Thousands of horses galloped, like thunder, and it was continuous. It was like a dragon turning over the earth, and a clear earthquake was felt under the feet. The cavalry formation in the distance was like a huge wall, pressing towards the south like an overwhelming mountain.
Coming again?
Five or six thousand people just left, and now another five or six thousand people have arrived. It feels like the enemy's armored cavalry seems to be endless and endless?
But when I think about it more carefully, it seems natural.
If Chengzhi's prediction is correct, Luo Jianyu's defeat at Wuchuan was just a false shot, and the main force under his command was not damaged. It is not surprising that there are 20,000 to 30,000 armored cavalry in his tent. Therefore, there should be some hidden behind the mountain or elsewhere.
many.
Secretly guessing, Zhang Xinyi looked at the cavalry formation on the right, and then at Li Liang beside him.
In this eastern expedition, Li Liang's two guards, A and B, were sent out. Each guard had two prefectures, and each prefecture was full of three battalions. In addition, the three battalions of Jia Prefecture were added to the artillery, totaling 15,000 troops. Afterwards, they arrived at the bank of Juyan Lake.
Combined with Li Shi's government, there were still three battalions, which could reach 18,000 soldiers.
But most of them were infantry, and there were only five battalions of armored cavalry. Today, when they left the stronghold, they only brought 3,000, which is probably only 10% of the enemy's army. What's more, with the same strength, only cavalry fighting, Xihaijia
Cavalry is not necessarily the opponent of Zhenjun Jiaqi.
In this case, all we can do is use strange tricks to give Luo Jian a show of strength. Otherwise, it will be endless and annoying.
Thinking in his mind, he whispered again: "The artillery brigade of the front line has been assembled, why not test fire one round first?"
Li Liang sighed helplessly: "Then try it!"
According to his original intention, he did not want to expose the artillery so early. The reason was also very simple, he was afraid of scaring Luo Jian away.
It's fine if they run a little, but if they run a lot, the defeated army will most likely be exiled in Daqi and Monan, which are relatively lush with water and grass and can barely survive, and become one bandit after another.
The Hu tribe in Daqi had already been annihilated by Li Song. There was no human habitation for thousands of miles, and there was nowhere to rob. Therefore, only the land of Monan and the West Sea was left.
Xihai's military strength was already stretched thin, and now it is even more turbulent and rain is about to come. No one knows whether Gao Zhao, who has already occupied Beizhen, and the imperial court have reached some kind of agreement and unanimously turned their spearheads to deal with Xihai.
Therefore, every soldier is precious, and we must strive to do our best in every battle and eliminate as many enemies as possible.
But Luo Jian is extremely alert. He can tell at a glance that what the artillery battalion is playing with in front of the formation is not simple, and he will not give up until he finds out the truth?
Luo Jian sent out another five or six thousand armored cavalry. Naturally, he could no longer use cavalry to defeat cavalry and use speed to defeat speed as he had just done twice before. Not to mention whether Li Liang could bear it and whether he could afford to lose it. If he was killed afterwards.
Li Chengzhi knew that by leaving the artillery unused and destroying the armor and cavalry in vain, he could definitely peel off a layer of Li Liang's skin.
Under Li Chengzhi's repeated brainwashing, there is now a consensus across the West Sea: putting people first and sparing troops and materials.
If the land is lost, it can be looted again, if the cattle and sheep are dead, they can be raised again, if the firearms and armor are broken, they can be recast, but when a person dies, he is really dead!
So there was no need for Zhang Xinyi to remind him. When he saw the smoke and dust rising from the enemy's rear, Li Liang had already decided that regardless of whether he would scare Luo Jian away, he would win today's battle first...
Zhang Xinyi has already given the order for the artillery brigade in front to fire at the right moment. The front of the formation is in good order. There are three soldiers for each gun, one person fills the powder, one person loads the ammunition, and the other person guards the furnace, but when the order is given, it will be drawn out from the furnace.
The red-hot iron is used to ignite the fire.
