The fiery red sun rose slowly, dyeing the mountains and forests blood-red, and the battle began again under this blood-red cover.
Guo Dajing, as a night guard, no matter he was a small flag officer or not, like other sentry detectives, was different from ordinary soldiers and could not participate in such a battle.
But he still rushed to the position quietly. On the one hand, killing the enemy, he also wanted to see more of Jianlu's offensive methods.
However, the actual battle situation made Guo Dajing a little disappointed.
Thinking about it, what kind of attack could there be at that time? There was no artillery bombardment, and there was no way for skirmishers to approach. It was not necessary to rely on bows and arrows to suppress them, and to climb up with shields in hand.
Of course, not everything was gained.
Guo Dajing found that Jianlu's offensive vanguard was very powerful. They wore several layers of armor and had strong resistance to attacks. They even had certain protection against bird cannons.
This also confirms some information that Guo Dajing saw in his previous life, which said that the Jianlu were not very afraid of the Ming army's cannons.
On the one hand, having several layers of armor means that the shooting distance of the bird gun is also a bit far. If it is at a distance of twenty or thirty meters, the effect should not be like this.
Guo Dajing found a hidden place and lay down in a snow nest under a tree. It was not easy for Jiannu to find him, and even his own people couldn't see clearly.
Although he was shooting from above, the hillside was not too steep, so Jianlu's bow and arrow were still very lethal.
Guo Dajing wondered whether it would be better to use trench parapets for fortifications.
Forget about using a bow and arrow, you have to stand up straight to draw the bow and release the arrow, which exposes you too much. Muskets are fine, and crossbows are no problem. You don't need to be too exposed when shooting.
Well, another common feature of muskets and crossbows is that the training period is short. Even farmers can quickly master the skills and shoot accurately.
Because of this, in medieval Europe, crossbows were considered an illegal weapon and were banned.
The reason is simple. Knights who spent a lot of time on combat training were often shot by ordinary or low-level soldiers using crossbows. This was unacceptable to the nobles at the time.
It is said that Richard the Lionheart of England was shot by a crossbow and died of serious injuries. A big shot was killed by an unknown pawn.
Well, this only proves that life is actually the same, and there is no status at all in the face of death.
Similarly, the reason why muskets eventually eliminated bows and arrows was not because of their range, rate of fire, or power.
First of all, the conditions for using muskets are very low and do not require a strong body like an archer or long-term training.
An ordinary person may be able to use a musket in one day and become proficient in it in a week. Most of them can become qualified musketeers after a few months of training.
To train a qualified archer, it can take as short as one or two years, or as long as three to five years. The cost and cycle of training are of course very different.
Guo Dajing saw that no one noticed his hiding place, took out the hunting crossbow from the space, cocked the arrow, and aimed at Jianlu who was charging upward.
Although muskets and crossbows have their own shortcomings, there is no most powerful weapon used on the battlefield, only the most practical.
Especially for a long time, it was impossible to train an army that could fight the Jianlu in the field. If most of the battles were ambushes and defenses, muskets and crossbows would be able to give full play to their own advantages and inflict great damage to the Jianlu.
Bang! The crossbow string rang softly, and as the arrows flew out, Guo Dajing basically determined the possible path to army building and development in the future.
Jianlu's bows and arrows were quite accurate, and Dongjiang Army soldiers continued to be killed and wounded. On the other hand, Dongjiang Army's bows and arrows did limited damage to the heavily armored Jianlu.
Rolling logs and rocks were continuously fired along the hillside, posing a considerable threat to the Jianlu. However, the preparation time was short, and there were not many of these things.
A Jianlu who rushed in front was so agile that he dodged a stone covered with ice and snow. Just as he stood still, he was hit in the face by a silent crossbow arrow. He fell on his back and rolled down the snow slope.
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At a distance of less than fifty meters, Guo Dajing was still worried that the crossbow arrows would not be lethal enough to the heavily armored soldiers, so he tried his best to aim and snipe at the head.
However, he changed his mind with the second arrow. How would he know if he didn't try it? How could he fully master the performance of the crossbow?
In fact, Guo Dajing was a little over-concerned.
Modern crossbows have different production techniques and materials. The key lies in the crossbow body and crossbow blades, which are more advanced than those in ancient times.
At the same time, the design also absorbs the advantages of modern weapons and firearms, improves ballistics, and is stronger than ancient crossbows.
Compared with sniper rifles, crossbows also have the advantage of being silent and lightless; compared with bows and arrows, crossbows have strong penetrating power, long range, and high accuracy.
Therefore, due to the need for counter-terrorism and performing special tasks, ancient weapons such as crossbows have also begun to be equipped again in the police and the army.
Jianlu paused, lowered his head, and looked at the cluster of arrows sticking out of his chest in disbelief, as if he didn't understand why the heavy armor didn't protect him, so he fell down slumped.
Great, this way you can shoot more quickly without having to focus on the head.
Guo Dajing cheered up and aimed and shot one arrow after another. No matter whether he was dead or injured, if a prisoner fell, his own side would lose several casualties.
Among the chaotic arrows, no one noticed the death arrow flying out from a hidden corner.
However, Jianlu's casualties began to rise rapidly, and one fell down in a few seconds. In a short time, nearly thirty casualties were already suffered.
The hillside was relatively narrow, and the attack was at a high altitude. It was impossible for the Jianlu troops to form a tight formation, and there was no cover for them.
In other words, the troops that Jianlu could deploy were limited, which made Guo Dajing's continuous sniping effective.
If it were a confrontation involving tens of thousands of troops, the enemies killed by Guo Dajing would only be a very small number and would not have any impact.
However, the Jianlu Brigade only had more than 500 people in total, and only more than 400 people were attacked. The heavy armored people who rushed in front were only 180 people, and 30 people fell, which was almost half.
What's more, the Jianlu soldiers are not all heavily armored. If the ones charging ahead cannot break through, the Jianlu soldiers behind will not be protected enough from the Dongjiang Army's arrows and muskets.
Heavy armor charging, bow and arrow suppression, and melee combat may be the most common combat methods used by Jianlu. As for the invincibility of cavalry and archery, it is obviously a big boast.
This is another insight of Guo Dajing, although he is not very sure yet.
The fierce offensive of Jianlu suddenly weakened, and the corpses lying on the hillside were scattered everywhere. This boosted the morale of the defenders on the mountain and made them resist even more fiercely.
Zhang Pan had already led his own soldiers to take command personally. Seeing that the battle situation had changed, he immediately launched an all-out counterattack.
The few remaining rolling logs and stones were all thrown down. Taking advantage of the chaos of the prisoners to evade, more than a hundred elite reserve troops shouted to attack and rushed down from the top of the mountain.