It was about eleven o'clock on April 26, the sixth year of Chengshun.
At the western end of the Liaoxi Corridor, Zhongqiansuo City in Guangning is about 20 kilometers east of Shanhaiguan.
Hundreds of artillery outside the city were firing continuously, including fourteen-pound cannons with long barrels and large calibers, weighing several tons, and nine-pound cannons with long barrels.
These cannons relied on their powerful power to fire solid shells at medium distances towards the city walls of Nakazensho and some fortresses outside the city.
The huge solid cannonballs, carrying huge terminal kinetic energy, continued to hit the ancient city wall one after another, smashing the outer masonry of the city wall into pieces. When the outer masonry of the city wall was smashed off, the inside The rammed earth was also exposed.
If the rammed earth layer is continuously hit by solid artillery shells, it will definitely be fine if one or two shells are hit. However, if it is continuously hit by solid artillery shells, it will loosen, fall off, and eventually collapse.
The city wall here in Zhongqiansuo is not like the super metropolitan cities such as Jinling City or Youzhou City. The city wall is often more than ten meters thick. If it is really attacked, it will be difficult to completely withstand the long-term continuous bombardment of cannons.
Compared with the cannon's solid shell bombardment, the more than a hundred howitzers of various calibers in the Chu army were more deadly.
Many of the grenades fired by these howitzers are large-caliber grenades. Eighteen pounds of 150 mm grenades, twenty-four pounds of 170 mm grenades, and forty-eight pounds of 200 mm grenades. Each one falls in the center. If you hit the enemy on the top of the city wall or behind the city wall, it will cause a bloody storm.
Especially some grenades that explode directly in the air above the enemy's heads are even more lethal. If the 48-pound new grenade explodes in the air, it will form a large number of shell fragments and small steel balls inside, which will rain down on the people below like rain. In an area of ten meters, if there happens to be a dense gathering of enemy troops below, and there is no thick roof and anti-gun fortifications above the head, then the entire army will be destroyed in minutes.
Not only howitzers fire new grenades, but even the nine-pound field artillery has poor shelling effect due to solid shells. Some nine-pound field guns are also deployed close to each other, raising the elevation angle and firing nine-pound 115 mm grenades.
The continuous explosions brought an unprecedented experience to the Tohoku garrison in Nakazensho City.
They have long heard that the Chu army's guns and artillery are sharp, and many of them have even fought against the Chu army and seen the power of the Chu army's guns and artillery.
But...the fierce artillery offensive launched by the Chu army is still far beyond their imagination.
Such intensive shelling made it impossible to stand on the top of the city, even with ring-shaped sandbag defenses, because the grenades fired by the Chu army were too high, and many of them exploded in the air.
The artillerymen of the Chu army had a special liking for grenades that exploded in the air. Therefore, when adjusting the ignition time of the wooden fuse, they would often advance it a little earlier, trying to make the grenade explode the moment before it landed.
Of course, due to the lack of a tight fuse, even if the ignition time is deliberately advanced, it is difficult to actually say the explosion time of the grenade. Most of the grenades explode after landing, and some simply do not fly to the enemy's destination. It explodes in the air in advance and becomes an expensive firework!
Only a few can explode in the air just above the enemy's head.
However, although this probability is small, there are too many artillery pieces to hold back the Chu army, and there are also many grenades fired.
Under such circumstances, the city head became dangerous, and even the area behind the city wall became unsafe. Because the Chu army's grenade trajectories were curved, many shells actually landed behind the city wall and exploded...
On the contrary, some of the trenches dug by the Dongji people outside the city wall were safer because these trenches were often deeper and also had artillery defenses. Even if the Chu army's grenades were powerful, they would not pose much of a practical threat. .
——
The fierce bombardment by the Chu army put great pressure on the defenders in the Zhongqian Station. Especially the heavy casualties they suffered at the beginning made the defenders in the city lose their confidence to resist.
Therefore, they repeatedly urged the Eastern Cavalry outside the city, that is, Hauge's troops, to attack as soon as possible.
This move made Hauge very dissatisfied, and he also threatened the defenders in the city through semaphores, asking them to resist desperately and not to retreat without permission.
Although he himself was dissatisfied, he also attacked with his cavalry.
