Colonel Sun Huabei looked at the Scarlet Gold City in front of him and couldn't help but sigh in his heart. After two days of running wildly, he finally reached this place.
And it seems that the enemy forces in the city did not respond in time to send out messengers.
To do this is not easy.
He led his army to set off yesterday, because his cavalry regiment is the main cavalry regiment. The horse configuration is to ride three horses alone, and its maneuverability in short and medium distances is very powerful.
Yesterday, these cavalrymen, on foot and on spare horses from time to time, maintained a very high marching speed and ran all the way. When it got dark, they were not far from Chijin City. In order to avoid attracting the attention of the enemy forces in Chijin City force.
He even found a relatively private place to spend the night!
In the middle of the night, he marched in advance again. When the sky turned white, he was only seven or eight kilometers away from the Red Gold City. At the last moment, he decisively ordered the cavalry to mount the spare horses for a short-distance raid!
In an extremely short time, they crossed a distance of seven or eight kilometers and reached the outside of Chijin City in one breath.
At this time, it is estimated that many people in the city have not gotten up yet.
"The three posts circled the north side, preparing to intercept possible scattered enemy breakout forces. The baggage and artillery built fortifications and deployed cavalry artillery on the spot. The other departments restored their physical fitness and ensured the condition of the war horses."
Sun Huabei didn't sigh for long and quickly issued a new combat order.
Although he arrived suddenly, the task ahead was still not light. He must try his best to avoid the enemy's scattered troops breaking through, so as to prevent Zhungeer in Hami City from learning the news prematurely.
His mission as the 23rd Cavalry Regiment was to come one step ahead to block the news. As for attacking the city, it was not within the scope of his mission.
After all, they are just cavalry. Even if they are a main cavalry regiment with thousands of cavalry and carry multiple 13-year-old 65mm cavalry cannons, they are not suitable for attacking cities!
Blockade outside the city and intercept the enemy's breakthrough is what they are good at!
Sure enough, just as Sun Huabei expected, the Chu army had just arrived outside the city. Not long after, a group of more than ten cavalry rushed out of Chijin City. They did not go towards the Chu army’s cavalry, but headed directly to the northwest. Run wildly.
The 3rd Cavalry Post under the 23rd Cavalry Regiment, which had been well prepared, also faced tit for tat. More than 200 hussars moved quickly, each one galloping on horseback to intercept.
A small-scale cavalry interception battle broke out directly to the northwest outside the Red Gold City!
There was no rumble of artillery, not even much gunfire. One of the cavalrymen on both sides wanted to break through and send a message, and the other wanted to intercept. They adopted the most direct and bloody combat method.
net
Sun Huabei glanced to the northwest. As the enemy cavalry took the initiative to disperse and tried to separate and break out, more than two hundred of his own hussars had already dispersed and were engaged in interception operations.
It only took one glance to tell that the enemy's cavalry who were trying to leave the city to report to Hami would not be able to break out.
The main riding horses attached to the third cavalry sentry under him are all the best Central Asian horses. They are excellent choices in terms of explosive power and endurance. In addition, the combat effectiveness of the hussars is not weak. There is no way to stop them. Too big a problem.
Therefore, Sun Huabei's focus was still on the enemy's large-scale breakthrough.
——
On the other side, Zhungeer general Batu, who was sitting on the top of the short city of Chijin City, looked a little ugly after watching the more than ten messengers he sent out being strangled by the Chu army cavalry outside the city.
Batu had already expected that those Chu barbarians would most likely send troops, but he did not expect that they would move so quickly, secretly, and with great courage. Thousands of fine cavalry would appear at the first move, and they would suddenly approach under the cover of night.
It's so bad that he can't even send out messengers now.
This piecemeal breakout is difficult, but subsequent large-scale breakout will be even more difficult.
As for not breaking out but holding on to the spot, this is asking for death!
Batu knew with his toes that once the Chu barbarians on the opposite side sent out troops, they would definitely not only have the thousands of elite cavalry in front of him. The Chu barbarians deployed tens of thousands of troops on the front line of Jiayuguan. If they really wanted to send troops, there would be at least one or two. Thousands of people.
