The Third Cavalry Division, the main force currently fighting in the first line of defense, is also a standing force, but they are cavalry after all, and their training and combat methods are different from ordinary infantry units.
Therefore, even if they dismount and fight on foot, they usually do not engage in this one-wave tactic, but shoot from a distance.
So they opened fire at a distance of four hundred meters!
It happens to be the maximum distance of the effective range of the Mini rifle.
The first wave of Tatar offensive troops did perform well in the early stage, although they suffered constant shelling along the way. Especially after gathering, the density of troops increased, and the casualties suffered from the shelling quickly increased.
At the same time as the shelling, they were also attacked by several previous waves of Mini rifles.
When they advanced to a distance of two hundred meters, they had actually suffered huge casualties.
The reason why it hasn't collapsed yet is purely because of strict orders from above and inertia.
But unfortunately, when they advanced to a distance of 200 meters, the 3rd Cavalry Division's Mini rifles and dozens of two-pound shotguns, as well as some smoothbore cannons, fired a salvo, causing them to fall directly.
Thousands of people.
Coupled with the previous casualties of more than 2,000 people, the casualty rate of this first wave of attacking troops of 10,000 people has exceeded 30%.
This kind of casualty rate is extremely huge even for an elite army that uses guns and line tactics.
So the Tatar soldiers finally collapsed completely after being hit by this wave of volleys.
Countless Tatar soldiers did not look back, but strode towards the rear with firm steps. In order to run faster, many of them even dropped their muskets and knives.
The scene in front of me almost replayed the first attack by the Tatars in the morning.
At that time, when the Tatars were under intensive shelling from a distance of 800 meters, it was basically the same scene. The mountains and fields were full of fleeing soldiers.
The difference from before was that this time they rushed closer and took longer to escape or retreat. This left more time for the Mini Rifles of the 3rd Infantry Division and other artillery units to attack.
As they ran, shells continued to explode near them.
Seeing this scene, even Lieutenant General Dai Yaxin wanted to send out cavalry to pursue him.
However, he endured it. Although most of the Tatars dismounted and fought on foot, there were still thousands of cavalry on one side. If his own side sent cavalry, the other side's cavalry would immediately dispatch to intercept.
It's a pity that we can't expand the results!
Even if they could not send cavalry to pursue and expand the results, the shelling alone caused many Tatar casualties. When they retreated, but did not start to attack, they would advance in very loose formations in waves to avoid shelling.
.
Now, every Tatar wants to run back first, where he will stay in the rear and wait for the friendly troops to escape in skirmish formation.
All of them ran backwards in a swarm, which meant that the distance between the Tatar soldiers was very small, which was very advantageous for the artillery attack.
Artillery shells exploded one after another among the Tatar troops scattered across the mountains and plains. The explosion of almost every artillery shell caused more or less Tatar casualties.
This kind of scene made Ulihan and other senior Tatar generals who were watching the battle from behind feel helpless and frightened!
Barbo even murmured: "This must be their rifled gun. I didn't expect that their muskets are also rifled guns!"
The leader, Wulihan, had already closed his eyes and could no longer bear to look at the collapse scene ahead.
He felt as if he had gone back more than ten years ago. When he was leading the traditional cavalry and archery cavalry for the first time, he encountered the Tang Army, which was fully equipped with guns and all kinds of plate armor. It made him feel like he was transported by the times. The helplessness and fear of abandonment.
And now, he felt helpless and afraid again!
These Southern Tang barbarians moved so fast that no matter how hard the Tatars chased them, they couldn't catch up!
More than ten years ago, when the Tatars were still using cold weapons, the barbarians of the Southern Tang Dynasty used guns. Later, the Tatars finally developed artillery and matchlock guns, but they were still suppressed and beaten by the barbarians of the Southern Tang Dynasty. .
Because the artillery of the barbarians of the Southern Tang Dynasty was more advanced, the muskets were still flintlock guns.
In the past two years, the Tatars finally obtained the spring steel technology from the Europeans and manufactured their own flintlock guns. However, they did not expect that they had just equipped the army on a large scale. This was the first time they had fought with the Eastern Front on the Eastern Front. The armies of the barbarians of the Southern Tang Dynasty were engaged in a large-scale battle.
It was discovered that those Southern Tang barbarians had actually used more advanced and more powerful rifled cannons and rifled guns.
These rifled weapons have greater accuracy, resulting in a longer effective range.
And this advantage is almost fatal when put on the battlefield.
Wulihan discovered that his troops could not even get close to these Southern Tang barbarians, and were defeated twice on the way to charge.
It's not that our soldiers are not brave, it's because the guns of the barbarians of the Southern Tang Dynasty are too sharp!
