I founded a heavy industry group in the late Ming Dynasty.

Chapter 87 A Sudden Turn of Events: Yue Tuo's Death by Cannon

Chapter 88 A Sudden Turn of Events: Yue Tuo's Death by Cannon

Chapter 087 Daishan stopped about four or five steps away from the front of the Shahe New Army. He rode his warhorse and looked at the Ming army. His first impression of the Ming army was that it was too rich.

Based on his understanding of the Ming army in Liaodong, a hundred or so chariots constituted the size of a battalion. However, the key issue was that this Ming army in front of him, in addition to sled chariots, also had a large number of artillery pieces and heavy supply vehicles. The force of six or seven thousand men actually had as many as four or five hundred vehicles.

The Ming army in front of us was in a very unfavorable position. They were on flat ground at the foot of Changbai Mountain, with no natural defenses, while the Ming army was on a hillside, giving them a geographical advantage. More importantly, this Ming army had actually formed a crescent-shaped formation, using sleds to block their way.

The Ming army's laborers and civilians behind them were frantically building snow walls with iron shovels, while the four or five thousand cavalry under Hamutai's command were resting behind the Ming army.

Yue Zha asked with a look of surprise, "Where did this Ming army come from? They're so powerful!"

A Niru Ejen of the Plain Red Banner reported to Daishan: "My lord, Hamutai has led his remaining troops to hide behind the Ming army—"

"This prince isn't blind!"

Yue Ziran saw the Jurchen corpses that had been blown to pieces and a large number of horse carcasses in front of the Ming army. The Ming army, relying on the snow walls they had built, began to form ranks.

They had recovered from their initial panic and began setting up their muskets. The muskets used by the Shahe New Army were too large in caliber; the Spanish heavy muskets had a caliber of only 17 to 19 millimeters, but their muskets had a caliber of 31.5 millimeters.

The entire musket weighed sixteen jin (approximately 9,536 grams). Firing it directly from a raised gun was not impossible, but extremely strenuous. Mounting the musket on a snow wall not only saved effort but also effectively protected it from arrows.

This snow wall was about a foot thick and was very solidly hammered. Even the Jurchen's armor-piercing heavy arrows could not penetrate it directly. Behind the snow wall were two or three thousand fire-wielding soldiers. It was hard to determine the type of fire-wielding guns they used, but they were very thick and long. It was really difficult for a soldier to carry such a heavy thing on a long march.

About two or three miles behind the Ming infantry, there were more than 700 Ming cavalrymen. In the middle of the crescent-shaped hollow formation, there were more than 2,000 people, who looked like civilian laborers accompanying the army. As long as this Ming army was defeated, these civilian laborers would become their slaves.

Daishan's campaign against the Xibe tribe was not successful. Not only were more than 1,600 Han artillerymen almost wiped out by Hamutai, but all twelve cannons were also destroyed. Even the thick cannon barrels were blown into twisted shapes, and with their technology, it was absolutely impossible for them to repair them.

Now that's good, with this Ming army's artillery, as long as we capture them, the Han army's artillery will not only suffer no losses, but can also be expanded three or four times. However, this Ming army seems to be difficult to deal with.

Daishan saw the Ming army as a piece of fat meat and his mouth watered. Of course, Chen Ying saw it the same way. The mountains and plains were full of fine warhorses, and there were a lot of them, as many as 30,000 to 40,000.

Even if the Jurchens are wiped out completely, just one-third of them would be enough to make them suffer for years. More importantly, Chen Ying still does not have a well-organized cavalry force. It's not that he doesn't have horses, but raising horses is more expensive than raising infantry. He doesn't have many men who can ride horses, and even if he has horses, he doesn't have enough knights.

Cavalry isn't something you can build into a fighting force just by acquiring a warhorse. However, with so many warhorses in front of him, Chen Ying could make a fortune. In the Ming Dynasty, a warhorse could be worth thirty to fifty taels of silver. Warhorses were easier to sell than the heads of the Jurchens. Apart from the Liaodong and Liaoxi armies, other border armies simply didn't want the heads of the Jurchens.

