As the legitimate son of the late Chu general Xiang Yan, who was as famous as Meng Tian more than ten years ago, Xiang Liang naturally had his pride and persistence. Fan Zeng knew very well the reason why Xiang Liang made such a choice.
This time, the Jiangdong soldiers who followed Xiang Liang across the Huaihe River to fight included half of the Chu army's elite cavalry, 10,000 Jiangdong elite cavalry, and the other half, 10,000 Jiangdong elite cavalry, followed Xiang Yu from the East China Sea to prepare to go north. Among these 10,000 Jiangdong elite cavalry,
Under protection, it is still possible for Xiang Liang to escape.
Most of the Qin Dynasty, Shandong and other places are empty, and with the secret support of Ji Xia Academy Ji Ni, as long as Xiang Liang and Xiang Yu join forces, it will not be that easy for the Qin people to destroy Xiang Liang.
After all, Xiang Yu's original purpose was to disrupt Shandong and other places where the Qin Dynasty had just settled down but was extremely empty. As long as the Qin army is not encircled and the Qin people are not given a chance to fight head-on, these 100,000 Chu troops can exhaust the entire Qin army.
All.
After all, Da Qin did not have such advanced means of transportation as in later generations, and it did not have as many monitoring systems as in later generations, so that it could occasionally know the opponent's situation at any time. Wasn't this the case with the turbulent movements behind enemy lines in a certain period in later generations?
The reason why Hu Hai mobilized several armies, and even transferred nearly 200,000 troops from Feng Jie and Han Xin who were originally stationed on the north bank of the Huaihe River to the East China Sea and Surabaya, was actually to prevent large groups of Chu troops from entering.
Empty Shandong and other places. If these Chu armies only choose to destroy and not occupy territory to stay, under the current conditions, Da Qin does not know how long it will take and how much manpower and material resources it will take to wipe out these Chu armies.
Looking at the banner with the word "xiang" in the name of "Xiang" that was marching forward towards the Qin army, Fan Zeng still comforted himself in his heart. Maybe he will win. No, he will definitely win!
…
In the wilderness, two armies, also wearing pitch-black armor, were slowly approaching. From the moment Xiang Liang's army appeared at the end of the line of sight, the White Tiger Army, which had been running wildly, began to slow down, moving forward slowly, and gradually adjusted its pace.
Formation.
Of the 100,000 White Tiger Army, except for the 10,000 cavalrymen who were transferred back to Xianyang by Hu Hai to replace the Suzaku Army stationed in Guanzhong, which went north to Jiuyuan, the remaining 90,000 infantrymen all left Hangu Pass and headed south.
The 90,000 White Tiger Army is equipped with the largest number of new large-scale repeating crossbows among the five legions of the Bashang Camp, with a total of two thousand large-scale repeating crossbows! Even the 200,000 Tiger Army, which has twice the number of the White Tiger Army,
There are not so many large-scale repeating crossbows in the army.
If you add in the fact that each infantryman has a small crossbow, the White Tiger Army is a force that focuses entirely on long-range attacks. Of course, this does not mean that the White Tiger Army cannot do close combat.
On the contrary, among the five major armies, whether it is the Suzaku Army, which mainly focuses on cavalry, or the White Tiger Army, which mainly focuses on infantry, basically everyone can fight by dismounting and turning into cavalry, and they can also fight by dismounting into infantry.
Qin people were born raising horses, and most people have been exposed to various types of horses since childhood. Maybe they cannot be called war horses, but their riding skills are not bad. Cavalry, in the pre-Qin era, was not as particular about slashing with swords and axes as later generations.
In the art of cavalry, to a large extent, cavalry pursues its mobility and its unparalleled impact on the plains.
Except for the Suzaku Army, which is a cavalry army and has much higher requirements for soldiers, the infantry in the other major armies only need to be able to ride a horse and be proficient in using crossbows and slashing.
Of the 90,000-strong White Tiger Army, except for the 5,000-person scout battalion, which is made up of cavalry, the rest are all pure infantry.
A total of 10,000 elite cavalrymen from the White Tiger Army and Qinglong Army were mobilized. Now the White Tiger Army still has 85,000 troops and 85,000 infantrymen, equipped with 10,000 infantrymen armed with three-foot wooden shields and broadswords.
, 20,000 spearmen were specially used to deal with cavalry and chariots, and the remaining 55,000 were all infantry armed with small shields and swords of about a foot.
Among the 55,000 infantry, 10,000 were responsible for operating the two thousand large repeating crossbows!
In order to equip the five legions with equipment, hundreds of thousands of Shangfang craftsmen basically did not have a good day's rest in the past four or five months.
I worked all night to build it, and finally before forming an army
At i, all the equipment and weapons of the other four legions except the Xuanwu Army will be fully equipped.
The broadsword, which in later generations gradually became the main standard equipment of various dynasties in the cold weapon era of China, appeared on the battlefield for the first time. Today will be the time for them to show off their power.
Ten thousand shield soldiers are in the center, and twenty thousand spear soldiers are on the left and right wings. These thirty thousand soldiers are at the front of the White Tiger Army's formation, and the remaining thirty thousand infantry and two thousand large repeater crossbows follow closely behind.
, is the center army. There are 10,000 infantry on the left and right wings of the rear army. Du Teng personally leads 5,000 infantry soldiers and sits in the center of the rear army.
yāng.
By the time the two armies were less than five miles apart, the White Tiger Army had formed a huge three-by-three formation.
At a distance of five miles, the cavalry charge could only take an instant. At this distance, the two armies chose to stop advancing at the same time. Along with the waving command flags, a group of messengers on Pegasus galloped in front of the formation to convey the message to the generals at all levels.
The order was given to tidy up the formation that had been somewhat chaotic due to the march, and prepare for the upcoming battle.
