Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 425 Martial Arts Performance
On the morning of April 26, 1640, a force of over six hundred men was marching along a muddy road in the fields of New An (now Langford, Vancouver Island).

Yesterday's spring rain not only brought a touch of coolness but also made the earth soft and muddy, making it extremely difficult for the soldiers to walk.

The entire line stretched out very long, like a black python covered in mud, slowly crawling along the slippery road.

"Damn it, choosing this awful weather for a drill is just torturing us!" Private Luo Daikui, walking in the middle of the group, cursed under his breath. He pulled his boots out of the mud with a "pop" sound, splashing mud all over the face of the new recruit Mao Faluo behind him.

The latter lost his momentum and crashed into Luo Daikui, staggering and nearly falling into the mud.

"Watch where you're going, you idiot!" Luo Daikui grabbed Mao Falu's backpack strap. "Are your eyes on your ass? If you break your leg, no one's coming to carry you!"

Mao Falu blushed, wanting to explain that it was the other person's fault that he almost fell, but he hesitated to speak, straightened his backpack, covered his head and continued on his way.

"No noise is allowed during the march!" an officer shouted.

"Damn it, the road is so hard, and we're not even allowed to complain..." Luo Daikui muttered under his breath.

"Who's still talking?" the officer's voice carried a stern warning.

"..." Luo Daikui shrank back, lowered his head, and followed the queue, moving forward quickly.

Although this is just a military exercise, it is equivalent to a wartime situation. If military orders are violated, military judges in the unit will directly enforce battlefield discipline.

If someone is not minor, they might be dragged out and executed, and then reported for disobeying orders, without even receiving a penny of compensation. That would be far too unfair!
"Maintain formation! Speed ​​up! We must reach Xin'an Lake (now Lanford Lake) before 10:00!" Major Lu Pingqiu, commander of the 1st Mixed Battalion of the Army, rode a chestnut warhorse and delivered the order in a loud voice.

The commander, in his early thirties, had a resolute face and a faint scar on his left cheek, a mark left seven years ago from a battle with the invading Spanish army.

Operations staff officer Li Cheng spurred his horse closer, wiping the sweat from his brow: "Sir, we've been marching for two hours. Should we let the men rest for a bit?"

Lu Pingqiu looked up at the sky and then surveyed the surrounding terrain.

The troops were in an open area, with a dense forest on the left and a gentle slope on the right, where a large number of cattle and sheep were scattered. Some curious herdsmen were shading their eyes with their hands and looking in their direction.

As an officer who graduated from the Dongping Army School, he instinctively began to assess the defensive value of the area.

“Go another kilometer, and I remember there’s a high ground over there that can be used as a temporary camp.” He pointed to a raised area to the right front. “It has a good view and is convenient for setting up a defensive position.”

The group continued forward, their boots making a dull thud as they stepped on the damp mud.

Suddenly, the sound of rapid hoofbeats came from ahead.

A rider galloped over, his face showing tension.

"Reporting, Battalion Commander! Enemy tracks have been spotted five kilometers ahead!" The scout reined in his horse and reported breathlessly, "The enemy numbers about three thousand, with about eight to nine hundred cavalry and the rest infantry. They have a small number of firearms, but no artillery has been detected."

"Is it that the enemy didn't carry artillery, or that your scouts failed to spot the enemy's artillery?" Lu Pingqiu asked seriously.

"Uh..." The scout immediately showed an embarrassed and flustered expression. "Reporting to the battalion commander, no enemy artillery has been detected yet. The enemy cavalry is numerous, and our scouts cannot get close enough to conduct reconnaissance; we can only observe from a distance..."

Lu Pingqiu glared at him and immediately raised his right hand to signal the troops to stop advancing.

The entire formation came to a swift halt, like a precise machine, and the soldiers automatically went into alert mode.

"All troops on high alert!" Lu Pingqiu's voice was exceptionally clear in the suddenly quiet wilderness. "Enemy attack! Immediately switch to defensive formation!"

"Battalion Commander, according to the exercise plan, the enemy should only launch a surprise attack after our troops have reached the vicinity of Xin'an Lake," Li Cheng said in a low voice. "But now, the enemy is not following the pre-arranged plan and has suddenly launched a surprise attack on our troops halfway. This is clearly against the rules!"

"What kind of rules are these!" Lu Pingqiu glared at him. "Before the exercise, Commander Mo and Commander Zheng said that this spring exercise would be conducted in accordance with actual combat, and would be as close as possible to the real battlefield environment."

"Do you think the Spanish will follow the rules when the war breaks out? Or do you think the Qing Eight Banners will charge into battle according to the script?!"

"..." Li Cheng was rebuked by his superior, his face flushed red, and he froze on the spot, not knowing how to respond.

