In the Southern Song Dynasty, I competed with Mongolia for the world

Chapter 358 Steel Turtle Formation

With the sound of the third tom, [-] Mongolian troops began to approach, and another [-] Mongolian troops were waiting behind.

The Mongolian troops in the middle, Zhao Di and Aotun Baohe, were the vanguard. They were adjacent to each other in large formations. Zhao Di had [-] Han troops, and Aotun Baohe had [-] Jurchen and Khitan troops. All of them were servants and Mongolian troops. Cannon fodder in the heart of the army.

If Zhao Di keeps dragging his subordinates, his troops will gradually reach the level of [-] people, and later he will definitely become a Han army with [-] households.

But after it was assigned to Kuoduan, the number of soldiers and horses almost didn't increase, and it never became ten thousand households.

However, Zhao Di's troops were elite and well-disciplined. They were the most disciplined among the Han armies. In terms of combat effectiveness, none of the five Han armies in Mongolia, including tens of thousands of princes, was his opponent.

It's a pity that he didn't come from a close confidant. After Tuo Lei died, there seemed to be little room for him to develop, and he slowly disappeared into history.

At this time, Zhao Di was riding side by side with Aotun Baohe, slowly pressing forward. To the left and right of the two men were soldiers and horses from both sides.

The Mongolian army is walking slower now, and the two of them can chat while walking.

Aotun Baohe observed it and said, "Do you have many new troops in your department?"

Zhao Di nodded awkwardly.

In the Battle of Fangcheng Mountain, Zhao Di's Han army also suffered heavy losses. After returning, they replenished some, and then went to Xixia to replenish some. Now, among his five thousand Han troops, there are less than half of the original old brothers.

Aotun Baohe also sighed and said: "The same is true for my department."

The two were inseparable, because Fangchengshan suffered a disastrous defeat and not many Mongolian troops escaped.

After saying this, the two of them looked at each other and felt a shadow in their hearts.

That was a question about his subordinates.

Because the current combat strength of his subordinates is definitely not as good as before when he followed Tuo Lei.

The two were silent for a moment, knowing what to say.

"Woo--" After a while, the Mongolian army's rear formation blew the first trumpet sound.

Zhao Di picked up his two-stone bow and nodded to Aotun Baohe. The two rode their horses separately and each returned to their own camp.

"Driving" the front row of the Mongolian army began to speed up, but it was still relatively slow and could not be counted as running. It was equivalent to walking quickly.

At this time, they were about seven or eight hundred steps away from the Song army on the opposite side.

The Song army on the opposite side has not yet increased its speed, and the infantry camp is still moving forward slowly.

After a while, the Mongolian army's second horn sounded, and the Mongolian army's formation began to speed up.

The speed increase of the forwards has opened up a space behind them, giving the center a chance to speed up the charge.

When the Mongolian army's third horn sounded, the Mongolian army's rear formation also began to speed up.

As they thought, the Song army on the opposite side stopped about six hundred steps away from them.

As they increased their speed, the Song army's formation began to shrink inwards and became denser.

The Mongolian army was unmoved and continued to increase speed, and all the horses entered a canter state.

The rumble of iron hooves shook the entire earth, and the air was filled with dust.

The two sides are getting closer.

Six hundred steps.

Five hundred steps.

The Song army was still shrinking, and the original frontal line of [-] steps was now [-] steps wide.

Four hundred steps.

Three hundred steps.

After the Mongolian army entered three hundred steps, they began to change from jogging to medium-speed running, and the horses became faster and faster.

The Song Army's frontal defense line has become five hundred steps wide, and the dense Song Army is close together.

Two hundred steps.

150 steps.

The Mongolian army quickly entered 150 steps. Many of the Mongolian soldiers had reached the speed required for charging. They were all running wildly. However, almost everyone knew that the Mongolian army would not rush up to fight. Their charge might be just overwhelming, and they would eventually use mounted fire. priority.

At this time, the fast-running Mongolian army had entered within a hundred steps of the Song army, and the Song army had not yet shot an arrow.

