Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 27 Moving forward
The Ming army sent out cavalry from both wings and prepared for a decisive battle from the very beginning.

As usual, the standard camp led the way, leaving only a group of troops in the central army to protect the commander.

Cen Danchu was on the right wing, leading the first, second, and third battalions, plus the cavalry of the right wing commander Bai Gui, totaling about 500 cavalry. The cavalry on the left wing was slightly weaker, with about 400 cavalry.

The artillery continued to fire, but the sound was sparse. Both sides had realized that their rockets were insufficient and they needed to move forward to use the firepower of their muskets and sub-cannons.

At this moment, they had to send out cavalry for a tentative confrontation. As soon as the Ming cavalry was dispatched, the Qing army also sent out cavalry. This was a normal operation, and the Qing army had to protect the artillery in front of the battle.

One li is only 360 steps, or 576 meters. For infantry, this is a long distance, and for cavalry, it is not close either.

"Form a line! In dense formation!" Cen Danchu shouted, and the flag bearer waved the flag.

The cavalry also needed to be arranged in formation. The first, second, and third cavalry teams of the standard camp formed a dense formation, with the third team in the middle and the first and second teams on the two wings, with the heavy cavalry in front and the light cavalry in the back. The cavalry of the right army was not as elite as the standard camp, and followed behind the standard camp.

The three teams were more closely aligned, with the cavalrymen standing close to each other, so close that they could hold hands.

On the battlefield, cavalry went deep into the enemy's rear and charged too fast, which often made people and horses timid. Forming dense formations can form a group effect and encourage soldiers and horses to move forward.

The Jin Dynasty once had "Iron Pagoda" and "Chain Horse", which were thirty armored war horses connected together with iron chains, and then equipped with heavy armored cavalry, which traveled across the north.

"Go!" Danchu ordered, and the cavalry began to move forward. They said "go fast", but in fact they were jogging, in order to save horsepower and maintain formation.

The Qing cavalry had more people and did not have so many concerns, so their formation was a little disorganized.

When they were two hundred steps apart, the cavalry stopped, gathered their formation, and then "jogged".

At 100 steps, the enemy was clearly visible. Cen Danchu could hear heavy breathing on both sides, and he could not help but take out the long bow, took out an arrow, and ordered "Run!"

If they move forward fifty more steps, they will be able to shoot arrows, and there will be no time to gather the formation.

Cen Danchu took the time to look at the troops. The third team was relatively neat, and the first and second teams were barely satisfactory. The right cavalry behind him was terrible, with a scattered formation and no coordination between the left and right.

It’s hard to say anything about them since they are not your own soldiers.

Damn the "military camp system"!
In ancient times, the ability to organize and mobilize was weak, and the largest unit was usually a battalion of 3,000 people. In wartime, several battalions were drawn to form an army, and one person was assigned to command it. As a result, the soldiers did not know the generals, and the generals did not know the soldiers. The officers of each battalion were parallel to each other, not subordinate to each other, and did not cooperate closely.

This military camp system lasted for thousands of years until the late Qing Dynasty, when Yuan Shikai trained troops at Xiaozhan and implemented hierarchical command in the Beiyang Army, which finally broke it.

Although the standard camp had a small number of soldiers, it was also a disguised military camp system. The six standard troops were directly under Jiao Lian. As the commander-in-chief, he obviously could not command these six standard troops personally.

I am actually the leader of Team 3, but I have to temporarily command Teams 1 and 2. Obviously, it will not be smooth. Well, if there is a chance in the future, I must get rid of this malpractice.

In a moment, the two armies were fifty steps apart. Cen Danchu collected his thoughts and ordered "charge". The cavalry moved forward at full speed, bent their bows and drew their arrows, aiming at the enemy and shooting.

At close range, the best weapon is the broadsword, which is as powerful as a musket, and has much better firing rate and reliability than a musket.

However, the long-tipped bow has a heavy pulling force and is difficult for ordinary soldiers to pull.

"Swoosh!" Dan Chu was already very skilled in using the broadsword. Although shooting on horseback was not as steady as shooting while standing, he was still in high spirits. He pulled the broadsword to its full length and shot an arrow first.

The arrow flew out, and a Qing soldier fell down. Then, he bent over and took out a heavy arrow from his crossbow, drew his bow again, took aim, and shot quickly.

