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Volume One: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 644: Old Tactics

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    Just when Grant and Montauban were discussing and preparing for artillery to bombard the mound behind the Taiping Army's horizontal formation, Xiao Yungui under the apricot yellow banner on the mound said calmly to the messenger: "Order the artillery regiment to fire to suppress the enemy's artillery."  Then he said to Qian Jiang and other entourage: "Go to the back of the hill to avoid the artillery fire. The enemy's artillery fire is coming soon. Order the soldiers of the first and second regiments lurking here, no matter how fierce the enemy's artillery fire is, to  Hold on first.¡±

    Sure enough, when the apricot-yellow flag slowly disappeared behind the hill, the coalition's artillery fire began to pour down. The artillery fire from the two field artillery squadrons was still very fierce, but soon the Taiping Army's artillery fire also began to roar, trying to suppress the coalition forces.  of artillery.

    There are three types of Armstrong cannons in the British army, a 6-pound mountain gun or a small field gun (64 mm); a 9-pounder horse-drawn gun (76 mm) and a 12-pound field gun.  After modification of the rifling, the artillery shells can hit farther and more accurately.  However, the artillery of the Taiping Army also had modified rifling. A large part of the technology originated from the British Armstrong cannon. This artillery battle was more like a civil war between British artillery.  When weapons technology and technology are almost completely equal, what is tested is only the calculation ability and operational proficiency of the gunners.  But there was one point where the Taiping Army had a slight advantage. The number of artillery pieces in one regiment was twelve more than the number of artillery pieces in the two British artillery squadrons.

    "Damn it, the enemy's artillery is hiding behind the hill. They must have calculated the location where we might set up the artillery position!" Grant turned pale. This battlefield was chosen by the Taiping Army after Major Buger retreated.  The Taiping Army had ample time to observe the battlefield, while the Allied forces rushed in and then entered the battle.  This seems unfair.

    Soon the British artillery could not suppress the enemy's artillery, and the enemy's artillery fired more and more shells.  As the two 12-pound field guns were destroyed, the British artillery hurriedly began to move their positions. They had already given up bombarding the hills.

    "Then it's up to the infantry boys." Montauban hoped that the infantry could defeat the enemy in front of them as soon as possible, and then charge over to seize the hill. Then the coalition cavalry could charge up and massacre the enemy's defeated troops.

    At a distance of 400 yards, the coalition soldiers began to fire their first salvo at the enemy. More than a hundred soldiers fell to the ground in the Taiping horizontal formation. Most of them fell to the ground in a kneeling position, aiming and preparing to shoot.  But the Taiping soldiers were as frozen as cast iron.

    Although the era of queuing to kill has passed, it is undeniable that when the infantry front ensures the number of salvo fires on the old-fashioned linear array, it brings the greatest results and shocks the enemy the most.  Rifled muskets made the tactic of lining up to kill begin to show its backwardness, so the Taiping Army canceled the tactic of standing and shooting when the second row of soldiers formed a horizontal formation in the infantry drill, and changed it to the first row of soldiers lying down and the second row of soldiers kneeling.  .  This can at least reduce casualties to a certain extent.

    The coalition forces continued to advance. At a distance of 300 yards, the Taiping Army began to fire back for the first time. The densely packed coalition soldiers fell to the ground screaming.  At least more than 300 people were injured or killed on the spot.  When Grant saw this scene, he said with a livid face: "The Taiping Army has long been studying how to fight with us in the field. It seems that they let the soldiers kneel or lie down to shoot. But they rarely shoot in a standing position. This is not because  Cowardly and fearful. But to better preserve themselves." Montauban was silent for a long time before saying: "We can no longer use the tactics we used against the Qing army to deal with the Taiping Army."

    After the Taiping Army's salvo, the coalition's front line became a little panicked. It originally followed conventional tactics.  After the infantry fired a salvo of fire, when the enemy was in chaos, it was the best time to launch a charge. However, this time the Taiping infantry did not take advantage of the situation to charge. They turned around and quickly fled towards the hill one by one.

    What's happening here?  Allied soldiers and officers found it incredible, but since the enemy began to retreat, they should move forward and charge forward with more determination!  So several columns of phalanx soldiers of the coalition forces began to pursue, and the cavalry was also eager to try behind them.

    It has to be said that the elite of the coalition forces can generally maintain their formation during the rapid pursuit. If the Taiping soldiers turn around and prepare for a counterattack, then they can quickly adjust their formation and launch a volley at the enemy.  The strongest blow.

    Just as the coalition forces pursued them to the foot of the hill, the Taiping soldiers in front suddenly turned around and lay down, and countless Taiping soldiers suddenly appeared densely among the green grass on the hill. This change made the coalition soldiers  stunned.

    "The camouflage uniforms of Taiping soldiers naturally blend in with the surrounding environment, making it difficult for us to detect them. The front troops suddenly retreated, drawing our troops into their fire encirclement. This tactic is often used by our British army.  Use, unfortunately this time we fell into"In a human trap" Grant recalled in his memoirs many years later that this was the first war he faced with the Taiping Army, so he was very impressed.

