After Huo Lingyao returned, the people who returned to the headquarters did not cause any trouble again, nor did they complain about the insufficient share of drinking water. Two days later, when it was time for the two sides to engage in battle, a slow and shocking roar rang out in the Ming army camp with Hui'an Fort as the core.
Almost at the same moment, the sound of war drums sounded in the hearts of the people, and the sound of horns also sounded in the Mongolian army camp opposite, and a great battle began.
Since it was a battle, it was a serious face-to-face fight, rather than passive defense by clinging to the castle fortifications. Therefore, the Red Shirt Army also formed a large camp with trench cover and formed an array in the open area.
Three rows of red-shirted soldiers lined up, checking their weapons and fixing their bayonets amidst the officer's command. At a glance, the dirty red shirts of the soldiers stood out in the tawny desert. The harsh summer sun shone brightly on them.
A cluster of bayonets shone brightly, and the soldiers remained silent, waiting for the battle to come.
Slowly, a belt composed of countless black dots appeared in front. This was the cavalry of the Xixia Army. The sound of horns was heard in the distance. The Xixia Army formed a long snake formation and pressed from three directions: left, center and right.
Come over, you can see all the black cavalry and colorful flags. The number of enemies is obviously several times more than that of the Ming army, and they are all highly mobile cavalry. If they were replaced by ordinary troops, I am afraid that the momentum will be already gone by now.
They were defeated first, but the three thin rows of red-shirted troops still stood as steady as a rock, with only the hot wind in the desert making a sound of brightly-written flags.
The cavalry of the Xixia Army started jogging. For a moment, it seemed as if the entire desert was moving. The effect of tens of thousands of cavalry galloping together was beyond imagination. Only the word "earthquake" can be used to describe it. The land in the Ningxia desert is as hard as iron.
, it was still rumbling under the feet of countless iron hooves, and even the ground under the feet of the Red Shirt Army was shaking. The commander-in-chief of the Xixia Army, Gu Lunmu, stood on a sand dune, looking at the magnificent momentum directed by himself, and nodded with satisfaction.
, with such military power, there are not many armies in the world that can compete with it. Even if the opponent is the strongest army of the Han people with sophisticated firearms and experienced hundreds of battles, they will probably only tremble under this iron current.
Gu Lunmu was right. There were too few soldiers in the Red Shirt Army. Even with sophisticated firearms, they could not cover such a long front. The cavalry moved very fast, leaving them very little time to shoot calmly. Besides, in the
In the face of such a shocking cavalry charge, who can maintain a good mood and fight.
On the flanks of the three rows of red-shirted troops were pitiful cavalry. The three hundred knights who returned to the army were in charge of the left wing of the formation. Seeing the overwhelming Xixia cavalry, all the knights who returned to the army opened their eyes angrily and drew their swords in their hands. Meng Dan
He whispered to Huo Lingyao: "Looking at this formation, the Ming army will definitely be defeated. I will cover the princess and fight out later. I can save everyone one by one. This is the only way we can do it now."
Huo Lingyao didn't answer. She looked sideways at the red-shirted soldiers in the queue. They were standing calmly as if nothing had happened. They were calm as usual in the face of the galloping horses. They were still chewing something in their mouths. All soldiers were so calm.
, it can be seen that the training level of the Red Shirt Army has reached a strong level.
The Xixia people were getting closer and closer. The war horses changed from cantering to trotting. The horses' hooves hit the ground and made a thunderous sound. The knights hid behind the horses' heads and controlled the direction of the horses with only their legs.
They took out short bows and feather arrows with both hands and prepared to shoot. After they fired a round of arrows, the war horses rushed into the enemy's formation. They could draw their sabers and hack down the infantry from a high position. As for the pitiful cavalry on the enemy's flanks, they were not there at all.
within the scope of consideration.
In this era, cavalry were the masters of the battlefield. They combined mobility and long-range firepower, and had huge advantages that infantry could never match. Moreover, the nomadic cavalry, who had grown up on horseback, had a huge training advantage over the Han cavalry.
, this is a natural advantage, no matter how hard they train, it will be difficult for them to follow in the footsteps of others. So according to conventional thinking, the Xixia people will win this battle, not to mention the three thousand red shirts, but the one hundred thousand red shirt infantry.
, in this endless desert, they are no match for the 30,000 Xixia cavalry.
But times have quietly changed. The kings of the Western Regions have not yet realized that their advantages will disappear in the face of steel. The master of the battlefield will not be cavalry or infantry, but artillery.
The three columns of infantry were just a cover-up. Liu Ziguang was not stupid enough to use the ordinary three-stage firecracker attack against the large cavalry. His trump card was the artillery arrayed behind the infantry.
This kind of gun is not the eight-pound infantry cannon that is common in the military, but a fifty-pound cannon that has never been seen on the battlefield. The so-called fifty-jin refers to the fact that the shells used by this gun weigh fifty pounds.
Jin, this is an old-fashioned name. In fact, according to military terminology, this kind of gun is called the Tianqi 14th-year-old five-inch caliber tiger squatting howitzer. The gun body and gun frame are all made of the highest quality high-carbon steel.
It is so smooth that you can see the silhouette of a human being. The inside of the barrel is rifled by a hydraulic machine. Each shell is also made of fine steel and has a perfect streamline shape. The outer shell is smooth and shiny, and contains exquisite and reliable machinery.
