However, this result was much better than the Qingzhou War. In that war, when the Qing army attacked within a hundred steps of the Merchant Army's position, they were hit by artillery and thunderbolt rockets in turn, causing losses of at least 60%.
Zhou Shaohuan, who was watching the battle, had to admit that the Qing army had indeed made great progress in their tactical arrangements, but at this time they had entered the shooting range of rifles and small artillery. Therefore, Zhou Shaohuan also ordered: rifle shooting.
At this time, after the Qing army lost most of their shield vehicles, most of the soldiers were completely exposed. Therefore, regardless of maintaining their formation, they each raised their swords, guns, shields, bows and arrows, firecrackers and other weapons, and rushed towards the Merchant Army's position. Come.
"Bang bang bang bang!"
The rifles immediately spit out tongues of flame and made a sound like exploding beans. At the same time, there were more than forty small artillery pieces, all of which fired shotgun shells. For a time, the shells were as dense as hail and raindrops, shooting at the Qing soldiers. In the Qing army formation, Immediately, rows of soldiers fell to the ground and died. Although there were also firecrackers and archers of the Qing army who fired arrows at the merchant army, the Qing army's bows, arrows and firecrackers had to be at least fifty steps away to be effective, so now they are all It's wasted effort.
However, most of the people who were shot and killed were Han soldiers with thin armor or followers and soldiers of the Manchu army. The official flag soldiers of the Manchu Eight Banners were at least two layers of armor. At a distance of more than 80 steps, they were very vulnerable to bullets. Shooting still has a pretty good protective effect. Because the white-armored soldiers all wear triple armor, unless they have rifled guns, they must be within 60 steps before they can be effectively penetrated by muskets.
However, if the Merchant Army's rifle volley fire cannot be opened, once it starts, it is continuous. There is no gap at all. In the past, when the Qing Army and the Ming Army fought, even if the Shu Army adopted the three-stage continuous shooting tactic, after three shots, After that, there will be a relatively long pause. This is because the reloading speed of matchlock ammunition is slow. Generally, a skilled musketeer can only shoot twice a minute, and basically no more than three times. Therefore, in the past, matchlocks were mainly used. When firing a gun, Shang Yi would sometimes fire four or even five-stage bursts to ensure low continuity of shooting.
Now all the merchant armies have replaced flintlock guns. The average infantry can shoot three times a minute, and the skilled infantry can even shoot four times or more. In addition, there are a large number of light artillery, and the density of bullets is higher than two years ago. It has been greatly improved. Therefore, although the position seems to be close in front of you, if you want to jump over, you still have to pay a considerable price. Moreover, the closer the distance, the worse the protective effect of the shield and heavy armor, and you will suffer more damage. The impact will be greater.
However, the advance of the Qing soldiers did not stop. They braved the hail of bullets, stepped over the corpses of soldiers who were killed by gunfire, and still approached the Merchant Army's position with difficulty. Especially the remaining dozen or so shield vehicles, which were vulnerable to bullets. The protective effect was also the best, so they kept advancing steadily until they were less than 40 steps away from the Merchant Army's position. Some of the Qing Army's gunmen and archers also hid behind the shield vehicles. , fired and fired arrows at the merchant army's formation, and most of the firecrackers and archers rushed into their shooting range, and then opened fire and arrows to fight back without any cover.
Among the 4,000 infantrymen dispatched by the Qing army, there were 1,000 musketeers, and all the soldiers were archers, and there were some followers who also carried bows and arrows. At this time, at least half of them survived, so The Qing army's counterattack was not weak, but quite threatening. Now the two sides were shooting at each other within a distance of fifty or sixty meters. Therefore, the merchant army was no longer in absolute peace, and there were constantly soldiers in the trenches. Arrows, bullets, and casualties are also rising sharply.
The other infantry of the Qing army still kept on rushing forward, but at this time the Qing army had entered the grenade throwing range, and grenades were constantly thrown from the trenches, exploding in the Qing army's position, and the grenades frequently
After improvement, it is smaller than before, and the intimidation is
Although the force is not great, the victory lies in the large number, and the intensive throwing, with a killing range of two to three feet. After each explosion, several soldiers can always be killed. Therefore, although the Qing army was not afraid of death and fierce attack, it was still difficult to break through.
The position of the merchant army. And the number of them is also decreasing.
If the two sides were shooting at each other like this, the Qing army might not be able to hold on for long, but at this moment, the Qing army's cavalry also attacked.
In fact, as early as after the infantry attack, Abatai also expected that the infantry might not be able to break the Merchant Army's position, so he also prepared a thousand cavalry to serve as the second round of attack. Just when the Qing Army's infantry gained ground with the Merchant Army,
After the Qing army had a temporary confrontation, the Qing army's cavalry finally began to attack the merchant army's position.
The horses' hooves stamped on the ground, making a thunderous "rumbling" sound. Even amid the shelling and gunfire, it could not be concealed. All that could be seen was a row of black dots in the distance. In the blink of an eye, they were wearing heavy armor and holding weapons in their hands.
The cavalry with bows and arrows has already approached the merchant army's position.
