Zhang Kewang was singing a war song at this time, walking step by step towards the battlefield that determines life and death!
The entire pike team under his command was withdrawn from the battalion square formation and joined a temporary battalion square formation - together with his pike team, there were three other fire rifle teams and five pike teams. Teams are also drawn from other battalion formations.
In front of the formations of the two armies, the troops at the team level were pulled out from the square camp and formed into temporary battalions with other teams. This tactic seems unremarkable, but it is very difficult to use. Only the two standardized elite troops, the Zhangqian Army and the Dianqian Army, can do it.
And those who can really use this tactic freely are probably only the youth army in front of the tent!
The foundation of this army is the first generation of young soldiers. For five or six years, 20,000 to 30,000 former young soldiers trained together, studied together, made progress together, and got along day and night... and the backbone of them were all They are relatives, all relatives of Zhu Yuanzhang!
The level of compatibility between them is something other troops don't even have to think about. Unless there is a standardized modern education system to support it, only by using this method of cultivating young soldiers can we obtain elite soldiers who can flexibly reorganize, change formations, and switch offense and defense.
The Youth Army in front of the tent under the command of Lu Xiangsheng has a total of sixteen infantry battalions, with one hundred and sixty spear or gun teams under its jurisdiction. Unlike later generations where a battalion only had three or four companies, battalions in the phalanx era usually had ten companies or teams. Among them, five to six companies are spearmen, three to five companies are gunmen, and sometimes there is a company dedicated to melee combat. The youth army in front of the tent did not have a company specifically responsible for melee combat. There were five spear teams and five gun teams under one battalion. In order to coordinate with the cavalry team, he had already drawn a grenadier and gunnery team from each infantry battalion.
Now in order to launch a counterattack on his right wing, Lu Xiangsheng took out ten pike teams and six fire gun teams from the sixteen infantry battalions to form two temporary infantry battalions. In addition, he also extracted two infantry battalions from an infantry regiment serving as a reserve (only 8 teams remained), two temporary infantry battalions, and two regimental artillery teams (a total of 12 3-gun Jin Pao) together, launched the attack on the Houjin Cavalry!
"What? Three or four thousand infantry are approaching the cavalry with the red flag on the left? This...how is this possible?"
Huang Taiji couldn't believe his ears when he heard a report that the red flag was flying. Who commanded the Ming army opposite? Is it Hong Chengchou? Will he fight or not? Use three to four thousand infantry to attack a cavalry of nearly ten thousand (including mounted infantry)? Moreover, among the nearly 10,000 horses, there are still nearly 2,000 people who are true Manchurians holding the red flag!
Who gave them confidence? Did Zhu Yuanzhang know how they fought?
The enemy's mistakes are Daikin's opportunities! Huang Taiji immediately issued an order: "Send an order to Dabeile to hold up his red flag. He must not retreat even half a step. The infantry of the Southern Army must be firmly attracted..."
Then send an order to Zhenglan Banner Gushan Ezhende Gelei and ask him to send at least 3,000 vests to attack the left flank of the Southern Army infantry under Zhenghong Banner! "
"嗻!"
Several cavalrymen who were delivering the order bowed in response. As soon as they turned their horses and left, the roar of artillery started!
It turned out that the 12 3-pound regimental cannons under the jurisdiction of two artillery teams advancing with the four square camps fired.
Tan Tai, who stood in the stirrups to observe the enemy's situation, shouted loudly: "Great Khan, the four gun formations on the right wing of the Ming army are attacking with cannons!"
Damn it!
Forget about this! Huang Taiji cursed in his heart. He had only paid attention to the rockets of the Ming army just now, but he actually forgot that they also had cannons that could be maneuvered at the front!
No wonder the Ming army's infantry rushed towards Dajin's cavalry to launch an attack... It turned out that they were trying to cover the artillery team approaching Daishan's cavalry!
However, Huang Taiji did not intend to let the troops commanded by Daishan retreat, because his army was still pressing forward. The Ming Army only launched a counterattack on the right wing (the left wing of the Later Jin Army). If the Later Jin Army could press forward and stick with the Ming Army, it would not only regain the initiative on the battlefield, but also have the opportunity to outflank the Ming Army's counterattack force.
