Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 126 Queyue Formation (Two in One)

Xia Houyuan followed the strategy of using troops at high speed and marched quickly from Shu County to Wanshui.In just two days, they led the army over the rugged mountain roads with rocks and trailers, survived the falling water level, and arrived at Longfeng Pavilion in Wancheng, an area with flat terrain.

Wancheng is located on the impact plain of Wan and Qian rivers. There are thousands of acres of lakes in the south of the city, flowing with the Wan water; in the north of the city, the terrain is flat and the water and soil are fertile. The people multiplied and gathered together to set up a pavilion named Longfeng.However, as wars broke out frequently, not only Wancheng was abandoned, but Longfeng Pavilion was gradually depopulated, and people took refuge in the mountains.

Xia Houyuan led his troops to the west bank of the Wan River. He made the same choice as Huo Jun. He did not settle in the deserted Wan City, but stationed himself on the hills west of Longfeng, preparing to confront Huo Jun across the Wan River.

The next day, to Xia Houyuan's surprise, Huo Jun chose to take the initiative to attack.

Xia Houyuan rode his horse on a low mountain. With his eyes intact, he looked away and saw the small warships of the Jingzhou Navy, as dexterous as fish, gliding through the water and shuttling through the Anhui water.

The ship approached the shore, and the soldiers stepped off the ship in water up to their ankles. They carried the crossbows, knives, and guns from the ship, and then carried the light carts.As they were busy going back and forth, the river water was muddied by hundreds of Jingzhou soldiers.The officer who was the first to land was shouting, urging the soldiers to use light vehicles to form an array near the water as soon as possible.

Seeing this scene, Xia Houyuan burst into laughter and said: "Before I was ordered to go south, Duke Ming told me that Huo Jun is a famous general in Jingzhou. He has a good military strategy and is brave and capable of fighting. Let Yuan treat him carefully."

"I thought it would be a tough battle, but now I didn't expect that Huo Jun followed Han Xin's example and formed an array near the river, and the whole army crossed the river. Don't deceive me, do you know the military affairs? If all the generals of Jingchu were like this, they would pacify the north and send troops to the south. , you can unify the world."

Huo Jun's saucy maneuvers made Xia Houyuan laugh out loud. He was familiar with military strategy and knew the intricacies of Han Xin's formation on the water.Han Xin lined up near the water to lure the enemy out of a dangerous position, lured them to attack, and then led his cavalry to seize the opportunity to attack the camp, so that he could succeed in one fell swoop.

Now Huo Jun is near the water, but he is crossing the river right under his nose. He can defeat the enemy by using his cavalry to march across the formation and strike halfway across the river.

Xia Houyuan stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Wen Ze, this can be attacked halfway across!"

Yu Jin inspected it carefully and commented: "Warlord, Huo Jun sent hundreds of elite men and light vehicles outside to prevent our cavalry from charging into the formation."

In Yu Jin's field of vision, a tent of "Huo" flags was set up on the bank. Huo Du commanded six hundred elite troops to begin to form an array. He saw Jingzhou soldiers relying on the Wanshui River beach and arraying a hundred steps away from the water, but unexpectedly It adopts an arc-shaped formation, with two light vehicles hugging the river, with Wanshui as the crescent moon, vaguely showing the shape of a crescent moon.

Seeing that Yu Jin frowned slightly, he pointed at Huo Du's headquarters and said: "Warlord, Huo Jun crossed the river to form an array. Although he was weak, he was prepared. He formed an array with light vehicles, backed by the river, and 600 people already looked like an array. It should be struck quickly.”

Xia Houyuan held his sword and meditated, and said: "There is nothing to be afraid of when 600 people form a formation. Let Huo Jun cross the river with another thousand people and attack halfway across the river."

After a pause, Xia Houyuan said in a deep voice: "Order Zhang Xi to lead the cavalry into formation, and Wen to organize the infantry in preparation for killing the enemy. Let someone send a message to Sun Yu asking him to send his navy up the Shuo River from Wankou. , counterattack Huo Jun’s headquarters.”

Xia Houyuan led 2000 infantry and cavalry southward, with 5000 cavalry and [-] soldiers, all of whom were elite and brave warriors.He was able to have the confidence to defeat Huo Jun without taking Sun Yu seriously because of the two thousand cavalry.

