I

"The camp is in full swing, the Tatars have left the city!"

Yang Zhenqing was immediately excited: "It's just the right time! The whole army lined up. The first team, the second team, and the third team came forward, holding long spears to prevent the Han slaves from rushing into the formation. The fourth team shot arrows into the open space in front of the formation, scaring away the Han slaves. The rest of the sentry team will all raise their guns to fight!"

The city gate opened, and Dopolo led his team on horseback to rush out, raising his sword and shouting: "I've looked through it with a telescope, but the match rope hasn't been installed on the other side, so hurry up and rush over!"

Flintlock muskets have already been installed in Liaodong. The dragoons of the three divisions have all been re-equipped, and the infantry has also been re-equipped with thousands of them.

But these were all small-scale conflicts, and the flintlock guns had not yet shown their prowess, so they did not attract the attention of the Eight Banners Army for the time being. They just thought it was an old-fashioned flintlock gun with an alarmingly high misfire rate. It was worse than a matchlock gun.

The Eight Banners Army came after them, and the Han serfs were so frightened that they ran wildly towards the Datong Army.

"Boohoo!"

There were still dozens of steps away when the independent battalion fired sporadic arrows and landed in the open space in front of the formation.

The Han slaves running at the front saw the Independent Battalion firing arrows and quickly hid on both sides, not daring to rush towards the Independent Battalion. The Han slaves in the rear, prompted by the herd mentality, also ran to both sides.

"Pikemen, return to the formation and replace the guns!"

The independent battalion is somewhat similar to the special forces. Two hundred people use spears and firecrackers, and three hundred people use bows, arrows, waist knives and firecrackers. They can switch between long and close combat modes at any time.

The spearmen in the front row threw away their spears and quickly went back to replace their guns.

"Hollow Formation!"

"One team, everyone. Look to the right, turn to the right, and walk!"

"Team 2, all of them..."

"Fire the bayonet!"

The grassroots commander blew the brass whistle, and the five hundred soldiers quickly arranged into a hollow formation. This is the first time that Zhao Han has used the hollow formation in actual combat, specifically for infantry to deal with cavalry.

Fortunately, there were few people and the small hollow array formed quickly, otherwise it would have taken a long time to form the array.

The Manchu and Qing cavalry took advantage of the cover of the Han slaves and took advantage of the formation of the Datong army to quickly cross the bridge and disperse their formation.

Dopoluo laughed out loud when he saw the loose formation of the Datong Army. He ordered the cavalry to completely disperse and outflank them, and used a small number of cavalry to lure the Datong army to shoot, and then charged directly towards them. This formation would definitely collapse in one rush.

Although this guy is greedy for life and afraid of death, he is also battle-hardened and has rich combat experience.

Empiricism kills people!

Although the independent battalion has few soldiers, there are even fewer Manchu cavalry in Xiuyan City. After being ambushed last time, more than a hundred war horses were lost. Although there were flagmen to replace them on the spot, the war horses could not be replaced immediately. Now there are only 200 cavalry in total, and many are mounted infantry.

Dopoluo should wait for the infantry to follow, and then cooperate with the attack on foot and cavalry, but the hollow formation of the Datong Army is too tempting.

About twenty or thirty riders rushed from several directions, trying to lure the independent battalion into firing.

Yang Zhenqing shouted: "No guns can be fired without orders!"

A small army of several hundred people shouted loudly, and everyone heard it.

Seeing that the Datong army was indifferent, Dopolo could only change his tactics. He called back all the cavalry, gave up attacking from all sides, and only aimed at three directions, carrying out a wave-like echelon charge.

The first wave of charges attracts firepower, and the next two waves of charges will be effective.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

The first wave of charging cavalry rushed about forty paces (60 meters) and was greeted by the front row firing of the independent battalion. Due to the distance, the cavalry formation was sparse, and more than two-thirds of the cavalry survived.

After the first row fired a salvo, they did not retreat and squatted on the spot to reload ammunition.

The second row of fire cannons fired a volley. After the distance was close, the hit rate increased greatly this time.

