Last time, I talked about the strong combat power of the "Japanese Invaders" who plagued the coastal areas, far from being able to be eliminated by ordinary Ming troops, and were finally defeated by the "Mandarin Duck Array" invented by Qi Jiguang.

The "Mandarin Duck Formation" formation is a team of 11 people, with the first team as the captain, and the second two people hold the "long card" and the other hold the "rattan card". The "long player" holds a long shield to block the arrows and spears of the pirates; The "rattan player" holds a light "rattan shield" and returns fire in time with a javelin and waist knife; The "Long Player" and "Rattan Player" mainly cover the rear team's advance, while the "Rattan Player" can also engage the enemy in close combat in addition to covering, because the "Rattan" is light and tough, and the defense is even stronger than that of the Long Shield.

The two of them are the "wolf whisters" and the "wolf whives". The so-called "wolf whizzard" is actually the use of the bamboo grown in the south, select its old and solid one, cut the end of the bamboo obliquely into a pointed shape, and leave sharp branches around it. Each "wolf" is about 3 meters long, so the "wolf" can use the sharp blade at the front of the "wolf" to assassinate the enemy, so as to cover the advance of the "shield player" and the attack of the "pikeman" behind.

Next, there are four "pikemen" with "spears" in their hands, two on each side, and they take care of the "shield bearers" and "wolf wielders" on the left and right sides of the front. This was followed by two soldiers armed with "boring palladium" to serve as guards and supporters. If the enemy attacks in a roundabout way, the "short men" immediately rush forward with the "short knife" to slash the enemy. The division of labor of various weapons is clear, and as long as each person is proficient in his own kind of operation, the key to effective killing of the enemy lies in overall cooperation and prohibition.

The "mandarin duck formation" not only closely integrates the spear with the shield and the long and the short, giving full play to the effectiveness of various weapons, but also changes the formation flexibly, and can change the column into a horizontal formation, and change a formation into two small formations on the left and right, or three small formations on the left, center, and right according to the situation and operational needs, so as to give full play to combat effectiveness on the spot.

When the "Mandarin Duck Array" becomes two small formations, it is called the "Two Talent Array", and the left and right "shield players" follow the left and right "wolf warriors", "pikemen" and "short soldiers" respectively to guard their attacks; When it becomes a three-small array, it is called a "three-talent array". At this time, the "wolf man", "pikeman" and "short soldier" are in the center, and the "shield hand" is on the left and right flanks. This changed formation is also known as the "Mandarin Duck Formation".

The use of flexibility and mobility in this formation just suppressed the superiority of the "Japanese Invaders" in individual combat strength. Qi Jiguang led the "Qi Army," and after the "Mandarin Duck Formation" method was drilled, he won every battle against the invading "Japanese Invaders" in the southeastern coastal areas, causing the "Japanese Invaders" to flee in fear when they heard the news.

In fact, this formation is mainly set up to deal with the Japanese invaders, not only convenient to move, both long and short, both offensive and defensive, and its formation characteristics in the ancient times that require the formation to highlight the unilateral use, can be regarded as unique, especially in the defense of unknown depth of foreign enemies, its advantages are very obvious.

After all, there are quite a few military formations with relatively comprehensive functions, but the problem is that those large battle formations are too comprehensive, and their shortcomings are that they are not flexible enough.

However, as a small battle formation, the main opponent of the "Mandarin Duck Array" was the "Japanese Invaders" who were the scourge at that time, and the situation was very different, because the "Japanese Invaders" did not have many numbers each time they went out, unlike the nomadic people, who were all soldiers and had to be served in large battle formations. Therefore, the "Mandarin Duck Array" is the most practical.

There is a way that "the treasure sword is close to Japan", because the "Japanese sword" of the "Japanese Kou" was born from the "Tang knife" of the Tang Army, and it is also curved while being lengthened. The "Japanese knife", which completely inherited the technology of "plane crushing and forging compound dark light pattern blade" developed in the Warring States period of Japan, is not only sharp, but also tough, and can easily cut off the sword of the Ming army when the waist knife in the hands of the Ming Dynasty soldiers is slashed, so that the Ming Dynasty soldiers are cut down by the enemy in horror.

However, the use of the "Mandarin Duck Array" to deal with the "Japanese Kou" with strong individual combat power is a miraculous effect, because the "wolf sword" has a very wide effect, and the "Qi family knife" is a one-handed blade and narrow long scimitar is the only magic weapon for the 60 or 70 cm "knife" and "wild knife" in the Japanese sword.

