Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 486 Battle of Usolye ([-])
The concentrated shooting of more than 200 artillery pieces is nothing compared to the thousands of artillery clusters in the [-]th century. However, this is an unprecedented scale in this time and space. Liver and gallbladder split.

After the Seven Years' War, almost all European armies adopted a standardized fixed field artillery formation. For example, the famous Frederick II set up a fixed type of artillery group in the army, consisting of 10 guns of the same caliber Composition of similar artillery.Although European countries have raised the ratio of artillery allocation to 5-6 per thousand people, they are also equipped with regimental light artillery to support infantry operations on the front line.However, no one has ever concentrated hundreds of cannons for firing at one time.

From the north of the Belaya River to the south of the Angara River, thousands of high-explosive bombs fell from the sky every minute, causing the Russian army to repeatedly wash and spin in the boiling flames.

For the tens of thousands of Russian troops marching slowly in the center and right wing, it was like a rain of fire raining down on their heads, and the places where the bombs fell were all blood and flesh, killing and wounding the Russian troops in the circle Either his body would be blown to pieces, or his internal organs would be shattered by the shock wave.

On the artillery positions of the Beihai Navy, the 75mm field artillery fired the fastest, with a rate of fire of 8 rounds per minute; while the 122mm howitzer fired at an unhurried pace, maintaining an average speed of firing every ten seconds.According to the order issued by Zhao Xin, each artillery battalion will stagger the interval of 1 minute in order to keep the firepower striking continuously.

The sharp whistling sound of tearing the air above the battlefield seemed to never stop, and the ensuing explosion was deafening; the shock wave of the explosion set off a large amount of gravel and soil, and the black-gray smoke and dust continued to rise on the ground like volcanoes erupting one after another. rise.The dense and pungent gunpowder smoke enveloped the battlefield with smoke and dust, the sunlight was also blocked outside, and shocking craters were left on the ground.

The long-term line battle training made the Russian soldiers forget to dodge under the firepower of the North Navy.Although the 122 high-explosive bombs that fell nearby could take dozens of lives every time, and although the soldiers were terrified, the living still did not escape, but huddled together.

"God! Lord of the world, save me, forgive me, protect me!"

"What are they shooting? Shotgun?"

"This is a grenade, what kind of shit shotgun came from!" a cavalry captain shouted. "It's a pleasant thing to charge into the battle, and beat these bastards on the opposite side! But now, they are shooting at us like a target!" Shoot! This is really bad!"

There was still silence in the cavalry behind him. The cavalry tried to line up their horses. Whenever they heard the sound of shells passing by, they held their breath as if obeying a password, and bowed their bodies in their stirrups. Sitting down again, he crossed himself.

The cavalrymen squinted at each other and carefully observed the reactions of their comrades with a curious mood. Everyone's face showed a look of anxiety, anxiety and excitement.

At this time, on the left flank of the Russian army, the soldiers in front, under the cannon fire, unloaded a dozen pieces of two-meter-long wooden boards from several carriages and pressed them on the low-pile barbed wire.

"Soldiers! Keep going! Let the Tatars show our courage!" The officers in three-cornered hats tilted their sabers and shouted to order their subordinates to move forward quickly.

The regimental artillery on the two wings of each column fired fiercely at the positions of the Northern Navy with four-pound guns. The successive bombings around them did not affect their firing rate of six rounds per minute at all.Even if someone was shot and fell down, the other gunners were still desperately cleaning the barrel, reloading, and firing, and the cycle continued.

"Terra! ~Tlaa~Tala~Tala"

The marching drum sounded again, and the Russian infantry walked towards the altar that had been prepared for them with heavy steps.

When the Russian army passed the first low-pile barbed wire fence, and the soldiers, encouraged by the officers, roared wildly and unwaveringly rushed towards the Beihai Navy, countless streams of fire were spewed out from the Beihai Navy's position. prick.

"Bang bang bang!"

"Da da da!"

The continuous lines of fire suddenly melted the advancing Russian army, and the soldiers on both sides of the column fell down like dominoes, and countless lives turned into a rain of blood in an instant. The close-range shooting of more than 200 meters allowed the 0.50-caliber bullet to smash the previous person without slowing down, and continued to penetrate the second and third people, and even pierced the column of five people from the side.

Such a scene made the Russian army behind a little confused. This was different from anything that had happened on the battlefield before. Many people panicked immediately, not knowing where to go, and the narrow passage made of wooden boards became extremely crowded.

