Chapter six hundred and ninety fifth cavalry attack
At noon the next day, Gu Shizhong continued to march with the Fourth Mixed Regiment. Because they had rested all night, the soldiers of the Fourth Mixed Regiment were marching at a pace that was not slow!
An army of more than 6,000 people is advancing rapidly on the official road. There is a battalion of infantry acting as the forward. They are about one thousand meters away from the main force, while the main force is behind. In order to prevent accidents, the main force is moving forward.
The army was relatively compact, with artillery and baggage troops in the middle. A large number of horses dragged various artillery and ammunition carts forward, while the horses or mules, donkeys and other livestock of the baggage force dragged one truck after another fully loaded with various weapons.
The wagon carrying supplies moved forward.
A large number of infantry are advancing on both sides!
The hundred cavalrymen of the cavalry team, grouped into groups of more than ten cavalrymen, constantly roamed in the left and right directions of the main force, acting as peripheral patrols and security forces for the troops.
There are also a large number of reconnaissance cavalry, which are spread out more widely.
As the army approached Nanchang little by little, Gu Shizhong also began to plan how to conquer the city after arriving at Nanchang City.
Although his fourth mixed regiment has been strengthened and has many artillery pieces, it is not very powerful after all. If he wants to attack Nanchang City, it will be difficult to even form a full assault battalion. I am afraid that some of them will have to be mobilized by then.
The heavily armored spearmen came to join the assault battalion in the offensive.
And because of the tight time, it was impossible for him to build any large-scale siege equipment. At most, he could build some ladders on the spot. The siege mainly relied on his own powerful artillery strength.
Fortunately, we have twelve heavy howitzers on hand. Otherwise, it would be almost impossible to capture Nanchang in a short time.
With these twelve heavy howitzers, it was possible to conquer Nanchang. The power of the heavy howitzers was fully demonstrated in the battle of Luling City in Ji'an.
I dare not say whether it is useful in other aspects, but when used to attack cities, it is definitely very useful!
If a cannon hit the top of the city, the huge explosion power would be enough to cause heavy casualties to the Ming army on the top of the city within the explosion range.
When the enemy's strength at the top of the city is weakened, the heavy armored infantry can attack the city. Otherwise, the heavy armored infantry will be a living target if they rush forward.
"Tell me to go down and rest on the spot for an hour, let the soldiers have a good rest, and then feed the horses!" Gu Shizhong looked at the sky and immediately said to the ordering soldiers around him!
It is now noon, and the troops have been marching continuously for five hours. Although the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty Army have better physical fitness than ordinary people because of their good food, walking continuously for so long takes a lot of physical energy.
It's also huge.
Moreover, today's march is still going on. According to the scheduled plan, the Fourth Mixed Regiment will need to walk for another four hours in the afternoon so that they can reach about five kilometers away from Nanchang.
After a night's rest, we can quickly rush to Nanchang tomorrow and directly prepare for the siege!
After Gu Shizhong's order was issued, the troops began to stop moving forward. They did not bury the pot to make rice. Instead, the soldiers directly filled the half-cold rice with simple vegetables and a few slices of meat and ate directly.
This lunch was cooked by the cooks in advance in the morning, then placed directly in large wooden barrels and carried directly with the army, and was distributed directly during lunch time.
This is of course to save time at noon!
Normally, when the Army of the Tang Dynasty was on the march, they would cook rice only in the morning and evening. At noon, they would usually eat the food prepared in advance in the morning. Although the taste was not as good as freshly cooked food, it would not
Too much time wasted.
After all, when you rest at noon, you are not in a camp state, but resting on the spot. The stay can only be an hour at most. There is not enough time and environment for the cooks to cook.
But the Ming army didn't have this trouble because they didn't have lunch!
Of course, in emergencies, the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty Army would also eat dry food directly. These dry food were mainly dry rice and fried noodles. They were usually prepared in advance before departure and then allowed to be carried by the soldiers. These dry food could be stored for a long time.
It lasts for a long time and is not easy to spoil. It is eaten when the army is short of food or in an emergency. It can be regarded as the last life-saving food for soldiers. Therefore, it is not allowed to open the package for consumption in ordinary times.
.
And if you save these dry foods, you can eat them for three days!
Of course, these three days are based on the food standards of the Tang Army. If calculated based on the food standards of the Ming Army, they can last for at least five days!
When the fourth mixed regiment stopped for lunch, on a small low hill in the distance, several Ming soldiers were lying directly on the ground, looking at the Tang Army in front.
Only one of them said: "Why are they starting to eat now? It's only noon. If they eat now, won't they be hungry in the afternoon?"
"What do you know? The Tang thief eats three meals a day, which is different from us!" Immediately, another person lowered his voice and said, "Damn, I'm so hungry just looking at it!"
