Chapter Forty-One: Fierce Battle II

  Chapter Forty-One: Fierce Battle Two

  Although the battlefield situation is still within my expectations, I couldn't help but feel a strong urge to scold them. Are they all idiots? Wen Fu, Yu Hong, Fan Zuo and those guys have lost their minds, why are they staying in place and fighting to the death? Where has the rhythm of retreating with space to exchange for killing effect gone? I immediately sent out an order flag.

  Under the command, Wei Boyu led a team of crossbowmen to charge forward, shouting "Open up", and with a dense flat shot, the enemy cavalry was knocked down, suddenly disrupting the enemy's attack rhythm. After that, several generals took advantage of the momentum to lead the front row of pike teams to repeatedly counter-charge, finally forcing the remaining enemy troops to retreat back to their chariots.

  Then the heavily defended breakthrough point was rapidly expanded, and on the empty ground that had been forcibly filled in and cleared out, the soldiers re-formed their array without any cover to engage with the enemy cavalry pouring out of the gap.

  The three rows of guns in the upper, middle and lower positions form the most basic anti-cavalry formation. While it has an advantageous position to resist cavalry charges from the front, it also has obvious weaknesses on both sides and rear. In combat, once the sides or rear are attacked, or if the coordination between the front and rear is not good, a gap will be opened up, and the slow-turning infantry will be slaughtered in one direction. However, since this formation relies on terrain to fight, with friendly forces on all sides, this problem does not exist.

  Therefore, the dense formation's tight coordination is most important. The distinction between old and new soldiers can be easily seen. From time to time, experienced veterans remind their comrades to pay attention to their front and rear hands and feet. In retreats, they use the layered bodies of their fellow soldiers in the rear ranks as a buffer to absorb the impact of cavalry charges. New soldiers, however, often become too aggressive and conspicuous, only to be pierced or hacked by the enemy's lances.

  In the chaos of battle, the difference between old soldiers and new recruits is also very obvious. They parry and slash with smooth, unnecessary movements, relying on their rich experience to capture the opponent's empty moves, the gaps in their armor, and skillfully grasping the rhythm and strength. Their hacking and slashing are all aimed at the vital points, seeking to decide the outcome with one blow, taking the shortest path to victory, with each move being fatal. At the very least, they leave their opponents powerless to fight again, conserving energy as much as possible. Their seemingly unorthodox swings and parries are executed in one breath, without any hesitation or delay, striking the next target until they themselves are cut down.

  It's often the case that a novice, who charges forward with a loud shout and strikes fiercely, ends up having their sword or spear stuck in the opponent's body for just a moment, or leaves themselves open to attack due to overexertion. In this brief interval, they are beheaded by someone else, or after a few blows, they exhaust themselves and are unable to defend against being stabbed to death.

  From time to time, a knight would ride over the corpse of his comrade, showing off his superior horsemanship by jumping over the horse barrier, and at the same time, he would be shot down from below by quick-witted soldiers, with both man and horse being strung together.

  There were also dense and solid arrow stones, several people in a group rushed forward to throw the cart obstacles back and forth, and as soon as they fell, someone would pick them up. They repeated this process with all their might, regardless of casualties, exposing the infantry behind them to being trampled, hacked, and killed. However, it was not easy to advance smoothly, for behind the cart obstacles were also numerous hoof prints and spear stabs that could not be defended against (which had been preserved under the cover of the carts). The weight of the defending infantry was insufficient to trap, but the combined weight of the cavalrymen and their horses caused them to fall to the ground, where they were slaughtered. The defending infantry, who were crowded together in front and behind, also showed a bloodthirsty side, and as soon as an opening appeared, they would shoot arrows and slash at the horses' hooves with knives, often stabbing the short-armed cavalrymen who could not dodge. Men and horses fell over, becoming new obstacles. More people thought the target was too big, so they abandoned their horses and fought on foot, using their horses as cover to charge forward, trampling over the bodies of their comrades and warhorses, shielding the cavalry as they crossed over the cart obstacles and clashed with the Tang army behind them. Although progress was slow, they stubbornly tore open the defensive lines.

  The bodies of the enemy and I were piled up in a crisscross pattern, while our soldiers on both sides continued to fill in. The advantage of our army's numbers was reflected in this aspect. I divided the troops into multiple arrays and took turns pushing forward.

  Although the enemy's infantry and cavalry seemed to be fighting separately, they were seamlessly connected in the rhythm of charging and killing, pouncing on and tearing apart the enemy in front of them, not giving them a chance to breathe. As soon as there was a slight relaxation, they would often seize the opportunity to turn a rhythmic retreat into a local breakthrough.

  The front line is stuck in a quagmire, and the bows and arrows have lost their effectiveness. The rear troops are exposed to the hail of arrows and stones because the vanguard is blocked on the defensive line, and the cavalry has no cover. Although they have formed a defensive line using horses as shields, they are still vulnerable to the arrows and stones raining down from above. The cavalry is unable to withstand the attack. Even with bows and arrows, their range and height cannot compete with the infantry's shooting from higher ground. They can only provide limited support for the front-line troops.

  Under the strong arrow rain, the opponent did not wait to be killed, quickly dispersed and dodged, and rushed towards the direction of the shooters on both wings, killing them. The knife shield hand spear team that covered the shooters on both wings also quickly pushed up, killing each other in a mess.

  Although the difference in length of the spear and pike was enough to be fatal in a high-handed situation, not to mention that more were favorable to close combat with swords and sufficient obstacles to hinder the cavalry. However, their disregard for casualties effectively dispersed the arrows and stones that suppressed the breakthrough troops. Under the pressure of their desperate charge, even new recruits retreated in panic, and some even showed signs of fleeing, despite the presence of old soldiers holding the line, but after all, the new army was more numerous, and each team had different degrees of retreat and chaos. After killing several people and reorganizing the formation, the opponent had already gained a chance to breathe, and then launched another fierce attack.

