About five miles outside Chang'an City.

The arrows flew in mid-air, and finally landed in the formations of both sides, causing a scream. And on the front, the soldiers clutched their spears and kept stabbing at the enemy in front of them.

"Crossbow bolts ready! Triple hit, shoot! One of the commanders shouted, and at the same time as he ordered, the crossbowmen pulled the trigger, and in an instant, the bolts departed from the string and struck the enemy soldiers in front of them at great speed.

"Poof!" With a bang, the soldier barely reacted, and he fell directly to the ground.

The crossbow archer who was in charge of shooting did not react at all, but quickly retreated to the end of the line, reinstalling the crossbow bolts. The man behind the soldier, who was also a crossbow archer, followed the order, raised the crossbow arrow and aimed it at the enemy soldier, and after hearing the "shot", he pulled the trigger again, and then retreated to the end of the line.

This is the tactics that Li Yi has specially researched for crossbowmen, huh...... Well, it's actually plagiarism. The one who made the three-dan shooting famous all over the world was Oda Nobunaga during the Warring States period of Japan. During the Battle of Nagashino, with this method of warfare, Oda Nobunaga defeated the Takeda cavalry, which was powerful at the time.

But in fact, this method of warfare is too simple to really say who created it. For example, Mu Ying in the Ming Dynasty also used this method of warfare, and even the generals in the Tang and Song dynasties also used this method of warfare to use crossbow arrows. Even in Europe, there are similar three-stage tactics, and there are even so-called three-line tactics.

Of course, no matter what the name is or how to rotate positions, the core idea of this tactic is the same. That is to use tactics to reduce the interval between crossbow bolts or muskets, so as to form a more continuous long-range suppression.

With the huge lethality of the crossbow arrows at close range and the speed that ordinary people can hardly dodge, countless soldiers of the Taiping Army died tragically under the crossbow arrows. That efficiency is obviously much higher than that of spearmen, and it even seems that pikemen exist only to prevent a large number of enemies from easily approaching crossbowmen.

Of course, this is just an illusion, and the protagonists of the wars of this era are always the most common types of troops, such as spearmen. After all, the spearmen were the most numerous......

This is also something that makes Li Yi very helpless, although he asked the Ministry of Industry to continue to conduct research to reduce the manufacturing cost of crossbow arrows. But it is obviously difficult to increase the speed of manufacturing and the power of crossbow arrows while squeezing costs. It's like the vast majority of people in later generations want to have a job with fewer working hours and very high wages and benefits, and in the vast majority of cases, this is just a dream.

On the other hand, it is because it is impossible for crossbowmen to engage in frontal combat. It's like now, Li Yi has specially organized the crossbowmen into a unit, but this force is not only crossbowmen. For example, in the middle of a shi, the chief is responsible for giving orders, three crossbow archers take turns to shoot, and six soldiers with swords in one hand and a shield are on the side, which is a complete squad in the crossbow and arrow troops.

But even so, during the war, this will not fight head-on, but will hide behind the spearmen and shoot as a secondary shot. It was as if now, it was naturally impossible for the soldiers of the Taiping Army not to discover those crossbowmen, and there were even a few soldiers who broke into the formation of the spearmen of the Li army, trying to rush over and kill these crossbowmen.

It's just that these people were either killed by the Li soldiers on the side on the way, or they were killed by the sword and shield men who were responsible for protecting them next to the crossbowmen. And if a large number of enemies break through the formation, they will also immediately protect the crossbowmen from retreating.

One of the reasons for this is to protect the crossbowmen, and although the training of the crossbow archers is much easier than that of the archers, a very skilled crossbow archer and a recruit who have just finished training are still very ineffective. And the other purpose is naturally to protect the crossbow arrows, and even if they are all dead, as long as they can keep the crossbow arrows, it is enough.

After all, the rhubarb crossbow itself was the cutting-edge weapon of the Han Dynasty's ordnance, not to mention that the rhubarb crossbow in the Li army had undergone countless improvements.

"It is worthy of being known as the strongest army in the world......" On the city wall of Chang'an, looking at the development of the war below, Ma Chao's tone was full of emotion. At this time, he no longer had any dissatisfaction and impulses in his heart, and some were just awe of Li Yi and regret for his recklessness in the past.

