, which faces water in the west and south, but this water is not a river, but a river. At the same time, the terrain is flatter, with hilly gentle slopes. The artillery position was placed in Xiapu, south of the city, and the city was bombarded two or three miles apart.

It has been the fifth day since the shelling of Zhangpu, and the extended bombardment into the city has not only bombarded many people out of the city, but also made unexpected gains. The defenders of Zhangpu and the people have been passively beaten, and without touching a single hair, the wall of the city to resist the enemy was destroyed, and seeing that the hearts of the people were about to be shattered, they finally couldn't help but gather troops out of the city.

On 13 February, the long-awaited tough battle of the Yingyang Army finally arrived, and nearly 10,000 Qing soldiers and civilians bravely crossed Nanxi from the southeast, from east to west, and launched an assault on the artillery position.

Fang Tangheng's Qingpu battalion spread out to the east of Xiapu, the four wings formed a standard horizontal formation, the winged flying cannons were also in place, and the stragglers were cruising in front of the array, quietly waiting for the noisy people to come.

Xiapu Lookout, Yan Sanniang looked at such a scene, and subconsciously clenched her fists, it was the first time she had seen such a large-scale field battle, seeing Fang Tangheng's thin formation, she was about to meet the surging tide in front of her, she even wanted to order the other two battalions to fill it up quickly.

But she didn't give any instructions, because she didn't understand. Yan Sanniang not only has superb martial arts, but also plays with muskets very well, and also knows the basic subjects down to the whistle, but the higher-level tactical command, which Li Shi and Qingtian Siwei have explored step by step from actual combat, even if there are teaching materials, if they don't start from the grassroots commanders, they are at a loss.

Not only that, but she also did not have immediate command. Li Xian had already explained to her, and also to Wu Ya, Yan Sanniang could only make a decision on whether to fight or not, how to fight, she could only put forward opinions, and had no right to interfere with specific commands.

The wave of Qing soldiers stopped abruptly half a mile away and began to gather the whole team.

"It is worthy of being a child of Zhangpu, and the people are so disciplined."

He Mengfeng, who was watching the battle, was extremely emotional, and there was a trace of unbearability in his words.

"Boss Xiao is really right, Zhangpu Minyong is an officer and soldier, but he didn't make it clear what kind of officer and soldier it is."

"In my opinion...... The courage is a bit like that of the Guangxi soldiers, but it is the brains of the Fujian soldiers, who know how to plan small things in battle, and they are not only in the whole team, but also discussing the timing of the small cannons. ”

Zhang Ying and Liang Deguang muttered on the side, as if they were out of the way.

"At least eight thousand, just one battalion to meet it head-on, will it be too big?"

Xie Dingbei was worried, and looked behind him from time to time, not knowing whether he was looking for advice from Wu Ya, the commander of the Eagle Yang Army, or if he was looking at the way out.

"This is the Qingpu battalion, the predecessor of which was the Qingtian Guard, who fought against ten times the enemy in Qingpu with hundreds of them, and the commander of the Fang was the oldest battalion leader."

Han Zaixing is full of confidence.

"Officers and soldiers? The people are all officers and soldiers, so I am relieved. ”

Fang Tangheng's feelings were very direct, originally he was still a little worried, although the Qingpu camp was also the foundation of the old guard, it still lacked too much compared to before. Mixed with most of the recruits, the current Qingpu Battalion is the epitome of the Eagle Yang Army, and two major problems plague from Wu Ya to Fang Tangheng, and even all grassroots officers.

The first is the uneven quality of the muskets, which leads to the commander's uncertainty about the performance of the battle. The muskets of the Eagle Yang Army are all Cantonese brands, and the barrels come from all subway squares in Guangdong Province. Although there is a Foshan Manufacturing Bureau to control the quality and drill and grind the inner chamber, it is still a lot worse than the previous Yingde brand.

The second is that there are too many recruits and insufficient training, and this defect is being made up for after fighting all the way in the past two or three months, and the only shortcoming is the lack of training in big battles. On the contrary, it is the gunner's craftsmanship and the small groups of alleys and alleys where the infantry and artillery are very skillfully trained.