And how many troops does he have under his command?
However, there are more than 300 cavalry of the headquarters, and there are also servants with doubtful loyalty and poor combat effectiveness. These more than 500 servants are actually surrendered by the original army of the Yarkand Khanate. Their weapons and equipment are very poor, and their fighting will is very poor. worse.
It is unreliable to rely on this small force to be able to block the Chu barbarian's front.
Before coming, Batu's boss also clearly told him that his only mission, the most important mission is to report the news... As long as the information is passed back to Hami in time after the Chu army sends troops, it will be a great achievement. As for the Red Gold City itself, Not worth mentioning.
Therefore, after discovering that the Chu army was advancing westward on a large scale, Batu did not hesitate to prepare to break out and leave.
After taking a deep breath, the middle-aged general with a scumbag face ordered his men: "Let the soldiers prepare quickly. Once we are ready, we will break out."
"Only carry the necessary grain, water, and light weapons. Burn the other grain and baggage directly, and then destroy the few old cannons that can't be taken away!"
Now that he was determined to break through, he would not delay or hesitate, nor would he be reluctant to part with the large quantities of grain and grass and a few old artillery pieces that could not be taken away.
Bringing these things will seriously affect the speed of the breakout. When the time comes, it will be impossible to escape at all. It is better to destroy it on the spot, and then let the soldiers break through lightly.
These Jungar people have been fighting in the north and south for many years, and they were able to continuously conquer and annex surrounding areas. They beat the Kazakh Khanate in the west to the point of begging for mercy, and annexed the Yarkand Khanate in one go. Let’s not talk about other things, but fighting I still have the ability.
If they are not good at fighting, they will be the ones killed and annexed.
Therefore, after the order was issued, these Zhungeers acted extremely quickly. While the more than 500 servants were still in chaos, the more than 300 Zhungeer cavalry had already assembled and could break out of the city at any time.
However, Batu did not immediately lead his troops out of the city to break out of the siege. Instead, he asked his cavalry to continue waiting.
Wait for those more than five hundred servants!
This time to break through, Batu needed these more than 500 servants to interfere, attract the attention of the Chu barbarians, and contain their troops, so that he could have a better chance to break through with his more than 300 cavalry.
This is the only value of these more than five hundred servants.
Otherwise, what is he doing raising more than 500 rubbish, wasting food?
After the chaotic more than 500 servants were assembled, Batu also officially issued an order to break out of the encirclement.
More than 500 servants left the city first. These 500 servants included both infantry and cavalry, so they appeared to be relatively scattered after leaving the city. The more than 100 people on horseback ran faster, while the more than 400 troops on foot were more miserable. , can only rely on two legs.
However, breaking out of the encirclement does not mean to just run away after leaving the city. Instead, you need to continue to maintain the formation. Otherwise, the Chu army cavalry outside the city will teach you how to behave in minutes.
After more than 500 people left the city first, Batu also led more than 300 cavalry out of the city.
But Batu did not lead his troops directly towards the northwest, but towards the west, trying to stay away from the Chu cavalry that blocked the northwest.
Facing the enemy forces, one behind the other, and two groups of troops leaving the city to break out of the encirclement, Sun Huabei didn't even bother to judge whether the opponent was the primary or secondary, and directly ordered his troops to conduct a full interception.
Don't worry about those who are abandoned and those who are the main force. If they are all stopped, there will be no problem.
And the 23rd Cavalry Regiment has this strength!
The 23rd Cavalry Regiment, directly belonging to the Sixth Cavalry Division, originated from the Tumut soldiers who joined the army after the Tumut tribe surrendered. They fought on the Monan grassland for a long time during the war to exterminate the Eastern Capture. It was an important part of the empire. One of the main cavalry units of the Army fighting in the Monan grassland.
They once defeated the main cavalry of the Horqin tribe, an important ally of the Eastern captives, and made great contributions to the destruction of the Eastern captives.
