Elephants have been trained by humans to become war elephants very early on, and have become another kind of combat machine besides war horses. Whether they are used to charge or attack cities, the role of war elephants is extremely significant.
War elephants are more commonly used in wars in Europe, and the famous Macedonian Legion, Roman Legion, etc. have all suffered from war elephants.
When the Persian dynasty was still at its peak, fifteen war elephants arrayed in the center of the military formation easily defeated the Macedonian legions.
One of the four greatest military generals in European history: Hannibal. At the beginning, his army also had a regiment composed of war elephants, but it was later cracked by the Romans, but at that time, it was not Really find a way to defeat the War Elephant Legion.
You can imagine what a shocking scene like this would do to the enemies on the battlefield when a behemoth weighing four to five tons and a war elephant wearing armor charge at a speed of thirty kilometers per hour. The visual impact and huge psychological pressure!
The destructive power of its charge is even more powerful. Its thighs as thick as wooden pillars can trample soldiers at will. The long tusks are no less powerful than any sharp spear during the impact.
In addition, the war elephant itself is high up and can overlook the enemy's height, as well as the spears, longbows and other weapons in the hands of the soldiers on the back of the war elephant.
In addition, its huge weight and thick skin and self-defense capabilities make the battle formation formed by war elephants a nightmare for both cavalry and infantry. No one is willing to make an enemy easily. Fight it.
The powerful mobility, defense, and lethality, including the deterrence brought by the roar, make the war elephant like the true master of war, an invincible and invincible existence.
Especially for war horses who are not familiar with the smell of war elephants. When the elephants even roar in unison, it is a disaster for war horses who have not been familiar with war elephants. They don't even need to be attacked by others. They will disobey orders and run away when frightened, making it difficult to pose a threat to war elephants.
But the reason why the war horse has been able to survive in the cold weapon age and on the cruel battlefield for a long time is that it has no fatal shortcomings, nor perfect advantages. Its perfect balance makes it do its job. , has become the combat animal that humans prefer to choose on the battlefield.
Naturally, war horses can outperform war elephants in the cold weapon era and can become an evergreen tree in the military. This is enough to illustrate that war elephants have shortcomings that are difficult for humans to overcome. Once this shortcoming is exploited by the enemy, the war elephant becomes Nothing to be afraid of.
Fear of fire is the fatal weakness of war elephants. No matter how humans train them, when war elephants face raging fires, the fear factor hidden in their nature will be completely exposed. Once a large-scale fire occurs on the battlefield, war elephants will Not only is it unable to injure enemy troops, it can even trample and destroy its own defensive formations when it goes crazy.
Without the enemy taking action, the war elephants after being attacked by fire will form a chaotic mess and flee in all directions. The enemy's camp will only remain in chaos and flee after hearing the news. At this time, they can only let others slaughter and wait. The battle was defeated.
Standing on the high platform, Li Hong and Li Zhe, accompanied by Lawless, looked around and saw a military formation composed of dozens of war elephants on the school grounds, confronting the cavalry troops.
In the absence of fire, in addition to the personal guards led by Yu Tuqi who had just joined, who could still barely engage in battle with war elephants by virtue of their superior mobility and strong control of war horses, the other cavalry It was already a mess.
Facing the roar of war elephants, war horses often muster up the courage to run forward for more than a dozen steps at the urging of their masters, and then show fear and stop moving forward without obeying the command.
Even when the war elephant faces it and before it even moves forward, the war horse will automatically turn around and run back, selling the owner's back directly to the enemy "for free".
Each of the war elephants on the school field has a solid elephant carriage mounted on its back. In the elephant carriage sits a soldier holding a horse and a crossbow, and behind the soldier there are two elephant-driving soldiers holding bows. Crossbow, the three of them formed a single courageous and invincible combat unit.
The three people on the back of the war elephant can either shoot or use their horses to fight the enemy when urging the war elephant forward. By complementing each other, they can condescendingly kill the enemy unilaterally without any suspense.
Beside the four war elephant legs, which are as thick as columns, each stands a soldier holding a sword and shield, guarding the lower body of the war elephant to prevent it from being attacked by the enemy on the chaotic battlefield.
A war elephant led seven soldiers, thus forming a combat group with huge lethality. It is conceivable that when such a group reaches dozens or hundreds, the huge destructive power it brings will be devastating to the enemy. What kind of damage did the military cause
Whether it is the Tang Dynasty, the former Sui Dynasty or the Han Dynasty, due to the limitations and environment of the Central Plains, as well as hostile relationships, the group forces that pose a threat to the Central Plains are in the west and north directions, so there are few wars in history. Elephant battle.
