The battlefield on the south bank of the Tuhe River was originally a flat open area, but now because of the Ming army's "Tuweizi" and the ditch parapet dug by the Qing army, the left and right sides of the Ming army's Shandong regiment training army, which was in a defensive posture, had support. And they were arrayed with their backs to the water, with the Tuhe River behind them. Although they could ford it, some Qing soldiers led by Gang Atai had already appeared on the north bank of the Tuhe River, blocking the escape route by wading through the water.
Therefore, Gao Hongtu's team training now has no choice but to fight against the odds and fight against the tide of Eight Banners soldiers!
The Shandong regiment training army (also known as the Qi army) under Gao Hongtu seems to be at the bottom of Zhu Cixang's Ming army system today, and it was extremely feudal and backward from the beginning. It relied on teachers and students, fellow villagers, clans, and In-laws and other interpersonal relationships were maintained, thus forming one small military group after another. To put it more vividly, it is the big warlord Gao Hongtu who coaxes a group of small warlords below. Such a group is very easy to corrupt, and once it has enough victories to enjoy, it will become sluggish.
But now, when the Qi army is still in its infancy, everyone from top to bottom can work together. Moreover, because the Qi army followed the path of scholars leading troops, there were many young scholars from Shandong in the army who served as associate commanders, battalion officers, or colleagues, so their ability to learn and improve was still very strong.
For example, the indiscriminate firing of firearms that occurred during the battle with the Qing army a few days ago has been solved. Now there is a solution, which is to select gunmen with relatively good psychological quality to board the shield car to be responsible for firing, and at the same time let the gunmen with poor psychological quality The hand is responsible for loading - this not only solves the problem of indiscriminate shooting, but also allows the three-eyed firegun to form continuous firepower.
In order to protect the soldiers who fired the three-eyed fire cannon from being shot by arrows, the craftsmen accompanying the army also opened shooting holes in the wooden shields of the shield vehicles. The fire cannon soldiers could kneel on one knee behind the large shield and fire through the shooting holes. Three-eyed gun.
Since there was no time to connect all the shield carts, the Queyue chariot formation could not be set up. Gao Hongtu had no choice but to let the spearmen of the sword soldiers stand in the gap between the shield carts. The archers of the regiment training army were waiting in formation behind the defense line composed of shield chariots, sword soldiers and spearmen, carrying bamboo bows. Everyone had a bamboo bow in hand.
Behind these archers, there was another line of spearmen and sword soldiers. Behind them were Gao Hongtu and his soldiers. Behind Gao Hongtu is the surface of Tuhe River. The rolling river water gradually wetted Gao Hongtu's robe, but he didn't notice it and just looked forward intently.
The Eight Banners cavalry did not rush forward in a rush, but stopped moving a thousand or two thousand steps away from the Ming army's position. At this time, the sky was getting brighter again, and from a distance, white, yellow, blue and red armors could be seen forming a sea, which seemed to completely submerge the low and thin embankment composed of Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers.
The officers and soldiers on the battlefield all had an ominous premonition. Because they didn't find the coated slaves and green camp soldiers who are "loved by everyone"... This time they came up with all Eight Banners True Manchuria, and their number must have exceeded 10,000!
Woo hoo......
With the wailing of a bugle, the originally stationary Eight Flags cavalry suddenly became disturbed! The Eight Banners soldiers did not rush forward in a swarm, but rushed out a group of cavalry in yellow armor. There were about two thousand cavalry. They began to charge along the left side of the trench dug by the Qing army. There was no strict and tight formation. , but loosely grouped together and swarmed up. Looking from a distance, I could only see yellow cavalry rolling and jumping, roaring towards them.
Li Dakai, who was commanding on the spot, was a general. Although he did not have much actual combat experience, he still had a keen eye. When he saw the formation of the Eight Banners soldiers, he knew that they were going to play mounted archery.
He opened his throat and shouted: "No shooting, no firing of muskets, no retreating... I'll have to f***ing carry it all!"
Bows on the Eastern battlefield have always been divided into riding bows and walking bows. Riding bows are light and soft and easy to use on horseback. The walking bow is long and stiff and cannot be used to shoot arrows on horseback, but the bow is powerful and has a longer effective range.
However, the cost and time of making a good bow were beyond the capabilities of the newly established Shandong regiment training army.
