Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 428: Battle in Hedong (XVI)
The flag bearer pulled the reins and panted as he said to Shi Yue:

"General Shi, Lord Liang has issued an order for your troops to advance upon hearing the drum."

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of drums and horns came from behind.

Shi Yue did not hesitate at all. This heavily armored infantry acted as a meat shield on the battlefield. At his command, 5,000 soldiers advanced in an orderly manner to the beat of the drums.

The rest of the Liang army also followed the heavy armored infantry.

When the armies of both sides were within a hundred steps of each other, Liang, Yu and Yan all stopped playing drums and horns at the same time.

Now is the time to launch long-range attacks and rain down arrows.

Five thousand heavy armored infantrymen were not a large number, but when they formed a shield wall, they were enough to make the crossbowmen of the Yu State sigh in admiration at the sight of the huge shields.

Huan Xi was behind the shield wall, feeling very safe.

The horse archers on the left and right wings had already drawn their bows and were firing round after round of arrows at the armies of Yu and Yan.

However, the crossbow arrows of the Yu army were blocked by the human Great Wall of the heavy armored infantry, so they had to resort to the same method of projectiles.

It's not that crossbowmen can't throw projectiles.

In fact, any weapon with a trajectory can be used for projectiles. During World War I, heavy machine guns were even used for projectiles. However, for crossbowmen, this was completely a case of playing to their weaknesses and avoiding their strengths.

The most commendable thing about the crossbow, apart from its range, is its accuracy. Abandoning flat shooting and choosing projectile shooting undoubtedly gives up accuracy, thus causing damage to the enemy with intensive strikes, just like a bow and arrow.

But the problem is that the crossbow has a shorter arm span than a bow, so its natural projectile force is also smaller than that of a bow, so the crossbow arrows it uses are also smaller and lighter than bow arrows.

The short and light arrows had limited lethality when thrown, and they also lacked the advantage of precision strikes. Not to mention heavily armored infantry, even lightly armored cavalry archers were not afraid of them.

However, what could they do without projectiles? The great wall of flesh and blood had already blocked the gaps for the crossbowmen's horizontal shooting, and the arrows would only make tinkling sounds when they hit their shields.

Although there were still archers in Fu Jian's army and there were also many archers in the Yan army, after the crossbowmen became ineffective, they were completely suppressed in firepower by the 40,000 archers on the left and right wings of the Liang army.

For a time, the morale of the Yu army, which had been boosted by the retreat of the Xiongnu archers, began to decline again.

Fu Jian frowned. This could be said to be his first time fighting against Liang's heavy infantry. He really couldn't understand how Liang could possibly arm 60,000 troops with 30,000 heavily armored infantry, 10,000 armored cavalry, and 20,000 heavily armored melee cavalry, a total of 60,000 heavy armored troops, plus horse armor, considering Liang's financial situation.

After all, Huan Xi had always pursued a policy of light taxation and low levies, and keeping wealth among the people, when he governed Guanxi.

To put it bluntly, if the armor was made using the traditional method of frying steel and refining it a hundred times, it would simply not be something the State of Liang could afford, and perhaps the State of Liang's finances would have gone bankrupt long ago.

But Huan Xi did it, and even had the energy left to launch a war.

Fu Jian couldn't help but think of the rumors about the steel pouring method.

There is no impenetrable wall in the world.

Although Huan Xi took strict precautions, some news still leaked out over the years. Murong Jun, Murong Ke, and Fu Jian all heard that Huan Xi had already mastered a new steelmaking method that could greatly save costs.

This was also the key to Huan Xi's ability to build a 60,000-man heavy armored corps. Otherwise, I'm afraid that in order to supply this corps, the people's livelihood in Guanxi would have already been in decline.

"Damn it! Why did Huan Xi master this craft!"

Fu Jian thought unwillingly.

This was not the first time Yue Wan faced heavily armored infantry and cavalry. He had seen many of them in the battle with Goguryeo. Even the State of Yan had an armored cavalry that was now following Murong Jun and bypassing Dongyuan County.

But its number was only 5,000 cavalry. How could it be like Liang State, which, even if it divided its troops, could still mobilize 25,000 heavily armored infantry and cavalry, including 10,000 fully armored cavalry.

"It is said that Huan Xi's steel pouring method was found in Guandong. Your Majesty has issued an edict to offer a reward for the steel pouring method in Hebei, Zhongyuan and other places. I heard that there has been some progress. I really look forward to seeing with my own eyes what kind of technology can allow Liang to build such an army with only the land of Guanxi."

Yue Wan thought distractedly.

Of course, it was only a brief distraction. As the commander of an army on the battlefield, he could not afford to be distracted for a long time.

Civilians from both sides were transporting arrows in the rear.

Before the war, Huan Xi gave Wang Meng a combat readiness task of preparing 150,000 bows and crossbows, 450,000 strings, 15 million arrows, 500,000 long and short weapons of various types, and 100,000 sets of light armor.

Not only did Wang Meng complete this task, but he also prepared an astonishing 18 million arrows.

After Huan Xi divided his troops, he gave eight million arrows to Xie Ai, and he himself went north with ten million arrows. If we leave out the 25,000 heavily armored infantry and cavalry used for close combat, it would be equivalent to 50,000 cavalry archers, with each person carrying 200 arrows.

Of course, it was impossible for the archers to carry all 200 arrows to the battlefield at once, and they could not even carry the weight of the quivers.

The Yu army also prepared a large number of arrows for this battle. After all, war depends on pre-war preparations.

It is impossible that the archers on both sides run out of arrows and can only wear light armor and engage in close combat with short weapons.

Zhang Sanlang was a soldier from Wenxi County. He was ordered to leave the city with his troops to protect the civilians and transport arrows to the front line.

He looked at the uneasy and nervous civilian in front of him, and comforted him:
"Relax, with Baibao Xianbei and Jinwei Yicong here, the enemy can't get around to our rear."

The civilians were conscripted from Guanzhong. They had just reached adulthood and were going to the battlefield for the first time, so they were inevitably afraid. But after listening to Zhang Sanlang's comfort and recalling the glorious achievements of the Liang army's soldiers, they finally put aside their fear.

At the same time, the civilians brought by Fu Jian from the State of Yu were also continuously replenishing arrows for the archers, and the exchange of arrows between the two sides seemed to be going on for a long time.

However, the 40,000 archers on the left and right wings of the Liang army, together with the Xiongnu archers behind the heavy armored infantry, suppressed the Yu-Yan coalition forces. If the situation was allowed to continue, the balance of victory would inevitably tilt towards the Liang army.

After all, morale will eventually collapse under long-term long-range suppression.

Fu Jian knew that he had to change. Coincidentally, Yue Wan also sent his confidant to communicate with him. After some communication, the two sides decided to give up shooting at each other and instead take the initiative to launch an attack.

Of course, they were not attacking the heavy infantry's positions. They would be crazy to choose to confront the heavy infantry head-on.

Fu Jian and Yue Wan set their sights on the cavalry archers on both wings of the Liang army. They wanted to pick the softest persimmon to squeeze, but the question was whether the Yu and Yan armies could break through the blockade of the Liang melee cavalry.

(End of this chapter)