?
Stop shooting! "Ke Gongyu shouted. After shouting, Ke Gongyu pulled out his sword. He was quite regretful. If he had started the brigade's live-fire combat training earlier, his command would have been better this time.
Seven days ago, new rifles were gradually distributed to the brigade. These new guns really shocked Ke Gongyu. As the core fighting force of Vézé's army, the brigade's training was the strictest. The core of formation combat was that soldiers must be able to fight according to the command of their officers, regardless of whether they were facing artillery, rifles, or anything else. In order to improve the efficiency of combat, all the officers of the brigade not only had to learn how to kill the enemy, but they also had to learn more knowledge. For example, the structure, characteristics, and principle of the matchlock. How to fix the problems that would easily occur during shooting.
The flintlock rifle distributed to the brigade was very different from the matchlock. The difference was not the basic principle. There was no difference between the barrel and firing of these two weapons. They both ignited the gunpowder in the gunpowder pool and sprayed it into the barrel through the small holes on the gun, igniting the gunpowder in the barrel. But the matchlock used a match to ignite the gunpowder in the fire pool, while the flintlock used a spring to hit the flint. The sparks from the flint ignited the gunpowder in the fire pool.
In order to further reduce the number of steps, Vézé also processed the bullets. The soldiers no longer used the gunpowder and lead cartridges. The bullets provided by the military department were fixed bullets. A small paper bag was glued to the back of the bullet, and the paper bag contained the gunpowder. When firing, they forced the spring, bit open the small paper bag behind the bullet, and poured a little gunpowder into the fire pool. Then, they stuffed the paper bag into the muzzle and used a strip to send the bullet into the barrel. After completing these three steps, the soldiers aimed and pulled the trigger. The spring ignited the flint, and the sparks ignited the gunpowder in the fire pool. The gunpowder was sprayed into the barrel and ignited the gunpowder.
The original dozens of steps were simplified to six, and each step was simpler and faster. In particular, the new loading method greatly reduced the possibility of throwing the bullet. Even if the first shot was not successful, they could pull the spring again and continue to pull the trigger. This was much better than the matchlock.
After the soldiers of the brigade mastered more than ten firing steps by beating the military stick, they learned the six steps of the new gun and didn't even need to beat the military stick. In just half a day, the brothers had mastered the launch technology. After everyone learned how to use the new guns, they complained incessantly. If this weapon had been issued earlier, they would have been spared a lot of beatings.
This was the first time an entire brigade had participated in a battle. Ke Gongyu, who was very confident in the new weapons, had personally witnessed the power of the new weapons. If he wanted to be able to sustain the Triple Strike continuously, he would need to undergo extremely harsh training. The brothers who had endured at least a hundred beatings were now able to maintain the three consecutive strikes with ease. There was no fluster, no panting from exhaustion. The six steps were repeated over and over again, and the sound of gunfire did not stop at all.
In less than five minutes, the Instructional Brigade's 400 rifles had fired 12 volleys. The Qing Army's frontline didn't even have a chance to fire a single volley before they were baptized by a hail of bullets consisting of at least 4,700 bullets.
Oftentimes, a matchlock would not be able to fire more than twelve volleys in an entire battle. In Guiyang City, three thousand men against twenty thousand, Ke Gongyu's flintlock unit's performance was already extremely outstanding, firing nine volleys in half an hour of battle. Right now, the troops who were equipped with new guns had fired twelve volleys in less than five minutes. The barrels of the guns were already so hot that they could no longer be used.
"Next time, I will definitely not do this again!" Feeling vexed, Ke Gongyu watched as the Qing Army's frontline of one thousand men, the five hundred men who could still run, scattered like a flock of frightened sheep. Ke Gongyu became even more vexed. "How many Qing Yao soldiers can we kill if we save a few more volleys?"
Zhang Guoliang's troops were indeed more valiant. They braved the hail of bullets and tried to advance from sixty steps to forty steps. However, this valiance only resulted in nothing. It was precisely because they misjudged the Taiping army's continuous firing ability that they suffered heavy losses. When the Taiping army was unable to continue firing due to the overheated barrels, the Qing Army's morale had completely collapsed.
Ke Gongyu saw the line of death left behind by the retreating Qing Army. It was said that the barrels of the new rifles had been tampered with. However, after Vézé told Ke Gongyu about this, he strictly ordered Ke Gongyu not to leak this information. Looking at it now, not only did the new rifles have a higher firing rate, their range and accuracy were also greatly improved. Among the five hundred men who were running away, a hundred or so had been shot. They stumbled as they tried to run for their lives. The line of death that was clearly visible on the battlefield was thirty steps wide. On the ground, there were corpses and men who were screaming in agony as they struggled for their lives.
