Chapter 194 ‘Sandwich’ [Please Collect]
There are more than 20 new and old battalion officers in the expeditionary force, half of whom are from the three families of Chen, Gao and Huang. Among them, the children of the Chen family account for 60% of this half, and they still firmly hold the dominant position in the senior officer class. But how long can this hegemony last?
As the general's mansion grows stronger, more and more people with other surnames appear in the upper echelons of the army. The current scene is inevitable for the expansion of any power.
For Chen Ming himself, he is also happy to see such a scene. When the army was first launched, the scene full of Chen's soldiers will soon be gone forever!
November 16, south of Jiangling City.
Seven or eight thousand Fu Han troops blocked the Hunan Green Camp West Route Army that had just crossed the river from the west and came east along the Juzhang River. Chen Ming seemed to have no idea that his troops were at an absolute disadvantage. The red uniforms of the seven or eight thousand Fu Han troops made the entire array look like a cloud of fire.
A ‘sandwich’ appeared on the battlefield. In front of the Fu Han Army was the Hunan Green Camp West Route Army wearing blue uniforms and cotton hats, and behind the Fu Han Army was the dark blue Jiangling City.
“Humph. They are really crazy. They come to fight us with Jiangling City behind them. The rebels are looking for death…”
Zhang Rui was just as Chen Ming expected. He had no fear of the Fu Han Army. Seeing Chen Ming leading a team of seven or eight thousand people to fight him with Jiangling behind him, he was stunned, and then laughed and got angry.
In Zhang Rui’s view, the Zhenxiang soldiers would not be afraid of a small group of rebels. Even if these rebels were well-equipped, even if they repeatedly defeated the officers and soldiers who went to encircle and suppress them, could the cowardly soldiers in Henan, Shaanxi, and Hubei compare with the world’s best Zhenxiang soldiers? It was the rebels who should be afraid of the Zhenxiang soldiers, not the Zhenxiang soldiers who should be on guard against the rebels.
Zhang Rui was ashamed to even think of the word fear in his heart.
Chen Ming now puts his troops in a position where he and the Jiangling defenders can attack from both sides. This is a naked contempt for himself.
The reputation of the Zhenxiang soldiers is like a super-charming assimilation instrument, which has assimilated Zhang Rui, who was born in Hebei, to be as proud as the Zhenxiang soldiers. You, Chen Ming, can look down on those trash in Jiangling City, but you can't look down on me. Not only should you not look down on me, but you should also be afraid of me and fear me.
This is the pride of the Zhenxiang soldiers forged by their reputation for one or two hundred years. They can endure hardships, be tyrannical, sacrifice their lives, be brave and good at fighting, and be tough and strong!
They are like a tiger, and now they are rudely flicked on the head by Chen Ming. A feeling of being trampled on and teased by dignity rises in the hearts of each of them, and the anger value soars.
On the top of Jiangling City, Xue Shiyan, Daotai, Zhifu, etc. are all looking nervously outside the city. Yesterday, Xue Shiyan had already sent people to contact the Zhenxiang soldiers, and today after dawn, he sent more people to contact Zhang Rui.
There is only one purpose, to make Zhang Rui never underestimate the Fu Han army, and not to fight with them outside the city. Chen Ni's soldiers are very powerful, and their armor is not for show.
But now it seems that his efforts are in vain.
The Qing soldiers in the Nanjimen Wengcheng are ready to fight at any time. If a fight breaks out outside the city, the defenders will definitely do their best to attack the back of the Fu Han army. This is the most basic common sense. Shuijinmen, which is farther away, gathered all the horse armor soldiers in Jiangling City and even the soldiers who dared to fight on horseback. A cavalry of nearly a thousand people was also preparing for the battle. They are closer to the battlefield than Nanjimen. Because Shuijinmen is in the southwest corner of Jiangling City.
