Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

Chapter 625: Blind Monk, you found the highlight

On a high slope inside the Guards, Zhu Cilang's face was full of excitement.

"The Guards are so powerful!" Zhu Cilang couldn't help but praise.

When the 20,000 Tartars rushed over just now, Zhu Cilang said that he was not afraid, but that was a lie. After all, it was his first time seeing a real battlefield, and it was a decisive battle between two great powers right from the start.

The Guards brought the Tartars so close that Zhu Cilang could even see their cruel expressions through the monocular telescope.

The scimitars in their hands were so shining and their expressions were so ferocious, but in just over two quarters of an hour, this group of people were beaten by the guards and fled in disarray, like lost dogs.

This was truly beyond Zhu Cilang's expectations.

"Master Zhang, what was our Ming Dynasty's army like before?" Zhu Cilang couldn't help but ask.

He only knew that the Ming army had been unable to defeat the Tartars in the past, but Zhu Cilang had no idea why or what their combat effectiveness was.

"In the past, the combat effectiveness was certainly not bad. The people were still the same, but the weapons and equipment were a bit worse. But apart from the advantage of having a large number of war horses, the Jianlu didn't have much else." Zhang Shikang summarized simply.

As a commander-in-chief, he should have been busiest during major wars. However, Zhang Shikang seemed to have been quite idle during all the previous wars, so much so that the master and disciple even chatted about old times.

"Then why does the Ming Dynasty lose almost nine out of ten battles against the Tartars?" Zhu Cilang was puzzled.

"This question is complicated. Perhaps you should wait until the battle is over and ask the soldiers. They have the best say."

The soldiers are still the same soldiers, except that firearms have been added. Whether it is the Guards or the Tiger Guards, the combat effectiveness of the cold weapon troops is also not bad.

At this time, a messenger came running over to report:

"Marshal, the enemy is attacking again. It looks like they have a lot of cavalry, including heavily armored cavalry. Vice Marshal Sun, please ask if we can deploy those 300 artillery pieces."

Zhang Shikang picked up the monocular and took a quick look before saying to the messenger:

"Tell Sun Weifan that if he wants the Tartars to escape early, then open fire."

The enemy had at most four or five thousand cavalrymen, and the heavy cavalry was only a small wave in the front. The three hundred heavy bronze cannons were the nuclear weapons of the Guards.

In order to avoid being exposed, marching or stationing all the way is extremely time-consuming and resource-intensive.

Although artillery naturally restrains heavy armor and cavalry units, the cost-effectiveness must also be considered. If a wave of artillery fire really scares the enemy away, Zhang Shikang will probably have nowhere to cry.

All his arrangements were aimed at attracting the Jianlu to initiate a decisive battle, and he even did not hesitate to divide his troops for this purpose.

He didn't want to play hide-and-seek with the Jianlu with an army of over 100,000. After all, the elite Jianlu had cavalry even if they were infantry.

The messenger was also not vague and immediately planned to go back and pass on the message. Zhang Shikang continued with a dark face:

"Come back and tell them it's not worth using artillery. Instead, you can ask Cao Bianjiao to bring some heavily armored soldiers to fight back."

Sun Weifan had just risked his life to save him from Dorgon, so Zhang Shikang had to be polite when speaking to him.

After the messenger left, Zhu Cilang thought for a moment and said:

"Master Zhang, are you trying to create the illusion of an evenly matched opponent for the Tartars?"

Zhu Cilang did not participate much in the meetings of the high-level Guards. He just strolled around the military camp and found everything he saw curious.

However, Zhu Cilang still managed to analyze some clues about how to deal with this battle.

"Blind Monk, you found the highlight!" Zhang Shikang had a teachable expression.

"Let Huang Taiji think that the gap is not that big. They have more people and can defeat us as long as they invest more troops.

But they will never imagine how many tricks Master Zhang has in store!"

Seeing Zhang Shikang looking at him with interest, Zhu Cilang continued his analysis, and at the end he did not forget to praise his master Zhang.

"Good job, young man!" Zhang Shikang patted Zhu Cilang on the shoulder as a reward.

Since the Guards completed the replacement of firearms, it has been a long time since they had a head-on confrontation with the Tatars.

His weapons and equipment are definitely outstanding. Even when looking at the current Europe, Zhang Shikang is not inferior at all.

The only drawback is the serious lack of mobility and the lack of a large number of war horses, especially the artillery. This thing is too heavy. Although it is much lighter than the red cannon invented by Huang Taiji, there is still a lot of room for improvement.

While the master and disciple were chatting, fighting broke out again on the battlefield between the two sides.

The combat power of the Eight Banners of Manchuria was indeed incomparable to that of the Mongols. Suksaha was also very smart. With Merlin's previous experience as a lesson, the two trenches could only delay the enemy slightly.

When the Tatar cavalry rushed to within a hundred steps of the musketeer phalanx, Sun Weifan decisively gave the order to shoot.

However, a distance of one hundred steps was just a moment for the cavalry. The musketeer phalanx only had time to fire three volleys before nearly five thousand cavalrymen rushed to their front.

The trench, which was one step wide, was easily crossed by the warhorse. Seeing the enemy's phalanx right in front of him, Suksaha was extremely excited.

Charge in, as long as you charge in, the enemy's phalanx will inevitably be in chaos. Then Your Majesty will definitely send more troops to participate in the encirclement and suppression, and great things can be expected.

However, it was too early for him to be happy. The flags of the Guards were flying back and forth, and soon, several phalanxes in the front retreated in an orderly manner, while three paths were opened between the phalanxes.

Several rows of spearmen and shield bearers ran in an orderly manner from the passages on both sides. The spears in the spearmen's hands were three or four meters long, and their shields were also heavy shields that pierced the ground.

The heavy shields were arranged in a neat row, and the spearmen placed their spears on the heavy shields. This was a typical method used by infantry to restrain cavalry charges.

The cavalry charged and soon collided with the defensive line, and the battlefield was suddenly filled with shouts of killing.

Of course, shield soldiers are no match for so many cavalrymen, but their mission is only to slow down the cavalry's charge speed.

When both sides were in a stalemate, Cao Bianjiao led a thousand heavily armored cavalrymen and rushed out from the inside of the camp on the widest road in the middle of the square formation.

Cao Bianjiao was originally from the frontier army, and the soldiers under his command were also from the frontier army. They suffered countless grievances when fighting against the Tartars. Now they can finally collect their debts.

He wanted to launch a counterattack against the Tatars with his heavily armored troops.

Cao Bianjiao was as excited as a wild dog that had broken free from its reins. He even shouted in broken Manchuria while charging forward:

"You Tartar dogs, your Grandpa Cao is back again!"

……