In terms of courage, Ke Gongyu believed that he was not inferior to anyone. Even though the barrels could no longer fire, Ke Gongyu did not have the slightest bit of fear. At this moment, the one who was more afraid was Zhang Guoliang. What Ke Gongyu needed to do now was not to give Zhang Guoliang a chance to breathe, but to continue to increase the pressure.
"Beat the drums! Gunners, advance! "Ke Gongyu gave a new order!
Amidst the beating of the drums, the gunners ran to the front. Then, the captains of the troops shouted out orders and led their troops forward to the beat of the drums. After the troops had advanced about fifty steps, the gunners mercilessly began to assassinate the Qing Army members who were still alive on the Qing Army's line of death.
After a series of screams, the gunners cleared out the enemies, and the troops continued to advance towards the Qing Army.
By now, the retreating Qing Army had already returned to the formation. It was clear that Zhang Guoliang's troops had killed some of the Qing Army members who were fleeing for their lives. This kind of ruthless method had stabilized the troops, but it had also dealt a blow to the Qing Army's morale.
The troops easily closed in on the Qing Army by about sixty steps. The barrels of the guns were still hot, but they were no longer untouchable.
"Halt!" Ke Gongyu ordered. The beating of the drums changed, and the advancing troops stopped in their tracks.
"Gunners, retreat! Musketeers, reload! "Ke Gongyu continued to order. The sound of springs being moved faded away, and the troops began to reload.
Zhang Guoliang's troops could only watch as the troops calmly carried out their tactics. Not only did they not respond in an orderly manner, they did not even move to reload their guns.
"Prepare to advance and fire!" Ke Gongyu looked at the dumbfounded expressions of Zhang Guoliang's troops, and his heart was greatly relieved. He wanted to let the barrels of the guns cool down a bit before continuing to fight.
Zhang Guoliang was, after all, Zhang Guoliang's troops had not collapsed even after suffering such a blow. The troops of the troops of the instructors had finished their preparations. While they were waiting, Zhang Guoliang's troops also made new movements. The first line, which had lost the strength to fight, retreated, and the second line also changed its formation. From one line, it became two lines.
These two groups were divided into three groups, the front, the middle, and the back. In the front group, soldiers carried three-foot-long spears that were as thick as an arm. There were also some sturdy Qing soldiers, who were holding something that looked like earthen jars in their hands. They were also in the front group of the Qing army.
Ke Gongyu praised Zhang Guoliang in his heart. To be able to prepare for the second line after the collapse of the first line, Zhang Guoliang's skill was really extraordinary. It was obvious that Zhang Guoliang had chosen to use powerful assault fire against the dense firepower of the Taiping army. Those things that looked like earthen pots were probably fire pots. They were a very primitive type of grenade. The pot was filled with gunpowder, lit the fuse, and thrown with all its might. The guns that were raised were shotguns. If fired at close range, it would be enough to kill or injure more than ten people. These kinds of weapons were a good way to break the enemy's formation at close range.
Compared to Zhang Guoliang's ever-changing formation, Ke Gongyu had to admit that the instructors' brigade only had one type of formation, and that was to line up and fight against the enemy.
"Start advancing and firing!" Ke Gongyu ordered. At this time, the barrels of the guns had not completely cooled. Ke Gongyu hurriedly issued this order. Firstly, he was a little afraid of the Qing Army's assault with guns and fire pots. He hoped to take the initiative to attack and disrupt the enemy's formation as soon as possible. Secondly, Ke Gongyu was greedy. Guns and fire pots both required large amounts of gunpowder and lead. If he could deal with the Qing Army, the spoils after the battle would be very rich. The new guns were sharp, but they also consumed a lot of lead. Vézé had already given the order to retrieve the lead that had been shot after the battle. Even if they had to dig out the Qing Army corpses, they had to extract as many bullets as possible.
Rather than expending so much effort, it was better to win the battle and seize the spoils. If they wanted to seize more spoils, they had to make sure the Qing Army didn't shoot as much on the battlefield.
As soon as the order was given, the first row of musketeers started firing. The bullets flew a distance of 60 steps and entered the Qing Army's formation. This time, the Qing Army formed two columns. The columns were shot from both sides. Because the intensity of the firepower had increased, the Qing Army's losses seemed to be greater than the first row.
