Chapter 259: Evil
Duan Xiong recalled the surprised looks of the two Yamen Army building leaders when they made the plan before the war.
Haha, a bunch of young chicks!
Except for the pitiful experience he gained in the war, he has never had any serious contact with orthodox military heritage.
It is true that some people have never read military books or learned the art of war, but they have found their own effective methods in the long war, and their actions "coincide with the art of war".
But such people are only a minority after all.
At that time, he deliberately asked: "In the deep plateau, the thieves are ambushed? What will they do?"
Zhang Gu thought that the thieves would retreat.
Yu An believes that those who have entered the pass cannot retreat, which will cause great chaos, and they can only accelerate forward, so that there is still a glimmer of hope. Only those who had not yet had time to enter the pass had the possibility of retreating, but the rebel army was cut into two sections, and the defeat was certain.
Duan Xiong admired Yu An's mind, so he made some suggestions: "At this time, if we can place the auxiliary soldiers and the strong men in the south, wait for the enemy's brigade to pass, beat the drums and trumpets, and advance with shouts , most of the thieves did not dare to retreat and would only move forward together.”
Zhang Gu felt it made sense after hearing this, and asked again: "Then why don't you stop them from the front? The thieves came from the south, and they fired their bows and crossbows from the east and west plateaus. They also ambushed the auxiliary soldiers in the south, shouting and making noise. If the northern pass can be blocked, , then the bandit army can be wiped out."
Why? You'll know right away.
With lightning speed, one hundred and fifty armored cavalry rushed directly towards the Huns who were still containing the troops.
Some people scattered in panic, circling around the outside, trying to shoot arrows.
Some people fled directly, ignoring Liu Ling's greetings.
Someone else was hit.
Under the iron horse, they screamed and screamed in pain.
They are also cavalry, but their horses are like donkeys compared to armored cavalry.
They are also cavalry, but their equipment is nothing compared to armored cavalry.
Under the impact of two phases - no, in fact, only one side impacted, the other was just charged - the light cavalry were directly scattered, and the number of those who fell was unknown.
After one round of charge, the armored cavalry circled back from a distance and launched a second round of charge.
For a moment, Liu Ling was extremely confused.
He has clearly seen that this armored cavalry is not protected by light cavalry. Although it is powerful, its movements are cumbersome and slow, and the nearby terrain is relatively open. In theory, there is an opportunity to take advantage of it. Speed defeated these tin men.
The armored cavalry cannot catch up with the light cavalry, which is their Achilles heel.
But he gave up after all.
He had just experienced an ambush and was intercepted by armored cavalry when he rushed out of the pass. He was really a little scared.
If you struggle with them for too long, you will be entangled by Shao Thief's infantry or light cavalry, and that will be the end - who knows if there are any troops ambushing nearby!
After struggling for a while, the armored cavalry rushed forward again.
Liu Ling sighed, performed the stunt of changing horses in the air, jumped on the back of another horse that was running empty, and shouted: "Let's go!"
"Boom!" The armored rider He rushed into the light cavalry formation, and wherever he passed, dozens of people fell off their horses.
The Xiongnu Qingqi shouted and fled together.
After making a circle, Duan Xiong did not pursue, but ordered to return to the starting point, and with the help of auxiliary soldiers, he dismounted and regained his strength.
However, not long after, another three to four hundred Xiongnu cavalry rushed out of the pass, looking panicked and embarrassed.
The armored cavalry mounted their horses one after another, rushed down the hillside, and charged into the Huns' light cavalry.
The Huns were washed to pieces.
After leaving seventy or eighty corpses behind, they dispersed in a rush.
******
The south entrance of the pass, just as Duan Xiong suggested before.
Three thousand auxiliary soldiers, Ding Zhuang, held their flags high, beat drums on all sides, and rushed over with shouts.
The Hun cavalry in the rear team already knew that there was an ambush ahead, and they were already panicking.
They became even more panicked when they saw a large number of infantry coming towards them, and there were flags and war drums all over the mountains and plains.
This requires at least 20,000 infantry troops, right?
With such a huge momentum, it is clear that they are going to be surrounded and annihilated.