The logic is simple: even if Mao Wenlong takes the head of the Jurchen, he won't get promoted or rich. It's useless for him. Does he just want the reward money from the court? He'd be lucky to get ten taels out of fifty taels of silver.

Warhorses were a form of hard currency, needed not only by the army but also by ordinary people. Even wealthy gentry in the Ming Dynasty could only travel by oxcart or donkey cart because they had no choice; they couldn't buy horses even if they had the money.

"We've struck it rich!"

Chen Ying looked at Zhou Bin beside him and said, "Quickly inform all the soldiers to be careful when fighting, so that they don't kill all the horses—"

Zhou Bin didn't know how to describe Chen Ying. Chen Ying was too ambitious. Was this battle easy? They were just a newly formed army with no combat experience. In a one-on-one situation, he was not afraid of the Jurchens. But the problem was that the Jurchen cavalry numbered thirty to forty thousand, which was nearly ten times their size.

"My lord, this battle will be difficult!"

Chen Ying chuckled dismissively, "Who says it's hard to fight? Order the artillery to open fire. They're almost all within our artillery range now. We'll bombard them five times at top speed. If they don't break down, we'll spray them in the face with firearms. When they get within thirty paces, we'll bombard them with grenades. If they can withstand this combination of attacks, they'll be amazing. As soon as they show signs of defeat, Meng Gun and our cavalry escort will go and reap their heads!"

"My lord, do not underestimate the enemy. The elite Jurchen Eight Banners are no weak force—"

"Our Shahe New Army is no weak force either!"

Chen Ying turned to the soldiers around him and said, "Brothers, do you want some land?"

"think----"

Chen Ying pointed at the Jurchens opposite him and said, "Kill them all! For every Jurchen you kill, you'll be rewarded with twenty mu of fertile black soil. If you kill five, you'll get a hundred mu of land, and then you can become landlords behind closed doors!"

If it were in Shahe, Chen Ying would have no way to do anything. Their Shahe Guard doesn't have much military farmland now, less than three mu per person. In later times, this might be enough to feed the whole army, but the problem is that the grain yield in the Ming Dynasty was extremely low. At least ten mu of land would be needed to feed one soldier.

The problem is that we are now in Nurgan territory, and the most scarce resource is land. Near Lake Henke (Lake Xingkai), there is a full 12,000 square kilometers of alluvial plain, all of which are excellent arable land. Not to mention that the 4,000 soldiers of Shahewei could not even be divided up to 100 mu per person, even 500 mu would not be enough.

Although the climate here is colder and the weather can easily reduce crop yields, the problem is, we're lucky to even have land to cultivate; what more could we ask for?

As Chen Ying issued this order, the gaze of the Shahe New Army soldiers changed. They became like wolves, looking at the distant Jurchens no longer as ferocious and terrifying Jurchens, but as fields that could be passed down to their descendants.

A laborer timidly asked, "Sir, if I were to kill a Jurchen, could I also be given ten acres of land?"

"point!"

Chen Ying waved his hand and laughed, "One Jurchen in exchange for ten acres of land—"

Just as Chen Ying was boosting morale in the ranks, Daishan also received a report from the scouts that within a radius of more than 30 miles, there was only this Ming army in front of them. A mere six or seven thousand Ming soldiers dared to support Hamutai, which was truly audacious.

"Cheziger"

"Your servant is here!"

Dai Shan looked at the young general beside him and said, "Take your men and try to charge in!"

"twitter!"

Chejige was not a Jurchen; he was a Mongol and one of the Red Sticks under Daishanmo, a famous fighter. Now he was just a valiant general of the Plain Red Banner, not well-known. In fact, he was a Baturu (a high-ranking official) conferred the title during the reign of Huang Taiji, also known as Chejige Baturu. He joined the army at the age of seventeen and participated in the Battle of Sarhu and the Battle of Hunhe.

He fought almost all the wars with Daišan. Of course, he was a Mongol, so even if he died, Daišan wouldn't feel sorry for him. As cannon fodder to test the Ming army's strength, Chejige's troops were not real bannermen, but armored men.

