On a vast plain between Changchun and Songyuan in later generations, tens of thousands of cavalry from the Ming and Qing armies finally faced each other from a distance here, each appearing on the horizon of the other's field of vision.
To the west and south of the battlefield are the endless Songnen Plains.
The grassland there is dense, and there are countless Hokkaido rice fields and rye fields dotted along the river. It is August, and the waves of rice and wheat are rolling. If you can wait until the harvest time, you will definitely have a rare bumper harvest.
To the east and north of the battlefield is the turbid Songhua River, flowing from northwest to southeast, rushing endlessly.
The first time I came to this battlefield, I encountered the Qing army's Ming army, which consisted of thousands of Ming cuirassier and pistol cavalry under Zhu Wenzhen's command, and 20,000 Mongolian servant cavalry.
Many of the Mongolian servant cavalry have seen the Songhua River. After all, they have lived in the northeastern grasslands for half their lives. The Han cavalry from the south were amazed when they saw the scenery here.
Firstly, they had never seen a great plain that was wider than the Hebei Plain. Secondly, they could not imagine that in the land of China, besides the Yangtze River, there could be a big river with such turbulent water volume and wide surface that it could
Far beyond the Yellow River.
In the minds of the Han people, the Yellow River is undoubtedly the second largest river in the world. It is the subversion of this understanding that prompted Zhu Wenzhen's strategic pull strategy today.
In the past few days, he and Hauge had repeatedly fought, and Hauge even used a feint to pretend to deal with Li Yu who came from Changbai Mountain in the east, and finally used a counterattack to approach Zhu Wenzhen.
But Zhu Wenzhen finally dared not to run away and chose to contact Hauge at this location. Obviously, he relied on him. This reliance came from his observation of the battlefield.
He found that as long as he retreated to the Songhua River, one side was close to the Songhua River, and some troops were divided in advance to control the northwest bank of the Songhua River, then Hauge's main force would be stuck to a considerable extent when it reached here.
It is impossible for Hauge to have the strength to temporarily organize forces to cross the Songhua River on the battlefield! The river is too big!
As a result, the direction that the Ming army's time-delaying troops needed to block was reduced by half, making it easier to hold off Hauge!
Of course Hauge knew this, but he had no better choice.
In mobile warfare, you have to find a battlefield where both sides are willing to fight, and both sides feel that they are not too much at a loss.
…
"Although there is a blockage by the Songhua River, which affects the deployment and roundabout of the troops, it is not bad to catch up with the enemy here. Obai, today you will lead our main Manchu force as the vanguard, and we must defeat Zhu Wenzhen within half a day! Finally!
So that we can forcefully land those spineless Mongolian cavalry and make them defect in front of the battle!"
After Hauge confirmed the deployment of Zhu Wenzhen's troops with a telescope, he issued the order for a general offensive to Obai.
"General, I obey the decree!" Ao Baihu roared, obeying the imperial decree of the Qing Emperor and executing it without hesitation.
Even though the Ming army on the opposite side had thousands of pistols, double-barreled breech spray guns, and even more than a hundred dismounted and firing front-loaded rifled sniper rifles, Obai was not afraid at all.
At this time, hesitation will lead to defeat. Even if it is dangerous, there must be no delay.
When Zhu Wenzhen saw that Obai had launched a charge, he did not let the Ming cuirassiers, who had less than five thousand, go directly. After all, the number of his direct troops was too small, and he mainly had to rely on the Mongolian servants to consume them first.
So Zhu Wenzhen issued an order, asking the Horqin tribe and the Chahar tribe to outflank the left and right flanks, and ride and shoot in battles to harass and delay Obai's offensive.
Several major princes and nobles in the Horqin and Chahar tribes are now controlled by the Ming Dynasty. Even Zhu Wenzhen held some senior generals as hostages in front of his army, so he is not too worried about the Mongols directly defecting.
The revolvers of the Ming Army cavalry have a short range, but their short-range bursts are extremely powerful. They can fire six shots in a very short period of time, so they are very convenient for use as a supervisory team at a close distance.
Just like in later modern wars, a squad of soldiers all hold bolt-action rifles, which need to be pulled to fire, and the output speed is very slow. At this time, a war supervisor with a repeating pistol or even a submachine gun stands behind them and can forcefully
Got the situation under control.
The Mongolian cavalry half pushed and half rushed forward, and soon they were fighting with Obai.
However, both sides mainly engaged in horseback riding and archery, so they did not directly confront each other, but kept a distance and fired arrows at each other.
