Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 196: Fierce Battle at Sand River (Part )
"Oh, stop, don't chase me."

Seeing that Lu Xianzong had run away, Lu Jin also called on his cavalry to stop chasing him. They could not leave the artillery position too far. The artillery position had no defense capabilities, with only two short-barreled howitzers, which would be useless after an attack, so they had to leave someone to protect this place.

In addition, the cavalry had just fought repeatedly and suffered casualties and losses, and the horses' physical strength also needed to be restored.

From the fight against Lu Chonglu in the morning to now, there have been two consecutive battles. There are only 200 people left out of the original company of 162 cavalrymen, more than a dozen of them have been sacrificed, and a dozen wounded have been carried to the back, a total of 38 people have been killed in the battle.

The four rows that had followed Lu Jin to charge into the battle formation just now had only 42 people left out of the original .

However, the enemy suffered greater casualties than theirs. Guan Bao, who had originally planned to go around the mound and attack the artillery formation, was completely wiped out by Ye Sheng along with his 100 cavalrymen.

Of the 200 cavalrymen under the two centurions Lu Xianzong and Wu Yuyun, only about 80 are left, with about 110 casualties in the battle. Of course, nearly 30 of them were killed by the shotgun shells from the two howitzers.

All in all, the cavalry of the Shengwu Army faced the cavalry of the Yuan Army, 200 against 400, with an exchange ratio of 1 to 5.7. The cavalry of the Shengwu Army won a complete victory!
After calling on everyone to stop, many of them dismounted and let their horses recover their strength. Lu Jin also took out a paper bag of shotgun shells and reloaded his flintlock rifle, while also keeping an eye on the situation on the battlefield.

The current situation is that Guan Bao and Wu Yuyun were killed in battle, Lu Xianzong was slightly injured, and was cruising with the remaining eighty-odd cavalrymen on the riverside west of the Shahe wooden bridge. They had suffered too many casualties and dared not come to cause trouble for the artillery positions, but they had not completed their mission, so they did not dare to go back. They could only wait and see on the edge of the battlefield, as if they were waiting for the outcome of the frontal battlefield.

On the front battlefield at the bridgehead, the two armies had not yet engaged in battle. Guo Zixing saw that the artillery bombardment was effective, so he was waiting for the enemy's formation to collapse first, and then he would rush forward to take advantage, so he moved very slowly.

Of course, this also has its advantages. Walking slower can maintain the integrity of one's own military formation and allow soldiers to retain more physical strength.

Guo Zixing was following the plan made by Lu Jin earlier, and he did not do anything wrong. However, the enemy situation on the battlefield had changed, and he did not know how to adapt, which made Lu Jin a little anxious.

The Yuan army used the central army to strengthen the right wing of the formation. Originally, there were only more than a thousand people in the right army. Now with the three thousand people in the central army, there were more than four thousand people on the right wing, which was equivalent to the twelve regiments of Miao Daheng.

Originally, Lu Jin planned to let Miao Daheng open a breakthrough from the east side of the enemy, that is, the right wing, and then drive the defeated enemy troops to the west. There are no large towns in the west, and the remnants of the enemy cannot find the enemy for supplies, and rely on the strong city, so they will be completely annihilated in the pursuit of the Shengwu Army.

However, according to the current deployment of the enemy, it should be difficult to break through the right wing quickly.

On the contrary, the front army and left wing of the Yuan army became uneasy after being bombarded continuously, and their formation became increasingly chaotic, which became the best direction for a breakthrough. At this time, they should have made flexible adjustments and changed the battle plan from encircling the left wing to encircling the right wing. However, Guo Zixing, this rigid guy, did not know how to adapt, which made Lu Jin very angry.

Seeing Lu Jin's serious expression and frowning silence, Ye Sheng thought something had happened and immediately came over to ask.

"Marshal? What should we do next? But something is wrong?"

When Lu Jin saw that it was Ye Sheng, he told him his thoughts, and Ye Sheng also looked towards the front battlefield.