The so-called "armored men" were actually prisoners of war. The Eight Banners system "used banners to command the army and the people." In peacetime, they farmed and hunted, and in wartime, they donned armor and went into battle.

According to their status, the bannermen were divided into three types: "Aha", "armored men" and "bannermen". Aha were slaves, mostly Han Chinese and Koreans. Armored men were surrendered people of various ethnicities, and their status was higher than that of Aha. Bannermen were Jurchens.

Chejige led more than two thousand armored men. Most of these armored men were actually Haixi Jurchens captured in this campaign against Hamutai, and some were Solon people. Although these men knew they were cannon fodder, they fought very bravely because the Jurchens treated them quite well.

With an annual stipend of fifteen shi of grain and twenty-two taels of silver, their treatment surpassed that of the Ming Dynasty's border soldiers and could even rival that of the personal guards of some Ming generals.

More than two thousand cavalrymen under Chejige responded to the call and charged toward Shahewei with loud howls. At first, they jogged slowly, but when they were about five hundred paces away, they gradually accelerated. Their speed increased and their momentum increased. In the end, they were like lightning, with countless hooves rising high and falling heavily, making a thunderous sound that made people's faces turn pale.

The laborers in the new army formation at Shahe were trembling with fear. They looked around in horror, but the entire army formation remained unmoved, like a red mountain.

Just as they entered within 500 paces, the fifty cannons of Shahe Guard began to fire rapidly, 165 cannonballs whistling as they rained down on the attacking cavalry.

One hundred and sixty-five cannonballs landed on Chejig's cavalry, blasting the armored men to pieces. Whether they wore leather armor or iron armor, they were as fragile as paper in the face of the cannonballs.

Chejige, with his extensive combat experience, knew very well that they could not stop now; if they did, it would be utterly annihilated. They had to continue their attack despite the Ming army's artillery fire.

However, the problem was that when they charged to within 150 paces despite the casualties, the front-line Shahe New Armory Commanders began to open fire one after another.

"Bang bang bang—"

One-inch caliber bullets were fired in succession. Regardless of whether they hit the target or not, the front-line gunners, after firing all their shots, handed their empty guns to the soldiers behind them. The soldiers then took the loaded guns and fired again.

To increase firing density, a soldier led two civilians to help with loading. The most difficult part of the munitions now was cleaning the debris from the munitions. One civilian was responsible for cleaning, another for loading ammunition, and a munitions operator was responsible for inspection.

When Chejige heard the first round of fire, he sensed something was wrong. The range of the Ming army's firearms was far greater than they usually encountered. The Ming army's firearms typically had a range of about thirty paces, allowing them to fire only one shot in battle. The three-eyed firearms were slightly better, as they could fire three shots.

Now they've actually adopted a three-stage attack: a volley of bullets falls, followed by a second round. The armored man's armor seems to be nonexistent; a single spear pierces his chest, and he falls instantly.

However, most of the lead bullets were still thrown at the horses. It wasn't that the firefighters intentionally disobeyed Chen Ying's orders; it was because the lead bullets decayed and naturally fell. The soldiers of the Shahe New Army at that time did not yet have the concept of anticipating the enemy's movements.

This is why countless warhorses have been hit by lead bullets of this caliber. Once hit, the bullet often leaves a small hole in the horse's body, causing it to roll rapidly and create a fist-sized wound. Even the most resilient warhorse is still a carbon-based organism. The charging horse neighs and falls, slamming its rider to the ground. Before the fallen cavalryman can even distinguish east from west, countless hooves trample him mercilessly.

Daishan saw very clearly that under the extremely dense firepower of the Ming army, the armored men under Chejige's command suffered extremely heavy casualties. In particular, the bombardment of the Ming army's artillery swept away nearly 20% of the charging armored cavalry, with four or five hundred riders lying on the ground, their fate unknown.

Then the musket opened fire, and the charging armored cavalry were practically walking into the line of fire. Both men and horses convulsed in the hail of bullets, spurting out streams of blood. One rank after another was swept away.

