Volume 1: The Wind Rises in Tumubao Chapter 8: Total Failure
Chen Ying received the flag signal and immediately gave the order.
"First team, fire!"
The musketeers in the front row half-crouched and half-knelt to start the first round of shooting.
boom!
boom!
boom!
After a burst of smoke, the Wala cavalrymen who were rushing in the front began to fall off their horses one after another.
Angketu subconsciously threw away the stirrup and hid his body on the side of the warhorse, successfully avoiding the attack of the musket.
He couldn't help but burst into laughter, his eyes full of excitement, because the cavalry unit he led had completely broken through the firepower of the Ming army. Next, it was time to start a killing spree!
The price paid was only a few dozen cavalrymen. Compared with the great military achievements, these losses were insignificant.
But the next second, the smile on Angketu's face froze, because he saw the enemy's musketeers suddenly change their formation. The first team retreated, while the other team came forward with muskets raised.
Chen Ying held up the command flag and continued to give orders: "Second team, open fire!"
boom!
boom!
boom!
After another burst of smoke, dozens of people around Angketu fell off their horses.
This time the distance was closer, and the number of Wala cavalrymen hit by bullets increased significantly, about seventy or eighty people.
Angketu was full of surprise. Why could the enemy's muskets fire continuously?
In the Ming army, Chen Ying gave the order again: "Team Three, open fire!"
This set of tactics was personally instructed by Zhu Qizhen. The musketeers were divided into three rows. After the first team finished shooting, they retreated to the original position of the third team and began to reload. At this time, the second team became the first team, shot, and then retreated. The third team stepped forward to shoot, and the cycle repeated.
At such a close distance, the musket is extremely powerful, but there is an obvious problem: the process of loading ammunition is very cumbersome.
First, the gun barrel must be cleaned after firing, and then gunpowder must be filled into the muzzle, followed by lead bullets and iron sand. After filling, it must be tamped with a special stick. Finally, a new fuse must be added before shooting again.
This whole process would take at least two minutes. If the enemy was cavalry, they would have already rushed right under our noses in this amount of time.
However, the three-stage muskets achieved a continuous firing effect. The Ming army fired continuously, and the Oirat cavalry fell one after another.
Moreover, in addition to effectively killing, the explosion sound produced by the musket can also cause a certain deterrent to war horses.
In the Wala formation, some war horses were frightened by the huge explosion. They raised their front hooves, threw off the cavalry on their backs, and ran around frantically.
The out-of-control war horses caused the Tatars a lot of trouble. Some horses rushed forward, some horses ran to the flanks, and some horses simply lay across the line, refusing to move forward no matter what.
You know, the whole army was charging at full speed, and the warhorse in front suddenly stopped. The cavalry behind had no time to dodge, just like countless speeding vehicles rear-ending each other on a high road, one horse hit another, and the entire cavalry formation was in chaos.
There was still a steady stream of musketry firing from the Ming army, throwing the Oirat cavalry into complete chaos.
Angketu was stunned. In his expectation, at this time, those cowardly southerners should have been fleeing. How was it possible? How was it possible that they remained motionless until now, while he himself was in chaos?
"Charge, charge forward..."
Angketu yelled desperately. Behind him, some people retreated while others continued to rush forward, trampling on each other. The short distance of fifty steps seemed like an insurmountable chasm, and they could not move forward even one step.
"Everyone, charge! Charge!"
Angketu continued to roar, but no one heard his orders, and even if they did, they could not execute them.
People kept falling around them, and in an instant, hundreds of elite cavalrymen had died.
There were countless injured people. Some of them fell off their horses with one foot still entangled in the stirrup, and were dragged wildly by the frightened horses. It was a horrible sight.
Even if no one fell off their horses, the battlefield was littered with fallen soldiers and horses. Not to mention charging, it was impossible to even retreat.
Zhu Qizhen rode on his horse, closely watching the battle situation in front of him. Feeling that the time was ripe, he gave a decisive order.
"Fifth Battalion, attack!"
Fan Zhong immediately issued an order: "The emperor has ordered the five military camps to attack!"
Immediately afterwards, a low horn sounded and the Ming army's formation changed again.
The musketeers in the front row began to retreat. Chen Huai led the left patrol army and Li Zhen led the right patrol army to attack from the front. On both wings of the team, Chen Xun led the left wing army and Shen Rong led the right wing army to attack the flanks of the Wala cavalry respectively.
Duke Yingguo Zhang Fu led the central army to guard around Zhu Qizhen.
“Go!”
“Kill!”
All of them rushed towards the enemy camp with endless anger. Their eyes were red, and they poured out all the grievances they had suffered along the way on the heads of the Wala people.
The biggest advantages of cavalry are mobility and impact. After being hit by the Ming army's firearms, the team was already in chaos. Faced with the aggressive Ming army, they could only dismount and fight in a hurry. In this way, there was no difference between cavalry and infantry.
Angketu jumped off his horse and slashed at a Ming soldier, waving the scimitar in his hand.
In such a close-range fight, there is no need for any skills, only swords and guns and blood flying everywhere. Dozens or even hundreds of people fall down every second and the battle is extremely fierce.
"Aungktu!"
In the chaos, an adjutant shouted: "We can't hold on any longer, retreat!"
Ang Ketu was already blood-soaked with rage. He was covered in blood and roared, "What did you say?"
"We can't win, we can't win, let's find a way to break out!"
"Impossible!" Angketu roared, "The cavalry I led are all warriors who can fight ten enemies at once. How is this possible?"
"More than half of our troops have been killed. The Ming army has too many people. Let's retreat quickly!"
Angketu looked around and found that the number of people fighting around him had obviously decreased a lot, and there were corpses everywhere.
Also, the number of people behind me doesn't seem right...
"What about the people behind? What are they doing?"
The adjutant replied loudly: "I don't know, it seems that something happened behind and he didn't catch up..."
puff!
Before he could finish his words, a spear pierced through his chest and he died instantly.
"Damn Nangou!"
Angketu's eyes were bloodshot, and he fought desperately with a scimitar like a mad beast.
Unbeknownst to him, the eight thousand cavalry had already been cut in half.
The Ming army's artillery fired a volley, aiming at the middle position of the Oirat cavalry. Countless cavalrymen were killed or injured while marching rapidly, making it impossible for the follow-up troops to move forward.
The 4,000 men in the front were blocked by muskets, and more than a thousand were killed. The remaining people were engaged in hand-to-hand combat. Facing the Ming army that was several times their number, they could not resist at all.
At this time, the Ming army's formation changed again, and the two flanks continued to move to the rear, forming a siege on the Oirat army.
Finally, Angketu realized that he had lost!
Total defeat!
But why?
In his expectation, although the Ming army had the advantage in numbers, they were all cowardly. He only needed to rush close to them and they would flee.
Why is this happening…
A small group of Ming troops had surrounded him, pointing swords and spears at Angketu.
"Look at that guy, he seems to be the leader!"
"You must be quite capable to have lasted this long. Don't be careless, let's all attack together!"
Angketu licked the blood from his lips and rushed towards the Ming army...
