Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 327: Even the last gasp of a powerful force can still defeat the enemy

In the morning, the sky was high and the clouds were light, and the autumn sun was shining brightly.

The Longshang army deployed its battle array from east to west, with a horizontal array of seven li, hoping to use its large numbers to control the Shanxi army. In order to avoid being surrounded on the flanks, the Shanxi army deployed the same horizontal array of seven li as the Long army. The only difference between the two armies was the depth of their formations.

In order to strive for victory, both sides spontaneously deployed their elite soldiers in the front row, hoping to defeat the enemy in one fell swoop.

With flags fluttering, Zhang Liao, having received orders from Zhang Yu to command the army, drove his horses to the front of the battle formation with other generals after it was arranged. He inspected the battle formation that was undulating due to the terrain of the mountain and observed the demeanor of the soldiers under his command.

Perhaps due to the long-distance raids in the past few days and the inability to rest peacefully last night, the generals and soldiers in the front line were lined up in an orderly manner, but their expressions showed fatigue.

Seeing this, Zhang Liao's expression became solemn. When Zhang Yu led his troops to attack, there were actually more than 20,000 soldiers and horses. However, due to many battles and hundreds of miles of raids in a short period of time, many soldiers and horses were left behind. When the troops were counted last night, half of them were missing, and the entire army had only more than 10,000 people.

On the other hand, although the Long army lost half of its 30,000 soldiers, they fled to Xingguo, received support from thousands of Qiang and Di soldiers, and had a good rest last night. Their condition is definitely much better than that of the Shanxi troops.

"嘘嘚~"

Zhang Liao rode slowly and said to everyone, "Your Excellency predicted yesterday that Han Sui would set up a horizontal formation, and now you are leading the armored cavalry to ambush. I believe that your Excellency has a plan to defeat the enemy. I will follow your plan with you. There is no need to be afraid of the enemy's large numbers. Your Excellency will surely lead you and me to defeat the enemy!"

Qin Yilu grinned and said, "Since I followed you, you have been invincible. Han Sui has many soldiers, but it is difficult to coordinate them. Our army has a large number of soldiers and armor, which is an advantage for victory."

A general is the courage of his soldiers. An invincible general can make timid soldiers dare to charge into battle; conversely, a timid and cowardly general will make brave soldiers flee in battle.

Zhang Yu's battle record accumulated over the years, as well as his fair rewards and punishments, were enough to give the soldiers enough courage. Therefore, when Zhang Yu pursued them day and night, the soldiers did not think too much, they only knew that Zhang Yu could bring them victory, so they all followed him as ordered, and it was the same now.

"Zixun!"

Zhang Liao looked at Gao Shun and said, "The infantry you lead are the best of all the troops. Now that a great battle is imminent, please lead the troops to resist the enemy."

Gao Shun looked solemn and said, "Don't worry, General Zhang. I will sacrifice my life for your great cause!"

"it is good!"

Hearing the rumbling drum sounds coming from the Long army's formation, Zhang Liao stopped inspecting the army and returned to his own units with his generals.

"Dong Dong~"

As the drum beats became louder, the Long army lined up closer and closer. The front row of sword and shield soldiers formed a shield wall that pressed to about a hundred steps away from Zhang's army, and then the archers of the two armies fired at each other.

As arrows crossed each other in the air, under the rumbling sound of drums, the infantry of both armies pressed forward, stepping on the withered grass and the uneven potholes, trying their best to shoot the arrows in their hands.

"what!"

The arrow hit the thigh and the Qiang soldier cried out in pain. Although he wanted to stop and check his injury, he had to keep moving forward due to the crowd.

Soon, the elite soldiers of both armies were more than ten steps away. After a wave of arrows were fired, causing casualties to the Long army, the soldiers of Zhang's army took the lead in putting away their bows and arrows, and arranged their spears and shields in an interlaced manner to form an array with both offensive and defensive capabilities.

The infantry led by Gao Shun and Xu Chu belonged to the National Protection Army, which was Zhang Yu's most direct lineage. All the infantrymen were wearing armor and had bows and arrows on their waists. They were sharp warriors capable of close combat and archers capable of long-range shooting.

