……

On October 18, the second day after the southern army captured Xinzheng in the middle route, the left route army abandoned Shilong, captured Ruzhou for the third time, and the right route army abandoned Taikang and occupied Qicheng for the fourth time. On October 19, the commanders of the left and right roads suddenly announced that they would hand over their military powers, and the southern army would be under the command of Yan Yunxing. Yan Yunxing immediately made a dispatch, and the twenty-four legions under his command fully spread out the front and combined it into a large military formation, which was called the "water drop" military formation because it resembled a water drop!

The water drop army array, the middle section is prominent, and the four sides are smooth and oval. Xinzheng at the tip of the water drop was garrisoned by the elite Ninth Army Corps of the Southern Army, and then spread out to the two wings, and on the west side were the Damaling, Meteor Valley, Huashi, Tangjie, and Ruzhou, which were guarded by the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, and 1st Army Corps respectively; On the east side are Huangshi Lake, Shibalipu, Tongxu, Gaoyang, and Qicheng, which are garrisoned by the 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th Army Corps.

From Ruzhou and Qicheng to the south, there are Shilong, Pingdingshan, Ziyun Mountain, Xiangcheng, Yushiqiao, Beiyu, Wangtian, Taikang, Bailou, and the backstage around the major pass towns of Xuchang, which are stationed by the second, third, fourth, fifth, seventh, twenty-fourth, twenty-third, twenty-second, twenty-first, and twentieth legions in turn, so as to form the prototype of the water drop army array.

In addition, the Sixth Army of Lu Duoqing and the Nineteenth Army of Fallen Leaves and True Love were stationed around Xuchang, Jiacheng and Jiangzhen, which were the core of the military formation; Yan Yunxing led the Eighth Army to garrison Xuchang City, which was the eye of the army; The 28th and 29th Army Corps of Yao Shuang, Nan Huaxin, and Xi Jinghong transmitted news in the formation, inquired about the enemy's situation, and received the grain transport troops, etc., which were the eyes and ears of the army; The 25th, 26th, and 27th logistics units entered the formation from Ziyun Mountain, Yushiqiao, and Taikang respectively, transported grain and grass to Xuchang, or replaced the wounded from the major army corps to replenish the troops, and provided logistical support for the army formation.

The water drop army formation is perfectly formed!

……

Why did Yan Yunxing set up the formation? Why don't you continue to advance at the same level and take Luoyang and Kaifeng with all your might? There are three reasons for this:

First, after the capture of Xinzheng, it is absolutely undesirable to advance at the same level. Although the northern army was defeated and retreated, it did not hurt its vitality, and its strength and strength were still far superior to the southern army, so the southern army could only choose to capture one of Kaifeng and Luoyang. To put it simply, the southern army can't eat two cities in one go, so it can't advance at the same time, and must change another way of attacking, that is, combining three ways to form a military formation;

Second, the reason why the southern army has been able to win many battles is because of the holy worm, Yao Shuang, and Nanhuaxin, whose extremely fast intelligence exploration and reception have exposed the northern army, and the geometry of the troops and the distribution of the southern army are all clear, so Yan Yunxing can anticipate the enemy first, and win every battle. After capturing Xinzheng, the northern army only needs to focus on defending Luoyang and Kaifeng, and the southern army can no longer use intelligence superiority to consume the combat power of the northern army, so it must be turned into a whole and attack hard;

Third, we have to talk about the combat strength of the Southern Army, the Southern Army has a large majority of infantry, poor mobility, and it is impossible to win a complete victory in a single battle, and both sides have sufficient food and grass, so the battle between the North and the South is bound to be a long-term and arduous tug-of-war and war of attrition. The formation of a military formation can enable the southern army to develop its strengths and avoid its weaknesses, achieve an integration of attack and defense, and then advance slowly.

Therefore, the ultimate goal of all Yan Yunxing's previous strategies was to form a water drop army array. At first, Ruzhou and Qicheng changed hands several times, and the left and right roads attacked all over the Central Plains, all in order to confuse the northern army, so that the northern army think that the southern army intended to advance at the same level, so as to ignore the connection between the three cities of Ruzhou, Xinzheng and Qicheng.

