Caracalla once asked Koyi for advice on how to deal with the catapult, and Koyi also made two suggestions. One is to take a dispersed formation, and the other is to approach the opponent's trebuchet as much as possible. For the Daqin army, the dense army formation was their magic weapon to win, which determined that they could not adopt a scattered formation, but only braved the stone rain of the Han army to try their best to rush forward.
Since learning about the attack methods of the trebuchets of the Han army, Karakala has consciously organized the Daqin army to practice this aspect. One of the most important is to accelerate the speed of the attack.
When the Han army trebuchet launched a tentative attack, a stone smashed into Alani’s army. After two soldiers were knocked down on the spot, Alani and Klaus raised their broadswords almost at the same time. Pointing to the front, he shouted: "Kill!"
Two square formations of 80,000 Qin soldiers rushed forward together. After a period of special training, although their speed has improved a lot, the formation has not been too disorganized.
Although the Daqin Army still has a long way to go from the position of the Han army, this sudden change also disrupted the plan of the Han army trebuchet. The trebuchet that had just been adjusted in place had to throw stone bullets in a hurry, raining down on the Qin Army's phalanx, but only injuring the Qin Army's rear guards, but the forward escaped this round of attacks.
After all, the trebuchet is a professional long-range siege weapon, not a field weapon. Although the Institute has made many improvements and the operation is much more convenient, it is only relatively speaking. When they adjusted their shooting range again, Qin Jun had already rushed more than two hundred steps. As the distance approaches, most of the stone bullets thrown by the catapult will fall behind the Qin army's phalanx.
The stone bullets used by the trebuchet were all pulled from behind, which consumed a lot of manpower and material resources. As the commander of the former enemy, Zhang Chen knew that these stone bullets were hard to come by, so he was naturally reluctant to waste it at will. He immediately ordered the catapult to stop attacking and instead let the crossbowmen prepare. The trebuchet that once made Caracalla frightened, this time finally failed to regain its glory.
The Han army did not make the frightening "bang" sound anymore. Alani knew that Quyi's tactics worked, and couldn't help but be overjoyed. He waved his broadsword and rushed forward first. The Silesian Legion under his command also wailed strangely, rushing faster and faster, as if they were just a group of lambs waiting to be slaughtered in front of them. Indeed, the infantry of the Daqin Legion is very powerful. Looking at the world, they have the confidence to defeat any infantry opponent.
However, the combat strategy of the Han army has always emphasized giving full play to the power of long-range weapons and trying to avoid stalemate fights with the enemy. When the infantrymen of the Daqin Army rushed to two hundred steps from the Han army's position, there was a loud "bang". It was the movement of thousands of powerful crossbows being fired at the same time, and the sky was also dark.
Liu Xin knew that the soldiers of the Daqin Army wore heavy armor. Although these armors could not prevent the saber and the overlord sword, they could effectively prevent the bow and arrow from being hurt. However, after repeated experiments, the research institute found that this kind of armor was not effective in defending against the attack of the crossbow.
The crossbow needs to be stepped on with the foot and can be opened with the strength of the whole body, hence the name, but it is also conceivable how powerful this kind of crossbow is. The improved stepped crossbow of the Han army can easily shoot through two layers of leather armor five hundred steps away.
Because of this discovery, Liu Xin decisively gave up a large number of archers and instead equipped them with a large number of crossbows. The only weakness of the crossbow relative to the bow is that the time required between two shots is relatively long. Usually the bow and arrow are shot five times before the crossbow can be fired once, and the speed of loading the iron arrow is slower when the crossbow is stretched. However, if it can't effectively kill the opponent, no matter how fast it is, it doesn't make sense, Liu Xin still resolutely chooses to use a crossbow.
Originally, with the range of the crossbow, after the Qin army rushed through the range of the trebuchet, the crossbow could be used to attack. But considering that the Daqin army was mostly wearing heavy iron armor, Zhang Yun did not order an attack until the Daqin army was within two hundred steps. Although this reduces the number of attacks on the crossbow, it is easier to hit a hit.
The distance is close, not only can double the lethality, but also greatly improve the accuracy of shooting. According to the need to throw a few stone bullets like a catapult, test it, and then adjust the azimuth angle. All at once, tens of thousands of iron bolts mixed with a sharp piercing sound, and it came in an instant.
The Daqin army did not put the bows and arrows of the Han army in its eyes at all, and the people who rushed in front, whether they were spearmen or broadsworders, held a tall shield. But the arrows shot this time are different from what they usually encounter. These black iron arrows easily penetrated their armor, pierced into their bodies, and even passed straight through, continuing to hurt. The people behind them.