"What are you all standing there for?" Lu Pingqiu shouted at him, "Quickly set up defensive positions! The enemy has eight or nine hundred cavalrymen, and they will be here in no time!"

"Yes, sir!" Li Cheng snapped out of his daze and immediately turned and ran towards the troops. "All companies and artillery detachments, deploy for defense according to Plan No. 3!"

"The engineering company is preparing barricades and trenches!"

"The supply troops will assist the artillery in establishing firing positions on the right-hand slope!"

"All officers and soldiers of the musket company fix bayonets and form a three-line rotational firing formation!"

The order was quickly relayed, and the entire unit sprang into action like a hornet's nest that had been stirred up.

The soldiers no longer maintained marching columns, but instead, under the organization of their officers, quickly set up temporary defensive positions.

With the assistance of the supply troops, the artillerymen, chanting slogans, pushed more than ten cannons toward the high ground on the right, leaving deep tracks in the muddy ground with their wheels.

Dozens of engineers split into two groups. One group rushed to the woods on the left, wielding axes to chop down small trees, preparing to act as temporary barricades. The other group of soldiers brandished shovels and frantically dug horse traps in the road and open fields a hundred meters in front of the formation, preventing the enemy cavalry from charging.

Within a quarter of an hour, a slight tremor was felt on the ground, and one after another, scouts spurred their horses frantically to report that the enemy vanguard had advanced to within a certain distance.

"Enemy cavalry are two kilometers away from our troops!"

"The enemy is approaching 1,500 meters away!"

"One thousand meters!"

"besides……"

"No need to report!" Lu Pingqiu put down his binoculars and stopped the scouts from reporting. "We can see it with our own eyes, what's the point of reporting it!"

After speaking, he turned to look at his own defensive position.

Seven or eight small trees, each about the size of a bowl, along with their branches, were laid horizontally eighty meters in front of the column. The engineers who were digging the horse traps were continuing their work while frequently looking up to observe the situation ahead, preparing to run away when the cavalry got close.

On the gentle slope on the right, more than ten artillery pieces have been set up. The gunners and observers are making final adjustments to the artillery, while more than ten supply soldiers are transporting boxes of shells and gunpowder barrels to the position.

More than 500 musketeers set up a semi-circular defensive position in the open field, their gleaming bayonets pointing towards the direction from which the enemy was attacking.

"If there were another cavalry unit to protect the flanks, the defensive formation would be even more perfect." Lu Pingqiu nodded slightly.

Lu Pingqiu strode towards the center of the formation, but before he got close, a supply soldier tripped and fell in front of him in a panic. The ammunition box fell to the ground, and the soldier fell face-first into the mud.

He stepped forward and kicked the soldier in the buttocks, shouting sternly, "What's the panic! The enemy hasn't even charged yet, and you're all so scared!"

Tang Xiaohu, the company commander of the Second Company, came up to us and said in a low voice, "There are too many new recruits. A third of them were recruited last summer."

"That's why the army needs to conduct drills and then real combat exercises to test its combat capabilities," Lu Pingqiu said in a deep voice. "If we really encounter the Eight Banners cavalry, one mistake could lead to the annihilation of the entire army, and we would perish on the battlefield as well!"

"The enemy has stopped advancing!" the lookout on the high slope shouted.

"Sir, the enemy cavalry may be preparing for an attack." After checking the military deployment, operations staff officer Li Cheng rushed over to report to Lu Pingqiu. "I suggest that we immediately order two 110mm cannons (110mm caliber, equivalent to a 12-pounder) to launch a rapid fire attack on the enemy to disrupt their combat deployment."

"..." Lu Pingqiu raised his binoculars and looked in the direction where the enemy cavalry were gathered.

Perhaps realizing that their own side had made defensive preparations, and that a forced charge would cause heavy casualties, the enemy cavalry units reined in their horses and stopped in the open field 800 meters away.

Of course, it's also possible that they're making some adjustments in preparation for the final assault that's about to begin.

Apart from a small force of about twenty cavalrymen who went out to serve as sentries and scouts, the rest of the cavalrymen had dismounted to rest. The large number of men and horses covered the entire plain in front of them.

"Order both 110mm cannons to launch a rapid fire attack on the enemy cavalry assembly point!" Lu Pingqiu shouted the order.

"110mm guns launch a rapid fire assault on the enemy! Solid shot ready!"

"Cannon number one is ready!"

"Cannon number two is ready!"

"..."

Reports came one after another.

The artillery commander swung his raised arm down sharply: "Fire!"

The two cannons spat out flames almost simultaneously, and the deafening roar echoed across the plains.

Because it was an exercise, the artillery was only loaded with a small amount of gunpowder and no live ammunition, but the sheer scale of the exercise was still impressive.

"Free Fire!"

"Continue to launch a rapid fire attack on the enemy cavalry!"

