boom! boom! boom!
Continuous gunfire sounded in the southeast corner of the vehicle formation, and the sky was filled with gunpowder smoke. The battle line was shrouded in gunpowder. Projectiles that pierced the air were sprayed towards the galloping cavalry, knocking the first three centurions to their knees. The surviving troops were scattered in all directions. Only corpses and bloody roads were left everywhere.
In front of Heshuote's troops, the national teacher Khan whipped his horse and looked at the corpses of the Chahar troops who were used as bait not far away. The Han army's artillery position was shrouded in gunpowder smoke, his face expressionless.
This was just a very inconspicuous scene on the battlefield. To the east and north of the chariot camp, a black mass of Mongolian infantrymen held shields and slowly pressed toward the chariot camp. The distance between the battle lines was shortened between 200 and 100 paces.
From time to time, a cavalry team would rush forward. If the Han army's archers had no time to reload and shoot, they would rush forward and shoot a few arrows; if they were not careful and hit a few blunderbuss, they would shoot the horses and disperse and retreat.
It's just that other places are feints. The goal of the national division Khan's breakthrough is the southeast corner of the vehicle formation, where the Han army's artillery position is located.
He waved his left hand without saying a word, and the messenger behind him held up the Mongolian trombone coated with pulp and blew out a thick, dull sound that resounded throughout the battlefield.
The second Chahar surrender army with a size of 300 cavalry was urged by Prince Heshuote to go into battle. After promising to be freedmen after the war, the people once again crossed the ditch filled with corpses and pressed towards the southeast corner of the carriage camp.
The national counselor Khan had limited knowledge of artillery. He did not even know that loose particles and solid iron bullets could be discharged from the same cannon. However, this did not prevent a Mongolian marshal from using his rich battlefield experience to make correct judgments.
After realizing that the Han army had two types of artillery, one was an artillery piece that could blast solid iron bullets two miles away, and was deployed south of the vehicle formation.
The other type can release a large number of projectiles at about 200 steps, killing a large number of densely packed soldiers, most of which are placed in the southeast corner of the vehicle formation.
Borjijin Turubaihu has his own threat assessment of these two types of artillery.
Although the damage caused by the two types of artillery to the army was very different, the national counselor Khan still made the same judgment as the six sons who were defeated in Nanying, that is, the threat to the army from solid bullets was far greater than that of a cannon that could kill and injure more people at one time. The scatter is bigger.
The conclusions are the same, but the reasons are different.
Dorzitaji saw that solid bullets could kill him at an extremely long range.
The national teacher Khan was born in the tenth year of Wanli. He is now fifty-one years old. He has commanded the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains in his limited life. He has experienced hundreds of battles and enjoyed glory. Even if he is unlucky enough to be killed by a flying iron ball, he will still die. regret.
What he was afraid of was not death, but that the solid iron bullets from heavy artillery had a particularly serious impact on morale, and could obscure command and create chaos.
The battlefield is changing rapidly, and a few solid artillery shells may not kill a few people, but when the command of the military formation loses coordination, the power of the solid shells will skyrocket with the assistance of other armies.
For example, if a thousand-man troop formed a horizontal formation, the officer's left or right side was hit by solid bullets, and the entire horizontal formation was cut into two parts. Hundreds of soldiers on one side were left without command in a short period of time.
If the Chinese army issues an order to change formation or move, and the other side receives an order to start changing formation, the entire army will be disjointed and confused, making command more difficult. The enemy will seize the opportunity to cover up and kill.
This kind of power is definitely not comparable to that of a few small cannons that can kill and injure one or two hundred people.
This fear of heavy artillery led the national commander Khan to choose the offensive strategy of fast and slow.
Fast is a breakthrough, slow is enemy troop mobilization.
Before the heavy artillery was mobilized from the south, the elite troops were quickly concentrated to break through the weak points of the vehicle array, and drew the Han army into close combat with hand-to-hand combat.
The weakest point of the vehicle formation is the artillery position where sixteen Lion Cannons are concentrated in the southeast.
There are gaps in the vehicle sandbags that serve as obstacles, and it is difficult for infantrymen using swords and spears to deploy in the artillery gap. Attacking in that direction will not only reduce the threat of artillery for both sides to break through, but also rush into the military formation at the minimum cost.
The only difficulty is...the attacking soldiers will face heavy casualties from a frontal attack on the artillery positions.
This is also a difficult choice that all generals must make in this era of advancement in firearms: whether to choose to shoot at an enemy whose power is far superior to one's own until they are defeated, or to bring the enemy to the same level as oneself at the cost of some casualties. superior.
In fact, this question does not test the benevolence of the generals, but their ability to control the army and the soldiers' desire to win.
Coincidentally, on this issue, the national division Khan was invincible from the beginning, because he had casualties on his hands and the Chahar surrender army would not affect the morale of the main force of Heshuote.
When the second batch of surrender troops was sent to the battlefield and was once again scattered by a round of volleys of fire, the national counselor Khan put down the cracked telescope in his hand and slowly breathed a sigh of relief.
