The training went smoothly, but in just over half a month, the Shenwu Army had mastered line tactics, formations and firearms operations.
This may be because the Shenwu Army has rehearsed more complex formations countless times before, such as square formations, cone formations, etc.
Therefore, the formation of line tactics is a piece of cake for them.
These tactical formations are necessary because some unconventional problems will inevitably arise during wartime.
For example, if the enemy has a small group of rangers coming to harass them, if there are no corresponding tactics, there will inevitably be a waste of ammunition... With an order, all soldiers in the first two rows must shoot, so even if the target can be killed, the gain is not worth the loss.
Therefore, it is necessary to be able to command the orders and tactics of a platoon or even half a platoon of soldiers.
But there is another problem when half a row of soldiers fire ammunition: is it the left half row or the right half row, or is it an odd-numbered row or an even-numbered row?
Obviously, odd-numbered rows and even-numbered rows are more reasonable.
Because it reduces the density of projectiles extremely evenly without too many blind spots of firepower, and at the same time, when the odd-numbered rows are launched, the even-numbered rows can prepare or load, thus forming a continuity of firepower, which is very intimidating to a small number of rangers.
effect.
This is a feature of line tactics... It usually has a "half company" organization, and also has a half battalion or even half brigade organization.
This half company is actually a company organized into a team divided into two half companies, odd number and even number, to meet combat needs.
However, Shen Bing thought that the reason why the Shenwu Army was able to do so easily was because they were holding wooden muskets.
In more than half a month, Edmond has produced a thousand qualified matchlock guns... This speed is a bit slow. If 5,000 are produced in two months, 1,500 should be produced in more than half a month.
.
Edmond was a little worried about the lagging progress. He hurried to Shen Bing and explained:
"Dear General, the reason why we lag behind is because we are not familiar with it at the beginning and the elimination rate is high."
"Please rest assured that we will increase the number of workers and expand the production scale in the future, and we will definitely be able to complete 5,000 pieces within two months!"
Shen Bing nodded and didn't take it too seriously.
The Shenwu Army only has 3,000 people, and each person only needs 3,000 weapons.
The reason why Shen Bing requested 5,000 guns was because the cast matchlocks had a higher chamber explosion rate and shorter service life, and the other 2,000 guns were reserved for replacement.
Now that there are a thousand of them, it's time for the Shenwu Army to use real guns.
So Shen Bing divided the Shenwu Army into three teams, each with a thousand men.
After the thousands of people came up, they picked up real guns and practiced.
The soldiers of the Shenwu Army didn't think it was anything at first, because its shape and size were the same as a wooden gun, but it was much heavier than a wooden gun.
Then load according to the order, and then raise the gun...
Following the order, the Shenwu Army soldiers pulled the trigger. After a series of roars and smoke, bullet holes were punched out in a row of armored wooden stakes in front.
The Shenwu Army soldiers were stunned on the spot.
At that moment, they were all stunned by the recoil, noise and smoke produced by the unspectacular thing in their hands, so much so that Wang Ben shouted "reload" loudly but they turned a deaf ear.
This is the effect Shen Bing wants.
If these matchlock guns can scare the Shenwu Army like this, then they must also have a considerable shock effect on the enemy.
On the other side, Antiochus III and Akevus were organizing a coalition while inquiring about the news about Homusan.
Antiochus III was once worried that the Silk Army would withdraw from Central Asia.
Because he knew that most of the Si army was cavalry, and if they wanted to leave, Seleucid and even other countries would not be able to catch up with them.
But the information he heard showed that his worries were unnecessary.
"There is no sign of the Silk Kingdom's army evacuating, Your Majesty." The spy reported: "However, it seems that they have transferred more supplies and even reinforcements from the Silk Kingdom."
Upon hearing this, Antiochus III breathed a sigh of relief.
He is not worried about how much supplies the Silk Army has, nor is he worried about its reinforcements.
Because in Antiochus III's view, no matter how much supplies or reinforcements the Silk Army had, it was impossible to withstand the siege of the coalition forces of several countries.
So, Antiochus III said excitedly: "These stupid Silk people, they are going to be finished!"
Akevus was not so optimistic. He said to Antiochus III: "Your Majesty, the Silk Army is mainly cavalry. How could they not know that we are gathering troops?"
After a pause, Akefus continued: "If they know that we have gathered troops and formed an alliance, but they do not retreat, does it mean that they have the confidence and strength to defeat us?"
After the last failure, Akevus had every reason to believe that the Silk Army he faced was not the "barbarians" that Antiochus III called them.
Because the "barbarians" shouldn't be able to use tactics, they won't use tricks to trick them, let alone have firearms that are more advanced than them.
What's especially shameful is that they don't even know what the firearm is, but they are calling each other "barbarians".
In Akevs' view, perhaps it would be more appropriate for the Silk Kingdom to call them barbarians.
But Ando III didn't think so.
"You think too much, my general." Antiochus III said: "Don't you notice? Although the Silk Army has cavalry and firearms, they never dare to fight us face to face. What does this mean? This means
They have no infantry to fight us!"
Akevus admitted that Antiochus III was right in this regard, and that the Silk Army did have shortcomings in infantry.
"The reason we failed before was because we didn't have enough troops." Antiochus III continued: "You had already attacked Lan's city, and Homusan only had 10,000 people. If Homusan had more soldiers, for example,
Where are the 20,000 people? This battle is likely to change the story."
Akaeves made no objection.
Because this is indeed the case, he withdrew his troops because Huo Musang was besieged, otherwise Lan's city would have been captured.
"Now!" Antiochus III raised his head and said confidently: "We have enough troops. The city of Babylon has gathered a hundred thousand troops, and another fifty thousand are on the way. Tell me, Akef
Si, what else can stop us from taking back Huo Musang and trampling those Silk people under our feet?"
"Your Majesty." Akevus said: "If the Silk Kingdom is defeated so easily, then Ptolemy, Macedonia and Rome...will they think they have been deceived?"
"So we will make this battle look more difficult." Antiochus III replied: "We have to preserve our strength, Akevus, and let them experience the power of Chinese firearms first. If we can capture those firearms