"kill!"

Someone shouted first, and the elite soldiers in the front row of the two armies started a brutal fight, with their spears thrust out at each other. Because of the hundred-year war between the Han and Qiang, the Long people were naturally fierce, and the elite soldiers in the Long army were especially good at spears. As for the infantry and cavalry of Zhang's army, it was needless to say that they followed Zhang Yu in his expeditions to the east and west, and the rate of wearing armor was very high, so they were all fierce warriors.

In an instant, the two armies were locked in battle, with wailing, fighting, groaning, and clanging sounds coming one after another. The noisy sounds filled everyone's ears, and the sight of the dense forest of spears and cold spear heads further stimulated everyone's adrenaline. The pain from the arrows and spear wounds was blocked by the stimulation of hormones.

"Kill the thief!"

Liu Yi swung the sword in his hand and killed a Long soldier who tried to charge. The blood splashed on his face, making his face more ferocious. The surging blood did not make him lose his mind. Instead, it made this veteran soldier more rational. He saw that the Long soldiers were not incompetent, so he kept calling his subordinates to rely on each other to avoid being caught by the Long soldiers.

Although Zhang Jun's troops were calm and good at fighting, it was difficult for the Long troops to defeat them suddenly, but the intensity of the fighting kept getting stronger and the number of casualties kept increasing.

While the two armies were fighting fiercely, there was a dense forest and hills to the southeast of the battlefield. The hills and gullies in the forest made it difficult for cavalry to gallop and for armored soldiers to line up. The dense forest made it very easy to be overlooked at that time.

Now Zhang Jun's chief general, Zhang Yu, is stationed on a high point, secretly observing the situation on the battlefield.

"Sir, our army is pursuing here, and most of the soldiers are exhausted. I'm afraid we can't fight for long!" Zhao Yun said.

"Ok!"

Seeing that the situation was almost ready, Zhang Yu pointed at the battlefield with his steel whip and said, "Zilong, the enemy army is arranged in a horizontal formation, and the soldiers are divided into two parts. The heavy troops are concentrated in the front, and the central army is small in number. You and I can go straight to the central army and lure the front troops to return for reinforcements. Then we can turn to attack the front formation, first attack the Qiang and Di troops. Then attack the Han soldiers together, and we will be able to defeat the enemy." "The enemy is standing with their backs to the formation, and it may be inconvenient for them to ride their horses to charge!" said Zhao Yun.

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "Raise the white flag high to make our troops retreat a little. The enemy will surely pursue us. When the formation changes, it will be the time to break it."

"Your Excellency is good at predicting the situation, which I cannot compare with!" Zhao Yun exclaimed.

Hearing this, Zhao Yun immediately understood Zhang Yu's purpose. The Long army was arrayed with their backs to the city and heavily armed in front, which made them less vulnerable to siege. Zhang Yu asked the infantry to retreat slightly, essentially to create a lot of space for the armored cavalry to charge.

Zhao Yun followed Zhang Yu from Changshan. He initially joined Zhang Yu because of the enemy at the gates and Zhang Yu's kindness and love for the people. Later, Zhang Yu impressed him with his military strategy and martial arts. And now Zhang Yu's delicate tactical operations made Zhao Yun more respectful of Zhang Yu.

The insight to detect loopholes in the enemy's deployment and use the terrain to create opportunities for one's own army is truly amazing!

"Order your armor to mount your horses, and we will climb over the mountains and ridges to get around the enemy's flank!"

"promise!"

When Zhang Yu ordered his men to raise the white flag, Zhang Liao immediately ordered Gao Shun, Xu Chu and other fighting troops to withdraw slightly and line up at the preset position a hundred steps away.

The withdrawal of troops is a great test of the organization of the troops. After all, if the withdrawal fails, it is easy to collapse. Needless to say, the quality of Zhang Yu's troops is good enough to adapt to the withdrawal of troops. However, considering that the cavalry is not used to the alternate retreat of the infantry, the infantry will cover the retreat of the dismounted cavalry, and then the cavalry will cover the retreat of the infantry.