And I have seen that in front of the Song army, in addition to spears, there is a row of tall shields.

This row of shields was taller than any shield they had seen before, rectangular in shape, and quite exaggerated in height.

Many Mongolian soldiers looked shocked. After all, such a tall and rectangular shield was rarely seen.

And because they are all rectangular, all the shields can be attached together to form a long shield wall.

Zhao Di and Aotun Baohe couldn't help but look at each other from a distance.

The Song army did not line up carriages in front today, but they also lined up a wall with shields.

The people of Song Dynasty were disgusting with fighting, and they had no other tactics except these dirty methods.

The Mongolian army continued to charge forward.

The Song army in front did not respond.

You must know that the Song army used to shoot the divine arm bow after entering 150 steps.

Today the striker has already advanced a hundred steps and has yet to take a shot.

The Song Army's artillery did not sound either.

The battlefield was very quiet except for the sound of the charging hooves of thousands of Mongolian troops.

"Charge." Zhao Di was unmoved and couldn't think so much. The military orders were overwhelming and he could only act according to them.

He, the vanguard of the Han army in the middle camp, was also the closest wave to the Song army.

Eighty steps.

The Han army advanced eighty steps in the blink of an eye.

Zhao Di took the lead in raising his bow and loading the arrow without even thinking about it.

Chi, two stones and a strong bow, and one bow went away.

He didn't even take aim and shot directly forward. The dense Song army in front would definitely be able to hit him.

Sure enough, Phew, there was a shaking in the formation in the distance, and a Song army should have been shot by it.

But Song Jun still had no reaction.

Sixty steps.

The two sides had already entered sixty steps at this time, and more Mongolian troops began to prepare to shoot and disperse on both sides.

"Shoot" Someone from the Song Army shot an arrow first, and then the flags were waved everywhere.

Swish, swish, the foot bows and divine arm bows of the Song army's middle and rear formations were launched one after another.

Only then did Zhao Di think of why Song Jun shot so late.

Because the Song army had more than a dozen rows of spearmen in front of them, they had to let the Mongolian army get closer.

At this time, the Song army finally shot an arrow.

The infantry bows shot towards Zhao Di's forward intensively, and the divine arm bows could hit the soldiers and horses of another Mongolian Qianhu behind Zhao Di's formation.

Arrows were flying down the scene, and the Mongolian army also fired at the Song army after taking fifty steps.

The first wave of shots fired at Zhao Di and others from both sides resulted in heavy casualties.

There are more than 1 archers in the Song army, and there are about three to four thousand in the same position and direction as Zhao Di, which is not much less than Zhao Di's troops.

A wave of so many arrows would be three to four thousand, and one-tenth of the number would be enough to hit three or four hundred. How many men and horses does he have in total?

There was a huge bang at the scene, and numerous Mongolian troops fell off their horses. Many people were not seriously injured when they fell, but after landing, they were accidentally hit to death or seriously injured by their own horses behind them.

Zhao Di's arrows were all right, and he shot three arrows in a row from eighty to fifty steps. He hit three people on the opposite side, but it is not known whether he killed or wounded them.

But after entering fifty steps, arrows rained down from above his head, and soldiers around him screamed and fell to the ground from time to time.

Zhao Di was frightened and didn't dare to get up and shoot randomly. He quickly leaned on the horse and raised the shield on his left arm to protect himself.

He was lucky. He just raised his shield and pounced. Two arrows fell from the air and hit the shield.

The back of Zhao Di's hand hurt slightly, and he felt that the opponent's arrow penetrated the shield and hurt his arm.

Fortunately, the injury was not serious, and Zhao Di quickly broke two arrows.

His shield was hastily made yesterday, and it was wrapped in leather after felling wood. Its defensive power is indeed average.

Fortunately, the opponent was not a divine arm bow, otherwise even his arm would have been shot through.

After the Mongolian army entered fifty steps, they began to sweep away, then threw forward. After shooting, they accelerated away and allowed the rear formation to come up and shoot again.

Zhao Di galloped on his horse, sweeping to the left and looking up to observe the Song army in front.

