Chapter four hundred and seventeenth fight to the death
Nowadays, the artillery and artillery tactics in the New Army of the Tang Dynasty, because of Li Xuan's existence, can barely keep up with the mainstream of artillery in the world today. There are artillery of 800 kilograms and even 1,300 kilograms. If an artillery of this weight can
Converted into units commonly used in Western military circles, they are six-pound guns and nine-pound guns.
Moreover, this kind of artillery is a typical long-barreled cannon. It is very powerful when firing solid bullets. When used on the land battlefield, it will kill gods and Buddhas. Once the cannon passes, nothing can stop it.
These are heavy solid ductile iron cannonballs.
It is a pity that this kind of heavy artillery has relatively high requirements for smelting technology. At present, the craftsmen in the Ministry of Industry of the Tang Dynasty have no way to use iron to make this kind of important artillery. They can only use bronze, and copper is very popular these days.
But it is used to mint coins.
In other words, today’s Ministry of Industry of the Tang Dynasty directly uses copper coins to cast cannons!
On the other hand, although those 150-pound camp cannons were originally made of bronze, because these 150-pound camp cannons were shotguns with short barrels, the requirements for the barrel were not too high.
The craftsmen are already preparing to use iron to cast this kind of shotgun.
After all, those bowl-mouth cannons of the Ming Army were actually made of iron. There is no reason that the Ming Dynasty could do this, but the Tang Dynasty couldn't do this, right? At most, the cast shotguns were heavier and of poorer quality.
That's all.
But even so, it is still very cost-effective!
The price difference between copper and iron is huge!
However, it would take time to use an iron-cast cannon, even a shotgun with a short barrel. Don't expect the craftsmen of the Ministry of Industry of the Tang Dynasty to be able to produce it in a short time.
After enduring multiple rounds of shelling, the front row soldiers of the Ming Army on the opposite side suffered a lot of casualties. And these Ming Army soldiers, like most of the Ming Army in inland areas during this era, were participating in such a large-scale event this time.
of battle.
The inland areas have been at peace for a long time. Most of the Ming armies in these inland areas were responsible for suppressing bandits and catching bandits. Real large-scale wars only happened many years ago.
These Ming army soldiers who were on a large-scale battlefield for the first time were actually no different from new recruits. When they saw their front row soldiers falling down one row after another, there was not much difference.
Humans can withstand such horrific battlefield pressure.
Everyone is afraid of death!
So they stopped involuntarily. No one dared to rush forward and rushed to the front. They all wanted to hide behind their comrades.
For a time, the Ming army's forward troops, especially those who were bombarded, even had small-scale riots.
Not to mention these ordinary soldiers who felt scared, even the officers in the Ming army and even the senior generals were quite surprised to see the artillery bombardment of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty!
They have seen artillery, and there are quite a few of them!
But most of their guns are bowl-mouthed cannons weighing tens to hundreds of kilograms, which cannot be fired far at all, and many artillery pieces are actually mounted on so-called artillery carts.
They often need to go within fifty or sixty meters before firing, and the use of artillery also lacks standards and technology. Many Ming army gunners are not very professional, and they are not even good at aiming. They only know how to aim.
The most basic steps are loading and firing.
But if you ask them to target that area and then carry out precise artillery fire, it will be very reluctant. The Ming army's definition of whether a gunner is qualified is very simple: it is enough to be able to fire the artillery.
So at this time, when they saw the artillery of the Puppet Tang rebel army accurately covering their forward soldiers, it was natural for them to be surprised.
Zhu Zhihai couldn't help but sigh: "The firearms of these pseudo-Tang thieves are really sharp!"
At this time, he had not seen the heavy artillery shelling from the artillery battalion of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty. If Zhu Zhihai saw the heavy artillery shelling from the artillery battalion of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty performing precise shelling, I am afraid he would not sigh, but be stunned.
It's not Zhu Zhihai's fault for making such a fuss, but these heavy artillery pieces are beyond his knowledge.
The artillery of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty and the artillery of the Ming Army are completely different concepts, and can even be said to be products of different eras.
The senior generals of the Ming army were fussing over the bombardment of the puppet Tang rebels, and some of the middle and lower-ranking officers of the Ming army who were on the front line felt even more deeply.
The adults in the rear may have only seen the loud noise of the artillery fire of the puppet Tang rebels, and they could also see many of their own soldiers falling, but this feeling was far less profound than that of the officers on the front line.
Every time the puppet Tang rebel army on the opposite side sprayed out white smoke, the soldiers in the front row would fall down in large groups. After doing this several times, the soldiers at the front began to be afraid to move forward.
.
Even the officers who led the team were mostly afraid. Many people began to look around blankly, trying to find orders to go up the mountain, especially orders to retreat. Even if they did not retreat, they might as well launch a quick charge immediately.
Just walking up so stupidly, I don’t know how many people will die!
However, these are the thoughts of the mid-level and low-level officers on the front line. In the middle of the forward army, Chang Pingchang frowned, but as a commander of the capital, and also gained the trust of Zhu Zhihai, he was sent to be the vanguard of the entire army. This
It means that this person still has some ability.
