Not long after the Guards major left, Zhu Xingfa saw a group of fireworks rising in the southeast. This was a signal from the Guards that an all-out attack was about to be launched.
Army Lieutenant General Zhu Xingfa immediately ordered: "Counterattack, launch a counterattack immediately!"
"Artillery unit, launch a rapid fire artillery attack on the enemy cavalry in the southeast!"
"The 1st Cavalry Division and the 4th Cavalry Brigade immediately launched a counterattack to contain the enemy's frontal forces!"
"The outcome is determined by this battle. Please work hard and fight hard. When you are victorious, Mr. Zhu will personally take credit for you!"
As Lieutenant General Zhu Xingfa issued detailed orders one after another, the artillery units at the front were the first to take action. About forty artillery pieces that stopped shelling and urgently used cold water to repeatedly cool the barrels passed by. Two or three artillery pieces suddenly moved towards the southeast. Thousands of enemy cavalry launched a fierce bombardment.
Although the shelling distance is relatively long, a full six to seven hundred meters away, many two-and-a-half-pound cavalry cannons have to temporarily increase the elevation angle for shelling, and the terminal kinetic energy of the shells is also seriously insufficient, resulting in limited lethality.
However, artillery fire is artillery fire. Even if the kinetic energy of a fist-sized artillery shell is insufficient, if it hits the enemy accurately, it can still cause considerable damage. Even if the artillery shell cannot bounce a few times after landing, the penetration ability is also poor, resulting in poor subsequent damage. That’s all.
In addition, the five-jin cavalry cannon was not affected. The five-jin cavalry cannon was more powerful. The distance of six to seven hundred meters was still within the normal combat range of solid artillery shells. This was why Zhu Xing sent almost all the five-jin cavalry cannon. , are all used to support the Guards in combat.
As more than forty cavalry cannons of the First Cavalry Army began to fire rapidly, the Chu Army's First Cavalry Division and Fourth Cavalry Brigade also launched a large-scale counterattack.
Naturally, their counterattack cannot be a direct large-scale charge. They are traditional mounted archer cavalry. Large-scale charges are not what they are good at. The tactics they use are still traditional mounted archery tactics. They quickly maneuver to find the enemy's weaknesses, and then Go forward and shoot an arrow, then quickly retreat after shooting the arrow, form a team under the cover of your own line of infantry, recover a certain amount of arm strength, and then attack again...and so on.
The overall tactics are actually very similar to the half-turn tactics of the pistol cavalry, but they are more flexible.
Thousands of Chu army's cavalry launched a counterattack. This was to contain the Eastern Cavalry in front and prevent them from deploying troops to reinforce the southern battlefield, thus reducing the pressure on the Guards' cavalry detachment.
The First Cavalry Corps, under the command of Lieutenant General Zhu Xingfa, has launched a counterattack, and now it is the turn of the Guards Cavalry Detachment to take the stage.
Major General Sheng Yushu of the Guards was still the same as before, personally wearing armor and riding a horse, standing at the front of the 4th Cuirassier Regiment!
On the left and right flanks were the 2nd Hussars and the 3rd Hussars.
Further ahead of him is the Guards artillery unit that is undergoing short-distance rapid maneuvers. These more than 20 cavalry cannons need to step forward one step ahead and then suppress the enemy cavalry with artillery to kill as many enemy troops as possible. Cavalry, and need to break up the enemy's formation as much as possible.
At the same time, during this process, the enemy may launch a charge in advance or turn to retreat, and no matter which one it is, it will be beneficial to the subsequent charge of the Guards Cavalry.
Soon, the Guards cavalry and artillery troops were quickly in position. In order to rush for time, the nearby terrain was also relatively restricted. They were all flat terrain with an unobstructed view. There were no low hills for them to bombard from a high position. Therefore, the Guards artillery The troops were forced to spread out directly on the ground and then conduct artillery fire.
When the artillery unit of the Guards also joined in the bombardment, Major General Sheng Yushu of the Guards at the rear raised his hand slightly and said: "Mount the horse!"
"Move slowly!"
