The Qing army attacked the Ming army this time, dispatching a total of 6,000 men and horses, leaving only one Mongolian Niulu and one Han Niulu to guard Jinan Prefecture. There were 2,500 cavalry in the whole army, and another 2,000 The infantry had war horses instead, with only 1,500 followers, and the domestic slaves had no horses to ride. Among them, there were more than 400 Manchu soldiers and more than 200 armored soldiers. At the same time, in order to prevent the Ming army from defending the city, they did not fight. , the Qing army also brought a lot of shield vehicles and ladders, and was ready to attack the city.
But what surprised Wenktu was that the Ming army did not hide in Licheng County to defend the city, nor did they fight with their backs to the city. Instead, they went several miles out of the city and formed an array on the outskirts. Looking at the posture, I wanted to have a wild battle with the Qing army.
From the perspective of the war horse, the number of Ming troops was about four to five thousand, but the formation was very strange. In Winktu's eyes, it was simply the formation of a person who did not understand the art of war. Same shape.
In fact, the Muling Army was still arranged in two rows. The front row was composed of 600 musketeers, spread out in three linear rows, with a distance of about 200 meters. Because this time, the Muling Army had a total of The nine hundred musketeers are nearly double the number before. Therefore, not only can the musketeers be arranged more densely, but 300 musketeers can also be set aside as a reserve force, giving them a lot of room for maneuver. too much.
Behind the linear array of musketeers, other men and horses formed five square formations. Four hundred cavalry and five hundred sword and shield soldiers were located on both sides of the army, protecting the flanks of the musketeers. The square formation in the middle was full of musketeers. The army's headquarters is also the largest phalanx, consisting of the remaining 300 musketeers, 500 longbowmen, and 500 pikemen. There is a high platform car in the center, and Shang Yi and others are standing on the car. Command the entire army. On the left and right sides of the main formation, there is a square formation of 800 spearmen, ready to wait for the enemy to approach the formation and support them to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Qing army.
In this battle, the Muling Army did not use artillery. This was because Shang Yi did not have much experience in how to use artillery in conjunction with other arms in field battles. He had tried it once or twice before, but it was not very effective. It was convenient, so this time the artillery was left in Licheng County.
Winktu watched for a while, then found a few Han soldiers who had been defeated by Bulin, and asked: "Look, is this the Ming army that defeated Bulin?"
A soldier immediately replied: "Reply to Jia La, this is indeed the Ming army that defeated Bulin Jia La. You see, the soldiers in the front row of them all held firecrackers. When they fought against us, Exactly the same.”
Wen Ketu couldn't help but be puzzled and said: "The formation of such a Ming army can be broken through in one charge. How did you get defeated by such a Ming army at that time?"
Another Han soldier replied: "Jia La, you must not underestimate this Ming army. Bulin Jia La also thought so before, but he didn't expect that the firecrackers of this Ming army were so powerful. We couldn't charge forward at all, and before we even got halfway through, there were countless dead and wounded men and horses."
Wen Ketu gave a disdainful "hum" and said: "What's so powerful about fire guns? I've been fighting against the Ming army for so many years. It's not like I haven't seen it before. There's nothing to be afraid of. It's obvious that you are useless. Even such a Ming army cannot defeat it."
The Han soldier was still arguing: "Jia La, it's not that we are incompetent, it's actually that this Ming army is completely different from other Ming armies. They..."
Winktu said sternly: "Shut up, this useless thing will bring shame to our Qing Dynasty. If you don't retreat, let's see how I can defeat this Ming army."
Several Han soldiers did not dare to argue any further, so they had no choice but to retreat.
However, even though Winktu said so, he was not a reckless person after all. Although this Ming army seemed easy to deal with, they had defeated Brin's men after all, so maybe there was something special about it. Therefore, Wen Ketu used the tried and tested tactics of the Qing army and immediately ordered to mobilize three Niulu troops of the Han army to launch a tentative attack on the Ming army.
The three Han army Niulu, with a total of about 1,300 horses, including about 400 cavalry, had no choice but to line up in an offensive formation and attack the Muling army after Wenketu gave the order. The array is approaching.
Shang Yi stood on a wooden platform more than three feet high, with Shen Yang, Zhou Wei and others beside him. He could see the movements of the Qing army very clearly. The Qing army's cavalry formed a conical formation in front, while the infantry spread out. The troops followed behind. Because the two sides were still far away, the cavalry did not sprint. They still suppressed the speed of the horses and walked slowly with broken steps.
At this time, Zhou Wei, who was next to Shang Yi, suddenly said: "The Tatars are so stupid. When they attacked Linqu County, they suffered a big loss. They didn't even make any progress. They just concentrated like this and attacked slowly. Isn’t this sending someone to death?”
Shang Yi glanced at Zhou Wei. The little girl was very observant, but this was the first time she talked to Shang Yi after Shang Yi found out about her daughter's death. Shang Yi also replied: "It's not because of the Tatars." It’s stupid, but it’s because times have changed, and the Tatar’s cavalry charge tactics are no longer useful.”