"promise!"

With a sneer, Xia Houyuan said: "I want Huo Jun to know what a famous general is. He doesn't just kill a few losers and pacify the water pirates, he can be called a famous general."

"hurry up!"

Huo Du stood on the light chariot, watching nervously the cavalry of Cao's army gathering in the distance, urging the soldiers to quickly arrange the chariot formation.

Although chariots withdrew from the historical stage of frontal combat during the Qin and Han Dynasties, they were still used in the army until the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

During the Han-Hungarian War, the Han army also invented new chariot tactics. For example, the famous general Wei Qing used chariots to fight the enemy in formation, with cavalry on the left and right wings. He fought against the Xiongnu and created a world-famous desert victory. Battle of the North.

Liu Yu, Emperor Wu of the Southern Song Dynasty, was also proficient in chariot fighting. He used formations near the water to lure the enemy into taking the bait. He lined up chariot formations to defeat the enemy invaders. He counterattacked the [-] Northern Wei army with [-] cavalry and became famous in the Central Plains.

Huo Jun was born in Jingchu and came from a later generation. When he was commanding troops, he would naturally study in depth the tactics of famous generals in the past.Marshal Qi's small Yuanyang Formation spread across the hills and ravines. He was able to defend Pengze City, and the Yuanyang Formation played a great role. He served as the governor of Poyang and stationed troops in Sangluozhou. Facing Cao's army who might be fighting against each other, Huo Jun naturally went to study Emperor Liu Wu's Queyue Formation. .

After having the experience of commanding troops, Huo Jun had a different understanding and experience when he studied the Queyue Formation.Queyue Formation is essentially a variant of the vehicle formation, and is combined with water warfare tactics. The combination of the two, Queyue Formation, fully exposes the shortcomings of the vehicle formation, that is, it lacks mobility and is a form of positional warfare.

However, this is also the essence and mystery of Queyue Formation. Emperor Liu Wu discovered this shortcoming and made up for it, that is, using the formation near the water to lure the enemy halfway across the river and attack.

It is not difficult to understand why mid-crossing attack is the best time to attack.If you attack the sergeant crossing the river too early, the battle results will not be maximized; if you attack the sergeant crossing the river too late, the military formation will become difficult to conquer. Therefore, attacking halfway across the river is actually the Pareto optimal solution to maximize the battle results.

Emperor Wu cleverly took advantage of this, just like Huo Jun was doing now, sending a small number of elites to form a vehicle formation to whet the opponent's appetite, making the opponent expect more troops from his side, but then attacked him.

But once a car formation is formed, the opponent will realize that the military formation is complete and must attack it immediately, otherwise it will be difficult.But after the car formation was completed and the sergeants arranged it, how could it be defeated so easily.

"Use the crossbow, the tree wolf, the hook and the lock."

Huo Du stepped on the light cart, looked at the smoke-filled front, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and shouted.

Facing the assembled cavalry, not only Huo Du was extremely nervous, but the [-] soldiers under his command were also hurriedly arranging the formation.There are six hundred elite infantry, a total of one hundred light chariots, six men are equipped with one chariot, two are holding wolves and four are holding swords and spears, relying on the light chariots to fight.The wolf's trap is still useful in the car formation. Its huge body and dense branches can not only be used as a defensive horse, but also increase the morale of one's own soldiers.

As for the hook lock on the light vehicle, it is to enhance the stability of the vehicle formation and prevent it from being easily broken through by infantry.

The moon formation gradually took shape on the river beach, but Huo Jun on the warship did not raise his flag, leaving only 600 men alone in the north of the river.On the east bank of the Wan River, Cao's cavalry gathered in the distance, but did not attack, as if they were waiting for something.

"General, Huo Zhonglang has raised the red flag!" the attendant shouted, holding on to the ship's wall.

Huo Jun saw a big red flag rising in Queyue Formation, which represented the formation of the formation.

"Come here, raise the flag and send the high school commander's troops ashore!"

"promise!"

The military flag was flying, and ships floating on the Wan River carried thousands of infantrymen close to the east coast. These soldiers either walked ashore on the steps, or stepped on the beach on the Wan River, carrying crossbow arrows on their backs, and carrying twenty crossbows ashore, wading ashore. The water splashes forward.

