Chapter 160: Stealing a Chicken but Losing the Rice!

"Zhao Dahai, if you defeat Kumamoto-o, your tail will be raised to the sky." Qin Hao scolded expressionlessly.

Hearing this, Zhao Dahai was startled and looked around in panic. He didn't even know how to place his hands, so he could only shake his head: "Lord, I..."

"Everyone, I don't need to say more about the truth that a arrogant army will be defeated. Since ancient times, there has never been a victorious general. The overlord Xiang Yu was surrounded by a terrifying enemy and was surrounded by enemies on all sides. The more soldiers the better, Han Xin, died at the hands of a woman.

If you hold the idea of ​​being elite with firearms and despise the enemy, I don't need such generals in Keelung. "

Qin Hao's words were so convincing that the hearts of all the soldiers trembled.

Just as the Lord said, with the recent consecutive victories, their hearts have wandered and their souls have gone to heaven.

"I would rather you lose to the Shimazu family this time, because in this way Keelung will not be in ruins and can start again. If you compete for the Central Plains in the future, the combat power of Houjin's Tatar cavalry will be better than those here. Everyone here knows that this is Our powerful enemy in the future." Qin Hao continued his ideological education. Although the generals did not know why he paid special attention to the Jurchens outside the pass, they did not dare to underestimate them. It seemed that what Qin Hao predicted had not happened yet.

Our protagonist seems to be the son of destiny.

The soldiers looked at me and I looked at you, communicating with each other with their eyes.

On the other hand, Zhao Dahai stood alone in the middle of the tent like an orphan, unable to advance or retreat, which was extremely embarrassing.

"Don't say you didn't predict what you said!"

Qin Hao was very angry, and the consequences were serious.

"Zhao Dahai will be dismissed from his post and demoted to captain. If he doesn't correct his mistakes, he will be punished to the end."

"Hiss!" Everyone broke into a cold sweat.

Then he looked at Zhao Dahai with pitiful eyes, as if to say, "Well done, buddy, hold on!"

Zhao Dahai is also a mute person who eats Coptis chinensis and cannot express his sufferings.

Why didn't he understand the reason behind this shot? He wished he could give himself a few slaps to clear his head. It's a pity that he is in a big tent. If this is really the case, I am afraid that the lord will not give him good fruits.

Our Lord is very smart!

If you admit your mistakes obediently, you can still get promoted in the future. If you secretly criticize others, you will really have no hope of recovery.

"My lord, the general's arrogance is unfounded. I hope you will forgive me." Zhao Dahai knelt down on one knee and admitted his mistake.

"You are all Keelung's fierce generals, and you will follow me to conquer the world in the future." Qin Hao raised his eyelids and said seriously, "If any of the veterans are unlucky, it will not be good for Keelung, for me, and for all the soldiers." You must understand what kind of blow it is."

"Those who are here today and those stationed in various places are here. When we enter the capital of the Ming Dynasty, I don't want anyone to be missing."

This was the first time that Qin Hao showed his ambition in front of the generals. However, there was no look of surprise on their faces. Instead, they were flushed and smiling.

"My lord, we are sincere to each other. I am willing to die in the service of my lord!" Zhao Dahai immediately clenched his fists and knelt down on one knee.

"I am willing to die in the service of my lord!"

Such a turmoil about guarding against arrogance and impetuosity gradually dissipated after all the generals knelt down and shouted in unison.

The final question now is how to deal with the Diaoye ambush being ambushed by the Tokushimazu family in front of them.

"I have an idea here, but I wonder what the generals think?" As a young man of later generations, although Qin Hao did not have Wan Zhang Shen He in mind, he still had some small plans.

On the one hand, it was to ease the atmosphere, and on the other hand, it was to show the generals what he was capable of.

As the principal of the Keelung Navy and Army Academy, Qin Hao is not a name in vain.

"My lord, just give me the order. The general will not dare to disobey." Han Xian respectfully handed over his position as general.

Although it feels a bit like the "committee" commanding in front of the battle in later generations, there are some differences.

Although he is capable, our army is too strong, so he naturally becomes a "blind commander".

The Shimazu family is too weak, and Qin Hao can be said to be "a god at predicting events" with his little ability.

In Master Lu’s words, everyone’s joys and sorrows are different.

The messengers carrying the general's flag were running back and forth among the troops and horses. With the arrival of the messengers, groups of muskets were separated from their respective teams and lined up beside the road to wait.

Qin Hao came on horseback, followed closely by more than a hundred cavalry. The cloud-like cavalry, the flags like morning glow, the smoke and dust, and the thunderous sound of hoofs all reminded the soldiers on both sides of the road that the general was coming to the front line.

This suddenly made the soldiers' fighting spirit rise. They waved their swords and guns, shouted loudly, and rushed to look towards the road, hoping to catch a glimpse of their true appearance.

Faced with the enthusiasm of the soldiers, Qin Hao only stayed for a moment and then rode away.

On the other side of the Qianba River, Qin Hao slowly reined in the reins and dismounted.

