Chapter 780 Charge
When Yan Gang led the assault cavalry regiment with the former Tianwei Army as the core to break through the formation, Li Fu, who was approaching, also led more than a thousand cavalry to bypass and penetrate directly into the enemy's high-ranking army.
At that time, the regiment of senior officials was being ordered by the Central Army to move back to the battlefield in the middle, so the team was inevitably scattered.
Originally, this matter was not much trouble, because the reason why Chunyu Qiong mobilized the high-ranking cadres was because this department was behind Liu Xun, and his department just blocked their view.
However, this arrangement was seen by Yu Jin who was watching the formation from the opposite side. The reason why he urgently ordered Tian Jun to lead the troops to attack was because he saw the smoke and dust rising from behind Liu Xun's army. With the direction of the flag, he knew that Yuan Jun must be Mobilize troops before battle.
The subsequent battle was as expected by Yu Jin. When Tian Jun's cavalry regiment easily defeated Liu Xun's troops, behind them, the Gao Gan Corps and Feng Ji's two armies were directly exposed.
It's just that Yan Gang was too forward and had a very narrow field of vision. Before he could see the chaotic high-ranking army next door, he led his troops straight into the strict discipline department.
But Li Fu, who was behind Yan Gang, was not like this. He was overjoyed when he saw the senior cadres marching in columns preparing to withdraw from the battlefield.
When encountering these sudden cavalry in this marching posture, they are like lambs to be slaughtered.
So there is nothing more to say, just rush forward and kill!
The high-ranking army on the opposite side also had capable and brave generals. After seeing the enemy's sudden cavalry, they also tried to get the rear army to fight back.
But the battalion leader who was ordered to block the attack was rushed to pieces by Li Fu's cavalry regiment before they could even form a good formation.
At that time, Li Fu fully utilized the advantages of the cavalry. He led more than a thousand sudden cavalry like flying butterflies, repeatedly interspersing with the high-ranking army.
They first defeated the right wing of Gao Gan's army, and under the cover of the routed troops, they massacred them all the way to Gao Gan's central army.
As a relative of Yuan Shao and a prominent two thousand stone family in Chenliu, Gao Gan was very powerful, and this was directly reflected in his central army.
In any of Yuan's legions, the Chinese army is directly under the control of each military leader, and they are the group with the strongest combat power and equipment. Some powerful military leaders will also use their own wealth to supply the Chinese army, which is somewhat like being a servant of the Ming Dynasty.
But if there is any Chinese army with the highest armor coverage rate, apart from the Shangwu Army directly under Yuan Shao, it is the high-ranking Chinese army.
Among them, the number of soldiers is about a thousand, and almost all of them are from Chenliu. They are either the tribe of the Gao family or the tribe of the in-laws. In addition, the Gao family is well prepared for troubled times. Their family has hired many wealthy people in Yanzhou, plus These people are all well-deserved elite soldiers.
But it is a pity that although these Chen Liubing soldiers are experienced and equipped with fighting equipment, they have never faced the half-armored assault cavalry of the Taishan Army.
In the field sequence of the Taishan Army, there is no light cavalry in the absolute sense. Even the command cavalry responsible for delivering orders are leather armor, while the general assault knights are almost entirely covered in iron armor.
This level of armor can be called a heavily armored cavalry in some places that are not particular about it.
At this moment, with the thunderous sound of iron hoofs, the fine armor reflected the light of the sun, and like a whirlwind, the Taishan Army's sudden cavalry, stepping on blood and stumps, crashed into the high-ranking central army.
"Hold on!"
"Stand here!"
"No retreat!"
……
There were shouts like this everywhere, but as the Taishan army poured in like a flood, the voices became weaker and weaker.
The entire Chinese army was collapsing and running away at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Li Fu and a group of assault riders had stabbed the horse's trunk long ago. Then he would draw out his bright ring-headed sword and slash left and right, causing blood and residual limbs to fly in the air.
Countless ring-headed swords flashed in the air, like strips of light raging through the high-ranking army.
When these Tarzan riders were swept into the formation like a whirlwind, there were no words to describe such a scene.
Every time the sudden cavalry galloped past, all they left behind were corpses and kneeling soldiers.
Soon, Li Fu and the others broke through the Chinese army and saw where the enemy's banner was.
There, a two-foot-tall flag stood there. Because there was no wind, the flag was completely limp and lifeless.
Then the sixteen or seventeen armored warriors clung to each other, looking at Li Fu and the others with hatred and fear.
These people are the soldiers who stayed behind in Dagu.
