There is a mountain a few miles outside Jianping City. There is a temple on the mountain. There is a nun in the temple. Her name is...
Alas, that is all in the past. Now there are no nuns or monks in the temple.
Maybe it existed before, but now, there are only soldiers of the Ming army coming and going in this place.
Two days ago, the Ming army arrived here, and then occupied this temple, which was said to have been abandoned for half a day. Wang Yiqi's base camp was temporarily located here.
The reason why Wang Yiqi came here with his army was because he thought that the puppet Tang rebels had occupied Jianping. At the same time, they had deployed large armies inside and outside the city. If they went a few miles further, they would basically be able to reach the city directly.
His army came from afar, so it was naturally impossible for him to stupidly run directly to the city and then send a general to challenge the generals of the puppet Tang rebel army.
Because in that case, Wang Yiqi will probably be greeted by countless cannonballs!
So Wang Yiqi stopped the 100,000 troops here, and then set up camp to rest. The battle was approaching, and he needed to keep the soldiers well fed and drunk, and he also needed to make various preparations.
At the same time in Jianping City, Chen Keqiao of the Fifth Infantry Division was also looking at the Ming army outside the city with a telescope.
The number of the Ming army was extremely large, and the camps they stationed spread out for miles, in circles. They were a hundred thousand troops, more than the people in the city plus the Fifth Infantry Division combined.
But in the south, there is another force, that is, the main force of the Second Army led by Li Chunjing. They arrived a little later, and they only arrived yesterday.
Now, both sides are stationed and deployed around the small town of Jianping.
As for Jianping City itself, it also became part of the entire battlefield.
As the battle approached, Chen Keqiao himself was a little nervous, because although this battle was the decisive battle that Li Chunjing wanted, the comparison of the strength of the two sides was slightly greater.
The Second Army, including the Fifth Infantry Division, has only two infantry divisions, two mixed regiments and one heavy artillery battalion, with a total strength of about 40,000.
The Ming army on the opposite side consisted of 60,000 Jiangnan New Army troops, 20,000 frontier troops, and 20,000 garrison troops, no more, no less, exactly 100,000.
The comparison of the strength of the two sides is 40,000 to 100,000!
There is no doubt that the Ming army has an absolute advantage in terms of military strength.
In terms of equipment, the Tang Army had a clear advantage.
In terms of muskets, each unit of the Second Army had about 16,000 muskets, and the Ming army opposite actually had about the same number.
As for artillery, each has its own age. The Tang Army has a clear advantage in the number of field artillery and other long-barreled artillery. The total number of field artillery in each department reached more than 150, while the Ming army on the opposite side had
About fifty doors.
It is worth noting that the Ming Army only had a few nine-pound cannons, while the Tang Army had nearly forty nine-pound cannons.
In terms of shotguns, the Ming army had more.
In terms of armor, the Second Army of the Tang Army was equipped with a large number of plate armor, old-style iron armor, cotton iron armor, etc. The proportion of 20,000 spears, swords, shields, bows and arrows and other cold weapon troops equipped with armor reached one-third.
, that is to say, the Second Army has at least 7,000 armored soldiers.
The Ming army on the opposite side is equipped with traditional iron armor and cotton armor, and some cotton armor. However, the proportion of equipment is far inferior to that of the Tang Army. With an army of 100,000, there will be no more than 5,000 armored men. These people
The important thing is to focus on the border troops.
However, in addition to their large number of troops, the Ming army also had a huge advantage, that is, they had enough cavalry!
Wang Yiqi's 100,000-strong army has a total of 3,000 cavalry. These 4,000 cavalry are not ordinary mounted infantry, but are all professional cavalry. Most of them are cavalry drawn from the northern frontier army. They are quite large.
Most of the cavalry are skilled in bow and horse.
As for the Second Army, the number of cavalry is much smaller. The entire second cavalry detachment temporarily formed by the entire army has about 800 cavalry.
It can be said that in terms of cavalry, the Ming army had an absolute advantage.
Of course, regarding the above-mentioned comparison of the strength of the two sides, neither Li Chunjing nor Wang Yiqi actually know the details of the other side, so they can only make a rough guess.
Generally speaking, both sides in this battle have their own advantages!
The army of the Tang Dynasty had more guns and artillery, the quality of its soldiers was higher, and its armor coverage rate far exceeded that of the Ming army.
The Ming army had many troops and many cavalry.
When two such armies square up here, who will win and who loses will only be known after a fight. Although Chen Keqiao has confidence in this, he is not blindly confident.
After observing at the top of the city, he went out of the city to the Chinese military camp of the Second Army, met Li Chunjing and other generals of the Second Army, and held a brief meeting.