"Han Xian, are all the gunmen and cannons here?" The plan laid out by Qin Hao is the most direct, simplest, and at the same time the most unsolvable strategy for the opponent.

Cannons and muskets are pushed forward all the way, and when encountering enemies, they face each other head-on to see who can have the last laugh.

"Lord, the First Army can mobilize at least 3,000 artillerymen. There are also about fifty artillery pieces. With this kind of firepower, it will not be a problem to break through the opponent's ambush circle head-on!"

"Okay! Just follow the plan!"

"General, obey the order!" Han Xian turned his horse around, returned to the formation, and began to mobilize his troops.

Soon, the musketeers of the First Army arrived one after another according to the organizational structure of their respective teams. Most of them were equipped with Type 1628 flintlock guns newly produced by the Keelung Arsenal. They also had powder boxes, projectiles, strips, etc. All accessories are available.

The only difference from the previous Type 1627 is the barrel of the flintlock gun. Under the leadership of craftsman Li Chun, the Keelung Arsenal has built lathes and boring machines that can carefully carve the rifling of the barrel.

With rifling, the flintlock gun can be said to have broken through the constraints of an era.

When rifling is carved into the barrel, the firing range can be doubled to 500 meters, and the lead bullet can fly straight at a distance of 300 meters, without the phenomenon of high shooting and low flying before there was no rifling.

My dear, there will be more after this chapter^.^,

It can be said that with rifling, the era of volley shooting is over, and the era of guerrilla warfare has begun.

Following the musketeers, hundreds of civilians pushed more than thirty large guns and eight-pound and six-pound cannons to the Chiba River to stand by.

"coming!"

The leader of the lure team was Yokota Katsuto's younger brother, Yokota Ichiro. He looked at the thousands of people and horses crossing the river in the distance. The sound of people shouting and horses neighing made him feel the excitement before the battle.

"Sir! Something seems wrong!"

An iron artillery soldier ran over from a distance and expressed his concerns.

"The flag raised among the enemy troops belongs to the Keelung Army! And the leader is the general of the Keelung Army!"

This news surprised and delighted Yokota Ichiro.

If the general of the Keelung Army is captured in this battle, the Saga family will have no reinforcements. By then, Kyushu will not belong to the Shimazu family!

Thinking of the highlight moment of being promoted in the future, Yokota Ichiro was so happy that he was speechless. Fortunately, the Iron Artillery Army Fumu was not infected by him and carefully reminded the two armies, and he broke free from his previous fantasy.

After laughing awkwardly, Yokota Ichiro picked up the Dutch telescope hanging on his chest, looked into the distance, and observed again.

"Sure enough, it is the flag of the enemy general." Ichiro Tsuneten put down the telescope silently and thought deeply.

Rather than directly killing General Keelung, what he wanted more was to capture him, which was in his best interest.

Think about the iron cannons, barrels, sake, cotton cloth, and salt exported from Keelung. As long as the general of Keelung is captured, don't you have these fears?

Especially the sake produced in Keelung, Ichiro Yokota was lucky enough to drink it once at a banquet hosted by Shimazu Mitsuhisa. Just once, the feeling of pure sweetness will be unforgettable for all living beings.

However, how to ensure that General Keelung is not harmed even when the bullets are raining down? This is an annoying problem!

"Hurry and report to the general! The general of the Keelung Army is in front of the battle. Please tell him what to do! Our army will go to Qianba River to meet the enemy first!"

The teams from both sides met on the banks of the Chiba River.

Qin Hao looked across. Although they were said to be troops acting as bait, Ichiro Yokota's troops were also quite impressive.

At least 20% of the nearly two thousand troops were gunmen, serving as the assault force and his escorts. The remaining troops, about a thousand or so, held long spears several meters long in their hands.

Qin Hao noticed that even the common ashigaru used by the Shimazu family had gun shafts made of arborescens and iron heads, which were several levels higher than the bamboo guns used by the Kumamoto family and the Saga ashigaru.

The Shimadzu family has done a lot of maritime trade in recent years. Before there was hostility, Keelung's products were the most popular among the Shimadzu family. They also had money and could afford them.

Fortunately, no weapons were sold at that time, otherwise it would be a joke if the enemy used his own weapons to hit him.

There was a sound of horse hoofbeats, and on both sides of the Keelung Army's main formation, dozens of horses roared out, galloping around Yokota Ichiro's formation from a distance.

The musketeers arrayed on the left and right wings were sweating coldly, "If this is fired by the Shimadzu family's iron cannon, the whole army may not be wiped out."

In a moment, the two teams of cavalry acting as scouts crossed Yokota Ichiro's formation. Smoke and dust like two yellow dragons crossed behind Yokota Ichiro's formation, drawing a circle and the riders galloped back.

"grown ups!"

The cavalry officer came back and reported that no ambush was found within several thousand meters on both sides of the Shimazu family's troops and horses.

