Volume 1 Jiangdong Fengyun Chapter 49: Battle
"Three thousand infantry and one thousand wolf cavalry?" Zhang Xun couldn't help but wonder as he looked at the scout's report.
This number did not exceed Zhang Xun's estimate of the total military strength in Qu'a City, but... were there only a thousand people in ambush?
A thousand men wanted to attack his platform and use a decapitation tactic? Are they so arrogant?
But then Zhang Xun shook his head and said, "They probably used laborers, right? Ha, they are being clever."
The servants created by Castle Princess have no combat capability, but they are used for show and to walk with the real army so that they will not be easily exposed.
However, once a real battle breaks out, the guild will collapse instantly, which will easily disrupt their own army formation...
"That's good. This way, nine out of ten soldiers in the city will be killed. As long as we win the battle, Qu'a can be captured in a snap!" Zhang Xun became excited.
As for why Chen Gong took the risk?
Zhang Xun had no doubts about this. After all, in his opinion, it was only a matter of time before he could capture Qu'a. For him, being delayed for a month or two would only mean that the pressure on the consumption of military rations was too great. But for the enemy, it was a matter of life and death, so he naturally had to take a gamble!
Not long after, Chen Gong arrived at the other side of the agreed fighting place and started to build a platform with earth. Zhang Xun also waited leisurely as agreed.
By the time Chen Gong had built the platform , the agreed time was almost up.
When the time came, Zhang Xun sounded a provocative battle cry, and then the two armies began to line up under the command of flags and drums...
"Square formation? Ha, using new soldiers to make up the numbers?" When Chen Gong saw Zhang Xun's thoughts on the high platform, he immediately knew that Bai Gong's strategy was effective.
At this time, Chen Gong's "Horn Formation" was already somewhat complete, and he was just waiting for the blood to be drawn in Kaifeng. However, facing the enemy head-on with only 4,000 against 20,000, and giving up fire and water attacks, was a bit of a stretch, so Chen Gong thought of arguing for a fight.
First, he made Zhang Xun understand that a siege would not lead to a quick victory, and then he lured the enemy into fighting.
Although in the war, it is too idealistic to believe that every opponent is Duke Xiang of Song and assume that they will respect the rules of the battle, but... even if the opponent will regret it and send reinforcements, since it is a battle formation, the other soldiers must be some distance away from the battle formation, just like when fighting with generals.
In this way, we can create a time difference!
Bai Gong's previous pretend ambush undoubtedly prompted Zhang Xun to divide his troops and ambush again, further reducing the timeliness of the reinforcements.
At the same time, when Chen Gong saw that Zhang Xun actually chose the "square formation", he realized that the enemy's army must have a large number of new recruits!
A square formation does not mean that 10,000 people are lined up in a square formation, but rather a group of small formations that form a stable square shape, with more troops around the perimeter and fewer troops in the center, so that the offense and defense are balanced...
Another method is to arrange the troops in a circular formation around the flags and drums, which is the most basic method of warfare.
It is generally suitable for new recruits and old and weak soldiers. Han Xin chose the square formation in the "Fight with His Back to the Water". He also took advantage of the terrain surrounded by water on three sides to avoid being forced to change his formation and having to face the enemy head-on. At the same time, it also restricted the rout of his own army and ultimately won with fewer troops.
But now in the open terrain, the changes of the square formation are limited, and Chen Gong determined from Zhang Xun’s previous strategic style that this person must be a very talented person. It is impossible that he would choose such a basic military formation as the "square formation" for no reason!
Chen Gong's side has only 4,000 people, among which 1,000 Bingzhou Wolf Riders are isolated outside the main formation. They do not need Chen Gong's command, but only need cooperation - Lu Bu's tactical intuition will guide him to attack the enemy's weakest point and seize fleeting opportunities.
Three thousand Qu'a spearmen were divided into eighteen arrays, each eight layers deep, and they moved quite efficiently.
The real Macedonian phalanx was sixteen layers deep. During battle, the first three or four rows pointed their spears forward, while the ones in the back pointed diagonally to the sky and waited for orders...
However, in the military formation style of the Han Dynasty, a sixteen-layer deep infantry array was too redundant and easily targeted, so Chen Gong only used an eight-layer deep array.
After all, at this time, the Central Plains had already adopted the mainstream tactical concept of combining individual arrays into a military formation. In this way, the military formation was more varied with arrays as units, instead of the entire army being piled up in one array to fight head-on.
At this time, Zhang Xun was on the high platform and saw Chen Gong's infantry. The weapons they held were indeed very strange - it was not because Zhang Xun's eyesight was so good, but these two or three-person long spears were too eye-catching.
Even the prototype of Zhang Fei's Zhangba Snake Spear in the Eastern Han Dynasty was not 18 feet long, but a 10-foot pole with an 8-inch tip, which was one-third shorter than the one used by Qu'a Army.
And they use it immediately!
"It's incomprehensible. An inch longer, an inch stronger... But how can infantry attack with such a long weapon? Ha... That's all I can do! The front army advances..." Zhang Xun didn't take it seriously and ordered the flag bearers and drummers to give a signal for a steady advance.
Although half of the troops are new recruits, but... on the Qu'a side, except for the one thousand wolf riders, aren't the rest all new recruits?
Zhang Xun thought to himself that even if there was no deception among Chen Gong's army, they were all soldiers, and there was no reason for him to lose given his absolute advantage.
Zhang Xun's phalanx was seen moving forward gradually. The front few formations were all composed of veterans, and the new recruits were interspersed in the formations at the back.
Zhang Xun was stunned when he saw the formation that Chen Gong chose: "Is this... a fish scale formation? Aren't the soldiers he is commanding also new soldiers? No, he has a lot of slaves mixed in with him! He actually chose a fish scale formation?"
For a moment, Zhang Xun was a little confused and could only attribute it to a trick. At the same time, he tried his best to adjust his mentality.
"Don't underestimate your opponent. Even a lion will try its best to fight a rabbit!" Zhang Xun warned himself.
The two armies began to fight, and Zhang Xun chose the most basic square formation - to take care of most of the new recruits in the army.
Both sides placed their cavalry outside the overall army formation, but Zhang Xun divided his 2,000 cavalry into four teams and placed them on both wings of the square formation as support, while Lu Bu's 1,000 cavalry were like a high-hanging sword, still maintaining their overall position on the right side, and slowly pressing forward with the infantry.
The characteristics of a square formation are that it is solid outside and hollow inside, and capable of both offense and defense, while a fish scale formation is usually divided into several sections. Each section itself, regardless of the front and back, has a dense formation, but the gaps between arrays are large, making it easy for one's own array to be divided, and it is also easy to divide the enemy!
Zhang Xun didn't quite understand why Chen Gong chose this formation, but an exploratory confrontation began immediately.
Under the command of Chen Gong, the Qu'a spearmen gradually began to merge into Zhang Xun's formation, not seeming to be worried about their numerical disadvantage at all.
Zhang Xun's square formation's method of attack was just the simplest "sparse formation" - that is, gradually making the formation sparse in order to move!
Therefore, it is easy to be embedded in the "fish scale formation".
However, Zhang Xun was not in a hurry, as his side had an absolute numerical advantage. Even if they were separated, the worst that could happen was that they could just fight separately!
"Huh? That's not right! What's going on? Morale... morale is not broken! Why don't they fight?" Zhang Xun suddenly widened his eyes.
