Chapter 271 What to do
I am Dong Zhao, the military commander of Taishan Army. What you see now is one of my military notes. It records how we defeated the Han soldiers on that most exciting afternoon in the sixth year of Guanghe reign.
Twenty miles east of Xingyang, we defeated the Han army in a field battle. Not only did we annihilate the Han army's eastern camp, but we also severely defeated the Han army's most elite Youzhou assault cavalry regiment. Now I will record some of my little experiences in this battle for future generations to know.
Guanghe six years, September 15th, noon. Our army fought with the Huangwan tribe of Han Dynasty in Yuegang.
The victory of this battle was mainly due to the foresight of Commander Qu, who laid out the "central flowering" tactic before the war, and then sized up the situation and dispatched the Chinese army to replace the Ruying Yellow Turban in the original plan. There is no doubt that the victory of temple calculation is the basis of victory in this battle. And staff such as myself also made some insignificant contributions to this temple calculation.
Secondly, Zuojun Lieutenant Guan Yu's troops were able to withstand the attack of ten thousand Han soldiers with 2,000 armored soldiers. It can be said that the courage, tenacity, and loyalty of Guan Jun and his officials were important reasons for completing the grueling task. Later, the right captain Zhang Dan was able to realize his shame and show courage, and took the lead in breaking through the reinforcements of the Han army, and also made a vital contribution to this battle.
In the end, the four thousand soldiers of the Central Guard Army never wavered in their faith in Huang Tian no matter what difficulties they faced, and believed that Qu Shuai could lead them to victory again. Under the leadership of Yu Jin, the captain on the left, and Cai Que, the captain on the right, they withstood the enemy soldiers several times their own and were the heroes of this battle.
Of course, there is no doubt that the greatest credit for this battle belongs to Commander Qu. It was Commander Qu who personally went to the front line and did not avoid arrows, inspiring the morale of the entire army to fight for death. It can be said that Commander Qu is the most outstanding commander and general I have ever seen. Even in terms of prowess and military prowess, he is only three or four times better than Commander Qu.
In this battle, our results were brilliant. The Han army's losses were so great that even the Emperor of the Han Dynasty had a corner of his bed. There were at least thousands of Han soldiers lying dead on this Yuegang battlefield. Since I am not the secretary in charge, I do not have accurate figures on the number of casualties of the Han army. However, according to some relevant sources, 3,600 soldiers of the Han army were killed or wounded, and famous and powerful military officials died. One hundred and twenty people. As for some rural soldiers, I don’t know how many died.
According to my friend, in this battle, all the powerful troops in Gyeonggi Province were wiped out, and all the powerful families with surnames in the territory had their sons killed in this battle. What a pity, so many well-dressed houses have been turned into dust today.
As for the number of battle casualties of our army, my friend did not tell me. Instead, he only mentioned one example, which was the battle damage of the left part of the Central Guard Army. His unit of 2,000 men was the main force responsible for blocking Youzhou's sudden cavalry in the northwest. It was also the unit with the highest death toll in this battle.
The organization of the 4,000 men of the Central Guard Army is as follows. The 2,000 men on the left are divided into two groups of ten. One thousand men have bows and crossbows, and one thousand men have halberds. The two thousand people on the right are composed of five parts and ten songs, three long halberds, one sword and spear, and one bow and crossbow. The one on the left that suffered the most casualties, Changjiqu, had a full complement of 208 men before the war. After the war, it had 103 men, and half of its strength was lost. It is said that the captain at the time burst into tears after suffering the battle damage.
It is said that Yu Jin had some luck. It is said that he was shot by an enemy general during the war. An arrow hit his forehead, but the general shot it on his forehead with a jade belt, and the jade was shattered and he died. The jade belt for wiping the forehead is said to have been given by Ding Sheng. From this we can see that traffic between Chinese and foreign troops must be guarded against.
There is another joke about this battle. In this battle, a general named Chang Xi was responsible for sniping Youzhou's sudden cavalry. This man was buried under the horse's corpse and no one found it overnight. When he was rescued later, no one recognized him as Chang Xi. , but threw him into the pile of Han corpses, and he was almost buried together with the corpses of the Han army.
At that time, Na Changxi was crying and wailing, calling Yu Jin's name loudly. Yu Jin was collecting the corpse of his subordinate Pao Ze. When he heard the voice, he immediately knew that it was Chang Xi's voice. He quickly looked for the sound and pulled Chang Xi out of the pile of corpses. He also untied his military uniform and asked the doctor to treat him. Saved his life.
