"There are many formations recorded in the ancient art of war books, for example, the "Sun Bin Art of War" during the Warring States Period talked about the art of war at the same time, but also summarized the ancient formations before the Spring and Autumn Period, and listed the 'ten formations', namely the square formation, the circle formation, the sparse formation, the cone formation, the goose-shaped formation, the hook formation, the Xuanxiang array, the water array, the fire array, etc., which shows that as early as before the Spring and Autumn Period, the people of the army have attached great importance to various formations. Fire and other offensive methods are integrated into the formation, so that the formation has a new content. Guo Songtao said.

"Master, according to the apprentice's point of view, the formation should be a very important content in the art of war, the art of war talks about military strategy, talking about actual combat tactics, and the formation involves military strategy on the one hand, on the other hand, it is also a tactical activity, in ancient times, the military commander of the commander of the army is very important to the formation, in the hanging temple, Beiyou has heard that the ancient military book has been handed down a lot, then, the formation content in the military book must be a lot, and there must be a lot to learn in the future. Xiao Bei lobbied.

"There were a lot of wars in ancient China, so the art of war was particularly developed, and there were many representatives of soldiers, such as Sun Wu, Sima Sui Tho at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, Sun Bin, Wu Qi, Wei Yi, Wei Wuji, Bai Qi, etc. during the Warring States Period, Zhang Liang, Han Xin, etc. in the early Han Dynasty, and there are many famous military books handed down through the dynasties, such as "The Yellow Emperor's Yin Fu Jing", "Liutao", "Three Strategies", "Sun Tzu's Art of War", "Sima Law", "Sun Bin Art of War", "Wu Zi", "Wei Zhenzi", "Jiang Yuan", "Hundred Battles", "Tang Taizong Li Weigong Asks Right" And so on, all of which are highly valued by military strategists, and most of these military books talk about formations, read them carefully. You can find a lot of profound expositions about formations, and you should pay attention to them in the future. Guo Songtao said.

"Master, you have talked about so many characters and introduced so many military books, when will you be able to read them all? Haven't you already read all kinds of military books and classics? You just tell your apprentice the important content you read, and the apprentice will no longer need to read military books and listen to you attentively, which will save a lot of trouble, right, Master?" Xie Jiayao deliberately made excessive demands on Guo Songtao.

"Since you want to learn art. You have to listen to Master. How can you do this to save trouble, you have to read the military book yourself, how can you let someone else read it for you? If you want to learn the formation, you must learn it yourself. Think for yourself. All Master can help you with is teach you some methods. Give you some hints to understand some of the experience if you don't use your brain. It is impossible for you to really understand other people's formations, let alone use them. Guo Songtao said.

"Master, Jia Yao just deliberately said that she didn't want to study, in fact, she was joking with you, usually, she is more diligent than anyone else in reading, not lazy at all, otherwise, how can she know so much about all kinds of flowers, piano scores, poems, scriptures, etc.? She is very happy to introduce so many military books to you, and she will definitely read them carefully. Xiao Bei lobbied.

"Or Beiyou understands me, Master, we all know that you just told us about military science, the book of soldiers, and the formations in the book of soldiers, and you are patiently educating us, and we all understand that just now, the apprentice was deliberately talking and playing, and the books pointed out by the master, how dare we not read them carefully? We are very interested and will read them by heart, so you can rest assured!" Xie Jiayao said.

"There are a lot of classics on the art of war, and it is impossible to read them for a while, although Jia Yao deliberately said that she was too lazy to read so much just now, but what she said also makes a little sense, after all, the old man has read some military books first, and the old man should tell you the important content of the military books that you have read, so that you can understand the ancient art of war first, and it is much more convenient to continue to study in the future, the formation theory in the military book is more esoteric, not necessarily so easy to read, but the folk legends are easier to understand, and the folk legends about the formation are also worth paying attention to, although the legends are not so accurate, but they are easy to understand, for example, someone summed up an ancient formation with ten numbers, which is very interesting, what they said is: 'One word long snake array, two dragons out of the water array, heaven and earth three talent array, four doors to the bottom of the array, five tigers and sheep array, six Ding Liujia array, seven stars of the Beidou array, eight doors of the golden lock array, nine characters chain array, ten sides of the ambush array', sometimes, folk war examples, strategic stories, legends of famous generals, interesting stories of fighting arrays, etc., are actually very wise, but also worth paying attention to. Guo Songtao said.

"What the master said is that some of the stories passed down by the folk are very exciting, and when I was a child, I heard some ancient war stories, such as 'Grass Boat Borrowing Arrows', 'Jiang Ganzhong's Strategy', 'Siege Wei to Save Zhao', 'Ambush on All Sides', 'Embattled', etc., which are very interesting, and when I grew up and carefully pondered these stories, I found that they contained war strategy and wisdom. Xiao Bei lobbied.

"There are also very wonderful stories about the war that tell ladies, such as 'Mulan joined the army for her father', 'Princess Pingyang guards Niangzi Pass', 'Liang Hongyu beats the drum', 'Mu Guiying breaks the heavens' and so on, the protagonist of the story is really a woman who does not let her eyebrows go, which is very commendable, Jiayao admires these outstanding female generals in ancient times very much!" Xie Jiayao said.

