Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 292 It’s You? !
“Bang~~~~!”

With a loud bang like the collapse of the sky, the city wall of Guangzhou on the river side finally collapsed under the continuous bombardment.

Normally, seeing such a shocking scene, ordinary people would retreat or hide out of instinct, but now Guangzhou is in the midst of a battle between two armies. Even though the soldiers inside and outside the city are a little afraid, they can only bite the bullet and rush towards the ruins of more than ten feet under the orders of the generals.

At this point, the gap between the two sides became apparent.

The Qing army was composed of brave men, but since they were selected they had been spending most of their time adapting to the differences between the sea and land, so they could not spend much effort on coordinating the battle formations.

On the other hand, the defenders were far inferior to the Qing army in terms of experience, bravery and individual combat power. Fortunately, since Xu Renjue was thrown into this Lingnan area, he had focused all his energy on training the local Ming army.

As a result, when the Ming army defending the city took advantage of distance to occupy the high points of the ruins first, a situation beyond the expectations of the soldiers on both sides emerged.

"Eh, let our people charge in for a while!"

"hold on."

After hearing the slightly anxious tone of his general, Ustu just said something lightly and turned his attention back to the battle group at the gap in the city wall.

It was within his expectations that the Ming army would be the first to occupy the ruins. He had never even thought of breaking through the Ming army's defense with the Han army, which could only cooperate on a small scale.

However, the Han army responsible for the first wave of charge not only failed to shake the Ming army's defense line at all, but was also suppressed at the beginning of the battle. This situation really surprised him.

Everyone knows that the fighting power of the Ming army became weaker as it went south. Even those chieftain armies that were rumored to be the strongest in the world were actually just a group of people who fought on the basis of valor. If they were to face a truly strong army that was familiar with battle formations and coordination, they could probably only withstand one or two waves.

Of course, through various channels they also got the news that the prince had led his troops south, but judging from the military intelligence reported from Ganzhou, the prince probably only left some naval forces in Guangdong, and the most powerful troops under Hu Maozhen were still in Ganzhou.

Based on this, even if Wustu regarded the 300 bannermen under his command as his trump card from the very beginning, it was understandable that he felt a little surprised when he saw that the "weak" defenders could withstand the attack of the Han army.

However, although this change made his generals a little fluctuate, his own emotions did not fluctuate too much.

"Can"

The general who was speaking obviously didn't quite understand why his father was so indifferent.

After all, they had become an isolated force since they boarded the ship heading south. If they could not successfully capture Guangzhou according to the original plan, what could they do even if Academician Hong had already planned everything that happened next?
"Why are you panicking?! Have we fought for nothing all these years?!"

Faced with his generals who were frightened by the desperate situation, Ustu not only did not try any conciliatory tactics such as appeasement, but instead directly scolded them.

"Open your dog eyes and take a good look. What's the difference between this group of Ming soldiers and the new recruits?!"

Hearing these words, the general couldn't help but look towards the battle group.

the difference?

These Han troops were all brave men selected from various tribes. How could Ezhen compare the troops who could suppress them with new recruits?
While thinking in his mind, the general's gaze was not wandering around the battle group. After only half a breath, his attention fell on a certain place in the battle group and would not move away.

At this moment, a Han army soldier was unstable because of three or two long and short weapons coming at him from above. However, when he had no way to avoid it and was about to die on the spot, those weapons that were also pointing at his abdomen collided with each other at half an arm's distance away.

Afterwards, the soldier crouched down and thrust the sword forward, thus avoiding a fatal situation.

Seeing this inexplicable scene, the general was stunned at first, then he quickly glanced at the situations in various parts of the battle group, and immediately understood what his master meant.

From a holistic perspective, although the defenders at this time relied on their relatively neat military formation and dominant position to exert a certain degree of suppression on the Han army, if one looked at the details of the battlefield, one could find that the defenders' suppression of the Han army only remained on the surface. When it came to a decisive blow, the Han army would always escape in all sorts of incredible ways.

This is probably the difference that Ezhen mentioned.

With an epiphany in his mind, the general calmed down a little.

He knew very well that no matter how many years he had served in the army, as long as he had not truly experienced the baptism of fighting on the battlefield, he would still be a rookie. When a group of rookies used their well-drilled military formations to fight against the Han army, it would be like a child who had learned countless skills fighting against an ordinary strong man.

