Henan, Ruzhou.

At the foot of Huo Mountain and by the Beiru River, more than 600 people from the Chu army's Light Cavalry Battalion met three thousand rebel cavalrymen.

In front of the Chu army, the battalion commander of the Light Cavalry was a young man in his early twenties.

Zhang Huangyan, 22 years old, with a name named Xuanzhu, was from Ningbo, Zhejiang, and had the rank of the Right Military Academy. He also had the fame of scholars. When Liu Jun was traveling southeast to defeat the Red Barbarians, Zhang Huangyan, who was in charge of the fame of scholars, heard about Liu Jun's heroic act of leading the Chu army. He yearned for him, abandoned his pen and joined the army, and defected to the Chu army.

Because of his fame and fame, he was also from a family of officials. He has been practicing cavalry since childhood and has been good at both civil and military affairs. He performed outstandingly in the army and was soon selected to study in the martial arts hall. After one year's expiration, he joined Liu Jun's guard and served as Liu Jun's servant for a period of time and became Liu Jun's disciple.

Since then, he has performed outstandingly in the Battle of Liaodong, leading his troops to make many contributions, and personally shot and killed 17 enemy troops. He has been promoted all the way due to his merits. Now he is under the jurisdiction of Denglai Town, he has led the first battalion of light cavalry, and has taken the rank of Right Military Academy, and has won the Golden Nine-Headed Bird Medal.

"Battleman, the enemy is five times our troops. What should we do?" The military commander asked him nervously.

Zhang Huangyan held up a thousand-mile mirror and looked at the thief opposite him. Three thousand thieves were coming in an arrogant manner.

Putting down the Qianli Mile Mile Mile, Zhang Huangyan said calmly, "Snatch the hillside on the left, set up cavalry cannons and mountain grenades, release horses and caltrops, we will fight them!"

"Dismounted to fight?" The military commander was a eunuch with a low rank, but it represented the emperor and the court. He was a little puzzled by the orders to dismounted to fight in the Light Cavalry Battalion. "Do we retreat first and wait for the arrival of the large army?"

"There is no need." Zhang Huangyan rejected his proposal. In the Chu army, on the battlefield, the battalion commander had absolute command and decision-making power, and the military supervisor could not interfere.

Although they were light cavalry battalions, they did not necessarily have to fight cavalry with the rebel army. He had discovered that although the rebel army had three thousand cavalry, they were all traditional cavalry. The cavalry were equipped with spears and straight knives and were not fully armored. They had no cannons and no firearms. Such a cavalry unit had good mobility and was very fierce in charge. However, when they met the Chu army, they did not have the ability to attack.

"We have cannons and muskets, and we must fully demonstrate these advantages. Especially with a hillside next to it, we will seize this favorable terrain. The cavalry of the bandit army will be greatly restricted."

The advantage of the Light Cavalry Battalion is that in large-scale battles, it cooperates with the Chu army's infantry and artillery to attack the enemy's flanks, implements roundabout encirclement tactics, and pursues the enemy after victory.

Hedging with the enemy is a task for heavy cavalry, not something that light cavalry should do. Now that there are no infantry or artillery next to you, and heavy cavalry are not there, they should seize the hillside when facing five times more enemy cavalry than they already have, and build fortifications and set up artillery.

Then dismount and fight.

Although the light cavalry is not a musket cavalry, they are the most advantageous cavalry and are also equipped with muskets. Everyone has received strict training in cavalry. In some aspects, the light cavalry is an advanced military force for musket cavalry.

As an officer who has been studying in the martial arts lecture hall for a year and has been studying with the prince for nearly a year, Zhang Huangyan has learned the true teachings of Liu Jun and is never bound by any fixed model. Instead, he adapts to changes and makes the most advantageous choices in a random way.

Facing the cavalry and dismounting to fight is a kind of courage.

Building defensive fortifications, setting up cannons, and laying a hollow rifle square array is a master of skills and courage.

The cavalry cannons, mountain grenades, and light cannons carried by the army were quickly taken down and set up on the hillside. Some soldiers immediately arranged a bunch of caltrops they carried in front of the formation. Some people began to take down bundles of combos from the pack horses and began to set up the combination.

There are even soldiers who are digging a trap when they are catching up on their precious treasures.

Tian Hu held up a thousand-mile mirror and looked at the actions of the Chu cavalry, a little confused.

"what are they doing?"

"The dog officers and soldiers seem to be guarding the hillside."

Tian Hu laughed a few times, "It's interesting. There are only six or seven hundred people who want to fight us. Their courage is really admirable."

"Maybe they are just arrogant, but just stupid." said a member of the rioter.

Tian Hu said, "It can't be said to be arrogant and stupid. When the two armies meet, can they fall? Instead of escaping all the way, it's better to fight against the mountain. These people are still a little brave and deserve to be the official army that once beat the Tartars in Liaodong. They chose to set up formations on this mountain, and it seems that they want to dismount and fight. This is probably to fight with the will of a death to the death."

"It's a pity that they met us!" The rushing general beside him snorted.

Tian Hu also nodded. Although his opponent is very respectable, on the battlefield, either you die or I die.

"Blow the horn, brothers, come with me and flatten these dogs and soldiers! Kill!"

