Chapter 228: Collapse
In the sixth year of Guanghe, on July 20th, at noon, with the sudden appearance of Mount Tai's Yellow Turban, the decisive battle in Yingyang truly took a turn.
The Hedong Knights of the Han Army, which was originally cruising on the left side of the battlefield, consisted of 1,000 cavalry and 20 cavalry groups. They had received military orders from the Chinese Army and were ordered to block the Taishan bandit army in the northwest.
At this time, the Hedong Knights had been fighting for an hour with high intensity, and their troops and horses were not in very good condition. But the military orders fell like a mountain. It was obvious that they were the only military force Huangfusong could mobilize on the battlefield.
Among the galloping cavalry, the flag of the scepter was raised high. Guo Mian, the chief general of the Hedong Knights, knew the key to leading the cavalry in this charge. In his opinion, the Taishan bandit reinforcements in the northwest are very good at seizing opportunities. At this time, almost all the Han army units were fighting with the Runan Yellow Turbans, and there was no extra strength to stop the Taishan Army's charge. What worries Guo Mian even more is that he feels that the target of this group of cavalry is none other than the empty center of the Han army, where Huangfu Song is.
Guo Mian, who is thirty-five years old, is at the peak of his career as a military commander. He comes from the Guo family in Yangqu, Taiyuan, a rising official family. His great-uncle became a great official in Guanglu, and his father became a great agricultural officer. When his generation turned to martial arts, he accumulated merit and became a horseman.
In April, the Yellow Turbans were in chaos. Huangfu Song was ordered to form a corps of generals. Guo Mian was recommended to the Huangfu Song shogunate by Wang Yun, the governor of Yuzhou from his hometown, and was ordered to go to Hedong to form a cavalry team. According to the original historical development, he would be promoted to the prefect of Yanmen because of his contribution to quelling the Yellow Turban Army. After that, his son Guo Huai would become an important general of Cao Wei and become a close confidant of Sima Yi. From then on, all ethnic groups were assigned to military affairs, making them Yangqu Guo The family eventually became a major general sect in the Middle Ages, and Guo Ziyi in the Tang Dynasty came from this sect. And all of this started with Guo Mian and continued with Guo Huai.
The interesting thing about fate is that at this time, the retinue was beside Guo Yao, charging with him. The eight-foot-seven-inch tall man wearing a basin collar armor was none other than Sima Yi's brother, Sima Lang.
Despite his majestic appearance, Sima Lang is actually only thirteen years old now, a young boy who was born last year. Because of his extraordinary stature, the examiners who assessed the boy at the time suspected that he had lied about his age. In the end, I found out that their Sima family has always been so powerful. No wonder Sima An was granted the title of King of Yin by Xiang Yu at the end of the Qin Dynasty. Sima Jun, the eighth grandson of Sima An, was able to conquer the West during the reign of the emperor. This family is a natural-born military general. ah.
Guo Yan looked at the guard next to him who was only a few years older than his son, sighed and ordered:
"Da Lang, go report to the commander and tell him that the rebel army may attack the Chinese army and ask the commander to move quickly."
Under the visor, Sima Lang remained silent and continued to move with Guo Mian.
After Guo Yao said it twice, Sima Langcai said in a loud voice:
"Sima, I won't leave. No one in our Sima family leaves before the battle!"
It turned out that Sima Lang understood. Guo Jian deliberately sent Sima Lang away to return to the battle, just to give him a way to survive. Guo Yan didn't have much confidence in this charge, and since Sima Lang was so young, there was no need to die here with him.
But Guo Mian didn't expect Sima Lang to be so stubborn. He sighed. Just when Guo Mian was about to persuade him, another soldier spoke. This man was Wei Gu, who came from the Wei family in Anyi, Hedong, and was the hope of Hedong. Guo Yao originally thought that this man would have a good reputation as the son of a rich man, but who would have thought that this man would say this:
"Sima, if Dalang doesn't go, then let me inform the old commander."
