Even with the helmet on, Karta was knocked to the ground and blood flowed, quickly captivating his eyes and turning the scenery into a bright red color.
Another stone fell down, and Karta's injured leg was completely broken. This ruthless prisoner who had been on the battlefield for many years let out a miserable howl.
"Free fire!" Fujino Masaru issued what may have been the last order of this battle. There was no need to direct the musketeers to fire volleys. The chaotic Jianlu were no longer able to attack.
The musketeers are becoming more and more familiar with this method of switching guns without changing people. After firing a shot, the musketeer turns slightly sideways and hands over the musket. The loader behind takes the empty gun and stuffs the loaded musket hard.
In the hands of the shooter.
The shooter holds the gun level, installs the match rope, aims at the enemy on the battlefield, pulls the trigger, and shoots out the hateful lead bullets.
The stones flying through the air were no longer of the same size. The big stones, which weighed ten or twenty kilograms, were thrown at the enemy with greater power. Even with a shield, they knocked Jianlu to the point where he was rolling and crawling.
Bodies were scattered everywhere, and wounded soldiers were screaming and wailing. From the top of the mountain to the mountainside, under the firepower of the defenders, the Jianlu who attacked the mountain fell into chaos.
Liu Xingzuo turned his head and glanced at Guo Dajing. Seeing that he still had no intention of ordering the heavy armored spearmen to dispatch, he couldn't help but shrugged his shoulders.
The Jianlu were in disarray, the shields were no longer well protected, and the archers lost their role of cover and suppression under the attack of the trebuchets.
Guo Dajing narrowed his eyes and made a calm judgment.
Under the current situation, the lethality of our own army's bows, arrows and muskets has greatly increased, and the captives are paying casualties all the time.
The trebuchet will fire two more rounds of bombardment, the rolling wood and stone will be used for another round, and the musket will kill more enemies.
Guo Dajing turned around and ordered loudly: "The spearmen are ready to attack."
Using concentrated armor, the defenders organized two hundred heavily armored spearmen, all of whom were relatively strong, courageous, and veterans with combat experience.
In the event that Jianlu rushes to the mountaintop position, they will be the final guarantee. And after Jianlu fails, they will also be the elite commando team to hunt down the enemy and expand the results.
There were twenty pikemen in a row, and dozens of rows of elite men finally arranged their armor, gripped the pikes in their hands, and silently waited for the order to charge.
Although frontal melee combat is no match for Jianlu, it depends on the specific situation. Fighting chaos with battle formations, defeating and retreating with victory, has a great chance of winning.
Mines with extended leads, large and small rocks, arrows fired from the side, lead bullets, wooden cannons that spit flames from the front, and rolling logs and rocks thrown down the mountain.
From the sky to the ground, from head to toe, Jianlu on the mountainside suffered violent attacks from all directions and fell into complete chaos.
"Bang the drum, attack!" Guo Dajing issued a passionate and powerful order, which in the ears of the commandos was heard above the noise on the battlefield.
"Charge, kill!" With the cry, a row of spearmen rushed across the top of the mountain. After running more than ten meters, they sat down using the momentum and slid down the ice covered with pine snow.
There were rocks blocking the road and many corpses, which made the first row of spearmen a little confused, but there was no enemy in front of them that could stop them.
It took some time for the first row of spearmen to slide across the ice, regain their footing, and rearrange themselves into a row. With more than twenty spears pointing forward, they shouted and charged forward.
Guo Dajing waved his hand suddenly, and another row of spearmen rushed down. The situation was much better than that of the first row. In a short time, they had already charged down.
The firing of bows, arrows and muskets continued, extending towards the mountainside; the trebuchets were still throwing mines and stones, but they all weighed two or three kilograms, bombarding the enemy at the maximum range.
"Kill!" More than a dozen spears were thrust out simultaneously, accompanied by a horrifying popping sound. Blood spurted out, dyeing the spears even redder.
The bearded Jianlu was obviously a veteran, but he was already half-disabled. His right shoulder was injured by a stone, his foot was lame by a mine, and he held a knife in his left hand and his shield fell to the ground.
This guy still wanted to show off his bravery, but a row of spear points on the opposite side were spitting in unison. He was unable to parry, and was pierced into the ribs by two spears.
As he was about to swing his knife, the guy wanted to get some support, but another spear pierced his neck. As soon as the tip of the spear was retracted, Jianlu stared with unwillingness in his eyes and was kicked by a big foot as blood spurted out.
turn.
"Kill!" "Kill!" "Kill!"
Amidst the passionate shouts of killing, the heavily armored spearmen marched forward with sonorous steps and fought forward.
