No matter how much the cavalry attacks and harasses, it can only make people sick. What determines the outcome is an upright battle.
When Huang Shun and Fei Yinggong led troops to surround Lu'an, Luo Rucai could only lead his cavalry and move back and forth between Shucheng and Lu'an in an attempt to cut off the Datong Army's grain transportation channel.
These cavalry could no longer run around. Although they were still wreaking havoc on villages and towns, their range was restricted.
Luo Rucai just looked at the formation and equipment of the Datong Army and knew that he would definitely not be able to defeat him. So he wanted to cut off the food route and deplete the morale of the Datong Army. When the Datong Army was short of food, he would wait for an opportunity to launch a fatal blow.
"Your Majesty, we found the food transport team ahead!"
"Let's go, the deal is coming!"
These old thieves are really capable. For nearly a month, they ate, drank and pooped all on the road. At night, they just put on a blanket and let the mosquitoes bite them.
When he wakes up during the day, he rides wildly, and when the horse is about to tire, he quickly moves to a relatively safe area.
After resting, he ran out again and never stayed too long. He only grabbed food for a day or two, so he could resist grabbing goods and try to maintain his mobility.
"The thieves are coming, get in formation!"
Three thousand civilians and a thousand peasants and soldiers transported grain and grass on carts.
After Jiangxi was able to produce telescopes on its own, this equipment has been popularized by middle-level officers. In order to defend against cavalry, it is even specially equipped for grain transport teams.
When Luo Rucai rushed over with his cavalry, the carts had quickly formed a formation.
On the outside are grain trucks, inside are peasants and soldiers, and at the innermost are civilians.
Zhao Han upgraded his equipment several times, and the eliminated ones were distributed to peasant soldiers. These peasant soldiers all wore leather armor, while the civilians raised their shields to avoid being hit by cavalry arrows.
"Fuck you!"
Luo Ru then reined in his horse and stopped at a distance, feeling a little headache looking at the formation of cars.
A grain transport team of 4,000 people faced a surprise attack by 2,000 cavalry. If it were an official army, it would probably have collapsed by now.
But not only did the peasants and soldiers not collapse, but the peasants also didn't run away, and they even took the initiative to gather their carts in a circle.
Luo Rucai waved his hand, and the cavalry divided into two teams and charged towards both sides of the grain transport team. According to his experience, if they rush within twenty or thirty steps, the enemy soldiers will definitely be frightened and run away.
"Don't look outside, keep your head down and raise your shield to hide!" the officer of the grain transport team shouted.
In fact, the civilians were also afraid. There were shields on the grain trucks. They were holding their shields against them and squatting in the center of the truck array, shivering.
As for the peasants and soldiers, they not only wore leather armor, but also wore small round hats. This round hat not only blocked the sun, but also defended against arrows, making it a cheap and useful piece of equipment.
"Boohoo!"
Luo Ru then saw that charging and threatening didn't work, so he ordered the cavalry to start firing arrows.
The peasants and soldiers used the grain truck as a fortification, squatting half-crouched behind the truck with small round hats, and stretched out their spears, waiting for the cavalry to come over and kill them.
The cavalry fired arrows for two consecutive rounds. Although it caused damage, the effect was not great.
"Ah! My feet, my feet!"
"I've been hit by an arrow, I'm going to die!"
Several civilians shouted in fear, but arrows penetrated through the gaps between the shields.
The officers of the grain transport team shouted: "Don't move, don't shout! Whoever dares to move will take back the family's property. This was agreed before departure!"
After shouting several times in succession, the chaos in the car formation quickly stabilized.
Luo Rucai did not order any more arrows, and each cavalryman only carried two quivers. Now that Lu'an was surrounded, they could not supply supplies nearby, so they used one less arrow.
"Crush again!"
Luo Rucai led the cavalry and charged again in a threatening manner, but the car formation of the grain transport team remained motionless.
Faced with such a situation, Luo Rucai was finally caught blind, so he simply asked the cavalry to dismount and rest, and fed some salt water to the horses to restore their strength.
After a while, Luo Ru led his troops and ran into the woods in the distance.
The sun in this place is so direct that even if people don't suffer from heatstroke, horses will.
By the way, wait for the grain transport team to get back on the road and carry out a blocking charge during the march.