Now he is quite close to the Song army, about forty steps away.

It can be clearly seen that the front row of the Song Army are squatting on the ground. The Song Army's shields are large and high. After the Song Army in the front row squats down, they can only see the Song Army's helmets and eyes exposed, and some can't even see their eyes.

A dense array of spears were mounted on the shield at an angle.

Some of the Song soldiers behind were holding shields. The Song army's shields were rectangular, large and wide, and could be connected together after being raised at the same time.

You can't stick several of the small round shields of the Mongolian army together. They are all round and cannot fit properly.

But the Song army had a rectangular shield. If everyone lifted it up at the same time, the corners would fit perfectly.

Dang Dang Dang, the arrows thrown by the Mongolian army landed like rain on the shield held high by the Song army, almost completely useless.

"Fuck" Zhao Di started to curse after seeing this.

He even doubted whether the three arrows he shot just now were successful.

The shield of the Song Army was so good. He believed that at least its anti-arrow effect was far better than the small round shield of the Mongolian Army, and the defensive area was also relatively large.

The key is that whether it is ten or twenty, if they are connected from front to back, left and right, they will form a wall, and there will be no gaps in the middle.

In this way, the rain of arrows from the Mongolian army is useless.

However, the Mongolian army was accustomed to this tactic. Zhao Di's soldiers and horses shot all the way, bypassing the Song army's formation, and then turned around and returned to their own rear formation.

The central units of the Mongolian army soon reached the front and took turns shooting at the Song army like Zhao Di.

So the scene was like an assembly line. The Song army stayed in place, and the Mongolian army did not rush into the formation. One by one they moved forward and shot, circled back, and then repeated.

During the Western Expeditions in the past, each country had no special response measures. After being shot at by the Mongolian army for a few rounds, the formation was in chaos. At this time, the Mongolian army rushed forward in one fell swoop and would definitely win.

But now the Song army is like a turtle formation, with shields all over their heads in front. The Mongolian army cannot shoot from further away, but the Song army can shoot at the Mongolian army.

Before Zhao Di even got to the second round, he saw that the front position was full of unmanned Mongolian war horses and Mongolian troops who had landed.

There was almost no change in the Song army's formation.

"How to fight?" Zhao Di looked like he was about to vomit blood.

If the shooting continues like this, only a few Song troops will die, but the Mongolian troops will suffer countless casualties.

Since all Zhao Di's formations were equipped with shields, the losses were relatively small. Many Mongolian troops rushed forward without shields and many were shot down.

Zhao Di couldn't help but look back. His [-] men had just charged into the formation, and it was the first formation. In less than a quarter of an hour, hundreds of horses were missing, and less than half of the remaining men had arrows on their bodies or horses.

"Damn it, if we keep charging like this for a few more rounds, we will all die." My younger brother Zhao Bin yelled, "What kind of battle is this? The Song army is like a tortoise shell, and the arrows are useless."

Zhao Di sighed and didn't know what to say. The Song Army's turtle formation can only be charged by cavalry. Kite tactics and mounted archery are useless. They can't shoot against the Song Army. But if they charge by force, whoever rushes first will be unlucky.

The Mongolian army coach Kuo Duan must have also discovered this problem. The Song army's formation was like a tortoise shell, and the Mongolian army's cavalry and shooting were completely useless.After Zhao Di's troops turned around and fired the second round, a new order finally came down.

"Heavy cavalry is coming." Someone exclaimed at this time.

Zhao Di looked closely and saw that not far behind him, the Mongolian army of about [-] heavy cavalry had entered the battlefield and was speeding up.

The Mongolian army found that skimming was useless, so they directly mounted the heavy cavalry.

"Let's go." Zhao Di gave the order without hesitation and led his troops around the heavy cavalry.

The Mongolian army's three thousand heavy cavalry attacked the Song army's formation, and the Song army could see clearly.

The horses and armor of heavy cavalry, including the running form of the horse, are all different from ordinary cavalry.

