Wild North America 1846

Chapter 459 The Battle of Fushimi Toba
Facing the army sent by the "Sajang Alliance" is the shogunate army, and the fortified queue is even larger.The black battle formation is like a huge rectangular block, inlaid piece by piece on the green and yellow mottled field, and the edges cannot be seen at a glance.

The shogunate army included many subordinate vassal armies, with as many as a thousand people and as few as two or three hundred. The total number of the shogunate was as high as 1.42, known as the "5 army".

The armies on both sides of the confrontation are elite, the "Sajang Alliance" side wears red armor, the shogunate army wears black armor, each of the infantry is holding a rifle, and behind them is a flag with different patterns on it. There is a thick Chinese mark, which clearly shows which feudal lord it belongs to.

For example, if the characters "Tuzuo" are written on the backs of the flags, then they are elite soldiers from the Tosa clan of the Southwest Alliance, and so on, which is very clear.

The main force of the shogunate army is the Yu family, with a total of 8700 troops dispatched as the first army. Therefore, the two thick Chinese characters "Yu Jia" written on the flag on the back can be seen clearly with a telescope from a distance. May be confused.

In addition, the shogunate army also dispatched 2600 bannermen, including about 600 cavalry, all dressed in black armor, arrayed in the center, which is a rapid assault force that can be used at any time.

At critical moments, it can play a decisive role in finalizing the final word.

It’s just a little contrary to the fact that among the more than 300 cavalry, more than 1 cavalry are riding tall Quarter horses. This is a strong war horse from North America. The shoulder height is generally more than 5 meters. Sitting on it A chunk higher.

The other 300 or so shogunate cavalry used local pony horses, with a shoulder height of more than 1 meters, which was similar to a donkey.

Shogun Yoshiki Tokugawa sat on a snow-white horse with a shoulder height of 1 meters. He was wearing armor and a black helmet. Because he was only 6 meters tall, he looked too thin, as if a child was sitting on a horse.

The two armies confront each other
General Tokugawa Yoshiki was obviously not in the mood for joking, but looked sternly at the rebels arrayed opposite him, the sharpness in his eyes flashed away, and said in a deep voice;

"General Fan, in this battle, both the enemy and us will use our best efforts. The matter is of great importance. Please pay more attention when commanding, please!"

"Of course, please rest assured, Your Excellency, a battle of this scale is a small scene, and the Imperial Instructors are very familiar with it." Major General Fan Pengju, as the head of the Imperial Instructors, was wearing a crisp imperial woolen official uniform and rode on it. The tall horse, surrounded by well-armored Fusang generals, looks very different.

It's as if a modern person blends into the old era, and the two are incompatible.

In this battle of Fushimi Toba, General Tokugawa Yoshiki handed over the army under the command of the Tang Empire instructors, which can be said to be very courageous.

It can't be said that the soldiers of the country are overwhelming. The 1.42 troops in front of them also account for one-fifth of the total number of troops that can be used by the entire shogunate, and most of them are composed of elites. If they really lose, the sky will collapse.

pondered for a while
Major General Fan Pengju said again with a serious expression;
"According to reliable reports;

The Changzhou Fan has long carried out military reforms, abolishing the eight groups that used to be the basic organization of the Fan Army, and established a new army with the European and American military organization as the main force.

The Satsuma clan received great assistance from the United Kingdom, and formed a new army with the small blunderbuss team, the city team and the outer city team as the main force. Like the Changzhou army, the Satsuma army was also equipped with new guns imported from the West.

Judging from the "Lieutenant Incident", the rebels were no strangers to the fighting methods of the Tang Empire, and they had planned to send personnel to mix with the imperial army.

Recently
In addition to the establishment and training of the army, the rebels also actively carried out reforms in military weapons and equipment, sold outdated matchlock guns and other old weapons, and bought [-] French-made Minie rifles from the British merchants in Nagasaki. , [-] Gebel rifles made in the Netherlands.

The elite troops of the rebels we see before us are all equipped with western-style advanced rifles, which will be the biggest hidden danger in the battle. "

"General Fan, are we not weak?" General Tokugawa Yoshiki said casually with a heavy worry on his face.

