The second competition was archery. Each soldier shot three arrows, and any arrow that hit the red center of the target counted as one point.
That is to say, in this competition, the highest score each guard can get is thirty points, and the lowest score is zero.
While everyone was resting, the palace servants had already moved 52 archery targets in a well-trained manner, arranged them in groups of two at a certain distance on the south side of the martial arts field.
Each guard post used two targets, and the commanders led the troops to the corresponding positions.
The dynasty's requirement for soldiers' bows and arrows is to be able to hit the target at a distance of fifty steps. In the military imperial examination, the requirement for military candidates is to be able to hit the target at a distance of eighty steps.
The distance for the martial arts competition is sixty steps.
Soldiers usually practiced archery in the garrison, using straw man targets. As long as they hit the straw man, whether it was the head, chest or limbs, they would pass. Although the distance of the martial arts competition was similar to that of normal training, the bull's eye of the target was only the size of a pancake. If a soldier did not practice diligently, it would not be easy to hit the bull's eye. This also reflected the strength of a garrison.
On the high platform, Emperor Jingshun stroked his beard.
The archery competition is the simplest, but it is also very pleasing to the eye to see those tall and upright soldiers lined up in front, taking turns to draw their bows and shoot arrows, with the arrows whizzing past.
Soon, Emperor Jingshun turned his attention to Daxing Zuowei.
The first one to take the field from the Daxing Left Guard was still Gao Dazhuang. His thin physique also made Gao Dazhuang the first soldier whose name Emperor Jingshun remembered during today's competition.
When Gao Dazhuang was taking arrows from the quiver, several soldiers from the nearby guard posts looked over subconsciously, including those who were supposed to shoot arrows, who all wanted to watch Gao Dazhuang's performance before starting.
Qin Wei and others were also worried.
Their commander, the prince consort, was really not afraid of losing and did not arrange any special training for them. During these three days, Gao Dazhuang had been cooking in the kitchen and only slept with them at night.
It is said that before Gao Dazhuang fell ill, he was not only extremely strong, but also a good archer who specialized in using heavy bows. Now his supernatural powers are gone, and he has been idle for more than three years. Is his accuracy still there
They were curious about this question but did not dare to ask it, for fear of poking Gao Dazhuang's scar and making him feel uncomfortable.
Chen Jingzong stood aside, watching with a casual attitude, as if he didn't care whether Gao Dazhuang hit the target or not.
The competition used ordinary bows and arrows. Gao Dazhuang was just not as strong as the other soldiers at the moment, but he still had enough strength to shoot a few arrows.
He struck a pose.
The first arrow hit the target, but outside the bull's eye.
There were some noises coming from the soldiers in the nearby garrison, but Gao Dazhuang pretended not to hear them. He shook his hands and took out the second arrow.
This time, he shot outside the bull's eye, which also counted as one point!
Qin Wei and others showed joy on their faces!
Gao Dazhuang's third arrow hit the center of the bull's eye!
Although any arrow shot into the bull's eye only counts one point, this last arrow is enough to prove Gao Dazhuang's excellent archery skills!
Gao Dazhuang turned around with a smile and handed the bow in his hand to Qin Wei.
The nine men from the Daxing Left Guard were as happy as Gao Dazhuang, but the soldiers ranked first in the nearby guards were secretly sweating. Gao Dazhuang was such a good shooter, wouldn't they be laughed at if they didn't perform as well as Gao Dazhuang
These people took action one after another.
Some people hit the target with two arrows, more people only hit the target with one arrow, and some people even hit the target with all three arrows!
The faces of the commanders standing nearby turned pale. Their gloomy faces put even more pressure on the soldiers who were about to take action next!
Emperor Jingshun snorted, looked away and continued to look at the top-ranked guards, including the Jinyiwei.
Wanyi was muttering something in a low voice. Huayang lowered his head slightly and found that the little girl was helping Daxing Zuowei count the scores.
The second competition ended quickly. The ten men from Daxing Zuowei were hit by a total of twenty arrows, which amounted to twenty points, ranking seventh again.
Wanyi was very happy: "As long as we don't perform too badly in the next competition, Fourth Uncle should be able to get into the top ten this time!"
