The arrow fell on the Mongolian helmet or leather cap. The arrow cluster passed through the eyebrow with almost no obstruction and pierced the skull hard. The sound of the skull being crushed was dull, like an ax chopping down cork, a "thud" sound.
The body of the knight who was hit by the arrow immediately stiffened. Some corpses crawled on the backs of horses and continued to charge, while others fell to the ground and were dragged by the horses for a few steps before being trampled by the following horses.
More arrows continued to fly down, hitting the Mongolian cavalry.
In the past few years, the Mongols had looted a huge amount of materials from the Jin Kingdom, which greatly improved everyone's equipment level. Especially the Xue army officers and soldiers, almost all of whom were wearing armor. But under the dense rain of arrows, the knights could be hit by arrows from almost any position. Even the horses wearing the same armor also screamed in agony while running.
The Huo'erchi's counterattacks also caused huge damage.
When they were a little far away from the Dinghai naval formation, they did not aim at the enemy and shoot arrows. Instead, they bent down and rode their horses, pulled round bows with both hands and fired arrows at will. It wasn't until the war horses approached the gap at the outer edge of Ding Haijun's formation. When the war horses soared to a high point, they suddenly stood up and aimed and shot from a high position.
Anyone who can, in this short moment, miss the shield and armor and hit the face of a Dinghai soldier with an arrow can be said to be one in a million. Several of them took out several arrows from the quiver at their side and fired them in succession. The ones that hit the target seemed like they were chasing arrows after they were lost in the air.
Zhang Xin, who was directing at the front of the queue, kept gesticulating and giving directions. As a result, he attracted the attention of a certain Huo'erchi, who shot two arrows at him. The one aimed at his face bounced off the brim of his helmet, and the one aimed at his waist hit him. He roared and pulled out the arrow, only to feel a sharp pain.
His armor and stomach were extra thickened and he bled a lot, but his injuries were not serious. Among the Ding navy officers around him, not many were directly shot to death by missing arrows. In comparison, more Mongolians must have died in this duel.
However, the Mongolian cavalry surged forward, and few noticed the dead among them. On the contrary, this miraculous and precise shooting inevitably frightened the soldiers. At this moment, the swordsmen, shieldmen and spearmen at the front almost subconsciously leaned down to avoid it.
This kind of evasion caused the defense line to waver only for a moment, but for the Qixue Army cavalry, this moment was enough for them to charge into the formation.
A few loose gaps were as conspicuous to them as burning torches. Without the Yan men's orders, the cowardly Xue troops rode into formation and immediately tore open several gaps.
Puffs of blood rained down one after another, and many high-pitched cries were instantly replaced by wails. The Ding navy officers in front of the array suffered an unbearable fierce blow.
】
They had not experienced this kind of experience for a long time. Ever since Ding Haijun established its foothold in Shandong, any force or enemy could only bow before Ding Hai Hai's strong queues and powerful cavalry. But at this time, what they faced was the most powerful force ever seen on the grassland!
Blood spurted out, heads flew, weapons and armor collided intensively, and the teeth-piercing sound of metal interlacing erupted. The soldiers of the Ding Navy waved their swords and guns wildly, but the gains were limited.
The Mongols galloped wildly in the gaps between the military formations, narrowly avoiding many attacks. They moved and dodged, constantly charging into the depths of the military formation, only to return fire easily, reaping lives with the speed of their horses.
As a result, more queues fell into chaos, and the larger and larger Dinghai Navy queues were like boiling water. More Mongolian cavalry continued to charge, making the boiling water even more turbid.
Outside the military formation, Shi Ji, who was responsible for commanding these cowardly Xue troops, suddenly went bald and laughed.
"This is the navy, that's all."
Shiji Hubaludu is Genghis Khan's adopted son and confidant Nak'er. When he was fifteen years old, he tracked an elk alone in severe cold weather and heavy snow, and did not return for a day and a night. Genghis Khan thought he had frozen to death, and he got angry and beat Qu Chuguer, who was in charge of the imperial tent. That color. Unexpectedly, he returned to the camp the next day and told everyone that he had killed twenty-seven of the thirty deer.
