The orderly stomping sound of the phalanx sounded, and Li Xiao's five hundred standing guards slowly stepped over the pile of corpses in the center of the battlefield, advancing the front forward by a distance of about a hundred rooms.

Li Xiao is going to use such a forward persecution, without giving the other party enough time to prepare, either forcing the other party to fight a decisive battle, or forcing the other party to flee.

"Stop!"

Seeing the changes in the opponent's formation, Li Xiao whipped his horse and ordered the army to stop advancing.

Li Xiao looked at the military formation of the Saito Army, the Saito family had already adjusted the formation, and it seemed that they were preparing to use the horse team to attack the Western Phalanx of the Takeda Army.

Li Xiao was not sure enough about whether the iron artillery team could cope with the impact of the Saito cavalry, and the iron artillery team under the command of Xiaoxian Kohata defeated the first attack of the Saito army, and its level of performance had greatly exceeded his previous expectations, and it could be said that it had played at a super level.

But if he faced a horse riding team with good speed, Li Xiao didn't have much confidence.

Li Xiao looked carefully, although there were only more than forty people in the Saito Army's cavalry team in front of the battle, they were all elite samurai, and if they attacked, it would be easy to open a gap in Li Xiao's Western Phalanx.

Therefore, Li Xiao gave the order, and the troops stopped advancing and prepared to meet the opponent's cavalry on the spot.

The order to reorganize the queue was then transmitted.

"Look to the right!"

After advancing a distance of 100 rooms and crossing the pile of corpses, the queue will inevitably be a little scattered, because the iron cannon can play the maximum salvo effect by firing a salvo on a parallel plane, so the western phalanx pays great attention to the neatness of the formation.

This is also the reason why the Western Phalanx attaches so much importance to queue training in addition to the formation change.

It is not so much that the strength of the Western Phalanx lies in the front, and it is afraid of the attack from the two wings, but in fact, it is more afraid that the opponent will attack the angular points of the rectangular of the Western Phalanx from the oblique side from a 45-degree angle.

Because geometrically, from this point of view, for the iron artillery corps located on the flank of the western phalanx, the distribution of distance and near range is the most uneven.

After a short period of rectification, Li Xiao's 500 standing reserves resumed their rigorous queue in a short period of time, and they were ready for a new round of offensive that the Saito army was about to launch.

At this time, the Saito Army's cavalry began to move.

Li Xiao looked at it from a distance, the war horse galloped past, the dust on the ground rose slightly, and the opponent's cavalry team was lined up, and the standard triangular assault formation of the cavalry assault galloped towards the side of the Takeda army.

For a while, the dull sound of horses' hooves stomping on the ground was like a muffled thunder, making people feel the ground tremble slightly.

The Saito family's horseback riding samurai were good at equestrian control, and the horses came galloping from a long distance, starting to speed slightly, then accelerating and accelerating, and finally when they approached the Takeda Army's forty-five rooms, the speed of the war horses reached their maximum.

As the iron cannon general, Kohata Xiaoxian was obviously surprised by the speed of the Saito family's horseback team, if he really waited for the other party to enter the actual killing distance of the iron cannon, the iron artillery team probably wouldn't have time at all, and shoot a few rows.

Kohata immediately ordered the first platoon of the iron artillery team to fire a salvo forward.

The salvo was fired at a distance of forty between the two sides.

Ten iron cannons shot the first round of iron cannon salvo, after the smoke of gunpowder dissipated, Li Xiao observed the results of the iron cannon shooting, and the opponent's cavalry team was not damaged.

It was only due to the sound of iron cannons that one or two war horses looked slightly frightened, but then the frightened war horses were immediately controlled by the Saito family's riding samurai, who were outstanding in riding.

In the blink of an eye, the Saito family's horseback team approached thirty miles from the Takeda military formation.

It can be seen in the first row of iron cannons in the air, or in the shock of the instantaneous assault of the Saito Army's cavalry.

The second row of iron artillery ashigaru began to appear to be in a hurry, and under the hasty firing, the accuracy was undoubtedly greatly reduced, and in this round of iron cannon volleys, there was still no casualty among the Saito family's cavalry team.

Missed twice, the Saito Army's cavalry team was more imposing, and at this time, Saito, the ashigaru team of the Jimbo Coalition Army, had already regrouped their ranks, followed behind the cavalry team, and quickly pressed up.

Li Xiao's iron artillery foot light team suddenly messed up, and there was a panicked atmosphere in the whole team, and suddenly reappeared, the panicked scene of the original military performance.

When the opposing cavalry team charged to the distance, and the western phalanx was only twenty miles, the third row of salvos of iron guns on both flanks of the phalanx fired another volley.

