The Perak Army cavalry who rushed into the small basin rushed straight towards the Meizhou cavalry without stopping. They formed a sharp arrow formation during the charge. At this moment, Meizhou's cavalry also began to charge under the leadership of Xiao Xiao, and quickly changed into an attack formation. Judging from the formation change, the Meizhou cavalry are more skilled in equestrian skills and have better cooperation with each other. It's just that the horses of the Perak Army have been running at high speed, while the horses of the Meizhou Army turned from stationary to sprinting in a moment. The short warm-up caused the horses to be insufficiently fast. Therefore, the number of cavalry on both sides is the same, but the Perak Army is still more imposing. Contrary to what the Meizhou Army expected, the Perak Army cavalry that rushed from Pengshan only had one company, but each man was equipped with two horses.
This small basin was only two miles in circumference, and the two cavalry charges were approaching within a moment. Just when the distance between the two sides was twenty meters, the cavalry of the Perak Army suddenly turned slightly to both sides and divided into two groups, charging and shooting with short muskets. Suddenly there was a loud explosion, and the more than ten horses at the front of the Meizhou cavalry fell to the ground, and the cavalry on their backs also fell to the ground. The fallen men and horses tripped the charging cavalry behind them to the ground. For a moment, the Meizhou army became chaotic. Some still had momentum and went straight forward, while others forcibly restrained the horses and went around. , and more often than not, they could not control the frightened horses and let them scatter in all directions.
A qualified war horse is expensive because it requires long-term training. Although the Meizhou cavalry has been in the army for a long time, they have not had much exposure to firearms. Although the Mongolian army had a few firearms, they were not used on a large scale on the battlefield. Although Yu Xing made some imitation firearms, they were too expensive to even train gunners, let alone train other troops. The Meizhou cavalry had a high self-esteem and had never conducted firearms adaptability training on their horses. In their inherent thinking, the achievements of the Perak Army were all achieved by artillery equipped on forts or warships, and it was impossible for cavalry to attack cities or water battles. As for those grenades, it will take some time before they explode. Before they exploded, the cavalry hid far away and were not afraid.
Horses are spiritual and extremely sensitive animals, and seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages is their original instinct. Huge gunshots rang in their ears, frightening many Meizhou war horses, neighing and running around. The continuous gunshots made it impossible for the Meizhou cavalry to effectively ride their mounts, and the formation and momentum of the charge were naturally messed up. Unlike the Mongolian cavalry who are good at using bows and arrows, the Meizhou cavalry mainly charges with spears and defeats the opponent with impact force. Of course, they also use scimitars, small shields and other weapons for close combat, but as long as there is no formation and speed, the power of the cavalry is greatly reduced.
While the Meizhou cavalry was in chaos, the Perak Army cavalry on the left and right drew an arc in front and then turned back. They fired at the Meizhou cavalry again, causing another chaos on the other side. The reason why it is called random shooting is because the revolver used by these cavalrymen is originally a self-defense weapon for special forces soldiers. Although it can be fired six times in one load, its range is short and its accuracy is poor. Because the barrel is short, its optimal range is seven or eight meters. Once it exceeds ten meters, the accuracy drops significantly. When shooting from 20 meters away, the hit rate will not exceed 50%. As for shooting on a bumpy horseback while running rapidly, the hit rate will not exceed 20%, or even lower.
After the two battles, the Meizhou Army lost more than ten horses, and the cavalry only had a few casualties. For the leading Meizhou Cavalry Colonel, this loss can be considered minor, but the formation has been disrupted and morale has dropped to the bottom. More importantly, most of the horses under him are restless and it is really difficult to control. If the fight continues, the situation will only become more and more unfavorable to our side. Seeing that the sun had disappeared into the hills to the west and it was getting late, he immediately whistled and gave the order to retreat, and took the lead in the direction of Meizhou. Seeing that the commander retreated, these Meizhou cavalrymen who were willing to stay followed them one after another, and disappeared on the official road in the twilight in an instant.
As soon as the Meizhou cavalry retreated, Zan Wanshou and others also ran from the low mountains to the small basin, and even Captain Ding who was behind them retreated completely. At this moment, the five hundred pursuing infantrymen on the mountain saw the cavalry heading towards Meizhou City. They ignored Liu Daer's order to kill Zan Wanshou and hurriedly followed him. It is said that they were really scared of being blown up by grenades today. The other party's death squads, who were covered in grenades and rushed into the crowd, would give them nightmares for a long time. In fact, it was a wise move for these Meizhou soldiers to retreat in time. Like people of this era, they often suffered from night blindness, and they could not see when the sky was dark. On the other hand, because the Pili Army has been using pine needles to brew water for tea, the rate of night blindness is very low. In this case, the Meizhou Army would not only be unable to capture Zan Wanshou, but would also suffer heavy casualties from the Perak Army's night attack.
Since the Perak Army cavalry has one person and two horses, it is enough for a group of people who escaped from Meizhou City to ride. At that moment, most of the cavalry company escorted Zan Wanshou to Pengshan City, twenty miles away, while a part of the cavalry followed Company Commander Ding to clear the rear and clean the battlefield. As one of the earliest soldiers of the Perak Army, Captain Ding also upheld the style of being diligent and thrifty, so naturally he would not give up those things on the ground. Although he despised those weapons and equipment, those dozen dead horses were excellent items. They had to be skinned and deboned before the meat was taken away. Although the Perak Army is not short of food, meat is also extremely scarce and cannot be wasted.
Feeling extremely tired after the shock, Zan Wanshou fell asleep after arriving at Pengshan City and slept until dawn. As soon as he got up, someone came to invite him, saying that Brother Xuan was waiting for him to have breakfast with him. He didn't know who Brother Xuan was in the messenger's mouth, and he was also very surprised by the etiquette of meeting guests during meals, and he was quite confused. The dining room was in the backyard of the county government office. It was only a few rooms away from Zan Wanshou's resting place, and he could walk a few steps away. At the dining table, Hou Xing, Yu San and two others were talking. When the four of them saw Zan Wanshou arriving, they stopped talking and stood up one after another. Yu San first said to the younger of the two: "Brother Xuan, this is Mr. Zan, the newly appointed magistrate of Jiading." Then he turned to Zan Wanshou and said: "Sir Zan, this is Mr. Zan, the deputy envoy to appease Chengdu. I know Ouyang Xuan of Chongqing Mansion, and this person next to me is Huang Dagen, chief of staff of the Perak Army..."
Although Zan Wanshou came from a family of officials, he was not immersed in the rules of the officialdom. He was by no means a pedantic person and considered himself an enlightened person. However, he was also shocked by the informal superior-subordinate relationship of the Perak Army. In other highly hierarchical officialdoms, not to mention Yu San calling Ouyang Xuan "Brother Xuan", which is a crime of disrespect, even his behavior of calling Ouyang Xuan by his first name would make his superiors angry. No wonder Yu Xing said that under the rule of the Perak Army, there was no respect for elders and no respect for Confucian monarchs and ministers. Many years later, when he and Ouyang Xuan talked about the shock and confusion of this meeting, and joked that the name Brother Xuan did not resemble the name of the top officer of the Perak Army, but like the name of a servant boy, Ouyang Xuan smiled and said, The idea is that there is only a division of labor between superiors and subordinates, and there is no distinction between superiority and inferiority. If the superior treats his subordinates like a slut, then his subordinates will treat their superiors like enemies. As for the common people, they are the food, clothing and parents of the Perak Army. It is okay to call managers the servants of the common people.