This incident was too bizarre, so after the incident, I went to ask the baggage soldiers who were cleaning the battlefield at that time, and I found out that Chang Xi was wearing a crimson military uniform at that time. It was the military uniform of the Han army, so those baggage soldiers They just threw him into the circle of Han soldiers, and the military uniform behind him was stripped off by Yu Jin.
Why would a Taishan Army general wear a Han Army uniform during the fiercest battle? Of course I understand everything. It's a pity that the military is protecting and colluding. The military men of that generation are still too wanton. Let's see what we can do in the future.
Finally, I feel deeply honored to be able to participate in such a battle that will go down in history. And in this battle, I only did some trivial work, and I was praised by Commander Qu, which made me even more frightened.
But then I thought, isn’t this our mission? Collaborate with Yin and Yang to calm down this troubled world, so that everyone in Li Shu can live in peace. If I can make one or two contributions to this, I will die without regrets.
……
We will not mention the greedy achievements of some staff here, but only talk about the evening after the war.
The battle probably ended at Youshi.
Because the Han soldiers and powerful tribes camped in the east generally left their war horses in the camp, and they were intertwined with the forces of the three captains of the Taishan Army. Therefore, after the defeat, they had no time to run. They either died in battle or knelt down and surrendered.
The only complete formation that retreated in this battle was the three divisions of the Han army's Youzhou assault cavalry, the deputy commander Zong Yuan's 500 Chinese army assault cavalry, Cui Jun's 500 assault cavalry on the right, and Sima Gongsun Zan's white horse followers at the rear.
Among these three, the one who retreated the most cleverly was Gongsun Zan, and then Cui Jun. As for the clan members, because they were still coy and coy, Zhang Chong and Tian Jun led their troops to bite off a large piece of them, especially Zhang Chong's bloody battle. Once he reached a clan member, he was so frightened that he threw down his canopy and scepter and started riding wildly.
After all, Zhang Chong and other assault riders were exhausted from the bloody battle for too long and were unable to pursue them. They could only watch half of the Youzhou assault riders fly away.
Youzhou Tuqi could naturally run away if they had horses, but most of the Han soldiers who stayed on the battlefield were in dire straits.
At that time, the small battlefield was full of dead and wounded soldiers from the Han army, the Haoshi tribe, the Taishan army, and the Ruying Yellow Turban.
Among them, the Han army had the largest number. Its central army originally had 2,000 Yanzhou soldiers and 3,000 Hedong soldiers, but there were more than 3,000 people lying there. Then there are the powerful soldiers, there are originally ten thousand people, but more than two thousand are lying down. The rest are the Taishan Army and Ruying Yellow Turban Army, and there are also more than 4,000 lying down. Of course, most of them are from the Yellow Turban Army. In the previous collapse, more than a thousand people were killed and wounded by Youzhou's sudden cavalry.
Because there are so many people, specific numbers cannot be counted. The Guangtai Mountain Army itself would take several days just to clean up its own heavily wounded troops, so how could it have time to count the enemy's troops?
The injured officers and soldiers of the Taishan Army in this battle would like to thank Zhang Chong again. Thanks to Zhang Chong's establishment of a team of medical craftsmen when he founded the army. From the very beginning, Zhang Chong personally trained this team of medical craftsmen, to the various witch doctors who were recruited during the war. The number has reached 500, and it has even begun to cultivate hematopoiesis by itself.
Just relying on simple common sense of hygiene, debridement, and herbal medicine, the earliest health system of the Taishan Army began.
The stretcher bearers accompanying the army continued to collect the officers and soldiers of the Taishan Army and the Yellow Turban Army from the frontline battlefield and sent them to the Medical Craftsman Camp for treatment.
However, before going to war, it was necessary to reduce the number of troops accompanying them in order to improve the team's combat effectiveness. There were not many stretcher bearers who could accompany the army, so the doctors directly requisitioned a batch of carts from the baggage camp and asked them to use the baggage carts to transport the wounded back to the camp.
Really, the number of casualties in this battle was too many. The Taishan Army fought for four years, and the number of casualties never exceeded a thousand. And what about this time? He Kui, who received the specific death toll of the entire army, sighed and said to Zhang Chong:
"If our Taishan Army fights a few more battles like this, we will be completely wiped out."
Only a few senior generals of the Taishan Army knew the specific number of casualties, because they were worried that the announcement of the number would damage morale.
This night, carts shuttled across the battlefield to transport the wounded, and the Clothesman's Camp was also brightly lit. There was no celebration banquet for the central army of Taishan Army. After the officials returned to the barracks, they ate a meal of horse meat and rice and then fell asleep.
But more people can't sleep yet, such as Zheng Da who is pulling a cart on the battlefield.