After waiting left and right, the food transport team actually stayed put and took out dry food and drinking water to eat and drink on the spot.
All grain transport teams have been ordered to ensure safety as their first priority.
Both sides are just wasting it.
Being able to use a grain transport team to stop Luo Rucai's cavalry from ravaging the area is very worthwhile for the Datong Army.
…
Lu Xiangsheng's war horses were not from Jeju, but were collected by Zhao Han from wealthy households.
As long as the shoulder height exceeds 1.25 meters, people can sell it to the government. The government will not only give money, but also record merit. If a few more qualified war horses are presented, the government will directly get an extra acre of land!
This is a temporary policy and is only used when Zhao Han is short of horses.
Thousands of horses were collected in this way, and they have been carefully bred since last year. They are mainly raised in tanks, taken out for walks every day, and thrown into the training ground to let them adapt to the sound of guns and cannons.
Another two thousand horses were transported from Jeju Island, and after excluding those who died in the rough seas, there are now three thousand war horses gathered in Tongcheng.
Two thousand cavalry and three thousand war horses rushed towards Shucheng quickly.
The leader will be Hu Dinggui, and the deputy will be Lu Xiangsheng. Zhao Han asked Hu Dinggui to listen to Lu Xiangsheng's opinions.
After arriving at Shucheng, the entire army rested temporarily and allowed the horses to rest for a day. At the same time, the direction of the enemy cavalry was determined through intelligence.
"The old thieves under Luo Rucai are powerful, and many of them are Ming Dynasty border troops," Lu Xiangsheng said to Hu Dinggui. "The border troops at that time were much stronger than the frontier troops now. They were able to cross the Great Wall and take the initiative to attack Mongolia."
In fact, this is nothing to brag about. The Mongolian soldiers in the late Ming Dynasty also had low crotches, and Huang Taiji had already surrendered many Mongolian tribes.
Hu Dinggui said: "Our war horses are short, and I don't know if they can catch up."
Lu Xiangsheng laughed and said: "Our army's war horses are short, but the enemy's war horses are tall? Luo Rucai has been rebelling for more than ten years and cannot get a supply of grassland war horses, so he can only search for war horses in the Ming Dynasty. You may be able to get some good horses, but most of the war horses
They are all similar to us.
Hu Dinggui also laughed: "There are many wonderful horses in Jeju Island, all with a shoulder height of more than four feet and five. I heard that hundreds more are about to be shipped. It only takes three years to ride a good horse and kill thieves."
Lu Xiangsheng was a little surprised: "Is it true that the shoulder height is all over four feet five?"
"There are all four feet and eight feet." Hu Dinggui said.
Lu Xiangsheng was a little excited when he heard this, and he said with great ambition: "In three to five years, I can lead the cavalry across Mobei, and maybe I can achieve the feat of sealing the wolf as his subordinate!"
A year ago, Lu Xiangsheng would not have thought this way.
But he saw Zhao Han's policy and the strength of the Datong Army, and he was very sure that he could unify the world, and even attack the grasslands from the north like the Hongwu and Yongle Dynasties did.
Two days later, news came that the enemy cavalry had escaped after robbing a certain village of food.
The entire Datong cavalry army attacked and arrived at the location in half a day.
"Where did the bandits go?" Hu Dinggui asked.
The mayor and village chief came forward to speak. The mayor said with an angry look: "The thieves rode to the northwest. General, you must avenge the people. Those thieves killed more than 20 villagers!"
"Don't worry, this bastard won't live long!" Hu Dinggui said through gritted teeth.
The Datong cavalry followed the horse's hoof prints, and the local cavalry must leave traces along the way.
And the people along the way will also provide information to the Datong Army.
After chasing for a while, they stopped to rest and ensure the physical strength of their horses at all times.
Two days later, the distance between the two sides was only a few miles.
"Your Majesty, the enemy cavalry is coming!"
"withdraw!"
Luo Rucai is currently following the grain transport team.
The three batches of grain transport teams before and after him were slowed down by him, and finally they all got together.
The grain transport team didn't dare to move, and Luo Rucai couldn't eat, so he was blocked by a small river and stared at the food.
Luo Rucai's cavalry withdrew, and Hu Dinggui and Lu Xiangsheng immediately pursued them. The two sides always maintained a distance of two miles.