After the Queyue formation is set up, in order to resist the enemy's charge, it must be equipped with corresponding powerful crossbows and bows to protect the military formation and kill as many enemy troops as possible.

Xia Houyuan, who was watching the military formation, saw another group of soldiers coming ashore, and looked at the formed vehicle formation, and knew that he could not let these soldiers complete the formation. "Hurry up and let Zhang Xi lead a thousand cavalry to test it out. Wen Ji will lead a thousand cavalry behind to suppress the formation. Yu Jin and Guanqiu Xing are ordered to organize their troops and prepare for battle."

"promise!"

The sound of "dong dong dong" drums came from the silent mountains and plains, awakening the sleeping mountains and rivers.The sound of horse hooves and shouts came and went, resounding throughout the wilderness.

Huo Jun couldn't help but place his hands on the wall of the ship, watching the battle on the east bank.In front of his eyes, flags were like clouds on the hillside, and yellow sand was rolling in the fields.The troops and horses of Cao's army spread out among the low mountains and hills, and slowly moved towards the Queyue Formation on the river beach to put pressure on them.

"go!"

Zhang Xi rode his horse at a gallop, and more than a thousand cavalry surrounded the car formation and slowly pressed forward.In order to prevent the hidden crossbows in the chariot formation, Zhang Xi ordered dozens of knights in front to test the details of the chariot formation.

The east bank of Wanshui River is flat and luxuriant in water and grass. Riders gallop on the grassy beach, and green grass splashes under the trampling of horse hooves.Approaching the car formation, Youqi was cautious and did not dare to get too close.

In the car formation, Huo Du looked at the approaching rangers and shouted loudly: "Shoot them with soft bow blades and arrows, do not use strong bows or hard crossbows."

Under the command of Huo Du, the chariot formation fired arrows sparsely at the approaching rangers. The soft bow fragments had no lethality. The rangers found that the Jingzhou Army's crossbows were weak and weak, so they sent the fragments of arrows to Zhang Xi. On hand.

Zhang Xi increased his troops and sent [-] more cavalry, but weak bows and arrows were still fired from the Jingzhou chariot formation.He was overjoyed and ordered thousands of horses to ride in the formation, and sent the battle report to Xia Houyuan.

"kill!"

The cavalry began to accelerate, and the roar of the horses' hooves was deafening and powerful. It surged in like a torrent and filled the sky with dust.

While galloping, Cao Jun's cavalry were quite excited, holding their long bows and getting ready to go.

Cao Jun's cavalry circled the formation and flew out. The sound of breaking through the air suddenly appeared, and they shot into the formation.Seeing another soft bow fragment and arrow, he rode his horse slowly and approached again, and another wave of horseback shots came out.

"shoot!"

Huo Du saw the cavalryman who was less than sixty paces through the gap and shouted loudly.

Behind the car formation, the crossbowmen lined up in two rows fired their crossbows, and the sour sound of bowstrings suddenly erupted. Hundreds of strong bows and hard crossbows were shot out, accompanied by a harsh sound of breaking through the air, and fell into Cao Jun's cavalry. among the team array.

Water battles are particularly heavy on bows and crossbows. How could the Jingzhou army not have strong bows and hard crossbows?At such a close distance, how could Cao's cavalry resist these non-armored cavalry.

Even if you are wearing fine iron armor or ordinary leather armor, you will be vulnerable to the fire of armor-piercing crossbow arrows.Both the bodies of the cavalry and the strong horses will be splashed with blood and fall to the ground.

In an instant, a large number of knights were hit by arrows and fell to the ground. Smoke and dust flew up. They were either killed on the spot or groaning in pain.But the most miserable thing was the cavalry in the front row. They were killed by arrows on the spot, including their horses and men, and they had no time to make a sound.

"withdraw!"

Zhang Xi shouted in horror: "The enemy has strong bows, so don't attack easily. Let the governor order the infantry to surround and break the formation on three sides."

