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  Chapter 523 520【Hollow Formation and Mountain Guerrilla Warfare】(add more for Penguin boss)

   "Yingzheng, the Tartars have left the city!"

Yang Zhenqing was immediately excited: "It's just in time! The whole army lined up, and the first, second, and third teams stepped forward, holding long spears to prevent the Han slaves from rushing forward. The fourth team shot arrows at the open space in front of the formation, scaring away the Han slaves. The rest of the guards, all raise their guns to fight!"

  The gates of the city opened, and Dopolo led the team out on horseback. He raised his knife and shouted: "I have seen it with a telescope, and the match hasn't been installed on the opposite side. Hurry up and rush over!"

  Flintlocks have already been installed in Liaodong. The dragoons of the three divisions have all been refitted, and the infantry has also been reequipped with thousands of them.

   But they were all small-scale conflicts, and the flintlock hadn't shown its power yet, so it didn't attract the attention of the Eight Banners Army for the time being. They are just old-fashioned flintlocks, with a frighteningly high misfire rate, which is not as good as an arquebus.

   When the Eight Banners Army came after them, the Han serfs were terrified and ran towards the Datong Army.

   "Shhhhhh!"

   There were dozens of steps away, and the independent battalion shot sporadic arrows and landed on the open space in front of the formation.

  The Hannu running at the front saw the independent battalion shooting arrows, and hurriedly dodged to the sides, not daring to rush towards the independent battalion. The Han slaves in the rear, driven by herd mentality, also ran to the two sides.

   "Pikeman, return to the array and replace the guns!"

  The independent battalion is somewhat similar to special forces. Two hundred people use long guns and firecrackers, and three hundred people use bows, waist knives and firecrackers. They can switch between far and near combat forms at any time.

  The spearman in the front row, after throwing away the spear, quickly retreated to replace the gun.

   "Hollow array!"

   "One team, all have it. Look to the right, turn right, step forward!"

   "The second team, all of them have..."

   "On the bayonet!"

  The grassroots commander blew his copper whistle, and five hundred soldiers quickly arranged in a hollow formation. This is the first time that Zhao Han has used the hollow formation in actual combat since he proposed the hollow formation, which is dedicated to infantry against cavalry.

  Fortunately, there were few people, and the small hollow formation was formed quickly, otherwise it would take a long time to form the formation.

  Using the cover of the Han slaves, the Manchu and Qing cavalry quickly crossed the bridge and spread out while the Datong army formed an formation.

  Dopolo burst into laughter when he saw the loose formation of the Datong Army. He ordered the cavalry to completely disperse and outflank, and use a small number of cavalry to lure the Datong army to shoot, and then charge directly, such a formation will definitely collapse as soon as they charge.

  Although this guy is greedy for life and afraid of death, he has been battle-tested and has rich combat experience.

   Empiricism kills people!

  Although the independent battalion has fewer soldiers, there are even fewer Manchurian cavalry in Xiuyan City. After being ambushed last time, more than a hundred war horses were lost. Although there were bannermen to replenish them on the spot, the war horses could not be replaced immediately. Now there are only two hundred riders in total, and many of them are mounted infantry.

  Toporo should have waited for the infantry to follow, and then cavalry to cooperate with the attack, but the hollow formation of the Datong Army is too tempting.

   About twenty or thirty riders rushed from several directions, trying to lure the independent battalion to shoot.

  Yang Zhenqing yelled: "If there is no order, don't fire the gun!"

   A small army of hundreds of people yelled out, and everyone heard it.

   Seeing that the Datong Army was indifferent, Duopolo could only change his tactics. He called back all the cavalry, gave up the four-sided attack, and only aimed at three directions, and carried out wave-like echelon charges.

  The first wave of charge attracts firepower, and the latter two waves of charge will be effective.

   "Bang bang bang bang!"

  The cavalry of the first wave charged, rushed to about forty steps (60 meters), and ushered in the front row of the independent battalion to shoot. Due to the slightly longer distance, the cavalry formation was sparse, and more than two-thirds of the cavalry survived.

