Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 390: New Rifle Tactics - Flying the Kite
Hailancha showed gratitude on his face.

What he feared most was meeting a young and impetuous boy who didn't understand but insisted on giving orders.

Fu Chang'an was still young and his military career was far less rich than Fu Kang'an's.

"Order the entire army, ready~"

Hailancha's voice stopped abruptly, and his eyes stared at the military flag that was torn by the strong wind.

The generals were stunned.

Ganzhou Deputy General Li Jiulin was the first to realize and blurted out:

"Oh no! The musket won't fire in such a strong wind!"

Everyone present understood instantly and their faces became solemn.

Most of the matchlock guns equipped by the Qing army did not have powder reservoir covers.

When the wind blows,
The primer will be blown away, unless two people cooperate, one immediately replenishes it and the other immediately fires the gun.

So complicated,

What's the point of fighting?

……

In a flash, Hailancha realized the huge danger he was facing.

"Order the whole army to hold the camp firmly. Use cannons and bows to kill any enemy that approaches. Mobilize the musketeers with powder pool covers to assist in the defense."

"Whoo."

The Jiangbei camp and the Huaixi New Army camp were in a state of chaos.

The two large camps are distributed in the north and south.

The distance between them is only 2 miles.

Fu Changan also took a deep breath and said with a smile:
"My third brother returned triumphantly from the Jinchuan front and once told me about the past when he and the governor fought together on the Jinchuan front. In my eyes, the governor Hai is like an elder brother."

Even someone as rough-skinned as Hailancha was somewhat moved.

"Governor, can you please move to Hexi to supervise the battle later?"

Fu Changan was not hypocritical either.
One hand:

"In that case, I'll leave it to General Hai. If you need a general to break through the enemy lines, give him a chance."

"Don't worry, Governor."

Before leaving,
Fu Chang'an took a deep look at Mingliang, who was standing there with a face as dark as ink.

He took off his sword and handed it to him:
"Cousin, if a man cannot be famous throughout the world during his lifetime, he can still be mourned by the world after his death."

……

4: PM
A large group of Wu troops arrived and deployed an attack formation.

Except for the Guards Corps and the 1st Expeditionary Army which temporarily retreated, the 1st Corps and the 2nd Corps were all involved in the attack.

Lin Huaisheng rode a black horse.
Still serious, he continued to dictate military orders:

"The 1st Corps will attack the Jiangbei camp, and the 2nd Corps will attack the Huaixi New Army camp. Use artillery to destroy the Qing army camp."

"As ordered."

It's time for the artillery to show off.

Miao Youlin watched as ten 10-pound cannons pulled by pack horses slowly moved forward from the gaps in the square formation, followed by ammunition carts pulled by mules.

There were shallow ruts on the ground, and the ground was firm due to the recent drought and lack of rain.

This is a great benefit for artillery movement.

suddenly,

He turned to his deputy, Zheng Hean, who was standing next to him:
"Do you know which camp is across from us?"

"Ah?" Zheng Hean looked confused.

"It's the Huaixi New Army newly formed by the Qing government, your fellow Anhui native."

Zheng Hean was about to say something when he was drowned out by the rumbling of artillery fire.

The decisive battle officially begins.

……

An artillery officer put down his telescope and shouted:
"Calibrate, add 1 degree to the shooting angle."

The hit rate of the second round of artillery fire has been greatly improved after calibration.

The Qing army's chevaux de frise and wooden fences flew high into the air and then fell to the ground.

The power of the solid bullet remains unchanged, and it will still bounce twice before running out of kinetic energy.

Huaixi New Army Camp,

The soldiers hid behind what they thought were safe obstacles, holding their heads. The feeling of being bombarded was too terrifying.

In the face of the artillery shells, the camp fortifications were as fragile as hand-made cardboard boxes and fell apart.

The Qing army's red cannons finally began to fight back.

The reason we didn't fight back before was because of the existence of these fortifications.

Now that we have been defeated by the enemy, there is no need to worry anymore.

The gunners lit the fuses, and dozens of red cannons spewed out white smoke one after another.

Thanks to the typhoon, the smoke from the shelling immediately disappeared, and both armies had a clear view.

