Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 85: Meng'an and Mouke have difficulty forming an army (Part )
"Enemy encounters ahead? A large group of gold thieves?"

"Yes!"

"The Golden Thief is guarding the main courtyard?"

"No, several hundred gold thieves lined up behind the courtyard. The front row was armed with spears, the middle row was armed with swords and shields, and the back row was armed with bows and arrows. It was a three-row formation."

"Oh? What is Wang Wulang doing?"

"Fight against the enemy troops."

"Shooting?"

"……Yes!"

"Wang Wulang has fifteen men in total, shooting arrows at over two hundred people?"

"The Jin thieves only have more than twenty archers."

"What a well-matched opponent." Liu Huai sighed.

Wei Chang, standing nearby, couldn't contain his excitement and asked loudly, "Brother, do you want to retreat a bit, create some distance, and then dig in?"

At this time, the Loyal Army's cavalry was only about 200 steps away from the parade ground, but it was surrounded by trees and houses, and the road turned two corners, so Liu Huai couldn't see the end at a glance. However, through the scout's report, he still roughly understood the situation ahead.

Hearing Wei Chang's proposal, Liu Huai immediately glanced at him.

If this battle could determine the fate of the country for a hundred years, Liu Huai would have taken the lead in using cavalry to attack the spear formation regardless of life and death.

But it is conceivable that even if the Jin army's spear formation was unstable, such a victory would inevitably result in huge losses.

War horses killed by spears and knights killed by falling off their horses were inevitable losses, and these elite knights were the backbone of the army, and would become future officers and even local officials.

Since the Loyal Army was marching alone to the north, it could not be a simple army.

The Loyal Army is a propaganda team and a seed drill.

Wouldn't it be a pity to let these seeds die in such a place?
This is just Wangjiazhuang.

There are more than a dozen large manors along the Shu River. If we attack each manor, we will lose dozens of armored cavalry, and then we will not be able to fight this battle.

Then wait for the infantry? Wait for the crossbowmen?

Liu Huai quickly rejected this idea.

No one knew why the Jin bandits had gathered and formed into a military formation. If the Mouke in this village was truly a powerful man sent from heaven, then they could no longer be allowed to secure their position in peace.

What if the Jin bandits really boosted their morale and advanced along the main road with their spear array? How would the Loyalty Army's armored cavalry still hold a foothold?

In a word, we can't wait, because delay will lead to changes.

Liu Huai said to Wang Wulang's guards, "Go tell Wang Wulang to continue harassing the Jin thieves and obscure their sight. Make as much noise as possible. But when I attack, he must get out of the way."

"Here!"

"Everyone dismount. Those holding spears gather towards me. The rest of you gather around the captain, follow the spears, and prepare for a melee! Guan Qilang, you lead ten men and watch the horses."

"Yes!"

Amidst the resounding responses, the heavily armored cavalrymen dismounted one after another, holding their eight-foot-long spears and forming a skewed cone formation.

Before the spear attack, Wei Sheng had already demonstrated it once, and the effect was excellent. Gao Anren's central army was almost defeated in one battle, but Liu Huai set up another spear formation.

To be precise, it is the combat tactics of the White Spear Soldiers in later generations.

The front row consisted of one fierce warrior, the second row three, the third row five, and so on. Twenty-five men formed a cone-shaped formation, armed not only with spears but also swords, shields, bows, and crossbows—a complex formation. Three teams formed a flag, three flags a battalion, and three battalions an army. Ultimately, a massive cone-shaped formation formed.

The key is just one word: charge.

If the front row dies, the back row will fill in. If the front team dies, the back team will fill in.

When several cone-shaped formations cooperate with each other and attack the enemy formation, it is like a file sawing bones or a pack of wolves biting. As long as there is a slight mistake in the enemy's position, the formation will be torn into pieces.

Once this formation is fully developed, it can even fight against cavalry on the plains.

Of course, the White Pole Formation required ridiculously high levels of soldier quality and morale, and it was sheer wishful thinking to organize tens of thousands of soldiers into formation at this moment. However, by chance, the 200 armored cavalry led by Liu Huai met the requirements perfectly.

At this time, excluding the fifty cavalry assigned to Shi Qilang to clear the surrounding area, and the dozen cavalry following Wang Shilong in the vanguard, and excluding the armored cavalry scattered around occupying important intersections, there were only about a hundred people gathered behind Liu Huai.

A short military officer, wearing only a helmet, stepped forward and said, "Commander Liu, the marshal sent me to deliver the message. Tell the general to be cautious and not to act rashly."

Liu Huai turned his head and saw that it was Luo Huaiyan.

The military order was very ambiguous.

This is not to say that Wei Sheng has become a corrupt scholar who knows nothing about military affairs, but that as the commander of the central army, Wei Sheng is nearly ten miles away from Wangjiazhuang. In any case, he does not understand the situation as well as the front-line generals, so Wei Sheng must delegate power.

The so-called "planning from behind and winning thousands of miles away" often refers to strategy and politics. When it comes to tactics, anyone who dares to do so will make a big mistake like airdropping handwritten letters in later generations.

The meaning of Wei Sheng’s military order was simple: don’t be reckless and conserve your strength, but Liu Huai could act accordingly.

"The arrow is on the string and must be released. After I defeat the enemy in a quarter of an hour, I will naturally discuss it with the Marshal." Liu Huai took a reassurance pill. As long as it was not an order to withdraw the troops, it would be easy to say: "Luo Erlang, you wait here for a while."

Luo Huaiyan took a step back upon hearing this, but then he saw the Flying Tiger Banner following closely behind Liu Huai, and could not help but step forward again: "General, let me hold the banner, so that the warriors holding it can go and fight."

Liu Huai nodded: "Follow me closely for a while. There's no danger behind me. But if there is danger, even if it means death, you can't let the flag fall. Do you understand?"

Luo Huaiyan took the banner, swallowed, and nodded with difficulty.

The original flag bearer patted Luo Huaiyan on the shoulder, drew his sword, and stood behind him.

"Enter!"

After completing the general preparations, Liu Huai looked back again, then raised his eight-foot-long spear and swung it violently.

More than one hundred armored cavalrymen who had abandoned their horses advanced slowly in a cone formation, holding spears, swords, and axes.

To be honest, this is not easy.

The difficulty lies not only in maintaining an unfamiliar formation, but also in the difficulty of marching in heavy armor.

Qi Jiguang once said clearly: After putting on armor, soldiers can only walk two miles at most. If the distance is longer, not to mention killing the enemy, the soldiers themselves will be exhausted.

Fortunately, when they turned around and turned to the intersection, the Song army was only 200 steps away from the Jin army.

"Wu Langjun, Commander Liu is here!"

Wang Shilong was engaged in a fierce battle with the Jin army. Apart from the casualties caused by the initial surprise attack, the rest of the casualties were very limited.

Raising the shield, drawing the bow, holding the spear, roaring, and cursing consumed a lot of energy. Coupled with the exhaustion caused by the massive secretion of adrenaline, this small-scale battle provoked by Wang Shilong quickly became boring.

The Jin army formed up on the spot and did not dare to attack;
The Song army rushed and shot arrows, but did not dare to break the formation.

Wang Shilong breathed heavily, glanced back at the way he had come, and quickly ordered, "Make way!"

Upon hearing this, more than ten riders quickly separated to both sides, revealing the might behind them.

(End of this chapter)