Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 87: First Field Victory
Amidst the thick smoke, the Ming army's second volley soon began. After loading the powder and bullets, the more than 400 musketeers, under the orders of their officers, raised their guns and aimed again, pulled the trigger, and then there were three rounds of deafening gunfire.

"Bang, bang, bang--"

More than 400 lead bullets swept across like a whirlwind again. On the Qing army line, another batch of shields were shattered by the whistling lead bullets, and more than 120 people fell down. The more than 1,000 infantrymen of Liu Zhong's former subordinates, who served as the vanguard, soon fell into chaos due to the huge casualties.

There were constant screams and wails in the Qing army's formation. Officers at all levels waved their swords and shouted to maintain the formation. Even the Geng army's armored soldiers who were supervising the battle from the rear had stepped forward and killed more than a dozen soldiers who disobeyed orders in panic, turned around and tried to escape.

Geng Zhongming looked at the chaos in front of him with a very heavy face. The support troops sent to him by Duoduo had suffered nearly 30% casualties under the attack of the Ming army's muskets, and it could be said that they had almost lost the ability to take the initiative to attack.

The presence of these cannon fodders could certainly reduce the casualties of his elite troops, but the hundreds of unruly fleeing soldiers that resulted from this also disrupted to a certain extent the musketeers he had deployed in the rear and were about to advance as planned.

However, Geng Zhongming was full of confidence in the musketeers under his command. If they could not defeat the Eight Banners soldiers and the elite of Liaozhen, how could they not deal with a group of southern soldiers?

You must know that the troops under his command were Spanish soldiers who were properly trained with the French as instructors. They had rich combat experience and were equipped with excellent firearms.

In this era, the power of muskets was far greater than that of bows and arrows, but due to the complexity of shooting operations, poor accuracy and the power of gunpowder, they could only be used in the form of volley fire in formations to exert their effectiveness.

This requires that musketeers must receive sufficient training and follow strict combat discipline.

Otherwise, after each shot, the pungent smoke filling the front line alone would be enough to throw the soldiers in the formation into chaos, not to mention that in the process, the soldiers would need to reload bullets and ammunition, or even move forward to replace the soldiers who had died in front of them.

In other words, if the musket volleys failed to inflict heavy damage on the enemy charging from the opposite side, and the sword and shield soldiers and spearmen who were fighting in coordination behind the musketeers were unable to attack due to the confusion of the musketeers in front, then the originally tight line would inevitably be full of loopholes under the enemy's attack, or even collapse without a fight.

This is why Geng Zhongming sent out Liu Zhong's former subordinates to lure the Ming army's musketeers into a volley. He wanted to throw the Ming army's phalanx into such chaos.

Now, because the thick smoke in front of the Ming army had not dissipated for a long time, Geng Zhongming could hardly see the situation on the opposite side.

But based on his many years of battlefield experience, he was basically certain that the Ming army must have been in chaos in such thick smoke.

Under Geng Zhongming's command, a rumbling sound of war drums was immediately heard in the center of Geng's army. Rows of musketeers followed the drum beats and began to advance in neat formations. Behind them were large groups of sword and shield soldiers and spearmen.

He must seize this opportunity, deliver a fatal blow to the Ming army, and completely defeat the Ming Emperor's last reliance!

At the same time, Zhu Cilang pushed aside the four shields in front of him again, and looked at the Qing army musketeer formation that was hundreds of steps wide on the opposite side, which was marching in a tight and orderly formation, stepping to the beat of drums. Even though he had been prepared in his heart, he still couldn't help but tense up.

Geng Zhongming's elite troops were far superior to Liu Zhong's thousand-plus veterans, a fact evident from their military formations alone. The training and equipment of both sides were completely on a different level.

However, Liu Zhong's former subordinates, who had been hit by two volleys of musket fire, were already showing signs of losing control.

Geng Zhongming's cleverness backfired completely this time. These defeated soldiers, who had suffered a heavy blow and had become difficult to control, eventually seriously affected the advance of his real main force.

As Geng's musketeers advanced, the two sides encountered each other, and the impact of these fleeing soldiers eventually affected the former's preparations for volley fire.

Geng's army formation soon stopped, and some armored soldiers on horseback quickly rushed to the front of the formation and killed the stragglers of Liu Zhong's former troops who were charging recklessly.

The rustling flags and forests of spears in Geng's army formation were now visible to the naked eye. On both wings of the battlefield, the cavalry sent by Zhu Cilang were fighting endlessly with the harassing cavalry of Geng's army.

