Chapter 348: Solid as a Rock
After Huang Gai and Rui Liang got closer, they discovered that Gao Shun’s circular formation was like a turtle shell. Coupled with the halberd protruding from between the shields, they immediately became more powerful. Evolved into a hedgehog.
Huang Gai also frowned. The best way to deal with this kind of turtle and hedgehog formation is naturally to use a cannon to hit him. It only takes a few hits to knock him off his feet and shatter the formation.
It is not that there are no artillery carts in Sun Ce's army. Not only are there in Guling City, there are more than a dozen in Sun Ce's army's main formation.
Sun Cejun had arrived on the battlefield long ago, and he had built a lot of war equipment these days, including artillery vehicles.
The power of their artillery carriages is naturally far less than that of the Conquering South Army, but they can also throw rocks weighing ten to thirty kilograms between sixty and one hundred meters.
If we can pull the artillery cart over, we can still be sure of breaking the formation.
But the problem is that after the battle, Sun Cejun's artillery vehicles followed the main formation and retreated five miles.
It will not be possible to pull those artillery carts over in a short time. Not to mention the cavalry, even the infantry is much faster than those artillery carts.
After discussing with Rui Liang and Rui Xuan, Huang Gai made two preparations. While preparing to launch an attack, he sent people back to report to Sun Ce and apply for artillery carriages to move forward for reinforcements.
"Wen Luan, the only plan now is to besiege on all sides."
Huang Gai looked at the hedgehog-like circular formation and discussed with Rui Liang.
Rui Liang also frowned. Although he had never heard of Gao Shun's name, he would definitely not be easy to deal with as the vanguard of the Southern Army and the first person to cross the river.
But looking at Huang Gai's gloomy look, Rui Liang felt that he had underestimated him.
Rui Liang's own fighting ability is very average. Although he cannot be said to be a waste, he is really at an average level and is far inferior to Huang Gai.
But Rui Liang has one advantage, that is, he is good at accepting others' opinions.
He immediately expressed his stance to Huang Gai: "According to Gongfu's words, I will assist you in this battle, and I will obey Gongfu's orders."
Rui Liang's stance , Huang Gai cheered up: "Good! Wen Luan is indeed a son of a famous scholar, and he knows the general situation very well."
Afterwards, Huang Gai arranged the battle plan and reviewed it with brothers Rui Liang and Rui Xuan . During this period of time, Huang and Rui's families had already surrounded Gao Shun, and then sat down to rest.
“First formation, go out and fight.”
Huang Gai waved his hand, waved the flag, and the horns of the bull whistled.
Sun Ce's soldiers from the four directions behind Gao Shun launched together and pressed towards Gao Shun's position step by step.
When the distance between the two sides was less than 70 meters, a golden gong sound suddenly sounded in Gao Shun's army. The tower shield bearer in the first row suddenly raised his hand to close the shield, and then turned sideways.
In the gaps between the tower shieldmen, each crossbowman had been preparing for a long time and pulled the trigger almost at the same time.
The effective range of the crossbow is between 80 and 120 meters. This distance of 30 meters can naturally maximize the lethality of the crossbow.
During this burst of heavy crossbow fire, both Huang Gai and Rui Liangjun led the tower shield bearers, and many shields were directly shot through, directly injuring the shield bearers themselves.
Immediately afterwards, there was another burst of golden gongs in Gao Shun's formation, and the archers who had retreated into the formation raised their bows and fired towards the enemies in all directions.
The four waves of arrows were like raindrops. After being thrown high into the sky, they began to fall downwards and fell into the battle formation of Huang Gai and Rui Liang.
"Pfft."
A tearing sound was heard, and the sharp arrows tore clothes and skin, piercing deeply into the flesh.
Many of Sun's soldiers immediately cried out in pain and fell to the ground. They were either hit by arrows in their vital organs or in their legs.
Even if these people do not die, they have lost their fighting ability.
Huang Gai and Rui Liang's military formation began to fluctuate, but soon calmed down under the pressure of the officers. The soldiers in the back row stepped forward to replace the casualties on the ground, and then continued to move towards Gao Shun's army. The formation pressed past.
At the same time, Sun Cejun's archers in the back row also entered the shooting range and began their counterattack.
It's just that Gao Shun's troops carried a large number of shields. Not only were the first row protected by tower shields, but the heads behind them were also protected by tower shields. This seriously weakened Sun Ce's army's bow and arrow attacks.
In just a dozen breaths, the two sides had already fought twice, both of which ended with Sun Cejun at a disadvantage.
Fortunately, Sun Ce's army currently has a strength advantage. Loading crossbow arrows is not easy, but bows and arrows can cause a large amount of damage in a short period of time.
Gao Shunjun fired four waves of arrows in one breath, and did not stop shooting until the front line began to make contact.
