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On the bank of Bohe Spring at the foot of Dragon King Mountain, the scale of the field battle between the allied forces of the princes and the Yan army was unprecedented in the Tang Dynasty in the past hundred years.
The king of Liang took the capital of Tingzi, Yuan Cong's 15,000-strong army as the central army, Zhu Youning's military-building army of 40,000 people as the left army, and Zhang Guihou's town army of 20,000 people as the right army. The frontal formation was more than four miles away.
Di; Shi Shu Cong's protective army of 60,000 people served as the rear army, which was the mobile force used by the King of Liang to make up for the front at any time.
On the two flanks of the Liang Army's formation, Ma Yinzhi and Jing's army formed a left-wing army of 20,000 people. Wang Zongji and Li Shenfu combined forces of 20,000 people to form a right-wing army. They guarded the two flanks of the left army and the right army respectively, but they relied on
With superior strength, the two flanks spread diagonally upwards, and there was a faint tendency to surround the two wings of the Yan army's formation.
The combined armies of Guo Qiqi and Wang Shike only amounted to a few thousand men, so the King of Liang didn't care. He just bundled them into the side of the central army and strictly controlled them.
Facing the superior strength of the coalition of princes, Zhong Shao commanded the Yan army's formation to shrink slightly inward in order to increase the thickness of the formation. The formation of the Yan army did not have five large formations in the front like the coalition of princes. They used two large formations.
The top of the formation is at the forefront, and each large formation is composed of more than ten small formations. The passage left is wider than that of the coalition of princes.
The two large formations at the front were Cangzhou Army on the left and Weizhou Army on the right. This battle was a field formation, with sixteen sword and shield battalions arranged in the front to form a spacious shield formation, followed by sixteen armored troops.
The spearmen battalions are arranged in three rows. Each battalion is five steps apart, leaving front and rear passages. In the Yan army's fighting method, it is extremely important to ensure that the passages on the battlefield are clear.
Behind the two large formations are sixteen archery battalions. The arrangement of the archer battalions is not so strict. They are deployed in the rear of the large formation according to the combat direction they need to be responsible for supporting, resembling a convex arc.
Behind the archer battalion are twenty supplementary battalions as reserves. They will be dispatched at any time to make up for losses in the battle formation and maintain the order of the battle formation. Eight logistics battalions are deployed around the supplementary battalion, and they will be sent to
It plays an extremely important supporting role in combat. There are also two logistics battalions, which are chariot battalions, and are now scattered throughout the formation.
The left wing of the formation is the left wing of the new Jinzhou Army commanded by Li Cunxu, and the right wing of the formation is the right wing of the new Jinzhou Army commanded by Guo Chongtao. They are responsible for the security of the two wings of the formation and prevent the enemy from breaking through the flanks.
The reason why the battlefield was chosen in Bohequan is because it is backed by Longwang Mountain, and Zhong Shao placed his headquarters on a hill about three to four feet high at the foot of the mountain. Under the hill, four cavalrymen attached to the Cangzhou Army and the Weizhou Army
The battalion gathered together, waiting for the general's order to attack.
Behind the hill is the temporary warehouse for this battle, with hundreds of carts and massive combat supplies piled up. Zhong Shao temporarily converted the nearly 10,000 Hedong soldiers who were recruited when he sent troops to Hedong into logistics auxiliary troops. They will be responsible for transporting supplies and supporting them.
The battle ahead.
In addition, at the foot of the Nanshan depression of Longwang Mountain, Xie Li led the Huaiyue coalition with more than 10,000 Mabuxiang troops stationed here. This was Zhong Shao's strategic mobile force to cope with various emergencies.
On the entire Bohequan field battlefield, the total strength of the Yan army reached 68,000. As for Zhao Ba, he had already led the Zhaozhou army to Jiepailing to seize the opportunity to cut off the retreat of the coalition forces of the princes.
At three quarters of noon on November 25th, with the rising drums of the allied forces of the princes, the battle officially started. This was the first large-scale field battle since the contact between the two armies since the middle of the year, and it was also a decisive battle that determined the fate of the world.
One battle.
In this battle, Liang Jun, who had to pursue a quick battle due to food and grass problems, took the lead. Zhu Youning was on the left and Zhang Guihou was on the right. They each launched an attack on the Yan Army's formation with a thousand men.
The two sides have been fighting for half a year, and the coalition forces of the princes have figured out the range of the Yan army's big arrows. Therefore, they built dozens of thick shield vehicles and approached the Yan army's formation with the shield vehicles on top.
The Yan army did not waste arrows hastily. They deployed more than thirty catapults on both sides of the formation. The stone bullets were pulled by wooden arms, flew high into the sky, and then hit the attacking Liang army. The huge stone bombs
The shells fell down in rows and slammed into Liang Jun's shield car array. Within a moment, several shield cars were hit directly by the head, and the broken wood flew into the air. The shield cars fell apart on the spot.
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Some stone bullets also splashed into the crowd of Liang Jun, causing bursts of exclamations and screams. Some soldiers were injured by the high-speed stone bullets, which ranged from broken legs to fatal injuries. A few unlucky ones were hit from the front.
When it arrives, it immediately becomes a pile of flesh and blood.
Those selected to launch the first wave of attacks were all fierce soldiers. Under the threat of the Du Dao team, they pushed the shield cart forward desperately, until they were within a hundred steps of the Yan army's formation.
Thousands of Liang Army archers followed closely and ran up quickly. Groups of them hid behind the shield carts that were still intact, throwing arrows at the Yan Army to cover the infantry charging into the formation.
Arrows scattered all over the sky fell from the air and crashed into the front line of the Yan Army. The soldiers of the Yan Army Sword and Shield Battalion used their whole strength to hold up their large shields to cover the arrows and cover the armored spearmen in the rear, but many arrows still passed by.