Suddenly, arrows rained down on the banks of the Songhua River. Tens of thousands of arrows flew at each other, splashing pillars of blood.
More arrows struck the fertile black earth, and the tail feathers of the arrow shafts trembled and swayed like reeds in the wind.
The cavalry of the Qing army generally wear armor at a higher rate. Although their running endurance on the battlefield will also be weakened due to the heavy load, in this kind of shooting, the loss is obviously smaller.
The Mongolian cavalry on the opposite side kept falling from their horses and died, but they did not dare to retreat. If they wavered slightly, the Ming army supervisory pistol soldiers behind them immediately taught them how to behave, nipping the bud of danger at the earliest stage.
In addition, the Mongolian princes and major generals were detained, so the Mongols did not dare to rebel or mutiny on a large scale. At most, there were only sporadic incidents of fear of death.
While the Mongolian cavalry continued to suffer losses, the Qing cavalry on the Obai side did not suffer many casualties. Qing soldiers wearing iron-clad cotton armor were difficult to be shot or seriously injured by iron-cone arrows.
But still from time to time, Qing army horses were shot down by the repeated rain of arrows, and the heavy cavalry in iron-clad cotton armor were thrown away with wailing screams, and their muscles and bones were broken after falling.
The mobility and impact of the Qing army also became weaker and weaker in this brutal war of attrition. Even if some warriors were not seriously injured after falling off their horses, they could only barely get up and act as foot archers, continuing to bend their bows and fire arrows.
In a chaotic mobile war, it is very dangerous to stand casually in the middle of the battlefield, and you may even be trampled by your own people.
Therefore, as the battle continued, many Qing archers who fell off their horses could only be naturally pushed closer to the Songhua River, gathered on the right side of the battlefield, and reorganized in the area along the river that was relatively muddy and soft and difficult for cavalry to enter.
It is precisely because these areas are muddy that the Mongolian cavalry cannot rush up and trample them.
Some young and energetic Mongolian cavalrymen who did not understand geography did not believe in evil. As soon as they rushed up, their horses' hooves got stuck in the mud, and they stumbled and were thrown away. Then they were killed by the Qing army's infantry archers with sabers and lances.
…
The bloody vanguard war of attrition lasted for most of an hour, and both the Manchu and Qing cavalry and the Mongolian cavalry, who were servants of the Ming Dynasty, suffered considerable losses.
The casualties of the Mongols have reached thousands, and although the number of direct battle deaths of the Qing soldiers was just over a thousand, there were also many more lightly wounded, as well as infantry archers who lost their mobility because their horses were shot by arrows.
Hauge was at the rear. Seeing that Obai failed to make a breakthrough and instead lost his impact and mobility, he also realized that this battle was destined to shift from a mobile battle to a positional battle.
Therefore, he did not hesitate to put in the Han and Mongolian troops who had been forced into the army one by one, and let the only remaining Manchu soldiers supervise the battle, imitating the Ming army and forcing the cannon fodder soldiers to advance first.
The Songhua River suddenly became a bloody meat grinder, with countless lives being piled into it. The servant armies on both sides were afraid and retreating, but there were also things behind them that made them afraid.
A few Ming Dynasty Mongolian cavalrymen saw that their Mongolian compatriots were coming to fight on the opposite side, and there were pistol cavalry in the rear supervising the battle. They did not dare to run back. They actually turned against the enemy and surrendered in order to survive.
But little did they know that some of the Mongolian soldiers under Hauge's command were afraid of the Manchu troops behind them who were armed with bright swords and strong bows, and they were also afraid of the Ming servants and compatriots in front of them, so they collapsed and surrendered.
As for the Han cavalry who were forced to come by Hauge, they were even more resentful. They were like a volcanic crater that could be exploded at any time. They were always a huge hidden danger. In the melee, thousands of Han cavalry began to fall towards the Ming Dynasty.
The front line was criss-crossed and turned into a complete mess.
Under this tacit understanding that everyone wants to work without exerting any effort, the meat grinder seems to be stuck in a huge quagmire, with heavy resistance every time it turns.
Everyone was messing around, and in the end they even started shooting arrows randomly into the sky to see who they could hit if they were lucky, without intending to aim and shoot.
Hauge saw it in his eyes and was anxious in his heart.
Ming can be ruined, he can work without exerting any effort, he can be wasted, but he can't!
As long as Zhu Wenzhen is wasting up, Li Yu will arrive soon! After a long delay, Huang Degong and Li Fuming may also arrive on the battlefield!
And if he drags him away, there will only be a dead end!
