Sixty, Pheasant Wings Formation

  The battle had just begun, and it was already a one-sided situation. The bandits who charged forward were killed by the soldiers' long spears. However, the casualties on the soldiers' side were extremely small, with only a few being hit by those strange weapons and dying. Most of the soldiers were protected by their shields and spear arrays, and they survived unscathed.

  The officers and soldiers had the upper hand, but morale was still low. Most of them were still timidly hiding behind their shields, afraid to die. Fear of death is a human nature, and this nature is especially evident in the officers and soldiers.

  However, even if the government soldiers were more timid, they could still defeat Zheng Yanfu's group and make them drop their helmets and abandon their armor, causing them to collapse in disarray.

  Blood splattered everywhere on the battlefield, severed limbs and broken arms flew in all directions. Wang Er was almost stunned, dazedly saying: "This... is it really that simple? The government troops are actually so formidable?"

  "Hmm, dealing with a group of bandits who don't even know how to fight is not difficult at all." Zhu Yuanzhang sighed: "Don't look down on the government troops, but when it comes to real fighting, they can easily take care of those mud-legged bandits!"

  Zhu Yuanzhang knew that in the early stages of the peasant war at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the rebel army and the government troops fought, basically never won. What about Li Zicheng, the Dashun King, Zhang Xianzhong, the Eight Great Kings of the Western Camp, Liang Wangziyong, Ma Yingguo, Cao Cao Luo Rui... These famous leaders of the rebel army who shook the world all suffered greatly at the hands of government troops. Especially Li Zicheng, several times was chased by government troops and fled like a dog.

  It wasn't until many years later, due to various reasons, that a large number of government soldiers joined the righteous army, and some truly talented individuals attached themselves to the righteous army's ranks. The peasant army accumulated some experience in their prolonged battles with the government soldiers, only then did they truly become capable of contending against them. This process was extremely long, without going through dozens of major battles and trials by blood and fire, it would have been impossible for them to complete their transformation.

  The fierce but not intense battle lasted for only half a short period of time, the bandit troops began to collapse, and the bandits who were just full of momentum finally realized how much they weighed, in front of the strict army formation, they didn't even have a tiny chance, rushing up would only lead to death, turning around and running might still have some opportunity.

  Before the battle began, there were bandits who turned around and fled, and morale collapsed extremely quickly.

  Wang Er watched the battlefield excitedly, his stance was still biased towards Zheng Yanfu's side. Seeing Zheng Yanfu and his men start to retreat, his thoughts also rose to his throat, and he exclaimed: "It won't work, we can't win... Hurry up and escape! As long as there is a green mountain, don't worry about not having firewood to burn."

  At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang frowned again, his fingers lightly tapping, and said in a low voice: "Withdraw the shield array, the central army will tightly bite the enemy's tail, the left and right wings will advance, use the double-winged flying array, after crossing the enemy, surround and annihilate Zheng Yanfu and his men..."

  Wang Er's heart turned cold when he heard this. He had just heard Zhu Yuanzhang say "beat the drum... advance..." and as a result, the officers and soldiers really did so, then Zheng Yanfu's group was defeated. Now, hearing Zhu Yuanzhang say that with both wings flying in unison they could annihilate them completely, Wang Er was frightened to the point of breaking out in cold sweat all over his body, and bitterly said: "Isn't that right? Brother Zhu Ba, you think Zheng Yanfu's group is finished?"

  "Hah, won't happen!" Zhu Yuanzhang chuckled: "Don't worry, this Yang Hong, the commander of a thousand households, doesn't have such impressive military operational capabilities. I'm certain his wings won't be able to take off."

  At this time, the central army of the government troops indeed started beating drums. The rhythm of the drumbeats was very strange, seemingly left thump-thump two times, right thump-thump two times, obviously conveying some kind of signal to the troops. After Zhu Yuanzhang's explanation just now, Wang Erda guessed that this was the command for the double wings to fly together.

  The formation of the officers and soldiers began to change, with the two hundred-man teams on both left and right wings starting to make a gesture of accelerating forward. Interestingly, the soldiers' faces showed obvious fear, and the speed at which they charged forward was extremely slow, as if their feet were dragging a thousand-pound hammer, making it impossible for them to run.

  Wang Er's face was full of confusion as he said: "What does this mean, officer?"

  Zhu Yuanzhang burst out laughing and said, "The reason is simple. The soldiers are afraid of death. When they hide behind their shields and long spears, they can still move in formation, but if you want them to abandon their shield wall and charge forward, that's like taking their lives... This army doesn't have enough morale to make such a charge."

  As expected, the cowardly officers and soldiers only pretended to make a show of it, under military orders, the two wings symbolically advanced a few dozen steps forward, then began to slow down and drag their feet. It was very clear that the soldiers did not have the courage to encircle the bandits from the front and attack them from both sides. The current action they were taking was merely intended to scare the bandits away.

  This is also a major problem in the era of cold weapons. Soldiers will not completely listen to the commander's orders, they have their own thinking, know fear, and know terror. In ancient battles, although they won a big victory, they often let the enemy escape almost unscathed, this is not because the commanders did not want to annihilate the enemy, but because the soldiers under them thought that they had already won the battle, why bother to fight to the death? They will not make an effort in pursuit...