As a result, some of the cavalry who had not yet entered the pass made a prompt decision, turned their horses around, and rushed towards the distant wilderness.
Hundreds of others who had already entered the pass, but who had not gone deep, also looked back and retreated backwards.
The crossbows on the mountain plateaus on both sides were constantly firing, and falling rocks fell from time to time. The Huns cavalry suffered heavy losses.
When I returned to the southern entrance in embarrassment, I saw a large group of infantry. I didn't even dare to charge, but ran away.
The auxiliary soldiers were originally worried about whether they would be overwhelmed by the Huns cavalry. But when they saw that they only wanted to escape and did not dare to fight back, their courage increased and they quickened their pace and stopped them. Go up.
The Huns were killed by stabbing with spears, hitting people with wooden poles, and hooking horses' legs with hooks and sickles.
War is a contest of courage and will.
The combat effectiveness of these strong auxiliary soldiers is actually very average. Under normal circumstances, they would be beaten to death by the Huns cavalry when fighting in the field.
But at this time, their morale was high, they marched forward with great noise, and they were unstoppable.
On the other hand, the Huns only had one thought in their minds: escape. Very few people dared to stop and organize a counterattack, and they were soon submerged in the surging infantry crowd.
The auxiliary soldiers ignored the fleeing Huns cavalry and let them go. Then they adjusted their formation slightly and attacked from south to north along the pass.
There were still a few remaining Huns cavalry in the pass. When they saw the Jin soldiers coming from behind, they were so desperate that they desperately urged their horses and fled north.
Look, this is the wonderful thing about arranging troops.
If the three thousand auxiliary soldiers are arranged at the north entrance of the pass, they will face the Hun cavalry who are trying to escape. It is difficult to predict what will happen at this time. There is a high possibility that these people will be overwhelmed. Even if they don't collapse, they will still have to pay unimaginable heavy losses. After all, their equipment is very poor, their combat effectiveness is not good, and they don't have much combat experience.
But if you put them behind the enemy's butt, they can perform beyond their capabilities when the enemy has no intention of fighting.
People who are not experienced in battles cannot pull off such tricks.
After the auxiliary soldier Ding Zhuang rushed in, the officers and soldiers of the Yamen Army on the east and west plateaus also came down the mountain to join them.
The pass was full of human and horse corpses, and the smell of blood rose into the sky. But the men were very excited and moved northward with loud killing sounds.
When encountering a wounded Huns soldier on the road, he would directly and mercifully make up for it with a knife. When he met a lone thief, he shot an arrow from a distance and stabbed him with a spear when he was close, killing him very happily.
At this time, at the north entrance of the pass, the armored cavalry led by Duan Xiong charged three or four times before finally being unable to do so.
Their results were also astonishing: they directly killed more than three hundred Huns cavalry, and directly broke up their organization, making them frightened, panicked, unable to choose their way, and without the will to fight.
Zhang Gu and Yu An hurriedly made some plans in the pass and killed more than a thousand thieves.
More than 400 thieves were also killed at the south entrance of the pass.
With this ambush, they achieved the effect of beheading 1,800 people at the cost of slight casualties. It was a brilliant victory.
Moreover, according to the identification of the captured prisoners, a relative named Hu Yanhong was shot to death by random arrows...
******
The battle is not entirely over.
When Liu Ling rushed to a few miles away from Shaanxi County, he encountered more than 700 returning riders.
These people were either Qingqi who were exploring the road in front, or they were the front team who were let go by Zhang Gu and Yu An. After hearing that they were ambushed in the rear, they immediately returned to help, but they were met in a panic on the way. Liu Ling came running.
Liu Ling only had more than two hundred riders by his side.
Everyone stopped to rest their horses, eat some water, and sent people to take in the scattered soldiers.
In the afternoon, another three to four hundred riders came to vote.
Looking at the growing troops, Liu Ling calmed down for a moment. After letting out a long sigh, he said to everyone: "It is no longer possible to return along the original road. How about going all the way east and finding a ferry back to the north bank?"
Everyone was no longer angry and all agreed.
Before the expedition, they were an impressive force of five thousand cavalry. It seemed as if the world was vast and they could go anywhere. No one could stop them or catch up with them.
