Nanming Engineer

Chapter 346
Li Benshen's eyelids twitched, and an ominous premonition sprouted in his heart, and it grew rapidly, making his heart palpitate inexplicably.

He saw black smoke rising into the sky in the distance, the black smoke was so familiar, it was no different from what he had just seen on the frontal battlefield.

Wang Pingfan's Guan Ning cavalry headed there, could it be...

A cold sweat dripped from his forehead, slid down his cheek to his chin, and then fell on the yellow ground, moistening a small piece of soil.

impossible!Guan Ning's iron cavalry is unparalleled in all battles. Even the Qing army can't eat two thousand Guan Ning troops in one bite. How can the Ming army do it?Cavalry is no better than infantry, with strong maneuverability, and the cannon is not so easy to hit. Turning a little turn, the cannon becomes a display because of the angle.

Thinking about it this way, Li Benshen immediately settled down. Wang Pingfan is a superb equestrian, and he can be regarded as an experienced veteran in the Liaodong Army. The associations brought about by the black smoke are nothing more than unfounded worries.

He turned his gaze back to the front. On the battlefield where the dead soldiers' battalion was strewn with corpses, the Chinese army's elite battalion was speeding up, changing from a slow walk to a trot, and gradually transitioning to a sprint. Although the plasma and undead wounded soldiers under their feet Some hindered their running pace, but it was only a hindrance, and did not delay the speed of the impact.

The people running in front have already reached the position of the shield cart. The shield carts are made of solid wood and are not easy to destroy. Many of them are still intact and usable. The soldiers of the elite battalion have pushed up the shield cart to cover the comrades behind them. Rush away.

As long as the shield chariot can approach the Ming army formation, the elite battalion hiding behind can also shoulder the unfulfilled responsibilities of the dead soldier battalion. In terms of hand-to-hand combat, although the elite soldier battalion is slightly thinner, it is much more skilled than the dead soldier battalion. They were the real elites of the Liaodong Army, all of whom were from Wu Sangui's servants. They were fed on full wages and fine grains, just for this moment on the battlefield.

"It's a pity!" Li Ben closed his eyes with deep pain, frowned and took a deep breath, as if swallowing a glass of bitter wine: "I don't know how many soldiers it will cost to use the elite battalion to fight the forward. The work done by those reckless brats in the death camp is now being done by warriors, and it takes at least 50 taels of silver to train a warrior soldier with weapons and armor, so it’s a pity to lose it like this!"

Shaking his head, he opened his eyes helplessly, and the resentment in his heart could not be increased. This was all a good thing done by the Hanzhong Ming Army. These people must not be left behind. They must be killed cleanly to let go of the hatred in his heart!

However, as soon as his eyes opened, they froze.

In the sky, dozens of gray cloth bags were rolling and flying towards the battalion of elite soldiers who were rushing forward.

Someone has already shouted in a sad voice: "Enemy attack! The firearms of the Ming army are coming again!"

Whether it was the elite battalion rushing forward or the rear army following behind, they all widened their eyes in horror when they heard the shouts, raised their heads, and stared at the cloth bags and their flight trajectories.

"Get out of the way!" Li Benshen roared, almost jumped up from his horse, his feet were caught in the stirrups, and almost fell off the horse, but he still yelled loudly: "Get out of the way, disperse, disperse!"

He saw with his own eyes the destruction of the Death Soldier Battalion. Nearly 2000 people were maimed by these strange cloth bags.

In fact, he didn't need to remind, every soldier in the elite battalion knew what to do, and the people in the dead soldier battalion died before them. Those soldiers were all wearing three layers of armor, which was much thicker than their own. Still can't resist Ming army weapons, let alone wear only one layer of armor.

The cloth bag landed accurately in the formation of the Qing army, like a drop of wax oil dripping into the colony of ants on the ground. Wherever the explosive bag landed, the surrounding Qing army screamed as if they had been stabbed by needles. Scattering and dodging, you pushing me and I squeezing you, the tight formation instantly became chaotic, the leading army general was out of control, and the general was also dodging.

But the explosive packs fell indiscriminately, and the density was high. The frontal impact of the Qing army was only a few hundred steps away. Where could they escape in a hurry?That chi long fuse burns very fast, how much time do you have to escape?
It didn't take long for the soldiers of the Jingbing Battalion to panic, and violent explosions sounded again, like firecrackers from hell, exploding on Huangquan Road one after another, welcoming the arrival of the Liaodong Army.

The black smoke column reappeared in the sky, and the smoke that was as thick as a tangible wall once again obscured the earth. There were flashes of light in the smoke, which were the firelight when the medicine packages exploded one after another.

The entire elite battalion was covered in it, and some lucky ones were lucky enough to be left behind. They were far away and were not wrapped in it. At this time, they were crawling on the ground and running on all fours, shouting incomprehensibly. They are all meaningless words. Judging from the expressions on their faces, these people have probably lost the will to fight.

Anyone who faces this kind of force that cannot be resisted by manpower will be like this, and there will be no second instinctive choice except to escape.

Li Benshen opened his mouth wide and didn't close it. He didn't expect that the Ming army's artillery fire came so quickly, which completely overturned his understanding of firearms. From a common sense point of view, his decision was correct.Since the firearms of the Ming army are ferocious, it is extremely wise to rush over before the Ming army fires for the second time, so that they cannot fire the second shell, fight hand-to-hand, and use powerful melee capabilities to offset the threat of firearms.

