I'm sure of the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong!

Chapter 257 The vulnerable cavalry
"Da da da da!"

"Da da da da!"

In the Qing army camp, the cavalry finally moved.

The defeat at Huangdu Ferry was so disastrous that the Ming army only used 2000 men to overwhelm the Qing army's nearly [-] to [-] Qing troops who were successively reinforcing the ferry. Most of them were the Eight Banners force in the hands of Zhang Wenhuan.

Two thousand green battalion cavalry quickly assembled, and then under Zhang Wenhuan's command, they rushed towards Huangdu, while Zhang Wenhuan himself prepared the remaining cavalry and infantry.

The Manchu and Qing army had a high proportion of cavalry. Needless to say, the south was comfortable because it was difficult to get horses in the south since ancient times, but there were more cavalry in the north.

According to historical records, the ratio of the Manchu Green Camp to the Horse Army was three to seven, and the Eight Banners ratio was even higher, one to one.

Of course, the ancient horse army did not only represent cavalry, but also represented soldiers and officers with high salaries, but even so, the number of cavalry was not low.

The Qing cavalry went to Huangdu Ferry first, and the Ming army was already ready.

"All rattan players and spearmen come forward!"

Ding Gang gave an order, and the Ming army quickly changed formations, with rattan soldiers and spear soldiers alternately lining up to form the front line.

The fire gun battalion came to the rear of the Tengpai soldiers in the dark and lined up to carry the guns.

The Qing cavalry did not dare to run too fast in the dark. It was not until they saw the light of the torches at the ferry that they ordered the entire army to charge and kill.

"Come on! Kill the rebels!"

"Da da da da!"

Two thousand cavalry began to run up, and because it was night, the horses used ropes to hook up for fear that the cavalry would fall behind or get lost and run around.

In cavalry combat, unless it is a heavily armored cavalry, that is, the Iron Buddha of the Jin Dynasty, it is impossible for ordinary cavalry to charge directly into the formation.

Usually they rely on intimidating charges. Ordinary armies are basically unable to withstand the charge of large groups of cavalry, and will collapse on their own before they can charge forward.

Even in the battle of Hulao Pass, Li Shimin's cavalry attacked Dou Jiande's army from the flank, creating chaos and making it impossible to take care of both the head and tail. Only in this way can he win with less.

Moreover, even if the cavalry charges into the formation, in fact, as long as one or two layers of soldiers line up on the wall, the impact of the cavalry can be completely offset.

This is also the principle of the hollow square array in later generations.

Although these Qing cavalry were also from the Green Battalion, they had never experienced the previous battle across the Huaihe River.

When the defeated troops of the Green Camp who crossed the Huai River came back, they were all separated by Zhang Wenhuan to prevent them from spreading rumors and damaging the morale of the army.

This also led to these green camp cavalry having almost no idea about the Ming army, and they only thought that the disastrous defeat was due to the Ming army's good defense.

"Da da da da!"

"Shhhhhhh!"

Two thousand Qing cavalry threw arrows at the Ming army formation, which might be useful during the day and could also act as a deterrent.

But it's night now, and the arrows can't be seen clearly, and they are arrows shot by cavalry.If it collides with the Ming army's shields and plate armor, it will not cause any damage at all.

A rain of arrows fell, just like scratching an itch.

"Fire the gun!"

The fire gun battalion has already raised the gun and prepared it, and can fire just after an order is given.

"Bang bang bang!"

"Bang bang bang!"

The Ming army fired volleys and then rounds.

Many Qing cavalry were hit. If they were lucky, only the knights would be hit, and if they were unlucky, their horses would be hit directly.Then the war horse started to go crazy, charging at the friendly cavalry nearby.

The Qing cavalry used ropes to connect the cavalry, originally to prevent the cavalry from falling behind.But if you encounter a volley of fire cannons, you can only survive it.

Except for those who were unable to react and were knocked off their horses, the rest were experienced cavalry who simply raised their swords and cut the ropes.

