Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 211: Solid Formation
Zhao'an County, inside and outside the city walls, soldiers were densely packed. As the armies of both sides arrived, there were no pedestrians outside Zhao'an County. Only the cavalry scouts of the two sides kept strangling and testing.
In the early morning, clear trumpet sounds were heard outside the city. The Ming army gathered outside the city wall, and the Qing army on the top of the city soon discovered the actions of the Ming army and prepared for battle.
Yesterday, a large number of Ming troops arrived outside the city, and the Qing troops inside the city were well prepared for the possible attack by the Ming troops.
The Qing troops on the city wall piled up stones, logs and other supplies for defending the city, waiting for the Ming army to attack. However, the 5,000 Ming troops outside the city suddenly stopped when they were 500 to 600 meters away from the city wall.

The Ming army stopped and formed a battle array. Suddenly, shield carts were pushed out from all sides, and soon a battle array was formed under the city.
After the camp was set up in front, another five or six thousand Ming soldiers came out from the rear. However, these five or six thousand people were not wearing armor, but were all holding shovels and hoes.
The thousands of Ming soldiers stopped behind the chariot array, and then dispersed and began to dig trenches on their own.
On the top of the city wall, Bolo and other Qing army generals had already arrived at the top of the city wall.
Bolo looked at the Ming army outside the city, digging the earth and rocks like ants, and looked at Baiyintu beside him and said:

"What do you think these Ming troops want to do?"

"In the battle a few days ago, the Ming cavalry was suppressed by our Jurchen cavalry and could hardly leave the camp. These Ming troops were probably afraid of the sharpness of our Qing cavalry, so they dug trenches to weaken our Qing cavalry."

"Now the Ming army outside the city is three times as large as ours, but the Ming army still refuses to attack the city. This shows that the commander of the Ming army is also an extremely cautious person."

"From my humble opinion, since the Ming army has dug trenches, I'm afraid they will not choose to attack the city, but are preparing to gather troops to besiege us."

Bolo's face darkened when he heard what Baiyintu said. After he arrived with his troops a few days ago, he relied on the sharpness of the Qing cavalry to block Yang Yandi and other Ming troops outside the city.
It was not until yesterday when Li Mingzhong arrived with tens of thousands of Ming troops that Bolo ordered his troops to withdraw to the city.

The Ming army outside the city clearly found that their own cavalry was not strong enough to resist the Qing cavalry, so they prepared to dig trenches to restrict the movement of the cavalry in the city.

If the Ming army dug trenches outside the city, the 4,000 most elite Jurchen cavalry under Bolo would be greatly weakened in an instant.

Moreover, the Ming army's strategy of digging trenches and surrounding without attacking also made Bolo very uncomfortable.
Bolo led the elite troops to fight a decisive battle with the Ming army and defeat the Ming army that entered Fujian in one fell swoop, not to defend Zhao'an City.
Although Tulai also had 15,000 troops under Changtai City, Zheng's troops inside the city also had 20,000. Tulai could trap Zheng's troops inside the city, but he would never be able to break through Changtai.
After Zheng Zhilong's surrender failed, the Qing army had lost the possibility of directly surrendering Changtai.

Unless the situation in Fujian Province changes, or the food and wages of the defenders in Changtai City are cut off, it is impossible for the Ming army in Changtai City to surrender in a short period of time.
Now the only way for the Qing court to break the impasse in Fujian Province is for Bolo to lead his troops to defeat the Ming army that entered Fujian.
As long as they could defeat the Ming army that entered Fujian, the remaining Zheng forces in Fujian would be terrified, and after losing the reinforcements from Guangdong, the Zheng forces in Fujian would have no choice but to surrender.
Now the Ming army can slowly besiege the city, but the Qing army cannot delay at all.

When Boro thought of this, a hint of determination flashed in his eyes, and he said in a deep voice:

“We can’t let them dig trenches around the city.”

"Baiyintu, you lead 3,000 cavalry and 3,000 infantry to defeat the Ming army in the front, and then kill the Ming soldiers who are digging trenches."