"..."

"Sir, the observation team has determined that the enemy cavalry has lost twelve riders, and another twenty or so have fled in terror from the artillery fire," the lookout on the high slope reported loudly. "Damn it, how did they determine that?" Lu Pingqiu spat into the mud. "The cannons fired three rounds, how come they only lost a dozen or so cavalry? They must have been scattered by the artillery fire and temporarily lost their ability to attack."

"Sir, our hypothetical enemy is the Qing Eight Banners..." Li Cheng whispered a reminder.

"The Eight Banners?" Lu Pingqiu was taken aback for a moment, then said resentfully, "The Qing Eight Banners are also made of flesh and blood. If we fire a cannon at them, they will still be torn apart. Why should they be able to withstand our artillery?"

"Keep the artillery firing, lest the enemy cavalry easily regroup."

"Yes, sir!"

However, before he could finish speaking, the sound of rapid hoofbeats suddenly rang out from the opposite side—more than thirty light cavalrymen were flanking him from two directions.
-
"What a disaster! Back then, I was chased and killed by the Tartars, but today I have to pretend to be a Tartar and have my own brothers bombard me with cannons!"

Deng Kun, commander of the 1st Cavalry Battalion of the Xinhua Army, sat astride a gray warhorse, watching as the cavalrymen who were judged to be killed or wounded were cleared from the ranks by the observers, and he clicked his tongue.

"Sir, we heard the cannon fire from just over 800 meters away, and it caused so many losses to our cavalry battalion?" Yang Zhaowu, the company commander of the 2nd Company of the 1st Cavalry Battalion, looked resentful.

"Judging from the sound, it is clear that it is the main 110mm caliber artillery of our army, with a range of over 1,300 meters. It is only natural that it has entered our lines and caused some casualties."

Deng Kun said with a smile, "However, if we were real Manchu Eight Banners cavalry, we would have immediately led our troops to retreat after the first round of artillery fire, and then organized scouts to harass the enemy's flanks or rear. How could we have gathered here like this and allowed the enemy to fire three or four rounds of artillery fire in succession?"

"What should we do now?" Yang Zhaowu asked. "Wait for more infantry to arrive?"

“The infantry battalion is still three or four kilometers away. It will take at least an hour for them to get here.” Deng Kun looked up at the enemy formation opposite him and waved his arm. “Send out a small number of cavalry scouts to harass the enemy’s flanks and wear them down. Also, find a way to get behind them and let these guys experience what it’s like to have cavalry right in their faces.”

He looked at the jagged jungle of bayonets waiting in formation opposite him, and suddenly grinned.

Back in Liaodong, the Eight Banners cavalry toyed with the Ming army in the same way.
-
"Boom! Boom!"

Another round of cannon fire made Mao Falu's eardrums ache.

He knelt in the second rank of muskets and could clearly see the "Qing cavalry" hundreds of meters ahead. Amid the roar of cannons, they all reined in their horses and turned around, but dozens of riders still scattered to the flanks like forked streams.

"Left flank alert!" Tang Xiaohu's shout came from the rear of the formation.

Mao Falu felt Luo Daikui beside him suddenly tense up—the veteran's index finger was already on the flintlock trigger.

"Hold on! Wait until they're within a hundred paces!" The platoon leader ran through the gaps in the ranks, his eyes glaring like bells beneath his helmet, waving through the mud. "Remember the training guidelines! Await the firing order! Front rank kneeling, back rank standing!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Another round of artillery fire erupted, but this time the noise was slightly less intense, far less powerful than that of the 110mm caliber army guns.

"The 75mm cannon (i.e., the 4-pounder) is firing grapeshot!" Luo Daikui muttered under his breath. "Those damn cavalrymen are probably going to be riddled with bullets!"

Mao Falu clenched his teeth, staring intently ahead without blinking, his heart pounding.

Although they had experienced several such confrontation exercises in the past six months, and even hid in tunnels to directly experience the process of artillery bombardment.

But every time I hear the roar of artillery, I still feel a tightness in my chest and can't help but want to scream out loud.

But the strict battlefield discipline and countless repetitive training sessions had long taught him how to control his mouth, obey officers' orders, and be ready to launch a counterattack at any time.

This was the first time he had ever faced a large cavalry charge head-on. The dull thud of hooves, the constantly rising and falling cavalry lines, and the surging momentum of the charge made his mouth dry.

The Xinhua Cavalry Battalion was not large, with only about three hundred riders. However, in order to enhance the effectiveness of the exercise, the Army mobilized and conscripted armed militia from more than ten surrounding villages and hamlets, allowing them to ride various types of horses, thus gathering four or five hundred riders to accompany the cavalry battalion on this large-scale long-distance raid, in order to test the army's emergency response during the march.

The sound of cavalry hooves gradually became clearer.

