The 6,000 light cavalry of the Tang army were the recently commissioned dragoons.
This dragoon not only has the characteristics of a historical military unit, but also retains a lot of the style of the Tang Army's cavalry.
For example, each dragoon is not only equipped with firearms, but also carries melee equipment such as crossbows, small crossbows, and hand armor.
For another example, each cavalryman has one person and two horses, one horse is used for combat and the other is used for carrying loads.
The horses used by the dragoons accounted for almost half of the Tang army's mount inventory, and they were also used as a weapon to attack the Tibetan army's main formation.
The pack horses were put together and a team was separated to guard the rear formation. The remaining cavalry of the six thousand light cavalry launched an attack on the Tibetan army in the right rear compartment.
There are about 23,000 soldiers in the Tubo right rear wing army. Most of them are from Duomiyi. The members of their tribes are all good soldiers in the Tubo Kingdom.
At that time, Songtsen Gampo of Tubo relied on Domiyi's elite troops to defeat Supi and Yangtong, laying the foundation for the rise of the plateau empire.
But this time, the cavalry of the Tang Army came towards them like the waves of the sea.
The Dongbens of Domiyi did not panic at all. While giving orders to the soldiers to hold their positions, they ordered the Tibetan monks to ring the magic bells to ward off demons.
The long and heartfelt prayer spread throughout the Tibetan army's front, giving every soldier the courage to fear death.
The shields are close to each other, like a city wall, and the spears are erected one after another, like a forest of iron.
The archers of the Tibetan army also drew their bowstrings and waited for the Tang cavalry to enter the shooting range before striking them head-on.
However, to the surprise of all the Tubo people, the Tang army's light cavalry suddenly stopped when they were about 150 steps (225 meters) away from the Tubo army formation.
I saw the light cavalry of the Tang army dismounting one after another, forming several lines, picking up black iron pipes, and pointing them at the Tibetan army formation.
Just when the Tubo people were puzzled, the first column of dragoons' flintlock guns fired.
Thousands of projectiles, driven by gunpowder and carrying huge kinetic energy, roared through a distance of 150 steps and fired straight into the formation of the Tibetan army.
The shields of the Tibetan army were made of solid wood with iron hoops on the outer edge, and the middle part was wrapped in iron sheets. When faced with flintlock attacks, they looked like paper and did not play any protective role at all.
After a projectile shatters the shield, it can not only cause damage to the shield hand, but those shield fragments can even cause splash-type secondary damage to the surrounding lightly armored and unarmored personnel.
Therefore, just the first round of shooting by the dragoons caused about 270 casualties to the Tibetan army.
Immediately afterwards, the dragoons began to rotate the array, the second column, the third column, the fourth column... one column finished shooting, went back to charge, and the other column stepped forward to aim and fire again. The entire shooting process was smooth and smooth, never stopping.
The flintlock gun was like a bamboo tube pouring beans, it kept ringing from the beginning.
Tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition were poured out in almost a minute.
In just this minute, the number of casualties in the front line of the Tibetan army's right rear wing exceeded 2,000.
Looking at the entire front, the shield walls and long soldiers used by the Tibetans to defend themselves against the cavalry had almost been completely dismantled.
Even if those who were shot survived, the cavity effect caused by the impact of the projectile on the bones or armor not only made people miserable and caused them to bleed continuously in the hope of a quick death, but also the injured areas were shocking, bringing ultimate terror to the enemy.
General Daqian, who was in charge of commanding the army in the right rear compartment, saw this situation and was frightened, so he could only order the arrows to be fired repeatedly at the front line.
But the Tibetan commanders on the front line were in trouble.
In the era of cold weapons, ordinary archers were accurate within eighty steps (120 meters), and the best archers could hit nine out of ten shots at one hundred and twenty steps (180 meters).
A flintlock gun loaded with granular black powder and a fixed charger has a certain accuracy within fifty steps (75 meters), but the effective killing range of the projectile can reach as far as three hundred steps (450 meters).
Therefore, the dragoon array was 150 steps (225 meters) away from the Tibetan army, just within the advantage of the range.
At a distance of one hundred and fifty steps, even the best archer cannot guarantee that he can complete an effective projectile; and the flintlock gun, although it has lost its accuracy, has a flat-fire trajectory, coupled with the grouping
The operation resulted in the attack of the musket array, forming a similar covering saturation attack on the enemy.
This principle is just like what Anxi Dragoon instructors often say to soldiers: "Once you exceed fifty steps, I don't require you to hit the target, but you must at least hit the direction."
Seeing that the bows and arrows were out of range and the shield array could not defend themselves, the Tibetan army generals simply stopped defending and directly issued assault orders to the soldiers.
However, these Tubo people may have forgotten that their opponent is not infantry, but a group of cavalry.
Finding signs of a charge by the Tibetan army, Tang Qi's inspector issued an order to his commander to mount his horse and retreat.
After receiving the military order, the dragoons put away their flintlocks and gunpowder bags, mounted their horses, and began to retreat unhurriedly toward the edge of the battlefield.
The Tubo people chased them for a certain distance. Due to their speed, the cavalry, heavy infantry, and light infantry were stretched into a long snake formation. Some people began to fall behind, but others rushed too far forward.
After waiting for the Tibetan people's formation to be completely stretched, the dragoons placed their flintlock rifles in the horse's trousers and took out their handy horizontal knives.
The Tubo cavalry was originally small, but because of their speed, they rushed too far forward, so they were quickly prioritized by the dragoons.
Six thousand Tang army light cavalry suddenly turned around and charged against hundreds of Tubo cavalry in a chaotic formation. Even with only horizontal swords, they achieved a complete victory almost effortlessly.
After defeating the Tibetan cavalry, before the Tibetan infantry could surround them, the Tang army's dragoons turned their horses around again and widened the distance again.
Finally, the Tubo general realized that chasing was not an option and would only give the Tang army a chance to defeat them one by one. So he quickly blew the war horn and asked all the Tibetan soldiers to gather in formation, intending to retreat to the rear and wait for reinforcements.
However, seeing the Tibetan army regrouping and planning to retreat, the dragoon turned around like a piece of chewing gum stuck to its body and couldn't get rid of it, rushed back to a distance of about 150 steps, and continued
Use musket formation to attack.
You can't reach it if you want to hit it, you can't catch it if you want to, and you can't run away if you want to.
The generals of the Tubo army were completely on the verge of tears this time.
They may have never dreamed that there is such a "shameless" army in the world.
As a result, something unexpected happened on the battlefield of Tang and Tibet.
The former army, which was originally treated as cannon fodder by Tubo's slander Sang Chiruo, was now under strong pressure from the two wing supervising troops. Although their morale was low and their defeat was gradually apparent, they had already begun to engage the Tang army and barely managed to avoid defeat.
On the contrary, the Tibetan army's always stable right rear wing army, that group of 20,000 warriors known as the Plateau War Eagles, who once assisted Songtsen Gampo in establishing the mainstay of the empire, has now completely collapsed, and tens of thousands of people have been killed by six thousand.
The light cavalry of the Tang Army pursued and attacked, and even Mr. Daqian joined the fleeing formation.
This chapter has been completed!