Although the parapet built by the forward troops of the First Army was only more than two meters and less than a foot high, it was not easy for the Ming army to climb over because there were soldiers of the First Infantry Regiment waiting at the other end.
If the two sides fought with a parapet separated from each other, the Ming army outside the chest could only raise their spears and bayonets high, and they could only attack the Tang soldiers' heads above the shoulders.
But the soldiers of the Tang Army on top of the parapet were able to calmly kill the enemy from a high position.
In addition, a very important point is that the Tang Army has now replaced plate armor on a large scale. The First Infantry Regiment has completed its reorganization, and naturally it has also adopted plate armor. The original heavy armored spearmen, heavy armored sword and shield soldiers
, basically all wearing full body plate armor.
Even the original light armored spearmen and light armored sword and shield soldiers were equipped with the original cotton armor or iron armor. After all, these were armors. The Tang Army was not so luxurious as to throw away these replaced armors.
Instead, these cotton iron armors and iron armors were given to the original light armored spearmen and light armored sword and shield soldiers.
In other words, in fact, the spearmen and sword and shield men in the fully integrated units of the Tang Army are all heavy armored units.
Even arms such as musketeers and archers will be equipped with half-body armor or breastplate depending on the situation, such as in defensive operations that do not require frequent maneuvers.
This is the case with the First Infantry Regiment of the forward troops. Its armor coverage rate is so high that it far exceeds that of the Ming army on the opposite side!
If both sides had not entered the age of firearms, but were still in the age of cold weapons, the First Infantry Regiment would have been able to kill the 30,000 Ming army in front of them with just these armors.
It is a pity that the current armor, even plate armor, has only a secondary role on the battlefield. After all, armor cannot stop cannonballs, or even bullets!
But in the current stage of hand-to-hand combat, armor still plays an irreplaceable and important role!
The geographical advantage, coupled with the armor advantage, and the physical fitness and combat skills of the Tang Army soldiers are indeed much higher than those of the Ming Army soldiers!
That’s why it resulted in such a huge casualty exchange ratio!
This tragic casualty was also the first time that the two guards had shaken the morale of the new army. After all the soldiers in the front row were dead, the Ming army soldiers in the rear looked at the densely packed corpses in front of them.
For a moment, they didn't dare to step forward, and then they didn't know who started to turn around and run away. However, in less than a minute, the Ming army of these two guards was in chaos and even collapsed!
Then, just like the previous local army trainees, they were defeated in front of the Tang Army. Everyone wished that their parents had given them two fewer legs!
Looking at the new army of Governor Biao running away, Wang Chaohong on the top of the mountain showed a sneer on his lips: "Zhang Yue Governor Biao is nothing more than this!"
However, despite what he said, the first line of defense, the several frontline officers who had just experienced a fight, still had lingering fears!
The First Infantry Regiment is the veteran ace unit of the Tang Army. It has fought many battles, but this is the first time it has encountered such a fierce opponent.
In the hand-to-hand battle just now, although Tang Jun repelled the opponent, he also paid a heavy price!
In this round of defensive operations, the total casualties of each Tang army were no less than 400!
A small number of them died in the enemy's shelling, some died in the enemy's bows and arrows, some died in the musket shooting stage, and some were killed and wounded in the melee stage.
Although they killed more Ming soldiers, the total strength of the Ming army was huge, 30,000 in total, and their forward troops were only over 5,000, and there were 800 cavalry who were not here.
In addition, there are hundreds of artillerymen and hundreds of soldiers in the transport troops who are unable to participate in these hand-to-hand combats.
The combat infantry capable of fighting on the front line is actually only the 3,000 men of the First Infantry Regiment.
In the first battle just now, the First Infantry Regiment suffered 300 casualties, accounting for three-quarters of all casualties in the forward troops.
This casualty is not small.
More importantly, if we come here a few more times, our First Infantry Regiment may be completely consumed by the enemy.
Several officers of the First Infantry Regiment looked grim and fearful, but Cheng Hongan from the Ming Army had a face so dark that he almost wanted to eat someone.
He did not expect that the two new guards, Governor Biao, for whom he had high hopes, were still defeated by the puppet Tang rebel army, and suffered heavy casualties!
Because the Dubiao New Army has a higher fighting will and a higher tolerance for casualties, they can rush under the parapet to fight hand-to-hand. However, in this way, their casualties will rise linearly, especially in the final hand-to-hand fight.
stage, thousands of people fell directly!
During the charge stage, they originally suffered no less than a thousand casualties, but because of their large total strength, the casualty ratio was only about ten percent. This casualty ratio was barely bearable for the Dubiao New Army.
However, after rushing behind the low wall on the opposite side, instead of being able to rush in directly, they suffered huge casualties in a very short period of time, and this kind of casualties was no longer something that the Dubiao New Army could bear.
Even if it hadn't happened so briefly that the soldiers on the front line weren't given much time to react, I'm afraid they would have collapsed long ago.