Guo Yao was not ashamed and glanced at the majestic Wei Gu with thick eyebrows and big eyes, but in the end he nodded in agreement. After all, compared to letting Huangfu Song be transferred, who lives and who dies is just a trivial matter. The blame is that Sima Lang is too young and does not understand the truth of adults, that is, living is more important than anything else.
When Wei Gu saw that Guo Mian agreed, he clasped his fists and accepted the order, turned his horse's head in a circle, and headed towards the Chinese army.
At this time, the Hedong Cavalry had completed its turn and moved from the left wing of the battlefield to the right rear of the battlefield. At this time, the Taishan Army cavalry on the opposite side began to speed up. Guo Mian didn't think much and blew the horn three times to signal the Hedong cavalry to rush.
Now is the time to be loyal to our country.
bring it on!
——
Back in the morning, ten miles away from Yingyang, horses' hooves rolled, raising a cloud of dust. Thousands of mules and horses meandered along the official road in two parallel columns, stretching for several miles.
This team of mules and horses is obviously the Taishan Army reinforcements who have just defeated Cao Cao, the cavalry commander of the Han Army. After they defeated Cao Cao's troops three days ago, they counted 800 prisoners and 1,200 horses. The rest were scattered in the countryside and unknown.
For these 800 prisoners, Ding Sheng and other generals suggested entrapment and killing. Because we are now at war, and we will have to fight the main force of the Han army later, all our troops need to be used on the edge, and we have no energy to take care of these prisoners. But Zhang Chong was reluctant to part with it. These 800 prisoners were all Han knights, and they were very good cavalry seeds. In the future, Zhang Chong wanted to expand the cavalry team. With these people joining him, he would get twice the result with half the effort.
No one here, including Qu Kuai Zhang Chong, thought there was anything wrong with these Han cavalry attacking their own people after they surrendered. In the Qin and Han Dynasties, only the elite elites of scholar-bureaucrats had this sense of family and country identity. As for people in the middle and lower classes, family was the most important.
Therefore, at the end of Qin Dynasty, Xiang Yu, the overlord of Western Chu, forced Qin General Zhang Han to surrender 200,000 Qin troops, and he absorbed a group of cavalry troops from them. Later, Xiang Yu's 20,000 cavalry troops in the Pengcheng battle were the original Qin officials. This is even more true for Liu Bang. His people entered Xianyang and destroyed the Qin Dynasty, but there were still Qin generals such as Li Bi and Luo Jia who took refuge in Liu Bang and made great contributions to the establishment of the Han Dynasty.
Therefore, Zhang Chong is very confident that he can digest these 800 cavalry as long as he operates them properly.
But it's a pity that time waits for no one. Ding Sheng and the others are right. Now is the time to concentrate their efforts on a decisive battle, and some bottles and cans must be thrown away. But in the end, Zhang Chong took these 800 people with him. He has his own ways.
In the previous battle at Changshe, Cao Cao thought that the Taishan Army was a mixture of infantry and cavalry, so he estimated that it would take three days for the Taishan Army to reach Yingyang. Huangfu Song also misestimated the arrival time of the Taishan Army because of the lack of information that the Taishan Army was marching in the form of mules and horses. It can be said that it was Zhang Chong's decision to march as mules and horses, which created a time lag that made the war turn.
In the next two days, the Taishan Army lurked in the woods twenty miles away from Yingyang.
Relying on the sentinels of Fei Jun carrying flags, Zhang Chong had a clear picture of the movements of the Han troops on both sides of Yingyang. Seeing that both sides of Yingyang chose to call off their troops, Zhang Chong could only endure his temper and continue to lurk with the whole army. To this day, the sound of drums shaking the sky in Yingyang can be heard even here, and Zhang Chong knows that the time has come to attack.
The whole army marched with mules and horses, and even the infantrymen who were not good at riding before were able to hold their donkeys' necks and keep up with the pace of the large army because they were tied up and marched at high intensity for many days. So it only took less than two hours for the Taishan Army to enter the edge of the Yingyang battlefield.
