Song Dynasty

Chapter 263 I Don't Know Something

Hearing his words, Niu Gao looked around, Zhong Ziang had already got out of the gap on a fast horse before the mandarin duck formations closed up, he was already far away, just a small black spot.

It's not easy to kill it with one arrow.

Can't help but suffocate.

Yue Yun only met Niu Gao yesterday, and he knew that this was a general whose martial arts and commanding skills were not inferior to his own.However, after hearing people say that Wang Shen valued this person very much and wanted him to lead the army alone, he was very dissatisfied in his heart.

You must know that with his countless military exploits on the battlefield, he has only become an army leader at this moment.This bull man was defeated in Henan by Yelu Mawu, the defeated general of the Sizhou Army, and he couldn't get a foothold.

Therefore, there is a lot of dissatisfaction in the words.

Fortunately, Niu Gao is old and not as reckless and thoughtless as in the novels of later generations.On the contrary, he is a person with a sophisticated personality, he only smiles and doesn't get angry at Yue Yun.

Seeing Niu Gao's pause, Yue Yun smiled sarcastically: "Old Niu, the thief general is not far away, I can't do it. But if there is a change of army envoy, it is not difficult to shoot with his magic. You Henan people , it won't work."

Hearing that he insulted the Henan people, Niu Gao's face flashed green, he suddenly pulled out the big bow on his back, put it on the eagle feathers, and pulled it round.He shouted: "General Ying Xiang, today I will show you the archery skills of our hero from Henan!"

After saying "咻", there was no need to aim, and he shot it casually.

On the battlefield, everyone's eyes fell on the feather arrow that flew out of the string.

Niu Gao used the uncommon method of lobbing, the arrow drew a high arc in the air.

It was extremely fast at the beginning, but it became slower and slower as it went up. When it reached the highest point, there was a short pause, and then it fell.

"Shua" the arrow hit Zhong Ziang accurately.

There was silence on the battlefield, and after a while, cheers like the whole day broke out: "Good!"

Yes, this arrow is high and far, and the arrow arrives first, which is simply amazing.

Yue Yun was also so startled that goosebumps covered his body, he knows what to do.It is true that it is archery, and I have only served Wang Shen in my life.Brother-in-law's archery has reached the point where he can shoot through Yang Li with a hundred steps, but he has a big weakness - lack of strength - if he were here today, he would definitely not be able to shoot so far towards Niu Gao.

Niu Manzi, he still has some skills.

After being hit by the arrow, Zhong Ziang swayed his horse several times, but finally he still didn't land, and bent down to ride the horse and galloped.

Yue Yun was shocked: "Niu Gao, shoot him, give him another shot."

Niu Gao rounded the bow, thought for a while, let go of the string again, and shook his head: "It's useless, this thief is wearing heavy armor, if he shoots from such a long distance, even if he hits, it won't kill him."

"Then it doesn't take much effort." Yue Yun shook his head regretfully, and said again: "If you run away, you will run away. In the worst case, you can just kill it later. Although we can't keep the false prince, this battle has achieved a lot. The key is , Today is the first battle of the military envoy's mandarin duck array, the effect is not good, and it can be used on the battlefield in the future. Lao Niu, I have opened my eyes to your archery today. However, I am not convinced. See you on the battlefield later. , to see who kills more thieves."

There is a strange phenomenon in the Sizhou Army. All the armies, including everyone, dislike each other and like to compete for strength.It would be a great shame to lose to others.

Naturally, Niu Gao also noticed it, and said with a smile: "That's good, we'll see you on the battlefield later. Although you don't agree with me, Lao Niu, I admire the mandarin duck formation of the military envoy and the warriors trained by General Ying Xiang very much." .”

Hearing his praise, Yue Yun rejoiced: "That's right, you have good eyesight." Immediately, Niu Gao became more pleasing to the eye: "Old Niu, let's go see my Taishan Boss."

"I'm going to meet Judge Du." Niu Gao was also curious about the No. [-] figure in the Sizhou Army.

Neither of them rode a horse, and walked slowly side by side in the field.

Niu Gao said: "General Ying Xiang, I also tried the mandarin duck formation yesterday, and I didn't think so in my heart. I saw it on the battlefield today, so I realized how powerful it is."

Yue Yun nodded: "I've heard about that too, but at that time you were covered in heavy armor and had exquisite archery skills, so it was not difficult to break through the formation of mandarin ducks. But how many heroes like you are there in the world, there is no one like you in the world. A perfect formation requires only a suitable formation.”

Niu Gao's heart moved: "That's right, if in the big battle, the troops form countless mandarin duck formations like this, wouldn't they destroy the dead and conquer the world?" He and Wang Shen met for the first time yesterday, and after only saying a few words, they hurriedly took The reinforcements came to meet Yue Yun, and there was not much communication between the two sides.

Wang Shen said that the mandarin duck array was just a stopgap measure, specially designed for the Manichaean monsters and Hunan's terrain, and it would not be used again after the war in Hunan was over. This made Niu Gao feel very puzzled, and couldn't help but ask Yue Yun for advice .

Yue Yundao: "The military envoy once said: water has no momentum, soldiers have no shape, and the magic of formation and battle is based on one mind. There is no formation in the world that can conquer the world. It is necessary to use suitable formations and tactics according to time, place and people. If you stick to it, take the way of death."

