Chapter 109 Bloodthirsty Land Battle

Bailan is a low hilly area in the central and southern part of Taiwan Island. In order to prevent Zheng Zhilong from the south from hitting Hsinchu, Chen Hu specially built a thousands-meter earth wall here. It's called Julu Village.

Juluzhai is more than 200 miles away from Hsinchu. If the road conditions are good, it will only take one or two hours to drive. But now the march would take at least a day and a half.

In this way, even if this line of defense is breached, there will be enough time to re-deploy a defense line outside Hsinchu City.

After a few months, Chen Hu is no longer the shabby guy who just fished quietly to make a living. As Qin Hao traveled to the mainland many times to traffic in smuggled salt, he was full of confidence. In addition, he was Qi Jiajun, and he had a broad vision. Being open-minded and having different insights naturally makes you understand what is cautious and what is roundabout.

To use a word I learned from school, it is not the Amen of Wu Xia in the past.

"Enemy situation!"

The Shuntian camp sentries equipped with clairvoyance relied on their own equipment advantages to take the lead in discovering the Zheng family's army flag several miles away.

"Good boy, there are many people and horses. There are 8 or 9,000 people at a glance. It seems that they are really serious this time!" Li Yi looked at the people and horses in the distance through the telescope, with lingering fear.

"Don't panic! We have a lot of people." Chen Hu said calmly, "1,000 firearms troops and 1,000 sword and shield troops are enough to deal with it."

"You two, how do we fight?" Ah Jin, a simple mountain man, just said this in a muffled voice.

"How to fight?" Chen Hu looked at the opposing team like a carpenter hanging a wire. He pondered for a moment and replied to Ah Jin, "Our troops are not as large as theirs. In addition to their own nearly 8,000 troops, it is estimated that there will be nearly 8,000 troops behind them. 2,000 civilians, these people alone are 5 times as many as our troops! In addition, there seem to be many mountain people, and these people are potential enemies."

"So, we must get the upper hand and catch him off guard! Get close and shoot! Let's fire a concentrated salvo!"

"Your Majesty, what do you mean, leave the city?" Li Yidun pondered for a moment. If a firepower network was to be formed according to Chen Hu's wishes, the troops must be pulled outside the city.

"That's right! The Lord issued instructions to all battalions and departments that day to make changes to the military discipline of shooting. Let's try it with them today! See what's the difference between beating pigs and beating people!" At this point, Chen Hu showed a trace of his face. He smiled grimly. In the past, in Liaodong, he had done a lot of things like deploying troops, galloping around, bombarding and killing people, but this time he used such good firearms, and it was the first time for him to get on the sedan chair.

Soon, amid the sharp sound of bugles, the Shuntian battalion troops quickly left the city and began to change their formations. In less than half a quarter of an hour, all personnel were lined up at the designated position.

Achieving such speed requires their usual hard training, but the results are now satisfactory.

Then six 12-pound cannons were pushed to the front of the formation, preparing to act as suppressive firepower. Ten 10-pound Dafa aircraft were placed on the left side of the formation, slowly drawing a huge arc that continued from the flank of the formation. Arrived at the river bank.

The range of the Folan aircraft, shotguns, and solid bullets effectively build a line of defense to prevent the enemy from attacking the flanks of your own army, and the 12-pound cannon is a heavy weapon that determines the weather vane on the battlefield.

The baggage vehicles responsible for transporting food, gunpowder, lead shot, artillery shells, medicine, tents, and clothing were concentrated on the left wing together with the Dafolang machine, acting as a shelter for the artillery. At the end of the team, Li Yidun was unwilling to He led two sentries to act as guards for the army.

In the Chinese army, Chen Hu looked around and complained about this arrangement. "There are still a few 12-pound guns and they seem a bit thin! If the Hsinchu Arsenal can produce more, they will definitely be able to decide the outcome in a battle."

When the ranks were drawn up, all the soldiers received an order, "All of you, sit down!" Before the battle, it is necessary to properly conserve the physical strength of the soldiers. There is no need to stand there prematurely.

However, something very strange happened. After a period of commotion, the Zheng Jiajun on the opposite side stood still in formation two miles away.

It seems that they are also waiting for the attack of Shuntian Camp.

"Sir, they are not moving, what should we do?" Ah Jin looked at Chen Hu, a little confused as a monk. Their troops have already left the city, and they still haven't come up from the other side.

Don't you want to fight? As a person who had just come down the mountain, he really didn't understand the twists and turns inside.

"There are still smart people on the other side." Chen Hu smiled calmly.

