Traveling through the early Tang Dynasty starts with hanging

Chapter 876

The original plan was to let Tang Qi attack the northeast direction, let Li Daoxuan's right army fill the gap as soon as possible, and then the central army and the left army will advance together. If the Turks still refuse to retreat, then they can only fight a tragic war of attrition, but No matter how heavy the loss is, as long as the plan can be implemented smoothly, there is no doubt that it will win.

Before the battle, all the generals felt that the main road at the hill on the east side might be used by the Turkic cavalry. Once the Turks could pass through the not-so-wide defense line of the right army and turn around to the back of the formation, it would not only threaten Li Daoxuan, but also possibly Flank the Chinese army that is heading north.

That's why Li Shan and Dou Gui chose cavalry to attack the northeast direction to cover Li Daoxuan's arrival at the designated location as soon as possible, so that the Turks could not intersperse and detour.

But now Su Dingfang sent a temporary order to turn the former army to the northwest direction, which naturally surprised Hu Yan, but Zhang Zhongjian sighed secretly in his heart, after all, he was not as good as Zhao Guogong.

I was in front of the battle, watching the battle, but I was hesitant, while Su Dingfang watched from a distance, but made a decision immediately.

Holding the horse lance high in his hand, Zhang Zhongjian summoned his personal guards and rushed into the battle himself. He led thousands of cavalry from the front army and turned to charge northwest, where there was a hill surrounded by heavy troops.

If there is a pair of eyes looking down from the sky, on the battlefield that is not too wide, on the east side of the battlefield, under the command of Su Dingfang, Duan Zhixuan and Feng Li took turns leading the cavalry to attack. Fighting desperately, under such an offensive, the Turkic soldiers could no longer stand their ground and retreated slowly.

Li Daoxuan led the infantry and was approaching the battlefield. The tip of the sharp spear pierced obliquely towards the sky. Separate a small force to drive away the approaching Turkic cavalry.

In the battlefield on the right, the northernmost is the hills surrounded by nearly ten thousand Turks. Ashina Sheer and Turk Khan stood under the Khan flag to watch the battle. The former army led by Zhang Zhongjian came from the south. Flanking on the flanks of the Turkic formation, although it was difficult to penetrate, the Turks were still retreating steadily.

Ashina Sheer and Tuli Khan didn't care about the battle in front of them. There were nearly [-] troops, of which more than [-] were the most elite king's tent soldiers, let alone Zhang Zhongjian's former army. , also to no avail.

The two khans knew better that the Tang army was attacking in an all-round way today, and the left and right sides were charging with cavalry, but the middle road was vacant. The scouts reported that the Chinese army was gradually pressing on. ... After all, so many days ago, both sides came and went, and the cavalry battles were well known.

"No rush." ​​Ashina Sheer said with a smile: "Wait for the Tang army's pawns to reach the hundred paces before retreating. The Tang cavalry can't catch up."

Tuli Khan glanced sideways at the battlefield on the east side, nodded and said: "Su Ding Fangcheng is a famous general, even if the east side wins, it will be difficult to cut off our retreat."

Ashina Sheer chuckled, "Firstly, even if Su Dingfang breaks the formation, the follow-up troops will be enough to resist, and secondly..."

While talking, a Turkic cavalry of more than a thousand people bypassed Su Dingfang at a fast speed, moved in the narrow battlefield, suddenly went west, then south, and finally went southeast, and fought Ma Sanbao again after a while. Go around and appear in the middle of the Tang army's middle army and right army.

Tuli Khan's expression was quite complicated. He could clearly feel the strength of his cousin's control over his subordinates. On such a battlefield, the cavalry's insertion into that position played a very crucial role, and could threaten the Tang army. The central army can threaten the flank and rear of the right army, which will directly force Su Dingfang to deploy an array, cover the battlefield, and dare not go north easily.

But at the same time, the end of that cavalry was narrowly escaped death. On one side was the central army with more than ten thousand troops, and on the other was the right army with thousands of troops, and there was no shortage of cavalry. will be wiped out in a short time.

With such control over his subordinates... Tuli Khan couldn't help but think, if he gave such an order, his younger brother would probably even refuse to form an association.

The direction of the battle was basically the same as what Tuli Khan expected. Su Dingfang did not try to go north to penetrate the Turkic formation, but spread the formation horizontally, trying to cover the battlefield, and organized the Turkic cavalry to intersperse, waiting for the infantry behind to enter the battlefield as soon as possible. Advance layer by layer.

And the fate of that cavalry was no different from what Tuli Khan had expected. In this battle, Li Shan devoted all he had, and even the rear army had been added to the central army. Qian Jiulong ordered hundreds of cavalry to lead After going out to battle, Ma Sanbao on the other side also followed. In less than a quarter of an hour, more than a thousand Turkic cavalry were almost wiped out, and only a few dozen fled.

In such a big battle, the general's command ability is actually greatly weakened, and the planning before the battle is the embodiment of command ability. After all, unlike a football game, there are on-the-spot adjustments and even substitutions.

After handing over the command of the Chinese army to Qian Jiulong, Li Shan himself had nothing to do. He even gave Qian Jiulong the timing and location of Mo Dao Shou's deployment.

In this battle, Li Shan considered many times and made many plans in the nearly ten days. He only hoped that the generals who were about to fight would follow the rules, complete their tasks, and drive the Turks out of Jingzhou smoothly.

But unexpectedly, there was an accident. Su Dingfang temporarily adjusted the direction of attack, and asked Zhang Zhongjian to turn to the northwest to attack the hills.

Li Shan also predicted before the battle that there was a high possibility of an accident in such a battle, but he did not expect it to happen to Su Dingfang.

According to the original plan, Su Dingfang and Zhang Zhongjian led the main force of the cavalry to attack on the east side of the battlefield, forcing the Turks to retreat. As long as they could get into the formation, Dou Gui, Li Daoxuan, and Qian Jiulong would lead the three armies northward. At that time, Ash on the hill Aren't Sheer and Tuli Khan afraid that Tang Qi will cut off his retreat?

One bad thing is the great victory of capturing and beheading the two Khans.

But now, Su Dingfang made temporary adjustments, and Zhang Zhongjian turned around, resulting in a significant weakening of the strength of the Tang army on the eastern battlefield. Go north with all your strength, and force the Turks to retreat with the gesture of cutting off their back.

Suddenly there was a mountain wind, and Li Shan felt a chill on his head and face, and he touched it reflexively, his forehead was already wet, and sweat was profuse.

"Brother Ding Fang should be the one who returned the favor." Wang Junhao pointed at him from a distance, and personally brought his personal guards to meet him.

"Mr. Lang, the Turks seem to have the intention to retreat." The guards were also sweating, with a feathered arrow sticking out of their shoulders. "Today, Duke Zhao led the cavalry to break through the formation, and the Turks did not resist fiercely."

"Not violent?" Li Shan murmured, "Do you really want to retreat?"

This is a logical conjecture. Today, the main force of the Tang army is out, fighting endlessly, and it is necessary to seize the main road. For the Turks, this main road is very important, but the important position in the minds of the two sides is absolutely different.

(End of this chapter)