Li Yan and Li Mu were in the corner of the military formation, observing the Qing army on the opposite side with binoculars. They were in the upwind position and were not affected by the smoke fired from artillery. Although it was only a gentle breeze now, the smoke near the cannon was still slowly dissipating, and it was estimated that by the time the Qing army launched another attack, it would be almost gone.

"There are a lot of cavalry." Li Mu said with some envy.

Li Yan was concerned about the artillery of the Qing army, he had already seen the artillery mount, and several cannons were being put up. And the dozen or so largest artillery mounts are still empty, and it seems that the Qing army still has larger artillery.

"Their cannons look good, too." Li Yan said.

Li Mu glanced at it casually, and said indifferently: "At most, it's about the same as our three-inch cannon." Don't we have a four-inch cannon, and if we can't do it, there will be four and a half inches, and with flowering shells, we can get rid of their gunners from 800 paces away. ”

"The firing rate of the flowering bomb is only less than 50%, and it cannot be used until the end." Li Yan said expressionlessly: "We can't wait for them to be ready, it seems that we have to attack first." ”

"Huh?" Li Mu put down the binoculars in surprise and reminded: "Fourth brother, there are so many cavalry in the Qing army, if you move, even if our soldiers move fast, they can't be as fast as the cavalry." ”

Li Yan gritted his teeth and said, "As long as the military formation is not scattered." The Qing army also had large-caliber artillery, and if it was fired, the entire army formation would be nailed. There were many Qing soldiers, and according to those Jin merchants, the Qing army was also particularly good at digging trenches. Once we're stuck in the trench, it's really over. ”

"Otherwise, let's withdraw now, while there is enough ammunition, even if the Qing army comes to chase us, we will not be afraid. When we have more troops, it's not too late to fight the Qing army again. Li Mu immediately suggested. He did not agree to a decisive battle with the Qing army from the beginning, and it was not too late to retreat.

Li Yan put down the binoculars and said helplessly: "Attacking is always cheaper than defending." If the Qing army is allowed to gain a firm foothold, Shandong will definitely not be able to hold it, and even Hebei will be in danger. In the future, we will have to be exhausted. ”

"Attack now?" Li Mu saw that Li Yan had no intention of withdrawing, so he no longer persuaded him, but tried his best to assist Li Yan. Once the commander of the army has made up his mind, then the others must go all out to implement it, this is Li Yanding's rule.

Li Yan nodded: "Well, let the troops prepare." After a quarter of an hour, listen to the drums to move forward. ”

Li Mu immediately asked the herald to give the order.

But their side is not ready, and the Qing army has moved. The Han Chinese slaves who volunteered to join the heavy cavalry charge were ready, they themselves were dressed in heavy armor, and their horses were protected by armor, and they were fastened to the saddle so that even if they died, they would not fall off their horses.

There were only three hundred of these heavy cavalry dead soldiers, but they were discharged in six rows. This was specially ordered by Dolgon when he saw that Li Yan's artillery was powerful. If it were an ordinary opponent, three or four platoons would be enough to break up the enemy's formation.

The horses themselves have armor, and they also carry soldiers in heavy armor, so naturally it will not be easy. They can only walk slowly, and after a while, they can slowly run. Fortunately, the distance between the two sides is far enough to allow the war horse to slowly add up its speed.

The heavy armored cavalry of the Qing army slowly pressed towards Li Yan's army formation in rows. Li Yan stood on the saddle and watched for a while, and ordered: "Let the artillery prepare, fire solid shells at four hundred paces, and iron shotguns at two hundred paces." ”

Fortunately, under Li Yan's order, the artillery had not yet been loaded. If it's any longer, the artillery will be loaded with shotguns. The artillery commanders and artillery commanders were very satisfied with the results just now, killing and wounding at least six or seven hundred Qing cavalry, so they did not plan to make any changes. Besides, the cavalry of the Qing army that slowly pressed over was not many in number, and it was very scattered, and the effect of using solid bullets would not be too good.

Soon, the first row of Qing heavy armored cavalry entered a distance of 400 paces, so the artillery commanders decisively gave the order to open fire.

"Boom", "boom" cannon sound again, still the same continuous. The solid bullets flew over, and most of them did not hit the cavalry of the Qing army, but fell to the ground. Since it was summer, and the surrounding area was a freshly harvested wheat field, all the land was soft, and the bounce distance was very short, and occasionally one or two horses could break their legs. As for the direct hit of the heavily armored cavalry, it is better to say that the enemy in motion himself hit the shell.

Although the heavy cavalry was fixed on the horses, it was not able to scare people when they were hit by cannonballs. The people who were struck were hunched on the horse's back in all sorts of strange positions, some of them had no arms, and they could only continue to be carried forward by the horses in a terrible shout.

Such a small casualty could not stop these slaves at all, and they did not dare to stop. They are dead soldiers, and they can only move forward and not retreat, otherwise not only will they themselves be killed, but the whole family will be put to death. So their only way to survive was to break up the enemy's military formation and let the follow-up cavalry rush over. In this way, they will not only be alive, but they will also be able to begin to enjoy a good life.

After killing and wounding more than a dozen people, the heavy cavalry entered a distance of 200 paces. The artillerymen on Li Yan's side replaced them with shotguns after firing solid bullets, and some of them changed to shotguns when the enemy cavalry was still 300 paces. The artillerymen also noticed the difference in this group of cavalry, so they used the most effective means of killing.

However, the heavy armor of the Qing army was still somewhat useful, and at a distance of one hundred and fifty paces, the projectiles of iron shotguns could not penetrate the heavy armor, and at most they would injure the horses and knights. As long as the cavalry is alive, they can control the horses and continue to charge forward. Even if the wounded horses went berserk, they tried their best to ride the horses towards the enemy's formation, rather than letting the horses run wild.

But soon, the heavy armor on their bodies could not withstand the impact of projectiles. Both horses and knights began to die in large numbers after entering one hundred and twenty steps. The horses kept falling, becoming an obstacle to the cavalry behind. However, these dead soldiers continued to attack, and did not stop at all.

At this time, they also entered the range of Li Yanhu's squat cannon. A rumbling explosion exploded around them, and although the projectiles inside didn't directly cause them much damage, the explosion caused the horses to lose control and start running in other directions. Although these horses have been trained, the sound of gongs and drums is still fundamentally different from explosions at close range, and the horses will still take refuge in a safe place.

And the dead soldiers are no longer able to control the horses. Dense projectiles flew past them, and they were concentrated by them at any moment, and the massive blood loss left them with no strength to control the horses.

There were only thirty or fifty heavy cavalry cavalry rushing out of the smoke of the explosion, and the artillerymen could knock down a few enemy cavalry with a slight adjustment of the muzzle. Coupled with the dense crossbow arrows fired by the crossbowmen, the heavy armored cavalry of the Qing army was wiped out before they could break into Li Yan's military formation.

However, Li Yan's soldiers did not relax for a moment, and a group of Qing cavalry rushed out of the smoke of the explosion. The Qing army brandished the weapons in their hands and rushed straight towards their military formation.

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