More than two thousand Guards cavalry, with the Fourth Cuirassier Regiment as the core, slowly rode forward.
It was vaguely visible that many of the Guards cavalry were stained with blood, and most of these bloodstains were left by the previously defeated Dongfang cavalry.
"Go forward quickly!" As the distance continued to close, Sheng Yushu once again gave the order to speed up.
The speed of the Guards Cavalry Detachment began to increase!
This kind of rapid advance still doesn't seem to be very fast, but when more than two thousand riders advance together in a unified formation, it puts a lot of pressure on people.
Especially the more than 3,000 Dongbu cavalry on the opposite side... When they first started, they couldn't understand why the 3,000 cavalry on the left wing in the south were completely defeated. They heard that they couldn't even block an attack by the Chu Barbarian cavalry.
Chu Manzi only used one charge to completely defeat the three thousand elite cavalry on the left wing, killing hundreds of them in formation. The rest fled in panic, unable to reorganize to fight.
Now, they had a preliminary understanding of why the three thousand cavalry on the left wing were defeated so cleanly.
These Chu barbarian cavalry on the opposite side are abnormal!
Damn it, how could anyone just rush over with a spear and saber from a few hundred meters away...
Where are your bows and arrows?
Where are your muskets?
And when the cavalry of the Guards crossed their own artillery position and started running forward, the Donglu general on the opposite side looked panicked: "Madmen... a group of madmen, they are going to charge directly!"
"Quick, speed up...if you can't speed up, you will die!"
"Change the saber...don't use the bow and arrow..."
"It's too late, hurry up, throw away the bow and arrows and change the saber..."
"It's over...they're coming..."
"The formation on the opposite side is too dense. If you can't rush through it, you have to turn... We use the steering in front of the formation and use the cavalry to shoot and then evacuate directly..."
These three thousand Eastern Captive Cavalry... faced the charge of the Chu Army's Guards Cavalry Detachment. There was an internal panic. The leading general ordered to speed up, abandoning bows and arrows to welcome the saber charge. However, under the huge pressure, many mid-level officers Seeing that there was nothing they could do, they made the opposite choice. Some of them, especially some Niu Lu on the two wings, immediately started to turn around and wanted to evacuate to avoid the guards that were rolling in and seemed to be crushing everything. Military cavalry.
As a result, these three thousand Eastern captive cavalry were in chaos.
More than a thousand Dongfeng cavalry in the center launched a countercharge, but many Dongfang cavalry on both wings started turning in advance and left the battlefield hundreds of meters away... As for shooting arrows in front of the formation... that is to say Said, after entering the effective shooting range of the cavalry bow, it only takes a few seconds for the cavalry of the Guards to rush over.
If you turn to shoot arrows in front of the formation, it is equivalent to exposing your flank and being attacked by the Guards cavalry...
If you want to switch to the saber after shooting the arrow and continue to charge forward, then the short few seconds are not enough time at all. Before you can change the saber, the hollow cavalry lance of the 4th Cuirassier Regiment has already hit you. killed……
Faced with this intensive charge of the Guards, it was impossible to shoot arrows in front of the formation. There were only two choices available, either to evacuate in advance, or to launch a counterattack. Apart from these two, both A dead end.
The same principle actually happened in the early pistol cavalry of the Chu army... The early pistol cavalry of the Chu army wanted to use pistols to play half-turn tactics before the formation, or to use pistols to fire before charging. Guns wound a wave of enemy troops.
But many times in actual combat, it has been found that it is very unreliable!
When playing half-round shooting, the pistol only has one bullet, but the cavalry can shoot several arrows in a short time, so the difference in firepower is too big.
More importantly, when the other side sees you playing with muskets, they don't even engage in any shooting with you. They just rush up with their sabers. Then the pistol cavalry is beaten and cannot take care of themselves.
As a result, the Chu cavalry simply reduced the equipment of cavalry pistols and ordered the cavalry to strictly prohibit the use of pistols when charging...
In Zhu Xingfa's words: Since you've already launched a fucking charge, I'll charge forward with my saber and a damn pistol.
