Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 197: Fierce Battle at Shahe (Part )
Zhang Desheng held an iron spear in his hand, and after a round of close-range shooting by the archers, he immediately rushed forward with the spearmen behind him.

Although the Yuan army had 4,000 people in the front line, their formation was very wide, showing a wide front. The momentum was sufficient, and it seemed that there were a lot of people, but the thickness of the formation was very thin, with only six rows in total, so it was easy to be killed and break through the front line.

This formation obviously has a problem, that is, the depth is not deep enough. After the front army is broken through, there will be no support from the rear, and the entire formation will be cut in half from the middle, and the entire formation is in danger of collapse.

Did Yesen Timur know about this problem? Of course he knew, but there was nothing he could do now. They were attacked halfway across the river, and the five armies originally planned, the front, left, right, and center, were not all present. The front army, the left army, and the center army had all the numbers, but only a small part of the right army had crossed the river, and the rear army was still on the south bank and had not come over.

Faced with a shortage of troops, he could only mobilize the central army to reinforce the short-shorted right army to prevent being broken through from the flank by the Shengwu Army.

The central army, which was originally used to support the front army and serve as the depth of the entire formation, could not help at this time because they also had to face the attack from Mr. Miao and were too busy to help.

Yesen Timur's original plan was to let the front army and the right army block for a while. As long as the enemy could be kept outside the formation, the left army could attack from the flank and break the attack of the Shengwu Army. But now an accident occurred. Not only did the front army fail to stop the enemy from breaking the formation, but the left army, which was the hope of the entire army, had already been hit by artillery and its formation was in chaos, making it difficult to launch an attack.

"Kill!"

Among the four combat battalions under Guo Zixing, Zhang Desheng was the most powerful one. Although Cao Liangchen was not bad in comparison, his battalion was placed on the westernmost side, at the junction of the attacking Yuan army's front army and the left army. He not only had to attack the Yuan army's front line, but also had to block the attack of the Yuan army's left army.

Compared with these two men, Guo Tianjue was just a rookie who went to the battlefield for the first time and was very reckless. Although Guo Zixing had told him before the battle not to rush forward so far, there was a brave Zhang Desheng standing next to him to act as an example. This kid was unconsciously motivated and also charged forward recklessly.

On the front battlefield, Zhang Desheng took the lead. He first pulled out a flying axe from his waist and swung it forward, killing one person on the spot. Then, while the man fell to the ground, he raised the iron spear in his hand and stabbed forward.

The Shengwu Army soldiers around him also demonstrated the results of the past few months of training. What's more, Zhang Desheng's battalion had fought in actual combat before, so they were more skilled in cooperation. Each class was divided into four groups.

The team leader is divided into groups of three. A red cloth is tied to the barrel of his gun. The two people beside him cooperate with him. The team leader stabs the opponent's face, and the two team members on the left and right stab the opponent's chest and lower abdomen respectively. They attack from three directions at the same time, and if three of them stab one, the opponent will definitely not be able to resist!
Coupled with the soldiers in the back row constantly throwing flying axes at close range, the front line of the Yuan army, which consisted of only six rows, was quickly broken through by Zhang Desheng, which quickly caused a chain reaction.

After Zhang Desheng's battalion opened a breakthrough in the Yuan army's front line, they quickly organized their forces to attack on both sides, and detoured from the rear of the Yuan army's front line and began to attack westward. Together with Guo Tianjue's battalion next to them, they drove the enemy's defeated soldiers to the southwest, driving them to attack the left army of the Yuan army's main formation.

Because the Shengwu Army did not have many troops to begin with, it was unrealistic to kill all the Yuan soldiers on the battlefield. It would be better to take this opportunity to defeat the Yuan army as much as possible. After the Yuan army fled, under their continuous pursuit, there would be no possibility for these defeated soldiers to organize themselves.

Just as Zhang Desheng on the front broke through the front line, two loud bangs suddenly burst out at the junction of the 8th and 12th Regiments. Everyone nearby was startled. When they turned their heads to look, they found that the 12th Regiment of Miao Daheng had also broken through the right corner of the Yuan army's right wing, and was gradually expanding its advantage, driving the Yuan army to the south bank of the river, as if to push the right wing of the Yuan army into the river.

It turned out that just now, Miao Daheng could not wait for Guo Zixing's instructions, and the Yuan army took the initiative to counterattack, so Miao Daheng immediately commanded the 12th Regiment to start fighting. The 8th and 12th Regiments did not maintain a synchronized rhythm of attack, and immediately a gap was opened at the junction of the two regiments.

Yu Tongyuan, who was ordered by Lu Jin to provide support with two short-barreled howitzers, immediately spotted this breakthrough. He no longer ran to the back of the 12th Regiment to fire beyond the enemy's range as Lu Jin requested, but instead brought his two guns directly through the gap to the front row to engage in the battle.

Yu Tongyuan is only 18 years old this year, but he is extremely brave. In addition, he has fought in actual combat and has a quick mind. In his opinion, he can obviously go to the front row to confront the enemy, so why hide in the back and do some high-defense shooting? This kid doesn't care about his own safety at all.

