Chapter 506 Unexpected
The battlefield is a fog, and the more experienced you are on the battlefield, the more you will realize this.
People like Ding Wu and Zhao Rong were like this before. How could they be timid in looking at him?
But at this time, all these concerns were put aside, and we could only move forward bravely.
In the darkness, looking at the wall of Cao Jun's stronghold with faint lights emerging in front of him, Ding Wu gave this order:
"Fire arrows, shoot them all."
As a result, thousands of arrows shot like night fire and covered the opposite camp. The fire burned a large area of the camp, and the entire camp of Cao Jun boiled.
But what can be seen with the naked eye is that the night rocket attack did not work as expected.
Indeed, the scorching heat of the day had already dried the weeds on this riverbank, but at night the dew dewed and moistened it again.
If Ding Wu's night attack was in autumn, then this wave of fire attack could play a decisive role.
Looking at Cao Jun's camp opposite, which was boiling but not seriously damaged, Ding Wu's whole face wrinkled up.
He clearly saw that Cao Jun showed excellent military qualities in the face of chaos. Even though many tents were on fire, everything was still in order.
Support the wall when it's time to support the wall, and excavate the earth and sand when it's time to cover the fire. Each department can always find its own position and task, even if it's panic.
But seeing the performance of Cao Jun, Ding Wu did not give up his previous military order. He still asked his long archers to launch non-stop shooting at the Han stronghold.
As the Taishan Army integrates human resources in the Hebei region, the quality of the Taishan Army's officers is constantly improving. One of the outstanding manifestations is the quantity and quality of longbowmen.
There is no doubt that longbowmen are powerful, but the requirements for archers' arm length are also high. When the Taishan Army was equipped with longbows, the main source of troops was the mountain lairs from the Lutai area of Laiwu. These people climbed the mountain walls and had long and strong arms, which made them good materials for longbowmen.
But unfortunately, the mountainous areas do not support people. In addition, these people are not only good materials for longbowmen, but also high-quality sources for other arms, so the competition has always been serious.
Until the Taishan Army conquered Hebei and launched an in-depth integration of human resources in the Hebei region. It can be said that by dividing the fields, establishing field guards, and establishing township offices, the Taishan Army's rule in Hebei was the deepest in all dynasties.
Relying on such abundant human resources, the Taishan Army was able to expand the number of longbowmen. In the past, a school captain's department had about five divisions, and each division had about fifty longbowmen in a team.
But now, that number has doubled.
This resulted in that among the more than 2,000 soldiers led by Ding Wu, there were 400 long archers alone, which was a very exaggerated number.
When Ding Wu ordered the long archers to continue shooting, the flowing arrows continued to hit Cao's camp barrier overwhelmingly.
At this time, Cao Jun was obviously a little confused.
Because the archers of Cao's army obviously had a lower range than the long archers of Taishan's army, and because it was so noisy, the officers of his army could not effectively lead the archers to launch a mass shooting.
As a result, the archers on the Cao army's fortress fell into the trench while wailing continuously.
It was the wailing of Cao's archers that attracted the attention of Ding Wu and other generals. They all looked at the trench in front of the barrier, and then gasped.
What a deep chasm this is. There are hidden stakes and spikes everywhere in the chasm. Fortunately, Ding Wu used his troops carefully and did not climb up the wall as soon as they came up. Otherwise, in this darkness, the front could not be seen from behind, and even if he had the intention to stop, he would be knocked down the trench by the robes behind him.
At that time, one after another, the officials rushed forward and fell into the trench. Even if they were strung to death by the spikes in the trench, they would still be shot to death by the Han troops on the wall.
The fire arrow ignited an area and was destroyed by Cao's army. In this uncertainty of light and darkness, Ding Wu once again discovered the tenacious style of Cao's army. Even if there were locusts with arrows on their heads, those Cao's soldiers still stood on the wall and fought back.
It's not like Ding Wu has never fought against Cao Jun.
In fact, when Cao Cao fought in Qishui, he was facing Ding Sheng. At that time, Ding Wu was already on the front line of Cao's army as a core general.
Compared with before, Ding Wu had an obvious feeling that Cao Jun was more tenacious than before.
In the past, Cao's army, like most Han armies, was brave when they were brave, but most of them relied on the bravery of their generals. But now Cao's army has systems and rules, which allows Ding Wu to see a trace of Taishan's army.
At this time, a young general next to Ding Wu suddenly cupped his fists and asked for a fight:
"Colonel, it's dark today and the enemy can't tell the truth about our army. De is willing to lead his headquarters to attack at night and capture this stronghold for the captain."
It was Pound who said this. Since he followed Ma Teng and turned against him before the battle at Zhongrenting, both of them were given important positions after the war.
Ma Teng joined the Central Guard Army as a captain, and Pang De joined the front army as a general.
At this time, Pang De held his neck and asked Ding Wu for a fight.
