As the drums sounded like winter thunder, the arrays on both sides continued to approach each other, from 500 meters to 300 meters to 150 meters.
At this time, in the formation of the new army of the Tang Dynasty, Wang Chaofeng, who was riding on a war horse, suddenly raised his hand and said at the same time: "Stop the whole army!"
At the last moment of the battle, stopping to reorganize the formation and reload ammunition was also the standard procedure for the New Army of the Tang Dynasty to conduct line combat.
Officers at all levels issued various commands as soon as the troops stopped!
Zhou Song, the young captain of the 1st Musketeers of the 5th Infantry Battalion, trotted in front of his troops on horseback while shouting: "Get in shape!"
"Load!"
"Light the match!"
As the order was issued, the troops that were originally advancing in goose stopped, and then began to organize their formation, while the musketeers and gunners began to reload, preparing to fire at the first opportunity.
Seeing the puppet Tang bandit army on the opposite side stop, Qiu Yu was not prepared to stop, but urged the soldiers to continue moving forward!
This is not because he thought that the Puppet Tang thief army on the opposite side was afraid, but that he knew that the Puppet Tang thief army on the opposite side had a firepower advantage. Their muskets could kill a large number of their own soldiers at a distance of 100 meters, while the Puppet Tang thief army's
Those bowl-mouth cannons were larger than our own and had a longer range.
Therefore, if you stay at a distance of more than 100 meters for shooting, whether it is your own cannon or your own archers, you will be at a great disadvantage. You must continue to shorten the distance to 100 meters or even 50 meters to fight, and then use your troops
Advantage completely rushed forward to engage in hand-to-hand combat.
While letting his infantrymen continue to advance, he also said a few words to a Qianhu next to him. After hearing this, the Qianhu nodded slightly, then turned around and headed towards the rear.
At the rear, there is a group of cavalry with about a hundred cavalry!
This Qianhu was obviously the commander of the cavalry. After returning to his headquarters, he led the cavalry around the infantry in front and around to the left.
When Wang Chaofeng on the opposite side saw this scene, he didn't know what the Ming troops on the opposite side were trying to do. They must be trying to attract their own attention with their troops, and then use their cavalry to rush over from the flanks.
Naturally, the opponent's cavalry did not have the courage to attack their own Chinese spear phalanx. The target of their attack was only the musketeers on one side.
Because the musketeers give the impression to outsiders that they are very fragile and cannot fight in close combat, even the European musketeers that have developed maturely in this era are like this.
But the musketeers of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty are an exception. The reason is very simple, because the muskets equipped by the New Army of the Tang Dynasty have bayonets, and they also have sleeve-type bayonets. After attaching the bayonets, they can still be loaded and fired.
Theoretically speaking, the musketeers with bayonets can completely eliminate the spearmen and other cold weapon infantry. The reason why the new army of the Tang Dynasty still retains a large number of spearmen, sword shieldmen, bows and arrows
hand, not because musketeers could not replace them, but because the Tang Dynasty produced too few muskets.
Since there are not enough muskets, we have no choice but to continue to retain a large number of cold weapon troops.
If these Ming cavalry came to attack his musketeer phalanx, Wang Chaofeng would let them take a closer look. The musketeer phalanx was not that easy to attack.
What's more, the cavalry on the opposite side is not heavy cavalry, but light cavalry, or more accurately, mounted infantry, and they are riding horses from the southwest. He is still certain about such cavalry.
As for why he was so sure, it was because the cavalry of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty were like this!
How did the cavalry of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty develop? In fact, it was developed by selecting personnel and horses from the captured cavalry of the Ming Army. Therefore, to a certain extent, the cavalry of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty is similar to the cavalry of the Ming Army.
The specific manifestation is that the horses they ride on are not suitable for mounted combat, and the cavalry are not good at riding and shooting. They are usually fine as reconnaissance cavalry, but if they are asked to charge into combat, to be honest, it is very reluctant.
Take the cavalry of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty as an example. Most of these cavalry were prisoners of the Ming army or self-recruited soldiers with some knowledge of riding. Their riding skills can only be said to be average, and there is basically no need to expect them to be able to shoot and shoot arrows on horseback.
You can still hit the enemy. It's just a show to charge in melee right away. It's okay to bully the enemy who has collapsed. It's okay to cover up the enemy. But if you let them attack the enemy's infantry square, Cao Mingda can spit on you to death: you are paralyzed.
If you want me to die, just say so!
Not only is the basic quality of the cavalry barely adequate, but the horses they ride on are not very good either!
The New Army of the Tang Dynasty and the Ming Army cavalry in the Guizhou area all rode short horses from the southwest, mainly Yunnan horses and Guizhou horses. Most of their shoulder heights were about one meter to one meter, and the maximum height was more than one meter two.
few.
Generally speaking, horses from the southwest have good endurance and can be used for long periods of time, and are more suitable for use as pack horses or draft horses in mountainous areas.
