Jiang Hongli, who was commanding the battle from the top of Zhenjiang's city wall, didn't know what was happening in front of him. From his point of view, it was like a thousand-man team circling around the enemy's left flank. After a few hundred meters, they were still able to move forward tenaciously even after being ambushed by the enemy's cannons. Such a magnificent feat was truly inspiring.
Then it suddenly collapsed.
There were North Korean gunners running all over the mountains and plains. None of them stopped to regroup and resist. The running matchlock was even worse than a fire stick. Everyone simply threw away their weapons and ran away. If they felt that they couldn't escape, many of them lay on the ground and buried their heads in the ground, praying that the pursuing cavalry didn't have time to care about them.
Jiang Hongli was so shocked that he screamed when the situation was reversed in the blink of an eye. He immediately ordered a team of a thousand men to rush forward to help and try to salvage the situation. It wasn't that he didn't want to send more troops, but there was no spacious space outside of Zhenjiang city wall.
There were only ninety soldiers in a cavalry company, and they had only managed to kill one or two hundred people even after being drenched in sweat. Seeing that the enemy still had reinforcements, they gathered their troops and retreated. At this moment, the front formation also began to enter a state of close combat.
Zhou Qingfeng was holding the Wind and Cloud Banner in the middle of the army, but he didn't dare to casually rain or wind. This was because the North Koreans were using matchlocks, and the infantry around him were also using matchlocks. The production of the Revolutionary Army was seriously insufficient. Currently, more than 20,000 matchlocks were manufactured, and these were the main weapons used by the infantry.
Because of the difference in the ignition mechanism, the medicinal pool of the flintlock was protected by a cover, but the medicinal pool of the matchlock was exposed. Not to mention rain, as long as the wind was strong, the powder in the matchlock's medicinal pool would be blown away. This gun could only be used as a fire stick.
Moreover, the control range of the Wind and Cloud Banner was only 300 meters. This range was fine for a one-on-one fight, but it was too small for a battle formation. The road was narrow, but the distance between the three infantry phalanxes was already more than 300 meters. In the future, the scale of the war would continue to increase, and it would still depend on the infantry and officers at the grassroots level to fight.
At present, Zhou Qingfeng could only use the formation to protect the infantry square formation in the center. As for the infantry phalanxes on both sides, they could only rely on the battalion commanders to construct their own formations to attack and defend. He wouldn't be able to help.
Ye Na, who was on the flanks, was doing quite well. She had already chased away the enemies that were circling around. But the enemy had more troops, so she couldn't just abandon the flanks and bring people to help Zhou Qingfeng. At this moment, the two North Korean thousand-man squads were already within two hundred meters of them. A real execution by firing squad was about to begin.
Both sides were armed with muskets, so the next round would be a competition of their respective training levels. The granular gunpowder used by the Imperial Guard might have an advantage, but they were at an absolute disadvantage in terms of numbers.
"When will the barracks cannons arrive?" Seeing that the enemies were about to enter the 100-meter killing range, Zhou Qingfeng could not help but ask where his cannon was.
Looking at the current situation, the Imperial Guard's light assault did not have the advantage of surprise in the face of the enemy's leisurely waiting for them to exhaust themselves. Instead, it was the abandonment of the cannons that caused more trouble. In the past, Zhou Qingfeng liked to launch surprise attacks, but this time, he had made a mistake.
The staff officer from brigade headquarters quickly gave an answer. "Grand Marshal, we've already ordered the three battalions at the back to make way and let the mounted cannons come up first. But they're still a kilometer away and will need at least fifteen minutes to arrive. Moreover, they won't be able to fight quickly when they arrive. They'll need to reassemble the cannons and reconstruct their positions. "
The two thousand-man North Korean squads were already opening fire. They first fired a volley from two hundred meters away, then slowly moved closer and fired another volley. Quite a number of bullets had already hit the three infantry phalanxes.
The central phalanx was protected by the Wind and Cloud Banner, so its defense was slightly stronger. However, the phalanxes on the flanks were only protected by their own formations. Under the one-sided shooting, part of the defense of the formation was not tight enough. Some unlucky infantry were hit by stray bullets and unfortunately fell.
