Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 467: Go collect your military exploits!
"Snapped!"

Xu Renjue, who was charging, suddenly felt a pain in his right shoulder. When he lowered his head slightly, he saw an arrow hanging on the cloth.

It was obvious that he was hit by an arrow, and the arrow hit his shoulder, which greatly affected his movements.

Suffering such an injury would mean being crippled. Even if the rest of his body parts were intact, the sprain on his shoulder would make him like a disabled person who had lost half his arm.

Under normal circumstances, the best way to deal with this situation would be to cut off the arrow shaft to avoid involving the wound on his shoulder, but Xu Renjue just pulled it off without a care, not worrying at all about the severity of the injury.

This is definitely not the case that Mr. Xu San is being reckless again.

When Chang Guanlin went to the factory to pick up the armor plates, although Master Craftsman Wang said that these armor plates were extraordinary, he was still jealous of the Jingwu Armored Fire Guns of the rear army at that time, so he didn't care too much.

After all, the nail plates are just pieces of iron sheets. Even if they are special, how special can they be?

But since Master Wang said so, it must have its characteristics. When the soldiers replaced the damaged armor plates, they found that the new ones were not only much cleaner, but also much stronger than before.

Realizing his negligence, Chang Guanlin turned back that day. After consulting Master Craftsman Wang, he learned that these armor plates were not ordinary iron plates, but real Su steel.

This Su steel is named after the fact that its production method originated in Suzhou. It refers to the high-quality steel produced in Jiangsu Province, especially the high-quality steel smelted using a specific process.

This steel has the characteristics of high hardness, good wear resistance and high toughness. Compared with the refined steel that has been tempered thousands of times, not only has its output been greatly improved, but its price has also been reduced a lot.

As a general who had fought in the Nine Frontiers, Chang Guanlin had naturally heard of the name Su Gang. However, in his concept, only the generals of the Nine Frontiers were qualified to use the armor plates made of Su Gang. He never thought that His Majesty would invest so much money in ordinary soldiers.

Maybe he felt like he was talking at cross purposes, but after hearing Chang Guanlin's question, Master Wang only gave a few general explanations.

According to him, although the large number of steel-making furnaces in the factory also played a role in increasing production, the real reason for Su Steel's cost reduction was the "standard operation" proposed by Your Majesty.

The so-called standard operation means that every step in every process must be done according to the standard procedure. Even if some methods are better than those currently used, they cannot be used in production if they cannot be repeated every time.

With this standard operation, Sugang, which usually only produces three or four out of ten furnaces, can now produce eight or nine furnaces of qualified steel, and its cost has naturally dropped to about 30% of the original amount.

Chang Guanlin was not quite sure why doubling the yield rate could reduce costs so much, but since this method was proposed by His Majesty, it must be extremely effective.

Later, the front army replaced all the iron plates as quickly as possible, and when they faced the battle today, they felt the solidity of the Su steel armor plates.

"Qian Hu, this armor is really strong!"

"Don't talk nonsense, we're about to collide!"

After all, this group of people had experienced battle. Before the arrow had completely landed on the ground, the soldier beside Xu Renjue made a joke. However, they were only twenty or thirty steps away from the enemy formation, and the soldier was scolded before he could finish his words.

The Ming army had to protect this mudflat so that subsequent troops could land smoothly; the Qing army had to drive the enemy in front of them back into the river to ensure the safety of the fort behind them.

Although the two sides had their own goals, they rushed towards the enemy at the same time on this mudflat.

"Prepare!"

Following Xu Renjue's loud shout, the sword and shield soldiers in the front row of the Ming army immediately raised their round shields, while the soldiers in the back row placed their ten-foot-long spears in the gaps.

At this point, Xu Renjue had already forgotten about Su Gang and Bailian Steel. As soon as the two sides met in battle, he immediately stabbed out with the spear in his hand.

"puff!"

After a muffled sound, the sharp spear tip did not completely break through the enemy's armor, but when Xu Renjue pulled out the spear, he clearly saw a hint of red on the spear tip.

Perhaps it was due to the tempering of battles or the fact that the Xu family's bloodline was inherently different, but when Xu Renjue saw the enemy soldiers being injured, there was no wavering in his heart. Without waiting for the enemy's swordsman and shieldman to cover himself again, he took advantage of this opportunity to stab out with his spear again.

