The first row of the Song army was not crossbowmen, but heavy shield soldiers. There were about a thousand heavy shield soldiers in each square. They were all in the first row to protect the spear soldiers behind them.
This is the experience and lesson learned by the Song Army in actual battles. The crossbowmen are at the front. When retreating, they will more or less affect the troops behind. Anyway, it is only a few dozen steps away. For these dozens of steps,
It's not worth it if it affects the formation.
If the spearmen in the first row were not protected, they could easily be shot down by enemy cavalry. It was only later discovered that most of the spearmen in the first row had been shot down by arrows before the enemy hit them.
Therefore, placing the heavy shield troops in the first row is of great benefit to reducing the death rate of soldiers.
The soldiers of the Heavy Shield Army stand with their shields in hand. This large shield was made by the Song Army Ordnance Department based on the heavy shield making method of the Xi people and combined with the oil immersion method of the Han people.
Large shields, each large shield is four feet high and three feet wide.
The Western Army's Ordnance Department has absorbed these advantages. They also use dense whole large wooden boards. The wood is made of beech or oak, and then uses the unique oil immersion method of the Han people. After soaking in oil for a month, it is dried in the shade, repeated three times, and then
Cover with a layer of armor cloth.
Armor cloth is also made by soaking in oil. Each piece of cloth is extremely tough and difficult for swords and arrows to penetrate. It is specially used to make cloth armor. Finally, it is covered with two layers of cowhide. Each shield weighs twenty kilograms and requires both hands to operate.
The Ordnance Department spent two years making 5,000 heavy shields and equipped them with 5,000 soldiers. These heavy shield soldiers were in the first row, followed by the spear soldiers. Each spear was two feet long.
Made of jujube wood, it is extremely hard. The spear soldiers squatted on the ground, and the spears were tilted upward at a 45-degree angle. Thousands of spears formed a dense forest of spears.
Behind the spear army is the short spear army. To put it simply, the spear army is a defensive service, but the short spear army is a combat service. It is more flexible and changeable, and pays special attention to coordination. It is often a few short spear soldiers who cooperate with each other.
A cavalryman fights.
Behind the short spear army is the three thousand crossbow army, all of which are divine arm crossbows. And further behind, in the center of the formation, are the flying dragon army and the chariot army.
The Feilong Army throws short steel spears, which are extremely lethal to small groups of hundreds of people at close range. It is a new military branch developed in the Xixia War.
The chariots were pulled by horses, and there were about twenty in each phalanx. Their axles were made of iron and were not easily damaged.
There is a small trebuchet installed in the carriage, which can throw a five-pound iron fire thunder to a distance of two hundred steps. However, the iron fire thunder has just been developed and has not yet become popular. At present, wooden barrels of gunpowder are still used mainly, but there are also two or three gunpowder mixed in.
An iron fire thunder.
The Xizhou Army is the Uighur Army. Their fighting habits are the same as those of the Uighurs back then. The 80,000-strong army seems overwhelming, but it is not chaotic. They form a team of hundreds, led by a centurion, and then a team of thousands
, led by a captain of thousands.
At this time, the Xizhou cavalry did not see the Song army's crossbow array, which made them even more excited. The cavalry became faster and faster, running and shouting.
The distance gradually shortened, three hundred steps, two hundred steps, one hundred and fifty steps. At this moment, the Song Army's Divine Arm Crossbow suddenly launched.
Fifteen thousand crossbow arrows were fired from five military formations at the same time, forming a thin dark cloud in the sky and shooting towards the galloping cavalry group like raindrops.
The front was ruthless, and the cavalry group was suddenly turned upside down like a sea wave, causing countless casualties.
Tens of thousands of cavalry suddenly rushed to the front of the formation. The sound of horse hooves was like thunder, and the cavalry roared like a stormy sea. It was like a turbulent wave rushing toward the mountain-like Song Army formation.
"Don't be afraid, use your spear to hold it back!"
Xue Jinyong, the commander of the Fourth Square, shouted at the top of his lungs. He could feel the fear of the soldiers. Every soldier around him was trembling, but they had no choice but to fight to the death.
