"Tomorrow's battle will be fought by the Chinese army." Shang Yi's voice rang loudly in the tent.
After hearing this, the big names of the overthrown army were startled at first, and then they all became ecstatic. The Chinese army was finally going to take action, and they could finally feel relieved.
The Battle of Sekigahara officially started and has been going on for three days. The overthrow of the Tokugawa Army was fought by the allied forces of the major names, while the Shogunate Army was fought by Yamashita's left and right wing arrow troops. The main formations of the Chinese Army and the Shogunate Army were always present. None were dispatched.
During these three days, both sides fought fierce battles every day. The overthrow army performed very hard and indeed fought with all their strength. On some local battlefields, it could even be described as tragic. description, and after these three days of fighting, although the Shogunate Army did not force out the main formation of the Shogunate Army, they also made certain progress. The second line of defense of the left and right wing units of the Shogunate Army was broken through, and the Shogunate Army began to attack. The main formations on the left and right wings of the shogunate army almost broke through the main formation on the right wing in today's battle. However, the shogunate army's arrows were relatively strong, so they still held the second line of defense, but it was also in danger.
However, to achieve these results, the overthrown army also paid a heavy price. A total of 23,873 people were killed in the entire army. More than 20 generals from each domain were killed, and two daimyo were killed. An additional 12,717 people were injured. Now the combat strength of the entire army is less than 90,000. In the camp of the fallen army, there are injured soldiers almost everywhere. The number of combat casualties exceeds that of the entire army. A quarter of the total. If in a regular battle, the number of personnel reduced reaches this ratio, it is almost equal to a failure. Moreover, even if the battle is won, there is nothing to brag about, it can only be regarded as a tragedy. win.
On the side of the shogunate army, under the pressure of the overthrown shogunate army, they had to fight with all their strength and paid an even heavier price. As a result, although they could defend the positions around Nangong Mountain without force, the number of people killed in the entire army had already reached 100,000. There were more than 34,000 people, 11 daimyo were killed, and more than 17,000 people were injured. The number of casualties exceeded 50,000, and the number of troops stationed at various positions around Nangong Mountain was only 17,000. There are more than 110,000 people left.
Therefore, after three days of fierce fighting, both sides have already felt that they can't bear it. After all, the current battle has become a war of attrition. The two sides are competing to see who can consume the most. In this way, no matter which side it is, in the end If you win, your own vitality will be severely damaged. In fact, it will end in a lose-lose situation.
But now both sides are riding a tiger, because at this time, whichever side gives in first will only lead to a complete defeat of its own side, and all the troops and horses lost before will be in vain. Therefore, at this time, Shang Yi took the initiative to propose, The battle on the fourth day was fought by the Chinese Army, which surprised and delighted all the famous people. In fact, many people hoped that the Chinese Army could fight, but no one dared to propose it to Shang Yi.
In fact, the Chinese army stood still because it was not a mutual restraint with the Chinese army of the shogunate army. Moreover, Shang Yi did not expect to defeat the shogunate army with these fallen daimyo. The reason for letting the defeated shogunate army go to fight was because the previous battles were fought by the Chinese army. Yes, now it’s time to let these fallen curtains use their efforts. If you want to pick up the good fruit and eat it, it’s impossible without paying a little price. At the same time, it’s also to test whether the big names who fell behind the curtain are united and whether anyone has other plans. In addition, it’s also a waste of time. The strength of the shogunate was reduced in one fell swoop, letting them know that once they left the Chinese Army, they would never be able to become enemies of the shogunate.
Now these goals have been achieved, and Shang Yi can also see that in the previous period, the vigor accumulated by the Overthrowing Army has been almost exhausted, and it has reached the point where it is exhausted. After all, the Overthrowing Army took the initiative. If the attacking side is unable to attack for a long time, it will inevitably have a blow to morale. Therefore, if the overthrown troops are still allowed to fight, the fourth day of fighting will most likely not be able to maintain the good momentum of the first three days. Therefore, at this time, Shang Yi will There is no need to stand still, it is time for the Chinese Army to take action.
When the entire army of the Overthrown Curtain Army learned that the Chinese Army would go into battle tomorrow, the morale of the entire army could not help but be shocked. After all, they were still very confident in the strength of the Chinese Army. In addition, during these three days of fighting , the Overthrown Shogunate Army imitated the Chinese Army every time they went into battle, trying to use muskets to block the Shogunate Army's attack, but failed every time. After several rounds of three-stage shooting, the Shogunate Army would rush to the musketeers. In front of the formation, hand-to-hand combat began, which also made many daimyo realize that the Chinese army can master the tactics of muskets. It seems simple, but in fact it is not easy to learn well, so many daimyo want to see it. Take a look and see how the Chinese army did it.
The next day, under the expectation of everyone, the Eleventh Army of the Chinese Army stationed at Matsuo Mountain took the lead and launched an attack on the arrow position of the Shogunate Army.
The arrow position of the shogunate army was garrisoned by Tokugawa Naoyoshi, the ancestor of the Tokugawa family. It has 62,000 troops. It is the strongest among the positions at the foot of Nangong Mountain and the most difficult to attack. It is still guarding the second line. defense line, but at this time there were only more than 46,000 troops left.
