The Daxi Army's first attack did not last for thirty minutes before retreating. The number of troops lost was close to two thousand. The soldiers who rushed the farthest were still twenty or thirty steps away from the Chinese Army's defense line. distance. Moreover, the Chinese army did not even use artillery, and relied entirely on the firepower of muskets to repel the Daxi Army.
Although this was just a tentative attack, the defeat was so quick and simple, which really exceeded the expectations of the three generals of the Great Western Army. After hearing the reports from Bai Wenxuan and Feng Shuangli, although the three of them felt that They were all prepared. The Chinese Army was more powerful than seven years ago, but after all, it was just imagination. After seeing it with their own eyes on the battlefield, the three of them realized that the Chinese Army seven years ago was almost like a child and an adult compared to now. Than the same.
At this time, the three people's confidence in their high hopes for a killer weapon began to waver. Even Sun Kewang regretted that if he had known this was the case, he should not have issued a letter to challenge the Chinese army, but retreated to Pu'an Prefecture. But now that the troops have been pulled out and the team is in good shape, we can't just stop like this, and the Chinese army on the opposite side will not allow us to withdraw calmly.
Sun Kewang looked at Liu Wenxiu and Ai Nengqi and said, "How about it? Should we fight?"
Liu Wenxiu turned his head and looked in the direction of the Chinese army and said: "Brother, at this point, we can't do anything without fighting, so just give it a try!"
Ai Nengqi also nodded and said: "Yes, brother, if we retreat and the Chinese army pursues us, we will definitely lose. We can only fight hard, maybe we can still have a chance."
After hearing this, Sun Kewang gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, success or failure depends on this move." After saying that, he waved the command flag in his hand and shouted: "Attack."
Although Sun Kewang and others were far away, their movements and expressions were clearly seen by Luo Yuanbin with a telescope. Although he didn't know what they were talking about, he could guess a little bit. Seeing Sun Kewang waving the flag at the end, Luo Yuanbin also knew , the Daxi Army is about to launch another attack.
But at this moment, countless strange cries of "ang...ang...ang..." were heard from the Daxi Army formation, which were very different from the neighing of horses. And the soldiers in the front row of the square formation in the center of the Daxi Army suddenly shouted toward Both sides stepped aside, and countless huge animals rushed out from the array, rushing towards the Chinese army's formation. They were the ones who screamed just now.
Luo Yuanbin couldn't help being surprised. He exchanged glances with Wang Xin beside him and said, "Is this an elephant?"
Wang Xin nodded and said: "It should be so. I heard that this is a unique animal in Yunnan. I didn't expect that it was used by the Daxi Army."
The Xiang Army is the last trump card of the Great Western Army.
When the Daxi Army entered Yunnan and put down the rebellion in Shading Prefecture, the rebels in Shading Prefecture were completely vulnerable. Only the Xiang Army caused considerable losses to the Daxi Army. This was the first time for the soldiers of the Daxi Army to see When you see this kind of animal, you will see that they are huge, powerful, and have rough skin and thick flesh. They don’t care how many times they are stabbed or slashed, but you can’t stand it all at once. Therefore, the Great Western Army’s elephant army in Shading Prefecture I suffered a lot.
However, there were not many elephant troops in Shading Prefecture. There were only twenty or thirty elephants in total, which could not change the overall situation. In the end, they were destroyed by the Daxi Army. However, the bravery of the elephant army was given to Sun Kewang, Liu Wenxiu, and Ai Neng. Qi and others were deeply impressed. Therefore, after pacifying Shading Prefecture, the three of them agreed that an elephant army should be formed, which could greatly improve the combat effectiveness of the Daxi Army.
So the three of them also issued an order to hunt elephants in Yunnan and invited elephant slaves to train them. In the past two years, they have formed an elephant army of more than 200 elephants. At the same time, they also used old vines in the mountains of Yunnan to weave vine armor.
, as the elephant’s armor. Of course, Sun Kewang and others are not
I don’t want to use iron armor, but the cost of iron armor is too high and I can’t afford it. The iron armor used by an elephant is enough for seven or eight horses, and it is also extremely troublesome to wear iron armor on an elephant. It requires
Only two or three people can lift it.
But the defensive power of the rattan armor is also quite impressive. Elephants have rough skin and thick flesh, and they don't care about minor injuries. After wearing the rattan armor, it becomes even more powerful. It can run rampant on the battlefield and is invulnerable.
Even a dozen people can't stop an elephant. After several tests, in a head-on battle, an army of a hundred elephants is enough to defeat an army of about 2,000 people. If combined with other arms,
, the power is doubled.
During this war in Yunnan, the Daxi Army dispatched a total of 180 war elephants, with 90 elephants in each route, divided into three squads. As the trump card team of the Daxi Army, all three of them were very interested in this elephant army.
Great expectations were placed on it.
