Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 250 Wolf Brush and Mandarin Duck Formation

Before Yanyu Pass.

While Pan Jun used himself as bait to lead his army downstream to prevent the Han army from landing, the Han army upstream used the mud bags, sandbags, dry firewood and straw that they had prepared in advance to quickly work on the mudflats.

In less than 15 minutes, more than half of the various supplies piled up on the riverbank were consumed, and a total of three paths leading directly to Wu's army positions were filled.

The Han army advanced in a mighty wave.

Wu Jun fought back fiercely.

at the same time.

On the great river.

There are boats going downstream.

Boats and ships also kept docking.

Han soldiers and laborers, along with troop transport ships, continuously landed.

Everyone knows what they have to do.

One after another, they rushed forward without stopping for a moment, carrying the remaining supplies from the riverbank and heading towards Wu's army position.

Before they had gone a hundred paces, the vanguard of the Han army had already formed a wall of formation ahead, so tight that it was impenetrable.

The people carrying supplies did not stop there. Instead, under the officer's orders, they spread out to the left and right, throwing their supplies into the mud, widening the passage that was originally only a hundred paces wide.

By this time, they were only about twenty paces away from the trenches, antlers, and other fortifications in front of Wu's position.

The people in front threw mud bags and sandbags into the mud pit, and the people behind sent dry firewood and straw forward to cover the mud bags and sandbags.

After the dry firewood and straw were laid out, the Han soldiers and laborers at the front began to step on them and slowly moved forward under the command of the officers.

From the riverbank to the front line, the Han troops that landed had almost completely blocked the passage.

Later generations continuously sent mud, sand, firewood, and straw forward.

The predecessors continuously carried over the mud, sand, firewood and straw to lay the ground.

Taking advantage of the moment when Wu's generals and officers were caught off guard and the archers were difficult to deploy.

The Han army quickly widened the passage, which was over a hundred paces wide, to the left and right by more than thirty paces.

At this time, in the passage, under the continuous fire suppression of the Han army's archers, a small number of Han soldiers had already rushed forward to fill in the trenches, pushed aside the deer antlers, and forced their way to the earthen wall that was half a person high. They then began close-quarters combat with the Wu people hiding behind the earthen wall.

As the saying goes, "a great reward will surely bring forth brave men." The fighting spirit and morale of the Vanguard Daredevils were undoubtedly the strongest in the entire army. The armor they wore and the spears and halberds they held were also the best in the army. This was an important reason why the Vanguard Daredevils were so brave in charging into battle.

The Su-iron swords, Su-iron spears, and Su-iron armor, forged using the double-liquid quenching method and the steel-filling method, were completely ahead of their time.

Although the Wu soldiers were also daredevils on the battlefield, and although they wore the same tube-sleeved armor as the Han soldiers, they were also daredevils on the battlefield.

However, when Wu Jun's iron spears struck the Han army's tube-sleeved armor, they often only produced a few sparks and left a few scratches.

The Han soldiers, even if they dared to die, could stab the Wu soldiers three or five times, and the spears would pierce through their iron armor, leaving a bloody hole.

A Han soldier named Gao Ang killed three Wu soldiers in a row. When he was about to run out of strength and was about to cut off the Wu soldiers' heads and retreat, he suddenly encountered a Wu soldier commander with excellent personal martial arts skills.

This daredevil, Gao Feng, failed to see anything special about the director of the play, and in his carelessness, he was stabbed in the forearm.

The man, in pain, was instantly enraged. With a roar, he threw down his bloodied head, picked up his spear, and charged forward to fight alongside the soldiers.

Under the cover of his comrades, Gao Yang exerted all his strength and fought a dozen or so rounds with the skilled commander of his troops.

However, due to exhaustion and inferior skills, he was soon stabbed four or five times by the commander, leaving unprotected areas such as his armpits, thighs, and feet with bloody holes.

That Wu commander was highly skilled in martial arts and had extensive experience in battlefield combat.

Realizing that the Shu army in front of him was unable to fight or retreat, a ferocious and murderous look flashed across his face.

"Shu dog, die!" The man had anticipated that the Shu man in front of him would dodge to the left and back, and after shouting, he thrust his spear diagonally to the left of the Shu man's face.

This is a veteran who has fought his way through piles of corpses. Relying solely on his combat instincts, he can instantly detect the enemy's weaknesses and use ingenious methods to kill them in the blink of an eye.

