First of all, what is the Macedonian square? Only by understanding the mystery can we have a way to break it.

This is like that after Mu Guiying got the Dragon Subduing Wood, the”Tianmen Array” was broken soon; During the Three Kingdoms Period, Zhuge Liang’s father-in-law understood the secret of the”Eight Diagrams Array”, and he could easily lead Lu Xun, the governor of the Eastern Wu Kingdom, out of the living door.

This is a layer of window paper, which can be broken at a poke. The so-called”difficult people will not, and the meeting will not be difficult”

The Macedonian square is a kind of battle formation of heavy infantry in ancient Greece. Its characteristics and advantages are that it can fight in an orderly manner, and the soldiers can reach ten (see the figure below)

In the Homer era (1100~800 B.C., corresponding to the Zhou Dynasty in China), the two sides started fighting in a swarm, and the scene was very chaotic, with no command and low efficiency.

In addition, due to the appearance of bronze and armor, these things were armed to the soldiers, and the defense ability was improved, but the bulkiness limited the activities of individual soldiers, and the flexibility was reduced.

In this case, Alexander the Great, the king of ancient Greece, came up with a way. If the soldiers were lined up together, they could protect each other and attack together, and then arrange cavalry to protect both wings and rear wings. Isn’t this an all-conquering array?

After practice, in the seventh century BC, the Macedonian square, which frightened the Roman army, was here. Was born.

The soldiers in the Macedonian square are armed with spears and shields. The length of the spears is 14 to 18 feet (1 foot=0.3048 meters). 14 feet is equivalent to 4.3 meters

The conventional formation is that every 64 soldiers are in a row. The soldiers in the first row are usually squatting and aiming their spears at the front. The soldiers in the second row put spears on the shoulders of the soldiers in the first row (see figure below)

Once the soldiers in the front row fall down, the soldiers in the second row will fill up quickly, and this kind of push. So it seems that the most dangerous and important position is in the first row or side, so there are usually experienced soldiers standing.

Whether the Macedonian square can show its great power depends on the mutual cooperation between the soldiers and advance side by side. It is impossible to escape from the front. The soldiers who escape from the front are basically killed on the spot, and the cavalry nearby has the role of protection and supervision.

At the beginning, the”square array” played a role of shaking the earth and crying ghosts. After all, it is a new way of fighting. The effect of killing the enemy is quite remarkable. It can defeat the enemy several times its own.

With the in-depth understanding of the enemy’s array, the method of breaking the array also appeared.

Let’s look at the loopholes in the square array

The”square array” is impeccable in its neat and unified command, and the soldiers dare not escape easily. At that time, the forward square was like a super tank, invincible. But the disadvantage is as prominent as the advantage, that is, bulkiness and inflexibility.

If I break the array, I order the soldiers not to fight the”square array” head-on and avoid its sharp edges. In the front row of the square array are nearly 5 meters of spears. It is no different to fight hard.

First of all, ignore the square array. The first goal is to eliminate the wing guard cavalry of the square array. This is like eliminating the escort and supply of the aircraft carrier. The aircraft carrier is powerful. Without protection and ammunition, it is equivalent to a piece of scrap iron. In the same way, the loss of winged cavalry in the square array is equal to the lamb being slaughtered.

After the squadron wing cavalry was destroyed by me, I ordered the soldiers of the second echelon to kill into the center of the formation with swords and shields, and the more they went, the safer they were.

Why do you say that? Because the square soldiers can’t turn around with spears. At this time, the saying”one inch long, one inch strong, one inch short, one inch dangerous” has been reversed. The sword has played its flexibility, and the heavy spear has become a burden instead. (See the figure below)

In the”Romance of the Three Kingdoms”, Zhao Zilong killed seven in and seven out of Cao Ying with a sword

If I could use the crossbow invented by Zhuge Liang, it would be easy to break the square array, avoiding the hand-to-hand combat of soldiers with short blades, and ambush a strong crossbow army. When the square array enters the ambush circle, the ten thousand crossbows will fire in unison, and the square array soldiers will become a hornet nest if they don’t escape.

In fact, when the bow and arrow appeared, the powerful”Macedonian square” withdrew from the stage of history.

Article/Reading Spring and Autumn by Candle