But Pang De's request did not make Ding Wu nod. He still looked at the wall in front of him intently.
Suddenly, Ding Wu ordered:
"Withdraw the troops and march towards the north."
Ding Wu’s military order was baffling, and Pound was even more puzzled:
"Colonel, the commander's military order is for us to capture Cao Ying. Why do we have to withdraw?"
Ding Wu asked:
"Do you think Cao's camp in front of you can be captured with the number of our troops?"
Pang De paused and didn't know what to say. His honest temper made him mutter:
"You haven't fought before the battle, how do you know you can't win?"
Ding Wu sighed, waved his riding whip, pointed at Cao Jun's wall in the distance where the fire scene had been leveled one after another, and said seriously:
"Not everything will work until you try it."
Pound, who was not good at speaking, didn't know what to say. He just said this repeatedly:
"Captain, this is the military order. If you retreat like this, it's okay to win. If you lose, you will definitely be subject to military law."
Ding Wu looked at the noise in the north, shook his head and said:
"My concern has never been about this person's honor or disgrace, but about the safety of my brothers in this battle. Ding Shuai's decision is correct. Judging from the reaction of the Han army, we did catch them off guard. But as a frontline commander, , I understand the situation on the battlefield better than Ding Shuai. The Cao army in front of me is obviously not an ordinary Han army. It cannot be judged by common sense. If Cao Jun comes on the same day and attacks our army that night, the camp must be rough. What do you think of the Cao camp in front of you?"
Ding Wu said this to the young Pound, and this sentence benefited Pound for life.
"When I am in my position, it is natural to seek stability. As long as I listen to my orders and fight stupidly. What I see with my eyes is from above, and what I hear with my ears is also from above. As long as the above arranges it, I will do it. In the end, I will be successful. It was not my fault in decision-making. But doing so made me feel uneasy. I am a captain facing the enemy, and I should make my own judgment while fully understanding the above strategy. Only your own judgment can complement the commander’s strategy, which is a qualified execution.”
"Yes, you are right. If I do this, I will indeed be responsible for the results. If something goes wrong later, I will definitely be subject to military law. But what? I, Ding Wu, do not seek wealth, but peace of mind."< br>
Ding Wu's last words gave young Pound a slight shock.
Pang De was already a county official in Xizhou when he was very young. What he saw there was that people kept themselves safe and everyone thought about themselves. Even those with outstanding abilities in his eyes always made some nice words without compromising themselves.
But only the Ding Wu in front of him had an open-minded attitude of being able to benefit his brothers and not avoiding his own blessings and misfortunes.
So, Pang De didn't say anything anymore, but took the initiative to hold the reins for Ding Wu.
After that, General Ding arranged the retreat order and ordered the crossbow team to replace the longbow team for shooting. Then each unit took turns to cover and moved closer to the fighting place in the north.
……
Ding Sheng's judgment was both right and wrong.
Yes, Cao Cao did lead an army of 3,000 cavalry to ambush the sudden cavalry of the Flying Bear Army of Guo Liang of the Taishan Army. As Ding Sheng and others expected, the Pingyuan Army and the Han Army ambushed themselves on the northeast passage of the Taishan Army's stronghold.
Ding Sheng even judged that Cao Jun might take the opportunity to attack him.
Not long after he left the camp, Cao Ren's troops, which had penetrated from the Dongpo position, launched a fierce attack on the Taishan Army's inner fortress group.
Fortunately, the reinforcements from the west bank arrived in time and the garrison troops in the village defended tenaciously.
But Ding Sheng also made three wrong judgments.
The first thing he didn't expect was that Guo Liang's Flying Bear Army attacked with a thousand cavalry. Cao Cao used 3,000 cavalry to besiege Guo Liang's Flying Bear Army. Not to mention being annihilated, they even suffered heavy losses at the beginning.
Cao Cao had encountered the Taishan Army's sudden cavalry in the wilderness of Changshe, so he thought he had a very good understanding of the Taishan Army's sudden cavalry combat capabilities.
The Youzhou Cavalrymen who fought against the Taishan Army for several rounds also said that despite their repeated defeats, the Taishan Army's Cavalrymen's cavalry combat ability was not as good as theirs.
Now they besieged the sudden cavalry with three times the enemy's cavalry, how could they lose?
But it is a pity that if it is a hundred Taishan cavalry versus three hundred Han cavalry, the Taishan Assault Cavalry will lose. Three hundred Taishan cavalry versus nine hundred Han cavalry, Taishan cavalry may also lose. But what happened was that the Han army encountered a sudden cavalry of thousands of people.
Since they were equipped with iron hoofs and high saddles, the training of the Taishan Army's assault cavalry has changed from the past half-cavalry regiment charge to the full-cavalry regiment charge.