Therefore, after Bai Wenxuan and Feng Shuangli were defeated, Sun Kewang's first reaction was to dispatch the elephant army, which could resist the Chinese army's muskets. Because the elephants had thick skin and thick flesh, and wore rattan armor, they could block bullets, and even if they were shot a few times, they would not
It's okay, but once the elephant rushes into the Chinese army's position, the Chinese army's muskets will be useless. If the soldiers of the Daxi Army follow the elephant and attack, they can defeat the Chinese army in one fell swoop.
However, after witnessing the fierce firepower of the Chinese army just now, the confidence of the three people was somewhat shaken, because the firepower was so fierce that an elephant might be fine even if it was shot ten to eight times, or even twenty or thirty times, but
Even if it takes two to three hundred shots, no matter how fierce the elephant is, it is still made of flesh and blood.
It is invulnerable. Although the rattan armor is good at avoiding swords and guns, it is not absolute. As the saying goes: the ants will bite the elephant to death. And now the elephant army is the only hope of the Daxi Army. If the elephant army also fails, or even though it wins,
, but suffered heavy losses, which was not a good result for the Daxi Army.
But now it is too late to retreat. As long as they take a gamble, the other three people still have a certain degree of confidence in the Xiang army. Even if they lose all the Xiang army, if they can win this battle, it will be considered a victory.
A victory was achieved. Therefore, the elephant army was finally sent out.
So one hundred and eighty elephants rushed out of the Daxi Army's formation, shouting "Ang...ang..." while rushing towards the Chinese Army's formation. Each elephant had a
There were two soldiers of the Great Western Army controlling the elephants. Behind the elephant army, ten thousand soldiers of the Great Western Army followed, each with their swords and guns, charging towards the Chinese army.
In fact, Chinese people in this era are not too unfamiliar with animals like elephants, because novels like "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Journey to the West" have become very popular. Those who have never read the books have also heard of them. Most of them
We all have such an animal, what are its characteristics? In addition, there are many sculptures with elephants as the theme. Especially in temples, most of them have statues of Manjushri riding an elephant. Therefore, many people are interested in the elephant.
The appearance of the elephant is not unfamiliar either.
But in fact, not many people have actually seen living animals. When they see an elephant with their own eyes, and it is such a huge beast, it is impossible for the soldiers of the Chinese Army not to be nervous. Of course, the main reason is because this guy is too big.
, even if they encounter a lion or tiger, the psychological impact on the soldiers will be smaller, so many soldiers are also thinking, are muskets useful against such big guys?
Fortunately, Luo Yuanbin and other main commanders were able to keep their composure and immediately said loudly: "Why are you panicking? We are still so far away? Give them a few shots first. I want to see how powerful this big guy is. How can he resist?"
If you can't withstand the shells, let me blast you with solid shells."
After all, the soldiers of the Chinese Army have seen large-scale battles. Although they were a little nervous, their hands and feet were still steady. Therefore, after receiving the order, the artillerymen immediately began to calibrate the target, fill gunpowder, iron balls, etc.
.
"Boom..Boom..Boom..Boom.."
In the Chinese army's formation, there was a thundering roar of artillery, which immediately drowned out the roar of the elephants.
Dozens of artillery shells roared towards the enemy with the sound of explosions. Some landed right in the formation of Daxi Army, some fell in front of Daxi Army, bounced on the ground, and continued to fly forward, and some
Flying directly over the head of the Great Western Army.
Since solid bullets were used this time, the lethality was limited, but at least four or five elephants were hit by the shells. Because this guy was so big, the target was of course very obvious. Although the ones placed in the column were all
They are small and medium-sized artillery, and the heavy artillery is placed about forty steps behind the entire team, and
And they were all adjusted to an elevation angle. However, the shells fired by the medium-sized artillery were also not something that flesh and blood could withstand. Two elephants were hit in their vital parts, making a shrill roar and falling to the ground. Several others were shot.
Although the elephant can still hold on, the cry it makes can be heard, and it is very painful.
Although this round of shelling only knocked down two elephants, most of the Chinese soldiers knew that this big guy was not invincible, so there was nothing to be afraid of. The shells could kill them.
Guns and bullets can also kill.
Luo Yuanbin saw this and breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the artillery was effective, so he immediately ordered to try using blooming ammunition instead.
So with the second round of bombardment by the Chinese Army, there were countless explosions in the Daxi Army's formation, and the casualties of the soldiers suddenly increased. Many elephants were shot, and their cries were also loud.
There is a very obvious feeling of pain.
And although these elephants have been trained for combat, the Daxi Army does not use muskets and artillery, so the elephants have not been trained in this area. The instinct of animals is to be afraid of fire and loud noises, so despite this round of shelling
It seemed that none of the elephants fell to the ground, but many elephants were frightened by the explosion and began to run around in the team. The soldiers riding on the backs of the elephants also tried their best to control the elephants, but some of them
The soldier could no longer withstand the torment of the elephant and fell off the elephant's back.