Traveling through the late Ming Dynasty to promote Chinese civilization

Chapter 575 Shooting Confrontation and Attrition

A volley of arrows rained down. Even though the flat, horizontal formation didn't cover a large area against the attack from above, and many arrows ended up stuck in the mud in front and behind, the arrow rain was so dense that even with a hit rate of less than half, many soldiers were still wounded and fell to the ground, and the formation in front of them suddenly became much thinner.

But this was not the end. Under the cover of the shield wagons, the archers could fire arrows at will. A second and third volley of arrows fell in succession, and the first regiment still could not break through the enemy's defenses. The lead bullets made the shield wagons crackle and sway, but they just wouldn't fall. Since its formation, the Qionghai Army had relied on the rate of fire and power of its flintlock muskets, coupled with its strict discipline of "shooting in formation," and had suppressed the enemy in countless face-to-face exchanges of fire. This was the first time they were at a disadvantage.

Shi Ying's forehead began to sweat; he had never encountered such a situation before. The Tartar siege towers looked very rudimentary; even without cannons, simply increasing the number of soldiers on the front would be enough to rout them with rifle fire alone. However, each side of the phalanx only had five hundred soldiers maintaining firing positions, and their numbers were steadily decreasing under the bombardment of arrows, their firepower growing weaker and weaker. If this continued, the Tartars would find it difficult to withstand either a cavalry charge or a heavy infantry assault from the front.

He turned and glanced in the direction of the general and his men—they were quite far away, and the battle was fierce; there was no time to ask for instructions on how to repel the enemy. He had to rely on himself.

He rubbed his temples, reminding himself to stay calm—the fate of the entire regiment of over five thousand people was in his hands, and he had to remain calm to make the right decisions.

Quartz's gaze swept past the shield carts and the archers, finally settling on the cavalry whose speed had shrunk considerably. He closed his eyes, pondered for a few seconds, and then made a judgment: at this distance and speed, with the shield carts and archers obstructing the way, the cavalry couldn't pick up speed, nor could they launch a charge. Therefore, preventing a cavalry charge wasn't the most important thing; the priority now was to defend against the infantry attack.

He opened his eyes and shouted the order: "The first rank of soldiers in front is crouching and firing, the second rank remains unchanged; remove one company from each of the left and right flanks and join the front, the rest of you move closer and fill the gaps in the formation!"

A battalion commander who was closest to him asked in surprise, "Regimental commander, aren't you afraid of the cavalry if you withdraw the bayonet formation?"

Quartz didn't have time to explain, and roared, "Execute the order!"

The battalion commander shuddered and immediately saluted: "Yes, sir!"

After the order was given, the soldiers who had been crouching on the ground using bayonets to defend against the cavalry immediately picked up their rifles, loaded them, and began firing. With their addition, the firepower instantly doubled. Lead bullets struck the shield wagons with a "crackling" sound, and the already teetering shield wagons finally succumbed to the rain of lead bullets, bursting apart one after another. Broken wood and sawdust fell all over the ground, exposing the bondservants pushing the wagons and the archers to the muzzle of guns.

The situation changed again. The archers, who had been so confident, were immediately suppressed by the volley of gunfire. No matter how they fired their light arrows, they were no match for the dense barrage of horizontal fire. The soldiers and archers fell one after another like leeks being cut down.

At this point, the two companies drawn from the flanks had joined the frontal line, turning the square formation into a rectangle. With the addition of two hundred men, the firepower became even stronger, and the archers, who were still struggling to fire arrows under the hail of bullets, finally collapsed completely, scattering and retreating to both sides, with the surviving bondsers following closely behind.

At the shouts of the Niru Zhangjing, the cavalrymen dismounted and walked forward to fill the gaps left by the foot archers. They took down their powerful bows and launched an attack with heavy arrows.

Seeing this, Shi Ying's anxiety eased slightly. The Tartars were using cavalry as infantry, which was more troublesome than archers, but his risky change of formation was somewhat successful, because the flanks no longer had to face the cavalry's flanking maneuvers.

Armored cavalry offered significantly better protection than lightly armored or unarmored archers. While the double protection of leather and chainmail might not stop lead bullets, the cavalry, compared to the archers who were instantly killed by a single shot, had a much higher survival rate under musket fire. Braving the hail of bullets, they fired arrow after arrow until they were struck by one or even several lead bullets; their opponents fared no better, heavy arrows whistling through the chests of the first regiment's soldiers, killing them instantly. After several rounds, the exchange ratio was relatively even.

This kind of war of attrition, where it's either you die or I die, is painful for both sides' commanders.

Shi Ying paced anxiously, watching soldiers dragged down one by one after being struck by heavy arrows, but he had no good solution. Those hit by hurled light arrows might have a chance of survival, but these powerful arrows, aimed at vital organs like the chest and abdomen, were practically fatal on the spot, with almost no chance of survival. He had deployed four battalions on four fronts, with no reserves to replenish them—he couldn't very well use artillery as infantry, could he? That would be far too extravagant.

Abatai's heart was bleeding. These armored men, whether in cavalry or infantry armor, were the elite of the banner. Every one who died was a loss, and they couldn't be replaced in a short time. Ten bondservant soldiers couldn't be exchanged for one armored soldier. His only hope now was that the enemy would collapse in a brutal war of attrition.

The battle seems to be progressing in the direction Abatai hoped for.

The First Regiment's total strength was about one-third of the Later Jin army's, which wasn't an absolute disadvantage in terms of numbers. Moreover, with the added advantage of advanced weaponry, this disadvantage could be largely offset. However, even with the addition of two companies, due to the limitations of the square formation, more than a thousand men had to face an attack from more than ten thousand men alone. Although the enemy's forces were not fully deployed due to the width of the battlefield, they still committed several thousand men at once and could be reinforced at any time. A war of attrition would be very disadvantageous for the First Regiment.

However, in localized battles, the advantages of muskets gradually became apparent. The horizontal firing of heavy arrows was the most physically demanding method of archery. Even though these armored soldiers were skilled hunters with strong physiques, they began to tire after firing seven or eight arrows in succession; their arms grew sore and numb, and they could no longer draw their powerful bows. Meanwhile, the musket fire seemed to have no end in sight. As long as they weren't injured, the soldiers could fire dozens of shots in a row without any problem—the superior craftsmanship and advanced materials ensured that the Qionghai-style rifles did not suffer from barrel explosions.

The Niru officers relayed Abatai's orders: "Those at the back, fill in! Use your bows and arrows to break these Ming dogs and create an opening for the army!"

The cavalrymen waiting in the rear dismounted one after another, replacing the exhausted men, and joined the fierce exchange of fire in droves. They attempted to use their numerical advantage to overwhelm the enemy in front through a war of attrition, create an opening, and then storm in to slaughter them as easily as cutting vegetables, just like before.