While the Kudu cavalry charged towards the two wings, Yelvmaizhu also bent down, hiding half of his body behind the horse, and charged forward towards the Perak army. He also risked his life in this battle, in order to repay the Mongols for avenging the Khitan's destruction of the country, to prove the strength of the Mongolian Han army, for Liu Heima's kindness, and for the promotion and wealth after the victory. Surrounding him at the front were dozens of soldiers, followed closely by the 500 light cavalry, and half a mile behind were the 200 heavy cavalry. Although the horses of the heavy cavalry are taller and stronger, the armor is too heavy, they cannot run very fast, and they cannot run long distances at all. Therefore, they can only warm up by jogging first, and then sprint when they are within two miles.
The power of the charge of more than 700 cavalry is very frightening, especially those with heavy armor. Hundreds of horse hooves slam on the ground at the same time, like someone beating a drum with a heavy hammer in the ear, which affects the nerves and heart of those who are not determined. Said it was simply torture. Yelümaizhu understood that there was still a distance of two or three miles before power could be transformed into victory. At that moment, he was holding the horse's neck tightly with one hand and holding the reins with the other. Unable to whip the horse, he pinched the horse's belly with his legs. The trained horse was extremely humane, and his mount was even more intelligent. He immediately used all four hooves to gallop more than ten meters away. The soldiers around him saw this and followed closely. The general took the lead and also led the light cavalry behind him, and they all accelerated their horses forward.
When the Mongolian cavalry just rushed two miles in front of the Perak Army's infantry formation, Cao Ergou ordered the artillery fire. Amidst the continuous sound of artillery, dense flying shotguns cut off one third of the Mongolian army's sagittal charge array. Iron bullets the size of soybeans flew all over the sky, piercing the leather armor of the light cavalry and tearing apart the flesh and blood of the horses and soldiers. Yelvmaizhu, who was leading the charge, was also hit by more than a dozen shotgun blasts. However, unlike the leather armor worn by ordinary soldiers, he was equipped with an iron helmet and his torso was also covered with chainmail from the Western Regions, so his vital parts were not injured. There were only a few minor injuries to the limbs. His mounts equipped with leather armor and ordinary soldiers did not have such good luck. Once hit by the hot iron projectiles, they would not escape the fate of death or injury.
The severely injured Mongolian and Han cavalry were still heading towards the Perak Army, rushing forward on the fallen horses and the bodies of their companions, and tripped many times. The reason why they pressed forward was because Yelvmaizhu fell to the ground and no one gave the order to change formation or retreat. On the other hand, it was also because the charging speed was too fast and their riding skills were not as good as that of the Mongolian cavalry of the Kudu tribe. Turn the horse's head downward at high speed. As soon as the following cavalry rushed over the fallen horses and dead and wounded, the artillery of the Perak Army fired intensively again, and another third of the charging light cavalry fell. The remaining cavalry still did not turn or stop, but still stepped on the fallen horses and companions and rushed towards the Perak Army Formation. In the blink of an eye, the distance between the two sides was only three hundred meters.
The third round of shelling immediately sounded, and another large group of Mongolian cavalry was hit and fell to the ground. Only about 200 of the more than 500 cavalry who charged were left. At this time, the distance between the two sides was only more than 100 meters. To say that these Mongolian and Han cavalry were also extremely brave, they still rushed straight towards the Perak Army formation. By the way, they also knew that the two hundred cavalrymen could not break through Pili's defense line, but they still charged desperately, and they were worthy of the name of the self-proclaimed Northern Warriors. But how can flesh and blood fight against iron and fire? The distance of more than a hundred meters may seem short, but it is an out-and-out death zone. The more than 200 cavalrymen who charged desperately were either dismounted by the scattered triangular nails, or were blown into the air by the buried mines. Only a hundred or so cavalrymen saw that there was nothing to do, so they turned around and fled back. By the way, if they don't escape, there are muskets, grenades and heavy spears waiting for them.
