Outnumbered? I'll conquer America with an unlimited number of suicide soldiers.

Chapter 137 The Age of Cavalry is Over

Yangcun, northwest of Tianjin.

Although its name contains the word "village," Yangcun is not a poor village, but an important town.

Located next to the North Canal, this place was a crucial hub for transporting grain to the capital. As a result, it was extremely prosperous, with shops lining the streets. On the main street, which was only five miles long, there were nearly a hundred shops, more than ten temples, and twenty schools.

However, due to the lockdown of Tianjin, Yangcun has become much quieter.

The assassin Zhao Qian leaned against the wall of a Guandi Temple, wrapped in a tattered cotton-padded coat he had obtained from disaster victims, his face smeared with ash, looking every bit the typical refugee.

Two days ago, Tang He summoned them to the garrison headquarters and told them that the Qing court might send troops south after realizing something was amiss. Yangcun was a crucial stop on the official road, and he ordered them to guard Yangcun and report back immediately if they discovered any trace of the Green Standard Army.

So Zhao Qian brought two of his Dark Angel brothers to this place, scattering them throughout Yang Village to gather intelligence.

That afternoon, Zhao Qian was eating dry rations while keeping his eyes and ears open when he suddenly stopped chewing.

The ground is shaking.

Zhao Qian stuffed the dry rations into his clothes, lay down on the ground, and pressed his ears to the ground.

The vibrations were slight but continuous, originating from a distant location. As time passed, the vibrations became increasingly clear.

"Is that... the sound of horses' hooves?"

Zhao Qian suddenly stood up and quickly walked into the alley behind the Guandi Temple.

There stood a crooked locust tree, its trunk thick and its branches lush. He climbed up using both hands and feet, stood on a horizontal branch, took out a monocular telescope from his pocket, and looked towards the northwest.

To the northwest of Yangcun lies a vast plain, with the official road and canal running straight through its middle. The fields beside the official road are filled with stubble left over from the harvest.

Not long after, Zhao Qian saw the smoke and dust.

Beneath the smoke and dust, countless black dots appeared on the official road. These dots moved quickly, surging towards Yang Village.

They were Mongol cavalry.

They wore robes with incomplete lapels, cotton armor, and felt hats on their heads.

Zhao Qian roughly counted them; there were at least a thousand cavalry. He slid down from the tree and quickly relayed the intelligence to Tianjin.

Tianjin, the Governor's Office.

Tang He is currently dealing with the disaster victims.

As more and more people gathered over the past few days, the area outside the city naturally became noisy.

There were robbers, women raped, and women who patronized others; the list goes on and on.

Tang He's response was also quite simple.

Send more elite guards to garrison outside the city; kill any who are spotted!

Just then, Zhao Qian's message arrived.

Tang He frowned, quickly walked to the map, and began to look at it: "A large Mongol cavalry force, at least a thousand riders, has been spotted in the direction of Yang Village. They are heading south along the official road, and their target should be us."

One of the assassins said, "I don't think their target will be Tianjin for the time being. A thousand light cavalry might not be able to take Tianjin, but they could easily besiege Beicang and cut off our supply lines."

That makes sense.

Tang He nodded and said, "The journey from Yangcun to Beicang is about fifty li. At the speed of the Mongol cavalry, they can reach the vicinity of Beicang in as little as an hour."

The assassin said, "The garrison at Beicang numbers five hundred, equipped with Pingyang, Dangkou, and Polu troops. Defending Beicang should not be a problem."

"But simply holding onto the northern granary isn't enough!"

Tang He said, "As you said before, the Qing court sent cavalry to attack Beicang with the intention of having these cavalrymen roam back and forth between Beicang and Tianjin to cut off the supply lines."

"Once the grain supply route is cut off, the grain cannot be transported to Tianjin, and the disaster victims outside the city will have no food to eat, then our original strategy will have failed."

The assassin stroked his chin, looking at the map: "You mean, wipe out these 1,500 cavalry?"

"right."

Tang He pointed to the map and slowly said, "Fifteen hundred Mongol cavalry. The only one who could use this force as the vanguard must be that Prince Senggelinqin. Even Senggelinqin would regret it for a while after we've taken them!"

The assassin nodded: "Indeed, without cavalry, the Qing army's infantry will have to think twice about their strength. They will definitely choose to bring in cavalry from other places, which will buy us more time."

"How would you like to eat it?"

Tang He pointed to the location of Beicang and said, "Beicang is surrounded by plains with a wide field of vision, perfect for setting up battle formations."

Drag the garrison to the open fields outside the city to lure the cavalry into attacking. Once they are close enough, open fire and catch them off guard.