The position chosen by the Ming army was extremely tricky. The front camp was located 500 meters away. At this distance, unless there were red cannons on the top of the city wall, ordinary artillery could not reach the Ming army formation at all.
The Qing army came all the way at a rapid speed, and it was impossible for them to carry those red-haired cannons weighing thousands of pounds.
The Ming army's deployment was forcing the Qing army to make a choice: either send troops to attack the Ming army's well-arranged chariot formation, or watch the Ming army outside the city dig trenches and surround Zhao'an City.
The Ming army is now using force to suppress the enemy. If the Ming army outside the city is left alone, I am afraid that within half a month, the Ming army will be able to dig a hole outside Zhao'an City.

The Ming army did not need to wait for the city to be surrounded from all four sides. As long as they dug through the north, south and west sides, the Qing army in the city would have to evacuate Zhao'an. Otherwise, after the city was surrounded from all four sides, Zhao'an would become an isolated city.

Suddenly, a horn sounded in Zhao'an City, and then the gates of Zhao'an City opened wide, and countless Qing troops poured out of the city.

The Ming army in the distance saw the Qing army leaving the city, and the soldiers who were digging trenches quickly retreated, leaving only the chariot camp in the front line still standing on the battlefield.
The Qing army lined up behind the city, with 3,000 infantrymen arranged in two formations. In front of the Qing army formation were large and thick shield carts, and on both sides of the infantry formation were two cavalry units.
The Qing army waved its flag, and the 3,000 infantrymen stood still. The cavalry on both sides suddenly rushed forward and ran towards the chariot camp in front.
Thousands of horses galloped, and the ground outside the city shook slightly, but the chariot camp in front remained motionless.

The Qing cavalry avoided the front of the chariot camp and galloped past from both sides, ready to shoot with bows, but at this moment, hundreds of armored archers suddenly stood up on both sides of the chariot formation and also drew their bows to shoot at the Qing cavalry passing by from the side.

On the battlefield, there was a rain of arrows everywhere. Some of the Qing army's arrows were blocked by the chariots, and most of the remaining arrows were shot into the formation.

The arrows of the Qing army pierced the archers on both sides. The Ming army archers on both sides just shook their bodies, took two steps back, and then continued to shoot as if nothing had happened. Only a few archers who were shot in the face fell down with screams, but the screams were soon drowned out by the trembling sound of the arrows.

After the great victory in Guangzhou, Li Mingzhong specially selected the best soldiers in the army and formed an elite chariot battalion of 3,000 people.

All the archers in the chariot camp were wearing iron armor. Unless the Qing army abandoned the cavalry and fought on foot, and used heavy arrows in front of the formation, it would be difficult to penetrate the iron armor of the archers in the chariot formation with just the light bows on horseback.
The Ming army archers in the chariot array were armed with infantry bows, which were more powerful than the Qing army's cavalry bows. Under the rain of arrows, dozens of Qing soldiers on both sides fell.

The Qing cavalry swept along the two sides of the chariot formation, then circled to the two sides and rushed back to the rear to reorganize.
In this battle, both sides suffered dozens of casualties, and it seemed that the two sides were evenly matched. However, the Qing army's plan to disrupt the chariot formation with elite cavalry did not work at all. The Ming army's chariot formation still stood firmly under the city, without any sign of disarray.

The two sides fought for a round, but there was no clear winner. At this time, a large number of soldiers from the rear of the Ming army were gathering, apparently to support the chariot camp.

Baiyintu knew he couldn't wait any longer, so he waved the flag in the middle of the army again, and soon the Qing cavalry rushed to the front camp again.

After the cavalry rushed out, a rhythmic drumbeat sounded in the Qing army formation, and then the Qing army's infantry formation began to move forward, pushing dozens of shield carts and advancing continuously towards the Ming army's chariot formation in front.
The Qing cavalry continued to harass on both sides with arrows, and the Ming army also fired arrows in response. For a while, arrows rained down on the battlefield. When the archers in the formation were pinned down by the Qing army, the Qing army's shield carts were getting closer and closer to the chariot camp.

Five hundred meters, four hundred meters, three hundred meters

The Qing army pushed the thick shield carts forward. Two hundred meters after the Qing army entered the front of the Ming army, five or six gaps suddenly appeared in front of the Ming army.
Then more than 70 artillery carts with wide wheels suddenly appeared in the formation. Each of them had a brass Portuguese cannon mounted on it.
Rumble

The command flag waved, and suddenly the artillery roared in the Ming army. Balls of yellow flames spewed out, and then dozens of iron bullets whizzed past and smashed forward.

