Gao Hongzhong arranged for the camp to defend and the two flanks to circle around. He thought it might be a good idea to launch a night attack in this cold weather. After all, after fighting for a long time, it was confirmed that the Revolutionary Army did not have many soldiers. Although the God's Blessing Army was weak, they had a lot of people.
Defending was easy, but circling around required a high degree of organization. If they were not careful, the troops that left the camp would scatter. Therefore, before Gao Hongzhong gave the order to transport the gunpowder, he decided to personally lead a detour to launch a night attack. If he did not do this, he would not feel at ease. He was afraid that his cannon fodder would disappear after leaving the camp.
The north and south gates of the camp opened, and 10,000 troops charged out from each side. However, it was a dark night, and the God's Blessing Army did not practice fighting at night, so Gao Hongzhong had to ask his men to light torches. After all, it was so dark that they could not even see the road. Many of the generals complained and doubted the feasibility of the night attack.
But now that things had come to this, Gao Hongzhong could only bite the bullet and attack. There was no room for retreat. However, the light from the torches erased the surprise of the night attack. After all, it was still a strong attack. However, when the troops got into position, Gao Hongzhong was still excited. The brigade that the Revolutionary Army had killed was indeed not strong enough.
Gao Daniu occupied a corner of the God's Blessing Army's west camp and hastily repaired some of the defense facilities. He lit a limited number of lamps outside the line of defense and a few bonfires to provide illumination. These lights were all far away from the First Brigade's position, but they were all within the range of the flintlocks and heavy cannons. From the outside, it looked like the territory controlled by the First Brigade was small and limited.
"Wonderful! Wonderful!" Gao Hongzhong, who had been sulking for a long time, slapped his thigh while riding on the back of his horse. "This traitor Zhou's troops are extremely arrogant. It's like they've fallen into a quagmire when they enter my camp. Now that my tens of thousands of troops are working together to outflank them, we'll definitely make it difficult for them to defend their front and back. "
It was rare to see such a good opportunity after fighting for a long time. Not only was Gao Hongzhong excited, but the generals under him were also overjoyed. The tens of thousands of troops immediately spread out and slowly closed the encirclement in an arc formation. Gao Hongzhong watched the battle from the rear and saw the soldiers holding torches rushing forward. They stopped about two to three hundred meters away from the 1st Brigade's defensive line.
They did not completely stop. Instead, they charged forward and retreated, then charged forward and retreated again. After repeating this over and over again, they finally made some progress, but the entire front line stopped about 100 meters away from the enemy and did not move anymore. According to the God's Protection Army's idea, with so many soldiers surrounding them, Thief Zhou's troops should have been scared sh * tless and run away.
But no matter how loudly the Blessed Army shouted, neat gunshots or deafening cannons could be heard in the dark. Every time such a sound was heard, one of the Heaven's Blessing Army's troops would have to retreat. After a while, the entire battlefield became quiet, leaving only the whistling of the wind and the crackling of the torches.
"What's going on? Continue attacking! "Gao Hongzhong felt that his subordinates' morale wasn't bad. After being brainwashed, the cannon fodder still had some stamina. Especially after being stimulated by the shaman priests, they would enter a frenzied state and not fear death. He was a few hundred meters behind the front line. He could be considered to have personally come to the front line, but the effect of supervising the battle was still not enough.
Just like that, Gao Hongzhong sent his bodyguards to the front line more than ten times to relay his orders. The bodyguards brought back information about a certain guerrilla commander swearing to fight the enemy bravely and never retreat. But after swearing a few times, not only did the front line not advance, some places were even retreating.
Gao Hongzhong was so angry that he cursed loudly from behind. However, he was unwilling to continue forward. After asking his bodyguards, he understood what was going on. Gao Hongzhong stayed five to six hundred meters away from the enemy to supervise the battle, while the generals under him stayed three to four hundred meters away. To be able to drive the cannon fodder to more than 100 meters away from the enemy's cannons, the brainwashing effect was already at full effect.