Zhang Rui did not have a cannon in his hand. When the Hunan Green Camp came, time was very urgent, and many places in Xiangxi and Xiangnan had rugged roads. None of the 20,000 Green Camps heading north carried cannons.
But Zhang Rui didn't care about this. The Zhenxi soldiers fought more with swords and guns in their hands, rather than muskets and cannons. Among the sixty-six green camps of the Qing Dynasty, Zhengan Town was the best equipped with cold weapons. Even their musketeers were very good at using waist knives.
"Boom boom boom..."
The cannons let out their last roar, and the shotguns turned into a net of death in the air, knocking the Hunan Green Camp who rushed to the front of the Fu Han Army under the artillery fire. However, the charge of the Hunan Green Camp was still not over. The harvest of shotguns made Zhang Rui in the back line feel very painful, but the Hunan Xiang soldiers in the front line did not think so.
They were overwhelmed by blood and hatred!
Especially the Zhenxian soldiers who played the main role in the charge. They were known for their willingness to fight and despised the muskets and cannons displayed by the Fu Han Army. Compared with the muskets and cannons, they believed more in the swords and guns in their hands, but the cannons of the Fu Han Army brought them unexpectedly huge casualties, which made every living Zhenxian soldier hate them very much. Each of them was burning with the flame of revenge. They imagined themselves rushing to the front of the Fu Han Army and using the swords and guns in their hands to avenge their dead brothers.
The boiling flames of revenge made these soldiers who thought they were the best in the world burst out with their strong blood and courage.
"Kill, kill..."
"Charge, charge..."
"Revenge for the dead brothers, charge, charge..."
The huge shouts of killing continued to resound on the battlefield. Chen Ming really looked at these Hunan soldiers with new eyes. After suffering such huge casualties, they still had blood and courage to continue charging. Such an army was really rare in the pure cold weapon era.
But..., the Fu Han Army not only had cannons to shoot shotguns, but also had volley guns and tiger squat cannons at close range, as well as grenades.
"Bang bang bang..."
Shots were fired in unison; tiger squat cannons, broken iron and nails flying everywhere, it was a complete disaster for the unarmored Green Camp soldiers; and grenades, Chen Ming's personal guards organized a special grenade thrower in the right camp, every soldier who was selected could throw a grenade into a three-foot square basket from a distance of ten feet. And the minimum standard for the longest "range" was fifteen feet. You know, the grenades produced by the General's Mansion are much heavier than the wooden-handled grenades during World War II.
"Kill..."
When the Fu Han Army Armored Battalion, wearing iron armor and holding long spears, collided with the Hunan Green Camp assault troops, the red torrent crushed the green patches in front of them into powder without any hindrance. Chen Ming used the strength of four battalions to follow the defeated Qing army and counterattack their formation. If the defenders in Jiangling City behind him still did not move, even gods could not save the Hunan Green Camp in today's battle.
On the top of Nanji Gate, several Qing officials in civil service uniforms bowed their heads and stamped their feet, each of them scolding Zhang Rui.
Tens of thousands of Hunan Green Camp soldiers, the life-saving "magic pill" of Jiangling City, were destroyed by Zhang Rui. How much effect is left?
Xue Shiyan was no longer on the top of the city. He was standing under the city. Thousands of Green Camp soldiers and Banner soldiers were waiting in the city gate, holding their swords and guns, waiting for the city gate to open.
There was also a cavalry led by Abukai, the Eight Banners Lieutenant Colonel stationed in Jingzhou. Shuijin Gate would be opened earlier than Nanji Gate.
"Report to the Grand Commander, there is an Eight Banners cavalry rushing out of Shuijin Gate."
In the Fu Han Army, Chen Ming heard the urgent report from the scout. Cavalry, Shuijin Gate, this is not surprising. Eight Banners cavalry, Chen Ming was also mentally prepared. But he was still very curious, would this Eight Banners cavalry be like what he saw in TV and movies in his previous life...