"Coming, coming." The formation of the Song army became more dense. The second, third, and fourth rows of Song troops put down the shields they originally held above their heads to prevent arrows and erected them on the ground.

This heavy cavalry has been following the other soldiers and horses, and when it appeared in the Song army's sight, it was already within two hundred steps.

Boom, the scene was filled with artillery fire, and the Song Army's artillery finally started firing, which was relatively slow.

Then the divine arm bow fired at the heavy cavalry from 150 steps away.

At this time, the Song army paid little attention to the light cavalry in front, but tried its best to guard against the heavy cavalry of the Mongolian army.

This wave of grazing fire from the Qingqi in front hit many Song troops.

Because the shields in the front rows of the Song Army were all lowered, but the Song Army's armor was thick, the effect was average.

Following the Song Army's first artillery fire, the Song Army's artillery soon began to fire one after another, and the artillery shells hit the Mongolian heavy cavalry like raindrops.

The heavy cavalrymen speeded up one after another, for fear of falling behind and being bombarded.

With a splash, a heavy cannon fell and hit directly on the back of the heavy horse. The Mongolian army, including its men and horses, was almost broken and fell heavily with a loud bang.

The cannonballs rolled backwards, chipping away at the horses' feet one after another. The heavy cavalry was of no use here, as they would fall over if they were chipped.

The Song Army fired more than 100 artillery pieces in three rounds.

After this wave of fighting, the Mongolian army's heavy cavalry suffered hundreds of casualties, and Zhao Di was also frightened when he saw it.

But the artillery fire of the Song Army only hit this wave.

In the blink of an eye, the Mongolian army's heavy cavalry entered within fifty steps.

This time the Mongolian army did not move away, and the heavy cavalry rumbled forward.

Forty steps, thirty steps.

The heavy cavalry was getting faster and faster, obviously heading straight towards the Song army's formation.

"Ready, cast"

Many officers from the Song Army started shouting.

Whoosh whoosh, suddenly a row of spears flew up.

The Song Army's sixth platoon of spears directly threw javelins.

Then the seventh row, the eighth row, the ninth row, and the tenth row.

The five rows behind the Song army threw their spears one after another.

Only then did the Mongolian army know that the rows behind the Song army not only carried long spears, but also carried javelins.

The javelins of the Song Army were thrown into the middle of the heavy cavalry like arrows.

The heavy cavalry of the Mongolian army is said to be heavy cavalry, but the thickness of the armor cannot be compared with the heavy cavalry of the Xixia and Jin Dynasties, and it is far inferior to the Song army.

Thump, thump, thump, the javelin can penetrate the armor. If you are lucky, it can't penetrate, but it can also cause serious damage.

People at the scene fell off their backs, and some heavy riders fell down one after another.

After throwing the javelin, the pikemen rushed forward with guns and shields, closely fitting with the Song army in front, forming a dense formation.

Twenty steps.

Ten steps.

The heavy cavalry of the Mongolian army arrived in front of the Song army's formation in an instant. Many Mongolian soldiers looked shocked at this time.

They saw that the spears in the three rows in front of the Song army and the large shields in the first row had a special light. They seemed to be made of cast iron. The Mongolian army couldn't believe it.

That's right, the first row of shields erected on the ground by the Song Army were 1.5 meters high and divided into two layers. The outer layer was made of cast iron and the inner layer was cork to resist impact. The shield was several centimeters thick and weighed more than 50 kilograms. There are five holes, and a spear can be passed through the top hole. Two people can lift it up and walk. The four holes on the left and right can be used to connect all the shields together with hemp rope to form a continuous shield wall.

This large iron shield stood on the ground like a stone.

The spear in the hands of the Song army behind was made entirely of fine steel and was pointed at an oblique angle towards the heavy cavalry of the Mongolian army. This all-cast iron spear was also a tool for lifting the iron shield.

The spearmen of the Song Army in the front row each weighed more than 50 kilograms in full armor. The front man held a full-body fine steel spear and the teammates behind him carried an iron shield weighing fifty kilograms. When they arrived at the scene, they put down the iron shield and raised the fine steel spear. .

