I want to be emperor

Chapter 534 Cavalry Fighting
April 26, Chengshun sixth year, about eleven o'clock.

The western end of the Liaoxi Corridor, about [-] kilometers east of Shanhaiguan, is Zhongqiansuo City in Guangning.

Hundreds of cannons outside the city were firing continuously, including fourteen-pound cannons with long barrels and large calibers weighing several tons, and long-barreled nine-pound cannons.

Relying on their powerful power, these cannons fired solid shells at the middle distance towards the city wall of Zhongqian and some fortresses outside the city.

The huge solid shells, carrying huge end kinetic energy, continued to hit the ancient city wall one after another, smashing the outer bricks of the city wall to pieces, and when the outer bricks of the city wall were smashed off, the inside The rammed earth was also exposed.

If the rammed earth layer continues to be hit by solid shells, it will definitely be fine if it is hit by one or two shells, but if it continues to be hit, it will loosen, fall off, and eventually collapse.

The city wall here in Zhongqian is not like Jinling City or Youzhou City, which are super metropolitan cities. The city wall is more than ten meters thick at every turn.

Compared with the solid shell bombardment of cannons, the more than 100 howitzers of various calibers in the Chu army are more deadly.

Many of the grenades fired by these howitzers are large-caliber grenades, 150 catties of 24 mm, 170 catties of 48 mm, and [-] catties of [-] mm grenades. In the rear, if it hits the enemy army, it will set off a bloodbath.

In particular, some grenades that explode in the air directly above the enemy's heads are even more lethal. If the 48-jin new grenade explodes in the air, a large number of shell fragments and small steel balls can be formed, and the number of bullets below will be splashed like rain. In an area of ​​ten meters, if there is a dense gathering of enemy troops just below, and there is no thick canopy fortifications above the head, then the entire army will be wiped out in minutes.

Not only howitzers fire new-style howitzers, but even the nine-pound field artillery has poor shelling effects due to solid shells. Some nine-pound field artillery are also deployed close to each other, raising the elevation angle and firing nine-pound 110mm grenades.

The continuous explosions brought an unprecedented experience to the defenders in the city of Zhongqian.

They have long heard that the Chu army's guns are sharp, and many of them have even fought against the Chu army and seen the power of the Chu army's guns.

But... the fierce artillery attack launched by the Chu army is still far beyond their imagination.

Such intensive bombardment made it impossible to gain a foothold on the top of the city, even if there were ring-shaped sandbag fortifications, because the grenades fired by the Chu army were too excessive, and many of them exploded in the air.

The gunners of the Chu army are fond of grenades that explode in the air. Therefore, when adjusting the ignition time of wooden fuzes, they often advance a little bit in advance, trying to make the grenades explode in the instant before they hit the ground.

Of course, due to the lack of a tight fuze, even if the ignition time is deliberately advanced, it is actually difficult to say the detonation time of the grenade. Exploding in the air ahead of time has become an expensive firework!

Only a few can explode in the air just flying over the enemy's head.

However, although this probability is small, it can't hold back the Chu army's artillery and the grenades they fired.

Under such circumstances, the top of the city has become dangerous, and even the area behind the city wall has become unsafe, because the grenade trajectory of the Chu army is curved, and many shells actually landed behind the city wall and exploded...

On the contrary, some trenches dug by the Dongbang people outside the city walls are safer, because these trenches are often relatively deep, and there are also artillery fortifications. Even if the Chu army's grenade is powerful, it is difficult to cause too much actual threat. .

-

The fierce shelling of the Chu army made the defenders in Zhongqian Institute feel tremendous pressure, especially the heavy casualties suffered at the beginning, which directly made the defenders in the city lose their stubborn confidence.

That's why they repeatedly urged the Dongyao 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 semaphore, telling them to fight desperately, and they are absolutely not allowed to retreat without authorization.

Although he himself was dissatisfied, he also led the cavalry to attack.

He couldn't really just watch the hundreds of artillery pieces of the Chu army continuously bombarding the center and front, that would be useless no matter how determined the defenders' fighting will was.

