Chapter Seventy-Two: Russia's Rivalry with the Ottomans The Guards meet the musketeers

In the face of the formidable Ottoman army, the Russians resorted to the tactics of retreating step by step to buy time for the training of musketeers.

The Tsar visited the Musketeer Training Ground several times to personally watch the officers sent by the Ming Dynasty army train Russian soldiers. The musketeers who participated in the training were selected from the original musketeers. They were very good at stepping down right away.

Many of the original archers in the Russian army have been replaced by musketeers. Although the Russians' original arquebuses were very troublesome to reload with a single shot, the advantages of muskets on the battlefield were still much stronger than those of bows and arrows, so both the Ottoman legions and other armies in Europe were gradually expanding the ratio of musketeers.

With the basis of the original use of muskets, the training of this newly formed Russian musket army also progressed rapidly. After the Russian soldiers mastered the essentials of musket shooting, the officers sent by Jiang Pai focused on introducing them to the tactics of using muskets, as well as their previous experience in using muskets.

The use of muskets by more than 1,000 musketeers was also very expensive, and at first the kiln officers used live ammunition as if they were training at home, and they did not realize what a luxury it was. Later, the Russian generals who followed the training couldn't help but say to them: "Dear instructor, we can't shoot live ammunition without restrictions like this!" ”

A kiln officer said: "Only by doing more live ammunition in peacetime can we improve the hit rate of soldiers on the battlefield!" ”

"No, no, dear instructor! Unlike you, we use ammunition in this way, and our soldiers are trained, and we don't have bullets to use on the battlefield! ”

At this time, the kiln officers remembered that the ammunition used by the Russians was bought at a high price. The officers had to adjust their training plans, and they once again felt how extravagant their army was to train its soldiers. The pride in my heart is even stronger.

After intense training, the musketeers were almost finished, and the time was already the end of April.

At this time, the Russians had no way to retreat, and the powerful Ottoman Empire was slowly pressing over.

However, the Russians successfully completed the strategic operation of exchanging space for time. The musketeers were finally ready to go into battle.

Now the Ottoman Empire's Sultan, who personally commanded the army, is full of pride, because most of the Ukrainian territory has been occupied by them, and the army in front has advanced to the front of the Russian city of Kursk. The barbaric Cossacks were gone, and the Russian army was almost at the touch of a crush, not daring to engage in a serious confrontation with the imperial army.

The Sultan believes that if this continues, the fight against Moscow is just around the corner.

However, in Kursk the Russians did not retreat. Not only did they not retreat, but they also set up camp on a hill south of Kursk that stuck the main road, set up shelves, and fought desperately with the Ottoman army.

When the Ottoman army heard the news, they were overjoyed, because they no longer had to fight against an army that could not see the shadow. After their brigade crossed the Caucasus Mountains, they always wanted the Russians to fight a good battle, but they encountered one Russian position after another, and when they launched an attack, they found that the Russians had long since disappeared. As a result, their sharpness is gradually lacking, but their anger is getting bigger and bigger, and now they can finally fight against the Russians.

The main force of the Ottoman army was the army of the feudal lords, who generally consisted of light cavalry with traditional Turkic bows and arrows and heavy cavalry with chain mail and spears.

It is no accident that Ottoman Turkey emerged from among a large number of Turkic tribes, and in addition to the emergence of outstanding monarchs, another important reason is the feudal system that it practiced. The feudal system was very similar to that of Europe, in that the land was divided into small plots to the lords, who provided military services to the sultan. However, the Ottomans had a big difference from the Europeans in that in the early days, the fiefdoms were not inherited. Once the landowner dies, the land is repossessed. The sons of the landlords had to work their way through their own military service to gain new land. It is conceivable that as the population increases, both by birth and by the entry of foreign populations, it becomes necessary to conquer new lands, becoming a kind of cycle of conquest.

During the war, the main force with a large number of people was the army of the feudal lords, and this time the lords' army came with more than 300,000 people. However, the elite was still the Ottoman Guard, which now numbered more than 30,000 people. In addition to the elite Guards, the Sultan himself had a guard that he paid for with his own money, called the Sipahi Guards. Its members are veterans of many battles. The class is basically entirely chainmail heavy cavalry. The Sipahi cavalry was the most reliable and elite unit of the Sultan.

The Ottoman Empire also had an important force, the Serbian cavalry, the main body of which was the European-style feudal heavy cavalry. The Serbian cavalry was quite famous in the Balkans and was a formidable force.

In addition to this, the Ottoman army also had a number of motley infantry archers and cavalry archers who were hired (or looted with the army), although they were not the main force.

The main body of the Ottoman army was a typical mixed tactical system of light and heavy cavalry. Unlike in the past, many archers have now become musketeers. The already incomparably powerful artillery has been updated a lot. Many of the chain mail of the original hoplites were replaced with better protective plate armor. The Ottoman attack was stronger.

In fact, this was only a small part of the Ottoman army.