There were two infantrymen guarding behind each shot, one carrying a bucket, and the other holding a linen cloth tied like a mop, waiting for the gun to be fired to clean the barrel.
Just like this, each cannon was equipped with five soldiers, and each cannon was two feet apart. A brigade of five hundred soldiers and a hundred squatting cannons were arranged for a full 400 paces, which was one mile and two.
The brigade commander was fully clothed in armor and climbed up to the three-story Cloud Tower to watch the enemy. He had a whistle on his chest and gongs and drums by his side. Behind him stood four strong men, each holding a large flag in his hand, all in red.
, green, black and white four colors.
Red means attack, green means stop, white means advance, and black means retreat. It is simple but clear.
The enemy cavalry detoured from behind the infantry formation, which took a lot of effort, so there was still enough time. When his subordinates were ready, the enemy cavalry was still two miles away.
The brigade commander was not in a hurry. He clenched his fist and extended his thumb, constantly measuring the distance between the enemy cavalry and the front line.
The soldiers were also in no hurry. Although the enemy cavalry was as powerful as a rainbow, no one showed panic on their faces. Instead, they were all excited, with bloodthirsty light shining in their eyes.
You can tell if you think about it, you have seen cannons that were like a punishment from heaven, razing the mountains to the ground in a moment, and you have also seen cattle and horses wearing thick iron armor still being riddled with holes by the tiger squatting cannons, like a sieve.
After the ordinary scene, how confident and morale the artillerymen must be...
When they were still about a hundred feet away, the enemy's cavalry formation suddenly turned from vertical to horizontal, but the brigade commander still endured and did not move.
At this time, the enemy cavalry had already drawn their bows and arrows, but most of them landed sixty or seventy feet away. Even the closer ones were no more than fifty feet away, so the artilleryman didn't even blink.
Luo Jian, who stood in front of the formation and watched, was slightly frightened.
This is to detect the enemy, not to rush into the formation, so it seems that the enemy formation is an arrow formation, but it is just forcing people with force. When you reach about a hundred steps at most, the arrow peak of the riding formation will turn like a turning arrow.
Vertically and horizontally, it passes smoothly in front of the West Sea Formation.
Don’t think that at a hundred steps away, the cavalry’s bows and arrows are just decorations, but they put great pressure on the opponent’s infantry. Before Yafine turns around, who can guess whether the enemy cavalry is coming to explore the formation or to charge the formation?
?
Therefore, he will definitely take precautions. Just like Li Feng, when the two armies met last time, he knew that the town army could not engage in a decisive battle regardless of casualties as soon as they met. However, out of caution, he still ordered the front array to use the gun array as a defensive force, and then ordered the infantry and artillery.
The soldiers threw thunder behind the wall.
But the strange thing is that this time Li Liang is uncharacteristically different. What he did before is what he is doing now. The infantry in front of the formation are in groups of three or five, only guarding the iron cylinder in front of them, and treating the mountain-like cavalry formation as nothing?
Being able to watch Mount Tai collapse before his eyes without changing color, the enemy must be confident. But Luo Jian couldn't think of it for a moment, that is, the iron pillar could not only emit sparks, but even the flying thunder. Could it be possible that it could also compete with cannons?
Cars shoot farther?
Feeling confused and confused, Luo Jian narrowed his eyes more and more, staring closely at the enemy formation...
How could Luo Jian have imagined that Xihai would suddenly switch from a shotgun to a cannon?
Even though the Crouching Tiger Cannon is not big, weighing only forty kilograms in total, its firing range is not short due to its long and slender barrel. It can reach up to two hundred feet, which is four hundred steps, and its effective killing range is at least two hundred meters.
Step up.
But because the artillery array is spread out in a straight line, only by waiting for as many enemy cavalry as possible to enter the coverage area of the artillery array can we kill as many enemies as possible.
