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Regarding the actions of the Ming army, the Swedish army felt baffled. Even Torstenson couldn't understand it.

There are only three or four hundred cavalry. Are you coming here to kill someone?

If he hadn't seen the Polish army in Jingguan before, Thorstensen might have really despised the Ming army and felt that these opponents were just a mob! However, now, although he couldn't understand it, he still stared at it seriously. He estimated in his mind that the general of the Ming army was probably a ruthless person who ignored the lives of his men and sent those people to test the weaknesses of his own army.

In response, Thorstensen immediately ordered the musketeers in the front row to prepare. As for his most proud trump card, the artillery unit, he does not plan to use it immediately.

However, is Li Dingguo a cruel person? Obviously not!

After the three to four hundred cavalry troops approached the Swedish army's formation, they not only did not speed up the charge, but dismounted and lost their horses and came towards the Swedish army's formation. And the cavalry army of about 2,000 people behind them stopped, but judging from their posture, they seemed to be ready to charge at any time.

There must be a monster when things go wrong. Thorstensen became a little nervous for no reason. He immediately shouted an order for the musketeers to prepare. No firing was allowed without an order.

Obviously, he wanted to put the Ming army at a close enough distance, and then use the numerical advantage of lining up to kill them to give the Ming army a severe blow.

However, what happened next was obviously beyond Thorstensen's expectation.

I saw that the three or four hundred dismounted Ming troops were actually scattered, in twos and threes, in one place in the east and in one place in the west. They seemed to have no order, just like that, slowly approaching the Swedish phalanx.

Thorstensen frowned when he saw it. He also discovered that these approaching Ming troops all had muskets in their hands. But the power of the musket, due to accuracy and range, can only be made up for the shortcomings of shooting accuracy by relying on the advantage of quantity after getting close enough. With these Ming troops scattered like this, are they here to fight or to hunt birds?

He couldn't figure out whether these Ming soldiers were here to die, so he didn't care about it. Anyway, the musketeers on my side are already well prepared. If you want to seek death, go ahead.

The two sides were getting closer and closer, and soon they were estimated to be within the effective range of the muskets.

However, at this moment, those Ming troops did something wrong again.

I saw these three to four hundred Ming army soldiers suddenly fell to the ground with a puff, and then started to take aim with their muskets.

"..." Torstensen was speechless. As for the shooting accuracy of the musket, at such a long distance, it was completely based on the rhythm of hitting here and there. It would be strange if he could hit the target!

Not only him, but the Swedish musketeers standing in line were also a little dumbfounded. Many of them laughed out loud regardless of military discipline. What are the Ming troops here for? Are they here to have fun in front of the battle? Not only was it so far away, but it was so funny to get down on the ground!

Thorstensen couldn't help but frown when he saw it. Just when he was about to give the order not to make any noise, he heard the sound of gunfire.

Needless to say, this must have been the Ming army's muskets that started shooting. They were afraid of death. If they fired from such a distance, they could hit the ghost's target!

However, when he looked intently, his eyes almost popped out. In the phalanx under his command, many soldiers standing in the front row fell down one by one, covering their bloody holes with expressions of disbelief on their faces.

If there were only one or two, then it could be said that a blind cat met a dead mouse, and these few were unlucky to be shot. However, what Thorstensen saw was that many soldiers fell down after being shot. It was just the first wave of gunfire, and it was estimated by visual inspection that at least fifty soldiers at the front fell.

Thorstensen didn't believe that so many of his men would be shot by chance. With his military sensitivity, he immediately turned around and saw those Ming soldiers lying on the ground. Those who finished shooting were sitting there loading ammunition, while the other person next to him began to lie down and take aim again. Then, the sound of "bang bang bang" sounded again from the Ming army's side.

Thorstensen immediately turned his head and looked at himself again. He was shocked to find that another forty or fifty people had fallen in the phalanx. At this moment, he was immediately sure that the muskets in the hands of the Ming army were far superior to his own muskets in terms of range and accuracy.

Sure enough, he then discovered something unusual. The soldiers of the Ming army who were loading were actually hammering with a small mallet they carried. It seemed that the lead bullets were too big and they had to be stuffed into the bottom of the barrel in this way.

