I studied in modern times

Chapter 444 Decisive Battle (2)

woo woo woo...

Accompanied by the whimpering trumpets of the Cochin people.

Twenty war elephants marched forward in neat formation, with extremely majestic momentum.

The Cochin infantrymen who followed the war elephant also raised their shields.

Their formation became the Yanyue Formation.

This is a very ancient infantry formation, and it has always been a weapon for infantry to attack and break formations.

Throughout the ages, it has been used repeatedly by countless famous generals on battlefields.

The Crescent Moon Formation displayed by Li Changjie belongs to the Crescent Moon Formation commonly used by armies in feudal towns during the Tang and Five Dynasties periods.

If there are planes hovering over the battlefield at this moment, it can be clearly seen that the Jiaozhi Chinese Army is divided into seven different offensive formations using war elephants as arrows.

And each attacking infantry group presented a figure-eight array of wild geese on the battlefield.

Typical Tang Dynasty military tactics.

However, the people in Cochin use it very unfamiliarly.

According to the rules of the Tang Dynasty, when attacking the Yanyue Formation, the basic organizational structure should be fifty people.

The people of Cochin are noisy.

There was a clear gap between the leading infantry and the last.

This means that if they are attacked by a powerful cavalry as they advance.

Then, they would face the cavalry carving a big hole through the most vulnerable concave and convex part of the Yanyue Formation, leading to the overall collapse.

At the same time, the Cochin people still lacked enough crossbowmen in their array.

According to the system of the Tang Dynasty, when the Yanyue Formation was attacking, the crossbowmen should start shooting at the enemy formation when they were about a hundred paces away, and the archers should start shooting when they were about fifty paces away.

The infantry serving as arrows should provide good protection and cover for the crossbowmen at this time.

However, the Jiaozhi people lacked strong bows and crossbows.

Especially the former, this makes the Cochin people's bows and arrows almost unable to penetrate armor at a distance of fifty steps.

They need to get closer to about thirty steps in front of the Song army's formation to have a chance to threaten the Song army.

In the Tang Dynasty, a crossbowman at this distance should throw away the crossbow in his hand, pick up a short knife, and follow the forward into the enemy's formation to start hand-to-hand combat.

The most terrible thing is that the number of crossbowmen of the Cochin people is seriously insufficient.

As a result, when the two eight-character flying geese formations spread out on both wings were approaching a hundred paces away from the Song army's formation, they encountered long-distance fire from hundreds of divine arm bows from the Song army's first general in the Song army's formation. !

The Divine Arm Bow was a crossbow that was very successful in the Song and Xia wars.

It has many advantages such as long range, strong armor-breaking ability, and high accuracy.

Puff puff!
  The crossbows equipped by the Song army, specially used to deal with the iron kites of the party members, knocked the soldiers holding shields directly to the ground.

The arrowheads made of fine iron even penetrated directly through the leather shields used by the Cochin people.

The battlefield was filled with wailing and screaming sounds.

At a distance of one hundred to fifty steps, hundreds of soldiers fell in the two formations on both wings of the Cochins.

Almost all of them are the bravest and most daring soldiers.

The two formations on both wings were almost broken up.

The figure-eight formation completely collapsed and turned into a sparse figure.

Before taking the battle, the two wings of the Cochins had actually lost their ability to attack.

This is impossible.

More than ten years ago, the Song Army was not widely equipped with divine arm bows.

The Jiaozhi people had been turned into a hornet's nest by the Song army's crossbows.

Like the Battle of Juili Pass, the troops commanded by Yanda relied on strong bows and crossbows from the front to defeat tens of thousands of Jiaozhi soldiers and horses, including charging war elephants.

Today, more than ten years later, the Song Army's equipment has been updated to a new generation.

Tactics and tactics have also been changed.

In the tug-of-war with the Dangxiang people along the border, the Song army had long been accustomed to fighting with strong bows and crossbows.

Li Changjie commanded his central army and looked at the two flying geese formations that had almost collapsed on both wings.

Although he had already expected this result.

But when he saw Song Jun swatting his wings to pieces again like swatting flies, he still couldn't help but stare angrily.

But he had no time to think, let alone reprimand.

He could only pretend not to know and loudly encouraged the Chinese army to move forward.