"Cavalrymen don't stand still and take a beating."

The assassin said, "I've seen how the Mongol cavalry fight. They won't foolishly charge straight at you. Instead, they'll circle around your formation, firing an arrow every few dozen steps, slowly chipping away at your health."

Tang grinned: "Let them circle around. Once they're within machine gun range, they're all easy prey!"

Soon, the five hundred garrison soldiers of Beicang received their orders.

The leader of the assassins in Beicang was surnamed Zhou and named Zhou Dagui. After receiving the order, he divided the five hundred men into two teams.

The main force of four hundred men left the city, carrying four hundred Type 1 Pacific rifles and ten Type 1 Dangkou machine guns. They assembled three hundred paces outside the city gate and then began digging a trench.

The remaining one hundred men stayed inside the city and were responsible for operating five Type I artillery pieces, positioning them on the city wall in the best possible position.

"Listen up, everyone."

Zhou Dagui stood on the city wall and shouted to the group of assassins: "The cavalry is fast. It only takes a few dozen seconds to go from a thousand paces to a hundred paces."

When the Mongols arrive, do not open fire immediately. Wait for the cannons to fire first, and then you may open fire on your own when the Mongols are close to the column.

It's time to let the Manchus and Mongols know what the era of cavalry is!

An hour passes in the blink of an eye.

Five Type 1 Polu cannons had been pushed to the gap between the crenellations, their muzzles protruding from the gaps and pointing menacingly at the official road to the northwest. Dozens of shells were stacked next to each cannon, the fuses of which were sealed with wax.

Outside the city, on the open field, four hundred elite soldiers dug trenches and formed ranks.

They stood in several rows, the front row lying down, the middle kneeling, and the back row standing. Ten machine guns were positioned not far from the trench, with two gunners crouching beside each gun, their magazines already loaded.

As the sun sets, the sky turns a hazy yellow.

"What are you doing?"

When Choktu led his cavalry to the outskirts of Beicang, he couldn't help but frown.

On the open field outside Beicang City, hundreds of soldiers stood there, with several trenches dug in front of them.

Having fought for twenty years, he had seen all sorts of battle formations, but he had never seen anything like this. The opposing side wasn't even in a square formation, but rather lined up in several horizontal rows, like bamboo fences stretching across the open field.

"Commander, they're courting death."

A lieutenant beside Choktu sneered, "This humble general will lead a contingent to launch a feigned attack from the front, while you lead the main force to circle around to their flanks and rear. In one fell swoop, we can wipe them all out."

"There's no rush yet."

Choktu slowly said, "Even if that Da Nian is a good-for-nothing, he should know the principle of defending a city. There is no reason to send infantry to meet cavalry on the plains."

"Your Excellency is overthinking this."

The captain laughed and said, "We rushed all the way from Hexiwu without stopping, how could the other side possibly know? They must have chosen to leave the city for other reasons, which just gave us the opportunity!"

Choktu thought about it and agreed with what the commander said.

Moreover, with 1,500 cavalrymen facing several hundred infantrymen, the overwhelming numerical superiority meant that even if the enemy had some trump card, it wouldn't be very effective.

"We'll do it your way. You feign an attack, and I'll flank from the other side!"

He waved behind him, and the cavalrymen sounded a low horn, and the ranks began to disperse.

Choktu personally led eight hundred cavalry to circle around to the east of Beicang, preparing to attack the enemy's lines from the flank. The remaining seven hundred cavalry, led by the Zuo Ling, launched the first attack from the front.

"Waaah!"

The bugle call to attack sounded, and seven hundred Mongol cavalrymen formed a wide horizontal line, spreading out in the twilight.

The warhorses began to trot, then galloped, leaving a huge cloud of dust behind the Mongol cavalry. The Mongols lay prone on their horses, bows nocked and arrows strung, their swords clattering at their waists.

On the Beicang city wall, Zhou Dagui stood behind the crenellations, holding a monocular telescope in his hand.

He watched the overwhelming cavalry surge forward and silently calculated the distance.

Three kilometers, two kilometers, one kilometer —

"fire!"

The gunners of the five breech-loading cannons simultaneously pulled the firing ropes.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Five deafening roars rang out simultaneously, instantly making everyone on the city wall's ears ring. The cannonballs, whistling sharply, streaked across the darkening sky and plunged into the charging cavalry ranks.

Boom!

The picric acid-filled shells exploded instantly, emitting blinding flashes of light, creating a crater a meter in diameter at the point of impact. Limbs and severed bodies of men and horses flew through the flames, and seven or eight cavalrymen in the distance were thrown to the ground along with their horses.