This was a series of problems encountered by the Chu Army in its early development of cavalry pistols, and it was also the reason why the pistol cavalry was short-lived in the Chu Army's combat sequence.
But now, when the Dongjiu people's cavalry and archers faced the Guards cavalry detachment, they also encountered the same problem as the Chu army's pistol cavalry.
Bows and arrows have no place at all in this kind of rapid charge combat!
Because the charging speed of the Guards cavalry is too fast, it is completely different from the back and forth maneuvers of traditional cavalry... They just mount their horses and advance directly from a few hundred meters away, and then gradually increase their speed until they are two or three hundred meters away. When the horse was about 3 meters away, the horse was already fully running.
By the time the East Riding Cavalry entered the effective shooting range of tens of meters of riding bows, the Guards Cavalry had already entered the final sprint stage...
It's only a few dozen meters, and for the cavalry that has already entered the sprint stage, it only takes a few seconds... If you ride and shoot the cavalry with a bow and arrow, the saber will already be in front of you before you can take aim.
Just like now... Facing the Guards Cavalry Detachment, these East Riding Cavalry launched a charge beyond their expectations, and fell into difficult choices and even disagreements.
There were actually hundreds of cavalry evacuating in advance. Most of the cavalry were switching back and forth between bows and arrows and sabers. When they gradually increased their speed and gradually entered the charging state with their sabers raised.
The Guards cavalry on the opposite side has entered the stage of attack!
More than two thousand cavalry were already running, and even at this time, these Guards cavalry still maintained a complete and unified formation.
The cavalry formed like walls, one after another, rolling forward one after another.
Before these East Riding Cavalry could react, the Guards Cavalry at the front had already entered the final sprint stage!
At this moment, the Guards cavalry at the front lifted all restrictions. They no longer deliberately maintained their formation, but increased their speed as much as possible, and began to lower their hollow spears and aim at the enemy...
"kill!"
"kill……"
The Guards cavalry shouted the only voice from the beginning of the charge until now, and more than two thousand people shouted together!
kill! This simple word, repeated one after another, made every Guards cavalry participating in the battle couldn't help shouting along with it, and then urged the war horses to increase to the highest speed, and used the saber or hollow spear in their hands to Target the enemy!
At this time, they have entered the highest speed, and their morale has reached the lowest point!
These Guards cavalry rushed directly into the scattered Dongshu cavalry formation on the opposite side!
A cavalry member of the Fourth Cuirassier Regiment directly pointed the hollow spear in his hand at a general-looking Eastern Cavalry in front of him. The moment the hollow spear accurately hit the enemy's head, even if the general on the opposite side was wearing a helmet, But almost the entire head was smashed, and the head was thrown back as if it was broken. At the same time, the whole body fell directly off the horse, but one foot was still hanging on the stirrup, and his horse's momentum was not yet So much so that he ran forward for more than ten meters with the decapitated body before gradually stopping.
As for the cuirassier of the Guards, the moment his hollow spear hit the enemy, he stepped aside in advance to avoid accidentally injuring himself with the broken hollow spear. At the same time, he let go directly and let go of the already broken spear. The second half of the broken hollow spear was directly grasped at the waist and the saber was pulled out. The next second, the saber pointed forward and was aimed at the next Dongbu cavalry and slashed away.
The whole movement process is extremely fast. If you don't pay attention, you won't even be able to see the details of his movements clearly.
On the other side of the battlefield, a sergeant of the 3rd Hussars Regiment had already left the saddle from the beginning of the sprint. He only relied on his feet on the stirrups to support the weight to reduce the galloping horse. The turbulence caused affects tactical actions.
At the same time, the left hand is holding the reins, and the right hand is holding a five-year-old saber. This sword is different from the traditional scimitar or saber extended by the Mongolians commonly used by the cavalry. The five-year-old saber has a curved blade. The amplitude is smaller, and it can be used for slashing or stabbing.
