At the beginning of February in the season of water, the cold rain has not arrived, and the wind has begun to rise.

The sun glowed limplessly orange, and the bitter north wind turned the muddy mudflats on the banks of the Jinshui River into frozen soil. Dressed in light rattan armor and with two adamantite battle axes in his hands, Nelson stood on the berm wall of the Golden Water Temperance Gate, his eyes like lightning, staring at the battlefield below, where Randall guards were fighting each other with a group of fishmen.

More than 200 fish-men broke through the rain of arrows falling from the sky and ran wildly on the tidal flats. Some of them held scimitar-sized fish bones, some held rudimentary weapons tied with sticks and stones, but many more charged forward with their bare hands, their bloody mouths full of fangs, and squeaked forward. However, they were greeted by a wall of bronze made of giant shields and spears.

The Randall family guards were dressed in steel-ringed chain mail, holding a 1.6-meter-high, 75-centimeter-wide iron oak tower shield in their left hand and a 2-meter spear in their right hand, lined up in a dense and neat formation shoulder to shoulder. They slowly pushed forward to the rhythm of the drums, like a giant steel hedgehog smashing into the fish-man's ranks.

The fish-men fell to their feet with the "poof" and "poof" of the spears stabbing their bodies, their dying screams and screams shattered by the unanimous shouts of the human soldiers. The warm blood melted the frozen ground, and the soldier kept walking, trampling the dead and wounded fishmen into the dark red mud. After more than half of the fishmen were killed and wounded, they finally turned and fled, and the longbowmen in the back row of the phalanx poured a deadly rain of arrows at them, and after a few volleys, only a few dozen fishmen managed to escape into the Jinshui River.

In just ten minutes of fighting, the mudflat fishmen suffered heavy casualties, and the Randall family guards were unscathed.

The soldiers began to quickly retrieve the arrows, and with ease they did not die. It won't be long before these annoying monsters gather more companions and return to the mudflats. Nelson couldn't help but smile with satisfaction as he watched his men methodically clean up the battlefield and organize a retreat.

At its peak, the War Bear Mercenary Regiment had hundreds of mercenaries, which was much worse than those large mercenary groups of two or three hundred soldiers. Nelson once had the ambition to build the War Bear into the top mercenary group, but he was incompetent, and the War Bear was not impressed in his hands, and he could barely eat, so that he was on the verge of collapse. Nelson is now the captain of the Randall family's guards, with 600 well-armed guards under his command, and it is his responsibility to train these boys, and it can be regarded as making up for his regrets.

Nelson trained his guards with great enthusiasm, although the York family provided Randall with the training methods of elite soldiers, and he also had extremely sophisticated martial arts secrets, but for mercenaries actual combat is the best training. Especially after learning that the escort team consumes tens of thousands of gold soles every year, Nelson is on pins and needles.

Lilia and Nelson have been nobles for less than five years, and they still retain the concept of mercenaries who pay for their lives. So, when Victor asked the Guards to clear the river beach of the fishmen and practice new tactics, Nelson felt relieved.

The control gate on the banks of the Jinshui River is related to the core interests of the Centaur Hill. The House of York set up a garrison of 1,500 men to be responsible for the security of the control gates. However, the rate of reproduction of the fish-people is amazing, and in just two years, the population of the fish-people on the Randall Territorial River Beach has reached more than 9,000. In another year, the beach fishmen will return to their original size of more than 20,000 individuals. The confused fishmen have always been bold, and they constantly try to tear down the berm wall, and the combat intensity and logistical consumption of the control gate garrison also increases. The intervention of the Randall family's guards can not only assist the garrison in establishing the fish-man death zone, but also achieve the purpose of actual combat training, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.

During the water season, the mosy of the fish-people was alleviated, and most of the fish-people took advantage of this time to return to the river to hunt, eat, mate and spawn, leaving only a small number of old and weak fish-people on the hard river beaches. This is precisely a good time for the escort team to practice in real combat.

Nelson followed Victor's orders and divided the convoy into two groups, each of 300 men consisting of 60 longbowmen and 240 infantrymen, who took turns to practice. The fish-men are weak, but they are insanely aggressive, and their speed and explosiveness surpass that of ordinary people, but Nelson is watching from the wall of the berm, and he will not intervene unless a fierce fish-man appears, and he will not ask the garrison to help. Nelson was ready to kill a few people.