Zheng Da was a disciple of Xingyang who surrendered to the Taishan Army in the Battle of Yingyang. After that, he returned to his hometown with the army. Unfortunately, when he returned home, his home was gone. After that, he lived with the Taishan Army.
He had been a laborer before, and it happened that their deputy at that time was Mao Shao, a proud and brave hero who always wanted to boost his family's reputation.
After that, Mao Shao took Xiao Le away and joined Tuqi, with a bright future. But he, Zheng Dajiu, still stayed in the baggage team and was safe and sound. Just like now, many warriors are dead and lying in front of Zheng Da, but he is still alive and well.
There are bonfires everywhere on the battlefield, which are specially used to lend light to the transport workers like Zheng Da.
At this time, Zheng Da opened a Han soldier in a crimson military uniform. He first touched the man's pocket and took out a bunch of copper coins. Zheng Da was overjoyed and looked around. Seeing that everyone was working, he took the opportunity to put the copper coins in his pocket.
Zheng Da, who had won the lottery, worked harder to carry it. But the battlefield was really scary, with blood, mutilated limbs, and headless corpses everywhere. If there weren't so many people moving around, Zheng Da might be scared to death.
After accidentally stepping on a piece of poop from an unknown person, Zheng Da touched it.
Before they set off, the officials said that they would first pull in the Taishan Army to make them angry, then pull in those who died in the battle, and finally pull in the Yellow Turban Army to make them angry while there was still room. The whole process did not mention the Han army. Then with the bright light of the fire, Zheng Da took a closer look at this angry person. Well, there are yellow turbans, armored clothes, leggings, and yellow armbands. He's not running away, he's one of our own Taishan Army.
Just when Zheng Dazheng was about to take off the man's clothes, his wrist was suddenly grabbed by the man. In the dark night, a pair of murderous eyes stared at Zheng Da, and with the blood on his face, he looked like an evil ghost.
Just as Zheng Dajian was about to run away, he realized that this man looked familiar. Take another look, isn’t this Xiao Le?
Yes, it was Le Jin who was lying under the corpse pusher now.
In this battle, Tian Jun, the captain of the assault cavalry, personally led two thousand assault cavalry from the right side of the battlefield into the right wing of the Han army. Le Jin was with the team to kill Xu Huang. The advance was very rapid, and those powerful troops obviously had no experience in resisting the cavalry attack.
At that time, their two thousand assault cavalry were divided into five rounds. Each round charged one unit, and each charge was carried out in teams. This repeated attack was like five walls pressing up against each other. The powerful Han army on the right wing, numbering more than 5,000 people, could not withstand even three rounds and was out of formation.
But the overall collapse of the Han army does not mean that there are no warriors. Le Jin was knocked off his horse by a Han warrior during the first round of sprint and passed out.
Zheng Da didn't expect to meet Pao Ze here, and pointed at himself with bared teeth:
"Xiao Le, me! Zheng Da!"
Le Jin also saw this person clearly, smiled, and then softened.
After seeing Pao Ze, Zheng Da no longer wanted to touch the body. He quickly pulled Le Jin onto the cart and went back directly.
He had heard those doctors say, no matter what, the sooner he was brought back, the greater his chance of survival. Zheng Da couldn't see clearly where Le Jin's injury was, but the sooner he was pulled back, the better.
As soon as he pulled Le Jin onto the cart, Le Jin gasped and said harshly:
"Old Zheng, please do me a favor. There is a Han soldier two steps in front of me. Please help me see if I have energy. If I still have energy, you can help him pull up."
As soon as Le Jin said this, Zheng Da shook his head and said:
"Xiao Jin, you don't know that many warriors have saved the still angry Han troops before, but guess what? Those Han troops beat them up, didn't know how to be grateful, and took the opportunity to kill many of us. So, the officials, He said, let's not worry about those Han soldiers. Xiao Jin, you are too young to know that people are evil."
Zheng Da made some pointers in bits and pieces, but Le Jin smiled bitterly and said:
"Old Zheng, just do me this favor and I will remember it."
Zheng Da hesitated for a moment. When he and Le Jin were in the same supply camp, he liked Xiao Le very much. Not only was he extremely brave, but he also had a kind heart. But, what would he do if there was an unscrupulous person on the other side who wanted to kill him?
Le Jin saw Zheng Da's hesitation, so he said:
"Old Zheng, that man has fought with me before and was hit by me. He was seriously injured even if he died. He will definitely not be able to hurt you."
With this assurance, Zheng Dacai sighed and said:
"Xiao Le, you are really a good person."