Huang Gai and Rui Liang's soldiers did not carry extra shields, so they could only withstand the firepower from the opposite side and charge forward.
Fortunately, the short seventy meters ran quickly. The soldiers in the first row of Sun Ce's army held large shields and charged like wild boars with their heads lowered, and crashed into the formation of the Conquering South Army.
At the moment of impact, Sun Ce's army suffered a large number of casualties. Many of Sun Ce's soldiers failed to avoid the long halberd and were stabbed to the core. Some were scratched by the small halberd, cutting out a series of wounds. A bleeding mouth.
Some of Sun Ce's shield-bearing soldiers even bumped into the halberd. The halberd pierced the shield and did not hurt anyone. But because the soldiers behind him didn't have time to brake, they bumped into him and forcefully pushed his shield hand onto the blade of his halberd.
In just the initial contact, coupled with the long-range firefight just now, Sun Ce's army had already suffered more than 20% casualties, while the Zhengnan Army only had more than a dozen casualties. In addition to being very unlucky, they were Except for those killed by arrows hitting vital points, there were no more casualties.
However, Sun Cejun's casualties also paid off handsomely. The hedgehog shell of the Zhengnan Army was undoubtedly broken, and the soldiers from both sides collided, and a fierce fight broke out immediately.
Rui Liang looked at it from a distance and shouted, "Well done."
Huang Gai, however, immediately issued an order without saying a word, ordering the second formation to advance quickly, ready to take over from the first formation at any time.
Although the first formation broke through the opponent's formation and fought together, it had already suffered more than 20% casualties before, which can be said to be the end of the war.
If there is no fresh force to assist them, once they retreat, they will give the opponent the opportunity and time to reorganize their military formation. Then the military formation behind them will be hit by the opponent's long-range firepower again.
The fact is just as Huang Gai thought, the soldiers in the first formation began to show obvious decline after just a cup of tea, and they relied entirely on willpower to persist.
Fortunately, the reinforcements from the second formation of Sun Army arrived in time, which saved the soldiers of the first formation from fleeing.
When the first formation was about to collapse, Sun Jun's second formation stepped forward to take over from the first formation and replaced them.
There were originally 500 people in the first formation, but by the time they retreated, there were already less than 200 people, excluding the wounded.
In contrast, the Conquering South Army suffered only more than fifty casualties, most of which were casualties caused by close-range hand-to-hand combat.
Just before the handover between the two sides was about to be completed, Gao Shun's army was greatly energized. The heavy front row of Gao Shun's troops, whose pressure was greatly reduced, immediately pulled out and squatted down, and then hundreds of crossbow arrows were fired at once, severely injuring Sun Ce. The military side of the story.
It wasn’t over yet. Amidst the fierce sound of golden gongs, a total of two hundred armored warriors wearing iron armor and holding swords came out of the formation and rushed straight to Sun Jun’s camp, taking advantage of Sun Jun to take over the battle. There was a gap in the formation, and the opponent was knocked back dozens of meters before he could gain a firm foothold.
The armored warriors showed no interest in fighting and took care of each other and returned to their own formation. The shield bearers in this direction replaced the damaged tower shields with fresh troops and resumed their defensive posture. Sun Ce's army, which was attacking from three other sides, could not see the enemy on the opposite side, and the friendly troops on the left and right were all frightened.
Rui Liang watched this side of the tribe being driven back, and the situation that had taken him so many lives to open was back in the blink of an eye. He was really heartbroken. He shouted in pain: "The leader of this formation must be killed!"
Huang Gaixian glanced at the opponent, sighed in his heart, and said to comfort: "They have tried their best, and they have fought hard before, and they can be regarded as warriors. , let's let them take the blame and make meritorious service."
Rui Liang was silent for a moment before nodding: "Since Gongfu pleads for them, let's do it."
After comforting Rui Liang, Huang Gai continued to watch the battlefield.
At this time, the south side was broken by Gao Shun's armored soldiers, and the enemy's armored soldiers could be clearly seen at a glance.
But the battle situation on the other three sides was finally acceptable. At least the second formation stabilized the front.
As long as we continue like this and maintain the offensive, even if we change players, we can replace all of Gao Shun's troops.
The corners of Huang Gai's mouth raised slightly, and then he began to give orders again, organizing a new wave of attacks, including the southern military formation that had just retreated.
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At this time, Gao Shun was in the military formation.
While directing, Gao Shun asked: "When is it?"
This question was unclear, but the followers around him understood it very well. He immediately replied: "General, it has been half an hour. In at least one or two quarters of an hour, our reinforcements will be able to cross the river and land ashore."
