The sharpest thing about the Chu army is the witch weapon, and if there is no witch weapon, the Qin army may not lose. The strategists of the National Captain's Mansion have always had this kind of judgment, and according to this line of thinking, the strategists came up with a tactic that was theoretically feasible, but I didn't know whether it was feasible in practice: retreating and fighting a decisive battle. The most important part of the retreat decisive battle is to induce the Chu army to cross the witchcraft and engage the Qin army, once the witchcraft is behind the Chu army, the witchcraft will be 'gone'.

In the decisive battle of retreat, how the Qin army's military formation was arranged, how to advance, how to retreat, and the National Captain's Mansion were rehearsed many times. All the guns cast by Bai Di's craftsmen were used for this kind of exercise, and in the end they came up with a scheme that was not entirely reliable but could be tried.

The Chu army is infantry, cavalry, and artillery, and the three arms are one. The impact of the infantry spears, the rear flank attacks of the cavalry, the concentrated bombardment of the artillery soldiers, and the breaking of the formation are diverse, so no one can guarantee that the retreat decisive battle will be effective, and the National Governor's Office only repeatedly explained that in the face of the Chu army, if the retreat decisive battle is not adopted, the field battle against the Qin army will be defeated.

In addition, another way is to imitate the Chu army's Yispear phalanx. After many observations of the battle and the confession of the captured General Zhao Qi, the Guowei Mansion knew very well that the Yimao phalanx was not afraid of attacks from the flank. If the Qin army also used this kind of phalanx, it was not necessary to keep the front intact, and it would naturally minimize the damage of the witch weapon.

Unfortunately, the latter option is completely impossible. It was not that Sun Wu trained a model division like he did when he trained Wu Wang and Concubine Wu, and what was needed for the national war was a military system that could be effectively implemented throughout the country. And the military system lies not only in the military system itself, but also in the social organization and, most fundamentally, the political system.

The reason why the nobles of the Chu State emphasized that only nobles could become officers of the Chu army was because the result of the civilian military system would be the collapse of aristocratic politics, so the size of the army must be strictly limited; The state of Qin is no longer a simple aristocratic state, it has been transformed into a standard bureaucratic state embellished with the king of Qin.

The army of a bureaucratic state can only be cast, not grown. Casting can be smashed and dissolved at any time, today it is a mighty army, tomorrow it is a submissive people. The growing army cannot be disbanded, and even if the visible part of the surface is eradicated, there will still be the invisible part of the underground. With the warm breeze and the spring rain, the army will grow like weeds again, becoming a threat to the imperial court.

Specifically, if the Qin army also uses the Yispear phalanx, the beheading and knighthood will be the first to be abolished. The Qin army fought in scattered formations to facilitate decapitation; The Chu army gathered to fight, which was conducive to breaking the formation, and the tactical concepts of the two sides were completely different. In addition, the spear formation is a column, not a horizontal formation, and in order to practice the column, the soldiers must also be of the same clan and the same clan, and continue to train during the slack time.

The Qin State had strict control over military armor, and each county had an arsenal. Allowing Qianshou to train while he was at home and farming was tantamount to allowing Qianshou to hold a weapon privately. The head of the Qians holds the armor privately, will they still be submissive to the officials? What's even more deadly is that they are of the same clan and Lu, even brothers like Heifu and Jing can't be in the same camp, so when they are Qin's pawns, what will the two of them say in their letters, 'Heifu and Jing said goodbye the day before yesterday, and they will meet again today'.

It is extremely important that the purpose of the different battalions of the brothers is not to transfer the army organization to the county, and to be together in wartime and not in peacetime. It is inconvenient for the soldiers to contact each other when they are not together, and even if they do, they will not be able to meet without a talisman. And if you are of the same race, there is no such difficulty. If you are deceived during the day, drink and get half drunk at night, shout at the top of your throat and shout 'kill Tokyo and take the bird position', tomorrow it is really possible to 'kill Tokyo and take the bird position', and this is the reason why more than three people in the Han Dynasty are not allowed to drink for no reason.

