Since the division of the North and the South, each has developed its own war system in accordance with the actual environment, forming a pattern of ships in the south and horses in the north.
It’s just that warships are not the only war equipment that the southerners rely on. Especially since the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there have been many talented people leading the Northern Expedition. However, the north does not have as dense and smooth waterways as the south to use, so chariots have a certain carrying capacity.
Tools that possess both ability and mobility as well as protection gained attention again.
Speaking of the exquisite use of chariots, the most amazing battle example is naturally the Queyue Formation when Emperor Wu of the Song Dynasty Liu Yu defeated the elite cavalry army of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Queyue Formation is a kind of battle formation, and it is certainly difficult to achieve a replica.
Due to the harsh restrictions, apart from Liu Yu's own record, it is difficult to find similar battle examples. However, the tactical idea of using a car to defeat a cavalry is very worthy of reference.
Although the Western Wei Dynasty also had a very impressive cavalry establishment, especially after Li Tai defeated the Turks, he greatly improved his control over Monan and Longyou, which caused the Western Wei Dynasty's cavalry strength to surge even more in the past two years.
However, this time the Wei army came from afar to attack, and the most important task was to attack the city and expand the territory. The demand for field operations was not too great. In addition, the route itself was very rugged and mountainous, which further limited the cavalry power.
Due to limitations in performance and logistical supplies, the cavalry force carried was not the main force in combat.
Especially in the current south of Wusu City, the Western Wei Dynasty could only mobilize more than 10,000 cavalry troops to fight, and its scale was far inferior to that of the Northern Qi Dynasty.
Therefore, in this decisive battle, the biggest problem facing the Western Wei Dynasty was how to offset the mobility of the powerful cavalry of the Northern Qi Dynasty and the ability to control the battlefield established thereby. If this cannot be effectively controlled, then this
The Western Wei Dynasty had already lost more than half of a war before it even started.
One of the reasons why Li Tai agreed to Gao Yang to launch a decisive battle at the mouth of the Tongdan River was that the natural waterways of the Tongdan River and the Zhuozhang River created obstacles for the cavalry to gallop on the battlefield. The Wei army relied on these two rivers, and at least they did not have to face them.
The embarrassing situation of being surrounded by enemy cavalry and trapped in the wilderness.
Of course, the river channel cannot be relied on for a long time, especially since there is already a severe drought this summer. The estuary where Tongdan water flows into Zhuozhang water is the most abundant, but the width of the river channel formed is only a dozen feet or so.
Such a width is indeed an obstacle for ordinary people, but for the powerful Northern Qi army, it is really not a destiny. As long as the battle officially starts, there will be various ways to cross the water.
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Therefore, chariots became a major choice for Li Tai to limit the enemy's cavalry in this battle. After he captured Jiangling, he captured a large number of craftsmen related to the Southern Dynasties, which greatly improved the Western Wei's chariot manufacturing capabilities.
Big improvement.
As early as the Hou Jing Rebellion in the old years, Li Tai used his chariots to fight the enemy when he went to the Heluo area with his army. Now that he has been supplemented by the technology and craftsmen of the Southern Dynasty, he has naturally become more professional.
When he entered the Qinshui Valley to fight before, he used chariots to temporarily form a camp, which was a small test. However, the battle under Yining City was not enough to display the full form of the chariot formation. Now he is launching a decisive battle with Northern Qi.
At this time, naturally there is no need to hide anything private anymore.
There were hundreds of chariots on the battlefield at this time, and they were not arranged in any fixed formation, but were parked in a haphazard manner on the battlefield. The wheels had been removed, and the specially-made carriages had a large capacity and were filled with excavated tanks.
The earth and rocks excavated by the trap are fixed with ground nails at the four corners. Although it is not as stable as a rock, it is difficult to shake easily.
The soldiers of the Wei army in the chariot formation formed a small battle formation between twenty and thirty people. On the outermost side were soldiers holding spears and axes, on the two wings were warriors with swords and shields, and in the innermost circle were bows and crossbows.
hand.
This formation refers to many characteristics of southern tactics. It has a certain restraint effect on the cavalry power on the battlefield. When used together with chariots, the effect is even more outstanding.
The elite cavalry of the Qi army charged in fiercely. Faced with the arrangement of traps and car barriers, there was no good way to deal with it for a while. In order to maintain the speed and intensity of the impact, they could only rush in in different directions.
In the car array.
The charging battle formation that was originally condensed into a torrent was suddenly divided into several tributaries by the car formation, and both the momentum and speed were greatly weakened. After losing these two points of blessing, the combat effectiveness of the cavalry brigade will also be sharply reduced.
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"The east thief shall die!"
The commander of the formation here was Wang Jie, who had been in Handong for several years and fought many battles with the southerners. He was also very familiar with the tactic of using foot to defeat cavalry. When the enemy cavalry galloped into the formation, he led his troops to hide.
Standing behind the chariot, he avoided the fierce impact of the enemy. When the enemy knight passed by, he jumped out from the side with a battle ax in his hand, shouted in his mouth, and slashed down with the broad-bladed battle ax.
Before he could stop his momentum and counterattack, his troops and horses were immediately torn apart!
The chariots placed haphazardly on the battlefield seem to be scattered and scattered, which makes people subconsciously despise them and think that they are not to be feared. They can be easily penetrated and broken through.
However, the existence of these chariots greatly restricted the routes and space for movement of the knights of the Qi army, and also caused them to lose the calm changes of clutching, gathering and dispersing. The formations were divided and messy, and the blessings brought by the mounts and formations
With nothing left, they could only rely on their respective combat qualities to engage in fierce battles with the enemy forces in the car formation.