He has been practicing shooting with his second elder brother since he was young, and his skills are beyond ordinary people.

Although this spear was much longer than usual, he still managed to accurately pierce the gap he had made previously, and the Qing soldier fell directly to the ground.

For a powerful general like him, killing one or two soldiers was not a difficult task, but when he looked for his target again, the enemy shieldman had already blocked the spear in mid-air, and then the attention of the enemy soldiers in front of him was focused on him.

Seeing this, Xu Renjue would not stop, but in the next few attacks, his spear was either blocked by the enemy's swordsmen or chopped aside by swords that appeared from nowhere. Even though his spear skills were extraordinary, he could not make any progress, as if he had been seen through.

He knew that this was how it should be when two armies confronted each other. Real casualties would only occur after a long period of stalemate.

To put it bluntly, the two shots just now were successful because the enemy soldiers had not expected it. Now that the Qing army knew that there was an enemy with superb marksmanship here, they would not give him another chance to succeed.

But then again, when the two armies were facing each other, one against another, he had already attracted most of the attention of the enemy soldiers in front of him, and the defenses faced by the surrounding Ming army became much looser.

After several unsuccessful attacks, Xu Renjue continued to stab the Qing troops in front of him with his spear at the original frequency.

At the same time, he was being watched by several enemy soldiers, so his spear attacks were ineffective as before. However, the Ming troops around him took this opportunity to continuously attack the gaps in the Qing army, making it difficult for the other side to cope.

Of course, with their lifetime experience of using guns, these Ming soldiers could not kill an enemy soldier with just two shots like Xu Yinjue could.

However, a thousand-mile dike is destroyed by an ant hole. As long as there is enough time, this place will inevitably become the weakness of the Qing army's formation. Xu Yinjue launched sharp attacks towards the opposite side without haste, and never relaxed at all.

As time went on, the two armies, whose morale was at its highest, were in a stalemate.

After another incense stick of time had passed, the Qing army's leading generals realized that it was impossible to defeat the Ming army in a short period of time, so they relied on their large numbers to surround the Ming army's circular formation.

But when Zhumala on the observation tower saw this response, he immediately knew that there was no turning back in this battle.

In his opinion, the most urgent task at hand was to defeat this vanguard force while the Ming army was still unstable, so that it would be possible to hold the beach and prevent the Ming army from landing.

But that idiot directly surrounded the Ming army. Under such circumstances, even if some Ming troops really planned to flee, they would probably give up the idea in the face of such a situation.

not to mention.
After thinking for a while, he turned his gaze to the river.

At this time, the boats in the river were no longer small black dots. If the prediction was correct, it would take at most three or two incense sticks to reach the beach. By then, not to mention whether the fortress could be defended, the 3,000 soldiers on the beach would probably have a hard time returning.

Idiot! You have never been in battle before.

Before hearing Zhang Shiyi's explanation, he didn't know about the existence of this group of people. But since the other party had said that these people were selected from the various armies in Lianghuai, he understood the quality of these people.

When Duoduo went south, he had already brought all the capable troops across the Yangtze River. The only ones left in the Huai River area were just people who were just waiting to die.

Although these "elite troops" had become much stronger under Hong Chengchou's training, they had never seen a battle, so it was understandable that they made such a mistake.

But Hong Chengchou was not famous for nothing. Did he really expect such a person to stop the Ming army?

With this in mind, he glanced at Zhang Shiyi inadvertently, and when he saw that he was still looking at the battle situation on the mudflat with anticipation, he immediately overturned his earlier thoughts.

"Shiyi, the battle situation is not favorable to me. I am afraid I have to make plans early."

"Plan? What plan?"

In Zhang Shiyi's view, although the two armies were still in a stalemate, his own troops had completely surrounded the Ming army. As long as there was enough time, they would surely be able to annihilate them all. At this juncture, Zhumala actually said something about making plans early. If the other party was not a real Manchu, he would have wanted to cut them in two.

"Ming Army Boat"

"I know. Isn't it just a thousand men?" Zhumala had just begun to explain when Zhang Shiyi interrupted him unreasonably. He then looked at the river with contempt and continued, "Even if those on the shore had not retreated, we would still be three thousand against two thousand!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Shiyi turned his head back. After hearing his words, Zhumala felt suffocated in her heart, and she swallowed back the explanation that was on the tip of her tongue.

