Chapter 225 Riding Battle
In the sixth year of Guanghe, on July 16th, in the wilderness of Changshe.
This battle was more sudden than anyone expected. First, there was a chance encounter between a few cavalry, and then there was support from nearby friendly forces. Only after they had been fighting for half a day did everyone know that the war had broken out.
At this time, at midnight in the morning, the sound of horns had already sounded from the camp next to the Taishan Officer Road, and various war drums and conchs sounded. The entire camp began to revive, and everyone woke up to the exciting music.
In the dim light of the morning, first the flying troops mounted their horses with flags on their backs and dispersed and cruised in the plain ahead. Then a thousand cavalry were dressed up, with bows on their backs and armor in their pockets, slowly pouring in like sparkling waves of light.
After yesterday's encounter, these assault cavalry had been assembled. Everyone knew that the Han army on the opposite side was less than two miles ahead. After paying the lives of more than a dozen flying troops carrying flags, those Han troops The truth and falsehood have been detected by the Taishan Army.
At this time, the sun has risen over the vast plains, and the dark mountains and hills show its full panorama. Zhang Chong, the commander-in-chief of the entire army, did not choose to stay in command of the large army this time, but personally led the assault cavalry.
This battle was different from the previous ones. This time it was a battle between cavalry. The number of Han cavalry on the opposite side was about 1,800, which was nearly twice as many as my own. Since the numbers were not superior, Zhang Chong had to lead the team himself to be sure of victory.
In addition, the difference between the cavalry fighting style and the infantry fighting style also made Zhang Chong have to go to the front line in person. The infantry line attack is relatively static and slow. As the commander-in-chief, Zhang Chong can naturally command from the rear formation and calmly dispatch all armies to coordinate operations. But the cavalry is different. Once it charges, it will rush forward and will not stop at all. By the time the command information from behind reaches the cavalry, the fighter plane will have passed long ago. It is also because of this that cavalry operations rely heavily on the cavalry generals to make decisions based on the situation. Therefore, Zhang Chong naturally had to go to the front line of the cavalry in person.
Over there, Cao Cao, the commander of the Han cavalry army, also started his own military strategy.
Before dawn, he dispatched three troops with a total of 600 cavalry. Under the command of his general Geng Zhi, he quickly cruised forward to explore the strength of the bandit army.
Geng Zhi comes from a famous family, after the Geng family in Fufeng. Since the Zhongxing Dynasty, his family has had two generals, nine generals, thirteen ministers, three princesses, nineteen princes, Zhonglang general, and Hu Qiang school. With captains and governors, two thousand stones and hundreds of people, it can be said to be a real noble family.
Geng Zhi is still young, but he has already held the important position of Qian Shi. In the future, due to his contribution to quelling the Yellow Turban, he will reach the high position of General Du Liao with two thousand Shi. This is also a permanent position for their Geng family. In the future, he will be in the position of General Du Liao and will die in the battle with the Southern Huns, sacrificing his life for the country.
Geng Zhi was ordered by Cao Cao to set out in the darkness and lurked on a high ground in the northwest of the plain, where he could have a good view of the plain ahead.
But it must be very dangerous here, because the Taishan Army will definitely seize this position, and now that he is going deep alone, the danger will naturally increase. But who made him a member of the Geng family in Fufeng? The Geng family has always been brave and daring to fight. At this moment, he seemed to feel that his ancestors Geng Yan, Geng Guo, Geng Shu and others were watching him from the sky, encouraging him not to forget Family glory.
As the sun rose, Geng Zhi on the high ground could see the enemy's battlefield more and more clearly.
The middle was filled with darkness and there was a forest of swords and spears. They should be the bandits who were already in formation. He didn’t know how they got all the way from Fengqiu. Geng Zhi couldn’t tell what their morale was, but the formation was very neat. , this can be seen at a glance.
Then at the front of the two wings were the cavalry of the Taishan Army. The smoke was too thick and it was difficult to see how many there were, but judging from the number of troops, there must be thousands of them. After observing for a while, Geng Zhi turned his attention to the formation of the rebel infantry.
He keenly felt that the key to this battle was not the cavalry, but the infantry who were marching at a very fast pace. These people were armed with spears and were arranged in a slender formation, shining dangerously in the morning light.
After thinking for a while, Geng Zhi decided to go around to the side of the infantry to see if he could have a chance to fight.
A moment later, Geng Zhi led his 600 cavalry down the slope and moved northeast at high speed. In the blink of an eye, he vaguely heard the bandit formations in front of him singing loudly. It was blurry at first, then became clearer and clearer, and gradually became a sentence:
"Raising swords and soldiers to exchange for peace will only restore the Qingming Dynasty to the world."
