Ming Taizi's Total War

Chapter 178 Meeting Hauge
However, although the distance was only a hundred steps, neither the Qing army nor the Ming army rushed to send out infantry to attack the opponent's formation. Instead, they first used crossbowmen and musketeers to cover the enemy troops.

However, after discovering that the opponent was wearing heavy armor, bows and firecrackers were very ineffective, the two sides gave up the idea of ​​using long-range firepower to peck each other.

Since long-range weapons had little effect, the infantry commanders of both sides unanimously sent a small number of infantry troops to fight in a horizontal formation.

The reason why all the troops were not pushed up was because once those troops were dispatched, it would be difficult to command them.

The battlefield is not a game, and it is impossible to mobilize troops in real time. Even the current formations are prepared in advance by the commanders of both sides before the battle.

There are flying sand and rocks on the battlefield, and there are huge crowds of people. If the weather is bad, you can't even see the location clearly, and there are shouts of killing everywhere. Countless people are red-eyed. It is impossible to get out of the crowded army formation.

The infantry battle is very boring. The weapons and armor of both sides are similar, they are all swords and spears, armor and shields, and no one can do anything to the other in a short time.

The most important test at this time is the morale of the soldiers and their endurance.

Wielding a weapon on the battlefield is very exhausting. Even a muscular man can't wear armor weighing tens of kilograms and hold a sword and spear for a few quarters of an hour, or even a few hours.

The two sides can only compete in endurance. At this time, whoever can't hold on first shows signs of defeat, and the outcome of the battle is almost clear. Once the army is defeated and the enemy pursues, there will be a large number of casualties, and the greater the casualties, the stronger the army. Without the will to fight, the more you will be defeated, creating a vicious circle.

But Zhu Cihong's side is very interesting. He used the cavalry of the imperial guards' army together, more than [-] to [-] battalions of cavalry, more than [-] Ming guards' fire cavalry, plus other cavalry, and Xiaoqi Those who surrendered from the guards, at the moment Zhu Cihong had five thousand cavalry around him.

Like Hauge, Zhu Cihong also chose the tactic of roundabout and sneak attack instead of letting the cavalry charge head-on. That would be too stupid, and precious cavalry should not be wasted on the infantry's long spear formation.

"It seems to be the banner of the Han emperor in front." The soldiers beside Hauge spotted Zhu Cihong's whereabouts from a distance.

It's not because the mite man's eyes are so good, but because Zhu Cihong's banner is too tall. As an emperor, Zhu Cihong's banner is naturally much larger than that of ordinary generals, and it is also more conspicuous, because a lot of precious bright yellow is used silk.

"It's really courageous, and I'm not afraid of being captured by me." Hauge didn't expect that Zhu Cihong would dare to come to the battle in person, and he thought that Zhu Cihong would command from a distance in the rear.

In his memory, all the civil servants of the Han people would not go to the battle in person, especially the emperors and princes.

Hauge was keenly aware that this was a good opportunity, not to mention, as long as Zhu Cihong was resolved in the current battle, the remaining tens of thousands of troops would quickly collapse, or even surrender without a fight.

You must know that in ancient times, there were not many troops that could continue to fight after the accident of the supreme commander, not even the modern Western-style army.

Hauge can realize this, and Zhu Cihong can also realize it naturally. After getting closer, Zhu Cihong's troops can also see Hauge's flag clearly.

Now we meet on a narrow road, only the brave can win.

"Soldiers, follow me, we can't retreat, or the Tartars will win." Zhu Cihong turned around and raised a firecracker and said to the cavalry behind him.

"Take out all your firecrackers and bows and arrows. Shoot freely with your bows and arrows. Listen to my command and fire the firecrackers together." Since there are a large number of cavalry with long-range shooting capabilities in the team, Zhu Cixiang will certainly let them play their role.

Sometimes as long as there is a slight change in the strength of the two sides, the balance of victory will be greatly tilted, so Zhu Cihong must first use long-range firepower to attack Hauge's cavalry.

As the two sides gradually approached, the Xiao cavalry guards and the three thousand cavalry battalions kept throwing arrows into the sky. They used bows and arrows to shoot very fast, so they didn't care whether they aimed or not.

Anyway, as long as a group of people shoot a large area, no matter how unlucky they are, some enemies will definitely be shot.

It's just that the arrows thrown out are relatively weak. If it's okay to deal with the peasant army equipped with garbage, it can cause relatively large casualties.

If the arrows shot always hit the horse armor or the torso of the cavalry, often dozens of arrows will not make the cavalry lose their combat effectiveness.

To kill these heavily armored enemies, one had to look at firearms and crossbows, but Zhu Cihong's team didn't have crossbows, only the pistols of the imperial guards.

Crossbow bolts are very troublesome to load and require a lot of effort to load well. They are also very expensive, compared with some firearms, and their armor-piercing ability is somewhat insufficient compared with firearms. Therefore, in the Ming Dynasty when firearms flourished, Crossbow arrows appear less and less on the battlefield.

As for the guards with guns, the fire gun cavalry did not fire because of Zhu Cihong's order.

Because it is very troublesome to load the firecrackers, before the appearance of fixed-loaded bullets, there was no way to shoot continuously in a short period of time.

In other words, these fire cavalry only have one chance to shoot.

Zhu Cixi cherished this opportunity to shoot because he knew how huge casualties in a short period of time would have a huge impact on the morale of the army, especially an army that rarely experienced huge blows.

For example, the Eight Banners Army, since its establishment, the Eight Banners Army has lost more than it lost, and has never suffered a huge loss. In addition, it has been looting wealth and people from the Han for decades, and most people have already lived a prosperous life. , lost the desperate vigor that Hou Jin had at the beginning of his career.

Zhu Cihong did not order to shoot when he was 150 steps away from Hauge, and did not order to shoot when he was [-] steps away.

Seeing the Eight Banners Iron Cavalry close at hand, and the guards standing in the front row of the fire gun cavalry, there were beads of sweat on everyone's face. They were very nervous, and no one knew how cruel the next battle would be.

However, because they are the firearms cavalry of the Daming Imperial Guards issued to Zhu Cihong by the system, their morale, training, and organization are even much stronger than those of the former Beijing camp, so under the high tension, no one can control themselves Wipe the gun and let it go.

When they were a hundred steps away, Zhu Cihong finally ordered them to shoot.

The first row of guards and gun cavalry had no time to aim, so they ignited the matchlocks and shot the guns out.

(End of this chapter)