Chapter 240 Thieves are not easy to deal with

In September of the 16th year of Chongzhen (around October of the Gregorian calendar), it was already cool on the north bank of the Han River. This year's temperature dropped more obviously and faster than in previous years, and the temperature difference between day and night was also large.

However, the sunshine at noon was still nice and warm.

But the wind cannot blow.

On a small road in a vast forest, a group of troops armed with various weapons and uniformly wearing earthy red uniforms with green inners were advancing quietly.

The sunshine is good today, but there is strong wind, but it is fine in the woods.

There were about forty of them, and they had no horses, and none of them wore armor or iron helmets.

They are from the fourth regiment newly formed by Li Ping. They are a platoon that implements the new formation model. It consists of three squads with mixed equipment and can fight independently. Each squad is equipped with blunderbuss, spears, knives and shields.

This equipment method refers to Qi Jiguang's typical 11-man mandarin duck formation, which is very suitable for performing tasks that require a high degree of flexibility and a small team nature.

The mission of this platoon today is to search forward and reach a village in front of the road that they have never reached before, causing continued oppression and disruption to Hanchuan County not far away.

Although it seems that this method of using a small group of infantry to stay away from the river and penetrate deep into the enemy's territory is somewhat risky, the risk is actually not great.

According to various intelligence reports, Li Zicheng did not have many troops left in the entire Chengtian Mansion. The total military strength excluding family members was likely to be less than 10,000, and the cavalry was also very scarce.

Compared with Li Ping, such a force not only has no advantage, but is even at a great disadvantage, because the peasant army left behind by Li Zicheng must defend a very large area, especially in some core areas, such as Zhongxiang County, which is governed by the prefecture.

Contacts between both parties also support this conclusion.

After Li Ping garrisoned Hanyang, neither the neighboring Mianyang Prefecture nor Hanchuan County, not far across the river, sent a single soldier to attack him.

On the contrary, after Li Ping, with the help of Zhang Kuang, the former magistrate of Mianyang, began to continuously harass Mianyang Prefecture, which is adjacent but far away from the prefecture, more than ten days ago, the peasant army in Mianyang Prefecture quickly shrank.

Not only did they fail to organize any effective counterattack, they also quickly gave up their military presence in most rural areas.

The strength of the peasant army was obviously insufficient, and the number of cavalry was extremely small.

Li Ping and his staff naturally became more optimistic after considering all aspects of the situation.

Moreover, their judgment was indeed correct, and they even overestimated the strength of the peasant army.

After Li Zicheng's army moved north, its total garrison strength in super vast areas such as Xiangyang, Jingzhou, Yiling, Jingmen, Lizhou, Chengtian, Anlu, Xianling, Hanchuan, Runing, Xinyang, and Yuzhou was only about three

million (excluding family members and handymen).

The number of garrison troops is as high as 6,000 in Xiangyang, Jingzhou, and Lizhou, but as small as in Jingmen, there are only about 600 troops.

In response to this situation, Li Ping decided to comprehensively reduce the actions of his own cavalry.

He felt that it was necessary for the large number of new cavalrymen under his command, whose origins and compositions were very complex, to receive more formalized and obedient military training to ensure that they were firmly grasped first and allowed to integrate more quickly.

.

He feels that most of the tasks can now be handed over to the infantry.

At the same time, Li Ping also decided to send further troops across the Han River to harass Hanchuan County, which was closer to them, and ordered the naval battalion to choose the opportunity to go up the Han River according to the wind direction to deter them and try to approach the Han River on the edge of the Han River.

Sichuan County.

Li Ping wanted to see if he could seize the opportunity.

If successful, it will undoubtedly be the best support for the Ming Dynasty's northern front, and it will be worthy of Yuan Jixian and Xu Wenqi.

According to the yellow book of the 21st year of Jiajing reign in the Ming Dynasty, the total population of Hanchuan County was just over 7,500, including 4,615 males and 2,894 females. By the Chongzhen period

, although the population has further increased, due to the war, the population has once again dropped to a lower number.

Therefore, some records saying that Li Zicheng captured four to five thousand ships in Hanchuan when he first marched to Wuchang are very untrustworthy.

The book returns to its true story.

Hanchuan County is not only a small city, but also has a sparse population. It is not impossible to seize it, even if the combat effectiveness of Li Zicheng's troops is obviously more than one level higher than that of Zhang Xianzhong's troops.

The officers and soldiers of the platoon that are advancing in the woods all know these situations. They have all heard the enemy's briefings, and they believe that their superiors will not lie to them. They generally believe that it is still unlikely to encounter the enemy today, just like yesterday and the day before yesterday.

What's more, they are not alone. Several other platoons in the company are not far behind them and can quickly support them.

So although everyone continued to remain quiet and maintained the basic battle formation, including the gunman's match rope that was always lit, everyone was very relaxed.

The only bad thing is that they always don't get intelligence support from local people, and they are completely blind to the situation ahead.

The peasant army stationed in Chengtianfu has very good military discipline. They do not harass the people, let alone kill or loot indiscriminately. They are also very fair in doing things. They are not even allowed to live in the houses of ordinary people when they go out of the city. Therefore, the local people have a high regard for the peasant army.

Support.

This was a fact that Li Ping was very surprised but had to admit. It also caused him to have unprecedented difficulties in harassing Hanchuan and Mianyang.

As we walked, a larger open space suddenly appeared in front of us.

It turned out that a small river ran across the front.

