Chapter 719 Decisive Battle on the Grassland
After the first round of volleys, although Xue Tu and his men could not clearly see the results of the battle on the opposite side, it was certain that dozens of shells had all hit the enemy's formation. As long as they could hit the enemy, they would definitely cause damage. Killing a few more now would give them a better chance in hand-to-hand combat later.
With this mentality, Xue Tu immediately gave the order to continue firing, and at the same time began to let the soldiers mount their horses, preparing to launch the attack after two more rounds of firing.
The artillery of each artillery position was pushed back by the violent recoil. In order to restore the artillery position faster, they hardly aimed, as long as the artillery roughly pointed at the enemy's formation. After all, there were so many people crowded together on the opposite side, and such an opportunity was not easy to take. After everyone dispersed, it would not be easy to deal such high damage.
The two instructors assigned to each artillery had a strict division of labor. One was responsible for target verification and firing instructions, and the other was responsible for cleaning the barrel and loading ammunition. Each of them led a few soldiers to operate nervously.
The second round of artillery fire was quickly prepared. After receiving the order from the central army, the flintlock was immediately pulled. With a crisp snap, the flint and the flint collided and ignited the medicine pool below. With a hiss, a cluster of fire and smoke spurted out from the firing port, followed by a loud bang. The smoke and the fire pushed the shells out together, and the entire gun carriage retreated again under the action of recoil.
This time, they didn't care whether the front hit or not. They immediately started the third reset aiming and clearing and loading. The speed of artillery fire preparation has been brought to the extreme.
In history, the elite artillery of the French army used the front-loading smoothbore Napoleon cannon, which could fire three shells in one minute. However, the improved cast steel cannon imitated by Luo Chong based on the Napoleon cannon could only fire four shells in three minutes in the hands of the half-baked artillery. The reset and loading speed was much slower, but it was enough to deal with the Maodun coalition forces on the opposite side.
The Maodun coalition army, which had just been hit by a round of artillery shells, had fallen into chaos. Maodun's personal command was no longer useful. The coalition army was frightened by the horrific artillery bombardment and fled in all directions, but they were crowded together and could not go anywhere. Only the soldiers closest to the periphery could escape.
However, the soldiers on the periphery were not attacked by artillery fire. They only heard loud noises from the Han tribe and riots in the central army, but they could not see what happened specifically. It was because there were too many people and Maodun did not have a mature command system. It was fine when the battle went smoothly, but when such a rout occurred, even he could not command his own army.
The second round of artillery shells flew into the chaotic coalition army again. The iron shells burned by high-pressure flames began to rush between the people and horses, creating a bloody alley in the army.
Countless screams and cries of terror resounded through Maodun's coalition forces. Dozens of artillery shells ploughed the land and destroyed Maodun's coalition forces again. This time, due to the nervous operation of the artillery, some of the horizontal firing angles were not aligned, and the shells flew diagonally towards the coalition forces.
After entering the front of the coalition camp, they soon rushed out from the side of the army formation, creating a diagonal blood alley in the huge army formation. This time, the soldiers on the periphery finally realized something.
Looking at the blood alley created by the shells, you can see the front row of the army formation at a glance, and all the people, horses and vehicles along the way have been reduced to dust.
The soldiers on the periphery were also shocked. They finally knew what had happened just now. It turned out that the rumbling sound from the Han tribe just now was an attack on them.
Seeing such a tragic scene, the soldiers on the periphery were frightened and screamed, and hurriedly rode their horses to flee. The people of the Han tribe had not seen it yet, but they had been beaten so badly. If they rushed to the opposite side with them, wouldn’t they not even know how they died?
Besides, many of them were forced by Maodun to fight the Han tribe in Kaiyuan County. They originally thought that they had more people and more power, and even if they really fought, they might not be able to rush to the front. When the Han tribe was defeated, they could still grab some good things in Kaiyuan County.
Many people came with this idea, but now they were beaten so badly by the Han tribe, who would continue to have such an unrealistic dream? They were all awakened by the powerful artillery, so they ran away.
As the outer formations dispersed, the central army, which was facing the artillery fire, began to flee without a second thought. The defeat was inevitable, and even the leaders of the small tribes could not stop them. If they encountered those frightened warriors, they would be attacked by their own fleeing soldiers if they rashly stopped them from fleeing. Many leaders of the small tribes were killed while conveying orders.
