The helmet and gun gleamed in the sunlight, the eyebrows were low, and the shadows covered Ma Ke's eyes.
He stood up outside the formation, turned over and squatted on the saddle. After a moment, he stood up again, frowned at the northern battlefield, and murmured: "What do you want to do?"
On the battlefield, two teams of Ming army infantry and cavalry were guarding the wheelbarrow as they quickly approached the battlefield and began to carry horse corpses to the vehicle.
This scene briefly confused Ma Ke, and then he sat down, steered his horse around the horse-rejecting pit, and walked toward the formation. The smile on his face showed that he was in a good mood.
Seeing Ouyang Gun and Zhang Xianzhong in the camp, Ma Ke immediately said with irrepressible excitement: "The enemy has taken the bait!"
Ouyang Gun was surprised and wanted to speak, but before he could speak, he heard Zhang Xianzhong retort angrily: "Why are you taking the bait? I don't know which bastard is leading the troops. He is very clever. I have nowhere to put the rocket!"
"
Marco glanced at Zhang Xianzhong and did not answer his words.
Rockets have appeared many times on the battlefield, and even the slowest enemy will be prepared for them.
What's more, Zhang Yingchang from the three towns in Ningxia has been defeated. The remaining Zuo Liangyu and Cao Wenzhao are both experienced generals, so it is normal to be defensive.
"Time is running out, you two mighty generals, think of something."
Zhang Xianzhong didn't get a response, and became even more unhappy. He glared and said, "Force them over, use rocket bombs to blow up their two battalions, and then use your true skills to destroy the second battalion, and then you can continue to fight the next four battalions!"
Marco blinked, opened his mouth slightly, and looked directly at Zhang Xianzhong, as if he was hearing the ravings of a madman.
Zhang Xianzhong obviously disapproved of Ren Quan'er. He rolled his eyes and said: "Soldiers are very fast. By the time he comes over, the Ming army will have already run away!"
"If he runs away, we will chase him."
Ma Ke chuckled lightly, and then said: "They have taken the bait. The enemy general has sent a small group of cavalry to escort the wheelbarrow. They are carrying horse corpses on the battlefield. They will not run away tonight."
Ouyang Gun sighed very tiredly.
Everyone can see what Zhang Xianzhong is thinking.
There are more than 4,000 soldiers in the second brigade and the second battalion of rangers. Everyone hopes that the generalissimo will lead the army to complete the encirclement.
Only Zhang Xianzhong did not want Liu Chengzong to arrive on the battlefield too early.
The day the generalissimo arrived on the battlefield was when the army won. Zhang Xianzhong, who was released into the mountains and forests, had to get into the cage next to Liu Chengzong again.
The specialty of the Marshal's Army is lunatics.
In the eyes of Ouyang Gun, who had not been tortured by too much madness, the cavalry commander Ma Ke who shouted "The enemy is taking the bait" looked like a normal person, but in fact he was just more normal than Zhang Xianzhong.
Let’s just say, who is a good man leading an army of 4,000 people, who would call the decision of 20,000 enemy troops within 20 miles to go to war and take the bait?
As for their four thousand soldiers who had fought several battles in a company and were exhausted, more than 20,000 people went south to attack. In his eyes, there was no escape.
Of course, Ouyang Gun knew that this would be beneficial to the overall situation.
They wanted to hold off the enemy, which would provide time for Ren Quan'er's support from the rear and create opportunities for Liu Chengzong to encircle him.
But this kind of cooperation with these two people, Ouyang Gun always felt that he was incompatible with them, and he didn't know how to respond to what they said.
It doesn't make sense to agree; to ridicule, it doesn't make sense.
He could only change the topic and said to Ma Ke: "The enemy general is not impulsive. He will be hungry if he stands in a stable place and then seizes the horse carcass... This is a strategy to lure us to withdraw."
"It doesn't matter if it's a strategy or not."
Marco shook his head, obviously having a different view on this, and said: "Although the enemy troops are numerous, they dare not come forward because they are afraid of our rockets. In this case, in view of my duty, it is better to take the opportunity to send the cavalry troops to fight with them."
