Quetu Khan boarded the only surviving nest car, staring into the distance with his dim old eyes.
On the horizon, a red sun was slowly rising. Under the dust in the sky, a square formation of five hundred people and one battalion leader was arranged in a rectangular shape and was advancing towards them.
Like waves crashing against a rock, it surges forward.
There are ten square formations in one horizontal row, and there are four rows in total, for a total of forty square formations.
As a carriage passed between the rows, the strong man in the carriage, bare-chested, waved a pair of drumsticks and violently beat the big drum placed on the stand.
The sound of "dong dong dong!" came continuously.
As the carriage galloped past, the entire front line began to move forward.
Each square formation consists of one hundred people per row, five rows in total.
The first row is the sword and shield soldiers, a soldier holding a shield, walking forward in an orderly manner.
The second row is the spearmen. They hold spears four and a half meters long. They put the spear poles on the shoulders of the sword and shield soldiers in front and walked forward. Because the time was too short, they could not train spearmen.
Spears are easier to use.
The three rows of people at the back carried spears on their backs, knives on their waists, and held steel crossbows in their hands. As they walked, they waited for orders to be given and fired crossbow arrows into the sky.
There is a front line with a thousand soldiers on the front, and the length is three miles wide. Each phalanx is about a hundred meters apart. The second row of phalanxes is arranged staggered with the first row of phalanxes.
Quetu Khan could tell that there were at least 20,000 infantrymen on the opposite side. He saw that the opponent's steps were neat and well-equipped. Everyone was wearing armor, and he immediately wanted to retreat.
The siege of Xining in the past few days has been unfavorable, so he has been alerted and plans to retreat to Hoh Xil. Although it is barren, it is very safe. The Han people cannot go there, and they will get altitude sickness.
He looked left and right and realized that there were large square formations of ten thousand people on the east and west sides. They were surrounded by a city wall on the back. Now he was really under siege.
"Brother Harry, let go of the arrow immediately and throw it away," Chotu Khan yelled.
There was no other choice now. The remnants of the cavalry division they were chasing never showed up, but Chutu Khan believed that they had suffered heavy losses. Although they fought a beautiful counterattack during the pursuit, they urgently needed to withdraw for repairs before they could attack with confidence.
Xining City.
Now that he was surrounded by 40,000 troops at the foot of Xining City, he realized that this was a trap.
However, there is no choice at this time. We can only bite the bullet and fight. Only by defeating these people can we escape.
A large number of Khalkha people swarmed forward and grabbed their big bows.
Bend the bow at a forty-five-degree angle toward the sky and shoot a light arrow.
The Khalkha people are still good at archery. Their large bows generally have a force of more than nine, and it is not a big problem to throw them 200 meters.
And the Us Tibetan army didn't know how to shoot arrows at all. They were all armed by prisoners. How could they have time to learn archery? It would take seven or eight years to practice this thing.
In addition to re-assembling the armor with captured armor pieces, Yang Fan also equipped them with steel crossbows. This thing does not require learning, and can be used by just one person.
The steel crossbow can shoot in a straight line within 100 meters, just use the notch and the rear sight to aim with three clicks.
There is a charging handle on it, and you can use the pulley group in the receiver to wind it.
Put the crossbow arrow into the groove and jam it, hold it while aiming, and look for the opportunity to launch.
As soon as he sees the opportunity to fire, he pulls the trigger, and there is an immediate bang. As the butt of the steel crossbow hits the shoulder, the crossbow arrow flies out at high speed.
When it is thrown, the range reaches 250 meters, which is much farther than the Mongolian big bow.
For a moment, dense arrows from both sides were flying all over the sky.
In the Ming Dynasty, the weaving method of pierced armor was generally to put the lower part of the nail on top, and only a few of them were to put the upper part on the lower part. This is because putting the lower part on the lower part can leave enough space for the abdomen.
That is to say, it can be worn even if you have a big belly. On the contrary, it cannot be worn. The human body rarely tightens from the chest down.
This provides convenience for projectile arrows shot diagonally from above to penetrate.
