"Prepare!"
Tian Yi shouted loudly, and the flag officer waved his flag. The artillerymen of the Song Army began to adjust their angles, load ammunition, and aimed at the rolling Mongolian cavalry formation with the faint muzzle of the artillery.
Packets of medicine and solid iron balls were stuffed into the gun barrel one by one. The Song Army's artillery carriage slowed down, but still continued to move forward without stopping.
"General artillery! Prepare!"
The Song army's formation stopped, and the artillery carts slowly pushed forward. Tian Yi looked at the torrent of Mongolian cavalry with a solemn expression.
Although there were three to four hundred general cannons in the formation, he was still worried about the first battle.
Putting aside the humiliation, what's more important is that Zhao Hong is in the formation, and these heavy cavalry cannot be allowed to overwhelm the formation. Otherwise, if the army retreats and the emperor is in danger, he will die without redemption.
"Grenadier! Hook sickle gun!"
As expected, he was not the only one who was nervous. Xu Sheng behind him also shouted with a tense face.
The emperor is right behind him, so nothing can go wrong, otherwise the joke will be too big.
If the artillery is not good, there is the second line of defense of Zhentian Lei; if the Zhentian Lei is not good, there is the third line of defense with hook, sickle gun and sword and shield hand; if it is not possible, there is cavalry as a hedge.
In short, no matter what, the Mongolian cavalry in front of him could not alarm the Emperor of the Song Dynasty.
"Cavalry! Get ready!"
Su Haoxin, the commander of the Beiwei Army, had a black face and turned red, and he tightened his grip on the iron rod in his hand.
The heavy cavalry of the Mongolian army rolled in like a torrent of river water. In the Song army's formation, the imperial students, including Wang Wen, who was both civil and military, all had pale faces. Many of them struggled to control their horses. So as to prevent yourself from falling off the horse.
"Plop!"
Finally, one of the students was so frightened that he could no longer sit still and fell off his horse. He stood up again and tried to climb onto the horse, but his hands and feet were so weak that he could not climb up.
"Push him up!"
Zhao Hong held back the shock in his heart and glanced coldly at the fallen imperial student.
What was the use of such a weak scholar in the Song Dynasty?
Among the thousands of troops, he, the Emperor of the Song Dynasty, cannot afford to lose control.
"Come up you!"
The two Imperial Guards next to him dismounted and roughly pushed the blushing imperial student up.
In front of the two armies, under the spotlight of everyone, this guy had completely disgraced the Song Dynasty court.
"His Majesty!"
Tian Yi turned his head, looked over, and respectfully clasped his fists for orders.
"Tian Yi, give the order!"
Zhao Hong nodded slightly to show encouragement.
When entering the battlefield for the first time, nervousness is inevitable. On the other hand, these frontier troops seemed a little eager to try.
This may be the role of his personal expedition and presence in front of the battle. Soldiers all want to perform meritorious service, especially after possessing firearms that transcend the times, their mentality has changed greatly.
"Send an order to Su Haoxin. Once the Tatar cavalry is severely damaged, all cavalry will immediately attack. The right army will besiege the Tatar camp in the trench!"
Zhao Hong looked at the Mongolian heavy cavalry coming in like a tide, then looked at the Mongolian army camp outside Mianzhou City, and calmly issued the military order.
The Mongolian army was so confident that they wanted to overwhelm the Song Dynasty's 70,000-strong army with only a few thousand heavy cavalry. This was intolerable.
He didn't believe that the epoch-making God of War could not deal with the cold-weaponed Mongolian cavalry on the opposite side.
Sure enough, when the emperor's military order was issued, there was a commotion in the Song Army's cavalry formation, and all the troops held their bows in hand and were ready.
The folk customs in northern Sichuan are strong. Most of the border troops at Shukou have experienced battles and are not afraid of the imminent war.
Seeing that the court ministers and the imperial students beside him were nervous and even trembling, Zhao Hong shook his head gently.
Facing the bloody battlefield, these guys are still rookies. After a few battles, everyone will be much better off.
Many times, what many people lack is just a little bit of courage.
The Mongolian heavy cavalry moved forward like a tide, and in the blink of an eye they were two miles away. The ground shook more violently, and the murderous figures of the Mongolian heavy cavalry became increasingly clear.
"Puffy!"
The command flag was waved, and earth-shattering artillery sound rang out from the Song Army's formation. In an instant, white smoke burst out, and a hundred seven-pound iron balls flew into the air, shooting towards the head and face. The iron balls flew all over the sky, making a harsh sound. The whistling sound was like falling stars, smashing headlong into the Mongolian cavalry formation.
Countless iron balls either fell into the Mongolian army's formation, or landed in front of the Mongolian army's left formation and bounced and leaped, one after another smashing into the Mongolian army's heavy cavalry formation.
The iron ball roared and was invincible, smashing out alleys of flesh and blood. Pieces of Mongolian heavy cavalry shot out blood mist, causing people to fall over and their horses to fall, and there was a tragic scene of blood and flesh flying everywhere.
Another hundred five-pound solid iron balls screamed out, and another piece of Mongolian heavy cavalry fell in the smoke. Some war horses could not stand the roar of artillery fire. They were frightened and ran rampant, which aggravated the turmoil in the Mongolian cavalry formation.
The Song army's artillery bombardment continued continuously. The number of the Mongolian army's heavy cavalry moving forward continued to decrease, and the battle formation continued to become sparse.
"How can Song Gou's artillery shoot so far?"
Subotai was frightened and cursed angrily.
Didn’t it say that the Song Army’s artillery had five to six hundred steps? Why did the Song army start firing artillery after eight or nine hundred steps?
"How many artillery pieces are these? Can't they be finished without stopping?"