There was no detailed strategic plan in this meeting, because both sides had already set up their positions. Once a fight started, it would be a head-on fight, with no strategy at all.
As for the specific details such as formations, they are not something to be discussed at the meeting. The specific details basically have to be discussed with the regimental commander and battalion commander level when they go back.
Li Chunjing can't directly command the camp!
On November 9th and 10th, both sides spent their time in silence.
However, both sides will not remain so silent forever.
On the 11th, Li Chunjing ordered all the troops to form formations and the artillery troops to set up field artillery emplacements!
Li Chunjing took the lead to move, and the Ming army on the opposite side naturally also moved. A large number of soldiers in the camp began to line up, and then listed one huge square after another.
By noon, both sides had completed their formation, and the Tang Army even voluntarily abandoned Jianping City and all went out of the city to fight in formation.
The two sides deployed themselves around several low hills, and hundreds of thousands of troops filled the surrounding area with water!
At noon, the fourth mixed regiment took the lead in launching a tentative attack. Of course, it was not a stupid head-on charge, but an attempt to maneuver around.
However, the Ming army was quite vigilant. After seeing the Fourth Mixed Regiment move, they followed suit and sent their cavalry troops to try to bypass the Fourth Mixed Regiment's flank.
Seeing that the Fourth Mixed Regiment was about to fall into crisis, Li Chunjing gave another order. The 7th Infantry Division of the Chinese Army directly pressed forward, shortening the distance between the two sides to 300 meters.
At the same time, artillery from both sides also began to fire intensively.
The Tang Army and the Ming Army had more than two hundred field artillery pieces in total. The momentum of the fight was huge. Solid artillery shells were flying randomly on the entire battlefield. The roar of the artillery was heard, and people's shouts were directly blocked.
Covered up.
During the bombardment, the Tang Army's heavy howitzers also displayed amazing power. In the past, this kind of artillery had played a huge role in sieges, but to be honest, this was the first time it was used directly in the field.
.
It's not that the Tang army didn't want to do this, but that the Ming army never gave them the opportunity to face a decisive battle in the wild.
Now, the opportunity has come, let this howitzer be put to use on the battlefield!
Under the roar of artillery, the infantry phalanxes on both sides were constantly coming and going. This kind of decisive battle involving hundreds of thousands of people was naturally impossible to simply charge and then defeat the opponent.
Because both sides will deploy in depth, the infantry square in the front is finished, and there will be one, even two, or three behind it.
When the infantry and artillery on both sides were fighting fiercely, the cavalry on both sides also moved frequently. There was no cavalry fighting between them, but they frequently interspersed on the battlefield. The main purpose was to threaten the main force through the mobility of the cavalry.
The flanks of the infantry phalanx, thereby forcing the infantry phalanx to change formations and creating more favorable opportunities for one's own infantry.
The current battle between the two sides is still concentrated between infantry and artillery!
But it was obvious that because the artillery of the Tang Army was large in number and powerful, the intensive artillery fire destroyed the Ming army's phalanxes one after another, which made Wang Yiqi's face darken.
Although Wang Yiqi has never personally led a battle, he is still a civil servant who knows the military. He has basically read through many military books from ancient times to the present. For today's battlefield, our own artillery is almost completely suppressed by the rebel artillery, which leads to our own
When the infantry suffered a large number of casualties, he also knew that the situation was not good.
But there was nothing he could do about it!
Who told him not to have so many artillery!
He immediately turned around and discussed with several generals around him before issuing the latest order, asking the cavalry to knock down the artillery position on the left wing of the rebel army. The artillery position there was deployed on a small high ground.
, and there are dozens of them. They are commanding from a high position and can cause huge damage to the infantry square below.
If the rebel artillery positions are not destroyed, I am afraid that today our one hundred thousand army will be destroyed by these artillery!
Of course, Wang Yiqi would not be stupid enough to let the cavalry charge directly, but let them attack the flanks. At the same time, in addition to the cavalry, he also sent tens of thousands of Jiangnan new troops to attack the enemy's infantry square on the left wing.
Contain the enemy's infantry phalanx to cover the cavalry's movements.
As Wang Yiqi's order was issued, the situation on the battlefield also changed instantly.
On the left wing of the Second Army, on the artillery position, a young lieutenant colonel commanded the nine-pound artillery fire of his artillery battalion with a relaxed look. Under his command, the shelling rhythm of these eighteen nine-pound artillery was very smooth.
Neither fast nor slow, it not only exerts maximum firepower, but also ensures that the barrel will not overheat and explode.
While directing the artillery fire, he still had time to chat with others.
But soon his expression changed slightly, and he took out a single-channel telescope. In the sight of the telescope, a group of Ming army cavalry appeared on a low hilltop, and then slowly came towards his artillery position.