From the last place to the top ten in an instant, in Wanyi's opinion, Fourth Uncle is already very impressive!
Hua Yang smiled and said, "Just wait and see. The third round has always been the most interesting of the ten competitions."
Wanyi was a little confused. Was hand-to-hand combat the same as wrestling
Imagining the two soldiers fighting each other with red faces and thick necks, Wanyi was not in high spirits and was only concerned about the situation on Fourth Uncle's side.
.
The third match was a hand-to-hand fight.
It sounds like wrestling, but if there are only two people fighting alone, 260 people have to compete in rounds, which is too slow and cannot be finished in half a day.
Therefore, the hand-to-hand combat was a mixed fight, with 260 soldiers standing in a circle at once, and anyone could fight anyone they wanted. When only 26 soldiers were left in the circle, the competition was declared over, and each of the 26 soldiers was counted as 5 points. If 10 of them were from the same garrison, the garrison would get a full score of 50 points, which was almost equal to the total of the full scores of the first two competitions.
In order to be fair, all soldiers in this competition had to take off their outer clothes to prevent some soldiers from being afraid of the reputation of other guards, such as the Jinyiwei, from taking action.
After all, so many soldiers had just met today and were busy competing with each other. They had no time to remember the appearances of other garrison soldiers and basically recognized the garrison by looking at the patches.
The two-quarter-hour rest period is also the time for commanders to arrange tactics.
Jinyiwei commander Liu Shou, Jinwu vanguard commander Qi Jin, and Yulin Zuowei commander Lu Wangshan stood together.
In the past five years, these three guards have always occupied the top three positions. The Jinyiwei is firmly in the first place, and the Jinwu Vanguard and Yulin Zuowei are both trying to compete for the second and third places.
The Jinyiwei represented the emperor, so the commanders of other guards gave face to the Jinyiwei and asked the soldiers to give way to them. The Jinwu Vanguard and Yulin Left Guard formed an alliance with the Jinyiwei. Thirty soldiers gathered together, which showed their identities even without patches. The soldiers of other guards simply gave way to these thirty people.
In that case, why bother thinking of any tactics? Just blend in with the crowd and pretend to be working hard, and perform a few times for the emperor to see and make him happy!
When Qi Jin was talking to Liu Shou and Lu Wangshan, his eyes glanced at Chen Jingzong.
Chen Jingzong was surrounded by ten soldiers from Daxing Zuowei, forming a small circle and talking seriously about something.
But the final battle is a test of numbers. No matter how united Chen Jingzong's ten men are, it will be useless if they do not form an alliance.
Liu Shou also glanced at Chen Jingzong.
Chen Jingzong is the emperor's son-in-law. If Chen Jingzong comes to him for an alliance, he will definitely give Chen Jingzong face and let Chen Jingzong get second place this year.
But Chen Jingzong had no intention of forming an alliance and did not even understand the look he gave him. How could Liu Shou, representing the emperor, take the initiative to win over Chen Jingzong
Fortunately, in the third round, only the Jinyiwei, Jinwu Vanguard and Yulin Zuowei could get points. The scores of the other guards in the first two rounds were the final scores. Chen Jingzong's seventh place was already secured, and it was very glorious to tell others about it, as he did not embarrass the emperor.
Lu Wangshan was thirty-nine years old. He smiled and squeezed Qi Jin's shoulder: "Last time, you took second place. Can you let us keep a few more people in the garrison this year?"
After two games, Yulin Zuowei currently ranks third in total points, only three points less than Jinwu Qianwei.
There are twenty-six places, and the Jinyiwei occupy ten, leaving sixteen. If Qi Jin is willing to let the Yulin Zuowei keep nine people, and Qi Jin only keeps seven, the Yulin Zuowei will be able to overtake.
Qi Jin smiled and said, "How about you and I each keep eight people and tie for second place?"
Lu Wangshan was slightly startled, then laughed: "Okay!"
After all, Qi Jin is the queen's nephew and young, so it is understandable that he wants to get second place again.
After agreeing on a gathering place for their thirty men, the three commanders went to give instructions to the soldiers separately.
Qi Jin did not notice that Chen Jingzong had contacted the commanders of other garrisons until the 260 soldiers took off their outer coats and were led by palace servants into the red circle drawn in the middle of the martial arts field.
