The Mongol cavalry of the second sortie was about 4,000 horsemen.

It was not that Dorgon was unwilling to send more Mongol cavalry to participate in the attack, but that the dispatch of 4,000 cavalry at a time was already the limit, not that the Mongol cavalry was too few, but that the target of the attack was too small.

The formation set up by the Ming army is a typical phalanx, and the width of this phalanx is easy to calculate.

In addition to the rear formation, the Ming army placed a spear battalion on the front and left and right wings, and each spear battalion had a thousand spear and shield soldiers, and the width of each lunt was one and a half meters, so the width of the phalanx was almost 1,500 meters.

The width of the Ming army's phalanx is only 1,500 meters, which is only enough for about 1,000 cavalry to charge from the front, even if the Mongolian cavalry is lined up in a "human" charge formation with a width exceeding the Ming army's formation, directly facing the front of the Ming army, at most about 2,000 cavalry will be squeezed out.

In addition, the Mongolian cavalry was different from the Eight Banners Iron Cavalry, and the Mongolian light cavalry needed a lot of room for detours, so it was impossible to attack from the front and both flanks at the same time.

The cavalry of the Mongolian cavalry is also different from the projectile of the Jiannu archers, the front row of cavalry to the rear row of cavalry is very large, so at most it can only be lined up in two rows of attack formation in front and back to attack, and send more cavalry to follow behind to eat ashes, not only can not cause effective damage to the Ming army, but can only consume the physical strength of the war horse in vain.

Therefore, it is already the limit to invest 4,000 Mongol cavalry to attack each time, unless Dolgon uses the Mongol cavalry as infantry archers and lets them dismount to attack, so that even if all the 100,000 Mongol cavalry are sent to the battlefield, but the Mongol cavalry that dismounts is still a Mongol cavalry?

Moreover, the Mongolian cavalry is not the Eight Banners of the Han Army, let alone the former Ming Army, Dolgon's use of the Mongolian cavalry must be cautious, if the Mongolian cavalry suffers heavy losses because of improper tactics, then the huge Mongolian steppe and millions of Mongolian herdsmen are likely to betray Jiannu overnight.

In that case, the end of the slave will come.

In the deafening sound of horses' hooves, 4,000 Mongolian cavalry galloped forward, and the Mongolian herdsmen raised their heads and let out a strange cry of "whoop......

The fearless Mongolian herdsmen stared at the blood-red eyes, the icy wilderness retreated like a tide at the feet of the Mongolian cavalry, and the black and oppressive Ming army was getting closer and closer.

Four hundred meters!

Three hundred meters!

Two hundred meters!

"Fire!"

"Boom, boom, boom......"

There was a thunderous shout in the Ming army's formation, and the fifteen hundred musketeers who had been waiting for a long time indifferently pulled the trigger, and with the bright light of the flint, the row of black muzzles at the same time spit out clusters of dazzling red light, followed by a deafening sound of gunfire.

"Whew!"

"Uhh

"Immortality, I don't want to die......"

The Mongolian cavalry was suddenly overturned on their backs, accompanied by tragic howls, angry scoldings, and shouts, more than 200 front-row cavalry fell off their horses, and the second-row cavalry who followed up was caught off guard, and before they could make evasive equestrian movements, the iron hooves of the mounts under the crotch had already stepped on the body of their companions.

"Boom, boom, boom......"

Violent gunfire rang out one after another, the Mongolian cavalry fell under the horses in rows, the attack of 4,000 cavalry was no different from that of 2,000 cavalry, although the attacking strength increased, but the firepower of the Ming army's musket battalion seemed to have become more dense, and the Mongolian cavalry finally rushed through the death journey of 200 meters, but there were only a pitiful more than 800 horsemen left.

Similarly, the forced helpless projectile of more than 800 remnants did not cause much damage to the Ming army.

When the more than 800 remnants of the cavalry circled around the left and right flanks of the Ming army's formation and returned to the Jiannu formation, Dolgon's sturdy body trembled slightly, which was the result of trying to suppress the anger in his heart.

Dolgon was almost burned by the rage, and successively invested 6,000 Mongolian cavalry to attack, and in the end only more than 900 cavalry came back alive, and was so completely defeated, when did the Ming army even become so powerful in field battles? The sharp Mongolian cavalry actually hit their heads in front of these damn Nanming barbarians?

Fan Wencheng, a hardcore man, had already seen the doorway, and stepped forward to persuade: "Master, you can't attack like this." ”

Dorgon took a deep breath, trying to calm the anger in his chest.