As long as the distance is within thirty steps, the war elephant can charge.

……

Di Yong set up his own general station at a commanding height on the battlefield.

This allowed him to see the big picture.

At this moment, in front of his eyes, the Cochin soldiers were fully deployed on the frontal battlefield that stretched for more than ten miles from north to south.

However, except for the two wings of the central army, there is no order at all.

It looked like just a chaotic mob.

They were trembling and timid.

Actions on the battlefield are like a turtle crawling.

It's almost like the people behind are urging you to take a few steps. If you are urged, you can take a few steps.

Next to Di Yong, Xu Kenan looked at the Jiaozhi array and couldn't help but swallow his saliva.

"General manager, please let me attack!" Xu Kenan directly asked for a fight: "I guarantee that as long as three to five hundred cavalry, it will be enough to collapse the entire bandit army!"

Xu Kenan is old enough to fight.

Naturally, the big problem of the Cochin people can be seen at a glance.

Both wings were composed of mobs. Let alone covering the central army, they could not even attract firepower.

What a complete bunch of rabble!
  Maybe not even as good as the soldiers in the prefectures and counties in the hinterland of the Song Dynasty!
  The Xiang soldiers were recognized as the weak army of the Song Dynasty.

If a peasant riots is beaten, he may be beaten with hoes and wooden sticks until his teeth are scattered all over the ground.

Such an enemy is the favorite of all cavalry.

Just make them run away.

Di Yong raised his hand and stared closely at the advancing Jiaozhi Chinese Army on the battlefield.

At this moment, their forward war elephant cluster had entered within fifty steps of the Song army's formation.

"The cavalry cannot move!" Di Yong said directly without looking at Xu Kenan: "The traitor acted like this, it is extremely reckless, or there may be a trick!"

The precious cavalry unit is the only new force in his hands that can respond quickly.

Must be saved.

in case!

Not only to prevent the thieves' war elephants from breaking into the array, even shaking the array.

It is also necessary to prevent the thieves from having any back-ups.

What's more, the leader of the bandit army is Li Changjie!

A general who is dear to the hearts of the late emperor and current officials.

There is no way he would be so reckless and risk everything on himself.

He definitely has a backup plan!

Therefore, Di Yong knew very well that he had to leave a backup plan.

……

"Thirty steps!" Li Changjie raised his head and looked in front of him.

The war elephants wearing armor had already advanced thirty steps to the enemy's position, facing the rain of arrows from the Song army.

The elephant soldiers riding on the war elephants can probably see the soldiers in the first row of the Song army's array.

"it's time!"

"It's time to charge!" Li Changjie clenched his fists and shouted in his heart.

The war elephants lived up to his expectations.

Encouraged by the elephant soldiers, these war elephants, who had been raised by the Cochin people from childhood, collectively raised their trunks and made a deafening roar.

Their speed suddenly increased!

With an unstoppable momentum, they rushed towards the Song Army array.

The Song soldiers in the first row raised their shields high.

The mantis arm is the car!

Li Changjie sneered.

He has seen the charge of war elephants!

Within a short distance, these behemoths are enough to crush fences and smash through earthen walls.

Those giant shields held high by the Song army in front of the formation may be able to defend against arrows.

But it is absolutely impossible to resist the collision of war elephants!

The war elephants galloped and trampled forward.

The enemy's formation is close at hand!

Maybe after a few breaths, the war elephant will break into the enemy's formation!
  "Kill!" Li Changjie shouted.

The generals around him also shouted out when they saw this scene.

"Kill!" All the Jiaozhi soldiers around the war elephant camp cheered up.

They had already seen the Song army being driven around by war elephants.

As a result, the dense rain of arrows fired by the Song Army's crossbowmen was no longer scary.

As long as they rush in, under the impact of the war elephant camp, they will definitely be able to fight their way out!
  However, at this moment, when the people of Cochin are inexplicably excited.

In the first row of the Song army, the soldiers with giant shields raised high spread out to the two wings like a tide.

They revealed the Song army that they had been protecting in the formation.

The expensive red lacquered mountain armor shone brightly in the sun, and the long wings on the phoenix-winged helmets they wore on their heads moved in the wind.

Their tall and burly bodies stood in front of the people of Cochin.

They all held a dark jar in their hands.