……

After a quarter of an hour of bombardment,
Hailancha added another military order:
"Order the soldiers of each battalion to carry soil into bags and build two low walls behind the damaged fortifications of the main camp. The height should only be 2 feet."

After a while,
Deputy General Li Jiulin hurried over holding his iron helmet:

"General, the Wu army's artillery is stronger than ours. Both the casting technology and the quality of the gunners are beyond my expectations~"

Hailancha interrupted him without any hesitation:
"What do you want to say?"

"I hope that after this battle, I can capture several Wu army artillery pieces intact and capture several Wu thieves' artillery officers for me to study."

"Okay, I promise you."

"Thank you, General." Li Jiulin trotted away.

Hailancha suddenly felt vaguely uneasy, similar to the feeling of being secretly watched by wild beasts while hunting in the forest.

He turned his head to look around, but everything was normal.

Just think that I am being too suspicious.

……

A hundred feet away,

Hu Zhihuang, the general of Jiangpu Town, silently looked at the group of people led by Hailancha.

His back was covered in sweat, and the palm of his right hand, which was gripping the knife handle, was slippery and sweaty due to nervousness.

He whispered to the trusted officer next to him:

"Everyone, be smart and keep your eyes open. When the battle starts, look carefully for my flag."

"Don't worry, General."

The Jiangbei Camp brought together the generals of more than 30 towns. Among them, Jiangpu Town, which was established not long ago, was not well-known and was very inconspicuous.

Hu Zhihuang, who had only 3000 southern soldiers under his command, did not have many opportunities to show up in front of Hailancha.

Therefore,
His position in the Jiangbei camp is not high.

As a matter of course, the soldiers suffered a little discrimination in their food treatment.

Hu Zhihuang was patting the barrel of a newly removed mountain-splitting cannon, trying hard to recall the famous scene of the "Battle of Feishui".

Hundreds of thousands of Former Qin troops were ordered to move back.

The traitor suddenly shouted: "The Qin army is defeated, the Qin army is defeated." Then he took the lead in running away, which had the effect of an avalanche.

……

Zheng Hean's mood is unpredictable.
He didn't expect this situation to happen, fellow villagers against fellow villagers?

"Old Zheng, think positively. There are no fellow villagers on the battlefield, only enemies and friends. If I met my old boss from Guizhou in Jiangxi, I would still kill a lot of people."

"Yes."

A knight holding a small red flag came running over and shouted:
"Commander-in-Chief Lin has ordered the scattered soldiers to move forward, suppress the Qing army's artillerymen, and prepare to break into the stronghold."

The Wu army's skirmishers were the elite in the army and were equipped with Minié bullets and rifled flintlocks.

They rushed quickly to the middle of the two armies and spread out their formation.

He raised his gun from time to time, with the muzzle slightly higher.

Projectile!

During the battle, the Wu army's skirmishers gradually came to realize that muskets, like bows and arrows, could be used for projectiles.

One mile away,
The lead bullets falling from the sky were still terrifyingly powerful. The Qing army gunners were nervous and prayed for God's help.

witchcraft!

The King of Wu began his sorcery again.

……

The speed of the Qing army's artillery bombardment slowed down significantly.

Although Li Jiulin was very reluctant, he knew that adjustments had to be made.

"Turn the guns around and blast those bandits away."

The Qing army gunners spent a long time adjusting some of the gun positions to drive away these annoying flies.

however,
This caused even greater trouble.

The scattered soldiers of the Wu army did not retreat but advanced, entered the blind spot of the artillery and continued to fire.

No, it's almost at direct aiming distance.

"Use the mother-and-child bombardment to bombard them." Li Jiulin angrily took out his trump card.

At a distance of a hundred feet, neither bows and arrows could reach it, nor could muskets.

There are only three types of weapons that can pose a threat: submachine guns, rifles, and cavalry.
2 quarters of an hour later,
Li Jiulin's strategy failed again.

Although the sub-cannon caused dozens of casualties to the scattered soldiers of the Wu army.

However, they were immediately hit accurately by the adjusted Wu army's artillery, resulting in the loss of dozens of submachine guns and hundreds of brave gunners.

……

"Liangzhou Town Cavalry, move forward."

A cavalry of 200 men rushed out from the side door of the Jiangbei camp.

