lcionline Chapter 370: Why is it too urgent to fry each other?
Chapter 370: Why is it too urgent to fry each other?
While the artillery company was busy, the soldiers of the Qiongzhou Battalion directly in front were also ready for battle.
Facing the musket array of the Qiongzhou Camp, a distance of two hundred meters was a death sentence for infantry, and for cavalry, it was just a blink of an eye. Although the Qiongzhou Camp soldiers were well-trained, that amount of time was only enough for them to fire one shot.
Directly in front were two rows of soldiers. The front row squatted down with their rifle butts on the ground and their bayonets pointing diagonally to the sky, while the back row stood with their rifles level and aimed forward. Under the command of the officers, they fired a volley.
"Bang, bang, bang!" A dense barrage of lead bullets struck the warhorses or knights. The hit warhorses cried out in pain, their front hooves buckling and collapsing to their knees, then rolling and falling, throwing their masters far away. The knights who were directly hit fell backward, crashing heavily to the ground, where they were trampled to death by their comrades' warhorses.
After the volley, the soldiers did not fire another round, but quickly crouched down, pointing their bayonets diagonally to the sky, just like the front rank.
The Shandong soldiers didn't know if there would be another volley of musket fire, but they had no way to retreat. They kicked their horses hard in the belly with their spurs, urging them forward. Horses that rolled or fell in front of them tried to dodge, and those that couldn't were charged blindly. Many were tripped and fell to the ground, rolling in heaps. The remaining cavalry charged with great momentum, quickly reaching the front of the square formation. The sabers held high by the foremost cavalryman were about to fall when the fuse of the mountain cannon went out.
With a series of booming sounds, the mountain guns fired almost directly at the heads of the Shandong soldiers. One after another, shotgun shells burst out of the barrels under the force of the explosions. The pressure difference between the inside and outside caused the shotgun shells to crack, and countless projectiles turned into a rain of metal and flew towards the enemy who was just inches away.
At such close range, the Shandong soldiers had no way to avoid being hit by a barrage of bullets, instantly turning them into sieves. Countless bloody holes pierced their bodies, and blood, brain matter, severed fingers, and rags flew everywhere. Many of them didn't even have time to scream before falling to the ground as mangled, bloody messes.
Liu Zeqing was lucky; during the charge, he fell from the front to the middle, which fortunately saved him from the final hail of shrapnel. He stared in disbelief as the cavalry ahead were struck by a rain of bullets, bursts of blood erupting as hundreds were instantly obliterated. Raindrops of blood mixed with bits of flesh and brains fell on his head and face, and something even flew into his mouth. He dug it out and saw it was a piece of minced flesh covered in cloth.
The seasoned general, a ruthless killer, vomited for the first time on the battlefield. Although he had beheaded his enemies and ripped out their internal organs, he had never eaten raw human flesh. Witnessing the horrific deaths of his men, and then having human flesh ripped from his mouth, he could no longer control his fear and nausea, and vomited up everything he could.
This round of shotgun fire completely calmed the Shandong cavalry, and their momentum slowed down. Seeing the two rows of gleaming bayonets ahead, no matter how much their riders struck their horses' bellies with spurs, the warhorses refused to charge into the bayonet formation, instead circling around aimlessly.
After vomiting, Liu Zeqing quickly regained his composure. Seeing that breaking through the Qiongzhou camp's formation was impossible, he immediately turned his horse around and rode outwards in a direction parallel to the formation. Seeing their commander change direction, the bewildered Shandong soldiers followed.
However, by this time, it was too late for the Shandong soldiers to change their escape route. In the short time they had wasted, the rebel army had already caught up and collided with the remaining Shandong soldiers.
The Shandong soldiers were completely bewildered. In front of them were muskets, cannons, and bayonets, while behind them were vicious rebel cavalry. They didn't know which way to attack. Many wanted to run, but once they were entangled with the rebels, they couldn't escape. Driven by instinct, they turned around and fought back against the rebels, the clanging of blades echoing through the air.
At a distance on the other side, Zu Dabi watched the Shandong soldiers' "miserable fate" with schadenfreude, grinning and saying, "Damn it, you bastard, you tried to steal the credit, now you're caught in the middle, crippled by the Guangdong soldiers, and entangled with the rebels. Let's see how you die!"
Wu Sangui looked enviously in the direction of the Qiongzhou camp and said to Zu Dabi, "Second Uncle, this Guangdong military commander wasn't exaggerating. Their muskets and small cannons are indeed powerful. Should we buy some from them after the war and take them back to Liaodong?"
Zu Dabi nodded: "These things from Guangdong are really useful. Didn't we rob a lot of silver in Shandong? Let's exchange this silver with them."
Wu Xiang, standing nearby, reminded us, "We can talk about these things after the war. The most urgent thing now is to take this opportunity to stab the rebels in the back and annihilate them all. It was understandable to let the rebels pursue Liu Zeqing before, but if we just sit by and watch these Shandong soldiers get wiped out by the rebels, we won't be able to explain it to the governor and Gao Gonggong when we get back."
Zu Dabi said regretfully, "What a pity, I can't bear to see this grandson have his head chopped off by the rebels." He raised his saber and shouted, "Men, follow me! Let's kill these rebels and get the reward money from Zhu Dadian and Gao Qiqian!"
Wu Xiang warned: "The rebel general leading the army this time is Li Jiucheng, the brains of the rebels. Cutting off his head is better than taking down a hundred or a thousand ordinary rebels."
Zu Dabi nodded, urging his warhorse to slowly advance, followed closely by Liaodong generals such as Wu Sangui and Zu Kuan, with several thousand Guan Ning cavalry trailing behind. The distance from this position to the Qiongzhou camp on the other side was considerable; charging too early would waste horses, so Zu Dabi deliberately slowed his pace. Even at a trot, the thunderous hoofbeats once again shook the earth, and the long column of cavalry trailed thick clouds of dust behind them.
Witnessing the Shandong soldiers and rebels fighting each other before their eyes, the Qiongzhou camp soldiers felt a strange sensation. Logically, they should have helped their "friendly forces" crush the rebels, but the unfriendly actions of these "friendly forces" had cut off their own retreat, and no one in the Qiongzhou camp was willing to help these Shandong soldiers. Besides, with the two sides locked in combat, it was difficult to offer assistance even if they wanted to.
Liu Ye observed the battle situation and found that the remaining Shandong soldiers were no longer able to hold out. The Shandong soldiers were already outnumbered by the rebels, and after being bombarded by the Qiongzhou camp with guns and cannons, more than half of them were killed or wounded, and their morale was completely destroyed. How could they possibly be a match for the numerous and ferocious rebels?
He hesitated for a second or two, then gave the order: "The artillery battery prepares one round of shotgun fire, and the infantry prepares one round of volley fire. After opening fire, engage the enemy with bayonets."
Shi Ying and Xu Yifan glanced at him with considerable surprise. Opening fire at this moment, targeting the "friendly forces'" rear, was an indiscriminate attack on them and the rebels—different in nature from the defensive counterattack they had just staged to prevent their ranks from being disrupted. However, they never questioned their general's orders and immediately relayed them.