Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 489 Bang! Bang! Bang!
The gate is the most vulnerable part of a camp and also the most heavily defended location.

It is easy to understand how fragile a camp is. Even the simplest camp wall is made of thick wood that is buried several feet into the ground. It cannot be broken without proper tools.

In contrast, the camp gate needs to be constantly opened and closed, and once the movable joints are damaged, its function of blocking the enemy is completely lost.

Therefore, after setting up camp, the generals would deploy various defensive measures around the gate, and the gate would become the most heavily defended location.

"Listen carefully, if a group of Tartars come in, don't charge forward, just stop them in the middle!"

After looking at the captains who kept shouting in front of the formation, Zhou Xian just tightened the sword and shield in his hands and turned to his soldiers.

Earlier, Mei Chun had just noticed that there was something wrong with the Qing army, so he ordered people to pass the news back to the camp. Then, military orders came out from the big tent. In less than an incense stick of time, a city wall formed by a human wall appeared inside the camp gate, and his elite infantry naturally took on the most stressful task.

In fact, although the battle record of the front army was not as good as those of the other armies, Zhou Xiancai's troop was used as the main force in every battle. After this year, he could be regarded as an elite soldier.

But this thing called Keren is really strange.

The left and right wings of the city wall were all equipped with elite infantry, and only a few layers of musketeers were deployed in front to kill the enemy.

According to common sense, once the Tatars rushed in from the camp gate, the figures of the infantry on both sides would be completely obscured, and they would not expect to be accidentally injured by their own muskets.

But at this time, the soldiers in Zhou Xiancai's small flag team kept looking into the camp, obviously worried that they had died unjustly.

"Look at how cowardly you are. It's only 50 to 60 steps away. Are you afraid that the rear troops won't be able to shoot accurately?"

After muttering something in great disdain, he turned back, and the soldier who talked the most in his squad said nervously: "Boss, the muskets make a hole every time they hit, if one of the rear troops fails, I'm afraid there won't be even a complete corpse left."

"Tsk, after getting stabbed, the body will be intact?"

"No, boss. A knife or a spear can always get it back intact, but a gun can take away a large piece of flesh and blood in one go. If you throw it down, you won't be able to turn it into a human being."

"What are you afraid of? With His Majesty here to keep us safe, which evil spirit dares to cause trouble?"

The soldier was stunned when he heard the words, as if he also felt that the little Yin God would not dare to go against His Majesty. But when he was about to say something else, a team of teammates filed in from the gate, and everyone's attention was immediately drawn to them.

After running for a mile or two, everyone was a little embarrassed, but one could not see much fear on the soldiers' faces. If you looked closely, you could see more shame and anger.

Zhou Xiancai had cooperated with the rear army in several battles, so he knew where the shame and anger came from.

After all, each unit felt that the achievements of the rear army were only due to the sharpness of firearms, and its own strength was not worthy of the title of royal guards.

Therefore, everyone in the rear army, from the great commander Mei Chun to the ordinary generals, wanted to use a war to prove that they were worthy of their reputation. But who would have thought that they would be caught off guard by the enemy again this time, and they were not in a good mood.

As the thought turned to his mind, Zhou Xiancai looked outside the camp, trying his best not to make eye contact with the musketeers who were retreating into the camp. However, he had never expected that the soldier who was still worried about being shot just now would suddenly shout out.

"Brother! How far are the Tartars?"

Seeing this, Zhou Xiancai raised the handle of his knife and hit the talkative guy, obviously worried that his words would anger these "ruining soldiers".

But when the voice spread, what he was worried about did not happen, and then several voices came back.

"Don't mention it! It's bad luck!"

"Not far!"

"Seventy or eighty steps!"

After glaring at the talkative guy, Zhou Xiancai shifted his attention back.

At this time, the friendly troops retreating into the camp were being guided by a general and were retreating in an orderly manner along the gaps between the three sides of the formation, but this did not have much impact on the military formation.

