Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 104 Contact

Huilin Village, an unknown village, when the vanguard of the Meng army swarmed through, the villagers fled the village with the old and the young. Only a dozen old men and women who were unable to walk far remained in the village.

On February 19th of the second year of Longwu and the third year of Shunzhi, the weather was a bit gloomy.

In the afternoon, Han Xiong led Kewu Town forward and arrived at a place about five miles away from the river.

Right in front of them, there was a winding river. However, this river was actually just a small ditch about two meters wide and no deeper than the knee. Although it was not large in scale, it was enough to become a small advantage for the defenders.

After crossing the river, the generals chose to set up camp about 500 meters away from the river based on the terrain.

At the same time, Huang Cheng's scout camp also quickly set out and advanced forward for dozens of miles to investigate the movements of the Qing army. Until the afternoon, the scouts of the two armies began to fight, and the news was quickly passed back to their respective leaders.

After receiving the news, Bolo ordered the Eight Banners and the Green Camp to stop and rest on the spot. Looking at the sky, Bolo said to the generals with some regret: "It's a pity that we are a little late."

Nikan said with some disdain: "The Han people only know these conspiracies and tricks. When they really go to the battlefield, they will be just like that."

Bolo also said excitedly: "Yes, these barbarians are hiding in the city. It takes a lot of effort to break the turtle shell. But now the turtle head is exposed, and they dare to cross the river and cut off their retreat." Then he said: "Pass the order down, set up camp, and defeat the bandits tomorrow."

……

The Qing army did not launch a direct attack, which made Meng Jun and his men feel relieved. At this time, there were still a large number of supplies that had not yet been transported, including a large number of vans, arrows, and so on.

By nightfall, all the supplies had reached the other side. Almost all the boatmen were exhausted and collapsed on the boats, not wanting to move at all. However, Meng Jun ordered that all boats must stay away from the shore. The generals were horrified, but seeing Meng Jun's tough attitude, they did not dare to persuade him much.

The next morning, the sky was gloomy and seemed like it would change at any time.

The army had breakfast, carried dry food, and deployed all the carriages and artillery. The 40,000 men from the four towns lined up with their backs to the river to ensure that they would not be attacked by the Qing cavalry from behind.

The auxiliary soldiers made some simple obstacles such as chevaux de frise and horse traps and placed them outside the chariot formation. Inside the chariot formation, they built a defense line with carts, wooden boards and earth piles, making the formation look like half a U-shape. The heavy artillery was placed inside the formation, while the small artillery was placed on the wagons.

Meng Jun was wearing armor, with a sword on his waist, inspecting the formation. He felt a little worried, as the preparations before the war were the most difficult.

As time went on, more and more Qing scouts appeared. Huang Cheng's scout battalion suffered heavy losses, and the battlefield was almost blocked by the Eight Banners soldiers.

Meng Jun stood on a high place and looked at the Qing army not far away. They appeared like a line and then became more and more numerous.

Meng Jun looked ahead with a determined gaze. He knew that this was a battle that would decide life and death. He then shouted, "Soldiers, we have no way to retreat! Today, we are fighting a desperate battle. Either we win or we die! There is no other way. I still say that if the captain flees, we will kill him. If the captain flees, we will kill him. If the commander flees, we will kill him. Today, I will share life and death with you, my brothers."

The messenger behind him immediately spread Meng Jun's words to the entire army. For a moment, the soldiers all looked at Meng Jun's flag in the back. They felt the commander's determination and courage, and shouted: "Fight to the death! Fight to the death!"

"We must win!" Meng Jun almost shouted.

"We will win, we will win, we will win..." The shouts shook the whole field, and even Bolo's horse was a little uneasy. Bolo leaned over to comfort the horse, and then said: "Form a battle array!"

The Qing army then formed a simple formation, with the Green Camp soldiers in the front and the Eight Banners soldiers covering the left and right. Then, at Bolo's order, the Qing army's bugles began to sound, and the Qing army had already begun preparations for the attack.

"Governor, the Qing troops are going to fight first," Gao Yi said in a deep voice.

Meng Jun said solemnly: "Pass the order, blow the horn, and beat the drum."

"Fight, fight, fight!" The Meng army soldiers shouted in unison. Bolo snorted coldly and said, "Interesting!"

As the war drums sounded, twenty-three artillery pieces opened fire first. The sound of artillery shells rang out. In the first round, more than ten artillery shells hit the Green Camp soldiers' formation.

Bolo's face changed in the back. He didn't expect Meng Jun to even pull out the heavy artillery. He immediately ordered: "Let them charge faster!"

The Qing army's trumpets became more urgent, the Green Camp advanced faster and faster, and their formation was no longer in order.

There were also problems with the Meng army's artillery. After only one round of firing, the carts under five cannons almost fell apart. Even a gunner was crushed under the cannon, wailing in pain.

Meng Jun frowned on the high ground, and then stopped looking at the artillery and looked at the Qing soldiers. In a flash, the Green Camp soldiers had begun to cross the small ditch. At this time, archers began to shoot. From time to time, some Green Camp soldiers were shot in the vitals and fell to the ground, while others were injured but not dead, and collapsed on the side wailing in pain.

This group of Green Camp soldiers was reorganized from Fang Guoan's troops. Originally, their combat effectiveness was weak, and they were almost defeated at the first blow when encountering the Eight Banners. However, after changing their skin, their ability to withstand casualties has become even stronger.

"Shoot!" the officer of the Green Camp shouted in a shrill voice. The bowstrings vibrated, and dense arrows flew into the air and then dived towards the Meng army. Also, many people in the Meng army fell down. Some fell to the ground and died on the spot, while others were injured and screamed.

However, the Meng army raised their shields to block the flying arrows. Then the two sides engaged in close combat, and the battlefield was filled with the sound of killing, the sound of metal colliding, screams and shouts resounding through the sky.

The entire battlefield was chaotic and cruel, and every moment was filled with a tense atmosphere of life-and-death struggle. The soldiers fought hand-to-hand, with swords flashing and blood splattering. Almost every moment, there were soldiers falling down, either Green Camp soldiers or Meng Army. The array formed by the four towns' armies was extremely long, and the Green Camp soldiers were almost of equal strength, fighting on the entire front.

Bolo also stood on a high place, looking at the battlefield, looking for an opportunity to fight. After a moment, Bolo shouted loudly: "Prepare the heavy infantry!"

The Eight Banners' advantage in war horses makes it easy for people to overlook their infantry combat capabilities. In the battles between the Eight Banners and the Ming army, the heavy infantry was an important force that could not be ignored. Whether it was the Battle of Sarhu or the Battle of Hunhe, using cavalry to attack the infantry in formation would result in heavy casualties. Most of the time, it was the Manchu heavy infantry wearing several layers of armor that first disrupted the Ming army's lines, and then the Eight Banners cavalry rushed in and defeated the Ming army.

Wuning Town on the left had just been built. Facing the tide-like attack of the Green Camp soldiers, although it was not at a disadvantage, the front line had begun to show some signs of instability. Wang Fugui, who was standing behind the formation and directing the battle, was sweating profusely. He nervously watched the battle situation in front of him, and was secretly anxious.

Guo Hu, who was standing by, saw this situation and knew that the situation was urgent. So he stepped forward and said to Wang Fugui: "Commander-in-chief, let me lead the guards forward! We must stabilize the front!"

Wang Fugui looked at Guo Hu's determined expression and said with relief: "Okay, okay, okay."