Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 115: Riding a Horse to Attack the Enemy
Riding is advantageous over flat and open ground, while walking is advantageous over dangerous and difficult terrain.

When the Yan army retreated, they had to take the relatively flat bottom of the slope to save energy. This put the army, which was mostly infantry, in a position where it was vulnerable to attacks from above.

Zhu Wen's mind once again echoed with the words of his teacher Huang Chao.

"In the early Tang Dynasty, Duke Wei Li Jing transformed Zhuge Liang's Eight Formations into the Six Flower Formation, a technique that has been used for over two hundred years in our dynasty. The principle behind this was that horses were plentiful in the early stages of the dynasty, allowing for better support between the various formations."

"But after the An-Shi Rebellion, horse management declined, and the government army was generally short of cavalry. If the enemy's penetration is fierce enough, it will be easier to find an opportunity to exploit."

As a master of formations no lesser than Zhen Ranyu of "Huaying Flame Dance," Huang Chao's assessment was spot-on. However, facing formidable warriors like the Four Marshals, knowing their weaknesses and exploiting them were two completely different things.

In order to win the game of mountains and rivers, Zhu Wen had to be determined to fight to the death and put in 120% of his courage.

All of Wang Jian's troops have the combat power to defeat ten enemies with one, and they are deployed on the flanks of General Yan's main camp, like an indestructible wall of iron and steel.

In this kind of sudden and fierce head-on battle, there are not many strategies to use. All you can rely on is the strength and courage of the soldiers.

A large number of Grass Army knights, followed by more than thirty armored cavalrymen, launched a swift charge towards the enemy formation. The tall Qin Yan held the banner among them, guiding the knights' direction and rhythm.

Faced with the repeated fire from bows and crossbows, these cavalrymen who lacked protective armor were often shot and killed by arrows. They could only rely on their unyielding charge to reduce the chance of being shot by the enemy.

But after they had fought their way into the enemy's formation, they discovered that the enemy's chevaux de frise were connected by strong iron chains. The spearmen in the front row were unable to sit up, their spears were as dense as a steel forest, and the archers in the back were shooting a rain of death.

This is undoubtedly the latest formation created by Yan Shuai.

Just like in the Battle of Songzhou, when Huang Chao used iron chains to connect his chariots to statically resist the powerful charge of the Pinglu cavalry, connecting the chevaux de frise with iron chains can effectively prevent the chevaux de frise formation from being torn apart and destroyed by the enemy.

The spearmen were unable to sit up and were forced to fight to the death without looking back. Only those who were seriously injured could be rotated in from the rear.

The cavalry of Yan Shuai's army was located on the side and rear of the enemy formation, guarding against being outflanked on both flanks.

As Zhen Ranyu said, compared with Cao Cao and Cao Mengde, who defeated Yuan Shao with an ambush from all sides in the Battle of Cangting and caused Yuan Shao to vomit blood and die, Huang Chao's Cao army lacked a large number of shock cavalry that could fight hard and charge fiercely, especially armored cavalry similar to Cao Cao's "Tiger and Leopard Cavalry".

Such a disadvantage can only be filled with human courage and life.

The Cao Army cavalry rode down the hillside like layers of huge waves. Even if they were smashed to pieces by the enemy's spears and arrows, with their blood and flesh splattered in the mud, they would not look back.

Sincerity is courageous and also martial, and in the end it is strong and cannot be bullied. When the body dies, the spirit becomes spiritual, and the soul is resolute and becomes a ghost hero.

The cavalry's charge gradually spread to the two wings, and the Grass Army's infantry also rushed down from the high slopes shouting, pushing their spears towards the enemy's spears, looking for an opportunity to open a gap in the chevaux de frise.

Suddenly, there was a loud cheer in the battle. It turned out that the leader of the Mingjiao armored knights had led the charge and had blasted a hole in the solid enemy formation, which was located at the weak point between Wang Jian and Lei Yinfu's team.

"General Dong, you fought well!" Zhu Wen praised loudly.

Dong Hou was a loyal cavalry general who had followed Ming Shiyin for many years. He once tried to dissuade Ming Shiyin from surrendering to the imperial court, but after his advice failed, he still chose to be loyal to his master, and even killed his own brothers who opposed surrender together with Ming Shiyin.

Being able to raise the banner of resistance against the imperial court again today made Dong Hou feel relieved. He vowed to wash away the sins he had committed in the past with all his blood.

An enemy soldier, holding a high-handed Mo Dao, stepped forward to stop him, but Dong Hou stabbed him sideways with his spear. He dodged the blade and pierced his wrist, sending the Mo Dao crashing to the ground. Dong Hou swung his spear forward, striking him squarely in the face, the tip of the spear piercing his skull and killing him.

"This is the Ghost King Spear Technique 'Broken Blade Style' that General Ming taught me. Five years ago, he followed General Yan Chensha out of the border and used this move to kill the fierce Khitan general Yelu Chong."

Dong Hou told Zhu Wen that he wanted to show that his former master had not just been suppressing the rebellion during the years he surrendered to the court.

