Generally speaking, Da Song attaches more importance to the whole team defecting. A high-ranking official of the imperial court was usually sent to appease him. The most suitable person to appease the Red Fertile Army is naturally Yang Yan, because they have been in contact before. But Yang Yan must not be able to pull away now, and the other people who participated in the expedition were also in Guangxi at this time, and only Zhao Yueru was still in Lin'an. And Zhao Yan originally wanted to support Zhao Yueru, so he pushed the boat down the river and appointed Zhao Yueru as the envoy of the imperial camp, and by the way, he looked at the Jianghuai armies to establish her personal influence. I was afraid that she would not have experience in this area, so she appointed Fan Chengda as a deputy envoy to accompany Zhao Yueru.

Due to the example of Zhao Qianru serving as the supervisor of the army, all the ministers are also used to Zhao Yan's appointment of the princess, and several ruling ministers have no objections, so the appointment is very smooth.

******************************

I saw the war horses under the stage trampling violently, raising dust in the sky. The sound of horses' hooves was mixed with the roar of people, the clash of weapons, and the unfamiliar neighing of elephants.

It turned out that the two sides fighting under the stage were a side of twelve elephants, and a side of eighty cavalrymen were attacking and defending each other. Although it was just an ordinary training, the soldiers knew that Yang Yan's requirements for training were also extremely strict, so both sides were meticulous, went all out, and fought very fiercely.

Since Yang Yan brought twelve elephants from Zhao Yan, he immediately transferred forty cavalrymen to learn to ride elephants, and there were elephant slaves who taught them how to control elephants.

However, in the past three days, Yang Yan, Zhao Qianru, Wu Xi and others have discussed with Liu Renxian every day about planning, sending troops to aid Dali, and understanding the distribution of troops of Gao Jianming and the Jiaozhi army, combat effectiveness, tactical habits, etc. Liu Renxian also did his best to tell him.

And in the past few days, Zhao Chen has come to the Horse Mansion every day, and Yang Yan and Zhao Qianru are not there, so they are looking for Tie Chenglin and Gu Xueping to play. Zhao Wanru also followed Zhao Chen a few times, and she was also familiar with them.

Today's test of the combat effectiveness of the elephant army, it just so happens that tomorrow Zhao Yueru is going to leave for Haizhou, so Zhao Qianru wants to say goodbye to Zhao Yueru and does not go to see it. Yang Yan only took Tie Chenglin and Gu Xueping with him. But after Zhao Chen and Zhao Wanru found out, they were clamoring to go and see it, because they wanted to hear Gu Xueping talk about how big and powerful the elephant was, and they were naturally unwilling to let go of such an opportunity. Yang Yan couldn't resist them, but fortunately, it was not an official parade, so he brought them all. At the same time, Yang Yan invited Wei Chang to watch.

At this time, the battle on the field was fierce, and not only were people knocked down from their horses and withdrawn from the battlefield. There were two soldiers sitting on each elephant, each holding a spear two feet and four feet long, one on the left and one on the right, and twelve elephants rushed side by side, and the momentum was also very terrifying, compared to the iron float. The two tigers brought by Gu Xueping also cheered, roaring at the battlefield, showing their teeth, if they hadn't been tied to a stake, they were afraid that they would also rush into the battlefield at this time. When I saw it, several children applauded.

"When, when, when" A gong sounded from the audience, and the two sides who were fighting fiercely on the battlefield heard the gong, and they all stopped and stood in front of the stands.

The contest lasted about three quarters of an hour, and thirty-six of the eighty cavalry were shot down from their horses, almost half of the entire army, and only five of the elephants were shot down from the elephant's back, and only one soldier on the back of the elephant was shot down from the elephant.

Liu Ren didn't think much of it was interesting to come first to this result, but Wu Xi and Wei Chang were greatly surprised, although it was only a normal training, but the combat effectiveness of the elephant army was too strong. However, everyone also saw clearly just now that the elephant's back was already higher than Zhangyu, and people riding on it were naturally as tall as adults, and ordinary cavalry would not be able to reach the soldiers on the elephant's back if they were not close to the elephant. Even if he wants to attack an elephant, this guy has rough skin and thick flesh, and a few hits are no different from scratching an itch. And the soldier on the back of the elephant is condescending, and the weapon in his hand is long, and it is indeed very difficult to deal with.

Liu Renxian said: "Now the elephant soldiers are not proficient in the control of elephants, so they cannot fully exert the full combat effectiveness of elephants. Moreover, the country of Cochin sometimes covers the elephant with rattan armor, which is woven from the old rattan in the mountains, dried in the sun after oil immersion, repeated more than ten times, hard as iron, can avoid the injury of knives and guns. ”

Yang Yan said: "General Liu, how many elephants do you still have now?" How many elephants are there in Gao Jianming? Please tell me the truth. ”

Liu Renxian said: "Now there are forty-six elephants in Dali, and there are nearly 100 elephants in Gao Jianming. He paused for a moment, and then said, "I heard that the Cochin Kingdom has been expanding its elephant army in recent years, and it is said that there are no less than 1,000 war elephants. I don't know if it's true or not, but they did send two hundred elephants to help Gao Jianming. ”

Hearing this, Wu Xi only frowned, only feeling that he couldn't deal with him. You must know that when the Song army fought with Zhitoe, the Song army relied on a large number of people, first shooting the elephant with a strong crossbow, and then breaking the elephant's trunk with a knife, so as to avoid a strong victory. However, at that time, the Jiaozhi army only had about 150 war elephants, and now the number of elephant troops has greatly increased, but what can be done? Although the elephant army cannot be defeated, it does not mean that the Song army must not be able to win, but the difficulty is undoubtedly greatly increased.

Wei Chang said: "I have heard of rattan armor, and I am sure that I am good at blocking knives and guns, if I really put rattan armor on the elephant, I am afraid that only by shooting hard with a bed crossbow can I break the elephant." ”

Wu Xidao: "Although the bed crossbow is good, it is a pity that it is inconvenient to move, and I am afraid it is difficult to be of great use." "What he said also makes sense, after Wei Chang's transformation, the bed crossbow is determined to be much lighter and can be used on the battlefield. However, it still requires eight people to work together to move, and it is suitable for siege. But it is still inconvenient to use it in field battles, especially in encounters. Although the elephant is huge, it moves at the same speed as the infantry army, and it is not slow, and after the transformation of the crossbow, the range is also greatly reduced, and it may take less than 200 steps to deal with the elephant to be effective. At the speed of an elephant, it doesn't take much time to cross a distance of 200 paces.