The artillery fire of the Ming army was unexpectedly fierce!

Although the number of their cannons was only 60 percent of that of the Zhou army, they adopted a strategy of centralized use and unified observation. One hundred of the one hundred and thirty-two 6-pound bronze cannons were concentrated on the right flank of their own front, and aiming at the left flank of the Zhou army was a concentrated fire output!

Hundreds of cannons roared in unison, and the six-pound solid bullets and the group of solid bullets fired fiercely at the target selected by Li Zhongshan - the junction between the right Jinwu upper guard and the right Jingo central guard!

At this moment, the distance between the front lines of the two armies is also a mile away, which is the most comfortable distance for artillery that shoots directly at the gun. The opponent's smoothbore guns and bows and arrows are not a little threatening at this distance, but the direct-aiming cannon still has good accuracy, especially when hundreds of six-pound cannons are fired.

A round shell filled the chamber and then spat out, and in the blink of an eyelid, it had already landed in a group on the opponent's position. The two Zhou soldiers on the opposite side didn't expect that there would be so many shells in their hits! What kind of fate is this? There are not many Ming artillery on the opposite side, so why are they concentrated on bombarding their side? These six-pound bullets are so old and heavy, not to mention smashing it, even if you bump it, you can't stand it! What's more, there is a high probability that these immoral and smoking shells will bounce up and become a ricochet that the six relatives don't recognize, jump to the height of one person, and then fly around in the crowd, no matter who they meet, they don't care if they hit it directly! If a cannonball hits a dozen or so people, it's called a murderous!

On the other hand, on the side of the Zhou army, although there were many artillery, they were evenly distributed on the entire front, and there was no way to use them centrally. Although it can also cause some damage to the Ming army on the opposite side, it can still bear it because each part bears the loss.

Of course, this kind of concentrated fire shooting actually doesn't have much technical content, and the reason why Zhou Jun didn't do it was because he didn't know this trick. Rather, it was because the rifled guns of the Ming army were too much of a threat to the artillery positions. If they concentrate their artillery together, the Ming army will also concentrate several battalions of rifled gunmen to form a phalanx, and then go up against the fire from the opposite side, and sniper the gunners within 200 paces.

Wu Zhoujun himself also has similar tactics, if today's opponent is not the Ming army with a lot of rifled guns and full of "wooden bullets", they themselves will also adopt such tactics. In the Battle of the Pingxi Regions, which ended not long ago, Wu Shicong gathered more than 200 rifled guns obtained through various channels and distributed them to sharpshooters on horseback to use them as super-mobile artillery to beat all parties in the Western Regions.

Now it's your turn to face the superior rifled gun fire of the Ming army!

Therefore, Wu Yingqi and Wu Shicong had to disperse the use of artillery, and in order to prevent the gunners from being sniped by the sharpshooters who came up quietly from the other side, they had to build a fort with sandbags to cover the gunners.

But in this way, the mobility of the cannon is limited, and the cannon can be moved, but the gun embarrasse has to be repaired for a while.

If there were no forts, the gunners would have to fire with their heads up, which was too dangerous. And even with the cover of the artillery barracks, the gunners of the Zhou army would still snipe with rifled guns from time to time by the snipers of the Ming army, so it would still interfere with their work.

In addition, the Ming army's rifled gun firepower also had the advantage of being able to hit the enemy cavalry head-on with accurate firepower. Therefore, when your infantry is bombarded by enemy artillery, you can take a kneeling position to avoid the artillery. This squat, then you are not afraid of ricochet, unless you directly hit the enemy's shells, you will be immune to shelling.

The artillery battle between the two sides lasted for about a quarter of an hour, and the two guards of the Zhou army who were hit by the intensive artillery fire of the Ming army were already a little unable to bear it, suffered heavy casualties, and began to fall into chaos.

And the generals of the Zhou army who commanded these two guards in order to avoid the collapse of the troops, and also to reduce the casualties of their own people, issued an order to "squat down" - this is probably a side effect of the Wu Zhou-style military system, the connection between the soldiers and generals is too close, everyone is their own people! Therefore, the generals cannot ignore the casualties of their subordinates.

And on the battlefield where the queue is shot and the queue is shot, once the soldiers squat, it is not easy to get them up.

Of course, the same is true on the side of the Ming army. Cannonballs, bullets flying around, how good is it to squat? Who will stand up and die?

Wu Yingqi also saw that his two guards on the left flank had already crouched down to avoid the bullets, and he knew that this meant that once the enemy attacked, they would be crushed! And most of that is the main direction of attack of the Ming army!

Because Wu Zhou's army was facing the east, their left flank was next to the Laodao River, which was not conducive to the cavalry's large detour. The Ming army, which lacked cavalry, stormed the left flank of Wu Zhou's army, which should be the best option.

But Wu Yingqi was prepared!

Thinking of this, he gave a few words to the soldiers who were acting as messengers around him, and then dozens of soldiers wearing bright yellow armor rode towards the two guards who were being bombarded by artillery fire and several guards behind them.