At this moment, he made a new discovery. Those three or four hundred Ming army soldiers were actually in groups of three or four. After one person finished shooting, it was the next one's turn to shoot. Although the rate of fire is not fast, it can just take turns to shoot without stopping for a long time. With every shot, forty or fifty of his men would be knocked down.

There is no doubt that the courage to line up to be shot is very great, or it may be due to strict military discipline. However, in this scene now, it can only be beaten without taking action. Under such circumstances, no matter how strict the military discipline is and how courageous they are, not many people can stand it.

Soon, some of the soldiers in the square formations that were being beaten panicked and either fired back or retreated. At this moment, these soldiers truly felt the fear of death.

The more than two thousand cavalry troops behind the Ming army saw that the Swedish phalanx seemed to be loose, and they tended to move forward. It seems that when the opportunity comes, he will pounce on it quickly.

When Thorstensen saw this, sweat broke out on his forehead, but he didn't seem to know it. He immediately gave an order and shouted sternly: "Anyone who acts without military orders will die!"

Thanks to his usual strict military discipline, the commotion quickly disappeared after giving the order. The phalanx that was once again stationary, those close to the front, already had many of their accomplices fallen in front of the formation.

The sound of "bang bang bang" sounded again, like the sound of chasing souls and snatching lives. About forty Swedish soldiers fell down again.

Although the number of casualties has been negligible for an army of nearly 20,000. However, Thorstensen knew that if this continued, the morale of his own army would be severely affected, and if not, the military formation would collapse!

You can't just take a beating without fighting back!

However, the distance between the Ming army and the Swedish Army's musketeers was not within the effective range of the Swedish army's musketeers. Not to mention, the Ming army was very treacherous. .

Once the fire is fired here, the volley of guns cannot hit the enemy, which will also cause a serious blow to morale.

Thinking like this, Thorstensen sweated even more on his forehead. He wanted to order the artillery to fire. However, at this distance, the range of explosive shells and other highly destructive weapons to the infantry was out of reach. If it were solid shells, the Ming army would have to fire. With this scattered distribution, it is hard to say whether a shot can hit anyone.

Listening to the continuous sound of "bang bang bang", his soldiers fell to the ground one after another, and the phalanx seemed to be unstable again. The sweat on Torstensen's forehead was already dripping down. The situation he encountered now was something he had never experienced before.

There was no other way to think of, and Thorstensen was decisive. He immediately issued the order.

As a result, several phalanxes approaching the Ming Army's musketeers began to move forward in unison. Obviously, they wanted to get close enough to reach the range of their muskets and kill the Ming army.

Seeing this situation, those Ming troops who had not completed loading began to retreat, while those who had completed loading still lay there and finished shooting before retreating.

The Swedish phalanx did not advance very fast. After all, they had to maintain their formation, so the soldiers of the Ming army retreated calmly. Anyway, just keep enough distance from the Swedish phalanx. If you don’t stop, I won’t stop. You want to stop and shoot, but the distance is not enough.

Just like that, several square formations moved forward, forcing the Ming troops to retreat. However, when these phalanxes were farther away from the main formation, Thorstensen discovered that the Ming army's cavalry, who were waiting for opportunities, began to move. Spreading to both sides, it seems to be inserting into the rear of the mobile phalanx and cutting off the connection with the rear.

Seeing this situation, Thorstensen had to order the advancing phalanx to stop advancing and slowly retreat back to the main formation.

However, the next scene made him feel angry and helpless at the same time.

After loading their ammunition, the three to four hundred Ming troops began to approach the square formation again. Just like before, they began to shoot from a long distance. "Bang, bang, bang," gunfire sounded, and suddenly the Swedish soldiers fell again. one slice.

Thorstensen saw this situation and immediately understood. The Ming army wanted to take advantage of the shooting accuracy and range of their muskets to consume their own troops and undermine their morale. Once the military formation is no longer tight and several arms are no longer able to coordinate, the cavalry behind them who are waiting for opportunities will pounce like hungry wolves.