How can a soldier who does not go through the test of life and death become an elite? However, the results of these rounds of actual combat amazed Nelson.

Over the past few days, more than 400 fishmen have died under the spears and arrows, and the convoy has been unscathed except for a few fools who accidentally fell and were trampled by their own people. Of course, such a remarkable achievement is not due to the fact that the family guards are brave and good at fighting, in fact, the hairy boys in the escort team are not even good at spears, but they have an invincible will to fight and terrifying lethality when they are united. The entire infantry phalanx was like a rainbow, as if a giant was constantly harvesting the lives of the fishmen. The results of the new tactics made Nelson breathtaking, and he was convinced.

"Crunch"

The heavy wooden door of the Temperance Gate Fort was pushed open from the inside, and Nicole took Victor's arm and walked out, she was dressed in the aqua blue noble lady's regular dress, and her feet were long leather boots, curly and graceful, and her delicate face was faintly pink, which looked particularly delicate against the background of the snow cashmere cloak. As long as she is with Victor, the cold female knight always looks happy with eyes like water and a smile on the corner of her mouth, but at this time she has a more lazy and shy style.

It was cold outside, but Victor was full of spring breeze. For the past two months, like most lords, he has been busy throwing dinners, visiting vassal families, leading his squires on a hunting camp, or having trysts with his lover. The leisurely aristocratic life that Victor did not expect to have a negative impact on the affairs of the territory, but greatly improved the efficiency of his subordinates. The lords indulged in pleasure every day, the upper echelons of the family no longer tightened their faces, the stewards became amiable, and the newly recruited deacons were relieved, and they began to devote themselves to their work with a more proactive attitude and made many valuable suggestions. In fact, the ability and insight of these deacons generally surpassed that of the Randall family's stewards, and with them filling in the gaps, the vassals' ability to work as stewards also improved significantly.

During this time, Randall's planting was completed, the third giant brick kiln was put into operation, and the main canal connecting Rose Lake to the first stream reservoir was about to be completed. Under his guidance, Lilia listened to the opinions of managers at all levels, improved the supervision system, reward and punishment system, promotion system, established the work process of village affairs and town affairs, and basically completed the construction of the internal affairs system.

Victor also began to build a military system, and he took the lead in testing the actual combat effect of the infantry phalanx, the core of the Grand Army.

The infantry phalanx was a new tactic for Nelson, and the battle was full of surprises. Victor didn't have much interest, it was only a small phalanx of 300 people, and he had already seen the power of the 7,000-man phalanx in the movie. Victor was bored and simply dragged Nicole to talk about life, and let Nelson take the city wall.

"Your Excellency, Madam. The boys of the convoy annihilated more than 100 fishmen!" Nelson exclaimed excitedly.

The Randall family members had never met Sophia, and in their minds, Nicole played the role of Viscountess Randall. Victor risked his life to save Nicole, and Nicole's territory was once part of Randall's territory, and she herself was a knight of natural awakening, and only she was worthy of the status of the mistress of the Randall family. In fact, Nicole's butler and attendants also regarded Victor as a male hostess, and in their opinion, Victor and Nicole's heirs would inherit both realms. But both Victor and Nicole knew that Sylvia was waiting to adopt their child before having the Yorkie family heirs marry her.

No family will let go of the ancient bloodline of the wind affinity.

Victor can't do anything about it, Nicole is a mistress after all, and her children can only belong to the York family. Sylvia had the idea from the beginning, she couldn't keep Nicole's people, and she wanted Nicole to complete the most important mission for the family. As for the ownership of Randall's territory, the inheritance of the heirs of the Alina sisters is still above Lilia's heirs.

Nicole didn't care, she just wanted to be with Victor now, and Nelson's title to her was satisfying.

The soldiers under the city walls finished collecting their arrows and were retreating from the battlefield in an orderly manner. Victor praised, "Well done!" Nicole stroked her messy hair, stared at it, and exclaimed, "What stupid!"

"The fish-man is really stupid, and he slams into the spear with all his might. Victor said with a smile. Nicole glanced at him and said, "I'm talking about those shields being stupid!"