The enemy's arrows also flew over. There was a strange scream in front, and a comrade in armor was still pierced by an arrow, hitting the chest and falling off the horse. The large bow with heavy arrows can penetrate armor at close range. Therefore, some cavalrymen would wear multiple layers of armor during war. The Daur cavalry in the Eight Banners of Manchuria would even wear three layers of armor.

The day before yesterday, Cen Danchu led three teams to rob the eunuch who supervised the army and got a set of chain mail. In the past two days, he has been wearing chain mail inside and a layer of iron armor outside, which has better protection.

Comrades died in battle, this was a common occurrence on the battlefield. Cen Danchu's heart skipped a beat, he drew his bow again, shot a heavy arrow, and hit another enemy soldier.

Payback!
"Clang..."

The heavy cavalry in front had already engaged the enemy. They mostly used long weapons such as spears and lances, and with the help of the horse's momentum, they were extremely fast. If they could pierce the enemy, they would often disembowel them.

Cen Danchu shot the fourth arrow, and the two enemy soldiers were already in front of him. He quickly put down his bow and arrow, took out his lance, and with a clang, the weapons collided. The lance pressed down the opponent's spear, and with another shake, it pierced the enemy's helmet, and his brains splattered everywhere.

Another enemy soldier took advantage of the situation and thrust his spear forward. Danchu dodged carefully, but his left arm was scratched by his spear. The spear tip penetrated the armor, but was blocked by the chain mail, leaving only a superficial wound that oozed a little blood.

Cen Danchu was furious. He spurred his horse forward, grabbed the enemy soldier's spear with his left hand, and thrust the halberd with his right hand. The blade of the halberd pierced through the enemy soldier's body.

The flag bearers behind him rushed over and protected Dan Chu in the middle.

The cavalry of the two armies were entangled in the battle, neither side gave in, and the fight was fierce.

The Ming infantry continued to advance steadily. Following the drum beats, the left, right, and center armies still stopped every ten steps, but their pace had increased.

The Qing army also began to advance. The three feudal lords were all brave generals from Dongjiang Town, and their troops were well-trained and could stop every fifteen steps.

The two armies were less than 200 steps away. The red-clad artillery team on the Wenchang Gate was still firing. Although these foreign soldiers demanded a high price, they were very disciplined and their artillery skills were very accurate. They dared to fire at such a close distance without hurting their own people.

Within 200 steps, the falconets could be used. The Ming army stopped and launched light artillery such as sky rockets, falconets, sub-cannons, and tiger squat cannons in front of the heavy armored infantry.

The Ming army had advanced firearms and a lot of equipment. The Portuguese cannon was imported from Europe. One main cannon was equipped with three sub-cannons. After firing one sub-cannon, another sub-cannon could be replaced. The firing rate was very fast. The sub-cannon was similar to the main cannon.

However, this type of artillery has a fatal weakness: the air tightness of the barrel is poor and the shells are not powerful enough.

The Ming Dynasty put a lot of effort into improving the falconet, but it went in the wrong direction.

The Qing army preferred the rockets. Rockets can fire shrapnel, are powerful, expensive to make, and only the Eight Banners soldiers can equip them. When the Eight Banners were about to go to war, the Han Eight Banners often operated the rockets, and the Manchu Eight Banners sent people to supervise the battle.

The Manchurian soldiers were not accustomed to the southern climate and did not penetrate deep into Guangdong and Guangxi.

Both sides fired at each other. Lead bullets and shrapnel continued to fall into the battle array, and officers and soldiers fell down in casualties, and the soldiers behind had to fill in.

No one dared to desert the battlefield. Anyone who retreated without permission would be beheaded. The commander could not order a retreat, otherwise the army would be defeated. Nor could they rush forward in a swarm, otherwise the enemy would be at ease and easily harvest their heads.

They could only hold their heads and pray to God that no shells would fall near them. If the army had poor discipline and the soldiers lacked training, they would often collapse at this point.

The artillery shells of both sides were not dense. The Ming army ran out of Portuguese cannons and continued to advance.

Large-scale troop combat is so boring and so formulaic. As time goes on, more weapons can be used, and the killing will be more brutal.

(End of this chapter)