"Puffy!"
The rumbling sound of artillery sounded again, gunpowder smoke filled the air, and iron balls and iron pellets flew in the air. Many iron balls directly hit the men and horses, causing pieces of flesh and blood to fly everywhere. Some solid iron balls bounced and leaped on the ground, smashing out alleys of flesh and blood in the Mongolian cavalry formation. Pieces of Mongolian soldiers and horses fell over, and screams and neighs continued.
The Mongolian army's cavalry formation was still rolling forward, and it looked like it was going to attack the Song army's forward infantry formation.
"Change the shotgun!"
Cao Erxiong remained calm and shouted loudly.
On the battlefield, there is no need to talk about benevolence, justice and morality, and it is fundamental to kill the opponent as much as possible.
"Kill Song Dog!"
Xiao Naitai drew his sword, pointed his saber at an angle, and led the Mongolian cavalry straight to the Song infantry formation.
Xiao Naitai failed to catch up with the Song army several times. He had heard that the Song Army's artillery was powerful, and he did not dare to be careless. Although thousands of horses rushed forward, the horses kept as far away from each other as possible to reduce possible artillery damage.
As long as the Song Army's front army is defeated, and then the opponent's middle army infantry formation is defeated in one fell swoop, arrows rain down, and the Song Army is attacked in turn, the Song Army will never be able to recover.
Iron hooves galloped, the ground trembled, and smoke billowed, like a sandstorm, covering the sky and the sun. The light cavalry of the Mongolian army held their bows in their hands so that they could reach the appropriate distance. The heavy cavalry defeated the Song army and fired arrows at any time to kill the Song army.
"It's still the same old tactics!"
In the Chinese army's formation, Yu Jie shook his head and snorted coldly.
The Mongolian army still wanted the heavy cavalry to attack, and the light cavalry to scatter arrows and kill the opponent with arrow rain.
Unfortunately, in today's age of firearms, this tactic is no longer effective.
Entering the second mile, the light and heavy cavalry began to accelerate slowly. The horses' heads were shaking, the ground was shaking, dust was flying, and the momentum was terrifying. The crossbowmen in the front line of the Song Army stepped on their crossbows and loaded their arrows, ready to kill with their crossbows at any time.
"Puffy!"
Seeing that the Mongolian heavy cavalry had entered a one-mile firing range, the Song Army's artillery array suddenly fired a salvo of artillery, thick smoke billowing into the sky, countless solid iron balls shot out, and the sky became dark and filled with Black dots of different sizes roared straight towards the waves of Mongolian cavalry.
Zhang Zhongxia was secretly shocked and felt a little dazed for a moment. If this shell hits our own position, who knows what kind of blood and flesh will fly everywhere?
As time went by, the Song Army's artillery became more and more powerful and fired farther and farther.
The shells roared into the smoke and dust, the war horses screamed, the Mongolian light and heavy cavalry screamed miserably, countless cavalrymen flipped over, smoke and dust flew, horses neighed and people shouted, no one could see clearly or know what was happening.
The iron balls continued to smash into the smoke and dust, and flesh and blood flew into the sky. The sounds of bones breaking, falling to the ground, and screams were earth-shattering and terrifying.
Large and small artillery fired one after another, and the Mongolian light and heavy cavalry that came forward fell down one by one. Perhaps there was too much blood. The dust on the battlefield began to decrease. The bodies of the wounded and dead were piled up on hills. The ground was bright red, and swords, guns, bows and arrows were scattered. , human organs are everywhere, like hell on earth.
Under the indiscriminate bombing, looking at the three thousand-man cavalry of the Mongolian army, they have become much sparse.
Finally, many Mongolian knights rushed out of the shooting range of their firearms. The Mongolian heavy cavalry, which bore the brunt, rolled in like giant spirits. Although there were not many in number, they still had a terrifying momentum.
A group of tall grenadiers ran out one after another. Under the shield of the sword-shielder, they started running and threw out the smoking thunder in their hands. The galloping heavy cavalry of the Mongolian army was shrouded in smoke.
The Mongolian light cavalry who broke through the blockade of artillery and thunderbolts opened their bows and set arrows, and the arrows were like locusts. There was a scream on the Song army's position, countless fell down, and the cavalry swordsmen and shield-hands were affected.