At this time, on the battlefield ahead, there were shouts of killing everywhere. As the eyes and ears of the entire army, Feijun Beiqi had already been cruising to the edge of the battlefield to observe the situation.
After a while, Meng Ju led a team back to the formation carrying flags and reported the current battlefield situation to Zhang Chong.
In the wilderness, the soldiers of the Taishan Army were drinking water and resting. The cavalrymen began to replace their war horses. Because of the previous capture, the cavalry soldiers all had one man and two horses. Now that they were about to fight, they naturally had to change to a more powerful horse. of. The soldiers of the mule and donkey team also got off the animals one after another. They tied the Han prisoners with hemp ropes and threw them into the grass. Those people also accepted their fate. After all, they knew that these yellow scarf thieves did not want to kill them, so they all cooperated. .
After clearing the prisoners' mouth, Taishan's sergeants walked to the cart and began to prepare their armor.
During the previous march, their armor was placed on the cart accompanying the army and was not worn on them. So now, they put on each other's robes and armor, then found their respective team leaders, and began to form a military formation on the edge of the battlefield.
The scorching sun in July was still so scorching, and the armor and uniforms of the soldiers were burned by the sun. Fortunately, there was a layer of summer clothes underneath, which prevented the skin from being burned. But the armor started to feel stuffy again when I put it on. In the blink of an eye, big beads of sweat rolled down my neck into the armor, and my back was dripping with sweat.
I really don’t know how those people who were fighting in front could continue to fight under such a scorching sun.
At this time, Zhang Chong saw a group of Han cavalry wearing crimson military uniforms crossing from the southwest, and immediately realized that this was the first wave of enemies he wanted to defeat.
Zhang Chong patted his bay-red horse, and then took the Dou Yong and Ma Jin from the guard. As soon as I put it on, my eyes were wet with sweat. It was too hot.
Several other guardsmen were hanging two bags filled with hand halberds on their maroon horses, and four quivers were placed behind the horses.
When everything was ready, Zhang Chong said to Guan Yu who was in the formation behind him:
"Yun Chang, this time you charge with me and show these Han cavalry what the cavalry is used for."
Guan Yu was overjoyed, but his face was still solemn. He hurriedly called Yu Jin to come out and explain the military strategy of the battle, and then he straddled his horse and joined the cavalry.
There is nothing left to say. Zhang Chong had already explained the strategy of this battle to many of his officials after learning the details of the battlefield. After he led the cavalry to charge forward, the remaining infantry phalanx needed to execute the established military strategy under Yu Jin's command.
In this case, let's fight. No matter how much you say, it will be empty. Only whoever wins will be useful. War does need to obey politics, but the success or failure of war is directly related to the danger of politics.
Taking a deep breath, Zhang Chong put down his visor, clamped his horse's belly, and began to walk slowly towards the cavalry on the opposite side. Subsequently, 1,200 Taishan troops suddenly rode Yuli to follow.
There are no unnecessary words. Everyone firmly believes that if they follow the person in front, victory will definitely belong to them.
The horse speed was getting faster and faster, and the Han knights on the opposite side also began to let go of their horses. Amidst three rapid horn blasts from the opposite side, the two cavalry soldiers collided with each other without saying a word.
Zhang Chong, who was leading the charge, suddenly stood up from his horse while still charging. That's right, the horse under Zhang Chong's crotch has double stirrups, which directly releases most of Zhang Chong's physical strength.
Zhang Chong bowed his body, pointed the bow and arrow in his hand at a Han official wearing two crotch armors in front of him, and shot it, hitting the neck in the middle. At this time, the distance between the two sides was a hundred steps, which was incredible.
Zhang Chong shot another Han official to death with a volley of arrows. Then he quickly picked up his horse to prepare for the subsequent impact.
A hundred steps away, you'll be there in the blink of an eye. Zhang Chong pushed a knight in front of him into the air with a single movement. The knight directly hit the three knights behind him, clearing his field of vision.
Then Zhang Chong was hit with a spear in front of his breastplate. A majestic Han official stabbed Zhang Chong's breastplate with his horse's iron, and then the horse's iron was cut open along the smooth armor.
