Chapter 52: Invincible Mandarin Duck Formation
The ancients loved to grow beards. At the age of seventeen or eighteen, Zhao Yushu should have grown a beard long ago, but he didn't grow one in his previous life, and he didn't grow one in this life either.
But when he saw General Cao's big beard, which gave him the impression of a mighty general from the Three Kingdoms period, he couldn't help but exclaim, "Mr. Beautiful Beard?"
Although General Cao did not know the allusions of the Three Kingdoms, he fully understood these three words. Hearing the young man's unpretentious praise, he proudly stroked his foot-long beard and spoke more politely: "Sixth Master of the Academy, I have long admired you."
Zhao Yushu quickly dismounted and performed the rites of a nephew, which made General Cao like him even better.
Liu Jijiu came over and said, "General Cao sent someone to call me today. I guess the wolf whisk is ready?"
Hearing about the wolf-whip, General Cao was obviously a little excited: "That's right, Mr. Liu said before that bamboo is cheap and easy to get, but it's not sharp enough. So the craftsmen in my camp have been working tirelessly these past few days to forge more than a dozen fine steel wolf-whip spear heads, with white wax spear shafts at the back end. When operated by the strong men in the army, they are much sharper than bamboo. Today, I invited the chief priest to come and watch the men practice together."
Wow, fine steel, really rich.
Following General Cao to the parade ground, the soldiers were either training, resting, or standing guard. There was not much noise in the huge camp, which made Lao Zhao have a high opinion of General Cao's ability to manage the army.
You know, until modern times, the classical armies of the world, except for a few elite elites in history, the military discipline of other armies was as lax as that of refugees.
On the parade ground, General Cao brought the two men to the high platform for selecting generals. He waved his hand and a personal soldier ran to the side and violently beat the general's drum.
When the first drum beat stopped, the whole camp was filled with smoke and dust. When the second drum beat stopped, the parade ground was filled with noise. When the third drum beat stopped, more than ten thousand-man square formations were lined up in front of us.
Zhao Yushu finally understood a sentence from his previous life: There are more than ten thousand people, and there is no limit to the number of people.
General Cao looked at the audience with satisfaction and said, "All soldiers, listen up. Today we will practice the Mandarin Duck Formation. The soldiers practicing the formation will stand out in line. The rest of you will watch from the sides."
General Cao was a cultivator after all, and he used his spiritual power to amplify his voice, so there was no need for the messenger to shout
"Yes!" A burst of overwhelming voices came from the parade ground. Immediately, a large number of soldiers, led by their respective lieutenants and other middle and high-level officers, quickly lined up on both sides. Then, hundreds of soldiers holding various weapons ran into the center of the parade ground.
These soldiers formed a small formation of eleven people each, and then the ten small formations were arranged in threes and fours to form a large formation. Zhao Yushu looked closely and saw that it was the Mandarin Duck Formation. The fierce spikes of the fine steel wolf-whips looked particularly scary.
Then, another thirty strong soldiers holding long swords came on stage, three in a group, with their hands on their shoulders, looking very majestic. It seemed that these thirty people were going to play the role of the Liao Dynasty's Folding Sword Guards.
Soon, a captain came to the stage and said, "General, we are ready. Please give us your instructions."
"Get up!" General Cao shouted, and dozens of war drums suddenly started beating at the same time, with a thunderous momentum.
Thirty Folding Sword Guards shouted at the same time and rushed towards the ten small formations.
Because it was just a military exercise, all weapons were unsharpened, but the blades were painted with paint. Once hit, they had to fall to the ground and pretend to be dead.
According to past experience, the only way to deal with the Folding Knife Guards is to form a shield wall with large shields in front and stab with spears in the back. This method is good, but first you need so many large shieldmen, and secondly you have to ensure that the shield wall is not broken.
The Liao people's habit was that if you defend yourself, I will rain arrows on you, directly killing the shieldless soldiers in the rear, and not let the folding knife guards go up at all.
If you dare to send out light infantry, I will provide cover from the cavalry and harvest with the folding swords.
