The long-range hit rate of smoothbore muskets has always been a matter of character.

To put it bluntly, it's purely blind!

In order to make up for the hit rate of muskets exceeding 50 meters, the Datang Army tried many more methods, but these methods were basically unreliable, and finally used the most old-fashioned way, that is, to use the density of fire to make up for the low hit rate.

This is also the Tang Army's abandonment of the previous six-column horizontal formation, but the use of three-column horizontal formation, and at the same time the formation is very tight, almost crowded, all of which is to project more bullets per unit area.

One bullet can't hit the enemy, but 100 bullets and 1,000 bullets form a coverage area, which can effectively improve the hit rate.

But even so, the hit rate at a distance of 100 meters is very scummy, which also leads to the fact that the Datang Army does not like to shoot at long distances, but prefers to shoot a salvo at close range and then charge directly with a bayonet!

This tactic of approaching the salvo and charging with bayonets is sometimes very useful, and sometimes it will be beaten to death, but the Datang Army still adheres to this seemingly rigid tactic and does not change.

Reason?

Because the Tang Army has been playing with muskets for so many years, there has never been a precedent that the enemy can be defeated by shooting with muskets at a distance of 100 meters.

Therefore, the Datang Army has always insisted on firing at medium and close ranges, especially after closing to a distance of 50 meters, and the hit rate is quite impressive.

Some of the tactics of the infantry are also common to the 3rd Musketeers, and the cavalry of the 3rd Musketeers Regiment will shoot directly on horseback after approaching 50 meters on horseback.

If the enemy doesn't get closer, they can even dismount and continue firing, killing and wounding the enemy with a sustained mid-range fire.

If the enemy wants to get closer, just ride away and open the distance!

This tactic is quite shameless in some specific situations against simple cold-armed infantry, even against the enemy's cold-armed cavalry.

Because at this distance, the lethality of the enemy's bow and arrow is very limited, if the enemy's bow and arrow are more powerful, then the distance should be extended to 80 meters or even 100 meters, in short, to avoid the enemy's bow and arrow strike.

In this case, even if the enemy is a cavalry with relatively high mobility, at most the two sides chase and flee, and then on horseback I shoot you and you release the arrow, but the range and power of the horse bow are far from being comparable to the musket, as for the hit rate, both sides have to rely on their personal skills, in order to get a high hit rate, the requirements for riding and marksmanship are quite high.

Assuming that the cavalry of both sides is of the same level of riding skills and firing arrows, then the traditional cavalry archers will be played to death by these musketeers.

It's just that if you want to load, aim and shoot on horseback, the requirements for cavalry are not ordinarily high, even higher than cavalry shooting, so now in the entire Tang Army, there are only more than 900 cavalry who can do it.

Interestingly, most of the more than 900 Tang musketeers are descendants of the Tatars who went south to live in the Great Wall in the early years, but they have all migrated to the Great Wall for decades or even hundreds of years.

There is no way, if you want to be good enough to ride and play with muskets on horseback, only these herdsmen who have lived on horseback since childhood can do it more easily.

When the Tang Army recruited cavalry, it also gave priority to recruiting some herdsmen in the northern region, but the herdsmen under the rule of the Tang Dynasty were originally small and not numerous, and the elite among them were concentrated in the Third Musketeer Cavalry Regiment.

The 3rd Musketeer Regiment and the 6th Cuirassier Regiment are the real elite cavalry in the cavalry corps under Kang Changning, but the 1st Cavalry Division and the 5th Cavalry Division, although they have the name of cavalry division, they are just ordinary light cavalry.

Most of the cavalry elites in the Tang Army are concentrated in various independent cavalry regiments, the First Lancer Regiment, the Third Musket Cavalry Regiment, and the Sixth Cuirassiers Regiment are all the elites of the tens of thousands of cavalry in the Tang Army.

Kang Changning personally led these two cavalry regiments to sit in the Chinese army, which shows the importance of these two independent cavalry regiments.

The forward cavalry of the Tatars roared in, but they did not launch a charge at the first time, because in front of them, Kang Changning's cavalry corps had already been initially assembled, and the first cavalry division at the front had already completed the formation, and if the forward cavalry of the thousands of Tatars dared to rush up, it was estimated that the end would be very bad.

Coupled with the fact that these Tatars were on long journeys, most of the mounts under their crotches were already exhausted, and they had to change to another horse for war if they wanted to charge.

So they didn't rush up directly, but approached a kilometer away, just dismounted and replaced with another horse, but instead of riding on the horse, they led the horses in formation, some Tatar knights, and took out the beans and water they carried with them to feed the horses.