Therefore, it was not until the front of the cavalry formation had traveled more than a hundred feet from west to east, and it took only three to five breaths to run out of the east wing of the artillery formation, that the commander of the artillery battalion standing on the roof of the cloud carriage roared with all his strength: "
put!"
The red flag in the hands of the big man beside him fell in response, and the big drum beside him also shook. After a breath or two, each team (one hundred soldiers, twenty cannons squatting), each group (five pieces, ten cannons squatting) , the gongs and drums in each (ten pawns, two cannons squatting) also sounded at the same time.
Then it was like a thunderbolt from the blue, all that was heard in the ears was thunder, and all that was seen in the eyes was fire.
Countless iron filings, lead shot, and fine stones were sprayed out, as dense as an ox's hair.
Standing on the watchtower, Zhang Xinyi saw a huge sickle cutting into the enemy's formation, and the enemy's cavalry were like wheat seedlings, falling as soon as they were struck by the blade.
At this moment, like a long snake, the suppressing army's cavalry formation seemed to have been chopped off by a knife, and was shortened out of thin air, no more, no less, exactly one mile.
In front of the battle, it was like a purgatory on earth, with people flipping over, blood spattering, and gunpowder smoke filling the air. The ground was filled with bloody men and horses, and the shrill screams and horses' neighing were deafening, resounding throughout the night.
The front line was suddenly attacked, and the cavalry in the rear line were naturally frightened. However, the horses were very fast at this time, and the rear troops were coming in a steady stream. Even if they wanted to, they couldn't stop, so they had no choice but to rush forward.
However, there were wounded soldiers and horses all over the place. Even for fear of being tripped, the rear army had to dodge. However, this dodge was only secondary to the formation becoming chaotic, and the slowdown in momentum was the most fatal.
There are more and more cavalry rushing into the coverage of the Tiger Crouching Cannon, and they are getting thicker and thicker, like living targets...
Zhang Xinyi had already issued the order for free fire, and there was no need to repeat the order at all. Each team leader, each team leader, each commander, and each corps commander could organize the artillerymen to clear the barrel, charge the gun, and load the ammunition by themselves.
After more than half a year of training, probably thousands of times every day, the movements have already been engraved in the bones and become instinctive. The five artillerymen cooperated seamlessly, and the cannon was filled in just twenty or thirty breaths.
At this time, the enemy cavalry moved forward to follow up, filling the front of the artillery formation.
The sound of the artillery was no longer as orderly as last time, but the intimidation effect it gave to the town troops was even more terrifying.
Every time the cannon fired, several or even ten riders would fall off their horses. It was as if they had been shot with countless arrows, and countless pillars of blood would immediately spurt out from the soldiers and horses.
If you were unfortunately shot in the face, it would be like an invisible hand tearing the flesh away.
Looking at the thick white bones and bloody teeth, and hearing the howling like a ghost, the rear formation was suddenly attacked and the cavalry was in chaos. The cavalry seemed to be crazy, and they had to use all their strength to hold the horses. Then they were like headless flies. Bumping around.
His mind was completely blank, with only one thought: escape!
Therefore, there was no need for Luo Jian to give orders. He could barely charge through a battalion, but only fired five or six rounds of artillery. The cavalry rear army was in chaos like a pot of porridge.
At this time, the battlefield was filled with smoke and the sight of the war horses was limited. The knights were even more panic-stricken and could not choose their way. Therefore, all the cavalry battalions entering the battle had no direction to speak of.
Some rushed towards the artillery formation, but they were knocked down by a cannon after making no more than ten steps. Some were still rushing forward, and naturally they were not immune. There were also some who were more alert and wise, and knew that the only way to survive was to stay away from the fire. This was their subconscious mind. Then Jin Ma rushed towards the front of the phalanx.
The bad thing is that the command of the suppressing army was not smooth, coupled with the panic and blind obedience, the rear army only received the order to return to the front army, just like the southern goat, one jumped off the cliff and all the others swarmed north. Rush away.
