NCCnovel Chapter 456 The Battle of Qiuyu Mountain (8)
Chapter 456 The Battle of Qiuyu Mountain (8)
The sudden barrage of bullets engulfed the attacking crowd, catching not only the refugees on the battlefield off guard, but also key figures like Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong who were watching from the rear.
Zhang Xianzhong's mouth dropped open: "Damn it! These cannons weren't firing these kinds of cannons just now, they were firing iron balls. Why did they change tactics again?"
Enraged, Gao Yingxiang drew his sword and slammed it into a nearby tree trunk. The blade embedded itself deeply, the impact numbing his hand and filling his mouth with bitterness, rendering him speechless for a moment. The enemy's artillery, both large and small, was incredibly sophisticated, each with its own formidable capabilities. Relying solely on sheer numbers would likely require piling up mountains of corpses and seas of blood before they could even approach the enemy's position.
He looked up at the troops struggling forward amidst the hail of bullets, gritted his teeth, and turned to Zhang Xianzhong, saying, "It seems we have no choice but to use the main force. Relying on these men to charge ahead is likely to lead to failure, and all their deaths will be in vain..."
Zhang Xianzhong was startled: "Chuang King, what nonsense are you talking about? It's not enough to just fill the main force with them, you also want to sacrifice the old camp? If the old camp is wiped out, you and I will be doomed!"
These displaced people leaders were able to repeatedly fight back against the government troops' encirclement and suppression campaigns, even rising from a few hundred men, thanks to a group of elite veterans who had survived countless battles. With these men, they could easily raise a sizable force by coercing some displaced people as cannon fodder. These veterans were their lifeline, like the personal guards of government officials; they were not to be used lightly, but rather their last trump card, to be played only as a last resort.
Gao Yingxiang shouted, "What time is it? Are you still worrying about gains and losses? If we can't break through this group of soldiers' encirclement today, we'll only have one option: retreat. Do you want to charge through in one go, or do you want to lead these remnants of your army through mountains and rivers to turn back and fight Hong Chengchou to the death?"
Zhang Xianzhong hesitated. Gao Yingxiang was right. They had two options: either abandon the attack from the very beginning, decisively withdraw from the battlefield, and return to the Chuzhou-Luzhou route to fight Hong Chengchou to the death, or fight this battle to the bitter end. Now, with heavy losses and casualties, further hesitation would only increase the casualties. If they still couldn't break through the blockade, all their previous efforts would be in vain, and all their lives would have been wasted.
He scratched the back of his head in frustration and muttered to himself, "Damn it! These melon rinds are a real killer..."
The cannon fire continued to roar ahead, and the screams of refugees being struck by shrapnel could be heard a thousand paces away. Gao Yingxiang urged anxiously, "Make a decision quickly, just say the word whether it's feasible or not!"
Zhang Xianzhong was getting impatient. He rode his horse in circles a few times, then gritted his teeth, pulled on the reins, stopped, and looked up, saying, "As you wish!"
Gao Yingxiang breathed a sigh of relief and his tone softened: "Later, your main force will go first to draw fire, and then the two main camps will go together, avoiding the front with the strongest artillery fire, and flanking from both sides. I looked and there are only cannons on the front facing us, not on the sides, only the small cannons that your adopted sons mentioned."
Isn't this just a repeat of the previous strategy where Sun Kewang attacked the front while Liu Wenxiu and Ai Nengqi attacked the flanks? Only the number of troops deployed is several times greater. Zhang Xianzhong sighed, "That's all we can do."
On the main battlefield, artillery fire raged, and the charging refugees were tormented by several rounds of grapeshot, their momentum halted. Xu Yifan, the battlefield commander, paid little attention to the refugee troop being ravaged by his own artillery fire. Instead, he held up his binoculars and focused on the central position of the bandits, observing their every move so he could make judgments and decisions based on their actions as soon as possible.
In the footage, the "Zhang" flag began to wave and slowly move forward. Xu Yifan was startled and quickly glanced to both sides, only to see that Zhang Xianzhong's large army was advancing with the waving of the flag, seemingly about to send a fresh batch of troops into the battlefield.
Xu Yifan lowered his binoculars and glanced around. Two battalions of soldiers in front of him were on high alert, ready for battle. He wasn't sure if these few thousand men could withstand a full-force attack from an enemy ten times their size; he'd let the battle's outcome prove them right.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Three more cannon shots rang out, and Zhang Xianzhong's army followed Gao Yingxiang's men, shouting as they joined the battle. Amid the commotion at the front, and under the cover of the charging troops, the two armies quietly gathered together, preparing for the attack.
The artillery battalion, positioned high on the mountainside, had a better view and was the first to spot the movements of Zhang Xianzhong's army. The roar of the field guns rang out again, and huge shells flew over the heads of both sides, drawing a downward arc before landing in the middle of Zhang Xianzhong's army, carving bloody grooves and sending flesh flying everywhere.
Seeing that friendly forces were coming to reinforce them, the refugees, who had been covered in dirt from the shrapnel, were greatly encouraged. They mustered their remaining courage and began a final sprint, shouting and yelling. At this moment, during a lull in the mountain artillery fire, the refugees took advantage of the opportunity and rushed in front of the Qionghai Army. The closest distance between the two sides was less than 100 meters.
After firing their final shot and firing their last grenade, the gunners, taking advantage of the enemy's disrupted advance, calmly turned and circled past the infantry, running to the rear. Under the officers' command, the infantry, riflemen, stepped forward in unison, shielding the mountain guns and retreating gunners behind them, raising their rifles and aiming at the enemy.
Just as the main force reached within a hundred meters of the Qionghai Army's formation, the refugees on both flanks crossed the rugged, bush-covered roads and laboriously reached the temporary positions the Qionghai Army had set up on either side. Simultaneously, Zhang Xianzhong's army, braving field artillery fire, rapidly approached their allies, preparing for a second assault. The refugee army poured out, and the Qionghai Army was once again attacked from three sides, but this time the enemy force was far larger than the combined forces of the Sun brothers. The battalion-level artillery companies on both sides also opened fire, and the battlefield instantly became extremely tense.
After overcoming countless hardships, they finally entered the enemy's formation within a hundred paces. The surviving refugees seemed to see a glimmer of hope, gritted their teeth, and began to run.
At that moment, a rapid bugle call sounded, the order for the entire army to open fire. All the infantrymen pulled their triggers. "Bang! Bang! Bang!" Gunfire erupted, thick smoke billowed, and one after another, the overjoyed refugees fell to the ground, struck by bullets. They hadn't expected that after being bombarded by light and heavy artillery, they would now be subjected to the test of muskets at close range. Although these muskets were not as powerful as cannons, their rate of fire far exceeded that of the cannons.
For these refugees, the road to the enemy lines had never seemed so difficult.