Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 516: Mo Dao Formation

In the entire army, the most elite are the vanguard.

The vanguard is the top soldier, the sharp knife used to break through the enemy's formation, and the pioneer leading the central army to charge.

But there are differences between forwards and forwards.

Some vanguards are used to tear apart the enemy camp and are the first to be thrown into the battlefield when the war breaks out.

This fighting style is simple and crude, and it defeats skill with force.

Other forwards will wait for the enemy to show a flaw, and then rush forward to make the final blow. This is the sword that is not sharp, but will kill the enemy once it is unsheathed.

Obviously, the cavalry under Chen Chong belong to the latter type.

Heba Yue did not dare to underestimate Chen Chong.

Back in the days of the Six Garrisons, the Houmochen family was also the commander of the Wuchuan Army, and Heba Yue knew how brave his brother Houmochen Shun was.

At that time, Houmochenshun led his troops in Wuyuan and held back the army of Po Liu and Han Baling.

When Erzhu Zhongyuan was about to kidnap Han Lou in Youzhou, it was Chen Chong who showed his extraordinary power and captured Erzhu Zhongyuan. From then on, his name as a fierce general resounded throughout the north.

Heba Yue felt a little regretful that brave generals of the Six Garrisons like the Houmochen brothers all went to Su Ze.

But on second thought, if he surrendered to Erzhu Rong, he would probably never be able to make a name for himself in this life.

Heba Yue sighed inwardly.

He looked towards Peng Le again.

The Youzhou elite cavalry is also very famous. Although they are not as elite as Chen Chong's cavalry, their lineup is also well-organized.

What Heba Yue was more worried about were the Modao soldiers in the central army.

Heba Yue didn't know the specific function of this special weapon, but it was obviously used to deal with cavalry.

Without knowing the enemy's situation clearly, Erzhu Shilon rashly charged forward. Heba Yue cursed him inwardly, thinking that he was indeed a brainless person.

After Erzhu Shilon's charge, Peng Le's three thousand elite cavalry from Youzhou also began to move.

However, Chen Chong's 1,000 armored cavalrymen did not move at all, and the enemy's Modao phalanx in the center also began to change direction at the order of the officers.

"General?"

The deputy general looked at Heba Yue and asked him whether he wanted to launch an attack.

"hold on!"

Heba Yue stood still as a mountain. He knew that the key to victory in this battle lay in Chen Chong's 1,000 armored cavalry, so he did not attack rashly but waited for the enemy's movement.

Erzhu Shilon's cavalry had already charged.

He was unruly by nature and always looked down on foreign generals like Heba Yue.

It would be better to kill him than to let him be controlled by Heba Yue.

After forming the battle line, he felt that Heba Yue was cowardly, so he simply did not contact Heba Yue and led 3,000 cavalrymen directly towards the enemy formation.

Erzhu Shilon has always had a knot in his heart.

He was originally the most trusted member of the Erzhu family by Erzhu Rong, otherwise Erzhu Rong would not have kept him to guard Hulao Pass.

In the battle with Chen Qingzhi, Erzhu Shillong was ambushed by Chen Qingzhi's white-robed army because of his reckless advance, and eventually lost Hulao Pass.

From then on, Erzhu Shilon's official career began to go wrong and he was gradually overtaken by the remaining Erzhus.

Erzhu Shilon was not convinced about this matter.

Especially in this allocation of official positions, Erzhu Dulü, who was of the same generation as his nephew, got the high position of Henan Yin, but he himself was the Governor of Qizhou, on par with Heba Yue, an outsider.

Erzhu Shilon wanted to show himself in front of Erzhu Rong.

What's so scary about Su Ze?

Erzhu Shilon felt that his cousin Erzhu Rong was just being considerate of their old friendship. What abilities could Su Ze, who was born as an officer of the imperial guards, have?
Who is Murong Shaozong? Although he is a relative of the Erzhu family, he was just a shepherd boy of Hengzhou before.

What about Chen Chong and Peng Le? Where did they come from?

Erzhu Shilon's cavalry launched a charge, and Peng Le on the opposite side also began to prepare for the charge.

In cavalry combat, mobility is the key.

Whether it is the charge of armored cavalry or the archery tactics of ordinary light cavalry, only cavalry that is running can be combat effective.

The Youzhou elite cavalry's military building ideas absorbed Yuwen Tai's tactics in Liaodong.

Give up some defenses, pay more attention to the mobility of cavalry, and strengthen the cavalry's combat capabilities at various distances.

Peng Le led the elite cavalry of Youzhou to charge out, but he did not charge directly. Instead, he kept his distance and began to attack with long-range bows and crossbows.

The front line of Erzhu Shillong was composed of fully armored cavalry. Peng Le's several shots were ineffective, so he decisively changed his formation and began to attack Erzhu Shillong's flank.

To Erzhu Shilon, Peng Le's attack was of no use, and he looked down upon Peng Le even more. It turned out that the so-called elite cavalry of Youzhou were nothing more than the tactics of the grassland cavalry, which could not break through his defense at all.

However, the opponent's mobility was better than his own, and Erzhu Shilon quickly changed his target and aimed at the Modao phalanx.

I will first destroy your central army and see how you can still conduct guerrilla warfare! Let's capture Murong Shaozong first!
Erzhu Shilon led the cavalry to charge towards the Modao phalanx, but was defeated by Murong Shaozong.

Originally, the biggest problem for the infantry phalanx was how to prevent the cavalry from attacking them.

Murong Shaozong had experienced the great destructive power of the Mo Dao against cavalry in Youzhou. He also used the Mo Dao to fight against the grassland bandits that came south, and achieved quite good results.

