Rumble!

Rumble!

Rumble!

The first great battle between the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Qing court in Henan began with the roar of artillery on both sides.

This side of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Their artillery was cast-iron cannons that had been removed from the walls of various places.

Pick one of the useful ones to mount on the saddle and pull it out for field combat.

Quite heavy.

However, the situation of the artillery team of the Qing Green Banner Army opposite them was not much better.

Although some local tyrants in Anhui and Shandong were able to buy Foshan flintlock pistols - now these Green Flag soldiers armed with flintlock pistols were organized into the Chinese army by Fukangan as the trump card of the Green Flag.

But it was not easy for them to buy artillery from the south.

It's nice to be able to buy some small field guns of one inch and three.

In fact, mortars can also be bought from the black market.

But it's useless to buy it.

Because the three technologies of yellow powder, conical steel-shelled cannon, and mechanical lead were the top secrets of the Ming army.

It's something that the people can't get anyway.

There is no working explosive gunpowder,

The explosive power of black powder is also insufficient.

So now on the battlefield in China.

The Qing army found that if black powder was used, unless it was a large-caliber mortar cannon, it would honestly fire solid bullets and shotguns, which would be more powerful.

Therefore, the artillery teams on both sides can be said to be rookies on the same level pecking each other.

After a while, the artillery teams on both sides were ready.

An artillery battle ensued.

The roar of artillery heralded the beginning of a decisive battle between the two sides.

The roar of every cannon rang out.

The deflagration of gunpowder propelled the metal projectiles out.

Whistling and dancing in the middle of the battlefield.

Some flew over the heads of the two military formations, and some smashed into the dense queues of both sides.

Patches of blood splattered.

A mist of blood rose.

There were bursts of screams.

Metal projectiles pass through the human body.

Kill every life that stands in its way equally.

Whether landlord or tenant farmer, officer or soldier, in iron armor or without a piece of armor.

Under the power of artillery.

All things are equal.

At this moment.

The commander of the Qing army, Fukangan, calmly commanded and arranged the movement of the Qing army's left, center and right.

The Chinese army consisted of line infantry armed with flintlock pistols and more than 5,000 cavalry.

There was no shortage of horses in the north, so even local regimental training could organize cavalry.

Historically, the "twisters" on both sides of the Huai River were peasant armies fighting on war horses.

The line infantry armed with flintlock pistols is also a "Ming-style army" trained in strict accordance with the old version of the "Ming Army Drill Code".

On the left and right are the Kushiki armies armed with shotguns, spears, swords, shields, bows and arrows.

Besides.

There were also 3,000 Mongol cavalry, under the command of Erle Dengbao, who were ready to attack the opponent with light cavalry tactics.

The three armies are like a forest.

Slowly.

I have to say that this Green Banner can fight much more than the old Green Battalion.

The degree of organization is high, and there is the incentive to join the flag, and the morale is much higher than that of the green battalion.

In addition, this green flag soldier is the landlord armed in Huainan, Huaibei, Shandong and other places.

The landlord armed forces hated and hated the most peasant army like the Heavenly Army.

It can be said that the enemy meets each other, and they are very red-eyed.

Infantry and cavalry on both sides were moving into the battlefield.

And the artillery of both sides is not the target of the other side's military formations.

It's the opponent's artillery team!

Just crush the enemy's artillery team.

The initiative on the battlefield is in your hands.

The five thousand guards in Liu Zhixie's hands were slowly pressed up by Luo Siju.

And he also had 8,000 cavalry on horseback.

This is an extremely strong assault force.

However, Liu Zhixie was now reluctant to press these 8,000 cavalry to rush the enemy's tight infantry formation.

However, once the opponent's infantry formation is scattered, the 8,000 iron-clad government soldiers will attack with all their might, which is not something that tens of thousands of scattered infantry can resist.

As for whether it can disrupt the infantry of the Qing army.

That still depends on the outcome of the artillery battle.

There was a loud bang.

A 3,000-pound city defense cannon of the Heavenly Kingdom Army suddenly bounced up from the scattered gun carriage.

The spinning barrel smashed the heads of several of the Celestial Army gunners around them, and the blood and brains were mixed together, some sticking to the barrels, and some splashing out, making the smell of gunpowder smoke in the air mixed with a bit of blood.

The first to make a contribution.

It's the artillery of the Qing army!

And the superiority of the artillery of the Qing army has not stopped.

About two or three minutes later.

Another cannon of the Celestial Army was hit by a solid cannonball.

The same cannon body flew sideways, the gun carriage was scattered, some gunners were smashed into pulp, and some were hit by the wooden fragments of the wooden gun carriage that were smashed and exploded, the wood fibers were inserted into the human body, and the gunners who had not had time to die fell to the ground, screaming with blood spraying.

On artillery battles.

The Celestial Army is no opponent!

This is actually normal.

Because the artillery of the Heavenly Army was captured in Sichuan and Guanzhong.

The guns are already quite old.

There are even some artillery inscriptions engraved with the words "Wanli" and "Chongzhen".

It was cast in the early Ming Dynasty.

These are all artillery pieces from more than 100 years ago.

And the technology of casting smoothbore guns on the side of the Qing army is still very mature.

