Hong Chengchou wanted to fight a strategic decisive battle in Tianjin, and it was not a simple battle to defend the city, but a battle covering the defense of the city and large-scale field battles. The main purpose was to use the advantage of the cavalry in his hands to severely damage the Chu thieves.
Unfortunately, General Li Chengtong, the commander of the Chu army on the opposite side, also wanted to destroy the enemy in one fell swoop through a large-scale battle, and then completely resolve the war in the Beizhili area, and then quickly advance to the Shanhaiguan area to avoid The risks posed by possible subsequent raids into the country.
The strategic purposes of both sides were different, but it led them to make a common choice.
On July 2, the Chu Army's Third Army gathered in Qing County, about 70 kilometers south of Tianjin.
In the days that followed, the cavalry units of the Chu army and the cavalry units of the Ming army fought many times in the area from Tianjin to Qingxian, with each winning and losing.
On July 6, after receiving the news, more than 30,000 people from various units of the Second Army, who turned around for reinforcements, also arrived in Qingxian.
At this time, the Chu army's strength in the surrounding areas of Qingxian County already consisted of two armies, including three new divisions, two old divisions, three cavalry brigades, two large-scale mortar regiments and a heavy artillery regiment.
The total strength reached about 80,000 people.
This force is actually similar to the fighting force under Hong Chengchou on the opposite side. Although Hong Chengchou claims to have an army of 200,000, the actual total number is just over 120,000. If you ignore the young and strong civilians, the fighting force is actually only 80,000. People around.
The comparison of military strength between the two sides is actually almost the same.
However, the Chu army was slightly inferior to foreigners in terms of cavalry. In terms of infantry and artillery, they had an absolute advantage in terms of both the quality of the soldiers and the level of equipment.
In terms of cavalry, the main force of the Chu army's cavalry is three traditional cavalry brigades, with a total of about 4,000 cavalry. These 4,000 cavalry are all cavalry archers in the traditional frontier cavalry mode, and most of them come from the frontier cavalry from Jiangbei. .
In addition, there are five divisional cavalry regiments, and the divisional cavalry regiments in the Chu army have always been small in number and of poor quality... These five divisional cavalry regiments combined only have more than 2,000 cavalry, most of which They are all half-baked, and some of them, about 500, are musketeers equipped with short-barreled Suifa lances, and the other more than 1,500 cavalry are light cavalry equipped with Suifa pistols and sabers.
The total number of cavalry gathered by the Chu army in the Qingxian area was about 6,500, which was far inferior in number to the Ming army's cavalry on the opposite side.
The combat effectiveness of the elite cavalry is also inferior.
The 4,000 fine cavalry of the Chu army's three cavalry brigades are still difficult to compare with the 4,000 Guan Ning cavalry under Zu Dashou's command, but the difference is not that far behind.
As for ordinary cavalry, because the Chu army used cavalry pistols and cavalry lances on a large scale, sometimes they would fight like dogs and be dispersed by the enemy's charge. Sometimes they were very useful if used well.
In the comparison and battle between the cavalry, the Chu army was generally at a disadvantage, but it was not irreversible. A real fight would depend on the use of the cavalry by the generals on both sides. No one can say that they are absolutely sure.
However, except for the disadvantage in cavalry, the Chu army had almost absolute advantages in other aspects.
In terms of artillery, the divisional artillery of the Chu army's five divisions, plus two mortar regiments and a heavy artillery regiment.
Although things like mortars are not very useful in large-scale field battles, especially in encounters, if the Chu army successfully fights all the way to Tianjin City in the later period and has a long battle with the opponent, commanding and fighting for many strongholds, These mortars can play a huge role. After a burst of mortar shelling, any fortress stronghold will be blown to pieces.
In the same situation are the eight 14-pound cannons in the heavy artillery regiment. This type of artillery was originally developed and produced for naval warships, and was later used to deploy coastal and river forts as fortress artillery.
The diameter of the barrel is a full twenty-five times, and the caliber reaches 135 millimeters. The gun is made of bronze and weighs more than two tons, and the whole gun is even heavier.
In addition to the fourteen-pound cannon, there are sixteen nine-pound cannons in the heavy artillery regiment. Although the caliber of this nine-pound cannon is the same as the Army's nine-pound field gun, which is 115 mm, the barrel is longer and the body is The diameter of the tube reaches twenty-four times. This thing is actually a cannon used on naval battleships or fortresses.
However, at the beginning of the Eastward Campaign, the army successively used these heavy artillery for siege operations. The Northern Expedition also prepared a batch of such heavy artillery for siege operations. They played a significant role in the Yangzhou Campaign and the Huai'an Campaign. .
When heading north, this heavy artillery regiment was incorporated into the Third Army to fight north.
These heavy artillery were prepared by the Chu army for the tough battle of Youzhou City and even the subsequent possible battle into Liaodong.
In addition to more than eighty forty-eight-pound mortars and twenty-two heavy artillery pieces, the rest were a large number of division-owned artillery pieces.
These divisional artillery are actually the main artillery in the upcoming Battle of Tianjin. Those heavy artillery and large-caliber mortars look very powerful and seem very powerful, but these artillery have flaws.
The accuracy of the mortars is too poor, the maneuverability is not very good, and the rate of fire is very slow. Except in siege battles, these large-caliber mortars have enough time to slowly load and fire, and there is almost no accuracy at all. Except for the covering artillery bombardment, it can play a very limited role in other battlefields.