  Especially in the late Ming Dynasty, after the military discipline was corrupted, many soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were afraid of death and afraid of death, which made the entire army's combat will not high. After winning a battle, they would chase for a while, allowing the enemy to escape and release the tiger back to the mountain. Once defeated, they would collapse and flee on a large scale, or surrender to the enemy... After the Qing army entered the pass, most of the Ming army was not defeated by the Qing army, but surrendered to the Qing army, which can be seen how bad the army was at that time.

  Yang Hong sat on the horseback of the central army, looking at the slow-moving double wings, and scolded in anger: "You bunch of bastards, I told you to fly together with both wings, what are you flying for? This is simply two turtle-like wings crawling together! I brought this group of cowards out to fight, and it's really a bad luck for eight lifetimes. He was about to catch Zheng Yanfu, take his head to exchange for rewards and report merits, but these incompetent soldiers ruined his good deed, how could he not be angry?

  Zheng Yanfu and his gang finally managed to shake off the pursuing government troops under the intentional indulgence of the soldiers, and escaped back up the mountain slope. Along the way, they abandoned their helmets and armor, throwing away countless "heroic" and "gallant" weapons. Those fake, pretentious, and showy arms were scattered all over the ground, stretching from the foot to the top of the mountain.

  As the bandits fled, Yang Hong hastily ordered the retreat and the drums in the central army stopped, replaced by the sound of cymbals "clang clang clang", and the soldiers also retreated back.

  The "gold" in the phrase "鸣金收兵" refers to a musical instrument called "钲", which resembles a bell and is made of copper, hence its golden color. However, by the end of the Ming dynasty, this instrument had been abandoned and most military bands had switched to using cymbals instead. Cymbals were more convenient to carry, with one in each hand, and when struck, produced a loud, clear sound suitable for directing troops. Therefore, it would be more accurate to say "敲锣收兵" (strike the cymbal to retreat) during the late Ming period.

  "Huh? I don't understand again!" Wang Er scratched his head and said, "Why didn't the government troops take advantage of their victory to attack the top of the cliff and destroy Zheng Yanfu's stronghold? Instead, they stopped at the foot of the cliff."

  "Hah!" Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said, "Do you think everyone is as strong as you? After this period of fighting, the soldiers are all tired and can no longer continue to attack the cliff. We can only rest temporarily, I estimate that Yang Hong will reorganize his troops at dawn tomorrow and attack the cliff again."

  "Alas, Zhu Ba brothers, I've learned so much today." Wang Er said with a bitter face: "I really didn't expect that fighting would have so many subtleties. I thought my martial arts skills were impressive and I'd be invincible on the battlefield. But looking at it today... just that spear formation alone could get me killed seventeen or eighteen times."

  "Winning a battle doesn't depend on individual bravery." Zhu Yuanzhang patted Wang Er's shoulder.

  Wang Er sighed again: "You really understand a lot, and you can even see through the marching battle array. I'm really admiring you this time, by the way, weren't you a cowherd before? Where did you learn these skills?"

  "I said I met a fairy on the road who taught me this, do you believe it?" Zhu Yuanzhang said casually.

  "If you say so, I'll believe it!" Wang Erh said with a heroic air: "I, Wang Erh, have never doubted my own brothers, so don't try to deceive me."

  "Alright, I won't deceive you." Zhu Yuanzhang said with a hint of a smile: "I am the reincarnation of Emperor Taizu, so I don't need to learn and understand how to fight. In this world, I am the one who is best at fighting."

  "Huh, Wang Er brother, this joke of yours isn't funny at all." Wang Er said seriously: "Forget it, you don't want to tell me, I won't ask. After thinking about it, you must have a reason for not telling me."

  "Hmm!" Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "It's better not to ask."

  The two of them talked to this point, the atmosphere was slightly chilly. They lifted their heads and looked at the situation on the battlefield again. The remaining bandits had already escaped back to their stronghold, with over 200 people safely retreating. The rest were all killed by the government soldiers below the cliff. The government soldiers had begun clearing the battlefield, cutting off the heads of the bandits and hanging them from their waists, waiting to return and exchange for rewards. The bandits' abandoned weapons on the ground were also picked up by the soldiers.

  When fighting, these guys are more timid than one another, but when sweeping the battlefield, they are all very enthusiastic. A soldier dragged back a large axe with a long handle, laughing and saying: "This thing can at least be melted down into five kilograms of good iron, I'll take it home and have the blacksmith make a pot and a plow blade."

  "I picked up a good knife..."

  "What's going on with this wolf-toothed club? There are too many spikes on it, it's not convenient to carry..."

  Wang Er looked at the jubilant officers and soldiers, suddenly remembering his bet. He made a fist at Zhu Yuanzhang and said: "I lost... You said the officers would win, and they really did win... From today on, I'll call you Brother Zhu Ba, and you can call me Brother Wang Er. This skill of yours is not bad at all."

  Zhu Yuanzhang smiled slightly and said in a low voice: "Brother Wang Er!"

  "Zhu Ba Ge!"

  "Haha!" The two of them shouted in unison and burst out laughing.