Judging from the current shelling posture of the Chu army, it might be that they are rushing to blow up the Zhongqian Institute into ruins.

Hauge is also a senior general who has experienced many battles. He knows very well that under the bombardment of Chu Manzi, the defenders will suffer a lot of casualties if they want to resist. Whether the casualties are large or small, the most important thing is that the damage to morale is too great. .

After experiencing such a fierce shelling, when Chu Manzi's infantry rushed up, the defenders in the city might not be able to organize effective resistance, and it would really be over by then.

Therefore, he must reduce the pressure on the defenders in the city, and no matter how bad it is, he must force Chu Manzi not to bombard him so recklessly.

But if they wanted to threaten Chu Manzi's artillery positions, or make them unable to send infantry forward to attack the city with confidence, they had to go to the side.

You can't expect your own cavalry to scare the Chu Manzi on the opposite side from being able to fight just a few kilometers away, right...

And if you want to get close, 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 this idea was dismissed by him as soon as it was implemented.

More than 2000 cavalrymen on the right wing tried to go around, but they couldn't get rid of the interception of the cavalry on the opposite side.

On the opposite side, Chu Manzi's mobility, organization, and adaptability were not bad, and it was impossible for his own cavalry to go around directly.

Since it can't get around, then it can only be killed directly!
The previous tentative attack of the right-wing forward cavalry strengthened his idea.

He boarded the watchtower and witnessed the tentative attack with his own eyes.

In his eyes, Chu Manzi's artillery fired well, and it also caused a lot of damage to the forward cavalry of his side who were probing the attack. However, after the cavalry of both sides directly confronted and fought, their cavalry artillery lost the biggest advantage. effect.

In the fight between the two sides, the Chu Manzi cavalry did not show extraordinary performance. Although they were stronger than the previous Ming cavalry, their strength was limited.

In the confrontation with the cavalry of one's own side, the opponent did not take advantage of it at all, and was even at a disadvantage.

And these circumstances strengthened Hauge's confidence in leading the army to attack.

When Hauge led the attack, the cavalry of the Chu Army on the opposite side also confronted each other. The main force of the First Cavalry Army was dispatched quickly, and the cavalry detachment of the Guards also followed from the right.

At this time, tens of thousands of cavalry from both sides had already lined up in the field, and the main force continued to press on, and at the same time dispatched a number of small and medium-sized troops to launch an attack.

On the north side of the battlefield, the right wing of the Eastern Cape, with more than 2000 cavalry, has evolved from a tentative attack to a full-scale melee with the [-]rd Cavalry Brigade of the Chu Army.

There are cavalry dead and wounded every hour!

And in the center of the battlefield, dozens of cavalry artillery, the main cavalry artillery unit of the Chu army, have already advanced and fired!
The target of their fire was not the main force of the enemy's cavalry who was still relatively far away, but the forward cavalry of the Eastern Captive Chinese Army who were sent up first by the enemy to try to move forward and pull out these cavalry artillery in advance.

Hundreds or more than a thousand cavalry galloped on the battlefield. They maneuvered back and forth, trying to find a space to rush in, and then destroy the Chu army's cavalry artillery position.

In this regard, dozens of cavalry artillerymen of the Chu army were also tit-for-tat. They used solid shells and shotguns to hit any Dongyao cavalry forwards who had been daring to approach.

At the same time, the elite [-]th Cavalry Brigade of the [-]st Cavalry Army was also divided into two parts to wander around the central battlefield. Instead of directly rushing up to fight the enemy cavalry forwards, they used maneuvering interceptions to force the enemy cavalry to give up the detour attack. Ideas for flanking artillery positions.

As for the frontal impact...

If these hundreds of thousands of cavalry forwards of the Eastern Captive Chinese Army could attack the frontal firepower interception net composed of dozens of cavalry guns of the Chu army, they would not have to spend so much effort to detour.

Even if the speed of 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 guns. If the casualties are large, they will not be able to move forward at all.