Ulihan was like this, and the mentality of other senior Tatar generals was not much better.
Everyone is a veteran who has been on the battlefield for a long time. Even if they are not very proficient in technology, they can still see that the rifled cannons and rifled guns of the Southern Tang Barbarians almost changed the situation of the battle.
If we continue to attack, I am afraid that these tens of thousands of troops will die on the way to the charge!
Now how to do?
They looked at Ulihan!
Wulihan also opened his eyes at this time, sighed and said: "Ming Jin withdraws the troops!"
After that, he thought for a while and said: "After we withdraw, pack up and let's go!"
"Let's go?" someone else asked.
Wulihan said: "Since we can't get this in a short time, why are we still here? I'm afraid that in a few days, the Second Cavalry Army of the Southern Tang Barbarians will arrive. Is it possible that they still want to stay and be attacked by others?" Surrounded by a pincer?"
"Let's go. These tens of thousands of cavalry are the only elite cavalry we have on the Eastern Front. We can't let them be easily lost in such a ghost place!"
Ulihan gave the order to retreat. Although many Tatar generals were still unwilling to do so, they also knew that this battle was no longer possible.
This time, horse and infantry combat was not something they cavalry were good at, let alone encountering unreasonable weapons such as rifled cannons and rifled guns. It was better to retreat first and then slowly make plans.
Dai Yaxin also saw the Tatars gathering their troops and retreating.
Seeing this scene, he felt a little pity!
If these Tatars want to run away now, these 20,000 people will not be able to stop them.
As a result, the strategic idea of waiting for reinforcements to arrive and attacking from both front and back has come to nothing.
However, this battle was not without its rewards.
In this battle, they annihilated at least 5,000 Tatars with almost zero casualties!
And although these five thousand Tatars were killed or wounded during the dismounted infantry battle, they were not the alien cannon fodder infantry soldiers under the Tatars' command, but the elite Tatar cavalry.
In the past, it was difficult to eliminate such a large number of Tatar cavalry.
As for the remaining approximately 35,000 Tatar cavalry, although it is a pity, it is not a serious problem.
The Tang Army's strategy in Central Asia has never relied on large-scale decisive battles to defeat the enemy's main force in one fell swoop. This is not to say that they don't want to, but the Tatars simply don't give the Tang Army this chance.
The Tatar cavalry were like mice, running around in the grassland and unable to catch them at all.
Therefore, the strategy of the Tang Army in the Western Regions and now in Central Asia was to build railways, and then use the army to attack cities and seize territory. The Tatars could just run away if they wanted to, but they couldn't catch up anyway, so they simply stopped chasing them.
As long as the Tang army built the railway all the way and then built the city, it could still achieve its strategic goal of conquering the entire Central Asia and gradually reduce the living space of the Tatars.
The loss of such a large grassland in Central Asia will have a huge impact on the Tatars.
Not only was it as simple as losing the grassland and being unable to graze, but the Tang Empire could also advance directly to the coast of the Caspian Sea.
Needless to say, the Tang Dynasty will definitely build a city on the northeastern shore of the Caspian Sea and use this city as a base to send troops to fight the Tatars along the Volga River.
If the Tang Dynasty had built cities and stationed troops along the Volga River, the Tatars would never be able to cross the Volga River and return to Central Asia.
In the end, the living space of these Tatars could only be limited to the area west of the Volga River.
Therefore, in the previous Western Region War and the current Central Asian War, railway construction was the core task.
As for the war with the Tatars, it was only to protect and build the railway.
The First Cavalry Army repelled the Tatars at this unknown lake and caused the main Tatar cavalry to withdraw westward. The strategic impact will be huge, not just as simple as the annihilation of 5,000 Tatar cavalry.
A few days later, the First Cavalry Corps and the Second Cavalry Corps successfully reunited.
It didn't take long for news related to this battle to be transmitted back to Jinling via the Central Asian Railway and the Northwest Railway.
Li Xuan, who was in Jinling City, learned about the battle of the First Cavalry Army only half a month later. There was no way. Although the wired telegraph had been invented and there were already test lines, there was no way to connect Shanghai to Jinling.
The city's first long-distance telegraph line had not yet been built, let alone elsewhere.
At present, the transmission of military reports in Central Asia still can only rely on railways.
After reading the battle report, Li Xuan was not too surprised. It was just a regular battle, and it was a battle that was won. Similar battles had to be fought once or twice a year.
As long as they don't suffer a huge defeat or capture and annihilate the main force of the Tatars, basically don't expect Li Xuan to be moved.
So I just ordered the army to reward those who have meritorious service and promote those who deserve promotion.
As the emperor of the empire, the Holy Emperor did not take this conventional victory too seriously, but the enthusiasm for this battle within the army was high.