He couldn't really watch hundreds of Chu army's artillery bombarding the Zhongqian post, otherwise it would be useless no matter how firm the defenders' fighting will was.
Judging from the Chu army's current shelling posture, they might be rushing to blow the Zhongqian Fortress into rubble.
Hauge is also a senior general who has been on the battlefield for a long time. He knows very well that under the bombardment of Chu Barbarians, if the defenders resist, the casualties will be very high. The casualties will be large or small. The most important thing is that the morale will be too high. .
After experiencing such a fierce bombardment, when Chu Manzi's infantry rushed up, the defenders in the city might not be able to organize an effective resistance, and it would be really doomed by then.
Therefore, he must reduce the pressure on the defenders in the city, and no matter what, he must force the Chu barbarians to stop bombarding them so unscrupulously.
But if you want to threaten Chu Manzi's artillery position, or make them unable to safely send infantry forward to attack the city, you must fight to the edge.
You can't expect your own cavalry to be a few kilometers away and just scare the Chu barbarians on the opposite side into fear...
If you want to get closer, you must break through the interception of the Chu barbarian cavalry on the opposite side.
At first, he tried to lead the cavalry around, but he gave up the idea as soon as he implemented it.
More than 2,000 cavalrymen on the right wing tried to go around, but they were unable to escape the interception of the opposite cavalry.
The Chu Manzi on the opposite side had good mobility, organization, and adaptability, and it was impossible to let their cavalry go around directly.
Since we can't get around it, we can only kill it directly!
The previous tentative attack by the right-wing forward cavalry confirmed his idea.
He climbed to the watchtower and saw the exploratory attack with his own eyes.
In his eyes, Chu Manzi's artillery fire was good, and it also caused a lot of damage to his own forward cavalry who tried to attack. However, after the cavalry from both sides directly clashed and fought, their cavalry artillery lost the greatest value. effect.
In the confrontation between the two sides, the Chu Manzi cavalry did not show any outstanding performance. Although they were stronger than the previous Ming cavalry, their strength was limited.
In the confrontation with one's own cavalry, the opponent was unable to take any advantage at all, and was even at a disadvantage.
These circumstances strengthened Hauge's confidence in leading his army to attack.
When Hauge led his army to attack, the Chu cavalry on the opposite side also faced tit-for-tat. The main force of the First Cavalry Army quickly dispatched, and the Guards Cavalry Detachment also followed up from the right wing.
At this time, tens of thousands of cavalry from both sides had already formed their formations in the field, and the main force continued to press forward. At the same time, a number of small and medium-sized troops were dispatched to launch an attack.
On the northern battlefield, the more than 2,000 cavalrymen on the right wing of the Eastern Capture Army have evolved from a tentative attack with the Chu Army's 3rd Cavalry Brigade into a full-scale melee.
There are cavalry casualties every moment!
In the center of the battlefield, dozens of cavalry cannons from the Chu army's main cavalry artillery unit were already forward and firing!
The target of their fire was not the main force of the enemy's cavalry, which was still relatively far away, but the forward cavalry of the Dongli Chinese Army that the enemy had sent up first in an attempt to move forward and pull out these cavalry artillery units in advance.
There were hundreds or more than a thousand of these Eastern captive cavalry galloping on the battlefield. They maneuvered back and forth, trying to find space to break in, and then destroy the Chu army's cavalry and artillery positions.
In this regard, the Chu army's dozens of cavalry artillery units also responded tit-for-tat. They used solid cannonballs and shotgun shells to attack any Eastern Cavalry forwards who dared to approach.
At the same time, the elite Fourth Cavalry Brigade in the First Cavalry Army was also divided into two parts and roamed the central battlefield. It did not rush directly to fight the enemy cavalry forward, but intercepted them through maneuvers, forcing the enemy cavalry to give up the detour attack. Ideas for flanking artillery positions.
As for frontal impact...
If these hundreds of thousands of cavalry vanguards of the Eastern Capture Chinese Army could head-on attack the Chu army's frontal fire interception network composed of dozens of cavalry cannons, they wouldn't have to spend so much time detouring.
Even if the cavalry is fast enough, if the number is too small, it will be difficult to break through the fire interception network composed of dozens of cavalry cannons. If there are many casualties, they will not be able to move forward at all.