This was the first time Ma Chao really confronted Li Jun, but this confrontation made him realize the huge gap between his proud army and Li Jun. Four fronts, three of which were completely suppressed by Li's army with the same number of troops. Even the southern front, which had twice as many troops, could not occupy any advantage at all.

Although Ma Chao did not dispatch the most elite Tiger Army and cavalry troops, Li Yi's side also did not send the Megatron Flying Cavalry Battalion and the trapping camp. As for the Musou Battalion and the Suzaku Battalion, they only exist in legends, and no one knows what these two troops are like at all.

"Your Majesty, do you need Mingjin?" Wang Yiyan on the side asked with some hesitation.

It's a pity that Zhang Ning suddenly changed her mind, and she didn't know or dare to persuade her, so she could only let things develop in a situation she didn't want to see.

"Don't do it for now, let's see." Ma Chao said after pondering for a while. If he retreated like this, he was really a little unwilling. And he also believes that in the face of an unfavorable situation, the wolf nature of his troops can already burst out with higher combat effectiveness.

Wolves, almost all the steppe tribes, as well as the Han people of the neighboring steppes, would know this terrifying creature very well. They act in packs, are good at ambushing and timing, and most importantly, they are not afraid of death, no matter how many casualties of their companions occur, as long as the wolf does not give the order, they will continue to attack their targets frantically until they or their opponents die.

Therefore, many grassland tribes or Han generals who are close to the grassland like to let their soldiers learn this wolf nature. Ma Chao, who grew up in Liangzhou and has a lot of Qiang habits, is the same. It's just that in terms of learning wolf nature, Ma Chao and even the dead Dong Zhuo and Gongsun Chan have the same method, that is, to rob places......

It is the so-called wolf greed, through this means to breed the greed of soldiers, so that they are desperate for more. Moreover, this method can easily increase the loyalty, morale, and even save money of the troops...... Because sometimes the property obtained by plundering a certain place can be left over after it has been paid as military salaries.

This is the reason why Han Qian thought that Li Jun was just a hypothetical appearance. Li Yi's dedication to the people's will, benevolence and love for the people are well known to the world. Under such circumstances, there will naturally be no connivance with the plundering of places by troops. In fact, from the information obtained by Ma Chao, this kind of thing did not happen to the troops under Li Yi's command, although occasionally some recruits would do this, but they were all executed on the spot.

In this way, the question arises, when these soldiers who only receive military salaries face life and death, will they have the courage to fight hard? Han Qian didn't believe it, and Ma Chao didn't believe it either. Although Li Yi's record is incomparably brilliant, in their opinion, this is just because Li Yi is too strong, and there are countless capable people under his command.

It's just a pity that they are still disappointed, as time goes by, Li Jun's advantage is only increasing, although the so-called wolf nature in the mouth of Ma Chao and Han Qian makes many Taiping soldiers become fearless of death, but they are still not Li Jun's opponents. Especially in the east and south, Huang Er seemed to be a little unable to hold on in the face of Lu Bu's onslaught, while the 100,000-strong army commanded by Huang San and Huang Si was directly and completely blocked by Zhao Yun, not to mention the advantage, and he couldn't even shake his formation.

And the reason for this is not only because the soldiers of the Li army have better equipment than the Taiping army, not only because they have received more training, but also because of the poor ability of the commanders, but also partly because the soldiers of the Li army are not afraid of death......

Speaking of which, Li Yi had also struggled with the problem of wolf nature before, because after not being allowed to harass the people, the morale and morale of the soldiers and even their loyalty would indeed have a big problem. It is a very common concept that poor people become soldiers in order to survive, and after becoming soldiers, they work hard to plunder, which is a very common concept, whether it is Lu Bu or Xun Yu. Otherwise, after the end of the ancient wars, why did they always have to make a list to reassure the people or specifically order that they were not allowed to disturb the people? And that's because it's a very common behavior.

Originally, Li Yi planned to learn from the future generations to get political brainwashing, but after a little try, he found that this method was really unrealistic, so he simply raised the military salary instead. But later Li Yi found that in fact, it is very simple to make the soldiers loyal to themselves and not afraid of death, that is, to make them feel that as long as they work hard, it is worth dying, and it is even more worth it if they are lucky not to die!