Even if they continue to advance, the elite cavalry of the [-]th Cavalry Brigade will go up immediately and kill the conservative artillery, which has suffered heavy losses and the enemy's forward cavalry in a scattered formation.

In this regard, Brigadier General Qi Lianghou of the Fourth Cavalry Brigade has absolute confidence.

His Fourth Cavalry Brigade, in the entire Great Chu Empire, belonged to the elite of the traditional cavalry and archery cavalry, and it would be no problem at all to beat the remnants of the enemy.

The sharp firepower of the cavalry guns of the Chu army forced the forward cavalry of the Chinese army in the east captivity to constantly try to circumvent and break through... and the fourth 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 charging at a gallop, sometimes turning at a high speed at a large angle, and when the distance between the two sides was relatively close, they would directly bend their bows and shoot arrows on horseback.

This kind of tactic of moving from left to right, advancing and retreating from time to time, and retreating from time to time is a typical tactic of traditional cavalry and archery cavalry.

If it is used against infantry or something, it is very useful!

As for the other party being the same cavalry and archery cavalry as himself...then they can only compete with the organization's adaptability and the soldiers' personal combat skills.

Especially than the ability to bow and shoot arrows on horseback.

Not all cavalrymen can bend their bows and shoot arrows directly on the horseback galloping at high speed, and hit the enemy accurately.

This requires the cavalry's superb riding and archery skills.

In this regard, on the whole, the cavalry of the Eastern captivity is undoubtedly better than the cavalry of the Chu army.

This is also the reason why Zhu Xingfa sent the most elite fourth cavalry brigade to fight this typical confrontation from the very beginning.

Because if you change to another cavalry brigade, I am afraid that you will not be able to handle the forward cavalry of the Eastern Captive Chinese Army on the opposite side. Once you can't hold it, the dozens of cavalry cannons deployed in the front will be greatly threatened.

After being threatened, these cavalry artillerymen either desperately resisted, the most artillery positions were broken through and the whole army was wiped out, or they were forced to transfer urgently, and once they were transferred urgently, these dozens of cavalry artillery would not be able to continue to play in a short time Worked.

And this is also the purpose of the vanguard cavalry of the Eastern Captive Chinese Army on the opposite side!

The vanguard cavalry of the Eastern Captive Chinese Army does not mean that they must kill the cavalry artillery deployed in the front of the Chu Army. As long as they can expel the artillery of the Chu Army and prevent the main force of the Chinese Army from following up without being subjected to intensive shelling, then they can be regarded as Completed the tactical mission.

It's just that the Chu army directly dispatched the most elite traditional cavalry and archery cavalry, the Fourth Cavalry Brigade, which made their tactical goals impossible to achieve.

Seeing this scene, Hauge in the rear ordered without hesitation to send [-] Mongolian Eight Banners cavalry forward again!

The two thousand Mongolian Eight Banners cavalry cannot compare with the full Eight Banners in other aspects, such as fighting will, determination and morale, but when it comes to equestrianism and archery, these nomads who grew up on horseback are absolutely It is one-on-one.

Even if it is the cavalry of the Eight Banners itself!
There is no way, the cavalrymen of the Eight Banners, they did not grow up on horseback since childhood, they are actually a fishing and hunting nation, and gradually evolved into a farming nation after taking control of Liaodong.

Their elite cavalry also needs to be trained.

In terms of riding and shooting, nomadic cavalry must be better at it.

The two thousand Mongolian Eight Banners cavalry also advanced this point. When they stepped forward, their formation was actually very scattered. It was not like the Dongyao cavalry before.

Like a group of wild dogs, they ran up on horseback in a mess.

Zhu Xingfa also dispatched cavalry in time to fight, and another cavalry of the Chu Army killed it in a short time.

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 the north side, and then the thousands of cavalry of the Chinese army. The strikers fought, and now thousands more ride.

Today's battle scale is already very large!
However, they didn't actually say that the whole army would press on directly, but gradually engage in battle through continuous troop mobilization and small and medium-scale cavalry battles.