However, both sides had insufficient troops, and it seemed that they were just confronting and testing each other rather than fighting to the death.

Not long after, the defeated soldiers of Liu Zhong's former subordinates were forced to retreat from both wings under the coercion and gathering of officers at all levels. The drums in Geng's army sounded again, and rows of musketeers continued to advance to the beat of the drums.

Zhu Cilang listened to the drumbeats coming from the opposite side and looked at the enemies advancing like a wall with muskets in hand not far away. His heart began to beat faster.

These are his real enemies in this battle. If he defeats them, the victory of this proactive attack will belong to the Ming Dynasty, and the low morale of the entire Jiangbei region will also be boosted.

At this time, on the Ming army's front, while Geng's army was cleaning up the defeated soldiers, the three rows of musketeers had already prepared for battle again, and the two phalanxes of turtledove-foot guns were also on high alert. Their unexpected speed successfully thwarted Geng Zhongming's plan.

Geng's musketeers quickly advanced to eighty paces, their lines still neat, a testament to their well-trained elite. Behind their shields, densely packed spears pointed toward the Ming army, reflecting the sun's dazzling light.

After watching Geng's army advance eighty steps, Zhu Cilang ordered the dove-foot gun phalanxes on both wings to prepare for a volley. The command flags on the watchtower were waved, and the military bugle sounded.

“Woo, woo, woo~~~”

The high-pitched and passionate military bugle calls instantly flew across the entire Ming army line. On both sides of the line, more than 200 turtledove-foot guns that were originally blocked by shields were exposed at the same time, and then thunderous explosions were emitted almost at the same time.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!!!"

In the orange-red firelight, more than two hundred bullets weighing one or two and a half cents each rushed out from the black muzzles supported by brackets and shot obliquely towards Geng's army formation.

The turtledove-foot gun is a heavy matchlock gun with an extremely long range and enormous power. It is far from comparable to the bird guns that were improved from the Portuguese Malacca light muskets.

The musketeers under Geng Zhongming wanted to advance to within seventy steps before launching an attack. They had no idea that the Ming army had such a powerful weapon.

On the front line of Geng's army, crackling sounds suddenly rang out. More than two hundred bullets weighing one or two and a half cents each easily penetrated the armor of Geng's musketeers. Then, the lead bullets, which had become flat due to the violent impact, continued to smash the bodies of Geng's soldiers one by one.

The huge lead bullets from the turtledove-foot gun shattered the mixed flesh and organs into pieces, and the blood spurted out at the same time. The splattered blood was everywhere, instantly dyeing the clothes, armor and flags of the Geng army soldiers in the formation red. The originally neat Geng army line suddenly became fragmented because dozens of people in the front row fell in an instant.

But this was just the beginning. As Geng's army took two steps forward by inertia, more than 400 bird guns in the three rows in the front and back of the middle of the Ming army line fired at the same time, and then there was a continuous sound. Orange-red fire dragons spewed out from the muzzles, and white smoke spread rapidly, quickly expanding on the front line like a wall.

Accompanied by a thunderous explosion, the lead bullets whistling from the opposite side easily tore through the cotton armor of the musketeers on Geng's front line. Streams of blood mist spurted out, and hundreds of people fell in an instant on Geng's front line.

Hu Laoqi pulled the trigger expressionlessly like a robot. The officers on one side of the queue then shouted out a series of operating instructions in an orderly manner, such as taking the fuse, clearing the flash port, and cocking the gun, but almost no one paid attention.

Day after day, thousands of times of training have already formed muscle memory in them. At this time, they don't need to think at all, and their hands start moving. Even soldiers with skilled techniques like Hu Laoqi can often skip several steps and quickly complete a new round of loading and reloading.

The extremely high-intensity training of the Palace Army, especially the nearly twenty live-fire training sessions, has enabled them to possess combat skills that surpass those of Geng Zhongming's so-called Western-style soldiers.

Then, the phalanxes of turtledove-foot guns on both sides of the army, which had reloaded their gunpowder and bullets, launched another volley.

The musketeers sent by Geng Zhongming suffered heavy losses under such a fierce attack. The entire line finally stopped at a position of seventy steps. Although the remaining musketeers on the line also launched a counterattack against the Ming army that was already engulfed in white smoke, their efforts had little effect.

Amidst the crackling sounds, more than a dozen shields in front of the Ming army were broken, but this ineffective volley only resulted in less than twenty casualties among the musketeers standing upright in the first row.

