In fact, after the Third Army and the baggage troops completed the convergence of the main forces led by Xiao Xuan, the artillery in the team, which was dominated by the general's artillery, was already close to the original level. The field forces of about 16 divisions of the five corps have 800 general guns and 1,700 reinforced versions of the second general's guns with 150 to 200 jin barrels attached to the grassroots level. Only the exclusive artillery and even the part-time artillery demolition unit is close to a quarter of the main force of about 80,000 troops. In the war to defeat the main force of Jianzhou and even the three major khanates of Central Asia, a lot of decent horse resources and even vehicle resources were captured, which also gave these artillery more logistical support to accompany the advance of the troops. Compared with the artillery system of the Ming army during the Battle of Songjin in history, the artillery system of the Ming army at this time has also been significantly upgraded in terms of specifications.

Although the Russian army, which had the initiative in the war, only concentrated its attack on one or two armies of the Volunteer Army and the Revolutionary Army group with about 40,000 or 50,000 troops during the offensive, it also encountered fierce fire from nearly 300 general guns and more than 400 second general guns, and in just one minute, hundreds of thousands of standard shotguns bombarded the opponent under the fierce fire. The Russian offensive was just launched like a tide, and it was hit hard in the face of unimaginable firepower. Subsequently, the artillery began to concentrate on suppressing the Russian gunners from a mile away, and almost in a short period of time, the Russian gunners were crushed with heavy artillery fire.

Xiao Xuan, who was in the distance, secretly observed all this with a specially made periscope-type telescope, but he actually couldn't believe it. Although the strength of the new army and the main force of the revolutionary army this time can be said to be unprecedentedly strong, it is still far from the standard that Xiao Xuan has in his impression that it can easily sweep across the European continent.

And even when fighting with the elite main forces of the Ming army before, it was not so easy, is it really that the level of the Russians is too poor to be compared with the Western European armies of this era, or rather: the Russian army did not send a real main force to fight against itself?

However, one of Xiao Xuan's personal soldiers because he took more time out to study military affairs on weekdays, so he said disapprovingly: "Actually, it's not surprising. In the East, neither artillery nor gunpowder was as sophisticated as Westerners, including marksmanship. But it is precisely because of the past 100 years that the West has had relatively good artillery skills and even firearms, and the offensive power has overwhelmed the defensive power. The European plate armor and even the Hussite chariots that the king once mentioned were not popular in this era. Compared with the main forces of Jianzhou in the Hexi Corridor that had fought with our army, these seemingly powerful European armies are actually more unsuitable for comparison with the eastern armies. If even if the artillery skills of the Ming army can be a little more reliable, I am afraid that the elite of the Ming army in Liaodong back then relied on the absolute superiority in artillery fire and protective preparation, and it may not be at a great disadvantage... ”

When the enemy's army was meeting and gradually retreating, relying on excellent marksmanship and heavy firepower, the fierce heavy shotgun fire of hundreds of guns did not completely cease. After more than a dozen rounds of continuous artillery firing continued to fire hundreds of thousands of heavy shotguns, and once again brought thousands of casualties to the attacking Russian army, the Russian army, which was not small, retreated beyond the effective range of artillery in the rout.

At this time, the commander of the Russian army, who fled from the front line in a hurry, had nothing to say, and even when the team regrouped in the distance, many grassroots officers and generals were silent. I don't know how to continue the battle in the face of an opponent with such fierce firepower.

"Let the army withdraw, such an opponent is definitely not something we can deal with! Only by finding an effective way to unify those fierce firepower may have a chance to reverse the blind battle... ”

"Yes, this time we have to be glad that the other party's commander is a person who seems to be conservative, otherwise the consequences of this battle will be really unimaginable."

The Russian army discarded a lot of baggage and artillery when it first retreated, which also made Xiao Xuan, who finally controlled the battlefield, gain a lot, but for the sake of caution, such as the other party's very likely epidemic warfare and other means, those horses that remained seemed to be barely usable were not replenished to the team in the first time, but collected as much as possible.

The Russian army, which also used cavalry as its main mode of marching, quickly withdrew from the hasty horizon. However, at this time, Xiao Xuan began to order, and the person in charge of lighting the fire began to set up a tent-like thing. As the heat continued to heat up under the "tent", the whole tent seemed to gradually start to rise into the sky. It was the first reconnaissance hot air balloon in an expedition to be used on a large scale on the battlefield. In order to minimize costs and logistical pressures, the payload of these hot air balloons is often no more than about twenty or thirty kilograms depending on the situation, and they rely on ropes on the ground to avoid accidents. The persons responsible for the detection continue to be specially selected and specially trained young children. Several years have passed, and those seven or eight-year-old children who have been trained since the beginning of their memories are also very brave and skillful in observing with binoculars in the air at a height of about 100 zhang, and at the same time marking the situation they see with special marks on the prepared reconnaissance board as quickly as possible, and passing it down in bamboo tubes, so that the adults in charge of assisting below can know the general enemy situation at the first time.

It was only after about two hours that the children in charge of the reconnaissance discovered an important situation: the retreating enemy troops did not flee completely, but seemed to have set up camp at a distance of fifty miles, and according to experience, only a small number of men and horses had retreated, and most of them seemed to intend to at least keep a surveillance of our troops at least a certain distance.

Knowing such a situation, not only Xiao Xuan, but also the commanders of the armies and even the division commanders became excited. Because it means that huge warplanes are coming. In the absence of any experience of fighting with their own troops, it would be great if they could deliver a decisive blow to the opponent in a night assault. In this way, the volunteer troops, who sensed the arrival of the fighters, also began to move quickly and prepare, ready to plunge into an unprecedented surprise and offensive. Because a lot of gunpowder of good quality left by Russian artillery was captured in previous battles, this time the Volunteer Left Army and the Volunteer Right Army had nothing to temporary. The team of about 20,000 people of the four volunteer divisions carried at least 200,000 catties of black powder and even more than 600,000 catties of lead bullets when they set out.

(End of chapter)