Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 836
Yang Jiye could see very clearly that the current situation must not be dispersed like the Liao army and entered a melee, otherwise the battle formation they trained would be difficult to exert any combat power. The number of people is two or three times that of our own side. In the end, it is really hard to say who will win. Even if we win, we will inevitably suffer heavy losses. This is a defeat for Xiangfu Kingdom, which has insufficient overall troops.From this point alone, Xiao Dage is a qualified commander.

The messengers standing beside Yang Jiye, who were also standing on the high platform, quickly sent orders in semaphore, and the generals of the brigades, battalions, and companies below had their own special personnel watching the podium all the time, and immediately told their commanders the order, and the army moved according to Yang Jiye's order. stand up.

"Send a signal to the special brigade behind the mountain on both sides of the valley, Huang Dongqiu and Tang Xingwu's troops, and be ready to intercept and kill the Liao soldiers who escaped over the mountain at any time."

"As ordered, General."

General Yang Jiye's flag tilted slightly forward, and all the infantry battalions simultaneously sounded the sound of drums.All infantry in the front two rows are holding iron guns in both hands, and in the back are holding iron guns in one hand and quick crossbows in the other.Under the command of their respective battalion and company commanders, they walked towards the enemy with their heads held high, and stopped a hundred steps before the Liao army's front line.At this time, the rushing Liao army had already started throwing bows and arrows. The armored infantry of the Xiangfu country infantry standing in the rain of arrows did not panic at all. They were as peaceful as standing in the sun enjoying the spring breeze.

At this time, a cavalry team of the Liao army was already four hundred paces away. There were more than 7000 cavalrymen. He was very fierce and experienced, and when he saw an opportunity, he immediately charged towards the infantry with a howl. Some sentry cavalry from the Xiangfu Kingdom nearby could not resist so many cavalry, and retreated to both sides.

"Squat down in the first two rows! Refuse horses!" Zhe Yuxun knew at a glance that the Liao army wanted to draw the infantry into the melee, and then defeated their own infantry by taking advantage of the number of individual soldiers and their own combat skills.So immediately gave the order loudly, and the messengers around him passed the order to the battalion below as quickly as possible, and it was quickly executed.

In front of them were cavalrymen rolling in. The infantrymen of Xiangfu Kingdom were a little nervous and subconsciously obeyed the orders. The fast crossbow socket began to aim, ready to shoot.

When the infantry faced the cavalry, the first two rows squatted down first, and the last two rows shot with fast crossbows first. This in itself is the basic training in the infantry regulations of Xiangfu Kingdom.

At this time, there was no need for Zhe Yuxun to order the attack, and the battalion commanders would issue orders at their own discretion.

The cavalry of the Liao army was already at about 120 paces, and the battalion commanders of all the infantry battalions looked hideous almost at the same time, and shouted loudly: "The last two rows of crossbows are ready!"

The two rows of soldiers at the back of each battalion turned sideways at the same time, looking for the shooting point. The battalion commander didn't give them too much time to prepare, and immediately shouted: "Aim!"

Each battalion has fifty crossbows in a row, and the square formation of eighteen infantry battalions is nine infantry battalions behind the nine infantry battalions in front.Nine battalions were able to face the cavalry of the Liao army. 450 fast crossbows aimed at the incoming Liao cavalry. Amidst the thunderous hooves, all the battalion commanders waited coldly for the Liao cavalry to enter about eighty steps, and then loudly Shouted: "Let go!"

There was a buzzing sound, and each fast crossbow was fired four times in a row, and all of them were shot empty, and in order to prevent all of them from being shot at the enemy soldiers in the front row, they would take a breath between each crossbow.More than 500 Liao army cavalry in the front row fell to the ground. While the cavalry was majestic, it also provided a bigger target. Most of them hit the horses. They rolled violently on the ground, causing the Liao army to be in chaos.

"Stand up in the front row! Aim!" The voices of the battalion commanders were still very steady, but they issued orders a little faster.

In the roar of the battalion commander, the soldiers in the front row stood up and raised the crossbow, while the row behind began to load arrows into the crossbow.

"emission!"

Another round of 450 fast crossbows fired at four bursts at intervals, and the cavalry of the Liao army in front of them fell down again with four or five hundred horses, causing chaos again, but the other cavalry rushed in at a faster speed.It was too late for the next round of shooting at this time.

"Reject horses in the front row!" The battalion commanders gave an order, and the soldiers in the front row who had just finished shooting all squatted down, and the soldiers in the second row stood up and raised their guns. The army formation was like a hedgehog with spikes.

The cavalry of the Liao army came roaring, but the infantry of the Xiangfu army in front of them did not panic at all as they expected. Instead, they formed such a long spear array. They did not know that the infantry of the Xiangfu country often had combat training on infantry and cavalry. Endurance has already been exercised.

The dense array of iron spears stimulated the eyes of these already tired and out-of-condition horses. These sensitive animals couldn't eat well these days, didn't have a good rest, and endured the cold, hunger and exhaustion. At the last moment, you can't help turning your head, or you want to stop before the formation, which greatly affects the final impact of the cavalry.

