With Xiao Ruxun's strong support, weapons, armor, bows, and crossbows were all available, and the new Sichuan troops were equipped many times better than the former Ming Empire.
Armor, sabers, spears, shields, bows, crossbows, muskets, Francis guns, and Hongyi cannons were all of the latest models.
It was precisely because of Xiao Ruxun's unstinting support and trust that Ma Qiancheng confidently accepted the military order to attack Bozhou, vowing to fight a hearty victory to repay Xiao Ruxun's trust and let the other northern expedition generals see that he, the descendant of Ma Fubo, was not an undeserved reputation.
This time, Yang Yinglong had sent thirty thousand men to attack him, and in his opinion, it was not enough to be feared.
One side had about the same number of soldiers, thirty thousand or so.
The difference in equipment between the two sides was like heaven and earth. His equipment was all of the latest model, and he also had many new firearms. He was adept with firearms and cannons, which were of great use at the moment.
The intelligence of the three sides differed greatly. He knew all the other side's trump cards, while Bozhou knew very little about him. They still thought that the Sichuan troops were the same as before, weak and without combat power, with no other threat than Liu Dadao.
The four sides left Yang Yinglong alone and without help, while he had four other coordinated forces.
Ma Qiancheng did not think that the imperial court had no chance of success in attacking Bozhou this time.
On the 22nd of the twelfth month, Ma Qiancheng arrived at the East River in the south of Qijiang County and set up defensive facilities around it. He then observed the terrain and predetermined a battlefield, spreading out a large formation suitable for firearms. He then found a suitable place along the march route for the white pole soldiers to ambush and prepared to launch an ambush.
Yang Chaodong's troops left Songkan, and along the way, he also sent out many cavalry sentries. They marched quite quickly and were full of fighting spirit, probably telling them that they could pillage the counties along the way.
Ma Qiancheng deeply loathed the Yang Consortium's tyrannical actions. When he heard that Yang Yinglong had led his men to massacre Qijiang County, Ma Qiancheng had wanted to participate in the crusade against Yang Yinglong. Now that his long-cherished wish had been fulfilled, he must finish off Yang Yinglong once and for all to avenge the people of Qijiang County who had died tragically.
Rules were set up for humans, not beast armies. When dealing with beast armies, all one had to do was kill them.
On the 24th day of the twelfth month, Ma Qiancheng learned that Yang Chaodong had marched to Haishui Town and ordered the army to prepare for battle.
At a quarter past noon on the 24th, Ma Qiancheng's outpost encountered Yang Chaodong's army. Yang Chaodong did not wait to set up camp and ordered the army to rush out to fight. Ma Qiancheng frowned and realized that Yang Chaodong did not regard him as an opponent, but wanted to take him away to rob and slaughter.
Thus, he decided to beat them at their own game and ordered the vanguard to retreat. He gave up on the idea of fighting first to assess the other party's strength and decided to directly engage in a decisive battle.
Since Yang Chaodong had underestimated him, it was a good opportunity for him to show weakness and destroy him in one battle!
When Yang Chaodong learned that the Qin Army he had just encountered had run away in the blink of an eye, he was stunned for a moment and then burst out laughing.
His trusted aide didn't understand, so he explained, "I'm laughing at the fact that those officials are still trash even if they change the name of the country! They didn't even dare to fight us and just ran away. Do you think there are such cowardly soldiers in this world? Ma Qiancheng would definitely die! Pass on my order, have the entire army press forward, cripple him, and seize East River! "
His subordinate hesitated. "Why don't we test the waters again? Ma Qiancheng is a cunning man. How could he have retreated so quickly? "
Yang Chaodong thought for a moment.
"He probably didn't expect us to rush over and fight him so quickly, so he ran away in fright. He definitely isn't ready. Pass on my order! Speed up the march! Immediately break through East River and march straight to Qijiang County! That bastard definitely didn't expect us to be so fast! Charge! "
Yang Chaodong had thought of a perfect reason for Ma Qiancheng's retreat, and so he was very happy that he had found the right direction. He ordered the entire army to press forward and attack faster, taking down Ma Qiancheng in one fell swoop!
Yang Chaodong himself quickly followed the suddenly accelerating army, thinking about how happy his father would be after he took the first prize, how happy he would be, what kind of prestige he would have, and what kind of meritorious service he would receive.
But this kind of ambition was disrupted by the deafening sound of cannon fire. Yang Chaodong angrily stopped his horse and chose to look into the distance from a high vantage point. He saw black smoke billowing out. His vanguard had already engaged Ma Qiancheng's troops, but they seemed to have been stopped by the enemy's cannons.
He saw an unknown object shrouded in thick smoke and dust charge into his formation, carving out a bloody path.
Wherever the unknown object passed, soldiers were either killed or injured. And there was more than one of these unknown objects, rampaging through his own army, disrupting their formation and preventing their advance.
The sound of the bombardment was extremely loud, and the killing power was immense. His army was already beginning to fall into disarray.
A general rushed over with a panicked expression.
"General! I don't know what kind of sorcery those soldiers are using, but their cannons can fire over a kilometer away. We've been smashed to death by that metal egg from afar, and it can even bounce back. Just a touch is enough to kill us. The people at the front can't hold on any longer and are beginning to run back! "
Yang Chaodong was shocked and quickly looked over. Indeed, the vanguard of his army seemed to be unable to hold on any longer, and had begun to run back. The formation of the vanguard seemed to be in chaos.
At this moment, the sound of war drums and battle roars rang out at the same time, startling Yang Chaodong. His intuition told him that it was the sound of Ma Qiancheng's army advancing and attacking.
A few moments later, he saw a cloud of dust exploding from his own army, and then the soldiers were blown to pieces, while a cloud of smoke rose from the opposite side.
Yang Chaodong's face was livid. He clenched his teeth and roared, "Where are our cannons? Push them up at once! Fight them head-on! How dare they block my way with mere cannons! "
The general beside him said in a low voice, "Didn't you think it's too slow to carry the cannons, so you left them behind?"
Yang Chaodong was stunned.
Before he could lose his temper, another round of bombardment came from the other side. The formation on his side became even more chaotic. Large clouds of dust exploded, and countless soldiers were overturned. This made Yang Chaodong wonder how many cannons the Qin Army had.
No, they couldn't go on like this. If this went on, the vanguard would run back, and the vanguard would be thrown into chaos, and there would be no need to fight anymore. Although the firearms of the Qin Army were powerful, they couldn't dominate and occupy the battlefield for long. To deal with firearms, they had to send the cavalry!
Yang Chaodong sent out the three thousand cavalrymen he had requested from his father, but how would these cavalrymen fight their way from the rear to the vanguard was a problem.
He immediately gave the order and beat the war drums, telling the troops to move to the sides and make way. Although the battlefield was a little chaotic, he felt that most people would still listen to orders. If they didn't, he could just let the cavalry cripple them. It wasn't difficult to cripple a bunch of useless people.
The war drums sounded. What made Yang Chaodong satisfied was that the troops still quickly moved to the sides. Although there were still some who didn't have eyes and continued to run back, the cavalry had already begun to charge. Those who didn't listen to orders, he would let them die here.
When the cavalry attacked, the first people they killed were not the enemy, but their own people.
Of course, to them, they didn't have the concept of companions. As long as they were in the way, they would kill them all.
Hundreds of unlucky soldiers were trampled into meat paste under such circumstances, nourishing the land.
And Yang Chaodong had also used his trump card.
Of course, if he had heard that Xiao Ruxun used firearms to defeat the Northern Barbarians in Shanxi, he might not have been so impulsive.
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