"Then how about you, Marshal, take over the command now? There are only about eighty enemy cavalry left here, and we still have one hundred and sixty people. We can use one hundred of them to pursue the enemy and eighty to protect the artillery position. There will be no problem at all." Ye Sheng suggested immediately.

Lu Jin shook his head, "It's too late. The two armies are about to borrow the formation, and I don't have the command of the flags and drums. How can I intervene in time?"

"What should we do? Should we send someone to tell Commander Guo to adjust his deployment?"

Lu Jin glanced at the main formation. It was still more than 300 meters away from the two sides engaging in battle. If he walked another 100 meters, both sides would be within the range of their bows and arrows.

After taking another look at the remaining cavalry of the Yuan army on the western right wing, the remaining 162 cavalrymen behind him, and the ten cannons of different sizes, Lu Jin gave the order.

"Ye Sheng, take two platoons and chase the remaining enemy cavalry. Make sure to annihilate them all."

"Yes, then, Marshal?" Ye Sheng agreed and looked at Lu Jin again. He was worried that Lu Jin was too impulsive and something might go wrong.

Lu Jin said, "I will move with the artillery to support the front battlefield. You must entangle the enemy cavalry and prevent them from getting close to us."

"Okay, I understand. Row one, row two, follow me!" Ye Sheng called out, urged his warhorse again, and led a hundred cavalrymen to chase Lu Xianzong.

Lu Jin came to the mound and saw Yang Huan still commanding the six 8-jin cannons to fire at the enemy formation, Qin Jinglin was commanding the two heavy howitzers alone to block the wooden bridge, and Yu Tongyuan had just commanded two short-barreled howitzers to kill more than 30 cavalrymen, and was very excited at the moment. When everyone saw Lu Jin coming, they thought there was a new order and immediately looked at Lu Jin.

Without saying anything, Lu Jin immediately ordered, "Qin Jinglin continues to block the wooden bridge, Yu Tongyuan."

"Here!" Yu Tongyuan stood up immediately.

"Take those two light howitzers and immediately go to our army's left wing to provide support. Fire from behind Mr. Miao's troops and use the overtaking shooting method to help them break through the formation. Can you do it?"

"Yes, Marshal, please rest assured. I promise to complete the mission! Come on, move immediately, go and get the horses and harness the carriages." Yu Tongyuan had a strong execution ability and urged the artillerymen to move without saying a word.

He had learned the so-called transcendent shooting method when he was in class in Luzhou. The trajectory was arc-shaped. As long as the elevation angle was increased, the shells would fly over the heads of his own troops and land in the enemy's formation. However, this method was not very useful when shooting solid bullets. On the contrary, it would reduce the killing effect. Only when shooting hollow grenades, the effect would be better than flat shooting. It happened that the two guns in his hands were howitzers, so there was no problem in completing the task.

Seeing Yu Tongyuan busying himself, Lu Jin glanced at the west side of the wooden bridge again. Ye Sheng was already chasing the remnants of the Yuan cavalry and had no time to harass this side for the time being, so he looked at Yang Huan again.

"Commander?"

"Well, you guys move too. Form a group of three cannons and fire forward. I'll bring a platoon of cavalry to cover you." Lu Jin said immediately.

"Okay." Yang Huan nodded and immediately ordered the six gunners to carry out the forward firing tactics.

The so-called forward shooting is Napoleon's classic artillery charge, which uses field artillery to approach the enemy within 200 meters and fire at the enemy at close range. It is commonly known as cannon with bayonets.

Guo Zixing's command was rather rigid, and Lu Jin had no way of directly seizing the command. He could only use the limited artillery resources at hand to assist them in completing their assigned tasks.

Yu Tongyuan took the lead. His mules and horses were already in the woods behind him, ready at all times. Moreover, his two cannons weighed less than 700 pounds each and ran very fast. There were no enemy troops around to interfere, so they soon headed straight for the left wing of Miao Daheng's army.

Yang Huan also divided the troops into groups and called the mule and horse team in the rear. Three of the guns stayed where they were and continued to fire. The other three guns were directly mounted on the ammunition carts and advanced 300 meters to the enemy less than a mile away. Then they lowered the gun carts and began to fire at close range. After the three guns in the front fired, the three guns in the back stopped firing and mounted the ammunition carts to move forward.

