activa-t Chapter 627 I was wondering who it was, it turned out to be an acquaintance
Chapter 627 I was wondering who it was, it turned out to be an acquaintance
After selecting Guanshan as the defensive position, Zhang Shikang, together with major generals such as Sun Weifan, Huang Degong, and Wu Sangui, deduced the possible attack patterns of the Tartars.
Finally, the current position pattern was determined based on the situation of the Guards and the terrain. This is also an attempt at a new firearms combat mode.
In general, the artillery position is the center, the musket phalanx is the largest barrier, and the spearmen, borers, shieldmen, light cavalry, and heavy cavalry are auxiliary.
The trenches used in the positions to slow down the enemy's attack speed were also dug according to needs. That is, the Manufacturing Bureau had not developed grenades, otherwise the trenches would have been more effective.
As the military order was issued, the soldiers whose names were called quickly stood up, packed their bags and began to line up.
The enemy attacked from many directions, so the firearms battalion naturally had to form formations in many directions. Time was tight, and this put the army's dispatching capabilities to the test.
Fortunately, since the imperial court was able to provide the army with sufficient pay and improved the food, the training of each army has become a daily routine.
In particular, the Firearms Battalion of the Guards was led by Zhang Shikang. From the day the Firearms Battalion was established, he constantly emphasized the coordination of the phalanxes and even conducted multiple assessments on the time for changing formations.
In less than a quarter of an hour, all the phalanxes had arrived at their designated positions and rearranged their attack formations.
Dorgon stared at the guards' position in front of him with a covetous look. Zhang Shikang had insulted him many times, both on the battlefield and personally.
But at this moment, Dorgon did not feel much anger in his heart. A real war makes people calm, which is also the quality that an outstanding general should have.
"Pass on my military orders. Everyone, form up in battle formation, shieldmen in front, spearmen behind, archers next, and cavalry hold back to wait for the opportunity.
Everyone line up and walk slowly, don't mess up the formation!"
Dorgon's voice was deep and unquestionable, and the generals below immediately began to carry out his orders.
Unlike Merlin and Suksaha who launched a direct charge, Dorgon chose to line up as a whole. He was actually taking a gamble.
Betting that the Guards would never come out of the trenches to launch an attack, there was no need for him to start charging at a distance of two or three miles, wasting the soldiers' physical strength in vain.
More than 20,000 people began to advance in this way, forming a huge crowd. At the same time, Daishan on the other side also chose this attack mode.
Zhang Shikang, who was observing the situation on the high ground, frowned and muttered:
"Damn it, they actually discovered our blind spot. If we don't use artillery, it's going to be difficult to deal with this situation."
In this sudden decisive battle, although the Jiannu had no time to prepare chariots, their shield soldiers were several times more numerous than before.
Zhang Shikang had reason to believe that this was prepared to guard against musketeers.
Light shields can be penetrated by muskets, but when Merlin attacked, he discovered through the telescope that the Jiannu's new shield was between a heavy shield and a light shield, and had good protection against muskets.
Although Merlin had been equipped with a number of shield soldiers before, their formation was disrupted during the charge, making it impossible to form a tight shield defense network.
And because the trenches further disrupted their defenses, they were defeated within a quarter of an hour.
Later, Suksaha obviously did not learn enough lessons and continued to fight against the trenches, and was eventually repelled.
This time the enemy learned their lesson and began to approach slowly in formation.
This coincides with the Europeans' line-up shooting tactics a hundred years later, when both sides on the battlefield approached each other slowly.
It's not for anything else but to keep the queue in order, because only in this way can the real advantages of the musket be brought into play.
Similarly, if you want to defend, you also need to form a dense defensive line. Chariots are of course the best, and shields that can block projectiles are also acceptable, but you need to pay more attention to the formation.
However, all of this is based on a premise, that is, there is no artillery.
Whether it is a heavy shieldman or a chariot, they are all no match for artillery.
Without having seen the large-caliber bronze cannons of the Guards, the fact that they chose this formation already proved the enemy commander's cleverness.
Thinking of this, Zhang Shikang turned to the messenger waiting for orders and said:
"Tell Sun Weifan that if the Jiannu only attack from two directions, they still cannot use secret weapons. Perhaps they can use the Tiger Crouching Cannon."
The intensive offensive of large-caliber and large-scale artillery may only give us one chance in the entire war.
In fact, before Europeans completed the Industrial Revolution, there were only a handful of battles in the world in which hundreds of artillery pieces were used at one time.
Even in the European War of the Alliance, there were only thirty or forty artillery pieces in a single battle.
It’s not that it can’t be produced, but that it can’t be used or consumed. In order to make more gunpowder, the King of England even contracted the cleaning of toilets across the country just to get saltpeter.
This time, Zhang Shikang definitely set a precedent in history. He had 300 heavy artillery pieces behind him.
The Ming Dynasty had no shortage of saltpeter, and the imperial court had been preparing for this battle for a long time. The gunpowder alone was enough to last for a year. If it were not for the shortage of food and the need to avoid a protracted war as much as possible, Zhang Shikang really did not intend to take the risk of being surrounded.
The tiger squat cannon he mentioned is a small artillery piece, which can be regarded as a variant of the Franco cannon.
This type of cannon has a simple structure, consisting of a barrel and a simple bracket. Like the three-barreled musket of the Guanning cavalry, it is an antique that has been used by the Ming Dynasty for hundreds of years.
Although this thing is not very powerful and its range is only slightly longer than that of a musket, it does have advantages, such as being light and easy to carry.
Normally, two people can carry the Tiger Crouching Cannon and move it around freely. If one is strong, one person can carry it and run.
When the Imperial Guards were about to go to war, Zhang Shikang made a special trip to the Ministry of Works and packed up all the old tiger squat cannons that had been piled up in the Ministry of Works, a total of more than fifty.
He felt that this small cannon was very flexible, and its appearance and function were similar to the mortars used by our army during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. It could fill the gaps in the firing of heavy artillery and the adjustment of direction. He did not expect that it might really play a role this time.
After the messenger left, Zhang Shikang had some free time again.
As the Grand Marshal of the Army, Zhang Shikang was very busy when he was in the capital because he had to deal with the military affairs of the Tiger Guards and the Imperial Guards.
But only on the real battlefield, Zhang Shikang usually had nothing to do. He had two deputy commanders, Sun Weifan and Huang Degong, to command and dispatch, and he had Master Lu to lead the Tiger Guards. It was very stable, and he was willing to delegate power.
Of course, if Zhang Shikang felt it necessary to issue a marshal's order, the people below would absolutely obey, but it just didn't happen often.
Zhang Shikang was actually a little curious, wondering who came up with this offensive mode.
He stayed on the platform for a while, and only when the enemy approached did he see the Jiannu commander clearly through the monocular telescope.
One of them was a guy who was older than the fat man Huang Taiji. Zhang Shikang had never seen him before, but the commander in the other direction made Zhang Shikang grin:
"I was wondering who it was, it turned out to be Gun'er!"
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