Zhu Wen nodded without replying. The feud between Ge Jian and Ming Shiyin had come to an end with the death of both of them.

Thirteen-year-old Ge Congzhou also wanted to participate in this decisive battle, but Zhu Wen had him dragged away. Since Ge Jian had entrusted his son to him, he could not let this boy get into trouble even if he died.

Sharp arrows were shot out again from the position of Wang Jian's first battalion. Among them were even heavy arrows that could penetrate armor. They were shot by strong men with big shoulders and waists.

The screams of the Grass Army knights who were hit by arrows came one after another, and even an armored knight was shot and fell off his horse.

Wang Jian's direct subordinates were all skilled in all five types of weapons, both on horseback and on foot. Even in archery, they could shoot with powerful bows weighing several stones, both quickly and accurately.

But Zhu Wen was definitely not unprepared for this. "Who will shoot these lunatics for me?"

Zhu Wen pointed his halberd quickly at several of the tallest enemy soldiers in the formation.

The three knights behind Zhu Wen drew their bows on horseback at the same time, and their arrows shot into the enemy formation like meteors chasing the moon.

Spouts of blood spurted out of the enemy's throats. In an instant, three eagle-eyed and ape-armed warriors under Wang Jian's command were shot accurately in the throat and died on the spot.

Call the shooter by name!

This is a unique skill comparable to "calling the general by name". As long as the commander points out the position or image of the enemy general in the enemy formation, he can draw his bow and arrow and shoot him to death in one fell swoop.

Zhang Guiba, Zhang Guihou and Zhang Guibian are the names of three brothers who rode their horses and shot three loyal and brave soldiers in succession.

When they were young, they had served as knights-errant with Zhu Wen in Mangdang Mountain, Songzhou, and were old acquaintances of Zhu Wen. After receiving Duan Hongyan's suggestion to strengthen the firepower of bows and arrows, Zhu Wen did everything he could to invite these three old friends out of the mountains, and also took away more than a hundred of their equally strong and skilled warriors.

The three brothers originally just wanted to be free rangers and were quite reluctant to get involved in the conflict between the grass army and the government.

But on the battlefield, they are indeed powerful weapons that intimidate the enemy.

As the three brothers took action, the cavalry behind Zhu Wen also fired a fierce rain of arrows at the enemy formation.

Wang Jian's troops were well-armored, and many were even skilled at blocking arrows with swords and spears. But Lei Yinfu's troops were not as well-equipped. A hail of arrows rained down, and blood spurted from the ranks like peach blossoms filling the sky.

The reason why high-quality mounted archers are so rare is that they can still accurately hit the enemy's vital points and kill them while charging on horseback, which can greatly suppress the opponent's morale and make them terrified.

The morale of the government troops was immediately dampened.

Zhu Wen expressed his gratitude to the three brothers and continued to attack along the weak point between Wang Jian's troops and Lei Yinfu's troops.

Tian Jun rode side by side with him, not lagging behind by a single length.

A large number of enemy cavalry were rushing towards them from the opposite side, trying to defeat Zhu Wen's offensive with a counterattack.

Zhu Wen knew that the key to this battle lay in his cooperation with Tian Jun, and he had to unleash the might of his elder brother Meng Kai, a fierce general who could "take the heads of enemy generals in the midst of thousands of troops."

Even though Tian Jun's cavalry and combat skills are superb, the two still have to risk their lives.

From Tian Jun's exquisite profile, Zhu Wen could no longer see any hesitation, only the determination to move forward.

With such beautiful mountains and rivers and such a good battlefield, even if we die here together, it would be generous and happy, and not wasted our lives.

Zhu Wen suddenly thought, it would be nice if the person next to him was Xingxiang.

Then he burst out laughing. Although Xingxiang was unparalleled in swordsmanship and had no rivals in the martial arts world, he couldn't even ride a horse, let alone fight on horseback.

Xingxiang was smart enough not to fail, but thinking of how her hands bled while knitting a handkerchief for herself, one could imagine how badly she would fall and bleed if she tried to learn horseback riding.

The sight of a gorgeous woman falling off a horse and hitting her face is odd to contemplate.

This clumsiness hidden within her extreme intelligence was exactly what Zhu Wen found most lovable about her.

So he absolutely didn't want Xingxiang to practice anything he wasn't good at.

When he turned his head to look, Tian Jun had already jumped out on his horse, passed Zhu Wen directly, let out a thunderous roar, thrust his spear into the enemy formation, and swept with the snake spear, dripping with green light, instantly breaking the enemy cavalry that were coming at him at full speed, like waves splitting apart!

This girl, no less heroic than any man, was truly a natural-born knight. Her uninhibited nature perfectly matched the free spirit of a top-tier cavalry commander. Even Tian Jun's ancestor, Tian Chengsi, could hardly match her talent for cavalry warfare.

Compared with Kou Qianzhi and Ming Shiyin, Tian Jun just needs time to grow.

(End of this chapter)