"Who asked Ao Bai to ride and shoot like this? Let him launch a desperate charge! Don't worry about how we Manchu warriors usually fight! Just stick up and charge Zhu Wenzhen's flag formation! Fight to the death with those Han cuirassiers!
Don’t worry about the Mongols who are wasting away with arrows on both sides! Don’t be afraid of the revolvers of the Han cavalry!”
Hauge was roaring at the top of his lungs, and the messenger finally sent his micro-control instructions to Obai.
Seeing that the impact of the troops was getting weaker and weaker, Obai finally gritted his teeth and launched a desperate charge.
"Hold Oboi! Don't let him charge! Let the Mongolian cavalry attack from the left and right and attack him hand to hand! The cuirassiers are ready!"
Zhu Wenzhen looked solemn when he saw Obai fighting for his life. While directing the attack from both wings, he personally took precautions.
He had a hunch that those Mongolian cavalry might not really fight hard and fight hard with their flesh and blood.
Sure enough, after just half a cup of tea, Zhu Wenzhen's worries were proven. After all, those Mongolian servants had not surrendered to the Ming Dynasty not long ago. Their loyalty was very fragile and they did not have the consciousness to fight to the death for the Ming Dynasty.
After a short and brutal hand-to-hand fight, they were all dispersed and returned to hiding in the wings and firing arrows secretly. Even if the Ming army's cavalry supervising the battle killed a few deserters to deter them, it was of no use and instead caused trouble.
Zhu Wenzhen knew that he must lead by example, so he led four thousand cuirassiers and attacked them regardless of the enemy's numbers.
This was a head-on confrontation without any fancy, and both sides were killed in an instant with blood and flesh flying everywhere.
During the last thirty steps before engaging the enemy, the Ming cavalry fired several shots with revolvers. However, due to the power of the projectiles and the lack of kinetic energy in the range, the first two or three shots often did not cause any damage, and it was not until the last three rounds that the damage was noticeable.
Kill.
The effective killing distance of the revolver against unarmored enemies may be more than thirty steps, but it is definitely not effective against enemies with iron-clad cotton armor. However, the firing rate of the revolver is limited after all. If it is placed at fifteen or twenty steps
If you fire again, it will be too late to use up all the bullets before hitting your face, so even if you waste a few bullets, there is nothing you can do.
Thousands of Manchu and Qing cavalry were shot to death in the few rounds of wild shooting just before they faced each other. However, the Qing cavalry under the command of Obai were still fearless of death. The completion of this round proved that the Manchu and Qing army
The charge of dignity.
Many Ming cavalrymen opened fire too late and had no time to put away their guns and change their sabers to chop. Instead, they were directly struck in the face with lances and stabbed to death under their horses.
The impact of this kind of two-horse hedging is poured into the lance. No matter how strong the forged steel breastplate is, it cannot stop it. At most, after stabbing the cuirassier to death, the attacker's lance head will also
It's just broken.
However, the Ming cavalry who were directly stabbed to death tended to be more calm when shooting, and the bullets they fired before they died were more threatening. Each of them could often take away three or four Manchu cavalry before they died.
The two sides actually killed thousands of people in just the initial confrontation over a cup of tea! This killing speed is really astonishing.
After Ku Lie's casualties, Zhu Wenzhen suddenly discovered a problem: Ao Bai was clearly in the lead and rushed in front of the group of Manchu cavalry. Why was he not killed by pistol bullets? No matter how brave Ao Bai was, couldn't he do it in front of a musket?
Are all living beings equal?
This unscientific.
After Zhu Wenzhen observed carefully for a while, he discovered that Obai fell off his horse twice in a short period of time. What happened after he fell off his horse was not clear because it was too far away and was blocked by other enemy cavalry guards.
But Obai was able to quickly get horses from his subordinates again, mount them and take command again.
I guess this guy is wearing three layers of iron armor for the first time? So no matter how he shoots, the horse falls to death but the man can't die? He is really a powerful warrior, wearing such heavy armor can still kill the enemy.
"I guess they were also on guard against the pistols and shotguns of our cavalry. Important generals have strengthened their armor in a targeted manner. We can only rely on the armor-piercing ability of rifled sniper rifles."
Zhu Wenzhen thought of this and quickly summoned together the only more than a hundred dragoons in the army who used long-barreled breech-loaded rifled sniper rifles.
Dragoons usually march on horseback and move maneuverably. When fighting begins, they choose to dismount and shoot. They have also left a mark in the history of the development of Western musketry cavalry.