But in this way, the first row of infantry was still hit and flew a lot, and more than 400 people were killed and injured on the spot.However, it successfully blocked the charge of the Liao cavalry.The cavalry lost the advantage of charging, and the length of their weapons could not beat the infantry with spears, so they became the targets of the infantry with fast crossbows behind Xiangfu Kingdom.Before dying, some cavalrymen of the Liao Army threw out their maces and iron bones, overturning more than 200 infantrymen.But this still can't change the result of the first battle of infantry and cavalry in the Battle of Taniguchi. The Liao army was defeated. Only more than 7000 cavalry out of 2000 cavalry retreated in embarrassment.Nearly a thousand infantrymen of Xiangfu Kingdom died.

On the other hand, due to the large number of Liao troops and the limited area of ​​Taniguchi, the cavalry of Xiangfu Kingdom could no longer gather and sprint on a large scale. Most of them were scattered and divided, and fell into a melee. Massively kill enemies.However, those scattered and divided cavalry often face dozens of Liao cavalry besieged by more than a dozen cavalry, and lose their advantage in battle. The combat skills of a single cavalry are generally weaker than the Liao cavalry, so the casualties Not a lot.In fact, if the horses and soldiers of the Liao army were not too tired and in poor condition, the cavalry losses of the Xiangfu Kingdom would have been even greater.

The fastest 7000 cavalry retreated in the face of the infantry of Xiangfu Kingdom. Xiao Dage saw this scene, but he was shocked, and his face was so gloomy that he could drip ink.He knew that the cavalry suffered a disastrous defeat just now, although it was because of the auspicious talisman infantry tactics, quick crossbows and long spears to resist the horse formation, but another big factor was that their horses were too tired. In this state, the horses faced the long spear formation. The fear in the heart will be magnified several times invisibly, so that at the last moment, against the wishes of the soldiers, they will forcibly stop or turn their heads.

Thinking of this, Xiao Dage turned his head and suddenly shouted at the messengers on the left and right: "Command, let the cavalry dismount and form a formation. No matter what they used before, this time the front row will all use long spears. The enemy's infantry is only less than 2. People, our number is two or three times that of them, even if we get off our horses and kill them, our Khitan sons are more powerful than them. Only by defeating them can we go back alive."

The messengers passed orders separately, and the generals of the Liao army were also experienced in battle. They soon felt that dismounting and fighting on foot was the only option at this time. Because of geographical restrictions and melee battles, the cavalry had lost the advantage of charging. Big, aloof, and become a living target for the opponent's quick crossbow.

Therefore, all the generals of the Liao army were united. Except for the [-] cavalry who continued to fight with the Xiangfu cavalry, the other [-] cavalry dismounted one after another. The infantry soldiers with long spears came to the front row one by one. It is a one-foot-two-foot long spear that is not much shorter than the army of Xiangfu Kingdom.

The cavalry of the Liao army is skilled in battle formation, and the infantry phalanx is not a difficult formation. The infantry phalanx they formed is also very clean.

Xiao Dage's tactics basically worked, and whether he can get away now depends on the infantry duel. Although the Liao army had suffered nearly [-] casualties just now, Xiao Dage's dismounted infantry was slightly more than twice that of Xiangfu's infantry. Strictly speaking, the individual combat power of soldiers is even stronger than that of Xiangfu Kingdom.

At this time, the formation of the infantry was completed, and Xiangfu Kingdom on the top of the valley on both sides took the opportunity to launch two waves of gunpowder packets, causing more than 1000 casualties in the Liao army.

However, it failed to cause much confusion in the Liao army.At this time, the Liao Army's formation was full of swords and guns. Xiao Dage waved his hand, and with the sound of a horn, the big drum sounded, and the infantry converted from cavalry began to advance calmly.

The [-] infantrymen of Xiangfu Kingdom also gave a bugle call, and the densely packed spears were erected, almost covering the background to the north. , like a forest of moving spears.The battalion commander and battalion flag walked on the right wing of each phalanx, and the deputy battalion commander walked on the left wing. They walked back and forth, reminding the company commanders and platoon leaders in the queue to pay attention to a certain formation.

The flanks were opened, and the infantry of the Liao soldiers was also stretched very long. The 8000 people in the Xiangfu Kingdom's phalanx were still eight battalions in front, and eight battalions in the back. Each battalion had six rows. Twelve rows.There are nearly 5 infantrymen of the Liao Army, with nearly [-] rows in front and back. The front line is much longer than that of Xiangfu Kingdom, and they are approaching firmly to the sound of big drums.

The soldiers of the Xiangfu Kingdom phalanx erected their spears on the right side, held their right hands at the bottom, and held their left hands on the body of the guns. They moved slowly with the beat of the drums. It was very difficult to hold the long spears one foot by four feet flat, and they would only be leveled when fighting.

"The long spears of the Liao army on the opposite side are not much shorter than ours. When approaching the enemy, keep a slow pace. Don't think about rushing to kill. Those who want to survive can hear clearly. The long spears are the same. Don't think about rushing up and killing people, otherwise you will probably hit their head on the head of their guns Go up, when approaching the enemy, you have to be slower, take a step only once the drum beats, remember to turn sideways and level the gun, and the tip of the gun is in a line."

Amidst the sound of drums and footsteps, the company commanders of each square battalion ran back and forth, habitually reminding their soldiers with loud voices.

(End of this chapter)