Major General Fan Pengju smiled proudly, and replied, "Your Excellency, please rest assured, compared with the rebels, our army is more aggressive, better trained, and stronger. We are more than 7% sure of defeating the enemy and winning the final victory. "

"That's good, that's good..." General Tokugawa Yoshiki let out a long breath, and his expression became more relaxed.

Major General Fan Pengju then said, "Your Excellency, in fact, the armor and equipment of the old army is not very useful. It is heavy and inconvenient to wear, and it greatly consumes the strength of the officers and soldiers. It is advisable to switch to Tang-style military uniforms as soon as possible."

"Uh... let's talk about it later?"

"Alright, that's just my opinion, it will help improve the overall combat effectiveness of the army."

Traditional Fuso samurai armor is made of iron sheets, leather, and hemp rope, and is painted in gorgeous colors. The full set of armor is expensive, and generally only the upper-class samurai families can afford it. It is good for ordinary samurai to afford an iron breastplate .

Why are all the soldiers heavily armored on the battlefield?
In fact, this is all an illusion. Out of the tradition of saving face in Fusang people, cloth armor and bamboo armor are used without iron armor. Painted with colors, it is enough to look like real ones.

In fact, the defense is very weak, and a single shot will go through a hole.

Major General Fan Pengju looked down on these armors, thinking that he was leading some antiquated troops exuding a smell of corruption to fight. They did not have the aura of a majestic iron-blooded army at all, but it was a bit funny.

Of course, this is just his personal opinion.

"The artillery team is moving forward, ready to shell."

The shogunate army was equipped with a batch of old antiques piled up in the warehouse of the Tang Empire, namely 24 Napoleon three-pound field guns and six-pound field guns, with bronze-cast gun bodies and steel double-wheeled gun mounts, using the front loading method.

This kind of artillery aided a group of Chu troops for Zuo Zongtang, and another group of shogunate troops. Of course, the latter was for money, and it belonged to the military material assistance provided by the Tang Empire to the vassal states.

Although this kind of old-fashioned artillery has a short firing distance, low power, and slow speed, and the youngest one is more than 50 years old, it was a relatively advanced artillery in the early 19th century. It accompanied Napoleon's French army to conquer the entire European continent. The flames of war reached as far as Moscow.

Its biggest advantage is that shells are cheap and easy to obtain, black powder is not difficult to prepare, and it can be mass-produced at an industrial level, which is very suitable for the Qing army and the Fuso shogunate army.

Amidst the desolate military music, the shogunate troops lined up slowly pressed forward...

At the forefront is the 24 artillery teams dragged by mules and horses.

Not to be outdone, the rebels also launched more than a dozen cannons. They were bronze cannons that were very different from Napoleon's cannons. They might be British or Dutch, and their performance was roughly similar.

This is a Western-style battle that took place on the land of the East. The rebel army has British instructors, and the shogunate has the Tang Empire and French instructors. Both sides are equipped with more advanced infantry firearms in the world today.

"Boom boom boom..."

The artillery team of the shogunate army took the lead to untie the mules and horses after entering the range, turned the muzzle, loaded the gunpowder skillfully and tamped it, put in the round shells, and fired in unison under the order of the officer.

A series of gunfire smoke rose, and the fired shells whizzed away. More than 10 shells slammed into the neat queue of the rebels, and more than 10 bloody alleys were shot in an instant, breaking the bones of the rebel soldiers. , blood spattered out.

This round of shelling alone caused casualties of more than 30 rebel soldiers.

There was a brief commotion in the originally well-organized ranks of the rebels, but soon they continued to advance firmly.

The artillery team belonging to the rebels also stopped their advance and turned their muzzles to prepare for firing.

"Boom boom boom..."

The roar of shelling from both sides rang out continuously, clouds of black gray smoke rose from the artillery position, and the whistling shells flew in the air. When they crashed into the frightened infantry ranks, blood splattered and smoke filled the air.

Enduring the casualties caused by the shelling, the military formations of both sides closed in the middle like two long snakes. The distance from 1.4 kilometers to 1.2 kilometers continued to shrink to less than 1 kilometer, 900 meters... 800 meters...

When the distance between the two armies was reduced to less than 800 meters, the artillery teams of both sides, which were shelling each other fiercely, stopped at the same time, and then the mules stepped forward, dragging the bronze Napoleon field gun away, and withdrew from the front line of the battlefield.