The blade has a semi-open edge and double health grooves to increase the lethality while reducing weight. The handle has a lower hand guard. The entire blade is made of mild steel and adopts a variety of new processing techniques. Part of the blade is also carburized and hardened. deal with.
Well, according to the technical standards of the seventeenth century, this thing is a fine steel saber, which is the top standard cold weapon. The officer's standard saber in the Da Chu Empire Army is not of this level...
Well, this is a mass-produced standard weapon. Those steel knives that consume a lot of manpower and material resources to be repeatedly crafted are not included in the comparison.
At the same time, this five-year-old saber is also longer than the traditional curved saber. It is divided into long sword and short sword. The long sword is 102 centimeters and the short sword is 92 centimeters.
Long knives are generally used by veteran cavalry with stronger physical fitness and stronger combat skills, while short knives are used by novice soldiers with slightly weaker arm strength and worse combat skills.
The several cavalry regiments in the Guards are all selected from veteran cavalry and basically have good combat skills, so they all use long swords!
Now the cavalryman of the 3rd Hussars Regiment of the Guards on a galloping horseback, the saber held in his right hand is a five-year-old saber.
The saber in his hand was raised diagonally forward, and his whole body was bowed!
Just in front of him, a Dongfang cavalry wielding a Mongolian scimitar rushed over with a strange cry. At the moment when the two sides were about to encounter each other, the Guards cavalry leaned back slightly and dodged. At the same time, the five-year-old saber in his hand had already cut through the belly of the opponent's horse... Under the impact of the distance, even if the saber just passed by, it still brought out a line that penetrated the entire horse's body. , huge wounds from beginning to end.
The horse of the Eastern Captive Cavalry was in pain. First it raised its front hooves wildly, and then fell to the ground...
The East Riding Cavalry on horseback was thrown to the ground directly, and his head hit the ground... He couldn't die anymore.
In cavalry combat, it is not necessary to target the cavalry itself... In fact, it is also possible to target the enemy's horses, and sometimes the effect is better and easier.
Because once the high-speed sprinting horses are killed or injured, the cavalry on the horses will also die or be disabled!
After this hussar wounded the horse of the East Capture Cavalry with a sword, he did not look at the miserable condition of the East Capture Cavalry at all, but continued to look at the East Capture Cavalry in front of him!
Another confrontation ensued, and this time, the young hussar directly chopped down the opposing Eastern Cavalry with a single blow.
However, after two consecutive fights, the speed of his horse slowed down a bit, and some of his comrades on the left and right who had not encountered the enemy had already run to the front, so he could only follow behind...
This followed, but no more enemies were encountered.
The formation of the Eastern Captive Cavalry was too sparse and the troop density was so low that when facing the Chu Army cavalry, there were often more than a dozen Guards cavalry against a few Eastern Captive Cavalry.
The difference in troop density between the two sides is as much as four to five times. In addition, during the high-speed sprint, the troop density of one's side is very high. It is impossible for the Guards' cavalry to adjust its direction too much. It is impossible to see the enemy on the side. Deflect the direction to kill the enemy.
This will lead to chaos in the entire charge formation.
As a result, the young hussar followed his comrades all the way and did not encounter an enemy in the entire second half. He rushed to the open space in front where there were no Japanese cavalry.
At this time, he had the time and mood to look back a little. In his sight, all his own cavalry were behind him, and the East Riding Cavalry had disappeared.
However, there are quite a few Eastern captive cavalry on the left and right sides!
At this time, he heard the sentry commander in front giving an order to turn and kill towards the left, and he immediately followed up.
And this is just his perspective. He doesn't see much, let alone the overall situation.
He didn't know at all that they had completely overwhelmed the Dongfeng cavalry on the front, leaving only hundreds of Dongfang cavalry on the left and right wings running for their lives.
In addition, before the confrontation between the two sides, hundreds of Dongdu cavalry had already turned and evacuated in advance, which meant that the three thousand cavalry sent by Haug had all collapsed at this time!
In fact, there were not many Dongbu cavalry who died directly in battle. There were only two or three hundred cavalry. They were mainly those who were killed in the frontal charge. The larger number either ran away in advance or were due to formation changes during the battle. It was too wide and did not encounter the Guards cavalry at all.
