Li dared to look at Bai Qi: "General, do you give an order?" ”

Bai Qi glanced at the battlefield: "Don't worry, hold on for a while." ”

Li Dang ordered the Qin army to raise their shields to protect the top of their heads, and the outermost ones used shields to protect their fronts, only the tip of the spear was exposed, so that the Qin army's military formation became a huge turtle shell, and the top of the head and all around it were covered with iron shields, and for every one person who was killed or wounded, the other person picked up the shield and made up for it.

But such a military formation can only be defended, and the killing effect is very poor.

He Huchen saw that the shield array of the Qin army was very tight, and it was useless for his own people to shoot arrows, so he ordered to blow the trumpet again, and when he heard the trumpet, those infantry threw their bows and arrows and surrounded them forward. Some of the soldiers untied their chain hammers from their waists and rushed forward, smashing the Qin army's shields.

This kind of chain hammer is made of iron, weighing more than ten catties, and the half-foot-long iron handle is connected to the chain, and the end of the chain is a hammer head, ten catties in weight, and it is full of iron lumps. It is also very effective when used to attack shield arrays.

As long as the ordinary wooden shield is hit by it a few times, it will become a broken piece of wood, even if it is an iron shield, even if it is smashed, the arm of the person holding the shield can not stand it, and the shield must be taken off, otherwise the person's arm will be broken.

For a time, the sound of gold and iron clashing on the battlefield was loud.

These chain hammer soldiers held a shield in one hand, blocking the spear stabbed by the Qin army, and smashed the shield with a hammer in the other, and the Qin army's shield array began to appear gaps, fortunately, at this time, the Ming army was afraid of hurting their own people, and no longer shot arrows, but the cavalry was behind the tiger, as long as the shield array was broken, they rushed in to divide the Qin army.

Bai Qi in the military formation understood that if he didn't make any surprise moves, his military formation would be broken. He nodded to Li Dang and said, "Give the order......

Li Dare nodded to the people around him, those people were already ready, drew his bow to the sky, and shot three arrows in succession.

He Huchen was stunned for a moment, and secretly thought, does the enemy still have reinforcements? He hurriedly looked around and saw that there was no movement outside, and there was no enemy army to help, so he was a little relieved.

But at this moment, the grass not far from the pit suddenly turned up, and someone came out of the ground, and the bow in his hand was aimed at the Ming soldiers who were attacking the Qin army's military array.

These people have been lying in ambush here since last night, and they have not only dug the pits, but also dug several trenches, which are only a foot wide and half a man deep, in which the archers of the Qin army sit and lie down to rest, and the ditches are supported by thick wooden planks, which are covered with earth and flowers to hide people's eyes and ears. When the cavalry and infantry of the Ming army rushed over, the Qin army inside did not move, and at this time they heard the signal of the arrow, and then they broke through the ground together.

They carried not crossbows, but bows, which could be fired continuously, more than several times faster than crossbows.

The Ming army was concentrating on attacking the shield array, where did they think that there would be an enemy surprise attack behind them, the infantry's shields were only protected in front of them, and they couldn't defend their backs, and the five hundred archers of the Qin army shot arrows together, like pouring rain.

Before many Ming soldiers could understand what was going on, they were shot in the back and killed on the ground. The cavalry also panicked, and many were shot off their horses. The Ming army's formation was in chaos, and the offensive was stopped.

At this time, Bai Qi ordered: The army formation is open and attack!

All the shields were folded in unison, the spears were drawn out, and the entire army moved forward like hedgehogs.

Due to being attacked from both sides, the Ming army was in chaos, and it could not organize an effective defense for a while, and was either shot down by the rain of arrows from behind, or assassinated by the Qin army in front, and the cavalry was also squeezed among their own people, and the conflict did not move.

The situation on the battlefield immediately reversed.

He Huchen saw everything, and he knew that his defeat was decided. If it weren't for this group of archers who suddenly came out to sneak attack, the Ming army would have broken through the army formation and won a complete victory. At present, all his men and horses are pressed up, and suddenly the enemy army is flanked in front and back, and there are only a few dozen personal guards left around him, which is not enough to destroy the enemy archers. He had no choice but to withdraw his troops and order the entire line to retreat. When the Ming cavalry heard the order, they fled to the rear on horseback. The horses' hooves trampled over the heads of their own men, trampling the infantry quite a bit.

The 500 archers of the Qin army naturally couldn't stop the more than 2,000 cavalry, and the task given to them by Bai Qi was not to block the back road and prevent the enemy from escaping, but to let them shoot as many enemy troops as possible after hearing the signal.

