Chapter 38: The Northern Expedition (10)

One blow of strength, then decline, three and exhaustion. The number of such attacks had a great impact on morale, and after the Qing cavalry made two feints, there was no need for a feint for the third time. In the face of an orderly phalanx, if the cavalry does not engage in battle, then after the feint, you can slap your ass and leave. Neither the human heart nor the horse's body could move the fourth attack.

The reason why he didn't dare to do it the second time was because the queue of the Taiping army's hollow phalanx was too neat, and the pikemen on the periphery were marching in a rather dense queue with spears in their left hands. If the cavalry gets too close, the men can use their spears to build a wall that the cavalry must use a lot of life to get over. It was such a moment of hesitation that the opportunity to attack was missed.

After the Taiping army occupied the road, the Qing army had no choice but to retreat from the fields in disgrace or fight a big battle with the Taiping army.

However, the general soldier Gui Ling once again lagged behind Lei Hu, and before the Qing army could take action, Lei Hu's hollow phalanx unexpectedly spread out, forming more than ten small hollow phalanxes. Originally, in the middle of the large hollow phalanx, the muzzles of more than a dozen artillery pieces were exposed. The other brigades of the Taiping Army, which had not yet moved, also began to divide into many teams at this time and rushed towards the fields.

Gui Ling didn't understand why the infantry of the Taiping Army suddenly had courage, but he was eating under Sen Lingqin and knew the situation in the north. Because of the bad dirt roads and potholes, people prefer to go to flatter fields, and not to go to their own fields, but to go to other people's fields.

Walking through the fields inevitably trampled on the grain, so in order to prevent others from passing through their fields, farmers began to dig ditches around their fields. This kind of ditch has been accumulating continuously, and the seemingly flat field has actually become a natural trap for the cavalry. If you weren't a local, you wouldn't know how to stay dead. Gui Ling's general soldiers are obviously not locals.

The figures of the Taiping infantry who were running behind Gui Ling's general soldiers sometimes appeared on the ground, and sometimes disappeared from the ground after they jumped down some ditch that Gui Ling could not see. This proves that Gui Ling's judgment is correct. Moreover, the two unsuccessful harassments put Gui Ling in a very unfavorable position, and he had to choose whether to retreat to the south immediately, or engage the Taiping army in the east or west.

However, Lei Hu did not leave time for Gui Ling to consider, the cavalry has many advantages, but the cavalry has a great disadvantage, that is, once it is "caught" by the infantry, the rest of the battle becomes beneficial to the infantry.

Weeser's troops had staff organizations at all levels, and the first thing they did when they arrived at a new place was to draw a map. At this time, Lei Hu was far more familiar with this land than Gui Ling. Lei Hu could see clearly that the brigade behind the Taiping army was almost able to block the rear of the Qing cavalry. Lei Hu can already make a move with confidence. Chapter 38: The Northern Expedition (10)

"Shelling! Get on the grapes! Lei Hu said. Weeser equipped each division with 36 12-pounder mountain howitzers. Thunder Tiger's hollow phalanx was stuffed with six gates. The range of a 12-pounder mountain howitzer is 6oo paces, that is, about 9oo meters. At this time, the cavalry of the Qing army was only more than 4oo meters away from Lei Hu, and these six cannons began to threaten.

The name "grape bullet" comes from the appearance, the artilleryman used a net bag to bundle the loose bullets into a bunch, much like a bunch of grapes, hence the name grape bullet. Although the range is not as good as that of solid bullets, it is quite impressive in terms of lethal power.

Lei Hu's troops had already been trained, first with solid shells for school firing, and when the solid shells finally began to kill the Qing army, grape shells were stuffed into the muzzles. With a bang, the artillery fired. Then I saw that the cavalry of the Qing army, which had been in chaos, fell in a crowd.

"Keep fighting! Hit hard! Lei Hu shouted excitedly.

Lei Hu found a pattern of artillery hanging the Qing cavalry, but the Qing cavalry was unwilling to stand there and let Lei Hu's artillery hang him. By this time, they had also been freed. The cavalry did not flee to the south, but came straight to the position of the Thunder Tiger. After all, the hollow phalanx looked too weak, and there was no shortage of passages in each phalanx. It was not at all clear that the Qing cavalry equipped by Wei Ze's troops thought they could break through these thin and strange arrays.

And Lei Hu did not disappoint this group of Qing cavalry, he ordered the troops to move left and right, leaving a passage of more than twenty meters in the middle. The cavalry of the Qing army was divided into two teams, and the first group of more than 100 cavalry urged the horses, like a galloping wind, like lightning, and began to kill from this passage.

Then one of the functions of the hollow phalanx is revealed, and in this phalanx there is a function of alternating muskets. It was the soldiers in the center of the formation who loaded their ammunition, and the fighters on the outer edge were responsible for shooting. After using a cap gun, the rifle is already reloaded, and at this time there is no need to shoot, just reload, and this degree is faster.

Moreover, the cavalry were taller than the infantry on horseback, and the troops adopted a half-kneeling position when shooting to avoid accidentally hitting their comrades. The more than 100 cavalry of the Qing army were also considered to be strong in martial arts, and they knew that they were likely to be shot with muskets, so they all lay on their horses. No one straightened their backs.

However, this effort was limited after all, and some Qing troops were hit on the left side and fell to the right side of the horse. The Qing army, which was hit on the right, fell to the left. There were also some unlucky ghosts, who were concentrated on the left and right at the same time, and they straightened up as if they were electrocuted, and fell from behind the horses. Of course, the muskets of the Taiping army were not so high, but they made up for it with the density of fire brought by anti-aircraft fire. In addition, the distance of ten meters also greatly improves the accuracy of shooting.

In less than five minutes, more than 100 Qing cavalry were killed. The Taiping army grabbed more than 40 horses with lassoes, and the rest of the horses were unfortunately killed and wounded.

Lei Hu originally wanted to make a fortune by catching horses, but looking at the dead or dying horses all over the ground, he could only sigh and comfort himself in his heart, "I can eat Chapter 38 Northern Expedition at night (10)

Meat! ”

Seeing this situation, the cavalry units of the Qing army no longer dared to resist, and they turned south and rushed towards Linqing City. Escaping from this line, there was no problem except that they would be subjected to non-stop artillery fire.

The artillery of the Taiping Army did not know the officers of the Qing army, and the shells did not know the rank of the Qing army, and the chief soldier Gui Ling was killed by a cannon when he broke through. Less than three hundred of a thousand cavalry were able to retreat into Linqing City.

Moreover, in addition to receiving this bad news, Emperor Xianfeng also received the news that Chong'en, the political envoy of Shandong, fought with the Shuyue bandits, Chong'en's entire army was destroyed, and his head was cut off.

And it's not the worst news on the same day. The victory of the minister, who had already been awarded the title of minister, was that after a day of fierce fighting with the Taipings, the whole army collapsed, and less than a thousand of the 7ooo troops escaped with their lives. And Katsubo's whereabouts are unknown.

Subsequently, in addition to Linqing, he continued to come to ask for help. Zhang Liangji, the governor of Shandong, also came from near Linqing to ask for help from Gongwei, who was besieged by the Cantonese bandits because he led troops to rescue Linqing.

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