Of course, children will eventually grow up, and new recruits will become veterans through repeated battles. But at the moment, we can only say that the defenders fought beautifully on the scene, but the actual results were unremarkable.

"You are really sharp! You discovered the weakness of the defenders in just a short while. If it weren't for your reminder, I would have been unable to resist going up there myself."

"Stop flattering us. Let the Han army last a while longer, then our people will go up."

Faced with the flattery of his subordinates, Ustu, who was always vigilant, naturally did not react much. After saying a few words to the generals, he turned his attention back to the battle group, but he could not help feeling some worries in his heart.

He knew very well that this was not a matter of sensitivity.

The bottom line is that it was simply because their troops were isolated, so these generals lost their basic judgment abilities due to panic.

If someone else thought about it, this might be understandable. After all, they were in the heart of the heart of the Ming Dynasty. If they were not careful, they would be surrounded and defeated in a life-or-death situation. Under such circumstances, few people would be able to remain calm and composed.

just
If it were a year or two ago, would they still panic because they were alone? Would they still lose their judgment because of panic?

The army was defeated in the journey to the south of the Yangtze River, but every bannerman who managed to retreat safely to the north of the Yangtze River, including Wusitu, made a fortune. Even ordinary small country landlords did not have as much wealth as them.

This way.
Sigh~~~~~~I hope that Academician Hong's plan can succeed, otherwise by the time the Ming Dynasty recovers, I'm afraid the bannermen will all be thinking about living a peaceful life.

Thinking of this, Ustu couldn't help but sigh secretly, but this change of mood only lasted for a moment and did not have much impact on his attention to the battle group.

At this time, a cup of tea or two had passed since the Han army rushed to the ruins. As time went on, the stalemate in the battle was gradually taken over by the defenders.

He was not too surprised about this.

No matter what, armies fight with each other based on battle formations. Even if the Han army has the advantage of experience and individual combat power, the defenders can remain invincible just by relying on the power of battle formations. If the enemy is allowed to recover from their initial confusion due to numbness, it is inevitable that the Han army will be completely suppressed.

"Get ready."

After saying this calmly, Ustu began to organize his equipment.

When his 300 soldiers were ready to line up, he jumped down from the hastily piled mound, raised his sword above his head and shouted, "Forward!"

This sound was naturally the signal for the entire Niulu army to charge, but part of it was also sent to make the Han army blocking the front make way.

But sound is something that cannot be controlled. Just as the flag soldiers maintained an orderly formation and rushed towards the battle group, and the Han army slowly retreated after receiving the signal, the attention of the defenders was also attracted by the noise.

"General! The Tartars are moving!" Upon seeing this movement, Zhu Jiancang immediately said something to Xu Renjue.

At first, these hundreds of Zhutang youths followed Xu Renjue to take on the important responsibility of guarding Chongming Island. Later, the situation gradually developed and the value of Chongming Island became lower and lower. When Zhu Cilang mobilized ships to go south to Guangdong and Guangxi, they were still assigned to Xu Renjue.

In the entire battle of Jiangnan, they did not have any special performance, but this did not prevent them from understanding the tactics of the Tatars through various channels.

Therefore, when the scouts reported that they had spotted the Qing army outside the city, both the young and old soldiers who had fought in many battles and Xu Renjue, a nobleman from a family of learning, had guessed where the real killer move was.

"You must remember that the Tartars love thick armor."

"Don't worry, General. We will wake up naturally."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Renjue went towards the queue not far away with a spear in hand, while Zhu Jiancang and the other young men from Zhutang were stationed at various high points inside the city wall, waiting for the arrival of strong enemies and then killing them one by one.

To be honest, this is indeed a very difficult task.

As most of the enemies that the young man from Zhutang faced were bandits, he was not good at using heavy arrows, so when facing an enemy like the Tatar bannermen who were heavily guarded, he had to try to hit them in the face.

But how can you hit the door just by saying it?

In this way, even if the young man Zhu Tang is quite skilled in the use of crossbows, its lethality will be greatly weakened.

How come there is no chain bullet used by Your Majesty in the city of Guangzhou?

