Thirty-seven generals and more than 300,000 soldiers were stationed on various roads in Hebei Province. The heavy troops deployed by Heshuo can only be compared with those in the northwest.
As the drums beat, the armies of Daming Prefecture began to form formations.
The first is the "Ping Rong Ten Thousand Complete Formation" created by Emperor Taizong. The entire Ping Rong Ten Thousand Formation employs 110,000 to 20,000 soldiers and horses. However, there are not so many soldiers and horses in the entire Damingfu Road, so more than 10,000 soldiers and horses are used to form an approximate formation.
mean.
There is still a vacancy in the deputy general manager of the army and horses in Daming Prefecture, so the commander of the army and horses is responsible for the exercise.
The entire formation of Pingrong and Ten Thousand Soldiers is a formation in which infantry defeats cavalry. Ten thousand infantrymen spread out in formation, which is quite decent.
Zhang Yue could see that the soldiers and horses of Daming Prefecture had indeed practiced a lot in the past few years, and the entire Pingrong and Ten Thousand Formations were laid out roughly. It was just that the Pingrong and Ten Thousand Formations were matched with 10,000 infantry and at least 2,000 cavalry, but there were only
Less than two or three hundred horses.
Without the cooperation of cavalry, an entire formation of civilians and soldiers is nothing more than a dead formation. How can it fight?
Seeing Zhang Yue frowning, the generals on the left and right felt uneasy.
After arranging the formation of the entire army, the armies each performed the "eight formations of this dynasty", which respectively refer to the square formation, the circular formation, the female formation, the male formation, the rushing square formation, the furrow formation, the wheel formation, and the wild goose formation.
This Eighth Formation of the Chao Dynasty seems to be a daily routine on Damingfu Road.
This is the formation for facing the enemy in the field. The troops and horses are divided into the central army, the left and right troops, the left and right, and the front and rear. There are seven troops in total. There are ten people in each formation, all facing each other and supporting each other from behind. This eight-part dynasty
There are also many problems with the formation. First of all, in the original canon, it is equipped with cavalry that is at least one-fifth or two-fifths of the infantry. However, this formation almost becomes pure infantry.
Hebei is a land of plains. If there is a field battle with Khitan soldiers and horses, they must form this formation to meet the enemy.
How can we win like this?
Before the Chanyuan Alliance, the Song Army deployed cavalry to Hebei Road soldiers and horses. Now the cavalry has almost been abolished, and even the formations have shrunk. No wonder the Song Dynasty wanted to deploy a large number of ponds in Hebei and plant defensive forests as a line of defense.
Lu Huiqing vigorously advocated chariot warfare in the court, but chariot warfare was also a slap in the face.
Zhang Yue asked to the side: "How many horses are there on Damingfu Road?"
Lu Qianji reported: "Less than two thousand horses."
Zhang Yue said to Wen Yanbo: "If we meet the Liao cavalry in the wild, it will be difficult to defeat them. In this case, we can only defend the city."
Before Wen Yanbo finished speaking, all the generals on the side were almost ready to agree.
Zhang Yue thought to himself that in the past, the imperial court would rather use pastures to raise sheep than horses, so he knew that he had no confidence in a decisive battle with the Liao Kingdom.
Zhang Yue said to Xu Xi and Tong Guan, "I just watched the formation, did you remember it all?"
Xu Xi and Tong Guan both said so, and they were regarded as scorers.
Just now, the formation training was impeccable, which is also according to the general martial arts. Zhang Yue smiled and said: "It seems that the daily training of all armies is very solid."
After hearing this, all the generals and commanders below beamed with joy.
Zhang Yue thought to himself that these seemed to be tips for dealing with the inspection by the leader. It would be wrong to say that they were not prepared at all, but their efforts were only used to deal with the inspection.
After practicing the formation, Qianjia asked, "I wonder what Commander Xuan wants to see next, whether it's sumo wrestling or cavalry combat!"
Zhang Yue saw hundreds of sumo wrestlers waiting in the distance early in the morning. This sumo wrestling is not only entertaining, but also a first-class way to train troops.
Zhang Yue said: "Sumo wrestling cannot defeat the Liao cavalry."
"Then let's watch the cavalry battle!"
After hearing this, the young generals below were eager to try. Riding combat is the best way to become famous among Shangguan and gain recognition.
