Chapter 507: General Battle (2)

In the early morning of July 6, before our army could be dispatched, a number of scouts returned to the camp one after another and reported: "The Mongols have sent tens of thousands of troops to our camp. "As for how many tens of thousands of horses there were, none of the scouts could tell. After the verification of the scouts, only one conclusion can be drawn, which is much more than the number of people in the last Mongol attack on the camp of Guanzitan.

"It seems that Kublai Khan is going to make a desperate bet." I ordered, "All armies go into their designated positions and prepare for battle. ”

About two quarters of an hour later, a large number of Yuan troops arrived outside the Guanzi Beach. At this time, the sky had just dawned, and I was still standing on the original hidden arrow tower, looking out, only to see that more than 300 meters away, Kublai Khan, surrounded by Yin Tianya, Ah Shu and others, immediately raised his whip and personally commanded the battle.

"This distance is not too far, if only there was a sniper rifle of later generations, Kublai Khan could be easily killed with just one shot." I thought to myself, but I could only think about it.

The offensive tactics of the Yuan army were not much different from the last time, the first to act were the archers, nearly 10,000 cavalry archers lined up in a loose formation, and shot feathered arrows at the Song army camp more than 100 meters away.

"Bows and arrows again." I snorted, "Herald Crete, artillery, shooting, target, straight ahead." ”

Crete, about 30 meters behind me, stood on a high platform, which was not large, but it was the commanding height of the entire camp at Bush Beach. Seeing Gongsun Xiaochen beside me waving a blue flag, Crete immediately ordered: "All artillery positions, reserves, targets, one hundred and seventy meters to two hundred and fifty meters in front, the first team, the barrel angle is fifty-two degrees, the second team, fifty-nine degrees, and the third team, sixty-eight degrees." ”

The gunners below could not see the situation outside, and acted exactly as Cretan instructed, and the main gunners of each gun position gave orders to adjust the firing position of the guns.

"Fill the shells."

"Ignition."

"First team, put."

After ten breaths, Crete continued to order: "Second team, put." ”

After another ten breaths, Crete said again: "Third team, put." ”

The cannonball exploded in the Yuan army's cavalry archer group, although the crosshairs' deviation was very large, and the number of people killed and injured was not much, but it also caused panic among the cavalry archers, especially the smoke after the explosion, which made the cavalry archers lose the direction of shooting.

The Mongol archers stopped slightly, and the infantry attacked. At the forefront were still the Mongol gods, some of these strong men held a shield in one hand and a war knife in the other, and some held a shield in both hands, protecting the front and the top respectively, and rushed straight towards the camp. Each Divine Sergeant was followed by two or three ordinary sword and shield soldiers, and the shields of these sword and shield soldiers were much smaller.

Xie Daolin and Zhao Huai half-squatted in the middle of the guardrail, and when they saw the enemy rushing towards them, the two nodded to each other, and Xie Daolin ordered: "All the troops listen to the order and light the fire rope." ”

Ninety meters, eighty meters.

"Put." Xie Dao gathered the dantian and shouted loudly.

With the order of Xie Daolin, the deputy commander of the Royal Forest Army, the musketeers on the upper, middle, and lower floors pulled the trigger together. The musketeers at the bottom of the floor still use the traditional three-stage shooting, with a continuous sound of gunfire, while the soldiers of the Royal Guards lying on the upper and middle floors use the free-fire method.

Nearly 10,000 muskets were fired frequently, and the sound was deafening, but the Yuan soldiers seemed to have adapted to the sound of gunfire, far from the panic they had during the first attack.

When approaching the guardrail of the main camp, the Shenli army that rushed to the front gathered in twos and threes, with a soldier holding a double shield as the core, forming a small defensive body, which was somewhat similar to the tanks of later generations, advancing step by step.

All of a sudden, the lowest musketeers found themselves unable to find a target for attack, and the musket's ammunition could not penetrate such a large shield, so they could only wait for an opportunity to shoot at the enemy's feet, but the feet of the Yuan soldiers kept moving, and the Shenli soldiers pulled down their shields from time to time, so that the gap appeared as if there was no time.

Fortunately, the mid- and upper-level soldiers can still find the target through the gaps in the shield of the Divine Army, but the difficulty has also increased a lot.

For the Yuan army, it was relatively safe to rush closer, but it was easier to be shot by muskets at a distance of seventy or eighty meters, which made the attack speed of the Yuan soldiers speed up.

"Nine companies, one grenade per person, target, the front of the divine force." Seeing this, Wen Zhang immediately changed his tactics. As for the use of grenade bombs, I have explained in advance that I should try to save some of them, after all, there are not many of them, and with the ones that have just arrived, there are less than 5,000 in the entire battalion.

A hundred projectiles exploded one after another in the front line of the Yuan army, which immediately disrupted its defensive formation, and then was swept by a burst of muskets, which immediately caused countless casualties to the Yuan army. The cavalry archers in the distance were suppressed by the artillery from time to time, and could not provide timely support.

Wu Songhan, who was slightly behind, received Wen Zhang's signal, and hurriedly led more than a thousand archers to shoot a round of feather arrows in a projectile manner. This method of shooting in a group attack also caused the Yuan army to lose a lot, with muskets in front and feathered arrows above, which became embarrassed at once.

