Chapter 3244: No way to retreat
Ye Zide was furious.
Since entering the Western Regions, although the Arab soldiers under his command are invincible, they have never had a hearty victory. The Tang people were too cunning. They always resorted to guerrilla detours and avoided the real situation. They retreated continuously in the face of the Arab army's front lines. At the same time, they entrenched the walls and cleared the fields to lure the enemy deeper. This caused great trouble to the Arab army's supplies, forcing Yezid to be helpless. They did not attack the Hu people in the Western Regions, but burned, killed, looted and replenished their supplies of food and supplies, which made the Hu people in the Western Regions full of resentment and hatred towards the Arabs.
This is very inconsistent with the purpose of sending troops this time.
The Great Food Kingdom stretches across Europe and Asia, not just for robbery and plunder, especially for the Silk Road flowing with gold, but also wants to take it as its own and rule for a long time, so that the Great Food Country can receive a steady stream of supplies from the Western Regions. of wealth.
However, the slaughter and plundering of the Hu people in the Western Regions made these Hu people hate the Arabs deeply. Even if the Anxi army was defeated and occupied the Noda Western Region in the future, these Hu people would definitely not loyally submit to the rule of the Caliph.
What is particularly abominable is that although the Tang people could not withstand the Arab army's front, they seemed to be retreating all the way, but they never left. Once the Arab army was a little careless, the Tang people would pounce on them, bite them hard, and then strike. As soon as he hits the target, he immediately escapes thousands of miles away.
Yezid is going crazy!
Although he was young, he followed his father Muawiya in conquering east and west over the years, annihilating and massacring many tribes that refused to surrender in the Kingdom of Dashi one by one, and even fought with the Roman Empire army one after another. All returned victorious.
Have you ever encountered such cunning tactics from the Tang Dynasty?
Facing the Roman Empire, which once spanned Europe and Asia, the two sides agreed to form a low position and fight with real swords and guns. The brave one wins when the two armies meet!
But against the Anxi Army of the Tang Dynasty, it was completely impossible to exert any force. It was like punching cotton with one punch after another, without any force, and occasionally rebounded and hurt...
Think about your ambitions when you set out to conquer the Western Regions, and then think about your father's high expectations for you in Damascus. He hopes that you can lead hundreds of thousands of Arab warriors to conquer the Western Regions, almost the Tang Dynasty, and achieve great martial arts achievements, so that you can be successful in the future. Taking over the position of Caliph from his father... Yazid was filled with rage.
He immediately gathered tens of thousands of cavalry, ignored the obstruction of the generals around him, personally raised his sword and went into battle, leading the cavalry to pursue the Anxi army in the direction of retreat.
The Arabs have always been known as the messengers of God and defended the truth with bravery. How could they allow the Tang people to escape safely after such a despicable attack?
At this time, the sky was gradually getting brighter, but the heavy snow was still falling continuously. The sky and the earth were confused, and it was difficult to distinguish the road. However, the traces left by the retreat of the five thousand Anxi Army would not be covered up by the wind and snow for a while, and Ye Zide led his army to track them all the way.
However, he is not a fool. The Western Region is vast, but there are many mountains, hills and rivers, and ambushes can be set up everywhere. What if he goes all the way and rushes into the encirclement of the Tang army? Wouldn't it be doomed?
It is difficult for scouts to perform their role in this kind of weather. If they are too far away, they cannot see the enemy's details. If they are too close, it is difficult to send the news back to the Chinese army in time. So Ye Qide chased for a while and then let go. Slowly, tens of thousands of cavalry dispersed in the snow, divided into several groups and marched together. They could not get closer to each other, so as to expand the search area, and if something happened, they could quickly reinforce each other, and be careful not to be ambushed by the Tang army and defeat them one by one.
However, by the time they caught up to noon, the entire army was already hungry, but there was still no sign of the Tang army.
Ye Zide secretly wondered, the Tang people were too cowardly, right? Is it true that you can hit the target with one strike, travel thousands of miles away, and not even set up an ambush?
"Commander!"
The scouts who were sent out in front returned in the wind and snow, and came to Ye Zide to report: "Fifty miles ahead is Gongyue City. The forwards ask the commander whether to stop the pursuit?"
"Huh?"
Ye Zide was a little confused and asked hurriedly: "Have you found any traces of the Anxi Army?"
The scout shook his head and said: "I have never noticed that Gongyue City is very quiet, and not a single soldier was found around it."
Ye Zide was in disbelief: "Where did the Anxi army that attacked our camp go? We followed the traces and chased them all the way. Can they still escape by flying into the sky?"