The Sekihara area was not big to begin with. As soon as the Chinese army moved, the shogunate army soon knew about it. When Tadakatsu Sakai on Nangong Mountain saw that the Chinese army had finally moved out, he did not dare to be careless. He immediately organized troops to prepare for reinforcements at any time, and stationed at Tokugawa Naoyi, who was on the west side of Nangong Mountain, was also very nervous and hurriedly organized and dispatched troops to strengthen the defense of the position.
About 1,500 meters to the west of Nangong Mountain, there is a small hill called Mopeishan. In the Battle of Sekigahara, it was the location of Tokugawa Ieyasu's main formation, and it is also Tokugawa Naoyoshi's main formation now. garrison point, so Tokugawa Naoyi also silently complained in his heart, hoping that his father's spirit in heaven could protect him, defend his position, and resist the attack of the Chinese army.
But as soon as the attack began, Tokugawa Naoyoshi was completely desperate.
The Chinese army first gathered 33 heavy artillery pieces from two divisions and launched a fierce bombardment at the shogunate army's position. The heavy artillery used this time was more powerful than the previous ones used by the overthrown army. After all, it was the Chinese army. The products eliminated by the military, each artillery has a caliber of three inches and two cents, and can fire solid bullets weighing fifty kilograms, with a range of about 1,500 meters. Of course, half of the guns fired by the Chinese army are explosive bullets.
Thirty-three artillery pieces were divided into three groups and took turns to bombard the second line of defense of the shogunate army's position. Many shogunate army soldiers were hit and killed by the shells. At this distance, the shogunate army had almost no way to do anything. , even if they wanted to attack, they were still unable to do so. After all, they were more than a thousand meters away. When they rushed in front of the Chinese army, even Huang Hualai was probably stunned. As a result, the second line of defense of the shogunate army was immediately beaten. In disarray, many soldiers of the shogunate army retreated one after another. Even Tokugawa Naoyoshi could not do anything. He could not let the soldiers wait on the position to be bombed.
However, the Chinese army's long-range artillery bombardment did not last long. After more than a dozen rounds of bombing, the second line of defense of the shogunate army was disrupted. The Chinese army also stopped the bombardment, and the musketeers lined up. They formed a long horizontal column and approached the shogunate's position.
After the Chinese army stopped bombing, the shogunate army finally calmed down. Seeing the Chinese army's musketeers attacking, Tokugawa Naoyoshi immediately ordered the shogunate army to attack the Chinese army and get close to the Chinese army. Fight hand-to-hand with them.
After the first day of fighting, the shogunate army also completely gave up their iron cannons. As long as the shogunate army dispatched musketeers, they would immediately attack them, approach them, and conduct close combat. Based on the experience of the previous few days of combat, , as long as you withstand the first few rounds of shooting, you can basically rush to the front of the musketeer array. Generally speaking, when you rush to about thirty meters in front of the musketeer array, the musketeers will stop shooting and prepare their bayonets. In combat, firstly, it is probably too late to reload at this distance, and secondly, it also takes time to attach the bayonet.
But this is the experience of fighting against the overthrown troops, not the Chinese army.
If we simply compare the reloading speed of the soldiers on both sides, the Chinese army's musketeers may not be much faster than the overthrown army's musketeers, but the actual combat experience of the Chinese army is by no means comparable to the overthrown army's rookie musketeers. Reloading on the battlefield and practicing reloading in daily life are definitely two different concepts.
When an ordinary rookie musketeer first enters the battlefield, it is a very good result if he can reload at half the speed of practice. This is because when watching the enemy rushing towards him, he can still remain calm and accurately judge whether it is the enemy. Reloading is still a head-on battle, and when loading, you have to ensure that your movements don't move and your speed stays the same. Without two or three years of actual combat experience, it's simply impossible to achieve this.
In addition to these factors, unlike the traditional three-stage continuous fire, the Chinese army's musket formations are all in four rows. The soldiers in the front row half-crouch and fire freely. The addition of this row of soldiers only speeds up the shooting. speed, and it is a great psychological comfort for the soldiers in the back three rows, because when the enemy rushes closer, the half-crouched front row soldiers will first fight the enemy, ensuring the safety of the soldiers in the back three rows. Safety to avoid death due to insufficient reloading.
Another point is that the range of the muskets used by the Chinese army is far beyond that of the old muskets. Therefore, when the soldiers of the shogunate army rushed within 300 meters of the Chinese army, the musketeers of the Chinese army immediately Shooting, the sound of the gunfire was like exploding beans, and the shots were like two points, airtight and continuous, shooting towards the shogunate army.
The soldiers of the shogunate army immediately fell to the ground after being hit by bullets like cutting wheat. The screams could not be heard. Although there were many soldiers of the shogunate army who tried their best to attack upwards, but under the fierce attack of the Chinese army, Under the fire, they still fell to the ground one by one. After a while, the ground was covered with the corpses of the shogunate soldiers. There were also many wounded but not dead soldiers lying on the ground struggling and screaming in pain.
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