Chapter 262: Main Force New Soldiers vs Eight Banners Veteran Soldiers

Lao Piao naturally would not miss such a good opportunity.

With 5,000 main forces facing 7,000 elite Eight Banners troops and 20,000 Green Camp troops, they would probably not win if they fought head-on. However, fighting and retreating would not be too disadvantageous. After all, the main forces of the Huaxia tribe had mules and horses for transportation, otherwise it would be impossible for them to march more than a hundred miles a day to get back to Jingzhou.

As for the 5,000 main forces in Yunhua's hands, plus more than 10,000 vassal troops against the 20,000 Green Camp troops, they would definitely win.

After weighing the strength of the two sides, Lao Piao immediately took his 10,000 main forces on a boat and headed straight for the Qing army camp. He wanted to first eliminate the 50,000 Eight Banners soldiers, and then help Yunhua encircle and suppress Song Jun's main force.

"Go, go, go, kill them all!"

A fleet of more than one hundred ships of various types was still more than ten miles away from the town of Shashi where the imperial army was stationed, and the soldiers on the ships were already shouting with excitement.

In fact, most of the main force were new soldiers who had never been to the battlefield. The generals were veterans who had followed Chen Gu to fight throughout Sichuan, but the soldiers were elite troops drawn from joint defense teams from various places.

Although these soldiers had never been to the battlefield, they were very eager to go there because they learned from veterans that the imperial army was simply vulnerable.

The casualty ratio in the battle between the two armies was at least one to ten, that is, for every one man killed in the main force of the Huaxia tribe, at least ten men would die in the imperial army. When Lebao attacked Fobao, a defensive counterattack resulted in a casualty ratio of one to one thousand.

Therefore, the main force of the Huaxia Department went to the battlefield to gain credit. As long as they practiced their rifle skills well, they could kill the enemy from a distance of one or two hundred meters. What was the danger?
The commander, Lao Piao, was a boastful man. Within less than a month after he took over the army, all the soldiers had turned into warmongers like him.

Now that they finally have the opportunity to fight, they are all shouting with excitement.

When they were still about seven or eight miles away from Shaxi Town, the imperial army's cannons had already opened fire.

There was a loud "boom" explosion, and a shell fell not far from the fleet. Lao Piao was so scared that he screamed and immediately shouted at the top of his voice.

"Spread out and move forward. The Rocket Force will charge forward and attack when they get close. Quick, quick, quick, don't be afraid. Charge, charge, charge!"

With Lao Piao's shouting, the three small sampans carrying the Rocket Force not only had their sails fully hoisted, but the sailors on the boats also began to row desperately, and with the flow of the current, they immediately rushed downstream at an extremely fast speed.

In a short while, they had passed half of the three or four thousand meters, and one or two thousand meters was already within the attack range of the Rocket Force, but the three small sampans were still approaching Shaxi Town quickly.

The three small sampans stopped only when they were about one thousand meters away from Shaxi Town.

A handful of thick nanmu bamboo poles were lifted up and placed on the wooden rack. After the nanmu bamboo poles were lit, a sharp sound of breaking through the air was made. Then a citron bamboo pole thicker than a fist rushed out with an orange-red tail flame.

The three small sampans could fire six rockets in one round. It was a desperate fight and there was no need to aim. All they had to do was put the bamboo poles on the wooden frame and light them. They could fire a round in three to five seconds.

Fortunately, Shaxi Town covers an area of ​​about one square kilometer, and there are a large number of tents on the periphery. Even if the rocket launcher is not aimed, it can hit the target.

As rocket launchers continued to fly towards Shashi Town, explosions continued to be heard from the direction of the imperial camp. Artillery shells also began to be fired from the direction of Shashi Town. It was time to test the fighting will of the two armies.

After being bombarded repeatedly by rocket launchers, the imperial camp was obviously in a state of panic, while the warships of the Chinese side continued to rush forward despite the artillery shells.

Lao Piao's large sampan rushed to the front and luckily avoided all the shells, but not every one of the others was so lucky. Although the hit rate of the shells was very low and the warships of the Huaxia tribe were also dispersed, more than a dozen warships were still hit by the shells, and several were even sunk.

Lao Piao didn't care about that. At this moment, he was holding a rifle that was nearly two meters long and shooting at Shaxi Town.

The special rifle in Lao Piao's hand was made by imitating a rifle. In this era, a rifle with a two-meter-long barrel can hit a distance of nearly one thousand meters even if it is firing lead bullets. The attack range of the rifle in Lao Piao's hand is even longer, and the key is that the attack accuracy is higher. As long as you aim at the chest or abdomen, you can basically hit the target.

As long as the target is hit, even if it is just the arm, the opponent will lose his combat effectiveness, because the rifle in Lao Piao's hand can directly break the arm with one shot.

The lethality of such a powerful weapon is secondary, its greatest power is actually its deterrent effect. When people around you are constantly having their limbs broken, holes punched in their bodies, and occasionally even half of their heads blown off, that kind of fear is not something that most people can endure.

It would be fine if they were elite soldiers who were used to life and death, but they were a group of veteran soldiers.

As the warships of the Huaxia Army continued to approach Shashi Town, rocket launchers continued to bombard and rifles continued to attack, the panic in Shashi Town became more and more serious.

After the warships of the Huaxia tribe docked, Lao Piao led his men to charge in a loose formation while firing their guns. The casualties of the Eight Banners soldiers became increasingly heavy, and deserters began to appear. Then more and more people fled, and finally the entire army collapsed.

"Leave a thousand men behind to collect the rebels, clean up the battlefield, and guard the camp, and the rest will follow me in pursuit.

Those who surrender will not be killed!"

"Those who surrender will not be killed!"

These new recruits from the Huaxia tribe who were going to the battlefield for the first time were very excited at this moment. Although more than ten warships had just been sunk by artillery shells and they had lost thousands of people, they had destroyed the imperial camp of 50,000 people.

Now was the time to reap the fruits of victory and continue to expand the results. No one was afraid at all, nor did they feel tired. They shouted and chased after Lao Piao.

The thousand people who were left behind thought they were unlucky and began to clean the warships in batches, surrender the rebels, and go out to arrange defenses. Some people went to the riverside to rescue people. The soldiers on the sunken warships would not necessarily die. As long as they could discard their weapons and take off their bulletproof vests in time, they would have a chance to survive.

After all, it was only mid-March and the river water was still very clear. The river had not risen and the current was not very turbulent. Most Sichuan people could swim.

Lao Piao chased for most of the day. Except for some who ran away on horseback, basically all the Eight Banners soldiers were caught back. After counting the prisoners, he found that there were nearly 30,000 prisoners, and the rest either ran away or died.

No matter what the situation is, these tens of thousands of old soldiers are completely finished and can no longer pose a threat to the Huaxia tribe.

(End of this chapter)