Chapter 2092 Grassland Siege
“Haha”
“Haha!”
“Haha!”
The Wuhuan cavalry are already in formation The infantrymen in the formation were galloping and circling.
They were trying to find holes in the infantry.
No one will charge the infantry in formation.
They just relied on their skilled equestrian skills to run in groups within 100 meters and began to shoot with their bows.
Some people used the power of horses to wrap stones in leather belts and throw them over.
There are also people throwing crude javelins without even an iron tip.
This is the real battlefield of the Three Kingdoms.
Most of the grassland tribesmen have no unified weapons.
Just use whatever you have on hand.
This can only be achieved after establishing a unified empire.
In the process of rising, you are always looking for weapons that you can make on your own.
Remote is the highest priority.
No one would be foolish enough to rush into battle with well-trained infantry.
If the infantry does not have any long-range means, it will soon be defeated by these cavalry who keep harassing you.
This is the power of cavalry.
However, how could Wen Rensheng allow this situation to happen?
When the cavalry began to approach and harass, the infantry soon took out longbows and hard crossbows from their chariots.
These infantry longbows can shoot 200 to 300 steps away.
Of course the accuracy is unreliable.
Must rely on coverage.
The long-range weapons of their cavalry can only reach 100 steps at most, which is the limit.
If you want to be lethal, you have to rush into a range of 20 meters or even ten meters, use riding bows, throw guns, and hit the face with rocks.
"Oou..."
"Youyou..."
The Wuhuan people made various threatening noises and rode their horses towards the infantry formation.
However, a shower of arrows was soon shot out from inside.
Swordfish covered it.
"Ahhhh..."
A dozen Wuhuan cavalry fell to the ground.
The man is fine, but the horse is lame or dead.
Unarmored horses are too vulnerable to crossbows.
Then, only a dozen people were lost, and the remaining thousands of Wuhuan people quickly fled far away.
Immediately afterwards, hundreds of Taihang cavalry rushed over and poked the ground with their long spears, giving them a good beating.
After seeing this, no one tried to throw within nearly 100 meters to kill these infantrymen.
It can be seen that their training level is quite low.
And don’t underestimate the loss of more than a dozen people and think it doesn’t matter.
Among the powerful Mongols in later generations, a certain Mongolian general kept talking about it because his colleague made a mistake that cost him 30 cavalry. He kept talking about it for several banquets, and finally fell out.
The way grassland tribes calculate population is completely different from that of agricultural societies.
They lost more than a dozen people, which is equivalent to the loss of hundreds of people in an agricultural society.
The disappearance of these dozen people may mean that a tribe is abolished and will be annexed.
Anyway, the result is that they just watched from a distance, and they walked away as the infantry moved.
They stopped when the infantry stopped, maintaining a distance of three to four hundred paces.
If Taihang cavalry comes to drive them away, they will avoid it.
Anyway, if there is no head-on confrontation, it will be like a pack of wolves staring at the bison, following them from a distance.
Wait for your opponent to reveal a flaw.
Wen Rensheng confirmed again,
Most of these so-called cavalry are just herdsmen who are skilled in riding horses. They are said to be more than 30,000 people. Among them, up to 4,000 can withstand one-tenth of the casualties.
The other soldiers include even teenagers who can ride horses, so there are more than 30,000 people, which looks very scary.
But as long as some people are injured and killed, they will run away far away.
After the judgment, Wen Rensheng started taking action.
He sent 1,000 cavalry to outflank the Wuhuan people who were following them from both wings.
At the same time, 3,000 infantrymen were used to drive them frontally.
When the Wuhuan people saw someone coming, they immediately chose to retreat.
This is easy to understand.
Their purpose is to rob, not to fight a tough battle.
Unless the opponent attacks their hometown, they will only attack from a distance and will never kill them face to face.
The infantrymen used crossbows and tried to shoot after walking for a while.
The Wuhuan people continued to retreat.
They soon discovered that the infantry was trying to drive them towards a hillside.
And the cavalry who were outflanking them were also preventing them from escaping in other directions.
The Wuhuan people didn’t think much and quickly fled on horseback under the leadership of a Wuhuan master.
You must know that there are four to five thousand people at this time.
He ran away without fighting a tough battle.
However, their instinctive escape tactic is actually very beneficial to them.
Generally, if the Central Plains team is not led by an outstanding general, it will be very difficult to deal with them.
Because Wuhuan can choose the direction of escape and drag his opponent away.
It is always harder to follow with infantry.
The Wuhuan people can take turns to rest.
And now, facing Wen Rensheng’s roundabout outflanking.
Soon most of the Wuhuan people ran away.