Seeing Zhang's army retreating, the morale of the Long army rose sharply. The elite soldiers in the front row chased and killed the infantrymen who had no time to retreat. Then they marched and called on their colleagues to chase, and the voices were loud. The news that the Long army soldiers in front were "taking advantage of the victory" to chase and kill soon reached Han Sui in the central army.

"General, Zhang Yu's troops have withdrawn!"

The scout came quickly and reported the good news to Han Sui who was sitting on his horse, saying: "The soldiers in the front row of our army are chasing and killing the enemy soldiers!"

"it is good!"

Han Sui clapped his hands and laughed, saying to his trusted men, "As the old saying goes, when the wind is weak, it cannot lift feathers; when the crossbow is at its end, its force cannot penetrate a silken corduroy. The decline of an army is like the end of the morning. Zhang Yu boasted of his strong army and horses, and pursued us day and night without giving up. But now his strong army is weak and cannot hold out for long. We will win!"

"Beat the drums and march forward to defeat Zhang Yu!"

"promise!"

In fact, even without Han Sui's order, Yang Qianwan, Agui, and Song Jian were already impatient to lead their troops in pursuit, and Song Jian's troops were even out of touch with Yan Xing's troops because of their eagerness to pursue. But as Han Sui's military order was issued, Yan Xing quickly led his troops to meet them and tried his best to coordinate with the other armies.

Looking at the various troops that could not march in unison, Han Sui sighed inwardly. If Zhang Yu had not led his tired army to fight him, based on the current coordination among the various troops, it would have been difficult for him to gain an easy victory at the hands of Zhang Yu. Even if he could win, it would probably be a miserable victory.

"If we can defeat Zhang Yu, the general may be able to lead his troops to return to Ji County!" Cheng Gongying said.

"It's difficult!"

Han Sui pointed at the troops with his whip and said, "You all joined forces with me because Zhang Yu's troops were chasing us closely. If Zhang Yu's troops were defeated, you would not be willing to besiege Ji County. If we can win this battle, you and I will lead the troops to chase and kill for a while, and then we can return to Jincheng."

Seeing that Han Sui had no ambition to establish a separate regime in Longshang, Cheng Gongying sighed helplessly in his heart, saying that Han Sui had strategies and means, but unfortunately he had no ambition.

Since he established his rule over Jincheng, he had no long-term plans, and it is even said that Han Sui could not control the counties under Jincheng County very well. If he had made good plans in the past, Han Sui might have been able to establish his rule over Longyou like Wei Xiao.

Now, not only Han Sui was delighted by Zhang Yu's retreat, Song Jian was even more arrogant, urging his troops to pursue, and said to his subordinates with a smile: "In the past, Zhang Yu wrote a letter of accusation, boasting that he was good at using troops and horses, and boasting that he would cut off my head. However, Zhang Yu did not know the principle of not pursuing a desperate enemy. Now that the troops have pursued here, the soldiers are exhausted, how can they not be defeated!"

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Song Kun flattered him, "Zhang Yu didn't know how to stop when he was ahead, so he deserved this defeat!"

Song Jian laughed heartily, his expression full of pride.

Song Jian was able to make a name for himself among the rebels in Longyou. Needless to say, his martial arts skills were commendable. Unfortunately, Song Jian was easily arrogant. He was chased by Zhang Yu and was very happy when the situation turned around. Therefore, although it is not very appropriate to describe Song Jian as ambitious but incompetent, it is somewhat similar.

When the generals of the Long Army were feeling proud and thought they would win soon, Zhang Yu led Zhao Yun and two hundred armored cavalrymen to go around the flank of the Long Army formation along the route Zhang Yu had explored in advance.

"Change horses!"

In the woods, at Zhang Yu's command, the heavily armored soldiers silently began their pre-war preparations.

Twisting the steel whip in his hand, Zhang Yu looked at the battlefield outside the woods with a cold gaze.

(End of this chapter)