Even if they continue to advance, the elite cavalry of the 4th Cavalry Brigade will attack immediately and kill these conservative artillery, which has already suffered heavy losses and the enemy's forward cavalry is in a scattered formation.
In this regard, Brigadier General Qi Lianghou of the 4th Cavalry Brigade has absolute confidence.
His Fourth Cavalry Brigade was among the elite of the traditional cavalry in the entire Chu Empire. It would have no problem at all to defeat the remnants of the enemy.
The sharp firepower of the Chu army's cavalry artillery forced the Chinese forward cavalry of the Eastern Capture Army to constantly try to detour and break through... and the 4th Cavalry Brigade was also very busy, directly leading out to intercept and block.
For a time, thousands of cavalry from both sides were maneuvering back and forth in the center of the battlefield, sometimes galloping and charging, sometimes turning at large angles and at high speeds. When the two sides were relatively close, they would even bend their bows and shoot arrows directly on horseback.
This tactic of moving left and now right, advancing and retreating, fighting and retreating, is a typical tactic of traditional cavalry.
If it's used against infantry or something, it's very useful!
As for the other party who is also a cavalry and archer like himself...then he can only compete with the organizational adaptability and the individual combat skills of the soldiers.
Especially the ability to bend a bow and shoot an arrow on horseback.
Not all cavalry can directly bend their bows and shoot arrows on the back of a high-speed galloping horse, and accurately hit the enemy.
This requires the cavalry's superb riding skills and archery skills.
In this aspect, generally speaking, Dongdu's cavalry is undoubtedly better than Chu's cavalry.
This is why Zhu Xingfa sent the most elite Fourth Cavalry Brigade to fight this typical confrontation from the beginning.
Because if other cavalry brigades were replaced, I am afraid they would not be able to defeat the forward cavalry of the Dongdu Chinese Army on the opposite side. Once they cannot hold it, the dozens of cavalry cannon deployed in the front will be greatly threatened.
After being threatened, these cavalry artillerymen either fought to the death and eventually the artillery positions were breached and the entire army was destroyed, or they were forced to make an emergency transfer. Once they were transferred urgently, these dozens of cavalry artillerymen would not be able to continue to function in a short period of time. It worked.
And this is also the purpose of capturing the Chinese army's forward cavalry from the opposite side!
To capture the Chinese army's forward cavalry does not mean to kill the Chu army's forward-deployed cavalry and artillery. As long as they can drive away the Chu army's artillery and avoid being subjected to intensive shelling if the main force of the Chinese army comes forward, then they can be considered The tactical mission is completed.
It's just that the Chu army directly sent out the fourth cavalry brigade, the most elite traditional cavalry and archer cavalry, making it impossible to achieve their tactical goals.
When Hauge in the rear saw this scene, he ordered without hesitation and once again sent two thousand additional cavalrymen from the Eight Banners to come forward!
These two thousand Mongolian Eight Banners cavalry cannot be compared with the Manchu Eight Banners soldiers in other aspects, such as fighting will, determination, and military morale. But when it comes to equestrian and archery skills, these nomads who have been on horseback since childhood are absolutely It's first class.
Even the Manchu Eight Banners' own cavalry are not as good!
No way, the cavalrymen of the Eight Banners did not grow up on horses. They were actually a fishing and hunting people, and they gradually evolved into a farming people after taking control of Liaodong.
Their elite cavalry also need to be trained.
When it comes to cavalry and archery, the cavalry of the nomadic people are better at it.
The two thousand Mengba Banner cavalry were also ahead of this point. When they came forward, their formation was actually very scattered. They were not like the previous Dongfang cavalry, which had a perfect formation and organized advancement and retreat.
They were like a pack of wild dogs, running up on horseback in a noisy manner.
Zhu Xingfa also promptly dispatched cavalry to fight, and immediately another Chu army cavalry was killed.
At this time, on this huge battlefield, the scale of the cavalry battle between the two sides has gradually expanded, from the initial tentative attack on the north side, to the melee of thousands of cavalry on both sides on the north side, and then to the thousands of cavalry from the Chinese army. The forwards fought, and now there are thousands more riders.
The scale of the battle today is already very large!
