Chapter 164: Chaos
I have to say that the Confederate Army was commendable for its courage.
Later British troops commented on the Qing army that their ability to shoot with fire guns was actually not bad. But lacks the courage to fight hand-to-hand.
Before there were machine guns, the firepower of platoon guns actually had limits. There are many cases of successful cavalry or infantry attacks. The only drawback is that there are a lot of dead people.
People sometimes follow the crowd.
In front of the Northern Army's formation, soldiers fell one after another, and more than a thousand people were killed almost in an instant.
It seems that the diffuse smoke gave the Confederate army courage, because in the diffuse smoke, the visibility was low and the range of sight was very small, so it was impossible to know how other people were killed or injured.
Or in a hurry. These people have become determined to die.
So, after a burst of grenades cleared the way, a group of Confederate troops finally rushed into the Northern Army's infantry formation. There were only three rows of formations, and even during the exchange of fire, some people died and there were some gaps. Facing the huge crowds. It was breached almost instantly.
The rolling wave rushed towards the second step formation.
Wu Li's face turned extremely serious for a moment. He thought to himself: "How cruel."
At the same time, I admire him very much.
You have to be ruthless when using troops.
Just that round of charge regardless of life and death. Wu Li estimated that at least five to six thousand people died on the spot. No fewer than that number were injured. Directly broke through a guard position of the Northern Army. After one area is breached, other areas in the same column cannot be maintained and need to be retreated immediately.
The second line needs to step up immediately. This kind of mobilization also takes time.
The losses to the Northern Army were probably considerable.
If you look at a simple math problem, this may not be uneconomical.
After all, there are thousands of lives to fight for the initiative in the battle. However, the battlefield is an art, because the battlefield is a time to test human nature, and every bargaining chip on the battlefield is a living person. Every living person has his or her own thoughts. If you tell them to die, they will die.
The upper limit of what each person can bear must be considered. Some people are brave and upright, and even if they are given a task that requires death, they can complete it. Some people are not like that. If they are given a mission to die, they turn around and rebel.
It is naturally cost-effective to exchange thousands of people for tactical initiative. But to make thousands of people willing to die, Wu Li didn't think he could do it.
In fact, Wu Li made a misjudgment.
It was not Sheng Yong who really made these people willing to die. It's not even Fu Youde, but the military spirit of the Ming Dynasty for more than 20 years. The Hongwu generation has won every battle and almost never lost a battle. After He Xi came, Nanyang was determined to the south, and the East was determined to the east. It can be said that the Ming Dynasty was as prosperous as the Han and Tang Dynasties.
Many of Fu Youde's troops were from the Beijing camp.
What is Jingying? At the foot of Nanjing, the emperor's own army.
What was Zhu Yuanzhang's treatment of Nanjing?
During Hongwu's more than 20 years, almost no taxes were collected. It was to supplement the military rations collected from Nanjing and nearby prefectures and counties after Zhu Yuanzhang entered Nanjing during the campaign.
Zhu Yuanzhang regarded Nanjing as his foundation.
And many people in Jingying are not from Nanjing. The largest number of people are from Huaihe and Lianghuai. However, they were all organized and settled near Nanjing, and most of their descendants are Nanjing residents. They also have the benefits that Nanjing people receive.
If Zhu Yuanzhang hadn't been so kind to him for so many years and was forced to do this by his superiors, he would be a fool.
Even Sheng Yong didn't expect that the war would end like this.
However, he could not live up to the sacrifices of the soldiers who died in the battle, and immediately ordered the entire army to attack the Northern Army.
Especially when facing the retreat of the Northern Army's first front, this is a great opportunity.
For a time, the war entered a fierce stage.
On the front lines of both sides, some were fighting hand to hand, and some were shooting at each other with guns and muskets. And artillery roared. The miles-long battle line was divided into several small battlefields. Everyone fights.
Wu Li was riding on his horse, biting a piece of grass. Bite hard and get the green juice in your mouth, which makes you feel extremely bitter.
There is no difference between Wu Li and Wu Li.
After a while, Wu Li
Sprayed the weed out of his mouth. Immediately ordered a series of adjustments.
First, delegate command authority.