As Gao Ang saw the spear tip coming towards him, he was too late to dodge. His pupils widened, and his mind flashed back to all sorts of scenes he had experienced, both beautiful and unpleasant.

The memories flashed back to the old capital, to the day when the emperor, after offering sacrifices to heaven and his ancestors, reviewed the three armies outside Chang'an.

The image of the emperor, dressed in a red robe and silver armor, riding past him, attracted by his loud shout of "Long live the emperor!", stopping his horse, and finally, the image of him cutting off a piece of armor from his silver armor and throwing it to him emerges.

"Shu dogs! Die!" Just then, the Wu tribesman's enraged roar pulled Gao Ang back to reality.

How am I still alive?!

Gao Yang jolted awake, only to realize with a start that he had no idea what was happening, and had fallen sprawled out on the muddy firewood.

Just as the thought flashed through his mind, before he could take any effective action, the silver spear in the hand of the Wu tribesman commander swiftly pierced his breastplate.

"--collapse!"

A loud bang!
Sparks fly!

The spear in the hand of the Wu tribesman commander struck the high breastplate, and the sharpest tip of the spear shattered instantly!

Wu Ren's subordinate commander had fought for half his life and had never encountered such a scene. Due to inertia, he fell straight towards Gao Feng, who was lying on the ground.

His pupils were wide open.

In her shock, before she could even feel whether she had been pierced, she instinctively grabbed the Wu man by the neck and pulled him towards her.

As the Wu man was pulled in front of him, Gao Ang had already drawn a dagger from his waist with his other hand.

With a final effort, the dagger pierced the side of the neck of Wu's subordinate commander.

The Wu people died instantly.

Gao Ang pulled out his dagger and stabbed the man several more times, shouting like the Wu man as he did so: "Die, you Wu dog!"

Crimson, hot blood gushed from the bloody hole in the neck of that play, smearing Gao Yang's face with it.

The Wu soldiers at the front kept thrusting their spears forward, but they were all blocked by the Han soldiers standing tall around them.

When they realized that their commander had been killed, the morale of the dozens of Wu soldiers in the front row plummeted and their fighting spirit was greatly diminished.

The Wu people's formation quickly began to crumble.

"Brothers, charge with me!" The red-faced demon roared loudly, then charged forward with his spear.

He had just escaped death and was now trembling uncontrollably, feeling no fatigue or pain whatsoever.

The Han army advanced.

In an instant, a section of Wu Jun's battle line caved in.

From the watchtower, Sun Shao quickly realized that this section of the defensive line had been breached by the Han army, but he did not take immediate action. Instead, he looked around.

The Han army continued to expand the battlefield on the front lines with sandbags and firewood.

Pan Jun's military advisor, Deng Xuanzhi, looked worried.
"General Zhenxi, a few days ago, the Shu army infantry broke through two passes of our Great Wu."

"Sun Dangkou of Xilin Pass once said that it was only because the Shu army had strong armor and sharp blades!"

"I didn't believe it then, but now it seems that what Sun Dangkou said was true!"

"If the Shu army continues to expand its battle lines, it will likely be detrimental to our forces!"

About two-fifths of Wu Jun's elite troops guarding this pass were taken downstream by Pan Jun.

Of the remaining three-fifths, one portion was used to conserve strength at Yanyu Pass in preparation for any unforeseen circumstances.

The remaining two portions have already been deployed to the battlefield, where they are now engaged in a desperate battle against the Shu army.

They had no idea how many elite troops the Shu army still had not yet committed to the battlefield.

The Shu army arrived so quickly that they didn't have time to gather any useful intelligence before the battle began.

If the Shu army were to fully deploy its forces, it wouldn't require a large number of troops; just two thousand more elite soldiers would likely be enough to break through the outer defenses of the camp.

Once the outer defense line collapses, the Yanyu Pass behind the defense line will basically be doomed, trapped in an isolated pass with no strong reinforcements. This is the most desperate situation for the defenders.

At that point, we'll have no choice but to abandon the pass and leave.

"I thought that with this swamp, we could at least hold off the Shu army for ten or fifteen days."

"In this way, His Majesty's aid is near."

"But now..."

Deng Xuanzhi spoke up in a huff.

Sun Shao remained silent. After observing the battlefield for a moment, he said:

"Don't panic."