The consequence of this is that of the more than 5,000 new Dubiao troops who went to war, only more than 2,000 returned, which means that half of the troops fell in front of the puppet Tang rebel army!
The other 3,000 local training troops who went out to fight were no better, and suffered hundreds of casualties.
The total number of casualties reached nearly three thousand!
If we add in the 3,000 local training troops who were killed and wounded in the previous three waves of offensive, Cheng Hongan's troops had already suffered 6,000 casualties in this small hill!
However, after suffering such heavy casualties, the position of the puppet Tang rebel army on the opposite hill still stood there!
At this time, a civil servant next to him who looked like an aide said: "Sir, we can't continue the fight. If we continue the fight, all our brothers will die here. They are all our junior soldiers!"
At this time, a young civil servant who had just come back with bloodstains all over his body, without any regard for the dignity of the official, burst into tears on the spot: "It's over, not even one of the ten sons who went to war will survive, how should I explain to the elders in my hometown now?"
!”
"And this is all my fault!"
"Today, I have no face to face my parents in my hometown, so I have no choice but to die to apologize!"
Then he suddenly pulled out the long knife from his waist and wiped it cleanly directly towards his neck!
An instant later, an arrow of blood spattered from the person's neck. It was too late for anyone else to stop him. There was no way to stop a person who wanted to die.
Looking at his subordinate who committed suicide in front of him, Cheng Hongan's body was trembling slightly!
He knew this young civil servant, and was even familiar with him. Wang Bingquan, the third son of his old friend of the same age, served as the left guard under Cheng Hong'an and held the post of Qianhu, and was awarded the title of governor of the state.
Wang Bingquan's Qianhu, like other Supervisor New Army troops, was recruited by himself from his hometown. From soldiers to low-level officers, they were all his fellow villagers and even fellow clansmen. The hundreds of households under him and the mid-level officers such as the general banner also
They are all his relatives, friends, nephews and even his own cousins.
In the battle just now, his thousands of households were almost completely wiped out. Those hundreds of households, the nephews and brothers of the general banner were all killed in the battle, and most of the soldiers of the same race and hometown were killed, and less than one tenth of them escaped alive.
.
The elders in his hometown handed over their children to him because they wanted to get an official position with him and to earn a salary to support their family, but now they all died in this barren mountain.
He simply couldn't explain it to his elders in his hometown!
He had no choice but to die!
Looking at him who had lost his voice, Cheng Hongan took several deep breaths and then said: "Restrain yourself, I will personally apply for a seal for him!"
After saying this, he looked at his men who had no fighting spirit, then sighed and said: "Retreat!"
After saying this, he seemed to have aged more than ten years!
Wang Bingquan, who committed suicide before, was no longer himself!
His Qianjun is, to some extent, an enlarged version of Wang Bingquan’s Thousand Households!
Most of the guards commanders and Qianhu under his command were also his relatives, friends, nephews, etc. They suffered such a disastrous defeat today and suffered heavy casualties. He himself did not know how to explain it to his relatives and friends!
After instructing his staff and several other subordinates to start organizing the retreat of the army, he took out a pen and paper in the Chinese army camp, and first wrote a handwritten letter to his teacher. Well, his teacher was Zhang Yue, Zhang Yuenai
He is a test taker from a foreign country.
He wrote the details of the battle in the letter, and said that he was going to lead his army northward. The success or failure of this trip was uncertain, but he would do his best to bring the remaining 20,000 troops to Changsha!
At the end of writing, he thought for a moment, and then added a temporary sentence: "In my humble opinion, the bandits defending the city are better at fighting in the field!"
After writing the letter to Zhang Yue, he wrote another letter to send to the defenders in Changsha. On the one hand, he was reporting the battle situation, and on the other hand, he also hoped that Changsha could send troops to respond!
After writing these two letters in a row, he still had no intention of stopping. Instead, he took out another piece of letter paper and wrote: Brother Songyang personally...
He wanted to write a letter to Wang Bingquan's father and close friend to inform him of Wang Bingquan's news, and at the same time, it was also an apology!
His friend entrusted his son to him, originally hoping to take this opportunity to gain an official career for his son, but he thought that it would be gone after a battle.
To this day, he still remembers that his old friend handed the young man over to him with his own hands. He also smiled and said that his three sons were naughty and asked him to discipline him more in the future.
He struggled to write this letter, and carefully considered the words he chose. After finishing writing, he sighed twice in succession!
After writing this letter, he still didn't finish it. He took out a new piece of paper and started writing the last few letters. However, these letters were different from the other letters. They were letters he wrote to his family.
One letter is for my second brother who is an official in Shandong.
One letter is for my mother at home.
One letter is for my eldest son who has just been admitted as a scholar!
But after these three letters were written, they were not sent away immediately by Cheng Hongan like other letters. Instead, they were kept close to his body, because this was not an ordinary letter from home, but a suicide note!
When he was about to send people away with these three suicide notes, that was when he was defeated and died!