66. Bow and Crossbow
This time, Zhang Ding made a desperate bet and almost all his family was betting. Except for a small number of soldiers and horses staying at the Wubei wall, all the rest of the people participated in the war. He didn't know how many people there were, 10,000 or 12,000? He only knew that there should be more than 2,200 cavalry among them. These people were the elites of Shiliwu and were also his greatest capital for Mr. Zhang.
A large number of infantry were concentrated in the middle, and a small number of crossbowmen were mixed in. The cavalry guarded the two wings and said they were guarding the flock. In fact, it was like a shepherd guarding the flock. The main function was to prevent the sheep from getting lost and drive them in one direction.
Zhang Ding himself was in the middle of the team, surrounded by 1,300 elite infantrymen, equipped with leather armor, zippers, crocodiles, ring-headed swords, round shields, hook inlays, battle axes, etc. These were his elite infantrymen. The twenty or thirty people closely surrounding him were equipped with the most advanced fish-scale iron armor at that time, with a "crown" protecting the neck and a "chip" protective arms, and the armor piece was hanging all the way to the thighs. Because the iron armor was heavy, in order to save physical strength, he did not wear armor when marching, and when he was about to charge on the battlefield, he would wear it on his body.
Generally speaking, more than 3,000 bandits are the core armed forces of Shiliwu. Most of them have been following Zhang Ding since they were selling private salt, from mobile robbers to powerful men sitting on the ground. These people are his basic positions. The remaining eight or nine thousand are mobs, and their biggest role in fighting is to be cannon fodder, impact the opponent's defense line, and consume the enemy's arrows and strength.
Su Yannian followed Zhang Ding and said, "General, I heard that the little emperor instigated the Yang family's soldiers to take down Yangshuwu without bloodshed. Our Shiliwu..."
"What are you afraid of? Song Cheng, are you worried? The guy cried and shouted to be the front line, but I forced him to hold him down. There must be someone who can trust in the dock. The army has already come out, don't say anything unlucky!" Zhang Ding whispered.
Su Yannian originally wanted to say something, but at this time he had to shut up. He wanted to say that if the enemy took advantage of the emptiness in the dock and sent a partial army to attack... But then he thought again that Song Cheng had more than 1,000 people under him, and more than 1,000 people were guarding the solid Shiliwu. Once the gate was closed, even ten thousand people might not be able to be defeated. Moreover, with their intelligence, the opponent had only three or four thousand people at most, and it would be fine if all of them were sent out. This place was only more than ten miles away from the dock fort. As long as Song Cheng defended for a while, the cavalry would be able to return to the rescue immediately. At that time, the inside and outside would be able to make dumplings.
It seems that this battle is definitely sure.
At this time, a burst of shouts came from the front, and the soldiers screamed, some screamed, and some shouted with force.
The messenger came to report that the army marched to the Red Eyebrows' camp and encountered resistance. Zhang Ding pointed at the tip of the whip and said, "Kill! Those who retreated will kill!"
The shouts of killing in front were even louder. Zhang Ding walked slowly under the bandits' brigades. Waves of soldiers rushed forward, as if waves were constantly slapping on the rock, but the rock seemed not a rock, but a piece of tofu.
After a while, the enemy was shouting in front of him that he had fled. The camp had been broken and the soldiers rushed into the camp.
Zhang Ding pointed to the deep and shallow gullies on the ground and said to Su Yannian: "This is the fortification built by the baby soldier? Is this gully not as deep as Zhang's calves?"
There were ravines everywhere inside and outside the camp, with horse-repelling and deer antlers scattered everywhere, and caltrops were scattered all over the ground.
Zhang Ding smiled and said, "Is this a child playing house? I thought these things could stop Zhang's army?"
It is impossible to block it, but it has indeed slowed down the pace of the army a little.
This victory made the robbers even more arrogant. Zhang Ding laughed wildly and ordered the bandits to continue charging, trying to take down another military camp in one fell swoop.
The fall of the small camp won some time for the big camp. At this time, the Yulin Army was ready, with swords and guns drawn out, crossbows and arrows rolled in, and ready to go.
The little emperor had not yet become addicted to shooting archery, but when the enemy approached, Niu Decao led people to pull him away from the array of archers. Now he was standing behind to watch the battle, and the guards around him held a large shield, covering him firmly.
"My eyes are covered, so why are you watching?"
Although the emperor protested, no one paid attention to him. Niu Decao had full authority in the matter of the emperor's protection.
The enemy was still a hundred steps away, and a Wu family soldier raised his bow and was immediately denied. The man was so angry that he jumped up to fight with the other party. Wu Chun snatched up and whipped him in the face.
