Suddenly, a sharp and piercing whistle sounded in front of the three Ming army infantry battalion square formations that were about to be attacked by the Qing Xue battalion cavalry.
This was the signal to order a volley of matchlocks!
The whistle was still echoing, and rows of large and small fires suddenly flashed at the front of the three battalion-level square formations! The Mongolian cavalrymen from the so-called Qixue Camp who had already rushed twenty or thirty steps away felt like they were suddenly hit by a meteor. Large pieces of flesh and blood spurted out, and then they suddenly fell down from their horses. Some war horses were also hit by the bullets of the powerful Hongxing three-year-old matchlock guns. They screamed sadly, fell to the ground, and violently threw the knights on the horses away. The screams of men and horses could not be suppressed. The battlefield was littered with dying or dead men and horses everywhere. If an ordinary Mongolian cavalry suffered such a blow, it would almost collapse. But after all, Emperor Shunzhi's Qixue camp was no ordinary Mongolian cavalry. All of them were carried into the two yellow flags. They were the majestic Eight Banners Mongolia, and they had a share in the Qing Dynasty!
Moreover, Bumble Shanzheng was commanding the cavalry of the forward battalion to press behind them. If they dared to retreat without orders, they would be stabbed to death by the spears of the forward battalion cavalry!
There was another sharp and piercing whistle, and the Hongxing three-year-old matchlocks of the second row of musketeers fired randomly, another salvo of nearly 250 muskets!
After firing the bullets, the Ming Army musketeer did not reload where he was, but turned around and ran towards the spear array at the rear.
It is difficult for musketeers using matchlocks to form a dense formation side by side (not necessarily impossible, but it is easy to misfire), so the musketeers in the Ming army's formation also adopt sparse formations. After firing the bullets, a row of musketeers can start from Passed through the gap between the rear row of soldiers. He retreated into the spear formation that was also in a sparse formation, then loaded the bayonet and prepared for close combat.
The three rows of muskets finished firing quickly, and more than 700 bullets were fired. With such a density of firepower, there was no way to stop the desperate charging Mongolian cavalry!
However, the tactics of the Morris Square were not to rely on matchlocks to fight cavalry. Otherwise, what would half of the soldiers holding spears more than ten feet long be doing?
Just as the musketeers finished their volley and retreated into the spear formation, the pikemen put down their spears one after another. The tip of the spear was not pointing in one direction, but partly pointed in front of the phalanx and partly at the side of the phalanx. The left, right and rear turned the phalanx into a huge "hedgehog".
If the cavalry charges forward forcefully, it will be a disaster!
However, the Eight Banners Mongolia under Shunzhi will not charge hard. They are not shock cavalry who rely on group charges to survive, but traditional "all-round cavalry". He is proficient in impact, archery, and hand-to-hand combat, and he is also good at riding and dismounting.
So after approaching the "Hedgehog Formation" of the Ming Army, the Mongolian cavalry began to circle - because the eight battalions of the Ming Army needed to defend a large area, there was still a relatively large space between each square formation, enough to allow Enemy cavalry passes.
The Mongols started shooting arrows while circling. At the same time, some Mongolian warriors got off their horses and rushed towards the Ming army's hedgehog formation with bucklers and scimitars to fight hand-to-hand with the Ming army's spearmen and musketeers.
On the Ming army's side, the pikemen tried their best to shake the long and heavy spears in their hands to prevent the Qing army's dead soldiers from approaching while firmly holding on to their formation. The musketeers wounded the Mongolian cavalry and dead soldiers with random shots. They were now retreating into the gun formation and naturally could not fire volleys. Fortunately, the timid Xue soldiers of the Qing army did not leave the Ming army in order to shoot arrows and dismount. The formation is too far - the pikemen and musketeers of the Ming army are equipped with breastplates and helmets, and some are also equipped with arm armor (they can buy some of their own equipment), and some low trees to prevent arrows are placed around the square formation. shield. Therefore, if the distance is too far, the lethality of the arrowhead can be ignored.
On one side, there was horse shooting and hand-to-hand combat, and on the other side, there were spears and muskets. The two sides were fighting back and forth. It was hard to tell the winner, but more and more people and horses were killed or injured and fell to the ground.