This kind of super cavalry battle, where tens of thousands of cavalry fought, did not mean that the generals of both sides gave an order, and then tens of thousands of cavalry directly charged up.

There is no such condition at all!

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 has reached several kilometers... At the same time, although the overall terrain is flat, there are still undulations and low mountains.

Even if they sit on a horse and observe condescendingly, in fact, the commanders of both sides can't see all their troops at a glance. This is the case for Zhu Xingfa, and the same is true for Hauge on the opposite side.

Therefore, this super-large-scale cavalry battle, broken down, is actually composed of small and medium-sized battles of hundreds or thousands of cavalry.

But these small and medium-sized battles are linked together!
Once one of them collapses in a certain link, it will cause a chain effect and shake the entire front.

Now on the central battlefield, Hauge is trying to take advantage of his cavalry and shooting advantages to overwhelm the main cavalry of the Chu army, and then expel the cavalry artillery of the Chu army, so as to gain a favorable opportunity for the subsequent large-scale advance to the battle.

However, Hauge has Hauge's plan, and Zhu Xingfa also has Zhu Xingfa's plan!

Hauge wanted to directly kill the cavalry artillery of the Chu army, a decisive advantage in the typical central battlefield.

And Zhu Xingfa also wanted to use the guard cavalry detachment, the fourth cuirassier regiment with the strongest impact and two hussar regiments, to directly tear the enemy's left flank!

-

However, before the winner was decided on the central battlefield, and the guards on the southern battlefield hadn't attacked yet, there was a change in the northern battlefield!
On the northern battlefield, which had been fighting for more than half an hour, the [-]rd Cavalry Brigade of the Chu Army lost to the cavalry from the east and was forced to cover the gunners who had dropped their cavalry guns and evacuate from the battlefield.

The reason why the [-]rd Cavalry Brigade lost was because the cavalry on the north side of the enemy army was suddenly reinforced by a thousand cavalry cavalry. During the investigation, the third cavalry brigade was caught off guard, and the flank was directly pierced!
Under such circumstances, the third cavalry brigade was defeated in just a few minutes, and was finally forced to retreat and leave, trying to regroup and establish a new line of defense.

Although Zhu Xingfa was angry at this scene, he also said how angry he was. The outcome on the battlefield is unpredictable. It is normal for the [-]rd Cavalry Brigade to be attacked by the enemy's superior forces and be forced to retreat if they cannot defeat it.

But in this way, if you want to stabilize the northern battlefield and your own left-wing defense line, you need to mobilize troops to reinforce it. In this way, you have fewer troops to use on the central battlefield.

There are not many troops on our side. If the dozens of cavalry artillery of the cavalry artillery unit did not perform well and 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 Fifth Cavalry Brigade as a strategic reserve to support the northern line, at least to contain the enemy cavalry who were chasing, so that the remnants of the Third Cavalry Brigade had time to distance themselves and reorganize.

As the fifth cavalry brigade was transferred to the northern front, Lieutenant General Zhu Xingfa also ordered the first and second cavalry supply regiments of the strategic reserve to step forward urgently to cover the cavalry artillery and strengthen the strength of the central battlefield.

After all, the supply regiment, which is actually the infantry regiment, also used two-year-style flintlock guns. It is still possible for more than 3000 infantry to go up to cover the artillery.

Only in this way, the strategic reserve team in Zhu Xingfa's hands is only left with a supply regiment and a small number of troops directly under the army.

If the strategic reserves are exhausted, then this battle will be dangerous.

-

After Zhu Xingfa dispatched his troops, he turned his attention to the south, which was the direction of the cavalry detachment of the Guards!

Calculating the time, Sheng Yushu and the others should be almost in place!
If the guards don't launch an attack, the pressure on their side will be too great, and they may collapse!

With a small number of cavalry on one's own side and the opponent's cavalry is not as good as the opponent's cavalry and shooting, it is not easy to maintain the front line continuously, but the cavalry from Dongyao on the opposite side are attacking in turn, and the few elite main forces on their side are also forced to follow. Come and run to intercept operations.