The first time Li Fu looked there, he found that there were no generals dressed as generals on the opposite side. He snorted and asked the warriors:
"If the leader of the thief comes out and surrenders, everyone will be spared death."
But there were a lot of curses coming from the other side, and Li Fu sighed in his heart. Sure enough, there was no senior official there.
On normal days, Li Fu would have definitely surrendered these warriors, but this time he was angry because he missed the big fish by mistake. Seeing that these soldiers were still resisting, he immediately ordered them to be killed.
One of their guardsmen was slashed three times and fell in front of the banner. Another guardman tried to pick up the military flag, but was cut off by a cavalry general of the Taishan Army and captured the flag.
So, Li Fu took the big banner that his men had captured, and was about to shout loudly when he suddenly heard the earth shaking and thunder rolling in the southwest.
Just as he was about to tear off the banner, his face suddenly turned pale, because this was the sound of a large-scale cavalry running.
So, he turned and looked to the southwest.
……
In the third year of Taiwu's reign, on May 29th, at four quarters of noon, behind the slope on the west side of the battlefield.
No matter whether it was Yu Jin or Tian Jun in the command position, or even Yan Gang, Li Fu, and Han Dang on the front line, what they could not see was that behind the slope to their southwest, a large-scale Yuan army suddenly rode on the highway. Move towards them.
This cavalry force is composed of Yuan Shao's Chixin team, Jianghuai cavalry, and Runan's tribes, with a number of about two thousand cavalry.
Contrary to the perception of many outsiders that there is a shortage of horses in the Central Plains, in fact, there are pastures in Runan that are rare in the Central Plains.
If you want to herd war horses on a large scale, the following factors must be met. That means the environment needs to be cool and dry, but it also needs to have a lot of fresh water, and salt needs to be easily available.
The two sides of the Huai River from Runan to the Lujiang River meet these demanding conditions.
First of all, the area from the south of the Huai River to the Dabie Mountains, although it cannot be compared with the Great Wall and Mobei, is much drier than other places in the south. In particular, the mountains and forests are densely covered, which can provide horses with a rare place to escape the summer heat. .
Then there is the water. Many outsiders think that raising horses only requires pasture, but in fact the most important condition for raising horses is abundant water resources. Because horses need to drink thirty liters of water a day even when they are not exercising, and during strenuous exercise, the water consumption is half as much.
Between Runan and the Lujiang River, the southern side of the Huai River is mostly tributaries originating from the Dabie Mountains. These rivers are short, fast-flowing, and rich in water. They have been called "landscapes" since ancient times. The tributaries on the north side of the Huai River have many slopes and bays, and the water flow is slow. It has been called "slope water" since ancient times.
These two places contain huge amounts of water resources that can be used to supply war horses.
And the last point is to give the horse salt. This is easy to solve in places like Mobei, because most of them are inland rivers. Since there is no access to the sea, these rivers are rich in salt brine, so the war horses add salt while drinking water.
In the south, almost most rivers lead to rivers, so salt can only be added artificially. The Huai River where Runan is located is the only place where the downstream salt works must be transported, and it can easily supply salt water to the horses.
Compared with Mobei, this method of raising horses is naturally more expensive, but it is also one of the few ways to raise horses in the south.
It is precisely because of Runan's unique environment that Yuan Shao, who has always been short of war horses, set aside the wilderness swamps on both sides of the Huai River to breed war horses.
After several years of hard work and hard work, the Lianghuai Grassland had tens of thousands of horses, most of which were used in this battle.
In fact, Yuan Shao did not know that in his later generations, after the Mid-Tang Dynasty, an important reason why Caizhou soldiers were able to dominate the Central Plains was this pasture.
Previously, Yuan Shao had concentrated the assault cavalry from each battalion under his command behind the slope on the west side before the war.
Xu You and other staff are not idlers. They know very well that once our army adopts the tactics of encirclement from the left flank, the Taishan Army on the opposite side will definitely not sit still and wait for death.
From this, it can be seen that the Taishan Army must concentrate its assault cavalry force to attack its left flank. Therefore, in order to meet the sudden cavalry of the Taishan Army, most of General Yuan Shaocai's cavalry forces were concentrated there.
Only the cavalry can destroy the cavalry. This is a wise saying on the battlefield.
Even, in order to mobilize this cavalry force that came from different military orders, Yuan Shao specially promoted Guo Dan to the rank of cavalry general.
Guo Dan was a handsome member of the Guo family in Yingchuan. Among the many generals of the Yuan army, he was a typical example of both literary and military skills. In addition, he was good at dancing and was very good at coordinating various families, so he was suitable for commanding this sudden cavalry.
