Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 173 Infantry vs Cavalry

In this era, there is no radio communication technology, and there is no so-called auxiliary telescopic equipment and fast transportation.

In fact, there are many accidental factors in the large-scale battle of 10,000+ people.

Neither Liu Zhaoji, the commander-in-chief of the Guards, nor Zuo Liangyu, the commander of the Zuojun, had any way to know the specific situation at the front of the war anytime and anywhere. They could only make arrangements based on the general situation.

And most of the army has not yet been able to participate, after all, no one is sure what will happen next.

Only the First Class A Battalion of the Cavalry and the First Class A Battalion of the Infantry participated in the battle in the Guards, and only two thousand cavalry participated in the battle in the Left Army.

In fact, in this era, the real soul army of a so-called hundreds of thousands of troops is often composed of thousands of cavalry or other ace elites.

Now the left army has not yet collapsed, relying on the two thousand Ding cavalry and the three thousand cavalry in Huaining City.

Once the iron cavalry composed of these Zuo Liangyu's slaves were wiped out by the guards, Zuo Liangyu's army would be like a toothless tiger. Of course, Zuo Liangyu would not wait until his trump card was wiped out before retreating.

Usually, as long as the two thousand cavalry outside the city did not repel the infantry battalion of the guards, or were defeated by the guards outside the city, he would not stick to Huaining City and evacuate immediately.

Hit and run is the only basis for Zuo Liangyu to survive and grow in this troubled world.

The Guards rely on three A-type infantry battalions, two A-type cavalry battalions, and two A-type artillery battalions.

If Zuo Liangyu's iron cavalry really defeated the infantry battalions and artillery battalions of the Guards, the First Corps of the Guards would undoubtedly suffer huge losses, and even lose the ability to fight together. It is difficult to break through Huaining City only by cavalry .

What Liu Zhaoji is worried about now is whether the infantry battalion can block the attack of the left army's two thousand cavalry.

The performance of the First Type A Infantry Battalion did not disappoint Liu Zhaoji, although under the pressure of the cavalry attack, many people did show signs of panic and bewilderment.

But fortunately, the Type A battalion is worthy of being a Type A battalion. A large number of grassroots officers are veteran firearms soldiers of the frontier army, and many of them have even fought against heavy cavalry like the Tartars. Naturally, the basic formation can be guaranteed to be stable.

In the past, those scholars in the scholar camp were able to pass the examinations of scholars and promote scholars all the way on the road to career. Coupled with such a long training and their own intelligence is not low, their ability to withstand pressure is indeed extraordinary, and they can do well in front of others. In the case of cavalry, the flintlock can also be operated according to the usual training.

Once a recruit fires his first shot, he no longer has time to think about whether he will die, but devotes himself entirely to his murderous interest.

This is also the reason why violent games can become popular.

However, although the soldiers of the First A Battalion of the Infantry of the First Guards Corps could calmly and calmly attack the cavalry of the Left Army, the smoke formed by the pyrotechnic powder often caused a lot of damage to the shooting accuracy after several rounds of shooting. big difficulty.

In this case, both his side and the cavalry of the left army shot indiscriminately like a blind man.

The left army began to attack from the flanks by taking advantage of the maneuverability of their own cavalry, rode their horses quickly, and quickly used the smoke to cover both sides of the infantry battalion, and directly lit the three-eyed blunderbuss to attack the two sides of the infantry battalion.

A captain of the Guards was directly hit by a bullet, and the whole person fell down.

Then, a few more people fell down. If it weren't for the discipline and the inability of the 6000 people to run away from other directions, the entire First Battalion of Infantry Type A might have collapsed.

Of course, this kind of cavalry will strike from both sides. As veterans, Zhou Yuji, Liu Fangliang, Liu Zhaoji and others have never thought about it.

At this time, Yang Tinglin had ordered his soldiers to blow the horn, and the order of the horn meant to change the formation from twelve to five.

That is to say, a battalion of 6000 people immediately changed from a row of [-] to a total of [-] rows when the cavalry of the left army rushed to the front of the formation. strike.

Moreover, in order to prevent the left army from disrupting the formation, the shield soldiers will also be transferred to the first row of flanks, and at the same time, the spearmen who have been following the second row will immediately hang their flintlocks on their bodies, and at the same time stab their spears out of the shield. .

The third row will also use bayonets to prepare the left army to avoid the spears and perform scattered stabs.

This kind of front-line transition has been trained many times. After the first formation is not in chaos, the transition is also very easy. According to the most basic organization, the first two marks are still responsible for frontal defense, while the third to seventh marks turn right immediately. Turn left immediately at the fourth to eighth marks.

When the cavalrymen of the left army saw that the three-eyed blunderbuss and bows and arrows in their hands almost disrupted the infantry camp, their confidence was greatly increased, and they rushed forward quickly, but when they saw dozens of spears and shields forming an iron wall before the formation , most of the cavalry of the left army rushing to the front had no time to turn and hit them directly.

Several spears pierced into the horse's body, blood flowed profusely in an instant, and a left army cavalry fell directly into it.

He was stabbed with a row of bayonets on the spot, leaving holes all over his body.

However, the huge impact force made the shield soldiers at the front of the Guards unable to bear it. Although they were all strong and brave, many of them had their hearts and lungs shattered, or they were directly smashed into flesh, or even smashed into the camp.

However, the guards also had corresponding response training during training, and immediately stepped back and started shooting again.

The Guards at the back had already begun to shoot at the Left Army behind with their flintlocks. Except for the Left Army in front causing some damage to the officers and soldiers of the Guards, the cavalry of the Left Army behind were killed and wounded again.

The left army is not the cavalry of the Qing army. Of course, even the cavalry of the Qing army cannot have a good collapse rate in this era. kill.

The cavalry of the left army attempted to disrupt the formation before the second battalion of infantry type A behind them changed formation.

But at this time, the Second Battalion of Infantry Type A was quickly ordered by the commander of the battalion to change to a one-one-style formation, that is, a horizontal formation of 1000 people increased the coverage of firepower, and inflicted a large number of casualties before the left army rushed.

The first battalion of infantry type A also continued to turn to the second battalion of synchronous type A to attack the cavalry of the left army in a way of advancing up and down.

It is equivalent to using the infantry's superiority in firepower and numbers to suppress a small number of cavalry.

The cavalry of the left army also knew that they were in the predicament of being attacked by the enemy, so they hurriedly withdrew.

If it weren't for the poor maneuverability of the infantry battalion, and the fact that the flintlock guns are not as good as the breech-loading rifles, they can only watch the remaining thousand cavalry of the left army retreat. The infantry battalion can completely wipe out the cavalry of the left army. Not just knockback.

At this time, upon seeing this, Liu Zhaoji decisively ordered the [-]rd Type A Battalion of the Infantry and the [-]nd Type B Cavalry Battalion to immediately rush to the other exit of Huaining County, which is where the Huaihe River is located, so as to prevent Zuo Liangyu from knowing that his two thousand cavalry suffered a big loss. will be withdrawn immediately.

At the same time, the other three infantry battalions and the artillery began to advance towards Huaining County step by step.

(End of this chapter)