The Soldier of the Red Mansion

Chapter 167: Testing and Confrontation

Shuoerhui was originally a slave in the tribe. When he was young, he was valued by Daldai and promoted to a soldier. With his bravery in combat, intelligence and good learning ability, he became a very powerful warrior. Now he is an important leader under Daldai.

The Zhou army continued to march forward, cautiously following the largest water bubble nearby. This place seemed to have been hit by a huge rock falling from the sky a long time ago, leaving behind potholes.

The largest water bubble is even bigger than their Shanyu City. Less than one or two miles away, there are some small, separate puddles, like the traces left by a stone jumping and rolling. This is also the most fertile area of ​​Shanyu City. Less than thirty miles to the south, it will enter the hills.

"The Zhou army on the opposite side is very cautious. Let's scare them." Shuo Erhui didn't want to be reckless here, but he didn't intend to let the Zhou army have an easy time. He wanted to see if he could make the other side reveal a flaw.

"The terrain here is only a few miles long. Even if the Zhou generals are cautious, they will eventually leave. Once the water hole is gone, it will be time for our tribal warriors to show their might."

Shuoerhui loudly encouraged the Hu cavalry.

"Yo ho."

"Yo hey!"

Everyone was showing off their prowess on horseback.

Soon, a Hu general led more than 200 Hu cavalrymen and rushed towards the Zhou army. The horses were very fast because they were wearing animal skins and leather hats, which made them very light. After years of nomadism, they seemed to have grown on the horses' backs, trampling on clouds of dust.

Zhao Sheng led the charge in the chariot camp. He led his own scouts and ninety infantrymen to clear the way for the army.

Although the soldiers trained strictly, there was still a certain delay between the transition between the chariot camp and the camp. The main role of the cavalry in the camp, including the infantry like them, was to buy time for the camp.

The artillery battalion had fired earlier to scare off the Hu cavalry, but everyone knew that they would face greater danger next.

After the chariot camp set out again, there was a row of chariots on each side, ready to change into a combat defense formation at any time, while protecting the artillery camp and the baggage camp in the middle. Between them were the musketeers and chariot soldiers, and then the cavalry who were ready to wait for combat orders at any time.

Although the animals have not undergone special training like war horses, they are accustomed to the battlefield and will not cause chaos due to loud noises.

The most dangerous troops in the entire army were Zhao Sheng's troops, which were leading the way for the main army, and Li Wu's troops, which were responsible for covering the rear.

"Prepare for battle!"

After discovering the enemy, Zhao Sheng shouted loudly and waved the flag to warn the rear, "Spearmen, raise your spears! Shieldmen, get ready!" He saw that the Hu cavalry on the opposite side were all carrying bows, so he issued another order.

As expected, those Hu cavalry had no intention of charging. Twenty steps away from Zhao Sheng's troops, they rode at full speed and skillfully circled around them, while shooting arrows at Zhao Sheng's troops from the side.

Zhao Sheng knew that the Hu cavalry on the opposite side would not charge into the formation, but Zhao Sheng still would not order his troops to evade. Instead, he would firmly guard the head of the chariot camp and not give the Hu cavalry any chance. If he asked his subordinates to move aside to avoid the arrows, the Hu cavalry might seize the opportunity and rush into his own formation.

If their own camp is disrupted, the Hu cavalry will surely launch a large-scale attack, with internal and external coordination, which will not only cause heavy casualties among their comrades, but may even lead to defeat.

This is the worst-case scenario. I believe that with the general's deployment and the bravery of my comrades, this gap will definitely be plugged. However, I cannot let my comrades bear the casualties just to save my own life.

Under the protection of shield bearers, the casualties were reduced to a minimum despite the arrows of the Hu cavalry.

Seeing the archers coming from the chariot camp, the group of Hu cavalry did not dare to stay any longer, nor did they dare to go deeper. With a command, they made a detour, leaving only their backs behind in a beautiful arc.

The archers who arrived were far behind and could only let the group of Hu cavalry leave.

"Damn it, it's like it's growing on the horse's back." Zhao Sheng saw that his two brothers were injured. Although the injuries were not serious, the Hu people were insidious and liked to stain their arrows with feces. The wounds needed to be cleaned quickly, but he could only watch the Hu cavalry run away helplessly and cursed angrily.

The two wounded soldiers were sent to the supply camp, which had a vehicle where they could lie down and take off their cotton armor. A doctor sat in the vehicle and could help heal their wounds during the bumpy ride.

The army remained unaffected and continued to advance.

Soon, the cavalry returned again.

Zhao Sheng frowned. This entanglement was really annoying. Two of his brothers were injured just now, and now several more were injured. He didn't need to fight this battle. It was the cavalry that had to be dealt with.

The Hu cavalry were fast, and there were few archers in the camp. Two legs could not outrun four legs. The Hu cavalry did not shoot at the archers, but only looked for the infantry and shot arrows from a distance. The archers could not catch up even if they ran their legs off.

When Zhao Sheng saw that the group of Hu cavalry were not coming towards him but running behind him, he couldn't help but smile.

"Bang bang bang."

Suddenly, a long series of frying peas sounds were heard from one side of the camp. Following the sound, more than 20 Hu cavalrymen in the distance fell off their horses. The whole team panicked and retreated without stopping.

A group of cavalry rushed out of the camp, killed the wounded soldiers, and brought back two frightened but intact horses.

"How could this be?"

Shuo Erhui, who was on the high slope two miles away, was horrified. Although he could not see the details clearly, he could see the general situation. The terrain was generally open, so he wanted to keep this group of Zhou troops out.

