Chapter 304: Flesh and Blood Collision

"Boom, boom, boom..."

"Bang, bang, bang..."

The sound of artillery and muskets intertwined, and the Ghost Fang cavalry, who had not yet stepped out of the stockade gate, suffered a head-on blow.

The bloody battle awakened the fear in their memories.

Back when the Divine Machine Battalion ravaged the grassland, they were beaten down just like this.

"Charge!"

Seeing that the situation was not good, the Ghost Fang general hurriedly gave the order.

Entering the era of hot weapons, the role of cavalry was still huge, but the combat method had undergone earth-shaking changes.

Especially the choice of the battlefield, which was the top priority.

Once they lost the strategic space and were besieged by the enemy in a corner, it would be a disaster.

The solid camp stockade, originally a sharp weapon to protect the safety of the main camp, had now become an important factor restricting their performance.

The narrow space created favorable conditions for the enemy's artillery bombardment.

Every volley of the enemy army could clear a large area.

If they couldn't break through the enemy's military formation as soon as possible and let the enemy complete the encirclement, then there would be big trouble.

Unfortunately, the width of the stockade gate was limited, only able to accommodate a few cavalrymen passing through.

Facing the Great Dayu army's dense firepower, they directly became living targets.

In the Ghost Fang commander's tent, the three tribal chiefs gathered together with gloomy faces.

This sudden war caught them off guard, and the cavalry advantage was not exerted at all.

"The enemy army is too cunning; in order to let us relax our vigilance, they actually endured until now to take action."

"Several stockade gates have been blocked by the enemy army, and multiple charges have ended in failure; the only way now is to dismantle the camp and attack from all four sides."

Bashar, the tribal chief of the Bayartu tribe, was the first to propose.

The army falling into the current situation had a direct relationship with his previous strategic stance.

If he had been one point less greedy, they would have already withdrawn from Jinan Prefecture and crossed the Yellow River to return north by now.

Unfortunately, there was no regret medicine in the world; for the sake of this loot, the army was plunged into a dangerous situation.

"Dismantling the camp, I'm afraid, might not work either."

"The enemy army's speed is very fast and has already formed a preliminary encirclement of the camp."

"Looking at their firepower, it reminds me of the Divine Machine Battalion that was once invincible in the Great Great Dayu Dynasty."

"It seems the Tatars didn't lose unjustly before; encountering such an enemy, unless their ammunition is exhausted, it is very difficult to fight!"

Wuligai said with a solemn expression.

Ten thousand cavalry being surrounded by a group of infantry, if placed in the past, would be a joke.

As long as they wanted to, they could break out at any time.

But it was different now; facing dense firepower, if they wanted to rush out of the encirclement, they would inevitably pay a painful price.

"Now is not the time to discuss these; the strength in the camp is limited and is not the enemy's opponent."

"After dismantling the camp, we will each take our tribes and break out from three different directions, leaving the auxiliary army to cover the rear."

"If we can rush out, we will gather the troops and horses to avenge today's hatred!"

While speaking, Wuri Mu looked lingeringly at the loot in the camp.

Grazing normally, even if they struggled for a lifetime, they wouldn't be able to accumulate so much wealth.

The wealth close at hand now had to be abandoned for the sake of saving their lives.

"All the loot in the camp, we don't want any of it?"

Bashar asked with slight unwillingness.

The relationship between the three major tribes was not as harmonious as it appeared on the surface.

If not for the rise of the Tatars threatening the survival of the Ghost Fang, they would still be fighting for the orthodox title.

In the past, encountering such a situation, there would be no need to discuss it; everyone would have run away long ago.

Being able to drag it out until now was all due to the loot in the camp.

It was precisely because they had unrealistic fantasies in their hearts that everyone chose to gather and discuss to see if there was a better way.

It was a pity that everyone's IQ was about the same, and the best way their limited brain capacity could think of was to break out first.

"Just set a fire; burn as much as you can."

"The things we can't get, we can't let the enemy get either!"

Wuligai said with annoyance.

Mentioning the loot, he was full of fire.

A moment of greed caused the army to fall into a dangerous situation, and the loot grabbed was also made a wedding dress for the enemy.

Cloth, grain, and spices could be burned, but gold and silver couldn't be destroyed so easily.

Thinking of the huge wealth that had to be left to the enemy, he felt very uncomfortable.

Revenge was just talk.

This King-Relieving Army was far away in Liangguang; if they couldn't be solved now, it would be hard to meet them again in the future.

"Good, let's do it!"

After the three looked at each other, Wuri Mu and Bashar echoed together.

If they couldn't get it, they couldn't let the enemy get it.