And Guo Dan indeed lived up to his reputation. He had kept his troops stationary since the beginning of the war. Even when the enemy troops suddenly rushed out of the dense forest to the north, he could hold back the restless hearts of his generals.
At that time, on the back slope, densely packed war horses were lying on their sides. Their masters looked ahead from time to time, expecting to see Guo Dan's order to attack.
But Guo Dan was too calm. No matter how his subordinates asked for orders, he remained unmoved and kept his eyes fixed on the battlefield.
He is waiting for an opportunity!
Three moments later, the time has indeed arrived. Perhaps our army's combat power has been stretched too thin. In such a short period of time, two armies were defeated on the flanks of our army.
Even Feng Ji's army is still struggling to support them.
But at the same time as the defeat, fighter opportunities also appeared. The originally neat Taishan Army's assault cavalry continued to divide, and only less than a thousand cavalry remained on the periphery of the battlefield.
When Guo Dan saw the towering banner with "Tian Jun, General of the Tai Tai Hussars" written on it, he finally confirmed that a fighter plane had appeared.
In order to maintain the confidentiality of the march, Guo Dan did not choose to blow the trumpet to dispatch troops. Instead, he asked the soldiers to ride to the rear camps one by one to convey the attack order.
Soon, laughter came from each camp, followed by the sound of "mounting the horse" one after another. The knights held their horses under their arms, counted their arrows and weapons, and gathered towards Guo Dan under the leadership of their respective cavalry commanders.
The situation on the battlefield ahead was already very critical. At this time, most of Gao Gan's legions had been defeated, and it seemed that the big banner could not be saved.
But even in this situation, Guo Dan still arranged his army in an orderly manner. He divided the four cavalry units of the army into forty horizontal teams, each with fifty cavalry, just like a long strip, arranged behind the slope. .
With Guo Dan's last roar, he pointed his horse at the horse, and the two thousand riders on the side fell down like a tide.
Yuan Jun's cavalry moved in a very orderly manner. First, the order to advance was given, and then the trumpeters began to play the "slow step" order.
On the battlefield in the northeast, there were shouts and fighting everywhere. It was in this overture that Yuan Jun's elite cavalry appeared in front of everyone.
As the troops moved, the horn sound became more and more urgent, which was conveying the order to accelerate from a stroll to a quick step.
Among the densely packed cavalry regiment, Guo Tao, the son of Guo Dan and nephew of Guo Tu, was also among them. He was riding a tall horse, and the feathers on his head rose and fell with the body.
He was about to say something to a tall cavalryman beside him, but suddenly, the sound of horns in his ears suddenly stopped, and then the whole army blew horns loudly.
Guo Tao ignored his words and suddenly put down his horse. Then, like all the middle and lower-level cavalrymen, his face turned red and he shouted loudly:
"Charge! Charge!"
The cavalry, which was already running at high speed, was getting faster and faster, and its horses were already flying in the air, launching a final charge towards the hesitant Taishan Army's sudden cavalry.
"Boom"
"Boom"
This is the thunder roaring, this is the storm roaring, the Yuan cavalry, which has never shown its power, opens its sharp claws at this moment and attacks the Taishan Army.
On the road of their charge, there were still many Taishan Army assault cavalry staying there. They were all Li Fu's subordinates.
Originally, they could have counterattacked these Yuan Jun knights, but what was terrible was that this wave of assault cavalry was also chasing the defeated troops south, so their entire waist and abdomen were exposed to Yuan Jun's charge line.
As we all know, what the cavalry fears most is being flanked. Once attacked by the enemy, the performance of the cavalry is even worse than that of the infantry.
So, a moment later, the dozens of Taishan Army cavalry disappeared under the torrent of Yuan Jun.
There really was no splash at all.
Guo Tao, the cavalry general of the Yuan Army who was responsible for charging on the front line, had his face covered in blood. In the battle just now, he himself had stabbed two Taishan Army knights to death.
There was a fire in his stomach for a long time. When he was on the slope, he saw the Taishan Army's assault cavalry slaughtering the robes of his army wantonly.
Although he, a descendant of an aristocratic family, was not on the same level as these people, at that moment, he still felt a sense of hatred.
Therefore, he, who was originally left behind by his father, rushed to the front line during the charge in order to kill those Taishan troops.
But now the time for revenge has arrived. In front of him is the banner of the Taishan Army's cavalry general. As long as this cavalry army is defeated, the Taishan Army will be greatly weakened and victory will inevitably be tilted to his own side.
So, Guo Tao stared at the big banner in front of him.
But, staring at it, why is this big banner getting further and further away?
not good! Those Taishan Army assault cavalry actually ran away without any sense of honor?