The result was disappointing, and this time the salvo missed again.

Li Xiao shook his head when he saw this situation, his own iron artillery team, the training was still insufficient, and he faced the Saito family's spear foot light team before, so he fought smoothly at the beginning, so he fought more and more smoothly after that, and there were no mistakes.

Now in the face of the swift assault of the Saito cavalry, coupled with the previous misses, it is a frustration of confidence, and now the original form is revealed.

And the panicked mood of the iron artillery team continued to infect each other, and the confidence of the iron artillery was also lost.

At this moment, Li Xiao's two auxiliary sixty bows and arrows fired the first round of bows and arrows at this distance.

The arrows on both wings were fired at the same time, and several cavalrymen of the Saito family cavalry charged ahead, and the samurai and war horses were hit by arrows one after another, and the samurai on horseback were okay with adequate protection, while the war horses were completely undraped.

After the horse was hit by an arrow, a man with a long neighing stood up, and then overturned its owner and dismounted, and the head of the other horse was directly pierced by the arrow, and was immediately trampled to death by the horse's hooves along with his master.

The Saito cavalry suffered a slight setback due to the interference of the archers, but this did not stop the speed of their assault.

"Drink!"

In an instant, the Saito family's horseback riding team drew their swords almost at the same time, and under the oblique light of the setting sun, the cold light suddenly shimmered.

The Saito family's horseback team launched the final charge.

Li Xiao had to admit that the riding team of the Saito Army, and the riding samurai were all excellent.

Compared to the previous battle, when he deliberately shouted a provocation to the Takeda army in front of the battle, but now when he is charging into battle, each mounted samurai firmly attaches his body to the horse's back and stares at the front with full attention, this silent bravery is more moving than the loud shouting battle.

As the Saito cavalry approached more and more, Li Xiao saw that the other horseback warrior had a cold gaze, the war horse galloped to the maximum speed, and the flag finger was stretched to the maximum against the wind.

"Lord, please immediately order the bow and iron cannon to retreat, otherwise let the opponent's cavalry team kill into our army's iron artillery team, and the casualties will be great." Shioka Kazuha said loudly.

Li Xiao just shook his head.

The Saito Army's cavalry had already approached within ten ken, and within that distance, it only took a few breaths for the cavalry to slash the sword into the iron cannon ashigaru in the front row.

Although the horse was not tall in this era, seeing that the distance advantage was no longer there, and the opposing cavalry was already close at hand, the fourth row of iron artillery ashigaru of the Takeda Army had weakened their hands at this moment, and they almost barely completed a salvo.

At such a close distance, this round of salvo shot down the opponent's three horseback warriors, not that the Takeda Army's iron cannon stabilized the mood at a moment's notice, but shooting at such a close distance, even if the archery skills are poor, they can be hit.

It's just that to hit the next round of iron cannon salvos, it's basically impossible.

As if realizing that the other party was powerless, the horseback samurai of the Saito Army all showed a hideous smile on their faces, as long as they rushed over this distance again, they could slash and kill with impunity, so that the sword in their hands was stained with the blood of the Takeda Army's iron cannon.

"Rushed over."

Seeing that his cavalry team was about to rush into the phalanx of the Takeda army, the general of the Saito army, who was watching the battle from the sidelines, Saito Riki also waved his fist excitedly, almost dancing with excitement, but considering his identity, he pressed it down.

As long as the cavalry team can take the lead in the enemy's formation, and then the spear foot light team will follow the attack, with their superiority in strength, they will inevitably be able to expand the results of the battle and achieve an overwhelming victory.

On the other hand, the general of the Jimbo family, Terashima Shojo, had a worried face, and he suddenly stretched out his hand and pointed in the direction of the Takeda Army's military formation and said, "No, our cavalry is so close, why don't the bows of the two wings of the Takeda Army retreat." ”

Saito Riki saw that the Takeda army did not move, according to reason, when the enemy approached this distance, the bow and iron cannon should quickly retreat to the back of the formation, and let their own guns and guns come out to intercept the opponent's army, but why did the Takeda army's position not move, and the bow did not move, and even the spear did not have the slightest intention of moving.

Seeing the enemy cavalry approaching closer and closer, a mocking sneer appeared on the face of the general of the Western Phalanx, Shima Katsutoshi.

Five!

The enemy cavalry forced the distance between Goma.

At this time, Shima Katsu suddenly pulled out the sword, waved his wrist downward, and shouted: "Kill!" ”

At this time, the central spear-footing phalanx of the Western Kingdom phalanx was already ready, and forty Hida spearmen stood in the first two rows of the formation.