Although the wind and snow were raging and could cover up the traces on the ground in the blink of an eye, the traces left after thousands of people and horses passed through were very obvious and could not be buried in a moment. Furthermore, the traces of the enemy's retreat along the way are very obvious, and the messy horse hoof prints are clear. Could the Tang people still learn witchcraft and get into the snow...
Suddenly a light flashed in his mind, and an idea popped out uncontrollably. Ye Zide was startled by himself, suddenly raised the scimitar in his hand, and shouted: "Retreat, retreat!"
The generals around him were confused and didn't know what was going on. However, because of Ye Zide's superior status, they did not dare to disobey the order and quickly issued the order to retreat. The front formation became the rear formation, and the rear formation became the front formation. The cavalry troops of more than 10,000 people were bloated. There was chaos, and many soldiers even fell off their horses, screaming and wailing.
The formation was in chaos.
At this moment, Ye Zide suddenly heard a dull sound ringing in his ears, as if his heart was clenched tightly, and then the soldiers around him screamed in surprise. When Ye Zide raised his head, he saw the hill to his left. Then a dark cloud rose into the sky, covering the sky and shrouding him.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
"Tang Nu, it's Tang Nu, dismount and avoid!"
The entire military formation was in a panic, and everyone knew that it was the crossbow arrow fired by the Tang army. After fighting so many battles, the Arab soldiers naturally knew how powerful the Tang crossbow was. Unlike the cast-iron arrow clusters popular in China, the Tang crossbow arrow clusters were made of fine steel and were unparalleledly sharp. The power of the crossbow was even greater. It is better than the long bow of Dashi Country.
The thrust is greater and the arrow clusters are sharper. They can easily penetrate the giant man-eating leather armor, and ordinary military uniforms are as vulnerable as catkins.
Therefore, when the Arab soldiers faced off against the Anxi Army, apart from the firearms of the Tang Army, the thing they feared most was the Tang Crossbow.
Once the body is pierced, even if the vital part is not injured, the "iron poison" on the arrow cluster will cause symptoms of high body temperature and suppuration of the wound. There is no cure. I don't know how many Arab soldiers suffered from being shot by Tang's crossbow. He wailed and died from his wounds.
In fact, because its range is too long and its power is too strong, the Tang crossbow made the Arab soldiers even more embarrassed than other firearms...
At the moment, Tang's crossbows were flying like dark clouds from behind the hill, almost covering their heads. How could the Arab soldiers not run away in panic?
However, in the military formation, the reason for paying attention to orders and prohibitions is not only that unity can maximize combat effectiveness, but also that thousands of troops and horses are gathered together in one place, so that the small space between them does not allow for the slightest mistake, otherwise Just like the Dashi army at this moment, the soldiers and horses collided with each other in chaos, and countless people fell off their horses and were trampled under their feet.
Before the Tang army arrived, the crossbows and arrows were still in the air, and the Arab soldiers were already in a mess, trampling on each other.
Suddenly, crossbow arrows came pouring down like heavy rain.
"Swish swish"
Sharp arrow clusters broke through the air, came from the sky in a parabolic arc, and pierced the bodies of the Arab soldiers and horses.
"Puff puff puff"
The dull sound of arrows piercing flesh seems weak, but when these sounds are connected together, the panic that bursts out is enough to make people tremble.
Soldiers and horses were like wheat in autumn. Under the violent wind and rain, they fell to the ground one by one, blood bursting out, and their cries shook the sky.
Ye Qide's eyes were about to burst. With one hand he took off the wooden shield hanging on the saddle to protect his vitals. With the other hand he waved the scimitar, urging the horse to run towards the way it came from, shouting: "Retreat! Retreat!"
The crossbowmen of the Tang Army hid behind the hills, relying on volleys of crossbow arrows to expand the damage area and carry out boundary-less strikes. However, if the Arab cavalry wanted to kill them, they had to run up the hills first and then swoop down. But it was snowing heavily, and the snow on the hills was up to the knees. How could the war horses get up there in such a short time?
They were afraid that they would be killed by round after round of crossbow arrows before they reached the top of the hill.
We can only rely on the speed of our horses to escape from the range of the Tang army's crossbows...
However, more than 10,000 troops and horses are gathered together, and the troops are in chaos and command fails. How can we retreat if we want to? The already panicked formation became more chaotic, bumping into each other, the second wave of crossbows overhead had already hit, and many soldiers even cried.
When Ye Zide led his personal guards to slash and kill, the chaotic situation was stabilized. Just as he was about to turn his horse and retreat towards the way he came, he heard another burst of exclamations around him.
Ye Zide looked up and took a deep breath.
Rows of Tang army infantry with helmets on their heads had blocked the way at some point. The long swords in their hands stood like a wall, full of murderous intent. Mo Dao Formation!
(End of chapter)