But there were still some cavalry who continued to charge towards the Merchant Army's position, because these cavalry basically rushed within fifty steps. At this time, even if they wanted to turn around and escape, it was too late, so they could only run to the dark side.
After another round of shooting by the Merchant Army, there were only more than thirty cavalry left, and they rushed sporadically to the Merchant Army's position. At this time, the musketeers also prepared their bayonets and jumped. When they arrived at the trenches, they engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the remaining cavalry. The pikemen in the rear also stepped forward, crossed the artillery position, and jumped over the trenches to help the pikemen fight the cavalry.
A mere thirty cavalrymen could not form a huge impact. They could withstand the attack of more than a thousand soldiers. In the blink of an eye, all of them were pierced by spears and fell to the ground. As for the musketeers, Taking advantage of the situation, they pursued and fired a few more rounds, killing some of the fleeing cavalry, and then returned to the trenches to defend, while the pikemen also retreated behind the artillery and reorganized their formation.
However, there were less than 300 cavalrymen who fled back to the main formation, leaving only countless corpses of horses and horses on the battlefield, scattered throughout the field, and more than a dozen ownerless horses running away, and some were not dead yet. Toru's horses and soldiers moaned in pain from time to time.
Han Huamei only felt that she was having a nightmare, and everything that happened before her eyes seemed to be in a dream. But the strong smell of blood on the battlefield, and the faces of the defeated cavalry who retreated into the formation became expressionless due to fear. The distorted expression reminded Han Huamei that this was not a dream.
In previous battles with the Ming army, Han Huamei had fought against the Ming army using artillery and muskets. At that time, she did not think that artillery and muskets were so terrifying. They were nothing more than long-range strikes like archers. As long as After resisting for one or two rounds, crossing the range of artillery and muskets, and engaging in close combat with the Ming army, the Ming army could be defeated immediately.
But the power of the artillery and gunfire used by the Ming army was obviously far beyond Han Huamei's imagination. Not only could it hit far, but it also shot at a fast speed and high density. It was not comparable to that of the previous Ming army. .
What kind of artillery and gunfire did this Ming army use? It could be so powerful. Thinking of this, Han Huamei couldn't help but tremble in his heart. This is a thousand cavalry, and it can only survive in a short period of time. In just one stick of incense, he was defeated by the Ming army. Looking at the faces of other soldiers, they all had a look of horror. How could this battle go on?
At this time, in Han Huamei's heart, Yi Jing had the idea of withdrawing his troops, but he just retreated. When he met King Chuang, how should he explain to him, and what would the other You brothers think of him? In the next few years, and the Ming army He had never been beaten so badly in battle, but as he continued to fight against the Ming army, Han Huamei felt that he had no confidence at all.
Just when Han Huamei was hesitating whether to advance or retreat, Shang Yi ordered the second regiment to launch a counterattack against the invading army.
The first thing to launch a counterattack was the artillery. At a distance of three to four hundred steps, not only the Hongyi cannon, but also the No. 1 and 2 Fran machine cannons could hit it. It was just that the Hongyi cannon did not fire just now, and the No. 1 and 2 Fran machine guns could hit it. The artillery also deliberately suppressed its firing range. Now that Shang Yi saw that the intruders were still afraid to attack, he knew that they were timid in the past and was afraid that the intruders would withdraw, so he ordered all the artillery that could reach it to start firing.
The whole army's Hongyi artillery and No. 1 and 2 Fran machine guns totaled twenty-two. Now they started bombarding together, and the momentum created was no less than before.
The soldiers who broke into the army heard the sound of artillery and thought again, and felt a little strange. They had not launched an attack yet. Why did the Shu army fire again? But this thought just flashed through their minds, and the artillery shells were gone. When we arrived in front of us, many soldiers who were hit by the shells fell to the ground and died immediately before they had time to scream. And after the shells knocked down a soldier, the speed of the shells did not slow down much, but continued to fly past. All the objects in front of him were smashed to pieces. In the trajectory of each cannonball, a series of corpses of men and horses would be left behind.
Because the heavy artillery of the Ming Army were all located in the capital and Jiubian areas, in the past battles between the Chuang Army and the Ming Army, most of the artillery used by the Ming Army were easy-to-carry Tiger Crouching Cannons, small Folang Cannons, etc., with a range of only one or two hundred at most. Therefore, the soldiers who broke into the army had seen such long-range cannons. Only then did they realize that the Ming army's artillery could actually hit them. When they hit the cavalry just now, they still did not use their full strength. And the formation There was chaos immediately.
At the same time, the musketeers of the Merchant Army jumped out of the trenches again, carrying muskets with sharp knives, and launched a charge towards the position of the intruders. Moreover, the musketeers and sword and shield soldiers also jumped over the trenches and followed the musketeers. Behind him, he also rushed forward.