Seeing that the enemy's formation was becoming more and more scattered, the artillery of the Han tribe gathered all their strength to start loading. In order to obtain greater lethality and a longer range, all the gun positions began to use double charge this time, a normal solid iron bullet, to obtain a greater lethal effect.
The third round of artillery fire was quickly prepared. Amidst the loud rumbling noises, the enemy's formation was completely broken up. Countless coalition soldiers were frantically fleeing for their lives. However, the shells came again and flew into their camp again. Dozens of blood alleys covered the fleeing coalition again. Seeing that the attack of the Han tribe had not ended, the enemies thought that what they were worried about had finally happened. They were so scared that they dared not stay in place any longer and scrambled to flee to the periphery or the back.
The artillery of the Han tribe finally stopped. As soon as the artillery over there ended, Chai Duoduo had already led his 2,000 heavily armored cavalry of Qianniuwei and more than 15,000 herders' reorganized army to rush towards Maodun's defeated army. Now Maodun's coalition was simply a drowning dog. If they didn't fight at this time, when would they fight?
Xue Tu didn't get the chance to rush to the front line, so he could only stay in the central army with his 2,000 Tiger Guards to hold the line. Who else could stay if he didn't? His Tiger Guards were just used to protect the artillery and artillery.
On the other side of the battlefield, not far away from Su Ritu, he just heard the report from the scouts in the rear, saying that the Han tribe had deployed a mysterious and powerful secret weapon. Before the two sides officially met, they had already beaten Maodun's people and horses to the ground and suffered heavy losses. It was just like a punishment from God.
The Han tribe had good equipment and advanced technology, which Su Ritu was absolutely convinced of. The Han tribe had a great chance to win, and he believed it. In Su Ritu's view this time, the best result was that the Han tribe relied on its super strength to withstand Maodun's human wave tactics for a while, and when huge losses occurred, they would take the initiative to run back to the city, and then his chance would come.
At that time, whether he followed Maodun to attack Kaiyuan City or attacked Maodun's remaining army to rescue the Han tribe, he could negotiate based on the benefits given by both sides and strive to maximize the benefits.
But now a group of scouts told him that the Han tribe had already defeated Maodun's army with a few magical moves before the battle even started? Isn't this nonsense?
If this is true, how can he play this time?
Unwilling to believe the truth, Su Ritu personally led hundreds of soldiers to the front line of the battlefield to scout the situation. When he arrived, he happened to see the third round of artillery attack by the Han tribe. Maodun's side had indeed been beaten to pieces, and even began to flee in panic.
The Han tribe also launched a general attack after firing three rounds of artillery.
Su Ritu was also shocked by the strange attack of the Han tribe in front of him, but seeing that the Han tribe had taken the lead in launching a general attack and Maodun's coalition forces had been defeated, he was extremely anxious.
The previous strategy was no longer useful. The only chance to remedy the situation was to help the Han tribe to hunt down Maodun, the fallen dog. Only in this way could they explain to the Han tribe why they led tens of thousands of troops to come. If they could not explain this clearly, they would probably be recorded in the Han tribe's notebook in the future. Whether they could buy more supplies from the Han tribe at that time was unknown.
So Su Ritu immediately sent people back to the army in the rear and asked them to bring their respective small tribes with them.
The final decisive battle had arrived. Since Maodun had been defeated, they might as well kill him completely. In this way, the Han tribe would be the only powerful force left in the entire grassland. At that time, he would be able to gain more say in front of the Han tribe. This was the most profitable result that Su Ritu could think of in the current state.
Nearly 20,000 cavalrymen from the Han tribe went out together. The horseshoes with iron palms stepped on the grassland with a rumbling sound of thunder. Tens of thousands of cavalrymen, with the momentum of destroying the world, rolled up the rolling dust behind them and pressed towards Maodun's defeated army.
A distance of one thousand meters was very suitable for the cavalry to speed up, not to mention that the Han tribe had almost dispatched its entire battalion. With such a big movement, it was hard for Maodun to not see it. His coalition army had just been defeated in those rounds of inexplicable artillery fire, and now the Han tribe was coming to kill him again. He had only two choices, either to escape or to organize troops to fight the Han tribe.