By changing the formation, this array can achieve the effect of "positive" against "strange", and it has made a great contribution to the later operations of the "Seven Years' War" (the Battle of Imjin), which took place after Qi Jiguang's death. Although there were countless military formations in ancient China, the "Mandarin Duck Formation" created by Qi Jiguang was a convenient means that could be used by professional arms to recruit civilians to train recruits in wartime, and it was also a landmark case of military training.

Before Qi Jiguang took charge of the army, the armies of all dynasties were valued for their personal martial arts, and the soldiers who could wield their weapons like flying were naturally heroes in the eyes of the public. Boxers, thugs, salt lords, monks, and Miao people from all over the country were recruited by the government and sent to the coast to exterminate the Japanese.

It was only after they had been repeatedly defeated by organized pirates that the authorities realized that the success or failure of a battle was not entirely determined by individual martial arts. When Qi Jiguang was training this new army, in addition to requiring the soldiers to be skilled in technology, he paid full attention to the coordination and coordination of various weapons in the small unit, and each infantry squad was equipped with both long and short weapons at the same time, so as to facilitate the flexible response to the siege of different enemies in different situations.

The 12-foot-long spear is an effective weapon of attack, but it has the limitation of having to keep a considerable distance from the enemy. If the enemy cannot be stabbed within range of the barrel of the gun, the weapon is immediately wasted. Therefore, Qi Jiguang made the following arrangements for an infantry squad: 1 captain, 1 men, and 10 soldiers. The 10 warriors had 4 spear-wielding men as the main force of the attack.

In front of it are four more soldiers: the soldier on the right holds a large rectangular pentagonal rattan plaque, and the soldier on the left holds a small round rattan plaque, both made of rattan. After that, there were two soldiers holding the "wolf bamboo", that is, a large bamboo with branches and leaves, about one foot and three feet long.

After the "pikeman", two soldiers carried "palladium" (similar to the "tridents"). "Palladium" is a mountain-shaped, made of iron, seven or eight feet long, and a rocket is placed in the recess at the top, that is, it is tied with an arrow that explodes, and after ignition, it can go straight to the enemy formation. This configuration is named "Mandarin Duck Array" because of the symmetry between left and right.

The soldier on the right with a square rattan plaque is mainly tasked with maintaining his position and stabilizing his team's position. The soldier on the left, holding a round rattan card, is to crawl forward and throw a javelin behind the card to lure the enemy away from the advantageous defensive position.

If the lure is successful, the two soldiers in the back can sweep the enemy to the ground with a "wolf skewer", and then have their spear-wielding partner leap forward and stab the enemy to death. Finally, two soldiers armed with "sharp guards" are responsible for protecting the rear of the team, guarding the flanks, and supporting their partners in front if necessary, forming a second line of attack.

It can be clearly seen that this 12-member "infantry squad" is an organic collective, and if the predetermined tactics can succeed, it depends entirely on the division of labor and cooperation of the individual soldiers, and there are few opportunities for individuals to stand out. It is precisely because of this that the main general Qi Jiguang did not hesitate to repeatedly affirm the importance of close cooperation among the whole team, and used integrated rewards and punishments as a guarantee of discipline.

Of course, this tactical rule is not static, when the enemy situation and the terrain permit, the whole team can be divided into two, becoming two horizontal teams and fighting the enemy; It is also possible to place the two "Palladium Players" in the back as usual, with the front 8 Native Pawns lined up in a horizontal row, and the "Pikemen" placed between the Rattan Players and the Wolf Players. The tactics formulated by Qi Jiguang only limited the use of firearms to a limited extent.

He said: "Firearms are used before engaging the enemy, and cannot be relied on as the main combat equipment. In the later stage of the training, he stipulated that the infantry team of 12 people was equipped with 2 bird guns, and the bird guns of a game (equivalent to a company) must have an infantry "killer" of a game to fight together. The soldiers recruited by Qi Jiguang were all simple and reliable young peasants, and the tactics of the "Mandarin Duck Formation" were also designed for the characteristics of these soldiers.

He once clearly pointed out that two soldiers armed with "wolf stalks" do not need special skills, and their strength is enough to be competent. In addition to sweeping down the enemy, this kind of "wolf stalk" also has a hidden effect, and can make soldiers emboldened.