It's really hard to guard against, and it's really annoying.
Thirty Folding Sword Guards have already rushed into the battle formation, brandishing their long swords and starting to attack from three directions.
The soldiers in front and on the right blocked two long swords with their shields. A spearman in the back forced back a folding knife guard with a thrust, while the other spear was easily pushed away by the long sword.
What greeted them were two terrifying wolf-whips.
The front end of the wolf mace is covered with sharp iron spikes and has a wide coverage area.
One of the folding knife guards hastily retreated, while the other instinctively used his knife to poke it out. The next moment, the countless iron spikes of the wolf's spear locked onto his long knife.
Four long spears came out. No matter how he moved, he couldn't use his weapons because they were locked. Two white spots appeared on his chest. The first folding knife guard was out.
General Cao stood with his hands behind his back, looking calm on the surface, his eyes fixed on the battle formation, his clenched fists behind his back revealing his nervousness.
When General Cao saw the first folding knife guard's weapon being locked and unfortunately leaving the stage, he heaved a sigh of relief.
The Mandarin Duck Formation, which had made the first contribution, pursued the victory. Two shieldmen cooperated with two spearmen to block the attack of the long sword on one side, while the two wolf-whip soldiers, under the command of the captain, chased the other folding knife guard in front. After a few hits, the folding knife guard was caught by the wolf-whip and dragged over fiercely, and then was killed by the captain and the deputy team leader.
The last Folding Knife Guard watched his two companions suffer in rage and subconsciously wanted to retreat. Then the other Mandarin Duck Formations also dealt with most of the Folding Knife Guards. The ten small formations slowly closed together, trapping the remaining soldiers inside.
The swords were like lightning, the spears were like a forest, and the Folding Sword Guards, who were attacked from both sides, were all killed in a short while.
"Report!" The captain ran to the stage, his voice trembling uncontrollably, "Report, General, the drill is over. Three men from the Mandarin Duck Formation were killed, five were injured. Folding Sword Guards, Folding Sword Guards, the whole army has been wiped out!"
The captain's voice was so loud that General Cao's lips trembled. Before he could say anything, there was a sudden roar of cheers from both sides of the parade ground. General Cao did not rebuke the excited soldiers, but laughed loudly: "With this mandarin duck formation, our army will surely win. Long live the Tang Dynasty!"
"Long live the Tang Dynasty!" "Long live the Tang Dynasty!"
I don't know if anyone has ever heard the sound of tens of thousands of people shouting at you. This was the first time in Zhao Yushu's two lives that he experienced this. He couldn't stop shaking all over. If there was a background music of "Steel Torrent" at this time, he would definitely cry.
"Now that the formation is complete, I will write a memorial to His Majesty today. Mr. Six, you have made an invaluable contribution!"
Zhao Yushu wiped his eyes and said, "General, you are too kind. This formation was created by General Qi Jiguang. It has nothing to do with me. I dare not take credit for it."
General Cao was stunned. It was obviously the first time he heard the name Qi Jiguang. He searched his mind for famous generals but couldn't remember who this great man was. He could only look at Liu Jijiu suspiciously.
Liu Jijiu shook his head and said, "Last time, time was tight, so I didn't tell you. I have never heard of who this General Qi Jiguang is. But since this kid doesn't want to take credit, you shouldn't force him."
General Cao's eyes suddenly changed when he looked at Lao Zhao. What a good kid! He was so talented, but he gave his name to someone he had never heard of. The academy teacher was indeed indifferent to fame and fortune. So General Cao thought for a while and said, "In this case, I will tell Your Majesty that this formation was deduced by everyone in the academy from an ancient book. The ancient book was written by Qi Jiguang, and the specific time is no longer traceable. How do you do it?"
"Great!"
Liu Jijiu and General Cao laughed at each other, and they walked down the stage together. Old Zhao stared blankly at the soldiers who were still cheering below the stage, and couldn't help but look up at the sunset.
"General Qi, you are truly amazing"