But the defeated soldiers now did not listen to his command at all, and the massive attack of the Han tribe made them even more frightened. They had no awareness that they had the advantage in numbers, and instead ran faster.
"Kill one person and you will be awarded a title. Those who kill Maodun will be promoted three levels. Charge!"
In the front of the rumbling cavalry, Chai Duoduo, the commander of the Qianniu Guard, stood upright in the stirrups, holding the reins with one hand and holding a two-meter-long horse spear with the other hand, and shouted at the soldiers around him at the top of his lungs.
"Kill Maodun, be promoted to the third rank, charge!"
The rumbling sound of horse hooves was getting closer and closer. Maodun saw that it was hopeless to mobilize the army, so he immediately turned around and ran with his personal soldiers. Tens of thousands of people on the opposite side shouted his name together, and he was so scared that he didn't dare to stay for a moment. He didn't even need others to translate for him. He knew that the other side had absolutely no other good words except to let him die.
"The heavy armored Qianniu guards will follow me to charge the formation, and the left wing of the Yili tribe will outflank and block Maodun's way."
As the distance between the two sides got closer and closer, Chai Duoduo also saw the situation on the opposite side clearly, and hurriedly made urgent arrangements. After hearing the order, the messenger around him immediately blew the military horn and waved the general flag in his hand vigorously to command the army.
After hearing the order, the Qianyang Yili and other tribes returning to Han on the left wing immediately led their armored light cavalry to leave the main force and outflank Maodun's retreat.
The next moment, when the distance between the two sides was less than 200 meters, Chai Duoduo took out a piece of black cloth from his waist and covered the horse's face with one hand, covering both eyes of the warhorse.
The warhorse lost its vision and was horrified. It immediately entered a state of shock, and its hooves started to run wildly, instantly increasing the speed of the horse to the extreme.
The soldiers behind him followed suit and also covered the horse's face. The speed of the entire army suddenly increased by one section. The speed and momentum of the attack frightened the enemy and made them scream.
Chai Duoduo loosened the hook and rope on his helmet, and a few friction sounds of armor leaves were heard. The layers of armor that were originally folded on his forehead immediately fell down, covering his entire face, leaving only two eyes staring at the enemy in front.
The next moment, the heavy armored cavalry of Qianniuwei rushed into Maodun's defeated army.
"The Han army is coming, run! Uh ah!"
Chai Duoduo led the way with an unrivaled momentum. The defeated army on the opposite side fired more than a dozen arrows at him, but they were all blocked by the steel armor. Then, he leaned over and half-lay on the horse's back, put the lance in his armpit and tightened it. The warhorse under him took him forward bravely, and instantly stabbed the five or six enemies in front of him into a string, all of whom were knocked to the ground by the lance.
Chai Duoduo, who was already deeply trapped in the enemy's formation, had no chance to withdraw the lance, which was too long, and simply pulled out the long knife hanging on the saddle and rushed forward again.
And the soldiers beside Chai Duoduo were also afraid that their commander would make a mistake, waving the shorter lance in their hands and bravely following Chai Duoduo around.
Bloody battle robes, shining armor, cold steel knives, and dense spears, several different colors woven a grand picture. They marched forward and fiercely attacked the enemy's formation, which had already collapsed. Countless steel knives flew up and down, bringing up pieces of blood, and killing people on the ground. Countless
corpses were trampled into pieces of meat under tens of thousands of iron hooves. The terrifying momentum frightened the enemy and no one dared to take on them. They urged their mounts to flee for their lives.
On the other side, the light armored cavalry led by Qianyang Yili also caught up with the fleeing Maodun. The two sides quickly closed in a horizontal direction. The light armored cavalry on the Han army's side had also raised the composite short bows they were issued. There was no need for command from above. As long as the opportunity was right, they began to shoot arrows at the enemy.
The next moment, the two teams approached and began to shoot arrows at each other. For a moment, the battlefield was like a locust flying across the border. Countless arrows flew back and forth between the two groups of cavalry. However, since the Han tribe was all armored, with good defense, and the quality of bows and arrows was also higher than that of Maodun, the casualties of both sides suddenly widened a significant gap.
On the other side of the main battlefield, just as Chai Duoduo led the Qianniu Guards to kill through the defeated army, a deafening shout of killing came from the northeast.
Su Ritu also rushed into the battlefield with 10,000 cavalry.
(End of this chapter)
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