Gao Shun nodded slowly, he did have some miscalculations. Sorry, Sun Cejun was so cruel to him. Huang Gai and Rui Liang seemed to be going crazy. They didn't feel sorry for their own troops at all, and they attacked him almost desperately.
Although it was only two short waves of offensive, it had already caused Gao Shun a lot of trouble.
Fortunately, all the follow-up troops on the other side are almost on board. As long as they cross the Qiantang River and find the landing point, they can support their troops.
"General, look!"
Suddenly, his flag-bearer pointed to a place to remind Gao Shun.
Although Gao Shun's expression did not change, he shifted his gaze quite quickly.
It turned out that a group of troops under the banner of Song Qian appeared in the array on the opposite side.
Obviously, when Sun Ce saw the first wave of Huang Gai's offensive, he already understood that the force sent by his side was simply not enough to defeat Gao Shun. How dare he continue to retain his strength, he directly sent Song Qian as well. come over.
Before leaving, he told Song Qian that if Huang Gai and the others were able to defeat Gao Shun, then he should not take the credit. If not, then he must help Huang Gai and the others quickly defeat Gao Shun and must not let him The other party landed the second batch of troops smoothly.
The arrival of Song Qian greatly enhanced Huang Gai's available troops.
At this time, he didn't care whether Song Qian took the credit or not. If he still cared about this at this time, then I'm afraid he would be credited for conquering the Southern Army.
Huang Gai didn't wait for the front line to rest, and directly arranged for the third wave of military formations. Even Song Qian's 500 very elite ace pieces were removed from his troops
Watch by Huang Gai Looking at the Zhengnan reinforcements on the river in the distance, he gritted his teeth and played out all the cards in his hand.
One hundred armored soldiers, four hundred of the most elite troops, Huang Gai planned to choose a point to continue to exert force, defeat Gao Shun in one wave, and complete Sun Ce's order.
However, Huang Gai was reluctant to let this unit bear the powerful long-range firepower of the Conquering South Army, either because of his heartache or because of tactical needs.
In their direction, they not only arranged this wave of steps in the fourth formation, but also waited for the third formation to rush forward before following up.
At the same time, in order to guard against the strong bows and crossbows of Gao Shunjun, some additional shields were added to them.
Huang Gai said directly to the clansman who had followed him for many years: "Huang An, come in person!"
Huang An immediately accepted the order, put on his iron armor, and galloped into the formation. , then dismounted and waited for battle.
Just when Huang Gai was planning a life and death fight, Sun Ce in the distance was also watching the battle situation here.
Under the command of Sun Ce, the army was actually moving forward, but not as fast as Song Qian.
Sun Ce did not follow the army, but continued to stay on the observation tower to watch the battle, and from time to time asked about the situation of the people below.
"Is there anything going on at Chadu Village?"
After Sun Ce saw that Huang Gai was about to fight for his life, he did not continue to watch, but got off the watchtower and asked about the situation on his side. Come.
There are only a thousand people in Chadu Village at this time. Although they can use the advantage of the land to block a force several times their own for some time, the more important role is to report the news.
Yuan Xiong immediately replied: "A quarter of an hour ago, someone came to report from Chadu Village on flying horses. Everything was normal."
Sun Ce nodded, and it was Sun Ce's decision to let Chadu Village report that it was safe every hour. For this reason, Sun Ce did not hesitate to arrange for them to have more than a dozen horses.
Although this kind of walking horse cannot go to the battlefield, it can still carry people on the run.
Hearing that Chadu Village was still safe, Sun Ce's brows relaxed slightly, but he still had a strong sense of ominousness in his heart, and he didn't know what went wrong.
But as long as there are no problems with the ancient Chadu Road and the Conquest Army did not cross the river there and directly penetrate into Gaoqiantun, then their retreat and food routes will not be threatened.
But the problem is exactly here. The reason why Sun Ce is so worried is that he feels that the Southern Army is luring him into a decisive battle, and there must be some conspiracy hidden in the shadows.
The sixth sense kept sounding the alarm for Sun Ce, but he couldn't figure out what was wrong.
This feeling is particularly uncomfortable, but as long as there is no problem in Chadu Village, can Liu Feng still fly over?
Of course, Liu Feng can also come from the sea.
But if the other party really thinks so, then Sun Ce can laugh out loud with joy.
Although Qiantang was already a land of plenty at this time, it was still far from what it was in later generations. The biggest difference was along the river.
At this time, the north of the Yangtze River was protected by Qiantang, so the land became arable fields, but there was no dam like Qiantang in the south of the Yangtze River.
Therefore, on the coastline of the south bank of the Qiantang River, there are tidal flats everywhere. This is muddy land, and you will sink into it if you step on it, and it will be a long distance.
If Liu Feng was really willing to waste his transportation capacity and send his troops to land in the mud, then Sun Ce would really have to thank him.
(End of this chapter)