His subordinates reported to Luo Dai that rebels and horses were found ten miles away from Xiangyang City. Their strength was no less than 5,000, but there were only more than 1,000 horsemen, and the rest were infantry.
In view of the fact that Hong Shaobao's first task for himself was to advance to the gates of Xiangyang City and notify the defending generals. The counter-rebellion army would arrive soon after, allowing them to continue to defend and retreat from the enemy, increasing their confidence and boosting their morale.
Luo Dai had no intention of fighting head-on with the thieves blocking the road in front of him. Instead, he found a higher position, took a look around, and saw that there were some flaws in the position on the shore, so he ordered his soldiers to go along the Han Dynasty. Rush past the south bank of the water.
The reason why there was no obstruction on the shore was because Wang Dingguo, the general appointed by the Eight Kings, saw that the boat crossing the river in the early morning suffered heavy losses due to the interception of the Xiangfan Navy, so he gave up the defense on the shore.
If the navy of the navy discovered that the rebels were fortifying the beach area, and their warships approached the shore and bombarded them, the rebels would really have no choice but to be beaten. The firepower output levels of both sides were not at the same order of magnitude.
The rebels had been given a good lesson by the warships on the river before. No one wanted to get into trouble again. If they were given a lesson twice a day, the whole camp would be full of people who care about food but not about fighting.
Therefore, Wang Dingguo's infantry defense line was nearly one mile away from the shore. This was a relatively safe position. The remaining gap was used for mobile defense by Wang Shangli's elite cavalry.
Wang Dingguo also thought very carefully. He believed that the Hong bandits must have sent horsemen to test them first. His men lacked the squatting cannon to stop the attack of groups of horsemen, so he cut down many trees according to local conditions and brought them down to serve as roadblocks.
Originally, I wanted to capture some surrounding people and dig deeper trenches, but I couldn't capture a rough amount, only a few hundred people. It was impossible to achieve this goal in a short time.
If the rebel soldiers were allowed to dig trenches, they would not have the strength to fight when the officers and soldiers rushed over, so instead they cut down trees, let the soldiers hide behind the trees, and then assassinated the officers and soldiers with spears.
Wang Dingguo also thought that if the trees were used as cover, the soldiers might not be able to avoid the arrows fired by the enemy's horsemen, so he asked the soldiers to dig holes behind the trees. After digging, they would jump in and cover them with leaves.
In this way, it can be shaded from the sun, and secondly, it can be concealed, killing two birds with one stone.
Wang Dingguo deployed a thousand infantry on this improvised defense line, and then divided the other two thousand or so soldiers into six teams and lined them up as the second line of defense.
Gathered half a mile apart, there were about three to four hundred people in each team. Each soldier was equipped with a javelin that could be thrown more than ten feet to block the advancement of the army's horsemen.
According to Wang Dingguo's assumptions, if the officers, soldiers and soldiers wanted to forcefully break through this line of defense, they would have to lose thousands of men and horses.
It's just that although his opponent Luo Dai is brave, he is not stupid. After inspecting the front line, he found the opponent's weak link.
And Luo Dai also has a good helper, that is, the Xiangfan Navy, which has been victorious, has come out to patrol again...
Wang Chengzeng, the prefect of Xiangyang, had already received the letter sent by Hong Chengchou by sailing to Xiangyang Pier in a small boat, and ordered the navy to immediately dispatch to meet the vanguard of the army rushing south for reinforcements.
If they haven't met yet, they will first look for the small boats used by the rebels to cross the river. Once found, they must be sunk and must not give the rebels an opportunity to attack Fancheng.
The naval generals who performed the mission at the meeting quickly saw Luo Dai's men and horses with telescopes, and could identify the other party's identity through the general's flag and the military flag.
Furthermore, although there were many people heading south on this road, they were all pawns. No matter how stupid Zhang Ni was, he would not use elite cavalry to attack the city, and they did not find that the opponent was carrying heavy firearms such as firecrackers.