Those artillerymen were also very brave. They had just transferred the previously loaded shotgun shells, so they didn't need to change the shells. They secretly pushed the two cannons to the junction of the Yuan army's right army and the front army, aimed at the corner of the Yuan army's right wing formation, and fired two shots when they were within fifty meters.

Hundreds of iron shotgun shells from the two cannons swept over, and a large number of the entire Yuan army's right army formation were knocked down on the spot. Nearly eighty people were knocked down by this artillery fire, and the edge of the formation was suddenly unstable. Under the horrified gaze of the soldiers nearby, Wu Guobao and Han Qinglu from the 12th Regiment immediately seized the opportunity, and without caring how the two cannons suddenly appeared, they took advantage of the enemy's chaos and distraction and immediately launched a fierce attack.

In addition, Zhang Desheng next to him broke through the front army formation, and Wu Guobao immediately cut into the connection between the front formation and the right wing of the Yuan army, went around the flank of the right wing of the Yuan army, and began to drive the right army southward.

At this point, the Yuan army's right army was completely disconnected from the front army. Three battalions of soldiers poured into the place where the two camps met, and went around the flank of the Yuan army to start attacking. The Yuan army was already doomed to defeat, and there was no possibility of a comeback.

"Brother Yu, are we still going to fight?"

Seeing Wu Guobao from the 12th Regiment rushing in through the gap opened by his own shot just now, with friendly troops on both sides, the artilleryman who followed over immediately asked in confusion.

"Fight, of course we have to fight!"

Yu Tongyuan jumped on tiptoe and took a look. He saw that the central army flags of Molunchi and Yesen Timur were still on the right side of the formation, so he said immediately.

"We have broken through the enemy's formation, beheaded the general and captured the flag, and were the first to capture the city. These are all great achievements. Now we have no credit for breaking the formation, but the enemy general and the banner are still standing there. Load the grenade for me, aim at the enemy's banner and hit it hard!"

The two artillery teams' eyes lit up immediately after hearing this. What a great achievement it was to kill the general and seize the flag? But they didn't know if it counted as a cannon attack, but it didn't matter. Anyway, they only had two cannons. If they really killed the enemy commander, they would have something to brag about in the army in the future!
A group of teenage children immediately shouted excitedly, "Okay, we have killed the Tartars, beheaded the general and captured the flag. Today our artillery has accomplished the feat. Quickly reload the ammunition. I will take aim."

"That depends on who can shoot more accurately." Another artillery commander named Zhang Dian said unconvincedly. He immediately began to aim in the direction of the banner, adjusted the elevation angle, and asked the loader to load the grenades.

At the same time, Molunchi, who was under the banner of the Central Army, panicked when he saw that the front army was broken through in an instant. Then two more cannons were fired at the junction of the right army and the front army, and the left wing of the right army was also broken through. The Darughachi who was called to suppress the situation instantly lost his sense of proportion. When he was about to ask Yesen Timur beside him what to do, he suddenly found that Yesen was gone. The right army and the front army were broken through by the enemy. Yesen had no intention of staying with Molunchi, a waste, and immediately led 500 personal soldiers to personally counterattack Wu Guobao's troops who had broken into the 12th Regiment, trying to push the enemy troops that had broken into the formation out again.

This guy was very fast and knew that now was not the time to dawdle, so he immediately engaged in a fight with Wu Guobao's combat camp. Thousands of soldiers fought each other, and the situation was temporarily deadlocked. The two sides were inseparable. The Yuan army could not drive Wu Guobao out of the army, and Wu Guobao could not continue to advance.

Fortunately, the 12th Regiment has not only Wu Guobao as a brave general, the other three are also not bad. There is no need to say much about Mr. Miao. In history, he was a fierce man who led troops to capture the entire Yangzhou Road alone, and he was ruthless in fighting.

Han Qinglu of the 12th Regiment was originally a subordinate of Kang Maocai. After surrendering to Lu Jin, he was appointed as a thousand households. This guy was also daring and brave. In addition, he was brought up by Kang Maocai and had little contact with the Tatars of the Yuan Dynasty. He was also a Han Chinese, and Lu Jin did not discriminate against these surrendered generals. With surrendered generals like Zhu Liangzu and Ye Sheng as examples, Han Qinglu knew that as long as he was loyal and courageous, he would not worry about being suppressed by Lu Jin. Therefore, he was willing to fight hard to make merit.

There is also a Lu Xian, who is the brother of Lu Ding, one of the five marshals of Haozhou in the original history. He is also a brave general, but in the original history he mixed with villains like Sun Deya, which made him unknown. But since he came under Lu Jin's command, the three brothers Lu Ding are still holding their breath.