Around the three Ming army formations, there were dead or dying people and horses scattered around. Many people in the square formations were shot in the vital parts by sharp arrows, fell to the ground and groaned, or were dying. There were also some Mongolian soldiers who rushed to the Ming army's spearmen, risking their chests being pierced by the swinging spears, and slashed left and right with their machetes, causing considerable chaos. However, no matter how brave these people are, they can't stop the bullets of the Ming army. They will be killed by a small lead bullet within a short period of time.
Just when the three Ming army formations were fighting together with the Qing army besieging them, the forward battalion cavalry following the Qing Xue cavalry was already in place. However, they did not rush into the battle group, but dismounted and lined up less than 100 steps away from the three battle groups.
These forward battalion cavalry are also "black spearmen", but they do not have flintlocks, and they are not divided into lances, bows, and musketeers, but are equipped with all three weapons.
Now these forward cavalrymen of the Qing army did not carry carbines and bows, but only matchlocks, bucklers, and waist knives. After dismounting, a nine-in-ten shooting formation was drawn up.
Seeing that the cavalry of the forward battalion had completed their formation, Baiyintu ordered the Mongolian cavalry, who were fighting a bitter battle with the Ming army, to retreat and free up the battlefield for the dismounted cavalry of the forward battalion.
Due to the previous battles, the three Ming army formations were all in chaos, and the musketeers had all retreated into the spear formations. There was no time to reorganize in a short period of time.
The commander of the Ming army's rear formation was Qi Yuanbi. He stood on a lookout and held up a telescope. He had already seen every move of the Qing army's forward camp. Of course he knew what the other party wanted to do.
"Order the musketeers of the 6th, 8th, and 10th battalions to form teams on the spot, and the pikemen to attack!" Qi Yuanbi ordered loudly, "All musketeers are ready to attack!"
His order was quickly conveyed to the front of the formation by bugles and war drums. The 700 spearmen of the three battalions were not as good as the whole team, and they directly followed the retreating Qing army's cowardly Xue soldiers and launched an attack!
Now it is the pikemen of the Ming army who charge against the bullets of the Qing army...
Some of the musketeers in the forward battalion of the Qing army had been lost in previous battles, and some were scattered throughout the battlefield to serve as guards. So what can be displayed now is only 1,780 people.
After setting up a nine-into-ten chain, each row had 1,780 people, and they opened fire one after another, either advancing in a cycle or retreating in a cycle. The firepower was not strong, but the sustainability was not good. Difference. Of course, they cannot be defeated by the attack of more than 700 spearmen. However, it can buy the Ming army's musketeers time to form a team and reload...and then continue the battle with heavy casualties!
...
Guanyintang battlefield.
The shouts of killing and the sound of gunfire came in waves, and the temple in Nuoda had been riddled with holes. Corpses were piled on both sides of the low wall fortifications that the Qing army once guarded. There were Qing troops with yellow cotton armor, and Ming officers and soldiers in red and black (red robes and black armor). Even if they died in battle, the bodies of soldiers from both sides were twisted together. Some soldiers still maintained a fighting posture, and the bayonets of the spears and muskets in their hands had been buried in the enemy's corpses, and they themselves died...
The Qing army that defended Guanyintang fought very tenaciously, and they also kept up with the times and became a new army that perfectly integrated hot and cold weapons.
However, a contest between two armies that have mastered the tactics of hot and cold weapons is unlikely to result in a disparity in casualty ratios unless one side holds the fort.
Therefore, the winner of the Guanyintang battlefield will ultimately belong to the side with an absolute numerical advantage!
Nearly 8,000 soldiers from the four regiments invested by Huang Degong have now overwhelmed the Qing army's defenses, and the two sides started a final fight in the Guanyin Hall.
Zhuo Butai, the commander of the Qing Army's firearms battalion, also personally participated in the battle. There were fewer and fewer soldiers around him, but there were more and more enemies around him.
Following a burst of gunfire, the Manchurian warrior felt his chest and back being hit several times by something unknown, followed by severe pain, and his strength suddenly disappeared, and he couldn't even stand!
The fall of Zhuo Butai also means that the fighting on the battlefield of Guanyintang is about to end!
Once the Ming army captures Guanyintang and annihilates the elite firearms battalion of the Qing army's new army, the outcome of this battle will basically be determined.
Although the Qing army was still able to barely trap Huang Degong by relying on their cavalry superiority, they were unable to defeat Huang Degong, nor could they stop Shi Kefa and Gao Jie from moving freely.
Emperor Shunzhi is about to fall into a tight siege!
