Tang Dynasty Mingyue Song Dynasty Pass

Chapter 932 Battle against the Liao Army

At this moment, General Jing Hong stepped forward, cupped his hands, and reported: "Your Majesty, the scouts report that the Khitan cavalry have arrived two miles away."

Su Chen nodded upon hearing this, and said calmly, "Alright, deploy the entire army in the Five Elements Formation!"
"Here!"

Soon, the order was issued, and the 100,000 Wu troops, following the formation they had practiced, contracted their flanks and arranged themselves into the Five Elements formation.

Besides Su Chen in the center, Lin Renzhao is in front, Pan Mei and Cao Bin are on the two wings, and Tai Shizhao and Lin Juyi are behind.

Each formation is arranged in a circular formation, with the general positioned in the center and the outer forces deployed in layers. Long spears and bows are on the outside, while mobile forces are on the inside. This formation is used when engaging a superior enemy force. The tactical idea is dense defense. The square and circular formations are dense and have strong defensive capabilities, but the dense formation also limits mobility and lacks variability.

The movement of the three armies was accompanied by the clanging of armor and the heavy, somber sound of footsteps.
Just then, the earth began to tremble, and the thunderous sound of horses' hooves grew louder and louder, and the ground trembled more and more violently. The Khitan cavalry had arrived.

All the soldiers stared intently as dust billowed in the distance, shooting straight into the sky and blotting out the sun, forming a dark, oppressive cloud that swept in from afar, changing the very color of the world.

Immediately, a black line appeared at the edge of the grassland, moving with lightning speed, sweeping across the land and pressing down. Countless Khitan horses were like galloping arrows, their hooves pounding the earth, causing it to shake. The momentum created by these tens of thousands of cavalry was awe-inspiring.

Their speed was several times faster than imagined. The magnificent scene of ten thousand warhorses neighing and galloping across the desert was awe-inspiring!

"They're here! Prepare to meet them!"

Su Chen gazed at the iron cavalry army surging forward like a flood, a cold smile creeping onto his lips. Everything was within his calculations.

"Beat the drums, prepare for battle—"

"Dong dong dong—" The cowhide drum rang out, as if shaking the heavens, with a powerful and majestic sound.

Upon hearing this, all the Wu soldiers felt their blood and energy surge, their spirits and morale, which had been suppressed by the iron cavalry, were instantly awakened by the war drums. Their fighting spirit was revived, and they could no longer hear the sound of horses' hooves, but only the sound of their own drums.

The principle of "the drumbeats start strong, then weaken, and finally exhaust" applies here. Only at the most crucial moment before battle can the most powerful drumbeats be unleashed to awaken the spirit of the army!
"Positioning arrow!"

Lin Renzhao, in charge of commanding the vanguard, gave a loud shout, and the flag officer waved the flag to announce the military order. Upon seeing the flag, Zhou Luo's troops in the vanguard immediately ordered the firing of locating arrows.
With a series of sharp, ringing notes, countless arrows shot out, streaking through the air and landing a full 150 paces away, forming a neat row. Each arrow had colorful ribbons tied to its fletching; these were locating arrows, designed to pinpoint the exact location of an arrow. When the armies of both sides charged into this area, it was time for the archers to fire.

At this moment, there was an oppressive feeling of impending doom, and everyone's nerves were on edge, because the great battle between Wu and Tu was about to begin.

"Boom!"

The Khitan cavalry drew ever closer, like an armored torrent. The riders on horseback wore fur-trimmed clothing and fur-trimmed helmets, their deep-set eyes and sharp noses giving them an untamed air.

When the Khitan knights saw the Wu army's infantry formation, their faces showed excitement and greed, as if they had been blessed by Tengri, the god of the grasslands. Countless gleaming scimitars and great axes were raised high in their thick arms, gleaming with a cold light under the midday sun.

"Awooo! Kill! Kill!"

The Khitan cavalry were about to enter within an arrow's reach, so they shouted and yelled to boost their morale and become fiercely aggressive.

There was no extra communication or shouting between the two sides. They went straight to the point, determined to kill each other. There was no room for maneuver; only battle!
Some Khitan cavalrymen prepared to draw their bows and fire arrows, while the Wu army's crossbows and archers were also ready.

Lin Renzhao saw the Khitan cavalry enter crossbow range and shouted, "Fire!" "Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Countless crossbow bolts rained down, a deluge of arrows that filled the sky and filled the heavens.

This dark cloud of arrows whistled towards the Khitan cavalry. Instantly, screams erupted as Khitan cavalrymen fell from their horses like dumplings being dropped into a pot. Hundreds were shot down, some dead, some wounded.