It is easy to say that the abolition of beheading and knighthood is easy to say, and it is easy to say that it is easy to say that the private soldiers of Qiantou are allowed to be the same, and it is absolutely impossible for the soldiers to be of the same clan and the same Lu. Once implemented, there is no way to change it, and even if the Qin State destroys the Six Kingdoms, the world will be in chaos. The key to the formation of the combat power of the Yiqi phalanx is precisely the same race and the same Lu, the front and back are all father and son, all are of the same clan, all are the same party and the same township, so that the terrible cohesion can be generated, and some people will be willing to rush to the front to open the way, and some people will be willing to sacrifice themselves.

The Qin state could not and could not reproduce the Yispear phalanx, just as the similar spear phalanx could not be replicated by the Germans, the Irish, and the Scots more than a thousand years later. Even after the Swiss who revived the spear phalanx turned into mercenaries and lost their original simplicity and unity, the phalanx quickly fell into decay and lost its original combat effectiveness.

The retreat decisive battle can be said to be the only way for the Qin army to deal with the Chu army, and Li Xin took a chance to survive and take a chance, and indeed achieved the goal of eliminating artillery. This is mainly because the Chu army chased the Qin army for a year, and the generals did not allow the Qin people to flee again, seeing that they were retreating more than fifty steps away, they hurriedly crossed the artillery, once the artillery crossed, it was the Chu army itself that fired again, so all the artillery ceased fire.

The artillery of the Chu army was cut off by the Chu army itself, and if the cavalry on the right flank detoured from the right flank and intended to slam the back of the Qin army, they would find themselves having to cross the narrow riverside between the Qin army and the tributary - the Qin army crossed the tributary to advance towards the Chu army, and retreated to a place more than a hundred steps away from the tributary and was overtaken by the Chu army. The distance of more than 100 steps was obviously not enough for the cavalry of the Chu army to maneuver, and Fu Jing would rather the Qin army retreat to the north of the tributary than enter the cramped space left by the Qin people, and this space was shrinking.

The artillery was blocked by their own soldiers, and the cavalry could not make a detour because of the river, and it seemed that the only way to really break through the Qin army's military formation was to rely on the spearmen themselves. Or like the previous Yingshi who broke the right army of the Qin army, the soldiers quickly retreated, and the artillery stepped forward and bombarded fiercely. It's just that at this time, the Qin army is not as sluggish as just now, and they follow a principle, that is, to cling to and not let the Chu army pull any distance.

This is not because of the artillery, but because of the charging spear. No matter how short the distance between the Chu army's spear array is, there must be a certain distance, if there is no distance between the two sides, the Chu army will not be able to charge the spear. If you can't charge the spear, it's hard to break the formation.

Behind the Yingshi, Xiong Jing looked at the entangled and stalemate battle in front of him with an indescribable annoyance, and the cavalry of the Yingjing flag-raising signaled that they could not take a detour, and the Yingshi retreated twice and couldn't close the distance between each other, this battle was really overwhelming. He couldn't help but think of the Battle of Qingshui that year, and the Battle of Qingshui was also an ambush for the Qin army, and the left and right armies could not attack horizontally, and the battle was a stalemate for a long time.

"What should I do, and then retreat?" Xiong Jing roared, just now the Yingshi retreated, and the Qin army rushed up again, rushing to the spear halfway.

"The minister thought ......," Zhuang Wudi said urgently, but Deng Sui's voice was faster than him. The minister thought that the Qin people would be defeated, and the Zhao army had hooked the right side of its formation, and the formation would be broken. ”

The artillery can't open artillery, the cavalry can't make a detour, and the spear formation can't charge the spear, but the army formation on the left side is wider than the Qin army, and the Zhao army on the left flank is also detouring. As soon as Deng Sui's words fell, the soldier who was standing on a high place and looking at him said: "Your lord, the Qin people have destroyed the bridge!" ”

"Destroying the bridge?" Xiong Jing hurriedly raised Lu Lijing to look, but unfortunately he could only see the military flags of Zhao and Qin's armies from his position, and he couldn't see the bridge on the water. Where he couldn't see, thousands of Qin soldiers on the north bank of the tributary were pulling the boats and wooden beams that supported the bridge with thick hemp ropes, and the westernmost bridge was destroyed for a while.

