With Zhao Yun's current status as a general, as a general from all directions, his subordinates normally command at least tens of thousands of troops and take charge of the defense of the entire state.

If it weren't for the sudden incident this time, if a small number of quick response troops had to act alone, Zhao Yun wouldn't have had such a chance to use his talents who only conquered 3,000 people.

It is precisely because the army is small, he does not have any famous general-level subordinates who are used to accumulate years. They are all patchwork young middle-level officers responsible for the specific command of the troops.

There were only three officers above the Sima level in the army, including Xiahou Lan, who supervised the Central Army's flag formation and served as the military judge, and two young commanders, Wei Yan, who temporarily supervised the left and right teeth gates with a poor talent.

After observing Cheng Pu's formation opposite, Zhao Yun greeted Wei Yan first and gave an order:

"After the war begins, you will first bring five hundred cavalry on the left and right wings, pretend to try to detour on both wings, and see if you can go around Cheng Pu's side and attack the central army directly.

But don't be impulsive. Cheng Pu is placing a crane wing formation, which is surrounded by the main formation left and right. Only two wings are slightly forward, and the crossbow can be retracted flexibly at any time. Most of the time, there is no chance, just keep a distance."

Zhao Yun stood high in the north of Changban, so his vision was very wide with high vision. He could clearly see the depth arrangement behind Cheng Pu's formation, and then he could arrange tactics in a targeted manner. Unlike the kind of combat that was completely flat, he could only see the enemy's front row.

The so-called crane wing formation, many people are influenced by series of games such as the Glorious Three Kingdoms, and they will think it is a "U"-shaped formation, which protrudes forward on both sides of the left and right ends, and then use the range advantage brought by the bulge to concentrate on the fire and break through the enemy troops rushing up.

But this actually confuses the crane wing array and the goose wing array. The goose wing array is slanted forward at both ends of the arc, and the slope is not so obvious, just slightly slanted, which is convenient for archery.

The real crane wing formation is more similar to a "T" or "Y" formation, but the vertical line of T is not that thin, but a thick and fat oval with dense spearmen defending the left and right directions. The center of the vertical line is the position of the general's flag formation, and the defense is very tight.

At the same time, in order to ensure the full use of long-range firepower, the long-range troops of the Crane Wing Formation were all arranged on those two "wings", and the central army left only melee soldiers behind. Because the central army was too far from the front line, the crossbowman could not shoot in the front row, which would only waste firepower.

Even if the attacking enemy is far away, bypassing the left and right wings in front, and directly attacking the vertical central flag formation with all its strength, the two wings can retract like cranes gathering their wings, turning the vertical ellipse into a fatter circle, strengthening the long-range firepower of the central army, and then turning it into a circular formation that is most conducive to the defense of all sides.

(PS: Those who have watched "Gundam ED" can imagine Lux's machine pet "Harrow". This is how the crane wing array turns into a round array. The round ball cuts off two wings and stretches forward to it. The crane wing array is retracted and embedded into the gap and turns into a round array.)

Cheng Pu's arrangement was to use his long-range advantages and reserved a hand for the situation of "blocking Zhao Yun at the entrance of Jingmen Valley".

If you cannot do it and are dragged to a completely open area, then after a long-range output, the two wings will retract the circular formation at the right time to defend the death. No matter how Zhao Yun uses the cavalry's advantage, he will have no way to get the circular formation.

Of course, Zhao Yun could see Cheng Pu's thoughts. Zhao Yun has led the cavalry to fight for ten years, and they are all high-quality battles. What enemy has never seen before?

So Zhao Yun’s idea is that since you want to keep a backup plan for the change of formation, you will be able to help you. Send Wei Yan to go around and not rush, so that you feel that the wings are dangerous. Before you can fight, take back both wings.

Zhang Ye didn't know the twists and turns in it, he only knew how to execute Zhao Yun's orders. Wei Yan was more thoughtful than Zhang Ye and loved to learn, so he reminded him:

"The rear general, if the enemy feels the threat from the two wings and retracts the crane wings, how can we fight? Even if the three thousand cavalry are armed, they are left outside by the long spears of the round formation of 30,000 infantry soldiers, it is impossible to break through.

The retraction of the crane wing will only lead to the enemy's crossbows being unable to exert its benefits, but it is becoming more and more good at exercising its spear. The weight of our army's rushing down, not to mention being pierced by the gun head, even if it is swept by the gun rod, it will break its tendons and bones. This huge force cannot be defended by iron armor."

Zhao Yun said calmly: "I had thought of it for a long time that if Cheng Pu retracted the crane wings and turned into a round formation, then he wouldn't fight. This Changshang is so wide that our entire army would just go around from the east.

I have seen the map. Fifteen miles behind Cheng Pu, it is Dangyang County. We will just meet with Huang Hansheng in the city. At that time, Cheng Pu should be anxious. He came to intercept me and wanted to surround some to attack the reinforcements, but he put the reinforcements into the city.

