Chapter 230 An unknown place
Shi Le finally made up his mind.
As a result, the large group of cavalry gathered in the wilderness, divided into several groups, and rushed towards the car formation.
Chen Yougen was assigned to the former military vehicle formation. Seeing the enemy cavalry attacking, he gave an order and five hundred auxiliary soldiers armed with crossbows stood behind the baggage vehicles lying horizontally.
The tribesmen held large shields and stood in front of each "master" to protect them from arrows.
Another five hundred auxiliary soldiers were sitting on the ground holding spears, ring-shou knives and other equipment.
Some of them are quite panicked. After all, they have never fought or killed anyone before. Seeing the overwhelming cavalry rushing towards them, are you afraid?
Other people were only a little nervous, and most of them were surrendering troops from Hebei.
They have been in battle, killed people, won and suffered defeats, and know what the real battlefield is like.
But no matter what they think, this is a cruel and real battlefield. Everyone who goes on the battlefield has no choice. Either you die or I die.
In the side car, archers from the Yamen Army and the Yi Cong Army had already boarded the car and stood in front of the shooting window, picking up their bows and arrows, with serious faces, just waiting for orders.
The melee warriors also had their equipment ready and were ready to take action at any time, although they did not believe that any cavalry would be stupid enough to charge directly into the cart.
"Woo——" the horn sounded.
The Long Sword Army’s individual crossbow fired first.
The sharp crossbow bolt flew through the air and landed among the rushing enemy cavalry, causing a cry of surprise.
The foot archers also pulled up their starting bows and shot out their long arrows, once again causing a wave of people to fall on their backs.
There was a sparse "dongdong" sound on the side car, which was arrows falling on it.
Some arrows also fell on the large shield of the auxiliary troops, but they were weak and could not cause any serious damage.
Compared with the "itchy" cavalry bow, the lethality of the infantry bow and individual crossbow is very considerable.
Among the hundreds of enemy cavalry that rushed over, dozens fell off their horses, and the screams were endless.
In just this round of shooting, the enemy cavalry suffered a big loss.
So, after a hasty trip, they returned to the starting point in embarrassment.
After a while, as if unwilling to give up, they changed directions and attacked again. There was no suspense about the result. After leaving dozens of corpses behind, they retreated into the distance.
The central and rear armies were also attacked by enemy cavalry.
Li Chong commanded the Fu soldiers and Yamen troops in the rear army chariot formation, and calmly repelled the enemy troops.
Shao Xun was in the Chinese army and did not even intervene in the command.
All the silver gun soldiers who knew archery drew up their strong bows and called their names one by one, leaving a deep impression on the enemy.
After watching for a while, he ordered to bury the pot and make rice, there is no need to panic.
The last ray of light on the horizon was swallowed up by darkness. Braziers and torches were lit, illuminating the camp.
The soldiers ate in batches to recover their strength.
The injured and dead horses left outside the chariot formation were dragged back. The auxiliary soldiers cut them up on the spot with quick hands and feet, cooked a lot of broth and distributed them to the soldiers of the various camps.
"Shi Le is treating us to a treat. Horse meat is very delicious." Shao Xun held a bowl of broth, drank it with a slurp, and said with a smile.
Everyone laughed, and the tense atmosphere dissipated.
After everyone had finished laughing, Shao Xun put down the wooden bowl and said again: "I don't think Shi Le is determined to give up. After nightfall, people may be sent to attack, so we should not take it lightly."
"Nuo . ”
“Still the old rules, each building has its own defense area. Anyone who runs around without orders will be killed regardless of whether it is an enemy or a friend.”
“No. >
"Go to bed quickly after eating, and decide on the candidates for rotation."
******
Under the quiet night sky, Shi Le climbed up a high slope and saw Looking at the brightly lit campground.
There is a car array outside the camp.
After repelling the first attack, the Jin soldiers took the time to place the horses, deer antlers, and even dug a simple horse pit.