It should be said that the tactics of the Qing army are very correct. Although the Qing army has been strengthened in terms of firepower, it is still far behind the merchant army. It is definitely not as good as an artillery battle with the merchant army. But the Qing army
At first, use artillery battle to contain the artillery of the merchant army, and then
The infantry was sent out for the first attack and successfully achieved a temporary confrontation in front of the Merchant Army's position. Then the cavalry was sent out for the second attack. Taking advantage of the Merchant Army's artillery, the infantry was pinned down and the cavalry was used.
With its speed and impact, it broke through the merchant army's position in one fell swoop.
Fortunately, the infantry of the Qing army had been suppressed by the merchant army at this time, so the merchant army was able to cope with the Qing army's cavalry attack with all its strength. The flintlocks and artillery were also fired in turn, and grenades were thrown out like raindrops. At the same time, thirty pipe organs were fired.
They also opened fire together. Just listen to "bang bang-bang bang-bang bang-bang bang-" and the gunshots and explosions merged into one in the entire position.
As a result, the Qing cavalry who were charging at full speed seemed to have hit an invisible wall and were knocked off their horses. The dozen cavalrymen in the front row were even beaten off their horses.
He flew out, either bumping into his companions behind him, or falling to the ground, and was trampled to pieces by the horses that swarmed from behind. The Qing cavalry suddenly fell over, their horses neighing and people roaring, and there was chaos.
The smoke produced by muskets, artillery fire, and grenade explosions filled the entire battlefield in an instant. However, the cavalry in the back row of the Qing army still rushed forward, rushing into the fog like crazy, regardless of what consequences were waiting for them. In fact,
At this time, even if he wanted to, he couldn't stop, because as soon as the cavalry in the front row stopped, they would be immediately knocked away by the companions behind them who couldn't hold their feet. Therefore, they could only move forward without caring about anything.
rush.
At this time, in the position of the Merchant Army, the distance that could actually be seen was only ten or twenty meters at most. Therefore, the infantry of the Merchant Army did not care about what was going on in front of them. They just shot at the white mist in front of them and then cleared it.
chamber, reload, and shoot again, or pull off the fuse of the grenade, and then throw it into the fog with all its strength. And from time to time, a few arrows would fly out of the fog and hit the soldiers of the Merchant Army.
Behind the trench, most of the merchant army's thirty organ guns had finished firing the first gun tray. After changing the gun tray, they lit the fuse again and continued to spray the fire platform madly at the mist.
Behind the organ gun, two operators were struggling to turn the winch, allowing the huge gun plate to slowly swing left and right to fire, in order to expand the killing range.
Therefore, at this time, the only thing that can be heard is "Boom-Boom-Boom-Puff-" followed by the screams of humans and the screams of war horses, all in one continuous sound.
At this moment, a war horse rushed out of the fog, let out a roar, kicked off its hooves, crossed the trench, and rushed into the merchant army's position. The knight on horseback waved his long sword, and a cold light flashed past.
Afterwards, the head of a Merchant Army soldier flew into the sky, and blood spurted out from the broken neck like a spring.
The Qing cavalry was about to kill his next target when he heard a gunshot of "Bang!" and the Qing soldier fell down from his horse, leaving only an empty-saddled war horse running in the position.
After a few steps, he stopped.
But then a second Qing cavalry emerged from the fog, a third, a fourth... more and more.
"Bayonet, charge!"
Following the orders from officers at all levels, the infantrymen of the Merchant Army pulled out their bayonets and inserted them into the barrels of their rifles. At the same time, they also jumped out of the trench and sprinted towards the Qing cavalry rushing through the fog. Some of them were too late to jump out of the trench.
The soldiers were holding their rifles in the trenches, waiting for the enemy to rush in. At this moment, the muskets and artillery of the Merchant Army and the Qing Army basically stopped shooting. Instead, there was shouting, shouting, and bodies falling to the ground.
sound.
A Qing army cavalry wielded a long spear and stabbed down a Merchant Army soldier with the momentum of the horse. However, three or four bayonets on the left and right of the horse pierced his body almost at the same time.
Another Qing cavalryman jumped on his horse and swung his sword, cutting down two merchant soldiers. However, the horse that was sitting down suddenly let out a scream, its limbs went limp, and it fell to the ground naked, knocking the Qing soldier off the horse.
He rolled on the ground several times, and before he could get up, four or five bayonets were stabbed into his body.
Some cavalrymen leaped over the trenches with their horses jumping. When they landed, they suddenly screamed and fell to the ground. It turned out that the merchant soldiers hiding in the trenches took advantage of the horses to jump up and stabbed the horses with a bayonet in the belly.
.
So the cavalry of the Qing army and the infantry of the Merchant army started a fierce hand-to-hand combat right next to the trench. For a time, blood mist filled the air, limbs were splashed, people screamed and horses neighed, weapons clashed, corpses fell to the ground, and spears penetrated the body.
, curses, shouts, screams and cries, all broke out at the same time at this moment. At this time, all tactics are useless, what is competing is the fighting spirit and determination of the soldiers.