The sound ranged from weak to roaring, just like drizzle to storm, and it hit the ears of Geng Zhi and others directly, and everyone's heart sank:
"This is a phalanx full of fighting spirit and cannot be charged."
Holding the reins, Geng Zhi, who was racing at the front, began to circle to the right. The riders behind him were guided by him, the leader, to turn right like a herd of sheep.
The entire cavalry team kept turning to the right, preparing to circle around the Taishan bandits' formation, leave the battlefield, and return to the Han army's ranks.
While running, Geng Zhi bit his lips and trembled all over, because he suddenly realized something he had never thought of before, that is, he was probably the winner of this battle at this moment.
His troops numbered six hundred, which already accounted for one-third of the Han army's strength. Originally, the Han army had an absolute advantage in terms of the number of cavalry, but now Cao Cao divided his 600 troops with the intention of echoing the situation. But the problem is that at this point, the number of his 600 cavalry is smaller than the enemy's cavalry. If the thieves catch up, he will be in danger here.
And once he is eliminated here, the numerical advantage of our cavalry over there will be very small. If the thieves have a strong position, they will definitely lose.
No, I have to go back to the military branch immediately.
Thinking of this, Geng Zhi no longer spared any effort, urged his troops, and accelerated towards the south.
But unfortunately, he met Zhang Chong, who was a natural commander. As early as Zhang Chong was commanding the vanguard of the assault cavalry, he discovered that the number of enemy cavalry was obviously less than what was originally detected. Then he sent sentry cavalry to patrol around to capture the Han soldiers.
Later, when Geng Zhi led his cavalry downhill, Zhang Chong, who had an eagle's eye view, immediately caught the movement of his troops. When they maneuvered to the northeast, Zhang Chong suddenly spotted the fighter plane.
At this moment, the cavalry and infantry formations of the Taishan Army separated the two Han cavalry units. If he led the cavalry back and eliminated the advancing Han cavalry first, the situation on the entire battlefield would be reversed.
Then, Zhang Chong was about to give the order for the entire cavalry to circle around from the left, preparing to return to destroy the Han cavalry behind them.
But at this moment, most of the Han cavalry in front took the lead in launching an attack. It turned out that Cao Cao, the commander of this unit, had been standing on a slope with two or three generals since before the war started, observing the situation on the battlefield.
When Geng Zhi rushed toward the northeast, Cao Cao also saw it. He immediately realized Geng Zhi's mistake. In order to make up for this mistake, Cao Cao worked hard with his short legs and ran down the slope. Then he pressed the horn, regardless of the formation, and the whole army attacked!
He wanted to win through chaos and use the excellent qualities of the Han cavalry to attack and kill the thieves in the chaos.
Although Cao Cao's cavalry knights were mixed up, they were the core force of the Han Dynasty in suppressing rebellions many times. Cao Cao's central trumpet sounded, and within a moment, the Han knights who were still sitting on the ground joking got on their horses and marched towards The thieves in front began to charge.
Now the pressure is on the Taishan Army's sudden cavalry. Should they resist the overwhelming impact of the Han cavalry on the opposite side, or let it go and still attack the other cavalry's retreat route.
Zhang Chong didn't choose.
He made a prompt decision and ordered Tian Jun to lead 900 cavalry to continue flanking the advancing Han cavalry. He himself led 100 cavalry to charge towards Cao Cao's troops on the opposite side.
Tian Jun looked at Zhang Chong's resolute expression and said nothing. After a long period of training, Tian Jun, who was originally just a small riding slave in the countryside, had grown into a major general. He knew that Qu Kui's decision was right.
Tian Jun greeted him, and 18 generals led each cavalry team to attack Geng Zhi in a frontal formation.
At this time, Geng Zhi had led 600 cavalry to bypass the Taishan Army's strong formation. But due to vision problems, he could only see the front amid the flying dust. But the Han knights on the far right periphery saw a cavalryman rushing towards them from the right, and they suddenly panicked.
You must know that the most fearful thing for a cavalry soldier in battle is that when he is charging, a cavalryman suddenly appears and intercepts him in the waist. At that time, his army is a lamb to be slaughtered.
The same was true for Geng Zhi's troops now. As he continued to gallop, people began to fall on their backs on the right side, and there were screams and fights everywhere.
The guard beside Geng Zhi shouted to Geng Zhi:
"General, our right wing is intercepted by enemy cavalry, hurry up and come back for reinforcements!"