But as the musketeers in the back row stepped forward, the first and second rows in front of the Ming army were filled again, and the entire musket formation was restored to its original state in the blink of an eye.

Before Geng's army could catch its breath, another burst of explosions was heard from the Ming army's front, and soon the second and third rounds of bloody volleys began. The Ming army was equipped with dove-foot guns, and the firearms were more powerful and the volleys were faster, causing Geng's army to suffer previously unimaginable casualties.

After suffering successive blows, the formation of Geng's musketeers had already been shattered. After the second round of volleys from the Ming army, there were only a few musketeers left who could reload and fire, and they were unable to organize another volley.

On the smoke-filled front, Geng's musketeers, due to heavy casualties and chaotic formations, were unable to even gather their troops normally to the sound of war drums. Instead, they retreated in panic, just like Liu Zhong's former troops who had just been defeated.

After several rounds of volleys, the Ming army's musketeers' formation began to become chaotic, the speed of loading and reloading bullets was greatly reduced, and the power of the volleys was greatly reduced. They then began to gather their formation and retreat.

Looking at the piles of corpses on his own front, Geng Zhongming was horrified and even couldn't believe it. After three rounds of musket fire, at least three hundred of his musketeers were killed, and it was possible that nearly four hundred were killed. Half of his most elite musketeers were killed in one battle, and his army was already seriously damaged.

At the most critical moment, in a volley like the one just now, the casualties of officers were completely inevitable. Without enough officers, it would be difficult for this Western-trained musketeer unit to recover quickly.

But before he could think about it, the sound of war drums and bugles rang out from the Ming army's phalanx. The sword and shield soldiers and spearmen who were originally at the back of the phalanx immediately followed the drum beats, passed through the passage left vacant by the musketeers, and began to charge forward.

They quickly burst through the white wall of smoke and appeared before the Ming army's original line. The rumbling of dense footsteps echoed, and the entire ground trembled as thousands of troops moved simultaneously. Geng Zhongming couldn't see clearly through the thick smoke, but the sound of such orderly and dense footsteps made him feel uneasy.

He never thought that the Ming army on the opposite side would have such combat power, and he never thought that the other side would dare to take the initiative to attack in a head-on battle. Are these southern soldiers still vulnerable?
At this time, Geng Zhongming seemed to feel a surge of fear rising from the bottom of his heart and rushing straight to the top of his head.

Soon, more than 2,000 Geng army soldiers who were originally at the rear of the army formation also took action immediately at the shouts of the officers and rushed straight towards the attacking Ming army.

The soldiers of the two armies quickly re-formed their battle formations in front of the battle line to the beat of drums. They were less than fifty steps apart at this time. The archers who had already formed their battle formations were shooting at each other. Hundreds of arrows whizzed through the air, flew towards the enemy on the opposite side, and pierced the shields standing at the front of the line.

Gu Defu had not been able to see clearly what was happening at the front line as the dense white smoke temporarily obscured his vision. But after seeing the flames from the musket fire and hearing the continuous screams coming from the opposite side, he quickly realized that Geng's army had suffered a heavy blow.

Now, he passed through the white smoke wall in front of him and finally saw the Geng army soldiers rushing towards him with shields raised. The other side also had spears like a forest, and the blades of the spears raised high reflected the dazzling sunlight.

However, Gu Defu was not moved at all. Not only him, but also Sun Da and Chen Tao were not moved at all at this time. They were all staring at Geng Jun rushing towards them.

The Ming army's formations remained neat during the sprint, advancing like a wall. The high-intensity training day after day ensured that they remained calm even on the battlefield.

Amidst the dense drumbeats, the distance of more than forty steps passed in a flash. Amidst the clanging sounds of armor plates rubbing against each other, two torrents of steel reflecting the dazzling sunlight collided head-on.

On the front line, countless long and short weapons stretched out from behind the shields, thrusting forward like flying, cooperating with each other to kill all the soldiers who stood in the front and tried to charge. Soldiers of the two armies kept exchanging deaths, and corpses kept falling to the ground. As soon as any broken line appeared, it would be immediately filled by the soldiers in the rear.

Zhao Zhengdong, Gu Defu, Sun Da, Chen Tao and others rushed out with the square formation. They held their weapons tightly, cooperated with each other, and kept stabbing and hacking at the Geng army that rushed in front of them.

The battle between the two armies became more and more intense. The two sides fought back and forth. Soldiers on the front line kept falling, and soldiers from the rear kept coming up to replace them amid the roars of the supervising soldiers. Long and short weapons protruded from the gaps, hitting the armor, bringing up a rain of blood, and reaping lives unscrupulously.