"Uh...... Isn't it stupid?"

Nicole nodded and said, "Soldiers have helmets, shin armor, gauntlets, combat boots, hand armor, and protection for their limbs and heads. Why do you have to carry such a heavy shield? Isn't it too cumbersome? How can two rows of soldiers carry such a large shield?"

"My dear, the heavy shield soldiers are full-time defense and do not need to fight. This giant shield was actually a moving wall, designed to protect the spearmen and archers behind. Victor smiled proudly: "This infantry phalanx itself is a moving castle, the soldiers in the front row fall, and the people in the back will take over their positions to ensure the combat effectiveness and defense of the phalanx." You have also seen the effect of the infantry phalanx, both offensive and defensive, invincible. ”

Nicole raised her hand to straighten Victor's cloak and said softly, "Victor, I mean to say that the infantry phalanx is stupid...... You're not mad at me, are you?" Nicole turned to Nelson and asked, "Nelson, you've been through a lot of battles. Have you ever seen a Sarsan, or a Priest, form such a phalanx?"

"Seen similar phalanxes, mainly for marching. When fighting, no one uses giant shields and 7-meter spears, and most of the soldier squads are equipped with round shields, long swords, throwing spears, crossbows, hard bows, one-handed halberds, and flying axes. Nelson touched his head and added, "Madam, this new formation is a pioneering move!"

Nicole ignored Nelson's admiration and continued to ask, "Given you 300 Duoduo soldiers, can you break this phalanx?"

"I ...... I just rushed over and broke. "Nelson has cultivated the genuine Barberry Secret Form and the Spirit Monkey Secret Form, and has become a deeply violent warrior, his current physical attribute is stable at 24 points, and his perception attribute is 18 points, and he has mastered the vibration secret technique of the throat cutter, and his strength is directly catching up with the Silver Knight. He can burst out at speeds of 76 kilometers per hour in adamantite armor, and a longbowman can't shoot through his armor, let alone his speed. The infantry phalanx was no different from papier-mâché in front of Nelson, but he did not consider the infantry phalanx worthless.

"Madam, the infantry phalanx can turn those rookies into warriors, and give them the courage to fight side by side. The blood of the enemy will motivate them to grow. ”

"Courage is the castle of the heart, and there should be wise lords in the castle. Nicole turned her head and said solemnly to Victor: "Victor, Lady Sylvia does not approve of your strategy of the Grand Army, but I support you, but I do not approve of this dull, stiff, and useless infantry phalanx. Victor opened his mouth. "Listen to me, okay?" Nicole tapped her snow-white finger on Victor's lips and continued, "I started studying your infantry phalanx a few days ago. The key to the combat effectiveness of these recruits in the phalanx lies in strict military discipline, never retreating, never evading, and those who violate the order will be killed by their companions behind. Let's imagine what happens to this infantry phalanx when it encounters a prime-aged ogre wielding a hemlock tree?"

Adult ogre males are generally 2.8 meters tall and weigh about 1,600 pounds, with infinite strength, vitality and self-healing power, as long as the head does not fall off and the blood does not drain, even if they are pierced through the heart, they can maintain strong combat effectiveness. Ogre defenses are also jaw-dropping, their skin is covered with vesicular connective tissue, once the ogre is in a combat state, these fat particles-like tissues will release a steady stream of energy, and at the same time squeeze together, becoming very tough and elastic, the effect of defense piercing is better than ordinary fine iron armor, not to mention the ability to resist slashes and blunt blows. Anthropologists call this talent brute furry, so the fatter the ogre, the more powerful it is.

Back then, Bruce was close to the strength of the Great Knight, and he couldn't cut off the old ogre's arm with a Adamantite Halberd, although this had something to do with the old ogre's wisdom, but it was enough to show the horror of brute fur. Only military heavy ballistas and ballistas can shoot directly through the Brute Skin, and Victor does not believe that the longbow can kill an adult ogre, especially if it wields a hemlock tree.

The ogre's arm span advantage plus the hemlock tree more than ten meters long has already exceeded the 7-meter spear, not to mention that the spear is not a threat to them. With just one sweep of the ogre, the infantry phalanx will be wiped out, and strict military discipline will cause heavy casualties among the soldiers.