These Tatars, who have played cavalry all their lives, know better than the Tang Army that they need to preserve the physical fitness of their horses before the war.

The two sides are thousands of kilometers apart, and the distance seems to be not short, but the cavalry on both sides are on high alert, because this distance will not take much time for the cavalry charge!

Kang Changning held a telescope and looked at the Tatar cavalry in front of him, and found that the cavalry behind them had not kept up in time, and he also judged that these Tatar cavalry would definitely need a certain amount of time to rest after a long-distance attack, even if it was just to reorganize the formation and replace with new horses, it would take time.

It's only a few minutes at most, but it's an opportunity for you.

If you wait until all the Tatars have arrived and recuperate, then there will be no such opportunity.

After preliminarily judging the situation, Kang Changning, who had been playing cavalry for more than ten years, immediately ordered: "Order the First Cavalry Division and the Fifth Cavalry Division to attack immediately, kill the arrogance of the enemy cavalry, pay attention, leave with one blow, don't get caught in a fight!" ”

Kang Changning planned to defeat the enemy's forward cavalry before the enemy's main cavalry arrived and the rest was completed, even if it could not cause many casualties to their cavalry, he would force them back, thus causing their confusion and making it impossible for them to complete the rest smoothly.

As Kang Changning's words fell, the two flag speakers behind him immediately waved the flags in their hands and passed orders to the 1st Cavalry Division and the 5th Cavalry Division in front of him through the flags.

At the same time, the two heralds beside him also immediately urged the fast horses under their crotches, and then galloped away thinking about the 1st Cavalry Division and the 5th Cavalry Division.

The horses under the crotches of these heralds are higher than most cavalry mounts, and the shoulder height of all Central Asian horses generally reaches 1.48 meters, which is the top in Central Asian horses.

It is basically the same level as Kang Changning's mount.

There is no way, in order to pass on orders, the heralds in the Datang Army are equipped with the best horses, basically all Central Asian horses, and the heralds in the cavalry troops are the top Central Asian horses.

The top Central Asian horses are currently only attached to heavy cavalry, senior generals and heralds in the Tang Army.

As a rule, therefore, in most troops, the heralds rode better horses than the cavalry troops, with the exception of the 1st Lancer Regiment, whose main mounts were all the best Central Asian or Arabian horses.

The heralds rode the tall Central Asian horses all the way, and at the same time, the 1st and 5th Cavalry Divisions also began to prepare for action.

In order to avoid errors in the transmission of orders, each order must have two flag speakers to issue the flag, and the flag can only be executed.

At the same time, on the battlefield, the herald will also ride a fast horse to deliver the order, which is an added insurance, if the flag is transmitted wrongly, the herald's personal transmission can avoid mistakes in time to avoid greater losses.

Of course, the battlefield is so fast that it is sometimes impossible to wait for the heralds to arrive, so most of the time, combat operations are transmitted directly through flag commands, and the troops receive flag orders.

The herald's personal delivery is just an extra layer of insurance.

Therefore, after the 1st Cavalry Division and the 5th Cavalry Division received the flag order, they already began to act!

The knights of the 1st Cavalry Division began to divide into several waves under the orders of the officers, basically forming a number of large cavalry phalanxes in the unit of the standard cavalry regiment.

At the front of one of the cavalry phalanxes, after a colonel at the head got the order, he just turned over and got on his horse, and then said loudly: "Get on the horse!" ”

Suddenly, the cavalry behind him mounted their horses and straddled the saddle neatly!

"Slow down!"

As his orders continued, the adjutant behind him repeated his order loudly: "Slow forward!" ”

When the words fell, the herald wearing a military uniform behind him who was not quite the same as the ordinary cavalry blew the horn in his hand, the horn was relatively gentle, which was an order to represent a slow march, and the officers of the infantry units in the rear also shouted the slogan of slow march!

Suddenly, these more than 800 cavalry began to advance slowly, and these 800 cavalry were also divided into four waves before and after, and each wave was a cavalry team, and the strength of each team, officers and ordinary cavalry, and even auxiliary cavalry, heralds, etc., were added together, about two hundred cavalry.

The distance between the front and rear of each cavalry team is about 20 meters, and in this interval, the commander of the latter wave of cavalry is at the forefront, and next to the commander is the heralds who connect the front and rear waves, and these heralds often wear special military uniforms, hold horns, and are ready to blow the horns at any time according to the orders from the front.

The pace of the cavalry was determined by the rhythm and frequency of the horns.

When the continuous rapid trumpet sounds, it is time to charge!