Destroy as much as you can; if you can't destroy it, then admit defeat.

Following the order, a strange scene appeared in the camp.

The arson mission was executed very smoothly.

Although some soldiers hid some tea, they still ignited the warehouse.

The only difference was that many soldiers had an extra iron pot on their backs.

"Immediately drop the iron pots and smash them!"

Wuligai couldn't help but rebuke angrily.

When breaking out, one must value speed.

Carrying any extra things would affect the army's speed.

"Tribal Chief, these pots are good things; they won't get in the way!"

"Carrying a pot can also block the enemy's arrows..."

Before the middle-aged man could finish speaking, Wuligai slapped him.

"My order is to drop the iron pots and smash them immediately; don't you understand!"

Some mistakes, committing them once is enough.

Having suffered the loss of being too greedy, he didn't want to come again.

Blocking the enemy's arrows was nonsense.

The enemy army had long been playing with muskets; who would still accompany them with bows and arrows!

The tribesmen of his own tribe executed the order as required, but the attached tribes didn't have such high execution power.

One by one, they were terrified of poverty, not only carrying iron pots but also carrying quite a bit of tea, gold, and silver.

Looking at the big and small bags of the team, Wuligai rubbed his forehead helplessly.

A similar scene appeared in the other two teams.

The drawbacks of the tribal alliance were reflected at this time.

Obeying orders and prohibiting actions was, after all, just a fantasy; everyone could only command their own teams.

The armies of other tribes were cooperative relationships with them, not directly subordinate.

When it involved interests, everyone had their own judgment standards.

"Break out!"

After a brief hesitation, Wuligai gave up the idea of persuasion.

War, after all, involves death, especially when breaking out, which requires sacrifice.

Since some people are courting death themselves, then fulfill them.

Seemingly increasing the weight by ten or twenty catties wouldn't affect anything.

When it really came time to break out, these burdens would directly determine life and death.

In the blink of an eye, countless Ghost Fang soldiers leaped out of the stockade and launched a breakout from three directions.

Seeing this scene, the King-Relieving Army immediately opened fire.

Regardless of whether the enemy entered the effective range, as long as the bullets could hit, they fired to their heart's content.

The Ghost Fang cavalry were mostly in cloth clothes, and only a few soldiers had armor.

Even if hit outside the effective range, they would still be injured.

Ghost Fang cavalry kept falling, and then more cavalry filled in.

Countless Ghost Fang soldiers advanced against the artillery fire, and the distance between the two sides was constantly being narrowed.

In the blink of an eye, a large area was killed or injured.

"Armored soldiers, attack!"

Seeing his side suffer heavy losses, Wuligai decisively gave the order.

The enemy's military formation defense was too tight; such a life-threatening appointment could only be completed by elites.

Deep down, his heart was bleeding.

Accumulating elites is not easy; in a sense, these armored soldiers were the real cavalry.

The rest of the troops were actually a group of herdsmen who had put down their sheep whips.

The combat effectiveness erupted by hundreds of armored soldiers was often greater than that of thousands of cloth-clothed cavalry.

The elite's move was extraordinary; after paying the price of dozens of elite cavalry, they finally rushed into the enemy's military formation.

What greeted them was not victory, but a group of infantry fully equipped with armor.

The musket soldiers who had been the main attack earlier had now retreated to the rear, leaving the battlefield to the heavy infantry.

Close-quarters fighting began, and two steel units began to collide on the plain.

On the city wall, Li Mu, who was watching the battle, silently watched the battlefield.

Strong soldiers are all fought out.

Only the tempering of blood and fire can forge true elites.

Compared to the battles of bullying rookies in the past, this time was a collision of true powerhouses.

However, the proportion of elites in the Ghost Fang units was too small.

Even if cavalry had more advantages than infantry, they still couldn't break out of the encirclement all at once.

What determines victory or defeat on the battlefield is often a split second.

Failing to break out of the encirclement meant the beginning of disaster.

In the chaotic battle, almost every Ghost Fang cavalryman had to face the siege of three to five Great Dayu soldiers.

This team-cooperative fighting style directly stunned the Ghost Fang people.

Although other Great Dayu armies also had infantry tactical coordination, those were mostly for show.

Once a large group of cavalry rushed into the formation, the enemy would immediately collapse, let alone coordinate in battle.

Cavalry with armor were still okay and could contend with them for a bit.

Those without armor were miserable; after a brief exchange, there were a few more holes in their bodies.

Seeing this scene, Wuligai, who personally led the team to break out, immediately felt his soul fly away.

Intuition told him that if they couldn't break out quickly, Jinan Prefecture would be his burial ground.