The collar armor Zhang Chong was wearing was the mirror armor made by Deng Zhi, the master craftsman of the Ordnance Battalion. The entire set of armor was polished smooth, and under the sunlight, the armor was shining brightly.
Zhang Chong looked at this man and let out a sigh. Then he flipped his horse and knocked this man off his horse.
Then Zhang Chong continued to dig through the Han cavalry in front, and soon the horse's silk in his hand broke. Zhang Chong pulled out the weighted iron bone flower and continued to smash the enemy in front of him. Zhang Chong took the time to glance at Guan Yu beside him. The big man, who was always squinting his eyes, was glaring at him angrily. Every blow of the horse in his hand would knock down an enemy, killing no less than Zhang Chong.
The fight between the Taishan Army's sudden cavalry and the Hedong Cavalry probably lasted less than a moment, and then they separated. Human corpses and bewildered war horses were left all over the ground, biting their sleeping masters and whining constantly.
After breaking away from contact, the Hedong cavalry only walked about three hundred steps before stopping. They looked at each other's companions to see if they were still familiar with each other.
Hedong Cavalry Sima Guo Yao also glanced at his side. The tall boy Lang Sima Lang was no longer there. Guo Yao sighed. He was about to grab the horn and prepare to organize another charge, but then he realized that three fingers on his right hand were missing, and he had not noticed it before.
The heart-breaking pain hit him, and Guo Yao almost fell off his horse. With persistence, Guo Yao blew the horn, and the Han cavalry lined up again, preparing to launch a second charge. Guo Yao didn't know that his cavalry was reduced by 30% just because of the charge. This is actually Guo Mian's responsibility. When he led the Hedong cavalry to repair by the Yingshui River, the Han cavalry who couldn't stand the heat took off their heavy and sweltering armor one after another, coveting the coolness of the river. And all this, as the commander-in-chief, Guo Mian did not stop it.
Then they were dispatched by Huangfu Song to roam the battlefield on the left flank. They were just harassing and did not need armor. But when they were mobilized to the right rear to intercept the Taishan Army, that was no longer the case.
Halfway through the run, the Han cavalry who had taken off their armor were horrified to find that the enemy cavalry on the opposite side were staring at them, and their armor was so bright that they could not open their eyes.
The final result is naturally not surprising. That's what horse fighting is all about. It's about who's horse is stronger, whose armor is stronger, and whose sword is sharper. And these, the Hedong cavalry who had been fighting fiercely for a long time were completely defeated.
After blowing the horn, Guo Yao looked sadly at the battlefield ahead. In the battlefield, those war horses frightened by the sound of the horn abandoned their master's body and galloped past the blood field. He even saw some Han officials who were knocked unconscious on the battlefield, shaking their heads, getting up from the pool of blood, limping and trying to find a horse to escape.
With tears in his eyes, Guo Yan used his good left hand to pull out the iron bone flower and shouted:
"Kill!"
The remaining Han cavalry drew their swords and followed Guo Yao to charge again.
Then the two armies collided again. A moment later, Guan Yu wiped the blood-stained Huanshou sword with his cuffs, tied Guo Mian's head to the saddle, and then led the cavalry to chase Qu Kui Zhang Chong.
It turned out that after Taishan's sudden cavalry penetrated the Hedong cavalry, Zhang Chong led two hundred cavalry and came directly along the Han army's camp, instead of turning around and attacking the Hedong cavalry again with Guan Yu.
Guo Yao's previous guess was correct. Zhang Chong's target this time was Han Zuo Zhonglang General Huangfu Song.
Zhang Chong led the cavalry through the narrow gaps in the fence, and finally arrived in front of the camp with the "Huangfu" flag hanging high.
The front camp of the Han army had been knocked down because of Huangfu Song's military order. At this time, Huangfu Song's Chinese shogunate was directly exposed to Zhang Chong's cavalry.
Zhang Chong immediately saw Huangfu Song standing tall on the chariot with his back straight. Without saying a word, Zhang Chong shot an arrow, but it was blocked by the warrior holding an arrow next to Huangfu Song.