  The commander of our army is playing a game of actuality and virtuality. They absolutely cannot think that my main formation troops are arranged on the battlefield to let the enemy try to attack and be defeated, looking like they are covered with flags, continuously flying out arrows and stones, shouting and killing, but the standing flags are mostly virtual, and the actual soldiers' training and morale are relatively weak on the mountain slope.

  Temporary large account outer cover branch grass Pi's field camouflage, quite hidden and safe, only our army can recognize. However, the arrangement here is full of shrubs and trees that are conducive to infantry warfare but not cavalry attacks. People who are eager to break through the siege will not entangle here, giving people a chance to surround them.

  All commands were issued from this hidden command post, conveyed through changes in flags and drumbeats outside. Everything below had already sent out all the capable generals around me to delegate the right of disposal on the spot, without even needing me, the commander-in-chief, to show up.

  For this era's relatively simple communication system, I've made some changes and added some content similar to flag language and Morse code, so I'm not worried that the other party will detect and decipher it.

  Looking at the tragic killing in the long banner, another one fell, representing that another team was defeated. However, the other side is not much better, this layered defense array awaits them to kill out, has already lost most of its riding horses, and the infantry warfare under the short spear is not very advantageous, and after rotating battles so far, a considerable amount of fatigue has been accumulated, in my opinion, it only relies on one willpower to support.

  As far as I know, in ancient wars, flags represented the direction of a combat unit and were also a means of issuing military orders. Each team, fire, and squad had its own flag. Whether attacking or defending, the soldiers under their command had to follow the flag closely and form a fighting unit that advanced and retreated together. As long as the flag was there, even if the soldiers were scattered and chaotic, they could quickly gather around the flag and reassemble into a new combat force. Therefore, capturing and destroying flags became an important part of ancient warfare, and the flag bearers, flag leaders, and flag officers on the battlefield became dangerous professions that were easily killed in battle, along with the vanguard officers. Capturing and defending flags also became a common occurrence in battles, and there are many examples in ancient military history where the loss or destruction of the central army's great flag led to the defeat of the entire army.

  At this a command was given and a change took place in the colors of the flags. A banner flew out from the ranks, representing another battalion of fresh troops advancing to the top.

  At that time, the military orders on the battlefield were strictly regulated in the "Military Defense Order" of "Tang Lu Shu Yi" and the "Bing Bu Ge" of "Tang Liu Dian". There were severe regulations such as "if the flag bearer is killed and his body cannot be recovered, all members of the unit will be executed", and also: if a friendly army is in danger and not rescued, the entire unit will be executed; "if the defense is not solid and the enemy breaks through, the commander will be executed along with the soldiers"; even picking up lost items and not reporting them to the authorities or disobeying the commander's orders for a moment could result in execution. This reflects the strict and severe characteristics of military law, which can be said to have harsh punishment methods and widespread implications. Therefore, under strong pressure, soldiers did not dare to disobey orders.

  Moreover, in the narrow and layered terrain of the carriages and trenches, as long as the front army did not die, the rear team could not catch up at all. It was a purely brutal and tactless local strangulation battle with no tactics or skills to speak of. After all, our army was mostly a hastily formed combination, with limited endurance and morale. Although we used the geographical features to maximize the elimination of the enemy's cavalry fast attack advantage, after several rounds of invasion, the fatigue degree of the front line was far higher than that of the enemy. In this crowded and irreversible situation, they were forced to fight to the death, forming a phalanx with the enemy army and constantly consuming each other.

  Facing the enemy's cavalry and infantry coordination breakthrough, a little infiltration, a comprehensive spread, the newly supplemented soldiers also changed their tactics, in a small area of three or five groups formed into small circular arrays.

  Against the weak points on the flank and rear of that cavalry formation, I have changed it to this hedgehog formation composed of several circular groups. Although the overall mobility is extremely low and cannot launch a strong attack, it is facing in all directions, most suitable for being deeply trapped in the enemy's intersecting array, and the rotating intersecting ranks can allow people from the back to continuously fill up the gaps caused by casualties, shrinking the defensive radius, and also cooperate with each other like a garrote to crush and tear apart the troops that charge into the gap between the two arrays. Even if trapped in the enemy's array, it can hold out for enough time to defend itself.

  But the requirement for coordination and cooperation among soldiers is also higher, I am also using my own things on the battlefield for the first time, it's purely experimental, from time to time you can see obviously not very skilled soldiers being flung out of the circular formation and hacked to death, or unable to withstand the charge and retreating to collide with the weapons of the people behind, being taken advantage of by others to rush forward and kill a piece.

  But the other side was clearly even less prepared, and for a moment they were thrown into chaos, the cavalry's iron armor gathering together to form a rolling tide that swept over more than half of the battlefield, only to crash against countless small reefs like a rocky shoreline, colliding and churning, shattering the reefs while also being diluted into many weak streams, the breakthrough progress clearly being hindered.

  The entire vanguard phalanx was suddenly and violently dispersed, superficially appearing to have engulfed our entire army, seemingly forming a state of encirclement. However, in reality, they were scattered and unable to connect with each other, unable to respond in time to engage in close combat. In the midst of fierce fighting on all sides, the entire army was cut off and fragmented into pieces.

  The whole body is thorny, and the mouth is below, which is the characteristic of the hedgehog array. Although the principle is simple and the defects are obvious, it has repeatedly invaded without success, apparently making the opponent's morale plummet, giving rise to a sense of powerlessness.

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