Thinking of this, the sweat on his forehead was already flowing down. This was the first time he had encountered such a situation after leading troops in war for so many years. At this time, he already had a deep understanding of the Ming army coming from the Far East. So cunning and well-equipped, no wonder the army led by the King of Poland was completely annihilated!

In desperation, he summoned the cavalry general and ordered him: "The cavalry will make a surprise attack and kill those Ming troops at all costs!"

After hearing this, the cavalry general did not immediately agree as before, but hesitantly reminded: "Your Excellency, Marshal, even if we kill those Ming troops, what if another group of Ming troops come?"

"No!" Torstenson categorically objected. "The Ming army should not have so many sophisticated firearms, otherwise our army would have collapsed on a large scale. As long as we kill the Ming army now, I believe it will be fine. There is one more thing , we must grab some guns and come back to see, do you understand?"

As expected of a famous general on the European battlefield, he had already figured out that there should be only this many rifled flintlock guns in the Ming army.

However, the cavalry general was obviously still a little hesitant. He turned to look at the Ming cavalry who were waiting behind the Ming army, and wanted to say something else. However, at this time, Thorstensen had already shouted sternly: "The military order has been issued, do you want to disobey it?"

If his men dare to disobey orders, they will end up very miserable. When the cavalry general heard this, he was startled, subconsciously agreed, turned around and left.

However, the concerns of the cavalry generals were obviously real. As soon as he led the cavalry in the Swedish army to move, the cavalry in the Ming army who were waiting for him also immediately moved. Obviously, he had read correctly before. Those cavalry troops had two functions.

The first is to wait. If they see a flaw or chaos in the Swedish military formation, they will immediately pounce on the opponent and strike the opponent quickly and fatally.

The second is that it is right behind the shooting Ming army and has a protective effect.

When the Swedish cavalry left their formation and began to charge slowly, the Ming cavalry also began to speed up and prepared to attack. After the Ming soldiers finished shooting their ammunition, they also withdrew to a safe area in the rear and continued to reload their ammunition.

Further back, I saw the Swedish cavalry dispatching, and the Ming troops who were resting also mounted their horses one after another, and seemed to be preparing to attack.

The Swedish cavalry only has a total strength of about 3,000 troops, but what they have to face is likely to be tens of thousands of cavalry. Even if they are just to achieve the purpose of Thorstensen's instructions, they will have to go more. After all, there were at least two thousand people protecting the cavalry that shot at the Ming army.

However, because most of the cavalry of the huge Swedish phalanx were deployed, the flank cover was weak. The Ming army obviously also saw this situation. The resting cavalry troops immediately separated out thousands of cavalry and began to surround the flanks, waiting for opportunities.

Before the cavalry confrontation even began, Thorstensen already had a headache. This Ming army is a wolf. As long as there is a slight flaw on his side, the other side will be able to smell it and act accordingly. This battle is really difficult to fight!

However, that's not all. Thorstensen saw that in front of the two armies, the cavalry on his side began to slow down and prepare to shoot, but the cavalry on the Ming army was still accelerating, as if they were not planning to slow down, which made him I couldn't help but immediately think of the ace cavalry style on the European battlefield, that is, the charge of the Polish Hussars.

Thorstensen knew without thinking that once these two cavalry armies clashed, his side would probably be overwhelmed. The most important thing is that the defeated cavalry is likely to affect the formation when they retreat, and the Ming cavalry is likely to take the opportunity to launch a general attack.

And at this time, those shooting Ming soldiers had already hid behind the cavalry and were in a safe area.

In desperation, he immediately issued a military order, asking his cavalry to withdraw from the two wings and continue to protect the two wings.

Thanks to the fact that he issued the order quickly enough, the two cavalry armies had not yet engaged in battle, and there was still some distance between them, allowing the Swedish cavalry army to withdraw to their own formation. Those Ming cavalry were also very cunning, just like wolves. Seeing this situation, they did not charge bravely, but turned around and withdrew.

Next, the previous scene began to repeat again. Those fully loaded shooting Ming troops began to approach the Swedish military formation again.

Seeing this scene, not only Thorstensen, but also his soldiers, especially those in the front row, felt a little desperate!

We are helpless against the Ming army's shameless tactics. What should we do?

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