"There will be outstanding female generals in the future, for example, there will be outstanding female generals Xie Jiayao in this dynasty!" Xiao Beiyou teased Xie Jiayao and said.

"In front of the master, you dare to be naughty, it's too much!" Xie Jiayao said.

"If you learn the formation with the master, once you encounter a war, you can lead the troops to the battle, and use the formation you have learned to defeat the enemy, you may become a female general, you are the daughter of the general's tiger girl, and the granddaughter of General Guo Lao, who is deeply versed in the formation, it is not uncommon to be a female general, in Beiyou's opinion, it is very possible!" Xiao Bei lobbied.

"Jia Yao doesn't want to be a general, pointing fingers on the battlefield of swords and swords, this is not what Jia Yao is interested in, Jia Yao still wants to stay at home, write poems, paint paintings, play the piano, read books, live a good life with the people she likes, play the art of war, formations, etc. as a wisdom game of interest, and also understand some of the truths, isn't it good? Why be a female general. Xie Jiayao said.

"The old man understands, you want to play with the general's art of war and formation, but you are not a general, you have the mind of a female general, but you don't want to go to the battlefield to fight, you want the bird to hide beside your loved ones and live a sweet life, this is not a bad idea for a lady, the old man can't object to your proposition, he can only continue to teach you the formation, let you learn the formation, and use it to play when you are interested!" Guo Songtao said.

"Master, I won't tell you, Beiyou is also interested in the general's art of war and formation, what Beiyou really pays attention to is the other aspect of the formation you said, that is, the formation of martial arts warriors, can you talk about this aspect of the formation?" Xiao Beiyou asked.

"You are now a hero, pay attention to the formation of martial arts knights, this is reasonable, for the formation used by the general, you can use it as a reference, in fact, the formation of martial arts warriors is also very rich, all factions of martial arts, almost all have their own unique formations, the formations of each sect are often difficult to crack by other sects, and some sects even regard their own unique formations as a trick to maintain the safety of the sect. Guo Songtao analyzed.

"Master, are you saying that in addition to their unique martial arts skills, each sect also has its own formation, so is this formation only passed down from generation to generation within the sect and continuously improved?" Xiao Beiyou asked.

"Yes, the unique formations of the various sects of martial arts are the same as the unique tricks of martial arts, and they are also passed down from generation to generation in the sect, and they are not exposed. Guo Songtao said

"Master, can you give me an example to make it easier for apprentices to know?" Xiao Beiyou requested.

"For example, Zhang Sanfeng of the Wudang faction, in addition to having Taijiquan and Taiji Sword tricks, also founded the 'Zhenwu Seven Interception Array'. It is said that Zhang Sanfeng saw a turtle and a snake fighting in front of the statue of Emperor Zhenwu one day. Zhenwu Seven Interception Formation', he taught his seven disciples each a set of martial arts, these seven people became the Wudang Seven Heroes, if the two of them work together, they can attack and defend completely, and the power is enhanced; if the three of them cooperate, they can attack and defend, and their power is doubled; if the four people cooperate, the power of attack and defense is greater, equivalent to eight masters; if five people join forces, it is equivalent to sixteen masters; if six people join forces, it is equivalent to thirty-two masters; and if seven people are connected into one, and the formation is set up to resist the enemy, its power is extraordinary, equivalent to sixty-four first-class masters joining forces to attack。 This set of formations of the Wudang faction later became the trick of the Wudang faction. Guo Songtao continued.

"It turns out that Wudang, as a major martial arts school, has such a 'Zhenwu Seven Interception Array' in addition to Taijiquan and Taiji Sword, so that martial arts stunts and formation stunts should echo each other, if there is no Wudang's martial arts mastery, there will be no wonderful 'Zhenwu Seven Interception Array', and the apprentice's idea is not reasonable?" Xiao Bei lobbied.

"Not only the Wudang faction, it is said that the Hengshan faction also has a wonderful formation, the residence of the Hengshan faction is in the Hengshan Peak, the vast majority of them are female nuns, their swordsmanship is in the shape of a circle, dense and long, each move of the sword technique implies the power of femininity, when fighting against people, nine out of ten moves are often defensive, and a hidden move is used to take advantage of the void to attack. The Hengshan faction has a wonderful 'seven-person formation', seven people form a sword formation, the sword array is formed, hidden but not sent, seven swords can both attack and defend, seven swords are linked, there is no flaw to be found, its subtlety lies in the fact that there is no trick to break the move, each long sword sword tip, at any time can point to the opponent a vital point, including the head, throat, chest, abdomen, waist, back, flank, etc., this sword formation is very suitable for the characteristics of women's defense sword moves, very distinctive. Guo Songtao said.

"Master, you know a lot, even the sword formations of the Hengshan Sect you know, it seems that you have studied the various formations very thoroughly, and the apprentice admires you so much!" Xie Jiayao praised.

"Master, you said that each sect has its own unique formation, so, does a martial arts faction like Shaolin Temple also have a unique formation, can you tell your apprentices?" Xiao Beiyou wanted to know the characteristics of Shaolin Temple's formation. (To be continued......)