Later, they moved to the western region of Monan Mongolia and continued to annihilate other tribes in Monan Mongolia who refused to submit to the Chu army.
In this series of battles, the Sixth Cavalry Division made great achievements. After pacifying the Dongni and Monan Mongolian tribes, the commander of the Sixth Cavalry Division, Boze, was promoted to Army Lieutenant General and now serves as one of the Deputy Directors-General of the Cavalry.
This is also the first Mongolian general to truly enter the upper echelons of the Chu Empire’s military. Of course, there is no such thing as Mongolians in the Chu Empire. The current saying is that all Mongolian tribes are descendants of the Chinese. Now they are not surrendered. , but to recognize the ancestors and return to the clan.
Brose himself also changed his surname from Bo'er Jijin to "Bao" on his own initiative. Therefore, the full name of Brose today is Bao Bose.
The rest of the Mongolian tribes that submitted to the Chu Empire are in a similar situation. They are all actively integrating into the Chu Empire, and changing their clothes is the most basic.
Bao Boze successfully rose to the top of the imperial military by virtue of his achievements in the southern and northern wars. After he left office, the Sixth Division experienced two more division commanders. The current fourth division commander is Army Major General Xu Donglai.
Other officers of the Sixth Division have also been integrated and exchanged with other troops. Therefore, the current Sixth Division is no longer a pure cavalry unit composed of soldiers from the Tumut Department, but a main force that integrates cavalry officers from all parties. .
The top military officials also attached great importance to this main cavalry unit, and deployed many elite soldiers to supplement it. At the same time, they were assigned better Central Asian horses, and the division was upgraded and refitted.
The division was transformed from a traditional oriental cavalry and archery unit into a new era cavalry unit.
The division consists of four cavalry regiments, a cavalry artillery battalion, and a cavalry baggage regiment.
The cavalry artillery battalion has twelve 90mm cavalry guns and four 115mm howitzers, a total of sixteen artillery pieces.
There are four cavalry regiments, one cuirassier regiment and three light cavalry regiments.
Each cavalry regiment consists of four cavalry posts and a number of auxiliary units.
Each cuirassier post has one hundred and seventy-two cavalry, and the light cavalry post has two hundred and thirty-two cavalry. This number of troops is arranged according to the formation.
Therefore, the size of the cavalry sentries in the cavalry units is larger than that of the infantry sentries. The rank of the sentry commander is often a school officer instead of a lieutenant. At the same time, the cavalry units do not have a cavalry battalion.
Even the cavalry battalions in the second-class division were upgraded to cavalry regiments according to the new logo, but they were all severely understaffed. The actual number of cavalry was only two to three hundred, which was the actual strength of one and a half cavalry sentries.
This is very different from infantry and baggage troops.
A full light cavalry regiment has 928 cavalry, as well as regimental cavalry and artillery sentries with four 65mm cavalry cannons and more than 200 regimental baggage sentries. The total strength can reach More than 1,200 people.
But don't look at the fact that there are only more than 1,200 people, but because of the special characteristics of the cavalry unit, its cost is far more than that of an infantry regiment, and its combat effectiveness is also quite powerful.
The recruitment and training of cavalry in the Chu army has entered a new era. Recruits who can ride horses are usually recruited for rigorous training, and the training time is much longer than that of infantry. The training time for new recruits reaches more than half a year, and it is arranged to After the troops go to serve, they often need to undergo long-term training for half a year or more.
Therefore, the cavalry units in the Chu army have a longer service time than infantry, baggage troops, and ordinary artillery. It is too difficult to train cavalry, and the military is definitely not willing to train them with great difficulty, and then their service period is up.
Of course, if the service period is long, it will not be changed casually. Instead, the service period will be extended by promotion to non-commissioned officer.
This is the same as other technical arms, such as artillery. Ordinary artillery does not matter, but skilled gunners will basically be awarded the rank of non-commissioned officer to extend their service time.