  After the first row of salvos, they did not retreat, and squatted down on the spot to load ammunition.

  The second row of firecrackers fired a volley. After the distance was close, the hit rate increased greatly this time.

  The third row of blunderbusses fired immediately, and after a row of guns, the Manchu cavalry who charged first, only a dozen or so cavalry were still alive, and the second wave of Manchu cavalry also suffered a lot of casualties.

   The Manchu cavalry who rushed to the finish line did not hit directly, but decelerated in advance and walked around the formation.

  Three rows of gleaming bayonets stood there, and the horses were not stupid, so it was impossible to hit them unless the horses' eyes were blindfolded.

  Toporo charged the hollow formation with cavalry, but didn't think about knocking the hollow formation apart. But if the cavalry rushed over, the gunfire soldiers would collapse in fright, which should be the case under normal circumstances.

  However, the flintlock guns can be arranged densely, and bayonets are also installed.

  It is different from the matchlock gun, and it is also different from the one without the bayonet.

  Seeing that the first two groups of cavalry suffered heavy losses, the third group of cavalry stopped halfway through the charge. Because it is useless to rush over, the horses will automatically go around the formation, and the corpses of the soldiers and horses in front also prevent them from charging at full speed. Then just shoot arrows, and while the Datong army was loading ammunition, the Manchu cavalry stopped and shot.

  In the eyes of the Manchu cavalry, after shooting two arrows, the formation of the Datong Army was chaotic. Even if there is no confusion, they can easily leave the battlefield, because the reloading speed of the musket is very slow.

   "Shhhhhh!"

  The third group of Manchu and Qing cavalry threw arrows, and more than a dozen Datong troops fell on the spot. Because they have been fighting guerrillas in the mountains for a long time, they all wear leather armor, and their defense against bows and arrows is not as high as cotton armor.

  Just when the Manchu cavalry was about to shoot the second arrow...

   "Bang bang bang!"

  The Datong Army in the first row was about 70% reloaded and fired again under the command of the officer.

   "So fast?" Dopolo was horrified.

   Without the command of Duopolo, the surviving Manchu cavalry retreated automatically. The effective range of the horse bow is only 20 to 30 meters, so how could it be possible to shoot against the firecrackers.

  Toporo gathered the cavalry, took a rough look, and suddenly his vest felt cold.

  There were more than 190 riders when he brought out the city, but now there are only 60 riders left.

  At this moment, the Manchu and Qing infantry had already run across the moat. There were about 800 of them, and there were two or three hundred remaining to defend the city. Most of them are not the Eight Banners Army, but the Banner Ding living around Xiuyan City.

how to spell?

  Actually, dealing with hollow formations is very simple.

  One is to bombard with cannons, and it will be over after the bombardment disperses.

  Second, the hollow array cannot move, and it will be over if it is left alone.

  The third is to use brave and well-equipped cavalry, blindfold the eyes of the horses, and rush away in a dense formation-the cavalry will definitely die, because the firecrackers can be recruited in batches.

  Fourth is to use infantry to attack. The width of the battlefield of the hollow formation is very small, and it cannot beat the traditional infantry formation.

   Xiuyan City also has artillery, but they are all city defense artillery. How long does it take to dismantle them now?

   "Woo!"

  Before Dopolo could think of a way, the whistle of the independent battalion had already blown, and the hollow formation slowly turned into a horizontal formation.

   Slowly backed up to a place close to the hillside. They didn’t even need the long spears thrown on the ground, nor the war horses used to carry the grain. They didn’t give Dopolo time to organize an attack at all.

  Seeing more than 3,000 Han slaves fleeing farther and farther, Dopolo was quite anxious. He ordered: "Leave a hundred people to guard the city, and the rest of the Manchurian warriors will come and surround and wipe out these damned southern barbarians!"

  Yang Zhenqing had a smile on his face: "The whole army withdrew to the hillside."

   This guy is a natural general, and in just two years, he was promoted from a soldier to a battalion commander. Moreover, after learning all kinds of tactics, he can use them perfectly at his fingertips. The key is that he is bold and careful. Hundreds of soldiers dare to rush outside the city to **** people.