The sound on the battlefield was too loud. The guard shouted three times before Geng Zhi responded. He did not slow down his horse and only said:
"Keep rushing, don't worry about anything."
The guard was stunned for a moment, understood, and then followed Geng Zhi without saying another word.
Geng Zhi knew what he was doing, and his actions would definitely be considered by his subordinates as greedy for life and fear of death, and they would abandon Paoze. But Geng Zhi understood that the most important thing at this moment was to return to his own army and strengthen his own advantages. If he just performed the show of not abandoning his robe here, it would play into the enemy's hands. When the time comes for them to put down their horses and be divided and surrounded by enemy cavalry, our army will be in danger.
This is war, and it can become a mathematical problem at any time. Obviously, those Han knights who were attacked were considered by Geng Zhi to be acceptable losses.
At this time, Tian Jun and other cavalry generals from the Taishan Army's sudden cavalry were all on the front line. They were all killing like crazy at this moment, and they were all racing against time. The sooner they eliminate this cavalry here, the safer they will be over there.
Therefore, Tian Jun, Ren Yun, Li Fu, Wang Dang, and Yan Gang all rushed to the front. Soon, the Han cavalry on the opposite side could not resist and was intercepted at the waist.
The knights of the second half of the Han army immediately found themselves surrounded in the encirclement, and then watched the friendly troops of the first half march away under the leadership of general Geng Zhi.
These Han knights were so sad that they shouted to Geng Zhi:
"Has the general abandoned me?"
Unfortunately, Geng Zhi was unmoved by the cuckoo's cry of blood and continued to run south.
After giving up, there were more than 200 Han knights left, all of whom dismounted and begged to surrender. Tian Junna ordered the others to tie themselves up and send them into the infantry formation behind them.
Afterwards, Tian Jun checked the cavalry and chased Geng Zhi.
Geng Zhi walked decisively, but he made another mistake. That was that he was going to join Cao Cao, but at this time Cao Cao had already led his army to charge, and all the units were scattered. Geng Zhi could not find a suitable opportunity to meet Cao Cao's cavalry. The army joins forces.
On the contrary, because he gave up the rear, the Taishan Army's sudden cavalry captured and killed four hundred of his cavalry without much time. But now he only has 200 horses, and they are all very scattered.
Tian Jun, who was chasing behind, divided his troops again. He took 500 cavalry, intending to penetrate Cao Cao's cavalry that had already charged, and wanted to join Qu Kui. And Ren Yun led the others to continue the pursuit. Ren Yun's eyes had never left Geng Zhi. At this moment, he saw that the wave of Han cavalry was getting more and more scattered, and he led a cavalry team directly towards Geng Zhi holding a long silk.
Geng Zhi led two guardsmen and ran in front, while Ren Yun and other cavalry were chasing after him. Just as the distance between the two sides was getting longer and longer, Geng Zhi's three cavalry suddenly rushed into a muddy field. It was obviously a mud pond created by people from nearby villages, but now it became Geng Zhi's burial place.
Geng Zhi's horse had difficulty walking on the muddy ground, walking slower and slower. Looking at the approaching pursuers behind him, he knew that he would probably die here. He took off a piece of jade hanging around his neck, handed it to the guard beside him, and said:
"Return this to the family and give it to my youngest son."
The guard was his son. Knowing that the situation was urgent, he hurriedly took over Yujue and took the lead in rushing through the silt and rushing towards the south.
But Geng Zhi did not have such luck. He was eventually caught up by Ren Yun and other cavalry, and seven or eight long swords directly stabbed him to death on the muddy ground.
As for the guard who was running wildly, Ren Yun stabbed and killed his leader, and the Taishan Cavalry behind them set their target on him. In the end, they caught up and stabbed the guard to death from behind. soldiers.
The guard clenched the jade in his hand tightly and fell to the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust.
In this way, Geng Zhi, a son of a meritorious general and with a great future, was caught by the Taishan army because of his unconscious advance. His 600 cavalry were killed in a single battle.
This is war! The price of making a mistake is death.
Back to Zhang Chong, when he led Baiqi to charge against Han Qianqi, everyone thought it was a desperate charge.
But in fact, Zhang Chong's place was like a storm outside, and he was just strolling around.
After all, Cao Cao lacked experience in large-scale cavalry combat.
There is a saying that Cao Cao actually did a very good job, from his keen discovery of the mistakes of his general Geng Zhi to ordering a decisive attack. The military qualities displayed in this process are very rare, but unfortunately, Cao Cao still made a mistake in the end.