There was constant rain of arrows from both sides. The Mongolian army was better because of its speed of fire, while the Song army was stronger because of its excellent armor. Both sides fired arrows desperately, and during the confrontation, people kept falling.
Some Mongolian light cavalry swept out from behind the heavy cavalry and went straight to the Song army's right cavalry formation, hoping to kill them with arrows and catch the Song army by surprise. On the right wing of the Song army, several battalions of cavalry broke out of the formation, and were also hit by waves of arrows. The Song and Mongolian cavalry had already fallen down before they could join the formation.
The frontal infantry formation was large, and the two sides finally connected. The remaining Mongolian heavy cavalry were too few in number. In the blink of an eye, they were hooked and knocked off their horses one by one by the Song army, and they were quickly killed.
On the right-wing position, the Song and Mongolian light cavalry collided violently, and countless horses fell down. Blood and flesh flew everywhere immediately. Countless people fell off their horses, yelling and cursing in various languages, and fought with their lives.
Zhang Zhongxia put down his telescope, sighed, and closed his eyes tightly, unable to bear witnessing the bloody battle scene.
One general will eventually become ten thousand bones. Do young soldiers risk their lives just for the little pay and fame?
Sacrifice and sacrifice for the country and the people.
The school motto of the Jinling Martial Arts Hall suddenly rang in his ears.
Du Er, who was beside Zhang Zhongxia, was also solemn.
Everything done today, all the bloodshed and sacrifices, are for the strength of the nation and the prosperity of the country.
Today's throwing of heads and blood is also the ambition of every passionate man.
He just didn't understand that the explosive bullets were extremely lethal and the rifled guns could shoot five miles away, so why not use them?
Looking at the overwhelming Mongolian cavalry on the opposite side, Du Er seemed to understand a little bit.
However, in just a short moment, the Song and Mongolian cavalry formations separated again, leaving behind only blood on the ground and countless corpses and injured people.
The Mongolian cavalry suffered heavy casualties, and the number was too small. They did not dare to fight, so they circled far away and returned to their own formation.
The Song Army cavalry did not pursue them. They brought back their dead and wounded comrades before returning to their own formation.
In the Mongolian cavalry formation, the Mongolian cavalry was ready to move, but did not come up again, obviously fearing the Song army's artillery.
In the Song Army's formation, both Yu Jie, Wang Jian, Zhang Zhong, Xia and Cao Erxiong were relieved at this moment.
In the first contact battle, the Song army's knights suffered hundreds of casualties, and the Mongolian army's three thousand-man cavalry also suffered most of the casualties. As for the infantry of the Song army, only two to three hundred people were killed or injured.
Sure enough, firearms have changed the game on the entire battlefield.
The Mongolian cavalry's reputation as an invincible force that dominates the world can become history.
"All troops forward!"
Yu Jie no longer hesitated and issued the military order decisively.
The four-mile distance between the two armies was too far. The Mongolian army could wait, but he was unwilling to wait.
The Song army's cavalry came like a wall, their infantry marched in unison, tens of thousands of people synchronized, and they walked in unison, just like one person. The gun carriages are rolling, the cold light is shining, and the torrent of steel is fierce.
On the city wall, Han Chijin's face was as heavy as water, and he was furious.
The Song army had sharp weapons, and once they chose to fight, the casualties would be unpredictable. But if we retreat into the city, the 30,000 cavalry may be able to retreat, but will the 30,000 infantry have to risk retreating into the city?
If we really retreat without a fight, will our military morale still be there?
"Marshal, the Song army is so abominable! Let's go to war!"
Badar on the side couldn't bear it anymore and shouted loudly.
The Song army's formation is getting closer and closer. This is a naked provocation, which is unbearable.
"Marshal, the Song army is aggressive. They must either withdraw or go to war. Hurry up and issue military orders!"
Brother Meng couldn't help but urge.
"No hurries?"
Han Chijin said coldly and remained calm.
"Baidar and Liu Heima commanded a large infantry formation outside the city and used artillery, trebuchets and ballistae to compete with the Song army. Xiao Naitai and Tachaer led the cavalry to retreat temporarily, waiting for the infantry to fight, and the cavalry attacked from the flanks. Defeated the Song army in one fell swoop."
Badar and others took orders one after another, while Meng Ge was secretly frightened.