They held sabers in their hands, full of murderous intent.
The scattered soldiers of the Wu army did not act rashly and retreated quickly.

The Liangzhou Town cavalry, which had completed the expulsion mission, did not intend to pursue, fearing that they would be covered by Wu army's artillery, so they returned to the camp through the side door.

Before the general Hamam had dismounted from his horse, he heard someone shouting:

"They're here again."

Having tasted the sweetness, the Wu army concentrated more riflemen and focused their fire on attacking the Jiangbei camp.

Combat becomes more abstract.

500 riflemen lined up densely and opened fire in a cluster 2 and a half miles away, shooting at 45 degrees into the sky.

Every time a bullet rains down,
There was a cry of surprise in the Jiangbei camp.

Heavenly punishment!

……

A Sun Tzu once said: If a tactic works well, use it more often.

In the strong wind,

The Wu army's scattered soldiers could not predict where the bullets would land, and neither could the Qing army.

This makes war even more terrifying.
I don't even know where to hide.

Hu Zhihuang hid behind a baggage cart, wearing an iron helmet and holding a shield. The lead bullets falling from the sky caused more than 1 casualties among his men.

In the center of the army, a frightened warhorse that was shot ran madly, knocking over the crowd on its path.

Shot to death by the angry Hailancha with a bow and arrow~
"General, the King of Wu has some magic."

"General, I beg your permission to kill a black horse, a black cow, and a black dog before the battle to ward off evil spirits."

Hailancha was also panicked.

He couldn't understand the principle behind this "using guns as cannons" tactic.

The coach was panicked, and the people under him were even more panicked.

[There is an example in the Crimean War, where a British rifled flintlock regiment flew kites at a long distance, leaving the Russian infantry regiment armed with smoothbore muskets helpless.]

……

Hailancha calmed down and issued a helpless military order:

"Order all soldiers in the main camp to leave the camp and attack the Wu bandits."

"Where is the Huaixi camp?"

"Same here! Let's fight."

at this time,

The wind became more severe.

The Ningxia Town General's flag could not bear the weight and was broken by the strong wind.

General Ma Qingshu's face turned pale instantly.

The ominous sign made him feel uneasy and he couldn't help but dismount again to check the horse's hooves, cotton armor, and bow and arrow.

Looking at the Qing army marching out of the camp in groups,

Lin Huaisheng's spirits perked up, and he immediately realized that he had already won a step in today's chess game - the Qing army was unwilling to fight a decisive battle, but was forced out.

……

There was a distance of 2 miles between the Jiangbei Camp and the Huaixi New Army Camp.

The main gates were all under the threat of Wu army's artillery fire. If troops were to march out from the main gates, the army would be disrupted by artillery shells before they could even form a team as soon as they left the gates.

It's much safer to go out through the side door.

The officers waved their swords and shouted at the top of their lungs to remind the soldiers to line up.

Leading the charge were more than 3000 musketeers from Yanzhou Town and Caozhou Town, half of whom had medicine pool covers.

After the queue is completed,
The soldiers moved forward like frightened ducks, huddled together and with their heads tucked in.

at the same time,

The cavalry from Liangzhou Town also rushed out, attracting attention.

They brandished their sharp sabers and ran slowly back and forth outside the range of the Wu army's artillery on the north side, buying enough time for the main force's roundabout movement.

It takes time for the Green Camp soldiers to line up~
After the main force was formed, they launched an attack from the left and right wings.

……

Lin Huaisheng pointed at the leading Qing army:
"Tell Zheng Hean to move the square formation forward to defeat the Qing army's musketeers and reduce their space for movement."

"Yes."

The messenger ordered the cavalry to charge out.

The Wu army's military system still had many imperfections. For example, the military command system, drums, trumpets and flags were all very primitive and relied more on manual transmission of orders on the battlefield.

The army has been fighting for a long time and has been exhausted, so it has no time to make adjustments.

Zheng Hean received the order and immediately assembled four fully-staffed battalions to leave the camp without saying a word.

It took a quarter of an hour for 1 people to form three classic columns and move forward at a constant speed to the beat of drums.

The officers and the standard-bearer walked in front.

1 quarters of an hour later,
The two towns of Yanzhou and Caozhou rushed in both directions and came within shooting range.