Although his footsteps were getting closer and closer to the Yingtian army formation that was ready to go, Xu Renjue couldn't help feeling a little regretful.

He originally planned to use the artillery on the city walls to inflict some damage on the Qing army when they approached Guangzhou City, but the density of the artillery on the city walls was insufficient, and all the bullets in Guangzhou were solid, so after firing two rounds, he realized that this kind of artillery fire from a high position, apart from making a louder noise, could not actually pose much threat to the scattered Qing army.

From this, he also thought of the extremely terrifying chain bombs that were spread in the army.

But no matter how much he thought about it, Guangzhou did not have such a deadly weapon after all. At this point, he could only hope that the hundreds of Yingtian soldiers and Zhutang teenagers under his command could withstand the attack of the real Tartars.

"None of us have the chance to participate in the Jiangnan War. The land awards and promotions have nothing to do with me. Today, the Tartars are coming across the sea, which is a good opportunity for us to make up for this. We must not let any Tartars go. Do you understand?"

Xu Renjue spoke with great confidence, as if defeating these several thousand Qing troops was an easy feat. But to put it bluntly, this was just to boost morale. How could he not know that the outcome of this battle was still uncertain?

Fortunately, he still has a group of Yingtian soldiers under his command. Although these people may not have very strong combat power, on the one hand, their families are all in Yingtian, so there is no risk of them defecting to the enemy; on the other hand, their former comrades have won victory after victory under the leadership of Your Majesty. Compared with the two, how can their morale not be high?
"clear!"

"March!"

Seeing that the hundreds of people under his command were all as he expected, Xu Renjue turned around and joined the formation after giving an order.

Although having generals personally present on the battlefield is not the only option to boost morale, it is the most direct means under such circumstances. Moreover, Xu Renjue had personally witnessed how tenacious the fighting spirit of the Yingtian defenders was because of the presence of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in person.

"Hold on!"

"Draw the knife!"

With the continuous orders from the generals of both sides, the two tight military formations inside and outside the city wall kept moving towards the ruins. In the center of the battle group, the soldiers of the two armies, who had been fighting for a while, gradually dispersed to both sides after hearing the shouts coming from behind.

In the end, this piece of ruins filled with rubble and rocks was emptied out by the tacit understanding of both parties.

Although such a scene is reasonable, it is still a bit weird when you look into it in detail.

But for Xu Renjue, this was part of the plan, but for Ustu, this change was obviously beyond his expectations.

From what he knew, when the Han army retreated, the defenders would either follow them in one go or continue to guard the ruins and regroup.

But now they, like themselves, were retreating as the vanguard. What other reason could there be except that the other party also had a hidden card in their hands?
"accelerate!"

Seeing this situation, even though Ustu had never been careless, he couldn't help but have the idea of ​​occupying the top of the ruins first after such a change. But who would have thought that before he finished shouting and the flag soldiers were still adjusting their pace, the same shout came from behind the ruins that were about three or two people high.

"accelerate!"

Hearing this voice, Ustu suddenly felt a sense of familiarity in his heart, but at this moment he had no time to think about these things. He just relied on his leading position to lead the army behind him to speed up their advance.

Ten steps.

The sound of the marching army behind the ruins had become clearly audible, and at this time Ustu had adjusted himself to the best condition. Even if the enemy in front of him was the Ming emperor's personal guard, he was confident that he could defeat them with his battle-hardened bannermen.

Five steps.

"Don't panic! Stay calm!"

At this time, Ustu had already stepped onto the ruins made of scattered rocks and bricks, and the army he led was slightly dispersed due to the uneven road.

With many years of experience, he naturally knew that the closer it got to the battle, the more important the order of the army formation became.

Therefore, he gave an order, obviously no longer considering speed as the top priority.

Two steps.

"Well!"

With a muffled groan, Ustu suddenly exerted force with his legs, and then he swung the sword in his hand fiercely in the direction of the enemy who was about to appear, obviously intending to take the initiative before he met the enemy.

Although he had this idea due to his many years of experience, how could the troops who could be used as the defenders' trump card be mediocre?
"when!"

A golden sound was heard, and his powerful sword collided with a spear, followed by two extremely surprised voices shouting at the same time.

"It's you?!"

"It's you?!"

(End of this chapter)