The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 422 Ask for a hammer and get a hammer
Jin Wuzhu did not participate in the battle in which Guwei suffered a major defeat on the Jiaodong Peninsula.

At that time, he was being relentlessly beaten by Han Shizhong in Huangtiandang!
Therefore, he had no actual experience in combat with firearms units.

His understanding of the Northern Song army came entirely from the descriptions of the defeated troops returning from those battles on the Jiaodong Peninsula.

Jin Wuzhu was tired of hearing things like "the enemy opened fire from three miles away" and "the shells were still powerful even after flying several miles away, and whoever they hit would die."

He never took these words seriously because they sounded too fake.

I would never easily believe anything!
He once thought these words were excuses made by losers, excuses for their own failures.

He even harbored some dissatisfaction with Talai, believing him to be too weak. After losing a few battles, Talai had become a proponent of peace, so easily defeated, which was a disgrace to the Jurchen people. Jin Wuzhu, on the other hand, remained undeterred in his defeat at Huangtiandang, his fighting spirit undiminished, and he always maintained his confidence.

But now, seeing the enemy's artillery positions, so far away they were barely visible, firing and shells flying into the trebuchet array in his own rear, even Jin Wuzhu's immense confidence began to waver.

He turned his head in disbelief, looking at the enemy artillery position in the distance where the explosions were coming from, then looked back at his own troops' catapult positions where they were crying out in pain. After estimating the distance between the two sides, the expression on his face began to lose control...

"This is impossible! How did they do that?"

Li Cheng's expression changed. He had been awkwardly chatting with Jin Wuzhu under Jin Wuzhu's command flag, but now he immediately rushed back to his own army at top speed. As soon as he returned to his command flag, he immediately ordered: "Torpedoes, advance! Once within range, launch trebuchets to attack the enemy."

Li Chengjun's army was thus "forced" to advance.

The unprepared puppet Qi army pressed forward despite their difficulties.

Move the door panels forward!
The catapult array also hurriedly advanced...

The puppet Qi army was not an elite force to begin with, and once panicked, it immediately became scattered, its formation not tight enough, the soldiers pushing and shoving, and its morale low. They were hesitant to advance when facing the Northern Song soldiers, and hesitant to retreat when facing the Jin soldiers; they were stuck there, cowardly as dogs.

When Jin Wuzhu saw the useless look of these people, he knew they wouldn't amount to anything.

He had no choice but to wave his hand: "Horse, go from the flank and provide diversionary fire."

The cavalry, which had been waiting on both flanks of the battlefield, immediately flew in from both sides and circled around to attack the Northern Song army.

The cavalry had already gained some experience in fighting the Northern Song army, especially in terms of the range of bows and arrows and the range of firearms.

Through word of mouth, they already knew that the main force of the Northern Song army, the "volley gun troops," would only fire in large volleys after entering within 30 meters in most cases; beyond 30 meters, they would only fire sporadically.

This gives the cavalry some room to maneuver. Although they usually only shoot when their arrows are within 30 meters, if the enemy's range is 30 meters, the cavalry will increase their range, even if it means sacrificing some power.

This time, they started shooting arrows from a distance of forty meters.

In an instant, arrows flew like locusts, attacking the Northern Song army from both sides of the battle formation.

All that could be heard was a dense thud, as the Northern Song army's gate shields blocked the vast majority of the arrows. Only a few arrows managed to pass through the shields, and the outcome of the battle was unknown.

The horse with the limp was about to swerve sideways...

But then they heard a rapid series of volleys from the Northern Song army.

It turns out that this time, the Northern Song army also retaliated from a distance of forty meters!
This caught the thieves completely off guard!

Why did the Northern Song army, who always waited until 30 meters to fire, open fire at 40 meters? This... damn it...

Okay, it's not just you guys who extend the range and sacrifice firepower; the Northern Song army does it too.

At greater distances, the accuracy of the muskets decreased, and while a few of the cavalrymen were hit, most were unharmed.

They reined in their horses and turned back...

Just then, six gunshots rang out from a small crater some distance to the side of the battlefield. Six skirmishers had opened fire, while an archer under Niu Gao's command acted as a cheerleader from behind.

This crater was extremely far from the battlefield, at least a hundred meters away, but their shooting accuracy was terrifying.

A scream was heard, and a mouke (centurion) fell from his horse with a scream.

Then came another scream, and a highly skilled squad leader also fell from his horse.

In the blink of an eye, three men on the cavalry fell from their horses, all of them captains or higher.

The six stragglers in the small pit now had different expressions. The three who had been hit were overjoyed: "Hahaha, Captain, did you see that? I hit him! This merit should be recorded for me."

The three who failed looked utterly frustrated: "Damn it! A great opportunity slipped through our fingers."

The archer, standing behind, asked curiously, "How much is the reward for hitting one?"

The captain said, "The True Gold Thief's ragtag soldiers are worth thirty strings of cash, and the True Gold Thief's captain is worth fifty strings of cash."

Archer: "!!!"

The bounty almost made the archer jump up. He roared, "I, I, I want to fight too! I may not know how to use a musket, but I'm good with a bow and arrow."

Captain: "At such a distance, at least a hundred meters, your arrow wouldn't even be able to penetrate leather armor."

Archer: "..."

This is very embarrassing!

Is it too late for me to learn how to use a musket now?

At this point, the horse had already spread out and was maneuvering around again...

Someone with sharp eyes spotted the stragglers hiding in the pit and shouted, "There...there's a squad of Northern Song soldiers hiding there. They ambushed us with muskets and killed our captain!"

"Damn it, let's go take care of those guys."

"Don't go!" someone shouted. "Look carefully at the location of that pit."

The cavalrymen looked closely and saw that the pit was located to the side and rear of the main force of the Northern Song army. If the cavalrymen attacked the pit, they would be attacked laterally by the main force, which would be disastrous.

Of course, they could also run far to the side of the battlefield, then make a big detour and attack the foxholes from another direction, but if they did that, they would be too far away from their own main force and it would be difficult to coordinate with the main force.

I had no choice but to swallow my anger.

This wave of harassment by the guerrillas was ineffective and resulted in significant losses.

The retreating cavalrymen were all seething with resentment...

Just as they pulled back, they heard a whooshing sound in the sky as the Northern Song army's catapults began to fire.

The sight of the shells mixed with boulders was truly terrifying. The timid soldiers didn't even dare to raise their heads, but could only look straight ahead with their heads down, silently chanting, "They can't hit me, they can't hit me."

The bolder one pointed to the sky and shouted, "Come on, if you dare, land on my head!"

"Boom!" It actually landed on his head.

If you ask for a hammer and get one, that's a fulfilling life.

(End of this chapter)