Among the troops under Li Yi's command, except for the four battalions, only those who were eliminated because they were too old or injured or sick, and few took the initiative to quit or escape. Is it because of the high military salary? Not! It's because Li Yi let these soldiers see a bright future.

Whether they die in battle or get a war exploit, the soldiers can get what they deserve, money, status, women. Even if they die in battle, soldiers don't have to worry about their families. And all the families of soldiers can get the benefits of local policies, such as tax cuts and so on.

Li Yi knows very well that the world is bustling, all for profit, as long as you give enough benefits, you can get loyalty, and you can also make people desperate. It's just that some people only see the appearance of the word Li, but Li Yi sees more.

Quite a while! In just half a day, a huge golden sound sounded on the city wall of Chang'an, which was an order to retreat.

"Mingjin, and at the same time let the people from the Ministry of Engineering prepare to assemble the building car." Seeing this, Li Yi ordered that he did not plan to take the opportunity to enter the city, because in the face of Chang'an City, this idea was no different from letting the soldiers go to death. In fact, when the enemy army tries to enter the city, it is indeed rare for the attacker to take the opportunity to enter the city, because this kind of thing is basically difficult to succeed, especially against a city with a moat.

Night.

"Get up, victory or defeat is a common thing in soldiers, not to mention that the opponent is still that Li Yi." Ma Chao looked at Huang Da and the others kneeling in front of him and said lightly.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"Ci Zeng, Wen Cai, you are responsible for the vigil today, let Bowen and them also rest." Ma Chao looked at Yin Feng and Bao Zhu and the others and said lightly.

"No!"

Then Ma Chao gave a few more instructions, and then took Wang Yi back to the palace to find Zhang Ning.

"Hehe, how does it feel?" Seeing Ma Chao and Wang Yi coming in, Zhang Ning asked with a chuckle, as if he didn't care about the defeat at all.

"The army of 250,000 has lost more than 40,000 people...... Ma Chao reported respectfully, but was interrupted by Zhang Ning without saying a word, "I feel for you." ”

"Feelings?" Ma Chao looked at Zhang Ning with some doubts, but still subconsciously replied, "The Li army is very strong, if it is a field battle, our army will definitely be defeated." ”

"Hehe, it's good to understand, in this way, the loss this time is worth it." Zhang Ning chuckled when he heard this.

"Could it be that the Queen Mother knew from the beginning that this battle would be lost? Then why did you agree to Erchen's proposal? When Wang Yiyan heard this, he looked at Zhang Ning with an incredible look and asked, and Ma Chao on the side was also surprised.

"If you don't, how can you be determined to defend the city?" Zhang Ning smiled when he heard this, "I know, except for you, many people feel that with the strength of our army, even if they directly fight Li Zikang, they can win." If I keep thinking like this, then even if I force it, sooner or later there will be problems. ”

"But ......" Ma Chao and Wang Yi looked at Zhang Ning in shock, completely unable to believe that she would say that. You must know that more than 40,000 people were lost in this battle! Not four hundred or four thousand!

"Nothing...... As a manager, if you are not determined enough, there will inevitably be problems! Although the losses in this battle are large, as long as the results are obtained, no matter how big the losses are, they can be accepted! Zhang Ning waved his hand to interrupt the words of the two, and said in a firm tone.

"War is not child's play, it must be treated with caution! What's more, the enemy is still that Li Zikang? Zhang Ning said lightly.

"The child knows his mistake!" Hearing this, Ma Chao and Wang Yi hurriedly knelt down and admitted their mistakes, they were indeed as Zhang Ning said, although they said they should be cautious, but even if it was Wang Yi, they couldn't help but be a little underestimated. After all, the army of more than 400,000 people is too easy to give people confidence.

At the same time, outside the plug.

On the vast grassland, hundreds of thousands of cavalry were divided into two groups to guard each other, and suddenly, more than a dozen horsemen from each of the two divisions drove out of the formation.

"What a Kebineng, leading 50,000 cavalry to talk to me about the alliance, it really opened my eyes!" One of the big men laughed loudly.

"If you don't show your strength, how can Shan Yu come to see me in person?" Hearing this, Kebineng smiled and said.