The Soldier of the Red Mansion

Chapter 168 Complete Victory
"Boom."

Twenty Portuguese cannons fired continuously, and then the gunners replaced the barrels. The shells in the barrels were already loaded, and they only needed to be installed into the main barrel and ignited to fire. This is also the reason why the range of the Portuguese cannon is not as good as that of the Red Cannon.

Although the firing rate is fast, the barrel is not airtight enough due to the sub-barrel structure, so the range is not as good as the Red Cannon.

The Portuguese cannon is a breech-loading cannon, while the Red Cannon is a muzzle-loading cannon.

In the next one or two centuries, it was the era of muzzle-loading guns, and the Portuguese arquebus was gradually eliminated. But who could have known that in the end, the muzzle-loading gun would be replaced by the breech-loading gun? Only you know.

After the war started, the commander-in-chief had little to do. If the commander-in-chief was very busy, it meant that the situation was unpredictable and he did not have the initiative. Wang Xin felt that he was not busy, so he was happy.

"Bang bang bang."

The bird gun had insufficient firepower, so it was equipped with a Portuguese cannon.

Horses fell one after another, leaving behind corpses. The wounded soldiers were pinned under their horses, unable to move, crying out in despair. The battlefield was filled with smoke, blood and foam, and dirt flew into the sky from time to time.

The enemy retreated.

The army continued its march.

In the afternoon, in a gray area with a sparse forest in the distance, the Hu cavalry launched another charge, this time even more determined. No one knew what they talked about, but Wang Xin could hear it.

This time the sound of horse hooves was heavier and the ground was shaking.

There were several hundred armored cavalrymen behind the Hu cavalry.

The baffles were knocked down, and the chariots were overturned, revealing the sword and shield soldiers inside. The sword and shield soldiers covered the retreat of the bird gun soldiers. The bird gun soldiers scattered and retreated madly. The armored cavalry general Yang Yu's face was heavy. He didn't expect Wang Xin's troops to be so powerful.

After much difficulty in convincing Daldai, he also mobilized all his forces for the final attack, determined to eliminate Wang Xin.

It worked!
Seeing the fleeing bird gun soldiers, Yang Yu couldn't understand the wildly waving flags in the distance, nor could he hear the abnormally panicked drums and trumpets. He only knew that he couldn't miss the opportunity, "Chase them and disperse them."

Yang Yu personally led the elite troops around him to chase and kill, and the sword and shield soldiers who arrived did not retreat a single step.

A dozen or so Hu cavalrymen in the distance saw this and came to support them experiencedly, shooting arrows at the team of sword and shield soldiers. The sword and shield soldiers were wearing cotton armor, and those who were hit by several arrows did not make a sound. They remained firmly nailed to the ground, relying on their comrades to build a line of defense that was no weaker than the chariot camp.

Although he knocked down several chariots here and opened a gap, he also temporarily lost his speed. Relying on his iron armor and riding on his horse, he stood high and chopped down the chariots, but he didn't expect that he couldn't cut through them.

After clearly hitting one soldier, another soldier would quickly take his place, never letting them run away.

It seemed like an eternity, but in reality, only a moment had passed.

The musketeers who had just fled in panic actually rearranged their formation, loaded their gunpowder, and marched in three rows. When they reached a distance, the musketeers in the first row raised their guns.

"Crash."

The sword and shield soldiers either ran to the side or fell down in time.

"Bang bang bang."

"Bang bang bang."

Three rows took turns shooting.

The knights who had been so brave and invincible just now were like peeled eggs. With a slight touch, the yolk flowed out. The sword and shield soldiers took the opportunity to grab the reins of their war horses, or kill the armored knights who fell to the ground and could not move easily.

The battle was so intense that everyone was driven into madness.

After the madness, chaos was left on the earth, blood dyed the land red, and when the blood dried up, as the cold wind blew, silence returned under the sky.

"Hula la."

The sound of the wind blowing became so loud.

"Yang Yu is dead."

Aldai was covered in blood. The warrior next to him had been hit by a shell and turned into a bloody mist. Aldai was now frantically pulling Shuo Erhui and shouting, "His men have escaped."

Looking at Chanyu's brother, and not knowing where Chanyu was now, Shuoerhui knew that Chanyu's tribe was finished.

"withdraw!"

"We can't retreat!" Aldai yelled ferociously. A piece of flesh on his face was firmly stuck to his face because of the dried blood, which made him look very scary and disgusting.

"Aldai, we lost."

Shuo Erhui tried to calm Aldai down.

"No, we didn't lose. Feng Yong lied to us and they ran away." Alda shouted madly.

The people around them stared at them, watching the Zhou army in the distance organizing their formations, moving as if they were a whole. Although there was not much contact, Shuo Erhui was deeply impressed.

It is as motionless as a mountain, aggressive as fire, slow as a forest, and as fast as the wind.

It seemed to be moving very slowly, but in fact it was very fast. Soon, it would attack them. Shuo Erhui's throat interfered, and a sense of desolation rose in his heart.

He saw despair.

Despair on the grassland!

He didn't know how to deal with such an army, but Shuoerhui knew that he couldn't let Alda continue shouting.

"let's go!"

Ignoring Aldai, Shuoerhui left with his men.

Aldai was the Chanyu's younger brother, but no one knew where the Chanyu was. In the hearts of the soldiers, Shuoerhui held a higher prestige than Aldai. Now Aldai looked as if he had gone mad, so the rest of the people followed Shuoerhui and ran away, as if they were running away from the devil.

That group of Zhou soldiers were like devils. No one dared to stay. They no longer cared about their beloved horses and fled back desperately.

There were several battles over a period of twenty or thirty miles.