"Although our army has divided its forces, does that mean the Shu army will not divide its forces either?"

"I estimate that the Shu army will not have many elite soldiers."

"The reason they are spreading out the battle lines now is simply to further dilute our troop strength. We don't need to pay attention to them; let them spread out as they please."

"Concentrate our forces first to deal with this group of daredevils!"
"As long as we can hold these three lines, there's nothing to fear in other areas!"

As he was speaking, Sun Shao suddenly saw about one or two hundred Shu soldiers approaching, wielding some strange-looking weapon.

"What is that? Can you see it clearly?" Sun Shao pointed forward and looked at Deng Xuanzhi.

Upon hearing the sound, Deng Xuanzhi looked in the direction Sun Shaozhi was pointing.

But then they saw a large number of Shu soldiers holding something that looked like a tree branch, forming a battle formation and slowly advancing towards the Wu's position.

"Tree branches?" Deng Xuanzhi seemed to be talking to himself.

After gazing intently for a moment, he suddenly spoke:

"No...it's a bamboo pole!"

"Bamboo pole?" Sun Shao asked, puzzled.

However, after a few breaths, it became clear that, just as Deng Xuanzhi had said, the Shu army was indeed coming with bamboo poles, and bamboo poles with branches attached.

It looks like bamboo that the people of Shu (Sichuan) just cut down from the bamboo forest.

"What kind of charade are you trying to create now?"

Deng Xuanzhi was also puzzled: "Could it be... some strange method to break out of the quagmire again?"

While the Wu people were puzzled, the Han soldiers holding bamboo poles had already formed a battle formation and arrived at the Wu army's trenches and deer antlers along the paved path.

They formed small groups of a dozen or so people, totaling more than twenty groups. Each group was similar to the others, and the positions between groups were not dense. The same was true for this group, which had plenty of space to maneuver and move around.

When Sun Shao saw from afar that the Shu army was using these bamboo poles to stab the Wu army, he was completely astonished.

"Ha...haha!" After a moment, Sun Shao suddenly felt a sense of absurdity and burst into laughter as if he was so angry that he laughed out loud.

"Just as I expected, the Shu navy is difficult to train and will not be easily deployed to the battlefield!"

"Those who land and seize the pass must be infantry. Two thousand elite troops are already quite a lot; there can't be any more elite troops!"

"Now they're even using bamboo poles as weapons... Hahaha!" Sun Shao couldn't help but burst into laughter again.

He stopped laughing after a moment, looked at the line of battle that had been bruised and hollowed out by the elite Han army, and shouted:
"Men, bind me with armor!"

"Follow me and drive back the Shu dogs!"

Upon hearing this, the guards quickly brought him his armor.

Sun Shao spread his arms wide, allowing several of his personal guards to put armor on him.

Taking advantage of this time, he first glanced at the banners of Pan Jun.

Then he turned his gaze to the Han army warships that were slowly sailing downstream, the flagship bearing the banner with the character "Chen".

"Hmph!" Sun Shao snorted and laughed heartily, then delegated command to the various lieutenants and officers, and ordered Deng Xuanzhi to continue observing from the watchtower. Finally, he led his personal troops directly to attack the Han soldiers Gao Ang's position.

On the front lines of the Han and Wu armies.

Inside the Mandarin Duck Formation.

Wang Chong, who came to command the troops of Ba County, and Zheng Pu, the magistrate of Yong'an who came to command the troops of Badong County, calmly commanded the infantry in front of them, which could not be called elite troops.

Indeed, as Sun Shao said, the Han navy was formed after years of training and was made a precious force, not easily used for frontal assaults.

Several months ago, the two of them received an imperial order to specially forge this strange weapon called the "wolf's toothbrush".

This weapon is three or four feet long, weighs six or seven pounds, and has a sharp head like a spearhead. It is attached to the left and right sides with nine to eleven layers of iron branches.

The nodes are dense and the branches are strong.

At the same time, a large number of bamboo branches were wrapped around the left and right sides to obscure the enemy's line of sight.

The front end is made of forged iron.

The rear end is made of bamboo poles, which are over 12 or 13 feet long, longer than a horse lance, not to mention ordinary spears.

Before many of these weapons had been manufactured, the emperor issued another edict.

More than 4,000 soldiers from Ba Commandery and Badong Commandery were sent to Wang Chong and Zheng Pu, who were ordered to practice a formation called the "Mandarin Duck Formation".

