It was around nine o'clock in the morning on April 8, the second year of Chengshun in the Great Chu Empire.
The Emperor of the Chu Empire, Luo Zhixue, gave the order to launch an attack!
As Luo Zhixue's order was issued, two field artillery regiments and a mortar regiment began to fire one after another.
Coupled with the two-and-a-half kilogram field artillery belonging to the infantry regiments, baggage regiments and other units, the Chu army assembled more than two hundred different artillery pieces to bombard the unknown hill in front of them.
Under such a fierce bombardment, many of the breastworks and trench fortifications built hastily by the New Standard Army's left army after a day and night were immediately bombed to pieces.
The numerous parapets directly destroyed the huge kinetic energy of solid artillery shells, and most of the Ming soldiers hiding in the trenches were also attacked by mortar shells.
For a time, the entire nameless hill and its surroundings were filled with smoke and the sound of cannons rumbling.
In a fortification on the top of the mountain, Yang Sixing looked at the Chu army's large artillery fire one after another on the outside. Then he saw that the fortifications in the first line of defense on the outside were destroyed in large numbers, and his expression was not good.
The number and power of these Chu thieves' artillery were beyond his expectation.
At this time, a panic-stricken guard walked up beside him: "Military Xian, the Chu bandits are firing sharply. The breastworks and earthen fortifications we have built in a hurry cannot bear it. There are already at least seven or eight earthen ramparts with short robes deployed." Destroyed!"
"Bingxian, have you also used anti-thieves artillery to fight back? We can fire at their artillery positions for a while, and at least we can destroy their spirit."
The New Standard Army Left Army also has fifteen long-barreled field cannons. Although the number of artillery pieces is very different from that of the Chu thieves on the opposite side, it does not mean that they have no counterattack ability at all.
But Yang Sixing said: "Don't worry, we don't have many thief-killing cannons, and the medicine is limited, so we have to use them sparingly. It's not too late to wait for the thief infantry to rush up before firing!"
Yang Sixing knew very well that the biggest reliance he had on hand was not the hastily constructed fortifications, but the fifteen thieves-killing cannons.
But among these fifteen bandit-killing cannons, twelve are small cannons of two and a half kilograms, and only three are five kilograms cannons.
In terms of power, it is incomparable to a large group of five-pound or even nine-pound field cannons from the Chu thieves on the opposite side.
If we directly pull it out to counterattack at this time, it will be difficult to accurately counterattack the field artillery position in the rebel army from a distance of seven to eight hundred meters or even a thousand meters. Even if we can barely hit it, the kinetic energy of the artillery shell will not be enough, and I am afraid it will not be possible. It was difficult to blast through the sandbag fortifications on the rebel artillery positions.
It is unrealistic and unreliable to carry out precise counter-artillery operations from hundreds of meters or even thousands of meters away. Even if the Chu thieves had more artillery and more powerful artillery, they did not specifically target the Ming army on the top of the mountain. Artillery positions conduct shelling.
The artillery of the Chu thieves was always aimed at the first and second lines of defense, not the Ming army's field artillery positions behind the lines of defense.
In this battle, due to the terrain and distance, the main targets of the field artillery on both sides were the opponent's infantry and ordinary fortifications. As for precise counter-artillery operations, it was unrealistic.
Yang Sixing just had to be patient and wait for the rebel infantry to start charging intensively, and then use artillery to carry out intensive bombardment to teach the Chu traitor infantry a big lesson.
The Chu thieves must know that field artillery is not the exclusive property of their Chu thieves, and their new standard army is also proficient in this art.
Ever since, the entire battlefield seemed very strange!
The field artillery and mortar artillery of the Chu army continued to squeeze out the enemy. The field artillery mainly destroyed the first and second lines of defenses, especially the parapets and earthen fortifications that were higher than the ground.
The mortars used large-angle ballistics and the characteristics of explosive shells to carry out targeted bombardment of the trenches on the first line of defense of the Ming army.
As for the Ming army, they basically didn’t show their heads!
The Ming soldiers on the front line are now hiding in the trenches to defend themselves against artillery fire. The field artillery with counterattack capabilities also chose to watch in order to save ammunition and prevent the hot barrel from affecting the subsequent interception of the Chu army infantry.
This battle seemed very strange and different from war in the traditional sense.
Both sides of the war, regardless of whether they were the attacking or defending side, dug a large number of trenches, parapets, forts and other defensive fortifications. During the fight, every infantryman on the front line hid their heads.
At first glance, it seems that there is no one on the battlefield.
But in fact, behind the many trenches and parapets on the front line, there are thousands of soldiers from both sides hiding!
The Chu army's fierce bombardment lasted for two quarters of an hour!
Two-quarters of an hour later, Xu Zhixian walked to Luo Zhixue: "Your Majesty, after two-quarters of an hour of artillery fire coverage, we have basically cleared the enemy's parapets, earthen fortifications and other defenses in the three planned breakthrough zones! "
"It also destroyed most of the identified short-robed fortresses deployed by the enemy troops on the front line!"