However, they did not actually say that they would directly attack the entire army, but gradually engage in battle through continuous troop mobilization and small and medium-sized cavalry engagements.
This kind of super-large cavalry battle involving tens of thousands of cavalry does not mean that the generals of both sides give an order and then tens of thousands of cavalry directly charge forward.
There is no such condition!
First of all, the battlefield is very large. From the north side to the south side of the battlefield, the length from north to south reaches several kilometers... At the same time, although the overall terrain is flat, it still has undulations and low mountains.
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Even if they were sitting on a war horse from a high position and observing, in fact, the commanders of both sides could not see all their troops at a glance. This was true for Zhu Xingfa, and the same was true for Hauge opposite.
Therefore, this ultra-large-scale cavalry battle, when broken down, actually consists of small and medium-sized battles of hundreds or thousands of cavalry.
But these small and medium-sized battles are one after another!
Once one of the parties collapses in a certain link, it will cause chain effects and shake the entire front.
Now on the central battlefield, Hauge is trying to take advantage of his own cavalry and archery to overwhelm the Chu army's main cavalry, and then drive away the Chu army's cavalry and artillery, so as to obtain favorable opportunities for the subsequent large-scale advancement of the war.
However, Hauge has Hauge's plan, and Zhu Xingfa also has Zhu Xingfa's plan!
Hauge wanted to directly kill the Chu army's cavalry and artillery, which was a decisive advantage in the typical central battlefield.
And Zhu Xingfa also wanted to use the Guards Cavalry Detachment, the most powerful fourth cuirassier regiment and two hussars regiments, to directly tear the enemy's left flank to pieces!
——
However, the winner has not yet been decided on the central battlefield, and the Guards on the southern battlefield have not yet launched an attack, but something has changed on the northern battlefield!
On the northern battlefield that had been fighting for more than half an hour, the Chu Army's 3rd Cavalry Brigade was unable to defeat the Eastern Cavalry in front of them, and was forced to cover the artillerymen who had abandoned their cavalry cannons and evacuate the battlefield.
The reason why the 3rd Cavalry Brigade was defeated was because the enemy's cavalry in the north direction was suddenly reinforced by a cavalry force of a thousand cavalry. This cavalry quietly maneuvered from the rear and escaped the cavalry vanguard. During the reconnaissance, the 3rd Cavalry Brigade was caught off guard and its flank was directly penetrated!
Under such circumstances, the 3rd Cavalry Brigade was defeated in just a few minutes, and was finally forced to retreat and break away, trying to reorganize its formation and establish a new line of defense.
Although Zhu Xingfa was angry at this scene, he also said that he was very angry. The outcome on the battlefield was unpredictable. The 3rd Cavalry Brigade was attacked by the enemy's superior force. It was normal for him to be forced to retreat after being unable to defeat him.
However, if you want to stabilize the northern battlefield and your left-wing defense line, you need to mobilize troops for reinforcements. As a result, you will have fewer troops available on the central battlefield.
Our own side has only a small number of troops. If it were not for the excellent performance of the dozens of cavalry cannons of the cavalry artillery unit, which continued to suppress the impact of the enemy cavalry, I am afraid that the central battlefield would have collapsed long ago.
After pondering for a few seconds, Zhu Xingfa ordered the 5th Cavalry Brigade, which was a strategic reserve, to support the northern front. At any rate, it was necessary to contain the pursuing enemy cavalry and allow the remnants of the 3rd Cavalry Brigade time to distance themselves and reorganize.
As the 5th Cavalry Brigade was transferred to the northern front, Lieutenant General Zhu Xingfa also ordered the 1st and 2nd Cavalry Regiments of the Strategic Reserve to rush forward to cover the cavalry artillery and strengthen the strength of the central battlefield.
After all, the baggage regiment, which is actually the infantry regiment, also uses two-year-old flintlock muskets. It is still okay for more than 3,000 infantrymen to form an array to cover the artillery.
However, in this way, the strategic reserve in Zhu Xingfa's hands was only a baggage regiment and a small number of troops directly under the army.
If the strategic reserves are exhausted, then this battle will be dangerous.
——
Zhu Xingfa finished mobilizing his troops and turned his attention to the south, which is the direction of the Guards Cavalry Detachment!
