Water Margin people

Chapter 1545: The Disappearance of the Central Army

"I don't think it's feasible. We have already lost track of the enemy's main force. The battlefield is dozens of miles long and several miles wide. It's easy for us to cross it, but it's difficult to find the enemy's center!"

Yue Fei said.

"Isn't it in that direction?"

Xin Qiji pointed straight ahead.

"That was before. This time, the enemy's behavior was very strange. The central army didn't even light torches. As soon as the melee started, they disappeared into the night. How can you be sure that the enemy is still in that direction?"

Yue Fei looked at Xin Qiji and asked.

"This... the enemy can't just disappear!"

Xin Qiji hesitated a little, but still spoke.

"Report, Your Majesty, the Tiger Roar Battalion directly attacked the enemy's central army, but found nothing. The enemy's central army has disappeared!"

A soldier came on horseback to report.

"Whereabouts unknown?"

Everyone was shocked. They didn't expect that their guess would come true.

"Quick, be on guard!"

Zhu Wu shouted anxiously. The enemy's central army disappeared. They either escaped or launched a surprise attack. Now that the outcome of the battle was undecided, the enemy could not escape.

"Your Majesty, the enemy must be planning to launch a surprise attack on the rear of our army!"

Li Zhu spoke up. He was very satisfied with Li Yu's cleverness. This information was worth a fortune.

As for why Li Wei was able to reach the enemy's center so quickly, it was because he led the three armies of Yuan Lang, Ma Xi, and Teng Kan to work together to break through the enemy's line.

“The question is where will they emerge from?”

Sun Lei looked around. He had 40,000 troops by his side. No matter how conceited Yelu Dashi was, he could not attack him.

"There is no movement in the battle formation. It looks like Yelu Dashi has taken a detour!"

Li Zhu said that although the battle situation was chaotic, the Qi army camps were spread all over it, and it was impossible for Yelu Dashi's main force to pass through the battlefield silently.

"We need to go around. The battlefield is dozens of miles long. It will take at least fifty miles to go around! Wouldn't it take until dawn to get there?"

Zhu Wu thought for a while and said, marching at night is slow, and it would take half a night for the cavalry to march fifty miles. It is already midnight now, and it would be dawn when the enemy arrives.

"Tomorrow? I don't think so!"

Sun Lei stroked his chin and thought.

"Your Majesty, will the enemy break out from the melee?"

Zhu Wu's face changed again. If this was the case, the problem would be even more serious. If the enemy was so powerful, they would have to consider gathering the army.

"Your Majesty, didn't you say that Yelu Dashi had a backup plan? Could it be that he had some special troops, like the heavy armored spear phalanx? He set up a heavy armored spear phalanx and charged straight at us?"

Xin Qiji suddenly expressed his thoughts. After all, even the Xianzhen Camp of the Qi army, which had defeated countless enemies, was blocked by the enemy. If the Xianzhen Camp had not been brave enough and its armor was not strong enough, the enemy would have killed us long ago.

"Heavily armored lancers?"

Everyone looked at Xin Qiji. They were not unfamiliar with heavy armored cavalry. They had defeated the Iron Pagoda and the Iron Harriers before. They were not afraid of heavy armored cavalry.

"cavalry!"

Sun Lei suddenly repeated these two words. He did not dwell on the heavy armor, but focused on the word cavalry.

"What do you think of these enemy cavalrymen?"

Sun Lei looked at everyone and asked.

"It's OK. Their riding skills and fighting spirit are acceptable. It's just that their tactics are very rigid. They only know how to charge and rely on numbers to win." Yue Fei pondered for a moment and then spoke. Although the enemy fought poorly, it was mostly because of their ignorance, lack of orderly training, and lack of understanding of tactics. If someone trained them, their combat effectiveness would definitely not be bad.

“You’re missing the point!”

Sun Lei shook his head.

"His Majesty?"

Yue Fei felt that his analysis was absolutely correct and looked at Sun Lei temptingly.

"They are a nomadic people, and they have also been fighting with various tribes for many years. They must have some fighting ability, but did you fail to consider the best thing in the Western Regions - war horses?"

Sun Lei looked at Yue Fei and asked.

"Warhorse!"

Yue Fei was stunned, and so were the others.

At this moment, they thought of the battle during the day. The enemy's cavalry was elite, but their horses were only average.

However, the most coveted BMWs from the Western Regions were not shown. Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty once launched an expedition to Dayuan just for the Ferghana horses.

"The most powerful khanates in the Western Regions are in front of us. They control the best BMW production areas and even have horse breeds that are comparable to the Ferghana horses."

Zhu Wu reacted immediately.

"Your Majesty, you mean that the enemy has gathered their best horses together to form a cavalry! This cavalry can be said to come and go like the wind."

Li Zhu's face looked a little gloomy. Such an enemy was more dangerous than the heavily armored cavalry.

"The best horses are rare. Even in the Dayuan Kingdom, there were only a few thousand Ferghana horses. They are very delicate and difficult to keep. The Western Regions have been in constant war over the years. I'm afraid Yelu Dashi won't have too many. There should be more fast horses from the Western Regions!"

Zhu Wu analyzed that the most common horse in the Western Regions was the Arab-Israeli horse, which was of average size and light weight. It could not carry heavy objects, but it was fast.

"I remember the news sent back by Han Shizhong saying that the West likes to train slave warriors. They will capture a large number of children and strictly select and train them to ensure that they have sufficient combat qualities and skills."

"The selection process usually involves a series of physical tests, weapon skill tests, and psychological training. Only soldiers who pass these rigorous selection procedures can enter the slave army and become emotionless killing machines."

Sun Lei said that this matter was reported by Han Shizhong. In the letter, Han Shizhong hated it deeply. Those children as young as seven or eight years old started killing people since childhood.

"Slave Legion!"

Everyone was stunned.

They were not unfamiliar with such legions. There was also such a tradition in the Central Plains. When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was short of troops for the western expedition to Dayuan, he issued an order that all seven types of men in the country, including petty officials, fugitives, son-in-laws, merchants, or men who had been son-in-laws or merchants, or whose parents or grandparents had been son-in-laws or merchants, were forced to join the camp.

In the earlier Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period, there were even special camps for surrendered soldiers and slave camps, which were used to fill the pits and send people to die.

"Your Majesty, if what you said is true, the slave soldiers in the Western Region seem to be very elite!"

Lu You looked at Sun Lei and asked.

"They are not only elite, but they can be said to be killing machines. They are orphans without families. For them, nothing else matters except killing."

Sun Lei shook his head and said that the people in the Western Regions and the Central Plains had different ideas. In the Central Plains, slaves were of low status and it was almost impossible for them to change their class. But it was different in the chaotic Western Regions. Although slaves had a low status, they could reverse all this through war.

"Your Majesty, if this is true, then we must prepare in advance. These assassins are too dangerous!"

Zhu Wu looked at Sun Lei and said.

"Yue Fei, can you take them down?"

Sun Lei looked at Yue Fei and asked.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. We will never let them get close to the central army."

Yue Fei patted the rifle on his back and said with a smile, the enemy has a special trick, and they are not without a countermeasure.

(End of this chapter)