Zhang Xue Yan's Zhan Che (戰車)

Drawing of Zhang Xue Yan's war cart, from 'Deng Tan Bi Jiu (《登壇必究》)'.

The Zhan Che (戰車) was a type of war cart designed by Zhang Xue Yan (張學顏), Grand Coordinator of Liaodong based on an older model devised by Li Wen Da (李文達). It was designed to be able to keep up with Ye Meng Xiong's lightweight war cart and was equipped with a leather protective screen, two stacks of rockets and Shen Qiang (神鎗), as well as rows of anti-cavalry spears projecting from all four sides of the cart.

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Square formation of Xu Lun (許論) — Part 2

Variant Formations

While hollow square was the most used formation to defend against cavalry, there were situations where it'd be better to deploy into other formations. Besides the square, Xu Lun (許論) also devised many variant formations for different terrains, as will be shown below:

Chang Zhen (長陣, lit. 'Long formation')

Xu Lun's line formation, from 'Chou Bian Zuan Yi (《籌邊纂議》)'.

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Square formation of Xu Lun (許論) — Part 1

Up until this point, I've mostly discussed about various tactics and formations of Ming Southern troops, which focused on small unit tactics to counter the decentralised and extremely unpredictable Wokou. While undoubtedly effective for their intended purpose, Small unit tactics was clearly ill-suited for large scale battle against a serious and more numerous enemy, and should not be taken as being representative of Ming battle tactics as a whole. Ming army faced entirely different circumstances and challenges in the North, and devised entirely different tactics and formations to meet these challenges.


Xu Gong Po Lu Xin Zhen (許公破虜新陣, lit. 'Lord Xu's new barbarian-breaking formation') was a military formation devised by Xu Lun (許論), governor-general of Ji-Liao. Unlike other formations previously discussed in this blog, Xu Lun was not a particularly celebrated or exceptional general (he is remembered for being the first to draw a detailed map of the Great Wall, rather than his military achievement, although he did have several victories against the Mongols under his belt), and his formation was also relatively simple and without complicated manoeuvre or unusual equipment. As such, Xu Lun's square formation can serve as a useful baseline for exploring the tactics and formations of other Ming Northern troops.

Organisation

Xu Lun's formation comprised of 3,000 troops (without factoring in command staff, standard bearers, signalers, general's retinues etc.), subdivided into three arms: infantry, cavalry, and support personnels. The organisations of different branches of Xu Lun's formation were as follow:

Infantry

Military unit	Rough modern equivalent	Troops	Support personnel	Total
Zhen (陣)	Regiment	1800/4 Shao	200	2000
Shao (哨)	Battalion	450/10 Dui	50	500
Dui (隊)	Platoon	15 spear/glaivemen 15 archers 15 handgonners	5	50
Wu (伍)	Team	5	-	5

Cavalry

Military unit	Rough modern equivalent	Troops	Support personnel	Total
Zhong Jun (中軍)	Battalion	900/4 Bu	100	1000
Bu (部)	Company	225/5 Dui	25	250
Dui (隊)	Platoon	45 cavalry	5	50

Support Personnel (both infantry and cavalry)

Type	Troops
Tang Ma (塘馬)	50 mounted scouts
Tuo Ying (䭾贏)	100 porters (with mules)
Za Chai (雜差)	150 camp followers

Overall

Branch	Troops
Infantry	1800
Cavalry	900
Support Personnel	300

Equipment

The entirely of Xu Lun's formation was build around one crucial equipment: Ju Ma (拒馬), or cheval de frise. Xu Lun considered Ju Ma to be more convenient, more mobile and deployable everywhere, thus preferable to war carts.

Blueprint of Xu Lun's Ju Ma Qiang, from 'Chou Bian Zuan Yi (《籌邊纂議》)'.

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