But after carrying the firecrackers and rushing to the front of the formation, they realized that the Ming army had already erected shields with spears in the middle.

But it was too late. The Qing cavalry in the front row directly collided with the Ming army's Tengpai soldiers in the front row. Half of them hit the dim and black spear in the middle of the Tengpai on the spot.

In just an instant, the front row of cavalry collapsed completely. "Grenadier!"

"Light it up, throw it!"

Dozens of grenade hammers flew into the Qing cavalry array. In front of sugar-coated bullets, all beings were equal, regardless of whether they were cavalry, infantry or heavy armor.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Rumbling explosions occurred one after another, accompanied by fire and the neighing of war horses.

The Qing cavalry was stunned by the explosion.

"What is this?"

"It's a demonic method. The false and rebel thieves are using demonic methods!"

"..."

The Qing cavalry was instantly in disarray. The problem was that the ropes were intertwined, and they had to cut the ropes before they could escape.

The Ming army grenadiers threw three rounds of grenade hammers in succession, then drew out their sabers and charged with the front row troops.

The Ming Army's pure infantry phalanx actually charged against the Qing Army's cavalry.

The Qing cavalry had already collapsed, and they were only able to stay connected by ropes.But just because the ropes were hooked, the entire cavalry was in chaos.

Except for the two thousand cavalrymen who were blown away by grenade hammers, only a thousand or so were still intact, and the rebels were deep inside and unable to escape.

It was useless even if he was experienced. It was pitch dark at night, and it was not easy to calm his own horse, and he had to be affected by the friendly forces who were tied to the rope.

If one horse is in disarray, the entire cavalry will be in disarray.

These generals of the Qing cavalry were not wrong. Rope hooking was originally a method of cavalry warfare. It was mainly used by novice cavalry or specific attack methods.

It was dark now, so in order to prevent our own cavalry from running away from each other, there was nothing wrong with connecting them with ropes.In addition, the cavalry are equipped with sabers, so if there is a problem, they can just cut the rope.

Just like the battle of Chibi in the past, Cao Wei's iron cable boat, and even the iron cable boat in the Yamen naval battle in the Southern Song Dynasty.

It may seem silly to later generations, but it was a helpless move by the general at that time.And even if something goes wrong with the iron cables and the boat, the iron cables can be peeled off in time to let the warship escape.

However, the generals of the Qing cavalry did not expect that the Ming army's grenade hammers were so powerful.

This was all Zhang Wenhuan's fault. First, he deliberately separated the defeated troops from the rest of the troops. The original intention was to prevent the morale of the troops from being damaged, but it made it difficult for the other troops to learn the Ming army's intelligence.

Zhang Wenhuan himself was even more dismissive of the defeated soldiers' words such as "the Ming army has demons" and "the demons are so powerful."

"Bang bang bang!"

The chaotic Qing cavalry was directly scattered by the Ming infantry phalanx.

At this time, the situation in the Qing army camp was still unknown, but Zhang Wenhuan was still preparing the army out of caution.

During this period of time, the Ming army had already landed at the ferry and assembled a town of troops.

Ding Gang dared to charge with the Qing army when his troops were less than half, and even dared to counterattack the Qing cavalry with the same strength.

Now the troops are full and they have even captured so many war horses.

"Pass this town's military order and the whole army will attack!"

"Brothers, follow this town and kill the dogs!"

Ding Gang didn't say any nice words to boost morale, he just rolled up his sleeves.

These are all problems caused by Yang Gong's "reckless" behavior.

Moreover, the Ming army had just won a series of great victories at this moment, and the morale of the entire army was high, and they went directly towards the brightly lit Qing army camp.

The Ming army's grenadiers and many infantry also took advantage of the situation and snatched the horses of the Qing army's cavalry.

Although these people are not very good at riding, they can't even ride and shoot.But hooked by ropes, these temporary cavalry quickly charged into the Qing army camp.

Then starting from the periphery, they set fire to the camp everywhere and create chaos.

(End of this chapter)