At this time, several anti-aircraft guns located behind the second trench of the North Navy position opened fire one after another, and the roaring shells entered the queue in a blink of an eye, tearing the cavalrymen and horses to pieces.The frightened war horses began to run and neigh. They jumped into the barbed wire like headless flies, and then tripped and fell on the barbed wire. They wailed under the cutting of the butterfly-shaped blade, and blood flowed from their bodies like a fountain. out.

The four-pound artillery vehicle not far away was shattered by the mortar shells that fell from the sky. Hundreds of kilograms of copper or iron artillery were either thrown into the air, or turned into countless deadly metal fragments in the shock wave, harvesting life around.

If you want to say who the main opponent of the Tsarist Russian Empire army in the eighteenth century is, many people will immediately think of Ottoman Turkey.Because of years of fighting, many Russian generals have accumulated rich combat experience in the war against Turkey.

As a result, the Russian army's best tactic is to push forward with all its strength. The infantry and artillery must force the enemy to retreat in chaos, and then let the cavalry pass through the gaps between the infantry phalanxes to attack, defeat the enemy and pursue them. 4~6 kilometers, and then let the heavy cavalry slow down to regroup.The hussars and Cossacks were responsible for continuing the pursuit.

The problem is that this method of warfare is not only useless to European countries, but also useless to the North Navy.

At this time, the Russian army was only more than 150 meters away from the Northern Navy, and the soldiers of the Northern Navy in the trenches could already be clearly identified, with grass-green semicircular helmets, dark green military uniforms, and even faces clearly visible.But they stopped here, and the distance of more than 100 meters is so far away for many people.

The surviving officers gave no new orders, and walked silently at the head of the ranks, their sabers resting on their shoulders.Suddenly, more intensive gunshots sounded from the North Navy position, and hundreds of soldiers lay on the trenches and raised their guns to shoot.

The rain of bullets caused the surviving Russian troops to fall one after another. At the same time as the Northern Navy fired, the officer leading the team shouted "Stand at attention" and prepared to let the soldiers aim and shoot; The officer fell headfirst into the grass.

In the middle of the battlefield, the ground was also shaking violently. The artillery fortresses that had been carefully constructed over the past few days were blown up one after another. Rumyantsev, the commander-in-chief of the Russian army in the village of Mikhailovka, was ashamed.

The old marshal coughed loudly from the non-existent gunpowder smoke. He staggered two steps forward, trying to save something, but stopped again in despair.It seemed to him that all was lost.

More than 20 minutes after the bombardment began, the Russian officers and soldiers on the front line could no longer bear the continuous artillery bombardment. The comrades who fell around and the remains of their limbs created an extremely terrifying atmosphere. The commander and the battalion commander were still roaring angrily, raised their long swords, and fired their guns into the sky, but no one paid any attention to those commands, and the living soldiers turned around and ran back.

The time has come to decide the fate of the battle.

At this time, the fierce shelling of the Northern Navy began to extend to the northwest, and the shell casings fired on the artillery positions were piled up like hills.

More than 2000 soldiers in the attack trenches of the main position are nervously waiting for the order to attack.Some of them are naturalized veterans who participated in the "Battle of Fuljaha River" since 1784, and some soldiers from Henan who joined before the "Battle of Furdan City". Hundreds of battles and rich experience; some people just joined last year and came here after only half a year of training.

However, no matter who it is, this jaw-dropping scene in front of them is the only one they have ever seen in their lives. A feast of artillery fire at the level of the field army of later generations bloomed in front of their eyes.As the head of the Second Regiment, Zhao Jiuzang finally understood what Zhao Xin meant by "the battle is getting bigger and bigger".

Suddenly, a red signal flare shot up from the rear of the position, and the all-too-familiar charge horn in another time and space was also sounded loudly!
The soldiers of the Second Regiment, Qingye Camp, and Hagi Camp heard the horn of attack, stood up reflexively, and rushed out of the trench one by one amidst countless sharp whistles.

Everyone lined up in an orderly combat formation as they had been deployed before the battle, with hysterical roars bursting out of their throats, and they rushed towards the wilderness that had been ravaged by repeated artillery fire.

Today's Beihai soldiers are no longer the cowardly East Asian refugees who used to be. The two attacking companies that rushed to the front bypassed the barbed wire with overwhelming courage and charged forward with bayonets.Behind them, a thousand soldiers from two infantry battalions strode forward towards the Russian headquarters in the distance.

At the same time, the North Navy Fifth Regiment on the south bank of the Belaya River once again crossed the village of Sosnovka. Under the cover of more than 20 mortars and machine guns, they used kayaks to forcefully cross the Belaya River. The Uzki-Lug settlement ahead attacked the Russians.

