There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 145: Counterattack

The Qing cavalry finally set out!
This cavalry unit, regarded as a trump card by Eldengbao, was quite complex in its troop composition. The main combat force was naturally the Baturu guards and cavalry led by Delentang, one of the Eight Banners of Mongolia, with a total strength of more than 2,000 cavalry.

Then there were the Green Camp cavalry of each province. Despite the Qing dynasty's claim that the empire was ruled by archery and cavalry, aside from the Eight Banners, which had a large number of cavalry horses, the Green Camp cavalry in the interior of China was actually quite small. Specifically, the ratio of cavalry to infantry was roughly 1:10. Only provinces like Shaanxi and Gansu, close to horse breeding grounds and important border military towns, had a large number of Green Camp cavalry.

Eldengbao's trump card, including Delentang's Baturu guards and the cavalry assembled from the Green Camps of various provinces, totaled only more than 5,000 cavalry.

Of course, the Qing army had fewer cavalry units, and the Han army had even fewer, less than two thousand cavalry, and they had all been brought here.

Five thousand cavalrymen fighting against two thousand cavalrymen, this battle is impossible to win no matter how you look at it.

The Han army's cavalry had not had time to learn the European dragoons' tactics because they did not have the time and energy to train the cavalry to fight on horseback and fire volleys of muskets on horseback.

"Ta-ta-ta-ta!"

The Qing cavalry moved.

Delentang took the lead, led his Baturu guards, and led more than 5,000 cavalrymen to charge towards the left wing of the Han army's phalanx.

The Qing army was not stupid. They knew that the front of the square formation was full of muskets and cannons, and they would not be able to break it down in one go. Instead, they were in danger of being covered and attacked by the firepower of the Han soldiers.

"Wolf Whip Soldiers, form up!"

"Spearmen, form up!"

The Qing cavalry attacked the left wing, and the Han army responded immediately, quickly changing formations on both wings.

Long spears and wolf-whips extended from the left and right wings, forming a formation similar to a chevaux de frise.

As long as the cavalry dares to charge forward, they will be instantly turned into hedgehogs.

"Pah! Whoosh!"

Delentang waved his whip and suddenly reined in his horse before the Han army's barricade formation, slowing down. He then led thousands of cavalrymen behind him and turned back again. After running a large detour, the Qing cavalry returned and attempted a second charge towards the Han army formation where no long spears were protruding.

In a regular cavalry charge, they just run around, and it is basically rare for a head-on collision between cavalry and infantry to occur.

Only heavy cavalry can charge into infantry phalanxes head-on, while light cavalry mainly relies on cavalry charges to intimidate the enemy infantry, causing them to feel fear and collapse.

If they collapse, the cavalry can charge.

What if it doesn't crash?
Then charge a few more times. No matter how high the morale of an army is, facing the war horses charging back and forth, brushing shoulders with death every time, and even being able to smell the hot air coming out of the horses' faces, there will always be a time when they can no longer bear it.

Seeing the Qing cavalry charging from behind, the Han soldier's gazing hand quickly conveyed the message via intercom. The Han soldier officer in the rear formation immediately gave orders to the rattan shield soldiers: "Rattan shield soldiers, raise your shields! Forward!"

The Han soldiers holding rattan shields were unaware of the situation; they just subconsciously followed orders, raised their shields and marched forward in formation.

Delentang couldn't help it anymore. After turning around again, he took out the arrow on his back and shot it towards the Han army formation. The arrow instantly hit the wolf-whip hand of a Han soldier.

The wolf-whip soldier was shot in the face by an arrow and died instantly, and the wolf-whip in his hand fell to the ground.

With Delentang leading the way, the Baturu guards behind him followed suit and drew their bows and shot arrows on horseback.

As Baturu's guards, their personal bravery is indeed formidable, and it can be said that they never miss a target.

The Han army's spearmen and wolf-whip soldiers had no way to dodge, and several of them were shot down on the spot, but it was of no use. The other Han soldiers seemed to be completely unafraid of death. When someone fell down around them, they didn't even move. Even when the front row fell, the back row would immediately rush forward.

With the continuous advance, the Han army's formation was not at all disorganized, and they were trying to form a formation and counterattack.

No, it's not trying to fight back, it's already fighting back.

"Wolf-whip soldiers, swing forward!"

"Spearmen, thrust forward!"

The captains of the wolf-whip and long-lance squads watched for the opportunity when the Qing cavalry would charge. As soon as the Qing cavalry approached, they would immediately wield their wolf-whips to provoke them, and those who were too close would directly stab them with their long-lances.