Their feet were wrapped with weeds to prevent them from slipping, making them stand more firmly than the Jianlu. Facing the Jianlu, who suffered numerous casualties and were in chaos, they fought in formations, using more to defeat fewer, with more momentum and confidence.
.
Pikemen continued to be injured or killed, but soon someone would rush up from behind to replenish their positions, maintain the formation, and maintain the density of spear assassinations.
Guo Dajing ordered the trebuchet to stop firing and reload and prepare for use. As long as the Jianlu dared to add more troops to the mountain, the trebuchet would be able to bombard them in time, reducing the casualties of the pikemen facing them.
The Jianlu who attacked the mountain had already begun to retreat amidst the sound of golden gongs, leaving behind the bodies of their companions and the wounded soldiers who were screaming in pain.
Some of the captives who hurriedly responded to the battle could not withstand the pikemen's strict battle formation and suffered heavy casualties.
In the end, Tekuyin did not invest any more troops. The disastrous failure in attacking the mountain made him surprised and angry. But reason told him that the enemy's new defense system would be difficult to break through.
Confined attacks on the front make it difficult to deploy troops, but allow the enemy to concentrate their firepower.
The dozens of meters of pine, snow and ice in front of the enemy's position formed a trench, blocking horses, and acting like a deer village, successfully preventing our own troops from attacking.
But through this obstacle, the enemy can confidently and boldly use various weapons to fight back fiercely from the front and flanks.
The key is that the enemy's long-range, medium-range, and short-range counterattacks can be carried out at the same time. The enemy also took advantage of this and launched a covering and violent attack on the own army's mountain-attacking troops.
If it is a hierarchical defense such as artillery, muskets, swords and guns, then one breakthrough is the next. For example, when it comes to close combat, artillery and guns are completely useless.
But now it was different. Those in the front were attacked by wooden cannons and rolling stones from the front, while the men and horses in the middle were within the range of the flanking muskets and arrows. The covering troops in the rear also had to withstand the bombardment of trebuchets.
Tekuyin has no way to deal with this, so how can he dare to add more troops to fight?
Of course, he still sent out archers to cover the retreat of the wounded and defeated troops. However, he ordered not to cross the mountainside in order to avoid the bombardment of the trebuchets.
Guo Dajing had given instructions in advance, and also issued the same order when commanding on the scene, not to let the spear commando pursue too far, so as to be under the cover of the trebuchet.
The rush to cut off heads on the battlefield is one of the long-standing shortcomings that Guo Dajing considers. Therefore, the spear team is the spear team. They only charge and kill the enemy without even giving them a dagger.
"Retreat!" Guo Dajing not only refused to allow pursuit, but also issued an order to retreat.
The hillside was littered with corpses of Jianlu prisoners, killed in various forms: shot with muskets, shot with bows and arrows, smashed with stones, exploded by mines, and stabbed with spears.
However, Guo Dajing was not in a hurry to send people to cut off the heads, strip off the armor, and shrink the spearmen to the front of the formation. He only waited for the prisoners to come to snatch the corpses, then used all his firepower to beat them severely.
The sun continued to set in the west, and the fiery red light on the horizon gradually turned into a hazy flame-like rose color.
Tekuyin knew that the sun would soon disappear completely below the horizon, twilight would cover the surrounding areas, and the sky would quickly become dark.
Whether it is to continue the attack or to retreat immediately, a decision must be made quickly. The longer you delay, the worse it will be.
To harass and block attacks along the way is not only to demoralize one's own troops, but also to deliberately delay the attack, so that the lightly armed troops who are attacking do not have time to continue the attack.
The setting sun completely disappeared behind Tekuyin, and he finally made the decision to retreat.
The enemy's fighting style has changed, and Tekuyin needs to digest it and come up with countermeasures. Before that, the most important thing is to bring the troops safely back to Longchuan, ensure the safety of Belazig, and make the city defense safe.
matter.
Jianlu gathered his troops and quickly retreated towards Longchuan amidst the roar of horse hooves.
Guo Dajing looked at the direction in which Jianlu was leaving and pursed his lips. The first stars in the sky were twinkling, and the shadows of dusk were like a big curtain covering them.
"This battle was well fought." Liu Xingzuo let out a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "You are qualified to lead an army alone. Although I don't quite understand why this is the case, I did learn a lot."
Guo Dajing laughed, cupped his hands and said, "Brother Liu, thank you very much. I have to ask you for more advice."
Liu Xingzuo learned something, and generals such as Cui Xiaoyi and Fujino Masaru also had some understanding. However, they only vaguely understood it and did not know the concepts and definitions of firepower projection density and firepower projection amount.
When long-range, medium-range, and short-range weapons can fire at the same time without obstruction, the density of firepower projection will naturally increase significantly.