The fall of the divine force in the front row slowed down the speed of the Yuan army's first attack slightly, but before the Imperial Forest Army on the guardrail could breathe a sigh of relief, the divine force army behind formed a new formation and rushed forward.

I watched and said, "This attack of the Yuan army looks very resolute. ”

"yes, brother." Fang Ling said, "Kublai Khan is desperate and endless. ”

Under the bombardment of 30 artillery pieces in turn, the Mongolian cavalry army basically did not play a role, with the sound of each round of explosions, there were always many people who fell from their horses and fell to the ground, but because they did not receive the order to retreat, the Mongolian cavalry with strict military discipline could only hold on. Taking advantage of the gap in the artillery launch, a round of feather arrows was occasionally fired, and because it could not form a rain of arrows, the power was much smaller. The formation formed by the Divine Force is still somewhat useful, and the casualty rate of the soldiers has decreased a lot compared to the last time, which is also a major improvement of the Yuan Army for defensive muskets.

The Yuan army approached the camp of Guanzitan more and more, and although it paid a considerable price, it also caused the Imperial Forest Army to consume hundreds of grenades.

However, the number of divine forces is limited after all, and almost all of these strong men are born with divine powers, and if one is killed, one is less. Gradually, more and more Mongol sword and shield troops began to be exposed in front of the camp and became a live target for the gunners of the Royal Forest Army.

The musketeers on the three guardrails kept firing and firing, repeating the same action.

Within a few tens of meters outside the camp, a group of Yuan soldiers fell, and then rushed up again, which was simply perseverance, and it is not an exaggeration to describe these Yuan soldiers as "heroic and tenacious".

At this time, I saw another group of sword and shield hands rushing up from behind, although these people were wearing the same Yuan army uniform, but they were all agile, and they seemed to far exceed the ordinary sword and shield hands. After this group of soldiers rushed to the front, they abandoned the small shield in their hands, and at the same time picked up the giant shield that the divine force had dropped on the ground, although no one could hold a double shield, but in pairs, one person held the shield forward, and the other held the shield upward, and instantly formed a defensive array.

Yuan Jian said: "Although the group of sword and shield fighters who just rushed up are not as powerful as the soldiers of the Divine Power Army, their mastery of strength is superior, and it is obvious that they have a foundation in martial arts. ”

"Then it's not an ordinary Yuan army soldier."

Yuan Jian was quite sure: "Your Majesty, it is very likely. Yuan Jian's judgment was not wrong, this group of hundreds of sword and shield men was the cowardly Xue army of Mongolia. Although northerners are generally stronger than southerners, it is unlikely that there will be many strongmen.

After obtaining Kublai Khan's consent, Ah Shu and Boyan devised a plan to dispatch Cowardice.

Hundreds of cowardly Xue used the giant shield as a cover to lead a large number of infantry troops to rush to the main camp, and the distance was shortened little by little. Hidden by the big shield, the musketeers' firing targets began to appear blind spots again, and at a distance of more than twenty meters from the Yuan army, Xie Daolin ordered that the musketeers located in the middle and upper layers shot at the Yuan army a little farther away, and the Imperial Forest Army on the lower floor, under the command of Wen Zhang, threw out the grenade again.

"Boom, boom." The explosion of the projectile sounded in front of the camp, shattering the giant shield defense at the front. Almost at the same time as the projectile exploded, the musketeers on the lower level of the guardrail pulled the trigger, and thousands of muskets shot out flat, instantly turning the Yuan army in front into a hornet's nest.

In this attack, a small number of cowardly soldiers of the Xue Army inadvertently discovered that at the moment of contact with the projectile, if they took a step ahead, they had the opportunity to bounce the projectile away with their shields. However, there was not only one throwing bomb, this one was ejected, and that one exploded again, and when the soldiers of the Royal Forest Army threw it, they had basically calculated the time of the explosion, and this kind of batch throwing made it difficult for the Yuan soldiers to resist.

However, the Yuan army is also more experienced in how to defend against firearms.

The battle had lasted for more than half an hour, and although the Yuan army in front of Guanzitan had suffered numerous casualties, Kublai Khan had no intention of retreating. At this time, Yin Tianya, who had been speechless, looked at the remaining cavalry and archery troops, and suddenly said: "Great Khan, the firing interval of the Southern Dynasty artillery is gradually increasing, and the archers of our army will soon be useful." ”

Kublai Khan said: "Well, what the gods said is true, Ah Lao Wading and his son Fumou have only studied the artillery of the Southern Dynasty, and believe that the heat resistance of the cannon barrel is limited, and at most another moment, the artillery of the Southern Dynasty will need to rest for at least half an hour, and this half hour is the opportunity for our army." ”

Sure enough, after another quarter of an hour or so, Yin Tianya said: "Great Khan, the artillery of the Southern Dynasty has basically stopped. ”

"Well, Boyan, give the order to the cavalry and archery army, shoot with all your might."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Boyan clamped his legs, stepped forward on his horse, personally commanded the cavalry army, and fired at the camp of Guanzitan.