"These thieves are so lucky, they can eat three meals a day!"
"No, but let's make a good calculation. We have two meals a day, but they are all dry food. Those guardsmen only eat one dry meal a day!"
At this time, a Ming army commander who looked like a leader said: "Stop talking nonsense, let's leave now!"
"Leave now?"
"Nonsense, you don't want to leave. Do you still want to wait here to die? The rebel cavalry is coming soon. We have to go back first and report the news to the superiors!" After the leading Ming army said this,
After climbing down the hillside with these Ming soldiers, and then walking furtively for a while, they saw their horses in a small forest.
However, just when they were about to walk over, mount their horses and leave, suddenly there were several hissing sounds in the woods. Several other Ming Army soldiers had not yet reacted, but the experienced leader of the Ming Army General Flag was.
Just roll on the spot.
At this time, he saw a sharp arrow stuck in a tree trunk behind where he was standing, and its tail feathers were still shaking!
Looking at the other people, one of them had been shot through the chest by an arrow. Although the Ming soldier did not die immediately after falling to the ground, he screamed in agony.
"Enemy attack!" The leader of the Ming Army General Banner immediately pulled out his saber, then crouched down and hid behind a big tree.
However, as soon as his voice fell, another Ming Army soldier was shot to the end by an arrow. Now, there were only three people left in this Ming Army reconnaissance and cavalry team with only five people in total!
And it only takes a few seconds!
"Damn it, the rebels are in the east, there is at least one platoon? Let's leave immediately, rush out and ride away," the Ming army general flag shouted, but the other two Ming army soldiers who were also hiding shook their heads in unison!
Because at this time, several more arrows landed on the left and right sides of the tree trunk where they were hiding!
It was obvious that the puppet Tang rebel army on the opposite side must have seen their specific location, and they were aiming their bows and arrows!
To rush out at this time is no different from seeking death!
What should we do? There is already cold sweat on the forehead of the Ming Army General Flag!
If you rush out, you will be targeted, but if you don't rush out, you will be doomed when the puppet Tang bandit army surrounds you!
At the same time, no more than forty meters away to the east, a Tang Army cavalry lieutenant saw that the Ming army in front could no longer hide. He immediately waved his hand and said at the same time: "Sgt. Chen, take two people and go around.
Go south and force them out!"
Then he said to his several archers holding strong bows: "Look out, we will shoot as soon as they come out!"
This second lieutenant of the cavalry was a cavalry platoon leader of the Fourth Cavalry. When he was patrolling with his men, they happened to find the horses hidden in the woods. They concluded on the spot that they must be some false scouts.
He sneaked in, first hunted and killed a Ming army cavalry guarding the horses, and then another one came and waited.
Sure enough, he had only waited for more than ten minutes when he saw five Ming army cavalry coming towards this direction, and immediately set up an ambush with bows and arrows.
These few cavalrymen who use bows and arrows can barely be regarded as archers. Although they can't shoot arrows while riding on horses, they can barely do it after dismounting and bending their bows to shoot arrows.
Of course, there are only a few people shooting arrows, and everyone else is holding a musket!
The cavalry of the Tang Dynasty had muskets and sabers as standard equipment, but bows and arrows were not. Generally, only cavalrymen with good archery skills would carry extra bows and arrows!
Although bows and arrows are weaker and more troublesome to train, their rate of fire is faster than today's matchlock guns, so they are still very useful sometimes.
Soon, several gunshots were heard from the west, and then two Ming soldiers could be seen running out from behind the tree trunks where they were hiding. The cavalry archers who had been waiting for a long time did not hesitate at all.
, just bend the bow and shoot an arrow, knocking these two people down in an instant!
Not long after, this team of trained cavalry returned with two injured Ming army scouts, and brought their horses back with them.
The two injured Ming army scouts were soon interrogated, and the results of the interrogation were immediately delivered to Gu Shizhong.
After seeing the results of the interrogation, Gu Shizhong immediately frowned!
The prisoners confessed that they were not ordinary Ming army reconnaissance cavalry, but reconnaissance cavalry that directly belonged to the Supervisor Biao Cavalry. More importantly, the main force of their cavalry was less than five kilometers away from here.
Why did the fake Supervisor Cavalry appear here, and why didn't they pursue the main force of the Second Army?
At this time, Gu Shizhong had no time to think about this. He immediately ordered the troops to end their rest and recuperation in advance, and then began to line up to prepare for war!
The enemy's cavalry is only five kilometers away from here. If the enemy's cavalry comes in quick pursuit, it won't take long to catch up. But once the enemy's cavalry rushes in front of us, the outcome will be absolutely disastrous.