Chapter 161 The Battle on the South Bank of the Floating River
After the Northern Army's cavalry rushed up, the situation did not improve.
Although the total number of cavalry of the Northern Army is greater than that of the Southern Army, this advantage is not obvious. After all, during the Hongwu period, because of the victory in Monan and Liaodong, horses were not a rare thing for the Ming Dynasty.
This also led to an increase in the number of cavalry.
Although the direction of Beijing is a key cavalry deployment area, it does not mean that there are no cavalry in other parts of the Ming Dynasty.
It's just different when it comes to this battlefield.
The Northern Army has a lot of cavalry.
But it needs to be dispersed to many battlefields, because although the cavalry is no longer the leading force in the war. But that doesn't mean the cavalry is useless. No, cavalry is still very useful in this era.
Especially after the line array was proposed, the thin front line can maximize the firepower advantage. But at the same time, it was too weak to face the cavalry. The power of the cavalry charging into the formation is of little use in the face of the dense infantry formation and the blessing of firearms. But facing the line array, it is not useless.
The most important weapon against cavalry is still cavalry.
Therefore, every army needs cavalry, and Ye Chen still has a certain amount of strategic mobile troops, preferably cavalry.
Under such circumstances, the First Army's more than 10,000 cavalrymen were already being treated quite well. But the Southern Army is different.
Fu Youde regarded Sheng Yong as the winner. Naturally, if you can strengthen Shengyong, you can strengthen Shengyong. One-third of Sheng Yong's troops are cavalry, with nearly 50,000 cavalry. No matter where they are placed, they are an important strategic force.
Therefore, even if the Northern Army's cavalry comes up. It's of no use either.
Because the Northern cavalry did not dare to leave the infantry formation and fight with the Southern cavalry.
Without him, there is already a generation gap between the Northern Army and the Southern Army in terms of infantry. But this is not the case with cavalry. There is no substantial difference between the two sides.
The combat effectiveness of cavalry is basically the same.
What the other party has, I also have, and what I don’t have. Neither did the other party. They are all old-fashioned cavalry melee fights.
In this case, numerical advantage is even more important.
However, the presence of cavalry still has advantages.
That is, the cavalry and the infantry formation merged to prevent the enemy from approaching the infantry formation. As a result, the marching speed of the infantry formation immediately accelerated. But even so, it would take more than an hour to enter the battlefield.
This hour or so was a test for the former army.
In this period of more than an hour, even under the harassment of the cavalry, the battalions were moving closer to each other, forming a complete large square formation. This large square formation was composed of small square formations. In total, There are as many as a dozen small square formations, which can deal with enemies from all directions.
At this time, Sheng Yong's troops had arrived on the battlefield.
In fact, the reason why Sheng Yong is so slow is not for anything else. Just for the cannon.
There are more than fifty light cannons in total. They are all trophies obtained in the last war. They are excellent products produced by the Beijing Iron Works. If it were not for these cannons, it would be more difficult to reach the battlefield with the cannons of the Taiping Iron Works, because the Taiping Iron Works The cannon is more difficult to move, he is too heavy.
Upon seeing this, Sheng Yong immediately asked the cannon to prepare, and after preparing a stick of incense.
The cannon began its first roar.
A cannonball was fired, creating a bloody alley directly in the infantry square formation. Because of the hollow square formation, this bloody alley actually only killed six people. But the shock of the roar of the cannons and the helplessness of leaving one's life to God.
The morale of the Northern Army was greatly shaken.
There was some commotion for a while.
Although these people are not new recruits, they have never seen this kind of situation where they stand up straight and are beaten passively.
Naturally, I was a little unsure.
What's even more frightening is that the opponent's cannon is not the same. It's a lot of doors. It would be simply unimaginable for dozens of cannons to face a phalanx.
The sound of "Boom." was also the sound of a cannon. It's in the square array,
A cannon was pushed out to counterattack.
It's just that the counterattack effect is not very good.
The reason is very simple. The accuracy of cannons these days is not very good, and it is impossible to aim the cannons. Naturally, they are accurate when used to hit infantry phalanxes. However, the artillery made from cannons is still far behind.
