The roar of the war horses made the ground tremble, and the dust on the ground rolled up and the sand and stones flew, as if a storm was sweeping across the world. However, at this moment, there was a dazzling light above my head.
The Northern Han army in the central front was mainly infantry, and Zhao Hu's Shenhuodu was facing a vast sea of people and guns. They were mounted infantry, and they would dismount and gather in formation at a distance of more than 100 steps to fight on foot. The Third Army of the Huben Army also had many mounted infantry who could barely serve as cavalry, but the mounts of mounted infantry were not very suitable for charging, and the soldiers' riding skills and riding combat level were not good, so they often dismounted and gathered in formation to fight; especially the Shenhuodu, because they were holding firearms, if they fought on horseback, they could only use them as maces, so they could only dismount and form formations to fight.
Zhao Hu was on the battlefield for the first time. He was a young man whose family and everything were destroyed by the Liao army in Yizhou. In the small area of Zhaojiashu, there were few men as tall, strong, and strong as him, but in the imperial army, many were as strong as him; these people did not farm, and according to the usual words of the superiors, the enemy did not allow us to farm properly.
He was a farmer, but now he was wearing leather armor inlaid with iron plate armor and holding a weapon in his hand.
The Khitans are their fathers. The generals shouted that these people are running dogs and traitors.
When Zhao Hu heard this, a fire started burning in his heart.
He was originally very scared. Even though he had hatred in his heart, he was still afraid. This was the instinct of a person who had always been honest. Just like the villagers of Zhao Jiashu, whose relatives were killed, insulted and ravaged, they would still flee in fear when they heard that the enemy soldiers were coming. However, Zhao Hu found that his fellow soldiers were all wearing armor and holding sharp weapons. Then he remembered that it was not clear who was afraid of whom.
He tried his best not to pay attention to the enemy soldiers in front of him and the crazy scene on the battlefield. After lining up, he followed the general's instructions and began to check the fire pots. The first round of ammunition had already been loaded in advance.
Zhao Hu then realized that the man standing next to him was shaking, and it seemed that there was someone who was more afraid than him. Zhao Hu had just been recruited not long ago, and was a miscellaneous soldier at first. It happened that Shenhuo was short of manpower, and he was young and strong, so he quickly became a combat soldier.
He headed forward and shouted as loudly as he could, but the noise around him was so loud that it was hard to hear unless he shouted loudly.
Zhao Hu recalled the bloodstains in the haystack and the torn clothes of the woman in his memory. The shame and anger in his heart made him no longer afraid. A sense of resentment filled his body. He held the wooden handle of the mace tightly and walked forward. At this time, the cowhide drum on the side of the team also beat slowly.
Ding ding ding Zhao Hu heard a series of metal collision sounds around him. It was the sound of arrows thrown from the air hitting the shoulder plates of helmets. Occasionally, one or two people were hit in the leather armor and screamed in pain.
The general stopped and the drums stopped, reminding everyone to stop. The two armies were only a few dozen steps apart, and the infantry on the opposite side began to move and came towards them, so Zhao Hu and others stopped. Unfortunately, he was in the first row, but there were only three rows of Shenhuo, and there were other troops behind.
The shouts and cries of killing could be heard clearly dozens of steps away. The Northern Han soldiers, armed with sharp weapons and wearing armor, slowly rushed over here. A few dozen steps were neither far nor near. The enemy soldiers were still walking in formation and had not yet charged, in order to conserve their strength and to stay in line.
At the command of the general, Zhao Hu raised the bronze gun to chest height and used his elbow to steady the wooden handle at the rear. The soldiers around him were very nervous, staring ahead with wide eyes. The enemy army was spreading over, and they could clearly see the weapons in their hands when they were about 40 or 50 steps away. They were no longer using long spears to fight cavalry, which were too long and difficult to hold, and long poles were not easy to use when attacking infantry, but close combat weapons such as spears, swords and shields.
Don't be impatient, wait until they come closer and I give the order, the general shouted.
Unexpectedly, just as he finished speaking, he heard a bang and a puff of white smoke. Zhao Hu also hurriedly moved the fire cup close to the fuse. Suddenly, the surrounding muskets started to crackle, and the smell of gunpowder immediately filled his nostrils. Zhao Hu's mind went blank.
At this time, the leader started to curse: I told you guys to be patient, are you deaf
Zhao Hu then remembered his usual training. He was very familiar with it, but he always made mistakes on the battlefield. He was really too nervous.
The smoke was blown away by the wind in an instant. Kill, kill, kill. The people on the opposite side rushed over with weapons in hand. The last round of gunfire was too far away, and the enemy soldiers were wearing armor, so it seemed that no one was killed.
The voice of the general who changed teams was screaming. Because the enemy soldiers were already running.
Zhao Hu hurriedly walked back, moved to the last row, and hurriedly reloaded. At this moment, he was in a panic, his mind was a mess, and he messed up the two steps in a row. He reloaded slower than usual. The man next to him was not much slower. While he was reloading in a hurry, he kept looking up at the enemy soldiers who were rushing towards him. Those enemy soldiers seemed to be roaring like crazy and rushing towards him.