According to the emperor, the reason for making this wolf-tooth rake is that weak troops will become timid and panicked when facing the enemy, and will forget the formations and movements they have practiced.

Carrying a long and thick wolf-tooth spear in front can largely overcome the fear and timidity of new recruits facing the enemy.

If used by elite troops, then such a weapon would be a cumbersome burden.

As for the Mandarin Duck Formation, it's quite simple.

The wolf-brush wielders used bamboo sticks with branches to sweep and entangle the enemy's weapons, while four spearmen in the formation thrust forward through the gaps between the shields and the wolf-brush.

Those with close-range skills are responsible for covering gaps and providing medical assistance.

The Mandarin Duck Formation spreads out in small squads, transforming into the Yin-Yang Formation when encountering narrow paths and the Sancai Formation when encountering open areas, but always maintaining frontal firepower and flank protection.

Gunmen only practice thrusting, card players only practice blocking and leg-slashing, and wolf-brush players only practice sweeping attacks. They can be ready for battle in ten days or half a month. They advance with the drumbeat and stop with the gong. Anyone who moves around in the formation will be killed on the spot. In this way, they can ensure that the formation will not be disrupted even in a melee.

"Sweep to the left!" The squad leader in charge of the Mandarin Duck Formation shouted the order.

Upon receiving the order, the wolf-brush wielder on the left immediately swung his wolf-brush fiercely at the Wu soldiers.

Wu Bing had never seen such a huge weapon before, and he quickly dodged backward. Just then, a crossbow bolt fired from the rear of the Mandarin Duck Formation pierced straight through his face.

In another instance, a Wu soldier thrust his spear at a shield-bearer on the left from a high position. Upon seeing this, the shield-bearer quickly raised his shield, allowing the Wu soldier's spear to slide over it.

At that moment, the spearmen in the formation immediately thrust out from behind their shields, knocking down the Wu soldier who was unable to retract his spear in time. Afterward, the spearmen did not make any unnecessary movements and quickly retreated to their original positions.

The enemy's spear thrust towards the shield-bearer's feet again.

The shield bearers immediately lowered their shields to block, and the spearmen in the formation seized the opportunity to thrust out and kill the enemy, before quickly retreating back to their original positions.

Not long after the battle began, one of the Wu soldiers found a weakness in the Han soldiers' formation and struggled to raise his spear to thrust it in from the left, attempting to wound the shield-bearer on the left in the buttocks.

As a result, the wolf-brush soldier on the left reacted quickly and immediately used his wolf-brush to deflect the enemy's spear.

At the same time, the spearman guarding the left side instinctively stepped forward and thrust out with his spear.

The left-side swordsmen responsible for providing backup also immediately followed, in case the left-side spearmen were unable to return to defend when their spear momentum was exhausted.

On the battlefield, the Han soldiers in the Mandarin Duck Formation resembled a sophisticated machine.

The shield bearers simply lowered their heads, held their shields, and advanced from the front.

The wolf-brush soldiers on the left are only responsible for defending the left side.

The wolf-brush soldiers on the right are only responsible for defending the right flank;

The spearmen on the left follow the wolf-brush soldiers on the left to attack and kill the enemy, while the spearmen on the right follow the wolf-brush soldiers on the right to attack and kill the enemy.

The short-range soldiers on the left are responsible for supporting the long-range spearmen on the left.

The short-range soldiers on the right are responsible for supporting the long-range spearmen on the right.

The rattan shield soldiers, armed with light rattan shields, would occasionally roll out from between the two sides under the cover of wolf-tooth rakes to launch a surprise attack and kill the enemy.

The soldiers of Liangba County were far from being elite, and many of them were going to the battlefield for the first time.

However, at this moment, they displayed the coordination of an elite army, causing the Wu army, which was not elite either, to suffer greatly.

Less than 15 minutes.

Sun Shao led from the front and fought valiantly.

Just as they were celebrating their victory after finally driving back the Han army's daredevils, Deng Xuanzhi suddenly rushed down from the watchtower, exclaiming in terror:

"Something terrible has happened, Sun Zhenxi!"

"The Shu people... those Shu people with bamboo poles are about to break through our lines!"

"What did you say?!" Sun Shao subconsciously wiped the blood from his face, looking around in astonishment.

(End of this chapter)