Fan Wencheng continued: "The range of the Ming army's muskets is obviously longer than that of the Mongolian cavalry's cavalry cavalry and bows, and it is also more powerful, plus the Ming army has a strong shield as a barrier in front of the Ming army, so it is difficult for the Mongolian light cavalry to pose a threat to the Ming army, and sending more Mongolian cavalry up is just to send them to death." ”

Dolgon said in a deep voice, "Then what do you say you should do?" ”

Fan Wencheng said: "The Ming army has no cavalry and lacks battlefield assault force, so our army might as well send the shield soldiers as a barrier to protect the archers into range, and then use the bow and arrow to deal with the Ming army hiding behind the shield, the Ming army's shield can only protect the front, but it is impossible to cover the entire sky!" ”

"Okay." Dolgon sneered, "That's it, Bolo! ”

Bolo hurriedly stepped forward and responded, "The slave is here." ”

Dolgon said: "Let your 10,000 former Ming troops carry a shield as a barrier, press all the 10,000 archers with the blue flag and the red flag, and then transfer 20,000 Mongolian cavalry, let them dismount as infantry archers, and divide the 30,000 bows and arrows into three strands, attack from the front and both wings respectively, and shoot these damned Nanming barbarians!" ”

"Wow!"

Bolo suddenly agreed and took the order.

In less than a cup of tea, 10,000 Jiannu archers and 20,000 dismounted Mongolian cavalry had been assembled, and at the same time, the 10,000 former Ming troops under Bolo were also lined up one by one with huge shields, and 40,000 people were divided into three long formations, which were pressed from the front and left and right wings of the Ming army.

On the high platform of the Central Army camp, Wang Puzheng was holding a monocular to look at the battlefield, seeing Jiannu's actions, Wang Pu's mouth couldn't help but float a hideous smile, if Dolgon and Fan Wencheng could see the cruel smile on the corner of Wang Pu's mouth, they would definitely regret the decision they had just made!

Wang Pu gave an order, and Lu Liu, who was behind him, quietly raised a signal flag.

Among the hundreds of baggage vehicles behind the Ming army in charge of the palace, forty oilcloth-covered carts were immediately divided, and under the push and pull of the baggage battalion soldiers, they quietly entered the forefront of the formation, and the tarpaulin covering the carts had been lifted, revealing a hideous true face, which was forty Franc cannons!

The towering wall of the shield blocked the view of the Jiannu, and the archers who were slowly marching behind the wall did not know that death was already beckoning to them.

Even if the cavalry bow of the Mongolian cavalry is projectile, the range is only about 100 meters, the range of the Jiannu archers is about 150 meters, and the range of the Ming army's muskets is 300 meters, but the most lame Franc cannon can also bombard a solid iron bullet or a large number of loose guns to 500 meters away!

The two armies are still more than 700 meters apart, Jiannu's march seems unhurried, the archers are not infantry, their combat methods are not meat, so they do not need to charge, they have to retain their physical strength, pulling the bow and releasing arrows is individual work, it is impossible to pull the longbow without sufficient physical strength.

When entering the four hundred meters, Jiannu still looked very calm, the Ming army's Hongyi cannon on the high platform in the distance had been dumbed, it seemed that the Ming army's Hongyi cannon had reached the limit, if it continued to shoot, it was likely to explode.

There were only two hundred meters left, and the Qianming army with the shield finally began to get nervous, carefully close to their companions, and built a solid shield wall with a solid shield wall, which was three inches thick, and the surface was covered with three layers of tough cowhide, which in their opinion should be enough to block the lead bullets of the Ming army's muskets.

The Mongolian archers and Jiannu archers who followed up removed the longbows on their shoulders one after another, and the other hand had already drawn a feather arrow from the quiver behind the shoulder and buckled it on the string, as long as they went forward for another two hundred meters, it was time for them to be reckless, and when the time came, they must completely bury these damn Nanming barbarians with rainstorm-like arrows!

Unfortunately, they never had that chance!

In front of the Ming army, the solid shield wall made of turrets and shields suddenly cracked dozens of gaps from the front, and in the cracks, dozens of artillery carriages exposed their grandeur.

A former Ming soldier was bending over, carrying the shield and slowly marching forward, suddenly felt the ground under his feet tremble, and then only heard a "boom", the incomparably strong shield in front of him had been shattered into pieces, and before he could understand what was going on, a scorching solid iron bullet had hit his chest, piercing their bodies in an instant.

"Boom, boom, boom......"

Violent explosions sounded continuously, and Jiannu, who was attacking from the front, was in chaos in an instant.

Dolgon, who was immediately standing in the distance to watch the battle, hurriedly raised the monocular, and through the lookout hole of the telescope, Dolgon was horrified to see that the front and rear shield walls made of turrets and shields in front of the Jiannu array had collapsed into forty or fifty huge gaps, and the Jiannu near the gap had become a swarm of bees.

"Damn, what's going on here?" Dorgon gasped and hissed, "Where did these damn cannons come from?" ”

"Boom, boom, boom......"