The cavalry charges straight forward without any chance of winning and will only be shot into hedgehogs.
What about sending infantry to attack?
To be honest, Shi Le had the urge, but he was a little hesitant, so he asked the counselors.
"No, Your Majesty." Diao Ying quickly dissuaded him, only to hear him say: "If we have soldiers who have been fighting for many years, we might give it a try. However, our infantry, most of which are new soldiers, is likely to fail in a night attack. , but it messed up his position."
Shi Le frowned and looked at Zhang Jing again.
"If your Majesty really wants to attack at night, you may send a few elite soldiers to give it a try. If it fails, we will make further calculations after dawn." Zhang Jing replied.
Shi Le nodded slightly, already having a plan in mind.
He subconsciously looked at Zhang Bin, who nodded to him and said, "Your Majesty Mingjian."
The three counselors agreed, and Shi Le gave up the plan of a night attack. He only continued to harass the cavalry, causing the Jin army to panic, sleep poorly, and lose physical strength. The victory would be decided after dawn.
Nothing happened all night - if you ignore the horrifying screams that sound from time to time in the dark night.
When the sun rose on the 25th, meal was already served in the Jin army camp.
The enemy cavalry came to harass us as usual.
However, after what happened yesterday, the Jin soldiers in the car formation have been able to treat it calmly.
The charge and harassment of more than a thousand cavalry has no effect. Who are these more than a hundred cavalry to scare? You don't even dare to get close to the range of the rifle, so don't waste your efforts as soon as possible.
After breakfast, the entire army rested for half an hour before continuing to set off.
At this time, the way they marched was different from yesterday.
To put it simply, the car array is shorter and wider.
The carts on both sides even drove into the fields. They didn't care at all about trampling the seedlings - if winter wheat was planted - they would even fill in the ditches and shovel the field edges when they encountered difficult-to-cross places.
Military warfare is what it is.
When the two armies meet in the middle of the road, they cannot just fight on the post road. Once they set up their positions, they go directly to the fields. Sometimes they even demolish civilian houses to avoid hindering the advance of the army.
The motorcade rumbled forward, and the sound of drums and horns continued along the way.
The cavalry that was driven back by the enemy yesterday were scattered out again and scattered far away.
Their main mission is to find out the news, so as not to be attacked by the enemy without knowing it.
As expected, the enemy cavalry began to hunt again, and the target was the Jin army's cavalry.
They took advantage of their large numbers to continuously compress their range of activities, and finally forced them into the protection range of the vehicle array and crossbows.
The vehicle formation would sometimes stop, set up a simple high platform, climb high and look into the distance, and look out for the enemy - mainly to look for the invincible infantry brigade.
The infantry moves slowly and cannot get close to the vehicle formation in a short time. Just keep a lookout at regular intervals.
At nearly noon, the entire army stopped, and then quickly began to set up their formation.
Shao Xun climbed onto the high platform.
On the distant horizon, groups of enemy infantry appeared one after another, with flags and drums beating.
He smiled and then asked about the name of the place.
"Yema Gang." Tang Jian replied: "There are still seven miles away from Yecheng."
"Shi Le dare not let me go forward anymore." Shao Xun said: "This time War is unavoidable for everyone."
"Have you been waiting for a long time?" Tang Jian said with a smile.
"Shi Le and I have been waiting for a long time." Shao Xun said: "I will order..."
******
Yema Gang, unknown The place of scripture.
The so-called hill is just a small earth beam, not majestic or towering at all.
At noon on October 25, the second year of Yongjia in the Jin Dynasty (308), 80,000 soldiers from both sides of the Jin and Han Dynasties gathered here to decide the outcome, as well as life and death.
The Jin army, with nearly 20,000 men, formed a formation surrounded by chariots, with three formations in the shape of a pin, supporting each other.
The Han army, with more than 60,000 infantry and cavalry, formed an array in the wilderness and came with overwhelming force.
At three quarters past noon, both parties finished eating and resting.