Now Li Hong has set his sights on the southwest. The war elephant, a combat machine that is still relatively unfamiliar to the Tang Dynasty, has become a "problem" that needs to be overcome by the war horse.
Lawless and others have led the Central Army's Futu Camp and conducted many simulated battles with war elephants, but none of them were able to break through the enemy's formation with overwhelming force like they did with other cavalry. It was strategically difficult. Take the initiative into your own hands.
Li Hong looked at the smoke-filled school grounds, where the sounds of fighting, roars, and hisses were mixed together. But even if he personally supervised the formation, it had little effect on the damage to the war elephant group.
Lawless frowned. When they faced Li Hong's gaze, their faces were full of guilt and embarrassment. When they were about to kneel down to apologize, Li Hong stretched out his hand to stop them.
Looking at the entrance of the barracks, the cannibal cavalry troops slowly came in, Li Hong said calmly: "As long as you lead your people to defeat them, don't worry about conquering the war elephants."
"Your Highness..."
Lawless still felt guilty and wanted to kneel down to apologize. Since the two of them took charge of the Central Army, they have been considered to be the most courageous and powerful generals under His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
But now facing these hundreds of war elephants, they suddenly became helpless, and their hearts were full of unwillingness and guilt, feeling that they had failed Li Hong's expectations.
"Don't worry, there are ways. Go down and prepare." Li Hong patted the two of them on the shoulders again, and then took Li Zhe to meet Saleh and others.
"Do you really have a way?" Li Zhe asked impatiently from behind.
Li Hong stared ahead with pride, watching the Central Army of the Tang Dynasty in the school grounds running around in embarrassment being chased by war elephants. His laughter became even more unrestrained, leaving no mercy for Li Hong at all.
"For a while, you pretend to be angry and angry, and then pull all these war elephants into the barracks in Qinling." Li Hong sneered and said to Li Zhe calmly.
"What?" Li Zhe didn't understand Li Hong's intention.
"To confuse the enemy, isn't Saleh smiling arrogantly? Isn't he so proud to see us helpless against the war elephant formation? Just follow him and say that you will drag all these war elephants into the Qinling Mountains and slaughter them..."
"You can't tell the truth, right? The Central Army hasn't figured out a way to conquer the war elephant yet, so what if they kill us..." Li Zhe saw that Li Hong's expression didn't look like he was joking, and there was even a hint of bloodthirsty in the corner of his mouth. expression, so he continued to ask hurriedly and nervously.
"Are you stupid? Those elephants will be of no use after a while. Kill them for everyone to eat, and keep the ivory for me. Also, keep those white elephants, which are dedicated to the father of Zhenla Kingdom. "Congratulations, don't kill those guys, otherwise the emperor will be in a hurry with you." Li Hong turned around and glared at Li Zhe, who looked a little frustrated because of the passive scene in the school grounds.
White elephants are tamed for performance. Compared with those war elephants that are tamed for fighting, they have no fighting power at all. They even have to bow and kneel in front of war horses, just like Bai Qi who eats and drinks in the palace. There is no difference.
The difference between Bai Qi and the wild wolf is that one is a pet and the other is a beast, there is no comparison.
"Then why did you drag the elephant into the Qinling Mountains?" Li Zhe continued to ask without giving up.
Today's war elephant formation in the school grounds has caused a lot of psychological pressure on him, so at this time, Li Zhe is like a bull's-eye, insisting on asking the truth. If Lao Wu doesn't give him a clear answer, he will Don’t give up.
There was even more worry and anxiety in my heart. Did the Tang cavalry really have no chance of winning when facing the war elephant
He could not accept this fact. After all, in his opinion, today's Tang Dynasty should be an invincible and invincible powerful empire. It should be an existence that no one can defeat.
Now these hundreds of war elephants left their most elite Central Army helpless. Li Zhe could not accept such a result in his heart, and even wished that he could kill them all to vent his anger just as Li Hong said.
But when he thought that only relying on these war elephants could he find a way to overcome it, Li Hong, who had been tempered for a long time in Anxi, began to understand patience and could not act impulsively like before.
So when he heard that Li Hong wanted to slaughter these war elephants, his first reaction was that Lao Wu was so angry that he had to stop Lao Wu's impulse.
"There is everything you want to know. How to conquer the elephant, there is the answer. Hard work and hard work are already waiting for you, but you have to remember that only you and Hard work know this method. Don't tell anyone. "
"Don't you even need to tell me?" Li Zhe looked at Lao Wu's confident eyes and gradually began to believe that Li Hong would not be stupid enough to deceive himself and others by killing the war elephants when he couldn't defeat them. Deliberately fake the image of the Central Military Forces as powerful.
"I've known it for a long time." Li Hong pushed Li Zhe, and then watched Saleh walk towards him.
(End of chapter)