Heavy artillery does not have the disadvantages of poor accuracy and slow rate of fire, but its maneuverability is really bad.
It's okay to maneuver on official roads with good road conditions. It can always be pulled with a few more mules and horses.
But who goes to war exclusively on official roads...
Most battles, especially outdoor battles, take place in barren mountains and wilderness. There are no well-established roads in these places. If you want to pull several tons of heavy artillery to the front line, you basically have to build a road on the spot, and then go out again. Build artillery positions and fire... maybe the first battle will be over.
This is also the reason why the Chu army clearly distinguishes field artillery and cannon. The weight of the ammunition is nine pounds and the caliber is the same 115 mm. However, the nine-pound field artillery is incorporated into the division artillery regiment. However, the Nine-pound Cannon was incorporated into the independent heavy artillery regiment.
The nine-pound field cannon in the Chu army has a barrel diameter of only eighteen generations, and because of its small diameter and low chamber pressure, the barrel must be thinner, and the total gun weight is only more than one ton. When necessary, The ammunition box deployed in the lead vehicle can also be removed to further reduce the weight of the entire gun.
This greatly reduced artillery can be pulled even in a wilderness with no roads. At most, it is just a mule pulling in front and the artillery pushing behind...
As for the five-pound field gun, it is even lighter. It only weighs seven to eight hundred kilograms under combat conditions with a barrel diameter of eighteen times.
In normal times, if we don't consider the loss of mules and horses, in fact, a horse can directly pull them and march on a flat official road... In battle, even if there is no road ahead, or even have to go up a mountain, at most a few horses plus a few Even if a soldier pushes from behind, he can be pulled away directly...
If it doesn't work, multiple artillerymen can carry it directly if they get together...
Then there is the two-and-a-half kilogram field artillery. This thing is no longer a division artillery in the Chu army, but a regiment artillery.
Regardless of whether they are new or old divisions, they are directly attached to each infantry regiment. During normal battles, they are directly used to support infantry battalion-level battles.
This thing is lighter, the whole gun weighs only five or six hundred kilograms... In combat mode, a single gun only weighs only three or four hundred kilograms. When it comes to short-distance maneuvers on the battlefield, the Chu army often does not use mules and horses, but artillery. They just pushed it away...
These lightweight field artillery are the Chu army's greatest reliance and confidence in various combat capabilities. Especially during field battles, these field artillery are very easy to use.
As for the above three types of field artillery, the total number of the Second Army and the Third Army reached more than 300!
Far exceeding the number of seventy or eighty long-barreled artillery pieces of the Ming army opposite.
In terms of artillery, the Chu army had an absolute advantage.
In addition, in terms of infantry, the Chu army actually had an absolute advantage.
In terms of overall quality, with the generous food and treatment provided by the Chu army, any veteran who has been in the army for more than half a year will be so muscular that he can easily run hundreds of meters with a heavy load.
What physical fitness brings is better load-bearing maneuverability on the battlefield.
When the two sides are fighting in formation, the soldiers on one side are struggling to maneuver a few hundred meters while wearing armor, while the other side is also wearing armor and can walk several kilometers in one go while carrying weapons. This will cause the side with poor physical fitness to be unable to move. Keep up with the changes in formation in time, and eventually the enemy will find a flaw.
Whether it is cold weapon warfare or the age of muskets, infantry combat relies on formations. Once the formation has flaws or is even restrained, defeat is not far away.
The infantry of the Chu army had a huge physical advantage and also had better equipment advantages.
This can be illustrated by the fact that the armor coverage rate of the frontline combatants in the Chu army reached 100%.
Regardless of whether they are musketeers or spearmen, these front-line infantrymen in the Chu army are all wearing armor. The spearmen in the front row wear full-body heavy armor, the spearmen in the back row wear ordinary full-body armor, and the musketeers wear half-body light armor.
And these armors, even half-length light armors, are actually all cloth armors.
On the other hand, the Ming army on the opposite side had a much lower armor coverage rate. Even among the 4,000 elite cavalrymen belonging to Zu Dashou, the most elite among them, they were not able to wear armor for every cavalryman.
As for the infantry, often only soldiers and junior officers have heavy armor, some soldiers have ordinary light armor, and some have pure cotton armor.
The 1st Cavalry Brigade previously attacked a Ming Army partial division of about a thousand men in the Jinghai County area, heading from Tianjin to Jinghai. According to post-war statistics, among the Ming Army casualties and prisoners of war, about 30% were armored. The rest don't even have cotton armor...
And this is already the last elite of the Ming court.
In addition to the disadvantage of the cavalry, the Chu army had an absolute advantage in artillery and infantry. This was also an important source of confidence for Army General Li Chengtong to continue to lead his army to march towards Tianjin after the Second Army arrived and rested for a few days. .
On July 10, Li Chengtong led the Second Army and the Third Army to continue northward along the canal.
Although the two sides are still separated by dozens of kilometers at this time, and there is even Jinghai County in the middle, both sides know that this war has officially begun!
On July 12, when he learned that the main force of the Chu army was heading towards Jinghai, Hong Chengchou ordered Zu Dashou and Wu Xiang to lead 4,000 cavalry and 6,000 infantry artillery. A total of 10,000 Guan Ning cavalry attacked in a roundabout way to intercept the rear logistics line of the Chu thieves.