Someone in the Zheng family army must have noticed the cannons of their own army, and naturally they did not dare to rush forward. These days, if you don't have any courage to deal with heavily armed firearms, you will be like cannon fodder if you rush up and die without knowing how.

"All right!"

Chen Hu closed his clairvoyant eyes with a snap, "They don't dare to come, so we will go up to them!"

Soon, amid the sharp and loud sound of bugles, the troops began to move forward slowly. Three rows of musketeers and two rows of sword and shield soldiers opened up a long row extending southward from the river bank, slowly And moved forward firmly.

Holding a unique clairvoyance, Zheng Zhihu's heart gradually grew anxious as the long formation in the camera slowly but neatly moved towards his own formation.

Before this expedition, he boasted in front of his elder brother that he had captured the northern part of Taiwan Island in one battle and drove all the salt merchants into the sea. But here he encountered a problem.

The reason why he didn't choose to rush into the formation immediately was that he saw the cannons equipped on the opposite side and didn't know whether they were true or false.

Where did this group of maritime merchants get such exquisite firearms and cannons? Zheng Zhihu looked at them carefully for a long time and found that they looked somewhat similar.

It doesn’t look fake, it could be true!

As soon as this idea arose in his mind, he suppressed it.

Impossible, absolutely impossible?

How capable a group of salt merchants can be, even if they have the financial resources to recruit some Shanfan soldiers, they will never be able to build artillery.

You need to know how many years the Zheng family has been operating along the southeastern coast of the Ming Dynasty. From the beginning they followed the Spanish to rob homes and houses, and later changed their families and joined the Dutch. Even after being a little brother for so many years, they did not learn much skills. An 8-pound cannon was used. It's not even compacted, let alone a 12-pounder.

Those barbarians have hidden the technology of 10-pounder and above artillery very well, how could they hand it over to others so easily.

Not to mention how this group of salt sellers could make a 12-pound cannon. It must be fake.

Zheng Zhihu believed that if he went out, he would be able to kill them to pieces and bleed them into rivers.

The soldiers of the Zheng Family Army looked eastward. The winter morning sun was still a bit dazzling. Under the sun, the meandering team on the opposite side looked like a wall made of steel.

More than a hundred large and small flags were flying in the team. Behind the team, dozens of mules and horses struggled to pull and drag the artillery, trying hard to catch up with the advancing speed of the troops. The steps of the soldiers and officers were neat and firm, crossing the ridges, bushes, and puddles, moving forward indomitably!

The aura of contempt for all opponents, although far away, has been clearly felt by Zheng Zhihu!

"Sir, what should we do?" A team officer asked Zheng Zhihu for instructions. Even he could see the extraordinary situation on the other side.

At this moment, Zheng Zhihu suddenly came to his senses and thought to himself that even if the cannon was fake, these soldiers didn't seem to be easy to mess with. He was afraid that he would encounter a tough opponent this time.

Looking up, he found that Chen Hu's troops were marching towards him. It would be difficult to retreat at this time. Even if they succeeded, not to mention being defeated, their morale would be greatly reduced.

Zheng Zhihu, who has been at sea for many years, knew that retreating at this time was a taboo for military strategists. He hesitated for a moment and ordered: "Before the enemy is close, bombard them with artillery first. When the enemy's formation is scattered, our army will attack again!"

Just a moment after he finished speaking, there was a "Boom!", and a six-pound cannon was ejected from the chamber and shot towards the marching column of Shuntian Camp!

In the blink of an eye, five or six artillery shells were fired one after another. Although one or two missed, four artillery shells still broke into the ranks of Shuntian Camp.

The first cannonball passed over the head of a sword and shield soldier, taking away his Tianling Cap and helmet. White and red juice splashed onto the armor of his comrade next to him.

The shell immediately moved backward and hit the shoulder of an armor commander in the rear row. The armor commander fell to the ground with a groan, his body twisting painfully on the soil. The huge kinetic energy of the shell shattered his shoulder blades and collarbones. The right arm is useless.

The force of the shell weakened slightly, and it went straight towards the calf of a soldier. The soldier saw the shell hitting him and was about to dodge. Only then did he realize that one of his calves was no longer there at some point. White bone stubble and red muscle tissue were exposed.

"keep going!"

Chen Hu ordered his men to raise his banner high and grabbed a soldier, "Go tell Ah Jin! If I am finished, this unit will be handed over to his command. If I am finished, this unit will be handed over to him." Li Yi directs!”

He wanted to decide the outcome of this battle. He couldn't control the affairs at sea, but the battle on the road must be completely ended in his hands.