In just two or three miles, no matter how slow it is for a horse, it only takes half a word (five minutes per word). Therefore, before Luo Jian could find out the situation of the battle, he suddenly saw his own cavalry rushing over...
Hearing the thunderous sound of cannons, Luo Jian had a bad intuition and secretly thought that he had guessed correctly. Those pipe pillars in front of the West Sea Formation could indeed shoot flying thunder.
But when I think about Li Chengzhi calming down the fertile field, the fire tube only sprayed out fireworks for three to five feet. The ones in front of me were farther away. If it were ten times more, that is, the three to fifty feet would probably be stretched to the end.
The two sides were still dozens of feet apart. Such a distance would not only cause casualties, but even the horses would not be frightened.
And because the smoke and dust filled the air, the sound of cannons was even louder, and the sound of people howling and horses neighing could not be heard, so Luo Jian had no idea what was going on in the formation.
But while watching the formation, he suddenly felt something was wrong.
There is a battalion at the front of the cavalry formation. They have been rushing into the formation from west to east for a long time. No matter how slow they are, they should break out of the smoke and rush to the end of the formation. But what I can see is only a few hundred cavalry sparsely?
What about the remaining 800 cavalry?
With only thoughts swirling in his mind, he suddenly saw a knight rushing out of the smoke, but not to the east, but to the north?
If you take a closer look, what follows is like a landslide and a tsunami, and all the armored cavalry sent out are like crazy demons, rushing towards the formation without any care.
Why is this so?
Luo Jian has experienced battles for a long time, so he naturally knows that this kind of situation will only happen when one party is defeated and the casualties are too heavy, so that the morale of the soldiers is lost, and they can only survive by fleeing back to the formation.
But the strange thing is that the loss of the five thousand armored cavalry is less than 20%, and the time has just passed?
Even if they are defeated, even if there are a few casualties, they will not suddenly collapse. What's more, they will rush into their own army like a wolf chasing a tiger out of them?
Luo Jian was horrified, his pupils almost shrunk to the size of needle eyes, and his roar was sharp and sharp, like a pig howling: "Order, wave the flag, retreat to the wings...Gong camp, open the bow, shoot back for me..."
But where else can we get there in time?
Not to mention Luo Jian, even Li Liang did not expect that the town army's cavalry formation was defeated so quickly and collapsed like water?
Seeing that the enemy's cavalry was defeated and had no choice but to rush back to the main formation, he was overjoyed: What a God-given opportunity?
If you still don’t know what to do, how can Li Liang and He De be regarded as Li Chengzhi’s number one confidant?
He shouted urgently: "Xinyi, hurry up, order the artillery camp to stop firing, order all the cavalry to leave the camp, and go north to cover up the killing..."
Zhang Xinyi was even more excited and trembled with excitement. He snatched the flag from the soldiers and waved it several times towards the artillery array.
The brigade commander received the order and shouted repeatedly. The four big men had quick hands and quick eyes. Those who changed flags changed their flags, and those who struck the trumpets struck the trumpets.
After only three to five breaths, the sound of the cannon gradually became sparse until it became silent.
After a while, the two winged armored cavalry swarmed out and formed a horizontal formation, pressing down on the suppressing army like a wall.
At this time, 30% of the suppressing cavalry rear army was still stationed to the west of the formation. Seeing the Xihaijia cavalry coming to kill, they were even more confused. They only knew how to draw their horses, but they didn't know how to escape in another direction.
The front army, which had finally regained consciousness after being shot by our own archers, became confused again. The cavalry that had just been divided into two lines and circled the infantry formation like figures of eight were once again mixed together, and they could only move forward with their heads covered.
rush.
Luo Jian's face turned as white as snow.
He couldn't figure out why he lost so quickly.
Before and after, it will be a moment...
The war horse neighed and bolted forward. Luo Jian subconsciously flicked the reins, but missed the opportunity.
Luo Ping pulled Luo Jian's war horse and whipped the horse's butt hard: "Captain, you are too late to save your life. Follow the general and retreat to the back of the mountain..."