It should be pointed out that the chariots owned by the Chinese army array should be completely different from the chariots of the pre-Qin chariot battle, and there is no charge attack. When describing the use of the car in the war, the "General Essentials of the Martial Arts" said: "The car was used for three generations, and the Qin and Han dynasties were immersed in cavalry for convenience, so the car system was annihilated."

Later, Ma Long of the Western Jin Dynasty and Ma Sui of the Tang Dynasty used vehicles in battle, but they mainly used vehicles equipped with antlers and other equipment to play a blocking effect, and they could also carry troop armor. At the beginning of the reign of Song Zhenzong, there were also people who offered chariots, and they also roughly used the body of the chariot as a cover to defend against the enemy's cavalry impact on the plain: "These numbers are all said to be guarded by chariots, so it is not the method of three generations of galloping chariots to fight battles, but it is enough to resist the enemy and win."

The chariots in the "Pingrong Wanquan Array" are also equipped with equipment such as rejecting horses, which are similar to the functions of the chariots used by Ma Long and Ma Sui, and are mainly responsible for defensive functions. Therefore, the Chinese army formation is dominated by infantry. The front, rear, left, and right formations were composed of cavalry, with a total of only 30,000 cavalry, which was obviously an auxiliary force of the Chinese army, mainly responsible for guarding and covering the task.

Based on the above deployment, it can be seen that the "Pingrong Wanquan Formation" is obviously a formation dominated by infantry, reflecting the tactical intention of using infantry to control cavalry. Judging from the layout of the formation, the foot, riding, and cycling are arranged in a neat and orderly manner, and the momentum is not spectacular, but from the perspective of actual combat, it cannot but be said that there are huge defects.

First of all, if it is deployed according to its formation map, the total width of the phalanx is twenty miles away, which is bound to put forward harsh requirements for the terrain, and can only be used in a wide, flat and barrier-free area; Secondly, the formation is huge and heavy, with four phalanxes of the forward, the rear of the palace, the middle army, the left and the right flank, and three more car battalions within the central army. Secondly, the lack of mobility is not conducive to scheduling and flexibility, and once the flank or rear is broken by the opponent, the whole formation will be in chaos; Finally, the essence of this formation is defensive, it is to put on a comprehensive defensive posture to deal with the enemy's attack, if when the enemy retreats, only the forward and left and right flank part of the cavalry can pursue, and the infantry as the main force of the Chinese army can not react quickly, does not have the ability to carry out movement warfare.

Therefore, this spectacular formation in a static state is actually passive and rigid, and can neither be "peaceful", nor can it actually play a "perfect" effect.

And now in front of the Song army, the formation set up by Yang Keshi personally led the army is much more streamlined than the so-called complete "Pingrong Wanquan Array".

First of all, although the entire formation was still tied by the five armies, the number of people was only 14,400, which was only one-tenth of the more than 140,000 men needed for the whole formation. Second, the width of the whole array is only three and a half miles, and the length is two miles, and the area occupied on the battlefield is only more than 1,200 steps from east to west and 1,000 steps from north to south, and the area occupied is exactly on the south side of the battlefield with a total length of 3,000 steps.

In addition, there were two columns of cavalry in the front and two columns in the rear (i.e., the front and the rear), and eighteen teams of cavalry in the front, each with sixteen horsemen, for a total of 288 cavalry. Sixteen teams of twelve cavalry each, for a total of one hundred and ninety-two cavalrymen. There were forty or eighty cavalry in two columns, plus twenty cavalry from scouts (reconnaissance), for a total of five hundred cavalry.

There were two columns in each of the east and west formations (i.e., the left and right flanks), with one hundred teams in the front, fifty cavalry in each team, and a total of five thousand cavalry; There were one hundred and twenty squads, thirty cavalrymen each, for a total of three thousand six hundred cavalry. With the addition of spies and reserves (generals' personal guards), a total of 300 cavalry, Yang Keshi's "Pingrong Wanquan Array" had a total of 8,400 cavalry.

The remaining 6,000 foot soldiers were divided into three infantry formations, each with twelve chariots and thirty-six baggage carts (the chicken chariot mentioned earlier, which was full of arrows), and then 800 shield riflemen, 600 knife and axe men, and 600 crossbowmen.

