"Wild goose marching array", also called "wedge array...... 23. One ship is in the center, and the rest of the ships of the detachment are arranged on both sides, forming an inverted "V" formation, like geese traveling in the sky, so it is named "geese marching array".

This "formation" has so far never been used in real combat, the Americans have not used it, and the conservative British advisers are even less interested.

The inclusion of this "formation" in the exercise was mainly due to Guan Zhuofan's proposition.

Kwan claimed that he was inspired by Lord Nelson's "two-column battle formation". However, in the process of engaging the enemy, our fleet mainly relied on the bow of the ship to bombard the enemy, and whether or not it could successfully wedge into the enemy position depended too much on the commander's command ability. This can't be done by those who are not the wise Divine Warrior Lord Runa.

In addition, this kind of "formation" puts forward very high requirements for the discipline, plainness, and communication ability of the entire fleet. This is not something that the Royal Navy of the British Empire can't do.

In order to reduce the difficulty, I thought, is it possible to make a slight adjustment to the "Double Dragon into the Water"? You see, the two are combined into one, and the "double dragon" is changed into a "wild goose" -- in this way, in the process of engaging the enemy, although the bow guns are still mainly used to bombard the enemy, the bow guns of all ships of the entire detachment can open fire, and the firepower is greatly increased; In addition, all the ships of the detachment can be seen from each other and the distance is close, so it will be much easier to communicate.

Well, what do you think?

Guan Zhuofan's sycophants made several Brits dizzy. "His Royal Highness's idea is very creative, and I appreciate it very much. However, there were a total of 21 ships in the formation under review. If you put such a ...... Oh. 'Wild goose march'. The two wings of this wild goose, each of which is ten ships, this ...... Wouldn't it be a little too long? If it doesn't work because of this, it's not beautiful. ”

Guan Zhuofan nodded again and again and said, "The general's opinion is very reasonable! In this way, let's divide the reading formation into two detachments, and each detachment will set up a 'wild goose marching array' -- in this way, the wings of the wild geese will be five ships. It's not too long; And then, a while in front, a moment in the back, how? ”

Uh, it still looks like it's a little longer......

Still long? Damn, then let's divide the reading formation into three detachments, and put three "goose marching arrays" in the front, middle, and back. A detachment of seven ships, one wild goose wings and three ships, in this way, it's always okay, right?

Well...... Yes.

Thereupon. The epoch-making "wild goose marching array" will "spread the wings of the wild geese". It turned out to be born.

Half a year after the Sino-US joint fleet exercise in Tianjin, the Prussian and Austrian brothers, whom Guan Zhuofan said to Libin, that "there must be a war," finally officially started fighting. In the Austro-Prussian War, Italy and Prussia allied against Austria. The Italian navy attacked the Austrian-ruled Croatian island of Lisa, and the first large-scale naval battle of ironclad ships in human history exploded.

This is a naval battle with Guan Zhuofan that has a close "indirect connection".

First, the "Champion" -- formerly known as the "King Umberto" and the "Shooting Sound" -- formerly known as the "Durio", these two state-of-the-art giant ironclad ships were originally ordered by the Italian Navy, but it was only because the Italian government's finances were tight at that time and it was unable to pay for the goods for a while, so Guan Zhuofan picked up a big leak. If the "King Umberto" and "Durio" had entered the Italian naval sequence on schedule, the outcome of the Battle of Lisa would have been very different.

Second, in the Battle of Lissa Naval Battle, Admiral Tagterhoff, commander of the Austrian fleet, organized the entire fleet into three inverted "V" wedge-shaped formations arranged vertically in the front, middle, and rear, with ironclad ships in the front, wooden-hulled ships in the squadron, and the rest of the small ships in the rear -- this formation was almost identical to the "flying geese formation" during the Sino-US joint fleet's exercise in Tianjin half a year ago.

At that time, the Italian Navy was known as one of the most powerful navies in the world. The Battle of Lissa was fought against both sides, and in terms of national strength, Austria was of course far superior to Italy, but in actual military strength invested in this naval battle, Italy was far superior to Austria - Italy had twelve ironclad ships; Austria had only seven ironclad ships, all of which were incorporated into the first wedge.

The Italian Sea Fleet fought against the Austrian fleet's "Flying Goose Formation" with a "long snake formation", but the result was a great defeat, and even the flagship "Italia" was sunk.

