Chapter four hundred and twentieth nine cavalry charge
After a burst of roar and smoke, five artillery shells flew into the Xiongnu camp 400 steps away. After a while, they exploded one after another.
Although Shen Bing could not clearly see the tragic situation of the Huns being bombed in the distance in the darkness, he could hear from the sound of people shouting and horses neighing that the impact of these shells on the Huns was not small.
Shen Bing believes that a large part of it is shocking.
On the one hand, this is because at this time, the Qin army was still 400 steps away from the Xiongnu. No weapons in this era could reach this distance, including trebuchets.
On the other hand, there is the roar and lethality caused by the explosion of "explosion bombs"... The lethality of "explosive bombs" to cavalry is particularly obvious, because when the shrapnel is exploded, it flies in a radial pattern from bottom to top.
As a result, riders at high altitudes are easily hit by shrapnel and fall off their horses.
Even if what is hit is not the rider but the war horse, it is shot from the bottom up from the weak abdomen of the war horse... Even the war horse that has been strictly trained will be in pain and frightened at this time, and can't help but run and jump around, so it will Knocking more riders off their horses.
In fact, the damage caused by the artillery shell itself is not great. Five artillery shells, even if each shot kills ten enemies, only kills or injures fifty people.
But the turmoil and fear caused by these shells in the darkness would spread like a tide among the Huns army, and soon the entire army lost the confidence and will to fight.
This is what Shen Bing wants.
However, what happened next surprised Shen Bing.
Fear and turmoil did spread in the Xiongnu camp, but Ge Yu, the commander of ten thousand men, was a commander with both wisdom and courage. He made the following judgment immediately:
1: The firearms of the Qin army are good at hitting far distances.
This is obvious. Being able to shoot into the Xiongnu camp from more than 400 steps away is of course beneficial to the long range.
Equipment that is good for long range shooting is usually not good for close combat, such as bows and crossbows.
Two: If the Xiongnu camp is allowed to continue to be so chaotic, the only result will be a retreat.
After such analysis, Ge Yu knew that he had only two choices: close combat or escape.
Ge Yu was not a person who would just run away from a fight, so he chose the former.
Since the former has been chosen, the sooner the better, otherwise the riots in the troops will be uncontrollable.
So Ge Yu made a quick decision and shouted:
"Draw the knife!"
The Hun generals also passed on the orders one after another:
"Draw out the knife!"
"Draw out the knife!"
…
Then Ge Yu waved his scimitar towards the Qin army and ordered:
"The Qin army does not number more than ten thousand people, so why should we fear it?"
"Hongnu warriors, please follow me and kill them all, and then come and drink the water of Jiaohe River!"
"Kill!"
The Xiongnu soldiers were so agitated by Ji Yu that their morale greatly increased. They waved their scimitars and shouted, charging towards the Qin army.
Only then did Shen Bing realize that he had underestimated the enemy.
Moreover, the Xiongnu's tactics were uncharacteristically not using their best bows and arrows, but using scimitars for melee combat.
As mentioned before, the cavalry of this era did not have stirrups or saddles. It was extremely dangerous to charge the infantry with cavalry, especially at night.
But Shen Bing had to admit that this was the correct way to play.
There are no right or wrong tactics on the battlefield, only whether they are suitable or not.
It may seem like a ridiculous tactic in other situations, but in some specific situations it is the most correct tactic.
For example, at this time, the Huns cavalry can of course charge into the formation with cavalry.
Most of the Qin army was equipped with long-range weapons, such as artillery, crossbows, trebuchets and three-bow crossbows.
These long-range weapons had advantages against the Huns' bows and arrows, but they were useless when the cavalry charged directly into the formation.
The Qin army had just arrived in front of the Xiongnu camp and had no time to set up obstacles such as horse spears and horse ropes, so they had to use pikemen to stop the cavalry charge.
However, the spearmen blocked one, two, or at most three waves of war horses, and the horses after the Xiongnu would rush into the Qin army's camp.
Not to mention the close combat advantage of the Xiongnu scimitar over the Qin army's crossbowmen, just the high speed of the war horses and the trampling of the horse's hooves would hurt many Qin troops.
What's more, the Qin army and the Xiongnu both numbered ten thousand. After such a comparison, Shen Bing knew that the Qin army would lose this battle if they fought like this, and they would lose miserably.
Shen Bing did not hesitate and immediately ordered:
"Gun formation!"
"Reject the carbine!"
The messenger conveyed the orders one after another.
The speed of the spear formation is very fast. The several rows of spearmen in front just need to take a few steps forward, then separate a certain distance from each other and support the front end of the spear diagonally upward and the rear end on the ground.
But resisting horse guns...
The spear and gun mount were still on the carriage at the rear, but the Hun cavalry attack was very close at hand. Even if they were removed as quickly as possible, they could not be assembled in front of the formation before they got close.
"put!"
Under Li Yan's order, the crossbowmen fired rows of crossbow arrows at the galloping Hun cavalry. The Hun cavalry in front were hit by arrows and fell to the ground amid the crowd of people and their horses neighing.
However, this could not stop the Huns' offensive. The Huns cavalry who followed used extremely superb riding skills to control their horses to either go around dead bodies or fly over them in the air, and some even trampled directly over injured comrades... …
This cannot be said to be cruel. The cavalry must do this when charging into battle.
Because speed is the most important factor in the cavalry charge, it is impossible for them to slow down and miss the opportunity just because there are a few wounded in front.
"Fire!"
The artillery fired another round of shells in time.
The cannonballs roared out in a series, knocking down the troops on the trajectory, and then exploded among the Hun cavalry.
However, the artillery that was supposed to be majestic and kill all directions, the fire that burst out at this time was so insignificant in front of the Hun cavalry coming like a tide, just like throwing a few stones into the lake, just causing a little wave. The trace was quickly lost after that.
"put!"
Wang Ben commanded the three-bow crossbow to fire several rope arrows diagonally from the side.
The rope arrow did work. After it was fired, it severely stumbled several groups of cavalry.
However, the Hun cavalry had long seen the power of ropes and arrows. As long as those tripped riders were still alive, they would find the ropes and cut them off immediately.
Getting closer, getting closer...
The Hun cavalry shouted one after another, and the scimitar raised high reflected the moonlight and reflected a little bit of cold light, shining into Shen Bing's eyes like a sharp edge.
Shen Bing realized that what he was about to face might be his first defeat in this world, and it might also be his last.
because……
No one can escape from this situation.
However, at this moment, Yan shouted loudly, drew out his scimitar, and shouted to the Pu Lei army in the rear:
"The restoration of the country is here, warriors of Pulei, come forward with me to stop the Xiongnu!"
"Come on!"
As he spoke, he galloped forward with reckless abandon.
Pu Lei's army only hesitated for a moment, and then they all drew out their scimitars and rushed forward with shouts behind him.