However, not everyone is so lucky.
In other words, someone is destined to have worse horses and worse luck.
There were more than 300 people. Because of their poor horsepower and only one horse, they were intercepted by the cavalry and driven towards the hillside.
Normally wealthy herdsmen would bring 2 to 3 horses to fight.
Poor men also die first when fighting.
So these more than 300 poor Wuhuan people were driven into a hill.
The horse could no longer run and stopped on the hillside.
Some people tried to dismount and escape over the mountain.
Some people tried to counterattack and escape from the gap. They were reluctant to leave their precious horses behind.
Poor.
The result was that those who counterattacked were shot to death from a distance, stabbed to death with spears, and hacked to death with machetes by a small group of infantrymen who quickly assembled...
Of those who dismounted and fled, many actually escaped.
This is what happens in actual combat.
Of more than 300 people, even if they were in desperate situation, only more than 80 people were killed in the end, more than 100 people surrendered, and more than 100 people escaped.
What really caused the most deaths was the big collapse that happened in the plains, where they were chased by cavalry from behind.
That’s really a sure kill.
To catch up from behind is a shot or a knife.
A cavalryman can run for two hours.
Within two hours, he could kill and injure at least 30 to 50 people when the other party collapsed and ran away.
Unless he is too stupid.
In this case, 1,000 cavalry can kill 50,000 infantry in pursuit.
So the crash was terrible.
The major battles involving 50,000 defeated troops can be counted in history, and they are all included in the history of battles.
Usual combat conflicts usually involve thousands or hundreds of people.
After killing 300 people, 180 people were actually killed.
But in any case, the shock to the Wuhuan people was very powerful.
After this battle, the Wuhuan people's harassment stopped.
They only dared to stare at Wen Rensheng's team from a very far distance.
I no longer dare to approach within a few miles of the opponent easily.
Once it was discovered that Wen Rensheng had sent cavalry to intercept him, he immediately fled far away.
They are also looking for loopholes in Wen Rensheng, including the opponent's baggage and logistics transportation teams.
Then it was discovered that the baggage trains were all under tight protection of the infantry.
That is to say, their cavalry cannot get close at all. They could only watch Wen Rensheng's team advancing.
Wen Rensheng’s team also does not have a logistics team.
The baggage and combat teams are together.
at the same time.
In a tent somewhere on the grassland.
Zhang Chun, Zhang Ju, and Qiu Liju, Lord Wuhuan of Liaoxi County, are discussing the war.
"General Pingnan Zhonglang (the official position he bought before Wenren was promoted to facilitate commanding the army) and more than 20,000 handsome infantry and cavalry are advancing towards Liucheng. That is the ancestral land of our Wuhuan people. It is impossible Let him invade." Qiu Liju said directly.
“We can send people to attack his heartland, which is in Jizhou.” Zhang Chun said directly.
"General Zhonglang's team is very difficult. Facing our cavalry, they are not chaotic at all, and they are very capable of fighting. They are much stronger than the average Han army and are very well-trained. We sent troops to attack his city. What if I can’t defeat him?” Qiu Liju sighed.
“Yes, it’s a matter of using cavalry against foot and forming a formation without fighting,” another Wuhuan man shook his head and said, “None of my men want to attack the Zhonglang General’s formation.”
Zhang Chun said again: "We can send some people to contain him, and then send other people deep into their Taihang Mountains to harass and rob their caravans. In this way, they will have to withdraw their troops after getting the news."< br>
"When they withdraw, we can follow, surround and destroy them, leaving them with no water to drink and no food to eat."
Zhang Chun still has two brushes.
After all, he defeated Gongsun Zan in the beginning.
"Okay, let's do this." Qiu Liju, Lord Wuhuan of Liaoxi County, divided more than 30,000 people into two parts.
He sent more than 3,000 cavalry to prepare to go south.
Because these more than 3,000 cavalry are going deep into plundering, they all have certain training and have certain military qualities.
At least equivalent to a new recruit in the Han army.
Not all grassland tribesmen just picked up bows, arrows and javelins and became soldiers.
Be able to perform certain tasks, at least knowing when to retreat and when to attack.
It was only when they went deep into Jizhou that they discovered that there was no one outside the wilderness.
And they dare not go deep into the mountains and forests.
Isn’t this nonsense?
They are cavalry.
If you go deep into the mountains to rob, you will be sent to your doorstep.
As long as the opponent comes around from behind the mountain, they can be wiped out.
They can only plunder everywhere on the plains outside the mountains.
However, they found that there were fortresses everywhere.
And they are all strange fortresses.
Although it is only made of wood and soil, it is very weird.