Continue advancing? Sorry, I can't do it anymore.
Some of the cannon fodder that had been brainwashed too thoroughly fought bravely, but they were all swept away by the chain bullets and canister bullets fired by the heavy cannons. The rest all found a place a hundred meters away and trembled in fear. No matter how spirited the cannon fodder was, they hadn't eaten well the whole day, and many of them were exhausted.
In this day and age, the Dutch who were instructors for the Kennu were still figuring out how to set up battlefield logistics. The Dutch who came to East Asia by ship had to endure the terrible and inferior food. They could help Nurhachi train the soldiers on how to line up and how to use the heavy cannons, but they couldn't teach them how to protect the battlefield. Because they didn't know how to do it themselves.
As for the Ming Army, it was even worse. Daming's status in the army was extremely low, and it was normal for them to have poor food. No one had ever thought about how to fill the stomachs of the soldiers. Many generals even had the idea that the soldiers shouldn't be fed too much. If they were fed too much, they wouldn't be willing to risk their lives. It was only before the battle that the soldiers were given good food and pay, so that they would think about fighting.
This idea persisted until the Republic of China, and the consequences were endless.
Tonight, no matter how Gao Hongzhong supervised the battle from the rear, how he cursed and urged, the cannon fodder at the front did not move. No matter how much he shouted until his throat was hoarse, it didn't help. Even the generals themselves were unwilling to go to the front. Once the cannon fodder left the sight of the generals, the ability of the troops to take the initiative in battle suddenly decreased.
Gao Hongzhong sat quietly in the cold wind for almost an hour, thinking about how to deal with it. He wanted to gather the generals commanding the troops and force them to personally go to the front line. But those crafty generals swore that they would fight to be first when they set off, but now they didn't care when they heard the order. Instead, they said that the battle at the front line was fierce and they couldn't leave.
Fierce my ass. There wasn't even the sound of fighting on the front line. It was quiet …
Wait, it wasn't quiet.
There was a shout in the wind. It sounded like hundreds of people were shouting in unison. Gao Hongzhong pricked up his ears to listen. He thought it was the Zhou rebels trying to persuade them to surrender, but the voice that came was … "Brothers of the 'Blessed Heaven' Army, the weather is really cold today. Have you had dinner?"
Vomiting blood!
Gao Hongzhong almost fell off his horse. He was wearing a fur coat and eating smoked jerky. He could even boil water and make tea on the battlefield. But he also knew that the 'Blessed Heaven' Army was in bad luck today. Almost half of the cannon fodder hadn't eaten. The reason for that was because they had been hit by a barrage of rockets during the day. Half of the camp was in chaos.
Even if some of the cannon fodder had eaten, the 'Blessed Heaven' Army 'that had been converted from the Ming Army couldn't provide enough food. The weather was so cold that it consumed a lot of calories. Not to mention the cannon fodder, even Gao Hongzhong, who was wrapped in a coat, felt cold. When he heard the shout in the wind, he immediately stomped his feet and cursed, "Zhou rebels are shameless! How dare they use such a despicable trick to shake the morale of our army. "
"Quick, quick, send the shaman priest to say mass. We can't let Zhou rebels get away with their tricks. "If Gao Hongzhong was angry that the siege failed, then the shout in front of the battle made him break out in a cold sweat. He had to take the risk to go to the front of the battle line and monitor the thoughts of the cannon fodder.
Gao Hongzhong could control the cannon fodder of the 'Blessed Heaven' Army, but he couldn't control the soldiers of the Revolutionary Army who were shouting in unison. The other side asked 'Have you eaten?' and then shouted again, "Brothers of the 'Blessed Heaven' Army, we are all Han people. Why do we have to risk our lives for the Tatars? We don't fight our own people. We have food and drinks here. Put down your weapons and come over. We won't make things difficult for you. "
The Han cannon fodder of the 'Blessed Heaven' Army were cold and hungry. No matter how powerful the brainwashing effect was, it couldn't withstand the bone-chilling wind. When they heard the shout from the other side, they immediately looked at each other and didn't know what to do. Some of them looked at the defensive line of the Revolutionary Army, while others looked at the generals who were supervising the battle behind them. Some of them were so hungry that they walked out as if they were ready to risk everything.
