At seven o'clock in the morning on May 14th, outside Anping Town, Li Xuan, dressed in military uniform, appeared on a hilltop, followed by a large group of civil and military officials!
Lei Wan, Hao Bainian, Fang Xitong, Zeng Ziwen, Qian Mengjiu, Wang Wenhua and other important civil and military officials were all there, and there were even more ordinary generals and officials. On the small hill, dozens of people were crowded, and each one
They are all of good status.
If the Ming army these days had long-range heavy artillery with a range of several kilometers, or grenades, one shot hitting this hilltop would be able to wipe out more than half of the important civil and military officials of the Tang Dynasty.
It is a pity that the Ming army does not have this kind of long-range heavy artillery. Even if it can shoot such a distance, it cannot hit it.
Not to mention the Ming Army, even the Tang Army did not have such long-range heavy artillery that could travel several kilometers and hit accurately.
The sighting equipment these days is so backward, and the craftsmanship of the artillery and shells is so bad that even if there is a sighting range, you can't hit it if you aim it.
Nowadays, the effective range of the artillery of the Tang Army is generally less than 500 meters. Even the 24-pound cannons of the Navy have only this effective range.
In this era of scary low hit rates, it is almost meaningless to pay attention to the maximum range. The effective range is the only criterion for measuring the range of artillery.
Otherwise, Li Xuan would not have brought so many important civil and military ministers to the front line to personally command the battle!
In front of Li Xuan is a densely packed army of 100,000 people, almost covering the mountains and plains!
Except for the 5th Infantry Division, the 3rd Cavalry Detachment, and the 27th Infantry Regiment of the 9th Infantry Division, all the remaining main forces of the Third Army, the Fourth Army, and the Guards are here.
Here, not counting the 15,000 Guardsmen, the Army has four infantry divisions alone, namely the 6th Infantry Division, the 8th Infantry Division, the 9th Infantry Division, and the 11th Infantry Division.
There are four mixed regiments, namely the First Mixed Regiment, the Fourth Mixed Regiment, and the Ninth Mixed Regiment. These three mixed regiments are all the main mixed regiments. With the same number, their combat effectiveness is no less than that of several main infantry.
Teacher's.
In addition, there are four assault battalions and five heavy artillery battalions.
The total strength of the army reached more than 90,000, and the claim of a strength of 100,000 was not false at all.
The large number of troops has a total of about 250 five-pound and nine-pound field guns, of which there are more than sixty nine-pound field guns.
It has nearly a hundred heavy-duty short-barreled grenades of 24 kilograms and 48 kilograms under its jurisdiction.
As for the two-pound and three-pound shotguns, there are even more. When counting artillery, the Tang Army no longer specifically includes these infantry support shotguns.
Now, with just one order from him, the 100,000 troops in front will launch a fierce attack on the Ming army in front!
The Ming army on the opposite side also discovered the abnormal movements of the Tang army on the opposite side early, and began to arrange their troops early. The number of Ming troops on the opposite side was also large, or even more. It was estimated that the number had reached eleven or two.
Thousands of people.
The huge infantry phalanxes of the Ming army were placed one after another, also covering the mountains and plains. At the same time, they also relied on the built camps and fixed fortifications. At the same time, according to the reconnaissance of the reconnaissance cavalry, although the main force of the Ming army was 110,000 to 20,000 regular troops,
But a large number of young people were also mobilized, at least tens of thousands of people.
Needless to say, these young men should be used to build fortifications, and when necessary, they would be used as cannon fodder to consume the Tang army's bullets and cannonballs.
Although it shows that the army has reached a consensus that the guardsmen are no longer useful, and the young men recruited temporarily are even less useful, but when there is a shortage of troops, they can only be used if they are not useful.
It can consume the bullets and artillery shells of the puppet Tang rebel army on the opposite side.
As long as Qingzhuang can consume the ammunition of the puppet Tang rebel army on the opposite side, there will be no loss.
The Ming army had a large force, but relatively speaking, it had much fewer artillery. Even Emperor Zhengde had gathered all the artillery in the north together, and had stepped up efforts to cast some of the artillery in the past six months, but in
In terms of numbers, they were still not comparable to the Tang army.
During this battle, Emperor Zhengde had only about a hundred or so field artillery pieces over five kilograms, and most of them were five-jin field cannons. There were only a few scattered nine-jin field cannons, and a small number were seven-jin field cannons.
Field artillery.
As for short-barreled heavy grenades, the Ming army does not yet have large-scale equipment.
However, the Ming army was also aware of its shortcomings in heavy artillery, so they equipped large-scale cannons such as Franco machine guns and bowl-mouth cannons. The number of these shotguns was greater than what the Tang army was equipped with.
Now that the armies of both sides have set up their positions, Li Xuan came to the battlefield in person, and Emperor Zhengde insisted on going to the front line to supervise the battle despite his lack of physical strength!
The style of Emperor Zhengde's side was even greater than that of Li Xuan's side. All kinds of ceremonial guards dedicated to the emperor were put out, and he even rode a dragon sedan carried by thirty-two people!