When Luo Dai saw the warships on the river, he asked his soldiers to fire the predetermined flares. After releasing them, after a while, the other party also showed some signs. Three flares rose into the sky, which was verified to be correct.
Only in this way did Luo Dai dare to let the cavalry approach the shore, otherwise he would be accidentally injured by artillery fire until he knew that the opposite side was the Xiangfan Navy, and the opposite side did not know his identity.
Xiangyang City is located on the south bank of the Han River. For Luo Dai, going south from the shore is the most convenient way, but Wang Shangli on the opposite side does not intend to let Luo Dai reach Xiangyang City easily.
Now is the critical moment for the rebel army to attack the city. The defenders are already relying on the high city and deep Xiangyang City to resist stubbornly. If they receive the support of thousands of horsemen, they will be even less likely to surrender to the Eight Kings.
And this is an obvious signal. The horse soldiers go first, followed by the infantry, which means that Hong Chengchou's army has returned to the south and is probably not far away. Whether it is to attack the city or turn in, the eight kings must make quick decisions.
Once the government troops are attracted to the city and unable to capture the city in a short period of time, the main force of the rebel army, 20,000 men, may be surrounded by the Hong thief army in this narrow area. The door is closed.
While Wang Shangli was filming the flying cavalry to report the military situation to the Eight Kings, he also sent people over to inform Wang Dingguo's infantry to move closer to his side. Otherwise, his own cavalry alone would not be able to stop this menacing army.
"Brothers, the officers and soldiers are here to die, on the forehead!"
The situation took a turn for the worse. Wang Shangli knew that for his troops, the shore was a point of no return, so he had to bite the bullet and press forward.
The Eight Kings sent tens of thousands of soldiers and horses to attack the city. If these officers and soldiers were to rush out from behind the rebels attacking the city and cut off the retreat in one fell swoop, then these ten thousand rebel soldiers would be considered surrendered to the city.
After this battle, the rebels who suffered heavy losses will be unable to recover, and they will have to spit out the dividends gained from gathering and annihilating Tang Tong's troops in the mountains.
Wang Shangli also knew that just biting the tail of this army was not enough. He had to try his best to drag them south in order to buy enough reaction time for the rebels attacking the city.
Especially since there are naval warships on the river, it is necessary to get entangled with the officers and soldiers and engage in close combat. Only in this way can the warships be forced to use rat weapons and not dare to bombard them easily.
After making up his mind, Wang Shangli led more than a thousand horsemen under his command to charge toward the middle of the army's column. If he was lucky, he could cut the army into two pieces.
"Turn the horse's head and fight the enemy head-on! Let the enemy ride fifty paces! Then shoot heavy arrows to stop him!"
When Luo Dai saw a group of men and horses running diagonally towards his troops from the northwest, he secretly screamed that something was wrong and hurriedly shouted to his men to draw their bows and set their arrows. It was best to leave a buffer zone, otherwise the navy would not be able to distinguish ourselves from the enemy.
The sound of artillery coming from the direction of Xiangyang still did not disappear, indicating that the bandits were still aggressively attacking the city, and Luo Dai did not intend to fight with the bandits who came to intercept him.
The best thing is to be able to shoot them back. If you really can't resist them with arrows, in order to ensure that the entire team will not be bitten to death by the vicious dogs, you can only fight first.
When the weapons are fully equipped, each horseman will carry two arrow pots, with twenty light arrows and twenty heavy arrows each. The former is used to shoot unarmored bandits, while the latter targets the armored elite among them.
To deal with these thieves and horsemen who seem to be inferior in combat power, it is natural to use heavy arrows and light arrows to shoot out. Even if they hit the target, they will not be able to hurt the opponent's flesh at all unless they can hit the face.
Usually, to deal with the enemy cavalry, you can use a combination of light and heavy arrows. First shoot two batches of light arrows. If you can succeed, just pick them up. Wait until the enemy cavalry has advanced within fifty steps, and then switch to heavy arrows. Take his life.