However, they were the only ones who fell into chaos. The Wei army did not fall into chaos, and their respective formations were still intact.
The long weapons in front were like the claws of beasts, stabbing and injuring the enemy. The sword-and-shield warriors on both wings waved their shields to block the enemy's counterattacks, and at the same time slashed at the horse's belly, feet, and those who had fallen off their horses.
However, there are still enemy soldiers who are struggling. As for the crossbowmen at the rear, they are leaning on the chariot in the back, and the robes are firmly protecting them in front. They only need to control the bow and crossbow and keep shooting at the enemy.
Although Qi Lianmeng had been a soldier for half his life, he had little experience fighting against the Southerners. He was suddenly faced with such a battle formation by the enemy and had no chance to defeat the enemy for a while. After he entered the battle, he felt more and more the power of this battle formation that combined men and vehicles.
Difficult.
He deliberately wanted to destroy the wall of the carriage, but the enemy soldiers next to the carriage were attacking with axes from the front and back, making it difficult for him to stop beside the carriage for a long time. He could only jump on his horse and avoid the enemy's front to take a breather. However,
But you still need to be on guard against stray arrows flying everywhere.
"Don't stay in the thief formation, rush, rush out!"
After staying in the enemy formation for a moment, Qi Lianmeng shouted loudly that this battle formation is really not conducive to the use of cavalry power. Continuing to fight here will only cause greater casualties. He must rush into the wilderness as soon as possible to resume the battle.
Array.
Under Qi Lian's loud orders, and a group of Qi army soldiers who were trapped in the formation, they themselves felt that something was wrong and did not dare to fight in the formation anymore. They rushed towards the outside of the car formation.
However, the Western Wei Dynasty was not the Southern Dynasty that lacked horses and cavalry. At the rear of the battle formation, He Ruodun had already led a thousand fine cavalry to prepare for the battle. When the soldiers of the Qi army got rid of all kinds of obstacles and finally broke out of the car formation,
Before they could gather their troops, they were attacked head-on by the Wei cavalry outside the formation.
When Qi Lianmeng finally broke out of the enemy's formation, he saw that his own soldiers had been rushed by the enemy, leaving behind their helmets and armor. They were completely defeated. They completely lost the unstoppable majestic momentum that they had when they launched an attack here. He felt very upset for a while.
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"Stick closer to me and don't retreat! Quickly send an order to the troops behind to continue the attack. There are only a few thieves here, so we can still fight!"
Although the attack was greatly frustrated, Qi Lianmeng was still unwilling to admit defeat, and he also did not dare to do so because His Majesty the Emperor personally supervised the battle. He took the lead in the first battle and then attacked without authorization, but ended up with a huge defeat. If he retreated like this, His Majesty the Emperor would surely
He was so angry that he would never let him off lightly.
Therefore, even if there was still a glimmer of hope, Qi Lianmeng did not dare to give up. While shouting loudly, he ordered the soldiers to come closer to him, and at the same time, he urged his troops to reinforce the rear. At the same time, he also held a bow in his hand, and kept firing at the battlefield.
The generals of the Wei army chasing the Qi army.
"It turns out that the thieves are here. Surround them and capture and kill this beast!"
He Ruoden, who was leading his troops to charge, also noticed Qi Lianmeng shouting orders. His eyes lit up immediately, and he led hundreds of followers around him to gallop towards Qi Lianmeng.
Qilian Meng had outstanding arm strength and exquisite shooting skills. Although the soldiers were running around and the battle was unfavorable, he still tried his best to reverse the situation. He shot the bow from left to right. Every time an arrow was shot, one of the enemies would be knocked down, which also made the nearby Wei soldiers dare not
He was too close, so more than a hundred random soldiers gathered around him again. Seeing that an organization was about to be formed again, He Ruodun led hundreds of his followers to rush towards it.
Seeing this scene, Qi Lianmeng opened his bow and clasped the string again, shooting straight at He Ruodun who was leading the way, and at the same time roared: "Thieves come and die!"
The powerful arrow came in a flash, and He Ruoden was not spared. The arrow hit the shoulder socket where the armor was connected. His body trembled in pain and he almost fell off his horse, but he raised his hand after stabilizing his body.
He broke the arrow and threw it on the ground, laughing loudly and saying: "The thief has exhausted his strength and the arrow can hardly be worn! It is the right time to capture and kill the thief general!"
The surrounding Wei army officers who were frightened by Qilian Meng's exquisite archery skills and did not dare to approach him heard this and were immediately encouraged. They immediately spurred their horses to charge forward.
Qi Lian suddenly saw this scene. Although he shot several arrows in a hurry, it was still difficult to stop the surging enemy force. As the knights of the Wei army rushed forward, the formation that had just gathered was scattered again, and several soldiers around him
They were all picked to death by the enemy, and Qi Lian Mengbian was also surrounded by the enemy.
He abandoned his bow and held a knife in a dying struggle, barely resisting the fight for a moment. The war horse under his crotch was stabbed to death by a spear, and he fell to the ground with it. He saw several spear spears all coming towards him. When he was about to die, he held his head and nodded loudly.
He shouted: "I wish to surrender, I wish to surrender! Please spare my life, general!"
"Tie them up and send them to the central army! Continue to kill the enemy here!"
When He Ruodun rode his horse to this point, his shoulders and arms were stained red by the blood gushing from the arrow wounds, but after seeing the enemy general captured alive, he couldn't help but smile, and immediately gave instructions loudly.