I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 616 Skirmishers
Two regiments and six battalions formed six hollow squares and pressed forward.

Some people may think that the hollow square formation is used to defend against cavalry. In fact, the function of the hollow square formation is not only to defend against cavalry.

There are many advantages of the hollow square. In the current era of firearms, first, it can prevent artillery attacks. The hollow square is relatively thin, with four rows of people on each side. A shell can only knock down four people at most at a time. Second, it helps the commander to make tactical dispatches in the center. Third, it helps military doctors to provide rescue. Fourth, the material truck can be placed in the middle, which is helpful for the distribution of materials.
Among the attacking troops were 6 battalion-owned four-pounder guns, 6 tiger-crouching guns, and 8 regimental eight-pounder guns of the regimental artillery team.

In fact, the brigade also has a twelve-pound cannon, but it is too heavy and not very flexible, and is not very suitable for today's scene.

As the square moved forward, the flintlock rifles all over the field swayed like the sea breeze blowing through the woods. Behind this forest of flintlock rifles, the field artillery carriages were following the formation, pulled by horses.

Guo Xun watched the advancing guards closely, and he felt a little nervous.
The phalanx of the Guards remained neat as it marched. About thirty steps in front of the formation was a row of soldiers with a sparse formation. Guo Xun suddenly remembered the Guards detachment he had heard mentioned before. This was a detachment that existed in every phalanx of the Guards. They had flexible combat methods, used bayonets and flintlocks, and could perform multiple tasks such as reconnaissance, vanguard, cover, and regular attack. In formation battles, they often served as skirmishers, engaging the enemy in front of the main formation and covering the approach of the phalanx soldiers. They were the elite among the elite.

And those field guns were pulled to the wings
"Why put the cannons on the two wings?" Guo Xun's nephew Guo Kan asked, rubbing his chin, "We put them in the middle of the front."

The people around couldn't understand this either. In their opinion, it was easiest to hit someone from the front, so why did the Guards place larger cannons on the two wings?

"These Guards have a wide variety of tricks. Even a cannon can be used with great skill." Guo Kan said in a rough and loud voice.

"You know nothing!" Guo Xun said angrily, "Strike diagonally, and you'll hit more people!"

Everyone suddenly realized
"The Northern Army is still rich. Three thousand people actually pulled out twenty cannons..." Guo Kan continued.

Guo Xun didn't say anything, he raised his telescope and looked at the battlefield...

The six square formations of the Guards were advancing steadily. Suddenly, the flags were waving, and then a gong sounded. The whole army shouted and stopped. At this time, they were only 150 steps away from Xiaoshi Village. The officers ordered the troops to assemble in the queue. The artillerymen behind them passed through the gaps in the formation, quickly put down the gun carriages, and took the tools for loading and clearing the chambers from the gun carriages, completing the preparations for shooting at high speed. There were four roars of artillery, but the shells did not come from the Guards, but flew out from the ruins of Xiaoshi Village. They were bronze three-pound cannons imitated by the Southern Army. Two of the four shells hit the Guards' line. Guo Xun even saw limbs flying. The power and psychological deterrence of iron bullets far exceeded that of cold weapons.

The two small bronze cannons fired three times in succession, and the Guards phalanx was hit twice. The gap that appeared was quickly filled by the people on the back flank, and the line remained intact.

When the Guards' formation stopped, it was about fifty steps away from the skirmish line and could support the skirmishers with volleys at any time. The skirmish line of the detachment in front began to fight with the enemy.

The skirmishers in front of them accelerated their approach, shouts of various dialects rang out from the ruins of Xiaoshi Village, and dense gun barrels appeared on the rammed earth walls. The Guards skirmishers spread out their formation, and the front row became increasingly sparse. When they were less than seventy steps away, the Guards skirmishers stopped firing.

The Guards' skirmishers were always active fifty steps away, firing their flintlock rifles at the ruins of Xiaoshi Village. The rammed earth walls in the village were only half their height, and some places had even collapsed completely. The Confederate troops waiting for a volley had not received any orders and were in a passive situation, with only four bronze cannons firing back.

The Guards' skirmishers were agile and avoided the muzzles of the Confederate cannons. When they saw the Confederates preparing to fire, they would crawl on the ground.

Four four-pound cannons were dragged by four horses to the front of the Guards' formation, and they were quickly set up and began to bombard Xiaoshi Village. The captains of each detachment blew their whistles to remind their men to clear the artillery passage. The skirmish line could not be moved randomly. Each battalion of the Guards was equipped with two four-pound cannons as the firepower pillar of the infantry. The skirmishers needed to leave a passage for the artillery to support the skirmishers in combat.

Then the eight eight-pound cannons on both sides of the formation began to fire in unison. The six-jin shells flew towards Xiaoshi Village, and the remaining straw and firewood in the ruins flew into the air wherever they went. The snow piled up on the collapsed roofs was thrown high into the air and then slowly fell into the village.

The Guards did not rush forward headlong, and even the skirmishers were operating at a distance of seventy steps. This made the Confederate officers at a loss as to what to do. According to the instructor's requirements, they had to wait until the enemy was seventy steps within before firing a volley, and repeatedly emphasized that the first round had to inflict heavy damage to the enemy. Now with only these scattered soldiers, the Confederate officers commanding the battle in the village could not make up their minds for a while.

The Confederate Army's four bronze cannons continued to fire. Their firing rate was slower than that of the Guards, causing considerable casualties to the Union Army's phalanx 150 steps away. However, the Guards phalanx and the entire Guards front line stood firm.

Guo Xun's face turned pale. The drill manual of the Southern Army was formulated by him based on the drill manual of the Guards Army. The drill manual emphasized the distance of 70 steps, but it did not say what to do when facing scattered soldiers of about 70 steps.
The number of these scattered soldiers is relatively small, and they are scattered. It is definitely not effective to let the whole army fire at them. They can't hit many people at all, and the Northern Army will take advantage of the gaps between reloading to rush up directly. At that time, the Southern Army, which is long in reloading, will suffer huge losses. Guo Xun believes that the Northern Army on the opposite side can definitely do this, because now everyone is wearing cloth uniforms, and no one wears armor. They only need to run a hundred steps and fire a volley at the Southern Army at a distance of fifty steps.
Regardless of them, the damage they caused to the Confederate Army was real. These scattered soldiers were quite accurate in their attacks. They were all elite soldiers, constantly taking away the lives of the Confederate Army, and the Confederate Army could only watch helplessly without being able to fight back, which would cause the morale of the Confederate Army to continue to decline.
Guo Xun understood the role of these skirmishers when they started fighting. They were to constantly put pressure on the enemy and induce them to shoot in advance. This must be the new tactic of the Guards.
The best way to deal with this tactic is to send out the same skirmishers, using skirmishers to counter skirmishers.
But Guo Xun also knew that it was difficult to train such soldiers with his method, as the requirements for the quality of soldiers and officers were too high.
(End of this chapter)