I want to be emperor

Chapter 438 The Last Elite of the Ming Army
Hong Chengchou wanted to fight a strategic decisive battle in Tianjin, and it was not just a simple battle of defending the city, but a battle covering the defense of the city and large-scale field battles.

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 brought about by the possible encroachment of the East into the Customs in the future.

The strategic goals of the two sides are different, but it has led them to make a common choice.

On July [-], the Third Army of the Chu Army gathered in Qing County, about [-] kilometers south of Tianjin.

In the next few days, 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 County, winning and losing each other.

On July [-], after receiving the news, more than [-] people from various departments of the Second Army also arrived in Qing County.

At this time, in the surrounding areas of Qingxian County, there were already two Chu army troops gathered, including three new-style divisions, two old-style divisions, three cavalry brigades, two large-scale mortar regiments, and one heavy artillery regiment.

The total force reached about 8 people.

This force is actually similar to the combat force under Hong Chengchou on the opposite side. Although Hong Chengchou claims to have an army of 20, the actual total number of troops is only a little over 12. .

In terms of the comparison of military strength, the two sides are actually almost the same.

However, the Chu army is slightly inferior in cavalry, and has an absolute advantage in infantry and artillery, both in terms of soldier quality and equipment level.

In terms of cavalry, the main force of the cavalry of the Chu army is three traditional cavalry brigades, with a total of about [-] cavalry. These [-] cavalry are all cavalry cavalry in the traditional frontier cavalry mode, and most of them come from the frontier cavalry who surrendered in 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 poor in quality... The five divisional cavalry regiments together only have more than 2000 cavalry, and most of them are They are half-baked, and there are about 500 musket cavalry equipped with short-barreled quick-firing spears, and another 500 or so are light cavalry equipped with quick-firing pistols and sabers.

The total number of cavalry gathered by the Chu army in Qingxian County was about [-] cavalry, which was far inferior to the Ming cavalry on the opposite side.

The combat power of the elite cavalry is also inferior.

The four thousand fine cavalry of the three cavalry brigades of the Chu army are still difficult to compare with the four thousand Guanning iron cavalry under Zu Dashou's command, but the difference is not there.

As for ordinary cavalry, because the Chu army used cavalry pistols and cavalry spears on a large scale, they sometimes fought like dogs, and were scattered by the enemy's charge, and sometimes they were used well.

In the comparison and battle between the cavalry, the Chu army was at a disadvantage as a whole, but it was not irreparable. In a real fight, it would depend on the use of the cavalry by the generals of both sides. No one dared to say that they had absolute certainty.

However, apart from being inferior in cavalry, the Chu army has an almost absolute advantage in other aspects.

On the artillery, the divisional artillery of the five divisions of the Chu Army, plus two mortar regiments and a heavy artillery regiment.

Although things like mortars are useless in large-scale field battles, especially in encounter battles, if the Chu army goes all the way to the city of Tianjin in the later stage, and the battle with the opponent is relatively long, when commanding and scrambling for many strongholds, These mortars can play a huge role. A burst of mortars cannonballs past, and any fortress will be blown to pieces.

In the same situation, there are eight fourteen-pound cannons in the heavy artillery regiment. This artillery was originally developed and produced for naval warships, and was later used to deploy coastal and river forts as fortress artillery.

The barrel diameter is as much as 25 times, and the caliber has reached 130mm. The bronze-cast artillery is more than two tons, and the whole artillery 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 that of the army's nine-pound field gun, both are 110 mm, but the barrel is longer and the barrel diameter is doubled. It has reached 24 times. This thing is actually a cannon used on naval battleships or fortresses.

However, at the beginning of the Eastward Campaign, the army has successively used these heavy artillery for siege operations. The Northern Expedition also prepared a batch of such heavy artillery for siege. They played a significant role in the Yangzhou Battle and the Huai'an Battle .

When going north, this heavy artillery regiment was incorporated into the Third Army to go north to fight.

These heavy artillery were prepared by the Chu army for the fortified battle of Youzhou City and the possible follow-up into Liaodong.

In addition to more than 80 48-jin mortars and 22 heavy artillery, the rest are a large number of divisional artillery.

And these division artillery are actually the main artillery in the upcoming Tianjin battle. Those heavy artillery and large-caliber mortars seem to be powerful and powerful, but these artillery have flaws.

The accuracy of the mortars is too poor, and the mobility is not good, and the rate of fire is very slow. Except in the siege battle, these large-caliber mortars have enough time to slowly reload and shoot, and they have almost no accuracy at all. Except for the covering bombardment, it can play a very limited role in other battlefields.

Heavy artillery does not have such defects as 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, and it can always be pulled away with a little more mules and horses.

But which family fights, and goes to the official way...

