GBP Chapter 571 The First Charge
Chapter 571 The First Charge
After the Later Jin cavalry advanced a distance under the fire of field artillery and entered the optimal firing range of the mountain artillery, the four artillery batteries in the center of the formation opened fire.
"Boom boom boom!" The mountain guns, having raised their firing angle, spewed orange-red flames, and a dense barrage of grenades flew over the heads of the soldiers in front, heading towards the galloping cavalry.
This was the first time Gartu had ever seen artillery firing in a curved trajectory. He couldn't help but look up at the shells falling like hailstones. What on earth was this? Some of these shells, weighing about 6 pounds each, hit people or horses, falling to the ground dripping with blood, while others hit the ground directly, creating a crater before bouncing back up.
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"... As the delayed fuses detonated, grenades exploded one after another, engulfing the entire cavalry column in massive flames and smoke. Some were thrown from their horses by the shockwaves, while others were killed instantly by shrapnel. The warhorses, startled by the loud explosions and blast waves, began to run wildly, disobeying their masters. Many were thrown from their frenzied horses and trampled into a bloody pulp by the swarming hooves.
Despite the violent explosions, many warhorses, being far from the blast points, were not significantly affected and continued charging forward, quickly escaping the artillery's firing range and entering the blind spot of the shells.
However, they were met with a neat volley of gunfire.
Quartz gave the order for the infantry to attack, and the bugler sounded his horn, the resounding blast echoing to every corner. The five hundred soldiers standing in front, under the command of their respective company and platoon leaders, simultaneously pulled their triggers.
"Bang, bang, bang!" The rain of lead bullets made the cavalrymen who had luckily escaped the artillery barrage begin to question their existence—they soon discovered that while large cannonballs could kill, small lead bullets could also be lethal. The dense network of fire formed by five hundred soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder made the cavalrymen feel as if they had crashed headfirst into a wall, their heads bleeding profusely.
After dodging a barrage of solid shot and grenades, Gartu, acting as the spearhead, finally succumbed to a hail of lead bullets. A stray bullet struck his right shoulder, nearly shattering his scapula. Gartu felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, his vision blurred, and he almost fell off his horse.
After suffering heavy losses, some of the Mongol cavalry scattered on both flanks finally entered the range of the mounted archers. They skillfully maneuvered their horses with their feet, quickly turning at a distance of sixty or seventy paces to be parallel to their opponents, and using the momentum of their horses to launch their arrows.
The arrows were still flying in the air when the deadly lead bullets came whistling down. The Mongols who had completed their mission were hit and fell from their horses. They went to meet the King of Hell before they could even see their spoils of war.
This volley of arrows landed precisely in the crowd, and many were hit and forced to withdraw from the battle. The formation became somewhat sparse, not as tight as it had been at the start of the battle, but the gap that the Later Jin cavalry had hoped for did not appear.
In contrast, the cavalry suffered far greater losses. After being bombarded by field artillery, mountain guns, and rifles, very few were able to get close to the infantry ranks. Faced with the gleaming bayonets, the warhorses and their riders instinctively chose to retreat. The soldiers loaded their second bullets and pulled the triggers at the enemy's backs. "Bang, bang, bang!" The retreating cavalrymen fell from their horses one after another.
After this charge, 600 to 700 of the 2,000 cavalrymen were lost, with a casualty rate of over 30%. The remaining men managed to escape. Gartu was seriously wounded and had just retreated to a safe distance when he fell off his horse. The people next to him quickly dismounted to help him up.
At this moment, Abatai's army arrived on the battlefield. He frowned as he observed the three triangular formations. This depth troubled him greatly: it was almost impossible to muster the cavalry for a single charge, and even if they could break through one formation, the two following formations would absorb and neutralize the cavalry's impact like sponges, eventually causing the army to become lost within the encirclement. Moreover, Gartu's recent defeat proved that without committing sufficient troops, breaking through even a single formation was an insurmountable challenge.
Gartu was carried past Abatai's mount by several Bayara. Gartu barely opened his eyes and forced out a few words: "Your Highness... I am incompetent... However, these Ming dogs' guns and cannons are even more powerful than those Ming troops in Dengzhou. They are not to be trifled with... Your Highness, please be careful..."
Abatai witnessed the battle from afar. This time, he didn't "respond" to Gartu with his riding whip, but simply nodded slightly: "You've done your best. It's not that you weren't brave in battle, but these Ming dogs' guns and cannons were too powerful. Go and stop the bleeding and heal your wounds. Leave the rest to me!"
Gartu was deeply moved and hissed, "Let me rest for a while, then I'll mount my horse and follow the Prince to kill the Ming dogs!"
After Gartu was carried to the rear, Abatai continued to gaze ahead, pondering a countermeasure. Inadvertently, he noticed a large "琼" (Qiong) character on a flag fluttering in the center of the First Regiment's position. A thought struck him: could this be the Qionghai Town the Ming army in Dengzhou had mentioned? No wonder they dared to intercept the Jin army in open battle; judging from their performance at the Dengzhou stone fortress and the battle just now, they certainly had the confidence.
Abatai glanced back at the long convoy of supply trains and the throngs of civilians, his heart filled with conflict. Without the spoils and the burden of these people, he believed that even the most powerful Ming army, with its guns and cannons, would be no match for the full force of his ten thousand-strong army. But what was the point of entering the pass if he abandoned these things? Wasn't he here to plunder silver and people within Ming territory?
He looked at the Ming army ahead again. As far as the eye could see, there were only infantrymen, no cavalry (the Independent Regiment's cavalry battalion had suffered heavy losses and had little room to play in such a large-scale battle, so Xia Tiannan left them in the Dengzhou camp to rest and recover). This meant that the enemy could only fight positional warfare and could not launch a pursuit. So a thought slowly formed in his mind and gradually became clear.
"Pass on my orders!" Abatai shouted, "Except for a small number of troops guarding the supplies and the soldiers, all those with horses, mount up and concentrate our forces to attack the first square formation! Those without horses, the bondservants, make shield wagons and place them at the front."
Once the order was given, the entire army sprang into action.
Even the surplus soldiers, who weren't usually involved in combat, donned all sorts of leather or chainmail armor, wiped their swords, checked the arrows in their quivers, and those with horses mounted their warhorses, joining the cavalry in preparation for the charge alongside the regular troops. The infantry, clad in two thick layers of armor, sat cross-legged to rest and conserve their energy, waiting for the cavalry to break through the lines and charge into the enemy ranks for hand-to-hand combat. The bondservants and auxiliary soldiers moved supplies, clearing out many carts, nailing one or two layers of wooden planks in front, covering them with quilts, and piling up sacks filled with mud and sand to hastily make makeshift shield carts.