In the Battle of Lissa, the Austrian fleet defeated the strong with the weak, which greatly shook the Western powers. Admirals and military commentators agreed that the Austrian navy's wedge-shaped formation played a crucial role in the victory. At the same time, it is generally believed that the "wedge formation" of the Austrian fleet "references" the "flying geese formation" used in the Tianjin exercise of the Sino-US joint fleet.

Even Tegethoff himself had to admit that he was "indeed inspired by Prince Guan".

As a result, Guan Zhuofan's status as the "father of the 'wild goose marching array' in naval warfare" is recorded in history and cannot be shaken.

Hehe, crossing is good.

Straight to the point.

The "Ssangyong Entering the Water" began to change formations, and the "Shooting Sound," "Admiral," and "Maryland" respectively served as the chief ships of the forward, middle, and rear detachments -- that is, the warships in the center and in the middle of the formation.

If it was a formal operation, the commander's ships of the three detachments would not be arranged in this way -- the strongest ships should be arranged into the first echelon according to the practice of the Austrian Navy in the Lissa Naval Battle, so as to form the greatest attack force and break through the enemy's firepower network in one fell swoop.

However, now after all, it is a drill, and the main purpose of the exercise is to "watch the excitement" for a woman. If all the strongest ships are included in the first echelon, then the first echelon will be vigorous, but the second and third echelons will be greatly discolored.

Well, "military blindness" has a "military blindness" method, everyone understand.

On the sea, 21 warships advanced and retreated, turning left and right, flags flying, black smoke billowed out, and two "long dragons" slowly turned into three "geese."

The Queen Mother was dazzled and tongue-holding. Behind the bright yellow veil, the clear water-cut eyes have been wide open; Bright red cherry lips, most of the time, are in a slightly open state.

"Is this ...... 'Wild Goose Array' the most powerful 'formation'?"

Guan Zhuofan was stunned for a moment, thinking that this was really a typical "military blindness" problem. I think it's because the "Wild Goose Formation" looks the most complicated and comes out last, so the royal sister thinks it's the "most powerful".

You must answer carefully and not give her the illusion of needlessness.

"Back to the Empress Dowager, in the "History of the Song Dynasty", it was recorded that Yue Fei said a sentence, called: 'Fighting after the battle is the art of war. The use of wonder, in one mind. This means that the formation is important, but how it is used is even more important. When facing the enemy in battle, it is necessary to determine which formation to use according to the actual situation, and it is most taboo to memorize military documents and be stubborn. ”

"Whether it's a 'long snake' or 'wild goose spreading its wings', there is actually no superiority or inferiority. When it is time to use the word 'long snake', it is necessary to use the word 'long snake', and when it is time to use 'wild goose spread its wings', it is necessary to use 'wild goose spread its wings'. If you should have used 'a long snake', but instead used 'wild geese spread their wings', it would be difficult to guarantee that you would not lose the battle. ”

The royal sister nodded: "Makes sense." ”

Guan Zhuofan continued: "It's the same formation, under the same situation, if you use it now, it may not be able to be used again ten years later." ”

"Oh? How so? ”

"The minister will use this 'wild goose marching array' as an analogy. The advantage of the 'Wild Goose Array' is to advance all the way, break into the enemy's formation, divide the enemy fleet in two, so that the enemy's tail cannot take care of each other, and the various parts are in chaos, and finally break them one by one for me. ”

"The current ironclad ships are all 'steam sail hybrid', that is, the sails on the ship are due to the power of the steam engine, which is still slightly insufficient, so they have to use the sail as the help. That is to say, the current warships are not too fast, their rotation is not yet very smart, and the 'long snake' cannot avoid the rapid advance of the 'wild goose spreading its wings'. Therefore, the use of 'geese marching array' can achieve miraculous results. ”

"But the power of the steam engine will only get bigger, not smaller. Within ten years, the sails would be removed from the steam ships. At that time, the faster the ship was, the more dexterous the maneuvering, and then using the 'wild goose to spread its wings' to rush the 'long snake', if the enemy's fleet's 'long snake' swam fast, our 'wild goose' could not rely on it, and it would be difficult to say. ”

(Small preview: two shifts tomorrow, one shift at about 12 o'clock at noon, and two shifts at about 8 o'clock in the evening)

*(To be continued!)

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