Because the smoke from the Ming army's muskets was so thick that he couldn't see the situation ahead, but judging from the dense gunfire, Chejige was really badly beaten this time, and his entire army might be wiped out.

Yue Zha's expression changed drastically: "How come the Ming dogs have so many cannons? Are they all equipped with cannons?"

According to Yue Xu's understanding, this was indeed entirely equipped with artillery.

Seeing that Chejige's troops were almost completely engulfed in smoke and screams filled the air, Daishan was forced into a corner: "Yue Ji, take the Bordered Red Banner and circle around to the south to attack!"

"twitter!"

Yue also realized that they had run into a brick wall. Yue Xu had also participated in the Hunhe Battle. At that time, their Eight Banners elite forces launched a joint attack on Qi Family Army, which had only 3,800 men.

Initially, they were also worried about casualties, so they only launched small-scale probing attacks, resulting in the deaths of several thousand men. It was only after Nurhaci made up his mind that he was determined to defeat Qi Jiguang's army, even if an entire banner was wiped out.

They used up a lot of ammunition by the Han and Mongol cavalry to achieve a final victory, albeit a brutal one. Even excluding the Han and Mongol cannon fodder, their Eight Banners suffered nearly 10,000 casualties, including more than 5,000 killed and more than 4,000 wounded, with more than 1,000 dying in the following month.

They suffered casualties almost one to three against Qi Jiguang's army, the heaviest losses since Nurhaci raised his army, though they kept quiet about it.

This Ming army is now essentially an enhanced version of Qi Jiguang's army, with more powerful cannons, longer range, and greater lethality.

Yue Zha led the Bordered Red Banner to take a detour, bypassing the front of the Shahe New Army and charging towards their rear, that is, to the south. Then, Daishan ordered Amin's Bordered Blue Banner to attack from the east, the Plain Yellow Banner to attack from the west, and the Plain Red Banner to attack from the front.

Chen Ying stared in disbelief: "Holy crap, Dai Shan, you're not playing by the rules!"

Chen Ying did not expect that the outstanding performance of the Shahe New Army would force Dai Shan to commit his entire army to a decisive battle with Chen Ying. Of course, this move actually hit the weak point of the Shahe New Army.

The Shahe New Army only had a little over four thousand men. Even with the alliance of the Shuangcheng Mutual Market Army, they still only had a little over ten thousand men. In particular, the Shuangcheng Mutual Market Army, which was resting in the south, had been chased by the Jurchens for more than half a month. In terms of both physical strength and combat effectiveness, they were far inferior to the elite of the Bordered Red Banner.

Although Hamutai fought desperately, he could not withstand Yue Xu's fierce attack. In less than half an hour, more than a thousand of the three or four thousand Shuangcheng Mutual Market Alliance troops were killed or wounded by the Bordered Red Banner. Their remaining troops instinctively retreated to Chen Ying's main camp!

Chen Ying was very clear that if his rear was cut off, no matter how well he fought in front, it would be in vain.

"Zhou Bin!"

"Your subordinate is here!"

"You stay ahead and take command; I'll go support Hamutai—"

"My lord, I'm going to support them! I'll take Wu Jizu's men with me!"

Chen Ying nodded. At this moment, the Jurchens began to attack from all directions, and the firepower of the Shahe New Army was directly dispersed, reducing the density of firepower. Naturally, the Jurchens' casualties decreased, which was almost a vicious cycle.

Of the four banners on the right wing of the Jurchens, only Yue Ji was still locked in a fierce battle with the guard cavalry under Hada, with no clear victor yet. This was mainly because Yue Xu's Bordered Red Banner had taken a detour of more than ten miles, and their warhorses were almost exhausted. In addition, they were also very tired from fighting with Hamutai's troops.

However, the Plain Yellow Banner attacking from the west and the Bordered Blue Banner attacking from the east and west were almost at the front line. With victory in sight, the Jurchens also unleashed a frenzied ferocity. Even though they were seriously injured by grenades, as long as they had a breath left, they continued to crawl forward. Even with their legs blown off, they still moved forward.