The two armies have not yet joined the formation, but the strong murderous atmosphere has already begun to collide and billow in front of the two armies, and countless dust stirred up in the air by the advancing armies.
Xiang Liang's 180,000 troops were all infantry. Ten thousand cavalry had followed Xiang Tong to the north to stop Xu Chuang's 100,000 Qinglong army. Xiang Liang's formation was also quite satisfactory, with 20,000 Biao holding a six-foot shield.
The fierce Baiyue barbarians were at the front of the formation, and spear soldiers were also chosen on the left and right wings.
However, the number of spearmen on Xiang Liang's left and right wings far exceeds the number of Qin troops. After all, the Qin cavalry is as powerful as the Qin crossbows, which are famous all over the world. There are 30,000 spearmen on each side of Xiang Liang, and a total of 60,000 spearmen.
Spearmen.
In order to withstand the strong crossbows of the Qin army, Xiang Liang spent a lot of effort to build numerous shields. Although they were small shields about the same size as the Qin army, they were able to protect some vital parts, which was much better than standing there and receiving arrows.
The central formation where Xiang Liang was in gathered 50,000 people, 30,000 Baiyue barbarians holding shields and swords in one hand, and 20,000 infantry with bronze swords and crossbows in one hand. At the end of the formation, there was a brief training
There was no time left for more than a month to use up the 50,000 infantrymen who were on the battlefield for the first time.
It can be seen from this formation that Xiang Liang's first defense was the Qin army's cavalry and powerful crossbows.
While Xiang Liang's army was still cleaning up its formation, the White Tiger Army on the opposite side moved first!
Accompanied by the earth-shattering sound of war drums, the huge phalanx of the White Tiger Army, which had been standing still, began to slowly crush towards where Xiang Liang's army was.
Originally, Xiang Liang was most worried about the Qin army's numerous and sharp cavalry, but as the war drums sounded, and until the Qin army continued to move forward, no cavalry appeared in front of or around the formation, which made Xiang Liang suddenly feel very worried.
Relax, and your initially uneasy mind calms down instantly.
If it were all infantry versus infantry, the Chu army, whose strength far exceeded that of the Qin army, would obviously have a much greater chance of winning.
Naturally, the quality of Xiang Liang's army cannot be compared with that of the White Tiger Army, so when the White Tiger Army started to move, the Chu Army's formation was still in chaos. Looking at the distance, there was no noise except for the rustling of footsteps slowly approaching.
The Qin army formed a large formation, and Xiang Liang's heart that had just calmed down started to rise again.
No matter how you look at the performance of the Qin army, it is impossible to be a mob. Even the most elite soldiers from Jiangdong under his command cannot maintain such a strict formation after a hasty march.
But it's too late to say anything at this time! Since we have reached this point, there is only one battle left!
It’s not that Xiang Liang has never read military books, let alone that he doesn’t know how to use tactics. But any tactics are just illusions in the face of absolute strength. The disparity in strength between the Qin army and the Chu army cannot be controlled by tactics.
What's more, the Chu State is on the south bank of the Huaihe River. It is naturally impossible for Xiang Liang to abandon the Chu State and then lead an army to fight guerrillas. Xiang Yu can do such a thing, but he, Xiang Liang, cannot.
He, Xiang Liang, is the son of General Xiang Yan, the head of the Xiang clan, and the general of Shangzhu State of Chu!
As the Qin army approached, an overwhelming momentum and extremely suppressed excitement swept across the Chu army's formation opposite.
Yes, it is indeed excitement! This excitement, from another perspective, can also be seen as a high-pitched fighting spirit.
Feeling the momentum of the Qin army, the Chu army, especially the soldiers of the Chu army who were on the battlefield for the first time, all felt cold in their hearts and their faces were pale. The two armies had not yet joined the battle, and the Chu army of 180,000 people had already been overwhelmed in terms of momentum.
The White Tiger Army, which numbered less than 90,000 people, was suppressed.
Xiang Liang, who is in the middle army, can naturally detect the movement of the army!
"Bang the drum!" Xiang Liang knew that if he continued like this, his outcome would have been doomed before the battle was even fought.
"Dong dong dong!"
The rumbling war drums, which were far louder than the war drums of the White Tiger Army, instantly soared into the sky from the Chu army's formation.
It’s good to have more people. At least the number of people beating the drums far exceeds that of the White Tiger Army!
The high-pitched and exciting war drums sounded, causing the Chu army to gradually calm down. On the battlefield, it is either you or me who will die. Since you have already participated, you can only survive by cheering up!
Du Teng knew very well what kind of people the Chu army was. The Chu army was beating the war drums at this time because they wanted to improve their morale like the Qin army. Of course, the Qin army's war drums were not just to improve their morale.
Suddenly, the sound of war drums in the Qin army's formation suddenly stopped without any warning.
At this moment, the two armies are no more than two thousand steps apart!
As the war drums stopped, the White Tiger Army's formation, which was slowly rolling over, stopped advancing in an instant! As the flags shook, the three formations of the front army suddenly split into two! Amidst the sound of the formations of machines, each one was ferocious and huge.
A large, dark-colored repeating crossbow machine slowly emerged from the gaping passage.
In just a moment, under the gaze of more than 100,000 Chu troops, the front of the Qin army's formation was densely packed with countless large-scale repeating crossbow machines! On the crossbow machines, huge crossbow arrows as thick as an arm were scattered in the sun.
With a faint cold light.
"Bang bang bang!"
I don't know how many dull bangs suddenly sounded without warning from in front of the standing Qin army. Following the bangs, countless long black shadows as fast as lightning, with sharp whistling sounds, instantly crossed the battlefield.
After less than two thousand steps, the Chu army appeared in front of them. (To be continued.