He hesitated from beginning to end. If he wanted to block me in Jingmen, he should discover it in advance, go north in advance, seize the narrow terrain and block the valley entrance. Otherwise, he would simply station troops not far outside the North Gate of Dangyang, waiting for me to arrive.

If he blocks me outside the city and sets up a village in the other three gates, I can't rush through for a while, no matter which gate I rush, his main force will quickly arrive at the battlefield, and then he can also use infantry to force me to fight in the field.

Now the distance is not far or near. I can use the circular formation to force me to bypass and not fight. I am afraid that the central army will not be able to withstand it in depth. The defeated Cheng Pu will be today!"

Wei Yan was so confident when he heard Zhao Yun say that, and thought of several responses, so he felt ashamed and didn't say anything more.

The main reason was that even Wei Yan was surprised because he knew that General Zhao was an extremely brave and courageous person, and he should not have the option of "escape and avoiding war" in his mind.

Wei Yan thought that Zhao Yun would resist and rush to the circle when encountering the round formation, so he was worried. Unexpectedly, Zhao Yun's huge reputation still maintained a modest attitude and was willing to let go of his pride!

Zhao Yun's army moved quickly, Zhao Yun was in the middle, and Xiahou Lan helped him restrain the military discipline and formation, suppressing the soldiers who were not yet on the turn to attack, while Wei Yan had already led 500 people to the sides.

...

"Zhao Yun is famous and has led the cavalry to win many battles for ten years, and has become famous for six years. When he and Guan Yu fought with Dong and picked up a vacancy at Lu Bu at the Luyuan Pass, he was so powerful that China was a burden. Is this a reputation also a burden to him? How will he fight this time?"

Cheng Pu on the opposite side was clearly holding eight times the number of infantry, but he was still nervous until the moment before the war began.

The shadow of a person's famous tree and the suppression of majestic style are sometimes so helpless.

Especially the 24,000 soldiers in Cheng Pu's army, in fact, there are still two or three thousand of them who are the backbone veterans who were left by Sun Jian when he attacked Dong seven years ago, and the rest are those who later went to Jiangdong to expand their army.

Among the Wu army, those old men are now at least sergeant, and they cannot be ordinary grassroots soldiers. This means that there are a large number of grassroots surviving military officers in Cheng Pu’s army, all of whom have seen the tragic battles of Lu Bu, Fan Chou and Hu Zhen in the Battle of the Yuan Pass, and also seen the glory of Zhao Yun finally repelling the remaining blood Lu Bu.

It can be said that all the officers were under a psychological shadow in their hearts, similar to the Chinese team carrying the historical record of "not winning against South Korea for 28 years".

When Wei Yan and Zhang Jie finally rushed out, Cheng Pu was not very nervous anymore, and he quickly responded:

Lu Meng, who was commanding the "wings" in the east of the crane wing formation, adjusted the warning direction of the crossbow team and was wary of Wei Yan. Song Qian, who was also commanding the wings in the west, was wary of being cautious.

Of course, Cheng Pu did not know the names of Wei Yan and Zhang Zhu, just as Zhao Yun did not know the existence of Lu Meng and Song Qian. After all, no one has opened the secret book of God's vision.

Even if the nameless generals hung the banner of surnames, the generals opposite did not know who these miscellaneous fish with Wei and Lu were, and who made them too young now.

After Wei Yan opened his way to the flank, he saw that Cheng Pu's formation still had not changed. He only made the crossbowmen on both wings change the direction of guarding the crossbow, but did not retract at all to protect both sides of the central army. Only spearmen were waiting for the battle on both sides of the central army.

Seeing this, Wei Yan thought to himself: "Cheng Pu looked down on me only five hundred people. He felt that he could block my charge without retracting the crossbowman just by relying on the dense array of spearmen in the central army.

And he was not afraid of my archers on his left wing. There were at least three thousand archers and one or two thousand melee soldiers there. As my five hundred cavalry approached, many of them would be shot and killed. The rest would not have enough combat power to break the formation when they were close."

When using cavalry to deal with enemies with long-range firepower, the most feared thing is the small group of cavalry tactics, which will give the opponent a chance to kill in batches.

However, when fighting with melee infantry, cavalry can harass small troops and not be afraid of adding fuel, because melee combat can leave as soon as possible, and the more crowded parties cannot concentrate on fire without range.

Wei Yan had too few people, and he soon realized that his wing against Lu Meng would probably be shot into a hornet's nest. With iron armor protection, war horses would also become a hornet's nest. Since this is the case, it would be better to rush to the army's spear formation intimidatingly, and if it could not be defeated in that place, run away.

After making up his mind, Wei Yan randomly carried out the task of "forcing the enemy to change the formation and lose mobility" given to him by Zhao Yun, and decisively led five hundred people to Cheng Pu's side and back without crossbow protection.

