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

Chapter 506 You are responsible for the quacks, I am responsible for the random killings

"Zhu Zi, aim at the bandit leader and attack him!"

Zhang Shikang handed the telescope to Qi Dazhu and pointed at Zhang Nengqi who was busy directing the battle on the other side of the river.

There are too many bandits, so we must buy more time for the White-Pole Soldiers. Otherwise, the White-Pole Soldiers who land will be overwhelmed by the bandits before the soldiers on the ship have a chance to get off.

If the first landing fails, not only will the local morale be boosted, but our own morale will also decline.

And if the first login fails, the second time will be even more difficult.

Qi Dazhu took the telescope and observed in the direction Zhang Shikang pointed for a while. Then he frowned and ordered the gunner to adjust the angle of the muzzle according to his estimation.

The distance was nearly eight or nine hundred steps, and Qi Dazhu was not very confident.

But there was no point in saying something uncertain at this time, so Qi Dazhu just concentrated on commanding his subordinates to adjust the artillery.

Zhang Shikang continued to hold the telescope, observing the specific location of the bandit leader so that he could make adjustments at any time.

Fortunately, Zhang Nengqi was only commanding the battle under the protection of his personal guards, and did not run back and forth.

Three minutes later, forty artillery pieces finally adjusted their muzzles according to Qi Dazhu's order.

"Ready, fire!"

Following Qi Dazhu's order, white smoke began to emanate from the tails of forty cannons one after another.

Zhang Shikang's arm holding the telescope was trembling slightly. What is a critical moment? It is now.

The casualties of the White Spear Soldiers were increasing with every minute and second. If this round of artillery fire failed to hit the target, perhaps the three or four thousand White Spear Soldiers who had already landed would soon be wiped out.

Boom - boom boom boom -

The forty artillery pieces once again made a deafening noise, and Zhang Shikang could see with his own eyes dozens of huge shells flying across the river.

It landed within a few dozen steps of Zhang Nengqi, and the huge inertia created several blood grooves behind the bandits.

Dozens of shells landed within a radius of several dozen steps, raising clouds of dust on the mudflats and blocking everyone's view.

Zhang Shikang frowned slightly anxiously. The short period of time when the dust gradually dissipated was the most difficult time for Zhang Shikang.

A moment later, when Zhang Shikang picked up the telescope again to observe, he saw that the rear of the bandits was in chaos.

He looked around the crowd again and again, but did not see any trace of the bandit leader. Several of Zhang Nengqi's personal guards were carrying a man and running back in panic, and more bandit soldiers also followed suit.

A look of joy immediately appeared on Zhang Shikang's face.

At such a long distance, even if a cannon god came, it would be hard to hit the target with current artillery technology.

He admits that he has an element of gambling.

But he made the right bet.

After the leader of the bandits fell, more than 20,000 bandits immediately fell into chaos, and more white-pole soldiers got off the troop transport ship.

Half a quarter of an hour later, the White Spear Soldiers had begun to form a line.

After another round of bombardment, the bandits retreated.

After hearing the news, the Guards and White Spear Soldiers burst into cheers.

Qi Dazhu immediately ordered the gunner to start cleaning the barrel, but did not let the gunner load ammunition immediately.

After firing five or six rounds in succession, the temperature of the barrel was already very high, and since the bandits had already retreated, there was no need to take any more risks.

Bi Maokang once conducted a series of tests with Johann Adam Schall von Bell. This type of bronze cannon could only fire twelve or thirteen times at a time, and the barrel had to be allowed to cool down for half an hour.

Moreover, cold water cannot be used to cool down directly, as that will greatly shorten the service life of the barrel, cause annealing, reduce metal strength, and then cause barrel explosion.

Of course, in extreme cases, if the barrel cannot be given time to cool down, it can continue to fire, but the artillery will become useless after a long time.

"After this battle, perhaps I should discuss with Commander Lu to establish a succession system." Zhang Shikang put down the telescope and murmured.

The situation where the army would fall into chaos once the main general fell was not only common among the bandits, but also among the Ming army, and it had been a long-standing problem.

In previous battles of the Ming Dynasty and even previous dynasties, the commanders of the army always led the troops and rushed to the front to boost morale to the greatest extent.

This is of course a double-edged sword, and Zhang Shikang knew it very early on.

In the past two years, Zhang Shikang has informed the commanders of various military garrisons in the Ming Dynasty in the form of military orders, stating that the commanders themselves should not put themselves in danger unless it is absolutely necessary.

But it still cannot solve the huge blow to the army's morale once the commander's death occurs.

Zhang Shikang's voice was not loud, and only a few people who were closest to him, such as Qin Liangyu and Sun Weifan, heard it.

"As long as the Marshal stays behind honestly, the morale of our Guards will never be broken." Sun Weifan said in a muffled voice.

What this means is, don't try to show off, or our guards will kill people indiscriminately.

You are responsible for the giggling, and I am responsible for the killing.

Zhang Shikang ignored Sun Weifan.

"Perhaps before the battle, the commander-in-chief can designate a specific deputy general to inherit the command and inform all the soldiers of the news." Qin Liangyu compromised.

This is mentioned in the current military laws of the Ming Dynasty, but the commander-in-chief rarely informs all the soldiers of this matter, so once the commander-in-chief dies, morale will inevitably suffer a major blow.

But if the succession of command is made clear before the battle and all soldiers are aware of it, no matter what, even if the commander dies, the soldiers will always have a new backbone.

But Zhang Shikang still shook his head without comment.

What if the designated deputy general also died?

What if the replacement lieutenant general also dies?

If the commander-in-chief points out a series of successors to command at once in front of all the soldiers, should the war still be fought?

The root of the problem lies not in command power, but in other aspects, but Zhang Shikang has not figured it out for the time being.

After the bandit army retreated, all the white-pole soldiers transported in the first batch had landed and quickly began to form a battle array at the bandit artillery positions on the mudflats.

More than fifty transport ships quickly turned around and began to travel back and forth.

Everyone knew that the plan to cross the river had achieved initial success.

The success of the imperial court was the initial defeat of the bandits.

When Zhang Nengqi woke up in Yongchuan City, it was already early morning of the next day.

He was knocked unconscious by the residual force of a shell, but he was not seriously injured, just had a severe headache.

A soldier had already informed him of the situation at the time and told Zhang Nengqi that the imperial army had completed the crossing of the river overnight.

When Zhang Nengqi fell, a messenger had already passed back the news from the front line.

Zhang Nengqi showed bitterness on his face. This battle not only failed to stop the imperial court from crossing the river, but also resulted in the loss of a total of fifty artillery pieces of various types, and more than two thousand soldiers were killed or injured.

It was a complete defeat.

Defeat in battle was nothing new for a general, but Zhang Nengqi just felt aggrieved. He felt like there was a lot of anger stuck in his chest, which made him always feel angry.

In the afternoon, several eunuchs came from the direction of Chengdu. Zhang Nengqi immediately knew that it must be a letter from his adoptive father to call for punishment.

Although he felt aggrieved, Zhang Nengqi still knelt down to accept the order.

"The Emperor, by the Will of Heaven, proclaims:

Damn it, I taught you not to act rashly. You insisted on confronting Zhang Shikang head-on, and now you have lost a lot of soldiers and even my cannon.

"Donkey ball, go to your mother's grave, Qin Zai!"

……