Chapter 371 The Might of the Beiwei Army

After giving his son a boost of encouragement, Gao Yuan said nothing more, simply watching the soldiers opposite him, who were fired up by some mysterious power.

Gao Yuan was an atheist, but he respected and even envied those who had faith. All religions had their own significance for existing, but he believed the fundamental prerequisite was that they must be kept separate from politics and military affairs.

Take the Abbasid Caliphate, for instance; a major goal of their wars was proselytization. In the places they conquered, if people did not convert, they were either reduced to slavery and forced to pay humiliating taxes, or their entire families would be wiped out.

Buddhism was the same. In the original timeline, the earliest proselytizers were warlords like Ze Rong in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, whose goal was to brainwash people to control the population, land, and wealth—which was practically the standard procedure for rebellion.

Later, when it spread to Japan and lost the suppression of a strong central government, it immediately transformed into an entity akin to a warlord.

Seeing the missionaries opposite continuing to incite the soldiers, Gao Yuan suddenly wondered if he should also boost his own troops' morale, and he began racking his brains to formulate a speech.

Just as he was wondering what to do, he suddenly spotted the Dragon Banner on the command platform.

That's right, the Dragon Banner. Zhao Xiyao had given it to him specifically, saying that having it by his side would be like her accompanying him.

Previously, Gao Yuan had scoffed at it. In his view, this thing was purely a tool to draw aggro; placing it on the battlefield was equivalent to telling others, "I'm right here, come and kill me!"

This was also why, on the battlefield, even the armor worn by emperors was dark-colored, intended to avoid being too conspicuous and becoming a target for everyone.

Generals in TV dramas who strut around with two chicken feathers stuck in their heads looking like they're wearing foundation are the first type of people he would shoot, just like Alauddin Riayat Shah on the other side right now.

But now, Gao Yuan decided to learn from the tactics of the protagonist of 'Shao Song', "Psyduck," and move the Dragon Banner forward to boost morale.

To Gao Yuan's surprise, as the Dragon Banner arrived at the vanguard camp, he could feel the morale of the soldiers shift. It turned out this move really was effective.

Looking at the luxurious carriage—whether it was pure gold, gold-plated, or gilded, shaped like a pavilion, and surrounded by handmaidens—Gao Yuan smiled, patted his son on the shoulder, and leaned in to whisper in his ear:

"See that cocky guy? When you get a chance later, shoot him first."

Crown Prince Zhao Cheng naturally saw the cocky Sultan's heir, but after assessing the distance, he shook his head:

"I'm afraid not, it's too far."

"Don't worry, I'll take some men and get you closer later."

The people nearby were truly envious of the little guy, Crown Prince Zhao Cheng. Just because his archery was good, he could be so close to Prince of Tang. It seemed this guy was destined for greatness, and they needed to get on his good side quickly.

As those missionaries left one by one, the morale of the Aceh soldiers reached its peak. Then, following a command that sounded like a rap performance of singing and dancing, the soldiers roared and charged forward.

There was no formation, nor any rhythm; they just charged over the hills and plains like mad dogs.

"Eight hundred paces!"

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

The core combat force led personally by Gao Yuan lacked nothing. At a distance of eight hundred paces, they had already entered the lethal range of the triple-bow bed crossbows. This time, they were equipped with Jackdaw Arrows; iron buckets were tied to the crossbow strings, each containing dozens of arrows.

Thirty bed crossbows fired over a thousand arrows at once, causing massive casualties at this range. But that wasn't all; soon, the deafening sound of artillery fire rang out again.

The Shenji Camp showed its might once again. This time, Gao Yuan had brought new ammunition, which gave the Shenji Camp's artillery sufficient utility, allowing them to fire five full volleys during today's decisive battle.

No matter how fanatical the religious zealots were, they were still flesh and blood born of parents. Facing such ultra-long-range strikes, many Aceh soldiers were stunned, hesitating and not daring to continue the charge.

The Sultan's heir, who had just been lying lazily in his golden carriage, immediately widened his eyes, angrily spouted off a bunch of gibberish, and then several burly men left his side.

Next, Gao Yuan watched a scene through his binoculars: those burly men wielded large blades, slaughtering dozens of people like they were chopping chickens or vegetables.

With the appearance of these men, the hesitation of the Aceh soldiers vanished. They raised their weapons and continued to roar as they charged toward the Qian Army.

The triple-bow bed crossbows fired three volleys and then withdrew; the artillery fired six full volleys and also pulled back. At this point, the distance between the two sides was less than three hundred paces, and it was the turn of the crossbowmen to strike.

Compared to archers, crossbowmen were easier to train. With the help of some data and blueprints brought back from the future, along with Princess Consort Huang Yueying's research, the Qian Army soldiers were now equipped with Tang Dynasty Bozhang crossbows.

Although the range of the Tang Dynasty's Bozhang crossbow was slightly inferior to the Song Dynasty's Shenbi crossbow—only two hundred and eighty paces—it was already an A-rank existence in this era.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

Thousands of arrows shot toward the Aceh people like a dense rain. These fanatical soldiers, who didn't even have coarse cloth clothes on their bodies, fell like wheat being harvested.

The two thousand soldiers of the Xuanjia Army in the first row stood up and retreated immediately after firing, while the soldiers in the second row stepped forward and pulled the triggers according to the command. This was the four-stage shooting method proposed by Gao Yuan.

Historically, the Ming army was the first to use the three-stage method to compensate for the slow loading speed of matchlock muskets, increasing shooting efficiency and density. Gao Yuan, wanting to further increase density, chose the four-stage method.

Two hundred paces—this distance became a purgatory battlefield. These Aceh soldiers fell row by row like wheat being harvested, and blood quickly stained the grass and the soil beneath it red.

In less than half an hour, the Qian Army had reaped the lives of over ten thousand people using long-range strikes. Under normal circumstances, with such high lethality, the enemy army would have already collapsed.

However, these fanatical soldiers showed no intention of retreating; they continued to roar and charge, completely ignoring the dense arrows of the crossbowmen. This kind of fearless courage finally allowed them to charge within a distance of one hundred paces.

If they didn't retreat, the crossbowmen would suffer heavy casualties once these people reached them. Wen Pin immediately ordered the crossbowmen to retreat, and the formation spread to both sides, revealing the ultimate weapon behind them.

As heavy armored Cavalry, the biggest drawback of the Iron Pagoda was their slow speed. They were slow not only in running but also in accelerating, so they were placed behind the infantry phalanx.

A distance of two hundred paces was enough for these heavy Cavalry to accelerate. Although there were only three thousand horses, their heavy hooves struck the ground with such force that everyone could feel the earth trembling.

These Aceh people, who had lived on islands all their lives, had never even seen organized Cavalry, let alone heavy armored Cavalry armed like iron towers, carrying an aura that could topple mountains and overturn seas.

"Boom..."

When such heavy armored Cavalry charges against light infantry, what need is there for any flashy maneuvers? You just need to use the immense kinetic energy to crash right through.

The knights on horseback only needed to grip their heavy axes tightly and, using the kinetic energy of the charging horses, they could easily shatter any enemy who dared to appear in their path.

And those enemies who were lucky enough to dodge the impact of the Iron Pagoda were soon met with the slaughter of the infantry behind them. This was the infantry-Cavalry coordination proposed by Gao Yuan: the heavy Cavalry mowed the grass, and the infantry cleaned up the remnants.

Fanaticism also has a limit. Faced with such brutal slaughter, the morale of the Aceh people, stirred up by religious faith, was completely shattered—shattered into dust.