Matsukura Shigeharu led his honjin squad through the woods when he heard a dense sound of horse hooves! Then came his brother, the "strong man" Matsukura Shigeuri, who was more than five feet tall, shouted: "Brother, there are mounted samurai in front, there are also mounted samurai on the left, and there are also mounted samurai on the right... Thousands!"
Shigeharu quickly leaned on his Odachi, weighed his feet, stretched his neck, and looked around. He saw three large groups of "red cavalry" appearing in three directions: in front of him, to the left, and to the right, and temporarily behind his buttocks. not yet.
Moreover, these cavalrymen seemed to have two horses per person...riding one and leading another, it was such a luxury!
"Brother, the Ming army's cavalry seems to be about to attack!" Matsukura Shigeuri's shouts came to mind again, "Shimabara samurai, the square formation, protect the lord!"
"Hai!"
Amidst the chaos of shouts, footsteps, and horse hooves, more than a thousand warriors from the Shimabara clan who were guarding Matsukura Shigeharu's main formation quickly formed a small "square formation", which was a hollow square formation. Surrounded by Matsukura Shigeharu, Matsukura Shigeri and others.
The mounted warriors who appeared in front, left and right of the Japanese army were all divided into two, from three large groups to six small groups, each group consisting of more than a hundred cavalry.
Three of the groups of cavalry adjusted their formation for a moment, then roared towards three of the ten Japanese divisions that had passed through the woods... One group of cavalry even approached Matsukura Shigeharu's main formation. The squadron, but his brother Matsukura Shigeuri was shocked, and he quickly asked his subordinates to form a square formation.
The other part of the Ming cavalry gathered the excess horses, and then pulled out three loose formations in the front, left and right directions of the Japanese army.
Gunfire like fried beans soon started ringing out in succession. The gunfire was messy, but not dense. Because only 300 iron gunners from three iron cannon hundred-man groups fired, and there were dozens of iron cannons that did not fire due to various reasons.
The Korean Expeditionary Force of Japan's Tokugawa Shogunate was generally organized based on the Spanish phalanx model, with a thousand-man squadron as the basic combat unit. A thousand-man division has four hundred-man iron cannon groups and six hundred-man disciple groups. The equipment of the hundred-man iron cannon group is of course iron cannon. The apprentice group is divided into two types, one is equipped with a spear, and the other is equipped with a large sword and bow and arrow. There are five spear disciple groups in each Thousand Persons series, while there is only one Odachi disciple group. Among them, the spear disciple group will form various square or horizontal formations with the iron cannon hundred group during the battle, while the Odachi disciple group will be scattered around the square formation and horizontal formation to undertake the task of covering.
When these thousands of Japanese shogunate troops formed the most standard Spanish phalanx, there were only 100 iron gunners on each side of the phalanx. And these 100 iron gunners are not equipped with powerful turtle dove guns, but Japanese iron cannons with less power but higher accuracy.
However, no matter how accurate the Japanese iron cannon is, it is just a matchlock smoothbore gun, and it does not pose much of a threat to a target moving quickly thirty paces away. The three groups of Ming army cavalry that came menacingly were very cunning and looked fierce, but they did not rush within thirty steps in front of the Japanese iron gunners. Instead, it made a sudden turn before entering the effective range of the iron cannon, and at the same time shot a wave of feather arrows. After shooting the arrows, it patted the horse's butt and left. Almost all the lead bullets fired by one hundred and dozens of Japanese iron cannons missed.
The feather arrows fired by these Ming soldiers were all light arrows with a long range. Of course, they did not pose much of a threat to the infantry wearing full armor, but full armor weighing dozens of kilograms was not something ordinary ashigaru could possess... .I can’t even afford it, but I can’t afford it! Those who can wear full armor and go into battle are strong men raised with good food and good meat. They also need to be "fat and thin." Mere muscles are not enough, but also a layer of fat. Otherwise, they will not be able to persist for too long and will suffer from hypoglycemia. In Japan, those with such a figure are not ordinary samurai, and they will not be ashigaru at all.
