If the Chuang army had no artillery, then this battle would have ended when Cao Wenzhao defeated the left-wing ambush and solved the right-wing army's encirclement plan.
But when the artillery fire of the intruders was fired, the situation on the battlefield instantly reversed.
The tight military formation was originally the best weapon for the Ming army to fight against the bandits, but the artillery bombardment could easily cause a lot of damage and damage morale.
Most of the cavalry were taken away by Cao Bianjiao. Cao Wenzhao led a group of servant cavalry to charge and kill several formations. Although they took advantage of the bandits' unstable footing and defeated them one after another, they also lost more than ten people.
If it were just an ordinary cavalry, it could still be solved, but the opponent was the elite cavalry of the invading army, not the cavalry soldiers who had a hard time even holding a knife to kill when the horses charged.
Moreover, the enemy has now established a firm foothold, and the more than eighty cavalry can only be a drop in the bucket for the current situation.
There are now four types of soldiers in the bandit army.
One is the hungry people, the second is the infantry, the third is the horse army, and the fourth is the elite cavalry.
As long as the men in the refugee team are over fifteen years old and under forty-five years old, they will be recruited as soldiers, and there is no room for resistance.
These soldiers are the lowest level of the bandit army. Generally, these people are called "hungry people" in the Ming army.
Only after experiencing one or two battles and gaining military merit can you be qualified to become an infantry soldier. This is the second level.
If you have excellent riding skills, you can directly join the cavalry team and become a horse army.
Even if you don't know how to ride a horse, as long as your gains are high enough, horses will be assigned and someone will teach you how to ride.
Only by becoming a horse army can one be truly protected. Even if he dies in battle, the leader will help continue to raise his family, and he will do what he says.
The riding skills of most of these horse soldiers are actually very average. Only a few officers can shoot arrows on horses. Many of them can't even shoot and kill on horses, let alone archery. They can just barely ride.
It is said to be a cavalry army, but in fact it is just a group of infantry on horseback.
This is also the reason why Cao Wenzhao dared to lead Baiqi directly into the enemy's formation, and was able to defeat them one after another.
But the enemy in front now is the real elite of the bandit army, a thousand elite knights.
Most of those selected as elite cavalry were from the frontier army, and some were from inland soldiers. The last part were promoted from the elite of the cavalry army. They were real cavalry, not mounted infantry.
Armed with the best weapons and equipment, eating the best meals, riding the best horses, all the treatment is the best.
Just like the servants in the Ming army, there is no need to do any chores, and there is no need to pay attention to them. There is only one thing to do.
Choose a front and fight for your life.
However, they are completely opposite to the servants in one aspect - the will to fight.
The Jia Ding system was a freak formed under the influence of the collapse of the guards. Part of the reason why the Ming army is so weak today is because of the proliferation of the Jia Ding system.
Chen Wang is a servant himself, and he is very aware of the situation of many servants like him.
In Liao Town, individual servants from the generals, generals, and guerrillas were brought out to fight Jiannu, and they really didn't necessarily fall into a disadvantage.
Of the seven heads of his slaves, three were beheaded in Liaodong, and the other four were captured under the walls of Beijing during the Jisi Revolution in the second year of Chongzhen and in the Battle of Four Cities in the third year of Chongzhen.
In the small-scale border confrontation involving dozens or hundreds of people, the Ming army on the nine sides was actually not at a disadvantage.
It's just the success of the servant and the failure of the servant. Once the battle situation expands and the confrontation evolves to thousands or even tens of thousands of people, the situation on the battlefield will become one-sided.
There are only a few hundred servants in an army who dare to fight, and the remaining thousands of soldiers are all so weak that they collapse immediately. How can a battle involving tens of thousands of people be undefeated?
The Ming Dynasty's servant system was bad and unbearable in many ways, but there was no black spot in its fighting spirit.
The generals in the hearts of these servants are like mountains of orders. When the flag is moved, even if the general asks them to die, they may not even frown.
They and the Lord will be both prosperous and damaged, and they will live and die together.
This is the servant.
However, the thief's fine knight is different.
Although their combat power is outstanding and not much weaker than ordinary servants, their fighting will is very weak. Once the casualties exceed 10%, they will give up the battle and retreat.
They were afraid of death, not because their soldiers themselves were afraid of death, but because their generals were afraid of the death of their elite cavalry.
Tens of thousands of starving people, thousands of infantry, and a cavalry of more than a thousand people would not be injured at all.
It only takes a few cities and villages to be broken into, and tens of thousands of people can be captured easily.
But when the Jingqi dies, one of them is really dead, and it is extremely difficult to replenish them.
The current Thirteen Families and Thirty-six Battalions are not all of the same mind. There is an undercurrent surging within. The big fish eats the small fish, and the small fish eats the shrimp. It is not unheard of to annex each other.
It is precisely because of these reasons and the leader's orders that the elite knights in the bandit army began to cherish their lives.
Therefore, it only takes a moment to have enough firepower to cause heavy casualties to the forwards who charge into the battle, which is enough to make the thief general leading the team feel heartbroken and make his troops afraid to attack and retreat.
The war horse pulled by Chen Wang slowly retreated against the military formation. After just walking a dozen steps, the military formation was already somewhat scattered.
Ahead, thousands of fine cavalrymen from the invading army were slowly pressing forward. They were waiting for the moment when the flaw in the military formation was revealed.
The sound of artillery fire sounded from the horizon like muffled thunder. At some point the invading army's artillery started firing again, perhaps realizing that a single cannon launch would not cause much shock.
But this time, the artillery of the Chuang Army once again achieved success. This time, two artillery shells landed in the military formation.
Chen Wang watched with his own eyes as a cannonball hit in front of him. The cannonball first hit a servant supervising the battle, and then without losing any force, it knocked over several gun soldiers holding three-eyed guns. Finally, Stop the momentum.
The unpleasant smell of blood permeated the entire military formation in an instant. Not to mention the gun soldiers holding fire guns, even the servants supervising the battle were afraid.
The people who were not dead kept wailing on the ground, and no one went to save them, or even give them a hand. The people who retreated avoided them and turned their heads away, unable to bear to look directly at them.
Almost no one who was hit by a shell survived.
"Keep walking, don't be afraid!"
A group of officers in the military formation were shouting orders, and the war supervisors holding Yanling swords were also watching eagerly from one side.
In the end, the military formation was stabilized again. They didn't have much fear in their hearts towards the bandits. After many battles with the bandits, they finally won. These victories prevented them from collapsing.
