Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 713: Great Destruction

After Guanqiu Jian's death, his cavalry was leaderless and fled in all directions under the pursuit of the Han cavalry. However, because the fleeing cavalry was difficult to pursue and had lost its organization, Pang De and Gao Xin did not pursue them further.

Gao Xin raised the big flag, blew the horn, gathered the fleeing cavalry, and took the time to rest.

Because the task was arduous, Pang De gathered the Pi cavalry and rode their horses at a quick pace to bypass the Wei army, preparing to cross the back of the Wei army and kill the cavalry on the right wing of the Wei army. He was ready to attack the Wei cavalry together with Ding Feng and completely destroy them.

During Pang De's march, the news of Guanqiu Jian's defeat and death was quickly reported to Huo Jun.

"Reporting to the Grand Marshal, General Pang has defeated the enemy cavalry and is now acting according to the plan, bypassing the rear of the Wei army and attacking the Wei cavalry together with Ding Feng." Houqi reported.

Huo Jun stood on the carriage, looking at the two armies fighting fiercely in the distance, without saying a word.

Jiang Ji waved his hand to let the waiting cavalry retreat, and asked: "Commander-in-chief, should we let Yu and Wen join the battlefield now?"

Huo Jun hesitated for a moment, then gave the order: "Wen Qin's troops have just surrendered, so they cannot be trusted. Now I order Yu Shao to lead his troops to the right wing quickly, and attack the Wei army from the flank, and cooperate with Quan Cong."

"promise!"

The collapse of the cavalry on one wing of the Wei army meant that the infantry lost the cover of the cavalry on their flank, and the Han army could attack their flank both in infantry and cavalry.

Now Yu Shao led his troops to attack from the side, and together with Quan Cong, they would form a two-sided attack on the Wei army's Jie Jun troops, forming a semi-encirclement. Once the rear was attacked by Gao Xin, Pang De and other cavalrymen, the Wei army would be surrounded.

The Wei army trapped in the encirclement will be cut off one by one, and will eventually be completely swallowed up by Huo Jun because they are surrounded on all sides.

After Huo Jun's military order was issued, the quartermaster, under the supervision of the personnel officer, pushed a small cart loaded with sugar crystals to distribute small pieces of sugar to Yu Shao's troops who were about to go into the battlefield.

Eating the sweet candies, the Han soldiers seemed to be revived, their morale rose again, and under the guidance of the cavalry, they rushed to the battlefield.

It was Huo Jun's rule to let soldiers eat sugar, because after strenuous exercise, sugar can restore the human body faster than other foods, and can help anxious and tired people recover their mood faster.

The society at the end of the Han Dynasty was different from that in later times. The sugar industry was well developed and everyone could consume large amounts of sugar. Sugar was very precious at the end of the Han Dynasty and could not be consumed by anyone but the nobles and the rich.

Fortunately, as the Southern Han Dynasty further developed Jiaozhou, the Han Dynasty set up sugar factories in Jiaozhou, and the big families hired barbarians to grow sugarcane in Jiaozhou. The output of sugar increased significantly, and the price was no longer so expensive.

During his reign, Huo Jun insisted on adding sugar to the army's rations despite opposition from his ministers. However, due to price and production issues, he only allowed soldiers to eat sugar during emergency operations.

Eating sugar is not something that people can understand, but with a lot of practice and the personal experience of the Southern Han generals, people gradually understood the profound meaning of Huo Jun.

They also equated the principle of soldiers eating sugar during war with the principle of war horses eating refined grains during war.

In order to restore strength while traveling, not only Yu Shao's soldiers ate candy, but the Hunqi cavalry also took out sugar crystals from small bags on their horse's backs and sucked them in their mouths.

As the sweetness bloomed in their mouths and the sugar was absorbed by their bodies, the strength of the Hun Cavalry gradually recovered, their fighting spirit was rekindled, and they drove their horses towards the right-wing cavalry of the Wei army.