After a few swings and stabbings back and forth, several Qing cavalrymen who rushed too close and could not rein in their horses were scratched all over, and their horses also had numerous small wounds on their necks and chests.

The Qing cavalry retreated, all with horror on their faces, and in their horror they felt it was extremely absurd.

Aren’t these traitors afraid of death?
Delentang was a little embarrassed. He had clearly boasted before the battle that as long as Baturu's guards were dispatched, the rebels would be defeated and dispersed. Even Eldenbao believed this and gave him such orders, hoping that the cavalry could turn the tide of the battle.

But the result was that Delentang launched several waves of trial charges, but the rebels showed no signs of collapse and were instead trying to use their infantry to withstand his cavalry.

De Lengzou was enraged and lost his temper. He had forgotten that the cavalrymen he brought were all light cavalry, without heavy weapons or full body armor to match the horses.

Delentang put away his bow and arrow and picked up his cavalry lance: "Warriors of the Qing Dynasty! Charge with me and defeat these arrogant rebels!"

"kill!"

"Ta-ta-ta-ta!"

More than 5,000 Qing cavalry launched a charge, and this time they were serious.

Delentang was in a hurry, but he also knew that he had to fight to the death. Without paying huge casualties, he could not expect to break into the Han army's phalanx.

"Although the Qing dog's infantry is weak in combat, these cavalry are truly brave. Especially the vanguard cavalry is definitely not comparable to the ordinary local green camp. They are either from the border towns or the heavy troops of the capital."

He Shunan put down the telescope in his hand and quickly made an inference about the composition of the Qing cavalry that were charging.

Chen Younian grinned beside him and said, "Who cares where they come from? These Qing dogs have already started charging. In my opinion, we should just send out the cavalry and eat them all. We can kill the men and save the horses. This will also make our cavalry much stronger."

He Shunan frowned. "No, the Qing cavalry is too numerous, at least several times greater than ours. With so many cavalry, even with superior armor, our cavalry will struggle to resist and can only passively defend. In a direct infantry phalanx engagement, our firearms already have the advantage, so there's no need to risk sending out cavalry to confront them."

Before Nie Yu could say anything, Bai Nan, who had been watching, suddenly said, "No, there's something strange about these Qing cavalrymen!"

Ok?
Hearing this, several people hurriedly raised their binoculars and saw that the Qing cavalry had made a big detour and was beginning to steadily increase their speed, preparing to charge into their own infantry's phalanx.

But soon, a strange phenomenon emerged. The Qing cavalry was actually disconnected? It should be said that it was not the Qing cavalry that was disconnected, but the more than 2,000 Batulu guard cavalry, which was the main force, was disconnected from the Green Camp cavalry behind.

The Batulu guards, along with their commander, Delentang, were completely unaware that they were already slowly increasing their speed. The Green Camp cavalry behind them, far from following suit, were deliberately slowing down and falling behind, with the distance between them visibly widening rapidly.

More than 5,000 Qing cavalrymen were reduced to more than 2,000 cavalrymen charging desperately in the blink of an eye. The more than 3,000 cavalrymen at the back fell far behind while running, like old men taking a stroll.

What's the situation?
Whatever the situation was, it was naturally all Yang Fang's doing. When he returned to the Qing army's position, he was not only busy spying on military intelligence, but also deliberately chatted with a few fellow Guizhou villagers, revealing a little bit of the Han soldiers' military intelligence.

Not much military information was revealed, only a detailed description of the actual combat power of the Han army. He also told these Guizhou soldiers in the tone of a fellow villager to take it easy in the battle, saying that they were all poor people coming from the poor mountain villages of Guizhou and Qiannan, and it would be a great loss if they really sold their lives!
This statement might be of little use under normal circumstances, at most just a few words of advice from a fellow villager, but now it was their turn to lead the cavalry charge.

On the front battlefield, the Han army and the Qing army engaged in a firearms battle. The Qing army was completely suppressed, and the Green Camp cavalry in the rear did not fail to see it.

Delentang used a conventional exploratory charge. The Green Camp cavalry were willing to cooperate with the Mongolian commander, but Delentang had no other choice but to use light cavalry to learn the heavy cavalry charge. He was determined to use casualties to break up the Han army's two wing phalanxes.

Sorry, they won’t cooperate!
These Green Camp cavalrymen were not stupid. The front battlefield had been fought in such a state. The casualties of the Han army were not to say that there were none at all, but they were very minimal. It was enough for them, with only a few thousand cavalrymen, to charge headfirst into the phalanx of tens of thousands of Han soldiers.

