The long-range hit rate of smoothbore muskets has always been a matter of character.
To put it bluntly, it is purely based on blindness!
In order to make up for the hit rate of muskets exceeding fifty meters, the Tang Army tried many ways, but these methods were basically unreliable. In the end, they still used the most old-fashioned method, which was to use firepower density to make up for the low hit rate.
This is also the reason why the Tang Army abandoned the previous six-row formations and instead adopted three-row formations. At the same time, the formation was very close and almost crowded. All of this was to project more bullets in a unit area.
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One bullet may not hit the enemy, but hundreds or thousands of bullets form a coverage area, which can effectively increase the hit rate.
But even so, the hit rate at a distance of 100 meters is very poor. This also leads to the fact that the Tang Army does not like long-distance shooting. Instead, it prefers to fire volleys at close range and then directly charge with bayonets!
This tactic of approaching volleys and bayonet charges sometimes works well, but sometimes it can be beaten to death. However, the Tang Army still adheres to this seemingly rigid tactic and will not change it to the death.
reason?
Because the Tang Army has been playing with muskets for so many years, there has never been a precedent in which an enemy could be defeated by musket shooting at a distance of 100 meters.
Therefore, the Army of the Tang Dynasty always insisted on firing at medium and close ranges, especially when the distance was within fifty meters, the hit rate was quite impressive.
Some of the tactics used in the infantry are also applicable to the 3rd Musketeers. The cavalry of the 3rd Musketeers would ride close to fifty meters before shooting directly on horseback.
If the enemy is not close, they can even dismount and continue shooting, killing the enemy with continuous mid-range shooting.
If the enemy wants to get close, just ride away and keep distance before shooting!
Under certain circumstances, this tactic is quite shameless when faced with pure cold-armed infantry, even when facing the enemy's cold-armed cavalry.
Because at this distance, the enemy's bows and arrows have very limited lethality. If the enemy's bows and arrows are more powerful, then the distance can be extended to 80 meters or even 100 meters. In short, the enemy's bows and arrows must be avoided.
In this case, even if the enemy is a cavalry with relatively high mobility, at most the two sides will chase and escape, and then I will shoot and you will release arrows on horseback, but the range and power of horse bows are far from comparable to that of muskets.
, As for the hit rate, both sides have to rely on their individual skills. To obtain a high hit rate, the requirements for riding and marksmanship are quite high.
Assuming that the cavalry skills of both sides are equal in riding skills and shooting and archery skills, then the traditional cavalry cavalry will be beaten to death by these musketeers.
If you just want to be able to load on horseback, aim and shoot, the requirements for cavalry are not generally high, even higher than mounted shooting, so now in the entire Datang Army, only more than 900 cavalry can do this
arrive.
What is interesting is that most of the nine hundred Tang Dynasty musketeers are descendants of the Tatars who moved south to live in the Great Wall in the early years. However, they have all migrated to the Great Wall for decades or even hundreds of years. Although many of them are still
They maintained the tradition of herding, but they had long been Chineseized and had intermarryed with the locals. They were also part of the people of the Tang Empire.
There is no other way. If you want to be good enough to ride a horse and play with a musket on horseback, only the herdsmen who have lived on horseback since childhood can do it easily.
When the Army of the Tang Dynasty recruited cavalry, it also gave priority to recruiting some herdsmen from the northern region. However, the number of herdsmen under the rule of the Tang Dynasty was not large, and the elite among them were concentrated in the Third Musket Cavalry Regiment.
The 3rd Musketeer Regiment and the 6th Cuirassier Regiment are considered to be the real elite cavalry in Kang Changning's cavalry regiment. On the contrary, the 1st Cavalry Division and the 5th Cavalry Division, although they have the title of cavalry division,
But those were just ordinary light cavalry.
Most of the elite cavalry in the Tang Army were concentrated in various independent cavalry regiments. The First Lancer Regiment, the Third Musketeer Regiment, and the Sixth Cuirassier Regiment were all the elites among the tens of thousands of cavalry in the Tang Army.
Kang Changning personally led these two cavalry regiments to guard the central army, which shows the importance of these two independent cavalry regiments.
The Tatar forward cavalry roared in, but they did not launch a charge immediately because in front of them, Kang Changning's cavalry regiment had already initially assembled, and the first cavalry division at the front was already in formation.
After all, if the thousands of Tatar forward cavalry dare to rush forward rashly, they will probably end badly.
In addition, these Tatars were traveling long distances, and most of their mounts were already exhausted. If they wanted to launch a charge, they had to change to another combat horse.
So they did not rush up directly, but approached a thousand meters away, dismounted and replaced with another one, but instead of riding on the horse, they led the horse into formation. Some Tatar knights also took out
I brought the beans and water with me to feed the war horses.