Then suddenly a group of warriors on horseback came out of the camp, wearing pot collars and armors. They rushed towards them with their long hats straightened and shouted:
"I am Hedong Wei..."
Before he could finish his words, Zhang Chong had already thrown him off his horse with a halberd.
But obviously, this man's death did not deter the Han army. Just after this man died, three more horsemen came with flags on their backs and bows in hand.
Zhang Chong was impatient and knew that these people were just delaying time so that Huangfu Song could retreat. But what does this see Zhang Chong as? Their military exploits?
Zhang Chong directly put a bag in his hand, then galloped towards the horse. After the horse took five steps, he threw five halberds. Not only did the three Han men in the front fall from their horses, but also the two men who had just come out from behind were killed. Zhang Chong threw him to death.
For a moment, there was silence in front of the shogunate of Huangfu Songzhong Army.
"You are Zhang Chong."
The person who spoke was obviously Huangfu Song, but the answer was just a feather arrow. If the warriors nearby had not pulled Huangfu Song, most of the people would have been injured.
Huangfu Song then realized that there was a forest wall in front of him and brave warriors behind him, but this could not give Huangfu Song any more sense of security. He felt that he still had to use words to hold back the man below, and he still wanted to talk.
Suddenly he heard the sound of an axe, and to his surprise, he saw a sharp halberd stuck on the banner beside the chariot. Huangfu Song couldn't help but sneer:
"What a barbarian, he can cut off a large banner with his halberd. You must know that this large banner is made of logs as thick as a bowl. Even if he uses a big ax to chop it, it will take him a long time. It's really..."
The man was still laughing, and another halberd flew towards him, and hit the halberd on the big banner. The halberd was hit by the impact, and it was knocked into the wood again.
Huangfu Song suddenly felt that something was not good, but he did not dare to raise his head. He only glanced at the guard on the side and hurried to protect him. But unfortunately, as many as they rushed out of the wall were shot.
Following Zhang Chong's horse, half of the two hundred cavalry of the Han camp were Wuhuan people. They were originally the surprise cavalry under Zang Rong, the general of Liyang camp. Later, when they attacked Puyangjin where Guan Yu was stationed, they were defeated and captured. After that, they followed Zhang Chong and became members of the Taishan Army's assault cavalry.
This time, Zhang Chong specially led the 100 Wuhuan cavalry, using their good archery skills. Among them were two eagle archers, whose archery skills were as good as Zhang Chong's.
It was with the help of these hundreds of Wuhuan cavalry that Zhang Chong firmly suppressed Huangfu Song's soldiers on the chariot, and then Zhang Chong continued to chop the Han army's banner with one halberd and one hand. In fact, Zhang Chong also regretted it. If he had brought a fire with him at that time, he could have burned this old thing to death. Why was it so embarrassing?
But no matter what, every sound of Zhang Chong's chopping was like a reminder in the hearts of the Chinese army officers. Everyone knew what kind of consequences would follow if this big banner fell down.
But what can they do now? Those who had the courage to fight had already died below, while those who were willing to defend the flag were also nailed to the nest cart. The rest of the people were in panic, but there was nothing they could do.
Even an iron-blooded marshal like Huangfu Song couldn't help but close his eyes and wait for fate's punishment.
But at this moment, a mountain roar and tsunami suddenly erupted on the battlefield ahead, and the six-section banner representing Peng Tuo in the center of the battlefield slowly fell down under the desperate eyes of countless Yellow Turban troops!
Huangfusong finally won the bet. The Chinese Army reserve team he finally pressed became the real winner of this battle. After all, the Chinese Army Colonel Zhao Rong lived up to the trust of the old commander and defeated the Runan Yellow Turbans in the middle at this moment. .
Zhao Rong was from Tianshui, Liangzhou. The powerful people in his state were influenced by the Qiang wind and liked to throw short spears. Zhao Rong has a team of Xizhou warriors who are good at throwing short spears.
After Zhao Rong led the army to rescue the middle road, he did not attack and kept observing the front line of the Runan Chinese Army in front.