In this way, the first row is the steel city wall.

The Mongolian army certainly didn't expect that the shields and spears on the opposite side were all made of steel.

But thinking about it now is useless.

Boom, the next moment, the Mongolian army's heavy cavalry slammed into the Song army's iron shields and steel guns.

The first row of Song soldiers were all squatting on the ground, their bodies and armor heavily pressing against the iron shields.

There were teammates following them closely behind. The first three rows were quite dense, used to resist the heavy cavalry charge of the Mongolian army.

The heavy cavalry crashed into the iron wall at the scene, just like a spark hitting a comet. The Mongolian army was thrown off its back, and the Song army was shaken everywhere.

The impact of the heavy cavalry must still be terrible. Even if the iron shields in the first row were not knocked down, some of the Song troops behind were hit and vomited blood.

Many Song soldiers were knocked down and sat on the ground.

Then more Mongolian troops jumped into the Song army's formation.

The "killing" scene was filled with loud killing sounds, and dense spears were stabbed forward wildly, while the Mongolian army tried to press forward.

The bloody battle was mainly concentrated between the first five rows of the Song army and the first three rows of the Mongolian army.

The soldiers at the back were almost out of reach.

The first five rows of the Song army were densely packed with soldiers and spears, and the first three rows of the Mongolian army were the ones who charged the most fiercely and fiercely.

The two sides were entangled within a distance of less than ten steps.

The Mongolian army tried to separate the Song army, and the Song army wanted to kill more Mongolian soldiers.

The 1.5-meter-high iron shield of the Song army became a nightmare for the Mongolian army and could not be crossed at all.

At this time, the bows and arrows of both sides began to become an important means. The Mongolian army Zhao Di's troops followed up one after another. This time they stopped shooting and shot directly into the Song army's formation, trying to shoot down more Song army front rows.

The Song army was also shooting bows and arrows, and both sides saw who could rain more fierce arrows.

It was a good time for Zhao Di to attack this time. The Mongolian army was charging with heavy cavalry and fighting with the Song army. As long as he helped shoot down the front row of spearmen of the Song army, he would have a chance to break through the gap.

"Quick, quick -" Zhao Di kept ordering, and his subordinates also fired wildly, because now the Song army on the opposite side no longer raised their shields above their heads, and all their attention was on the Mongolian army's heavy cavalry.

People on both sides were shot down one after another.

But Zhao Di was not happy for a while.

"Boom" suddenly there was a sound of artillery, and the Song Army's second wave of artillery came.

This time, they passed directly over the heavy cavalry of the Mongolian army and hit Zhao Di's wave of bows.

Plop, a shell fell heavily, and a bloody path was set off on the scene. The Mongolian army screamed everywhere, and the men and horses were in panic.

"The guns are coming, the guns are coming." someone screamed.

"boom"

"boom"

The Song army's artillery fired continuously, and artillery shells rained down like rain. Zhao Di was in a panic.

At the same time, the Song army's rear formation stopped shooting the Mongolian army's heavy cavalry with its divine arm bow, and shot directly at the Mongolian army's bow at the rear. The arrows also fell into Zhao Di's formation.

Zhao Dibu suffered heavy losses.

They had their own heavy cavalry in front of them, and they could not shoot the Song Army's crossbowmen. They could only shoot at the Song Army's front row, but the Song Army's bows and arrows could hit them, and both sides were in a state of being beaten.

The Song army had many bows and arrows, and they only fired a few rounds at each other. In addition, the Song army's artillery fired a wave, and Zhao Di couldn't stand it anymore.

At this time, the Mongolian army behind them also moved forward for the second time. Zhao Di did not dare to neglect. With an order, he quickly led the entire army to flee to both sides.

On the battlefield, artillery roared, men and horses screamed, and Kuoduan in the distance had a solemn expression and said nothing.

The Mongolian army suffered heavy losses in the first wave. Finally, the heavy cavalry came up and inflicted damage on the Song army.

However, the Song army blocked the Mongolian army's heavy cavalry with five rows of spearmen. If the Mongolian army's heavy cavalry could not advance, it already meant failure.

