Gao Pragmatic, who was commanding cavalry for the first time, set a record for himself: he drew his sword and charged for the first time on the battlefield.
Although he has five hundred elite cavalrymen by his side, the sword in his hand that is said to be able to cut iron as hard as clay will probably not have a real chance of seeing blood, but as a literary commander, no matter what, this time He really galloped forward with his sword drawn.
Gao Pragmatic decided to charge at this moment, which was essentially a gamble. This was the first time in his ten-year military command career, which proved that Burihatu was actually his number one military commander so far. Enemy.
But what Gao Pragmatic didn't know was that Burihatu was actually extremely nervous at this moment. If Gao Pragmatic's chance of winning this bet is 70%, then in his own opinion, Burihatu's chance of winning is only 30%.
He dared to gamble his life even if he had a 30% chance of winning. This did not mean that Burihatu had strong characteristics as a gambler. In fact, he could no longer find a way to gain a greater chance of winning - at this moment, the overall strength of Ming Dynasty was too great. Strong, it is lucky to find a battle with a 30% chance of winning. If I don't take a gamble now, I'm afraid I won't even be qualified to go to the gambling table in the future.
Burihatu was nervous not only because his chances of winning were not big enough, but also because his arrangements were more complicated than those of the Ming army.
In fact, the more complex the tactics, the more powerful they are. On the contrary, the more complex the tactics, the easier it is to make mistakes. Han Xin dared to say that the more troops he had, the better. That was truly extraordinary confidence. It was a reflection of his god-like confidence in his command at all levels from macro to micro. It was definitely not something ordinary generals could have.
Many movies and TV dramas make Zhuge Liang's Eight Formations look like the Eight Diagrams Formation. They put a pile of rocks to prevent the enemy's mighty army from getting out. In fact, that is just a typical example of ignoramus. In fact, the military formation is not that mysterious at all. .
The origin of military formations in China is very early. In "Historical Records: Zhou Benji", it is written that King Wu defeated Zhou. In it, the King of Zhou said: "Today's matter is only six steps or seven steps, and it will stop at the end of the line. I encourage you! It doesn't take more than four steps." After five attacks, six attacks and seven attacks, we have stopped Qi Yan. Master, I encourage you! You are still like Huanhuan, like a tiger and a scab, like a jackal as close as a leopard. In the suburbs of Shang Dynasty, you don't want to conquer the country, so you can conquer the western land. Master, I encourage you! Mian, it will kill you."
This passage is actually talking about the "military formation" at that time, but the so-called military formation at that time... was really crude, because what King Wu meant was this:
You must stop and form a team every six or seven steps forward, and you must not run around in a disorderly manner; you must also have a rhythm every time you attack someone. If I say one slash, you cannot slash twice. Just follow my orders and chop them six or seven times, and that's pretty much it. Note, I will never allow you to continue chopping when I say stop, otherwise I will chop you off.
Look, this is the earliest military formation. If you put this level in modern society, I'm afraid they wouldn't be able to defeat a group of first-year high school students who have just gone through a week of military training. But this is really a military formation.
From then on, until the early Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, fighting was a simple three-way formation of left, center and right, with a total of three square formations, with almost no exceptions. The first person to break this rigid battle was Zheng Zhuanggong. He created a fish-li formation.
To put it simply, the Yuli Formation is an inverted formation, with the left and right formations in front and the center army at the back - all subsequent changes in formations were born from this. The advantage of the Yuli Formation is that the military formation has been discussed in depth since then. It is no longer a matter of drawing A all the way, but can only be fought in waves... But I won't go into details here to avoid going off topic.
Here is a brief introduction to the so-called "eight formations" in the eight formations diagram. The origin of the "Eight Formations", judging from the information available in later generations, most likely came from "Sun Bin's Art of War". This military book is very powerful. There are two articles mainly about formations, one is called "Eight Formations" and the other is called "Ten Formations".
However, the two articles "Eight Formations" and "Ten Formations" do not mean that Sun Bin came up with eighteen kinds of formations. The "eight" in "Eight Formations" here is not a quantifier and should be regarded as a noun; the "eight" in "Ten Formations" "Ten" is the quantifier. In this regard, "Tang Li Wen Dui" explained that "Eight Formations" actually means "eight bodies in one formation".
This "eight formations" formation originated from the Jingtian system in the Shang and Zhou dynasties. The "eight formations" actually follow the shape of the word "well" and place nine square formations in the space drawn two horizontally and two vertically. This is the eight formations. . As the saying goes, "A well is divided into four lanes, and eight houses are located in it. Its shape is a well, and its square shape is nine."
He also said: "There are nine formations, and if the center is zero, the general will hold it. There are four heads and eight tails, with the head at the point of contact. If the enemy rushes into it, save both ends."