On the central front where the battle was most intense, facing wave after wave of attacks from long and short weapons, more and more soldiers fell and the corpses piled up higher and higher. The commanders of both armies slowed down their offensive, and the battle situation had actually reached a stalemate.

Although the Ming army had the advantage in terms of manpower, it was unable to fully utilize it for the time being. Both sides were elite troops and were evenly matched, so neither could defeat the other for the time being. Only the armored soldiers rushing out from the rear maintained every support point on the front line.

Soon, seeing that the situation was not good, Geng Zhongming immediately sent out his elite servants. He placed his hopes of defeating the enemy on these soldiers with the best equipment and pay, intending to use them as spearheads to break through the Ming army's lines.

Before the formal battle, Geng Zhongming was very confident in the combat effectiveness of his own troops, but now the tense battle results and unfavorable situation have forced him to give it a try and send the most important troops to the battlefield.

He originally hoped that the cavalry led by Geng Jimao could quickly defeat the Ming army's only thousand cavalry, and then use the defeated soldiers to disrupt the Ming army, or at least harass the Ming army's combat troops.

However, the performance of the Ming army far exceeded his expectations. Geng Jimao not only failed to make a breakthrough, he even failed to gain an advantage on the battlefield. Instead, he was pinned down by the Ming cavalry and could not escape at all.

All I can say is that strategy is important on the battlefield, but without a strong army, it is impossible to form a combat advantage and achieve the established strategic goals. Any strategy or tactics will be futile.

Soon, Geng Zhongming's servants joined the battlefield. Wearing heavy armor and holding swords and spears, they quickly rushed out of Geng's army formation and killed several defeated soldiers who retreated in the face of the enemy.

More than two hundred elite servants rushed towards the junction of the Ming army's center and right wing. Densely packed blood-stained spear heads, broadswords, and even thick maces stood on the front line.

Geng Zhongming's servants used many weapons and were fully equipped. In addition to their main weapons, they also carried bows and quivers. During the charge, they would throw short axes and iron bone quivers at the Ming army's phalanxes. Even the armored soldiers in the rear who had not yet joined the battle would take the opportunity to shoot arrows, forming the first round of attack.

Sun Da held up a shield and protected Gu Defu and Chen Tao behind him. He held a steel sword tightly in his hand, his eyes shot out a fierce look, and his spirit was always highly tense.

Just now, he saw a shield beside him being smashed into pieces by the mace swung by Geng Jun with a "bang". He subconsciously shrank his body, but the situation on the battlefield was critical and he had no time to think, let alone retreat.

The continuous ideological mobilization in the army by a group of instructors headed by Zhang Huangyan inspired every soldier's hatred for the enemy. This hatred will make the soldiers' will more determined on the battlefield, and the same is true for Sun Da.

Gu Defu was not afraid of Geng's army at all. When he saw the enemy rushing towards him through the gap in his shield, he slightly curled up the corners of his mouth and smiled, as if he had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

Chen Tao didn't expect that he would be put on the spear so quickly and go to the battlefield as a substitute. At this time, he heard the sound of Geng's soldiers rushing up with howling. He was quite nervous, and his sweaty hands tightly grasped the spear used to kill the enemy.

Geng Zhongming's servants quickly rushed to within thirty steps. The dense footsteps and shouts of killing merged together, and the helmets kept surging. Although the formation was quite chaotic during the charge, the shining iron armor still showed their strength.

"Kill, kill, kill!!!"

The soldiers of Tianwu Left Camp rushed out shouting, and the distance between the two sides was soon shortened to twenty steps. Dozens of heavy arrows were finally shot from the Geng army formation, which was dozens of steps wide, and then hundreds of short axes and iron bones were thrown towards the Ming army line.

Amid the sounds of "bang bang bang", the whistling arrows filled the militia, and many of the militia were broken by the short axes and iron bones. An armored soldier next to Gudefu was hit on the shoulder by the iron bones, and he fell to the ground with a scream.

At the same time, two fire soldiers who came forward from behind the formation immediately dragged him away, and then another soldier who had already put on armor immediately took his place with a spear.

The Ming army looked at the Geng army rushing up, and immediately threw out their short axes and iron bones, then rushed out and broke into the shield line of the Geng army like a storm. The sharp and fierce swords, guns, sticks and clubs were swung wildly and smashed into the Geng army sword and shield soldiers in the front who were holding shields.