He took the lead and immediately wiped away the decline caused by the artillery bombardment. The sentry officer ordered the sentry officer, the team officer instructed the commander, and officers at all levels designated their successors.

"Brothers! The six-pounder cannon is so trivial! They fired it when we were so far away! These tough guys, cowards! Didn't they wait until we were closer to fight?!" While mocking the opponent's ignorance and cowardice, he grabbed the guard on the side. Holding the flag high, Chen Hu held up the flag with one hand and pulled out the steel knife from his waist with the other hand, "Follow me!"

"Follow me!"

"Follow me!"

Each battalion officer and team officer raised their respective flags high one after another, and the team obviously accelerated its marching speed!

"Pay attention to keep the formation! Keep the front row!"

Because officers at all levels took the lead in the assault, the neat rows became more and more uneven after being bent and deformed due to the influence of the terrain. Those commanders and team officers who were holding the formation behind their respective units had to shout loudly. He shouted and suppressed the formation of his troops.

After walking quickly forward for more than a hundred steps, Chen Hu also found that the formation of the team was winding like a giant python. He had to slow down and ordered the trumpet to be blown before reorganizing the formation.

At this moment, the archers of Zheng's army began to fire arrows.

Firing arrows was the last resort. The reason was that he fired the artillery too early. After several rounds of artillery fire, Zheng Zhihu found out helplessly that his six six-pound cannons had become hot and could no longer be used. Otherwise, there is a risk of explosion.

Archers had to be sent forward to block the attack and buy time for the artillery to dissipate.

"That's all for these tricks! I'm still at least a hundred and fifty steps away, and I'm starting to shoot arrows?!" Looking at the arrows fired crookedly from the opposite side, the soldiers all had sarcasm on their faces. .

"That's fine! All units should adjust their formations and inspect their weapons!"

Chen Hu looked around. The musketeers in the first row were quickly adjusting their formations under orders. About 400 musketeers were concentrated from the scattered formation. After a while, their formation would become more dense.

The second and third rows behind Chen Hu were also taking the same action. The hurried footsteps and short commands, and the crisp sound of helmets colliding with gun barrels, were heard one after another in the team.

The arrows shot obliquely and hit people's helmets and armors, making a clanging sound. Occasionally, one or two low and painful sounds came from the soldiers who were hit by stray arrows.

The distance was less than 120 steps!

The arrows from the opposite side were also shot more and more quickly. Due to the shortened distance, the lethality of the bows and arrows became much greater. Chen Hu saw that several soldiers and two armored officers in the first row were shot in the face or neck, and some were shot in the thigh and fell to the ground twisting their bodies.

Several armored officers who were holding the line at the back quickly ran over and dragged the soldiers who were shot by arrows to the back of the line to receive treatment from the military doctors.

The Qi family camp was still slowly and firmly approaching the Zheng family army on the opposite side.

The Zheng family army began to panic, and the archers' movements and frequencies of shooting arrows began to be a little chaotic.

"Damn it!" Zheng Zhihu, through his clairvoyance, could clearly see that the soldiers coming from the opposite side were all lined up with muskets in hand.

He didn't understand how the muskets, which were originally used for defense in the square formation, could be pressed to the front line? Is your firearm different from mine?

Besides, you have a musket, so I don't have one?

Seeing the opposite side holding a musket, Zheng Zhihu's competitive spirit suddenly came up.

"Musketeers, move forward!"

The chaotic team became more and more chaotic. The musketeers who were originally on the sides and rear of the formation were driven by their officers to the rear of the archers. Taking advantage of the gap when the archers retreated, they were placed in the front line.

"Bang!"

Facing the formation of the opposite side with guns, a musketeer felt a wave of oppression. In order to vent the depression in his chest, or perhaps to give himself courage, he picked up the musket and pulled the trigger at the opposite side.

The matchlock touched the medicine pool, which immediately triggered the ignition powder. The angry bullet flew out of the muzzle under the push of the gunpowder.

Led by him, the musketeers raised their muskets and fired at the opposite side.

In this chaotic shooting, the musketeers in the queue groaned and fell to the ground from time to time. Zheng Zhihu watched helplessly as a team officer was hit in the face by a bullet fired by his own people next to him.

The trajectory of the bullet changed strangely under the influence of human tissue, and it flew out from the other side, knocking the teeth of the other team's officer into pieces.

"Damn it! Who taught you to shoot like this!" Zheng Zhihu was very angry! He hadn't knocked down many enemies yet, but he had already lost two team officers.

"Get out, get out of here."

His firearms battalion was a bunch of useless people who were not up to the standard. They were useless. It was better to use arrows.

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