Shanzhu stood coldly at the throat of the road in the middle, his eyes staring ahead without any emotion, but he knew that this was really a battle of great disparity in strength, and his only advantage was to occupy the peak entrance first. The advantageous position, and the enemy has not yet noticed the enemy situation here.
All the troops have been deployed. Of course, the main force in the center position to resist the enemy's attack is the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Light Infantry Brigades. At this time, they were all quietly ambush in the snow. Their dark clothes were originally in contact with the earth. The color of a piece of snow should be very contrasting, but fortunately there are many exposed rocks in this area, the color of which is similar to the color of the soldiers' uniforms, so it is difficult for the enemy to detect this problem without getting closer. The Fourth and Fifth Light Infantry Brigades were deployed in the bushes on both sides of the peak. They would use bows and arrows to greet the incoming rebels.
After two battles with the Luobi people, I discovered that the Luobi people's light cavalry and light infantry all carry their own bows and arrows. They can use bows and arrows to attack in distant battles, and use conventional weapons to fight in close combat, unlike the emperor. The ** army has a specialized archery unit, which is of course related to the quality of the nomadic soldiers. They practice riding and archery all year round, and archery has become an indispensable activity in their daily lives.
After referring to this characteristic of the Luobi people, I also improved the troops, added archery training to the light infantry and light cavalry, and hired high-level instructors from the Mote and Tubu people with high salaries. to train their own soldiers. Fortunately, the common people in the northwest region have complex ethnic composition and are greatly influenced by the neighboring nomadic peoples. Young and middle-aged men have more or less some skills in horseback riding and archery, so I implemented this reform in my subordinate troops. Not much difficulty was encountered, and the combat effectiveness of light cavalry and light infantry was further improved.
But this was a problem in the light infantry regiment dominated by Gaoyue people. These people were born with great strength, but lacked the intelligence to operate bows and arrows. No matter how hard the instructors trained, they still had little effect. I had to This plan was abandoned.
However, I was also inspired. Since the mountain tribesmen are not used to operating bows and arrows, mainly because bows and arrows require long-term training and have high accuracy requirements, then I only need to equip them with crossbows that are easy to operate and require no trouble. However, traditional crossbows are complicated to install and large in size, making them unsuitable for carrying around. I asked the Economic Development Administration and the War Readiness Administration to jointly reduce and improve the existing crossbows.
After a long period of repeated testing and improvement, a group of young people from the Economic Development Department finally came up with a preliminary prototype. I call it a convenient crossbow to distinguish it from the original strong crossbow. The volume of the portable crossbow is half that of the powerful crossbow. It mainly uses the tension of the spring steel sheet and the tension spring as the driving force. However, due to the limitations of the volume and the quality of the spring steel sheet, the range is also reduced a lot, and it is more accurate. There has also been a lot of decline in speed, and there are gains and losses. At least they have successfully reduced the size of the crossbow to a satisfactory level, the production process has also been simplified a lot, and the most important thing is that it is easier to install the arrow than before. Many, greatly shortening the installation interval, which is a great breakthrough.
I greatly praised this group of young people and encouraged them not to be limited to their current achievements, but to make persistent efforts and strive to create better achievements. My encouragement greatly aroused the enthusiasm of this group of young people. One of the leaders said that the current portable crossbow still has a lot of room for improvement, but it requires a certain amount of experimental time, funds, and the basis for obtaining it in practice. We will use our experience to analyze and improve. Over time, we will definitely be able to create more perfect products.
I immediately expressed that we should strongly support this project, and decided on the spot that the Finance Department should allocate special funds and they should form a research team to study this project. The Economic Development Administration and the War Preparedness Administration should also provide strong support. Because I know very well that in war, when the combat effectiveness is similar, the quality of the weapon often plays a decisive role.
In view of time constraints, I also requested the War Readiness Administration to immediately arrange for the production of a batch of portable crossbows to quickly equip the garrison divisions mainly composed of Gaoyue people in Jinzhou. This light infantry regiment was precisely the first unit to be equipped with portable crossbows.
In the originally white wilderness, some black spots began to appear one after another at the end of the horizon. Since the location of Xifengkou is slightly higher than the surrounding, especially the plain in front, the mountain pillars can clearly see the rebels. trend.
Slowly, the black shadows grew from few to many, from blurry to clear, and the dense darkness moved rapidly towards Xifengkou.
"It's finally here!" Shanzhu's originally nervous mood seemed to be a little relaxed. This was the first time he commanded a battle alone. Although the last time was very fierce, with the division commander sitting in charge, he was also under greater pressure. Much smaller, and this time the main force led by the division commander is still behind. It is estimated that it will take two hours to arrive. He must hold on for these two hours.
What is supposed to come will always come, and it is better to come sooner than later. Anyway, we have to face this bloody reality in the end. Shanzhu knows that the real test is coming soon.