Zhu Cilang on the watchtower was staring at the battlefield intently at this time. In his eyes, he saw the Tianwu Left Camp line that was ready for battle and advancing like a wall, as well as the flying dust raised by the charge of thousands of armored soldiers and the countless armors and helmets that were faintly visible among them.

The two torrents of steel collided with each other in an instant, and the sound of armor and swords clashing rang out. Geng Jimao's servants rushed up continuously, and the attack was extremely swift.

On the Ming army's front, behind the raised shields, sharp, bloody spears suddenly thrust out, and the soldiers behind them moved in unison, united as one.

The shield in Sun Da's hand effectively blocked the charge of the Geng army servant in front of him. Gu Defu behind him stepped forward and took the opportunity to thrust out with the spear in his hand. The spear head directly pierced through the armor on the chest of the Geng army soldier, making a harsh sound of metal friction and breaking.

At this moment, a soldier took advantage of the opportunity and rushed to the side of Geng Jun who was stabbed by Gu Defu, holding a spear and trying to stab him, but just as he took a step forward, he was hit in the face with a "bang" by the short axe thrown by Zhao Zhengdong.

As the Geng army servant fell back suddenly, a burst of blood splattered out, and then the whole person fell to the ground with a "bang". His face had already been smashed by the short axe, and he died instantly, and was then overwhelmed by the Geng army soldiers who rushed over.

As the battle continued, both sides continued to attack each other, but were constantly repelled by the opponent's long and short weapons. The lines of the Ming army and the Geng army began to become chaotic, even jagged.

However, the entire front line was still maintained in a dynamic state. Even if the front line was temporarily broken, it would be quickly recaptured and repaired. Every time the Geng army servants needed to break through, they had to face the continuous attacks of several long and short weapons from the Tianwu Left Camp soldiers, which was impossible to defend against.

These are the movements that the soldiers of the Palace Army have practiced thousands of times on the training ground. In the melee, most of the soldiers actually have a blank mind and act entirely based on muscle memory. They can react directly when they hear the drums and can immediately form a battle line when they see the enemy.

The two armies collided, and life and death were at stake in an instant. At this moment, all the soldiers were just consumables on the front line and could be killed at any time. Broken shields, broken weapons, and countless helmets were flying on the front lines of the two armies, and then fell to the ground with a crackling sound.

The Geng army, which had been charging forward rapidly, did not expect to be hit like this. Faced with the dense spears, many people instinctively dodged to the side, but there were still sharp weapons stabbing and slashing at them. The Geng army's charge gradually lost its sharpness under the swift counterattack of the Tianwu Left Camp.

Geng Zhongming had only more than 200 elite servants, while the Palace Army had dispatched three thousand headquarters and more than 2,000 armored soldiers. Their equipment and combat effectiveness were not much weaker than those servants, and were better than ordinary Geng army soldiers.

With the advantage in manpower, the Palace Army gradually gained the upper hand. The spears and swords in their hands were like the god of death, constantly reaping the lives of the enemies. Even the soldiers holding shields, with their swords in hand, also caused considerable casualties in close combat.

The front line was filled with corpses of Geng's soldiers. They fell to the ground with their intestines and internal organs spilling out. They were wailing in their dying state, but the Geng soldiers who were not dead yet were still struggling.

One fierce battle after another continued on the front lines of the two armies. Geng's army suffered heavy losses. It was the first time they faced such a powerful Ming army. They had no way to adapt and no time to react.

Many times, before they could even react, sharp gun tips were already coming towards them. Many people had to deal with attacks from more than three or four weapons at the same time. The originally strict and magnificent Geng army line quickly fell into chaos due to the huge casualties.

At this time, some quick-reacting Geng soldiers in the rear line quickly shot arrows on horseback, but these scattered light arrows were nothing to the soldiers of the Palace Army who were covered in double armor. Some soldiers who were shot in the armor didn't care at all and continued to fight.

As the casualties on all fronts of Geng's army continued to increase, especially the retreat of Geng Zhongming's servants, the situation on the entire battlefield became clear.

Zhu Cilang, standing on the observation tower, watched the Geng army retreating step by step, feeling extremely excited. He knew that he had actually won this battle. The Palace Army and the Beijing Camp had not let him down, and they had won the first victory against the Qing army in the Dingwu period. He immediately gave the order:

"All troops, attack and annihilate this Qing army. I want to capture Geng Zhongming and Geng Jimao, father and son!"

　Thanks to the book friend "Yueken Road Dazhuang" for the reward
　　
　
(End of this chapter)