Immediately afterwards, a second volley of crossbow bolts whistled out, dense and numerous, like a sudden storm, piercing the leather armor of the Khitan warriors or killing their mounts. One after another, Khitan knights fell from their horses to the ground, where they were trampled and seriously injured or crushed to death by the dense hooves of the warhorses following behind, their flesh and blood mangled.

Bloodlust permeated the air, death spread, and the cruelty of the battlefield was beginning to emerge.

After firing two volleys, the Wu army's crossbowmen immediately retreated, using the gaps in the formation to quickly move to the rear, giving their positions to the longbowmen.

"shoot!
The longbowmen used hard bows and long arrows with sharp steel tips. They did not shoot directly at the knights, but rather at a 45-degree angle to the sky. Four thousand arrows rained down like a storm, with great force, capable of piercing through both men and horses. Nearby Khitan cavalrymen who rushed into the edge of the arrow's range were once again struck down from their horses, suffering heavy casualties.

Whoosh whoosh!
Thousands of arrows rained down with tremendous force, piercing through clothing and armor. Many Khitan cavalrymen were riddled with arrows, their blood splattering everywhere. Some arrows struck their hearts, others their necks, abdomens, or arms. The blood was devastating. The corpses of their comrades were mercilessly trampled on like tattered rags.

However, the Khitan warriors were not intimidated. Instead, their eyes turned red with rage, and they became even more courageous and fierce with each setback.

After five or six volleys of arrows from Wu's army, the Khitan cavalry had lost over a thousand men.

This slowed the enemy's charge down for a short time and made their formation unstable, but it did not affect the morale of the Khitan cavalry. This was because the soldiers of the Central Plains were good at defending cities and shooting from a stationary position. These were their fixed strategies. After dealing with them many times, these Khitans knew the situation like the back of their hand. As long as they crossed the 100-pace distance, their iron cavalry would be invincible and could start a massacre.

Moreover, when they reached within a hundred paces, some Khitan cavalrymen began to draw their bows and shoot. Since the arm strength required to draw a bow on horseback is much greater than that on the ground, the difficulty also increases. Therefore, although the Khitan cavalrymen were skilled in mounted archery, tall and strong, they only used the five-bu bow, which did not have the range of the crossbow and longbow. This was due to the limitations of their conditions when fighting on horseback.

Whoosh whoosh!
Most of the arrows fired by the Khitan were blocked by the narrow shields in front of the formation, making a dull, trembling sound. However, some stray arrows hit some Wu soldiers in the square formation, and some were injured.

At this moment, all the archers in front of Wu's army had withdrawn, leaving only the sharp edge of long weapons. The spear formation, lance formation, and long sword formation all showed their ferocity, and they were about to enter close combat, which would be the ultimate test of the infantry's combat effectiveness!
As for artillery, it has not been used yet. Su Chen is worried that using it as soon as they meet will scare away the Liao army and defeat its purpose of reaping kills. He plans to wait until the battle has been going on for a while and more Liao troops have entered the fray before using gunpowder to kill the enemy.

Thirty steps, twenty steps, ten steps…

The Khitan knights roared, brandishing a variety of weapons, including chain hammers, spiked clubs, spears, and longswords, their cries like the howling of wolves. Although they saw the dense forest of infantry spears, they were caught in a dilemma. Knowing that their chances of survival were slim, they charged forward recklessly.

"Clatter, clatter!"

A burst of weapons clashed, and in the instant the two armies clashed, it was like two giant waves merging and crashing together, causing men and horses to fall and blood to splatter everywhere.

This confrontation didn't even require fighting; the sheer force of men and horses surged forward like an overwhelming tide, clashing violently with the forest of spears, swords, and shields.

As soon as the soldiers of both sides clashed, they hardly used their fighting skills. Instead, they gripped their long weapons tightly and thrust desperately. In a single exchange, both sides were either killed or wounded, a fighting style that resulted in heavy casualties.

By this time, the Song army had fought the Khitan many times, so they were more experienced, and the army led by Cao Bin and Pan Mei was obviously better coordinated. But Lin Renzhao was also a fierce general, and he selected 30,000 elite troops to hold the line in front without showing any signs of weakness.

Individual cavalrymen charged into the gaps in the Five Elements Formation, but were quickly wiped out by the coordinated formation. Seeing that there were enough Liao soldiers charging forward, Su Chen ordered the artillery in the rear to prepare to fire, aiming to hit the middle of the Liao army's charge and break their momentum.