"What is that?" The nearest elephant soldiers were confused.

But they had no time to think too much and drove the war elephants forward bravely.

Who cares?
  In front of the huge war elephant, there is nothing but meat!

……

Yan Chen stood among Yu Longzhi and shouted loudly.

"The thieves are thirty steps away and are ready to fight!"

The sword and shield players in the front row had already been ordered to quickly spread out to the two wings.

Yu Longzhi's throwing vision is extremely clear.

All heads up!

When they were in Bianjing City, they were already practicing throwing the iron cans in their hands.

And they also dropped live ammunition, more than once.

The throwing practice ground is located thirty miles outside Bianjing City, in an abandoned Tianwu Army camp.

Therefore, they know very well how powerful the iron can in their hands is? They understand better what kind of destructive power the tin cans they throw will cause?

The blasting of Beigu City deepened their understanding of firearms.

As a result, these dragon warriors were not afraid when facing the surging Jiaozhi war elephants.

Instead, I became excited!
  "It's time to make a great contribution and be granted the title of wife!" They clenched the iron cans in their hands, and the muscle memory from long-term training began to take effect.

"Light the fire!" Yan Chen's voice sounded in their ears.

Everyone shouted in unison: "Light the fire!"

In the iron can in their hands, the special long fuse was lit by them.

The fuse burns quickly.

"Throw!" Di Yong shouted loudly.

One hundred Yulongzhi formed three horizontal lines and threw the iron cans in their hands at the charging war elephants in front of them.

At this moment, the war elephant was about twelve or three steps away from the Song army's formation.

For an elephant, it may only be a distance that can be covered in two or three breaths.

However, such a short distance has become a natural chasm!

The elephant soldiers on the backs of the war elephants only had time to see the tall and burly soldiers in the Song army's array, who were lined up in three dense lines and were extremely conspicuous. They raised them high. Take something in your hand and throw it out with all your might.

One after another, black cone-like objects were thrown by them with all their strength.

There seems to be a spark in the tail of these things.

"What?" the elephant soldiers thought subconsciously.

Some people lowered their heads reflexively.

It was at this moment that the fuse burned and entered the inside of the iron can.

The iron can used by Yu Longzhi was finally determined after dozens of repeated tests in Bianjing City. It is the most suitable shape under the current technology and conditions.

At the same time, there is a hidden world inside the tin can.

In the iron can, precious jibei cloth was used, and tightly sewn medicine bags were stuffed inside the iron can.

At the same time, there are dozens of polished iron pieces on both sides of the iron can. The fuse burned rapidly and ignited the medicine packet inside the iron can.

The chemical reaction starts immediately!

The potassium nitrate in the gunpowder began to burn, releasing countless amounts of oxygen, which ignited the charcoal and sulfur.

A huge amount of carbon dioxide is released in less than a tenth of a second.

The volume expands thousands of times in an instant!
  Then, the explosion happened!

boom!
  Deafening explosions resounded throughout the battlefield.

More violent than spring thunder, more terrifying than landslide!
  Countless fragments flew in all directions, sweeping away all humans and animals near the explosion at terrifying speeds.

The heavily armored war elephants at the head suffered even more devastating blows.

Almost every war elephant was concentrated by several iron cans at the same time.

A violent explosion blew away the armor he was wearing.

The fragments penetrated the war elephant's flesh.

The tusks and trunks were blown to pieces.

There was even an unlucky war elephant whose head was blown open.

Countless smoke suddenly enveloped the battlefield.

a second after the explosion.

The first to react were the war elephants who were affected by the explosion but still survived.

The frightened war elephant immediately had a stress reaction.

They screamed, turned around and ran away.

……

boom!
  An explosion more violent than thunder sounded in front of him.

Li Changjie's eyes only saw that the war elephant, which was still charging and seemed to be about to rush into the Song army's position, ran away like crazy.

More than a dozen war elephants screamed, as if they were encountering an extremely terrifying life-threatening situation.

They turned back directly and stampeded towards the Jiaozhi soldiers and horses behind them at all costs.

Dozens of soldiers were trampled to pulp by the crazy war elephant on the spot!
  "The gods and Buddhas are angry!"

The Cochin soldiers reacted and shouted in panic.