Rifled sniper bullets are, of course, ten times more powerful than pistol bullets in penetrating power. As long as it is not a body armor made of modern steel plates, no matter how many sets of ancient armor you have, it will not be able to withstand it.
The dragoons were unable to take action before because there were no good shooting opportunities and the battlefield was too chaotic.
But now he had no choice. Zhu Wenzhen ordered his Chinese army flag formation to be firmly established. He also waved the eye-catching flag a few more times to lure Obai to charge. Then he arranged all 100 snipers in the flag formation.
Head on, just wait for the other person to approach.
"Generals, listen to the order, all the pistol cavalry should go to the flag formation to charge again and make sure that the dragoon sniper team is not exposed to the enemy's attack before Obai rushes over!
Unless Oboi personally leads his trusted guards to attack the flag formation, you are allowed to withdraw to the two wings to give way to a frontal shooting angle!"
The Ming cavalry under Zhu Wenzhen were all veterans with extremely stable morale and military discipline. Many of them were old men who had been led by Zhu Shuren for more than ten years. Faced with this kind of crisis, they were naturally not afraid of death and resolutely carried out the orders.
The two sides fought fiercely for a long time, with more and more casualties. Aobai's men could not reach the Chinese flag formation in front of Zhu Wenzhen. Aobai himself changed two horses and had to lead the team himself as the arrowhead of the wedge-shaped charge formation.
.
"Obai is coming! The whole army is staring at him and firing! Don't dodge!" Zhu Wenzhen shouted sharply, and the snipers, regardless of the deterrent of the rumbling iron hooves, concentrated on aiming.
"Bang, bang, bang—" One hundred conical rifled sniper bullets were shot out in just a few breaths. Obai on the opposite side narrowed his eyes, instinctively feeling the threat of life and death, but it was already too late.
"Uh-huh -" Obai let out a miserable howl, and was hit by more than ten bullets at a distance of less than a hundred steps. He was shot to death on the spot together with the seven or eight confidant warrior guards who were closest to him.
.
But Zhu Wenzhen's adventure obviously had serious hidden dangers. The one hundred sniper soldiers had no time to mount their horses again and were already rushed to the face. They could only insert their bayonets and stab on the spot against the Manchus who were rushing towards them crazily.
Cavalry melee combat.
Waves of broken tendons and broken legs of horses, and the sound of tearing armor could be heard endlessly. The two sides collided directly, and hundreds of Manchu and Qing cavalry rolled and fell to death under the bayonets, while Zhu Wenzhen's sniper team almost did not
Those who survived were all sacrificed in the violent waves trampled by hand-to-hand combat.
It is indeed impossible to replace the most powerful general of the Qing Dynasty without paying a price.
"Avenge the sniper brothers of the Dragoons! Charge with me! Obai is dead!" Zhu Wenzhen felt a blood rush to his head until he needed to be responsible for the sacrifices of the robes and commanded the pistol cuirassiers next to him.
Charge towards the Manchu and Qing cavalry that had just appeared in chaos.
The Manchu and Qing cavalry were initially angry and bloodthirsty. After killing and killing without hesitation, as their courage was exhausted, the serious impact of Obai's sniper death gradually spread.
The Manchu cavalry was clumsy on the left and right, and the charge gradually became weak. In the end, more than a thousand corpses were left behind, and Zhu Wenzhen killed them back.
But Zhu Wenzhen was under great pressure. In just a short period of time, more than a thousand of his pistol cuirassiers had died in battle, and there were many more injured. If he hadn't known that friendly troops would arrive soon, and the Mongolian servants
The army was also holding on, and such casualties were enough to collapse the army.
"Your Majesty, it's not good! Ao Bai died in the battle! He can't break through Zhu Wenzhen's flag formation! Let's think of another way!"
As the bad news from the front line reached Haug's ears, Haug felt his head buzzing and was speechless.
What else can he do? If he doesn't break through, he will only die more miserably when Ming army reinforcements arrive!
He shouted hoarsely and ordered the rest of the troops to continue the charge. After Obai died, he changed his generals on the spot. However, the days gradually got away from him.
Time passed by moment by moment. Seeing that it was already past noon, the battlefield turned into a mess and no effective breakthrough could be formed. At the end of the day, a piece of bad news finally further damaged the confidence of the Qing army.
"Your Majesty! Along the Songhua River in the east, Li Yu's Ming army in Dongjiang Town has appeared on the flank of our army! Your Majesty, please quickly decide how to divide your troops to attack!"
Hauge looked ashen and just mechanically sent out a force to attack Li Yu. At this point, he could not figure out how to break the situation.