Shi Ji Hu Tu Hu's bravery and courage were praised by everyone, but because he was born in the Tatar tribe, he always served as a follower of Genghis Khan and could not directly lead his tribe to fight.
Today, this time, he was responsible for battlefield command for the first time, and he was still under the watchful eye of Genghis Khan. Shiji Hutulu believed that he would have a good record. He had been following Genghis Khan for more than 20 years, and he knew everything he needed to know about tactics. He was determined to fight a good battle and bring the Mongols' mighty military power to its fullest.
"Add two more thousand-man troops and outflank them from both wings!" he shouted loudly.
The number of Mongolian cavalry in frontal impact no longer needs to be superimposed. The purpose of those who were already in the battle was to use the speed advantage of the cavalry to pass between the various departments of the Ding Navy.
The tactics of the Mongolian cavalry have always been like this, and the Qixue Army is a collection of the best among them. They can drive vertically and horizontally within a range of hundreds of miles, and they can also dance on horseback in the military formation like a forest of swords and spears. Every cavalry squad was like a sharp blade at this moment, cutting through the enemy.
No matter how brave and skillful their opponents are, once they are cut and scattered, there is no possibility of confrontation. The Mongols moved around at will and were able to concentrate absolute military superiority in any direction and at any point.
What Shi Ji Hu Tu Hu wants to do is to continue to draw Ding Haijun's attention so that their formation has to be dispersed and they are unable to concentrate their efforts on the front.
When the cavalry interspersed in the front come out through the formation and join the troops on both wings, they will become stronger. It is easy for each unit to turn back and attack, or to turn around and create more gaps!
The Mongolian cavalry outflanking movement was immediately noticed by the Ding navy officers.
Wang Shixian was lying on a large car, staring at the situation, as if he had seen the deadly fight in Haicang Town that day.
These Mongolian cavalry are much stronger than the six thousand households under Tuo Lei's command in Haicang Town. Wang Shixian felt that any one of these cavalrymen could be regarded as one of the best Batu'er in the ordinary Wanggu tribe, and his status was equal to that of Na Yan.
If this battle was fought by Wang Shixian, he would at least arrange his carts into a formation and set them up outside to block the cavalry, and then concentrate his archers to interrupt the Mongols' cutting fronts one by one.
But Guo Ning's arrangement has Guo Ning's intention to realize it. Wang Shixian could only try his best to mobilize his troops and keep the formation intact.
It's hard.
As the Mongols continued to advance deeper and deeper, Wang Shixian's position gradually became the front line. A Mongolian cavalry noticed his figure dressed as a general and flew an arrow from a long distance.
Wang Shixian felt a dark shadow pass before his eyes. He was suddenly startled. His cheeks felt warm, and then his neck felt hot. He touched it, cursed, and then shouted: "There are at least a thousand Mongolians... maybe two thousand cavalry rushing into the battle! How long do we have to wait? Where are Qiu Huiluo's people?"
An officer pointed into the military formation and shouted: "Coming! Coming!"
While they were talking, the Mongolian army had already broken out four or five passages through Ding Haijun's queue. If you look down from a high altitude, each passage is like a thick blood line, and the blood line runs through the Dinghai navy's front formation and extends to the middle of the military formation.
Most of the vehicles accompanying Ding Haijun heading north are concentrated here.
This kind of vehicle is the best basis for setting up a defense line when the infantry is arrayed in field battles. If the car formation is placed on the outside, the Mongols will not be able to break in easily anyway. They could only harass the outside world again and again, and they did not hesitate to spend ten days and a half to wait for Ding Haijun's vehicle formation to have an omission.
This is common sense in the art of war. Why doesn’t the navy do it?
The Mongols, who were trapped in fierce fighting, had no time to think about this issue. They just felt that the line of defense formed by the chain of carts suddenly hindered the running of their own cavalry, and they were furious.