He ordered the Qianqi to charge quickly, but because it was too fast, these Han cavalry were not organized when they charged, and they just rushed over in a swarm.
The biggest difference and advantage between the Han cavalry and the prairie cavalry is that the Han cavalry charge is based on a military formation, while the prairie cavalry is mobile and scattered. But now, Cao Cao's cavalry is scattered like this. It seems that they have rushed out of a broad horizontal plane, but in fact they are very fragile. Often there are two or three riders in front, but the back is empty. And the gap between the cavalry and the cavalry is very large, so the charge is majestic, but when encountering Zhang Chong's Hundred Cavalry, it is not the case.
Zhang Chong still formed a sharp arrow array, with himself at the forefront as the cone leader. In order to take advantage of the penetration, the sharp arrow array once again narrowed the width and lengthened the depth.
How brave Zhang Chong is. Although there are thousands of Han cavalry, in fact, the enemies Zhang Chong faces are only one or two at a time. Isn’t that just massacre by Zhang Chong?
He led hundreds of cavalry, and as soon as he came into contact with Cao Cao's cavalry, he used his horse's iron to smash the cavalry on the opposite side, and then rushed into the cavalry formation. When he entered the formation, his horse's silk flew around, picking, smashing, and blocking. The horse's silk was like a lamp in his hand, swaying it at will. And because every blow was chosen skillfully, he could kill several Han cavalry without breaking the sword in his hand. The horse is indifferent.
In this way, Zhang Chong took the lead in the charge, and the hundreds of cavalry assault cavalry directly penetrated the Han cavalry formation, causing slight losses.
Cao Cao, who was galloping in the formation, also saw the enemy cavalry going upstream. He was surprised by its power, but did not take it seriously, because his target was not the hundreds of enemy cavalry, but the Taishan Army infantry behind it. phalanx.
This was the suggestion of another of Cao Cao's generals, Fifth Commander.
The Fifth Jun is a member of the fifth family of Changling. After the Fifth Lun, his family is loyal and loyal. In the future, he will serve as a captain of the Qing bandits and be ordered to quell the chaos in the kingdom.
Just when Cao Cao was about to mount his horse, the Fifth Commander who was watching the formation on the slope with him came up with a plan. He said:
"Captain, the key to the success or failure of this battle lies in the thieves' thousands of infantry. Those cavalry are nothing to worry about. When they went south to support Ruying Taiping Road, they relied on those thousands of infantry. If they can defeat the thieves' infantry here, the others What’s the use of traveling alone?”
Cao Cao frowned and said in confusion:
"Our army only has 1,200 cavalry. On the slope, I watched the enemy's formation, at least 3,000. With my small force, how can I break the thieves' strong formation?"
Fifth Jun smiled confidently and asked:
"Captain, look at the wind blowing now."
Cao Cao glanced at the flag and said:
"Southwest wind."
Fifth Jun smiled and said:
"The captain doesn't know, this is the wind of the victorious lord. Our army rushes into the formation, with this wind, plus a sharp weapon, no matter how strong the formation is, it is still made of flesh and blood, how can it not be broken!"
Later, the fifth general informed Cao Cao of his strategy. Cao Cao was overjoyed and acted accordingly.
——
Now, as Cao Cao watched the hundred-horse bandit army break through, his attention shifted to the three large formations on the plain ahead.
The fighting until now seems to be a long time, but in fact it is only half an hour. At this moment, the red sun jumps out from the east and disperses the morning mist.
An army of three thousand people was arrayed here.
Cao Cao looked at the flags. On the far left, there were bright yellow flags flying high, with the flags of the four generals Li, Yu, and Guo Wang. The chief generals of this department are Li Damu, Yu Jin, Guo Liang and Wang Han. These all belonged to Zhang Dan, the right school captain, but Zhang Chong entrusted Fengqiu to him, so only Li Damu, Yu Jin, and Guo Liang came.
Then look at the middle for a while, flying green flags, with the flags of Guan, Chen, Hei and the three generals. The coach is of course Guan Yu, and the two generals under his command are Chen Huan and Heifu. This team also has the strictest and tightest guard. After that, for a while on the right, a large khaki flag was flying high, with Ding, Xie, Wang and the three tribes under it. The leaders of this division are Ding Sheng, Xie Bi and Wang Zhang, and they are also equipped with fighting equipment.
Only when he saw these military formations in detail did Cao Cao understand why these Taishan bandits were victorious in battles and why they had the courage to go south and interfere in the decisive battle in Yingyang.
Just look at the fighting equipment and armor. They are simply better than those of the Northern and Southern armies. Is this a thief?