As for the rockets of the Ming army... just carry them alive. In fact, they won't kill many people!
How could the 70,000-strong Houjin army in battle formation be intimidated by hundreds or even thousands of rockets?
"Where is our cowhide cannon?" Huang Taiji asked loudly.
"Dahan, you're blowing..." As soon as Tan Tai spoke, he felt something was wrong and quickly corrected him, "It's blowing!"
"Tell them to hurry up!" Huang Taiji said, "Send someone to Wuzhenchaoha Camp to urge them!"
Cowhide is not for blowing, but for pricking!
The cowhide cannon cannot be used unless the cowhide is tied layer by layer on the core. But even if it is covered with layers of cowhide, the cowhide cannon is not very easy to use... it is not easy to dissipate heat, and it is too easy to explode!
But Huang Taiji had no other choice, because he did not have the capital to compete with the Ming army in terms of the number of artillery, so he could only compete with the weight of the ammunition. Therefore, the Hou Jin Army is not equipped with 3-jin cannons, but is equipped with 6-jin cannons and 8-jin cannons.
However, the ordinary 6-pound or 8-pound cannons cast by Houjin were too heavy (the craftsmen of Houjin were relatively poor), and their mobility would be greatly affected if they were taken out into the field.
Therefore, the craftsmen of Houjinwu Zhenchaoha Camp had to come up with the idea of cowhide cannons to reduce weight. However, the shortcomings of cowhide cannons are also quite obvious. First, the heat dissipation is too poor. After a few shots, the barrel will overheat. This is a serious problem. It affects the rate of fire; secondly, it is too troublesome to pierce cowhide.
And while the officers and soldiers of Wuzhenchaoha Camp were busy rolling layers of cowhide around the outside of the gun core, and then tightening it tightly.
The pike team commanded by Zhang Kewang, together with the other four pike teams (the five pike teams formed a 5-row horizontal formation), with the support of 12 3-pound cannons, launched an attack on the opposite position of the dismounted infantry of the Hou Jin Army. The first wave of charge!
The ferocity and bravery of the Ming army's infantry, as well as their wonderful cooperation with gunners, grenadiers, artillery and other firearms, were all beyond the expectations of Daishan and Saharian!
Even when Zhang Kewang's temporary gun camp launched an assault, the 12 cannons on the artillery positions on both sides still fired 3 kilograms of iron pellets at the four red flags (Manchu, Mongolian and Han) for free. , Chao) soldiers poured on their heads. Although it was just the most ordinary solid bullet, it still knocked the soldiers back to their knees. A group of grenadiers were still walking in the middle of the pikemen's phalanx, approaching the Houjin army together, using the phalanx of pikemen to resist the arrow rain of the Houjin army, until they were within twenty steps in front of the Houjin army's formation. He rushed out like crazy and threw two to three hundred wooden-handled grenades as fast as he could, exploding a sea of fire in front of the Jin army's formation.
At the same time that Zhang Kewang and the others launched the charge of the spear formation, there were four groups of gun soldiers divided on the left and right of the spear formation. As they advanced, they fired their muskets and shot down the archers of the Jin Army!
To be honest, the archers of Houjin had never seen firearms before, but they never thought that the power of firearms could reach this level!
First there was shelling, then gunfire, and finally two to three hundred wooden handle grenades were thrown! This firepower was not only fierce, but also accurate... Before the hand-to-hand encounter, the Houjin army was already littered with casualties. Although under the supervision of the sharp soldiers supervising the battle, these archers still shot arrows indiscriminately. But these dead soldiers really did not have the courage to raise their swords and spears and fight to the death with the Ming army advancing like a wall.
So when the first hand-to-hand battle between the two sides began, the winner was already decided. When he and Zhang Kewang and others faced the enemy's two or three thousand soldiers with red flags, it can be said that they were defeated at the first touch!
However, after Zhang Kewang and the others won, they did not take advantage of the victory to pursue it... After all, this was only the first confrontation between the two sides. The Jin army had at least 70,000 to 80,000 troops, which was not easy to defeat.
And thousands of cavalry wearing blue cotton armor have already attacked their left wing!
The decisive battle in Lincheng North has just begun!