Fuze and a large amount of nitrocellulose high explosive**.
On the command tower, Liu Ziguang saw that the Xixia Army had entered the effective firing range. He waved his hand decisively. The flag officer next to him waved the red flag in his hand, and a command sounded from the artillery position:
"Fire the whole regiment, target No. 702, target 'enemy' cavalry, grenade instant fuze, No. 4 charge, baseline shooting direction, shoot to 0-04, sight 376, 0-35 to the right, 8 rounds for the whole regiment and 5 seconds
Load, put!”
The cannonballs had been loaded into the barrels long ago, and the angle of the muzzle had been set. After hearing the commander's order, dozens of artillerymen quickly and neatly pulled the gun ropes, and the thirty cannons suddenly roared.
This kind of roar is completely different from the roar of tens of thousands of iron hoofs pounding the earth. The latter can only be regarded as child's play compared with it. The roar of the giant cannon shook the entire Hui'an Fort. Mud fell from the earth walls, and everything
The soldiers all felt their eardrums being impacted. The warriors' horses had not been trained to withstand the sound of artillery fire, so they were frightened on the spot. Fortunately, the riders had excellent riding skills and were able to barely control it.
Thirty huge artillery shells rotated rapidly in the barrel, then spurted out, shooting at the Xixia cavalry brigade with endless fury. The shells penetrated faster than the sound of the artillery. Before the Xixia army heard the deafening roar, the shells had already
It fell among them, and the fuse hit the hard ground, immediately detonating the nitrocellulose gunpowder inside the bomb. The gunk burned rapidly and expanded millions of times in a ten thousandth of a second. No matter how strong it was,
The outer shell could not withstand such great pressure, so the air waves pushed the steel fragments and sprayed them in all directions, killing people and horses without any scruples.
Thirty rounds of artillery shells blasted 30 large gaps in the cavalry line on the spot. People and horses within a few dozen feet of the explosion were killed without any bones left. Some heads and feet were hundreds of feet apart. Before the Xixia army could
After waking up from the panic of the surprise attack, the second wave of blows arrived again.
The artillerymen of the Red Shirt Army have already put on earplugs and are fighting under the command of the officers. The sound of the giant cannon is so loud that the eardrums cannot bear it if they stand nearby. Even if they wear earplugs, many soldiers still suffer from hearing impairment.
.
After the first shot was ejected from the chamber, the artillerymen immediately opened the breech, and the brass shell casing fell out with gunpowder smoke. It was still hot when it fell to the ground. They did not dare to pick it up without gloves. The camphor beside them
In the wooden ammunition box, the cannonballs had torn off the wax paper wrapping and were polished to a shiny finish. The ammunition hand was shirtless, using his muscular arms to pick up the heavy oval cannonballs and stuff them into the barrel, and then quickly stepped aside.
The gunner followed up and grabbed the gun rope, quickly turning his head to pay attention to the commander's small flag. There were 300 artillerymen serving the thirty cannons. After long and hard training, everyone's movements were uniform, from removing the shell to loading the ammunition and preparing to fire.
It only takes a few seconds.
The flag was waved, the shells were fired again, and the huge recoil caused the gun carriage to move violently backward. If the long hoe had not been nailed to the ground, the artillery position would have been disrupted long ago.
Continuous high-explosive grenades exploded in the Xixia army, forming a steel barrage. Even modern armored vehicles could not withstand such bombardment, let alone flesh and blood. The chainmail armor of the Xixia heavy armored cavalry blocked them.
The crossbow was still somewhat effective, but it was as useless as a thin layer of paper in front of the hot and sharp steel shrapnel. Countless battle-hardened knights and horses were thrown high into the sky by the air waves, and were torn into pieces by the shrapnel. By luck
The surviving knights fell off their horses, their whole heads dizzy. In their eyes, the world was no longer the original world, it had turned into a blood-red sky, and their ears were buzzing, even if their comrades were shouting beside them.
Even the shouting could not be heard. Some people were stunned by the air wave. No matter who was next to them, they drew their scimitars and cut them. In short, the huge cavalry charge group had been disintegrated by the shelling.
However, the resilience of the Xixia people should not be underestimated. Although the forwards had been blown to pieces, under the command of Gu Lunmu, the rear troops still bravely rode forward and joined the attack queue. They knew clearly that they were moving forward.
Even death, but for the final victory, no one is willing to back down.
Although the power of the thirty giant cannons was great, many cavalrymen still slipped through the line of fire. These bloody cavalrymen rushed over from three sides crazily. The knights stood on the stirrups with their feet upright and waved.
He was holding his saber and shouting at the top of his lungs, like a group of vengeful devils.
At this time, the infantrymen who were acting as cover had already retreated into the trench that was half a man deep. Hundreds of muskets opened fire at the same time, knocking off the cavalrymen who were lucky enough to pounce. The infantrymen calmly reloaded and fired again.
Forming an uninterrupted fire net, annihilating those who slipped through the net after the bombardment.
Gu Lunmu looked at this tragic scene, veins suddenly appeared in his hands, and his telescope was about to break when he held it. However, he did not panic, but calmly ordered the cavalry to attack in a roundabout way, attacking from the flank.
The horn sounded again, and the attacking Xixia troops immediately turned their horses and rushed toward the two wings of Hui'an Fort. The tide of cavalry was like a river hitting a rock, splitting into two instantly, and the red shirt army's cannons were suddenly lost.