This is not because Emperor Zhengde wants to show off, but because today's battle is of great significance, he must show his majesty as an emperor and let the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty see that he, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, is fighting with them on the front line.
He is the only emperor in China, and the Ming Dynasty is the only legal court in China!
On the opposite side, the puppet Tang thief army and the puppet emperor Li Xuan are just clowns!
Therefore, in terms of dignity, he absolutely cannot lose to the opposite pseudo-emperor Li Xuan!
The people below have already reported that the Puppet Emperor Li Xuan has also come to the front line in person, and is on a hilltop a few miles away. If you look from a distance, although you can't see people clearly, you can still see a group of Puppet Emperor Li Xuan on the hilltop opposite.
Among the officials there was a man wearing a yellow robe.
You can't tell clearly about his appearance and age, but the yellow dragon robe makes it possible for people to tell at a glance from miles away that he is definitely the false emperor Li Xuan.
Because in the Puppet Tang thief army opposite, except for the Puppet Emperor Li Xuan, there will never be another person who dares to wear yellow clothes!
Just like Emperor Zhengde, although he is now wearing armor and military uniform, the overall color is still golden, and in the entire Ming army array, except for him, there will be no other person wearing this.
This will be an emperor versus emperor showdown!
Today, only one emperor can leave this place alive!
Emperor Zhengde has already made plans. In today's battle, he will either defeat the main force of the puppet Tang rebel army in one battle, or his own side will be defeated. If he loses, then he will have no way to escape, and the final outcome will be death.
On the battlefield.
If he is defeated, not only the entire Shandong, but even the entire north, including the Forbidden City, will be unable to resist the Tang army's follow-up attack. Even if he escapes, where can he escape?
Therefore, if he is defeated, he will not escape, he will die here, and then not only him, but all the courtiers present will have to die here with him!
When he thought of this, Emperor Zhengde looked around at the civil and military ministers around him. In this personal expedition, he brought out most of the civil and military ministers from the Ming Dynasty.
He took them with him personally to prevent them from causing trouble in the rear. Otherwise, Emperor Zhengde would personally conquer the enemy and they would dare to rebel.
Take them with you, so to speak, to take them to fight with you, let alone to monitor them nearby.
As for the defeat, Emperor Zhengde himself did not intend to live, but he did not intend to let them live either.
Now that the Ming Dynasty has fallen into this fate, Emperor Zhengde does not deny that he has a certain amount of responsibility, but he believes that the greater responsibility lies with these ministers.
If the Zhu Dynasty was over, they would also have to die for the Zhu Dynasty. He would never allow himself to be defeated. After his death, these guys turned around and begged for mercy to the pseudo-emperor Li Xuan, and then suddenly turned into officials of the pseudo-Tang Dynasty.
He, Zhengde, does not allow it!
The emperors of both sides had already arrived at the scene. With Li Xuan sitting on the dragon throne, he gently ordered: "Let's start!" After that, the Tang army started to move first, and the artillery started first.
However, it is not firing, because the distance between the two sides is still quite far, and the range of the artillery is not enough. The artillery must continue to move forward, and it can only fire smoothly after reaching the predetermined artillery position.
The Ming army on the opposite side was not stupid. When they saw the Tang army moving, they immediately faced each other tit for tat, and their artillery opened fire first.
The Ming army was well prepared, and the artillery positions were also prepared in advance. As long as the Tang Army entered the predetermined firing range, they could fire directly.
However, at this time, the artillerymen of the Ming Army discovered that the artillery of the Tang Army on the opposite side was advancing faster than they expected. The artillerymen of the Tang Army did not directly push the artillery forward with their hands, but directly used horses to pull the artillery forward quickly, and
The first batch of artillery were relatively lightweight five-pound field guns.
This is also an artillery battle plan formulated by the Tang Army in advance. In order to allow the artillery to arrive at the predetermined artillery position quickly and safely, in addition to the cover of the infantry, the artillery troops will also directly let the horses pull the artillery forward quickly.
The Tang Army's artillery troops were advancing rapidly, and the infantry on the side also moved forward accordingly to provide cover to prevent the Ming Army's cavalry or infantry from coming out. Although the main force of the Ming Army's cavalry was not in Anping Town, there were still thousands of cavalry here.
At this time, the artillery of both sides was still relatively far apart, but they were able to cause effective damage to the other side's infantry phalanx deployed forward.
After the artillery of the Tang Army was in place, the Sixth Infantry Division on the left also began to take action. The infantry stepped forward slowly to the sound of drums, neither fast nor slow. Above their heads, artillery shells flew past from time to time, and then fell.
On the land ahead, jump up and rush into the Ming army array on the opposite side.
At the same time, the Ming army artillery on the opposite side also opened fire at the Sixth Infantry Division, and many artillery shells fell into the array of the Sixth Infantry Division one after another!
But this can't stop the duel between the infantry of both sides!