Zhang Yue couldn't help but think of the scene in Water Margin where the green-faced beast Yang Zhi and the vanguard Suo Chao competed in front of Liang Zhongshu on the Damingfu campus.
Zhang Yue is not Liang Zhongshu. He said: "I'm not here today to see the bravery of individuals, but to see the bows and crossbows!"
In front of the imperial court, there were several opinions on how the Song army should deal with the Khitan in the field. One was that Lu Huiqing used chariots to control cavalry, and the other was that Wang Anshi used cavalry to control cavalry. However, the horses were fostered in ordinary people's homes, which were the so-called households.
Zhang Yue also used horse riding to make horses, but his plan was to buy horses from the northwest, and Shen Kuo used bows to make horses.
The use of bows to control cavalry was a unanimous consensus in the imperial court. Bows and crossbows must be used in both chariot and cavalry battles and in city defense.
Zhang Yue looked at the Song army's drill just now. Although the infantry were equipped with knives, swords, spears, clubs, axes, etc., everyone was equipped with bows and crossbows.
Wen Yanbo affirmed: "Whether it is a field battle or a city defense, the bow and crossbow are the first priority. Using crossbows to control the enemy is a long-term strategy!"
The general on the side said: "Commander Xuan, there are thirty-six weapons, and the bow is the first. There are eighteen kinds of weapons, and the bow is the first."
Zhang Yue said: "Okay, I'm just about to take a look at the shooting skills of the armies on Damingfu Road!"
Several generals were about to take the order and leave, Zhang Yue said: "The shooting skills can be judged by their strength and accuracy. I will not watch a few people today. They will each bring their soldiers and horses. I want to see the whole army shoot. Each person must shoot at least
Five arrows or more.”
The generals were shocked when they heard this.
"There aren't that many archery targets in Xidi, nor that much effort!" a general asked.
Zhang Yue said: "The sun is still early, and I have time! What's more, I have prepared enough arrows."
Zhang Yue gave instructions on the assessment method: "In the first year of Xining, the Hebei Zhu Army's teaching method was issued. All bows are divided into three grades. Nine bows are the first, eight bows are the second, and seven bows are the third."
"Crossbows are divided into three grades, two stones and seven buckets are the first, two stones and four buckets are the second, and two stones and one bucket are the third."
"Then five arrows and three arrows on the stack are the first level, and five arrows all hitting the stack are the first level. There are five levels in total. Today I will watch the ranks of all the teams in the army add up! Those who excel will be rewarded!"
The daily drills of soldiers and horses in the Song Dynasty included archery and formations. Without the cooperation of cavalry, no matter how beautiful the battle formation drills were, it would be useless. In the Song Dynasty, only bows and crossbows could make the Liao Kingdom fearful. This was something Zhang Yue knew and all the generals knew.
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He then took out his bows and crossbows to assess the three armies. This was an assessment method that left everyone speechless.
Crossbowmen who can fire a hard bow and stack arrows are trained on daily basis with bows and arrows. For example, in the Song Dynasty, there was a crossbow manufacturing institute. In the Taiping period, each army also consumed 50 million arrows.
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That many arrowheads will last forever.
You can tell which general is really training and which one is lazy.
So each team of Daming Prefecture went to the field one by one to test their shooting skills, and the sound of bows and crossbows could be heard all the time.
After each shot, someone would come forward to count the targets.
Zhang Yue was chatting and laughing with the generals. Some generals on the field were quite confident, while others were absent-minded.
Zhang Yue smiled and said to everyone: "Do you know the difference between a Hou and a Hou?"
"The word "hou" in the ancient Chinese characters is like an arrow target, which is used to shoot at the marquis during the spring feast. During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the emperor and his ministers held a banquet in the spring, and then they would perform an archery ceremony. The marquis was the target, and the one who hit the marquis was shot.
He became an official, and later he became an official with the rank of marquis."
Everyone nodded.
"As for the character "hou", it was originally next to two human characters, but later it became a short vertical character next to the second character "hou". Hou is the person standing next to the character "hou", watching the arrow targets."
Zhang Yue's words indicate that using archery skills to win an official position is an ancient ritual of the Spring and Autumn Period, and it seeks to find theoretical correctness for his approach.
Zhang Yue said: "I am like this today. Those who hit the 'Hou' will get the Hou, and those who miss can only 'wait' for a 'wait'."