These Tatars have been cavalry all their lives, and they know better than the Tang Army that they need to preserve the physical fitness of their horses before war.
The two sides are thousands of meters apart. It seems that the distance is not short, but the cavalry on both sides are on high alert, because at this distance, it will not take much time for the cavalry to charge!
Kang Changning held a telescope and looked at the Tatar cavalry in front. He found that the cavalry behind them had not caught up in time, and he also judged that these Tatar cavalry must need a certain amount of time to rest and recuperate after a long-distance attack, even if they are just to regroup.
It takes time to organize the formation and put on new horses.
This time is only a few minutes at most, but it is an opportunity for myself.
If we wait until all the Tatars have arrived and rested, there will be no such opportunity.
After preliminarily judging the situation, Kang Changning, who has been playing cavalry for more than ten years, immediately ordered: "Order the 1st Cavalry Division and the 5th Cavalry Division to attack immediately to kill the enemy's cavalry. Be careful, you can leave with one strike, don't fall into it."
Fight!"
Kang Changning planned to knock out the enemy's forward cavalry before the main force of the enemy's cavalry arrived and rested. Even if they could not cause many casualties to their cavalry, they would be forced back, thus causing confusion and making them unable to do anything.
Successfully completed the break.
As soon as Kang Changning finished speaking, the two flag carriers behind him immediately waved their flags and conveyed orders to the 1st Cavalry Division and 5th Cavalry Division ahead through flag language.
At the same time, the two messengers beside him immediately urged their fast horses, and then ran away thinking about the 1st Cavalry Division and the 5th Cavalry Division.
The horses under the crotches of these messengers are taller than most cavalry mounts. The shoulder height of all Central Asian horses generally reaches 1.48 meters. This kind of shoulder height is among the top in Central Asian horses.
Yes.
It's basically at the same level as Kang Changning's mount.
There was no way, in order to deliver orders, the messengers in the Tang Army were equipped with the best horses, basically all Central Asian horses, and the messengers in the cavalry troops were even more top-notch Central Asian horses.
The top-notch Central Asian horses are currently only used by heavy cavalry, senior generals and messengers in the Tang Army.
Therefore, under normal circumstances, in most troops, the horses ridden by the messengers are better than those of the cavalry troops. Except for the 1st Lancer Regiment, their main mounts are all top-notch Central Asian horses or
It's an Arabian horse.
The messengers rode tall Central Asian horses and galloped all the way. At the same time, the 1st Cavalry Division and the 5th Cavalry Division also began to prepare for action.
The command transmission system of the Tang Dynasty Army was based on the coordination of semaphores and the transmission of orders by messengers. In order to avoid errors in command transmission, each order must be sent by two semaphores, and the semaphore must be consistent before it can be executed.
At the same time, on the battlefield, the messengers will also ride fast horses to deliver orders. This is an added insurance. If the flag message is transmitted incorrectly, the messengers' personal delivery can avoid mistakes in time and avoid greater losses.
Of course, the battlefield is constantly changing, and sometimes it is impossible to wait for the order troops to arrive. Therefore, most of the time, combat operations are directly transmitted through semaphore orders, and the troops receive the semaphore orders.
The personal delivery of the order by the messenger only adds a layer of insurance.
Therefore, the 1st Cavalry Division and the 5th Cavalry Division started taking action after receiving the semaphore order!
The knights of the 1st Cavalry Division began to divide into several waves under the orders of the officers, basically using standard cavalry regiments as units, forming multiple huge cavalry phalanxes.
One of the cavalry formations at the front, led by a colonel, received the order. He immediately got on his horse and said loudly: "Mount!"
Immediately, the cavalry behind him got on their horses and sat neatly on the saddles!
"Move slowly!"
As his orders continued to be issued, the adjutant behind him repeated his orders loudly: "Advance slowly!"
After the words fell, the messenger behind him, who was wearing a military uniform that was different from that of ordinary cavalry, blew the horn in his hand. The horn was relatively gentle. This represented an order to advance slowly. The officers of the infantry teams in the rear also shouted.
With the slogan of moving forward slowly!
Suddenly, the more than 800 cavalry began to advance slowly. The 800 cavalry were also divided into four waves, and each wave was a cavalry team. The strength of each team included officers, ordinary cavalry and even auxiliary cavalry.
, messengers and so on, all together, there are about two hundred cavalry.
The distance between the front and back of each cavalry team is about twenty meters. During this interval, the commander of the last wave of cavalry is at the front. Next to the commander is the messenger who connects the previous and later waves. These messengers are often dressed more appropriately.
Wearing special military uniforms and holding a horn, they are ready to blow the horn at any time according to orders from the front.
The pace of the cavalry is determined according to the rhythm and frequency of the horn.
When the continuous rapid horn sound sounds, it's time to charge!