Zhou Qingfeng controlled the entire situation through the military network. He could clearly feel the intense fear and mania in the army he commanded. It was often the first time for the soldiers in the phalanx to fight. In the face of the enemy's constant firing, they had to use extremely strong willpower to restrain themselves. When their comrades were killed or injured by stray bullets, the soldiers standing beside them almost went crazy.
In the front row of the battle line, all the soldiers' faces were red. Even the lower-level officers in command were the same. They desperately wanted to grab the rifles in their hands and fire at the enemy to relieve the pressure in their hearts. The center of the pressure was on Zhou Qingfeng alone. At this moment, his head was swollen and painful, and he began to tremble uncontrollably. The side effects of the military formation were eating at him.
He couldn't take it anymore. He really couldn't take it anymore …
Although the Art of Soul was good and the Art of Military Formation was also very powerful, the feeling of his brain being used as a switch by the army was not a good one. Especially when the pressure from countless thoughts kept surging, his brain was about to explode!
"Fire!"
Negative emotions surged. Within a minute or two, the veins on Zhou Qingfeng's forehead were bulging and his eyes were bloodshot. When the enemy closed in to a distance of 100 meters, the pressure on the military formation reached its peak. Although he knew that this was not the best time to open fire, he still couldn't help but shout and vomit blood.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang …
On the battle line of the three infantry phalanxes, the soldiers in the front row immediately grabbed their rifles in unison, aimed with the flat end and fired. After the first row opened fire, they mechanically turned back. The second row stepped forward, aimed again and pulled the trigger. This was repeated three times.
During the whole process, many soldiers' movements were distorted because they were too nervous. There were many who couldn't ignite the medicine pool with the match. Some people couldn't even aim and just raised their guns and pulled the trigger. Some people were trembling all over and couldn't even pull out the rod after firing, let alone reloading. There were even people who forgot to pull out the rod from the barrel, and when they fired, the rod flew away.
No matter how well they practiced on the training ground, it couldn't compare to shooting in actual combat.
The three rows took turns to fire, and the result was achieved.
After vomiting blood, Zhou Qingfeng relaxed a lot. The staff officer next to him watched nervously, as if he wanted to drag him down. However, his head drooped, and he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and shouted, "According to the infantry drill, evaluate the effect of the first round of attacks."
He had to know how he was doing every time he attacked. He couldn't fight for half a day without knowing the enemy and himself. This would be a muddled battle. It couldn't provide a basis for subsequent decisions. Zhou Qingfeng's angry shout reminded the rookie staff officer of the brigade headquarters that he had such an important thing to do.
Taking advantage of the gap between the staff officer's evaluation, Zhou Qingfeng looked back at the road behind his phalanx. A few hundred meters away, there were already figures of artillery on horses. But Zhenjiang was already considered a mountainous area. Even if the artillery horse was exhausted to death, it wouldn't be fast. It was only a few hundred meters away, and the artillery soldiers were also anxious. They were trying to find a way to carry the artillery over with manpower.
In a complicated road environment, the adaptability of humans was better than that of animals.
"Fortunately, this is a light artillery that weighs only about three hundred kilograms. If this was a big guy that weighs a few tons, I wouldn't be able to count on them at all." After firing, Zhou Qingfeng laughed at himself. He turned his head to look at the North Korean artillery formation. Even at a distance of a hundred meters, he could still see a group of people fall.
The North Koreans also had formations, but not many. Most of their gunners were running naked. In the three phalanxes of the imperial guards, only nine hundred infantrymen used matchlocks. At a distance of a hundred meters, the hit rate was only about ten percent. In other words, after one round of fighting, eighty or ninety of the enemy had died. And the imperial guards also had more than ten casualties.
At this moment, both sides entered a period of stagnation. There were many people who were trembling as they reloaded. Every time a platoon was completely reloaded, the platoon leader would raise the saber in his hand. About a minute later, a forest of sabers could be seen on the line of the imperial guards' phalanxes. The strict daily training had shown its effects, and the Imperial Guards' reloading speed was obviously faster.
"Grand Marshal, the second round of firing is ready." The staff officer reported loudly, hoping to hear Zhou Qingfeng's order to open fire.
