Fifty-Nine: Battle Array

  The two teams gazed at each other from a distance, one side being the government soldiers who were cautiously gathered together in a dense phalanx formation, while the other side was the bandits who stood in a disorderly and scattered group. Simply looking at their momentum, the bandits seemed much more intimidating, holding all sorts of exaggeratedly large weapons, with their clothes open and flapping wildly, their darkened skin glistening with sweat under the sunlight. Their faces also wore confident and composed smiles, as if the government soldiers in front of them were nothing but chickens and dogs, not worth mentioning.

  On the other side, the soldiers were shrinking their heads, showing a very fearful and solemn expression. Many of them had terror on their faces, and some even had trembling hands.

  There's a saying that goes, "The older you get in the jianghu, the smaller your guts become." It's precisely because these officials and soldiers have been through many battles and seen their fair share of bloodshed that they become more cautious when facing the enemy, fearing they'll end up as just another corpse on the battlefield. In contrast, the bandits are like newborn calves, unaware of the horrors of war.

  "Protect both wings!"

  "Shield hand... make it hard..."

  "Long spear, raised straight...... Hehe......"

  In the battle array, the shouting of the flag soldiers began to sound. At this time, they were echoing non-stop and interfering with each other. The Ming army's officers and men, every ten people were led by a small flag, and every five small flags were led by a general flag. These flag soldiers, although one level higher than ordinary soldiers, were still soldiers and had to join the battle array. Only those above the rank of hundred households could be considered martial generals, who did not participate in charging and fighting, but only commanded.

  The first to get excited were the flag soldiers, who kept shouting orders to their subordinates nearby, since their commands only needed to be given to ten people or fifty people, so they just shouted loudly and didn't need to use a military band.

  Under the shouting of the flag soldiers, the official soldier's army formation began to advance forward! Slowly marching forward!

  Zheng Yanfu on the opposite side laughed loudly and said: "Brothers, kill! Kill all the government soldiers."

  At a single order, more than 400 bandits let out a strange cry together, raised all sorts of bizarre weapons high, and charged forward with a burst of speed.

  Wang Er was overjoyed: "The battle has begun, and I can finally see the fight with my own eyes. Zhu Ba brothers, look at how slowly and weakly the government troops are advancing, not making a sound or taking a breath. Zheng Yanfu's side is charging fiercely, no need to look to know that this side is strong."

  Zhu Yuanzhang sighed, "Zheng Yanfu and his gang have a strong momentum, but they are really bad at fighting. The two armies lined up, separated by a distance of one li, how can infantry charge from such a far distance? It's bound to fail! Don't believe me? Try wearing armor, holding heavy weapons, and sprinting for a mile, do you still have the energy to fight after that?"

  "Ah!" Wang Er suddenly woke up with a start after hearing these words.

  Zhu Yuanzhang continued: "The method adopted by the government soldiers is correct. When approaching, they move forward at a very slow pace, the slower the better, emphasizing maintaining formation and conserving energy. The closer they get, the more they walk, until they reach within 100 steps. First, they shoot arrows at the enemy's army to try to strike their morale and cause chaos in their formation. Then, they continue to move forward, and when they reach within 50 steps, the central army beats the drums, which is the signal for the soldiers to start charging."

  Zhu Yuanzhang had just finished speaking when the front row of bandits rushed to the front of the official army's formation, about a hundred paces away. Yang Hong hadn't even given the order yet, but some experienced archers in the rear of the official army took the initiative to draw their bows. Ding Jian, who had never been on a battlefield before, naturally followed suit and drew his bow and arrow as well. About a hundred archers drew their bows, pointing them at an angle towards the sky...

  The bandits continued to charge forward, and when the front bandits had entered a distance of seventy steps, the middle army also reached a distance of about one hundred steps. The experienced old archers took the lead in loosening their bowstrings, and a burst of arrows shot out, followed by Ding starting to shoot arrows as well. "Brush brush brush" Arrows flew like locusts, and the bows and arrows thrown out drew a beautiful arc in mid-air before falling down...

  "Oh no!"

  "Ah yo!"

  "Ah!"

  Cries of agony rose from the bandit crowd, one after another, never-ending... For a time, it was unclear how many people were shot and fell, with blood splattering everywhere.

  Wang Er covered his face and couldn't bear to watch, muttering: "It's terrible, Zheng Yanfu and his gang will probably suffer heavy casualties."

  Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head again, smiling: "This is not necessarily the case. The power of bows and arrows is really not that great. Although it's quite painful to be hit by an arrow, this thing is not fatal. As long as you don't get shot in the eyes or something, it won't cause serious harm. At most, it will just open a small hole and bleed a bit, without affecting movement. This kind of bow and arrow attack is mainly used to undermine the enemy's morale."

  Wang Er looked up and saw that the bandit who had been shot by an arrow was rolling on the ground, but surprisingly got up again, cursing non-stop... The bows and arrows of this era were indeed very weak, and the government soldiers were poor, using light and thin arrows. Most of their bows were between 7 dou and 1 dan, and they couldn't shoot powerful arrows at all.