Especially those who followed the war elephants and rushed to the front, turning around and running away at all costs.

Li Changjie's brain only reacted at this moment.

He looked forward.

The smoke was so thick that it was impossible to see what was happening on the battlefield?
  At this time, panic has spread across the board.

The formation of the entire army was in complete chaos!

Crazy war elephants and frightened crowds swept backwards like a strait.

"Lieutenant, run away!" A general beside Li Changjie saw that Li Changjie was still looking ahead stupidly. He immediately stepped forward and whipped the horse Li Changjie was riding on the buttocks: "Run away quickly!"

Everyone has lost their will to fight.

Including Li Changjie!
  Because what just happened was beyond his knowledge and beyond his imagination.

As a result, Li Changjie's brain could not process such information.

This is even more true for the Cochin soldiers.

run away!

Everyone on the entire battlefield was running away.

Because they couldn't understand what they saw.

We can only use simple ideas to attribute it to the power of gods and Buddhas!

Since there are gods and Buddhas opposite.

What is that self?
  Sinners who disobey gods and Buddhas!

After death, you will go to eighteen levels of hell and suffer countless punishments!

Just thinking of this, the Cochin people have lost all will to resist.

The brave ones can still escape.

Those miscellaneous soldiers and those with weak will simply knelt down.

……

Boom!

A violent explosion sounded in front of the formation.

All the Song troops looked at the place where the explosion occurred in disbelief.

Smoke filled the air, war elephants whined, and everything on the battlefield was swept away.

Like the Jiaozhi people, the people in the Song army's formation all had their eyes widened and experienced a brief moment of confusion.

Unbelievable!

Incomprehensible!

Then everyone raised their arms and shouted.

"God bless you! Buddha bless you!"

This is a sight that has never been seen before, and something that can only happen in myths.

With a flick of a finger from the gods, the mountains collapsed and the ground cracked, and people and animals fell dead.

And Yulongzhi people do this kind of thing.

They just throw whatever they have in their hands.

Then there was a horrific explosion!

The explosion sounded like thunder and the roar of a dragon!
  It is like the roar of gods and Buddhas, like the divine punishment issued by the gods in the sky.

The toasts were especially excited!
  They immediately screamed, and everyone was full of morale.

No orders were needed, they were already rushing towards the battlefield frantically.

"Buddha's blessing, Bodhisattva's blessing! Kill the thief!" The chieftains screamed, and with their already crazy Dong Ding, they knelt down and worshiped a few times, then went crazy and went to the battlefield.

For these Dong people who believe deeply in Buddhism or witchcraft.

This can only be a divine punishment from gods and Buddhas or God.

Gods and Buddhas are on our side!

So what are we doing?
  We are protecting the Dharma and carrying out the will of gods and Buddhas.

This is an extremely sacred and glorious cause.

As long as we make meritorious deeds, gods and Buddhas will bless our children and grandchildren!

And what is our enemy?
  Enemies of gods and Buddhas!
  ……

When Zhang Dun was throwing the iron cans in their hands, he was actually far away from the battlefield.

However, the violent explosion and the sudden flash of fire still shocked him and the people around him.

Then, he saw the Cochin people running away across the battlefield.

On the Song army's side, the chieftains and Dong Ding had already entered the battlefield.

"What is that?" Zhang Dun looked at the place still filled with smoke with lingering fear: "Firearm?"

Beside him, Wang Jing, the governor of Menzhou, and others who were watching the battle with him knelt down tremblingly.

"Buddha bless you, Bodhisattvas bless you!" They faced the battlefield and kowtowed.

Zhang Dun came back to his senses and looked at these people.

He remembered that Di Yong had told him that the Yulongzhi once stuffed a kind of gunpowder given by the emperor into the coffin and blew up the Beijian City. Zhang Dun was already extremely surprised at that time.

"In addition to opening the city, gunpowder has such a use?"

Zhang Dun took a deep breath.

The power of gunpowder was beyond Zhang Dun's understanding of firearms.

"This is an important weapon for the military state!" Zhang Dun thought in his heart as he looked at the battlefield.

He seemed to have seen the future war situation - firearms must be the protagonist.

Firearms may even replace bows and crossbows and become the absolute king on the battlefield.

Moreover, judging from the explosion and fire just now.