After running up a hillside in the Dabie Mountains, Luo Rucai ordered the entire army to rest and wait for work while they waited to charge the Datong cavalry.
He has clearly observed that the number of cavalry on both sides is about the same, and the quality of the horses is also about the same.
When Zhao Han started his career in the south, he had no cavalry before.
The two thousand cavalry in front of me must be newly trained troops. Can they compare with the cavalry from my old camp?
It was just the opponent's equipment that made Luo Ru feel weird.
The military uniforms are very strange, they are all made of cotton canvas. The clothes are clothes, the pants are pants, and there are two rows of buttons on the chest.
There were no bows and arrows, only a musket and a saber.
"Woooooo~"
At Lu Xiangsheng's suggestion, Hu Dinggui ordered the horn to be blown to stop the advance.
The two sides were facing each other, one on the hillside and the other at the bottom of the hillside.
Luo Rucai divided the cavalry into two, outflanked the Datong cavalry on the left and right, and then fired arrows from a distance while going down the mountain.
Light cavalry versus light cavalry, as long as they are of equal size, will generally not engage in hand-to-hand combat. Instead, they will shoot at short to medium distances. It may take an hour to shoot until one party can no longer hold on, and then the fight will begin (not afraid of muscle strain, horse bow draw strength
Small and not full).
Therefore, the standard horse bow of the Ming Dynasty frontier cavalry has two barbs on the bow tip. Once you have finished shooting your arrows, you can use the bow tip barbs to pick up the arrows that have fallen on the ground. After getting the arrows
Shoot back again.
"Dismount and light the match!"
The match rope made of ramie can continue to burn for 30-40 minutes. The match rope must be replaced after burning out.
When the horse is running at high speed, the match rope burns faster. Basically, it takes 20 minutes to replace the flintlock gun with the dragoon.
Luo Rucai's cavalry was divided into two teams. Instead of charging straight towards the Datong cavalry, they passed by the Datong cavalry and planned to shoot an arrow as they passed by.
The optimal shooting range of a horse bow is within thirty steps, but usually the arrow will be released around forty steps.
Seeing all the Datong cavalry dismounting and taking aim with their blazing guns, Luo Rucai suddenly didn't know how to fight.
The firing range of the fire blunderbuss is definitely far greater than that of the horse bow, and you will suffer a loss if you shoot against it.
Take advantage of the enemy's dismount and charge towards them desperately?
There was not much time to think about it on the battlefield, and the rogue cavalry had already made habitual actions.
"Bang bang bang bang!"
Fifty steps away, the Datong cavalry opened fire one after another. After firing, they immediately got on their horses and rushed towards the hillside.
Before the rogue cavalry could fire their arrows, they were shot by two thousand muskets.
They were running at high speed and in a loose formation, so they were not easily hit, but they were still hit 11 times at once. Many of them aimed at the person in front, but the bullet hit the person behind.
Bows and arrows were fired from both sides, and two Datong cavalrymen were shot. From such a long distance, even if they were not wearing armor, they would hardly cause fatal injuries.
The two sides exchanged positions, with the Datong cavalry on the slope and the rogue cavalry on the bottom.
After closing the distance, the Datong cavalry quickly dismounted and stood on the spot to reload their ammunition.
Nowadays, Zhao Han's fire gun soldiers do not use paper-cased bullets. Instead, they use a measuring cup made of a small bamboo tube. One cup can be smoothed out just enough to hold the gunpowder. It is more convenient to use than paper-cased bullets.
Luo Rucai ordered the cavalry to meet again. The Datong cavalry was condescending, and the shooting was better this time.
Hit 19 enemies at once, release the gun and run away immediately.
"Come forward and fight!"
Luo Rucai finally understood that he couldn't shoot at each other like before. He had to take advantage of the enemy's lack of time to reload and directly attack them in hand-to-hand combat.
Both sides chased me and fled, and came to the grain transport team again.
The grain transport team was crossing the small river, about halfway across. When the remaining troops saw friendly forces being pursued, the peasants and soldiers immediately formed a formation. Hu Dinggui led the cavalry to hide behind the spear formation, and the entire army quickly dismounted and reloaded ammunition.
Luo Rucai was so angry that she itched her teeth: "Damn it, there's no way to fight this, go back to Liu'an!"