And those long wooden bows that rely entirely on brute force are also unplayable for old farmers who have just turned to soldiers. Although farming is also a labor of strength, it is still two different things from pulling a bow and shooting arrows.
Therefore, Shandong regiment training troops are generally equipped with bamboo bows, which are soft and light and have a short range. Against the armored Eight Banners soldiers, it is only slightly lethal within a dozen steps.
Facing the surging Eight Flags cavalry, they could only endure being shot by arrows without fighting back, because fighting back was useless!
Similarly, the effective range of the three-eyed fire gun is only this small, and it cannot be hit at all if it is farther away!
At this moment, the first wave of charging Eight Banners soldiers had slowed down their horses, took out their bows and arrows, and at the same time began to turn their horses' heads, turning to the left one after another, from charging straight towards the Ming army's defense line to parallel to the Ming army's front line , get together about twenty or thirty steps.
Following a boom-boom-boom sound with a trembling sound, countless sharp arrows shot out, heading straight towards the Ming army's formation!
I saw sharp arrows falling like raindrops on the Ming army's formation. The arrows landed very concentratedly. Suddenly, the soldiers with incomplete armor and insufficient protection were pierced by the sharp arrows and fell to the ground, letting out bursts of screams. Wail.
But the remaining soldiers remained motionless.
Not an arrow was shot, and there was no sound of the three-eyed blazing gun.
Huang Jia's Eight Banners soldiers ran and shot. After throwing thousands of arrowheads, they passed by the Ming army's formation and turned to the left again. The so-called cavalry shooting, if viewed from a high altitude, is a group of cavalry running in circles in front of the enemy infantry formation. The cavalry would only fire their bows and arrows when they were close to the infantry formation, and then leave after shooting.
If it is a high-level mounted archery, then two to three thousand mounted warriors can place arrowheads in a designated area.
In other words, in the area that was hit hard by the Eight Banners cavalry, seven to eight thousand arrowheads fell in a short period of time!
If the infantry have good armor and carry shields, of course it won't be a big problem.
But the Shandong regiment training did not have such good equipment!
Therefore, where the Eight Banners archers focused their attacks, the formation suddenly became sparse.
And just as the cavalry in yellow armor finished firing their arrows and walked away, hundreds of people in blue cotton armor had already rushed up like a flood breaking through a bank.
Unlike the previous yellow-armored cavalry who controlled the speed of their horses, their horses were getting faster and faster, and the Jurchen horses under their crotches seemed to be flying, moving forward bravely. Moreover, their formation is also relatively dense. Although it is not a "wall array", it is still a very dense charge formation. The knights on horseback all huddled behind the horse's neck, trying to reduce the area exposed to arrows and musket projectiles. The carbines attached to the saddles with ropes were also tucked under their arms. The tips of the spears shone with a cold light, like lightning. Generally pounce forward.
The training soldiers of the Shandong regiment who were facing them had not yet reacted to the wave of arrows. Now they saw the galloping cavalry, and they all fell into fear.
Fortunately, Li Dakai arrived in time with a team of sword and shield soldiers supervising the battle - when the Eight Banners cavalry was shooting just now, he knew that there would be a cavalry attack next, so he immediately rushed over with his people to stabilize the team.
"Fire cannons are fired, bows and arrows are fired..."
The sword players who followed Li Dakai were all Gao Hongtu's personal soldiers, and now they all followed Li Dakai and opened their throats and shouted.
As soon as their orders were shouted out, the archers and musketeers, who had been unable to hold back for a long time, were finally able to let go and release the fear in their hearts.
In front of the Ming army's formation, smoke suddenly rose, arrowheads flew, and the rushing Eight Banners soldiers collided with sharp arrows and projectiles.
Casualties occurred immediately! I saw several rows of Qing cavalry in front, dozens of cavalry fell down at the same time, and the people and horses rolled into a ball. The close range shooting of one to two hundred three-eyed muskets and thousands of bamboo bows is quite powerful.
However, the Eight Banners soldiers and horses that came in a steady stream quickly filled the gap in front and continued to move forward. No one hesitated at all, but instead accelerated even more crazily.
What awaits them is another round of arrow rain and projectiles fired from the three-eyed firecrackers...and this is also the last round that the three-eyed firecrackers and bamboo bows can carry out when this wave of Eight Banners soldiers rush into the formation. A volley was fired.
Because the Eight Flags Horse Troop broke through the somewhat sparse battle line composed of sword players and spearmen in the blink of an eye!