Wu Li didn't actually give specific instructions before, he just put forward a principle. But the situation encountered by all ministries was the same before, and Wu Li still had room to command. But now it is in chaos. Wu Li only had a principle to disengage the ministries from the Southern Army as much as possible.
Wu Li actually knew this was difficult.
After all, the Confederate army spent so many lives to rush forward, how could they let it go so easily. Not to mention, Wu Li also saw it. This attack had both advantages and disadvantages for the Southern Army.
The advantage is naturally that the battle is reduced to the familiar melee hand-to-hand combat. Good for the Confederacy. You must know that the Southern Army's army is more than double that of the Northern Army. In a melee, the two sides have almost the same foundation, and one-to-one is the most likely exchange ratio.
This was not good for the Union Army.
The disadvantages are also obvious.
One drum will make the energy strong, the other will weaken it, and the third one will exhaust it.
If it fails this time. It was impossible for the Confederate army to have the courage to carry out a second such attack.
This great battle may end early, or it may enter the garbage time of mutual delay.
Victory or defeat is decided at this time.
If you survive, you will win. If you can't survive it, you will be defeated.
However, Wu Li never thought about placing his hope only on these people. Wu Li called the cavalry commander over and said, "Do the cavalry dare to fight?"
At this time, who dares to say that he does not dare to fight?
Of course he dares to fight.
Wu Li drew an arc in front of the formation and said, "Start from the left and strike across the front of the formation. Can you do it?"
This attack route is very particular.
Wu Li discovered a problem. When these southern troops attacked the northern army's line, they lost their line and were almost in groups. Twos and threes. The reason for this is that on the one hand, many people were killed under the intensive firepower, so there was such a gap. On the other hand, because it was spontaneous among the soldiers, there was no organization.
But at the same time, this kind of skirmish attack is more likely to succeed.
After all, the intensive shooting of firecrackers is lethal. Shooting at a person is often easy to miss.
And as long as one person rushes into the array, it affects several shooting frequencies nearby. Even if this person dies quickly, the people behind him can rush in during the time when the gun goes out.
But there is a problem with such a formation, that is, it is impossible to face a cavalry attack.
In other words, whether it is the Southern Army fighting in a melee with the Northern Army, or the Southern Army attacking the Northern Army's formation. A single flanking blow from the cavalry would kill as much as mowing grass.
However, Wu Li did not expect this cavalry attack to have any effect.
Without him, the opponent's cavalry would have the advantage. As soon as his cavalry comes out, the Confederate cavalry will definitely come to stop him. Therefore, the role of this cavalry is already a bait.
After Wu Li sent the cavalry down.
Reserves were immediately called up.
The reserve force totaled 20,000 people.
The Three Guards of Shenyang and the Guards of Dingliao.
That is the core main force of the Liaodong Army.
It's an old number from He Xi's team. The family background of the Ye family and his son, the ace and general reserve team of the Liaodong Army.
Wu Li said: "After the cavalry attacks, your task is to detour from the left. Attack the Confederate Army from the side, leaving all the artillery behind. You can only bring the Tiger Crouching Artillery. Can you do it?"
Twenty thousand for four guards. Starting from the left, outflank the Confederate side. This is no simple task.
First of all, you have to face the opponent's cavalry, even if your own cavalry has restrained part of the opponent's cavalry. But there are still many cavalry who may attack them.
This will test the ability of these guards to withstand the impact of cavalry. Then maneuver on the flank. It also tests their ability to act. Although Wu Li didn't say anything, they all knew that the situation in front of them was that the sooner the better.
Once the entire army is involved in the melee. to their soldiers
Very disadvantageous.
What Wu Li did was to seize the moment when it was difficult to turn around and attack from the flanks. After all, the Southern Army, which was in chaos, had no choice but to move forward under the supervision team, and it was difficult to form a unit to face the flanking attacking army.
Only by seizing this opportunity, whether it is to severely damage the opponent or force the opponent to retreat, can we end this battle successfully.
However, Shenyang Zhongwei general Ma Xiao took the order and said: "I will obey the order."
Immediately, Wu Li temporarily appointed Ma Xiao to lead the four guards and set off immediately.