Mao Falu found his palm slipping on the gun barrel, unsure whether it was from rain or cold sweat.

He glanced to the right flank and saw six or seven engineers scrambling back from the horse trap area. The last one, a skinny boy, tripped over the mud and his helmet flew off.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

When the cavalry advanced to within 100 meters, the 75mm cannon fired another round of grapeshot, causing heavy casualties among the enemy cavalry.

But the remaining cavalrymen accelerated instead.

Mao Falu watched helplessly as the cavalry on the left flank suddenly split into three groups. The first five riders charged straight toward the barricade, while the other two groups drew an arc and moved toward the junction of the lines.

He heard Luo Daikui cursing: "Damn it, they're trying to cut off our escape route!"

"Ready!" The officer in the musket formation raised his sword high.

"put!"

The explosions from over two hundred flintlock muskets firing simultaneously were astonishing, and white smoke instantly obscured the view. Mao Fallu, carrying his musket, retreated to the back row and frantically reloaded the ammunition.

"put!"

Although the smoke obscured the view ahead, the officers' commands continued to ring out, and rows of musketeers mechanically pulled their triggers.

In the distance, the shouts of the exercise observers could be faintly heard, determining the casualties among the charging cavalry.

"Whoosh!"

Suddenly, an arrow emerged from the smoke and struck Company Commander Tang Xiaohu in the neck.

The burly officer hesitated for a few seconds before reluctantly raising the fallen flag and leaving the field.

The entire left flank suddenly lost command, and the battle line began to waver slightly.

"Cover up! Back row, cover up!" The platoon leader in the ranks promptly took over command, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Keep firing! Don't stop!"

After Mao Falu finished firing, he retreated to the rear and frantically reloaded when he suddenly heard the screams of the supply train behind him.

He turned his head and saw that his blood had almost frozen. At some point, more than ten riders had circled around to the rear of the formation, and the officer in charge was wielding a wooden sword, hacking and slashing at the soldiers who were in a chaotic mess.

"Third Company, turn around and fire freely!" Lu Pingqiu's shout rang out. "Block the breach!"

The entire battlefield was in complete chaos.

The right wing continued to bombard the enemy forces in front with artillery, while the left wing engaged in hand-to-hand combat with some of the advancing cavalry, and the supply wagons behind were knocked over and overturned.

Several cavalrymen also charged towards the artillery positions on the hillside, hoping to destroy the enemy's most important firepower output point.

Mao Faluo had just loaded his ammunition when he was knocked down into the mud by a "fallen" cavalryman.

As he struggled to his feet, he saw Luo Daikui smash a "Qing soldier" to the ground with the butt of his gun, and then he was struck on the back by another "Qing soldier's" wooden sword.

"Beep..."

A piercing whistle suddenly rang out across the battlefield.

Everyone instinctively stopped what they were doing. The exercise's commander-in-chief, Mo Tianhai, rode up on horseback with his staff, his face as black as the bottom of a pot.

"A fierce battle, huh?" He flicked his riding whip at Lu Pingqiu. "The defensive battle was like a honeycomb briquette, with three holes poked in it!"

He then pointed at Deng Kun and sneered, "Cavalry charging a musket position? Do they really think they're invincible because they're wearing heavy armor?"

Deng Kun chuckled and lifted his mask: "This subordinate wanted to simulate the Eight Banners' elite infantry fighting to the death..."

"Simulate my ass!" Mo Tianhai kicked over a nearby ammunition box. "The Qing army's Eight Banners cavalry are the most precious; why would they be so reckless as to charge into a well-prepared musket formation? They wait for your lines to falter or for you to turn and flee before launching a surprise attack!"

He turned to the dejected Lu Pingqiu, "And you! No reserves were deployed at the flank junctions, no barricades were erected at the artillery positions, and no traps were dug. If it were a real battle, your artillery positions would have been captured by now!"

There was silence in the field.

Mao Falu secretly wiped his face and found that his hands were covered in mud mixed with gunpowder residue.

He suddenly noticed that the artillerymen on the gentle slope were snickering. These guys had fired six rounds of artillery without breaking a sweat.

"Now, let's review the exercise!" Mo Tianhai coldly swept his gaze over all the officers present. "After returning to camp, each of you will submit a summary of the exercise."

After saying that, he turned and left angrily.

As dusk fell, Mao Falu dragged his aching body back to the camp.

He saw Luo Daikui laughing and joking with the cavalryman who had "killed" him that morning, while Deng Kun and Lu Pingqiu were gesturing at a map.

Old Wang, the cook, handed out ginger soup to everyone, muttering, "This exercise is even more exhausting than training..."

In the distance, the bugle call to end the drills could be heard, and the smoke of battle gradually dissipated over the spring fields of Xin'an.
-
(End of this chapter)