The Feng brothers, who were also from Dingyuan, one worked as a secretary in the Marshal's Office, and the other Feng Sheng had become a regiment commander. Guo Zixing and Miao Daheng became commanders after they arrived. Only the family of Lu Ding, Lu Xian and Zheng Chao were only battalion commanders of a thousand households. The three brothers were holding their breath and wanted to quickly make merit and get promoted. Therefore, Lu Xian of the 12th Regiment also fought for his life regardless of his own!

Miao Daheng saw that Wu Guobao's side was the first to open a breakthrough, but before he could be happy, the gap was blocked again by Yesen Timur's troops. The two sides were entangled in a fight and could not make any progress. On the front army next to them, Guo Zixing's Eighth Regiment was already chasing the defeated Yuan army.

Mr. Miao was so anxious that he raised his gun and shouted, "Whoever kills the general and seizes the flag will be the first merit. Whoever can break the formation will be rewarded by me personally. Kill them all!"

When everyone heard the word "first merit", they could no longer hold back and charged forward one after another risking their lives. As the commander, Miao Daheng took the lead. With such a commander like this, how could his soldiers not fight desperately?

Lu Xian, relying on his heavy armor, led the entire battalion to charge. Even though he was hit by several arrows, he still charged at the risk of his life.

Han Qinglu was more cunning, or rather, he remained calm. He discovered that among the more than 4,000 people on the right wing of the Yuan army, more than 1,000 of them were unarmored. They should be the new recruits who had been recruited just two months ago as mentioned in the intelligence. So he personally led a company of elite troops to attack these unarmored militiamen. Under the repeated attacks of the elite troops of the Shengwu Army, it was Han Qinglu's side that was the first to open a gap.

Once the army formation was broken, more soldiers poured in through the gap and, under the command of Han Qinglu, immediately attacked both wings, driving the defeated militia to attack other Yuan troops.

A company commander named Tang Jiao under Han Qinglu had just broken through the enemy's formation with his battalion commander when he saw a high-ranking Tartar officer with pigtails riding a horse under the banner of the Yuan army's central army in front of him. He immediately wanted to charge over there and kill the general and seize the flag! Great achievement!
Just as he took a step, he heard two loud cannon shots from the west, and then two iron balls with white smoke streaked across the sky and headed straight for the Yuan army's central flag.

call out--

The shells streaked across the sky, bringing with them a whistling sound. Molenchi looked at the two small dots flying rapidly in the sky and was immediately shocked. But before he could react, two loud rumbling noises came to his ears.

Two iron-shell bombs with a diameter of 120 mm exploded beside him, and the broken pig iron fragments shot out, instantly making several bloody holes in his body and the body of the horse he was sitting on. The main general of the troops sent by the Yuan army this time was killed on the spot by the howitzer!
"Fuck him, my great achievement!!!"

Tang Jiao, who was about to kill the general and seize the flag, was stunned. The enemy commander was killed by his own artillery right in front of his own eyes. Who should be credited with this great achievement?

"Damn it, never mind, follow me to seize the enemy's banner! Kill them!"

Tang Jiao took the lead and led a row of his soldiers to rush quickly towards the Yuan army's flag and chopped down the flagpole on the spot. Tang Jiao also ran over and chopped off Molunchi's head, put it on the tip of a spear and shouted in the army.

"The Yuan general is dead, surrender quickly, and those who surrender will not be killed!" Tang Jiao ran wildly in the army with the head held high, shouting as he ran. Then he felt that his voice was too small, so he called on his soldiers to shout along, and soon the battlefield was filled with calls for surrender.

"General Yuan is dead. Surrender quickly. Those who surrender will not be killed!"

"The Yuan general is dead, those who surrender will not be killed!"

As the news of hundreds of people urging them to surrender spread, the right wing of the Yuan army, which had been breached, quickly collapsed. First, the unarmored conscripted militia laid down their weapons and surrendered. Soon, the armored officers and soldiers saw that their central army flag and the head of their commander had been captured by the enemy, that Molun Chi's head and body had been separated, and that Yesen Timur had disappeared in the chaos. Their own formation had also been broken, so they also began to surrender.

What else can we do if we don't surrender? The wooden bridge is blocked by artillery fire and there is nowhere to escape.

So this wave of surrender quickly spread to the right wing of the Yuan army, and large groups of Yuan soldiers laid down their weapons. However, some people were unwilling to surrender. However, they did not dare to continue fighting, and they could not cross the wooden bridge, so they could only flee to the river, hoping to swim to the south bank.

Yesen Timur originally led his personal soldiers to block the gap, but things went wrong the more he fought. He did block the gap, but the friendly forces beside him were not strong enough, and the Shengwu Army soon broke through their front line. Even the fool Molenchi was beheaded, and the big banner was seized by the enemy. He turned to look to the west, and the situation over there was even worse. They were being chased like sheep by Guo Zixing's Eighth Regiment.

"It's not suitable to stay here for long!" Yesen Timur muttered to himself, and immediately shouted to the remaining 300 or so soldiers around him, "Follow me!"

"Where are the enemy running to!"

Wu Guobao shouted angrily, "You tried so hard to stop me just now, but now you want to run away?"
(End of this chapter)