Ouyang Gun looked at Ma Ke in surprise, thinking that although Ma Ke was brave, courageous and reckless, he was not a complete fool. How could he say such a thing?
He wondered: "Isn't this playing into the enemy general's plan? They have more soldiers and we have fewer soldiers. I know that the cavalry generals are confident, but in cavalry fighting, our army cannot get much advantage."
To put it bluntly, the Marshal's Army did have a battle position advantage over the Ming Army, but the advantage was concentrated in infantry and artillery.
On the one hand, it is the advantage of more horses and vehicles providing mobility and logistical supplies, and on the other hand, it is the technological progress of guns and firearms.
The cavalry is the area where the gap between the Marshal's Army and the Ming Army is smallest.
In group combat, the marshal's cavalry can win decisively with their stronger organizational skills and morale, but one-on-one combat?
Ouyang Gun did not think that Liu Chengzong's new field brigade cavalry would be a bargain.
After all, there are too many special arms of the Marshal's Army.
It's not that Ouyang Gun looked down on the Mongolian cavalry, but in terms of setting, the Ranger Battalion was originally a group of troops that drove away enemy cavalry, and was not good at individual combat.
Even though their combat effectiveness was strengthened by Liu Chengzong, the Wala heavy cavalry were all equipped with three-point steel spearheads; the Mobei light cavalry were all issued with eighteen armor-piercing cones and eighteen beryllium arrow clusters.
It is still difficult to gain an absolute advantage in individual combat and squad combat.
At most it's a tie, because these equipment were originally standard equipment for the Ming army, but the Mongolian cavalry didn't have them.
In fact, in Ouyang Gun's eyes, the ecological niche of the Mongolian soldiers of each brigade in the Marshal's Army was the same as that of the Yiding, the servants of the Ming army generals.
In other words, Huang Taiji's Sanshun King, Liu Chengzong's Mongolian army, and Ming General's Yiding are all the same thing, helpless and free of worries.
It is the confidence that Ji Qing has to clean up the clan nobles, it is the cornerstone for the generalissimo to ensure the lower limit of his power, and it is also the confidence for Ming generals to suppress the mutinous army.
They are the leaders of violent groups and an important force in maintaining internal psychological shock.
This power does not need to be strong, but people must know that this power exists and that others within the group cannot use it.
It's that simple.
On this basis, the advantage of Liu Chengzong's Mongolian Yiding was the quantity of cavalry, not the quality.
Ouyang Gun decided that he would suffer losses if he fought.
But he didn't expect Marco to think so too.
"The general is right, the enemy has many troops but ours has few."
Marco was not discouraged when he said this, but was actually happy: "But our army has more horsemen, but the enemy has fewer horsemen. Its four battalions of cavalry only have more than 3,000 cavalry. If you kill him in combat, you will lose one."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "What I am worried about now is that the cavalry has left the formation and I am worried about the enemy troops charging into the formation."
Ouyang Gun was shocked and felt even more out of place.
They are all kinds of people. They have taken the bait even if five times the enemy's force has not escaped. In order to prevent the enemy from running out of the encirclement, they are ready to fight with all their strength and kill all the enemy's horsemen.
But Ma Ke had already said this, and Zhang Xianzhong also looked over with suspicion. Can Ouyang Gun say that he couldn't hold on?
He waved his hand and said: "It doesn't matter. Since the general is willing to fight, I will defend the camp..."
Before he finished speaking, Zhang Xianzhong was asked to take over the words again. The Minister of Li Yamen waved his hand: "Don't be afraid. The enemy is close to 1,500 steps. I will send a few rockets to blow him up. The explosion will be accurate or not."
Yes, no one can surround you anyway!"
Just for a while, Xu Yong, the general of the Ming army who was leading the cavalry on the opposite side of the battlefield, was thinking hard, thinking about some tips for scolding and provoking.
He even planned to wait a little longer. If the enemy couldn't ride out, he would have two dead horses found, cut and packaged on the spot, and let the enemy watch and pack the meat away.
But before he could use this idea, he saw the scout cavalry running excitedly to report: "General, the enemy has sent out troops!"