Victor shook his head and said, "That would be a disaster. But ......"

"However, a well-trained squad of elite soldiers can kill a prime-aged ogre with proper tactics and a little luck. Nicole took Victor's words and said, "Flexibility and mobility are paramount, and the soldiers work together, some of them use their heavy crossbows to attract the ogre's attention, and the other only need to seize the opportunity to plunge their short spears into the ogre's ...... of the ass. The enraged ogre would only tear off the spear, or it would be dead in ten days. Nicole blushed and said, "There will inevitably be casualties among the soldiers, but they are certainly much better than the casualties of the infantry phalanx." ”

"Honey, you know so much. Victor smiled affectionately. Nicole raised her delicate chin and triumphed: "Of course, I have received knightly education and have learned all kinds of tactics. ”

"Hmm. Still, I'm going to go on. Victor said, "The infantry phalanx you see is incomplete. In fact, the cavalry led by the knight was the main force to kill the enemy. The infantry phalanx was responsible for protecting the longbowmen and heavy crossbowmen, advancing layer by layer, dividing and squeezing the enemy. The enemy is like meat on a large board, and the cavalry is the knife that cuts the meat. Victor thought for a moment and said, "Of course, I can replace the heavy shield with a round shield to improve the mobility of the phalanx." ”

The most famous Macedonian phalanx was born out of the Greek phalanx, which replaced the one-meter-diameter bronze shield with a two-foot-diameter round shield for greater mobility. Victor had seen the film of Alexander's conquest of the Persian Empire, but he thought that the soldiers here were strong enough to maneuver with heavy shields. Since the heavy shield can't defend against the surprise attacks of large monsters, then it's useless, just replace it with a round shield, anyway, the soldier's armor is all-round.

"Your Excellency is wise!" Nelson laughed, "I always felt that the infantry phalanx was missing something, but it turned out that I was missing." Haha!"

"Hmph, you're fooling. Nicole pouted, "I didn't even say knights to deal with ogres." Victor said: "Of course, a powerful knight has to protect ordinary soldiers, and it is the knight's responsibility to destroy monsters like ogres, how can I be said to be cheating?" The strategy of the large corps includes not only tactics and arms, but also logistical supplies. As far as the infantry phalanx is concerned, it can effectively exert the lethality of ordinary soldiers, and the most important thing is also strict discipline. It is the duty of a soldier to obey orders, and as long as the army does what it is ordered, it will be invincible!"

"That's a good thing you said, my dear. Nicole stared into her sweetheart's sparkling eyes, and although her heart was full of tenderness, she couldn't fully accept Victor's point of view.

"Military discipline is important, of course, but you can't let soldiers die in vain, right?" Nicole sighed and said, "My dear, the infantry phalanx has two fatal flaws, one is mobility, and the second is stiff discipline. As...... Let's deduce it once. ”

Victor raised his eyebrows and said with great interest: "Okay! Both sides have the same number of people and the same troops, 2,000 hoplites, 3,000 spearmen, 3,000 longbowmen, and 2,000 cavalry, a total of 10,000 people." ”

"Ten thousand?!" Nicole said in disbelief, her eyes rounded. Victor laughed, "Ten thousand is less." How are you going to admit defeat?" Nicole gave him a blank look, turned her head to the servant beside her, and ordered, "Risson, you come to command." ”

"Yes, sir. ”

Rysson bowed to Victor and said, "My lord, can you start?" Victor waved his hand: "My phalanx has been arranged, the shield soldiers are lined up in two columns, the spearmen are in the center, the archers are in the back, the longbow has a range of 400 meters, and the cavalry protects the two wings. ”

"Where's the terrain?"

"Plains!" said Victor decisively. The infantry phalanx was most afraid of complex terrain.