In fact, it is similar to musket fire, except that it is turned into cannon fire.

Lu Jin left a squad of cavalry to protect Qin Jinglin's two heavy howitzers at the mound, and then he took a platoon of fifty cavalry to cover the transfer of Yang Huan's cannon team.

The sudden decrease in the density of artillery fire, coupled with the rapid approach of three artillery vehicles to the battlefield, quickly attracted the attention of both sides.

Molenchi and Yesen Timur soon saw the three approaching artillery carts. They saw a large black musket mounted on a two-wheeled cart, and in front of it was another two-wheeled cart carrying a wooden box. The two carts were hung together and pulled by six mules and horses in front. They were running very fast on the battlefield, but the direction they were running was clearly approaching them.

They have been bombarded for so long, why haven't they gotten rid of those artillery pieces, and instead let the enemy get close to them? Looking at Lu Xianzong's cavalry, there were more than 80 cavalrymen just now, but now there are only more than 50 left, and they are being pursued by the Shengwu Army cavalry. They can't even protect themselves, so how can they help this side?

Yang Huan quickly brought three cannons to the right wing of Guo Zixing's Eighth Regiment formation, with the muzzles of the cannons facing forward, and fired at the left wing of the Yuan army less than 500 meters away from the Yuan army formation.

The sound of artillery fire in the front soon rang out, and Yesen Timur felt a toothache when he heard it. He had originally planned to let the 3,000 men of the Left Army attack Guo Zixing's flank. But now, before they even engaged in the battle, the junction between the Left Army and the front army had been hit by eight or nine rounds of artillery fire in a row, causing the formation to be in chaos and suffering heavy casualties. The combined casualties of the Left Army and the front army had exceeded 400.

Now the enemy is even more arrogant. They have come so close to fire at us. If we let them continue to fire like this, we won’t have to fight anymore.

Hundreds of people were killed and wounded before the battle even started. How can you fight a war like this?!

"What should we do now?" Mornchi asked in panic.

Yesen Timur gritted his teeth and said, "We can't count on the cavalry. The enemy's muskets are so close now. If we let them continue to fight like this, we will be defeated before the battle. We can't wait any longer. The whole army should attack immediately and engage the enemy. If the two sides are entangled, I wonder if they dare to fire their muskets!"

"Okay, let's do as you say!" Molunchi thought it made sense, but the key point was that he had no choice now and could only listen to Yesen's arrangements.

On the other side, Guo Zixing was still slowing down the marching speed of the large formation. At this time, they were still more than 200 meters away from the enemy formation. Both sides had reached the farthest range of the bows and arrows. The enemy's left wing and front army had been thrown into chaos by artillery fire. However, Guo Zixing had not yet let the infantry surpass the auxiliary troops' chariots and take the initiative to engage in battle. He still wanted the artillery to fire a few more rounds.

But his subordinates Zhang Desheng and Cao Liangchen could not wait any longer. Zhang Desheng was a brave fighter and liked to charge at the front. However, he had not received any orders from Guo Zixing, so he became anxious and kept turning his head to see if there was any signal from Guo Zixing, but he did not get the desired result.

Guo Zixing had also seen the artillery coming to support, but he did not understand what Lu Jin meant. He thought that he wanted the artillery to fire a few more rounds at close range, so he simply waited for a while. However, Molenchi and Yesen Timur on the opposite side did not think so.

Boom, boom, boom, boom! Soon, a fierce drumbeat was heard from the Yuan army's formation. Under the banner of the central army, various colored banners were flying, commanding the entire army to take the initiative to attack.

The right army received support from the central army. The number of troops was not weaker than that of Miao Daheng's phalanx, and they had not been hit by any artillery fire just now. Their formation was also complete. After receiving the order, the entire army immediately cheered and rushed towards Miao Daheng's 12th Regiment with all kinds of weapons.