This is his own problem, seeing that the other side is the routine of the Qing soldiers' green battalion, Fang Tangheng's apprehension suddenly disappeared, and his body and mind were occupied by excitement.

What kind of routine is the green battalion soldier, I am very familiar with it in Guangdong, it is nothing more than the three-plate axe.

Half a mile away, dozens of large and small artillery pieces were launched in front of the Zhangpu soldiers, no, they should be called earth cannons, ranging from dozens of catties to two or three hundred catties, this is the first move, artillery bombardment.

These small earthen cannons of the Qing soldiers, if they dare to fill ten percent of the medicine, let alone half a mile, it will be no problem to hit one mile. But the artillery of the officers and soldiers never dared to be ten percent, and most of these in front of them were people's bravery, and most of the earthen artillery was also self-made, and the quality should be better than that of the officials. Fang Tangheng didn't dare to take risks, waved his hand and gave the order, artillery against cannon. The Zhangpu soldiers followed the routines of the officers and soldiers, so they followed the routines of the canon.

There was a loud bang, and the white smoke bloomed, and soon it was pulled into two lines. As the two white smoke rose into the air, two invisible winds swept by, muddying the originally colorful battlefield.

The earthen cannons of the Zhangpu soldiers rolled up a cloud of dust and smoke, and they swept in front of the front line of the Qingpu battalion. It is true that the distance of half a mile can be reached, but for the stragglers and the officers and soldiers of the Qingpu battalion in the front row, it is like a hail rushing towards them, and they only need to bow their heads. The crackling lead struck the helmet and breastplate, and the lead that fell on the unarmored part only faintly hurt. There were several unlucky ones among the stragglers who were cruising in front of the battle, and they were smashed by the exhausted cannons.

There was a cold hail on the Qingpu battalion's side, and a bloody wind and iron rain were falling on the Zhangpu soldiers' side. The eight-pound guns of the Qingpu battalion were all transferred to bombard Zhangpu City, and only eight flying cannons went into battle. Half a mile is more than 300 steps, which is already at the limit of the range of the battalion's flying cannon, and the first round of flowering shells exploded in mid-air at a height of more than ten meters, like a ball of salute flowers, and the flesh and blood of the Zhangpu soldiers mixed with dust and smoke rose one after another.

"Ouch...... These gunners are really good at their work! ”

In the viewing group that had changed camps, Xie Dingbei subconsciously shrunk his neck, earlier in the first battle of Shaozhou, the flying cannon and flowering bomb were first in battle, but they suffered a big loss, and the bloody scene, Xie Dingbei will never forget it for the rest of his life. But now it's different, he has lost his way and is on the side of the "Heavenly Soldier".

"The gunner is good, and the craftsman is even better."

Han Zaixing added that the technical defects of the flowering bomb have been gradually overcome, and the reliability of the surname has been greatly improved, although it has not yet reached the "29" level required by Li Xian, but the 19th has been able to guarantee that the problem of early explosion, which is the most troublesome problem for the flying gunners, has also been basically solved. In order to take care of the gunner's psychology just in case, the current flying cannons have changed their appearance design. The large wheels, the thick wooden cannon shield, and the thick and short muzzles protruding from the middle of the cannon shield, look very impressive.

Relying on the large wheel, the return of the flying cannon was very fast, less than ten breaths, and the second round of flowering shells exploded in the sky in front of the Zhangpu soldiers. Two rounds of sixteen flowering bombs actually caused less than 100 casualties, but the chaos was like a ripple, affecting the 10,000-strong brigade. I saw that the crowd was pulling back and forth, and it was about to burst. Obviously, he didn't make up his mind for a while, whether to retreat and avoid the cannon first, or to rush forward.

"It's time for a second move......

He Mengfeng sighed, he was mourning for the Zhangpu soldiers, the second move that was about to be made, he didn't have to look at the result.

Sure enough, the Zhangpu soldiers quickly unified their opinions, and the tide of 10,000 people surged forward, rushing from half a mile away to a hundred steps away, during which the flying cannon bombarded two more rounds, and the crowd was suddenly divided by dust and fog, and became blurred, and hundreds of brave men rushed to the front.