Among the thousands of soldiers in the Korean Expeditionary Force, only the samurai of the Odachi Disciple Group who are responsible for hand-to-hand combat and officers such as the group leaders and group leaders have better armor. The general iron gunners and spearmen only have armor. Kabuto Okukawa, who has very poor defense, defends himself. So two to three hundred light arrows fired at them actually caused more than a dozen casualties.
Hearing the screams of the injured ringing in his ears, Matsukura Shigeharu had the urge to kill the person - a noble samurai should not scream even if he commits seppuku!
But before he could get angry, the Ming army's second wave of cavalry attack started again. It was still three cavalry centurions, still in a somewhat scattered formation. They still pretended to charge into the formation, and then ended up with cavalry shooting. The target of the attack was still the same as before. Three Thousand Persons... And after the second wave of cavalry attack, there were a third wave, a fourth wave, and a fifth wave, all heading towards the same three Thousand Persons.
Moreover, at the same time that waves of cavalry attacks began, more Ming cavalry had arrived on the battlefield. Matsukura Shigeharu did not occupy the canal in time, and did not even occupy a high ground like Ma Su. Instead, he allowed a thousand Hundreds of passing "horse warriors" were so frightened that they formed a formation on the beach. This was definitely a mistake that could only be made up for by committing seppuku. As a result, he not only wasted most of the day, but also boosted the morale of his opponents. The "white-headed samurai" and "young samurai" on the ground in Jin and Fuzhou, and even the strong military men with horses, swords and bows at home, all Came here to join in the fun.
In the blink of an eye, tens of thousands of horsemen rushed to the battlefield.
These cavalry were divided into three parts by Mao Wenlong and Mao Chenglu. Among them, the better-equipped cavalry were part of the group, responsible for launching a wheel attack against the three thousand Japanese troops in groups of one hundred. The cavalry was relatively poorly equipped but could still launch a charge. After a little reorganization, it was divided into seven large groups to monitor the seven thousand Japanese troops who had not yet been attacked. These Japanese only needed to be honest. If they don't move, they won't be attacked by cavalry. If they want to support the three thousand-man soldiers who are being beaten, they will be charged by more than a thousand cavalry!
The remaining cavalrymen (mainly mounted military households) all dismounted and helped push the carts. Among them, the archery skills were better, and they were incorporated into the temporary archery battalion.
After Mao Wenlong and Mao Chenglu's deployment was completed, Matsukura Shigeharu discovered that he had just made another big mistake worthy of seppuku - he did not adjust the deployment before the Ming army's cavalry arrived, and put ten thousand men into battle. Form a hollow formation. Instead, they were allowed to fight on their own. As a result, the Ming army's cavalry took the opportunity to mark the ten thousand men one-on-one...
Now if we form a large phalanx, we have to take the risk of the small phalanx being attacked by enemy cavalry during its movement.
"Baga!" Matsukura Shigeharu was so anxious that he started to curse. He didn't know whether he was scolding the Ming army or himself. But it's useless for him to scold anyone now, because the Ming army's carriage has already arrived!
"Chariots!" Shigeri Matsukura let out a mournful cry, "Many tanks... are coming toward us!"
The chariot tactic used in field battles is actually an extension of the advantage of cavalry - without the advantage of cavalry, it would be impossible to "watch" the opponent's infantry formation. The infantry moves much faster than the slow chariot. What else can a car be used for? If people move their positions, the person pushing the cart will be exhausted.
Therefore, in history, the Qing army's chariots could shine, while the various tanks of the Ming army were of little use.
But now everyone under Mao Wenlong has a horse, while Matsukura Shigeharu is a short-legged infantryman - they can't outrun the Ming army's "long-legged infantry" (they are all from Northeast China and Shandong), let alone four-legged ones. of war horses.
Therefore, the Japanese army, which has no mobility, can only resist the coordination of the Ming army's cavalry, carriages and archers. And they must not be able to resist it, because the Ming army can move freely and engage in wheel battles, but Japan cannot move at all and can only use three thousand soldiers to carry it to the end. And how much physical strength can they use up?
