In a corner of the large playground, more than a hundred cavalrymen were circling around the hollow square formation formed by Zhang Pan's sentry team, but they were still unable to break through the square formation.
Soon, the recruits in the small square formation suddenly threw training grenades in the same direction. The cavalrymen hurriedly reined in their horses and dodged. Zhang Pan led his team to shout and rushed forward together. The small square formation immediately changed into a column formation, and quickly With a diagonal thrust, he broke through the scattered lines of the cavalry.
The onlooking recruits and trainee officers gave a cheer.
"This is useless in actual combat. The cavalry can retreat temporarily, and then chase the breaking out infantry from behind, and still be able to kill them." Yan Siqi said to Huang Lue while watching the battle: "However, the commander of this new sentry unit is actually a A man who is stoic and spirited enough,”
Huang Lue nodded and was about to express his opinion when suddenly the voice of Yang Dacheng, commander of the Second Division, came from behind: "If our troops lack the advantage of cavalry and fight on flat terrain that is conducive to the enemy's attack, we can use regiments or battalions." The phalanx as a unit seems to be the most suitable formation to resist cavalry. The scale of the cavalry confrontation exercise with sentries as a unit is too small to see any effect."
Yan Siqi and Huang Lue quickly saluted Colonel Yang Dacheng. Yang's qualifications were actually similar to Huang Lue's, and he was also one of the early members of the company's guard who became famous in the battle back to Manila. Yang Dacheng was only twenty years old and was born in Quanzhou. In the rural areas of the city, he took the lead in seizing the gates of Manila in the Battle of Manila and was the first person to rush into Manila. He was promoted to battalion commander by Yin Feng on the spot. Later, Yang Dacheng was always highly regarded by Yin Feng and became the third deputy general of the Chinese Army. One of the leaders and the two others are Zhao Tie and Mai De.
Yang Dacheng pointed to the playground and said to the two division commanders: "Two brothers, how about we conduct a regiment-scale mounted confrontation exercise to see how well these new recruits are trained and how capable the trainee officers are?"
The new barracks was established on the territory of the Second Division's defense area and was under the control of Yang Dacheng, so he had the right to decide to conduct a large-scale exercise.
Yan Siqi and Huang Lue had no reason to object. They nodded repeatedly. Huang Lue transferred the cavalry battalion of the Sixth Division, and a cavalry battalion that was planned to be added to the cavalry brigade. The cavalry battalion directly under Yang Dacheng's second division was gathered together as an offensive side; more than 1,000 recruits in the new barracks temporarily formed a regiment as the defensive side.
It took a long time to mobilize men, horses and various weapons. After the cavalry troops, weapons and equipment, and the military law enforcement officers of the Military Supervision Department were all mobilized, it was getting late, and the exercise could only be carried out tomorrow.
Three senior officers of the Chinese Army unanimously recommended Yan Siqi to be the chief judge of the exercise, because Yan Siqi was the youngest and the most "competent". Therefore, Yan Siqi had to stay in the recruit camp outside Jinzhou Acropolis that night, carefully studying the trainee staff officers. Some of the exercise plans submitted kept me awake almost all night.
Yang Dacheng and Huang Luize returned to Jinzhou Acropolis and slept peacefully. When they woke up, the two division commanders Shi Shiran, surrounded by their personal guards, came to the new barracks and saw Yan Siqi, whose eyes were red, doing business in the camp. He was busy everywhere. Surrounding him was a large group of officers wearing red tassel helmets, all of whom belonged to the Supervisory Army's military law system. As exercise referees, they were listening to Yan Siqi's assignment of tasks.
Yang Dacheng and Huang Lue saw the horses neighing in the new barracks, the officers' orders coming one after another, and the preparations for the exercise being carried out in an orderly manner. They couldn't help but look at each other.
"Yan Zhenquan has finally become a talented person. The captain always has a good vision. This boy's achievements in the future are immeasurable," Yang Dacheng nodded meaningfully.
Huang Lue said frankly: "In terms of talent, wit and adaptability, I admit that he is indeed not as good as brother Zhenquan. Back then, he repeatedly violated military discipline and the fifth regiment was disbanded. I thought he would never be able to succeed from now on, but I didn't expect... …”
"Only the captain of the ship can defeat this person. In these troubled times, it is time for such a person to play his role." Yang Dacheng snorted coldly: "It's just his ambition..."
Huang Lue saw Yang Dacheng's face suddenly darken, and he couldn't help but asked doubtfully: "What ambition? Zhenquan is loyal to the captain, this..."
Yang Dacheng waved his hand: "Forget it, pretend I didn't say this, let's go over there," Yang Dacheng strode over. Huang Lue hesitated for a moment, shook his head, and then walked towards the camp office.
Suddenly, a burst of conch trumpet sound was heard, which was a series of melodious high-pitched sounds. According to the predetermined signal of the Chinese Army, this conch trumpet signal meant the arrival of the supreme commander.
The two stopped, looked at each other in confusion, and turned to look at the main entrance of the new barracks. They saw a group of knights from the Yin Feng personal barracks entering the playground. Yan Siqi from the camp office and a group of exercise referees were also surprised. , came out one after another, and saw Yin Feng riding a tall white horse slowly into the playground under the red flag with Yin characters. The slender guard captain Lin Tianping rode closely beside him. At the end of the team, the cavalry brigade Changlu Xiaotian also appeared, seemingly looking bad.
Behind them, large trucks wrapped in canvas were pushed in, and groups of people carrying various machines swarmed into the playground.