But Tsar Alexei brought almost all the troops that could be mobilized this time, plus the Ukrainian Cossack cavalry, his army was 300,000 people.

The Tsar knew that the military gap between them and the Ottoman Empire was that if he counted his secret musket army, it would be an egg to hit a stone if he wanted to go toe-to-toe with the Ottoman Empire. More than 1,000 advanced muskets cannot change the disadvantage on the entire battlefield. This elite force must be used intensively at a critical time in order to play its role. If you want to deal with the Ottoman army, you must also use your own local advantages, consume the Ottoman Empire, and find an opportunity to give them a fatal blow.

Both the Ukrainian Cossacks and the Russian army retreated and cleared the wilderness, leaving not a grain of grain for the Ottoman Empire.

This strategy did cause great trouble for the Ottoman army, which not only could not grab anything useful along the way, but even had to bring food from the rear. This put great pressure on the logistics and transportation of the Ottoman Empire, and many soldiers had to strictly control their food, which greatly affected morale. The Ottoman Empire wanted to fight the Russians as soon as possible. Seeing that the Russians had finally put themselves in position, they knew that the Russians had no way to retreat, and that it would be Moscow to retreat.

Hundreds of thousands of people attacked, needless to say, it was seen in advance. As agreed, the two sides were going to have a decisive battle.

Kursk is a hilly area, with both gentle areas suitable for fighting, and many hilly ravines for both sides to conceal their armies and disguise their intentions, making it an ideal battlefield.

The Ottoman Legion's offensive routine was very old-fashioned, but it was also very effective.

The first row in front of the attack were the motley mercenaries and light archers, followed by a large number of musketeers, and the light cavalry of the feudal army, and then the heavy cavalry.

The Elite Guards are absolute reserves and can only be used when it is critical. At the rear was powerful artillery.

The experienced Ottoman legions cut down a lot of trees overnight and made defensive weapons such as horse-repellent stakes.

It seems that God is afraid that the armies of the two sides will not be able to see the opponent clearly, which will affect the battle between the two sides, and the sky is exceptionally good, and there are no clouds. It may also be that both sides have self-confidence in serving the supreme Lord, and they have felt the prayers of their believers, and they have been extraordinarily gracious, and they have appeared again. In short, today is a suitable weather for a decisive battle, and the weather should not be blamed for the defeat of either side.

As soon as the morning dawned, trumpets and drums sounded in the sky from both camps.

A team of people came out.

The Russians first set up positions in front of their battalions, and at the same time set up various mechanisms.

The Ottoman army was also lined up in a neat line, marching in front of the Russians to the beat of drums, and lined up.

Hundreds of thousands of people lined up, and the sun had risen very high.

After the two sides lined up, the sound of drums and trumpets stopped at the same time.

A white war horse ran out of the Ottoman array, and a sergeant sat on it, came to the Russian front and shouted loudly in Russian: "I am ordered by the Ottoman Sultan to quickly surrender, we will give you a chance to live, otherwise our imperial army will kill you immediately, and you will die without a place to bury!" ”

This was a fixed routine before the war. One of the generals in front of the Russian front also shouted: "Okay! Let's go back and tell you Sultan that there is a price to be paid for violating our territory. If you want to live, it's too late to go back now! ”

The Ottoman cavalry, after running back to his own formation, the basic routine was over.

Soon, the drums in the Ottoman formation sounded again, and rows of cavalry, lined up in front of the Russians, pressed over step by step.

The Russians were also very nervous, and the tsar and his ministers were looking at the Ottoman attacking team and the movements of the entire camp behind them with binoculars that had just been bought with a lot of money from the Ming army.

As the Ottoman army advanced a stone's throw away, the drums suddenly became intense, and the cavalry quickly rushed forward with their horses in front of the Russians, while the archers fired their bows and arrows at the Russians like locusts. The musketeers also "bumpered" and shot the lead projectiles.

The Russians condescendingly fired bows and muskets at the Ottoman army.

The battle broke out all at once. As a result, the Ottoman army, with more than a thousand dead and wounded, retreated.

Neither side was surprised by this result. Such a decisive battle will definitely not be so simple to see victory or defeat.

But before the defeated army completely retreated into the camp, more than 100,000 Ottoman soldiers divided into several roads and several layers of ranks, stepping on the majestic drum beat, and advanced. In front of them were archers, hussars, musketeers. Behind was a phalanx of heavily armed cavalry.

For a moment the drums and trumpets sounded in unison, and just after the Ottoman army had advanced for a while, the artillery behind them began to fire. The sound of "knock knock" artillery was earth-shattering, followed by bursts of explosions from the Russian positions. For a time, the position was blown up and smoke billowed out. Many soldiers were blown up into the sky.

The Russian artillery also quickly launched a counterattack. For a while, the shells of both sides came and went, and for a time the artillery battle was not won or lost.

However, the Ottoman army took advantage of the artillery cover to rush up. As the two sides approached, bows and muskets fired at each other, killing each other. Just when the Ottoman cavalry was about to rush to the Russian position, the Russians suddenly flashed to both sides, revealing rows of rejecting horses and sharpened stakes behind them.