Tali was stunned. The number of artillery pieces and the intensity of the artillery fire of the Song Army completely exceeded his expectations.
"They fire artillery without even saying hello, these despicable and shameless bastards! How many artillery pieces do they have?"
Su He, the defeated general, cursed angrily.
Thousands of heavy cavalry were just blown up by the Song army's artillery?
The light cavalry behind the Mongolian heavy cavalry all turned pale. There were three thousand fine cavalry in three horizontal formations, but they were intermittent. Many cavalry did not keep up, as if they had forgotten their duties.
The artillery fire of the Song Army was too fierce and dense, with thick smoke everywhere and heart-rending screams everywhere, which was too chilling.
Seeing some Mongolian heavy cavalry rushing out of the artillery blockade, countless thunderbolts were thrown out from the Song Army's formation, completely covering the heavy cavalry. Following that, the Song Army's spearmen rushed out one by one. He broke into the Song army's formation, overturned the remaining Mongolian heavy cavalry one by one, including their men and horses, and ruthlessly assassinated them in front of the formation.
However, the Song Army's formation did not stop and was still rolling forward.
"Subotai, the Song army's artillery is too fierce, it's better to withdraw the troops quickly!"
Chawuer was horrified by what he saw and shouted loudly.
If you don't leave yet, are you waiting to be bombarded by the other party?
"Subotai, a good man will not suffer the consequences of his death! If we don't leave, it will be too late!"
Tari couldn't help it and shouted at Subotai.
Amidst the shouts in the tower, the "pengpengpengpeng" sound of artillery sounded again. The Song army's formation was filled with smoke, the artillery carts rolled forward, and the solid iron balls pierced the sky. This time, they shot farther, and the iron balls rushed directly into the Mongolian light cavalry formation.
The Mongolian cavalry were hit one after another, and everyone was panicked. They retreated one after another without giving orders quickly.
Blood and flesh were flying everywhere, muscles and bones were broken, who could bear such cruel slaughter?
A solid iron ball whizzed over and landed more than twenty steps in front of Subotai. The iron ball flew all the way, destroying everything and causing the Mongolian army to cry and howl. It hit a war horse with a broken leg, and the horse screamed loudly. Falling to the ground, the Mongolian cavalryman on horseback fell heavily to the ground, half of his body was pressed under the horse, and he screamed heartbreakingly.
Another Mongolian cavalryman was hit in the face by an iron ball flying from the sky. His flesh and blood were immediately mangled, and his brain was shattered. The body flew five or six steps away, and the remaining horses ran away indiscriminately, neighing.
"withdraw troops!"
Subotai's face was ashen and he issued the military order in a trembling voice.
The Song army's artillery was so fierce and overwhelming that if they didn't leave, they might really be annihilated.
Subotai turned his horse's head and headed north without hesitation. The Mongolian army's captains of thousands and centurions followed.
As for the infantry and craftsmen in the Mongolian camp to the west, they couldn't take care of them at this time.
"Don't stop the artillery truck! The heavy artillery moves forward, and the small artillery attacks the Tatar army camp!"
Tian Yi shouted angrily, commanding the artillery truck to move forward, and the gunner fired continuously.
Beat up the drowned dog. If you don't take advantage of this opportunity to kill someone, when will you wait?
Iron balls flew all over the sky and hit the Mongolian cavalry who were retreating like a tide. At first, the Mongolian army retreated in an orderly manner, but due to the narrow post road to the north, the Mongolian cavalry could only move in single file, and their speed was greatly reduced. As the Song army's artillery approached, the iron balls kept hitting. The Mongolian cavalry had broken bones and muscles, and was knocked off their horses.
The Song army pursued from south to north. Those who could not escape in time were shot down one by one by the feather arrows of the Song army's cavalry. The wilderness was full of ownerless horses.
Subotai was furious, but had no choice but to hit his horse and run wildly, trying to lead his men out of the range of the Song army's artillery quickly.
The Mongolian cavalry retreated, and the infantry and craftsmen in the Mongolian camp were dumbfounded. They mounted their horses one after another and fled away from the trench as hard as they could. They panicked and ran wildly along the mountain road where only a dozen horses could walk side by side. Many people and horses were squeezed into the ditch, making it a mess.
The small artillery of the Song Army continued to roar, and the Mongolian infantry who fled in a hurry were knocked down one by one. There were countless wounded and dead in the trenches. The grenadiers of the Song Army followed up and smashed into the trench like a thunderstorm. The Mongolian army was bombed and their flesh and blood flew everywhere. The trench was full of bloody corpses and wounded people. Many Mongolian troops escaped the indiscriminate bombardment of artillery. Many Mongolian knights were knocked over by the low walls and pits they dug, and were trampled by the horses behind them.
The infantry and craftsmen in the Mongolian camp were chased, intercepted, and massacred by the Song army. The Mongolian cavalry who retreated first retreated northwest along the Jialing River, covering the mountains and plains, and the hills among the ravines. The Song army was chasing after them. The crossbowmen kept firing crossbows and the sky-shattering thunder bombed wildly. The gunners continued to fire cannons and the cavalry flew with arrows. Although they were constantly shot off their horses by the Mongolian cavalry who desperately turned around to fight back, they were still alive. Chase, shoot like hell, never flinch. The arrows from both sides roared, covering the sky and the sun, and they were evenly matched.
Zhao Hong shook his head secretly. The Song army lacked cavalry and had a great lack of maneuverability, which severely limited the Song army's combat power.
Still have to find a way to get the war horse. Don't even think about trains and cars. Even a steam engine would probably take ten or twenty years of hard work to develop.
Looking at the tall hills in the distance, Zhao Hong shook his head helplessly.
It would be nice if there was an ambush team.
What a pity that this great opportunity to annihilate the enemy was lost!