The generals who led the team considered that if the arrows could not drive back the enemy, they would still have to fight with swords and guns, so they could not exhaust the physical strength of the horsemen. Generally, after three or four rounds of shooting, the enemy cavalry would be close at hand and they could retreat. The bow has drawn its sword.
Luo Dai chose to directly load heavy arrows because he considered the physical strength of his men. After running for dozens of miles, he would fight the rebels here again. If he won, he would have to go to the city to relieve the defenders. The physical strength of everyone was natural. If you can save, save.
After the order was sent, the troops quickly formed a crescent-shaped array along the river, with their horses' tails facing the river and the docks facing the shore, and began to prepare to face this unexpected bandit army.
Whether it is an ordinary soldier with only five bows or a sharpshooter with the power of three stones, enemy soldiers will use armor-piercing cone arrows to penetrate Ming-style armor, and eyebrow needle arrows to shoot Donglu cotton-padded armor.
Depending on the target being hunted, other arrows can also have good effects. However, in order to simplify the logistical burden, a certain prince ordered skilled craftsmen to be specially made for these two types of arrows.
The appearance of the "Through Armor Cone Arrow" is similar to the "Iron Bone Li Cone Arrow" of the Song Dynasty. The arrow cluster has a tapered forward tip, both wings are bladed, and may have a swallow-shaped tail or an eagle's beak-shaped barb.
When encountering armored soldiers, the armor can be broken. When encountering unarmored soldiers, the arrow clusters penetrate into the flesh and are difficult to pull out, causing the injured to bleed. After being coated with lead powder, the chance of infection of the sores is greatly increased.
As the name suggests, the "eyebrow needle arrow" has a needle-like front and a rhombus in the middle. Since the cross-section of the front is extremely small, its killing power is astonishing. Qi Shaobao made the best use of this arrow to kill the enemy. If the arrow burrows into the brain, he will definitely die.
Due to its slender structure, the air resistance and armor-piercing resistance it encounters are the lowest. When the kinetic energy provided by the pull is the same, compared with other types of arrows, the armor-piercing ability of the "Eyebrow Needle Arrow" is It is the most powerful.
After a certain prince came to supervise the country, he attached great importance to the development of various types of firearms and was keen on building an elite force with pure firearms.
But this does not mean that cold weapons have been completely abandoned, especially various types of bows and arrows that can defend enemies from long distances.
Before a sufficient number of firearms were produced, bows and arrows were still one of the irreplaceable main weapons of the Ming Dynasty's army.
And before the advent of Maxim, no army in the world could withstand a group charge launched by the braided cavalry simply by relying on flintlock muskets or even breech-loading guns.
Using mortars, grenades, flintlocks, and even heavily armed combinations of airships and tanks to engage in field battles with the main force of the Qing army was still an extremely dangerous matter.
Although bows and arrows are not as easy to master as muskets, they are a very effective supplement at the moment.
Especially for the horsemen, it is much easier to repeatedly open the bow and release arrows when the horse is galloping than to repeatedly load the blunderbuss.
Hong Shaobao followed the highest instructions of a certain prince and required that every horse soldier must be "fully equipped" before the war, that is, food, pay, equipment, and equipment must be in place.
Needless to say about food and wages, "weapon" refers to weapons, including bows and arrows, waist knives, long-handled broadswords, or spears. "Mechanical" refers to armor, shields, ropes and other protective equipment.
It is better to be equipped with a three-eyed gun, but it is okay not to have it, but each general must ensure that he has at least 500 armored cavalry under his command. This is the fundamental reason for pursuing Zhang's rebel army.
In order to ensure the established "armor wearing rate", Hong Chengchou did not require uniform specifications and styles of armor. Zha armor was acceptable, cotton armor was also acceptable, and if there were enough chainmail armor, it was naturally allowed to be used.
In terms of arrows, it is necessary to ensure that each horse soldier carries forty arrows. According to the standard of shooting ten arrows per battle, he can fight at least four battles. The regulations stipulate that the number of light arrows and heavy arrows is equal to half, but the actual number is determined by each commander according to the situation of his own unit.