"Don't worry about anything else, break through the encirclement with all your might!"

Wuligai ordered coldly.

By now, he couldn't care about considering casualties; run as many as you can.

No matter how heavy the losses were, it was better than total annihilation.

Similar scenes were also happening on the battlefields in two directions.

In a critical moment, the thoughts of the Ghost Fang high-level officials were surprisingly consistent.

The bloody battle continued on the battlefield, and blood stained the earth red.

"Provincial Military Commander Li, this enemy army is not simple!"

Marquis Marquis Wuyang, who was watching the battle, couldn't help but exclaim.

He didn't intervene in this decisive battle at all.

It wasn't until the great battle broke out that he went to the city gate tower to watch.

Even though both sides were enemies, he still admired the bravery shown by the Ghost Fang soldiers.

Whether it was charging against artillery fire or fighting head-on with several times the enemy, it required courage.

In contrast, the auxiliary army responsible for covering the rear had already given up by this time.

After the Ghost Fang cavalry fell into the encirclement, they became onlookers and had no intention of participating in the battle at all.

"Marquis, the enemy is just a trapped beast fighting."

"In fact, the Ghost Fang people's fighting will is not that strong; they are just being driven to a dead end now."

"They burned, killed, and plundered all the way south; even if they surrendered immediately, they wouldn't have a good end."

"Moreover, the two sides don't speak the same language; even if they wanted to surrender, they wouldn't know how to negotiate."

"Grassland people believe in the law of the jungle; only by showing enough strength will they be convinced."

"I estimate that after fighting them a few more times and letting our strength spread across the grassland, this situation will never happen again."

"When the Tatars attacked the Ghost Fang, they surrendered very quickly."

Li Mu explained immediately.

In case he was led astray by this battle, thinking that all Ghost Fang armies had such stubborn fighting will.

If Marquis Marquis Wuyang was scared, that wouldn't be good.

In fact, many officials of the Great Great Dayu Dynasty were scared by the grassland cavalry.

They were completely unable to objectively measure the comparison of military strength between the enemy and themselves.

In the process of this Tatar invasion, there were originally many opportunities for battle, all of which were missed because of fear.

Regarding the Tatar issue, the Great Great Dayu court was currently mainly divided into the "Fear-Tatar Faction" and the "Arrogant Faction," and those who could look at problems rationally were very few.

Most officials who had contact with the Tatars were members of the "Fear-Tatar Faction."

The "Arrogant Faction" were mostly a group of corrupt scholars, typically not listening to things outside the window, only reading sage books.

In the eyes of these people, as long as the Emperor implemented benevolent governance, the world could be peaceful.

Don't talk to them about objective reality problems; these guys were professional trolls and weren't responsible for solving problems.

"That's for the best!"

"The Ghost Fang people are much more numerous than the Tatars; if they were all this hard to fight, the court would be in big trouble."

Marquis Marquis Wuyang said with lingering fear.

Ghost Fang cavalry had to rely on several times the strength to surround them; more powerful Tatar cavalry would only be more formidable.

At this moment, he realized how lucky the previous Jinan great victory was.

Fortunately, the enemy army outside the city was too greedy and foolishly divided their troops, creating a battle opportunity for them.

If the enemy army hadn't divided their troops and the Ghost Fang cavalry on the battlefield had been twice as many, the encirclement net would have been torn open long ago.

"Thousand-Household Altai, something big is wrong!"

"The camp is besieged by the Great Dayu army, and the allied forces are trying their best to break out..."

Before he could finish speaking, the soldier who brought the news fainted.

Seeing this scene, Altai frowned.

Don't look at this team as very long, but more of them were strongmen responsible for transporting loot, and those who could truly fight were less than a thousand.

But the camp was besieged by the enemy army, and he had to provide rescue.

"Pass the order down, leave a team of people to watch the loot, and the rest will return to rescue with me."

"At the same time, send people to notify the nearby units and let them rush back to the camp to participate in the battle as soon as possible!"

Altai gave the order decisively.

The Great Dayu army taking the initiative to attack, although it exceeded his expectations, Altai was not worried.

He was familiar with the situation nearby.

Except for the Great Dayu army in Jinan City, other Great Dayu armies were all wine bags and rice sacks.

According to the intelligence mastered, the Great Dayu army in Jinan had already been severely damaged in the previous battle with the Tatars.

There were 20,000 troops in the camp; even after deducting that group of auxiliary troops, there were still 15,000 cavalry.

With so many troops, even if besieged, there would be no danger.

Summoning them back was mostly wanting to bloom from the center, working inside and outside to defeat the enemy army in one fell swoop.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 305 =====