Chapter 300: Charge into the formation
"Get into position!"
"Guards with spearmen, guns with weapons, and artillery with forts and cannons!"
"Don't be anxious, don't be afraid, the Tatars are no better than a chicken in a ditch, they are vulnerable!"
The entire circular formation seemed to be motionless, but as the armored soldiers moved back and forth, digging up the soil, a high platform was quickly built in the formation.
The high platform is only as tall as a man and has a radius of twenty feet. A thousand artillerymen and a thousand musketeers were deployed to reinforce the fortification. If the artillery array is in the middle, a fort must be built, otherwise the first person to be hit will not be the enemy, but yourself.
At this time, the Tatars began to charge!
At the moment when 3,000 Han cavalry and 5,000 Tatar cavalry from Bil Tahar clashed in the distance, the Tatar cavalry surrounded the infantry formation in all directions like dragons and snakes, like wolves and the tide, surging in!
The fort has not yet been built.
Qian Yue's face was as heavy as water. Looking around, he saw Tatar cavalry from all directions. Each side numbered about three thousand. Although the formation was not strict, they were shouting and roaring with an astonishing momentum.
Twelve thousand war horses trampled the grassland, rumbling like thunder. The ground trembled, and the soldiers' morale was lifted.
Eight hundred steps!
Seven hundred steps!
A few breaths can cover a hundred steps, and the speed is amazingly fast.
At this time, only one-third of the circular fort was built.
Qian Yue took a deep breath: "All musketeers listen to my orders! Fire muskets at 200 steps and shoot in three stages. Prepare!"
Six hundred steps!
Five hundred steps!
The shaking on the ground became more intense, and the ferocious faces of the Tatars gradually became clear!
Four hundred steps!
Three hundred steps!
With a crash, the spearmen on the periphery of the circular formation suddenly thrust the tail of the gold-yuan alloy spear into the ground behind them, half a foot into the mud, and pointed the foot-long sharp spear head diagonally into the air in front of them. Then he squatted down and held the gun, making room for the gun soldiers to shoot.
Two hundred steps!
A trumpet sound like a goose's call sounded: "Gun soldiers, shoot!"
Bang bang bang! ! !
Surrounding the circular formation, a large circle of smoke rose up along with the firelight. In an instant, the Tatars who were surrounded and charging fell to the ground in pieces!
Horses neighing, people panicking, everything suddenly changes!
And with one breath, the Tatar cavalry stepped over the bodies of the tribesmen and horses killed by the fire blunderbuss, and rushed in for more than ten steps!
Bang bang bang! ! !
The gun soldiers who had fought one round retreated, and the gun soldiers in the second row behind them stepped forward and opened fire!
Another circle of smoke rose, and within one hundred and eighty steps the Tatars fell again.
Bang bang bang! ! !
The third section of the fire cannon was fired again, and the Tatars fell to pieces again.
At this point, it’s nearly a hundred steps!
After another five breaths, the musketry that fired first has been filled with gunpowder, and then moves forward to fire. The group of Tatars who rushed to the front looked frightened at the moment when the smoke rose!
But here, there is no turning back.
Qian Yue saw clearly in the formation, and said to the left and right: "From two hundred steps to close combat, the maximum number of shots can be five. The cavalry charge, the faster. It is easy to take more than ten steps to twenty steps in one breath."
The left and right said: "The cavalry charging into the formation is really powerful. However, our artillery has not yet been in position and has lost a lot of vanguards. Maybe I can write to you to prepare big shields for the spearmen."
Qian Yue laughed: "There's no need for that. Armor made of gold-yuan alloy is stronger than any large shield. With a large shield, it loses more flexibility."
As he spoke, the fifth round of gunfire had passed. With just one breath, the Tatars are already in front of the battle!
The fierce cavalry collided with the spear array with huge power. At that moment, hatchets, hammers, machetes... were flying all over the sky!
Along with the impact of the war horses, these small objects hit the armor of the spearmen, making a clanging sound!
But I saw that the spear array was like a tough line, denting slightly inward, and then rebounded suddenly: "Stab!"
The sharp spear formed a Great Wall like a hedgehog, and the sound of penetration was endless!
The Tatars failed to attack and failed to break up the gun formation. After a while, they fell in pieces in front of the gun formation. The Tatar cavalry behind them reacted very quickly, suddenly pulled to the side, and gradually distanced themselves from the circular formation.
Then, arrows rained down!
The blunderbuss and the rain of arrows complement each other, and in the smoke, arrows fly down. The soldiers wore extremely strong armor, welcomed the baptism of arrows, and fired round after round of muskets.
The Tatars fell down in rows outside the circle. The remaining Tatar cavalry on all sides were like radiation, galloping around the circle. Every ten to twenty steps, one fell down, and at the same time they responded with a rain of arrows.
Eighty paces away, the rain of Tatar arrows disappeared. Two hundred steps away, the sound of gunfire disappeared.
At this point, the Tatars' first charge failed. There were 3,000 men from all directions, including 12,000 cavalry. Only less than 6,000 men were sparsely left, and more than half of them were lost!
Wu Keshan, Chahan and others had already sunk a bit in their hearts. They never expected that they would kill more than 6,000 cavalry in just one charge!
This loss was difficult for Wu Keshan to accept for a while. This is one-tenth of the force!
"Han people's firearms...how is it possible..."
Haven't fired yet!
"I do not believe!"
Wu Keshan was furious: "Continue to attack, don't let the Han artillery array stand up!"
The second round of charge started in solemnity.
At this time, Bier Tahar has been defeated!
The 5,000 Tatar cavalry displayed their skills in riding and archery. They did not confront the Han cavalry, but were covered with arrows. But the Han cavalry fought back with fire blunderbuss. With their excellent armor, they defeated Bier Tahar in just two interactions!
Five thousand people lost nearly two thousand!
Bi'er Tahar was frightened and fled in confusion. He was chased by Han cavalry and abandoned his armor. Wu Keshan finally discovered the situation here. With his heart beating wildly, he quickly sent another five thousand cavalry to respond.
His heart sank a few feet deep. He couldn't believe that the Han army could be so powerful! But even now, he still has the advantage in strength and is unwilling to fail. He hopes that if he can break through the Han infantry circle in his second charge, everything can be reversed.
But what frightened him was that the second charge resulted in even greater losses than the first!
Qian Yue's troops are a mixture of old and new. Nearly half of them are new recruits. After the first round of Tatar charges, the recruits have gradually adapted, no longer fearful, their reactions are more timely, and their killings are more concise.
Even when the troops were fighting hand to hand, the peripheral spearmen, under the command of the military commander, even rushed forward and took the initiative to attack!
The Tatars lost another seven thousand men!
At this point, the Wanqi under the command of Sonomu, Chahan and Manzhu Xili had lost nearly half of their troops.
Facing Wu Keshan's third charge order, the three men hesitated. He quickly sent someone to the formation to ask for instructions and put forward opinions.
"No more charges!"
"The morale of our men is no longer good. If we continue to attack, there will be no return!"
Wu Keshan knew this and was furious.
The report came back: "The Han people have few soldiers and must not have much supplies. They have already spent a lot of money in the first two times. If we don't continue, won't all our previous efforts be wasted?! Before the Han people's artillery array is set up, it is best to break through the array quickly. Is it possible at this time? Retreat the troops and teach others to laugh?! If so, how can we gain a foothold in the Qing Dynasty?!"
