The outcome of a war is often decided at the beginning, and it is undeniable that many battles will be full of miracles, but in fact, the reason why miracles are called miracles means that the probability of occurrence is negligible.

And Li Hongzhang's luck was not good enough for a miracle to happen, so the cavalry of the Jianghuai New Army was defeated without surprise!

From the moment the cavalry on both sides launched a frontal charge, many people, including Li Hongzhang, already knew that the chance of victory in this cavalry duel against their own side was infinitely close to zero!

But even if he knew that he would be defeated, he had to send the cavalry, because if he didn't send the cavalry, the cavalry of the Chinese army would directly attack Li Hongzhang's infantry column unscrupulously, and it would be impossible for him to even march down and form an infantry phalanx to meet the enemy.

Only by sending out the cavalry can there be a chance to inflict heavy damage on the Chinese cavalry by killing 1,000 enemies and inflicting 800 losses, so as to solve the threat of the Chinese cavalry.

Even if the threat of cavalry cannot be solved, the interception of your own cavalry can give the infantry in front enough time to react to form a square, and then meet the victorious Chinese cavalry.

Watching his own Jianghuai New Army cavalry fall one after another, and then collapse, and finally only a few hundred horsemen were left to flee in disarray, Li Hongzhang's feeling at this moment was extremely complicated.

But he did not become desperate and even flee from the battlefield in an instant like Du Xing'a or Seng Lingqin, but when the cavalry was still fighting, he ordered the infantry in front to line up, and used the defensive formation of the hollow phalanx to resist the possible subsequent cavalry impact.

And when your own cavalry is completely defeated. Li Hongzhang once again gave the order, and the whole army stopped marching and lined up to meet the battle!

He knows. From the moment when one's own cavalry collapsed, and the cavalry of the Chinese army was not severely damaged, the decisive battle between himself and the Chinese army was inevitable.

There is no point in continuing to escape, because with the obstruction of the Chinese cavalry, it is impossible to escape smoothly, and the only remaining option is to prepare for battle in place, and then fight to the death with the main force of the Chinese infantry behind. Do the final dying throes

The wind from the north continued to blow, and the thinly dressed soldiers of the Jianghuai New Army did not care about the cold, but began to line up one by one under the orders of the officers.

Tens of thousands of people are ready for war. Its formation is naturally extremely complicated, except for more than 2,000 people close to the north to form a number of hollow phalanxes to guard against the cavalry raids of the Chinese army, the rest of the infantry is already close to deployment. On some low hillsides, three rows of horizontal lines are listed.

The six- or twelve-pounder guns had also been urgently deployed to the temporarily selected positions. The artillerymen pulled the horses apart and began to pile boxes of gunpowder and shells next to the guns.

It has to be said that the overall training quality of the Jianghuai New Army is far superior to that of the ordinary Qing army, and it also surpasses that of the new armies in the Qing army, such as the Gyeonggi Training Army and the Zhili Training Army, which can be seen from the fact that they changed from a state of march to a state of facing battle in just half an hour.

Even at this time when everyone knew that the war was approaching and their own side was likely to suffer a heavy defeat, the men of the Jianghuai New Army were still burying pots and cooking on the spot. Broth and rice were then delivered to the troops.

During this time, the cavalry troops led by Wang Luyun did not attack the infantry phalanx of the Jianghuai New Army. Because this is meaningless, countless examples have shown that the cavalry storming the phalanx of the line infantry, even if they barely rushed in, would not be worth the loss, and it is more likely that not only did they fail to break through the enemy's infantry phalanx, but instead took their own cavalry into it.

For Wang Luyun's cavalry troops, defeating the cavalry units of the Jianghuai New Army, forcing the main infantry force of the Jianghuai New Army to stop marching, and launching a defensive formation is already a strategic victory, and the next battle has little to do with their cavalry, either their own infantry phalanx is defeated, and then Wang Luyun's cavalry has to take on the heavy responsibility of breaking the back, launching a sworn charge to cover the retreat of the infantry, or his own infantry phalanx is victorious, and then his cavalry pursues the rout of the Jianghuai New Army, for greater results.

But no matter which outcome it is, his cavalry will not be able to affect the strategic situation in the next battle, and what can really determine the victory or defeat of both sides is the infantry in close formation!

If the best way to defeat the enemy's cavalry is to use your own cavalry, then the best way to defeat the enemy's infantry phalanx is to defeat them with your own infantry phalanx.

In addition to strategic factors, there were two other reasons why Wang Luyun could not launch a charge: on the one hand, in the cavalry duel that only lasted more than 20 minutes just now, although the cavalry of the Chinese Army, dominated by the Second Cavalry Regiment, defeated the cavalry of the Jianghuai New Army, at least more than 300 enemy cavalry were killed on the spot, and the rest of the enemy cavalry that was wounded and captured reached three or four hundred, and only more than 300 cavalry of the Jianghuai New Army scattered and fled.

But their own losses are also huge, in the battle just now, at least 200 Chinese cavalry casualties, of which more than 100 cavalry were killed on the spot, and most of the rest were seriously injured.

In other words, in the cavalry duel just now, the casualty rate of the cavalry under Wang Luyun had already exceeded 20 percent, and if this casualty rate had been placed in the ancient army or the Taiping army and the old army of the Qing army, it would have collapsed on its own. Even in modern troops, such a high casualty rate is enough to break their bones, and if they continue to force the charge, it is very likely that the troops will collapse.

Therefore, as a last resort, Wang Luyun was unwilling to continue to launch the next round of large-scale charges with the cavalry under his command!

In addition to its own losses, it is also related to the rout of the cavalry of the Jianghuai New Army, the cavalry of the Jianghuai New Army is not a straggler, although it fled, but it was also an organized rout, and the hundreds of horsemen who fled out could not be ignored, and they must be sent to pursue, so as not to let them kill a horse pistol.

After considering many aspects, Wang Luyun was no longer able to attack the infantry of the Jianghuai New Army who were ready for battle.

Now all he has to do is wait, waiting for Shi Qingxuan to come up with the main force of the infantry!

And he didn't wait long, just half an hour after he defeated the cavalry of the Jianghuai New Army, on a low hillside in the south, there were rows of Chinese soldiers wearing dark blue military uniforms, they lined up in three horizontal formations that could fight at any time, and stepped forward step by step to the drumbeat of the military band.

Among these soldiers, there were also many officers on war horses who gave various orders from time to time.

Most of these infantry units formed infantry phalanxes in battalions, and then simultaneously advanced northward on a width of nearly a kilometer, and between these infantry phalanxes, the heralds galloped and conveyed various orders.

Looking at the infantry of the Chinese army coming over all over the mountains, the corners of Li Hongzhang's mouth, who had already come down from his war horse, twitched slightly, just by looking at this glance, he estimated that the Chinese army on the opposite side was at least more than 15,000 people, more than 3,000 more than his own 10,000 people.

However, although there was already despair in his heart, he still looked calm, and then said in a calm tone: "Let the artillery team hit the point and knock out the phalanx on their left flank first!" ”

Soon after his words fell, more than 10 twelve-pounder guns of the Jianghuai New Army began to fire, and heavy solid bullets streaked across the sky, and then fell into the infantry phalanx of the 1st Division of the Chinese Army 1,000 meters away. (To be continued......)