The bridge should not be completely destroyed, as long as a section is destroyed, the Qin army formation on the south bank can bend and retreat like the left army, seal the gap between the army formation and the tributaries, and protect the bridge that has not been destroyed behind them. This is actually the advantage of the backwater array, which can cover its flanks and not be hooked by the Zhao army that exceeds the width of its own array, nor by the cavalry of the Chu army.

Xiong Jing, who heard that Zhao Jun had failed in a roundabout way, finally became angry, and he no longer asked Zhuang Wudi, Deng Sui and others what good strategies they had, but directly summoned Shen Qing, the commander of the artillery battalion, and quickly asked after discussion: "Can it be shot?" ”

"If you withdraw from the array, you can attack, and then ......" The Yingshi formation is about three miles wide and fifteen people deep. The previous two retreats had failed, and the military formation had sunk into the depths, almost disconnected from the entire front, barely with four or five men next to each other. If it retreats again, the Yingshi division will have to withdraw from the entire front, and the front line will also be broken.

"Hurry up!" Xiong Jing didn't want to wait any longer.

"Respectfully obeyed." Shen Qing drank loudly and was about to run out. Xiong Jing added: "With a shotgun." ”

"Shotguns may injure comrades." Shen Qing said worriedly. This time, the position of the artillery column was no longer the rear of the Ying Division, but the side of the Ying Division, that is, the place where the Ying Division met with the left and right divisions and brigades. This angle is a bit like a side attack on a bastion, with the guns on the left firing at the upper right corner and the guns on the right firing at the upper left corner.

The width of the Yingshi formation is about three miles (1200m), and the depth of the military formation is fifteen rows (15m), and theoretically calculated, as long as the angle of fire is greater than 1.11 degrees and less than 90 degrees, it will not hurt its own people. It's different if you use shotguns, which will hit each other as soon as they are discharged, and the muzzle is 90 degrees to the right and 90 degrees.

"Then use solid bullets." Xiong Jing was helpless, and he was also excited for a while and blurted out that he would use a shotgun.

"Order, Master Yingshi took two steps back." The artillery was behind the Yingshi formation, and the horses quickly dragged the artillery to the left and right sides of the Yingshi. Seeing Shen Qing unfurl the flag, Xiong Jing immediately ordered Yingshi to retreat.

It takes time for the military order to be delivered, and Xiong Jing has been keeping an eye on the Yingshi who are in a stalemate with the Qin people since the order was given, hoping that they can retreat as soon as possible. Perhaps because he was too focused, he didn't even hear the urgent report from Wangshou.

Zhuang Wudi hurriedly said on one side: "King Qiyu ......" Seeing that he was staring and not answering, he shouted in a hoarse voice: "King Qiyu!" ”

"What?" Xiong Jing finally heard his voice. Zhuang Wudi did not answer, his stiff body raised his right hand with great difficulty, pointing to the left side of the Chu army.

"That's ......" Xiong Jing instantly gasped, he saw the cavalry of the Qin army, overwhelming the cavalry.

The 40,000 cavalry under Wang Jian and the original 200,000 elite soldiers were transferred back to Li Xin's command, which was Li Xin's last reliance. The reason why Li Xin dared to fight the Chu army here and dare not be afraid of the Chu army to set up an ambush was precisely because he had such a cavalry in his hands that was twice the number of the Chu army.

The cavalry of the Chu army is good at hooking, and the cavalry of the Qin army can also hook attack. At this time, 40,000 cavalry were crossing the water from the dark bridge erected in advance on the tributary, preparing to hook the belly and back of the Chu army, and the cavalry of the Chu army, which had been on the right flank since the ambush, could not stop it.