  "Don't be afraid of the government soldiers!" Zheng Yanfu shouted loudly: "Their arrows are not painful when they shoot people."

  "It doesn't hurt!"

  "It doesn't hurt at all, charge!"

  The bandits rallied again, shouting strangely and rushing forward wildly.

  Zhu Yuan shook his head and said, "It's almost over... Zheng Yanfu and his gang are making such a big fuss, they'll be exhausted soon."

  Without him explaining, Wang Er had also figured it out. The bandits who had charged forward with great fanfare earlier were no longer as majestic, especially those guys carrying the very exaggerated heavy weapons. After running a few hundred meters, they were already panting and gasping for breath. Moreover, during their charge, the bandits did not maintain any formation at all. Their vanguard and rearguard were extremely scattered, or rather, they didn't have any distinction between vanguard and rearguard. Those who ran fast were the vanguard, while those who ran slow were the rearguard.

  This army broken into two parts can no longer talk about depth and thickness, only a chaotic scene can be seen.

  Zhu Yuanzhang watched as the two armies drew closer and closer, his fingers lightly tapping out a rhythm. Just as Wang Er was about to express his disagreement with Zhu's actions, Zhu suddenly snapped his fingers and shouted: "Beat the drums... advance!"

  His words had barely fallen when a loud drumbeat suddenly sounded from among the officials and soldiers, followed by a dense patter of drumbeats that came down like raindrops, "Boom boom boom! Boom boom boom!" Like a death knell, the drums beat incessantly.

  "What?!" Wang Er was shocked: "How did you know the government troops would strike the drums and advance at this time? Are these government troops under your command?"

  Zhu Yuanzhang said lightly: "I just use common sense to judge, as long as the leading Qian Hu is not a fool, it's time to beat the drum now."

  Wang Er pointed at himself and said gloomily: "I don't know, it seems I'm a fool."

  "You're not stupid, you just haven't learned how to lead troops in battle yet." Zhu Yuanzhang patted his shoulder lightly and said in a low voice, "Watch closely, the next part is crucial."

  The drums sounded together, and the military formation of officials and soldiers, which had been moving slowly like a turtle, suddenly changed. The front row of soldiers took big strides forward, charging forward. As the front row moved, it naturally brought along the back row, and the formation began to surge forward in waves...

  It's interesting to note that when the bandits fled, they immediately fell into disarray, but when the government soldiers advanced, their footsteps remained consistent and in sync. Even if a few occasionally lost step, they could quickly adjust and maintain formation. As a result, the army's array did not become distorted while on the move; the horizontal rows remained horizontal, and the vertical columns remained vertical. The entire front line of the army only had some very slight, wave-like ripples, but overall maintained its rectangular shape.

  "What? How is this possible?" Wang Er was bewildered and couldn't understand.

  Zhu Yuanzhang pointed to the direction of the military band and said in a low voice, "There is a mystery in the drumbeat. This drumbeat is not just randomly beaten, but it's a trained drumbeat. When soldiers practice formation changes during drills, they use this kind of drumbeat to adjust their pace. Over time, even if someone has a poor memory for military orders, their body can remember the drumbeat and adjust their footsteps according to the rhythm."

  "Is there such a thing?" Wang Er's sweat seeped onto his forehead: "There are so many ways to fight, I...I thought fighting was just about who had more strength and better martial arts."

  After a brief charge of just dozens of steps, the front ranks of the two armies finally collided...

  The bandits wielded their strange weapons, including the "宣花大斧" (a type of axe), giant hammers, wolf-tooth clubs, long spears, and hooks, advancing together with a formidable air. However, the government soldiers were not so fancy, with those in the front row holding up leather shields or wooden shields to cover themselves, while those in the back row extended their long spears from between the shields...

  The officers and soldiers looked very fearful of death, not at all like they should be, or rather like a group of turtles with their heads drawn in. The bandits, on the other hand, were bold and unrestrained, as if gods had descended from heaven. These "gods" who did not care about protecting themselves but only knew how to rush forward wildly soon paid the price for their rash charge.

  The dense and upright spearheads made the government soldiers' formation look like a giant hedgehog, while the bandits who charged at them were like foolish wild boars. The result of the wild boars colliding with the hedgehog was that they were pierced by countless sharp quills, suffering unbearable pain.

  "Pffft! Pffft!" The sound of long spears piercing flesh rose, and fresh blood burst forth in a flash between the two armies.

  "Ah!"

  "Their long spears were so long, I couldn't chop them..."

  "No way, our weapons may look fierce, but they're still no match for their simple and practical spears..."

  Those who could still let out a cry were already considered lucky, the less fortunate bandits had been impaled on the forest of long spears, dead beyond death. The bandits in the front row lost their lives instantly, their corpses hung powerlessly from the spear tips, their terrified eyes wide open.

  Until they died, the brave outlaws of the green forest couldn't understand how they were stabbed to death by a group of turtle-like government soldiers.