Wang Xin ordered the troops to set up camp, count the equipment, clean up the battlefield, pursue the defeated soldiers, collect the prisoners, and cook.

The biggest losses to the chariot camp were caused by the hundreds of armored cavalrymen who hid behind the Hu cavalry and tore through the defense line of the chariot camp. Although everyone was united and quickly filled the gap, the casualties caused in such a short period of time exceeded the total casualties since leaving the pass.

"That should be Feng Yong's man, and he can be saved well." Wang Xin ordered.

"Still want to rescue?" Li Wu said unhappily, "Because of them, we have more than thirty brothers killed or wounded." He was the closest to the gap just now, and he led his men to fight desperately. There were ninety people in the entire sentry, and more than twenty people were killed or wounded. The casualties of the entire army were nearly fifty, and his sentry accounted for half of them.

"Save people first, they are just soldiers, following orders." Zhang Can ran over and heard Li Wu's words, and hurriedly supported the general.

Although Zhang Can held a high position, Li Wu stared at Zhang Can with dissatisfaction.

Zhang Can also knew that Li Wu had lost many of his brothers, and he felt bad about it, so he gave in to him. According to his previous temper, he would not tolerate it.

Wang Xin patted Li Wu and said soothingly, "When these wounded soldiers have recovered, we should distinguish which ones are following orders and which ones are Fatty Feng's confidants and accomplices. Then we should give them different punishments."

After listening to the general's explanation, Li Wu felt that it was indeed correct. Although he felt sad, he no longer refused.

Armored cavalry has high defense and impact force, but poor endurance. After experiencing a battle, their endurance is gone, especially after a defeat. They must first abandon their armor and weapons before they are qualified to escape.

Some lost their horses, some were injured, some were captured after rushing into the battle formation, some surrendered voluntarily, some were caught up by Zhang Can's cavalry, and so on.

After taking inventory of the battlefield, it was learned that there were 500 armored cavalrymen, half of whom were killed or wounded, less than 200 were captured, and less than 100 escaped. As for the Hu cavalry, 4,000 were dispatched, more than 1,000 were killed or wounded, and half of them escaped.

Although half of them escaped, the total population of the Shanyu tribe was less than 10,000, and all the dead were young and strong - the old and weak waved flags and shouted, but there were fewer casualties and more escapes.

The Chanyu's tribe is no longer a serious threat. Let's see how the general handles it.

Zhuo Zhi was responsible for cleaning up the battlefield, making detailed reports, and waiting for the general's reply.

The fruits of the battle were truly plentiful. Although nearly fifty of their own brothers were killed or wounded, everyone couldn't help but feel happy. The entire camp was filled with laughter and pride.

There are as many as one or two hundred intact horses, and if the injured horses are rescued, there will be even more horses that can survive.

But they still had to march, so among these injured horses, only those whose movements were not affected and whose movements would not affect their injuries could survive.

Then there were the armors, hundreds of sets, many of which were in tatters but could be repaired, as well as their weapons and equipment. This time, the Hexi Camp was considered to have made a fortune, with the main source of income coming from this armored cavalry.

The Hu cavalry were extremely poor. Although they rode horses, swords and guns were indiscriminate on the battlefield and they would shoot the horses first before shooting the people. Therefore, the chances of seizing war horses from the Hu cavalry were small.

The Hu people looked down upon the inferior scimitars and light bows in their hands.

If it weren't for this armored cavalry, the Hexi Camp would have suffered a huge loss on this trip out of the border, because most of the shells and gunpowder were consumed, and the Portuguese arquebuses and bird guns also had a service life, which were all costs.

The firearms and ammunition of the Hexi Camp, including the losses of the chariot camp, had to be replaced or overhauled after five such battles. The cost of one battle, excluding personnel and supplies, was as high as more than 3,000 taels of silver.

Hundreds of sets of armor were worth over 4,800 taels. Even though they still needed repairs, they could still make back their investment and still make a lot of money. Without these hundreds of sets of armor, the Hexi Camp would have suffered a great loss.

As for horse meat? Beef and lamb.

It's okay outside the customs, but if I bring them back inside, how can I feed them? I can't even make back the transportation cost.

The living horses can cover the compensation because the casualty rate of the Hexi Camp is small. If the casualties are large, the value of these horses will not be enough to pay the compensation.

It is said that the Tang Dynasty made its fortune through wars, but even so, its targets were the countries in the Western Regions, not the tribes.

If attacking a tribe had economic benefits, would anyone else be able to tell us what to do? It only had military benefits.

However, of course, the Chanyu tribe had to be destroyed on their way back.

"Anyone who dares to resist will be killed without mercy!" In the evening, the entire army rested. Wang Xin summoned all the generals, arranged the next matters, and issued orders.

"I'm afraid they'll run away."

"Not so fast. We're blocking this exit. Where are they going to run? Climb up the hills. What about the cattle, sheep, and horses?"

Everyone discussed it.

"If we don't surrender, what if people run away?" someone asked.

They can't just keep wasting time.

Wang Xin said calmly, "Drive the cattle and sheep into the borderlands. Once inside, distribute them to the people living in the border areas. Don't leave any for them."

What’s the point of living on this grassland if we lose our cattle and sheep?

If I do this, there will probably be more horse thieves in the Hetao area next year.

The situation will become unstable, and instability will lead to accidents, which is not conducive to management.
But the most important thing is how to deal with Feng Yong next.

From the current structure of Datong and the Hetao region, it can actually be seen that Feng Yong played a significant role in the early days.

One is the issue of Feng Yong, and the other is the issue of Datong and the Hetao region.

Wang Xin thought for a long time.

The next morning, the Chanyu tribe came on their own initiative.

(End of this chapter)