In the distance, warhorses were startled and reared up on their hind legs. The riders were thrown from their horses and trampled on the chest and abdomen by their comrades who couldn't avoid them. They cried out in agony and slowly died.

Five cannonballs killed or wounded nearly a hundred cavalrymen in the first round.

"Damn it, what kind of cannon is this? It's so powerful!"

Choktu saw this scene from the side and gasped.

He had fought in so many wars and had seen cannons made by the Red Coat and foreigners, but he had never seen a cannon with such power.

But he quickly dismissed the idea; his cavalry had already begun their charge, and once they started, they couldn't stop.

"Scatter! Scatter!" he yelled at the messenger. "Watch out for artillery fire! Don't crowd together!"

The seven hundred cavalrymen in front were also forced to break formation under the artillery fire, their originally dense line splitting into dozens of pieces. But even with the formation broken, the momentum of the charge did not diminish.

The artillery continued to bombard, but each bombardment only resulted in the deaths or injuries of a few riders.

The Mongol cavalry drew ever closer to the infantry, grinning as they raised their longbows, ready to execute their most familiar tactics.

They would charge to within a few dozen paces of the enemy, unleash a volley of arrows, then immediately turn their horses around, retreat to a safe distance, regroup, charge again, and unleash another volley. This process was repeated, like a file slowly grinding down the enemy.

This tactic was invincible on the grasslands, and it was especially effective against infantry. Infantry arquebuses were slow to reload, and by the time they finished loading their ammunition, the cavalry had already fired several volleys of arrows.

But this time, the infantry they faced were not armed with matchlock muskets.

"Five hundred meters!" shouted the observer on the city wall.

On the field, the rifles of the four hundred suicide soldiers were all pointed directly forward.

As darkness fell, the charging cavalry became a blurry black shadow in the twilight, with only the sound of hooves growing louder and louder, making one's chest tremble.

"Rifles, fire freely!"

The moment the order was given, all four hundred rifles simultaneously spewed fire.

The bullets flew at supersonic speeds. The cavalrymen at the forefront were still thinking about how to launch the bullets and turn their horses around when the bullets pierced their chests or heads, causing them to fall directly from their horses.

Some bullets also struck the warhorses directly, those hitting vital organs falling instantly and pinning the riders beneath them. Even those not directly hit in vital organs would rear up in excruciating pain, throwing their riders off their backs.

"Speed ​​up! Their muskets are out of ammunition; they're temporarily out of options!"

The squad leader roared and kept whipping the rump of his mount.

The Mongol cavalrymen who had miraculously survived behind him followed suit, and several hundred riders quickly rushed to the vicinity of the trench.

"Three hundred meters!"

"Two hundred meters!"

"Left flank, machine guns ready."

The muzzles of ten machine guns began to rotate. Three on the left flank, three on the right flank, and four in front, each responsible for a sector. The machine gunners gripped the crank handles, ready to turn at any moment.

The cavalry charged closer and closer, drawing their bows and preparing to fire once they were within range.

"One hundred meters!"

"Open fire!"

Ten machine guns rotate their barrels simultaneously.

Da da da, da da da, da da da.

A sound the cavalry had never heard before rang out, a crisp and continuous sound, like pebbles bouncing off the ground.

The cavalrymen, who had already charged fifty paces away, drew their bows, ready to launch their arrows. But the next moment, the expressions on their faces froze.

Bullets swept across the cavalry, and the front ranks of riders fell one after another as if they had crashed into an invisible wall. Horses neighed and tumbled to their sides, throwing their riders into the dust. The riders behind, still wondering what was happening, soon followed suit.

The cavalry formation on the front completely collapsed, turning from an orderly wave of charge into a swarm of startled, headless flies.

Choktu, standing to the side, watched helplessly as most of the seven hundred men charging from the front were wiped out, his eyes wide with bewilderment.

But he quickly lost interest in what he didn't understand.

He saw the infantrymen in the field begin to change direction, their guns pointed at him.

"withdraw!"

Even though they were almost at their flank, Choktu gritted his teeth and gave the order to retreat.

Seven hundred people have already died; the remaining eight hundred must not be harmed. The most urgent task is to report everything here to the Prince in detail and let him make a decision.

The sound of bugles rang out across the plains, and the surviving Mongol cavalrymen turned their horses around and fled north.

The infantrymen of Beicang did not pursue, not because they did not want to, but because they simply could not keep up with the cavalry on foot.

Standing on the city wall, Zhou Dagui shouted, "Stop standing around! Clean up the battlefield! Send all the survivors to the underworld. Dig some big pits and bury the dead. It's so hot today, we don't want any diseases to spread!"