Triangular shapes stick out like hedgehogs.
If you attack, you will easily be hit from everywhere.
As for expecting them to make any siege weapons, that is overthinking.
They don't have the technology yet.
The rise of Wuhuan will be several years away.
Of course, it was not until a few years ago that he was smashed by Cao Cao again.
Until the later Jin Dynasty, the Five Husties disrupted China.
They discovered that these fortresses were simply impossible to defeat.
If you rush nearby, you will be shot to death.
The other party is not afraid at all.
And they couldn't find anyone in the wild, and they couldn't drive the people to attack the city.
The most it can do is burn down some abandoned land and villages.
But being alone outside puts great pressure on the cavalry.
Because horses need to eat food. Otherwise, it will be difficult for them to travel long distances just by eating grass. The horses will lose weight and become useless.
They are reluctant to part with it.
For herdsmen, horses are also very precious, and sheep are cheap, but they cannot be used for meat.
It’s funny to eat meat every day. Drinking goat milk, selling sheep skins and mutton and replacing them with food is their serious life.
Only the tribal adults can eat meat regularly.
They were in a desperate situation.
Soon they let things slide.
No longer obeying the orders of Zhang Chun and others, they ran to Qingzhou and Xuzhou farther away to plunder.
This is the horror of the cavalry. They traveled thousands of miles and lasted six or seven days.
Completely gave up the mission to plunder the land ruled by Wen Rensheng.
This is why soldiers cannot be thrown out to fight at will.
They will not be obedient, let alone expect them to do various suicide missions.
That was a joke.
And Wen Rensheng also ignored the enemies who crossed behind and continued towards Liucheng.
Qiu Liju and others had no choice but to summon other Wuhuan people to come over for support.
Among them were Su Puyan, the master of Wuhuan in the Liaodong vassal state, and Wuyan, the master of Wuhuan in Youbeiping County.
They worked together, and finally gathered ten thousand cavalry who dared to fight.
These are not the tribesmen who can make up the numbers with swords, guns, bows and arrows.
But a real warrior who can withstand 5% to 10% casualties.
That is to say, when rushing into battle, as long as there are 100 people in a team and no more than 5 to 10 people die, they can continue to fight.
This is remarkable.
Belongs to the army that is above the qualifications of this era.
For an army to be qualified is enough to make the generals ecstatic.
Most of the teams led by generals are unqualified.
I give you 5,000 troops, of which only 500 can meet the combat requirements. The rest are just make-up, the kind that will collapse if the limelight is not right.
So in ancient times, it was basically bad wars.
It’s good if you can just make do with it, but if you expect to be consistent and invincible, that’s just trying to get away with it.
Only in rare cases can this be done.
For example, when the dynasty was established, there were veterans who had been fighting for more than ten years, and for example, there were veterans who had been fighting for many years during the troubled times.
Only veterans accumulated through battles can master many military technologies and become elites.
There are only so many elites in each force, only 58,000 at most. Once they are exhausted, they will be finished.
They can’t train them in turns either.
Feudal society did not have such a training mechanism.
Finally, 200 miles away from Liucheng, on a plain, the Wuhuan people intercepted Wen Rensheng's team.
When Wen Rensheng came all the way, he naturally had to consider the water source.
There is a river nearby.
The army must first march against the river. If there is no river, we must look for a place with villages on the road.
He was not trying to plunder, but a place with villages must have plenty of water.
Wells can be dug in time, but the army needs a lot of water, and it will drink up several wells in a day.
So if necessary, a car should be stocked with alcohol.
You cannot bring fresh water as it will stink easily.
Bringing low-alcohol drinks can also boost morale.
These drinks are for critical moments, for a few days to break through the siege.
Wen Rensheng was also relying on the river and decided to start a frontal battle.
How to fight head-on?
First of all, you need to look at the other party’s purpose.
The purpose of the Wuhuan people is very simple.
They just want to surround their side here, and then consume their side's food, weapons, especially projectile weapons.
When their own side's projectile weapons are completely exhausted, they can slowly start to process their own side.
This is also the most effective strategy for cavalry to fight infantry.
They are never in a hurry to eat it all at once.
This is the cavalry’s tactics.
Slowly and gradually wear down your opponent.
Because the horses can go graze. There is grassland nearby.
They can drink mare's milk and goat's milk, and can take turns to fight.
In historical cavalry versus infantry battles, the prairie people's patience was terrifying and they could often persist for a month or two.
In fact, it is equivalent to besieging the opponent in herding life.
Besiege the farming army while grazing.
Such a battle is suitable for the grassland tribes, but it is a great test for the farming army.
(End of this chapter)