So what kind of power does the Water Drop Army Array have? The Northern Army did not know, and neither did the Southern Army. Regarding Yan Yunxing's sudden transfer of troops, the southern army felt doubts, and the northern army felt panic.

……

In Ruyang, West Road, in the tent of the deputy marshal of the Northern Army Barracks, Zhuang Diewu planted the flag of the 20th Army Corps of the Southern Army in the place where the sand table marked the backstage, and then turned his head and asked a middle-aged man beside him, "Can the military advisor see Yan Yunxing's intentions?" ”

The person who was asked by Zhuang Diewu was the military advisor of the Piaoxiang Alliance. He had respect for Lu You and Huo'er because of the incident of Drunken Moon Xuan back then, and he didn't want to be an enemy of Huo'er, so he didn't participate in the war because of his illness. Until the southern army formed a military formation, Zhuang Diewu repeatedly invited, he had to go out of the mountain, no way, the matter of eating the king's Lu loyalty, he understood this truth best when he read poetry and books, so he must make suggestions for Zhuang Diewu to reverse the decline of the northern army.

Mo uneasy stroked the three strands of long beard, squinted his eyes and looked at the sand table carefully, memorized the southern army's military formation, and asked rhetorically: "What is the southern army called it?" ”

Mrs. Hua Rui, the leader of the Peony Army, said: "The Southern Army is called the Water Drop Array, but in my opinion, this is just a 'snake swallowing tail', and it can't form a formation at all. ”

The Lily Army Lord Tu Yujue nodded in agreement, "It is said that it is a formation, but in fact, it is to combine the three roads of the Southern Army into one, with the intention of concentrating troops to take Kaifeng in one fell swoop." ”

"No, I don't feel like the Poison Demon is about to open the seal." Li Jianxian frowned and stared at the sand table, and put forward his own opinion, "Everyone in the world knows that Yan Poison Demon is a genius of war, and since he is a genius, he will not be unaware that the combat strength of the southern army is inferior to that of the northern army, and he will not swell to the point where he thinks that he can attack and open the seal because of dozens of innocuous small victories, you see, he will not only not open the seal when this formation is formed, but will suspend the offensive, just waiting for us to attack and break the formation, so as to achieve the purpose of continuing to consume the combat power of our army." ”

"Is that so?" Astro Boy was a little puzzled, and turned his head to look at Mo Uneasy, "Old Mo, you can express your opinion." ”

"I agree with Master Li." Mo Yi first affirmed Li Jianxian's speculation, and then pointed to the three places of Ruzhou, Xinzheng, and Qicheng in Shapan, and said to everyone: "The southern army only occupies these three places, and it can be each other's horns and rush to each other's aid, but the southern army is mainly infantry and has poor mobility, so Yan Yunxing has made up his troops in the key passes between the three cities, such as Maling, Huangshi Lake, and Shibalipu, to put it bluntly, these places are the extension and spread of the defense line of Ruzhou, Xinzheng, and Qicheng. Don't worry about not being able to come to the rescue. ”

"Then why did Yan Yunxing arrange Pingdingshan to the backstage line?" Zhuang Diewu was still puzzled in his heart, the first line of Ruzhou, Xinzheng, and Qicheng was arranged like this, which can be understood as for mutual assistance, then Pingdingshan to the backstage is the rear of the Southern Army, and many troops are also arranged but they are completely useless, what is Yan Yunxing's intention?

"Is it just for the sake of forming a military formation? What about end to end? Li Jianxian didn't understand this very well, in his opinion, the formation of the southern army only needed to form a semicircle, and there was no point in connecting end to end.

Mo thought for a moment, and said with great certainty: "Maybe it's because I'm afraid that the cavalry of the Northern Army will sneak attack the rear, or maybe it's to defend Xuchang, these are all possible." ”

Zhuang Diewu listened, her brows furrowed even tighter, she clapped her hands and interrupted everyone's thinking, and said loudly with a serious expression: "Although I don't know what purpose Yan Yunxing set up the rear defense line, what I do know is that Yan Yunxing's attack must be extraordinary, interlocking and deadly, so only by personally trying the formation can I know the strength of his formation, and I can make corresponding countermeasures. ”

"What the alliance leader said is extremely true." Mo Yi nodded and agreed, "Not only do we have to try the formation, but we also have to unite the central and eastern roads to break through the formation at the same time, only in this way can we know the power of the water drop array, and then we can avoid its edge, attack its flaws, and find a way to crack the formation." ”

Zhuang Diewu nodded silently, and immediately went out of the camp to find Qin Ren, and discussed uniting the other two roads to break through the water drop array.

