Chapter 192: Bloody Battle at Daming Prefecture (Part 4)
Cotton armor is a kind of battle clothes made of cotton fabric in ancient times for protection. After the emergence of firearms on the Chinese battlefield, traditional heavy armor became vulnerable. So starting from the Yuan Dynasty, cloth armor with iron plates installed in key places appeared, which was the predecessor of cotton armor.
In the Ming Dynasty, cotton armor was lined with iron sheets and fixed with copper nails to resist firearms. The cotton armor of the Qing army was originally captured from the Ming army, and later improved by themselves.
Choose 7 jin of cotton, put it in a padded jacket with a piece of cloth, sew it tightly with thick thread, soak it in water, take it out and spread it on the ground, press it firmly with your feet until it does not swell, and dry it in the sun.
Wet cotton and pat it repeatedly to make a very thin cotton sheet. Multiple cotton sheets are then stitched together to make a very thick and solid cotton cloth. Between the two layers of cotton cloth is iron armor, which is fixed with copper nails inside and outside. This is the armor of the Qing army today. Cotton armor is very effective in defending against firearms, while iron armor has defensive capabilities against traditional bows and crossbows.
Huo Chong never had any special expectations for the courage of his subordinates. The reason was simple: these people were not conscious enough. In other words, they had an irreconcilable , but their hatred for the old system was not strong.
Just like before the proletariat became aware, they might think that someone who proposed XX6 was a bad person, or even an enemy, a shameless capitalist who needed to be overthrown.
However, when the proletariat themselves become capitalists, most of them are happy and satisfied, and even feel that this is a personal improvement.
At least in Huo Chong's view, true awakening is not to transform from a petty bourgeoisie into a capitalist. If the tenants think that they have changed from tenants to landlords, they will start to exploit the people by renting out land like the landlords in the past.
Well, even if this basically impossible dream becomes a reality , these people cannot be said to be liberated.
Based on such cruel and realistic considerations, Huo Chong could only seek a more cruel and realistic solution. That is to minimize the chance of his own people getting hurt. And the only way to do this is to seize the weapons.
Fortunately, Yue Zhongqi invested 100,000 troops in the battle. After the Qing army collapsed, all kinds of armor were scattered all over the ground. Huo Chong had already prepared a lot of iron pieces, and if he cleaned up the cotton armor, it would become a very good armor.
Undoubtedly, these armors were up to standard. Not only the officers and soldiers of the 40th and 10th Battalions were unscathed under the rain of arrows, but all the battalions were the same.
Huo Chong was watching the battle from a high ground. After losing their artillery, the Qing army could only rely on bows and arrows and muskets to fight. Watching them busying around, jumping up and down, it really made people...sympathize!
As I was thinking, I saw an army from afar that looked very dazzling. It was a hazy golden light, but when I looked closely through the telescope, I realized that it was the reflection of copper nails.
"It's actually the Eight Banners Army. Haha." Huo Chong laughed.
Yue Zhongqi used the Eight Banners as the supervisors in the battle of 100,000 people. He did not let the Eight Banners participate in the charge. So even if the battle failed, the Eight Banners had already run away. Huo Chong did not even touch them.
Huo Chong was of course happy to see the Eight Banners also join the battle. It is said that if the Eight Banners have less than 10,000 men, they are invincible.
However, the Eight Banners were a typical example of corruption and depravity. Since the Opium War, the Eight Banners had never won a single battle against a decent army. The Eight Banners were simply incapable of fighting against foreigners. Even against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Eight Banners were still incapable.
I think the Eight Banners that Huo Chong is encountering now are pretty good, right?
Oh, Huo Chong suddenly remembered. The Fourteenth Prince became the Great General because the Eight Banners failed in the battle in the northwest and asked the Fourteenth Prince to put out the fire. And Nian Gengyao in the northwest mainly used the Sichuan-Shaanxi Green Camp soldiers...
Just as I was thinking, I saw the artillery fire from the Han army's position. At this time, the two sides were already fighting at a distance of about 100 meters. Since the Han army crushed the enemy with its equipment, it was time for a free fight. The three-pound cannon loaded with grapeshot was undoubtedly a lesson for them.
Sure enough, the Qing army did not hold out for particularly long under the bombardment of shotgun shells, and Huo Chong could not help yawning as he watched.
I don't know if it was this time or the last time during the Battle of Jinan. Anyway, Huo Chong's yawning action proved how boring the battle was. At least in later film and television works, Huo Chong's yawning meant that the battle was already won for the Han soldiers.
The battalion commanders had no chance to yawn. When the enemy finally showed signs of being unable to hold on, the commander of the 10th Battalion, Hu Yue, first sent someone to contact the commander of the 40th Battalion, Li Gengnian, who was fighting side by side, to stop firing. Then he commanded his men to draw their bayonets immediately.
There were no casualties among the Qing army, and after one charge, the Qing army was split in half by Hu Yue's battalion. Seeing that the enthusiastic young men were showing signs of losing the battle, Hu Yue quickly asked the messengers to run and give orders to the company commanders, asking them to stop and quickly organize the troops.
Sure enough, even with such a quick reaction, some platoons were already in the mood for killing, and the soldiers continued to chase.
Fortunately, the company commanders had sobered up after receiving the order, and they were able to shout to the platoon leaders. The platoon leaders immediately shouted: "XX, listen, line up quickly!" "XXX, stop being crazy, come back quickly!"
The platoon leaders were all soldiers who had fought in four or five battles. They immediately ordered the squad leaders to grab the soldiers who were charging the most fiercely and drag them back to the formation.
Then they started firing volleys of gunfire in accordance with the rules, and then they followed the fleeing Qing army in the most orderly manner possible.
The 40th Battalion did not have this problem. The battalion commander, Li Gengnian, could even blow his whistle and order the troops to march forward in step. After marching for a while, Li Gengnian would shout, "One, two, three, four."
This kind of action that should have appeared in drills appeared on the battlefield, and it was not just one battalion, but also those battalions that were not responsible for movement and pursuit. It was as if the battlefield had suddenly turned into an elementary school or junior high school playground.
Huo Chong heard the faint shouts of "one, two, three, four" and "one, two, one. One, two, one" of the troops marching, and thought that the only thing missing was a military band. If there was a military band, the scene in front of him would really look like the war in the 18th century. Instead of the 20th century, the charge bugle was blown, all the troops shouted "kill" like a tsunami, and then rushed forward like a tide to give the enemy the final blow.
However, the wars in the eighteenth century were not so fierce.
Huo Chong yawned again and felt that he really needed to organize a military band. Europeans are not fools, especially the British.
If military bands were really useless, the British lobster soldiers would not have been able to conquer the world for hundreds of years under the guidance of military bands.
The current battlefield does require brave and free play, but what is needed more is maximum order.