It’s hard to say whether it will be effective, but a lot of people will definitely die.

If heavy cavalry is caught by infantry, they will be at a loss, let alone light cavalry, who will basically be asking for their lives and die.

Delentang was completely unaware that the only cavalrymen left in the charge were his own two thousand Baturu guards, who were still making a final effort to speed up, preparing to break up the Han army's infantry phalanx in one fell swoop.

Three hundred steps, two hundred steps, one hundred and fifty steps, one hundred steps...

It’s getting closer, almost closer!

Delentang even saw the fear on the faces of the Han soldiers. They were obviously scared, so why didn't they disperse?

It would be understandable if the Han soldiers were not afraid, but they were all scared. How did these Han soldiers maintain their formation?
The doubt did not last long, because Delentang no longer cared about it. He only knew that they must win this battle, and they must win. If they didn't win, then they would all be finished!

Delentang held the rope in one hand and wielded a spear in the other, and killed a Han soldier who was unable to dodge.

Just as he was about to continue killing everyone, he suddenly looked up and saw a lot of black unidentified objects being thrown towards him in a parabolic trajectory.

"what is that?"

When Delentang was about to land, he could see clearly that it seemed to be some short wooden sticks wrapped in iron shells.

what's that?
The wooden sticks that the Han soldiers threw around in a hurry?

next second.

"Bang bang bang!"

It exploded! It all exploded!

The Baturu guards were completely unprepared and didn't even know that the small flying sticks thrown at them would actually explode, and that the explosions were quite powerful.

Of course, those are all grenades, made with 100% reference to modern technology. They are very low in cost and very powerful.

The Han army grenadiers threw out at least hundreds of grenades at a time, and the average grenadier carried ten grenades, which were wrapped around their waists.

Hundreds of grenades exploded at the same time. The scene was so tragic that it could not be described as spectacular!

The cavalry under Delentang were all light cavalry, and at most they wore cotton armor. In order to achieve the best charging effect, he specially arranged the cavalry to charge in dense formations.

As a result of the explosion, Baturu's cavalry suffered heavy casualties.

Several guard cavalrymen subconsciously reached out to catch the grenades, but they certainly didn't survive and were turned into pieces of Baturu. Their horses were also blown over and seriously injured.

The explosion of hundreds of grenades not only killed the Qing soldiers who were blown to pieces, but also caused the surviving Qing soldiers and their horses to suffer stress reactions.

Even these Qing soldiers had never seen a grenade explosion, let alone a warhorse?
"Bang bang bang!"

The Han army's grenadiers pursued the enemy and attacked them hard, throwing another round of grenades. After the grenades exploded, the Han army's spearmen immediately rushed forward.

Because they rushed too far forward, Delentang, who was not hit by the explosion, and the Baturu guards, faced the collapse of the cavalry in the rear, and were isolated and helpless, and finally lost all their bravery.

Delentang’s cavalry is finished!
Not only were Baturu's guard cavalry destroyed, but the 3,000 Green Camp cavalry who had deliberately fallen behind in the rear saw that the situation was indeed not good, and Baturu's guard cavalry were blown to pieces almost in the blink of an eye.

"Retreat quickly! The rebels are ambushing!"

No one knew who shouted first, but all the Green Camp cavalry immediately turned their horses around and quickly retreated towards their own army.

As for the guards Delentang and Baturu?
Now that life and death are at stake, who cares about them?

Eldengbao's eyes were bloodshot. His cavalry unit, which was his trump card, was destroyed just like that, without any beginning or end, and inexplicably.

Where did the rebels get such a powerful firearm? Not only can it explode, but the explosive power is also ridiculously large.

Mingliang, an old general of the Qing army, was also confused. How could he not know that there were such firearms?

Seeing that the situation was set, Yang Fang finally took action. He suddenly raised his sword and shouted, "Brothers! The Qing army has been defeated. The Central Plains will eventually be unified by the Han army. Follow me and join the rebellion. I will capture all the Qing generals alive, and I will give them titles for my wives and children!"

"Kill the Qing dogs! Confer titles on my wife and son!"

"Kill the Qing dogs! Confer titles on my wife and son!"

"..."

When the more than 300 Guizhou soldiers brought by Yang Fang heard that he was going to switch sides, they immediately cooperated and raised their swords and shouted.

The remaining hundreds of Guizhou soldiers who were supplemented by Eldengbao were almost confused. Why did they suddenly join the bandits and bring hundreds of people with them?
So do these people never follow thieves?

(End of this chapter)