The Ottoman cavalry who rushed over on horseback did not know what to do for a while, because they were attacking forward, and they could not chase the Russian soldiers who were running to both sides, and they were rejecting the horse stakes forward, but they could not do it if they did not rush forward, and there were a large number of cavalry running behind them. There was no way, these brave Ottoman cavalry rushed to these horses, some people picked these horses with spears, and many people tried to beat their horses over the stakes, but many people could not jump over the horses, and many people were pierced by the stakes through the horses and their bodies.

The Russians in the distance did not miss the opportunity to shoot at the Ottoman soldiers with bows and arrows and muskets.

The Ottoman army, which would rather die than retreat, wanted to capture the Russian positions in a battle, and no matter how many people were killed or wounded in front, the troops behind continued to rush up. The Ottoman sultans in the back duly sent troops to the two flanks of the Russians to attack in a roundabout way.

Soon the Russians were flanked on both sides of the position, and they were also mixed up with the Ottoman army.

On the battlefield, artillery shells on both sides are back and forth, muskets and bows and arrows are fired back and forth. By the time the Ottoman hoplites rushed over again, the Russians' positions were somewhat unsupportable.

Some generals anxiously persuaded the tsar to send out the newly built muskets, and the tsar shook his head firmly, he knew that it was the only magic weapon for his final victory, and now taking it out would not work as it should. They did not play a big role in the chaos of the army.

The tsar also knew that it was dangerous to be attacked by the Ottomans if he did not take any more measures, so the tsar ordered the Russian hoplites not to hold out, but to attack the Ottoman hoplites.

The two sides scuffled together, and for a time the blood flowed like a river. The Ottoman Sultan, who was supervising the battle in the back, did not expect the Russians to be so able to fight, and the two sides killed for a while. The Sultan who sneered ordered: "The Praetorian Guard obeys the order!" For Allah! For the honor of the Ottoman Empire! For the honor of the Praetorian Guard! I command you to rush over and kill all enemies who dare to challenge the Ottoman Empire! ”

The Sultan thought that when the two sides were in a state of scorching scuffle, throwing an elite into the battlefield would quickly tip the scales over. This is a fatal blow that hastened the end of the battle.

How did he know that the tsar, who knew the Ottoman army very well, was waiting for the Sultan.

The more than 30,000 Praetorian Guards, who were eager to make a contribution, had long been gearing up to fight. Each of them has received more than ten years of formal training since childhood, and they are all masters of bows and arrows and hand-to-hand combat. The main thing is that they are madly religiously fervor and very eager to fight.

These more than 30,000 elites are the heart of the Sultan. Some of them were armed with scimitars, some with spears, and with great strength, they were armed with tomahawks.

They went into battle, which greatly boosted the morale of the Ottoman army, and the battlefield sounded "Long live Allah!" "Long live the Sultan!" Slogans.

When the Russian army was overwhelmed, the tsar sent this newly formed musket army.

The tsar gave them a very clear order, to rush over and leave the rest of the army alone and defeat the Ottoman guards.

The Tsar knew that if he defeated the Guards, he would greatly shake the morale of the Ottomans, and this was his only chance to win.

This army consisted of just over 3,000 men. That is, three people and one musket. One person is the main shooter, and the other two are the secondary shooters. The secondary shooter holds a shield and carries ammunition to the shooter. The main shooter was wounded and died, and the first shooter took over the musket as the shooter.

It turned out that the kiln officer told them that when the musketeers fought with their opponents, they had to cover each other in groups of three and load each other.

But the Russians saw that their 1,000 muskets, if they were to form a group of three, then it would be more than 300 groups, and large-scale combat would not play a big role. Later, they changed it to this mode of grabbing in groups of three. When the musketeer loads his ammunition, the secondary shooter provides him with cover. In this way, as long as the shooter reloads quickly, it can ensure that a thousand muskets can fire quickly. The Russians' initiative made the kiln officers very subdued.

The army sent by the Tsar turned out to be extraordinary, and after they rushed out from behind, they killed the Ottoman guards directly. The Ottoman cavalry, who blocked them halfway, where were their opponents, those cavalry armed with spears and scimitars rushed over, and the Russian musketeers did not give them a chance to approach at all. It is often a "bump" that shoots them off their horses without looking at them again. They targeted the Guards in shiny armor.

The Ottoman Guards also spotted an army rushing towards them from the chaotic battlefield like a small boat rowing across a quiet lake.

This greatly aroused their fighting spirit. These officers and men of the Guards, who thought highly of themselves, were simply thrilled to encounter such a challenge.

However, the commander of the Guards was a little disappointed when he saw that the army rushing over was only a few thousand people, because there were more than 30,000 Guards on their side. defeated this rushing army in this way, and I also felt that the victory was not convincing.

But this did not affect the commander of the Guards, who commanded five thousand officers and men of the Guards to meet the rushing army!