A huge wave like an overwhelming mountain came down, and countless Xizhou cavalry rushed into the Song army's formation instantly. The cavalry in front howled, and the sharp spears pierced the bodies of the cavalry and horses. Nearly a thousand people were killed on the spot, but the cavalry behind them
Wave after wave comes like a tidal wave.
The first round of the most powerful impact was over. The heavy-shielded soldiers retreated quickly, but there was still a small group that was too late to retreat and was swallowed up by the Xizhou cavalry. The horse hooves continued to gallop, the swords chopped, the corpses rolled, and blood sprayed,
It is no longer clear whether it is the Xizhou Army or the Song Army.
The Song army's formation of ten thousand people was knocked down by hundreds of people under the repeated attacks. However, soldiers immediately came up to fill it up. Spears formed a forest, which withstood the impact of the cavalry. The two sides stood in the wilderness.
There was a fierce battle, swords flashed, weapons struck each other, men and horses screamed, and screams came one after another.
Bi Angui did not attack them all. He wanted to see how sharp the phalanx troops trained by the Song Army were, but the impact of the 60,000 troops on both wings did not achieve the effect he wanted at all. They were unable to break into the phalanx.
There were also heavy casualties.
Bi Angui could no longer delay, and he immediately issued the second order, "The main force of the Chinese army will attack and attack the enemy's two flanks."
The remaining 40,000 Xizhou Army cavalry also mobilized. The troops were divided into two groups, one on the left and one on the right, like two giant dragons, attacking the two wings of the phalanx. This is the weakness of all phalanxes. The two wings are weak, and they are usually protected by soldiers.
, but the protection of the two wings of the Song Army's formation seemed to be weak, and the weak points on the two wings were exposed to the attack of the Xiyong Qizhou Army's cavalry.
The two cavalrymen rushed fiercely, like two giant knives slashing at the Song army's waist at the same time.
Unexpectedly, there were still hundreds of steps away from the two wings of the Song Army. Two Song Army cavalry came up to fight and intercepted the Xizhou Army cavalry from the side. The two sides fought fiercely in front of the Song Army's formation.
This is a tactic of showing weakness, deliberately exposing weaknesses or loopholes to the other party, luring the other party to come and take the bait.
As expected, the Xizhou Army's cavalry swallowed the bait and used their main cavalry to attack both wings of the Song Army's formation.
The consequence of being fooled was that when they were intercepted by the Song Army's cavalry, their backs were exposed to the Song Army's formation.
The Song army's formation turned around to deal with the enemy's main force. Crossbow arrows rained down, and gunpowder barrels were thrown out from twenty carts.
The dense arrows, continuous explosions, and poisonous nails were fired everywhere. The Xizhou Army suddenly suffered heavy casualties and screams. The Song Army cavalry held down the enemy troops who were about to leave the formation several times, and launched rapid attacks and
The brutal killings caused increasing casualties to the Xizhou Army's cavalry.
………
Chen Qing was commanding the battle on a cart in the third army formation. He was surrounded by 3,000 heavy armored infantry guards. He watched the changes in the situation on the battlefield. As the Song Army's super formation split into five large formations, the battlefield
The situation has also begun to become clearer.
Eighty thousand cavalry against eighty thousand, or one on one, fifty thousand cavalry against five large formations, thirty thousand cavalry against the Song army's thirty thousand cavalry.
"Change of formation!"
Chen Qing gave an order, and the flags on the high command platform were waved, and the various military formations began to change. They opened large holes, and the enemy cavalry who had been looking for a breakthrough rushed in one after another.
The Song army began to encircle and cut, and small killing arrays were formed within the square array of tens of thousands of people.
At this time, the Feilong Army showed off its bravery. Thousands of fine steel short spears were thrown together. The cold light pierced and was unstoppable. With a scream, hundreds of enemy soldiers fell off their horses one after another. The short spears pierced their bodies and killed them.
Crucified to the ground.
These are just small waves, but compared to the big winds and waves where hundreds of thousands of people are fighting fiercely, these small waves are nothing?
However, the balance of victory was slightly tilted towards the Song Army, and the Song Army began to slowly gain the upper hand.
Bi Guian was so anxious that he led 5,000 cavalrymen to search for the location of the enemy's commander. Suddenly, a soldier pointed at a phalanx in front and shouted: "There!"