Therefore, it is possible to forge new guns with basically similar specifications.

Coupled with the wars over the years, the Qing army has made some progress on its side, especially in the technology of casting field artillery.

Therefore, the range and accuracy of the artillery of this Qing army were higher than that of the Celestial Army.

Liu Zhixie had already seen the problem, and he decisively ordered: "Let Luo Siju shoot a hunting battalion to attack the artillery array of the Tartars!"

The Ming-style infantry who comprehensively studied the "Ming Army Drill Code".

Of course, there must be a class of hunters.

Although it can't get the rifles of the Ming army chuckers, it can't get light mortars and grenades.

But a hunter armed with a smoothbore gun can actually use it just as well.

In addition to the fact that the range is inferior.

In fact, the accuracy can still be guaranteed.

After receiving the order, Luo Siju quickly sent a battalion of hunters.

In a skirmisher formation, they charged towards the artillery positions of the Green Bannermen.

Such a brave move startled Fukangan, who was holding a telescope in the Chinese army to pay attention to the front line and the battle situation.

When the artillery in front was fighting lively, he couldn't see anything special about the Heavenly Army.

But now as soon as this battalion of hunters made a move, Fukangan realized.

The opponent he faced today was not an ordinary bandit who coerced the people and fought with the tactics of a sea of people.

It's the regular army that has gained a foothold in Guanzhong!

"Shotgun! Change the shotgun! ”

The Green Flag officer commanding the artillery shouted loudly.

Both sides are learning from the Ming army.

But they all learned a second knife.

The use of shotguns to bombard infantry attempting to approach was stipulated in the Ming army's artillery drill code.

But this is the way to deal with line infantry.

And not skirmishers.

Hence the time when the Nationalist army approached in the form of stragglers.

There is such a big spacing between the soldiers.

How many people can a shotgun kill?

"Boom! Rumble!! ”

With a burst of cannons.

The Celestial Army, which was charging ahead, fell a dozen people.

But the rest of the people still rushed forward with their heads covered.

"Quick! Reload! ”

The officers of the Green Flag Corps also panicked in the face of this situation.

The gunners who were loading were even more anxious.

The range of this shotgun is not very far.

At least not far from muskets.

The other party rushed quickly with his head covered.

Soon it was within range of the musket.

I haven't had time to clean the chamber yet.

The hunters of the Celestial Army had already begun to design in a kneeling position.

Bang bang bang.

A salvo of more than a hundred muskets.

Hundreds of large and small lead bullets flew sideways, and the dense rain of bullets cost the artillery of the Green Flag Soldiers a great price.

Fukangan gasped.

It's nothing to shoot accurately.

There are also a lot of sharpshooters in the Green Flag and Eight Banners.

But do these sharpshooters dare to charge with cannons?

"Foot team! Walk up and disperse the hunters! ”

At the same time, three thousand-man teams were sent up.

A thousand-strong Green Banner infantry pressed up, but as soon as they appeared, they became the target of a salvo of artillery from the Celestial Army behind.

Under artillery bombardment.

Hundreds of people were killed in an instant.

The rest also had a nervous breakdown and retreated.

The two thousand-strong teams behind as reserves also panicked, and their footsteps and formations were confused.

"Those who retreat will be killed!"

Fukangan sent a team of personal soldiers, lined up behind the artillery array, armed with bayonet muskets, and saw that there were retreating Green Banner soldiers, no matter who they were, they were all stabbed to death with bayonets.

And the artillery of the Celestial Army quickly lost fire after crushing this group of Green Banner infantry.

So many rounds were played.

The artillery is already hot, and it has to wait to cool down.

Plus the gunners on both sides suffered heavy casualties.

So the artillery teams on both sides died down.

All that's left is a duel between the infantry and the cavalry.

The drums of the march beat one after another.

The commanders of both sides are also watching their opponents.

Under the order of the intense press.

The formations on both sides showed a very high level of discipline.

Tens of millions of people are the same.

After several years of war.

All sides have found a way to send elite soldiers.

Discipline, the pursuit of firepower density.

It is what everyone learned on the Eastern battlefield in this era, after the confrontation between the Ming and Qing dynasties and the peasant uprising.

Although in terms of military philosophy, the Eastern theater at this time was not significantly more advanced than the European theater.

But at this time, both the Qing army and the Taiping army had already kept up with the trend of the times.

Even in the use of some tactics, it is already more advanced than the European armies of the same era.

These two armies.

In the European theater, it is also a first-class strong soldier worthy of the First World War.

Needle tip to wheat mang!

Bang bang bang.

The first to clash with each other.

It's the hunters on both sides.

They are all "good students" of the Ming Army.

The chasseurs were in front, the line infantry was behind, and the cavalry was roundabout on the flanks.

Arguably.

If there are enough flintlock guns.

The two sides will definitely fight into a tactic of chasseurs shooting each other plus lining up to shoot.

And the Eight Banners New Army in the city of Beijing.

They were even armed with bombardment guns that could move with the line infantry.

The advanced Qing army in its entirety, although it was not an opponent of the Ming army on the frontal battlefield.

But to the words of the gray cattle of the tsar.

It's definitely going to be a big win.

(End of chapter)