Volume 5: Overlord of the Sea Chapter 553: Crossbow
"Sharp Arrow Formation!"
Zhang Ren put on his armor and raised his spear vertically with his right hand, holding the butt of the spear to make the tip of the spear as high as possible ...
At the same time, the surrounding military formations changed rapidly, and the soldiers arranged themselves in a formation that looked like an arrow in tacit understanding!
The two wings in front were infantrymen holding wooden shields, and in the center of the front was a team of plate-armored cavalrymen, and behind the plate-armored cavalrymen were teams of shield-armored infantrymen. Only behind the two wings of the "arrowhead", the part that was blocked was the stacked phalanx of archers...
The Shu army's plate cavalry seemed a bit "strange", and looked... more like heavy armored infantry sitting on war horses?
It’s not that there was a problem with the plate armor sold to them by the Chu State, but the war horses of the Shu Army. Most of the horses were from Dian horses and Shu horses, which were better at carrying and carrying loads , had weaker explosive power and speed, and were also shorter.
Therefore, Zhang Ren always used cavalry as the vanguard of the infantry, unlike the light cavalry, which could conduct guerrilla warfare outside the two wings when in the front arrow formation... The same was true for the plate cavalry!
Zhang Ren's vanguard troops also had nearly 10,000 people. They were able to transform from a marching formation to a neat arrow formation so quickly without any sign of disorder or haste. It had to be said that they looked very elite.
Of course, in fact, a big part of the factor is that Zhang Ren is very good at the Fengshi Formation. He even has an effect similar to a "special combat skill" or "anti-military combat skill" in the "Fengshi Formation", as the Chu State said, similar to Huang Zhong's "Fierce Bow" and Sun Ce's "Heroic Posture".
Zhang Ren's "Fengshi" can greatly enhance the effect of the Fengshi formation!
The reason for this effect can be traced back to the nature of the Fengshi Formation itself...
Don’t be fooled by such a big “arrow”, but among the offensive formations, the Fengshi formation is one that pays more attention to defense, especially Zhang Ren’s Fengshi!
Zhang Ren, Zhang Xiu and Zhao Yun, all three of them are disciples of famous masters, and are all disciples of the spear prodigy Tong Yuan. In comparison, Zhang Xiu's style is closest to Tong Yuan, or it should be said... Zhang Xiu forced himself to get close to Tong Yuan, both of them are explosive style - once the full version of the Bainiao Chaofeng Spear is released, it directly makes him a first-class general and goalkeeper.
Zhao Yun came up with another idea and figured out the Seven-Probe Snake Spear, which was more suitable for him and was good at combining surprise and flexibility!
As for the eldest senior brother Zhang Ren, he also failed to comprehend the spear technique that best suits him like Zhao Yun, but his understanding of the Bainiao Chaofeng Spear is different from that of Zhang Xiu and Tong Yuan's original version.
Compared to bursting out, Zhang Ren is better at defending while attacking, and using defense as offense... This is also reflected in Zhang Ren's military strategy!
Unlike Yan Yan who is good at defense but not good at attack, Zhang Ren is better at attack, but he also embodies defense in his attack. This is both his martial arts style and his style of commanding troops.
Therefore, Zhang Ren was very fond of the Fengshi Formation. He mastered dozens of variations of the Fengshi Formation and was able to use them skillfully, and had trained his soldiers in more than a dozen of them!
Compared with his two junior brothers, Zhang Ren actually took a similar route to Zhao Yun - both wanted to develop their own style based on "A Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix".
However, Zhang Ren's qualifications were far inferior to Zhao Yun's. Not only had he only mastered a variation of the Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix in terms of martial arts, but he was also only "better at the sharp arrow formation" in terms of military tactics, without truly mastering the art of fighting against an enemy army.
Even so, Zhang Ren is considered a master of military and martial arts anywhere in the world, and he is the best in Xichuan.
However, just when Zhang Ren thought that this was a "lion fighting a rabbit" battle and was ready to "do his best" to crush the enemy's formation with his arrows...
"shoot!"
All I could hear were bursts of sharp explosions coming from the ravine where the enemy was entrenched.
The war horses in the front even had some "malfunctions" because of this, and Zhang Ren didn't care about the horses' condition. In a flash, he heard a series of crisp sounds from the plate armored cavalry being hit fiercely!
Moreover, the plate-armored cavalry, who Zhang Ren originally thought were strong enough to withstand crossbows at medium distances and shortbows at close distances, began to cry out in pain and fall to the ground, thus triggering a chain reaction.
As for the shield soldiers on both wings...
A mere wooden shield is not something that can block the Qi crossbow bullets - even if the Qi crossbow bullets at this time are not as good as the initially improved breech-loading rifles. If there is an explosion-proof shield, it can be blocked, but... if you want to use wooden boards to block bullets, I'm afraid they have to be made into a size that no one can lift!
Moreover, the "bullets" of the crossbow at this time were still made into the primitive projectile shape, rather than the pointed bullets of later generations.
In fact, the technology of the Chu State now supports the production of bullets. However... although the projectile shape affects the power and range of the bullet, it has one advantage - the "ricochet" is more powerful!
Even with a pointed bullet, if it hits a hard object at an angle, especially in street fighting, the bullet will bounce off, creating a ricochet effect.
Round projectiles are undoubtedly more likely to "bounce".
The State of Chu no longer produces projectiles, but has switched to producing bullets. However, the existing projectiles are enough for a while, and are also useful enough against the enemy - after all, apart from plate cavalry, ordinary soldiers do not have any decent protection and do not need extra penetrating power. On the contrary, the ricochet effect can increase the killing efficiency!
Although the Qi crossbow does not use gunpowder, the mechanical structure will also produce a loud explosion when firing bullets.
After a round of volleys, Zhang Ren was still a little confused, but his battlefield instinct told him - don't stop, keep charging!
"scattering!"
But next, Zhang Ren had to face rounds of scattering...
Although the power of the Qi crossbow has not yet reached the level of a breech-loading rifle, its firing rate, or loading efficiency, has reached the level of a breech-loading rifle.
A Ji-zao soldier with skilled skills can even fire one bullet every three seconds, and those with average skills or just "qualified" skills can fire one bullet every five seconds!
Compared to shooting with a bow, the shooting speed is nearly three times higher, and...if you are an archer, you will rarely draw the bow at the maximum shooting speed, otherwise your arms will quickly lose strength after only six or seven times. After all, speed alone is not enough, endurance is also required.
However, when using the Qi crossbow, there is no need to consider these things at all. Apart from changing the Qi pump every twenty-two bullets, as long as you are not interrupted, you can maintain this maximum firing rate without having to worry about any physical exertion.
To them, it was just a matter of reloading...
Therefore, when facing bows and arrows, or even muzzle-loading rifles, if you must charge, the most effective way is to "group together" and charge together!
At least after some of the soldiers were killed, the remaining people could rush forward and engage in hand-to-hand combat - theoretically in the era of muzzle-loading rifles, cold weapons were not completely powerless, it just required sufficient elite troops and high morale.
If you are facing a breech-loading rifle, charging in a group will only lead to your death faster...
Putting yourself under intensive firepower, not to mention the "ricochet" effect, no matter how elite you are, it will be useless!