Calculating the time, Sheng Yushu and the others should be almost ready!
If the Guards don't launch an attack, the pressure on their side will be too great, and they may collapse!
It is quite difficult to maintain the front line continuously when one's own cavalry has only a few troops and the cavalry and shooting are not as good as the other's. However, the Eastern Cavalry on the opposite side attacks in turns, forcing even the few elite main force on one's side to follow them. Run back and forth to conduct interception operations.
Once the elite cavalry brigade of the 4th Cavalry Brigade is exhausted too much and suffers too many casualties and collapses, then the entire central front may collapse!
His First Cavalry Corps could not hold out for much longer.
——
The Guards cavalry detachment that Lieutenant General Zhu Xingfa was looking forward to had just been maneuvered to the predetermined position by Sheng Yushu.
The location they are currently in is a sparse bush. The reason why they ran into this bush is not to completely conceal their traces. In fact, they cannot hide it...
The reconnaissance cavalry of the East Capture people have been following you. Although I don't know the details, and I don't know what cuirassiers and hussars you are... But I'm not blind, and I have seen more than two thousand cavalry a long time ago. Leaving the central battlefield and coming to the south side.
Hauge did not take this lightly, and directly asked the three thousand cavalry on the left to be alert. If the other side dared to charge over, he would teach them how to behave.
The three thousand cavalry on the left wing of the Dongjiu people are the old opponents of the Chu army's cavalry. They were the three thousand elite Eight Banners cavalry who had been stationed at Balipu for a long time.
At this time, these three thousand elite cavalrymen were closely watching the movements of the Guards cavalry detachment from a few hundred meters away.
As for taking the initiative to kill, it is basic military common sense not to enter the forest... The general of the cavalry is not stupid, but he will not be stupid and take the initiative to enter the forest...
They just need to keep an eye on these Chu cavalry outside!
In this battle, in the hearts of Hauge and other senior cavalry generals in Dongdu, the central battlefield was the place that decided the outcome.
Whether it is the north wing or the south wing, it is secondary. The main thing is that it is successful if the Chu army's cavalry does not kill them.
As for the smooth breakthrough of the north wing...it can only be said that unexpected occurrences on the battlefield are normal!
The Dongjiu people had never considered breaking through on the north flank before, and the thousand cavalrymen who had quietly killed them before had never expected to be able to truly hide from the Chu army's scouts...
But the reality is that the Chu army's reconnaissance cavalry really didn't notice these thousand cavalry...so that the battlefield on the northern flank changed.
And Hauge also took advantage of the changes in the northern flank battlefield to add fuel to the decisive victory on the central battlefield!
——
And Sheng Yushu led the Guards cavalry to this grove under the surveillance of the Dongjie reconnaissance cavalry, not to conceal his traces, but simply to use the cover of the grove for final rest and recuperation.
As the saying goes, don’t enter the woods!
As long as the opponent is wary, then our side can smoothly make final rest and preparations, appear on the battlefield in the best posture and launch a charge!
Today, the cavalry of the Guards are making final preparations for battle. Some of them are checking their equipment over and over again, some are drinking water and eating something, and some are comforting their horses.
Sheng Yushu, on the other hand, led several officers to the front and looked at the battlefield ahead with a monocular.
Because of the obstruction of the low mountain not far away, Sheng Yushu could not actually see the situation on the central battlefield at this time, and he did not know that in the northern battle, the 3rd Cavalry Brigade had been defeated by the Eastern Cavalry, and the entire left wing of the Chu Army's cavalry had been exposed. Under the threat of enemy cavalry.
This in turn caused the situation on the central battlefield to further deteriorate!
Now, following the tactics agreed upon with Lieutenant General Zhu Xingfa before the war, when Lieutenant General Zhu Xingfa led the main force of the First Cavalry Corps to block the enemy's frontal attack, he led his troops to raid the enemy's left flank, tear open the enemy's left wing and then penetrate directly into the enemy's center. The hinterland behind the military side!
As long as the battle plan is successful, then the power can be determined in one battle, and the Eastern Cavalry can be directly defeated or even severely damaged!
Now, it's time to launch the final step of the plan: fight out, crush the enemy's left wing, and secure victory!