It was obvious that the troops who retreated into the camp were only retreating, but were not defeated and scattered. Although everyone was very discouraged, they were not at all panicked.

Seeing this, Zhou Xiancai, who was not very nervous to begin with, calmed down a little. When he was about to turn his head back, he saw colorful flags waving on the watchtower in the camp.

"Bah! Bah! Bah!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Perhaps out of vigilance, there are more watchtowers in the camp than usual. When the colorful flags are waving, all kinds of firearms behind the camp wall are fired at the same time. Even though Zhou Xiancai can't see how much damage the gunshots and cannonballs have caused to the enemy soldiers, he can still imagine the scene outside based on his experience.

He really couldn't understand why the Tartars would do such a thing as flying moths into a flame.

No matter what, the casualties that could be caused by their own guns and artillery at this distance had already reached an extremely terrifying level. Even though the Tartars had strict military laws, the entire army was bound to be defeated after suffering huge casualties.

At that time, the soldiers used to attack the camp will inevitably have a considerable impact on the Qing army formation behind them. Without the support of the army formation, there is no point in fighting this battle.

Thinking of this, Zhou Xiancai couldn't help but feel confused, but before he had time to think about it carefully, the shouts of the generals mixed in with the sound of gunfire brought him back to the present.

"Bah! Bah! Bah!"

"Get ready!"

"Bah! Bah! Bah!"

As soon as the military order came out, the soldiers in the front row immediately raised their swords and shields. At the same time, Zhou Xiancai took the opportunity to bend down and look outside through the open camp gate. When he saw that the enemy soldiers seemed to be coming straight here under the pressure of various firearms, he couldn't help but sigh at the arrangements of the commanders.

Compared to the main gate, the camp wall was certainly stronger, but after all, it was just a temporary defense made of wood. If the enemy soldiers brought axes, they could easily break it open like they did during the night raid on the Qing army camp in Yingtian.

Of course, trying to accomplish this task with artillery would incur great casualties, but the artillery's firing rate was so slow that it was inevitable that the Tartars would find an opportunity to attack.

What's more, artillery is a very precious thing. If it is fired several times in a row, there is a possibility that the barrel will explode, which is not a safe method.

Compared with closing the camp gates and letting the enemy army besiege the camp, leaving the camp gates wide open would allow the enemy soldiers to find a gap where they could break through. By then, even if the enemy army was huge in number, they would inevitably flow towards the camp gate like a funnel.

Under such circumstances, the pressure on the camp wall would be much smaller, and all kinds of firearms could fire calmly at their own pace.

But in this way, this "city wall" formed by the human wall will bear the greatest pressure.

"Raise your shield!"

Just when Zhou Xiancai was thinking about the commander's plan in his mind, a loud shout was heard. Then he looked towards the camp gate which was three or two meters wide. When he saw that the enemy soldiers were indeed rushing over, he bowed slightly and took a posture to face the enemy.

Although Zhou Xiancai held the sword and shield tightly in his hands, as an elite soldier of the front army, there was no sign of nervousness in his eyes. When the numerous figures were less than ten steps away from the camp gate, he hid most of his body behind the shield, ready to meet the attack of the enemy soldiers.

This is the confidence that comes from one victory after another.

Even though their friendly forces had just been beaten back, and even though the enemy troops outside outnumbered their own by several times, both the retreating soldiers and those deploying the battle array were able to handle the situation calmly, and showed no panic at all at the swarming enemy troops.

"Bah! Bah! Bah!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The noise was accompanied by the roar of artillery, but at this time Zhou Xiancai had already focused all his attention on the enemy soldiers who rushed into the camp and had no interest in anything else.

"prick!"

A military order was given, and the spearmen hiding behind him immediately thrust out their long spears.

At the same time, several Qing soldiers who had only been four or five steps away from him let out a scream, and when the spears were retracted, they fell to the ground like the pigs under his command.

This was not the first time Zhou Xiancai had seen such a scene, but the enemies he had encountered before were either as calm and composed as he was, or had faces full of fear.

