Just as Zhou Jun guessed, Apodagan quickly sent an envoy to deliver a letter of war.
Shuofang's army accepted the letter of war and began to actively prepare for the final battle with the Turks.
On the day of the battle, Shuofang's army dispatched 14,000 soldiers and 6,000 auxiliary troops, divided into seven armies and deployed in a "∧-shaped oblique formation".
Sitting in formation and looking at the enemy, from left to right, Shuofang's seven armies are respectively Zuo Yuhou, Zhongjun, Front Xiang Army, Right Yuhou, Zuo Xiang Army, Back Xiang Army, and Right Xiang Army.
The combat order of each army, from front to back, is multi-purpose infantry (crossbowmen and swordsmen), archers, heavy infantry main formation, reserve heavy infantry and cavalry, with auxiliary troops at the end.
Zhou Jun, who was in the main formation of the Chinese army, moved his arms. He was not used to the heavy Mingguang armor on his body.
Zhou Jun glanced not far away and saw Wang Zhongsi sitting on the horse, having a pre-war military discussion with the generals.
Through some bad training some time ago, Zhou Jun also had a rough idea of the Tang army's combat system and troop formations.
If Shuofang's army is compared to a legion, then Wang Zhongsi will naturally be its commander.
Shuofang's army consisted of 14,000 soldiers, divided into one brigade and six regiments.
The headquarters where Wang Zhongsi is located is located in the Chinese Army, and the Chinese Army is the brigade headquarters in the army.
The other six armies are respectively the regimental headquarters.
The Tang Army consisted of three people forming a squad (combat group).
3 teams form a squadron (combat squad).
The 5 squadrons plus the brigade headquarters (captain, deputy captain, military judge, and two military policemen) total 50 people to form a brigade (platoon).
In the pre-battle meeting, Wang Zhongsi will convey the combat policy to the brigade commander and regiment commander.
The brigade commander and regimental commander will return to each department, hold another meeting, and hand down the combat deployment to the military judges of each brigade.
This combat system of the Tang Army originated from the Qin and Han Dynasties. After nearly a hundred years of development, it has gradually become a unique military system. Looking at the entire military history of mankind, it is the earliest case of the integration of legion functions.
Zhou Jun was lost in thought when someone beside him said: "Zhou Lingshi, the Protector of the State please come over."
Zhou Jun came to his senses, agreed, and walked towards Wang Zhongsi.
According to common sense, Zhou Jun, as a subordinate official, was not qualified to join the army in the war.
However, Fan Jinian, the supervisor of the army, was afraid of the cold and did not like war. After entering the Sahe Neishan camp, he entrusted all the duties of supervising the army to Zhou Jun.
All military meetings that the military supervisors needed to participate in were all done by Zhou Jun, and even the paperwork regarding the merits and demerits of Shuofang generals were written by Zhou Jun.
This move was originally against the rules, but strangely, none of the Supervisory Army's entourage and Shuofang's army had any doubts about this appointment. On the contrary, some people praised the Supervisory Army for making good use of talented people.
Zhou Jun walked up to Wang Zhongsi, sang a song first, and then looked to the left and right.
I saw Wang Zhongsi pointing at the map and explaining something to the lieutenants and Bie Zuo.
Seeing Zhou Jun, Wang Zhongsi waved to him to come over.
When Zhou Jun came to Wang Zhongsi's side, he saw that the map not only marked Shuofang's military strength, but also the Turkic military strength on the other side of the battlefield was densely marked with charcoal pens.
On the map, the Turkic military strength is spread out in a standard line, with the troops of the eleven tribes evenly dispersed on a battlefield several kilometers long.
Behind the long formation formed by these tribes, there is also a huge square formation, which must be the Chinese military formation of Apodagan.
At this time, a deputy general asked Wang Zhongsi: "Guardian, put the Yamen army formed by the Turkic prisoners in the first line. If the prisoners mutiny, turn around and collide with our army, it may not be conducive to the advance or retreat of the army."
Another lieutenant general echoed: "The Yamen army does not have a supervising team, for fear that some prisoners will have different intentions and it will be difficult to control them."
Wang Zhongsi shook his head and said: "No problem, let the front line and the captured Yamen army be within a stone's throw of each other."
The yamen army formed by the Turkic prisoners was placed in the first line, and there was no supervising team?
Hearing this, Zhou Jun suddenly understood Wang Zhongsi's intention.
According to the common practice of the Tang army's formation, most of the foreign mercenaries and captured beggar soldiers were placed at the top of both sides of the formation.
However, Wang Zhongsi's move may have been influenced by the conversation that day, and he had murderous intentions in his heart.
Zhou Jun secretly glanced at Wang Zhongsi, then quickly turned back and lowered his head in silence.
After discussing the battle arrangements with the generals, Wang Zhongsi saw that everyone had nothing else to do, so he asked: "Are there any other important matters? If nothing happens, everyone will return to camp, and..."
Before Wang Zhongsi could finish speaking, Zhou Jun suddenly remembered something and said, "Captain, can you detach a group of rangers to lie down on Mian Road in the northeast first?"
Wang Zhongsi felt strange when he heard Zhou Jun's words, and asked: "If the Turks retreat, they should follow the northwest path, why should they divide their troops to the northeast?"
Zhou Jun: "Although the Turkic leader, Apodagan, has a strategy, he is actually greedy for life and afraid of death. If he sees that the war is not going well, he may use his defeated troops as bait to flee."
Wang Zhongsi stroked his beard and felt suspicious. Zhou Jun's reason sounded a bit far-fetched.
