Volume 3: The Land of Jingchu Chapter 241: Mandarin Duck Formation
Wolf spear, a very down-to-earth weapon.
It first appeared in the miners' uprising in the mid-Ming Dynasty. Like various uprising weapons, it has the advantage of easy access to materials.
It looks like a spear, with a sharp front end, but unlike a spear, it is not only longer, but also has several layers of multi-edged branches around the "spear body", which is dense and hard...
To put it simply, the original wolf whisk was actually made of moso bamboo - the front end of the bamboo was sharpened while the branches were retained on the bamboo body.
Although it looks bulky due to its length and surrounding branches, it has its inherent advantages.
Later, in Qi Jiguang's hands, the wolf whisk blossomed with brilliance...
The Ming army, which had suffered repeated defeats at the hands of the Japanese pirates, finally regained its face under the Double-Duck Formation of the Qi Family Army!
Since the formation of the army, they have swept away the slump caused by the Japanese pirates who outnumbered them. In the first battle in Taizhou, they won 13 battles in a row, killing thousands of enemies and drowning countless...
It can be said that Qi Jiguang's Mandarin Duck Formation, when facing the Japanese pirates, had a greater restraining effect than the halberd soldiers against the light cavalry!
Who are those Japanese pirates?
A group of desperadoes who are agile and wield Japanese swords!
The undeniable excellent individual quality of the Ming army caused them to suffer repeated defeats at first. However... after the Qi Family Army emerged, they were directly defeated.
The core of the Mandarin Duck Formation is the "Wolf Whip".
There are many variations of the Mandarin Duck Formation, the most common of which is the "Two Talents Formation", the most basic configuration when fighting against Japanese pirates. Usually, there are two sword and shield men in the front, with short swords and large shields, who are mainly responsible for defense and cover; followed by two wolf-whip men, who hold wolf-whips and sweep their faces when the Japanese pirates get close, mainly for interference; then four spearmen, who are mainly responsible for offense; finally, there are two boring and palladium men, who hold weapons similar to tridents and are mainly responsible for harassment; and finally, there is a person holding a firearm at the end... and there is also a captain who is in charge of command.
The core concept is to coordinate contradictions and complement each other's strengths and weaknesses.
The advantages of the "wolf whisk" are particularly obvious when fighting against Japanese pirates.
The main method of attack for the Japanese pirates armed with Japanese swords was slashing. At that time, the Japanese pirates were all desperate criminals with some family background. Their swords were their own lives and property. Naturally, they were far stronger than the standard weapons of ordinary armies. In addition, due to the difference in courage, the Ming army was often defeated by the smaller forces.
However, the "wolf whisk" solves this problem. When the wolf whisk sweeps over, it can block the line of sight, secondly, the "branches" can withstand the force of chopping, and thirdly... it is psychological. Hiding behind the "branches" can give courage to our army, while the enemy's line of sight is blocked, and they will be a little more timid!
If the Japanese pirates were blunted by the wolf-whip at this time, the spearmen would stab forward. If they leaned over to dodge, the sword and shield men would chop down in three directions. Even if they wanted to attack from the flank, the hammer and palladium could also play a blocking role - this trident-like weapon was not used to stab people, but its main function was to hold the Japanese sword.
As long as the opponent's attack is blocked, there will be spearmen to finish off the enemy, and there will be long-range attacks with firearms behind them...
The 1,800 new troops brought by Zhao Yun were trained based on the formation of Qi's army. Their weapons, the "wolf-shaped spears", were of course specially made weapons. They were not made of bamboo, but sharp steel and flexible wood. They were also wrapped with several times more "spear tassels" than normal, but they just looked like bamboo.
Moreover... many of the wolf-whip soldiers are "transferred" Macedonian spearmen. They also use super-long weapons and wave them in front of the enemy, so they are relatively similar types of soldiers.
The Qi Family Army’s Mandarin Duck Formation also specially summarized the “Six Styles of Wolf-Haw”, which taught the skilled and experienced wolf-whip fighters how to make the enemy “uncomfortable” in various situations!
Although most enemies did not die at the hands of the Wolf Whip, the Wolf Whip is definitely the core of the Mandarin Duck Formation.
The slight difference is that there were no firearms arranged at the end, but each general had his armor loaded with a crossbow at the end!
At the same time, each general commands a sword shield, a wolf whisk, two spears, and a halberd, a total of five Ji-made soldiers. Two generals form a "two-talent formation", while three can form a "three-talent formation"...
The halberd warriors trained by Qu Yi were an elite group of soldiers who focused on personal bravery and used halberds to chop and attack.
If an ordinary army encounters this, they will indeed be terrified at first - after all, they are all made up of generals!
Even wooden and stone warriors are usually much stronger than Ji-made soldiers, not to mention the large number of gilded warriors, each of them wearing armor and running towards 2.5 meters tall...
Therefore, Lu Su and Bai Tu, who were familiar with the characteristics of various new armies in Nanjing, both thought of this "Mandarin Duck Army".
Qu Yi didn't understand the situation and originally thought that the other party was definitely going to "cheat". However, when he saw the enemy in front of him, he actually seemed to be ready for a head-on confrontation... He was surprised and couldn't help but sneer.
Although it seems that the enemy's front line has more people than the Halberd Soldiers, but... are they enough for the Halberd Soldiers to kill?
Seeing that everyone in the first row of the enemy was holding a square shield almost as tall as a person, I laughed in my heart - what cowards!