The sword and shield hand shot into the gun formation in the back row.
The armored spearmen had already pulled down their protective masks to cover their faces, and their entire bodies were covered tightly. The arrows hit the armor, making a dense "ding-dong" sound. Some of the spearmen were hit by more arrows and were
The force of the arrows caused them to tilt backwards, and they were held up by the shoulders of the spearmen in the back row, keeping the tight formation unchanged.
At the same time, a dense array of arrows flew up in the Yan Army's formation, shooting at the charging Liang Army soldiers. After the three arrows, they were replaced by two small arrows, and the Liang Army rushed over.
Almost half of the soldiers fell! Such casualties made Zhu Youning and Zhang Guihou, who commanded the attack, couldn't help changing their faces. They had long known that the Yan Army's archery formation was the best in the world, and they had also experienced the pros and cons, but they did not expect that in a large-scale attack
In military formations and field battles, the effectiveness of arrow formations will be so high.
After Liang Jun rushed within fifty steps, both sides stopped shooting to prevent accidental injuries. Immediately, Yan Jun began to change formations with extremely efficient organization. The front row of sword and shield formations quickly shrank and retreated through the passages between the small formations.
, revealing three rows of black armored gun formations glowing with cold light.
Sixteen powerful military camps and more than 8,000 armored spearmen, this was the most luxurious lineup in the Tang Dynasty for a hundred years!
A very rhythmic drum beat sounded from the hills behind. It was not as violent as Liang Jun's drum beat, but it was extremely stable, with a chilling air in it.
"Dong-dong-dong-dong!"
"Dong-dong-dong-dong!"
"Dong-dong-dong-dong!"
With the beating of drums that were slow and fast, the armored spear array moved forward like a giant steel dragon. Everyone stepped on the drum beats, maintaining an extremely neat formation, and slowly but firmly rolled forward.
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No one in the armored spear formation shouted, shouted, or even spoke, but the coldness revealed in this silence would make people tremble all over.
Almost everyone in the coalition formation of the princes had never seen the scene in front of them. King Liang was holding his lips tight and his face was livid without saying a word. Zhu Youning and Zhang Guihou’s hearts were pounding. Ma Yin and Wang Zong on the left and right wings.
Ji, Li Shenfu and others could not help but asked with trembling voices: "This... this is the main force of the Yan army? How could it be like this? How could it be like this?..."
Two fast horses, holding command flags, quickly came out from the central army and ran towards the two wings along the front of the princes' coalition formation.
"His Royal Highness's military order, the army will attack the enemy's armored gun formation with heavy blades. Your troops will immediately bypass the enemy's flanks..." The officer who ordered the order pointed to the flank of the Yan army's formation on the opposite side: "Be sure to defeat the enemy's left wing and cover the heavy blade army.
charge!"
Ma Yin then moved his eyes away from the Yan Army's armored spear formation. At this time, the armored spear formation had already engaged Liang Jun who had attacked in the first wave. He turned his attention to the armored spearmen on the flanks of the armored spear formation.
The frontal attack power is extremely powerful, but the flanks are always a relative weakness. Ma Yin nodded, received the military order, and immediately began to deploy troops - if he wanted to attack the flanks of the armored gun array, he must defeat the flanks guarding the enemy.
The Yan Army Jinzhou Army.
Ma Yin assigned several generals and asked them to lead the team to prepare for the attack. After giving the instructions, he turned around to watch the battle. He saw hundreds of Liang's soldiers abandoning their swords and guns and running back as hard as they could.
Is this a defeat? Ma Yin swallowed his saliva, his heart was up and down, and he didn't know what he was thinking.
Ma Yin was the King of Jing who was supported by the King of Liang. The establishment of the Jing Kingdom was inseparable from the support of the King of Liang. If the King of Liang failed in this battle, then Ma Yin would not have a good end. Therefore, although he felt that the war situation seemed not good,
But he still obeyed King Liang's order for him to attack.
But Wang Zongji and Li Shenfu on the other flank were not as happy as Ma Yin. Both Shu and Wu relied on their own strength to gain a foothold among the princes. King Liang's defeat in this battle had little to do with them. If it hadn't been for Yan
The army was completely screwed and had to find a way out to escape. They didn't even want to come.
Wang Zongji and Li Shenfu began to show humility to each other. One said, "The first credit belongs to the first step. I don't dare to compete with you." The other said, "My brother had insomnia last night and was a little sleepy. I don't dare to take the credit."
They were pushed back and forth, but they just didn't want to take the lead.
At this moment, nearly a thousand swordsmen and axes rushed out from Liang Jun, and knocked the defeated soldiers to the ground, one by one, and killed them on the spot. Those who fled slower looked at this scene, were frightened out of their wits, and immediately reversed their direction.
He ran to the left and right, but was wiped out by a burst of arrows.
After killing the defeated soldiers, all the troops were awakened by the strict military discipline and regained their spirits. There was another drum sound among Liang Jun, and the sergeants lined up in large groups. They were holding heavy blades, such as iron rods and iron pickaxes.
Hammers, heavy axes, etc., all of them were tall and powerful. After they came out, they briefly prepared, and then, under the general's order, they roared and rushed towards the Yan Army's armored spear array.
Liang Jun's countermeasures were the same as the Khitan soldiers they encountered when Li Chengzhong led his army in the decisive battle under Raole Water. They tried to use heavy blades to crack the "tortoise shells" on the armored soldiers. I have to admit that this move was indeed
This is the best way to deal with it. The armored spearmen of the Yingzhou Army suffered a lot back then.
But given the lessons learned last time, how could the Yan army make the same mistake again? The ballista that followed the armored gun formation was the solution!