At this moment, the rumbling cannon fire on the opposite side suddenly stopped, and was replaced by the cheers of the tide. Wu Yingqi was in a high place, with a wide line of sight, and immediately raised the clairvoyant mirror and stared at the Ming army who were cheering on the opposite side.

Amid the cheers of the tide, Li Yat-sen ran along the front of his right flank, looking at the army that he had worked hard for nearly ten years before pulling up little by little, which was really extremely gratifying. This army and the country behind him, as well as Wu Zhoujun and Wu Zhouguo, who are now fighting against this army, are all powerful forces that are enough to be proud of the world! Therefore, today's battle, no matter who dominates the ups and downs, is the victory of the Chinese people and the beginning of a new era for China!

However, compared with Wu Zhou, who still holds the banner of the imperial system and has a huge "regressive power" inside, the Ming Dynasty, who has completely put the imperial power into debt and established a strong republican regime, is obviously more progressive.

Therefore, the republican Ming should defeat the imperial Wu Zhou and become the banner leading the progress of China!

Li Zhongshan's general flag stopped in front of the battle, and he turned to face the positions of the Zhou army's right Jinwu upper guard and right Jinwu middle guard, which were already chaotic more than a mile away, and only the smoke of gunpowder was dissipating in front of him!

Behind him, there were eight infantry battalions of the 11th Town of the Ming Army led by Luo Dawei, a full 8,000 elite, who had all stood up and were ready to attack under the personal encouragement of Li Zhongshan!

They may not be a model town for flintlock pistols, but they are definitely a powerhouse.

The Wu Zhou army on the opposite side had already realized that the Ming army was about to attack, so they began to desperately carry out artillery bombardment, trying to slow down the Ming army's movements. A cannonball whistled past Li Yat-sen's side a few feet away, but the general was not afraid at all.

The stragglers of Eleventh Town have begun to advance!

Only some of them were armed with rifled guns, and most of them had only carefully selected smoothbore guns of the best workmanship. But with Mini rounds, even if it is a smoothbore gun, it can still hit a target at a distance of 100 paces.

Seeing these walkers rushing into the smoke with flintlock pistols in their hands, Li Yat-sen just raised his right hand and gave them a military salute. Then he slapped his horse's butt again, passed through the gap between the two battalion phalanxes, and ran straight to the general army of the eleventh town to recognize the flag, and Luo Dawei saw that Li Zhongshan had arrived, and gave a military salute on his horse.

Li Zhongshan stopped riding his horse and said loudly to Luo Dawei: "General Luo, you must break through the enemy's front line!" At the same time, beware of their cavalry counterattack, if their cavalry comes up, they must open a hollow phalanx in time to hold on! ”

Luo Dawei said respectfully: "Obey, general, your subordinates will not only break through Wu Zhou's front formation, but also penetrate their left flank!" ”

Li Zhongshan smiled encouragingly, and then said to Luo Dawei: "General Luo, don't be rash either. Wu Zhoujun's front is not too wide, the depth should be very large, and the reserve should be quite a lot. You have only one mission, which is to break into the enemy's first line of battle, and then gain a foothold and attract Wu Zhou's reserves to counterattack. ”

Luo Dawei immediately agreed, Li Zhongshan's deployment was actually very simple, that is, to suck the reserves of Wu Zhou's army to their left flank, and then the roundabout army commanded by Li Zhongzheng attacked Wu Zhoujun's right flank and crushed them!

As for the left flank of Wu Zhou's army penetrated by the Eleventh Town. They're not that wasteful!

Li Zhongshan nodded heavily, "Let's start!" ”

Luo Dawei roared: "Eleventh Town. Advance! Move forward! ”

With his roar, a rapid drum sounded, and under Li Zhongshan's gaze, the eight battalions under the eleventh town of the Ming Army formed eight battalion-level columns, one after another, leaving their original line and advancing forward.

After watching them leave, Li Yat-sen flew back to the Caijiapo Heights on the second line of his own front, where a simple former enemy headquarters had been deployed, on the high ground stood Yao Qisheng, the general staff of the First Army, and some other staff officers, as well as various banners, snare drums, and gongs, and there were hundreds of herald cavalry waiting for General Li's orders under the high slopes.

In the early morning sun, the first round of the two armies was about to begin!

Bursts of white smoke came out between the two armies, crackling shots continued, and Wu Jun's six-pound bronze cannon was firing shotguns frantically!

On one side, the Mini bullets fired from flintlock pistols and rifled guns were accurate and ruthless, and on the other hand, the shotguns fired from bronze cannons were amazingly lethal. The soldiers on both sides kept knocking down, but they still fought to the death, even the two guards of the Zhou army who had squatted down just now to avoid the shells were now demoralized by their generals, and they stood up again and took the flintlock pistols and arquebuses in their hands to shoot at the Ming army.

And behind these two guards, about a hundred paces away, four battalions of Wu Zhoujun lancers were ready!

After several rounds of firing, the first to be defeated was the artillery at the front of Wu Zhou's army! The artillerymen were constantly sniped and suffered heavy casualties, and soon because the gunners were almost dead, they could no longer shoot, so they had to retreat to save their strength.