The third row of muskets immediately opened fire. After a row of gunfire, only a dozen or so of the Manchu and Qing cavalry who charged first were left alive. The second batch of Manchu and Qing cavalry also suffered heavy casualties.

The Manchu and Qing cavalry who rushed to the end did not hit them directly, but slowed down in advance and walked around the formation.

Three rows of dazzling bayonets stood there, and the horses were not stupid, so it was impossible to hit them unless the horses were blindfolded.

Dopoluo used his cavalry to attack the hollow formation without intending to break it up. Instead, if the cavalry rushes over, the fire rifle soldiers will collapse in fear, which is how it should be under normal circumstances.

However, the flintlock muskets could be packed tightly together and were equipped with bayonets.

It is different from a matchlock gun, and it is also different from one without a bayonet.

Seeing that the first two groups of cavalry suffered heavy losses, the third group of cavalry stopped midway. Because it was useless to rush over, the war horses would automatically move around the formation, and there were also the corpses of the soldiers and horses in front, which also prevented them from charging at full speed. Then simply shoot arrows, and while the Datong army is loading ammunition, the Manchu and Qing cavalry stop to launch.

In the eyes of the Manchu cavalry, after shooting two arrows, the Datong army was in chaos. Even if there is no chaos, they can easily leave the battlefield because the reloading speed of the firegun is very slow.

"Boohoo!"

The third group of Manchu and Qing cavalry fired arrows, knocking down more than ten Datong troops on the spot. Since they have been fighting guerrillas in the mountains for a long time, they wear leather armor, and their defense against bows and arrows is not as high as cotton armor.

Just when the Manchu cavalry was about to shoot the second arrow...

"Bang bang bang!"

About 70% of the Datong troops in the first row were reloaded and started firing again under the command of the officer.

"So fast?" Dopolo was horrified.

The surviving Manchu and Qing cavalry evacuated automatically without the need of Dopolo's command. The effective range of the horse bow is only twenty or thirty meters, so how can it be possible to shoot against the fire cannon soldiers.

Dopolo gathered his cavalry and took a general glance, and suddenly felt a chill in his vest.

There were more than 190 horses when he brought them out of the city, but now there are only about 60 horses left.

At this moment, the Manchu and Qing infantry had also crossed the moat. There were about 800 people, and there were still two to three hundred people defending the city. Most of them are not the Eight Banners Army, but the bannermen living around Xiuyan City.

how to spell?

In fact, dealing with the hollow formation is very simple.

One is to use big cannons to blast them, and then that's it.

The second is that the hollow array cannot be moved, just leave it alone.

The third is to use the brave and well-equipped cavalry to blindfold the horses and charge away directly in a dense formation - the cavalry will definitely suffer a loss, because the fire gun soldiers can be recruited in batches.

The fourth is to use infantry to attack. The battlefield width of the hollow formation is very small and cannot defeat the traditional infantry formation.

Xiuyan City also has artillery, but they are all city defense artillery. How long will it take to dismantle them now?

"Hush!"

Before Dopolo could figure out a way, the whistle of the independent battalion had already sounded, and the hollow formation slowly turned into a horizontal formation.

Slowly retreating to a place close to the hillside, not even the spears thrown on the ground, nor the horses used to carry food, did not give Dopolo any time to organize an attack.

Seeing more than 3,000 Han slaves fleeing further and further away, Dopolo felt quite anxious. He ordered: "Leave a hundred people to guard the city, and all the other Manchu warriors will come over and surround and annihilate these damn Nanbarbarians!"

Yang Zhenqing said with a smile on his face: "The entire army retreated to the hillside."

This guy is a natural-born general. In just two years, he was promoted from a soldier to a battalion commander. Moreover, after learning various tactics, he can use them perfectly at his fingertips. The key is that he is also bold and careful. Even a few hundred soldiers dare to come outside the city to snatch people. He is very clear-headed when it is time to fight and retreat.

At this moment, they abandoned the entire army's food, grass and horses and prepared to climb the mountain and flee. The soldiers returned hungry together.