The shield carts used by the Qing army at this time were not the inferior ones made of thin wooden boards nailed together under the city of Guangzhou. The wooden boards used for defense on these shield carts were eight or nine centimeters thick and were wrapped with cowhide to prevent them from being injured by rockets.

These thickened shield vehicles were specially made to deal with the Qing army's chariot array firearms.
Dozens of iron bullets were bombarded with terrifying kinetic energy, and the Qing army's shield carts were hit and wood chips flew everywhere, but they were not broken into pieces. Some iron bullets were even bounced back by the wooden boards of the shield carts and fell to the ground.

But before the Qing army on the opposite side could rejoice, the Ming army's front line roared again. Almost without any interval, dozens of solid iron bullets whizzed in again and bombarded the shield carts again.
After the previous round of bombardment, the Qing army's shield carts could no longer bear it. The wooden board in front of the shield cart was blown into two pieces, and more than a dozen iron bullets smashed into the back of the cart array.

Behind the shield cart, a group of civilians pushing the carts were hit by the iron bullets whizzing past. They didn't even scream, and a bloody mist immediately rose on the battlefield. In front of the Qing army, the fragments of the exploded shield carts flew everywhere like steel needles, and the iron bullets kept whizzing past. Hundreds of civilians who were driven by the Qing army to push the carts in front suffered heavy casualties in an instant. The battlefield was full of limbs and blood, and there were shrill cries everywhere.

The civilians pushing the carts suffered heavy casualties, but the Qing army behind the carts did not rejoice for long.

After the second round of artillery fire, there was almost no pause, and the third round of artillery roared again. This time, no one stood in the way of the Qing army.

Dozens of iron bullets whizzed past and smashed directly into the front of the Qing army. Hundreds of Jurchen soldiers in double-layer iron armor in front of the army did not make a sound. They were thrown into the air, and the iron armor on their bodies was smashed into pieces by the shells.
These double-armored Jurchen infantrymen were the elite of the Jurchen army. They were supposed to tear open the defenses of the chariot camp after advancing to the front of the Ming army. However, they were blasted into powder two hundred meters away from the Ming army's chariot camp.

The speed of the Ming army's artillery bombardment was too fast. In less than a minute, three rounds of artillery fire had been fired. By the time the Qing army on the field came to their senses, the front of the Qing army was already covered in blood.

The battlefield was silent for a moment, and everyone on the city walls was stunned by the sudden artillery bombardment.
Although they stopped, the Ming army gunners in front of the battle did not stop. The bright yellow flames rose again, and dozens of shells were fired forward with whistling sounds.
The infantrymen in front of the Qing army finally collapsed completely. At this time, no matter Manchu or Han, everyone threw down their swords and fled towards the city behind them.
Under this devastating artillery bombardment, no one, whether the Jurchens or the Green Camp, could charge forward under such horrific firepower.
Under the city of Zhao'an, before the Ming army in the rear could come to their aid, the Qing army had already left behind hundreds of corpses and fled back to the city.
On the top of the city wall, Boro looked at the panicked fleeing soldiers below the city, and the blood mist that lingered for a long time in front of the battle in the distance. His face finally became completely gloomy.
Bolo looked at the densely packed Ming army camps standing like reefs in the distance, and for the first time he began to doubt whether he could defeat the Ming army.

Under the city of Zhao'an, the chariot camp was still arranged in front like a city wall.
Thousands of Ming soldiers in the rear returned to the front with shovels and hoes and began to dig trenches. However, the gates of Zhao'an City in the distance were closed and no Qing soldiers came out.
"His Highness the Regent asked us to let Mr. Lorenzo see the might of our Ming army."

"At this time, my Ming Dynasty has just won a small victory, so I would like to invite Mr. Lorenzo to the front of the battle to observe."

A long-faced Jinyiwei soldier said to Lorenzo beside him:
"No, that's not necessary. I already know your country's military might, so I won't..."

"No, I won't go, let me go, you devils, let me go..."