"Fire the arrow!"
The rebel forces are at an absolute disadvantage, but the officers and soldiers are adjusting their formations. Taking advantage of this opportunity, they must use bows and arrows to strike first. Regardless of whether they succeed or not, they can disrupt the opponent's deployment and buy a moment for the rebels to attack.
However, if you shoot an arrow from a distance of a hundred steps, unless your arm strength is amazing or the opponent is not wearing armor, the damage to the target will be extremely limited.
Wang Shangli knew that the enemy was outnumbered, so he acted like this as a last resort. He shot two batches, and if he could shoot down more than a hundred officers and soldiers, he would be considered a profit.
"Take your feet off the pedals! Lie down on the horse!"
The war horses were sprinting at full speed, leaving little time for their own side. Soon the other side made a move. Seeing the bows and arrows coming at speed like black rain, Wang Shangli hurriedly called everyone to get into a defensive posture.
"Lying on the horse" can minimize the possibility of being shot. An arrow in the back is at least better than an arrow in the chest or face.
The purpose of "taking both feet off the pedals" is to allow the soldiers to get away from the horse as soon as possible after the horse is hit by an arrow and falls to the ground. Otherwise, once the horse loses its front hoof, the rider will be crushed under the horse because one leg is still entangled in the stirrup.
Although the chance of winning this battle is very small, Wang Shangli still hopes that his soldiers can survive as much as possible. Without the orders of the Eight Kings, he will naturally not lead his soldiers to die in a hot head.
Since the army's horsemen still adhered to the principle of shooting people, a large number of arrows flew over the horses' heads. However, the rebel horsemen had long been lying on their horses, and did not lose much of their vitality.
Some unlucky guys fell off their horses and were trampled to death by the mounts of their companions who came up later. This was also due to luck, and there was no possibility of rescue. In every battle, several similar soldiers were turned into pulp in the blink of an eye.
During this process, the warships of the Xiangfan Navy did not fire artillery support. Once they fired the artillery and failed to stop in time, the two sides would quickly engage in a melee, and the artillery fire would cause serious casualties to one's own horsemen.
Just relying on the Folang machine to carry out blocking artillery fire from hundreds of meters away would definitely not be able to stop the high-speed sprinting rebel horsemen, so they simply watched the excitement from the river.
"Copy weapons! Charge!"
When Luo Dai saw the opponent coming at a high speed, he actually dodged on his horse, causing a large number of arrows shot by him to miss, so he called on everyone to fight directly.
Ever since he went north to Gucheng and was beaten back by the rebels on the way, Luo Dai had been looking for opportunities to win back the victory.
Otherwise, he would always be beaten passively and suffer defeat. Wouldn't it be the same as when he served under Zuo Liangyu?
This time, we have a large number of people. If we can't win again, we might as well wipe our necks!
Unexpectedly, this band of thieves was very stubborn. They knew that there was a huge disparity in strength and still dared to charge at them. This was really asking for their own death.
What's more important is that no matter how many cavalry soldiers the rebel army rushes over, there is no chance to escape, because the Han River is behind our troops.
Luo Dai chose to "slip away" for three reasons. First, it could reduce the possibility of being entangled by the bandits and reach Xiangyang City as soon as possible.
Secondly, if the opponent's large group of infantry rushes over, and our troops who lack muskets can meet the enemy on the shore, they can still get more or less support from naval warships.
Thirdly, if the opponent sends cavalry to charge into the formation, our own troops can at least fight to the death, and the naval warships can still use artillery fire to delay the advance of the rebel infantry.
It is not possible to use the "last-ditch" tactic under any circumstances, but when there are a large number of our own warships on the river, the chance of winning in a last-ditch battle is much greater.
Even if there are thousands of rebel infantry, they still have to weigh the dozens of Fo Lang machines owned by the Xiangfan Navy.
This is a rapid-fire firearm. Dozens of them fire continuously at the shore. It is definitely not something that flesh and blood can withstand.