At the same time that Wu Zhou's artillery was crushed, the middle of the battle lines of the two sides was already shrouded in white smoke, and no one could see the opponent clearly.

A piercing suona suddenly sounded in front of the Ming army's formation, and then all the teams in the Eleventh Town shouted: "Spear assault array!" ”

It's a spear in front and muskets in the back - since the spears haven't been completely eliminated, use them when attacking! This one-foot-three-foot spear is more suitable for stabbing people than a flintlock pistol, right?

Except for the three model towns with pure flintlock guns, the other infantry teams under the Ming army town were a combination of two rows of pikes and two rows of flintlock guns. In the shootout, the flintlock pissingers formed a dense formation or straggler line in front, and the pikemen lined up in a loose formation and held back. Now the musketeers slipped through the gaps in the formation, and the pikemen regrouped behind them. Without the slightest hesitation, the pikemen roared and charged at the bullets that came from front of him.

At this time, the Wu Zhou army of the two guards on the opposite side had not completely changed their formation, and they were still musketeers in front and pikemen in the rear. The reason why this is the case is not that they don't want to, but that they can't. They were under the enemy's attention from the beginning of the artillery bombardment on both sides, and then they were hit by the intensive rifle fire of the Ming army, and now they are only barely maintained, and there are still many musketeers and pikemen who have just crouched down and are still lying there pretending to be dead and rotten, and even the musketeers who have already had a nervous breakdown have fled the battle line.

If you change the formation now, you will only be afraid of the musketeers in front and the pikemen in the back, and they will flee together!

Therefore, General Wu Zhou, who commanded these two guards, could only keep his subordinates unmoved. Only in this way can the rout be slower!

"Kill!"

"Kill!"

When the shouts of the two sides were raised to the highest, the fierce collision and the mutual piercing of spears and blades unfolded on the front of the Zhou army's right Jinwu upper guard and right Jinwu central guard.

The pikemen on both sides and some of the musketeers mingled, and the fierce melee battle quickly began!

However, the infantry of the Wu Zhou army, which had already suffered several rounds of heavy blows, did not hold out for long, and was defeated under the onslaught of the Ming army's pikemen, whose morale and numbers had the upper hand.

But the retreat of these two guards did not mean the collapse of the right flank of Wu Zhou's army, because they still had the second line of Wu Zhou's army behind them, and behind the second line there were Wu Zhou's reserves.

Moreover, four battalions and four thousand lancers of the Wu army are ready!

"Woo."

With a military trumpet, thousands of Wu Zhou lancers, taking teams as units, formed one team phalanx after another, and launched an attack on the Ming army that had just experienced a bitter battle and had an unstable foothold.

At the same time, the formation of the "flower team" on the side of the Ming army was unfavorable, and the complexity of the hollow phalanx composed of half pikemen and half musketeers was much higher than that of the pure musketeers - this pikemen had no firepower projection ability! So they had to team up with the musketeers, with the pikemen on the outside and the musketeers behind them.

If pikemen were used to form one or both sides of a hollow phalanx, would they not be a living target for enemy muskets and bows?

But the problem is that the pikemen who had just completed a round of charge had already lost touch with the musketeers behind them, and now they were suddenly attacked by cavalry, and there was no time to retreat and form a team!

Although the musketeers in the back can also be teamed up alone without the pikemen involved. But whether to wait for the pikemen to return has become a multiple-choice question in front of the battalion commanders!

If you don't have pikemen, you risk being killed and wounded by the enemy's cavalry.

If they want to take back the pikemen, they will not be able to open the phalanx immediately, and they may all be defeated!

And how to choose. Not in the textbooks!

Therefore, four of the eight battalion commanders under Luo Dawei did not want to give up the pikemen - these troops were all trained and developed by the Huaixi regiment, and the pikemen were also their siblings!

As a result, the four phalanxes that did not even open were defeated by the cavalry of Wu Zhou's army

And the remaining four hollow phalanxes that opened in time, because only half of them participated, were all small in scale, although they could withstand the impact of the cavalry, but they could not form a battle line, and let the four thousand Wu Zhou cavalry rush around them!

Now, these four small phalanxes have the possibility of being encircled!

Seeing that the cavalry in front of him had succeeded in counterattacking, Wu Yingqi was so happy that he danced a little, and immediately ordered loudly: "Let Zuo Ying raise the guard, and Zuo Ying raise the guard to the top!" The left and right Thousand Ox Guard cavalry also went up. Block the reinforcements of the Ming army! ”

Immediately, the two infantry formations located on the second line of the Wu Zhou army began to advance, and they were about to engulf the four small Ming army formations. And the two cavalry battalions were also ordered to start advancing to the open space in front of the two armies!

Standing on Caijiapo and seeing that one of his own towns was about to be annihilated by Wu Zhoujun! There were also thousands of cavalry rushing towards him, and Li Zhongshan looked back at his own one with a grim face. Sometimes the father, who is very reliable, finds that he is there in a daze with his mouth open.

So Li Zhongshan shouted loudly: "Father, do you want to watch Wu Sangui's cavalry swallow us all?" ”

(End of chapter)