If the main force of the Shao thieves is still in Dayang, then they will use the excellent mobility of the cavalry to attack hundreds of miles, seize the pontoon bridge, or even destroy the pontoon bridge, blocking the main force of the Shao thieves on the north bank.
At that time, he could only retreat eastward in a hurry, cross Wangwu Mountain, exit Zhiguanxing, and enter Hanoi.
This retreat was hasty and embarrassing. All unnecessary baggage must be discarded, and we must face the pursuit of the big men on foot and cavalry. The losses must be considerable.
It would be better if he stayed in Dayang. If tens of thousands of cavalry came over, he would have no choice but to retreat to the city. Then one hundred thousand infantry dug three layers of trenches and surrounded Dayang.
The plan formulated by His Royal Highness the King of Chu had no problems, and his actions were very decisive. He started from outside Hongnong City and marched all the way, catching everyone by surprise.
However, the Shao thieves were cunning and had predicted their plan in advance. They set up an ambush at Qili Pass and killed them in a panic.
It's too late to say anything now. If you lose, you have to admit it. It’s important to find an opportunity to withdraw.
The troops and horses led by the King of Chu are just the vanguard. The main force of the Han Dynasty's 150,000 infantry and cavalry has not yet set off. They will come back to take revenge after a while.
After resting, Liu Ling led everyone on their horses and headed northwest.
As we approached Shaanxi County, hundreds of riders suddenly appeared in front of us.
The other party seemed to be surprised as well. He did not expect to encounter the Xiongnu in the countryside of Shaanxian County.
But they reacted quickly. They immediately dismounted and rallied, occupying both sides of the post road. They skillfully took out their crossbows and fired at the Hun cavalry.
"Charge over, don't be reluctant to fight!" Liu Ling roared, and surrounded by his own soldiers, he rushed forward at a very fast speed.
The Huns - well, most of them were not Huns - hid their bodies on their horses as much as possible to avoid the crossbow bolts.
There are also people who perform hiding stunts while running at high speed, sometimes hanging on one side of the horse, sometimes hanging on the other side, trying to avoid the intensively fired crossbow bolts.
But how can it be so easy to escape when they meet head-on?
Crossbow arrows were fired from both sides of the road, and more than a thousand Huns cavalry once again performed a spectacular show for the people.
Someone was directly pierced by the crossbow arrow and fell to the ground.
Someone was shot into the mount and was thrown away.
Some people were blocked by the corpse in front of them and had no time to turn. They fell to the ground together with their horses.
The scene was tragic.
But the Huns had no intention of stopping and resisting, almost maxing out their horse power and running wildly without any fighting spirit.
After running for more than ten miles like this, when I saw that the horse was overwhelmed, the sound of rapid horse hooves sounded again from behind.
Liu Ling turned around and saw hundreds of cavalrymen holding horse spears and halberds, shouting and chasing after them.
He closed his eyes in despair, feeling a surge of regret in his heart.
If I had known that I was going to be chased down like this, I should have contained as many defeated troops as possible outside the pass and then fought to the death.
But he was afraid at the time and ran away habitually.
When encountering the crossbow-wielding horse infantry just now, it is not impossible to fight to the death.
But he was in a hurry to run away and had no fighting spirit.
What we are encountering now should be the Jin Cavalry Army. These people are professional cavalry and they probably have enough horsepower. How can they escape?
One wrong step leads to a wrong step.
Looking back now, I felt like I was possessed by an evil spirit today. From the moment I was ambushed, I fell into the calculations of others every step of the way. I kept missing opportunities, not only losing my fighting spirit, but eventually reaching the end of the road.
"Xi Lulu" The horse suddenly knelt down on its front hooves and fell limply to the ground.
Liu Ling was not careful and was thrown away. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and rolled a bit when he landed on the ground without any injuries.
Just as he stood up, more than ten riders rushed in front of him.
Someone shouted in surprise: "Here is a thief, catch him alive!"
Liu Linggang wanted to resist, but he was surrounded.
He sighed, lowered his head, abandoned his weapon and knelt down.
Beside him, a large group of cavalry passed by like lightning, and the pursuit continued.
(End of this chapter)