"That's good. "I used the traditional tactic of 2,000 cavalry maneuvering around the battlefield in two groups, and the soldiers formed squadrons of 100 men, each with 20 hoplites, 30 spearmen, 30 longbowmen, and ten squadrons wandering around the enemy line," Ryson said. ”

Victor laughed: "My phalanx of soldiers turned into a circle. ”

"Hmm. Risen nodded in response and said no more. Victor waited for a long time and asked strangely: "I am in a defensive formation, stay put, you can start charging." ”

"My lord, I'm not a brainless fishman. Risen said aggrievedly: "I won't rush to the spear array." ”

Victor paused for a moment and stammered, "That'...... What then?" replied Ressen, "My archers are all scattered and free to shoot at your formation. Due to the dense array of your troops, every arrow is sure to hit, and the archers retreat immediately after shooting three arrows, it may not be easy for your longbowmen to shoot at moving targets. Victor gritted his teeth and said, "My cavalry pursues your archers." ”

"The archers quickly converged with their comrades, two or three squadrons shot at your cavalry, and my cavalry began to intercept. The rest of the shooters repeated the tactics of the front. ”

"Infantry phalanx forward!"

"The frontal retreat, the rest of the directions continue. ”

"I ...... I continued to chase. ”

"Your Excellency, you can't catch up. As long as you keep the phalanx, you will definitely not be able to catch up. Ruisen said cautiously: "You can't catch up, you can't hide, the discipline of the army does not allow the soldiers to disperse, my squadron of soldiers can take turns to rest, non-stop harassment, and your soldiers can't rest." Your cavalry has no infantry to cooperate with, and can only be completely annihilated by me. Without cavalry, you ......"

Nelson said bitterly, "My lord, we lost. ”

Didn't you say that the infantry phalanx was invincible in the world? How could you lose? Victor said unwillingly: "Your soldiers are scattered everywhere, how can there be such cooperation?"

"My lord, a soldier can really do it. Nelson muttered, "Squads have gestures, squadrons have flags, brigades have horns, and that's how we used to cooperate." ”

Victor looked up at the sky and said with a foul face: "100,000 people!"

"What 100,000 people?" Nicole looked dazed. Victor said seriously: "The greatest value of the infantry phalanx is to unite the strength of everyone, whether it is an elite soldier or an ordinary farmer, they can exert their combat effectiveness in the military formation. They work together, they ......"

"It's just too slow, it's too stiff. Nicole pursed her lips and smiled, "Honey, don't care about the church's reaction for now. Do you think that the slow army formation will be able to dodge the volley of the carriage trebuchet, and will the forbidden soldiers dare to dodge?"

Victor was speechless, he now hated those time-traveling dramas that advocated the invincibility of the phalanx. After thinking about it, it is not difficult for him to find that the most glorious moment of the Macedonian phalanx was in BC, and the opponent of the Macedonian phalanx was just a group of chaotic troops, and once they charged, they could not stop or turn back, otherwise they would be trampled to death by their own people. Although the Macedonian phalanx was highly regarded and won one victory after another, its own flaws were also obvious, and the Roman Empire soon broke the Macedonian phalanx, followed by the Hun king Attila to beat the Romans, and then the Mongol cavalry swept across Europe. The phalanx failed to defeat the strong enemy, but the Europeans were fond of each other, and the Spanish phalanx evolved into the Spanish phalanx, which lasted until the First World War. In the Battle of the Somme, the British troops were slaughtered 60,000 in one day by the Germans with Maxim machines, not because the soldiers were stupid or brave, but because the stiff tactics and discipline made it impossible for the soldiers to escape.

Due to the laws of the world, there is no gunpowder or oil here, and the history of human warfare for tens of thousands of years has pushed cold weapon warfare to the peak. Victor's copying of cold weapon tactics on Earth is tantamount to a schoolboy giving a lesson to a college student. Nicole picked a random servant and beat him.

Victor took a deep breath and said with a wry smile: "Honey, it's always okay for the phalanx to deal with Ant-Man, right? We will have abundant food and a huge population in the future, and we can raise an army of 100,000 or even hundreds of thousands. We can't just watch Ant-Man destroy our farmland. ”

Nicole shook her head and said solemnly: "Victor, Ant-Man will not collapse under any circumstances, but the soldier can't." The infantry phalanx will never be able to stop Ant-Man! We cannot let the soldiers die in vain. ”

Victor pondered for a moment, nodded and said, "You're right, the Ant-Man leader is more terrifying than the ogre. ”

"Nicole, I must admit that I don't understand military affairs. I need your advice now!"