Originally, when the merchant army bombarded the intruder army with artillery, Han Meihua decided to retreat immediately. However, when she found that the soldiers of the merchant army jumped out of the trenches and attacked her, Han Huamei couldn't help but have a glimmer of hope in her heart. Now that the Ming army is taking the initiative to attack, isn't it just abandoning its own strengths and using its own shortcomings? If our army can withstand a few rounds of bombardment, get close to the Ming army, and start a white-knife battle, I believe we can defeat the Ming army and save the current situation. The defeat came because until now, Han Huamei only believed that the Ming army only used powerful firecrackers and artillery, and the Ming army's own combat effectiveness was not terrible.
It was with this understanding that Han Huamei also changed his mind and immediately ordered all the soldiers to rush forward and approach the Ming army for a decisive battle. He also said loudly: "Brothers, don't be afraid of the Ming army's artillery. , as long as they engage in battle with the Ming army, they will not dare to fire any more, and we can defeat the Ming army. The Ming army is nothing special, but its artillery and blunderbuss are powerful."
It should be said that there are many soldiers and generals of the Chuang Army who have the same idea as Han Huamei. After all, in the past few years, the Chuang Army has built up enough confidence in the Ming Army. It is difficult for them to completely disappear immediately because of one or two defeats. Therefore, After Han Huamei gave the order, the soldiers of the invading army also raised their weapons and rushed towards the merchant army.
Sure enough, when the soldiers from both sides gradually approached, the artillery behind the Merchant Army also stopped firing to avoid accidentally injuring their own people. But at this time, the advancing musketeers of the Merchant Army stopped and quickly formed a shooting formation. style, and the musketeers in the first row raised their muskets, pointed them at the intruders approaching them, and pulled the triggers.
At this time, the two sides were still only ten steps apart. Han Huamei never imagined that the Ming army would suddenly stop, and he would adjust his formation almost in an instant and launch a musket attack on himself. Therefore, after a dense volley of gunshots, a large row of soldiers immediately filled the formation of the intruders, all of whom were originally soldiers in the front row.
After the musketeers of the Merchant Army fired their muskets, they did not retreat. They reloaded the gunpowder at the original position. The musketeers in the rear row immediately rushed to the front, raised their muskets, and shot at the intruders. Then the third Three rows of soldiers stepped forward. The cycle continued over and over again.
The distance between the two sides was about 70 to 80 steps. Most of the muskets used by the merchant army were muskets. If the Qing army was attacked at this distance, the projectiles would be difficult to penetrate the Qing army's well-made iron armor. Even if it is a single layer of iron armor, the armor of the Chuang army is obviously not comparable to that of the Qing army. In fact, although Li Zicheng became powerful through his experience, he still moved around and fought, and it took him nearly six or seven months to really defend the occupied areas. The thing is that the weapons, armor, horses, food and wages used were all stolen from the Ming army, and they did not have their own logistics supply. Therefore, they could only wear whatever armor they grabbed.
Moreover, Li Zicheng assembled the fifth battalion of iron armor for the pro-army troops. The guards in the sub-towns could only use the fifth battalion. The pro-army did not use second-class goods. There were very few iron armors. Most of the soldiers wore Leather armor or cotton armor, a few people even did not have armor, and only wore the Mandarin Duck War Jacket of the Shu Army. Such armor could not withstand the musket fire of the Merchant Army, so the lethality was greatly increased. Lumi Guns and Needless to say, the range of the flintlock muskets and the muskets has been increased by at least twenty steps. It only caused the soldiers of the invading army to fall to the ground in rows. It was impossible to get close to the merchant army's array.
I originally thought that they were going to fight the Ming army in close combat, so the Chuang army also mustered up their energy and launched an attack on the merchant army. But now I saw that it was not the case at all. I couldn't get close to the enemy at all. I could only get beaten and could not fight back. , so the true nature of the rogues was once again exposed, and some people turned around and fled. The first one was followed by the second one, and it soon turned into a rout.
In the charge just now, Han Huamei took the lead and rushed in front, but he was very lucky. The merchant army fired several rounds of muskets. Many soldiers around Han Huamei were killed, and even his horse was killed. Two horses were killed, but nothing happened to him. However, he was suppressed by the fierce firepower of the merchant army and was unable to move forward.
At this time, Han Huamei saw that the soldiers turned around and ran away, and she knew that her plan was completely wrong. There was no way to fight this battle. Although her luck had been pretty good until now, if she didn't run away, He was afraid that he would also be shot and die. Thinking of this, Han Huamei shook the reins, controlled his third mount of the day to turn around, and then prepared to gallop away to escape.
However, at this moment, Han Huamei only felt her body tremble, and a huge pain came from her back. Han Huamei looked down and saw a fist-sized blood hole in her chest. She immediately understood that her body had been penetrated by a projectile. , he couldn't help but smile bitterly. Good luck will eventually run out. And just as he was thinking about it, he felt a huge pain in two places on his back. Han Huamei's eyes suddenly darkened. The war horse fell down on its back.