The right-wing cavalry of the Wei army were not Han cavalry, but cavalry recruited by Cao Wei from the Southern Xiongnu. The number of soldiers and horses was about three to four thousand.

Due to their low fighting spirit and nomadic fighting style, the Southern Xiongnu cavalry had been fighting with the Han cavalry led by Ding Feng, shooting with bows and arrows, sometimes approaching and sometimes withdrawing.

The Han cavalry was extremely annoyed and could only rely on their armor, bows and crossbows to fight with the Southern Xiongnu and try to maintain a balance.

The back-and-forth fighting between the two armies was not very intense, but it consumed a lot of the horses' physical strength. The decline in the horses' physical strength gave the Hun Hu cavalry the capital to defeat the Southern Xiongnu cavalry.

The Hun Hu cavalry, led by Pang De, circled around the flank of the Southern Xiongnu cavalry and launched a fierce charge. The momentum was so great that not only did the Southern Xiongnu cavalry notice it, but it also let Ding Feng know that Pang De had launched a charge.

Therefore, Ding Feng led the cavalry to attack from the front, regardless of the horses' physical strength, and cooperated with Pang De to attack the Southern Xiongnu cavalry from both sides.

"kill!"

The war horses ridden by the Viper Cavalry were good horses, and they were very fast when they were charging. Taking advantage of the surprise attack from the back and the solidity of the soldiers' armor, Pound still adopted the tactic of close-range shooting.

"Whoosh!"

Pang De rode his horse at full speed and shot an arrow right into the forehead of a Southern Xiongnu cavalryman at close range, causing him to fall off his horse in pain.

Immediately afterwards, Pang De fired a series of arrows and shot another arrow close to the face, knocking down the Southern Xiongnu cavalryman who was holding a bow.

Pang De rode his horse in the lead, and his Xiongju cavalry followed closely behind. They suddenly shot at the front of the Xiongnu at close range, killing no less than a hundred people from the Southern Xiongnu.

Even though the Southern Xiongnu prided themselves on being good at riding and shooting, they were unable to withstand the close attack of the Hun cavalry due to their light armor. They had no choice but to scatter in all directions, trying to use pulling to deal with the armored cavalry.

But their war horses were weak and not as powerful as the armored cavalry, so many of them were scattered and stabbed to death by the armored cavalry with horse lances.

At the same time, Ding Feng led the cavalry and drove the war horses to cooperate with Pang De to attack the square formation. Wherever the Han cavalry went, the Southern Xiongnu were defeated and fled.

In an instant, the Southern Xiongnu cavalry quickly scattered in all directions like a flock of birds being attacked.

The Southern Xiongnu cavalry were forced to recruit soldiers, so they were not only poorly equipped, but also had a weaker fighting spirit. Facing the subsequent pursuit and killing of the Han cavalry, for the sake of their lives, they had no intention of being loyal to Cao Wei. Under the pursuit of the Han cavalry, the Southern Xiongnu took advantage of the fast movement of their war horses, leaving behind hundreds of corpses and quickly fled the battlefield.

Liu Bao, the Left Wise King of the Southern Xiongnu, who was in the lead, said to his men: "My surname is Liu, not Cao. Now that the Han army is on the battlefield, how can I be loyal to Wei?"

The Southern Xiongnu mercenaries fled the battlefield, and Pang De and Ding Feng did not pursue them, but met to discuss military intelligence.

"General Pang is mighty!"

When he met Pang De, Ding Feng bowed to him on horseback as a greeting.

Pang De returned the greeting by bowing his hands and said, "General Ding, thank you for your hard work. Are the troops under your command available now?"

"Available!"

Ding Feng said without hesitation: "The Southern Xiongnu cavalry is not a formidable enemy. Our army's soldiers and sharp men are all here."

Pang De looked around at the Han cavalry and said, "The Grand Marshal ordered us to surround Wang Ling from behind and annihilate him with the army."