There is no way, this is a trade-off that must be made.
After the dense arrows fell, a large number of Uzbek infantrymen were hit by arrows. Most of the Khalkha arrowheads were made of bones and stones.
After all, arrowheads are consumables, and the Mongols are short of iron and cannot afford to consume them.
A large number of arrows were bounced off helmets and armor pieces, and some were even broken.
However, some of them still shot through the slits on the armor. As we watched, the advancing phalanx became sparser. A large number of soldiers fell to the ground howling miserably.
No one went to rescue them, and the phalanx continued to move forward. After passing by, auxiliary soldiers would check on the injured to see if rescue was necessary.
These soldiers, who were going into battle for the first time, experienced this kind of battle for the first time, and immediately there was a commotion. It was impossible to say that they were not afraid. Training a hundred times in normal times is not as reliable as experiencing it once on the battlefield.
The officers immediately shouted loudly, and at the same time drew their swords and whips.
"Behead those who disrupt the formation!"
These veterans-turned-officers quickly calmed down these wavering recruits.
Although many of them are desperadoes, they are not willing to risk their lives on the battlefield.
The phalanx continued to advance, and a gap appeared in the front row. The people in the back row automatically moved forward to fill the gap according to the training requirements.
Then, they shouted slogans and continued to move forward.
"Crossbow throw!" as the officers ordered.
There was a sound of machine springs, and a dense mass of crossbow arrows flew into the sky.
Crossbow arrows have no fletchings and only small tail fins, which are somewhat similar to the side wings of later aircraft.
So their accuracy is not as good as bows and arrows, but these things have a lot of power, can fly at high speeds, shoot higher, and have stronger penetrating power when falling.
There are 20,000 people on the opposite side and 12,000 crossbowmen. They have an overwhelming advantage against Quetu Khan's 5,000 large archers.
The two front lines of ten thousand people on both sides were also walking quickly, restricting the Khalkha people to a smaller and smaller area from two directions.
Quetu Khan's head was sweating. They had no chance of winning.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Although the shooting speed of crossbows is not as fast as their big bows, the number is several times that of theirs.
"Don't retreat, shoot against them, shoot them down." Quetu Khan yelled.
The great archers of Khalkha fired at the fastest speed against the dense crossbow arrows falling from the sky. They knew that the crossbow machine needed to be stepped on the string, and it was good to be able to shoot five rounds per minute. And the bow and arrow could shoot twenty rounds.
The black clouds in the sky fell, and the people of Khalkha howled miserably.
The dense crossbow arrows were short but heavy. The metal crossbow arrows immediately shot more than 300 people to the ground. Countless small holes appeared on the ground.
The crossbow arrows were made of pure steel. Although they were only fifteen centimeters long, they were heavy and burrowed into the ground one after another. It was not like there were countless arrows stuck in the ground opposite, as if there was grass growing there.
Next, the two sides got closer and closer, both trying their best to shoot.
Every time a round of arrows hit the ground, a group of people fell on their backs.
Yan Yingyuan turned around and said: "Let the officers keep a close eye on them. Those who escape or those who are cowering will be punished on the spot."
He has fought hundreds of battles in the past three years and knows the importance of battlefield discipline.
The new recruits of the Us Tibetan Army were shot several times by the Khalkhas and were on the verge of collapse.
This kind of psychological pressure to move forward against a hail of arrows is too great. Most people simply cannot bear it.
But they knew that if they turned back and ran back, the rear team would stab them to death immediately.
This is done during training.
The rear team is the supervisory team of the front team. The officers are the supervisors of each line.
Once organized into the military formation, the brave are not allowed to advance alone, and the weak are not allowed to retreat. Everyone is shackled and marches forward against the hail of bullets. They fight desperately to survive.
Zhang Gang'er was a spearman. An arrow hit his helmet, but it bounced away.
He was very nervous, fearing that the next arrow would penetrate the armor plate on his chest.
He was praying to get within direct range of the crossbow as soon as possible.
Because at that time, the projectiles will stop. The shields in the front row will block the opponent's direct arrows.