These square shields are also specially made by the Ministry of Industry. They are made of solid wood and iron, and are quite heavy. However... a bracket or a chisel can be installed underneath. Depending on the situation on the battlefield, you can make preparations in advance. For soft ground, you can install a chisel and insert it into the ground to fix it. For the solid ground like the one on the pass, you can install a bracket to support it!
At the same time, the sword and shield soldiers all adopted a standard force posture, used their shoulders to support the shield, and then followed orders.
Seeing the two armies clash, the soldiers with halberds proudly launched an attack on the enemy in front of them - although they were only "soldiers" of the halberds, they had a pride greater than that of the grassroots officers!
We are invincible, victorious in every attack, and we are the first to reach the battlefield and defeat the enemy!
Just infantry, I thought I had a shield...
Huh? What is this thing? It's so annoying... I'll chop it off!
Eh? I cut off some branches, but still...
Ah! A spearman attacked me. I...
Wow! A knifeman rolled out from behind the shield and chopped at my crotch. You're dead...
retreat?
It’s too late, I’ve been shot…
Not only is there restraint on the types of troops, but... this is the first time that the Mandarin Duck Formation appears on the battlefield. Faced with such "down-to-earth" equipment as the Wolf Spear, the Halberd Soldiers are somewhat at a loss. Even a gilded general would inevitably panic when being hit in the face by the "dwarf".
Even though he was not panicking, the halberd in his hand was unable to quickly cut the opponent's wolf-whip into a bare stick. Instead, the force was blocked by the "fragmented" blades.
In this situation, the spearmen had no pressure in stabbing!
Qu Yi's confident smile did not last long. After the two sides engaged in close combat, the situation in which the halberd soldiers quickly pushed the battle line forward did not appear as expected. Instead... the front row that came into contact first were stabbed to death almost "uniformly" in a short period of time, as if they were lined up for execution.
In the army formation of the Great Halberd Soldiers, most of the gilded soldiers were arranged in the front center. However, although the defeat of the wooden and stone soldiers made them alert, it did not change the situation of the battle!
Even a gilded warrior would be "taken care of" by the wolf-whip warriors, and... in the eyes of the halberd warriors, these guys holding "bamboo" seemed to have been trained. No matter how high they jumped, walked, or bent over to block, the opponent could always find the best angle and poke the "bamboo" in front of their eyes.
Although the attack power is just so-so, but... there will be spears sticking out from the "branches and leaves", and often several spears will stab together in a coordinated manner.
If they want to attack forcefully, the swordsman with shield will keep holding up the shield. If they want to make a roundabout move... the swordsman with shield will immediately let go of the shield, roll out, lie on the ground and chop the legs with the sword. However, because of the bracket, the shield can stay in place to block the line of sight.
The Tong Pa hand at the side was even more hateful. Once the halberd chopped into the fork, even if his own strength was much stronger than Ji Zao's trash, he could only shock the opponent back a few steps. At most, the Tong Pa would fall out of his hand and fall flat on his face, but the halberd's chopping power would definitely be exhausted...
The narrow terrain of the pass also meant that the Mandarin Duck Formation, which "had deep coordination" at this time, had a greater advantage - after the close combat, the several rows of Ji-zao soldiers and grassroots generals in the front were all busy, while the mere halberd soldiers... could only line up and "fail"!
While Qu Yi was stunned, the halberd warriors had "disappeared" layer by layer...
The halberd soldiers were composed of all warriors. After the halberd soldiers died, their armor disappeared, and all that was left were ordinary corpses!
From charging, to colliding, and now to queuing up to fall to the ground.
The morale of the Halberd Soldiers collapsed like an avalanche in a very short period of time.
At this moment, Zhao Yun shouted, "Here is Wen Chou's leader! The victory is decided!"
I saw the giant Zhao Yun with a very ugly head on the tip of his spear.
Even the halberd warriors could not withstand such a blow to morale at this time - in comparison, it is easier to die heroically on the battlefield after being prepared for a fight to the death, but... when you originally thought it was just a battle of cutting melons and chopping vegetables, but suddenly you become a lamb to be slaughtered, it is difficult to continue to be "brave".
However……
The Halberdiers had no retreat formation at all.
It was not only because Qu Yi was arrogant, but the Halberd Soldiers were initially trained to fight against the "invincible" Baima Yicong. Their mission was to defend and counterattack at Jie Bridge. If they were defeated, Yuan Shao's army would have no hope, so they did not even consider retreating!
When Qu Yi was trusted, the Great Halberd Soldiers enjoyed the best treatment and the most sophisticated equipment in Yuan's army, and were also required to make the greatest contribution. They also had a name - the first-line death soldiers.
retreat?
These two words do not exist in the halberd scholar's dictionary.
But now, Mi Yi regrets it...
If we had trained some retreat formations in advance, at least we wouldn't have turned around and fled in a swarm like we are doing now.
The terrain of the pass became the biggest obstacle for the defeated army to escape, so they could only turn around and flee backwards...
At this moment, in the Yuanyang Formation, except for the general who could attack with the Shenbi Crossbow, the other Ji-made soldiers did not have the speed to pursue the halberd soldiers, but... the formation dispersed, revealing the Yiyang light cavalry behind them!
This was also Zhao Yun's previous arrangement, which was a little selfish, but... it was true that if these generals and soldiers wanted to escape, only light cavalry could pursue them.
The fact that the halberdiers can restrain the light cavalry does not mean that when they are fleeing, they can restrain the light cavalry with their disorganized "backs"...
The best way to overcome fear is to face it and tear it apart - Yi Yang light cavalry, charge!