These people did not wear the uniforms of the Chinese Army, but were craftsmen and engineers from the weapons research department and firearms factories wearing various uniforms, including all members of the firearms research "four", as well as several Westerners, including Yin Yin. Feng's personal advisor was Portuguese missionary Lu Ruohan.
"Why is the king here? Could it be that he knows the news about the exercise and plans to come to take the exam in person?" Huang Lue said doubtfully: "But what do those weirdos from the weapons research department plan to do when they come here? And those big guys What kind of things are there in the car,"
Yang Dacheng patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Don't think blindly. The Military Supervisory Department must have informed the ship owner about our organization of the exercise. Our king is proficient in equipment and may have something new to build for him. Come on, hurry up and see the gift,"
When Yin Feng saw the three commanders Yang Huangyan came to greet him, he quickly jumped off his horse, stood at attention seriously and returned the salute, and then said with a smile: "I came here from Lushun overnight just to show you the effect of the new firearms. The mounted confrontation drill is in Held in a market place,”
"Reporting to the President, on the plain north of Jinzhou Acropolis, at the foot of Black Mountain," Yan Siqi replied.
"Okay, send some people to help carry these treasures to the training ground," Yin Feng pointed to the more than ten mysterious large vehicles that were well covered.
…
In the afternoon, a burst of dark clouds drifted in from the northeast, seemingly attracted by the noise of the training ground north of Jinzhouwei.
On the training ground, the mounted confrontation exercise is entering its final stage.
At noon, a new infantry team of more than 1,000 people marched quickly in the plains. On the way, the forward reconnaissance cavalry encountered enemy cavalry. After the cavalry outpost issued an early warning signal, the infantry regiment immediately began to deploy from four marching columns. The Chinese Army's A regiment has four battalions, and each battalion forms a combat front. The two wings of each battalion intersect with friendly forces. The regiment's artillery sentry will place all six light field guns in the direction where the enemy cavalry appears. The new recruits They basically showed the results of rigorous training. They quickly changed from marching columns to combat lines, and turned in battalion units in an orderly manner. The two wings were connected to form a hollow square formation. The bayonets were like a forest, the swords were shining, and the forward cavalry sentry charged desperately. , disrupted the enemy cavalry's surprise attack, and gained valuable time for the infantry brothers to deploy their formation.
Yin Feng was sitting on the ground on a stone on a nearby hill. Lu Xiaotian, the commander of the cavalry brigade, was explaining to Yin Feng, Yang Dacheng and others: "... whenever, on such a flat terrain, the cavalry suddenly encounters the infantry, the cavalry
Occupying the advantage of mobility and flexibility, they can attack or not attack. The initiative on the battlefield lies in the hands of the cavalry. The combat department and military school instructors have repeatedly tested and considered that in this case, the infantry should form a square formation or a rectangular formation.
Hollow formations are capable of blocking cavalry attacks. In regiment-level encounters, infantry brothers can use regiment-level rectangular square formations composed of sixteen sentries, of which ten sentries constitute the front line and
On the rear edge, there are three sentries on each side. This kind of phalanx is more convenient for impact and counterattack than the battalion deployed in a linear formation. Of course, this kind of phalanx is not as concentrated as the linear formation in terms of concentrated firepower intensity.
formation, but it is more stable and reliable. All parties can use cross fire to cover each other. The formation has greater flexibility. Occasionally, cavalry will break into the formation and be killed by the reserve team, which is more conducive to repelling the impact of the cavalry."
Yang Dacheng interrupted at this time and said: "In addition to strengthening the firepower, the infantry must rely on mobility and perseverance to fight against the cavalry. If our soldiers are like the official army and are thrown into disarray when the cavalry rushes, that will not work. We must
Soldiers are trained to rather die than retreat when faced with enemy cavalry. In addition to strengthening battle discipline, I suggest that rain guns and light field artillery should be added to the team's firepower."
Lu Xiaotian nodded to Yang Dacheng, and then said: "Cavalry equipped with sabers can start galloping at full speed from a distance of 200 steps from the enemy's front where they are waiting for me to attack. If the cavalry is equipped with spears, it is most suitable
The footwork of the cavalry is the stride, because the advantages of this weapon can only be fully exerted when the formation is kept intact. Once running too fast, the cavalry's forward line will be confused, and they will fall into a fight after engaging the enemy.
The spear will lose its use value. In the close combat of the cavalry, the spear is useless. In fact, it is obviously unwise for the cavalry to attack by running from the beginning, because before the cavalry approaches the enemy's dense group of people, it is obviously unwise.
Their own formation will be in chaos. The Jurchen Tatars' cavalry charges are sometimes not in order. They just rely on the overwhelming momentum of the cavalry group to disrupt the army's formation and then defeat the scattered army."
Yang Dacheng laughed: "How can those soldiers in the official army be considered soldiers? A real soldier must stand still even if there is no order, even if the sword is coming."
At this time, guns and artillery were firing on the training ground, and the recruit phalanx was at full fire. All the soldiers were firing bullets and artillery shells at the maximum rate of fire. The two heavy rain guns temporarily assigned to the recruit camp were also spitting out smoke bullets.
The cavalry could not break through the fire net. Occasionally, the cavalry broke through the infantry line, but the infantry line was only four thin rows with an open space in the middle. Once the cavalry rushed through, they were unable to do anything and were killed by the infantry reserve in the center of the square formation.
.
The cavalry began to circle around the square formation, trying to find a gap and break in. Originally, when the cavalry faced the entrenched infantry, they could use their mobility to attack the two wings of the infantry and make a roundabout attack at the rear of the enemy formation. The problem was the new recruits of the Chinese Army.
The battalion deployed a hollow square formation, with each side fighting the enemy. There were no two wings for detours.