The generals of Caozhou and Yanzhou, who were supervising the battle on horseback, were quite satisfied with the performance of their soldiers today.

Shouting:

"Brothers, get ready to fire."

……

35 feet,
The Qing army squatted in the front row and stood in the back row, and fired a round of salvos.

The smoke produced by the burning gunpowder was instantly blown away by the strong wind.

At least dozens of Wu Jun's troops were shot and fell to the ground. There was some confusion in the ranks, but they were then replenished and leveled.

"Forward, forward!"

The officers raised their swords high and pointed them forward at a 45-degree angle.

The flag bearer also raised the flag in his hand one foot higher, the drummer's face turned red, and the drumming speed increased.

Zheng Hean counted silently in his heart,
When I counted to 24, the second volley of fire from the opposite side suddenly rang out.

This time,
The loss would be much greater.

At least 150 people fell and the formation became chaotic.

"Steady, steady."

……

The musketeers of the 4th Battalion were still carrying their flintlock rifles with their bayonets shining.

The pace is getting faster and faster, close to running~
15 meters away,

The matchlock gunners in Yanzhou Town and Caozhou Town were panicking and their hands were shaking. Some began to retreat, some looked around. More people made mistakes in their loading movements, gunpowder spilled, lead bullets fell to the ground, and the cleaning rods were forgotten. Various problems occurred frequently.

Zheng Hean was reluctant to let his brothers be hit by another volley of bullets.

When he counted to 15 silently, he suddenly shouted:
"The first row squats, the last two rows stand, aim~"

The musketeers of the 4th Battalion quickly stopped and aimed with their shoulders raised. They had no intention of adjusting their somewhat chaotic formation.

The soldiers in the third row extended their flintlocks over the shoulders of the soldiers in the second row.

"Put it down~"

Zheng Hean yelled until he was hoarse.
The elongated tail was drowned out by the violent gunfire!
……

The Qing army's musketeers in front of them were like young seedlings in a forest blown by a strong wind, breaking one by one.

moment,

The staff reduction was more than one-third.

The general of Yanzhou was shot and fell off his horse.

The Caozhou general's blood ran cold, his ears rang and he was covered in cold sweat. As soon as he came to his senses, he was knocked off his horse by the fleeing soldiers.

The old tradition of the 2nd Corps was to launch a full-scale bayonet charge immediately after emptying the rifle chamber.

The Qing army had never seen such a battle before and was defeated unsurprisingly.

The 2nd Army chased after them, stabbing the fleeing soldiers in the back with bayonets, which made them even more excited.

If you fall behind, you will be beaten!
War is fair!
The Caozhou general who fell off his horse was stabbed in the throat by a bayonet and died.

After chasing for more than 100 feet,

White smoke rose from the Qing army camp, and the artillery deployed in the camp began to intercept and bombard.

Seeing this, Zheng Hean quickly ordered a retreat.

As a result, more than 1700 soldiers quickly returned to the main camp.

……

The young face was murderous.

Almost everyone's bayonet was stained with blood~
Miao Youlin, who is nearly forty years old, muttered to himself:

"Your Majesty is wise and infallible. It is right to recruit young soldiers. Not only are they physically fit, they are also full of blood. When fighting, they are like young tigers coming down the mountain."

The average age of soldiers in the 2nd Legion is less than 20.
He had seen the 30th Corps on the Jiangxi battlefield, whose average age was 4 years old. They were so "stable".

No blood, just brains.

There is no such thing as fearlessness, it's all about weighing the pros and cons.

The dull drumbeat interrupted his thoughts.

In the distance, the Qing army had finished lining up, and an endless phalanx slowly came forward to the sound of drums.

……

The west bank of the river,

Fu Chang'an met the messenger sent by Hailancha for help.

"Governor, the front line has suffered a setback. Commander Hai requests to take control of all the Sauron cavalry. If possible, the commander hopes that the Jilin cavalry will also be temporarily under his control."

Fu Changan was silent.
Fine beads of sweat oozed from his forehead.

This decision is too difficult.

He asked the Ministry of War for 1500 Suolong cavalry and 2500 Jilin cavalry. These 4000 people were the apple of the eye of the imperial court!
……

(End of this chapter)