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Chapter 1411 Vulnerable

In about ten minutes, the rangers below the city had fired about six rounds of fire, and no one could be seen on the city walls anymore. But the counterattack did not stop, and experienced soldiers could see that the defenders were about to collapse. The firing was also aimless and random, and the area around the artillery positions was completely empty, with only one shot fired every long while.

"Attack the city!" Marshal Konetspolsky was certainly experienced enough in combat to issue the order to attack the city without hesitation.

Barring any major unforeseen circumstances, we should be able to capture Turkestan tonight, and then it will be time to hunt down the fleeing defenders. It's possible that before dawn, the first major victory in the Northern Theater will occur, won by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth forces. More importantly, it will be won under our command, and right in front of the Russians!
At a command, thousands of Cossack cavalrymen charged forward again, but this time they did not carry sabers and muskets. After quickly approaching the city wall, they picked up several bags from their horses, threw them down, and turned back.

"His Majesty should see for himself that the European military he speaks of is still using such primitive methods to attack cities. Send the signal; there's nothing more to test. Let's finish this early and get some rest. We might have to entertain the Russians again tomorrow."

What was happening below the city walls might be difficult for the soldiers on the city walls to observe closely amidst a hail of bullets, but it couldn't be hidden from the lookouts in the hot air balloons floating in the night sky.

When the news reached the ears of the garrison commander, the somewhat young officer wore a disdainful expression. He mocked the Polish army's outdated tactics and even dragged the emperor into it. Then, listlessly, he waved to his staff officer, as if he had lost interest in what was about to happen.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh... Crack crack crack..." A few minutes later, a sharp whistle suddenly came from the night sky, accompanied by three streaks of fire piercing the night sky, flying a long distance before exploding into three red flowers in mid-air.

"Creak...creak..." Before the fireworks in the sky had even faded, there was movement at the eastern city gate. As the winch turned, the iron gate slowly rose, and the city gate slowly opened.

Squads of Ming army soldiers, dressed in khaki uniforms, emerged in single file, some on horseback and others in carts. Every few dozen meters, they lit torches, which gradually formed several fiery snakes winding eastward in the darkness.

"Forward, warriors, may the Virgin Mary protect you!"

Outside the city walls, archers were firing bullets with all their might, Cossack cavalry were carrying sandbags with all their might, and flames were spitting out from the city walls from time to time. It was a very lively scene to watch and listen to, as if the battle was going on very fiercely.

However, on the north and south flanks of Turkestan, several thousand cavalrymen lay silently in the darkness, keeping a close watch on the distant city. Only when the city gates opened and the long line of torches snaked eastward did the cavalrymen mount their horses and march eastward amidst the blessings of the accompanying chaplains.

Compared to the Ottoman Janissaries and Cossack cavalry, these cavalrymen also wore metal plate armor for their cuirass, backplate, arm guards, and neck guards, more like the heavy cavalry of Spain and Austria who wore three-quarter plate armor. However, their legs were not protected by heavy armor; at most, they wore thick leather boots.

What sets them apart most is not their armor, but the pair of wings on their backs and their excessively long weapons. Their lances are at least 5 meters long, with wooden shafts and metal tips. When they run, they stand upright on lance racks, and when there are many of them, they resemble a small forest, creating a visually stunning sight.

As the rider charges, the spear gradually flattens, gaining considerable lethality. The shaft is hollow and relatively light, weighing only about ten kilograms. Once it strikes a target, the spearhead breaks off at the rear, allowing the rider to discard the spear and draw a longsword and mace to continue fighting.

If the lance was practical, then the wings were purely for show. They were made by inserting the feathers of large birds such as eagles, cranes, and storks onto a wooden frame. The smaller ones were directly fixed to the rider's back, while the larger ones were fixed to the back of the saddle.

Its uses... Later generations have offered several interpretations, such as protection against being lassoed and mitigating attacks from behind. In reality, its defensive function was quite limited; its primary purpose was psychological, boosting morale and intimidating the enemy. The Winged Hussars were a renowned semi-heavy cavalry unit on the European battlefield. However, they were not unique to the Kingdom of Poland; the nobles of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania also formed many Winged Hussar regiments, which fought alongside the Polish Winged Hussars in numerous battles, proving to be on par in combat effectiveness.

This cavalry unit's record is well-known in Europe; it has repeatedly won battles against overwhelming odds, and it is no exaggeration to say that it was the foundation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Unfortunately, the Winged Hussars were aristocratic private armies, and the selection criteria and training costs were too high, so their numbers never increased. In peacetime, they only had about 3000 troops, and even after mobilization during wartime, the number never exceeded 8000.

If the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth could train 30000 Winged Hussars, the Tsar would immediately have to pack up and flee eastward, the Protestants among the German princes would have to reconsider their faith, and even the Swedes at their peak would have to avoid their advance.

The total number of Winged Hussars participating in this expedition was 6000, with 6% from the Kingdom of Poland and 4% from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. They basically gave it their all.

Marshal Konetspolsky deliberately concealed his winged hussars during his troop deployment, not by keeping them hidden in the rear, but by assigning them to the flanks. His intention was clear: to inflict heavy casualties on the Ming army in any potential open-field engagement.

Konetspolsky wasn't certain the Ming army would leave the city. On one hand, the Winged Hussars were too expensive to build and really unsuitable for sieges; on the other hand, it was a standard deployment. If the siege was successful, the nobles inside the city would definitely flee in advance, and then the Winged Hussars would come in handy.

But to everyone's surprise, the Ming army's combat effectiveness was not very strong, at least far weaker than the legends suggested. From beginning to end, they failed to inflict much damage on the attacking forces, and were directly suppressed by the firepower of the siege guns.

What was even more surprising was the fighting spirit of the nobles and officers in the city. The siege had only lasted half a night, and the casualties were not heavy. They were just trying to sneak away because the situation was not very favorable.

This aligns with what I've seen and heard along the way. The Kazakhs had no intention of acting as a shield for the Ming Empire. Many ethnic groups, upon hearing of the European coalition's eastward expedition, packed their belongings, herded their livestock, and abandoned their ancestral pastures, fleeing far away.

In the darkness, two cavalry units galloped eastward in columns from the north and south flanks. After roughly overtaking the fire dragon, they turned right and left almost simultaneously, changing from columns to multiple horizontal ranks, and launched an attack from the north and south.

"Marshal, it seems the Polish pigs have succeeded!"

From the moment the east gate opened, and a faint red dragon snaked eastward, Tatarinov's face fell. He had originally planned to sit back and watch the two sides fight, to enjoy a grand spectacle, and to use the lives of the Poles to test the strength of the Ming army.

Unexpectedly, the garrison and nobles here were so incompetent that they fled without putting up much resistance. In this terrain, the Polish winged hussars were like fish in water, and their ability to take on ten men at once was no exaggeration.

(End of this chapter)