"However, the specific casualties are not clear. Most of the enemy's troops are hiding in trenches or behind parapets. Due to restricted line of sight, we have not been able to observe the enemy's casualties for the time being!"
After hearing this, Luo Zhixue said: "In that case, don't rush into a big fight. Let the Fifth Division send a battalion to test their quality first. Let them spread out their formation and use the terrain to cover themselves as much as possible. Don’t foolishly maintain a tight formation and die.”
The enemy's artillery still exists. Although it seems that a lot of frontline fortifications have been destroyed, the enemy's main artillery still exists. At the same time, the casualties of the enemy's infantry are unknown. If a large-scale attack is launched rashly, a large force suddenly appears from the trench on the opposite side. If they pile up infantry and use muskets and short robes to cover the attacking Chu infantry with artillery fire, wouldn't it mean heavy casualties?
Therefore, it is very necessary to let an infantry battalion spread out and move forward to test the enemy's situation.
Soon, the second battalion of the 17th Infantry Regiment of the 5th Division received the order and began to attack!
This infantry battalion did not maintain a dense formation as before. Instead, it spread the formation very widely. It did not advance in a horizontal formation in the traditional sense, but instead advanced in a column.
This was obviously to prevent the Ming army's bombardment.
Before and after the second battalion came up, the Ming army on the opposite side reacted quickly. As soon as the infantry battalion climbed out of the trench at the starting point and had not advanced even a hundred meters, there was a sudden rumble on the hill opposite.
One after another, black solid artillery shells fell in the middle of the infantry battalion in an instant.
However, because the Second Infantry Battalion adopted a column formation and the formation was relatively scattered, when it was hit by the first round of shelling, there were not many casualties. Only seven or eight people were hit, and the others were still focused on advancing.
But soon, the second round of field bombardment by the Ming army came again, and a group of Ming army hiding in the trenches suddenly climbed out of the trench carrying more than ten tunics weighing about one to two hundred kilograms, and directly set up the cannons for loading. .
The commander of the second battalion couldn't help being shocked when he saw this scene, and then he couldn't help but look back...
If his battalion continues to charge like this, it will probably suffer heavy casualties...
But what made him relieved was that the rear immediately waved a signal flag for him to retreat.
Immediately relieved, he quickly ordered: "Retreat, retreat!"
"Everyone spread out and retreat, don't be stupid and become a living target!"
The Second Infantry Battalion went quickly and retreated even faster. It took only five minutes. This battalion seemed to be dejected and retreated hastily like a pack of prodigal dogs.
In the headquarters on the top of the mountain, Luo Zhixue, who was sitting on the Longwen Grand Master's chair, looked calm.
A test attack? It's normal to retreat. What's more, this test attack didn't lose many people. If the front and rear were held to death, the loss was only twenty or thirty people, which was completely within the acceptable range.
Xu Zhixian on the side said: "It is clear that the puppet Ming army on the opposite side only has about fifteen artillery pieces. This is equivalent to the previous battle report from the First Cavalry Brigade."
"Most of them are artillery pieces equivalent to our two-and-a-half-pound field guns, and three of them are five-pound field guns!"
"In addition, the 1st Cavalry Brigade previously reported that the artillery mounts used by the Ming Army's artillery were the same style as our army's artillery mounts. It seems that the rumors are not false. They have completely copied our artillery system."
Luo Zhixue said: "About fifteen artillery pieces are not too many!"
Field artillery is powerful, but only if there are enough of them!
If you dispatch a battalion to launch a tentative attack, the other party can use fifteen artillery pieces to cover and intercept.
But what if he dispatches ten battalions at the same time to launch an attack?
There were only fifteen artillery pieces on the opposite side, and no matter what, they couldn't take care of every battlefield.
In order to annihilate this new left army, Luo Zhixue personally led the Guards Division, the Fifth Division, the 1st Cavalry Brigade, and the 1st Mortar Regiment, the absolute main forces, to rapidly advance westward.
There are more than 20,000 troops, all the main force.
The New Standard Army Left Army opposite was just a mixed brigade of more than 5,000 people.
Whether it was troops or artillery, their Chu army had an absolute advantage.
The outcome of this battle has been determined since yesterday.
The only difference is how much the Chu army has to pay to annihilate the New Standard Army Zuo Army.
After thinking for a while, Luo Zhixue said: "Prepare the general attack in two quarters of an hour. During this period, the artillery fire coverage should not stop. Focus on shelling the northern battlefield to prepare the Guards Division for the general attack. Well, during this period, some troops should be dispatched to launch a surprise attack to confuse the opponent's sight. , attracting their attention to the southern battlefield."
The Chu army, which had a huge advantage, did not stop the attack after the first tentative attack, but chose to launch another fierce bombardment.
If the Ming army observed the Chu army's shelling in detail, they would find that in this shelling, the Chu army's large number of mortars were more concentrated on the northern battlefield.
There is no doubt that the Chu army was making final artillery preparations for the Guards Division's breakthrough on the northern battlefield.