He could see clearly that the battle between the two armies was a test of morale, equipment and training, as well as battlefield experience and the ability to adapt to the enemy. The equipment and training of the troops trained by Hong Chengchou were generally sufficient, and their morale seemed to be able to hold out for a while, but they were far behind in battlefield experience and the ability to adapt to the enemy. Once any unexpected situation occurred, they would inevitably be defeated.

This is the difference between him and Zhang Shiyi.

Although both of them have been in the army for most of their lives, Zhumala has truly fought her way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Even if he had never read any military books and had never studied martial arts for a day, how could a general like Zhang Shiyi, who had been hiding in Lianghuai for many years, compare with his vision?

Why not just abandon him?

The thought came to his mind in just a flash, and was extinguished by him.

According to Lekedehun's arrangement, he had to keep his troops, but without these surrendered soldiers, subsequent tasks would be difficult to accomplish.

Thinking of this, Zhumala began to ponder how to persuade Zhang Shiyi to make plans early, but while he was still organizing his words, his focus involuntarily fell on the battle group.

At this time, there were gaps of varying sizes in the formations of both sides, and the situation seemed to be in a stalemate.

But from where he stood, he could clearly see that three or two Ming soldiers had already infiltrated the middle of his own army, which was extremely discordant with the stalemate.

Seeing this, he couldn't help but feel a sense of shock in his heart, and then he realized that he had underestimated the enemy.

According to his original thought, although this group of people lacked experience, judging from the current situation, they should be able to hold out for a while even after the Ming army reinforcements landed.

But now, only a cup of tea has passed and the Ming army has broken into the gap. I'm afraid this stalemate will not last long.

As his mind turned, Zhumala tugged at Zhang Shiyi's armor. When the other party turned to look at him with a little impatience, he whispered a few words. But who would have thought that this ignorant guy would actually scold him.

"How can you keep saying things that shake the morale of the army?! Are you colluding with the Southern Dynasty?!"

Just this one sentence made Zhumala's face turn red. Then he looked at the soldiers around him and immediately felt a sense of unreality in his heart.

Over the past year, the most important task of the Eight Banners troops stationed in Lianghuai was to guard against any collusion between the local Han people and the Southern Dynasty. But who would have thought that at this time he, Angbang Ezhen, would be reprimanded by a surrendered general without even knowing who was Han and who was Manchu.

"Okay, this river mouth is not my responsibility, you stay here and I will go back to Yangzhou!"

After saying this, Zhumala immediately went down from the observation tower. Then he ordered the soldiers beside him to call for the guards to be brought to the fort, and he mounted his horse to think about what to do next.

Earlier, Lekedehun had given him instructions.

After such a long time, he had forgotten his original words. The general meaning was that the cities and forts around the river must be defended, but they cannot be defended to the death, and the Eight Banners troops cannot be damaged.

The intention of this order was very clear, which was to let the surrendered troops hold their ground, while the Manchus would act as military supervisors.

Zhumala had no objection to this.

After all, over the years, it has always been Aha who has taken the lead, followed by the armored men. Without waiting for the best opportunity, these serious Manchus will not end up easily.

When they fell into the Huai River area, surrendered soldiers like Zhang Shiyi were like Aha and armored men. It was reasonable to let them defend the river mouth fort to the death.

But people always have some feelings. The two have been together for such a long time, and he always wanted to save Zhang Shiyi's life. But this guy was a person who turned his back on people and even scolded Zhumala in front of so many people. He was too lazy to waste time talking to him.

Could it be that seeing the intense war situation, he wanted to take all the credit?

When the thought first came to her mind, Zhumala was a little bit incredulous, but after she thought about it a few more times, a reasonable idea emerged in her mind.

"Bah! He's just a traitor after all!"

Spitting on the ground, Zhumala looked in the direction where her soldiers left.

At this time, a dozen soldiers in white armor were running towards here, and he was ready to return to Yangzhou.

But when he was about to urge his warhorse, the shouting and screaming coming from the riverside suddenly became louder. He then glanced towards the lookout tower, and then whipped his warhorse hard.

Go collect your military exploits!
(End of this chapter)