This is also the main purpose of establishing the non-commissioned officer rank between soldiers and officers in the Chu Army. In addition to serving as a bridge between soldiers and officers and actually commanding grassroots soldiers, it is also to retain technical talents.
This also led to the internal structure of the Chu Empire, which was a system with officers as the backbone, non-commissioned officers as the branches, and soldiers as the leaves.
As for cavalry units, especially the main cavalry units, because many of them are experienced cavalrymen, the proportion of non-commissioned officers will be relatively large. This is the case with the 23rd Cavalry Regiment. In the entire cavalry regiment, the ratio of soldiers to non-commissioned officers reaches About three to one.
Of course, having the rank of non-commissioned officer does not mean that the cavalry will hold a command position, but it will only be given the corresponding rank and treatment.
In the cavalry unit, not only the soldiers' ranks are generally high, but the officers' ranks are also high.
The regimental commander is basically a colonel, and the deputy regimental commander is a lieutenant colonel.
The commander of the sentry is based on the major, and occasionally the lieutenant colonel can be seen.
The deputy commander and captain are often the captain.
The deputy captain or captain is basically a lieutenant or second lieutenant.
In infantry or baggage units, the position of commander is generally held by non-commissioned officers, but not in cavalry units. It is an officer's position.
Only the sergeant major is the position held by noncommissioned officers, and generally only the sergeant major or staff sergeant is qualified to hold the position.
This is also a very common feature of technical arms.
But now, the elite cavalry unit of the 23rd Cavalry Regiment did not panic at all when faced with the Jungar people rushing out of the city!
Two light cavalry sentries rushed out from both wings and attacked with left and right uppercuts. At the same time, the four 65mm cavalry cannons carried by the regiment also opened fire one after another.
The solid shells fired continued to fall in the array of Jungar people, and the first to bear the burden were the more than 500 servants who were used as cannon fodder by Batu to face the Chu army.
Although the range of the 65mm cavalry regiment is not very good, and the power of the shells fired is not very great, it is basically useless if used in offensive operations, but in this kind of field combat, this thirteen-year-old sixty-year-old The five-millimeter cavalry cannon is extremely effective against active forces.
No matter how human beings and horses are, they are still flesh and blood, but they cannot withstand the bombardment of fist-sized solid artillery shells. If they encounter them, they will either die or be maimed.
In addition, this 65mm field gun (two and a half kilogram field gun) had a very big advantage at the beginning, that is, it used fixed ammunition, its rate of fire was very fast, and the artillery was relatively It is light and easy to reset and re-aim, so the rate of fire can be comparable to that of a musket, and two or three shells can be fired per minute.
You said it has a short range...that's compared to a 90mm or 115mm caliber field gun, but the new 13-year-old 65mm field gun or cavalry gun, due to the improvement of technology, Now the effective range of this thing can reach about 350 meters.
If the accuracy requirements and power requirements are lowered, it can still cause effective damage to the enemy even at a distance of about 600 meters.
The term "effective range" is originally made artificially... If the standards are different, then the effective range will be different.
It is light and easy to use, and its firepower is not too bad. This is why the Chu army has never eliminated this weapon, and continues to improve it, and then continues to use this artillery on a large scale as a regiment-level artillery.
You can basically see this kind of light artillery wherever there are Chu troops.
Nowadays, the Jungar people also enjoy the care of this kind of artillery.
The dense artillery shells continued to fall, causing the more than 500 servants in front to suffer considerable losses a few hundred meters away, so that the formation began to scatter.
Once the formation dispersed, the two Chu army's light cavalry sentries, totaling more than 400 cavalry, also rushed forward, roaring and waving their sabers.
The scene was like a pack of wolves entering a sheepfold, with flesh and blood flying everywhere in an instant.
The more than one hundred cavalrymen in the servant army seemed to want to play with pistols and bow and arrow shooting, but they were cut down by the Chu army's saber immediately...
As for the remaining infantry, they were so chaotic that they could not stop their formation and could only flee in disarray.