The two Jinyiwei soldiers looked at each other with expressionless faces. Before Lorenzo could finish speaking, they stepped forward and grabbed Lorenzo, dragging him forward.
Two Jinyiwei soldiers carried the struggling Lorenzo to the front of the battle. Lorenzo stood in front of the battle field full of bullet holes and blood. Looking at the ground full of minced meat and intestines, he could no longer bear it. He knelt on the ground with a wow and vomited.

Loren kept retching. He had nothing to vomit, but Lorenzo could not help but retching again when he smelled the blood in the air.

The two Jinyiwei soldiers looked at Lorenzo slumped in front of the formation, his face pale and unable to stand up. Only then did they show satisfaction on their faces, stepped forward to hold Lorenzo and dragged him to the back again.
After the two Jinyiwei soldiers brought Lorenzo back, they stuffed him into the cabin and sailed towards Haojing.
His Highness the Regent is now waiting for the cannon. Since Lorenzo has already seen the might of the Ming Dynasty, he must be sent back to get the cannon. There is no time to waste.
Lorenzo lay in the cabin for a long time, until the moon rose to the zenith, and then he felt a little better. Lorenzo struggled to get up, and couldn't help picking up a pen to record everything he saw today.

"The Ming army is extremely powerful, and every soldier is well-trained"

"The Ming army lined up outside the city, forming a chariot array with hundreds of wooden carts. The Tatars rode on tall war horses and galloped over, shooting countless iron arrows. Hundreds of Ming soldiers fell immediately."

"But the remaining Ming soldiers were extremely brave, as if they were not afraid of losing their lives at all. They watched the soldiers around them being killed, but no one ran away. All the soldiers raised their bows and arrows to fight back, and hundreds of Tatars were killed and wounded by Ming archers in an instant."

"The Tatar cavalry was repelled by the brave Ming archers, but the Tatars sent out tall wooden chariots. Nearly 10,000 or 20,000 Tatar infantrymen attacked the Ming army under the cover of the chariots. But before they could get close, the Ming army launched hundreds of artillery pieces."

"These Ming gunners are so skilled that they fired thousands of shells in just a few minutes. God bless you, this is the first time I have seen so many artillery fire. The power of these artillery is so great that the ground is shaking and even the mountains seem to be collapsing."

"The Tatar chariots were blown to pieces by the Ming artillery, and the Tatar infantry phalanxes were constantly defeated by the Ming artillery. No, not defeated, but massacred."

"Tens of thousands of Tatars were blown to pieces by the Ming artillery. Their blood gathered into streams, and the land was dyed bloody. The battlefield was littered with Tatar body parts. It was like hell."

"It was only a few thousand Ming soldiers who caused all this. There are tens of thousands of soldiers like this in the Ming Dynasty. If the Ming Dynasty sent such soldiers to Haojing, only a few thousand people would be enough to kill everyone on the island."

"Although the new emperor of Ming is young, he is extremely brave and aggressive, and is a military genius. It is said that the current army of Ming was formed by the new emperor himself."

"I sincerely advise the members of the Council, the Governor, and the Royal Judges not to make enemies with the Ming Kingdom and not to challenge the majesty of the emperor."

"The army under the new emperor is so powerful that even if we gather all the Portuguese soldiers in Goa, we will not be able to defeat the young emperor on land."

"The new Ming emperor is in urgent need of high-quality artillery to restore his kingdom. This is something we can do. We should obey the orders of the Ming emperor and provide him with more high-quality artillery when he is in trouble. Only in this way can we continue to exist in Haojing."

"The Dutch have tried to seize Macau several times and want to dominate the eastern route. As long as we can satisfy the emperor, if the Dutch attack Macau again in the future, we can even ask the emperor to send troops to help. As long as we can get the help of the emperor, the Dutch will never be able to take Macau from us."

"Dear respected members of parliament, the governor, and the royal judges, we have no choice now. For the sake of Macau and the kingdom's eastern route, we must fully support the emperor of the Ming Dynasty."

Lorenzo put down the feather pen in his hand, blew dry the hastily written mission report, and a look of satisfaction appeared on his face.

Lorenzo was lying on the bed, touching the five certificates of compliance in his arms. They were just a few thin pages, but Lorenzo felt as if he was holding five glittering mountains of gold.

Lorenzo touched the license in his arms, and felt a sense of peace in his heart. The fear and terror of the day disappeared. Only then did Lorenzo finally relax and fall into a deep sleep.

(End of this chapter)