……

In the middle of Zhuangbei Town, the generals of the North Army discussed together, and also came up with the result of a joint battle. In Shangqiu on the West Road, some people in the northern army bluntly said that they must not easily break into the battle, and once they fall into the formation, they will definitely be defeated!

This person is Su Bingyun.

Su Bingyun was already very smart, she had fought against the Yuan people for many years, and she had a deep vision in battle strategy, no less than Lin Aotian and Blood Dance, coupled with her familiarity with Yan Yunxing, she came to the conclusion that "if you break into battle, you will be defeated".

In the barracks account, Blood Dance asked directly: "If you don't join forces to break into battle, how can you break the enemy?" ”

Su Bingyun shook his head slightly, and said lightly: "At present, I don't have a better way, but this water drop array really can't break through." Su Bingyun said this, pointed to Shangqiu, Zhuangbei, and Ruyang in the sand table, and said: "Just look at the formation of our army, the three roads are divided by the southern army in three places, and they can't take care of each other, which is already a great disadvantage. ”

"I agree with the Alliance Leader." The white pigeon raised his hand and echoed, "The best way at present is to stand still, and when it comes to the 39th season, the southern army is not used to the cold weather in the north, and it will definitely show its flaws. ”

"There is some truth in what you said, but I heard that the Yan Poison Demon has ordered the logistics troops to purchase winter clothes in large quantities, since he chose to start the war in October, he must have already thought about how to make the Southern Army still maintain normal combat in the cold winter season, it may be that there will be people who can't stand the cold, but it is far from the extent of revealing flaws." Blood Dance directly poured cold water on the white pigeon, allowing him to see clearly Yan Yunxing's determination to win.

Ah Jin couldn't say anything for a long time when he heard what a few people said, which made him feel very bored, so he sneaked out of the crowd and stood on the side of the sand table and fiddled with the small flags. Suddenly, the force was heavier, and he accidentally broke one of the sides, he hurriedly spat and spit on it, and it didn't stick for a long time, when the blood madness looked at him, he sneered, and casually planted the flag back in its place.

At the same time as he was inserting chess upside down, Su Bingyun noticed his movements, and was about to reproach with his eyes, but saw that in the entire sand table, only Jiacheng, who planted the flag upside down, was out of place, and similarly, there was the corresponding Jiang Zhen!

"Yes, it's these two!" Su Bingyun said secretly, above the silver-white veil, the cold phoenix eyes suddenly had brilliance, and then pointed to Jiacheng and Jiangzhen, and said to everyone: "We only noticed the water drop array formation, but completely ignored Yan Yunxing's intention to arrange these two places......

"You...... What do you mean? "I still don't understand the blood flow, and I don't know what Su Bingyun is talking about.

At this time, Lin Aotian slapped his palms suddenly, suddenly realized, and hurriedly explained to everyone: "I understand what Shimei means!" For example, the water drop array of the Yan Poison Demon is like a spring, and Jiacheng and Jiangzhen determine the elasticity and toughness of this spring, as long as these two places are broken by our army, the water droplets will instantly turn into foam! In other words, these two places are the core of the formation, and the Pingdingshan-backstage defense line and Ruzhou-Qicheng defense line that were speculated before are just the shape of water droplets, and they are far less important than Jiacheng and Jiangzhen! ”

"But...... Even if we know that it is the core of the formation, we can't go deep into it! "Blood Dance raises the crux of the question, let you say that it's not useless to break the sky? Can Yan Yunxing casually let you attack the core of the formation?

Lin Aotian clenched his fists, stared at the chess pieces representing Xuchang on the sand table, gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice:

"Therefore, we must concentrate all our forces on the three roads of the Northern Army and attack one place together, but before that, we have to meet this water drop array for a while!"