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

Chapter 629: Battle of the Three Kings (Part )

The officers in the queue were loudly carrying out pre-war mobilization. Their voices were loud and majestic, and could still be heard clearly in the noisy battlefield. They tried to inspire the fighting spirit of every soldier to the extreme. There were some conspicuous and gorgeous decorations on their uniforms. They held command knives and wore shining medals of honor. This was to enable the soldiers to find their officers as soon as possible in the chaos.

Behind the first row of infantry squares were cavalry units. The cavalry led strong war horses, which were neatly clad in harness and had their manes fluttering in the wind. The cavalry wore bright breastplates, steel helmets, and were equipped with lances or sabers, as well as cavalry-style flintlocks, looking majestic. They were arranged in neat rows, with the horses snorting from time to time and pawing the ground with their hooves, as if they couldn't wait to rush to the battlefield. Compared with the calmness of the infantry, the cavalry were more agile and swift. They were the assault force on the battlefield, ready to strike a fatal blow to the enemy at any time.

The artillery positions were inlaid like pearls in the back of the infantry formation, with huge cannons neatly arranged. These cannons were like steel beasts, with thick and majestic barrels and black muzzles pointing at the distant enemy. The artillerymen were busy shuttling between the cannons, some transporting ammunition, and some adjusting the angle of the muzzle. Their movements were skillful and quick, and every link was meticulous. Around the artillery positions, there were piles of shells and propellant bags. These shells were sharp weapons of war, and they would play a huge role in the battle.

If we talk about the arm or weapon that the Union Army has the greatest advantage over the Confederate Army, it must be artillery and cannons. The performance of the artillery currently equipped by the Union Army is far superior to that of the Confederate Army, not to mention the quality of the artillery.
Although the Royal Group has not advanced rifle technology to the breech-loading era in the past three years, it has found that advancing the research of artillery technology is much simpler than the research of rifle technology. After all, artillery is much larger than rifles, and requires lower precision, which can make use of the metal smelting and casting technology that the Royal Group has accumulated.
Although they have not yet made a breakthrough in the technology of breech-loading artillery, their performance is far superior to those bronze cannons in the south.

In fact, Europe has a history of flintlock line shooting for one or two hundred years in history, but the tactics of this line infantry were not static, but constantly evolving. It can be said that the most prosperous period of line infantry tactics was the Napoleonic period, and the American Civil War was the last afterglow of line infantry tactics.

Although the heyday of line infantry tactics was the Napoleonic era, line infantry was only one of the decisive forces on the battlefield of the Napoleonic era. There was another decisive force that played an important role on the battlefield of the Napoleonic era, and that was the god of war - artillery!
Napoleon was a genius in warfare, but what initially made him stand out was his talent in the use of artillery. In order to better utilize the role of artillery, Napoleon carried out a series of military reforms, formulated various tactics, and pushed the status of artillery to the status of "God of War".

After Zhu Houxuan achieved a breakthrough in artillery technology, he immediately launched a new round of military reform. The content of the military reform was to absorb the essence of Napoleon’s military reform, add some more advanced content on this basis, and establish the status of artillery in the infantry.

Moreover, the artillery produced by the Royal Group were all alloy steel cannons, which had better overall performance and were cheaper than the artillery of the Napoleonic era. For this reason, the number of artillery equipped by the Northern Army was overwhelming that of the Southern Army.

The Union Army's Type A Division was equipped with eight artillery pieces for every thousand people, which was a very high number. You should know that the French Army in the Napoleonic era was equipped with three artillery pieces for every thousand people, and the Confederate Army was equipped with less than one artillery piece for every thousand people.

The Northern Army even had an independent artillery organization, because one of Napoleon's greatest contributions to artillery tactics was the centralized use of artillery.

The largest artillery unit of the Northern Army is the Artillery Regiment, which consists of 1,500 men and is equipped with about 100 artillery pieces of various calibers. The reason why the Artillery Regiment is the largest unit is still limited by the performance of the artillery. After all, the range of current artillery is limited, unlike the artillery in World War I and World War II, which has a range of 10 to 20 kilometers. If the Northern Army has artillery with that range now, the artillery brigade and artillery division can produce it.
In fact, even if the Confederate Army could produce enough artillery, it would be difficult for them to form a large-scale artillery unit, which involves the issue of the quality of the artillery.

With the improvement of artillery performance, the requirements for artillery quality are constantly increasing, especially in mathematics. Without sufficient mathematical knowledge, it is really difficult to play artillery.
An artillery officer in Napoleon's time had as much mathematical knowledge as a high school student today, or even better. Zhu Houxuan could easily find a bunch of artillery officers with sufficient mathematical knowledge, but where could the Southern Army find so many such artillery officers? Therefore, the Northern Army's artillery had an overwhelming advantage over the Southern Army's artillery in all aspects.
It is precisely because the artillery has such a great advantage that Zhu Houxuan would resort to issuing a challenge to a war when his troops are at a disadvantage. The existence of these artillery is Zhu Houxuan's greatest confidence.

In the gaps between the troops, you can also see various auxiliary troops. The medical team is mixed in between the military formations, carrying medicine boxes and stretchers, ready to treat injured soldiers at any time; the signal soldiers ride fast horses to transmit important information between the troops to ensure the smooth flow of the command system.

The military flags fluttering in the wind are the most eye-catching symbol on the battlefield. Each military flag represents a unit, flying high above the square formation, leading the soldiers in the direction of advance. The colors of the military flags are bright and eye-catching, and the patterns on them are also various. Many military flags have unique patterns, which means that this unit has a glorious war history in the Zhengde era.
However, the most eye-catching thing is the three royal flags flying high, and under the royal flags are the supreme commanders of all parties.

However, these three royal flags were eclipsed by the large banner flying high.
In the sky, several eagles were circling and soaring. They seemed to be attracted by the spectacular scene and made loud cries from time to time. The sun shone on the battlefield, illuminating the faces of the Northern soldiers and the weapons in their hands. At this moment, the entire battlefield seemed to solidify into a magnificent picture, full of the beauty of power and order. However, everyone knew that behind this picture was endless blood and cruelty. The storm of war was coming, and this land would become the end of countless lives.

(End of this chapter)