The red circle was very large, with 260 soldiers crowded in the middle. They were all tall and stood densely together, making it difficult to find other soldiers in the same guard post in a short time.
When the time came, drums roared and the third competition officially began!
The soldiers subconsciously dispersed first, putting distance between themselves and other soldiers.
The people on the platform saw clearly that a group of soldiers rushed through the crowd that had not yet taken action and quickly gathered on the southeast side of the red circle. There were exactly thirty of them.
The thin and weak Gao Dazhuang did not run anywhere. As soon as the drum sounded, several soldiers from other garrisons nearby looked at him with ill intentions. After all, everyone knew he was Gao Dazhuang. Gao Dazhuang suddenly covered his chest and screamed, then fell to the ground, rolling in pain!
The soldiers who had already stretched out their arms and were ready to kill the Daxing Left Guard first: …
Was he so scared that he fainted, or was someone killed
No matter which one, they withdrew their hands silently.
Some soldiers rushed towards the direction of the shouting with anxious looks. The soldiers around them guessed that they were all from Daxing Zuowei. After all, Gao Dazhuang might have been in trouble. Who would dare to stop the people from Daxing Zuowei at this time
The unrelated soldiers stood there for a moment, then quickly reacted and left to find their brothers in their own guard post!
Everyone was running, and the number of people left in the center of the circle was the least, but in fact there were still quite a few. In the end, there were forty-nine people who surrounded Gao Dazhuang, including Gao Dazhuang who jumped up, there were exactly fifty people.
These fifty people all came from the five guards that ranked last in the last martial arts competition, and were also the five guards next to each other in the formation this time, namely, Daxing Left Guard (ranked last), Yanshan Rear Guard (ranked second to last), Fujun Vanguard (ranked third to last), Wuxiang Right Guard (ranked fourth to last), and Jiyang Guard (ranked fifth to last).
Without the patch, Emperor Jingshun did not recognize the forty-nine people except Gao Dazhuang, but he had already reacted and said to Chen Tingjian in surprise: "When did the prince consort form an alliance?"
When he was taking a break just now, he was also paying attention to his son-in-law's movements. He was always with Gao Dazhuang and others.
Chen Tingjian guessed, "Since they were far away, he might have secretly exchanged glances with the other four commanders."
The prince said, "It could also be that the soldiers of the five guards passed the message to each other, and everyone stared at the commander and ignored the soldiers."
Chen Tingjian nodded approvingly: "Your Highness, what you said makes sense."
The prince smiled and said, "Even if other guards form an alliance, they still have to agree on a meeting place. Daxing Zuowei has Gao Dazhuang, and everyone knows him, so it's more convenient to gather!"
Even as they were talking, Gao Dazhuang and fifty other people had already started attacking the scattered soldiers around them!
Even if some garrisons had all ten men gathered together, how could they be a match for the "large army" of fifty people
These fifty men were like a gust of wind, sweeping all the stragglers out of the circle wherever they passed. Some of the stragglers were unwilling to give up and wanted to pull another one along to "die together" when they were about to get out of the circle, but they could not resist the enemy's large number of people, and Gao Dazhuang cleverly hid behind them every time, leaving them with no choice but to "die alone" in frustration!
There is another trend in the circle, and that is the thirty people from the Jinyiwei, Jinwu vanguard, and Yulin Zuowei!
The twenty-six commanders standing on one side outside the circle had seen through the strategy of Chen Jingzong's five commanders to unite as early as the beginning!
A commander who was destined to be eliminated said as if he was enjoying a good show: "The guards of Lord Liu, Lord Qi, and Lord Lu are all elite soldiers. I wonder if they can show His Majesty that we can defeat the enemy with fewer troops today."
Liu Shou had to be modest, of course. He looked at Chen Jingzong and said bitterly, "Your Highness, your plan is great. You can also compete for first place this year."
Chen Jingzong smiled and said, "Your Excellency, it's too early to say that. We are just small fry. Although we have more people, the outcome is still uncertain."
Liu Shou looked into the circle. At this time, there were only eighty soldiers left, fifty on the left and thirty on the right, and they were about to engage in a head-on confrontation!
(End of this chapter)