When Cao Cao's three thousand cavalry went straight towards Guo Liang, Guo Liang was also warned in advance by the sound of hoofbeats from the opposite side.
After reacting, Guo Liang completed the dispatch of the cavalry group as quickly as possible.
Although the Han cavalry on the opposite side had completed the acceleration of their horses, they were scattered forward and backward and failed to form a group charge.
As a result, the two sides collided for the first time, and Guo Liang's department directly tore apart the impact line of the Han army's sudden cavalry and won the first round.
But the victory of the Flying Bear Army ends here. If it were daytime, Guo Liang would definitely be able to lead this group of good guys to fight back and forth. But alas, it was night.
Because it was too dark, too many cavalrymen broke their necks because their horses fell into the air. The Han army did not escape, but their numbers were large, so they quickly formed a siege on the sudden cavalry.
When the two sides were fighting fiercely one after another, a cloud of torches suddenly came from the southwest.
Guo Liang realized at that time that Ding Sheng had sent reinforcements.
Guo Liang had always been Zhang Dan's subordinate before and had never cooperated with Ding Sheng. This time the Flying Bear Army took turns arriving at the front army, and they cooperated for the first time.
He didn't expect that Ding Sheng would come to save him in such a timely manner. When he was moved, he hurriedly threw away the Han cavalry and headed straight towards the southwestern reinforcements.
As long as they break through to the strong position, the Flying Bear Army will no longer be in danger.
The second thing Ding Sheng misjudged was that it was indeed the Qinghe New Army that was preparing to ambush them, but the number was larger than expected.
When Zhao Rong marched to the battlefield two or three miles away from the northeast, the ambushed Qinghe New Army directly launched a fierce attack on Zhao Rong.
The Qinghe New Army's offensive continued and was very fierce. The generals of each department took the lead, which greatly improved the morale of the New Army.
It was also a credit to Zhao Rong that he had anticipated this and was well prepared.
They turned the chariots they had prepared in advance and connected them with iron ropes, forming a chariot camp in a short time.
These chariots carry ballistae and are filled with arrows.
As a result, the Qinghe New Army that came under siege was baptized by the storm here.
But unexpectedly, this time the new army actually resisted. They used the cards prepared in advance to suppress Zhao Rong's space despite the rain of arrows.
If Guo Liang hadn't led the Feixiong Army to retreat here in time, counterattacked a wave of Han troops, and interrupted the Han army's organized offensive, Zhao Rong's car formation might have been broken.
But Guo Liang and Zhao Rong were not happy for long, as Cao Cao came from behind.
And this is also the third place where Ding Sheng made a mistake in judgment.
Didn't Cao Cao see the fire behind him and didn't go to save it?
In fact, Cao Cao not only saw it, he also laughed and sneered at the generals:
"Na Ding Sheng has always been known as a great weapon, but today it seems that it is nothing more than a small skill."
After saying that, Cao Cao still made a half-circle gesture with his hand in an insulting manner, with a short one in the air, specifically referring to the big weapon.
Cao Cao didn't care about his camp behind him and hurriedly urged the cavalry army to pursue the sudden cavalry with all their strength.
But you said Cao Cao was panicked, of course he was panicked. But he could only put all his trust in Xia Houyuan, who stayed behind in the camp, and then do his best to annihilate the Taishan Army who left the camp first.
This was an opportunity to annihilate the main force of the Taishan Army, and Cao Cao could not let it go no matter what.
So, when Ding Sheng arrived with his own army and Huang Yong with about six reinforcements, they saw this scene.
Torches illuminated the battlefield, and there were figures and flags everywhere, making it impossible to tell how many people there were.
The one surrounded in the middle was Zhao Rongbu. It was difficult to see the situation clearly at this moment. Only the loud shouts of killing still told Ding Sheng that they were still there.
What can we do now? Ding Sheng doesn't know anymore, he just wants to fight.
So, in this fighting field, the two armies formed a chaotic mess with large circles surrounding small circles, and small circles mixing with large circles.
Cao Cao directly led the Xuanfeng Leopard Cavalry, swam to the outside of Ding Sheng, and passed through several times.
Under the protection of Xu Chu, Cao Cao was in high spirits. He took off his blood-stained armor and felt in high spirits.
He said to Xu Chu:
"Zhongkang, have you discovered anything?"
Xu Chu had been on high alert for stray arrows on the battlefield. Hearing that his lord had once again shown his literati temper, he could only patiently say:
"The enemy is going to launch a new offensive?"
But Cao Cao laughed loudly, pointed his hand at Ding Sheng in the distance, and said contemptuously:
"No, it's because the Taishan Army has become weaker. And that Ding Daqi, hehe, it looks really small."
So said Cao Cao, who was no more than six feet tall.
Gentlemen, from now on, Marshal Ding, who thinks he is 1.85 meters tall, will be 1.58 meters tall in Xiao Cao's eyes.
(End of chapter)