But when Zhou Qingfeng saw that most of the North Koreans were still reloading, he immediately ordered, "Advance!"
"Advance!"
"Advance!"
"Advance!"
The staff officer was stunned for a moment, but he still relayed Zhou Qingfeng's order. The sound of orders rose and fell on the battlefield. Zhou Qingfeng even pulled out the [Army of Light] and raised it above his head, running to the front of the phalanxes. His tall figure was extremely eye-catching, and the dazzling saber attracted the attention of all the soldiers in the three infantry phalanxes.
"Follow me, we'll close the distance with the enemy."
Zhou Qingfeng held the [Wind and Cloud Banner] in one hand and raised the saber in the other. He strode toward the 2,000 enemies in front of him with his long legs. The soldiers behind him were dumbfounded at first, but then they roared in excitement and followed closely. The sound of marching drums rang out in the phalanxes, instructing the soldiers to move in unison and keep the formation in order.
There were 1,500 soldiers in the three phalanxes. None of them hesitated and followed closely.
Zhou Qingfeng, who was standing at the front, set an example for all the soldiers. The fear and pressure they had previously felt immediately disappeared and turned into great courage. The radiance of the military formation increased by more than double, and everyone's footsteps were incomparably firm. They were confident that they could face any strong enemy.
The Imperial Guards no longer felt any pressure, and the pressure was all on the enemy.
The 1,000 North Korean soldiers were taking turns to reload, but when they heard the sudden roar from 100 meters away, many of them were startled. When they saw Zhou Qingfeng personally leading the troops, raising the flag and taking the initiative to approach, the North Korean gunners were even more flustered. Some of them couldn't withstand the fear of facing the enemy and opened fire randomly.
Sparse white smoke rose from the North Korean formation from time to time. Some soldiers who had already finished reloading opened fire without waiting for the officer's order. Even some of the North Korean officers felt fear in their hearts and took the initiative to ask their soldiers to open fire first.
Bang bang bang, the sound of gunfire rang out randomly …
As the Imperial Guards strode forward, the white smoke from the enemy's firing began to obscure their vision. On Zhou Qingfeng's side, although some soldiers were occasionally shot and fell to the ground, the phalanxes were still in perfect shape as they approached the enemy. Queuing up to be executed required speed. Even in the face of a howling hail of bullets, they had to move steadily and calmly.
Those who could face death directly were truly fearless!
80 meters …
60 meters …
40 meters …
When they were finally 30 meters away, Zhou Qingfeng shouted, "Halt!"
Along the way, the casualties of the Imperial Guards' phalanxes increased greatly, and 50 to 60 people fell one after another. When moving, there would always be gaps in the military's defense. But other than the 1,500 soldiers who were shot and fell, none of them fell behind. No one ran away, no one cowered — all of them were inspired by Zhou Qingfeng standing at the front, and their courage did not waver!
"Raise your guns!"
Zhou Qingfeng's voice reverberated across the battlefield, and the 300 rifles at the front were steadily raised.
Facing the pitch-black muzzles, the North Korean gunners felt as though they were being stared at by the Grim Reaper, and their souls left their bodies.
"Open fire!"
Bang bang bang …
At a distance of 30 meters, the accuracy of the shots increased severalfold. White smoke sprayed out from the muzzles of the 300 rifles, and immediately, over 200 soldiers fell.
The corpses tilted, revealing more enemies behind them.
The North Korean gunners at the back saw the emptiness in front of them, and then saw the enemy turn around, revealing another batch of guns aimed at them from the back.
"Raise your guns … open fire!"
Bang bang bang …
Rows after rows of enemies fell. This kind of attack made them feel invigorated and full of a sense of accomplishment!
We're awesome, we're powerful. ' We welcome the enemy's bullets, and then give those bastards a heavy blow, beating them until they cry for their parents and piss in their pants!
After a round of three rows of infantrymen, five to six hundred enemy soldiers fell. In one go, they killed a quarter of the enemy. When all the guns were fired, Zhou Qingfeng did not allow the soldiers to reload. With an even louder voice, he screamed at the top of his lungs ….
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