The area of more than two miles was really too close, and within a short time, the rebel troops formed a loose formation and swarmed over. As the distance got closer and closer, the soldiers who had already received the orders were already in their positions and entered the ambush area. The entire mountain pass seemed no different from usual, except for the noisy shouts of the rebel soldiers.
A rebel army is a rebel army, Shanzhu snorted from his nose. He did not send out the necessary reconnaissance troops, and the formation of the marching team was disorganized, without any psychological preparation. Even if the regular army marched within its own territory, it would not be possible. It can't be so ridiculous, but in terms of numbers, it is far greater than his own troops, and the speed of movement is not slow.
The leading troops quickly entered the ambush circle. Shan Zhu felt a little regretful. The enemy's team was too long. Due to the limitation of his own strength, his ambush circle could only be so large. Otherwise, he could have completely This group of rebels was defeated in one fell swoop. According to the current situation, the only choice was to eat his vanguard first. However, he could make some use of the attack to cause chaos to the enemy. Shan Zhu gradually formed a bold plan in his mind.
As the flags of the flag soldiers changed from rising to waving rapidly, the commanders of each brigade burst out with a long-suppressed roar from their chests: "Let go!"
The soldiers who were lying in ambush suddenly emerged from the snow, pointed their crossbows forward and fired. According to the rules of normal drills, the first row shoots, the second row prepares, and the third row prepares. The three groups of soldiers take turns to stand up and fire, retreat, load arrows, then move forward and shoot. The whole process has been trained and operated countless times in peacetime. Get up with ease.
Wave after wave of arrows rained down on the unprepared rebel soldiers like a flash flood. With their condescending geographical location, they were prepared against the unprepared. The result can be imagined.
An overwhelming barrage of arrows came towards them, and most of the rebel soldiers died before they could even react to what was going on. A few soldiers with high vigilance, quick thinking and quick reactions knew something was wrong when a head suddenly appeared in the snow ahead. Some rolled on the spot and fell to the ground, and some simply hid behind their comrades. Let the bodies of your comrades around you serve as your shield.
The originally white snow was immediately soaked with scarlet blood, and the screams and wails of the injured in the field could be heard one after another. The rebel soldiers had never suffered such a blow, and were completely stunned by this head-on blow. Many people simply Dropping their weapons, they turned around and ran backwards. Some of them were immediately shot into honeycombs by the second and third waves of arrows. Some soldiers did not even dare to raise their heads. They huddled behind their shields and shivered. The entire field completely turned into a A bloody Shura field.
Shanzhu, who was observing from a high place, was not dazzled by this unexpected victory. He found that although the rebel army was disrupted, it was only the front. The Chinese army had begun to organize defense. It seemed that he was still a small force. Let’s look at the combat effectiveness of the rebel army. At this time, we must not allow the enemy to organize an effective counterattack, otherwise enemies several times larger than ourselves will definitely use their superiority in strength to reverse the outcome of this battle.
He quickly made a bold decision that had been brewing in his heart for a long time, "The 2345th Brigade will pursue the enemy with me, and the 1st Brigade will be ready on the spot!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Shanzhu waved the huge steel fork in his hand and rushed out of the trench first. Under the leadership of the officers, the soldiers were like tigers descending the mountain, setting off whirlwinds, roaring like thunder, and pounced on the bewildered rebel soldiers. . The rebel soldiers who had just recovered from the rain of arrows could no longer withstand the charge of the troops coming from above, and turned around and fled towards their rear. Shanzhu wanted this effect. He led his troops to chase down the rebel soldiers who were lagging behind, while controlling the speed of pursuit so that the rebels always felt the pressure of the pursuit. In this way, they chased and escaped, and turned towards a wave of U-turns. The torrent rushed from slow to fast towards the main rear force of the rebel army.
When the front army was hit by a blow and was stunned, Dubuque and Yan Tong, the coaches of the rear army, had not yet reacted, but they immediately understood that they had been ambushed. The cautious Yan Tong was not busy attacking the front army and the central army. Instead of ordering, first order the main rear army to immediately form a combat formation and distance themselves from the central army.
But the other party didn't give him much time. When the enemy army defeated the front army with overwhelming force and directly disrupted the Chinese army's position, he knew that it was unstoppable. After all, he knew that compared with the regular army, no matter whether it was an individual soldier, Combat effectiveness or overall organization and morale are not the same, let alone in this situation.
While Dubuque was still cursing and killing two officers who escaped from the battle, he decisively ordered the formation of a supervising team to separate the central army from the rear army, and asked the supervising team to drive the central army that had not completely collapsed to try to stop it. To delay the enemy's attack speed, on the other hand, order the main rear army to maintain their formation and retreat at a constant speed. This move achieved excellent results, and Shanzhu's plan to use surprise to defeat the rebel army in one fell swoop was not fully successful.