Batu at the back saw that the more than 500 servants in front collapsed in a short period of time, and couldn't help but cursed a few times in a low voice. These Yerkang people were so scumbag that they couldn't even buy him a moment of time. .
In this way, your own breakout will be in danger!
In fact, this is indeed the case. When Batu led more than 300 Zhungeer's cavalry to try to break through to the west, a cavalry sentry of more than 200 cavalry from the Chu army had already rushed down from the northwest, trying to Run directly in front of him to intercept.
If nothing happens to this Chu army cavalry, they will appear in front of Batu's troops!
That's not even counting... After the more than 500 Yerqiang servants were defeated, only one of the Chu army's two cavalry posts stayed to continue the pursuit, while the other went around in a circle and headed towards where Batu was. The direction caught up.
Further north, there was also a Chu army cavalry, the same cavalry sentry that had previously been chasing Zhungeer's messenger cavalry, also outflanked them!
Looking at the three groups of Chu barbarian cavalry that kept coming, Batu knew that it was impossible to break out of the encirclement directly...especially the Chu barbarian cavalry in the northwest, which was almost running ahead of him.
The only solution now is to either turn around and go back to Chijin City to wait for death, or to go all out and break through the interception directly.
Batu has been on the battlefield for a long time, so he naturally knows that he cannot hesitate at this time. He only thought about it for a few seconds and said to the subordinates beside him: "Get ready to fight, we have to rush out forcefully!"
After Batu's order was issued, the sound of horns sounded in the wilderness. These Jungar cavalry began to slow down, tighten their formation and prepare to charge. At the same time, some cavalry began to draw yellow-wheeled flintlock pistols or bows and arrows in preparation. Fight!
But directly in front of them was the first cavalry post of the 23rd Cavalry Regiment, the 232nd Cavalry. The leader was a cavalry major. When he saw that many cavalrymen on the opposite side took out pistols or bows and arrows, their faces under the armor were revealed. A disdainful smile: "A group of cowards who only know how to use pistols and bows and arrows!"
Then he pulled down the visor of his helmet, raised the saber in his hand high, pointed forward half a second later, and shouted:
“First Cavalry Post, charge!
! "
The trumpeter beside him immediately blew the horn sound. As the horn sound sounded, the young major took the lead and began to charge with more than two hundred cavalry behind him!
They didn't wait for Batu's troops to take the initiative to charge and break through, but they had already rushed over first. They didn't use muskets or pistols, they just lined up in a dense formation and charged over with a three-foot thick saber on their back!
As the distance between the two sides gets closer and closer, Batu's face becomes more and more ugly. Why don't these Chu barbarian cavalry on the opposite side follow the routine?
These people didn't even use muskets, pistols, or even bows and arrows.
What age has it been? Do these lunatics really want to fight with sabers?
In this case, should I order the soldiers to abandon their pistols and bows and replace them with sabers?
Or should we do the same as usual, first use pistols and bows to attack, then switch to sabers to rush forward if there is a chance, and turn to evacuate if there is no chance?
Unfortunately, the distance between the two sides is now too short, and the cavalry on both sides is very fast, especially the first cavalry post of the 23rd Cavalry Regiment of the Chu Army on the opposite side. Everyone has already entered the last few dozen meters of sprinting.
There was no time for Batu to think too much or even make tactical changes.
He could only bite the bullet and lead his cavalry to charge forward!
As the distance got closer, Zhungeer's dozens of cavalrymen in the front row began to shoot arrows with yellow wheel pistols or riding bows on bumpy horses, but they also hit several Chu army cavalry.
But they only had time to fire one shot and release an arrow, let alone continue to shoot or release arrows. They didn't even have enough time to change their sabers...
Because the next moment, they were greeted by an overwhelming array of Chu cavalry on the opposite side, as well as the sabers shining brightly in the sun!
When he saw the dense array and a large number of sabers on the opposite side, and the fast-moving war horses, Batu opened his mouth slightly, and the air of the wasteland continued to pour in from his mouth. At this time, there was only one thought in his mind: "Grass, it's going to be finished!"