Once you get into the hills, the terrain becomes complicated.

"It looks like the Zhou army's firearms."

"How can firearms shoot so far?"

The Hu leaders were incredulous. They had seen the firearms of the Zhou Dynasty, which had a range of only thirty to fifty steps, while the range of bows and arrows could reach two hundred steps. This group of Zhou soldiers had a high rate of armor, and their light arrows could be thrown two hundred steps, but they had no accuracy and could not penetrate their cotton armor.

Therefore, Shuo Erhui ordered his men to shoot arrows from a distance of 100 steps, which could not only avoid the range of the Great Zhou firearms, but also increase the armor penetration rate. Didn't they just injure two people? But he didn't expect that the Great Zhou firearms would be able to shoot so far.
The leaders all looked at Shuoerhui, wondering what to do next?
Only two Zhou soldiers were injured, but more than twenty of their own men died. This casualty ratio is really shameful.

"Their firearms are too powerful."

The Hu cavalry who escaped back looked terrified, spoke incoherently, and complained one after another.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Shuo Erhui had no choice but to retreat.

Wang Xin was not satisfied with the retreat of the Hu cavalry. He thought that running away was the best strategy because it showed that the leader was not easy to deal with. On the contrary, Wang Xin preferred the kind of person who became more courageous after setbacks and who blindly relied on his physical courage to challenge others.

Traditional firearms belong to the matchlock gun, the first generation ancestor, and the bird gun belongs to the Vulcan gun, the second generation improved version.

Although both are firearms, there is a qualitative difference between bird guns and traditional fire guns.

The range of the bird gun is not shorter than that of the bow and arrow, and can be compared with the longest-range light arrow projectile of the bow and arrow. However, at such a long distance, the power of the bow and arrow is very small and has no ability to penetrate armor, while the lead bullets of the bird gun can still penetrate armor.

And there is a difference between being hit by an arrow and being hit by a bullet.

A tough guy who is shot by an arrow can continue to fight, but almost no one who is shot by a bullet can survive. The hot lead running rampant in the body is beyond the physiological endurance limit and makes people lose the ability to move directly.

The bow and arrow are currently superior to the bird gun in terms of firing rate. Light bows can fire six to eight arrows per minute, and even heavy arrows that can penetrate armor can fire two to three arrows per minute.

But light arrows cannot penetrate armor. The main reason why a brave warrior who is covered with arrows still fights bravely is that light arrows cannot penetrate his armor, not because he is called Superman.

Heavy arrows can penetrate armor, but their range is short, only about 60 meters, less than half of the bird gun, or even only one-third.

There is such a big difference in range, and the firing rate of the bird gun is also one shot per two minutes, which is only slightly slower than the heavy arrow. This gap, taken together, means that the bird gun is far superior to the heavy arrow in terms of the high difference in range.

It takes two years to train an ordinary archer, and it takes more than five years of training to train a qualified heavy archer.

It only takes six months to train a qualified bird gunner.

If the price of a fire gun was three taels of silver each, nomadic peoples could still get a little from trade. But when the price of a sophisticated bird gun, such as the Peruvian gun, including accessories, reached fifteen taels each, no nomadic civilization would be able to afford it and would be directly eliminated.

Not to mention the Portuguese.

The traditional artillery of the Great Zhou and the Great Ming took fifteen minutes to reload after a single reload, while the Portuguese artillery was equipped with three to nine sub-guns. A skilled gunner could even fire three rounds per minute, which was faster than a bird gunner.

The sub-gun can be rotated and cooled to allow it to fire continuously for 30 rounds, while traditional artillery needs to stop firing and cool down after five consecutive rounds.

The range of the Portuguese arsenal reaches 300 meters. It is currently the longest-range firearm in the Great Zhou Dynasty. It is also extremely powerful and has the fastest firing rate.

This was the original time and space, when Qi Jiguang initiated and reformed the military reforms introduced to the Nine Frontiers. While the advantages were numerous, the disadvantage was the high cost of silver, which was several times higher than the cost of traditional firearms. This also prevented the northern enemies from learning from them even if they wanted to.

This is also the reason why Wang Xin dares to come and go freely.

In addition to people, we also have equipment to crush the enemy.

The car camp continued to move forward slowly, although the speed was slow, but the momentum was unstoppable.

After passing the last bubble of water, the green land suddenly disappeared, and what came into view was a Gobi desert. At the same time, on the Gobi hills in the distance, rows of Hu cavalry raised their scimitars.

It seemed like several generals were riding horses and moving back and forth in front, talking loudly to the Hu cavalry.

Not a moment.

The Hu cavalry shouted and their momentum shook the heavens.

Those generals led rows of Hu cavalry to attack the chariot camp from a high place, as fierce as a sandstorm. With the roar of horses' hooves, the ground began to shake, making people's feet numb.

This was also the first time that Wang Xin felt this kind of shock.

To be honest, facing such power, anyone would feel scared, as if their feet were stuck in the railroad tracks and there was a speeding locomotive not far away, sounding the alarm.

"Crash."

The baffle was erected, and every soldier used his hands and feet, sweating profusely. Fortunately, thanks to the strict training, even though they were frightened, their hands kept moving.

"Deng Deng."

The gun barrels were pushed out, and there were rows of musketeers.

The Hu cavalry shot the first arrow.

The first row of Hu cavalry stood on horseback, pulled their bows with both hands, and shot arrows at the Zhou army chariot camp. To be honest, even the Great Zhou might not be able to produce so many skilled riders.

The gap in horsemanship between cavalry and cavalry is huge.

The Hu cavalry's advantage in this regard is indeed unmatched.

(End of this chapter)