After a volley of bows and crossbows, almost all Cao Jun's cavalry retreated timidly, not even daring to care about their injured colleagues.Just as the cavalry were retreating, the crossbowmen in the front row took over the loaded heavy crossbows from the back row, and fired again. A wave of arrows flew out, and a large number of the cavalry were hit by the arrows and fell down.The second round of approaching volleys killed and wounded more than [-] cavalrymen.

Zhang Xi couldn't help but tell Xia Houyuan who was watching the battle on the short mountain. He was furious, broke the arrow sent by Zhang Xi, and shouted: "Quick order, Guan Qiu Xing led his infantry to march quickly, broke through the chariot formation and entered. The strategy of attacking halfway across the river was to drive them into the water."

Xia Houyuan couldn't tolerate being angry. If more than 300 cavalrymen were killed in a normal fight, it would be okay. However, so many cavalrymen were killed or injured before joining the battle, which was undoubtedly a slap in his face.

"promise!"

"Go on!"

In the restricted area among the Chinese army, he issued orders.The infantry of Cao's army marched in formation, with the soldiers in the front row holding large shields, forming a shield wall.The spearmen followed closely behind, raising their spears into a forest, and advanced slowly.

In Huo Jun's field of vision, he only saw the solemn infantry of Cao's army, the military formation was strict, and the flags were in order. He praised and said: "Cao Cao can do evil because of the elite infantry under his tent. If they fight in formation and their infantry and cavalry are combined, our army will be able to do evil." It’s hard to win!”

Even though it was a preliminary confrontation, Huo Jun felt that Cao Jun's army was elite. If he had not taken advantage of the opportunity to form a formation near the water to lure the enemy to attack, and then used a moon formation with powerful crossbows, it is estimated that nearly [-] infantrymen in the north of the Yangtze River would have been lost to Cao Jun. .

However, by setting up the Queyue Formation, he defeated the strong with the weak and defeated Sun Cao's coalition forces.

"Come on!"

Huo Jun looked solemn and ordered: "Order Ding Feng to lead a thousand infantry ashore and be sure to hold the military formation; and order Shiren to lead [-] cavalry ashore and hide in the formation to wait for our military flag."

At the moment, he is not only at war with Xiahou Yuan, but also seeking to capture Sun Yu's army.Gan Ning led 2000 elite navy troops to take a small boat to guard the dangerous points of the Wan River, and fought against Sun Yu who had gone upstream to assist Cao's army; Chen Yue led a thousand men and Huo Yuan, who was guarding Sangluozhou, went south with a total of [-] men to take advantage of the Jiangdong Navy. The camp was empty and they took the opportunity to seize the ship.

Not counting the thousands of people in Sangluozhou, 8000 of the 4000 people were eliminated, leaving only 4000 troops left to fight between Huo Jun and Xia Houyuan.Coupled with the fact that Xu Sheng led his troops to bypass Xiahou Yuan's retreat, Huo Jun had less than 4000 soldiers available to fight Cao Jun.

The [-] cavalrymen who are about to land can be said to be the last force under Huo Jun's account.The remaining hundreds of people stayed on the ship to assist the elite soldiers in Queyue Formation at any time.

As for the thousands of people commanded by Ding Feng, they were all veterans of long-term battles.Only a thousand elite soldiers he selected from six thousand new soldiers were put under the command of Ding Feng. With the support of chariot formations and other elite infantry to hold down the formation, they could fight against Cao's army.

From this, it seems that Huo Jun has a huge appetite and seems to have the tendency to swallow up the Sun Cao coalition.Huo Jun actually has priorities. Although Huo Jun has Queyue Formation in hand, he can't guarantee that he will be able to defeat Xiahou Yuan. Therefore, he has two purposes. If he advances, he will devour Sun Cao's coalition forces; if he retreats, he will hold back Cao Jun and seek for Sun Yu and his troops. Navy.

When Ding Feng and Shiren led the infantry ashore, the infantry commanded by Yu Jin and Guanqiu Xing had already advanced from three sides of Queyue Formation. Shield walls were erected on the outside to block the crossbows fired from the chariot formation; Cause damage to the soldiers in the vehicle formation.

Facing the approaching Cao Jun formation, seeing that the arrows fired by the crossbows were blocked by the shield wall, the sergeants in the formation launched a big killer - the bed crossbow!
(End of this chapter)