More than 10,000 iron arrows are nothing to the Qin army with more than 80,000 people. Don’t look at the dense rain of arrows, but many iron arrows will hit the same person, so if they can bring them to the Qin army The casualties of three to four thousand people are generally already very impressive results. It’s a pity that the Qin army’s formation was too dense, and the iron bolts fired by the Han army were really powerful. Almost all the iron bolts passed through and directly hit the second person. This wave of shooting fell on the spot. There were more than 5,000 Qin soldiers.
Alani rushed to the front. His martial arts were superb and as powerful as a cow. With a shield in his left hand and a broadsword in his right, he kept pulling off the iron arrow that was shot in front of him, but there was still an iron arrow that hit him. Rib cage. It was also Alani's carelessness. He didn't realize the power of the Han army's crossbow. Most of the iron arrows in front of him were drawn down with a broad sword. Only this iron arrow was too late and he blocked it with a shield. Who knew that with a "bang", Tie Shi drilled a hole in the shield, directly hit his left rib, and passed through his ribs.
Alani, who was struggling to charge, just felt a tingle in his chest, and didn't feel any pain at all. He didn't even look down at it. Because Alani knew well that his legion had no retreat. If he retreats at this time, he will face a double blow from the Han army's crossbow and catapult. Alani roared, and simply threw away the useless shield, holding the broadsword in both hands, slashing left and right all the way, like a madman, and quickly slew towards the Han army's position.
In fact, Alani's actions are all superfluous. Although the Han army's stance crossbow was powerful, the gap between the two shots was too long. The Han army made another salvo. After Alani ran for nearly a hundred steps, the second wave of the Han army's attack came.
This wave of attacks was more violent than before, because the distance was closer. Although Alani wielded the broadsword desperately, and there was no shield to block his vision, this time he was not as lucky as he was just now.
The iron bolt passed through Alani's ribs just now, and it didn't hurt his vitals. But he ran for nearly a hundred steps along the way, which greatly affected the wound. The blood flowed more and more, and Alani’s footsteps became heavier and heavier. Every step he took, he felt pain in his heart, and his sword dance movements became slower and slower. Finally failed to pull down the iron arrow in front of him, one iron arrow pierced his eyebrows, and three other iron arrows pierced his chest at the same time. Alani shook, and his huge body fell down suddenly, never able to stand up again.
Although the interim commander of the Silesian Legion died under the crossbow of the Han army, the other soldiers of the Silesian Legion did not stop and still risked their lives to charge towards the Han army's position. This is the benefit of Putimius's Songun policy. In every battle, the soldiers march forward bravely, holding the belief that they must die, and this time is no exception. Klaus was not injured by the iron bolt. Although the soldiers of the Egyptian Legion he commanded came from different provinces, they were not far behind.
The soldiers of Da Qin charged quickly. Zhang Yun clearly knew that there was no time for the third launch of the crossbow. He decisively ordered the crossbowmen back, the infantry separated on both sides, the heavy cavalry divided into four rows, and began to slowly face Da Qin. army.
Facing the cavalry, the Daqin soldiers did not have much fear. While charging forward, they slowly moved closer to fill the vacancy left by the soldiers whose casualties were under the iron bolt, and reorganized two dense phalanxes with spears. Reaching out of the shield, the Hedgehog Array, which specializes in killing the cavalry, showed its fangs again.
However, this time they were not facing ordinary cavalry, but heavy armored cavalry, one of the elite troops of the Han. The cost of building a heavy cavalry is five times that of an ordinary light cavalry, and the selection of horses and riders is very strict. Horses must be tall and capable of carrying loads, and people must have outstanding arms. With the wealth of the big man, Liu Xin only formed 20,000 heavy armored cavalry.
The closer the Daqin soldiers were to the Han army, their steps became slower and slower, but they stepped more firmly with each step. On the contrary, the heavy armored cavalry of the Han army got faster and faster, and finally got up and running when there were still thirty steps away from the Daqin army formation.
Just like dealing with nomadic cavalry, Daqin's spearman threw the spear in their hands again. However, unlike last time, their spears were not sharp enough to pierce the armor of the heavy cavalry at all. The spear pierced to the ground was also broken and broken by the warhorse that was also heavily armored. The heavy cavalry quickly slammed in front of them.
The distance of thirty steps is far from being able to raise the speed of the horse to the highest for the light cavalry, but it is enough for the heavy cavalry. There were four rows of heavy armored cavalry, with a ten-foot-eight-foot iron spear stretched out in front, far exceeding the spear used by Da Qin soldiers, and easily tore the Da Qin army formation by four big holes. The heavy-armored cavalry of the Han army smashed the past, no matter whether they were dead or alive, only a pool of mud was left on the ground.
At this moment, Zhang Yun waved the long spear in his hand. The Han infantry, who had already suffocated their strength, rushed up with their long spears and wielded the tyrant sword, and went straight into the Qin army formation, starting a life and death battle. The desperate fight.