At this time, there seemed to be a lot of these scattered Eastern Cavalry cavalry, but in fact they no longer had a unified organization. They didn't even know how to get them, so they could only instinctively escape with the friendly forces.
These three thousand Eastern captive cavalry have been completely defeated!
——
When Hauge from behind saw this scene, he couldn't believe that what he saw was real, and for a time he thought he was hallucinating.
"How can this be?"
"Absolutely impossible!"
"Those are three thousand cavalry, not three thousand pigs. Even if they were to kill three thousand pigs, they would not be defeated in just a few moments!"
Haug felt that the war experience he had gained from many years of fighting on the battlefield, the many military books he had read, and the various knowledge of troop formations he had learned were all in vain.
This is not normal!
Absolutely not normal!
——
Zhu Xingfa on the other side showed joy!
"That's it...that's how cavalry should fight!"
"Cuirassiers and hussars are the future of cavalry!" Army Lieutenant General Zhu Xingfa has always been very interested in cuirassiers and hussars.
Even though he was from a traditional cavalry background, he knew very well that the cavalry had become increasingly incompetent after the age of guns and artillery.
Many mounted and archery tactics that were very useful in the cold weapon era were completely useless in the face of guns and artillery.
In today's rapidly developing age of guns and artillery, their cavalry must also keep up with the pace of the times, otherwise, they will be completely eliminated by the infantry and artillery sooner or later.
In Zhu Xingfa's opinion: the future cavalry should be a combination of cuirassiers and hussars, plus auxiliary units such as cavalry artillery and heavy cavalry.
When fighting, first bombard with artillery, and then launch a charge to defeat the enemy.
By the way, musketeers are also indispensable. Although musketry cavalry is not good at impact, its short-distance maneuverability is not comparable to that of infantry. It can be used as a fast infantry, whether it is used to chase or intercept the enemy, or to look for air strikes. Launching a surprise attack is much more expensive than infantry.
Moreover, the dragoons do not need to be equipped with too many war horses. A single horse is enough, so the cost will be much lower.
After Zhu Xingfa witnessed the charge of the Guards Cavalry with his own eyes, he had already made up his mind. After this battle was over, he would make strong suggestions to His Majesty, Xu Zhixian and other army elders, to form a breastplate system in the army. A cavalry unit with cavalry, hussars and dragoons as its core.
As for the traditional mounted archers, they are completely behind the times and should be eliminated.
The horses and cavalry of the cavalry and archers were all transformed into new cavalry, so that the cavalry troops of the Great Chu Empire Army could continue to dominate the battlefield.
——
Compared to the many thoughts of the generals on both sides of the battlefield, Major General Sheng Yushu of the Guards seemed very calm.
This time's impact battle was nothing. The enemy's size, fighting will, and even the combat skills of the enemy soldiers were far inferior to the three thousand enemy cavalry they encountered before.
A charge to kill two to three hundred enemy cavalry already illustrates this point.
It's not that the Guards cavalry has too much fighting power, but that there are too few cavalry in the enemy's army who dare to attack head-on.
Now, each of the two hussars regiments is divided into two cavalry posts to pursue the enemy's remnants on both wings. It is said to be a pursuit, but in fact, killing or injuring the enemy is not the main purpose. The main purpose is to further drive them away and avoid captivity. The defeated cavalry were reorganized.
While the four hussar posts continued to move, he took the 4th Cuirassier Regiment and the remaining four hussar posts to rest, taking advantage of the precious time between battles to restore the physical fitness of the horses and wait for the rear. The cavalry artillerymen caught up.
Next, he will attack the enemy's Chinese army headquarters!
The enemy's central army headquarters opposite, with at least 10,000 or more cavalry, was now entangled by the 1st Cavalry Division, the 4th Cavalry Brigade, and the 6th Cavalry Brigade.
As long as one's side takes a short rest before launching an attack, the opponent's opponent will not even have many strategic reserves to stop one's side.
Their Chu army will definitely win this battle!