"Okay, we are here today to break the bandits! Let these Japanese bandits see that our Keelung Army is not only sharp with artillery, but also capable of doing everything in field battles and attacking fortresses!" Han Xian muttered a few words beside Qin Hao.

"It's my turn to come out and encourage my brothers!"

Qin Hao lightly slapped the horse on the hip, and immediately dismounted the horse and galloped away.

A young man with a golden crown on his head, a brocade robe, a sword under his ribs, and a cloak flying in the wind behind his back galloped on his horse in front of the military formation. This scene was so touching and inspiring.

"who are we?"

"Keelung Army!"

"There are enemies ahead, so what?!"

"I am invincible!"

"I am invincible!"

"kill!"

"kill!"

"kill!"

Three "kill" sounds, one wave after another.

Such roars made the musketeers on both sides of the Keelung Army's main force boil with enthusiasm and momentum. They wanted to go directly into battle and use the sharp bayonets in their hands to give the enemy a chill.

"Attack!"

A trumpet sounded, and the Keelung army became extremely quiet.

"Prepare the firecrackers!" The commands rang out one after another in the ranks, like bursts of praises from the Buddhas, which kept ringing in the ears, making the soldiers obey the orders unconsciously.

This is the benefit of physical memory, which can form muscle memory. Even soldiers who are on the battlefield for the first time can still effectively obey various orders.

In the neat footsteps, the Keelung Army's musket troops rushed towards Yokota Ichiro's formation like mountains. At this moment, the world seemed to be still, and the Japanese could only hear the Keelung Army's forward footsteps and short breathing.

They completely forgot that this was a battlefield of life and death. If they were careless, they would not be able to see the sunrise tomorrow morning.

"Fire!"

"Bang bang!" The sound continued.

The front row of musket soldiers put down their muskets in a black mass and aimed at the Shimazu family's soldiers in front.

The sound of muskets like popping beans rang out, and the foot soldiers of the Shimazu family on the opposite side suddenly saw a row of flames bursting out in front of them, followed by a cloud of smoke, and heard a loud noise in their ears.

What's going on? !

At the moment of shock, blood mist burst out from his body and the bodies of his comrades beside him, and then there were waves of severe pain, and then they fell to the ground with screams.

All the Shimazu musketeers were stunned. What kind of musketeer was this? How could it shoot so far, and there was no need to light the fuse.

It was incredible!

The sound of metal rustling rang out in the Keelung army. The first row of musketeers finished firing, but did not retreat. Instead, they quickly handed the empty muskets back with their right hands, and at the same time took the flintlocks loaded with bullets handed over by the brothers in the back row, and continued to fire lead bullets forward at the command of the team officer.

My lord, there is more to this chapter^.^,

At the same time, the musketeers in the back row quickly drew out their sticks, cleaned the barrels, and reloaded the ammunition.

Their movements seemed like flowing water to the Shimazu musketeers, dazzling.

The movements were so smooth that it took almost no time, and they didn't even need to look at the barrel in their hands, and could do blind loading.

What kind of team was this? Yokota Ichiro, who was outside the formation, stared at the unbelievable fact in the telescope in amazement.

The continuous sound of musketeers lasted for about three minutes, but for the Japanese present, it seemed like a century.

As the musketeers continued to shoot, the musketeers of the Shimazu family on the opposite side were almost wiped out under the continuous attack of the Keelung army within a range of 150 steps.

Although the Shimazu iron cannons also fired, the distance was too far, and they could not cause any casualties to the Keelung army at all, and not a single lead bullet fell into the enemy army.

They needed to advance at least 50 steps to make it possible, but these 50 steps were an insurmountable gap, and they could not move forward.

The wounded in the Shimazu camp rolled on the ground and wailed incoherently. Many of them had their internal organs spilled out, and they cried while holding the colorful intestines and stomachs, just wanting to stuff them back into their bodies.

The bloody smell was blown everywhere by the sea breeze. Looking at the long spears, foot soldiers and muskets on the opposite side, they were at a loss and bleeding, as if they were facing hell.

The Kyushu foot soldiers behind the camp vomited, but the musketeers in front of the camp were still as firm as pine and cypress.

This little scene has long been commonplace.

"Fire!"

More than a thousand flintlock rifles on both wings fired in unison at the formation of Yokota Ichiro on the opposite side, knocking down the remaining hundreds of people.

"Sir! Let's retreat! If we don't retreat, we'll be finished!"

With a shout, the decoy team responsible for luring the enemy turned around and fled.

But where to escape?

After the musketeers fired a round of volleys, Qin Hao sent dozens of cavalrymen to pass on the message.

"Our cavalry is going to attack!"

Immediately, Han Xian led two cavalry teams and rushed out from both sides of the Keelung army, like two hot iron clamps, rushing through Yokota Ichiro's large group of people, cutting them off in the middle, with a wisp of fire.

"Those who surrender will be spared!"

"Those who abandon their weapons will be spared!"

The musketeers who rushed up afterwards, with their bayonets shining brightly on the muzzles, pointed out a clear way for the remnants of the Shimazu family.