"Chase!"

How could Dopoluo tolerate the enemy running away? If he did not severely damage the independent battalion, he would lose troops and generals one after another, and he would definitely be dismissed from his post.

The remaining 60 or so Manchu and Qing cavalry were the first to pursue them. But the closer they got to the mountains, the more rugged the terrain became, the speed couldn't be increased at all, and the number of their cavalry was too small.

After confirming that he would not be surrounded by cavalry, Yang Zhenqing suddenly was not in a hurry to leave, but ordered the entire army to retreat to a hillside.

Dopoluo left only 100 men to guard the city and gathered 1,000 infantry. The cavalry also abandoned their horses and climbed the mountain, intending to leave the independent battalion behind.

It was purely an act of seeking death. They had no artillery and no artillery soldiers from the Eight Banners of the Han Army, so they actually wanted to fight a mountain battle with the 500 Independent Battalion.

Of course, in the eyes of Manchu nobles like Dopolo, the Manchu Eight Banners Soldiers are the ancestors of mountain warfare.

Seeing that the Manchu soldiers began to outflank, Yang Zhenqing ordered: "Attack to the left, Shi Chang will direct the battle."

With less than 500 people and against 1,000, Yang Zhenqing took the initiative to attack.

Anyway, if the enemy divides his troops to outflank him, then attack one side with all his strength.

If the enemy doesn't divide his troops to outflank him, Yang Zhenqing can retreat calmly, and it's all up to him whether he wants to fight or stay.

A combat group of 10 people began to kill the enemy below. This is the experience of mountain warfare summarized by the Guangxi Datong Army. It has been notified to the entire army for study. After switching to flintlock rifles, this method of warfare becomes even more convenient.

"Bang bang bang!"

There were gunshots everywhere in the mountains and forests, and the Manchu and Qing soldiers were directly blinded.

The independent battalion consists of a group of ten people, often five people shoot together, and occasionally engage in free fire. After firing one or two shots, he immediately ran up the mountain. He was condescending and had a range advantage. He couldn't even touch him or surround him.

What Yang Zhenqing had to do was to hold up the telescope and stand at the top to observe the battle situation. If you find that there is a possibility of being surrounded, you will immediately blow the whistle, and the grassroots officers will lead the soldiers and slowly move closer to him.

The fighting lasted for two hours, and more than 80 Manchu soldiers died, but not even Mao of the Datong Army could be captured.

"Capital, withdraw!"

The Manchu soldiers were already suffering terribly. The independent battalion wore leather armor, but they wore cotton armor, and the physical exertion was different. Many flagmen did not have cotton armor, but they walked very lightly, but they were even more frightened. After all, they had never been to the battlefield and only practiced martial arts at home.

Doppolo is in a dilemma. If he does not inflict heavy damage on the independent battalion, he will be dismissed 100%. But continue to pursue it, and was walked by the independent camp again.

"withdraw!"

Dopolo gritted his teeth and said: "Those Nanmanzi who are not dead yet, go back and kill them all with a thousand swords!"

Several of the Independent Battalion were captured. They were all captured when they formed a hollow formation and were not killed by arrows but were unable to retreat quickly.

As soon as the Manchu and Qing pursuers retreated, Yang Zhenqing attacked them again, clawing at the enemy's buttocks and firing.

Dopoluo was so angry that he ordered the battle to continue. As a result, the independent battalion retreated while fighting.

Really losing his temper, Dopolo led his troops down the mountain quickly. After leaving the mountain, more than 190 people had been killed in the mountain.

At this moment, the Qing army only had more than 60 cavalry and 800 infantry left, and there were 100 defending infantry in the city.

The most important thing is that those temporarily recruited bannermen cannot hold on psychologically. Fighting this kind of battle as soon as you enter the battlefield, for new recruits, it is easy to fall into a state of fear of the enemy and timidity.

(Oops, I still owe an extra chapter, so I’ll do it tomorrow. Tomorrow comes tomorrow, shamelessly asking for a monthly ticket.)