Travel back in time and become Chongzhen, watch me turn the tide

"Just five thousand cavalrymen." Jiang Xuefeng raised his lips slightly, smiled confidently, and revealed a fearless light in his eyes. He said, "Just watch from the sidelines and see how we deal with these Tartars!"

In reality, facing a thousand men against five thousand, Jiang Xuefeng couldn't help but feel a little nervous. However, as a general, he was the source of his soldiers' courage. He knew that if he showed even the slightest sign of panic, his men would become even more terrified, and the battle would be unnecessary.

Of course, he wasn't completely without confidence. Knowing that this expedition would likely involve a confrontation with the Qing army, they had conducted numerous drills on how to resist cavalry charges, even engaging in formal simulated confrontation training with the cavalry. However, drills were ultimately different from actual combat, and the tension and pressure of a real cavalry charge were incomparable to drills.

Fortunately, their current location was highly advantageous. They were on a public road, with a wide river on one side, its waters surging and shimmering. On the other side were low hills, their slopes thick with thorns and dense low brush, making it impossible for cavalry to pass. This way, they only needed to focus on defending the front, without having to worry about cavalry flanking them and encircling them.

"Dismount and line up!" As a loud command was given, the People's Army soldiers who were originally riding horses quickly dismounted, moved in unison, and began to line up.

Although some soldiers had a hint of panic on their faces, the hard training during this period had made them react almost instinctively to these commands, so they quickly formed neat and orderly queues.

The People's Army deployed in a line formation, a common tactic used in later times. They were evenly distributed along the front, forming two lines, about fifty paces apart, each line consisting of three rows of exactly one hundred men.

The artillery was positioned behind the infantry, ready for battle. The People's Army's musket cavalry was deployed on both wings to ensure the artillery's safety. The cavalry led by Yao Er was placed at the rear as a reserve, ready to engage in battle at any time.

The People's Army's pack horses were now driven into the woods on the hills to prevent them from getting frightened and losing control, disrupting their formation and thus affecting the battle situation.

"Train formation!"

"Artillery ready!"

Commands were conveyed and executed in an orderly manner.

At the front of the column, a series of carts, meticulously modified by Huang Minggang, instantly connected to form a train formation. Made of chest-high, thickened wooden planks, the formation acted like a solid breastwork, shielding the infantry from the front.

The five falconets had been quickly installed and the fifteen flying cannons were also arranged. The gunners were concentrating on calculating the direction and angle nervously, with beads of sweat rolling down their foreheads without them noticing.

Yao Er watched the scene unfold in astonishment. Though everyone's faces still wore expressions of panic or nervousness, they were executing orders with precision and precision. Everyone knew exactly what they were supposed to do and where they stood, each fulfilling their duties without any confusion.

Obeying orders and disciplining the troops is the hallmark of a strong army. Even the battle-hardened veterans under Yao Er couldn't claim to have achieved such a state. Furthermore, these soldiers of the People's Army were nothing more than honest farmers, only able to work in the fields a little over a month ago!

How exactly was this army trained? Yao Er was filled with confusion and amazement.

Even so, Yao Er remained pessimistic about the prospects of their battle. With only a thousand new recruits who had only trained for a month or so, and infantry against cavalry, there seemed to be no chance of victory from any perspective.

However, now that things have come to this, there's no point in saying more. The brave prevail when two meet on a narrow road. Even if Jiang Xuefeng can't hold on, don't they still have them? At worst, they can fight to the death and shed blood on the battlefield!

The cavalry moved at an extremely fast speed. Yao Er and Jiang Xuefeng had just finished their pre-battle preparations when the large group of cavalry came into view from afar.

At this time, Yao Er and Jiang Xuefeng climbed to a high place on the hill, looked into the distance, and couldn't help but feel relieved.

This cavalry unit didn't appear to be the main force of the Qing army. Although they were cavalry, the armor they wore was a diverse array, and their figures and appearance all resembled Han Chinese. Only under the central banner, several hundred men wore pigtails. These were presumably the true Qing cavalry, while the rest were likely surrendered Han cavalry.

At a distance of about a thousand paces from them, the cavalry stopped advancing. After a brief pause, the vanguard of the cavalry, over a thousand cavalrymen, broke away from the main group and rushed towards them like arrows from a bow.

Seeing the massive cavalry approaching at lightning speed, the deafening sound of horse hooves hammered at the hearts of the People's Army soldiers like thunder. Most of these soldiers were on the battlefield for the first time, their faces gradually turning pale, bloodless. Some of them even began to tremble uncontrollably, and the weapons in their hands also shook slightly.

"Keep calm! Listen to the commands! Think about what you did during training..." The steady and powerful commands sounded at the right time. When the soldiers heard them, they recalled the situations during training. Their minds gradually calmed down, and a hint of firmness gradually returned to their originally panicked eyes.

"Eight hundred steps, prepare the falconet!"

"Six hundred steps, prepare the flying cannon!"

"Five hundred steps, the falconet fires shrapnel!"

With the command given, the falconet, aided by the gun carriage, adjusted to an elevated firing angle. The People's Army's artillery had long since left behind the days of relying solely on empirical measurements. They now possessed advanced fire-measuring instruments such as gun gauges. Combined with precision devices like the front sight and rear sight, and equipped with adjustable gun horns, they could achieve unparalleled accuracy, hitting targets wherever they were pointed.

First, a falconet was fired for calibration, and then the remaining four cannons roared like thunder in unison!

Although the power of the artillery shells at this time was far less than that of later generations, the falconet shells still produced huge shock waves and countless sharp fragments when they exploded, which was a fatal blow to the enemy cavalry.

Wherever the shock wave reached, men and horses were thrown to the ground. Even the cavalrymen in iron armor were not spared and fell to the ground injured. The roar of the exploding shells caused great shock to the war horses. For a moment, the charging cavalrymen were blown to the ground and were in chaos!

The People's Army carried a small falconet this time, but after careful improvement, and using improved black powder, the power and range of the artillery were greatly enhanced!

The biggest advantage of the falconet is that it can fire rapidly. In the past, it often took more than ten minutes for the cannon to fire a shot, but now the falconet equipped with a sub-gun can even fire more than three shots in a minute at the fastest!

After a volley of fire from five falconets, the number of cavalry rushing through the area covered by the artillery power dropped sharply in an instant, by as much as one third!

"Two hundred steps, launch the flying cannon!"

Just as the cavalrymen were congratulating themselves for having finally broken through the blockade of the falconet's firepower and secretly breathing a sigh of relief, the roar of the flying cannon suddenly rang out again...