So don't ask why the nine square formations are called the eight formations. That's because the middle square formation is where the coach is located. Under normal circumstances, it is mainly responsible for centering and dispatching, rather than directly charging out to fight.
Applying the terminology of later football formations, this square formation is roughly a "three-three-three". However, because it is a tic-tac-toe grid, there is a saying that "the four directions are positive and the four corners are odd". This means that with the square formation where the general is located as the center, his front, back, left, and right are "positive", and his left front, right front, left rear, and right rear are "odd".
Of course, Sun Bin's Chinese army is not really not used as a combat force. In fact, his arrangement is to "hold Qi" - in fact, it is to control the reserve team and control a force that can be used at the most critical moment and the most critical position at any time. Mobile forces.
Now talking about Zhuge Liang's Eight Formation Diagram, it is actually based on the Eight Formations of the Ninth Army, with the addition of twenty-four cavalry squads as mobile forces that are independent of the main body of the phalanx. These twenty-four cavalry squads are responsible for fighting guerrillas, robbing grain and fodder, attacking enemy camps, and patrolling all directions.
Why does Gao pragmatism know? Because he was a Ming historian in his previous life, he knew that the person who restored the Eight Formations was Mao Yuanyi of the Ming Dynasty. The Duke personally went to Yufujiang to study the stone formations, drew the formation diagrams, and included them in the "Wu Bei Zhi". As a result, the formation diagrams were handed down to the world. Gao Pragmatic had seen them in his previous life and understood the advantages of the eight formation diagrams.
Originally, Sun Bin's Eight Formation looked like a "solid square array", but from the perspective of the idea of standing formation, it was actually a circular array. That is, no matter which direction the enemy attacks from, it can respond to the enemy with a balanced force.
However, the shortcomings of this formation are the same as the circular formation. The defense power is very strong, but the attack power is about zero. Unless the opponent takes the initiative to attack, you can only advance slowly, otherwise the formation will be ruined.
The highlight of Zhuge Liang's creativity is that his core is the nine armies and eight formations, which have super strong defense, and then arranges 24 cavalry squads as mobile troops to harass the enemy. In this way, when the enemy can no longer stand the disturbance and completely offends them, they will naturally launch an attack and kick the iron plate.
As for whether Zhuge Liang is better than Sun Bin, I don't think so, because Sun Bin did not have such arrangements mainly because the cavalry could not fight independently in his time, so it is probably not that others have not thought of it, but that the objective conditions are indeed not met.
Of course, Zhuge Liang is still very powerful. At least with the Eight Formations, the Shu army can fight according to this method. Although there is no guarantee of victory, at least it will not be easy to lose. I didn't see Sima Yi holding an army of 150,000. No idea?
In fact, it wasn't that Sima couldn't fight, he just couldn't think of a way to break the turtle-hedgehog formation. In other words, it's not that we can't fight, but that if we fight, it will only lead to a stalemate. It has no strategic significance, so it's better not to fight.
However, Zhuge Liang's Eight Formation Diagram is very complicated to command, and the arms used are also very comprehensive, especially equipped with a large number of crossbowmen to enhance the "hedgehog" attribute. At the same time, except for the twenty-four cavalry squads that were ordered in advance and decided to act on their own, the rest of the troops had to rely on the command of the Chinese army.
Gao pragmatic commanded cavalry for the first time, and only cavalry. At this time, there were very few formations available. In the past, he was familiar with either all-arms formations or pure infantry formations. What he could rely on now were only some general principles used by cavalry at home and abroad in ancient and modern times, but lacked anything more specific. Therefore, in terms of temporary dispatch, he was far inferior to Buri. A professional like Hatu who has been playing cavalry for 20 to 30 years.
What should I do if I can’t compare with micro management? Power can work wonders. The distance has been shortened anyway. With the strength of the armor and strong soldiers, we can charge directly and defeat him ten times with one force!
Coincidentally, this move happened to be the source of Burihatu's nervousness. According to Burihatu's thinking, his two wings were quietly strengthened through wheel battles. By this time, it was clear that he would attack the Ming army's rear formation with both wings. So at this time, it is only right that the Ming army should urgently protect the rear line to prevent the main army from being attacked from both sides after the battle. How could Gao Pragmatism, who has always been cautious, ignore such an obvious crisis?
Could it be...that my backhand was seen through?
This is the name of a person and the shadow of a tree. Burihatu overestimated Gao's pragmatic direct tactical command ability, and instead made himself suspicious. In fact, Gao Pragmatic did not personally command the front-line troops in the past, but the current situation is completely normal. However, precisely because of this, Burihatu was forced to have a real fight with the main half-equipped cavalry of the Ming army that had already rushed over in order to ensure the final "back-up".
"Government? Governance!" The cronies around Burihatu saw that he was distracted and hurriedly woke him up.
Burihatu was woken up by him, and suddenly found that the Ming army's forward had entered the shooting range, and quickly shouted: "Shoot!" The cronies beside him waved their hands, and four knights not far away blew two short horns at the same time.
