Kuoduan's intention of sending infantry was indeed as Zhao Fan expected, which was to use the infantry to disrupt the Song army's formation, and then the cavalry would charge and take away 100,000 Song troops in one wave.
At this time, the Mongolian infantry was very fast, and they quickly launched an attack formation as they advanced.
The Song Army's heavy infantry soldiers were all wearing infantry armor weighing fifty or sixty kilograms, and iron helmets on their heads. They had collars to protect their necks and half of their faces. They were almost armed to the teeth.
These heavy infantrymen stepped forward in unison. Although their movements were slow, they maintained a dense formation and advanced like tanks.
The Mongolian infantry moved at full speed, with sword and shield soldiers rushing in front and spear soldiers rushing behind. More than ten thousand soldiers and horses ran wildly with ferocious faces.
At this time, Zhao Fan, who was riding in the middle of the Song Army, suddenly waved his hand, the flag of the middle army waved, and the war drums beat three times.
The advancing heavy infantry of the Song Army immediately stopped when they heard the sound of drums, stopping about 400 steps in advance of the military formation.
"Pick up the shield!" The officer in heavy armor roared loudly.
Then I saw the heavy infantry troops of the Song Army in the front row, all taking a forward bow, lifting the shield with one hand, using their arms and body to hold the shield, and holding a knife in the other hand to draw back so that they could stab at any time.
The Song army spearmen behind the shield bearers held guns in both hands and stared fixedly at the Mongolian infantry swarming across from them.
With loud "bang" sounds, the Jin soldiers who rushed at the front slammed their shields and bodies against the shield wall of the Song Army's heavy infantry with an overwhelming momentum.
The sword and shield players in the front row of the Song army held the shield with their bodies, like a rock, standing still under the crash of the waves. On the contrary, the attacking Mongolian army was bounced back because their equipment was small and light.
However, the fierce Mongolian infantry immediately used their shields to push back. At this moment, Song Jun Zhongbu resisted with a shield in one hand and stabbed out with a knife in the other.
At the same time, the spearmen in the back row also poked their spears through the gap and thrust the spear heads into the bodies of the Mongolian soldiers.
For a moment, blood splattered in front of the formation, and the Mongolian troops screamed repeatedly.
The long gunners of the Song Army used their shields to cover themselves, and kept thrusting out their spears, then pulling them back and stabbing again, and each thrust brought up clouds of blood mist.
In a moment, rows of corpses fell in front of the shield wall. Seeing this, the Mongolian infantry could only resist like the Song army, with swords and shields in front and spears in the back.
Kuo Duan had returned to the central army. He sat on his horse and looked out. He saw that after the heavy infantry of the Song army came out, the gap left by the heavy infantry was immediately filled by spearmen, leaving no chance for the cavalry to attack.
At this time, he saw the dispatched infantry. Facing the Song infantry, they had no advantage at all. The Song heavy infantry had swords and shields in front and spears in the back, constantly assassinating the Mongolian infantry. However, the Mongolian infantry was not equipped as well as the Song army. The army was obviously at a disadvantage against the assassin.
This surprised Kuo Duan. The infantry of the Southern Song Dynasty was really good. No wonder they could withstand the attacks of Liao, Jin and Xixia.
At this time, Kuo Duan saw that there was still no flaw in the Song Army's main formation, so he immediately raised his right hand and waved forward, "Instruct the right-wing cavalry to outflank the Song Army who came out of the formation."
Since there is no flaw in the main formation, I will first overwhelm your infantry and see if your main formation sends troops to rescue. I don’t believe that you will not reveal any flaw.
Kuo Duan asked the right-wing cavalry to outflank the Song army's heavy infantry. If the Song army sent troops to rescue, the main formation would inevitably loosen, so he asked the left-wing cavalry to attack.
If the Song Army does not send troops to rescue, then he will eat the heavy infantry of the Song Army that comes forward.
Kuo Duan gave an order, the horns of the Mongolian army sounded loudly, and the Mongolian cavalry on the right wing received the order. General Dotanabo immediately slapped the horse's butt with his sword, and the war horse made a long squawk and shot out like lightning.