Because the second batch of 300 surrender troops took fifteen more steps forward.
He raised his left hand, and an orderly soldier quickly rode forward and heard him say: "Tell Darhan in front of the formation that the enemy's artillery reload time is fifty breaths, and prepare to charge into the formation."
Darhan is a title from Rouran. It was used by the Turks as a military position for commanding soldiers and horses. In the Mongolian era, it became a widely used honorary title.
Up to now, Darhan has been divided into several levels. As a reward title for military merit, it is similar to the Ming Dynasty's Duwei General and other honorary officers. Those who have performed less meritorious service are promoted to Batu'er Darhan, and those who have outstanding meritorious service are promoted to Weijing Darhan. The more important one is Guyin Dalhan, and the first contributor is Wei Dalhan.
Many names of Mongolian nobles recorded in the Ming Dynasty were simply replaced by titles, such as Batu'er and Wei Zheng.
The Darhan mentioned by the National Advisor Khan is the officer who leads the elite troops in front of the battle.
In order to break the formation in one fell swoop, he prepared two sets of strategies and 3,300 soldiers.
Among them, 900 were Chahar soldiers and 2,400 Heshuote soldiers. These people formed five offensive echelons and a reserve group of 1,000 people.
The combat plan is to use two batches of Chahar troops to attack the artillery positions. The first batch will check the enemy's firepower, and the second batch will check the artillery firing distance.
It was the third time that the actual preparations for the attack were launched. The last three hundred surrendered troops were used as infantry elites to cover the cannons, and the four hundred Heshuo special infantry warriors behind them were used to charge into the position.
Once these people open a gap, they only need to hold the battle line for a moment, and the thousands-man brigade following them will rush into the position, break the formation from the corner, and change the entire battlefield situation.
In the end, a reserve group consisting of a thousand herders was left, which was used for the second strategy of the national adviser Khan - driving the troops to rush into the enemy's formation and consume the enemy's physical strength. This is the ancestral tactics of the Mongolian army.
However, there is a slight flaw in this method of warfare, that is, there is a possibility of defection on the battlefield in order to surrender the troops, especially when the artillery positions are charged, which increases the possibility of this happening.
The reserve team is responsible for doing this. Once the surrendering troops defect, they will use three times the strength to deal with the surrendering troops. This is not a risk in the plan of the national division Khan, but an opportunity.
If he surrenders his troops and defectes, and the enemy's formation does not move, there will be no loss to him; if the enemy's formation sends troops to cover up the enemy, it will fall into the hands of the national advisor Khan.
The only thing he was afraid of was the chariot formation. After the chariot formation passed by and sent troops south and west, there were only five or six thousand men left. The Han army that rushed out did not have the cover of the chariot formation. Even if he exchanged two for one in the field, he still had an absolute advantage.
The tragic price of losing the last drop of blood of Chahar's troops in exchange for Qinghai, which is rich in water and grass, is worth it.
In the carriage camp with flags fluttering, Liu Chengzong briefly looked through the telescope to the south, and his mind was filled with the roaring sounds of gunfire.
Liu Shishi was trying his best to suppress the impact of the sound of fighting on the battlefield and focused on the outflanking cavalry sent by the Heshuote Chinese Army to the south.
It's hard to stay calm at this juncture.
The number of troops in the carriage camp was even smaller than what National Advisor Khan had imagined. He only had an army of just over 5,000 in his hands.
Moreover, because he carried too many mules and horses, there was no place to hide the animals in the flat Gobi, and the battle was in a hurry. His vehicle formation was wide on all sides, and he only had 400 troops to support the reserve force.
Therefore, what he fears most is that the National Guard Khan launches an all-out attack.
This means that once the enemy launches an all-out attack with dead soldiers on both sides of the northeast and the vehicle formation falls into close combat, it can only last for a moment at most in a regular battle. Even if the vehicle formation is abandoned, it can only last for half an hour.
The support time has nothing to do with the eliteness of his soldiers, the quality of his equipment, or the quality of his tactics. Without replaceable reserve forces, no matter how strong a soldier is, his physical strength can only support him for so long.
Therefore, the key to winning or losing this battle lies in the reinforcements and not in the central army.
The reinforcements were the four thousand cavalry led by Wei Qian'er and Zuo Guangxian. They destroyed hundreds of enemy troops rushing to the west, and then freed up their hands to attack the north, which could break the siege of the Chinese army.
That's why Liu Chengzong focused his attention on the circuitous cavalry outside the shooting range in the south.
In his eyes, the armies slowly pressing forward from both sides of Heshuote's northeast were regular soldiers who were winning by surprise.
And if this roundabout cavalry comes to charge, whether to the south or west, it means that they are also serious troops.
Relying on the vehicle formation, only the west and south sides can withstand them, and there will still be one side of soldiers to support other places when the worst happens.
As long as the troops are divided into two teams and fight alternately, and there is time to recover, everything will be fine for Liu Chengzong. The time that the military formation can be held will not be doubled. He can carry it until tomorrow, until Yang Yao and his cavalry arrive to reverse the situation. .