In fact, the tactics used by the Qing army were not wrong. The cavalry concentrated its forces and launched a fierce attack against the enemy at one point, which was very consistent with the way of using troops. It was very effective against such a battle formation that stretched the front without depth. But this is only limited to the cold weapon age, or the early stage of the firearms age.
Although cold weapons have not been completely eliminated in today's wars, they are still an important part of the battlefield and can win on the battlefield. However, firearms technology has developed to a relatively mature stage, and it is used in all battlefields. The proportion of war is also increasing. The pattern of war is also quietly changing. On the battlefields of Europe, a tactical revolution is slowly taking shape. In five years, the end of the Thirty Years' War in Europe will be announced. War in Europe has officially entered the modern mode.
In today's China, war is undoubtedly still in the cold weapon age, or the early stage of the firearms age. Firearms are only used as an auxiliary force for cold weapons, and a new war model with firearms as the core force has not been formed. In addition, The Ming Dynasty was politically corrupt, so it is not surprising that the Ming army could not defeat the Qing army.
However, the emergence of the Muling Army is a completely alternative model in the Chinese army of this era. It not only pays attention to firearms, but also uses completely modern tactics, which is completely different from the Chinese army of this era. Although the Muling Army is now The overall strength is not strong enough to change the current overall pattern of China, but on local battlefields, it can show a completely different combat effectiveness from other Ming armies. This is entirely due to the differences of the times and cannot be changed by manpower. of.
However, Zhou Wei was puzzled by what Shang Yi said and said: "Mr. Shang Qian, what do you mean by 'the times have changed'?"
Shang Yi also knew that he had spilled the beans, so he laughed and said: "I can't explain it clearly for a while now, but you will understand it later!" Fortunately, at this time, the Qing army's cavalry almost entered the muskets. The distance between the cavalry and the infantry gradually widened, and the cavalry horses began to trot to look forward. Therefore, Shang Yi immediately ordered that the musketeers can start shooting.
At this time, the Qing army's cavalry had just entered within a hundred steps of the Muling army's array, but the six hundred musketeers arrayed in front of the Muling army were using nearly 400 guns that Shang Yi had received in Qingzhou Prefecture. Flintlock muskets, as well as all Rumi muskets, and only a small number of bird muskets, not only fire fast, but also hit farther than bird muskets, and have stronger armor-piercing power, within a hundred steps, so Jing is Mu The Ling Army's normal killing range is now up.
The flag bearer immediately passed Shang Yi's order out. Luo Yuanbin, who commanded the musketeers, saw it and immediately ordered: "Musketeers, open fire."
"Pah-pah-pah-pah-"
Two hundred muskets were fired almost at the same time, and a thunderous sound of gunfire immediately overwhelmed all the sounds on the battlefield. The bullets were as dense as raindrops, shooting at the Qing army.
At this moment, a series of heart-rending screams erupted from the Qing army's charging ranks, which were also mixed with the painful screams of many war horses. Almost all the Qing army's front row cavalry fell to the ground. Some were lying on the ground, motionless, and some were still struggling and rolling on the ground, tossing and turning.
After the Muling Army's musketeers fired their first shot, they did not stop and immediately handed the muskets in their hands to their companions behind them. Then they took the loaded muskets from their companions and continued. Fired at the Qing army. The musketeers behind them were busy loading ammunition for the fired muskets, and then handed them to their companions in front. Therefore, the attacks of the Muling Army were always continuous, without any breaks.
Because the Han soldiers and cavalry dispatched by the Qing army only wore a layer of iron armor, they did not have much protection against musket fire. Moreover, the Qing army used a dense formation to charge. It was originally hoped that It formed a concentrated and powerful strike against the enemy, but at this time, it provided a concentrated target for the Muling Army's shooting.
Under the intensive fire of muskets, the charging troops of the Qing army could only scream and fall off their horses one after another, or they fell down together with the horses. They had just rushed to less than four meters away from the formation of the Muling army. At a distance of ten steps, it is said that this is when the horses should start charging at full speed, but there are only less than a hundred of the more than 400 cavalry left, and they are sparse and completely out of formation.
The remaining cavalrymen did not have the courage to continue charging forward, so they turned their horses and retreated towards their own formation. Only then did they want to retreat, but it was too late because they were all within the attack range of Muling's army. Inside, the musket fire of the Muling Army would not stop because of the retreat of the Qing Army. Even as the Qing Army drew their horses, returned, and accelerated, they were constantly hit by muskets.
Moreover, at this time, the infantry of the Qing army also entered the range of the muskets. While the musketeers chased and shot the cavalry, they also opened fire on the infantry.
The remaining dozens of cavalry were defeated, and the front row of infantry fell to the ground. The fighting will of the Han army was not as firm as that of the Manchu Eight Banners, so those who dared to continue to advance turned around.