At this time, the sound of muskets rang out again, and some people in the chaotic soldiers on the opposite side fell down with sporadic screams. But there were more than 30 people in a row of Shenhuodu. With a volley at such a close distance, the enemy might be killed or injured less than 10 people. The dense infantry was not hit by all the volleys. Some of them failed to fire successfully due to problems in firing, and some of them were not fired at the right height, either flying into the sky or hitting the ground. The height of the barrel was at the elbow, and it was difficult to hold it at a completely level angle.
One round of volleys failed to defeat the enemy soldiers, and a large group of enemy soldiers had rushed to within a dozen steps. Shenhuo Dudu gave up and switched to a third volley. He drew out his sword, pointed forward, and shouted: Fight for the emperor!
The blue tiger-embroidered weapons of the Huben Army immediately tilted forward and laid flat, and the leather drums also beat desperately with a rapid rhythm. The Shasha army picked up the maces and rushed forward.
Zhao Hu was in the last row, and he also ran up with a mace in hand. A moment later, they came into close combat. The infantry was not as fast as the cavalry, but they were also sprinting at the moment of encounter. A Northern Han soldier in front of him thrust his spear at a Zhou soldier, and then ran at a high speed, piercing the breastplate violently. Zhao Hu heard screams. The clangs and clangs of various heavy blows mixed with human voices, and the fishy smell soon spread in the dust.
Zhao Hu aimed at a Northern Han army sword and shield soldier, and rushed forward with his mace in both hands. It was obvious that the opponent was an old soldier who had been in battle for a long time. He raised his shield and blocked the mace's fierce blow with a clang, and his movements were very skillful. The Northern Han soldier immediately swung his sword and chopped at him. Zhao Hu felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, but it was not caused by being chopped. A casual sword could not cut through the shoulder that was protected by plate armor.
Zhao Hu was filled with hatred, and the blood on the battlefield further aroused his emotions. With red eyes, he swung his mace wildly and rushed forward. There were golden stars on his head again, and his helmet was chopped again, but the helmet was still not cut through. However, the strong blow made Zhao Hu feel dizzy.
He had pinned the man down with brute force and had thrown him to the ground. Zhao Hu was strong and could not get up by pinning him down. With a clang, the fire pot in Zhao Hu's waist bag was thrown forward and smashed on the ground. The soldier still had a knife in his hand and chopped at Zhao Hu's back, but he was chopping at the back of his breastplate. This position was powerless and just like tickling.
A loud shout of "Long live the emperor" came from behind, and another group of Zhou army infantry rushed up.
But Zhao Hu had no time to care. He was so focused on dealing with the enemy soldiers he was fighting with that he ignored the clanging of bloodshed around him. His father, who was killed by the Khitans, had taught him: In a fight, no matter how many people there are, just focus on one person and beat him to death.
Zhao Hu stretched out his strong hand like an iron clamp to hold down the man's right hand, the right hand holding the knife, to prevent him from cutting himself again. The man stretched out his left hand and grabbed Zhao Hu's face fiercely, aiming at his eyes. Fortunately, Zhao Hu reacted quickly and instinctively closed his eyes and raised his head; his face was still scratched by the claws, and it hurt like fire. Then the man grabbed the corner of Zhao Hu's mouth and immediately tore it hard.
Zhao Hu felt so painful that he felt like he was being torn apart. He clenched his teeth, tightened his jaw, and hurriedly grabbed the soldier's hand with his right hand. At this time, he took advantage of the other party's hand to loosen slightly, opened his mouth and bit a finger.
Ah, the soldiers under him screamed like pigs being slaughtered. Zhao Hu was desperate at this time, almost biting off the opponent's finger, and blood flowed all over his mouth. It seems that biting a finger is more painful.
Finally he let go, Zhao Hu held down his hand, and then pressed his right hand onto the broken earthenware pot and the burning charcoal, and the screams rang out again.
The man was also anxious, his eyes red and his mouth wide open to bite Zhao Hu, but Zhao Hu tilted his head upwards so that he couldn't bite. After struggling for a while, he held down the other's two injured hands with one hand, freed his left hand, and punched the soldier in the face. As for the mace, it had been thrown away somewhere long ago.
The opponent's head tilted, and Zhao Hu hit the helmet, his knuckles were burning with pain. His left hand was not very convenient to punch, and he cursed with red eyes and screamed "fuck your mother". In fear and anger, Zhao Hu reached out and poked the opponent's eyes, and used his fingers to dig. The cruel scene suddenly appeared in front of him, and blood splashed on his face. Ah, the soldiers below screamed hoarsely.
Zhao Hu's face was very close to him and he could see it very clearly, even the hairs in his nostrils. He was like a madman now, with tears streaming down his face, and he was shouting and crying.
At this moment, a Zhou soldier suddenly rushed forward, picked up a knife and stabbed the Northern Han soldier on the ground in the face, blood splattered all over Zhao Hu's head and face. Then the other party finally stopped moving.
Zhao Hu felt as if his limbs had been drained away. With a face full of blood and tears, he stood up in a daze. He looked around with empty eyes. More Zhou soldiers rushed over like crazy. There was fighting everywhere. Swords and spears were waving in the crowd. The sky and the earth were rolling violently like a pot of boiling water.