The artillery of the Song Army was fierce. Using trebuchets and ballistae to compete with the artillery of the Song Army would probably cost many lives.
I don’t know if those firearms can be used?
From the bottom of his heart, Brother Meng looked down on those useless things.
Under the banner of the Song Army's central army, Gao Shisan pointed to Taiyuan City in the distance and spoke in detail.
"Shuai Yu, there are more than 400 trebuchets and more than 500 catapults in Taiyuan City. Although we blew up the baggage warehouse, there are still more than 200 large and small artillery pieces in Taiyuan City. There are probably more than 200 trebuchets outside the city. There are 300 ballistae, 300 large and small artillery pieces, and at least 100,000 thunderbolts.”
"Brother Gao, how about the firearms of the Tatar army?"
Wang Jian interrupted.
"Commander Yu, Deputy Commander Wang, most of the artillery in the Tatar army are 30-jin and 100-jin artillery. Although the range is not as good as that of our army, and some of them often explode, they are always a threat to our army. The other is the thunder. The destructive power is great. When our army is facing off, we should destroy the trebuchets and artillery. When attacking the formation outside the city and siege, we should prevent the Tatar army from thundering to avoid excessive casualties."
Gao Shisan's words made Yu Jie and Wang Jian nod.
Fortunately, the Mongolian army did not produce powerful firearms, otherwise, it would be difficult to fight a tough battle.
"Brother Gao, how many thunders are there in the Tatar army?"
Wang Jian was worried and continued to ask.
The biggest thing to worry about when attacking a city is the sky-shaking thunder. If you defend the city, don't be too lethal.
"Back to Deputy Commander Wang, my brothers have inquired about it. Due to the lack of enough craftsmen and little confidence in Zhentian Lei, there should be about 100,000 of them!"
Gao Shisan's answer made Wang Jian and Yu Jie feel relieved.
Sure enough, as the emperor said, whoever controls steel controls the future. The Mongolian army did not fully master the iron smelting and gunpowder technologies, and the number and power of thunderbolts were far inferior to those of the Song army.
"Send an order to Zhang Zhongxia, be careful of the artillery and thunderbolts of the Tatar army!"
Since the opponent wants a positional battle, let's let the artillery fire come more intensely.
The front army has 15,000 men, reinforced by artillery, and should be able to break the Mongolian army's formation outside the city.
"Shuai Yu, why didn't you use heavy artillery just now?"
Gao Shisan asked in surprise.
He could see clearly just now that the Song Army only used part of its artillery, otherwise the Song Army's casualties would be smaller.
"Otherwise, how could the Tatar army enter the trap?"
Yu Jie smiled coldly, his eyes filled with coldness.
"Brother Gao, when I was training at the Jinling Martial Arts Hall, the principal had a famous saying that I have always kept in mind. Do you know what it is?"
"Shuai Yu, I would like to hear the details."
Gao Shisan knew that these officers who came from the Jinling Martial Arts Hall were proud to be students of the emperor, the principal.
"This famous saying is: The purpose of war is to maximize the damage to the other side and make the other side lose the ability to resist. Think about it, if you don't do this, how can you make the Tatar army in front of you take the bait, and how can you destroy Taiyuan City?"
Yu Jie's words made Gao Shisan sweat profusely and nod his head repeatedly.
Destroy the opponent as much as possible. As expected, every word is precious... so ruthless!
The front army had more than 10,000 infantrymen, but the Mongolian army had a large formation of 30,000 infantrymen, which was half the number. It was quite overwhelming!
Yu Jie looked at Gao Shisan and nodded with satisfaction.
"Brother Gao, when the army captures Taiyuan and restores Hedong, I will ask you for credit in front of the emperor!"
Without these intelligence officers who endured humiliation and licked blood with their swords, we don’t know how many more soldiers would have died.
"Thank you so much, Commander Yu! It's your duty, don't dare to take credit for it!"
Gao Shisan cupped his fists and saluted solemnly.
He had witnessed the battle just now. The Song army was elite, the firearms were ferocious, and no one flinched in the face of the Mongolian light and heavy cavalry. He was really shocked.
As long as the battle of Taiyuan is won, not only the recovery of Hedong is in sight, but the recovery of Lianghe and Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures will also be natural.