Just as the light cavalry fled back, Liu Heima's heavy cavalry entered a position more than two miles in front of the Perak army's formation. Although there were only two hundred of these black heavy cavalry, the pressure they brought was much stronger than the five hundred light cavalry just now. They formed a wedge-shaped array, and the horses beneath them hit the ground heavily and neatly. Although their speed was not fast, they had a faint thunderous momentum. The threat of heavy cavalry successfully attracted the attention of the Perak troops, helping the fleeing light cavalry draw firepower. I saw Cao Ergou's command flag waved, and the firepower of the Perak Army, originally aimed at the light cavalry, was poured into the oncoming heavy cavalry formation.
After the gunpowder smoke passed, the imaginary harvest scene did not appear. The heavy cavalry only lost more than ten cavalry, but the group still rushed straight towards the Perak Army formation. This caused a burst of exclamation in the Perak Army formation. The invincible artillery actually had an effect. Liao, anyone would be a little panicked. As the distance between the two sides shortened, the sense of oppression brought by these black armored cavalry became stronger and stronger, even causing sporadic commotions among the soldiers of the Perak Army. However, they quickly regained their composure under the loud rebuke of the officers. Seeing this, Cao Ergou urgently ordered the artillery to no longer be loaded with shotgun shells, but with solid iron bullets. The heavy artillery and light artillery of the field division have special shotguns and solid shells. The solid shells weigh several kilograms and the light ones are as big as an egg. They are mostly used to attack enemy fortifications and siege equipment.
When Xuanhei's heavy cavalry rushed one mile in front of the Perak Army's formation, the Perak Army's artillery fired again. The hot solid iron balls from dozens of large and small cannons plowed the charging heavy cavalry into pieces. Although the hit rate of solid bullets is not high, they are powerful. Especially the solid bullets fired by heavy artillery are even more powerful. Often after smashing the Mongolian army in front, including men and horses, they will still continue to fly until the same bullet is destroyed. All the horses and cavalry on the line were knocked down, forming an alley of flesh and blood. The armor of these heavy cavalrymen could not stop solid bullets at all, especially since the distance between the two sides was only a short mile. In fact, at this distance, even the shot shells fired by heavy artillery will penetrate the armor of their equipment. If it is closer to about a hundred meters, the shot shells fired by light field artillery will cause heavy casualties to the heavy cavalry.
Before the Perak Army used artillery, the Song Army had few ways to deal with the heavy cavalry of the northern nomads, and the results were not satisfactory. In the battle to defend the city, you can use crossbows, trebuchets, boiling oil, etc. However, the nomads are not fools and will use cavalry to attack the city. Facing the charge of heavy cavalry, the Song army had no effective weapons for a frontal confrontation except building field fortifications in advance. Juma, triangular spikes, and spears can only hurt the few heavy cavalry charging at the front. Once the jumbo horses are knocked down, the triangular spikes are consumed, and the spears are broken by the impact, it will be a one-sided massacre. Facing the heavy cavalry of the Jin people, the famous Yue family army had to send dead soldiers to use hook sickles, sabers, and long-handled axes to chop off the horse's legs first, and then swarmed up after the enemy fell off the horse. It's just that this tactic caused huge casualties, and the success rate was not high. The formation was often broken up by the Jin army.
It is no exaggeration to say that artillery is the real nemesis of heavy cavalry. This round of solid bullets caused Liu Heima's heavy cavalry to lose about seventy cavalry, which can be described as heavy casualties. Amidst the wailing and screaming, the Perak gunners were nervously reloading ammunition, while the heavy cavalry still charged forward. The distance between the two sides was only more than half a mile. Under the huge inertia, these heavy cavalry were unable to turn at all. They had no choice but to rush forward and met the second round of solid artillery shells dozens of meters in front of the Perak Army Formation. baptism. Due to the extremely close distance, not only the hit rate of the artillery is greatly improved, but the lethality is also greatly enhanced. After this round of artillery fire, Liu Heima's heavy cavalry only had about twenty riders left.
Under the intensive attack of grenades and muskets, the heavy cavalry that rushed to the front of the Perak Army formation were all wiped out. The huge inertia caused the bodies of men and horses wrapped in iron armor to slam into the formation, even smashing several carriages and a low wall. Seeing this situation, Cao Ergou felt a sense of fear in his heart, and secretly said he was lucky.