However, the continuous speed of the artillery fire of the Ming army was too fast. From the battalion of dead soldiers dying in the artillery fire, to the battalion of elite soldiers rushing forward, it was only a short period of time. In this short time, even Wu Zhenchao, the most elite firearms unit in the Qing army, The battalion was also unable to fire a second shell.

The training level of the Wu Zhenchao Ha camp of the Qing army was already higher than that of the decadent firearms battalions of the Ming army. What they could not do, the Ming army in front of them actually did it.

This of course made Li Ben dumbfounded.

"Junmen, what should we do?" The 2000 men in the rear army had already stopped advancing, and their commander and general stood by Li Benshen's side, giving him twelve courage, he didn't dare to attack the Ming army with the 2000 men on hand. Thousands of people.

Li Ben had a pale face and was stunned for a long time, looking at the messy scene in front of him as the gunpowder smoke cleared.

In the elite battalion of 2000 people, there were probably less than 500 people who escaped alive. Among these people, many of them were wounded, and those who were not injured also looked dumbfounded, obviously frightened.

How did this battle go?From the beginning of the war to the present, it has not been half an hour. How come there are only 8000 rear troops left in the 2000-strong team?

Li Benshen's hand held the reins so tightly that his nails almost dug into his flesh, but he was completely unaware of it. His eyes were dazed, his mind was blank, and the old monk sat motionless on the horse as if in trance.

The rear army staff general was extremely anxious. He knew his own affairs. The rear army had never been the main force in combat. Less than [-]% of the people wore armor. Their willpower and combat effectiveness were even worse than those of the dead soldiers battalion and the elite soldier battalion. They had long been playing the role of picking up and clearing the battlefield. If he was asked to lead the rear army as a vanguard, it would be better to kill him directly.

"Military Gate! Please make a decision early!" The general raised his voice a little bit, and leaned into Li Benshen's ear and shouted.

This moment finally pulled Li Benshen out of his contemplation, he raised his head sharply, and faced the general.

At this moment, the ginseng general was startled. Li Benshen's eyes were wide open, and the panic that could not be concealed in his pupils was clearly revealed in his eyes. There was no blood on his pale face, his lips were trembling, and he pointed at the ginseng with trembling hands. Behind him, on the left wing of the Ming army, the general groaned: "That, that, that is our cavalry?"

General Shen turned around quickly and looked at that place.

Amidst the loess flying all over the sky, hundreds of Guanning cavalry riding wolves and porpoises rushed out from the side of the hill like bereaved dogs. Judging from their saddles running wildly, they didn't look like they had won a battle.

Even the huge recognition flag disappeared without a trace.

Immediately afterwards, countless cavalrymen of the Ming army chased after them shouting and shouting. He turned over and fell off the horse, and was trampled under the feet of the horse's hooves behind him, turning into meat and nourishing the earth silently.

But if you take a closer look, you can find that the cavalry of the Ming army only had bows and arrows used by a small number of people, and most of them carried crossbows, a very delicate and compact continuous crossbow.

"Junmen, withdraw your troops!" The general shouted for the third time, he couldn't care less, and shouted bluntly: "If it's too late, it's too late!"

The situation is already clear, and the situation is extremely bad. Wang Pingfan's Guan Ning cavalry did not know what to do, and it seemed that they had been completely defeated.

The entire Liaodong Army is still organized, with only the rear army remaining.

Li Ben stared deeply at the copper bell eyes, said nothing, and looked around with his head up, with a complicated expression.

The soldiers on the left and right looked panicked. When they saw the Ming army infantry in front of them, they seemed to be moving.

A line of birds lead in front, followed by a dense array of spears, shouting to the sound of war drums, stepping forward, every step, the sound of military boots stamping on the ground is transmitted through the ground, This tremor seemed to have stepped on the hearts of every Qing soldier, making people's hearts beat wildly.

At this time, Li Benshen calmed down instead, and his pale face gradually returned to normal. He was on the verge of desperation, which actually made him recover a little bit of normal color.

"Withdraw the troops? Where are you going?" Li Benshen said softly, looking around, and found that besides the front, there were more and more Ming army cavalry rushing out from behind the hill, exceeding the original three thousand. In short, these cavalry were divided into two groups, except for a few who continued to chase the fleeing Guan Ning cavalry, the rest began to outflank their own rear from a distance.

The rest of me are infantry, and infantry are faster than cavalry, so naturally they cannot compare.

Li Benshen suddenly laughed, but the smile was extremely miserable.

"I have hunted geese all my life, but today I was pecked by geese!" He shook his head mockingly: "As a soldier and general, dying on the battlefield is a worthy death."

He slowly drew the knife out of its sheath. The bright long knife was forged from fine steel with a sharp edge. It had been with him for many years in battle, and drinking blood was useless.

Flattening the blade, looking at it carefully, Li Benshen suddenly swung the blade with one hand, and angrily slashed down at the defenseless general standing beside him, and shouted: "If you disturb our army's morale, cut it off!"

The hand raised the knife and fell, and the head fell to the ground.

The surrounding Qing troops were shocked and looked at Li Benshen in silence, no one dared to say anything.

"We are rebellious and our crime cannot be pardoned. If we fall into the hands of the Ming army, there will be no way to survive. We can only win a chance of survival by fighting to the death!" Li Benshen twisted his face and grimaced, and shouted in hatred: "I want to Everyone who is alive will fight with me to kill the enemy!"

With a swing of his long knife, he kicked the horse's belly fiercely, leading the crowd to rush towards the surging Ming army formation.

(End of this chapter)