The furthest range of the Mini rifle can reach 800 yards, and the precious artillery remains on the battlefield. Under the intensive volley of infantry, it will only be lost in vain as muzzle ghosts.

by this time

The intense atmosphere of the bloody battle on the Toba Fushimi battlefield was intensified to the extreme, and the fallen corpses on the blue and yellow mottled fields became the background of the prologue of this bloody battle.

700 meters... 650 meters...

"All stopped, guns leveled."

"Ready...to launch!"

"Ready...to launch!"

The rebel commander held up his sharp command knife, and then swung it down fiercely to issue an order to fire a volley of guns.

"Clap clap clap..."

"Clap clap clap..."

In the phalanx of the rebels, a dense volley of gunfire burst out like popping beans. One after another, countless bullets covered the head and face like flying locusts.

Blood spattered in the originally neat queue of the dozen Shogunate troops, and the soldiers who were shot fell to the ground amidst the screams, and there were many gaps in the queue like dog teeth gnawed.

The strong smell of blood quickly permeated, much stronger than the violent shelling just now.

Only this round of salvo

More than 300 people fell down in the front row of the shogunate army. The soldiers in the back row silently stepped forward to make up for it, and continued to move forward despite the fear of death. Many soldiers showed a mixture of madness and numbness on their faces.

Strict military training enables them to overcome fear and face death.

The rebels made full use of the range advantage of the Mini rifle and took the lead in inflicting heavy blows on the shogunate army in order to achieve the goal of winning first place.

620 meters... 600 meters...

"The second row of guns is leveled, ready to... launch!" The rebel commander's sharp sword swung down fiercely, and the phalanx fired the guns one after another. The rain of bullets roared like death locusts, and the blood splattered again. A lot of lives were lost.

Seeing the shogunate army marching silently with heavy casualties, General Tokugawa Yoshiki's face wrinkled convulsively, his heart ached as if bleeding.

In these two rounds of gun strikes alone, the casualties of his elite officers and soldiers were as high as more than 730. In addition to the casualties of the previous violent shelling, the loss has exceeded a thousand.

Among them, the core elite of the shogunate accounted for more than half. It took a lot of effort to train each royal family member, how could it not be heartbroken?

Right now, they are still facing the last round of brutal three-stage strike.

General Tokugawa Yoshiki closed his eyes in pain, but a faint and cold voice came from his ear, saying;
"In order to win the final victory of the war, the army must bear the necessary casualties. No one can win without paying the price of blood."

It was Major General Fan Pengju who was speaking. After he explained a sentence without changing his expression, he saw that the distance between the two sides was close to about 550 meters. The rebels fired another round of deadly guns. .

Major General Fan Pengju remained ruthless. He knew that the shogunate army had to survive the initial 1-2 rounds of gun attacks in order to win the final victory.

Because the shogunate army is equipped with the Colt 1848 lever rifle (long barrel type) produced by the Datang Empire. Due to the shortcomings of air tightness, the longest range of this rifle is less than 420 yards. This is the biggest flaw.

However, the Colt 1848 lever rifle can be loaded with 12 bullets at a time, and one bullet can be fired by pulling the trigger lever.

As long as the approach is within 400 yards, the victory must belong to the shogunate army.

At a distance of 400 yards, the soldiers faced a long queue of enemies, so they just aimed their guns and aimed at the bombardment, one after another, until the ten bullets in the barrel were exhausted, and two were kept for spare.

Even if 20 bullets hit one, such intensive firepower is not a blow that the rebels can withstand, and they must collapse instantly.

The premise is

We must withstand the serious casualties in the early stage and reduce the distance between the two sides to less than 400 meters.

"General Fan, I doubt whether the soldiers will be able to approach the enemy with huge unilateral casualties as you said. This kind of war is too cruel..." General Tokugawa Yoshiki still lacked confidence.

Major General Fan Pengju frowned slightly, but still answered patiently; "Your Excellency, you can see that the shogunate army has stepped up and approached the distance between the two sides to within 500 yards. The fatal flaw of the Mini rifle is that it is slow to reload the bullets." , and our front-line commanders know this very well, and are seizing the time to shorten the distance between the two sides in order to win fighters."