Once the fourth cavalry brigade, an elite cavalry brigade, was exhausted too much and collapsed due to too many casualties, the entire central front would probably collapse!
His [-]st Cavalry Corps couldn't last much longer.

-

The guard cavalry detachment that Lieutenant General Zhu Xingfa was looking forward to had just been maneuvered to the predetermined position by Sheng Yushu.

The position they are in now is in a sparse forest, and the reason why they ran to this forest is not to completely conceal their tracks, in fact, they can't hide it...

The reconnaissance cavalry of the Eastern Captives has been following along. Although I don't know the details, and I don't know what kind of cuirassiers and hussars you are... But I am not blind, and I have seen these more than 2000 cavalry leaving. From the central battlefield to the south side.

Hauge didn't underestimate this, and directly asked the three thousand cavalry on the left to be vigilant, and if they dared to rush over, he would teach them how to behave.

And the [-] cavalry on the left wing of the Dongyao people are the old opponents of the Chu army's cavalry, and the [-] full Eight Banners elite cavalry who had been stationed in Balipu for a long time.

At this time, the three thousand elite cavalrymen captive from the east were closely watching the movements of the cavalry detachment of the Guards Army a few hundred meters away.

As for taking the initiative to kill the past, it is basic military common sense not to enter the forest... The generals of the cavalry of Dongyao are not stupid, and they would not be stupid to take the initiative to drill into the forest...

They just need to watch these Chu cavalry outside!

In this battle, in the hearts of Hauge and other high-ranking cavalry generals in the east, the central battlefield is the place that decides the outcome.

Whether it is the north wing or the south wing, they are all secondary. If the main thing is not to be killed by the cavalry of the Chu army, then it will be considered a success.

As for the smooth breakthrough of the northern wing... it can only be said that accidents appear on the battlefield is normal!
The Dongyaoren had never considered breaking through on the northern wing before, and the thousand cavalry who had quietly killed them before did not expect to be able to truly hide the truth from the scouts of the Chu army...

But the reality is that the Chu army's scouts really didn't find these thousand cavalry...so much so that the battlefield on the north wing changed.

And Hauge also took advantage of the changes in the northern battlefield to add fuel to the decisive victory in the central battlefield!

-

And Sheng Yushu brought the cavalry of the Guards to this undergrowth under the surveillance of Dongyao Detective Cavalry, not to hide their tracks, but purely to use the cover of the undergrowth to take a final rest.

It's still the same sentence, no one can enter the forest!

As long as the opponent has fear, then the own side can smoothly carry out the final rest and preparations, and appear on the battlefield with the best posture and launch a charge!

Today, the cavalry of the Guards are making their final battle preparations. Some of them have checked their equipment over and over again, some are drinking water and eating something, and some are calming their horses.

Sheng Yushu, on the other hand, brought a few officers to the front and looked at the battlefield ahead with a binoculars.

Because of the obstruction of the short mountains not far away, in fact, Sheng Yushu could not see the situation in the central battlefield at this time, and he did not know that in the battle on the north side, the third cavalry brigade had been defeated by the cavalry of Dongyao, and the left wing of the entire cavalry of the Chu army had been exposed. Under the threat of enemy cavalry.

This in turn led to a further deterioration of the situation on the central battlefield!
Now, according to the tactics agreed with Lieutenant General Zhu Xingfa before the war, when Lieutenant General Zhu Xingfa led the main force of the First Cavalry Army to block the enemy's frontal attack, he led the army to raid the enemy's left flank, tore open the enemy's left flank, and then went straight into the enemy's army The hinterland behind the army!
As long as the battle plan is successful, then Ding Quankun will be able to fight against Ding Quankun, directly defeating or even severely injuring this Dongyao cavalry!
Now, it's time to launch the final step of the plan: go out, smash the enemy's left flank, and seal the victory!

(End of this chapter)