In an instant, a strong wind blew up and the military flag rolled, which was surprising and inexplicable.
The wind soon stopped, and the Han army took advantage of the situation to cover up the enemy with a large formation of ten thousand people. Without any hesitation, they directly chose to attack the most powerful Chinese army's chariot formation, trying to crush the Jin army in one fell swoop.
"Woo——" The horn players took a deep breath, puffed up their cheeks, and started playing hard.
The dense crossbow bolts were launched first.
This is not an individual crossbow in the hands of the soldiers, but a powerful crossbow mounted on a baggage cart.
The crossbow bolts, as thick and long as spears, shot away with a scream of death, falling directly into the Han army's infantry formation.
The large shields and iron armor could not withstand it at all, and the advancing infantry lay on the ground with a crash.
The enemy cavalry was dispatched, but they did not attack the car formation, they were more like supervising the battle team.
There is another formation behind the infantry formation, and the front row has set up its crossbows. If anyone looks back, kill them immediately.
The people at the front have no choice but to rush forward.
The crossbow arrows were fired non-stop, causing more than 300 casualties before and after.
The enemy army quickened their pace, not caring about the chaos in their formation, and rushed to a distance of sixty or seventy steps in an instant.
Individual crossbows and infantry bows were raised together, and arrows fell like raindrops.
If the casualties caused by strong crossbows can only be considered childish, and the individual crossbows are only scratching the itch, the lethality of the infantry bow is very scary, because there are too many archers, and the projection density is not that of a crossbow. Comparable.
The shield bearers in the front row experienced three rounds of attacks and were basically dead or injured.
When the heavy infantrymen wearing iron armor rushed to a direct shooting distance of thirty steps, they faced dense arrows and fell to the ground as they walked.
But they have no way out.
The front row was pushed by the back row, and the front row was intimidated by the back row. There was only one way to go until it was dark.
"Kill!" After shooting the last round of arrows, most of the Silver Spear Army warriors hung their rifle bows on their waists, then picked up their weapons and fought with the enemy.
The swordsman and shieldman stood on the carriage, covering his whole body with a large shield as high as a person, and pushing the enemy's spear outward.
The strong man holding a wooden pole and a long Ke ax vigorously brandished the blunt weapon in his hand.
"Bang!" The heavy Changke ax hit the chest of an enemy soldier, and the place of collision immediately dented visibly to the naked eye.
The enemy soldier who tried to climb onto the carriage fell down suddenly, causing several people behind him to stumble and create chaos. "Bang!" The wooden stick hit the helmet, and the person who was hit fell down without saying a word, his face covered with blood.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!" The archer came closer and used the gap between the vehicles to shoot arrows with his eyes closed.
The enemy soldiers that were rushing forward were unobstructed and fell in pieces.
But they were still rushing forward, charging into one carriage after another with ferocious faces.
A shield bearer had already been stabbed and fell to the ground screaming.
The enemy soldiers were overjoyed and climbed up along the opening.
The long-handled axes and wooden poles all arrived, knocking down the enemy soldiers trying to climb one after another to the ground.
But there were too many of them, and another shield bearer fell to the ground. After stabbing seven or eight enemies in a row, a Silver Spear Army spearman was stabbed in the gap between the armor leaves and fell down screaming. Under the car, he was instantly submerged in the crowd.
Several enemy soldiers climbed onto the carriage of the baggage train. Before they had time to rejoice, dense crossbow arrows were fired at them. The blood spurting from their chests showed a coquettish golden red color under the sunlight. .
Several Sizhou Dingzhuang mustered up their courage and rushed into the carriage to fill the gap with large shields.
They yelled, venting the boundless fear in their hearts. At the same time, they used all their strength to push out the weapons stretched out by the enemy.
The spear head pierced the big shield, and the scraping sound made people feel heartbroken.
The ring-shou knife struck the shield, and the sound sounded like a reminder.
Long-handled axes and wooden poles were swung constantly.