Because we had been walking for a long time and it was always safe, the platoon leader did not ask everyone to cross the river first. Instead, without thinking much, he ordered everyone to stop and drink some water, then refill the gourds filled with water, and then continued

Went to the single-plank bridge over the river again.

However, just as the tired troops were happily dispersing on the river beach, a group of soldiers wearing leggings and wearing leggings, who were about the same number as them, suddenly rushed out from the woods and hidden paths on the other side of the river.

These soldiers in uniform were obviously preparing to go down to the river to fetch water. They were obviously tired and short of water.

However, they seemed to be very familiar with this place. Most of them walked straight through the woods instead of taking the hidden path.

Seeing each other, both sides were stunned.

Although both sides were wearing leggings, it was easy to tell from their clothing that the two sides did not belong to the same army.

"Bang bang...bang bang..." A few cannon soldiers instinctively quickly loaded the match ropes and took the lead in shooting at the opposite side, showing the good training they had received.

The distance between the two sides is sometimes less than a hundred meters, so it is possible to kill them.

But the hasty shooting had no effect. Although the opponent was beaten and yelled, no one fell down.

And not to be outdone, the other side immediately started to fight back, and shockingly, there were several screams from this side.

The opponent also carries firearms, and the match rope is always lit. The training is also not weak, and the effective range of the firearm is also very outstanding.

A pair of firearms were fired, and someone was hit again. The soldiers on both sides without firearms retreated wildly. Most of the brave soldiers with firearms stood there nervously operating their guns and then aimed at each other and opened fire.

Although the platoon leader of the Fourth Regiment was a little confused, he did not retreat. He was already far away from the river and relatively safe. He hurriedly observed through the smoke ignited by the firearms on both sides.

The number of people on the opposite side was not as large as that on his side, about thirty people, but more than half of them had firearms, others mainly held spears, and no one held bows and arrows.

But the problem is that they only have twelve muskets on their side, and in this moment, someone has been shot down by the opponent, and three or four other soldiers have also been hit, and this is only the first round of shooting from both sides.

After many battles, he immediately realized that fighting across the river would definitely suffer a big loss. It would be more advantageous for them to rush up and fight in close combat. Moreover, the opponent's many firearms also meant that their close combat capabilities were poor.

Besides, the river is very shallow, so it won't cause them much trouble.

Perhaps because of his numerical advantage, or perhaps because of the self-confidence built up in many battles, the platoon leader never thought of retreating or disengaging first.

Before he had time to think about it, he immediately blew the whistle hanging around his neck, and then shouted: "Every class, follow me across the river and rush across the river to defeat them."

Unfortunately, it was not easy to organize the troops in panic. When several squad leaders gathered their men and prepared to move forward, the second round of shooting from the gunmen on both sides started intermittently again almost at the same time.

The reload speed on both sides is not slow.

Although the wind was strong, the smoke, woods and chaos still interfered with the observation. No one could tell what was happening on the other side, but they all knew clearly that someone else had fallen on their side.

Must be fast!

Although the river was shallow, the rocks and muddy riverbed still interfered with the troops' forward speed. Fortunately, during the third round of shooting, the gunners who had not participated in the crossing took the lead and provided a powerful cover.

But just after crossing the river, the enemy's third round of shooting started intermittently again, and this time the distance was very close and the damage was greater.

And everyone can clearly see and hear that the enemy's firepower has not been weakened at all.

What's even more troublesome is that the soldiers who were following the platoon leader clearly saw their platoon leader falling down clutching his chest...

That night, Li Ping, who had a dark complexion, received a report that the Fourth Regiment had suffered a setback near Hanchuan County, and his shocked features immediately twisted together.

This wasn't the only bad news he received today.

Three warships of the Navy Battalion equipped with nearly fifty artillery pieces were fiercely ambushed by more than ten artillery pieces hidden in the dense forest on the shore more than ten miles away from Hanchuan County when they sailed up the river in the wind today and were defeated.

Although no warships were sunk as a result, two of them were damaged to varying degrees, with more than a dozen officers and soldiers killed and dozens more injured.

However, although the losses in the naval camp were heavy, they did not reach a level that shocked Li Ping.

The ship's guns couldn't beat the shore guns, they were ambushed, and they were still in the narrow Han River. Overall, it was normal. Unexpected, but not surprising either.

But the infantry's defeat was unusual, even shocking.

The platoon with superior strength, which was the first to engage the enemy, actually suffered more than half of its casualties without injuring the enemy at all.

Then, after hearing the sound of firefights ahead, the company that quickly came up to support them did not take any advantage in the pursuit. Not only did the enemy successfully escape, but they also suffered more than ten casualties.

The enemy's superiority in firearms and training far exceeded everyone's expectations. This was the first time they encountered an enemy whose firearms were not only not weaker than theirs, but also seemed to be better than them, and they were also well-trained.

This is so surprising and even more unacceptable.

Li Ping was shocked and ordered the staff office to immediately find out the reason for such a disparity in casualties in this battle, and urgently ordered the reconnaissance company directly under him to obtain the muskets used by the enemy.

Li Ping knew very well that the command problem was not that big, and the battle should not have been fought like this!

But no matter what, he knew that he could no longer despise Xie Yinglong, the guard general of Hanchuan, let alone Bai Wang, the general manager of Yangwu Prefecture (Chengtian Prefecture) of the Peasant Army.

And this day is destined to be an extraordinary day.
To be continued...