But Zhou Jun himself knew very well that in the Battle of Sahe Neishan recorded in the history books, Apodagan was a coward. Not long after the war started, he saw that Shuofang's army was unstoppable, so he ordered a soldier to put on a commander's robe and take charge of the central army.
He himself used the defeated Turkic troops as bait, "escaping at night with his beloved concubine, breaking out of the encirclement by Liu Lei, going against the grain and disappearing in the northeast."
On the other side, although Wang Zhongsi found Zhou Jun's speculation a bit unbelievable, after getting along with him for so long, he also knew that Zhou Lang in front of him had a delicate mind. Since he said this clearly, it must not be without purpose.
Therefore, Wang Zhongsi, with the mentality of giving it a try, allocated 200 rangers, and ordered his son to ambush Li Guangbi in the northeast first.
After arranging all this, Wang Zhongsi saw that everyone present had nothing else to do, so he ordered the party to disperse.
The generals were ordered to return to their camps.
About an hour later, the sun rose into the sky, and it was noon.
The Turkic envoys sent the so-called "Khan's Heavenly Book", saying that the Khan's heavenly army wanted to bring chaos to the Tang Dynasty.
Wang Zhongsi had no intention of listening to his nagging, so he just drove away the envoy, ordered his men to beat the war drums, and ordered the army to march.
Zhou Jun rode on his horse and followed the Chinese army forward.
Looking around, I saw only banners and military formations. At a glance, the Tang army was like a black cloud pressing down on the land, covering the entire land.
Zhou Jun now only regretted that he didn't have a telescope in his hand, so he couldn't see the whole military formation.
Compared with such majestic military power, TV movies in previous lives look more like children's play.
The Tang army marched forward for several miles, and with a bang, the army stopped.
Zhou Jun looked around and saw a thick black line on the far horizon of the battlefield, which was slowly moving and enlarging. It must be the Turkic army.
Just as Zhou Jun finished thinking, there was another drum beat, and a group of Turkic prisoners in ragged clothes were driven to the front line by the Tang army like sheep.
After all the captured Yamen troops entered the formation, they saw the Turkic army in front of them and the Shuofang army behind them. In panic, some cowards dropped their weapons and fled in all directions. There were also murderers who decided to counterattack the Shuofang army.
Array.
Just listen to the sound of the crossbow strings exploding one after another.
A burst of crossbow bolts swept through the captive Yamen army like a storm.
No matter who fled, rebelled, or hesitated to stay, they were all killed on the spot.
When the other prisoners saw this, they could only scream and rush towards the Turkic army.
Perhaps stimulated by the tragic death of their tribesmen, the Turkic armies finally took action.
I saw that black line on the horizon, moving slowly at first, then accelerating, and then rushing towards the Tang army like an overwhelming force.
In Zhou Jun's opinion, the simultaneous charge of thousands of cavalry troops could no longer be simply described as shocking.
As he sat on the horse, he could feel the whole earth shaking slightly, and even the armor on his body made a slight knocking sound.
A sound of horse hooves sounded like thunder on dry land, from far to near, from low to high, vibrating in Zhou Jun's ears, getting louder and louder, and even his heartbeat accelerated a lot.
Facing the surging cavalry, Shuofang's army just stopped in place, watching helplessly as the Turkic cavalry approached. No one shouted, no one retreated, they were just standing like a solid stone.
After a moment, the Turkic cavalry got closer and closer. Zhou Jun, who was in the middle of the army, raised his neck and could even vaguely see the appearance of the enemy cavalry in the front row.
When the enemy entered 150 steps in front of the Tang army, they heard a rapid drum sound, and the crossbowmen in the front of the army began to shoot at the Turkic cavalry in batches.
When the enemy forward entered within 60 steps of the Tang army, a second burst of rapid drums sounded, and the archers in the army began to shoot.
Crossbow bolts and arrows densely covered the entire sky, even blocking the bright sun at noon.
When they fell, the screams of humans and the whine of horses could be heard and resounded throughout the sky.
In just a few breaths, nearly a thousand Turkic cavalrymen were lost. As far as the eye could see, they were all corpses.
Soon, the third burst of rapid drums sounded.
The archers began to retreat.
The crossbowman covered his shoulders and raised his sword.
The third line of heavy infantry formation also slowly moved forward, fighting side by side with the Modao formation to defend against the enemy.
When the Turkic cavalry collided with the formation, the sound of gold and silver swords clashing was harsh and harsh.
The sword of the Tang army flipped, like a giant blade splitting into the air. All men and horses were shattered, and few were lucky enough.
The Turkic cavalry's impact formation became fragmented in just an instant.
A very small number of cavalry were lucky enough to be able to break through the Modao formation and the main heavy infantry formation. What awaited them would be the second heavy infantry formation and the auxiliary spear formation.
Under repeated attacks, the Turkic cavalry were like snow melting in fire, leaving only broken limbs and remains on the ground, with no survivors left.
Then the fourth formation of urgent drums sounded, and the ringed cavalry (war cavalry) and heavy cavalry (trap cavalry) on both sides of the army heard the drums and charged.
The infantrymen of the Turkic army who were behind were as if they were encountering an anvil under the attack of the Tang cavalry. They were quickly defeated and defeated like a mountain.
Finally, the fifth burst of rapid drums sounded.
The Tang army slowly pressed forward, crushing all those who dared to block the way. Looking from the air towards the ground, I saw that wherever the Tang army passed, there was a bright red stain left by the massacre.