If they are hung far out of the range of the southwest and southwest sides, just like Marco did to the enemy in the southern camp, putting pressure on the vehicle formation on the outside so that the west and south sides cannot withdraw their formations and rotate the soldiers on the east and north sides, they will be extra of surprise soldiers.
That would be Liu Chengzong's catastrophe, and a perfect kidnapping horse tactic was formed.
At this moment, an artillery commander in the southeast corner of the military formation bypassed the drum and ceremonial guard, hurriedly ran to the central army, and reported eagerly: "Commander, the artillery is stuck by the enemy and cannot support the east and north. Both sides!”
Liu Shizi was stunned for a moment, wondering if this was fart.
Artillery has always been the only one that can suppress others from running away. How can artillery be stuck by the enemy?
Seeing his unbelievable expression, the commander quickly turned back and pointed to the front line and explained: "They keep sending troops to attack the artillery array. There are already two teams!"
Liu Chengzong looked to the southeast suspiciously, looking past the Lion Artillery Team supervised by Yang Qi to where the barrel was pointing.
The first thing he saw was the corpses scattered hundreds of paces outside the artillery position. At a rough look, there were at least a hundred. Among them were war horses that could not get up, their necks raised and neighing in grief, and wounded soldiers wrapped in robes. Crawling to the edge for dear life.
Across the creeping red land, three to four hundred herdsmen in leather robes and weapons were being supervised by several officers, holding high flags and rushing towards the artillery position with diagonal thrusts.
Before he had time to doubt the enemy's behavior, farther away, the setting sun reflected into the viewing tube, and a large number of armored cavalry completed their assembly. Afterwards, a large group of people and horses were hidden in the sand and dust, and they walked toward the enemy every few hundred steps. Move steadily forward.
At this moment, there was a roar in front of the formation, and sixteen lion cannons blasted at the enemy one after another. The smoke from the gunpowder obscured his vision. At the moment when the smoke rose, he seemed to see the enemy's armored cavalry charging.
This scene made his hair stand on end. For a moment, time seemed to slow down. All the noise and shouts of killing on the battlefield disappeared from his ears, leaving only dilated pupils staring directly at the artillery positions that were looser than elsewhere.
The next moment everything came back, the war drums shouting for death and the roar of muskets all hit his ears. Liu Chengzong turned his head and roared to the flag drummer with a ferocious face: "Defend the southeast! Guards follow me!"
The roaring war drum suddenly stopped, and the drumsticks finally landed heavily on the drum head, making a soul-stirring sound. The entire Chinese army was stunned for a moment outside the commander's tent. The flag bearers ran around raising the flag and delivering orders. The soldiers who reacted also suddenly changed the tune of the general music. .
Before the ordering soldiers came over, Yang Qi, who had been in battle for a long time, heard the change in the military music and looked at the Chinese army with an unknown frown.
It's not that Marshal Guyuan reacted quickly and instinctively thought that he didn't give the order. Why did he start playing the military music blindly?
The next moment, intelligence returned to his mind, and he realized that he had changed the court. The top commander of this army was Liu Chengzong.
But to defend the southeast, Yang Qi chewed this direction, and the southeast seemed to be right in front of him.
Yang Qi may not be a very good commander, but he is indeed a general who obeys orders as he was born as a general.
Even though he was smelling the acrid smoke and looking at the vast whiteness in front of him, he did not doubt the order issued by the banner. He just pulled out the thick sword from his waist with doubts on his face and ordered in a firm tone: "Block the gap, form a formation and prepare." Step fight!"
The other side covered by gunpowder smoke.
Several nomadic cavalrymen with horse poles crossed the trench and drove dozens of bad horses to the left and right wings to block the guns. Among them were three hundred fine cavalry led by three pioneers, Darhan, who crossed over with the Chahar people. The blood-stained sand was thrown directly into the smoke of gunpowder.
On the southeast sides of the Cheying military formation, the 100-strong management team commanding the troops discovered the charging cavalry and ordered the soldiers to turn their guns and shoot.
In the rows of smoke, the gunners had just taken aim when the galloping cavalry had already passed through their shooting range. Even if a few lead pellets fell into the cavalry by chance, most of them hit the unruly horses on the outside, with little effect.
In the artillery position, the artillerymen had just blocked the gap with artillery carts and sandbags, and rows of infantry were mobilizing behind them. A gust of wind blew away the remaining gunpowder smoke in the air.
What greeted them were fierce armored cavalry who hurriedly reined in their horses more than ten paces away. Some of them had already dismounted, patted the horse's buttocks and drove their mounts behind them, then turned around and opened their bows before shooting.
Close combat is inevitable.
Some people were dismounting, holding round shields and drawing swords, rushing toward the chariot to open a gap for the following troops.
Some cavalrymen who rushed quickly did not expect that the gap had been blocked. Before they had time to react, Darhan led them with their spears raised and their horses leaping into the formation, and they ran into the forest of spears.
The chariot was knocked away by the wounded horse, the bronze lion cannon fell to the ground, the steel in the array collided, and the short blades clashed.
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
Good morning!
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