The four divisions of cavalry at the four corners of the marshal's barracks each separated into a team and mounted their horses, heading north unhurriedly.
Xu Yong looked at those war horses and was extremely jealous.
From such a distance, he couldn't tell whether the horses were Mongolian or Ili horses, or even the height or size. All he could see was the number.
His battalion has less than 600 horses. Counting the pack horses and draft horses, he can only make up 900 cavalry. The four cavalry divisions sitting quietly at the four corners of the camp are obviously affiliated with one battalion.
In addition to the troops in the camp, which numbered more than 4,000, there were more than 5,000 horses, donkeys and mules.
This does not include the consumption of the previous battles.
In fact, this is also the fundamental reason why the clever Zuo Liangyu is willing to fight this battle.
They are all jealous of the Marshal's Mansion's logistical strength.
Defeating this battalion will bring the maneuverability and food reserves of Zuozhen's fourth battalion to a higher level.
Otherwise Zuo Liangyu would have left long ago.
Waste your ass here.
Four small groups of cavalry from the Ranger Battalion moved slowly, but they swept up the smoke and made a mighty noise.
Xu Yong held a telescope in front of his own army formation and looked at the marshal's cavalry approaching the battlefield. He turned around and said: "Prepare another two hundred cavalry, and tell the people in front to be careful. The enemy's cavalry is difficult to deal with."
He had long known that there were many Mongolian soldiers among the enemy cavalry, and he had despised them earlier, but now he saw that Liu Chengzong's army had a good way of training cavalry.
Contempt is normal.
There is a Gansu surrendered general named Li Changling under Liu Chengzong, who is now serving as a training officer in the regiment of the Ministry of War. He is a one-eyed dragon with only one eye.
In the past, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Biao Camp of Gansu Commander-in-Chief Yang Jiamo, he fought a very good battle against the Northern invaders of Gansu by the Huo Luochi disciples who were still pirates at that time.
The price of victory is Li Changling's right eye.
There is only this price, nothing more.
The Huoluo Chibu cavalry fired arrows like rain, and their precise shooting skills were still fresh in the memory of the Gansu Ming army. Every officer and soldier in front of the formation was hit by several arrows.
But no one died, and not a single arrow could penetrate the armor in the entire battle.
Only Li Changling, as the commander of the camp, braved the rain of arrows and raised his head to observe the direction of the enemy's attack. As a result, as soon as he raised his head, he was shot in the right eye - a forged copper arrow.
The Mongolian soldiers have superb shooting skills, but their weapons are so weak, how can they not be looked down upon?
But the enemy cavalry that Xu Yong saw at this time was obviously not the kind of rabble that didn't even have the equipment.
The four teams of fifty riders were very quiet as they marched. Only the clatter of horses' hooves could be heard, but they were not moving very fast.
They changed formations while pressing the bridles and marching slowly. The four groups of people first moved forward in columns and were divided into two groups. The front group of each group broke the seam and the rear group inserted the seam, forming two large groups.
The two brigades once again broke through the gap with the front group and inserted the gap with the rear group, forming a square formation with 200 cavalry.
Then the square formation separated and turned back into the Haizi formation of four riders, which made Xu Yong couldn't help laughing.
This is not a joke. The Marshal's cavalry is very skillful in changing formations and is calm, sophisticated and not impatient when moving. It is an opponent worthy of being taken seriously.
But this combination really made Xu Yong feel funny. It was obviously a Ming army-style cavalry team, but it suddenly made him see the Mongolian regiment hundreds of years ago.
Haizi Formation is the formation made famous by Genghis Khan.
The core idea is that the cavalry should disperse rather than gather, so as to control the battlefield, increase the width of the battle formation, and allow the cavalry to approach the enemy with smaller units, like the scattered lakes on the grassland, that is, Haizi.
The formation change was completed within a thousand steps. At this time, Xu Yong was able to distinguish the composition of the enemy's cavalry with a telescope.
In these four-horse teams, the four people have different attires.