These pickers were blocked by the stragglers of the Qingpu battalion a few dozen paces away. There were sharpshooters among the skirmishers, and there were grenadiers. The rifled guns killed the soldiers who rushed to the front, and the grenadiers threw out flowering bullets with wooden handles for easy throwing. These two volleys broke up the arrowheads who had chosen the strikers. Then the grenadiers in armor picked up the cold weapons that they were good at, such as long knives and axes, and firmly blocked the selection of the Zhangpu soldiers.

Just when the skirmishers and Xuanfeng were facing each other, the drumbeat that made He Mengfeng, Xie Dingbei and others vibrate sounded, and the four wings of the Qingpu battalion moved forward, and the distance between them and the Qing soldiers slowly narrowed. At this time, the battle between Xuanfeng and the skirmishers was meaningless, and both sides returned to their respective positions, and the nearly 100 corpses abandoned on the grass became the foundation of this flesh and blood vortex.

"Isn't it too early to attack now?"

He Mengfeng was the most attentive in the short training class, and he was a little surprised to see that the current movements of the Qingpu camp did not conform to the canon. The canon clearly requires that when fighting in a wide battlefield, you must wait for the opponent to take the initiative to enter the attack range.

"It depends on the specific situation, the canon takes into account the existence of the enemy's cavalry, and it is necessary to respond to the changes of the enemy army with no change, but now this Zhangpu Minyong has no cavalry, and the north is facing the river, and at this time he is still waiting for the enemy army to attack, which is too passive."

Zhang Ying accosted, He Mengfeng nodded, and the others were also stunned, it seems that this battlefield is really a university question.

The ensuing discussion was drowned out by the chaotic sound of gunfire, and the second move of the Zhangpu soldiers was made, and shotguns, bows and arrows were waiting.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was the era of the transformation of cold weapons to hot weapons. The widespread use of arquebuses and artillery made the ancient military formations useless, and the combination of hot and cold arms revolved around the question of how to carry forward the complex firepower level created by the mixture of hot and cold. The green battalion of the Qing army also inherited the infantry combat routine of the Ming army, that is, the large and small rings were stacked on top of each other. The large stacked formation, the cannon in front, the shotgun bow and arrow in the back, and the hand-to-hand combat last, advancing in turn. Small stacks are three, four, or five stacks of shotguns, which are rotated.

Why did Fang Tangheng have the bottom in his heart, He Mengfeng expected that the enemy would be defeated, and he would be defeated very badly, just because this combination of hot and cold combat system was barely improvised, and the artillery was not strong, the shotguns were not fine, and each level was fighting alone. Although there were 10,000 Zhangpu soldiers, they were divided into two systems, hot and cold, and there were only three or four thousand people fighting against the Qingpu battalion at the same time.

At the moment, a hundred paces away, the three or four thousand bird gunners and archers of the Zhangpu soldiers opened fire desperately, which was the traditional tactics of the Green Battalion. In this open battlefield, the main function of guns, bullets, bows and arrows is not to kill or injure the enemy, but to create pressure on the enemy in front of them, forcing them to scatter their formation and demoralize, and then charge on the side with hand-to-hand combat or cavalry.

The Anglo-Chinese army fought from Guangdong to Guangxi and Fujian, and the green battalions of the Qing army encountered were all this set of tactics, and they were so familiar with it that they knew what they were going to do with their eyes closed. It was not the rigidity of the Qing army's operations, but the Qing army's combination of hot and cold combat system, which determined that they could only exert their combat strength according to this principle.

The Qingpu battalion continued to press forward, and the Zhangpu Minyong's shotguns were also more powerful than the officers and men's shotguns, and when they advanced to sixty or seventy paces, there were already sporadic casualties, and they were basically injured by bullets and unprotected arms and legs. Seeing that the distance was barely enough, Fang Tangheng ordered to stop, and more than a thousand people stopped in front of the tide of seven or eight thousand people.

