Chapter 478 Fertile Nutrients
General Somov was able to take the position of commander-in-chief of the Russian coalition in Kangju not only because of his strength, which was comparable to that of a great knight, but also because of his rich combat experience.
Having fought against the Temple in the West for half his life, Somov knew that the best way for cavalry to attack without infantry support was not to launch a direct assault, but to harass the enemy and wait until they were worn down before finding a suitable breakthrough to expand the victory.
However, after testing the strength of the Da Yuan army, Yakufu realized that this was a tough nut to crack, so Somov finally decided on a wave attack strategy. After 50,000 to 60,000 men rushed forward, even if those in front knew the strength of the Da Yuan army and knew that charging forward would likely mean certain death, they could only be pushed to their deaths by those behind them.
Somov planned to use the Hun cavalry in front to push forward ruthlessly, while the Legion of the Dead were ready to provide support at any time. Their target was the powerful cultivators who might appear in the army or the most difficult parts of the enemy to attack.
"Don't panic! Don't let your hands shake! Don't fire beyond two hundred paces!"
"Yao Erwa, why are your hands shaking like this? Weren't they shaking like this when you were unbuckling a woman's belt the other day?"
"...Commander, Erwa wasn't shaking at all back then! I saw it with my own eyes; he came out in less than the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, he was so efficient..."
"Hmm! Could Erwa be the kind of 'quick-draw' that the prince mentioned...?"
Hahahaha!
Although most of Qin Mo's troops had experienced some combat training in the northern wilderness, Southeast Asia, and India, this was the first time they had faced a mass charge of tens of thousands of cavalry. It was impossible for them not to be nervous. The experienced brigade commanders and squad leaders in the army tried various methods to alleviate their fear and divert their attention.
Because the enemy's attack was very sudden, the army only had time to arrange the large wagons that accompanied the army into a rectangular temporary defensive formation. Tens of thousands of riflemen crowded behind the wagons, some standing, some crouching, and some lying under the wagons, with a dense array of gun barrels aimed at the approaching Hu cavalry.
Ultimately, the army did not hold out until the optimal firing distance of 200 paces from the enemy. After the enemy rushed within 300 paces, many new recruits showed signs of mental breakdown as they faced the tsunami of enemies. Qin Mo had no choice but to order the troops to fire prematurely, allowing them to release their fear.
Shelev was a Russian cavalry squad leader, and his squad had the bad luck of being the first to charge today. In Somov's words, "We can't let all the Russians lead the charge! Our warriors need to set an example too!"
The Russians selected five cavalry squads, and Shelev's squad was one of them. Faced with this mission, which was almost a death sentence, Shelev could only entrust a few words to his comrades, asking them to take good care of their families, before being pushed onto the road of no return.
As Sherev was escorted by his Hun cavalry to the front of the main army, he suddenly felt that things might not be so bad. Perhaps because of the haste, the enemy did not deploy their powerful giant crossbows, nor did they form that terrifying dense formation of spears.
"Are these Great Xia people all fools? They haven't even formed a spear formation. Do they really think they can withstand the charge of a large cavalry force with their short iron clubs?"
When cavalry attacks infantry, the cavalry at the forefront face a near-certain death because they must charge forward, horse and all, sacrificing themselves to break through the enemy's dense spear formation before beginning the slaughter. The formation displayed by the large army seemed laughable to Sherev.
Under the scorching sun, the overwhelming cavalry finally charged close to the Da Yuan army. Then they saw thick smoke rising in front of the Da Yuan army's position and heard a series of "pattering" sounds, like a torrential rain hitting the ground.
"The sun is shining so brightly in the sky... where did such loud rain come from?"
Shelev glanced at the azure sky with a puzzled look, and then saw several rows of cavalrymen in front of him bleeding profusely and falling from their horses.
"What is this... what are they doing?"
Shelev showed no sadness or resentment before his death, only deep doubt and bewilderment.
He watched as the high-ranking military riflemen in front of him repeatedly pulled on the black iron pipes in their hands. As some yellowish-orange things fell to the ground, plumes of white smoke rose up, and then the cavalrymen around him screamed and fell off their horses one by one.
Somov stood on the makeshift watchtower, watching the battle in the distance. He was puzzled. It was not unexpected that large numbers of Hu cavalrymen fell from their horses, but his extraordinary eyesight only allowed him to see a lot of white smoke. He could not figure out what methods the Xia people were using.
"General Somov, what do we do now? Continue the attack?"
“Yakfu, if we start ordering the retreat now, then those barbarians will have died in vain. Look, those barbarians are getting closer and closer to the Great Xia army!”
Coordinating and commanding 50,000 to 60,000 cavalrymen is no easy task. First, the cavalrymen at the back must be guided to the sides, and then the layer in front must be guided. With tens of thousands of cavalrymen stacked in layers of at least five or six, once they have all dispersed, the tens of thousands of Hu people at the front will all be dead. If no follow-up cavalrymen are available, then all efforts will be in vain.
"General, let the Legion of the Dead go! As long as we open a gap, we can rush in and wipe them all out."
“Yakfu, would you be willing to use Morakov’s men if it’s not necessary? Don’t you know how ferocious they can be when they go berserk?”
“They have five hundred men. If they all go berserk… I wonder how many herders will be left on this land. Without herders, who will support us?”
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