    "The enemy's tactics and organization are concise and flexible, and the command of the middle and lower-level officers is full of art. They can always grasp the context of the war process in the ever-changing battle situation. From this point of view, the Taiping Army, an army of yellow people, their  Combat tactics are far ahead of us" General Montauban focused on summarizing things at the tactical level, which he wrote very frustrated in his post-war diary.

    As combat weapons have undergone a profound technological revolution, innovations in rifled muskets and artillery have led to great progress in weapons. The range of weapons has increased, their accuracy has improved, and their rate of fire has accelerated. Obviously, corresponding changes in organization, tactics and logistical support are also needed.  reform.  After Napoleon developed the corps and division organization, if not a regression in terms of organization and tactics, at least it experienced a long period of stagnation.  An obvious example is the use of archaic infantry tactics in the Russo-Turkish War (1828-1829), a famous conflict between 1815 and 1845.  The Russians abandoned Napoleon's tactical and strategic principles of concentration of forces, and likewise the French and British troops still insisted on parade drills to the detriment of combat training.  Until the Second Opium War.  The infantry phalanx and the hollow phalanx still maintained their advantages on the Far East battlefield, because the British and French forces encountered the Manchu army whose weapons and tactics were an era behind them.

    Organizations and tactics adapt slowly to changes in weapons.  Most of the reason is that new weapons require battlefield forces to be dispersed, and professional soldiers are afraid that if the army is too dispersed, it will lose control.  This is understandable.  But now they encountered the Taiping Army, which had innovative weapons and tactics. As early as when the Taiping Army was undergoing organizational reform and large-scale military training, the King of the West had the foresight to adopt an organization more suitable for future wars. At the same time,  Tactically, the phalanx tactics were retained, and more advanced skirmishing tactics were researched and developed.

    Skirmishing tactics require the army to have good communications and the command quality of grassroots officers. The Taiping Army's specialized messengers and communications troops enable the army's communications to be well directed. At the same time, a large number of grassroots backbone officers are trained in military schools and war  Let them grow up.

    At this point, the British and French forces paid the price for their conservatism, even in later history.  In the American Civil War that was later than the Second Opium War, the U.S. Army was still using the backward tactics of Britain and France. The result was that a large number of soldiers died in the phalanx firing with muskets whose range and accuracy were better than those of muskets.  Under rifled gun.  It was also after the American Civil War that the Americans gradually abandoned the old and backward tactics in the later period and began to use new tactics.

    ??The leader of the Taiping Army is a time traveler. He stands on the shoulders of historical giants and views the development of things. Naturally, he has unparalleled initiative. Therefore, his foresight made the coalition forces passive at this time.

    When the Taiping troops ambushing on the hill opened fire on the coalition soldiers at the foot of the hill, the bloody storm caused by the metal storm caused heavy losses to the coalition forces.  Their dense horizontal formation was a very good target. On a front with a width of one mile and at a close range of less than 200 yards, the Taiping Army's precise shooting caused the coalition forces to almost collapse under such a blow.

    Without any choice.  Grant and Montauban unanimously issued the order to retreat. When the retreat bugle sounded, the Taiping attack bugle rang through the blue sky.  Behind the left and right flanks of the hill.  The Taiping Cavalry Regiment took the lead in attacking. Although they did not have the abnormal firepower of the Guards Cavalry Regiment.  But their sabers were as deadly as the speed of their horses.

    The Taiping cavalry, which rushed up like a whirlwind, began to chase down the already confused infantry of the coalition forces. At this time, the coalition infantry was no longer able to effectively form a hollow square formation that could resist the cavalry.  A few brave soldiers formed several small hollow phalanxes in place.  Dozens of them formed a small hollow square formation. This square formation is actually not hollow anymore, because the soldiers are close together back to back, with not much space in the middle. The only person standing in the middle is the commander of the unit.  and flag-bearers, etc.

    Several small hollow square formations reflect the elite of the coalition soldiers. Under such circumstances, they can still have the courage and discipline to arrange their formations. Even if the Taiping Army's sabers are waved in front of them, they can still proceed step by step.  He followed their movements without any panic.

    But it was a pity that what they encountered was the Taiping cavalry. By studying the tactics of how the cavalry broke through the enemy's hollow square formation, the Taiping cavalry was already prepared.  Although the legion cavalry did not have the strong firepower of the Guards cavalry, they were equipped with more grenades. This tactic was learned from the Mongolian cavalry of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties who rushed towards the enemy with explosive bags.

    So, the Taiping cavalry turned their horses and did not rush directly towards the bayonet arrays of the hollow square formations, but from their sides.It swept up and then threw grenades at them at close range.  Although many Taiping cavalry were shot and knocked off their horses by the coalition soldiers in the hollow square formation, the Taiping cavalry came flying like jackdaws to water, and there would always be a few grenades falling on the dense crowd, and then  It was a huge explosion under the bloody storm.

    Although the hollow phalanx organized by a few brave officers failed to stop the Taiping cavalry, they bought some time for the larger army. The cavalry from the rear coalition forces was dispatched. They came forward to intercept the Taiping cavalry. This time the cavalry was dispatched.  In addition to the elite British cavalry, the cavalry also includes the French army's few West African cavalry (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novel is better and updated faster!
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