On a densely populated battlefield, there is nothing better than a blunt weapon.
There was even a strong Yamen sergeant who waved the flagpole with all his strength.
Wherever the flagpole reaches, the enemy soldiers are like fading grass blown by the strong wind, all destroyed.
A volunteer soldier was so excited that he jumped out of the carriage and rushed towards the crowd of enemy soldiers. He waved his wooden raft one after another, breaking several ribs and smashing several heads. , until he was completely overwhelmed by the crowd.
The first wave of fierce attacks lasted for less than half an hour.
The enemy soldiers were like waves, smashing into the car array.
The car array is like the solid long embankment, crushing all the raging waves.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!" The archers were probably the safest. They kept throwing arrows into the dense crowd, causing the greatest damage since the war began, until the enemy could no longer hold on. , until retreating backwards.
"Dong dong..." The drum sound suddenly became excited.
The 1,200 Silver Spear Army warriors who were sitting on the ground and recharging their energy suddenly stood up.
The auxiliary soldiers struggled to pull away several vehicles and opened a gap.
Twelve hundred Silver Spear troops surged out along the gap, chasing the retreating enemy troops and killing them.
The enemy soldiers were more defeated and fled in all directions. And their behavior blocked the charge of their own cavalry, allowing the pursuing silver spear soldiers to kill the enemy more calmly.
"Dang Dang..." The clang sounded, and the Silver Spear Army warriors who had been chasing for more than a hundred steps slowly withdrew.
The auxiliary soldiers pulled back the baggage trains and sidecars again, and the formation was restored as before.
The fleeing enemy troops rushed to the rear formation, and the rear formation fired thousands of arrows, mowing down the fleeing enemy soldiers in pieces.
The deserters cried for their fathers and mothers, and fled to both sides one after another, and were taken in by the officers and old thieves.
The battlefield fell silent for a while.
Shi Le stood on the high slope and looked at all this in surprise.
Tens of thousands of people rushed towards the car formation, but within half an hour, more than half of them were killed or injured.
This battle was really brutal.
After several years of fighting, this was the first time he encountered an enemy like Shao Xun.
His archers are too many, and the soldiers who fight in close combat are also skilled and brave. The entire car formation is like a hedgehog, eyeing all those who rush towards it and swallowing their lives.
Wang Mi and Wang Sang stood beside him, their faces turned pale.
How many lives are needed to fill the Jin army's formation?
Liu Ling's face was also very ugly.
On that windy and snowy night, he learned early about the difficulty of the Silver Spear Army warriors. Today's offensive and defensive battle once again confirmed his point of view. The cavalry could not defeat them, and the infantry had no chance.
Shi Chao watched silently, as if it had nothing to do with him, with no expression on his face.
Shi Le quickly returned to normal, and after a moment of hesitation, he ordered the second formation to attack.
The sound of "rustling" footsteps soon sounded.
The silent infantry formation swarmed towards the vehicle formation again.
The timid recruits have even begun to cry.
The bold people also secretly prayed that the Jin army’s crossbows would not fall on them.
Even though he is an old thief, he still can't help but swallow his saliva when he sees the well-armored heavy armored infantry inside and outside the vehicle formation.
But this is the battlefield, also called the burial ground.
It is the fate of all warriors to face the edge with flesh and blood, whether you want it or not.
“Buzz——” The sun seemed to be blocked, and an overwhelming amount of arrows fell down.
The brave, the cowardly, the skilled, the ungrateful... tall, short, fat, thin... active thieves, forced to join the army... and so on, here For a moment, nothing mattered anymore, everyone was being judged fairly by the strong bows and crossbows.
The only ones who can survive are those who are lucky.
The Han army was driven like animals and launched a second attack.
The raging wave came back, slamming against the cliff bank composed of countless carts, and then was smashed into pieces.
Wave after wave of offensives produced countless corpses.
At the end of the fight, there were layers of corpses, almost as high as the car. The warriors from both sides stood on top of the corpses, fighting with their lives.
