With thick smoke and dust behind them, the Mongolian cavalry rushed towards the Perak Army in three groups at the same time. Thousands of horse hooves struck at the same time, causing the ground to tremble slightly. The Kudu cavalry, who were responsible for outflanking both wings, had confronted the field division in the Battle of Jiading. They saw with their own eyes that Liu Daer's two hundred cavalry were annihilated by artillery in an instant, and they knew that they must not let the infantry set up artillery positions because That means failure. For the cavalry, the distance of four or five miles is only a moment's matter. In addition, the Mongolians have excellent riding skills. Therefore, after a few breaths, the Mongolian cavalry on both wings were only two or three miles away from the Perak Army. In the order issued by Kudu, these Mongolian cavalry had only one task, which was to use kerosene and gunpowder packets to burn the artillery of the Perak Army.
While the Kudu cavalry was moving, Yelu Maizhu also led 800 Mongolian and Han cavalry to launch a frontal charge. Liu Heima also spent a lot of money for this battle, and he was even willing to send his own cavalry to launch a frontal charge. This was the capital on which he became famous. Although the Perak Army was changing formations at this time, there was no time to set up artillery, and they had not even lined up their vehicles or installed their horses, but the infantry on the periphery had already set up heavy spears. These heavy spears are five meters long, and the spear shafts are much thicker than ordinary ones. Once a man or horse collides with them, they will inevitably turn into skewers. Even if they could break through these heavy spears and rush into the Perak Army formation, they would inevitably suffer heavy casualties.
Cao Ergou sat high on the wooden observation deck in the central army formation, observing the entire battlefield with a telescope. This observation tower is imitated from "The General Essentials of the Military Classics". It has a simple structure and is very convenient to use. You only need to assemble the parts with nails. When the scout cavalry reported that Liu Heima was leading his army, Cao Ergou ordered the troops to shift into a defensive formation and ordered them to assemble and build a simple observation tower. This five-meter-high observation tower, coupled with a telescope, can clearly see the battlefield situation. At this time, the three battalions of the Perak Army's cavalry brigade were rushing towards the Mongolian cavalry in front and on the left and right sides respectively. They wanted to win valuable formation time for the infantry.
The infantry of the Perak Army and the basic militia transporting baggage are busy and steady forming formations. In this competition that is related to victory or defeat, time is extremely critical. Thanks to strict military orders and daily training, the Perak Army's position construction is very efficient. Some people were setting up horse-spreading triangular spikes, some were fixing the carriages of light artillery, some were digging to build heavy artillery positions, and still others were digging soil into sacks to build a low wall. Not long after, the Perak Army's formation took shape - the innermost was the baggage, the middle was a defensive array of shields and spears, the outermost was large wagons and low walls, and the artillery position was behind it. It is said that filling the sacks with soil and then filling it into the iron frame is faster and stronger than traditional wall building. The only disadvantage is that it costs iron, but for the Pili Army's steel production capacity, this is not a big expense.
The Perak Army's defensive formation was not completely closed, but left many gaps. One is to leave a firing area for the artillery, and the other is to leave a counterattack channel. However, these gaps are not large and can be easily sealed with shields and spears. Even if the Mongolian cavalry breaks into them, they will die under the thrusts of the spears. In fact, it is not easy to rush in from this formation. Even if an enemy breaks through the artillery blockade and breaks in, the Perak Army can spread triangular nails in the gap or throw dense grenades to deal with the enemy. As for using spears and knives to fight with the enemy, it means that the battle situation is stalemate, which means that even if the field division wins, it will be a miserable victory.
Just as the Perak Army infantry was in full swing, the three attacking cavalry battalions were already fighting with the Mongolian cavalry. The Mongolian cavalry on the left and right wings numbered 500 each, and the first battalion of Perak Army cavalry that came to block the attack also had exactly 500 people. It can be said that the Mongolian cavalry is far superior to the Perak Army cavalry in terms of riding skills, combat experience and tactics. The battle loss ratio of the reconnaissance cavalry teams of both sides just now also confirms this. However, in this large-scale confrontation, the two sides were evenly matched. Although the Mongols still had a slight advantage from the scene, the reason must be attributed to the firearms. Although the Mongolian cavalry is the best in the world in mounted archery, bows and arrows require the left hand to hold the bow and the right hand to pull the string. Only a few people can shoot arrows on high-speed running horses. On the other hand, although the musket equipped by the Perak Army Cavalry has a short range and poor accuracy, it can be used with one hand and can be fired six times in a row. During the duel between scouts and cavalry, due to the small number of people on both sides and the long distance, the disadvantage of the musket's poor accuracy and short range is greatly amplified. However, in team battles where close combat is densely populated, these are no longer disadvantages. You can hit without aiming. Target.
The advantage of the Mongolian cavalry lies in bows and arrows, but also in mobility. They often use traditional Parthian tactics, which is to use the mobility of horses to retreat to a distance and shoot with bows and arrows, and then distance themselves after the enemy catches up. This tactic is also called kite flying. However, this tactic is ineffective against the Perak Army cavalry. Their purpose is only to prevent the Mongolian cavalry from approaching their own infantry. Kudu's order was to rush into the formation and burn the artillery, but he had to break through the obstruction of the Perak Army cavalry to achieve this goal. Therefore, the Mongolian cavalry on both wings had no choice but to use melee weapons to fight hand-to-hand with the Perak army. However, the Perak Army cavalry used muskets to tell them that although mounted archery was powerful, it was not invincible.
Compared with the stalemate situation on both wings, the situation of the Perak Army cavalry battalion blocking the frontal attack was much worse. On the one hand, this is because there are 800 Mongolian cavalry attacking the front, while the Perak Army only has 500 people. On the other hand, it is because this cavalry does not use bows and arrows as the main force like the Mongolian cavalry, supplemented by scimitars, Instead of short axes, bones and other equipment, they were equipped with lances. As the saying goes, "An inch longer is an inch stronger." The effect of a lance in charge and hand-to-hand combat is much stronger than that of a knife or a hatchet. Therefore, after a round of hedging, the Perak Army cavalry suffered dozens of casualties. After several rounds, the cavalry battalion of the Perak Army that blocked the frontal attack suffered heavy casualties, although the casualties of the Mongolian and Han troops were even greater.
The battle situation in front of him relieved Yelu Maizhu's inner anxiety a lot, because he knew what it would mean once the Pili army's artillery was set up. In the past two years, the Mongolian army has suffered enough from firearms. He was demoted because he led the army to suffer heavy casualties in the Battle of Hengyuan Fort. Fortunately, Liu Heimao of the same clan was able to make a comeback. In the eyes of Yelu Maizhu and other Mongolian generals, their repeated defeats by the Perak Army were not due to inferior skills, but due to the firearms developed by Ouyang Xuan. Before the war, the Mongolian army discussed many times how to crack the firearms, and also listened to the suggestions of Hudu and others. They plugged the ears of the war horses with cloth to avoid being frightened. However, they were unable to solve the fundamental problem. The best way was to The artillery was destroyed before it could be deployed.
As time passed, the war situation gradually tilted towards the Mongolian army. However, although the casualties of the Perak Army cavalry became more and more serious, they still refused to retreat. In particular, the cavalry battalion of the Perak Army, which was blocking the front, had suffered more than half of its casualties, but it was still fighting bloody battles, completely blocking the charge of the Mongolian and Han cavalry. The situation before him made Liu Heima anxious again. He immediately blew the charge horn and killed the Perak Army cavalry at all costs, so that he could break into the Perak Army infantry formation and kill all sides.