But seeing this, Cao Cao sneered:
"It's a pity that this beautiful lady is a thief, and she will all die here today."
Thinking of this, Cao Cao grabbed the horn beside his horse bag and blew it.
Then, the Han knights who had been prepared opened their bags one after another. The bags were filled with fine sand. The sand flowed directly into Guan Yu's troops in the northwest wind blowing behind them.
Cao Cao saw that this group was the most elite, so he took the lead in attacking this group.
This is the strategy proposed by the Fifth Commander, using the sand and the wind to disturb the thieves and break the formation.
The effect was very obvious. The enemy's formation, which was neat before, was sore in the eyes by this gust of sand and wind. It could no longer maintain its line. Cao Cao was overjoyed and rushed people to charge into the formation.
But just when Cao Cao thought he had a chance to win, suddenly a group of great warriors came up from the gap, and then rows of halberds thrust out. Then Cao Cao saw an outrageous scene:
I saw an enemy general in green robes sitting on a bed in front of the battle, pulling a maroon war horse with his left hand and an iron stick across his right hand. He sat with his eyes narrowed in the wind and sand.
Such a funny scene, who does the green turban think he is?
Cao Cao casually asked a group of knights to come forward and shoot at the man. Arrows were flying like rain, and the guards behind the green turbans were holding large poles to protect the man, but the man was still sitting there, motionless.
How courageous!
Cao Cao's cavalry followed the wind and sand and got closer and closer. Just when they galloped to less than a hundred steps away from Guan Yu. The large pillars standing behind Guan Yu suddenly opened, and groups of soldiers holding large yellow crossbows fired arrows at the same time. Cao Cao's army turned on its back. It turned out that Guan Yu had already ordered the crossbowmen to lie down and stay still, waiting for the enemy's cavalry to take only a few dozen steps, and then fired at the same time, directly knocking over Cao Cao's leading cavalry.
For a moment, people were howling and horses were neighing in front of Guan Yu, and there was an empty space. Before it was over, a gust of wind and sand swept past. Guan Yu suddenly stood up, mounted his horse and ran against Cao Cao's army. At the same time, dozens of cavalry waiting behind the crossbowmen saw that the captain was taking the lead in charging, and they also urged their horses to follow.
Guan Jun is determined and moves forward in an indomitable way.
Cao Cao was already shocked by the scene just now, and he didn't come back to his senses for a long time. At this moment, when I saw the green scarf standing up and mounting his horse, I realized how majestic this person was. When he rushed into the formation, his mind was swaying. What kind of heavenly man was he, so brave and unparalleled?
A hundred paces away, Guan Yu arrived in the blink of an eye. Three generals from the Han cavalry rushed towards him. Their identity could be seen by looking at their epaulettes and ribbons. The three generals were waiting to attack Guan Yu under his horse.
Over there, Guan Yu pinched the horse's belly, suddenly accelerated, and with a pinch, a pick, and a smash, the three riders fell off the horse. The horse Guan Yu was riding was not an ordinary horse, but the divine horse of Dawan given by Liu Hong to Beizhonglang general Lu Zhi. Later, Lu Zhi gave Zhongshao to the school captain. Later, Zhongshao was killed in Puyangjin, and his horse was killed by Zhang Chong. Give it to Guan Yu.
A hero deserves a BMW, and with this divine horse, Guan Yu is as powerful as a tiger. Sure enough, here he is, making great achievements in one battle.
Dozens of riders rushing from behind also caught up with Guan Yu, and then joined him and rushed straight towards the Han general holding the knot.
The person who upholds integrity is not Cao Cao, but his general No. 5. Previously, Cao Cao rushed to the front and left the staff to the Fifth Commander. But this time, these became his life-threatening talisman.
Guan Yu was already very brave, but now he had a divine horse on his hip and dozens of warriors by his side. The autumn wind swept away the fallen leaves and led him straight to the Fifth Hero.
The fifth commander stabbed Guan Yu with his spear, but Guan Yu broke it off. Then he lifted up the fifth commander with an outstretched arm and knocked him directly against the pole of the guard behind him.
Fifth Jun, who was pierced by the penis, vomited blood and held the handle of the penis, glared angrily, then tilted his head and died.
Not far away, Cao Cao was hiding among the cavalry, staring at this scene with his mouth open:
How many heroes have there been in ancient and modern times? How many of them can truly join an army of thousands, kill generals and seize flags?
And today, in front of him, this green turban did it!
Really... really a good man!
Cao Cao is greedy!
(End of chapter)