At this point, the [-] Northern Navy west of the Angara River, like a wild horse, swooped towards the tens of thousands of Russian troops fleeing on the western front.

Zhao Xin, who was at the artillery position headquarters, looked at the scene in the drone and was filled with emotion.Six years have passed in a blink of an eye, and it is not easy for the Beihai Navy to come all the way to where it is today.

But the battle was far from over, and the retreating Russian army was still organizing a counterattack.The hussars and hunters who were fleeing in all directions were organized in groups and shot at the northern navy scattered on the field, and then they shot over with bayonets and shouted "Ulla".

The soldiers of the assault company found that the enemy was trying to counterattack, and immediately raised their guns and knocked off the cavalry rushing in front one by one, then took out a grenade, threw it towards the rushing Russian army, and then rushed into the gunpowder smoke with their bayonets , After a shout of killing and gunshots, a lot of casualties were left behind.

A battalion of the Russian army received an order to block it during the retreat, so the major who led the team hurriedly checked the terrain and let the soldiers lie in ambush in a ditch on the battlefield.When the attacking company was 100 meters away from them, the Russian army suddenly launched an attack.The major shouted, stood up from the ditch, raised his pistol and fired, and then hundreds of Russian soldiers also stood up and fired.Amidst the roar of muskets, several Beihai soldiers who rushed to the front fell down.

After two rounds of musket salvos, the Russian army's shooting began to become messy.In the era of line warfare, infantry seldom strictly followed the firing order in actual combat.Generally after the first two salvos, no effort to maintain discipline will prevent orderly firing from turning into disorderly fire.

At this time, the Russian soldiers loaded and fired in a hurry. Because they were surrounded by smoke, they could hardly see the enemy on the opposite side, and the faces of the soldiers were blackened.They jostle each other when reloading, making firing and aiming more difficult.

As the northern navy on the opposite side began to fight back, the casualties of the Chinese and Russian troops in the ditch rose rapidly.At this moment, no one cares about the volley anymore. Every soldier who has finished loading pulls the trigger immediately, and the columns and teams are mixed together. Even if the soldiers in the front row want to kneel down and shoot, they can't do it.At this time, the officer leading the team had no choice but to lie down in the ditch and wait.

Finally, the white smoke filled the air so that the Russian army could no longer see the enemy clearly. They rushed out of the ditch and killed them with bayonets.

"Ula~~la~la!"

At this moment, the characteristic continuous firing sound of the North Navy light machine gun sounded from the grass on the flank of the Russian army, followed by dozens of smoking grenades flying over from more than ten meters away, wave after wave wave.

After the continuous explosions, more and more Northern Navy arrived. The Russian army of this battalion was completely disabled. In the end, there were only 700 wounded soldiers left in the team of more than [-] people. They were rushed up from behind immediately. Northern Navy soldiers were shot and killed.

At this time, the Beihai Navy also all mounted bayonets, and rushed forward without hesitation. Everyone was not afraid of death, no!They don't even know what death is.The blood in the body was already rushing at lightning speed, and the blood vessels were also burning. The soldiers were extremely excited and couldn't calm down at all.

As the resistance of the fleeing Russian army became more and more frequent, several forward observation posts quickly reported to the headquarters that they needed artillery support. Zhao Xin then ordered the 122 howitzers of the two battalions to be responsible for cleaning up the remnants of the Russian army. 122 guns fired at the village of Mikhailovka more than ten kilometers away.

All the ministries of the Russian army started a frantic retreat, and the following artillery fire made the Russian army terrified.No matter whether it is an officer or a soldier, regardless of high or low, as long as they are within the killing range of the high-explosive bomb, there is nowhere to escape.The generals who fled back never imagined that the cannons of the Beihai Navy could hit so far.

By eight o'clock in the morning, there were no Russian troops alive on the route passed by the North Navy's attacking force.The attacking force received an order from the headquarters before departure: We have no time to take prisoners until the Russian army is completely defeated!

The retreating Russian cavalry was in a mess on the road leading to Mikhailovka Village, and no one cared whether the formation was orderly or not, as long as they could get out of this hell alive.Those foot soldiers and militiamen, hideous with the fear of death, huddled between wagons and cannons, under horses' hoofs and wheels, trampling each other to death, trampling on dying People walk on top of each other, killing each other, only to be killed by shells after a few steps.

Every ten or so seconds, one or two high-explosive bombs tore through the air and exploded in the dense crowd with a shrill roar, killing all the lives within a thousand square meters around and splashing blood and limbs on the ground.

Rumyantsev on the horse knew that everything was over, and he ordered the officers around him: "Retreat! All retreat!"

(End of this chapter)