When Cheng Pu saw this scene, his eyes almost fell out: "Who is the one who is under the banner of Wei? Our army has four or five thousand people on each wing, and the central army has 15,000. He only has 500 people, and he dares to attack me 15,000? Even if my crossbow does not retract and I have no long-range suppression, he is still seeking death!"

"Be alert for the gun array!" Cheng Pu asked the command officer around him to move the order flag and beat the drum to help the battle. The oval gun array in the center immediately turned into a hedgehog-shaped shape.

Of course, Wei Yan was not really looking for death. Before launching the charge, he had already explained to the officers around him. This is also the benefit of the small army. If there are few people, you can flexibly change your tactics at any time, and it is very convenient to convey notifications.

His real command was to rush forward and sweep across the formation, and then a small number of cavalry who could archery could throw arrows and harass the enemy's morale, and the remaining soldiers could also get close to within twenty steps to throw a javelin.

Using a disposable javelin to weaken the enemy, this tactic was gradually developed when Ma Chao was in the northwest two years ago. Zhao Yun's troops could not be used at the beginning, and after two years of training, they also worked together, but they were not as skilled as Ma Chao's Xiliang cavalry.

However, the enemy Zhao Yun was going to fight was the southern princes, and the enemy also lacked long-spike cavalry, and the spears of the infantry were shorter. Therefore, Zhao Yun did not need to bring the super long spare cavalry that would break at any time. The number of disposable short javelins he brought was reduced, and only two were brought, saving weight and horsepower, and the overall combat efficiency was more cost-effective.

Wei Yan rushed to the rear of Cheng Pu's central army with a fierce momentum. Seeing that the two sides were approaching within fifty steps, there were one or two hundred soldiers in the 500 cavalry who had excellent martial arts skills and had a little knowledge of cavalry and shooting. The spearmen on the opposite side were shoulder to shoulder, and the shields were only in front rows. As long as they were shot to the back row, they could almost never aim, and blood flowers could be splashed.

The front row of spearmen with shields was not afraid of such arrows, but soon the front row of Wei Yan's army was approaching, and 600 javelins were thrown in two waves. Because of the huge inertia of the javelin and the kinetic energy attached to the horse's initial speed, many shields were easily knocked and even penetrated, and then a tent of javelin rain continued to pour into the weak links of the formation slightly torn.

Wei Yan seized an opportunity. After a gap was smashed at a certain position in Cheng Pu's spear formation, he personally turned his horse's head and pierced straight into the chaotic side incision of the spear formation. His sword flew and killed five or six Wu army spearmen.

All of this is without military orders, and it is a clear grasp of the fleeting fighter jets and leading by example.

The Iron Cavalry next to him did not wait for Wei Yan's general order at all. He just saw that Wei Duwei rushed to the first place himself, so they followed without hesitation. He even wanted to yell a few words, "The ambition to fall into battle, will die but not live."

"Adjust adjust! People on the left and right wings of the gap are blocked!" Cheng Pu saw dozens of people killed by melee in an instant, and nearly a hundred people were knocked over. The hole is in danger of being torn bigger and bigger, so he immediately urged the rear reserve team to step forward to block the leak.

Fortunately, Wei Yan's javelin was lost, and the total damage caused by the long-range attack stage just now was only more than 100 people, so it was impossible to tear a new gap with long-range firepower. So seeing the back-row reserve teams coming up densely, Wei Yan did not intend to continue to make a breakthrough head-on breakthrough.

Wei Yan just turned his horse's head to the left again and rushed to the left to the side of the enemy's rows of spearmen in front of the enemy's army. It was very difficult for the spearmen to turn around in a dense formation, and it was easy to poke his own people in chaos. Therefore, it was really hard to say that the enemy was torn open his mouth and rushed to both sides.

The huge impact inertia of the steel-armored cavalry, coupled with the original high north and low south terrain of Changbanpo, instantly led to Wei Yan wading a bloody road in front of the southern section of the east side of the Chengpu Formation.

A detail must be emphasized here. At that time, Wei Yan hit the gap between the Chengpu front from the east and west. After Chengpu blocked the entrance, Wei Yan could choose to turn left and rush to the south, or turn right and rush to the north.

But Wei Yan very decisively chose the entire army to turn left and rush south, without any regard for the results of the battle on the north side of the wound, because Wei Yan always had a judgment on the overall terrain of the battlefield.

From north to south is downhill, from south to north is uphill. On Changban slope, the cavalry must charge downhill! Otherwise, overcoming the gravity of the climbing hill will cause the cavalry to be much slower and greatly reduce the impact.

So, the long spears in front of Wu army who were unable to turn around and were still heading towards the east were like speed bumps on the downhill road of the expressway, being run over by large trucks.

ps: I can’t finish writing today anyway, so let’s just do it. Tomorrow, the seven thousand-word chapter will finish writing Changbanpo
Chapter completed!