But the enemy soldiers in front of him now were different from the ones before. There was no other expression on their distorted facial features except for madness.

If Huang Fei were here, he would be quite familiar with this madness.

It was the desperation of having to do the moth-like deed under the pressure of strict military law and the safety of his family, and it was also the remnant courage of wanting to struggle for a glimmer of hope in a situation where there was no hope of survival.

"clang!"

"prick!"

Zhou Xiancai used his shield to block the spear that was stabbing at him from behind, and then used the sword in his hand to deflect the weapon that was attacking him. At this time, another military order was issued, and then a line of spears rushed straight into the Qing army in front. The pressure he was under was immediately reduced by half.

Fighting on the battlefield is never like fighting in the ring. The city wall built by the elite soldiers of the front army turned into a real killing machine under the guidance of military orders. It only took a dozen breaths, and several waves of Qing army cannon fodder who had no formation at all had fallen.

If it were an ordinary time, with one side fully prepared for battle and the other relying solely on bravery, the Qing army that rushed into the camp would have been on the verge of defeat under such a contrast.

However, the Jianzhou Jurchens had been working hard to control Aha since Nurhaci raised his army. Even though rushing forward meant a certain death, wave after wave of enemy soldiers still rushed forward with red eyes.

"Let go!"

Just when Zhou Xiancai was trying his best to block the attacks of the spearmen behind him, perhaps because the spear had stabbed too deep or had caught on something, the spear that had stabbed from his left rear was tightly grasped by the dying enemy soldier and could not be pulled back no matter how hard he pulled.

Seeing this, Zhou Xiancai immediately shouted, and then the soldiers behind him let go, and the spear fell to the ground along with the enemy soldiers in front of him.

The army had its own way to remedy this situation, but while the soldier was taking a new gun from behind, the enemy soldier in front suddenly took two steps forward.

"clang!"

"puff!"

After a series of golden sounds, the enemy soldier finally fell to the ground unwillingly. After fighting for such a long time, he was still unable to do anything about the Ming army's formation. Even though the Qing army that rushed into the camp was full of energy, it was time for it to decline.

With the experience accumulated over the past year or so, Zhou Xiancai keenly discovered that the enemy's momentum had slowed down. But when he thought that the outcome of this battle was no longer in suspense, he was surprised to find that the enemy soldier in front of him was being pushed by a force and crashed into the gun blade.

"puff!"

As bursts of muffled noises were heard, several enemy soldiers in the front row fell down immediately. However, Zhou Xiancai couldn't help but feel a little depressed when the situation developed to this point.

I'm afraid there are Tartars supervising the battle from behind. Unless all the Qing troops are killed, this situation will not last long.

just
After taking a look at the still numerous enemy soldiers, Zhou Xiancai began to doubt for the first time whether he could defend the "city wall".

After all, although the Ming army had won victories in the battles against the Tatars at this time, those victories were mostly due to Zhu Cilang's strategies that maximized his own strengths, or because the Tatars changed their mentality and did not use the cannon fodder tactics that made them famous.

At this time, the situation in the world has reversed, the mentality of the Tartars has returned to what it was in the early years, and the cannon fodder tactics have appeared on the battlefield again.

Facing so many cannon fodders for the first time, even a soldier like Zhou Xiancai, who was no longer a rookie on the battlefield, couldn't help but feel a little shaken.

But then again, the soldiers had never seen such a scene, but many of the generals came from the nine frontiers.

At this time, the Qing army's formation had been weakened by the attacks of various firearms, and the teams of Eight Banner soldiers who came to supervise the battle inevitably moved to the front in this chaotic situation.

"Okay, no more waiting, send a signal."

"Order!"

At Chang Guanlin's command, the soldiers waved the flags in their hands vigorously. Then, among the extremely orderly rounds of gunfire, there were some extremely discordant and scattered noises, and the enemy's momentum slowed down.

(End of this chapter)