The Mongolian army's shooting did not require too much careful command. Whenever the Mongolian army asked themselves whether they could shoot within the range of the Ming army, they would quickly throw an arrow, and then hang up their bows and change their swords without waiting for other orders. The two sides were hedging, and they were not taking turns. Until the second arrow is fired, the Ming army will not have a second chance to fire.
But the strange thing is that the Ming army is now less than 200 steps away from the Mongolian army, and they can actually open fire in a hedging situation. However, their lances all remain silent for some reason.
At this time, the two sides were about to engage in battle, and Burihatu concentrated all his energy on the battle. He felt a slight shiver in his heart, knowing that the scene in front of him actually meant that the training level and fighting will of the Ming army had been further improved compared to a few years ago.
Sure enough, it was not until the two armies were only 120 steps apart that the Ming army heard the sound of a very fast golden gong, one heavy and two light. This was the military music used by the entire cavalry team to replace the sound of drums during the march, which meant that firearms were fired. .
Perhaps it was precisely because only a few people in front had a chance to fire when they charged into the formation that the Ming army shortened the firing distance to such a short distance to ensure the lethality of this salvo.
When the gunshots were banging, Burihatu was too lazy to care about how much damage he had suffered. Instead, he ordered the trumpeter to blow the horn louder, and the two cavalry finally fought together.
The scene in front of him was perhaps the bloodiest that Gao Pangshi had ever seen. The elite cavalry from both sides who were charging at the front were turned upside down at the same time in an extremely fast time. I don't know how many cavalrymen fell off their horses almost at the same time after just a moment of fighting, and were then submerged by the torrent from behind.
Neither riding skills nor equipment seem to have much effect in this head-on moment. But horses are psychic animals, and at this time they began to act purely on instinct. The entire battlefield seemed like two different torrents rushing together and began to gradually spread to both sides. As a result, the fighting fronts between the two sides quickly expanded from the center to the outer edges.
Soon, the situation that had just been confronting the torrent quickly "relaxed", because neither the Ming and Mongolian armies were able to defeat the enemy in an instant, and the battle began to turn into a close combat.
Burihatu subconsciously looked to his right. Blocked by the crowds of people, he vaguely saw smoke and dust, and couldn't help but feel happy. Then he originally wanted to see if the Ming army had been outflanked by his two wings of cavalry. Unfortunately, now that he was on the battlefield, his line of sight was blocked and he could not see.
At this moment, Gao Pragmatic couldn't care about anything else, because he himself couldn't see the situation on the periphery of the battlefield even under the close guard of five hundred cavalry. He could only judge from the few flags held high around him that Xu Long, Pogui and other troops on the left and right wings of his command were desperately trying to push forward the front of the Chinese army - presumably they really didn't dare to let Gao Jinglue I personally meet the enemy and would rather die than stand in front of him and stop him.
Gao Qingshi was a little thirsty, and for the first time in his life, he had the urge to kill the enemy himself. Unfortunately, the impact of both sides has now exhausted, and the Ming army keeps pushing into the middle. His own cavalry even spontaneously formed a dense formation. It seems that as long as the army has not collapsed, he wants to have someone appear in front of him. It's really not easy for the Mongols to come.
Seeing that he couldn't help with the situation in front of him, Gao pragmatic took the time to look back. At this time, the rear part of the army was out of touch with the main force, and was struggling with the Mongolian army together with the three columns supporting the past from the two wings.
However, there were some problems with the Mongolian army's movements. Gao Pragmatic found that they did not really want to defeat their own rear army, but were concentrating while fighting, as if they had other tasks.
Gao Pangshi felt a shiver in his heart: Could it be that they plan to leave only some of their people to fight in the rear, and concentrate the rest to use their horse speed to forcibly backstab our Chinese army?
Just when they were suspicious, the Mongolian army, which was already behind the main battlefield, actually gathered some of its troops and broke away from the battle. The flag bearer raised the battle flag high and waved it fiercely. Although the number of men and horses that could be gathered in the melee was only a thousand at most, they really shouted loudly and came from the rear regardless of everything!
Gao pragmatically looked around quickly. The guerrilla generals and flags were basically in front of or to the side of him. Currently, the rearmost organic force was only responsible for the five hundred cavalrymen who were responsible for their own defense.
"Gao Funiu!" Gao Pingshi shouted loudly: "Turn the entire army around and prepare for a sneak attack from the rear!"
"Master, just worry about it. There is no need to use a machete to kill a chicken. I can just take three hundred cavalry with me!" Gao Funiu, the commander of the cavalry, responded loudly. Not only was he not afraid, after he quickly turned his horse's head and immediately raised the flag to indicate which three Centuries were to be mobilized, he even said harsh words loudly: "Please wait a moment, young men, go and come back!"
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