"That's right. So far, the shogunate army has performed very well." The French Brigadier General Pierre was speaking, and he was riding a horse on the right side of Major General Fan Pengju.

As a senior French army general, Brigadier General Pierre knew the Mini rifle very well, because it was a musket-loading rifle invented by the French that fired egg-shaped lead bullets.

The Minie rifle is a rifled gun. When loading bullets, the rifle is placed on the ground with the muzzle facing up. It is necessary to tear the fixed black powder pack, pour it in from the muzzle, and then tamp the egg-shaped lead bullets with a cleaning rod.

When the Minie rifle is fired, the violently expanding propellant powder will deform the softer lead bullets, thereby achieving a good sealing effect. This is also the key point that can still have a strong lethality at 800 yards.

As for the shooting accuracy, it is much higher than the old-fashioned smoothbore gun.

But if you want to shoot accurately, you can only put the enemy within a distance of three or four hundred yards. Beyond this distance, you can only look at the sky and rely on the intensity of the volley of gun fire to strike the enemy.

When the queues of both sides approached to a range of more than 450 yards, most of the soldiers in the first round of the rebels' gun attack had reloaded their bullets. Under the command of the commander, they raised their rifles again and fired a deadly round of guns.

A large cloud of gray and black gunpowder rose into the sky, and the queue that the shogunate was rushing into was stagnant like a heavy punch, and then fell down like cutting rice amidst blood splatter and miserable howls. There were seven or eight hundred people The officers and soldiers fell to the ground and died unexpectedly.

This round of gun strikes caused a great disturbance in the shogunate army, but under the strong suppression of the commander, they could only bite the bullet and move on.

After a short period of confusion, many members of the royal family screamed wildly with blood-red eyes, and charged forward with rifles in their hands...

only one or two minutes later
Finally hearing the commander's order "All stop advancing, level the guns in the first row, and get ready...to fire!", the soldiers of the Shogunate army in the first row stopped in a hurry, panting and raised their rifles in unison.

And at this time

The soldiers in the second round of gun strikes by the rebels had reloaded their bullets, and also raised their rifles in unison under the command of the commander.

With a distance of more than 400 meters, the black muzzles of the two sides aimed at each other, and then fired almost simultaneously amidst the hysterical shouts of the commander.

"Making love……"

Dense volleys of gunfire intertwined one after another, the battlefield was filled with gray-black gunpowder smoke, and visibility dropped by one level, but the strong smell of blood gushed out, making people sick.

The deadly rain of bullets easily pierced through the symbolic armor and cut blood holes one after another in the soldiers' bodies. The spray of blood stained the huge battlefield with blood, and the battlefield was extremely bloody and cruel.

wait...something is wrong...

Round after round of volleys of gunshots rang out densely and continuously, which made the face of the rebel generals of the "Sajang Alliance" change suddenly, from the previous joy and encouragement to pale.

The family knows their own affairs. The British Mini rifles equipped by the "Salong Alliance" are similar to the Dutch Gabel rifles. They are both loaded with bullets in the front chamber. It is impossible to have such a continuous and violent volley of guns.

Then...the shogunate.

Thinking of this, the rebel generals in the rear looked at each other with ugly faces.

The frightening sound of gunfire continued for nearly a full minute, mixed with the hysterical shouts of the commander of the shogunate army, and there was a short rotation pause of more than ten seconds, and then the gunfire sounded again intensively...

it's over...

These two words instantly appeared in the minds of the rebel generals, and then they saw the beaten soldiers fleeing with their heads in their arms, rushing towards their own positions in a dark mass.

Upon closer inspection, the soldiers were no longer in formation.

The sound of the shogunate army shouting and killing came from behind, and the cold wind in the wilderness blew away the thick smoke. What was displayed in front of the rebel general was an unbelievable scene like a bloody slaughterhouse.

The dense bodies of rebel soldiers lay down on the battlefield, and it is unknown how many people died in the battle.The lodging corpses can vaguely see the appearance of a long queue. Under the intensive volley of guns fired by the shogunate army for 30 rounds (note, three shots, one row fired 10 rounds of bullets), the casualties were as high as 6%.

The remaining rebel soldiers have completely collapsed, yelling and running everywhere, and the fiasco is a foregone conclusion.

(End of this chapter)