If the heavy cavalry cannot tear apart the opposing defense line immediately, they will lose their lives later.

Seeing Zhao Di rushing forward in the second round to no avail, Kuo Duan's face turned even more ugly.

"Send the order and pull the Song army." Following Kuo Duan's order.

Woo, the horns of the Mongolian army sounded, and all the Mongolian soldiers quickly turned back.

As soon as the Mongolian army retreated, the Song army's cavalry chased them out. There was another burst of fire from both sides, and people on both sides fell off their horses. The Song army seemed to have no advantage, so the cavalry immediately stopped chasing and killed the Mongolians on the ground. Military wounded.

At this time, the first row of the Song Army's infantry formation stood up one after another, put their fine steel spears through the buckles of the iron shield, and teammates behind them helped lift them up and began to move forward.

At the same time, a group of spearmen emerged from behind the formation. When they saw wounded Mongolian soldiers along the way, they jumped at them without hesitation and stabbed them with one shot.

The Mongolian army retreated, and the Song army followed them, stabbing and killing them all the way. The battlefield screamed in agony. The Mongolian nobles on the Kuanduan side all cursed the Song army for being cruel and inhumane.

The Mongolian army retreated, and although the Song army's infantry and cavalry also pursued them, they did not pursue them far. After a few waves of fire between the cavalry and the Mongolian army's cavalry, they felt that they did not have the upper hand, so the Song army's cavalry stopped advancing.

The Song army's infantry was even darker, keeping more than sixty paces with the Mongolian army.

The Mongolian army retreated very slowly, deliberately luring the Song army out, but the Song army pursued it even more slowly, and kept more than [-] steps with the Mongolian army.

At this distance, it is not easy for the Mongolian cavalry to shoot at the Song army, but the Song army's infantry bows and divine arm bows can shoot at the Mongolian army.

While the Song army was chasing after them, they continued to shoot at the Mongolian army.

The Mongolian army tried to pull the Song army out of a few hundred steps, and then sent troops to surround the Song army's rear formation from the rear. However, after the Song army chased it out for hundreds of steps, it started to turn back, leaving no space for the Mongolian army.

The Mongols had never seen the Song army fighting like this.

Usually when the enemy retreats, the victor will pursue it with all their strength, but the Song army in front of them said they would not pursue it. They simply turned back, and then Jijiao set up the iron barrel formation, as if waiting for the Mongolian army to attack.

It was useless to pull and pull. The Song army was not fooled at all. The battle situation was so unfavorable. Kuoduan lowered his head with a livid face. The Mongolian invincible tactics had no effect in front of the Song army's turtle shell.

His mind is quite confused now, and he is also very unwilling.

The Song Army had never fought against it before. Having just watched it from beginning to end, he clearly saw the Song Army's tactics and was indeed more restrained than the Mongolian Army.

The Song army relied on pikemen and shields in front, and the archers behind them. Because of their long range and strong power, the Mongolian cavalry could hardly shoot the Song army's archers, and they would definitely suffer from the confrontation.

If you want to defeat the Song army in front of you, you must first defeat the spearmen in front of the Song army.

It is true that the current defensive formation of the Song Army is really unsolvable in the world. Unless the Mongolian army has artillery, there is really no way.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Hou Jin Dynasty had no way to deal with the iron barrel formation of the early Ming Army. For example, in the bloody battle of Hunhe River, the Sichuan Army and the Zhejiang Army defended to the death. The Hou Jin Dynasty had superior troops and could not defeat them. Finally, they used artillery to defeat them. Defeated the Ming army.

Of course, there is another way that may be able to break through, which is to use all heavy armored infantry, and a large number of heavy armored infantry, even several times more infantry than the Song army, and consume the pikemen in front regardless of casualties.

As long as all the pikemen in front of the Song army are consumed, the archers behind will be cattle and sheep to be slaughtered, not worth mentioning.

Kuo Duan lowered his head and thought about tactics. There was already a general riding in front of him.

(End of this chapter)