After watching several rounds of artillery shelling by the Puppet Tang thief army, he had already estimated the frequency of the Puppet Tang thief army's bombardment and how many casualties it might cause to his own side!
And he believes that this kind of casualties is something his own side can bear!
So he still sat on his horse, head held high, and ignored his subordinates' inquiries about whether to avoid the enemy's attack for the time being, or to simply launch a charge immediately.
Instead, he still rode his horse forward slowly, and at the same time ordered to the left and right: "Come on, keep the formation!"
Then, as if he couldn't see the bombardment of the puppet Tang rebel army, he continued to lead his troops to advance slowly!
Seeing that although the Ming army wavered for a while, they stabilized their formation and continued to advance without even launching an early charge, Song Tianbiao's expression became more cautious.
This Ming army is much stronger than the Ming army we have encountered before!
Immediately said: "Let the musketeers and archers be ready, and the grenadiers are best prepared. Today, we are going to fight to the death with the puppet Ming thief army!"
In many previous battles, when the artillery of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty, especially the shotguns that could cause a lot of damage, started to fire, the Ming army on the opposite side would often make two choices, one is to charge in advance, and the other is to turn around directly.
Escape.
Here, there are more people who charge in advance!
In this way, although the enemy's army advances faster, it will easily break up the formation, and without a complete formation, the defeat will not be far away.
Next, the new army of the Tang Dynasty will attack the enemy with intensive musket fire, assisted by bows and arrows!
Wait until the enemy troops advance within thirty meters, then let the grenadiers step forward to throw grenades. At the same time, the musketeers fire a final salvo, and then directly launch a spear and bayonet charge.
Under normal circumstances, after continuously experiencing long-range interceptions by the artillery, muskets, and bows of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty, and then after the final round of volleys of muskets and throwing grenades, the enemy's front row would often completely collapse.
At this time, the heavily armored spearmen will become the core of the battle, completely destroying the enemy's scattered formations and demoralized troops. Once the enemy's front row completely collapses, it will often affect the enemy soldiers in the back row.
Then it will turn into a full-blown rout.
This series of tactics has been tried and tested by the New Army of the Tang Dynasty, and many generals of the Ming Army, especially those who have fought against the New Army of the Tang Dynasty, such as Song Zhiwen, who has arrived in the capital and been sent to Tianlao, know the New Army of the Tang Dynasty very well.
This set of tactics.
But knowing is one thing, how to crack it is another!
Is it different to use archers standing within 70 to 80 meters to play shooting with the new army of the Tang Dynasty?
It can only be said that people who think this way underestimate how cheap musketeers are!
It takes more than ten years to train one of your archers, but the musketeers of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty can be formed into an army in three months. If two musketeers are exchanged for one archer, the musketeers will definitely make a profit.
Whether it is the Ming Army or the New Army of the Tang Dynasty, there are actually not many qualified archers. The New Army of the Tang Dynasty has only more than 800 people, and they are all prisoners of the Ming Army. The same is true for the Ming Army. Zhu Zhihai’s
In an army of more than 30,000 people, there will be no more than 1,500 qualified archers.
Not long after the establishment of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty, the number of musketeers already exceeded 2,000, and they continued to increase by hundreds every month.
If your Ming army uses archers to compete with the musketeers of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty, the archers will definitely be the losers!
Besides, in this case, the New Army of the Tang Dynasty will not play with you in a shooting match. They will advance at high speed, launch a volley after advancing to 30 meters, and then directly launch a bayonet charge!
Your archers can only fire three shots when facing the enemy. When the musketeers of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty rush forward with muskets with bayonets attached, it will be a miracle if these archers do not collapse!
In other words, the New Army of the Tang Dynasty actually won't even give you a chance to fight!
From a practical point of view, with the existing arms and comprehensive quality of the Ming army, the best way to defeat the Tang Dynasty's new army with complete firepower configuration is to use infantry to contain it, and then use cavalry to launch a flank charge, and the cavalry cannot be stupid
To attack the infantry phalanx, you have to attack the artillery positions.
First destroy the artillery position, then the cavalry will raid the formation, and the infantry will continue to contain it. After the new Tang army is dispersed, they will directly launch a cavalry charge.
Otherwise, with the same strength, it would be difficult for the Ming army to defeat the infantry phalanx of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty in a regular field battle!
Of course, there is actually a simpler, more efficient and most practical way for the Ming army, and that is to pile them with human heads!
No matter how strong the firepower of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty is, it is still limited!
Of course it won't work if you foolishly use the same force to launch a frontal attack, but if you use several times or even ten times more force to launch a frontal attack.
I don’t dare to say 100%, but 99% of them can directly crush the new army of the Tang Dynasty in front of them!
In the face of absolute military superiority, any tactical advantage is useless!
But now, Zhu Zhihai is using this tactic. More than 30,000 people are pressing forward. Just the sight of endless human figures scattered all over the mountains and plains can make Song Tianbiao's scalp numb just by looking at them!