"Assuming the command of all actions!" Wu Chun shouted sternly.
The facts proved that this whip might have saved his life, because Lu Qin had already walked over with murderous intent and retreated when he saw Wu Chun taking action.
The archers in the enemy began to shoot arrows, but there were no volleys, just scattered branches of arrows, mostly falling outside the camp, and occasionally there were arrows shot into the camp, but no one was shot.
The entire army originally relied on fences or shields to guard against the other party's arrows. Seeing this, they felt that it was unnecessary. How much casualties can this arrow density cause?
The only purpose is to determine the distance for the people in the battalion. When more arrows enter the camp, it means that the large force enters the range.
However, the order for the volley was still not issued. Umi was already very anxious. At this distance, she had already shot at least two rounds. Should she be closer?
The enemy went from walking to running, starting with trotting, then accelerating, the cavalry drove the infantry, and the rear team drove the front team, like a flock of sheep all over the mountains.
The vanguard had already arrived in front of the fortifications, and Wumi could already see the face of the enemy in front. Only then did the order come, "Bow!" "Shot the arrow!"
Six hundred archers all led their bows, tilted towards the sky, letting their fingers go, arrows flew out, drew their arcs in the sky, and flew towards the enemy formation.
At the same time, the crossbowmen also began to shoot together, and hundreds of arrows flew straight out.
The bow and arrow are shot. After falling into the crowd, if you look from a high place, you can see a black area suddenly appearing in the darkness. The shooting effect of the crossbow arrow is more intuitive, which means that a large area of enemy vanguards fell down instantly.
The crossbow soldiers shoot rounds, and shoot arrows according to the orders in each round, while the bow soldiers shoot freely after the first round of orders is issued. Ummy breathed a sigh of relief and could finally shoot arrows according to her own thoughts.
The shooting target was not seen in the camp, and the shooter just shot in one direction according to the instructions. However, after the shooting began, he heard screams from outside, and Wumi knew that he must have shot a lot.
Just as four arrows were shot, Wumi suddenly heard the order to stop, but she felt extremely unsatisfied.
It turned out that after being hit by a crossbow, the enemy vanguard immediately turned around and fled backward. They were originally a group of robbers, who came when they saw profits and left when they were not. Why did they fight for their lives to provoke such a big hedgehog?
But their leader, Zhang Ding, the big boss of Shiliwu, didn't think so. He was now like an excited cockfighting cock, waving the knife in his hand into the air and shouting: "If you eat someone's food, you have to work hard for Zhang! Go forward, rush up to me!"
His elite troops have not yet been dispatched, and all the casualties are cannon fodder, so Zhang Ding doesn't feel sorry for him at all.
"General, the thief's crossbow is powerful, and the strong attack is too great. It's better to let our crossbowmen shoot forward first and suppress the thief's crossbow." Su Yannian knew that he could not persuade Zhang Ding to return to the army, so he could only try his best to let him change his combat method.
This is a feasible move, equivalent to the preparation of artillery fire in modern warfare. The army of more than 10,000 people is always more than the opponent's 3,000 crossbowmen, right?
There is really not!
There are the most crossbow soldiers in the Yulin Army, with more than 700 people. Although there are only more than 100 archers, there are more than 600 people from the Wu family. Together with the combined archers, there are more than 1,300 people.
But there were not many people in Zhang Ding's team who brought the bow. As for using a crossbow, that thing was so troublesome! Some people were carrying a bow when they went out to rob, but they had never seen anyone holding a crossbow. They had to carry it in their hands. They couldn't even take it out if they snatched the stolen goods. Who would use that!
Zhang Ding shouted: "Everyone who can shoot arrows can go up to me!"
You have to move forward to the range! But at this command, the person carrying the bow was scared and retreated, "I can't shoot arrows, I'm just going to do it when I recite this!"
"Mom, I see that you are using a lot of hunting, so go up!"
Nearly a thousand archers were driven to the front of the formation, stopped a hundred steps away from the fence, and did not dare to move forward any further.
"Shot the arrows! Shoot all the arrows you bring!"
This is a rare concentrated shooting scene for the Shiliwu army. Thousands of archers shot at the Yulin military camp, which did form a scale, but half of their arrows fell outside the camp.
After a few rounds of arrow rain, the Yulin military camp was silent, neither screaming nor shooting at each other. Zhang Ding laughed: "Are these children scared by our army? Fight! Break them!"
Seeing that the camp was quiet, the robbers became more courageous. Under the cover of bows and arrows, they rushed up with a scream. When they rushed closer, they heard the horns in the camp ringing, and many heads suddenly appeared behind the fence, and the fearful crossbow arrows were facing them straight.
Chapter completed!