After the first row finished firing, they stood where they were and started reloading. After the second and third rows passed the first row, they walked five steps forward and stopped. The second row started firing. After the second row finished firing, the third row passed the second row, walked five steps forward, and continued firing. At this time, the first row had finished loading. They raised their guns to the sky and ran forward in small steps. They passed the third row, walked another five steps forward, and continued firing.
The formation of the instructional brigade was only this horizontal line of shooting. Therefore, they played all sorts of tricks in this line of shooting. Although they were not as capable as the British lobster soldiers, they were more than enough to deal with the Qing Army in a field battle.
In this day and age, one step was 1.5 meters. In the training of the instructional brigade, five steps forward was about two meters. Each row moved forward about two meters, and the distance between them and the Qing Army began to shorten. When they were about 50 steps away, the Qing Army's musketeers started to counterattack. Two or three of their brothers from the Taiping army were shot. The brothers in the back immediately took up the empty positions.
The instructional brigade did not care about these small losses. The troops continued to advance and fire. When the distance between the two sides was reduced to 40 steps, each of the Taiping army's musketeers had fired six bullets. The Qing Army had only fired two. Facing the Taiping army, the Qing Army could still be considered to be facing the Taiping army. However, their footsteps had already begun to retreat. The only purpose of this was to slow down the Qing Army's shooting speed and increase the number of casualties.
It seemed that Zhang Guoliang had also noticed the problem. Suddenly, a group of more than 200 people appeared from the back of the Qing Army. They did not carry muskets. Instead, they shouted and charged forward with swords and spears in their hands. It seemed that Zhang Guoliang had given up on exchanging fire with the Taiping army. He was going to risk his life!
"Stop shooting and put on the bayonets!" Ke Gongyu ordered. The new style of musketeers had long and slender shafts. Several iron hoops fastened the barrel to the shaft. The musketeers took out a spearhead with an iron ring at the end from the back of their waists. The iron ring was placed on the muzzle of the musketeers and a bolt was used to secure the spearhead. The musketeers were originally more than one meter long. With the addition of the spearhead, they were more than 1.4 meters long. Compared to the long spears, they were not as easy to use. However, against the swords, they still had an advantage in terms of attack range.
The Qing Army did not expect that the 400 musketeers would suddenly turn into short-range musketeers that could assassinate. It was too late to change teams.
"Spearmen, lead the charge!" Ke Gongyu did not give the Qing Army any chance to adjust. He immediately gave the order to charge.
With the spearmen in front and the short-range musketeers in the back, the 500 melee troops charged against the Qing Army. When the melee troops from both sides collided, there was a burst of blood-curdling screams. The fact that the Qing Army was not good at melee combat was revealed. In just three or four rounds, the melee Qing Army was defeated. Those who dared to fight in melee were the elites of the Qing Army. As these elites began to flee, the Qing Army completely collapsed.
The collapse of Zhang Guoliang's troops caused a chain reaction. They fled towards another Qing Army led by De Liang. The Qing Army led by De Liang was originally trying to attack the other 500 Taiping army troops. When they saw Zhang Guoliang's troops fleeing towards them, De Liang's troops did not organize a defense. Instead, they turned and began to flee as well.
The Taiping Army, which was on the opposite side of De Liang, immediately launched a pursuit. One thousand Taiping Army soldiers chased after the Qing Army, which consisted of more than three thousand soldiers. The Qing Army threw away everything they could throw away. The road was littered with all sorts of weapons, including military uniforms and shoes. Those Qing Army troops who felt that their clothes were a hindrance took off their uniforms in an attempt to reduce the weight they had to carry as they fled. In the process of fleeing, there were more than one or two who dropped their shoes.
During the pursuit, they killed another 400 to 500 Qing Army troops. Ke Gongyu ordered his troops to stop and began to retreat. After this battle, the lead and gunpowder they had seized was much more than what they had used. Especially the money that the Qing Army carried with them. From the 1,000 dead Qing Army troops, they found more than 100,000 copper coins and thousands of taels of silver. This was not a small amount.
Brothers from the military hospital cleaned up the battlefield. They were responsible for digging out the lead from the corpses. Although Ke Gongyu did not know why Wei Ze was so meticulous in his calculations, he did not criticize the military hospital at all since his brothers in the brigade did not need to dig out lead.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