The first round of guns fired out from the Qingpu battalion, and the dense explosion pushed the atmosphere of the battlefield to a new high. The front line of Zhangpu soldiers suddenly became a blood line, and He Mengfeng shrugged his shoulders with the students of the "Watching Group", there was nothing to see, and the victory and defeat had been divided.

The first round of guns is like a mechanical control handle, and when it is activated, it follows its own rhythm and mechanically emits a dull and dense roar. The Zhangpu soldiers in front of them were bombarded by this row of guns, and the flying cannons continued to shoot flower bullets from mid-air, and the shotgunners and archers insisted on firing for a few more rounds, and finally they couldn't withstand the pressure of blood and fire, and they broke out one after another.

The hand-to-hand fighters who followed behind were driven by the backbone and the generals of the Green Battalion, and they also wanted to make a forward fight, but they were disrupted by the shotgunners and archers, and only about a thousand people stood out from the formation and collided with the thin defense line of the Qingpu Battalion.

Braving bullets, the hand-to-hand combatants stormed the middle flanks, greeted by Rulin's bayonets, and the left and right flanks began to move forward, ready to continue to whip the disorganized enemy.

Everything is so routine, the Zhangpu soldiers have no cavalry, which makes the whole battle lose its changes, He Mengfeng Han Zaixing Xie Dingbei saw that the Qingpu battalion had no "enemy" in its eyes, and it acted like a drill. But they were dazzled and dazzled, and they all said in their hearts, this is really a bloodthirsty and sharp knife, killing people is no trick, but to master this knife, they feel that there is still too much to learn.

On the Xiapu Lookout, Yan Sanniang was sweating through, she was the first time to see the routines of the enemy and us, and she felt that the process was full of ups and downs, and her mood had changed from nervous to excited several times, and she could see that the Zhangpu Soldier Brigade was retreating, and the hand-to-hand soldiers who rushed to the middle flanks also hit their heads in front of the bayonet formation, and were being pushed by the slowly advancing bayonet formation, Yan Sanniang's heart was extremely comfortable.

"Remind Wu Ya, it's time for the front camp to move!"

She didn't want to be a spectator, so she gave such an order, which was not considered overstepping her authority, the front battalion was on standby in the southeast direction, and she waited for the Zhangpu Brigade to retreat and attack on the flank, so as to gather this 10,000-strong brigade on the bank of Nanxi.

Wu Ya is also a anxious surname, and she should have started scheduling without Yan Sanniang's orders, but Yan Sanniang always had to say something, so that she could be sure in her heart that she was in charge of the situation in this battle after all...... Looking through the binoculars, the marching army column of the front battalion was rushing to the rear, Yan Sanniang excitedly clenched her fists and shouted: "Victory!" ”

After a breath, she suddenly felt a tightness in her chest, and before she could cover her mouth, a churn rushed up her throat.

"Vomit ......"

It seems that the feeling of stepping on a dead person's head in the clouds has come again, and it is even stronger, Yan Sanniang retched and thought, it should be cold from the wind in this high place, but how can her body be so unbearable? I have to lead the army in the future, this can't be done!

The maid Xiaohong has been guarding her side, seeing Yan Sanniang retching, her eyes are round, she is still not convinced, while holding Yan Sanniang, she asked carefully: "Madam, it should be stomach discomfort, do you want to eat something that pleases the stomach?" There are also sour plums and plums in the tent. ”

Yan Sanniang is not like An Jiuxiu, a girl with a broken mouth from Jiangnan, who rarely eats snacks, and when she heard these things, she was about to frown subconsciously, but as soon as the sour plums and plums entered her ears, the refreshing sourness flowed all over her body, and her mouth was suddenly full of relish.

"Hurry up and get it!"

She swallowed her saliva as she said, the current battle situation is critical, and she must stick to her post.

"God forbid!"

Xiaohong looked at Yan Sanniang with starry eyes, and said in her heart, Madam, cherish this little time in front of you, you will never be able to go to the battlefield again, and you will never be able to go to the lookout again.

Yan Sanniang didn't see Xiaohong's expression, she only felt a chill behind her.

"I must have felt wrong......"

She still thinks so.

(To be continued)