With that said, Zheng Da walked around, and then he saw a man in a crimson military uniform, wearing a hood, a large armor, and even a pair of cowhide boots. At this moment, the man's brows were tightly closed, instead of his nose twitching slightly, he just looked like a dead person.
Zheng Da picked up a broken spear on the ground and poked the man. Seeing that he didn't move, he walked over carefully, then picked it up and put it on the cart.
However, Zheng Da did not pull the cart first. Instead, he took off the Han official's cowhide boots and put them on his own feet. Not to mention, they were only a little bigger.
Le Jin, who was watching the whole process, said nothing and just kept smiling.
Zheng Da, who had gained a lot, finally took Le Jin and the unknown Han official back. The place was brightly lit and it was the Yuegang Camp of the Taishan Army.
Half lying on the cart, Le Jin looked at the Han officials beside him. This was his trophy from this battle.
He thought again about what Zheng Da said just now, that the Han army was unwilling to treat him and even killed Li Fu who helped them. It’s so weird, how come someone wants to die when they can live?
This is not Zheng Da's lie. There have indeed been many incidents of injured Han soldiers killing Lifu.
But the reasons for each Central Plains are also more complicated. On the one hand, this is because the Han army is afraid of the Taishan Army. They have heard many rumors in the camp, saying that the moth thieves are a group of lunatics. Why do they never need supplies? It was because they were cannibals, eating prisoners in every battle, and plundering people from the countryside to use as military rations. So these Han soldiers were afraid that they would be eaten, so they killed people under stress.
Another reason is the hatred of the Han army towards the Taishan army. Most of the wounded were members of the powerful forces in Gyeonggi Province, and they were all brothers and nephews who joined the army in the Eastern Expedition. Now that Lang Jun is dead and his family is dead, they were all killed by the Taishan Army, so they have no intention of living, and they want to kill two Taishan Army to take revenge before they die.
But these are all speculations of Taishan Army officials. They don't know the more real reason, and those Lifu won't tell them. That is, the reason why many Han soldiers killed Lifu was because these Lifu stole their belongings.
As long as these warriors saw something, they would take it away from the wounded soldiers and corpses of the Han army. Just like Zheng Da, didn't he just take a bunch of copper coins here and a cowhide boot there? Many Han soldiers killed those who were trying to protect their property.
But this is unavoidable. Allowing these workers to transport the wounded is already tacitly allowing these people to pursue small profits. Originally, these were all cleaned up by the army themselves, but with the Taishan Army fighting to this extent in this battle, how could they still have the energy to clean up the battlefield?
However, didn’t Ding Sheng’s tribe stay behind in the camp before? Can't he clean?
In fact, Ding Sheng was occupying the Han army's camp at this moment and cleaning it. Compared with what was left on the battlefield, the Han army camp was the real important place.
As soon as Zhang Chong returned to camp, he gave Ding Sheng an order to occupy the Han army's camp outside Xingyang, and then do nothing but defend it until dawn.
After receiving the military order, Ding Sheng happily led two thousand soldiers to the north.
Can Ding Sheng not be happy? This occupies the most advantageous position in the enemy's camp. It doesn't matter how much money you take, it's all turned in anyway. The important thing here is that this represents Qu Shuai's trust in Ding Daqi. If you are not the number one confidant, how can you do this?
Ding Sheng really thought too much. He had forgotten that he was the only one in the army who could move at this moment. If you don't let him go, who will?
Before the sun set, Ding Sheng's troops passed through the bloody battlefield and occupied the Han army camp five miles away.
There, they not only seized mountains of baggage left by the Han army, but also captured several cooks and temples in Huang Wan's commander's tent. These all belonged to Huang's own family. As expected, he was a minister who paid great attention to food and never tired of food. When he was with the army, All have these configurations.
In addition to these, Huang Wan's letters are also more important. Among them are letters with Liu Hong in Kyoto and some other ministers, letters with Zhang Wen and Zhu Jun in Runan, and letters with Lu Zhi in Hebei.
Originally, Ding Sheng was still opening a warehouse to inspect grain. Because the Taishan Army's food consumption was too large, and the food eaten by humans and horses had exceeded the supply capacity of the Heji base area, so Ding Sheng had to open a warehouse as soon as possible, and first related to this. The food supplies for the entire army were counted.
But then the soldiers gave Huang Wan's letter to Ding Sheng. Ding Sheng only looked at it briefly before opening it with a serious face. After reading all the letters, even Ding Sheng, who was a bit "city rich", was stunned. I couldn't help but exclaimed:
"What's going on!"
Dong Zhao: "I will participate in the battle of Xingyang."
(End of chapter)