Dolgon's voice fell, dozens of dazzling green smoke bloomed again in front of the Ming army's formation, and the Jiannu formation on the front was blown out of forty or fifty gaps, and a large number of Jiannu near the gap fell horizontally and vertically, and the Jiannu shield wall that had collapsed seventy or eighty gaps had completely lost its barrier effect.

The dense row of guns roared, and the Jiannu who had lost the protection of the shield wall fell down in rows, and the first two rows of the former Ming army soon fell in a pool of blood, and the clever ones fell to the ground even if they were not shot, and lost the shield wall and the former Ming army as a meat shield, and the Mongolian cavalry that followed up immediately suffered from the old man.

"Quick!" Dorgon shouted, "Retreat, retreat!" ”

Rao is Dolgon's timely order, this sortie is also a heavy loss, as a frontal cannon fodder of the three thousand former Ming surrender army did not go back, fortunately did not die also lay in the pile of dead people pretending to be dead, the follow-up of the 8,000 Mongolian archers killed at least 2,000 people, and more than 3,000 people were injured.

After all, people are not as fast as horses, and the Mongolian cavalry who dismounted from the horse ran even slower with a pair of lap legs.

"Withdraw." Dolgon's eyes showed a chill that made his heart palpitate, and he shouted, "The whole army retreats!" ”

Although the most elite Eight Banners Iron Cavalry has not yet fought, although Dolgon still firmly believes that the Ming Army's "Turtle Shell Formation" and musketeers will not be able to stop the frontal assault of the Eight Banners Iron Cavalry, Dolgon knows that today's battle cannot be continued!

The Ming army in front of him is more than 20,000 people at most, it is definitely not the army of a country in the Southern Ming Dynasty, it is impossible for Dolgon to dispatch the most elite Eight Banners Iron Cavalry to fight with such a small elite Ming army, the Ming Dynasty is too big, and the most elite Eight Banners Iron Cavalry has been exhausted, what else does the Qing Dynasty rely on to compete in the world?

To deal with this elite of the Ming army, you can only find another way.

Looking at Jiannu who was retreating like a tide, Wang Pu struggled a lot to resist the temptation of pursuit.

Although the firearms of the Central Army are sharp, they also have fatal weaknesses, the Hongyi cannon and the Franc cannon are too cumbersome, the movement is slow, and it is impossible to participate in the pursuit, although the salvo of the musket battalion is huge, but once it loses its dense formation, it becomes a separate battle but it is not vulnerable at all!

Obviously, if Wang Pu sent a musket battalion to chase and kill Jiannu, he would probably win and lose in the end! As for the spear battalion, it is simply an auxiliary army, and sending pikemen to hunt down and kill Jiannu is not to deliver food to Jiannu? As long as 2,000 Mongol cavalry returned with their heads, they could shoot the scattered pikemen one by one.

Keep the pikemen in formation? Just kidding, how do you still pursue while maintaining formation?

At this moment, Wang Pu especially hopes that he has an elite cavalry under his command, not too many, as long as there are 20,000 elite cavalry who can fight well, Jiannu will be finished, Wang Pu can make Jiannu's retreat turn into defeat, can make defeat into rout, and finally let the rout evolve into the annihilation of the whole army!

"It's a pity."

Wang Pu smashed his mouth, and ordered unwillingly, "Order, the whole army will return to the camp and continue to hold on." ”

Liaocheng, Dolgon, who had just returned to the residence, didn't have time to unarm, so he shouted to Duoduo, who was also pale-faced, "Old fifteen, immediately pass the order, it is strictly forbidden to fight without this king's decree!" ”

"Wow."

Dodor agreed and took the order.

In this battle, Jiannu suffered heavy losses, and the 5,000 Jiannu archers with the blue flag fell into the river, almost all of them were killed or frozen to death, and only 100 people escaped death, because the banner lord Zilharang lost the political battle with Dorgon, and the blue flag had already been weakened, and the loss of 5,000 bannermen this time could be a catastrophe.

In addition, almost eight thousand Mongol cavalry were lost.

The Eight Banners of the Han Army and the Eight Banners of the North Korean Army were almost wiped out, and the 60,000 former Ming troops also suffered heavy losses, the most important thing is that these former Ming troops have completely lost the interest in working for Jiannu, stretching out their heads is death, shrinking their heads is also death, who are the left and right, these former Ming troops chose to mutiny collectively.

Dolgon was furious when he heard the news, and immediately dispatched tens of thousands of Mongol cavalry, almost killing all the mutinous and fleeing troops.

At this point, the strength of Jiannu was greatly damaged, and there were less than 50,000 Jiannu Eight Banners and more than 90,000 Mongolian Eight Banners left under Dolgon, Jiannu had lost the courage to take the initiative to attack, due to the weak troops, Wang Pu did not take the initiative to attack Jiannu, and the battle of Liaocheng fell into a dull stalemate.

……

(To be continued)