Pang De saw that the horses were exhausted and said, "General, you can abandon your horses and march forward to attack Wang Ling's rear. I will lead the armored cavalry to charge and disrupt the Wei army's formation."

"Can!"

Ding Feng did not hesitate and ordered his men, saying, "Come here, ride your horses to the rear of the Wei army, then hold your spears and form a battle array to break the formation for the armored cavalry."

"promise!"

In order to defeat the enemy, Ding Feng did not take a rest, but led his cavalry to the rear of the Wei army's square formation. He then left hundreds of people to guard the horses, and the rest dismounted and fought on foot, using cavalry spears to clear the way and press forward towards the rear of the Wei army.

At this time, Linghu Jun was leading his troops to rest in the rear because his soldiers were tired.

The defeat of the Southern Xiongnu could not be seen clearly due to the great distance, but the figures of the Han cavalry charging at them were clearly seen by the Wei army soldiers.

"General!"

The attendant came running over in a panic, saying, "The Han army is lined up behind the formation, and they are about to charge!"

"what?"

Linghu Jun was shocked and asked, "Why are the Han troops in the rear? Aren't there cavalry on both wings?"

"Failed!"

The attendant looked anxious and said, "The Southern Xiongnu were defeated, and Guanqiu Jian's troops fled. Now the Han cavalry are outflanking us, and the cavalry are dismounting and advancing with spears in hand."

Although Linghu Jun did not know the specific situation of the battle at the moment, when he heard that his own cavalry was defeated and the Han cavalry were lined up in the rear, Linghu Jun knew that the situation was not favorable to him, and his face instantly became heavy.

"Array up!"

Linghu Jun shouted at the top of his lungs, "Order the infantry to form a battle formation and move back to fight the Han infantry and cavalry."

"promise!"

Although the situation was unfavorable, Linghu Jun still had reason. He knew that his troops could not be defeated and he needed to block the attack of the Han army for his uncle. Only in this way might there be hope of victory.

If you look down from the sky now, you can see that Ding Feng has already led the cavalry to form a battle array, and is now charging towards Linghu Jun's troops with long spears in the lead.

From a macroscopic perspective, the front is the infantry of the Hu army led by Ding Feng, the right wing is Quan Cong and Yu Shao, the back is Ding Feng, Pang De, Gao Xin, and the left wing is Zhou Cang. The Han army is like a big net, trapping the Wei army from all sides.

Xie Jun's army was under attack from the front and flanks by Yu Shao and Quan Cong, and his formation was on the verge of collapse, but he was putting up a stubborn resistance.

Ding Feng led the dismounted cavalry to charge Linghu Jun, and his army was caught off guard in order to turn around to fight. Because the elite troops were charging in the front, their bows and arrows and javelins were in the front, and after turning around, his soldiers and horses had no choice but to use spears to fight.

Although the cavalrymen dismounted and lost the support of their horses, their fighting power was still strong and fierce. How could that group of tired soldiers be a match for the cavalrymen?

The Han army marched forward with spears in hand, using their superb spear skills to fight the Wei soldiers; the cavalry used bows and arrows to shoot at the Wei soldiers at close range. With the cooperation of the Han army's infantry and cavalry, they easily defeated the infantry on the periphery of the Wei army.

In a blink of an eye, the Han army killed hundreds of people with spears. The Wei army soldiers screamed in agony, and blood and flesh splattered, opening a path for the armored cavalry to charge the army.

Taking advantage of the disintegration of the phalanx, Pang De led hundreds of his armored cavalry to rush into the formation, charging fiercely along the way and fighting to the death, killing the Wei soldiers and making them fall to the ground in panic.

Among them, Pang De didn't look like a veteran at all. When he brandished his lance, infantrymen fell to the ground. Wherever he passed, no one could stop him!

In order to expand the victory, the armored cavalry rotated to the back of the infantry formation and charged to the two wings. The infantry in front and the cavalry in the back used lances and bows together to turn the rear formation of the Wei army upside down.

(End of this chapter)