In fact, the "Mandarin Duck Formation" used in the "Anti-Japanese War" was a tactic based on small groups of infantry, and its purpose was to deal with the "Haikou Bandits" and adapt to the terrain characteristics of the south.

The task of Jizhou Military Town is to defend against the large cavalry of Mongolia, so this new technology developed on the basis of the "Mandarin Duck Array" has begun to take shape on the scale of coordinated operations of various arms. The use of combat vehicles became an important part of this tactic. And the performance of the tank is mainly defensive.

Its shape is similar to the folk cart, the difference is that the folk cart box has a box board on both sides, and this kind of chariot only has 8 pieces of screen that can be folded, a total length of 15 feet, usually flat on the wheel, open and set up behind one side of the wheel to replace the cartridge during the battle, so it is also called "partial box car".

Dozens of chariots can be connected side by side, arranged in a round or square defensive stronghold. The two farthest sides of the screen can be swayed back and forth, like door leaves, for infantry to enter and exit. A chariot was equipped with two "Franco" light cannons, which were used to kill enemy troops from a distance to slow down the impact of the Mongol cavalry.

By the standards of later generations, this European-style "firearm" could only be regarded as a large-caliber "musket" at best, and could not be regarded as an "artillery". Cast in bronze or cast iron, it ranged in length from 3 to 7 feet and was less than 2 inches in caliber, and required a large amount of "black powder" to be loaded with solid lead bullets from the muzzle.

The largest "Franc machine" has a range of up to 2,000 feet, which is about 606 meters equivalent to that of later generations, far exceeding the range of bows and crossbows, and has great lethality. Normally, this "artillery" and the "bird gun" of the auxiliary "artillery" are fired from behind a screen on a chariot, and the screen is opened to serve as an outlet for the lead bullet.

20 soldiers were assigned to a chariot. 10 of them are directly attached to the vehicle and are tasked with casting the "Furlong Machine". The other 10 people are the "killers" emphasized by Qi Jiguang, and the task is to meet the enemy with "rattan cards", "palladium" and "long-handled single knives".

The distance between the "killer squad" and the chariot is kept within 25 feet (7.56 m), and if they advance, the chariot will also advance. Other infantry units still use the tactics of "mandarin duck formation", with the slight difference that the "rattan players" are supposed to crawl forward and specialize in chopping the hooves of the enemy's horses, while the "pikemen" are mainly responsible for stabbing the enemy and causing them to fall off their horses, and some of the bamboo "wolf stalks" have been changed to iron.

The mixed brigade consisted of 3,000 cavalry, 4,000 infantry, 128 heavy vehicles and 216 light vehicles. When facing the enemy, the cavalry blocks the enemy in front, so that the chariots have enough time to form a battle formation. When the enemy approached, the cavalry retreated into the chariot formation to avoid unnecessary losses.

If the number of enemy cavalry is less than 100, the mixed brigade will refuse to engage in battle, and only when a large number of enemy cavalry enters the range of firearms of about 250 feet, the Franco, bird, and rocket will be cast at the same time to drive the enemy away. "Mixed brigades" can also carry heavy artillery, one of which is commonly known as the "Great General".

This kind of heavy artillery weighs 1,000 pounds, is transported by mule cart, and when it is placed, it needs to use a large wooden wedge into the ground to fix itself. Enough "black powder" was placed in the barrel of the cannon first, but then instead of projectiles, it was tightly filled with many small iron balls and stones, which were used to kill and injure a large number of enemy soldiers and horses at a long distance.

After igniting the gunpowder, the "gunners" also jumped into nearby fortifications to avoid being injured by the explosion. As soon as the power of the "firearms" was brought into play, all the infantry rushed out from behind the chariots, forming several waves of attack and hand-to-hand combat with the enemy's cavalry, while directing the coordination of movements with the sound of horns.

When the enemy's offensive was thwarted and the formation was scattered, the cavalry of our own team also attacked from behind the chariot formation. This kind of cavalry of the Ming Dynasty is actually just "horse infantry", because the soldiers are too poor in riding and shooting, and the quality of the horses is not good, but they are also in the formation of "Mandarin Duck Formation", with different weapons in battle.

Such a tactic that was formed after careful study, but because the Ming Dynasty reconciled with the Mongols soon after, did not undergo the rigorous test of actual combat, nor did it have a decisive impact on military history, from a purely military point of view, this result is somewhat regrettable!

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