Jia Xi, the captain of the provincial crossbow army, was in the front, leading 300 archers and shooting arrows at Miao Daheng's phalanx. However, because there was a carriage in front to block their view, the damage caused by this wave of arrows was extremely limited.

When Miao Daheng saw that Guo Zixing had not given any signal and the enemy had already launched an offensive, he no longer waited for Guo Zixing and immediately ordered his 12th Regiment to speed up and engage the enemy as soon as possible.

If they move faster at this time, the entire army can at least avoid a few more rounds of arrow rain.

As for the front army, they were in a state of fear, as if they were being beaten with a straw. It was the first time for Guo Zixing to experience such a battle situation, and he seemed both cowardly and inexperienced.

The Yuan army on the opposite side was not in a much better situation. Their generals were okay, but their army formation was subjected to repeated fire from the Shengwu Army's artillery. Over two hundred of them were killed or wounded before the battle even started. Their formation was also very chaotic, and the artillery on the opposite side was still firing. In this situation, they couldn't even form a team. The denser the formation, the worse it would be when they were bombarded. But how could they dare to take the initiative to meet the enemy if their formation was not well prepared?

However, the distance between the two sides was getting closer and closer. Even if both sides did not want to fight, they had no choice. Guo Zixing finally sounded the war drum and sent out a signal to speed up the attack.

The four battalions were immediately cheered up, and the auxiliary soldiers pushing the carriages immediately increased their speed, and the distance between the two sides quickly closed to within a hundred meters.

"Be careful of arrows!" Zhang Desheng followed behind the carriage and shouted. His soldiers immediately lowered their heads to cover their faces and adjusted their formation, trying to hide the entire team behind the carriage. This kind of formation attack had been practiced during their previous training and was quite familiar with it.

Whoosh whoosh—

The Yuan army's vanguard fired a volley of arrows, which hit the large shield in front of the chariot, making a trembling sound.

Zhang Desheng leaned forward to look around while counting his steps. He kept advancing under the rain of arrows from the Yuan army until he was thirty meters away from the enemy. He shouted again, "Archers, get ready!"

The archers in the front row hiding behind the chariot immediately raised their bows. Their left hands not only held the bow body, but also two arrows, with one arrow on the string. This was a typical rapid-fire method of mounted shooting, which was designed to save time in drawing arrows. They prepared the arrows in their hands in advance and could shoot three arrows in the shortest time possible.

The Shengwu Army continued to advance, and when they were only twenty steps away from the enemy, Zhang Desheng shouted again, "Use the chariots to cover, and the archers to release their arrows!"

The familiar scene that had been played out outside Chao County appeared again. The wide anti-arrow curtains on both sides of the chariot were instantly lowered, revealing the archers who had been hiding behind them. At this time, the distance between the two sides was about twenty steps, and the chariot's mission had been completed.

The front line of the Yuan army on the opposite side was first bombarded by artillery fire for a long time, and this time they saw the enemy's shield carts almost pushed in front of them. They originally thought that the enemy would push over directly, but it actually stopped just when the battle was about to start. The archers who suddenly appeared behind the carts stunned them.

Other armies always try to make the best use of long-range archery. You've pushed the enemy so close that you can even see the opponent's face clearly. How can you shoot arrows from such a close distance at this time?
Unfortunately, the Shengwu Army did not give them any chance to react. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, a rain of arrows came straight at them, causing heavy casualties to the opposing Yuan army on the spot.

Although more than two hundred archers are not a large number, at such a close distance, each person can shoot three arrows in the shortest time. Even if the three arrows can only kill one person, there will be two hundred casualties. At such a close distance, such a large number of casualties suddenly occurred. No matter how fierce the Yuan army was, they would definitely be stunned.

The next moment, the cart broke apart and fell to the ground. The auxiliary soldiers pushing the cart had taken advantage of the archers' shooting time to dismantle the cart and spread it flat on the ground, clearing the last obstacle for the armored spear infantry in the rear.

"Kill me!"

Zhang Desheng, wearing heavy armor and holding an iron spear, was the first to rush forward.

(End of this chapter)