Therefore, after Yang Keshi's change, the infantry battle formation that originally required 140,000 people was changed into a small cavalry battle formation with cavalry as the main attack force.

Although compared to the dragon riding formation that the Jin army put out yesterday under Liaoyang City, which was running in circles to make smoke and galloping thousands of horses, Yang Keshi's formation was very lacking in momentum, but after looking at the battle formation set up by the Song army, Zong Wang also smiled bitterly and showed embarrassment.

According to the practice of warfare, it is natural that the generals and soldiers are against each other, although the first battle just now played a seven losses and one draw, but there are at least two wins to save some face, but now I see that the Song army has put out the formation of such turtles that are not like turtles and dragons and dragons are not like dragons, and I really don't know how to crack it.

He also saw Zong Wang stretching out his hand to point at the battle formation of the Song army, so he also raised his voice and asked the generals of the various armies around him: "Who knows what kind of formation this Song people are arranging?" Who has the means to break the formation? ”

These words were asked, but the first to bear the brunt of the bewilderment was the generals of the Baishan tribes, and secondly, the generals of the Wanyan clan and the Tieli tribe who were close to the vassals (close vassals) were also blank, and finally Zong Wang could only set his eyes on a special group, which was also on the side of the generals of the attached armies such as Khan, Xi, Khitan and Zahu with Guo Yaoshi as the side.

But he also said that among the generals of the attached army, Guo Yaoshi had the highest status, and when he saw that Zong Wang came to ask and no one could answer, when Zong Wang's eyes were aimed at him, Guo Yaoshi could only reply stubbornly: "Marshal, this formation may be ...... Maybe it's the Song Army's Pingrong Wanquan Array, but it's just ......"

"Just how?" Hearing that Pharmacist Guo was trembling deliberately, Zong Wangbu also followed suit, and Pharmacist Guo also replied, "It's just...... This formation has changed too much, and the Pingrong Wanquan Formation is originally a infantry battle formation, and the number of people required to form a formation is also quite large. And now that the number of people in this formation is relatively small, not to mention, there are too many cavalry, so Huang Jie has become a cavalry formation? ”

To say that Huang Jie heard that Pharmacist Guo had deducted the credit for changing the formation on his head at this time, he was afraid that he would have to be modest and resign, but Zong Wang had no doubt about this, and he could hear that Pharmacist Guo could actually say the name of such a battle formation, and even asked: "Since you know this formation, I don't know if Guo Meng'an has a way to break the formation?" ”

Guo Yaoshi's face immediately turned embarrassed when he heard this, and after considering the words for a while, he replied carefully: "The marshal also knows that this is going to break the cavalry formation, but I am afraid that I will have to ride the army!" Guo's subordinate army cavalry, uneven footsteps, foot soldiers accounted for more than seventy percent, if it is fought by Guo's subordinates, I am afraid that it will be inappropriate! ”

Zong Wang, as the commander, has commanded the army for many years, so he naturally heard that Guo Yaoshi's words were both a show of affection and a pretext, so he looked left and right, and asked: "If this commander is a cavalry army with you, can you be sure to break the formation?" ”

In fact, the total number of Han attached troops under Guo Yaoshi's command is almost close to 50,000, although the composition of the troops is uneven, and this wave of soldiers from Zongwang was still a pariah in various parts of the Jin country half a year ago, but after more than half a year of confrontation in Liaoyang City, Guo Yaoshi can be regarded as reluctantly training this batch of signing troops.

Moreover, as far as the cavalry is concerned, although the new army of the Changsheng Army in his hand, or the new army expanded from the backbone of the original Changsheng Army, is indeed not much, not even 10,000 people, but how to say that riding is also one of the natural skills of the Han people in Liaodong, so Guo Yaoshi really does not dare to fight.

Now that he heard that Zong Wang was willing to directly give him a cavalry to fight, although Guo Yaoshi had no expression on his face, and even showed a look of embarrassment, but in fact, he was happy in his heart, and even listened to him: "The last general thinks that this battle can only be won if the Tiefutu under the command of the fourth prince fights, if not, there is no chance of victory!" ”10