Peng Tuo, commander of Runan Qu, had been at the forefront before, but he put on ordinary armor because he was worried about being attacked by the Han army. However, Zhao Rong, who was in the rear line, keenly noticed that Yellow Turban messages were constantly gathering in that direction, so he boldly guessed that Peng Tuo was here, and secretly moved there with his team of spear throwers.
As soon as he arrived, he saw a majestic yellow turban warrior giving instructions to a messenger. Then Zhao Rong gave the order decisively, and then at least twenty short spears covered the place where Peng Tuo stood.
At that time, Peng Tuo was hit by several spears. When he was rescued, he only had time to explain his funeral and then left. As soon as Peng Tuo died, the Runan Yellow Turban Army lost its mind and directly threw away the central army's banner. Zhao Rong cut off Peng Tuo's banner and saw that the Runan Yellow Turban was about to stage a collapse.
But the nightmare of the Yellow Turban Army did not stop there. On the battlefield on the east bank of Yingshui River, Shuai Bocai of Yingchuan Taiping Daoqu, who had been having a headache with the Han army, also died.
When Bo Cai Shuai led the last main force of ten thousand people to kill Zhu Jun's army, the rear captain Zheng Taishuai counterattacked with four thousand elite troops. When the two armies were anxious, Zhu Jun personally led the Hanoi cavalry regiment and the generals' cavalry to form two thousand cavalry troops and inserted them directly into Bo Cai's flank.
Then the entire battlefield became chaotic. Han soldiers, Yingchuan Yellow Turbans, everyone lost their organizational structure. As long as they saw different uniforms, they would kill them.
In the chaos, Bocai and his troops were also separated, and a group of Han cavalry shot Bocai's mount. The Runan Qu Commander could only retreat to the edge of the battlefield on foot with several of his own troops, where he planned to regroup an organizational unit.
But a squad of Han cavalry cruising on the edge of the battlefield discovered them. Bo Cai and his troops rushed out to attack and kill them, but Bo Cai was shot in the chest by a stray arrow during the breakout. In the end, he walked less than a hundred steps. , Bo Cai slumped on the ground helplessly, and said to the guard next to him:
"You, chop off my head, don't let me fall into the hands of Han soldiers."
The guard was a member of Bocai's clan. Hearing this, he cried and couldn't stop. In the end, Bocai took out the arrow and killed himself. The guard howled loudly, and the Han cavalry behind him came over to kill him. He had no choice but to cut off the uncle's head, wrap it with his hem, and hang it in front of his neck.
Finally, when the Han cavalry squad came after them, the guard jumped into the Ying River and disappeared.
Fortunately, the Yingchuan Yellow Turbans on the east coast were fighting with the Han army at this time, so Bo Cai's death did not break Taiping Dao's fighting spirit, and they continued to fight with all their strength.
Therefore, happiness comes so suddenly.
Huangfusong, who was hiding behind the shield wall, was just waiting for his fate to be decided. Suddenly, the situation on the battlefield took such a drastic reversal. He was ecstatic and said to Zhang Chong below:
"Children, this is the only plan!"
After saying that, he laughed.
But soon, Huangfusong stopped laughing. Suddenly he saw packages of things being thrown onto the chao cart below. These things were wrapped in cloth. He didn't know what they were.
Huangfusong untied it and almost vomited it out. It turned out to be fresh horse dung.
The stench filled the sky, and the warriors at the front couldn't hold on and shook themselves to take a breath. At this time, an arrow penetrated from the air and hit the forehead of Huangfu Song, who was still holding his breath.
Then there was a scream, and Huangfusong covered his forehead and fell to the ground exhausted.
What he didn't see was that after the arrow, another three-handed halberd flew up from below and hit the big banner. With great strength like a lion, the halberd directly penetrated the banner deeply. feather fan.
Then, amid the horrified looks on the faces of all the Han officials, the big scroll made a creaking sound, and finally broke with a crisp sound.
Then the entire battlefield fell silent!
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(End of chapter)