  At this moment, they even abandoned the entire army’s food, grass and horses, and prepared to climb the mountain and escape directly. The soldiers went back hungry together.

"Chase!"

  How could Dopolo tolerate the enemy running away? If he did not severely injure the independent battalion, he would lose his troops repeatedly, and he would definitely be dismissed.

  The surviving more than 60 Manchu and Qing cavalry were the first to chase and kill them. But the closer to the mountains, the more rugged the terrain, the speed can't be fast at all, and their number of cavalry is too small.

   After confirming that he would not be surrounded by cavalry, Yang Zhenqing suddenly did not leave in a hurry, but ordered the entire army to retreat to a hillside.

  Topolo only left 100 people to defend the city, gathered 1,000 infantry, and the cavalry also abandoned their horses to climb the mountain, intending to leave the independent battalion.

   It's purely courting death. They don't have artillery, and they don't have the firecrackers of the Eight Banners of the Han Army. They actually want to fight mountain warfare with the 500 Independent Battalion.

  Of course, in the eyes of Manchu nobles like Duopolo, the Manchu Eight Banners soldiers are the ancestors of mountain warfare.

  Seeing that the Manchurian soldiers began to outflank, Yang Zhenqing ordered: "Attack to the left, and the chief commander will command the battle."

   Less than 500 people, against 1000, Yang Zhenqing took the initiative to attack.

  Anyway, the enemy divides his forces to outflank, so attack with all his strength.

  If the enemy does not divide his troops to outflank, Yang Zhenqing can retreat calmly, and it is up to him whether he wants to fight or stay.

  A battle group of 10 people began to kill the enemies on the lower side. This is the experience of mountain warfare summed up by the Guangxi Datong Army. It has been notified to the whole army to learn.

   "Bang bang bang!"

   Gunshots broke out in the mountains and forests, and the Manchu and Qing soldiers were directly beaten.

  Independence Battalion has a group of ten people, often five people shoot together, and occasionally conduct free shooting. After firing one or two shots, he immediately ran up the mountain, condescending, and had an advantage in range, so he couldn't touch it or surround him.

   What Yang Zhenqing has to do is to raise the binoculars and stand at the top to observe the battle situation. When they found that there was a possibility of being surrounded, they immediately blew the whistle, and the grassroots officers would lead the soldiers and slowly approach him.

   After fighting for two full hours, more than 80 Manchu soldiers died, but they couldn't even catch the Mao of the Datong Army.

   "Dutong, withdraw!"

  The soldiers of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties were already miserable. The independent battalion wore leather armor, but they wore cotton armor, and their physical exertion was different. Many bannermen did not have cotton armor, but they walked very lightly, but they were even more frightened, after all, they had never been on a battlefield, and they only practiced martial arts at home.

  Toporo is in a dilemma, if he does not inflict heavy damage on the Independent Battalion, he will be 100% dismissed. You can continue to chase, and I was walked by the independent camp again.

   "Withdraw!"

  Dopolo gritted his teeth and said: "Those southern barbarians who are not dead, go back and kill them all!"

  The Independence Battalion took several prisoners, all of whom were unable to retreat quickly without being shot dead when they formed a hollow formation.

  As soon as the Manchu pursuers retreated, Yang Zhenqing bit up again, kicking the enemy's buttocks and firing.

  Dopolo was very angry and ordered to continue fighting. As a result, the independent battalion retreated while fighting.

   Really lost his temper, Duopolo led the troops down the mountain quickly. After leaving the mountains, more than 190 people have lost their lives in the mountains.

  At this moment, the Qing army only has more than 60 cavalry, 800 infantry, and 100 infantry defending the city.

  The most important thing is that those temporarily recruited flags can't hold on psychologically. To fight this kind of battle as soon as they enter the battlefield, it is easy for recruits to fall into a state of fear of the enemy and fighting.

   (Oh, I still owe a chapter and add more updates, and I will make it up tomorrow. Tomorrow and tomorrow, I have the cheek to ask for a monthly ticket.)

  (end of this chapter)