I am afraid that firearms are still the best weapon against cavalry.

Even the northern captives would probably suffer a big loss from the Song Dynasty's firearms if they were caught off guard!

……

The battle, after Yulongzhi and others threw the first round of iron cans, had actually entered garbage time.

The chieftains, together with Dong and Ding, charged feverishly and chased the fleeing Jiaozhi soldiers and horses.

And the Jiaozhi people even surrendered in large numbers on the spot.

Song Jun soon joined the chase.

Now that Jiaozhi's troops and horses have collapsed, Di Yong no longer restrains the cavalry, but puts the cavalry into the battlefield.

Therefore, Xu Kenan led his cavalry and quickly cut in from one side of the battlefield.

But soon, he encountered a problem - in the distance, countless Cochin people were running away frantically.

However, on the way his cavalry advanced, countless Cochin people knelt on the ground, crawling and begging to surrender.

How can Xu Kenan have the time to take care of them?
  I wish I could kill all the stumbling blocks blocking my way with one knife!

However, Zhang Dun, the military envoy, was in the camp.

Xu Kenan had only heard of Zhang Dun's name and met him a few times.

He was not sure whether the ruler would be as sensitive to killing prisoners as other civil servants.

In case the military officer saw him killing prisoners, a paper of impeachment was sent to Bianjing...

no way!
  Xu Kenan could only lead his cavalry to avoid these annoying guys.

While advancing, he had to shout with his soldiers to the Cochin soldiers who were kneeling to ask for surrender: "Get out of the way! Get out of the way! We don't have time to capture you!"

I thought that these Cochin people would not understand what he said.

But unexpectedly, after he did this, large numbers of Cochin people actually moved out of the way.

……

Li Changjie rode his horse and galloped all the way.

During this time, his mind was completely blank.

Until his horse stopped in front of a trench dug by the Cochin people themselves.

He just came back to his senses.

He looked back behind him and saw dozens of defeated soldiers running towards him in panic.

These defeated soldiers looked at the armor Li Changjie was wearing and at the horse under his crotch.

They looked at each other and slowly moved closer.

Li Changjie looked at them and immediately shouted: "Whose subordinates are you?"

The defeated soldiers did not answer.

"I am the Grand Lieutenant of Dayue and the General of the Fu Kingdom!" Li Changjie thought that these people did not recognize him, so he took the initiative to reveal his identity, hoping to gain the recognition of these defeated soldiers.

But he forgot that now is the time for Cochin's defeat.

He even forgot that the current Jiaozhi troops were frightened.

The defeated soldiers remained silent and slowly approached.

When he was about three steps in front of Li Changjie, a man who looked like an army officer suddenly bowed down and bowed: "The general will pay his respects to the Taiwei."

Li Changjie smiled, thinking that the other party had confirmed his identity and was about to give an order.

But he didn't expect that someone had already taken advantage of this moment to come around him.

Then pull hard!
  He directly pulled the defenseless Li Changjie off his horse, and then everyone rushed forward and pressed him to the ground.

Li Changjie struggled desperately.

"I am the Grand Lieutenant of Dayue and the General of the Fu Kingdom. What are you going to do? Conspire to rebel?"

But his roar made these people even more excited.

The officer said to him even more excitedly: "Thank you, Lieutenant Commander, for gifting us with wealth!"

……

Xu Kenan led his cavalry and charged forward.

Then he saw it, at the end of his line of sight.

There were dozens of Jiaozhi soldiers carrying a man in armor who looked like a general walking towards them.

When these people saw the galloping Song Army cavalry, they immediately knelt down.

A man who looked like an army officer even said in a serious rhyme: "Grandpa Wang, we have captured Li Changjie, the fake captain of Jiaozhi and the leader of the thieves!"

Xu Kenan's expression froze.

He looked at the Cochin people, and at the man who was held tightly by them, with his hands and feet tied to the wooden frame, and a rag stuffed into his mouth.

"Is it really Li Changjie, the leader of thieves?" he asked in disbelief.

"So that Grandpa Wang will know that it is indeed this thief!" the officer said extremely flatteringly.

　After many days of conditioning and massage, the author's pain was greatly relieved.

　　Starting from tomorrow, the daily guarantee of [-] words will be resumed!

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)