Someone broke it with a spear pole.
Someone’s shield was chopped into pieces.
Someone broke the bowstring.
Someone has a sharpened knife.
After three consecutive impacts, the gray wave lacked stamina and collapsed backwards.
The car formation was opened again, and this time it was 1,500 Yamen Army officers who chased and killed them.
The enemy was defeated and ran backwards numbly, letting the Jin army's swords and guns fall on their backs without daring to resist at all.
The enemy cavalry is dispatched.
This time the scale is quite large, and the route has been found in advance, with a total of two thousand riders dispatched.
“Finally waiting for you!” Shao Xun patted the railing of the high platform and issued an order on the spot.
A moment later, the "Youzhou Cavalry Governor" who had never taken action since the beginning of the war appeared.
A hundred riders, both men and horses wearing heavy armor, holding heavy halberds and horse spears, filed out through the gap in the formation and gathered outside the formation.
"Hit Hu Bendu" had more than 300 cavalry, followed by less than 200 cavalry from the Yi Congjun, and even the government soldiers dispatched 300 people who were good at cavalry warfare.
Nine hundred cavalry, with armored cavalry as the vanguard, took advantage of the cover of the chaotic battlefield to attack the enemy cavalry that was charging straight towards them.
The mission of the Jieren light cavalry was to attack the Jin army who was chasing them across the formation. When they arrived near their destination, they suddenly saw armored cavalry charging towards them, and they were frightened to death.
But the chaotic and narrow battlefield did not allow them to make any maneuvers at all.
The armored cavalry rushed over and cut them in two. Wherever they passed, the Jie people's light cavalry fell off their horses one after another, and the screams were endless.
Hit Governor Hu Ben, Yi Congjun, and Fu soldiers followed closely behind, slashing and killing, easily harvesting the lives of the enemy cavalry.
Jie Qi realized something was wrong, turned their horses' heads one after another, and collapsed backwards.
After the armored rider came back from a distance, he clung to the back.
The Hu Ben governor, Yi Congjun, and Fu soldiers who were hit also adjusted their directions and followed the armored cavalry, sweeping the cavalry into a rout. The charge became more and more fierce, and their morale exploded.
The direction in which the Jie people fled for their lives was exactly where the Chinese army's banner was. Geinshile held all the cavalry in his hands and did not let anyone go.
At this time, seeing more than a thousand cavalry running towards this direction, they were immediately furious.
He had people waving flags again and again, but it had no effect. People running for their lives couldn't hear anything.
"Xilulu!" A large army has already retreated with its cavalry.
“Shuzi!” Shi Le yelled in anger.
But no one feels ashamed and runs away if they can't beat you. We are here to gain benefits, not to accompany you to death.
More ministers led people to retreat.
Tao Bao, Zhi Quliu and others rushed over and advised: "Your Majesty, retreat first, then come back and clean up the mess."
"You!" Shi Le's eyes were red. .
Sixty thousand troops, there are sixty thousand troops here!
With this retreat, how many more can he return?
"Hurry up and help the king get on the horse!" Taobao winked, and several soldiers stepped forward and helped Shi Le onto the horse.
Seeing that the battle was not going well, Zhang Jing and other counselors did not care about anything else. They pulled the horses and turned over to ride on them.
The messy sound of horse hooves sounded, which seemed to reflect Shi Le's mood.
While running away, he couldn't help but look back and saw chaos where the banner was set up.
Someone rolled up the flag and left.
Someone was making a loud noise.
Someone ran wildly.
Someone dropped their weapons and knelt down.
A moment later, the armored cavalry moved forward with an indomitable momentum, breaking through numerous obstacles, knocking away countless remaining soldiers and defeated generals, and came under the banner.
Riding Superintendent Duan Liang reined in his horse, got off the horse with difficulty amidst the chaos of the fleeing crowd, then pulled out an ax and slashed at the big banner.
Shi Le's flag fell to the ground reluctantly.
(End of this chapter)