The five thousand cavalry troops on the right flank of the Mongolian army could not hold back for a long time. He followed the general and galloped out of the formation, and thousands of cavalry followed him.
The five thousand cavalry troops roared out, and at full speed after entering the formation, the cavalrymen drew their bows and arrows, trying to avoid the front of the Song and Mongolian infantry, inserting themselves into the gap between the Song Army's main infantry formations from the side, and shooting from behind. Song army infantry.
At this time, facing the Mongolian cavalry galloping over, Zhao Fan did not panic in the Song army's formation. Instead, he looked happy. He immediately raised his right hand and shouted: "Step on the crossbow, God's arm bow!"
Kuo Duan sent out the cavalry without consulting anyone. Li Fen observed the battlefield, but suddenly his expression changed, "No! Your Majesty, please send the cavalry back!"
Kuoduan frowned and looked at Li Fen coldly, "Why?"
Li Fen said anxiously: "The Song army can only take about 400 steps forward with heavy steps. If the cavalry moves around and attacks, they will be shot by the main formation of the Song army's divine arm bows and crossbows."
Kuo Duan was shocked, "Can the Song Army's crossbow shoot three to four hundred steps?"
In order to deal with cavalry, the Song Dynasty not only created infantry armor, which had the strongest defensive power for soldiers in history, but the crossbow also reached its peak in the Song Dynasty.
There are many types of divine arm bows in the Song Dynasty. An ordinary one can shoot more than 240 steps and penetrate half an elm tree.
In the Northern Song Dynasty, Li Hong invented the crossbow, which was 3 feet 2 inches long, with a string length of 2 feet 5 inches, and arrow feathers several inches long. It could shoot three hundred and forty steps, and half an arrow penetrated elm wood.
Li Fen said anxiously: "The Jin Kingdom's crossbows can't shoot so far, but the Song Army's crossbows can!"
Kuoduan's heart trembled. When he was about to give the order, the Mongolian cavalry had already galloped around and fired a wave of arrows at the back of the Song army's infantry.
Almost at the same time, the crossbowmen in the Song Army's main formation heard the order and raised their step crossbows and divine arm bows. The spearmen in the front row all squatted down, allowing the crossbowmen to aim at the Mongolian cavalry galloping past the formation.
"Let go!" In the military formation, the general brandished his sword and roared.
Thousands of large crossbows fired at once, and countless crossbow arrows roared out, causing a shocking wave in the sky.
About 300 steps in front of the formation, the Mongolian cavalry who were galloping and shooting arrows fell off their horses one after another like leaves blown by the strong wind.
After the Song Army crossbowman finished shooting an arrow, he immediately stepped on the stirrup, pulled the string with all his might, loaded the crossbow with arrows, and raised the crossbow again in a uniform movement.
In the Mongolian army formation, Kuanduan looked over the heads of the infantrymen fighting in the middle. He saw the galloping Mongolian horse troops falling off their horses one after another, and when he heard the neighing of the horses, he was instantly frightened and quickly ordered, "Pull back the horse troops!"
When the military order was issued urgently, the Mongolian cavalry who had not yet entered the formation quickly pulled their reins, changed the direction of their gallop, turned in front of the Song army's flank formation, and then ran back to their right flank.
The Mongolian cavalry that had already rushed into the gap and encircled them took a few arrows and suffered most of the casualties before they rushed out and circled back to the right wing.
In this outflank, the Mongolian army lost at least six to seven hundred cavalry, which made Kuo Duan look livid.
At this time, in the Song Army formation, Zhao Fan smiled proudly, waved his hand, and ordered in a deep voice, "Advance the infantry again."
The main formation of the Song army immediately divided into two armies, outflanking them on the left and right, intending to eat up the infantry of the Mongolian army.
Seeing this, Kuo Duan couldn't help but became furious and gnashed his teeth. He didn't expect that Song Jun would dare to take the initiative to provoke.
If the two groups of infantry were to outflank the Mongolian infantry, which had no advantage, they would definitely be eaten by the Song army. Kuo Duan could only grit his teeth and order, "If the infantry comes forward again, let me see how many elite infantry you have!"
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