However, as a riding horse, these dwarf horses are seriously unsuitable. Their fatal flaws are insufficient weight and insufficient shoulder height.
Take the war horses in Napoleon's army as an example. The war horses used by his cuirassiers are between 1.55 and 1.6 meters high at the shoulders. The war horses of the dragoons are about 1.53 to 1.55 meters high at the shoulders.
The cavalry, a typical light cavalry, rides horses with a shoulder height of between 1.49 and 1.53 meters, and light lancers between 1.46 and 1.5 meters.
It is worth noting that even for the draft horses they use to pull cannons, they all use horses between 1.53 and 1.55 meters tall, and the specifications are the same as the horses used by the dragoons.
Although it is unfair to use the French cavalry horses during the Napoleonic Wars as a comparison, because the types of horses in Europe and Asia are different and it is impossible to make a valid comparison, it is worth mentioning that from the end of the 19th century to the early 20th century, the Japanese army used
The war horse, also known as the Oriental horse, was introduced and bred from France, and its shoulder height can reach more than 1.5 meters!
Therefore, judging from modern military data, a cavalry, even a light cavalry without heavy equipment, must have a horse with a shoulder height of more than 1.4 meters in order to meet the minimum standard.
It is a pity that the new army of the Tang Dynasty cannot obtain horses that can meet these standards. Let alone war horses that are 1.41 meters and 5 shoulders tall.
The horses are still Mongolian horses that came to the local area in small numbers from the north.
The horses used in the New Army of the Tang Dynasty were basically all southwestern horses, with a shoulder height of only one to one meter. Therefore, to pull a nine-pounder cannon, eight or ten horses were enough for the modern European army, but the New Army of the Tang Dynasty
But here we need more than ten horses.
Fortunately, the cavalry of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty was hard-working, and the cavalry of the Ming Army in Guizhou was also hard-working!
In ancient China, except for a few periods when it controlled the northwest region and was able to introduce war horses from Central Asia, most of the time, the Central Plains dynasty was unable to obtain these excellent war horses. They could only obtain horses from Mongolia and Southwest Mali.
Choose to use.
Therefore, you will see in history that in the early days of most Central Plains dynasties, when the national power was at its peak, the cavalry was also very powerful, because at this time they were able to control the northwest and Mongolia regions and obtain a large number of excellent horses. However, in the middle and late stages, after the national power weakened
If these areas cannot be controlled, the cavalry will gradually become weak, and eventually
You can only play like a refugee!
After all, not every dynasty is as rich as the Song Dynasty. You can still play heavy infantry without war horses!
To a certain extent, this is also the reason why heavy cavalry has not been truly developed in China from ancient times to the present. Horses that are too short cannot carry knights and hundreds of kilograms of equipment in battle.
The Ming Dynasty was doing well at this time. The northern frontier army could obtain Mongolian horses and even northwest and Central Asian horses imported from the northwest. Although the Mongolian horses used in large quantities were not very good, they were about 1.2 to 1.3 meters tall.
With its shoulder height, it can barely be used as a light cavalry horse.
However, the Yunnan-Guizhou region is originally a horse-producing area, and there has never been much external threat here, and the mountainous terrain is not suitable for cavalry operations. Therefore, from ancient times to the present, no ruler of the feudal dynasty would spend a huge price to
These areas developed cavalry and introduced tall and powerful horses.
Now, what Wang Chaofeng saw was a group of Ming army cavalry riding only one meter high at the shoulders, bypassing the front in a chaotic formation.
Although their cavalry was not very good, nearly a hundred cavalry were running past in front, and the momentum was still great!
Immediately, Wang Chaofeng strengthened the defense of the right wing and asked the musketeers on the right to fix their bayonets to guard against the cavalry attack. At the same time, he moved the muzzle of a battalion cannon and pointed it at the Ming cavalry.
As long as the Ming cavalry dared to come up, they would first fire their cannons and then use their bayonets to meet the enemy!
The distance between the two sides was now very close. Although the Ming army's cavalry also moved, they would not rush up immediately. They were waiting for the opportunity to attack the flank of the puppet Tang rebel army.
At this time, Wang Chaofeng's troops had officially entered the battle. As the Ming army approached a hundred meters, the artillery opened fire first, and then the musketeers fired in turns.
Regardless of whether it is artillery or musketeers, their target is not the sword and shield soldiers of the Ming Army, but the artillery and archers of the Ming Army.
Now they want to take advantage of the range to intercept the long-range firepower of the Ming army, so as to avoid the long-range firepower of the Ming army being projected over and causing a large number of casualties to their own side.
When the gunfire roared, it was inevitable that casualties would begin to appear on the Ming army's side!
However, the number of casualties is not high, it can even be said to be small, because the distance is still too far, at a distance of 100 meters, the hit rate is very limited.
However, as the comrades around them were killed and wounded, the scene of blood and flesh flying reminded these Ming army soldiers of the Battle of the Bronze Drum Acropolis a few days ago.