These Hida mountain people, draped in sackcloth on their left side, were half-shouldered and shirtless, revealing their entire right arm and arm, without armor, for fear of affecting the strength and direction of their spears.

The spears in their hands were also specially made, almost as thick as the rim of a cup, and they were all equipped with sharp blades in front of them.

At the moment, the Hida spear throwers were already ready to go, waiting to hear Shima Katsu shouting.

I took a step forward, twisted my body, and then circled my entire right arm, and the two rows of Hida spear-throwers in the front two rows threw out the spears in their hands almost with all their might.

At this time, the Saito horseback samurai, who was rushing forward, suddenly appeared dozens of spears shooting at them, shooting head-on.

Seeing this scene, Li Xiao seemed to be muttering to himself: "Skewered horse meat, not bad." ”

As soon as Li Xiao's words fell, a series of mournful screams of war horses neighed almost at the same time, and then the sound of heavy objects falling to the ground sounded one after another.

Shima Shengmeng's face was full of murder, and he waved the sword in his hand again, and shouted loudly: "Second round." ”

I only heard the sound of whirring air coming from the battlefield.

There was a strong smell of blood all around, and a war horse was pierced by three or four spears, nailed to the ground, but it was still immortal, and it looked like it wanted to struggle to get up again.

A samurai on horseback of the Saito army had blood in his mouth, and at this moment he and his horse were lying on the ground with several spears and men and horses pierced together.

When the Saito Army's follow-up cavalry team saw this scene, they were all panicked for a while, and due to the influence of the Takeda Army's spear shooting, their impact formation was already in chaos.

The bows on both flanks of the Takeda Army, the Iron Artillery Shotu Corps, seized the opportunity and shot out all the bows and arrows and iron cannons in one go.

The sound of iron cannons rang out one after another, and the arrows in the air shot arcs one after another.

The Saito Army's horseback samurai were suddenly hit again.

However, despite this, the attack of the Saito Army's cavalry team was not over.

This greatly surprised Li Xiao, and the Saito Army's mounted samurai team displayed a shocking samurai spirit, and despite most of the casualties, the remaining mounted samurai still persistently charged the Takeda army's position.

In an instant, two horseback warriors broke through the barrage of the Takeda Army's iron artillery and entered the left wing of Li Xiaoxi's phalanx.

Although the first person was knocked down by the iron cannon ashigaru salvo behind, the other person was red-eyed, his body was stained with blood, and he rushed into Li Xiao's iron cannon ashigaru team.

And the iron cannons on this wing couldn't dodge, and three or four people were immediately chopped to the ground by him on the spot.

Shimakatsu was too late to stop him, and in the end, the samurai on horseback who broke through the Takeda army line was stabbed to death on his horse by gungungaku, who rushed to reinforce him.

However, Li Xiao's left-wing iron artillery team, because of this person's own strength, killed five people on the spot, wounded seven, and the left-wing iron artillery team of forty people lost twelve people.

The same casualties also appeared on the left flank, and a samurai on horseback on the opposing side was also killed by a spearhead after slashing and wounding five Bowshigaru in a row.

After paying such a price, all the more than 40 mounted samurai of the Saito Army were wiped out.

At this point, Li Xiao was secretly afraid that if it weren't for the blow of the spear thrower, if he really let the Saito Army's mounted samurai team rush into the phalanx, I am afraid that his two wings of the iron artillery team would be completely annihilated.

But even so, Li Xiao was still quite distressed by the casualties of the left-wing iron artillery team.

With the lack of horse fences and trenches, it is not easy for Li Xiao to defeat an elite cavalry team now.

Li Xiao's iron cannon just now was very light, and it was the first time to deal with the cavalry attack, so he was very panicked, which led to a big drop in the shooting level, which was of course due to the lack of training before.

In the western phalanx trained by Gustav II, in order to deal with the charging of the opposing cavalry, he had three and three rows of musketeers fire volleys at the shock cavalry to increase the lethality.

Similarly, with Li Xiaotie's current training degree, he still can't do this.

At the Battle of Volkhov, Gustav II used regimental medium-caliber guns and company small-caliber guns to carry out medium and long-range fire killing, disrupt the Polish cavalry shock ranks, and then let the musketeers of the western phalanx fire with muskets.

After the double casualties of these cannons and muskets, Gustav II finally defeated the Polish cavalry with the Swedish cavalry and spearmen.

At present, when it comes to the quick version of Li Xiao's Western Phalanx, in addition to the important reason of insufficient training, there is no artillery or cavalry, so the maximum power of this Western Phalanx has not yet been brought into play.

(To be continued)