"As far as Hunan's terrain is concerned, it is divided into two major armies, the north and the south. The north is the lake area, with criss-cross water networks and swamps everywhere, which is not conducive to large-scale battles at all. The south is surrounded by hills, rivers, and deep streams, which are also called It’s a headache. When the army advances, it is easily divided into many disconnected parts by the harsh environment.”

"Because the thieves are not a regular army, they don't know how to fight. They have always concentrated several times or even ten times as many troops as me. This ship roars in. If it can beat it, it will beat it. If it can't beat it, it will fly away. When I first came to Dingzhou, I was at a disadvantage because I was not familiar with the enemy's tactics. The weapons of the monsters were messy, and the long-range weapons were mainly longbows. The number of them was relatively small, and the attack power was not high. , and can't play a real role, so our army can basically deal with it with a long shield."

"The thieves don't have any tactics, and they use crowd tactics in every battle. The weapons are also extremely simple. It is not bad to have a big knife and a spear. Most people even only have a hoe, a rake, and weapons in their hands. They are all relatively short. On the battlefield, an inch is long and an inch is strong, and our army must restrain the enemy in terms of weapons."

"First is the wolf's whisk. The wolf's whisk is longer than the thief's spear, hoe, and rake, and has branches on the upper part, which not only expands the attack distance, but also expands the attack range. When fighting, it can not only attack the enemy first, but also rely on this The extended branches can attack more people and a wider range. But wolf whisks also have their disadvantages. One is that the lethality is not enough, and it cannot kill with one blow. Moreover, because it is too long, it can disturb the enemy from a long distance and disrupt the enemy's attack. Rhythm, the attack of suppressing the enemy's long weapons is naturally very good, but after being close, there is no protection."

"As mentioned earlier, Hunan's geography is not suitable for large-scale combat, and there are no cavalry to protect the flanks. Most of them are close combat, so the mandarin duck formation is organized in independent small units. This is not only suitable for our small number of troops, but also more effective It is suitable for the geographical environment of the first generation of Hunan. There are eleven or two people in a team. In addition to the two wolves, two shield players are in front of the wolves for personal protection, and the four pikemen behind the two wolves can also Protect the left and right sides respectively to prevent the enemy from getting into the Wolf Whip hand at close range, so as long as the wolf Whip hand is protected at close range, the Wolf Whip hand can attack the enemy as much as it wants by virtue of the length and range of the Wolf Whip hand."

"Of course, the reverse is also true. With the long-range protection and support of the Wolf Whip, the shield player can move forward and slash without worrying about being attacked by the enemy's long-range weapons. Two spearmen can also be protected and supported by the wolf wrench. Don't worry about hitting the Mani monster, this is essentially complementary weapons, protecting each other, supporting each other, and making up for each other's weaknesses. The shield knife plus wolf plus two spears and palladium make the combined strength of these five weapons far exceed five. One shield knife or five wolf whisks, long spears, and boring palladium."

Speaking of excitement, the two stopped walking, and simply sat on the ridge of the field and chatted.

Hearing Yue Yun's eloquent talk, Niu Gao couldn't help nodding, and said: "I probably heard the military envoy talk about this formation yesterday, but General Yingxiang didn't explain it so thoroughly. Only now can I fully understand the beauty of this formation." .But...however, the general has not answered my question, why will this formation be no longer used after the Battle of Hunan is over?"

Yue Yun: "Although this mandarin duck formation is powerful, it has a fatal weakness. If you go back to the north of the Yangtze River and still hold on to this formation, not to mention encountering Jurchen and Khitan, I am afraid that even Zhang Yong and Cao Cheng can do it." Easily defeat my Sizhou warriors."

Niu Gao was shocked: "How is it possible?"

Yue Yun: "If you want to say that the mandarin duck formation is invincible, that's not right. Everything has its advantages and disadvantages, and the mandarin duck formation has obvious disadvantages. First, it is afraid of intensive long-range offensives. Each team of the mandarin duck formation has only two There are two shield players, and only one is a long shield player. A long shield player, if the opponent's long-range is very scattered, not many, such as Mani monsters, without formal training, then a long shield can withstand some scattered arrow attacks. However, if the regular army has been trained and shoots intensively with bows and crossbows, it is difficult to defend the mandarin duck formation, and it can only maintain the formation and move forward to meet the enemy, so it may lose a lot during the process of meeting the enemy. If some key positions are manned If you lose it, it’s basically useless.”

"Secondly, the impact of infantry is very weak, and the frontal breakthrough ability of infantry facing heavily armored defenses is very weak. As mentioned above, if you are actively attacking, you need to maintain your formation and move forward to meet the enemy, even if the opponent is not long-range, but Rows of heavy infantry defending with thick and long shields, wolf sticks are itchy for heavy infantry attacks, shield swordsmen can't split the opponent's shield array, spearmen can't pierce, and boring palladium is even more helpless. Some people It may be said that the impact and breakthrough are the things of the cavalry, but it is not the case. Horses are not available everywhere. The formation of the cavalry is actually very expensive, and the impact and breakthrough of the cavalry are more through weak points such as flanks. Large-scale The confrontation between the two armies mainly depends on the confrontation between infantry, which is dominated by infantry and supplemented by cavalry."

"Si..." Niu Gao suddenly realized the seriousness of this problem, and couldn't help taking a breath.Yes, if the mandarin duck formation encountered armored infantry in an open area, and the weapons in their hands couldn't break through the armor, it would be a one-sided massacre!
"Third, this mandarin duck formation is too expensive, and it is troublesome to train." A voice came.

(End of this chapter)