It’s no wonder that in the cold weapon era, in almost all the famous battles in history where a small number defeated a large number, the cavalry played an important role in determining the direction of the war.
When Zhou Wen saw the almost endless wave of cavalry in the distance, he felt the heart-stopping vibrations rushing from the ground beneath his feet into his heart, as well as the violent momentum and oppression that came towards his face, and he felt a little nervous. sway.
At this time, the thousands of officers and soldiers of the mercenary regiment who had dug positions and fortifications long ago and were ready were also experiencing this unspeakable pressure.
They were already battle-hardened, but under such an overwhelming cavalry charge, their hearts beat faster and their palms became sweaty.
It is not the first time that the mercenary group has fought against the enemy's cavalry, but whether it was facing the night attack of the Northwest Army cavalry during the Central Plains War, or the recent battle with the Japanese Kuroda Cavalry Regiment, and the ambush of the puppet army's third None of the battles such as the cavalry regiment of the 7th Brigade were as shocking as the impact of thousands of cavalry rushing in like a torrent on the vast grassland.
However, the tension returned to tension, and the war preparations of each unit of the mercenary group were still in order, and there was no panic.
On the temporary artillery position about 800 meters behind the mercenary regiment's blocking position, six Schneider 75mm mountain cannons from the mountain artillery company were lined up and loaded with explosive shells.
Not far in front of them, the 18 81mm Brandt mortars of the mortar company were all in place in an umbrella shape, and the muzzles of more than twenty artillery pieces were pointed in the direction of the enemy cavalry.
Although it has been nearly two months since the mercenary regiment pulled off the external operations, Zhou Wen had set up two secret logistics supply camps before the war, so the ammunition reserve was still sufficient.
So far, according to the mercenary regiment's standard of 100 shells as a base number, basically both types of artillery still have half a base number of shells left for each gun.
Zhou Wen decided to shoot out most of the cannonballs in this battle to save weight for the return journey.
He judged that after this battle, the mercenary group would not have any major combat operations. Saving the more than 100 horses that originally carried artillery shells for others to ride would speed up the march a lot.
As for the outcome of the battle, Zhou Wen had no doubts at all.
Even if the charge momentum and scene of thousands of cavalry are so amazing and eye-opening, in the face of the powerful modern firepower, they are just living targets. This is also the cavalry, the arm known as the king of war in the cold weapon era. In the end, Lost in history.
However, what the mercenary regiment fired first was not the artillery that had replaced the cavalry as the new king of war, but the machine guns.
How many machine guns does the mercenary group have now?
Two machine gun companies have 40 guns, and two infantry companies have one gun for each squad, which is 20 guns, plus 6 machine guns for a squadron of machine guns.
There are a total of 66 mg-13 machine guns. In theory, the firepower coverage of each machine gun can reach 1 kilometer.
If enemy artillery and threats from the air are not taken into account and a dense arrangement is adopted, 60 machine guns can ensure coverage without blind spots within a frontal width of 3 kilometers.
Do the puppet troops have cannons? The two Type 41 mountain cannons can barely be counted, but they are still slowly arriving from a few kilometers away. It is still a long time before they are ready for battle and start shelling.
There is no need for Zhou Wen to consider air threats, so the machine guns of the mercenary group are now arranged in the most densely packed manner, with each machine gun being less than 5 meters apart.
When 66 tongues of fire, like poisonous snakes spitting messages, sprayed out scorching flames, the leader of the puppet army was surprised that there were several long and narrow passages in front of him, which were drawn with white flour. They looked so bright on the green grassland. Eye-catching.
He didn't know that this was a safe passage for the riflemen who had previously used bait to retreat. So what unsafe factors would there be outside of several passages that were so narrow that only one horse could pass?
Hey, it's the mercenary group's magic weapon against cavalry - horse traps.
Hundreds of officers and soldiers from the engineer platoon and the logistics team were right in front of the position. It took an hour to dig five to six thousand small holes that were no thicker than the mouth of a bowl and no longer than about 70 centimeters long.
Don't underestimate this simple straight hole. As long as you dig enough and densely, it can be a great weapon against cavalry charges.
Especially in the overgrown grassland, you can't see it unless you get close, but when you see it when you are galloping at full speed, it is too late to avoid it. As long as a horse's leg steps into the hole, there is more than 90% chance that the horse's leg will be broken due to inertia.
Machine guns, artillery, submachine guns, precision rifle shooting and horse traps are the confidence of the mercenary group of more than a thousand people to fight against thousands of cavalry on the prairie.
So, when 60 machine guns started firing, the leader of the puppet army almost had his eyes popped out.
It wasn't that he had never seen such machine guns before, but he had never seen so many machine guns arranged so densely and spraying flames over a width of less than 500 meters.
"Does the machine gun cost money?"
This was his first reaction after being stunned.
Then his second reaction was to order the formation to disperse and rush over as quickly as possible.
By this time, he had no time to think about why such a powerful force suddenly appeared on the grassland, and he had no time to ask others if they had any follow-up tricks.
Because as a cavalry commander, he naturally knows the huge damage these dozens of machine guns will bring to his troops. He also knows that if he does not quickly rush through the 500-meter distance, his troops will become nothing. A living target to fight back, ready to be slaughtered.
However, when the bullets roared in the storm, his officers and soldiers were not as clear-minded as he was.
The cavalry assault formation, which was less than 1 kilometer wide and only about 500 meters deep, was too tight, and their speed was also too fast.
Under such a sudden and rapid attack, even the most well-trained elite cavalry had no time to adjust their formation, let alone these puppet troops who were no match for the elite.
The bullets were like rain, as fast as the wind, and the sky was full of the screams of metal storms. Everywhere you looked, you could see the tragic scene of people lying on their backs, and the ears were filled with screams of neighing and wailing.
When had these puppet soldiers ever seen such fierce machine gun fire? When had they ever seen the tragic sight of the people and horses around them falling like wheat harvested in autumn?
They were all frightened and stunned for a while, even numb with fear. They could not hear the commander's gestures and orders, nor could they hear the horns of the cavalry. They were like pieces of wood following the horses under them. Rush forward, and then at some point one or several bullets hit the person or horse. The person was thrown out like a broken sack, and then... nothing happened.
Moreover, just when they were so violently beaten by the rain of machine gun bullets that their mentality collapsed, even more deadly gunshots and explosions resounded throughout the sky.