Most of the battles, especially the battles in the wild, are in the barren mountains and fields. There are no formed 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 Build an artillery position and fire... Maybe the previous battle is over.

This is also why the Chu army clearly distinguishes field artillery from cannons. Both bombs weigh nine catties and have the same caliber of 110mm, but nine catties field guns are incorporated into divisional artillery regiments. The 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 the small diameter and low chamber pressure, the barrel must be thinner, and the total weight of the cannon is only more than one ton. The ammunition box deployed in the leading vehicle can also be removed to further reduce the weight of the whole gun.

This kind of artillery, which has been greatly reduced, can be pulled even in the wilderness where there are no roads. At most, it is just a mule and a horse in the front, and the artillery in the back is just pushing...

As for the five-pound field gun, it is even lighter. Only when this thing is eighteen times the diameter of the barrel, it only weighs seven or eight hundred catties.

In normal times, if the loss of mules and horses is not considered, in fact, a horse can be directly pulled to march on a flat official road... In combat, even if there is no road ahead, or even up a mountain, at most a few horses plus a few A soldier who pushes from behind can be pulled away directly...

It really doesn't work, multiple artillerymen gathered together, can carry it directly...

Then there is the two-and-a-half catty field artillery, which no longer belongs to the divisional artillery in the Chu army, but to the regimental artillery.

Regardless of whether it is a new-style division or an old-style division, they are directly assigned to the infantry regiments. When fighting on weekdays, they are directly used to support infantry battalion-level battles.

This thing is lighter, and the whole cannon weighs only five or six hundred catties... In combat, a single cannon is only three or four hundred catties. 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 away...

And these portable field artillery are the biggest support and confidence of the Chu army's various combat capabilities, especially when fighting in the field, these field artillery are very easy to use.

As for the three types of field artillery mentioned above, the second army and the third army together have a total of more than 300 guns!
It far exceeds the number of seventy or eighty long-barreled artillery pieces of the Ming army on the opposite side.

In terms of artillery, the Chu army has an absolute advantage.

In addition, in terms of infantry, the Chu army actually has an absolute advantage.

In terms of overall quality, with the generous food and treatment of the Chu army, a veteran who has been in the army for more than half a year is randomly picked up, and he is all muscular, and it is easy to trot for hundreds of meters with a heavy load.

What physical fitness brings is better load-bearing mobility on the battlefield.

When the two sides fight in formation, the soldiers on one side wear armor and struggle to maneuver for hundreds of meters, while the soldiers on the other side also wear armor and can walk thousands of meters at a stretch while carrying weapons. This will cause the side with poor physical fitness to be unable to Keep up with the changes in the formation in time, and eventually the enemy finds a flaw.

Whether it is combat with cold weapons or the era of muskets, infantry combat is based on formations. Once the formation is flawed or even restrained, it is not far from being defeated.

The infantry of the Chu army has a huge physical advantage, and also has a better equipment advantage.

This can be explained from the fact that the first-line combatants in the Chu army have a [-]% armor rate.

Regardless of whether they were musketeers or spearmen, the first-line infantry in the Chu army were all wearing armor. The spearmen in the front row wore full-body heavy armor, the spearmen in the back row wore ordinary full-body armor, and the musketeers wore half-body light armor.

And these armors, even the half body light armor, are actually all cloth face armor.

On the other hand, the Ming army on the opposite side had a much lower rate of wearing armor. Even the [-] elite cavalry belonging to Zu Dashou, the most elite among them, could not put on every cavalry.

As for the infantry, usually only the personal soldiers and grassroots officers have heavy armor, some soldiers have ordinary light armor, and some are pure cotton armor.

Before the First Cavalry Brigade attacked a group of about a thousand people in Jinghai County. The Ming army’s partial division from Tianjin to Jinghai. According to the statistics after the war, about 30.00% of the Ming army’s casualties and prisoners of war were armored, and the rest Not even a padded jacket...

And this is already the last elite of the Ming court.

In addition to the disadvantages of the cavalry, the Chu army has an absolute advantage in artillery and infantry. This is also an important confidence for General Li Chengtong to continue to lead his army to Tianjin after the second army arrived and rested for several days. .

On July [-], Li Chengtong led the Second Army and the Third Army to continue north along the canal.

Although the two sides are still tens of kilometers apart at this time, and there is even a Jinghai County in the middle, both sides know that this battle has officially begun!
On July [-], when he learned that the main force of the Chu army was attacking Jinghai, Hong Chengchou ordered Zu Dashou and Wu Xiang to lead [-] cavalry and [-] infantry. A total of [-] Guan Ning cavalry made a roundabout attack to intercept the rear logistics line of the Chu thieves.

(End of this chapter)