Some cavalrymen were so jealous that they rushed into the gap between the carts. As a result, the men and their horses were blocked by the iron chains between the carts and fell to the ground. Some cavalrymen jumped off their horses and tried to tear off the chains, move the carts, and clear the passage, but how could this be accomplished in a moment on the battlefield? What's more, on the roof of the big car, there are Ding navy officers shooting arrows and killing people!
Some cavalrymen immediately moved their horses to both sides, intending to continue cutting and intersecting along the edge of the car formation. But the scale of the car array is really quite large, and the front is very wide. The Mongolians who were exploring both sides did not run very far, and the Mongolian cavalry behind them kept moving forward, and in an instant they were squeezed together with the cavalry in front.
When the Mongolian cavalry formed a formation to fight, the formation was always wide and unusually wide. This was the so-called "formation like a sea". The formation is wide, so it is conducive to maneuvering and changing, and gathering, dispersing, dividing and reuniting can surprise the enemy. This is a habit engraved in the bones of the Mongols. They are like this in any battle, and they will instinctively avoid situations that are too concentrated.
But at this time, because Ding Haijun's front line was penetrated, a large number of infantry were left behind by the Mongols, and the Chinese army was unable to break through for a while. There were thousands of cavalry, and perhaps more Mongolian cavalry were suddenly blocked while fighting in the battle, and they gathered densely in one place.
A large number of cavalry were crowded together into a thick layer. Many of the horses couldn't even circle. Some knights with particularly outstanding skills simply walked on the backs of war horses, and then tried to jump on top of the cart to fight.
The Mongols were indeed extremely fierce. One person took the lead, and ten or hundreds of others immediately followed. In the blink of an eye, the Mongolian knights gathered closer together along the car formation. They used the densely thrown arrows as cover, holding their swords and guns high, like a black ant colony trying to get over the car formation.
Wang Shixian couldn't stay on the roof of the big car any longer and rolled down in embarrassment.
"Throw it! Throw it quickly!"
Behind the car formation, Qiu Huiluo stood, and behind him was a row of soldiers. They were all tall and round-waisted, holding something the size of a wine jar in their hands, which looked to be made of iron and very heavy.
This is iron artillery.
Generally speaking, this kind of weapon is not easy to make or preserve, and it is only used to defend the city. Throwing three or five at a time can make a sound and intimidate the enemy. At that time, Guo Zhongyuan used an iron artillery to kill He Shilie Hu Shahu in Zhongdu City. He was so lucky that he exploded.
At this moment, what the navy needs is an explosion.
Three or five iron artillery cannons can only scare people, but what about thirty or fifty?
Or, at this moment, a hundred iron artillery cannons were thrown out at the same time, and the targets were the Mongolians who had lost the speed of their horses and gathered in front of the car formation?
The soldiers lit the firing line at the top of the iron cannon. As the firelight shone, they threw the iron artillery forcefully.
The object weighing more than ten or twenty kilograms could not be thrown very far. It barely crossed the top of the cart and fell immediately.
The Mongolians looked up and saw a hundred iron artillery pieces falling. They just regarded them as stones to hit people and were not particularly panicked.
The brave Mongolian warriors had never seen any danger. In an instant, many people even thought with disdain, what if they were hit by stones? These stones didn't fall from a very high place, so they didn't necessarily have much force. As long as they didn't hit our heads, they wouldn't necessarily kill us!
The stone fell to the ground and the thin line of fire continued to burn. Because there is a small amount of gunpowder powder wrapped in the fire wire, it emits smoke and makes a soft "hissing" sound when burning.
Except for a few unlucky ones who were hit squarely, most Mongolians ignored it at all. The most daring Mongolian warrior in the front row was leaping from his horse, rushing towards the top of the cart like a flying man.
Then there was a loud bang.
An iron cannon exploded, and flames shone within a few feet. Then the second, the third, the fourth, until the hundredth. Fire, smoke, loud noises, and fragments of iron artillery flew into the sky. The huge impact of the explosion sent hundreds of Mongolian cavalry flying.