Tian Hu did not intend to give the Chu army too much preparation time. As soon as he rushed, he led the cavalry to the hillside.

Behind a piece of caltrops is a simple horse-repelling wall, and behind it is a large hollow array composed of four hollow square arrays. On a slope higher behind them are more than a dozen cannons in the camp.

The bayonet has been put on, and each infantry formation is like a blooming steel rose, so brilliant and dazzling in the sun.

The rebel army was charging forward, shouting and killing the sky, and the land under its feet was shaking slightly.

However, the Chu army's position was quiet. These were all troops led by veterans who had been trained and fought on the battlefield for a long time. Even those newly recruited soldiers later had not experienced the war, but had also experienced countless live-fire training and practical exercises.

They are no strangers to fighting.

The enemy was still in a fight, but the soldiers of the Chu army were only staring at the non-commissioned officers next to them. These veterans with rich experience in the battlefield were the backbone of the Chu army and the core of the battle.

They clearly control the soldiers' emotions and have been staring at the distance between the enemy and us.

Never fire if you are not in range.

"A gunner ready!"

The rebel army had rushed into the range of 300 meters, and this distance had entered the range of cavalry artillery, and mountain grenades could also attack the enemy.

The gunners first loaded solid iron bombs, and each iron bomb weighing several kilograms was loaded into the barrel. The lethality of these solid bullets was not the strongest, but their range was the farthest.

With the command, the gunner corrected the direction, adjusted the angle, ignited the lead, and the shells roared out of the chamber.

The charge of the riot cavalry was very dense, which increased the number of them being killed by artillery fire.

The cannon loads very quickly, shooting one after another.

"Two hundred steps!"

An artillery officer shouted, "Switch to the shrapnel!"

The shrapnel has always been a killer weapon for the Chu army artillery. The excellent metal disc timing fuse and the integrated construction technology of the cannon shell make the shell extremely lethal, especially at close range, which is better for dealing with dense enemies.

Throwing bullets roared out of the chamber, with the tail flame on the timing fuse, flew over the charge of the crusade, and then exploded in the air. In an instant, hundreds of small iron bombs shot out, and this kind of cover-type killing caused the crusade to rush in front of him to suffer a catastrophe.

"One hundred steps!"

The company commanders of each company drew out their command knives, waved forward, shouting loudly, "Shoot!"

The infantrymen in the front row of the square formation raised their volleys.

At a distance of 100 steps, the intensive volley of flintlock rifles, like the effect of shrapnel, are both covered range killing. The difference with shells is that the number of artillery is limited, while the quadratic infantry volley can form a dense uninterrupted continuous shooting in a short period of time. At a distance of 100 steps, they can shoot several rounds of volleys.

The vanguard finally rushed to the front, but the firepower attack it suffered increased exponentially. The knights kept falling from their horses. What was even more fatal was the caltrops arranged on the ground and the horse-resisting wall, which slowed down their charge. Many war horses were injured and fell down, and the knights were dropped.

Finally rushed to the front of the formation, but was blocked by the horse. As soon as the speed slowed down, dense shells were shot.

The rebel army's aggressive attack was repelled in the even more violent rain of bullets.

Tian Hu looked at the cavalry who turned around and retreated one after another, his face was as deep as water, but he couldn't say anything. It was not that his subordinates were too afraid of death, but that the artillery fire of the Chu army was too fierce.

But Tian Hu was unwilling to retreat here. He had three thousand men, while the Chu army had only six or seven hundred men.

After some thought, he decided to attack in batches without giving the Chu army time to rest. He believed that although the artillery fire of the Chu army was strong, the artillery had to be cooled and the ammunition was always limited.

Once the Chu army's artillery cannot be used or the ammunition is finished, it will be the time when they are destroyed.

From morning to afternoon, Tian Hu's troops launched dozens of charges, and more than 500 cavalry were killed in battle, but they never rushed up to destroy the Chu army.

On several occasions, they all rushed up the hillside, but the Chu army's musket formation was like a hedgehog with thorns on its body, making them unable to get their mouths.

However, the Chu army in this square formation could still keep firing, and even stab the cavalry on the horse with a long spike on the gun.

The most fatal thing is that the Chu army artillery that Tian Hu has been expecting has never stopped. These artillery have fired at least hundreds of artillery guns, but they are still firing. Although the firing speed has slowed down a little, when they rushed closer, these artillery fired shots directly, and their power is still amazing and their lethality is very powerful.

Seeing that the Chu army finally had an inability to support it, the subordinates reported that a Chu cavalry was found on the east side.

Another Chu army light cavalry battalion arrived, and a light cavalry battalion led by Cao Xiong in Huguang Town. They arrived quickly and did not directly reinforce Zhang Huangyan's hillside, but directly surrounded him from the side.

Chu Jun had a very big appetite and was about to swallow his more than 2,000 cavalry directly.

Tian Hu hesitated for a while, but in the end he didn't want to take the risk of being encircled.

Although the Chu army had only more than 600 reinforcements, since the first reinforcement had appeared, more follow-up reinforcements might also arrive at any time.

With all kinds of helplessness and reluctance, Tian Hu issued an order to retreat. (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!