This is just like the armies equipped with flintlock muskets in history. They can reduce the depth of the soldiers and adopt linear formations, but they can still exert firepower that is equivalent to or even exceeds the original.
Therefore, Guo Dajing thought hard and drew lessons from historical battles to limit Jianlu's attack surface, but expand the width of his own army's counterattack, so that various weapons can always exert their power and form a comprehensive strike.
If it is a conventional defensive operation, if the troops equipped with three types of weapons, namely long-range, medium-range and near-range weapons, are overlappingly configured, they will be replaced during the battle, and nearly half of the troops may not be able to participate in the battle at the same time.
First it's artillery, then muskets or bows, and finally it's melee combat. When the enemy reaches a certain distance, he or she changes arms to fight. With overlapping configurations, you can't fire or stab Pao Ze in the back, right?
Because of this, when a musket is equipped with a bayonet, it can be used for both long-range shooting and close combat. The combat capability and efficiency are immediately greatly improved. It is not an exaggeration to call it a revolution.
Having said this, I now fully understand Guo Dajing’s defensive arrangement.
In short, there is no need to overlap and deploy troops, but to spread out the counterattack line as much as possible so that as many troops and weapons as possible can be used to reduce waste.
"Swordsman, clean the battlefield!" Liu Xingzuo laughed loudly at Guo Dajing's modesty, patted him hard on the back, turned around and gave the order loudly.
Guo Dajing looked at the heavily armored spearmen who had retreated to the front of the formation, and his thoughts began to wander again, wondering whether he should also train Senior Huang's right stabbing tactics.
Stab to the right, stab to the right! Can the spear phalanx really defeat Jianlu's mounted archery?
Guo Dajing could not guarantee it, not because he doubted the right-stab tactics, but because he was unsure about the training and quality of the soldiers, and was worried about the time and energy it would take.
To train an army like that requires not only assassination skills, but also basic professionalism and strict discipline.
In modern armies, death charges are common; in the feudal era, only a small number of elites could do it in desperate situations or under heavy rewards.
Rigorous training, in-depth political propaganda, adequate logistical support, strict management systems, worry-free pensions, etc., Guo Dajing believed that he would not be able to achieve it for a long time.
Of course, there is no need to be too strict with yourself. Guo Dajing is also very satisfied with the Sichuan Baiganbing's ability to reach such standards.
"Next, shall we continue to stay in this mountain?" Liu Xingzuo asked, pulling Guo Dajing out of his thoughts.
Guo Dajing pondered and said: "Wait for Commander Mao's order. With the two thousand of us, it is difficult to withstand the two pincer attacks of Longchuan and the grain transporters."
It's just that the Jianlu in Longchuan were not something Guo Dajing's troops could deal with. Relying on harassment and defensive tactics, although the Jianlu suffered a loss, it was not to the point of breaking their muscles and bones.
If Mao Wenlong can understand what he means and attack Xuancuan or send troops for reinforcements, the situation will change and the battle plan can be rearranged.
However, after this battle, Azig of Longchuan wanted to defend the city but did not want to suffer too many casualties, so it was obviously impossible to continue attacking Xiaotieshan.
In addition to mobilizing troops from Liaodong, they also had to wait for the troops returning from Xuanchuan to transport grain, and jointly open the passage under a pincer attack.
Unknowingly, Azig was stationed in Longchuan, but his hands and feet were tied up. The main problem was that the troops were insufficient for use.
With wooden cannons, mines, and even trebuchets, the Dongjiang Army and the Korean volunteers were no longer able to fight against ten soldiers.
The damage caused by the harassment was not great, but the frequent occurrences still made Jianlu feel headaches and overwhelmed.
"I wonder how many victories General Shang can achieve?" Guo Dajing said as he took off his armor, "I'm going to see the wounded soldiers and help treat them."
Liu Xingzuo nodded and said, "Leave this to me, and you can go and do your work!"
Liu Xingzuo also did not dare to compliment Guo Dajing's treatment methods. But judging from the results, they were much better than before.
Especially when it comes to suturing wounds, almost all the few military doctors in the army have learned how to do it.
Guo Dajing also specially selected some soldiers who were skillful and careful, and also learned tailoring and bandaging skills. Although they were only the simplest skills, they also reduced the number of deaths and disabilities.
In Guo Dajing's opinion, the female medical team is the best. Men are all about saving face. In front of women, they can endure the pain and pretend to be a man.
Crossbow corps, medical corps, earthen camps, grenadiers... In Guo Dajing's plan, there are many new arms and units to be formed, but he can only do it step by step and slowly.
Did I transform the Dongjiang Army, or even the Ming Dynasty, into what I wanted; or did this feudal society transform me into a member of it?