Tang Dynasty Mingyue Song Dynasty Pass

Chapter 863: Pinning Down the Main Force (Happy New Year)

As the sun rose, the Song army's attack horns pierced the sky. The 50,000-strong army was like a torrent, concentrating its forces and launching a charge. At the forefront were nearly 20,000 cavalrymen, who rushed forward like a tidal wave, with magnificent momentum.

Looking from a distance, there were red tassels on the tops of the Song army's heads, flying like flames and merging into a sea of ​​fire. Those were the Fan Yang hats worn by the elite Song Dynasty imperial guards.

The cavalry galloped forward, shouting loudly. The Song army first launched the cavalry this time, intending to quickly kill into the Wu army camp and make the Wu army's firearms ineffective. The cavalry's high speed was an effective strategy to deal with firearms. Although the Song army was frightened by the explosion of firearms last time, this time they came prepared.

The Wu army had already received the report from the scouts, so the camp was ready. Lu Jiang and Pan Mei jointly commanded the army, but on the surface Lu Jiang was the commander-in-chief, while Pan Mei changed into a counselor's robe and put on a big beard to play a role of deception and prevent the news from leaking.

"Firearms blockade!"

Lu Jiang ordered the use of firearms to bombard the Song army first, and to show no mercy or courtesy if possible if some Song soldiers could be injured.

The Wu army of the Shenji Camp operated firearms and aimed at the charging Song cavalry.

"Boom boom boom!"

With deafening explosions, the Wu army's firearms and artillery shells were launched and landed a hundred feet in front of the Song army's cavalry. In the fire and smoke, some Song army cavalry were injured and screaming, and the scene was chaotic for a while.

However, the Song cavalry were clearly prepared this time. They stayed close to their horses to reduce the area affected by the explosion, and some cavalry even held shields to block the flying iron pieces and iron balls. Although such evasive measures were simple, they effectively reduced casualties.

Some soldiers even took out cloth towels and covered their horses' eyes to prevent them from being frightened by the fire and loud noise and losing control. Although these methods were not very clever, they did reduce some casualties when facing firearm bombardment, and prevented the Song army from being defeated as it did the first time.

All the Song Dynasty soldiers were mentally prepared to face firearms. They already knew the power of firearms and were no longer confused.

Even in the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin ordered the weapons battalion in Bianjing City to start researching the use of gunpowder. After all, gunpowder was invented a long time ago, but it had been used for ornamental purposes such as fireworks and firecrackers in the previous dynasty, and had not yet been officially used in combat.

Therefore, the Song Dynasty also began to tackle and study the use of firearms. Zhao Kuangyin also wanted to possess the power of such firearms in order to deal with hostile forces such as the Wu Kingdom and the Khitan.

"Sure enough, now the Song army is no longer as helpless as it was the first time when facing firearms. They are controlling casualties and reducing damage."

Pan Mei discovered the strategy of the Song cavalry through the telescope and made a judgment. His eyes revealed his admiration for the adaptability of the Song army, and he also realized that the difficulty of this war was increasing and the Wu army needed to respond more cautiously and tactfully.

Lu Jiang nodded and ordered in a deep voice: "Enter the one-arrow range and prepare bows and arrows!"

Swoosh! As the order was issued, a rain of arrows shot out like a rainstorm, cutting through the air with the whistling sound of death. The Song cavalry relied on the speed of their horses and rushed forward in the rain of arrows, shouting and screaming, without caring about the dead and wounded. When the second and third rounds of arrows were fired, the Song cavalry had already rushed to within a hundred steps, and the facial features of the cavalry at the front were clearly discernible.

"Crossbow, shoot!"

The buglers behind them immediately waved their flags. The crossbowmen were all veterans with rich battle experience. Seeing the enemy approaching, they were not panicked. Following the commander's orders, they used the chariots as cover and stood there. They lowered their crossbows, stepped on the pedals, bent their waists, and with a creaking sound, they stretched the crossbow strings and slid the crossbow arrows in. With a clang clang clang sound, countless crossbow arrows whistled towards the Song cavalry from the flanks and tops of the chariots.

This was a chain crossbow developed by the Shenjiying. It fired arrows as fast as a machine gun, more powerful than bows and arrows, and could be fired horizontally. At this time, the Song cavalry was closer, and the crossbow arrows were easier to aim, and they instantly shot down nearly a hundred Song knights.

Seeing the Song Dynasty cavalry rushing forward, their horses and men fell to the ground. Due to the rapid momentum of the charge, many horses fell to the ground and rolled and slid more than two meters away, which curbed the momentum of the Song Dynasty cavalry behind them.

On the battlefield, the dust was flying, and the neighing of war horses, the shouting of soldiers, and the sound of metal colliding were intertwined, forming a tragic war picture.

Lu Jiang and Pan Mei stood on the command platform with solemn expressions. They knew that although the Wu army's firearms and crossbows had dealt a heavy blow to the Song army, the battle was far from over and it was only just beginning.

Lu Jiang's order was like a sharp sword drawn from its sheath, pointing directly at the enemy formation: "Chariots, charge!"

His voice cut through the tense air, firm and rapid. Immediately, dozens of chariots responded with great momentum, launching a fierce attack on the already slightly chaotic Song cavalry formation.

This chariot battle method foreshadowed a new art of war, which drew on the essence of later tank tactics - first using firearms to carry out long-range coverage strikes, and then relying on the chariot's solid armor to carry out close-range impacts. The infantry followed closely behind, ready to reap the fruits of victory.

The chariots rushed into the enemy formation and quickly entangled the enemy cavalry. The chariot soldiers waved their axes, Mo Dao, and spears, chopping at the enemy's heads and stabbing the horses' legs. Under this sudden attack, the elite cavalry of the Song Dynasty were surrounded by the chariots before they could deploy their formation. The horses fell down because they did not know how to dodge, and the knights fell off their horses because they could not dodge in time. The scene was chaotic for a while.

This tactic was extremely effective against cavalry on the plains. The Song army had used this tactic to defeat the Jin army in battles such as Dayi Town and Tuogao.

The two brothers Pan Wei Gu and Pan Wei Zheng led their chariots deep into the enemy's camp, using the advantages of their heavy equipment to suppress the maneuvering space of the Song cavalry, depriving them of their proud combat advantages.

As Pan Mei's two sons, they were charging into battle not only for the sake of fighting, but also as a way for Pan Mei to show his loyalty to the generals of Wu. He let his two sons lead the troops to show that he would never defect to the Song Dynasty.

Pan Mei knew the tactics of the Song cavalry very well, so he could think of using chariots to deal with them. This was originally a tactic used by the Song army to deal with the Khitan cavalry, but now it was used on them.

The Song army had never expected that the Wu army would use chariot tactics to counter the cavalry. After all, the Wu army was famous for its navy, and cavalry was not common. However, reality is always unexpected. The Wu army's chariot formation successfully destroyed the Song army's cavalry formation, thwarting the charge of 20,000 cavalry.

Pan Mei was watching the battlefield through a telescope, feeling worried. His two sons were fighting on the front line, and there were more than 100,000 soldiers and horses in the rear of the Song Dynasty, approaching in waves. Although the cavalry's charge was temporarily blocked, the infantry's offensive was about to come, and it seemed that the task of defending the camp fortress today was extremely difficult.