There are two cavalrymen who can be seen as Han troops. They are wearing beards and red cloth armor. One is holding a flag spear or a long knife, and the other is holding a bird or three-eyed blunderbuss. They both have wild goose feather knives and golden melon hammers hanging on their waists. Both of them have bows on their horses.
Quiver.
The other two horsemen looked like Mongolian soldiers at first glance. One wore a chainmail, carried three spears, one long and two short, and carried a bow and arrow on the horse's back; the other wore a leather jacket and leather cap or iron-trimmed leather armor, held a strong bow and carried a large arrow, and carried a large arrow on the side of the saddle.
He also used a shackle to hang a short gun with a hook and sickle.
There is nothing wrong with the formation, arrangement, and armor.
Xu Yong felt relieved about cavalry fighting.
The main reason is that Liu Chengzong's army always does some weird things, but now it seems that the cavalry of the Marshal's Mansion is still a very traditional force.
While the cavalry of the Marshal's Army was deployed, although there were fewer Zuozhen cavalry on the battlefield, they also expanded into battle formations. They were in a battalion system. They did not have to change formations, break up and reorganize like the Marshal's Army. They could just use the minimum establishment.
Being able to fight has great advantages.
There were five cavalrymen of the Ming Army in a row. Some of them leaned their wild goose feather sabers on their right shoulders and marched slowly towards the marshal's cavalry with their bridles pressed on. There were also cavalrymen with match ropes coiled around their left arms to load ammunition for three-eyed blunderbuss or bird blunderbuss.
There are even cavalrymen holding war bows and reins in one hand, and arranging thick and long arrows in the quiver hanging from the horse's hip with the other hand, and arranging the arrows equipped with different types of arrow clusters in the quiver.
In the Zuozhen camp in the northwest, two hundred cavalry reinforcements were rushing to the battlefield.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! This advantage made Xu Yong, who was sitting outside the camp observing the battlefield, feel relieved. He even felt relaxed and relaxed, looking at the telescope with determination.
The cavalry of the Marshal's Army couldn't help but sigh: "What a good cavalry, but it's a pity that they are rebels."
Although the Marshal's Army camp in the south is stepping up digging trenches, the third battalion located farther outside the battlefield is spreading out and moving, and is about to complete the encirclement of them.
Such a situation determines that the marshal's cavalry who set out to fight for profits will most likely die on the battlefield.
This has nothing to do with whether they can fight or whether they are good cavalry, but rather because they cannot control the battlefield.
The entire battlefield was controlled by the Ming army, which was extremely rare in the history of many years of confrontation between the Ming army and the Marshal's army.
Once they were injured and fell from their horses, it would be difficult for them to survive without quick medical treatment.
The battlefield is a place of life and death, and there are no fools.
Xu Yong believed that those cavalrymen who had no hesitation knew their fate. They just believed that they could wait for something by delaying their actions.
Just like Zuo Liangyu, Xu Yong and others, they all knew that Liu Chengzong's army was on the side, but they still came to fight.
It is also because they believe that they can crush this stubborn military formation before the enemy's support arrives.
At this moment, gunshots came one after another on the battlefield, and the cavalry exchanged fire.
Xu Yong closed his eyes and listened. This scene appeared countless times in his military career. Even with his eyes closed, he could judge the changes in the situation through the sound.
First there is the muffled sound of cannons, firing at the enemy cavalry from the farthest distance. Then the two armies approach, and the continuous banging of three-eyed cannons is heard. Then most cavalry will give up their powerful but difficult to reload muskets and turn to
And Qiu used his bow and arrow to greet...Xu Yong opened his eyes in confusion.
Why the hell is there still gunfire?
It is true that the cavalry of both armies used muskets to cause many casualties to the enemy cavalry in the first confrontation, and it is true that most of the Ming army gave up muskets and instead used bows and arrows and wild goose feather knives to face the enemy.
But the Marshal's cavalry did not.
Muskets were still fired on the chaotic battlefield. Many cavalry did not join the melee at all. Instead, they circled around the battlefield with their horses and fired. After shooting, they quickly completed loading and fired again.
Xu Yong just took one look, threw down the telescope angrily, and cursed angrily: "Who the hell gave them the electric gun!"