However, the two-legged infantry is still not as mobile as the cavalry, so the infantry phalanx can only serve as the central army on the battlefield.

But Erzhu Shilon rushed over so foolishly that Murong Shaozong was overjoyed and immediately ordered the soldiers in the front line to prepare for the battle!

The Modao phalanx is not just Modao.

According to the shogunate's military system, the configuration of the Modao square formation is as follows:
The crossbowmen of the army were arranged according to their numbers. Fifty men formed a team, each holding a crossbow and fifty arrows, and each man had a shoulder strap and a sword and a club.

Heavy crossbows, Mo Dao, hammers and clubs are all armor-piercing weapons. The Mo Dao phalanx itself is used to deal with heavily armored cavalry.

Erzhu Shilon soon paid the price for his underestimation of the enemy. When his front troops charged into the Modao formation, he realized something was wrong!
These sharp Mo Daos can easily break through iron armor. Only those warriors wearing double layers of armor can completely resist the damage of the Mo Dao.

But even these most elite cavalrymen had war horses wearing only single armor, so when they encountered this kind of cavalry, the Modao soldiers would specifically attack the horses.

For these iron lumps of armored cavalry, losing speed means death. The elite cavalry charging in the front row not only failed to tear open a hole in the Modao phalanx, but suffered heavy casualties.

In fact, in terms of casualties, the Modao phalanx that faced the cavalry's attack suffered greater losses.

However, the Modao phalanx was the central army of Murong Shaozong, and its number of men was far greater than that of Erzhu Shilon. A steady stream of Modao soldiers rushed forward to block the gap.

On Erzhu Shilon's side, the situation was getting worse.

The charging cavalry in the front row could not break through, and the cavalry in the back row could only slow down. Once they slowed down, the Modao soldiers rushed up from all directions, and coupled with the sudden shooting of armor-piercing heavy crossbows, more and more cavalry began to fall off their horses.

Only at this moment did Erzhu Shilon realize his regret.

He tried to lead the cavalry to break through, but at this time Peng Le's cavalry also rushed over.

Peng Le's cavalry switched to close combat weapons, blocking Erzhu Shilon's retreat.

Heba Yue, who was watching the battle, began to get anxious when he saw the changes on the battlefield.

So this is how the Mo Dao square formation is used.

But it was too late now. Erzhu Shilon's 3,000 elite troops were trapped, and if he didn't rescue them, they would be eaten.

But if he went to rescue, Chen Chong's armored cavalry had not yet been dispatched, and he might be killed if he rushed out.

In a split second, Heba Yue had to make a decision.

We still need to save him.

Heba Yue could not afford the consequence of Erzhu Shilon being killed in battle.

Heba Yue had no choice but to lead the cavalry and charge forward.

Chen Chong, who had been gathering his strength, smiled. The enemy had already revealed all his cards, and now it was his turn to play a card.

There are poems:
In the autumn when the White Tiger is in charge, the golden air is clear and the sky is desolate with majestic clouds.

The moon is solemn and the wind is sad, the ancient hall is clean, and the sharp light seems to have sound.

Why not cross Penglai and kill the whale?

Chen Chong's cavalry was like the Mo Dao. When he took the lead in the charge, it was like a sword being unsheathed, slashing a whale!
Heba Yue was already a top cavalry general, but he was still cut in half by Chen Chong's cavalry!

Heba Yue did not dare to fight, so he led the cavalry to break through Peng Le's blockade, and finally opened a gap for Erzhu Shilon to escape.

At this time, Erzhu Shilon did not care about his feud with Heba Yue, and immediately led the surrounding guards to rush out of the gap.

Heba Yue looked around again and couldn't help feeling sad. More than half of his 3,000 cavalrymen were surrounded.

However, he could only cover Erzhu Shilon's continued breakout until Yuan Tianmu led the central army to support him. Murong Shaozong also worried about an ambush, so he stopped the pursuit.

When the battle was counted after the battle, most of Erzhu Shilon's 3,000 cavalrymen were lost, leaving only 800 cavalrymen who escaped.

Heba Yue's 3,000 cavalrymen were also killed, with less than 1,800 left.

Faced with such losses, Yuan Tianmu knew that he could no longer fight and could only lead his troops to give up Wuyi.

Murong Shaozong marched into Wuyi, and he was ready to pursue the victory and continue attacking Jizhou, but Chen Chong raised objections.

"Commander-in-chief, if we continue to pursue, then Heba Yue and Erzhu Shilong will have to fight together. Although they have lost more than half of their troops, their trusted followers and elite troops are still there. After entering Jizhou, our army will have difficulty in replenishing supplies, which will give the enemy an opportunity."

Murong Shaozong also thought it made sense, so he ordered his soldiers to stop in Wuyi and not continue pursuing Yuan Tianmu.

Yuan Tianmu led his troops back to Jizhou, just as Chen Chong had expected.

At the beginning, Heba Yue and Erzhu Shilon could still stick together, but when they saw that Murong Shaozong did not catch up, their short honeymoon period ended.

Erzhu Shilon wrote a letter to Erzhu Rong, accusing Heba Yue of deliberately not coordinating the attack and waiting for his defeat.

Heba Yue could only write a letter to Erzhu Rong to apologize. He described the situation on the battlefield in detail and accused Erzhu Shilon of being reckless and impulsive, which led to the great defeat.

Not only did the two sides engage in written litigation, but even the soldiers in the army began to fight. In the end, Yuan Tianmu stepped in to suppress the situation and ordered the two armies to set up camp separately. This temporarily suppressed the conflict between the two.

Yuan Tianmu also wrote to Erzhu Rong, asking for support for Jizhou.

(End of this chapter)