But the sound of the cannon was not without effect. This function is nothing else. Just to be bold.
Don't underestimate this effect.
Cannons are unlikely to result in victory. This rule was also derived from the Napoleonic era. Many generals also said that using cannons to fight cannons is not as good as using cannons to fight phalanxes. Only when absolutely necessary, cannons should be considered. This is the worst option.
But these things are known to the generals but not to the soldiers.
For soldiers, being beaten passively is the most demoralizing thing. Facing the enemy's attack on you, you can only wait for death. This situation is too uneasy. It's so demoralizing. But if we kill each other, if I die, you will die too.
In this case, morale can still be maintained.
Therefore, such a counterattack is not so much to attack the opponent's cannons, but to boost one's own morale so that the soldiers can persevere.
Upon seeing this, Sheng Yong immediately ordered a suicide squad to blow up the artillery position with gunpowder bags in hand.
Because the artillery is in the square formation, it cannot fire at any time. After all, it is too close and the range of shooting is not enough. If you want to hit the enemy, you must kill a row of yourself first. The artillery can only be fired if it is moved outside the phalanx.
As a result, the artillery was no longer protected by the phalanx.
Although the cavalry wanted to rush over, they still had to face various difficulties. Like a lot of shooting, but not impossible.
There must be a brave man under a heavy reward. So someone rushed out immediately. Taking the gunpowder bag, he rushed into the side of the phalanx; only to be quickly knocked to the ground by the firecrackers. Even people and horses were beaten to death. Although there is a second person and a third person.
As mentioned before, muskets rely entirely on intensive shooting to hit people. In other words, for a single target, the effect is not good. So by the third one, it seemed like the luck had run out.
There was a loud bang. The gunpowder beside the cannon exploded.
Knock this artillery piece to the ground.
For a moment, this loud noise resounded throughout the battlefield.
Just when Sheng Yong was about to launch a general attack. But listen to the rumble of drums. He looked from a distance and saw that the middle and rear troops of the First Army had arrived.
The former army immediately began to retreat.
The reason why I didn't retreat before was not because I didn't want to. But don't dare. Without him, the army was suddenly ambushed and surrounded by the enemy. Under this situation, the morale and morale of the military at the top and bottom were uneasy.
And retreat focuses on this the most.
Retreating in this situation will turn into a rout if one mistake is made.
But things are different now. Reinforcements from behind have arrived. Everyone has a backbone. Retreat in this case. Only then is it possible, so that everyone will not panic or be in chaos.
Only at this time, Sheng Yong also ordered to fire. Artillery shelled the infantry formations one after another, and the infantrymen from all walks of life were ready to move.
Wu Li also made a decision. That is, the cavalry immediately stepped forward to attack the enemy's artillery position.
This is not an easy thing to do.
First, the enemy has the advantage of cavalry.
If you want to attack the enemy's artillery position, you must first face the enemy's cavalry. This is not easy to handle.
Of course, unlike infantry, cavalry has no solid position to speak of, so it is not impossible to rush over.
Secondly, Sheng Yong's protection of the artillery was quite good.
This is not the same as the former army. The former army did not even have a decent phalanx due to the unexpected situation. Not to mention setting up artillery positions. There was no reservation at all, so he was easily suppressed.
But how could Sheng Yong not consider this.
Therefore, there is a dense infantry defense in front of the artillery position.
What will happen if the cavalry attacks the infantry square?
This is not only true when the Confederate cavalry attacks the Northern Army's infantry formations, it is also the same when the Confederate cavalry attacks the Northern Army's infantry formations.
.
This is almost a death mission. It is to use more than ten thousand cavalry to exchange for the front army not to be eaten. But even if it is a death mission, it must be done.
The pros and cons behind it are not something soldiers should think about.
As a result, the Northern Army's cavalry could only go south immediately, broke through the obstruction of the Southern Army's cavalry, and launched an attack on the Southern Army's artillery square.
The Confederate infantry immediately stepped forward, setting up layers of muskets. Facing the incoming cavalry, they opened fire without hesitation.