At this moment, the Jurchens were like zombies, using every means to kill and wound the Ming army. The Shahe New Army was now in dire straits, but Chen Ying had no reserves left to use. He only had a hundred or so personal guards, including Chen Yongren, with him, and they were like firefighters, putting out fires everywhere.

Chen Ying's heart sank; this battle had gone terribly wrong.

However, just as the casualties of Chen Ying's Shahe New Army soldiers were rising sharply, shouts of battle came from afar. Bomubogor, the leader of the Solon main force, led about seven or eight thousand elite troops of the Solon main force and charged directly behind Daishan's main force, the Plain Red Banner. The unprepared Daishan was caught off guard.

"Dai Shan, you bastard, kneel down before me—"

The elite troops of the Soren army were almost going crazy. They had wanted to live a good life and obtain a relatively fertile pasture. Even though the Haixi Jurchen occupied this place, they did not send troops to seize it. In their view, the Haixi Jurchen had already suffered enough, and for them to seize the Haixi Jurchen's pasture would be kicking them while they were down.

Of course, more importantly, during the Nine Tribes War, the main Solon tribe and the Solon sub-tribe actually participated in this alliance, but they did not have time to join the battle before the Haixi Jurchen Nine Tribes were defeated by Nurhaci.

The Solon tribe, which did not fight or plunder, was actually no smaller than the Jurchens in terms of numbers. It was just that the two sides were far apart and did not interfere with each other. They came to graze their livestock in the areas that the Haixi Jurchens did not want, but were slaughtered by Daishan. More than 20,000 of their people were killed. For a tribe with a population of only a few hundred thousand, this was a direct catastrophe.

More importantly, most of their cattle, sheep and horses have already been robbed, making this winter extremely difficult. It's almost a matter of life and death for them. They can't defeat Daishan, and now that they see Daishan dispersing his forces, they naturally won't be polite.

More importantly, in Daishan's rear camp, there were many captured Soren boys and girls, as well as many able-bodied men who had been used as armored war slaves. When they saw their chieftain leading people to rescue them, they immediately rioted.

Daišan's Plain Red Banner was instantly fragmented into dozens of pieces, and Bomubogor even charged directly to Daišan's front lines. Daišan, no longer concerned with attacking the Ming army, shouted, "Retreat!"

Chen Ying was already sitting among the 14,000-plus kilograms of granular black powder that had been prepared for storage. He was ready to detonate the powder when the Jurchens charged up, taking them with him in death.

The problem was that they waited and waited but the Jurchens didn't come. Instead, they saw the Jurchens retreating frantically. The Plain Yellow Banner was running away, and the Bordered Blue Banner and Plain Red Banner were also fleeing. Only Yue Ji, that stubborn kid, was still fighting.

Of course, Chen Ying ignored Yue and directly ordered, "All artillery pieces turn around, target the red flag, double the explosive charge, raise it three feet, and blast them to smithereens!"

During the short battle lasting just over an hour, Chen Ying's emotions were like a rollercoaster, a mix of joy and sorrow.

"Boom boom boom—"

As the artillery bombarded the main force of the Bordered Red Banner, Yue finally realized the situation on the battlefield. The other banners had already retreated, so what was the point of him continuing the fight? He hurriedly retreated, but it was too late.

"Protect our master—"

Yue suddenly felt his body become much lighter. Looking down, he saw that his right arm had disappeared neatly from the elbow, with blood spurting out.

Before he could react, another cannonball flew over, striking Yue's warhorse by sheer coincidence. The powerful kinetic energy of the cannonball sliced ​​the horse in two like a hot knife through butter, and of course, it also sliced ​​through the body of Yue Xu, the banner lord of the Bordered Red Banner. He watched as his intestines spilled out of his stomach—

On September 29th of the fourth year of the Tianqi reign of the Ming Dynasty, the banner chief of the Bordered Red Banner of the Jurchens was killed by Chen Yingpao, the commander of the Shahe Guard.