"Who dares to leave? Who dares to leave? " One of the 'Blessed Heaven' Army's guerrillas was patrolling hurriedly. When he saw that there really were people who threw down their weapons and walked out, he quickly pulled out his saber and was about to slash them. "No one is allowed to leave. Whoever dares to leave will die."
The cannon fodder who wanted to leave could only shrink back, but the few who had already walked out refused to turn back. You Ji, who was blocking them, was so angry that he shouted loudly. He chased after the fleeing cannon fodder for a few steps and executed them on the spot. However, just as he flashed his saber, a series of gunshots rang out 100 meters away from the opposite side. At least a dozen bullets were fired at him. His protective spiritual energy couldn't protect him and he bled!
Lord You Ji was beaten until his blood splattered five steps away. He collapsed along with his saber. A few of the bodyguards following behind him were hit by the stray bullets, and the rest immediately covered their heads and fled like rats. The cannon fodder who had shrunk back were all startled. It was as if they had seen a chance to survive in a hopeless situation. They all opened their eyes wide. Someone looked left and right and shouted, "There are no officials watching us."
In an instant, more than 20 cannon fodder emerged from their hiding places. They were stiff and trembling. Their noses and ears were red, and the skin on their hands and faces were cracked. But as soon as they stood up, they threw away the weapons in their hands and staggered over 100 meters to enter the Revolutionary Army's defense line.
"Raise your hands. Anyone with a saber or a gun will be killed without mercy."
"Don't push. Line up one by one and come in."
"Come, come, come. Have some hot soup. Have some hot soup."
Near a heavy cannon, seven or eight cooks were cooking a pot of hot soup. Some of the cooks brought their own pots, and some were seized. The firewood was also locally sourced. It was the wood that the Blessed Army used to build the fortifications. There was water in the camp, and it was collected from the water bottles that the soldiers of the First Brigade carried with them.
Under the arrangement of the soldiers of the First Brigade, a few Blessing Army cannon fodder who were almost frozen walked up to the cauldron. When they smelled the salty aroma, they almost pounced forward to fall into the cauldron. A few soldiers forcefully pulled them back and poured each of them a bowl of hot soup.
"How can you still have hot soup to drink?" One of the cannon fodder drank and cried. He hugged a wooden bowl and refused to let go. "We're about to freeze to death, and you still have hot soup to drink? We don't even get to drink such good soup on normal days! "
The soup was made of solidified fat and salt. It was sealed in an oiled paper bag and carried by the cooks. When necessary, they could add water and boil it to make a pot of hot soup. The weather was too cold, and the cooks couldn't make any hot dishes. The soldiers of the First Brigade could only eat the dry food that they carried with them. But everyone could at least drink a bowl of hot soup, and their bodies would be much warmer.
The squad leader of the cooks, wearing an apron, shouted with his hands on his waist, "After drinking the soup, go back and get the people. If you can get a few brothers to come, we'll make you officials. If you can get 10 people, you'll be a squad leader. If you can get 30 people, you'll be a platoon leader. If you can get more than 100 people, you'll be a company commander, which is equivalent to a general rank. "
After drinking the hot soup, the cannon fodder, who had just recovered, saw a golden path. They quickly turned around and ran in the direction they came from. Behind the First Brigade's defense line, Gao Daniu rubbed his hands and said to Zhou Qingfeng in amusement, "Grand Marshal, sometimes the tricks you come up with are really despicable."
Zhou Qingfeng turned his head and glanced at him with a cold expression.
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