The Ming cavalry rushed to the edge of the trench, jumped over the heads of the Qin archers, led by He Huchen, and retreated.

However, those Ming infantry were not so lucky, they had already suffered eight or nine hundred casualties, and the remaining 1,000 or so people had no fighting spirit, scattered and fled, and the Qin soldiers began to chase and kill the fleeing enemy.

In this battle, more than 2,500 Ming troops were annihilated, including more than 1,000 cavalry, He Huchen took the remaining 2,000 cavalry and sporadic infantry, desperately escaped, and no longer dared to advance, and retreated to the station.

After the battle, Bai Qi was also taken aback, the Qin army suffered a total of 13,400 casualties, if he hadn't arranged an ambush in advance, then this battle would probably end in a fiasco.

Bai Qi ordered the Qin army to bury the dead, and then took the remaining troops back to Huayin with the wounded and the spoils of war.

Along the way, Bai Qi never smiled, his heart was very heavy, and this contest gave him a deeper understanding of the combat effectiveness of the Ming army. It seems that the Qin army's tactics are indeed outdated, and after returning to Huayin City, he must take a good look at the characteristics of the Ming army's tactics and improve his tactics, otherwise if he continues to fight, the Qin army will lose the battle.

When the king of Qin heard that Bai Qi had won another battle, he was very happy and personally went out of the city to greet him. But when he saw the number of people who came back, he was also taken aback.

This was the first frontal field battle between the Qin army and the Ming army, and the casualties were not small, and it seems that the combat effectiveness of the Ming army was also extraordinary.

After the king of Qin rewarded the three armies, he held another meeting, and the scouts had reported that the enemy army on the west road was about 10,000 horses, and it was only eighty miles away from Huayin City. At present, the strength of Huayin City can only fight 6,000, and it must not go out of the city to fight again, so it can only hold on.

But everyone understands that the Qin army has always been stronger in attack than in defense. Even if it's defensive, it's an offensive defence. This was determined by the military law of the Qin army. Qin law stipulates that military merit is rewarded with a head, and no matter how well you defend the city, you will not be able to grab a head. As a result, the morale of the military has been hit and their enthusiasm is not high.

But in the current situation, if you don't want to defend it, you have to defend it.

At this time, Li Yan has already begun to attend the meeting, from the king of Qin down, no one regards him as a child anymore, Zhang Yi also said that before meeting Sun Chuanting, Li Yan gave him a plan, and the king of Qin was even more impressed with Li Yan, although he did not seal his official position, he was afraid that it would be difficult to convince the public, so he could ask Li Yan to participate in the meeting after that.

After discussing for a while, King Qin saw that Li Yan didn't say a word, so he asked him, "Li Yan, why don't you speak?" ”

Only then did Li Yan speak: "King, it's not that I don't want to say it, I'm just thinking about a person." ”

King Qin smiled: "Who are you thinking about?" Li Yan said: "I'm thinking about Huangchao." King Qin also likes to read, and he has really watched it a lot these days, and he also knows Huang Chao: "What do you want him to do?" ”

Li Yan said: "In the early days of the anti-Tang Dynasty, Huangchao repeatedly obtained, but after reaching the middle stage, he suffered a great failure, and it was not until after crossing the south of the Yangtze River that it was smooth sailing, and there is a truth in this. ”

Zhang Yi was a little interested: "Let's hear it." ”

Li Yan said: "At that time, the Tang Dynasty was divided into Fanzhen, and the court had lost its control, so when Huangchao rebelled at the beginning, he defeated several prefectures and counties, and the counterattack encountered at this time was not strong. But later, the territory occupied by the rebel army was larger, and the court used these territories as bait to mobilize Fan Town, and the combat effectiveness of Fan Town was very strong, so the territory was gone, but the Yellow Nest without territory crossed the south of the Yangtze River, and actually turned over again. ”

Zhang Yi shook his head: "Mobile combat? There would be no rear, no stable supplies and no troops, and it would be very dangerous. ”

Li Yan said: "Whether the danger is dangerous or not depends on the situation." Mobile warfare is also advantageous, as the army is erratic and can attack any prefecture or county at will, leaving the enemy unguarded. Every time you conquer a county town, you can replenish military rations, property, weapons, and horses. When the enemy army comes to attack in a big way, he can walk away, leaving the enemy unbeatable, dragging their noses away. In this way, our army is attacking everywhere, and the enemy can only defend everywhere. ”