The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 242 Cat and Mouse Game
Liu Ning led several thousand elite cavalrymen straight towards the left flank of Hou Liangzhu's army.

The cold sabers reflected a chilling light, and colorful command flags fluttered in the wind.

"Oh no! It's blocked!"

Hou Liangzhu's face was ashen, and his palms, gripping the reins, were covered in cold sweat.

He stared intently at the rapidly approaching cavalry, which numbered over two thousand!

The main force of the bandits was clearly still fifteen miles away, so how did another cavalry force suddenly appear? Just how much strength do these bandits have?!
Hou Liangzhu was, after all, a veteran general, and after the initial panic, he quickly regained his composure.

He drew his sword and roared at the messenger with all his might:

"Quickly! Pass on my order: the entire army moves towards the riverbank to protect the right flank and prevent them from being surrounded by the enemy cavalry!"

"Form a circular formation, with spearmen and shield bearers facing outwards, and archers and musketeers facing inwards!"

"Everyone stay put! Anyone who dares to run away will be executed on the spot!"

The soldiers were caught off guard by the sudden arrival of elite cavalry, but under the officer's reprimands, they gritted their teeth and quickly adjusted their formation.

Eight thousand Ming soldiers quickly formed a crescent formation with their backs to the river.

Spearmen and shield bearers formed a steel thorny barrier on the outer perimeter; archers drew their bows and nocked arrows, musketeers loaded lead bullets, and nervously watched the cavalry on the flanks.

Hou Liangzhu relaxed slightly after seeing his officers and soldiers in formation.

He knew all too well that when facing cavalry, once the infantry formation was broken, they would be lambs to the slaughter.

Fortunately, his army was positioned right next to the surging Jialing River, whose turbulent waters formed a natural barrier.

Unable to launch an attack from the river, he only needed to focus on defending the other three directions, greatly reducing the pressure on him.

At this moment, Liu Ning led two thousand cavalrymen, running at full speed, and rushed to a place two hundred paces away from the government army's formation.

(A horse's gait is generally classified into four types: trot, canter, gallop, and gait.)
(Slow walking and fast walking are mainly used for marching or adjusting formation; running is mainly used for pursuit or retreat; sprinting is used for charging into battle.)
Liu Ning squinted, scrutinizing the government troops' porcupine-like circular formation, and sneered.

The formation was indeed set up quite professionally, but what's the point?
The initiative on the battlefield was in Liu Ning's hands, and he was in no hurry to attack. The commander-in-chief's main force would arrive in two hours at most.

When the elite infantry arrive, these government troops will still be doomed.

Hou Liangzhu clearly understood this principle as well.

If they don't find a way to break through, and the main force of the enemy arrives, these 8,000 Ming soldiers will be completely wiped out.

With thousands of cavalrymen at his side, how could he dare to march at full speed?
Left with no other option, Hou Liangzhu ordered the army to maintain their formation and retreat slowly with their backs to the riverbank.

Liu Ning had been waiting for this moment. As long as your army formation begins to move, the cavalry will always find a weakness.

Sh-sh-

With two sharp bone whistles, the cavalrymen behind him spontaneously divided into more than a dozen squads of a hundred men each and took their positions.

They took the longbows off their backs, drew arrows from the quiver on the side of their horses, nocked them on the bowstrings, and were ready to launch an attack at any moment.

Upon seeing the actions of the bandit riders beside them, the soldiers who were slowly moving backward all stopped in their tracks, afraid to make any further moves lest they reveal any weakness.

But they didn't move, and neither did Liu Ning. He simply moved quickly around the perimeter of the army formation, as if playing a cat-and-mouse game.

Seeing this, Hou Tianxi in the ranks became anxious. He pushed through the crowd and quickly went to the central command post:

"Father, these bandits are going too far! Let me take the cavalry!"

"I'll lead the cavalry to cover the rear, you take the brothers and retreat first!"

Upon hearing this, Hou Liangzhu resolutely refused:

"No, we only have eight hundred riders. If you go, you'll die!"

"Listen to me, maintain formation and retreat first. There are hills not far ahead. Once we retreat there, we can shake off the bandit cavalry!"

Hou Tianxi couldn't go against his father's wishes, so he had no choice but to lead his team to continue retreating south.

Seeing the government troops begin to move again, Liu Ning pointed with his whip:
"Go, fire a round first!"

The two cavalry units responded immediately, maintaining a distance of about a hundred paces between them, and slowly increased their speed, charging towards the left corner of the Ming army's formation.

Seeing the enemy cavalry galloping towards them, the government troops, who had just been struggling to move, suddenly stopped like startled hedgehogs.

"Halt! Halt! Form ranks!"

At the officer's command, the swordsmen and spearmen in the front ranks immediately raised their shields and spears.

The archers and musketeers behind them kept a close eye on the distance to the bandit cavalry, calculating their firing range.

The heavy hooves pounded the frozen earth, from slow to fast, like a death knell, growing faster and louder.

Two hundred steps, one hundred and fifty steps, one hundred steps
Once the enemy cavalry are within eighty paces, they can easily shoot them down.

But at that moment, the battalion commander, who was in the position of being attacked, could not hold on any longer.

"Now! Fire the arrows! Fire the guns!"

Faced with the iron hooves of hundreds of warhorses, his legs trembled. Before the bandit cavalry could even enter his firing range, he roared out the order.

In an instant, arrows and lead bullets rained down on the vanguard of cavalry, whistling sharply through the air.

Seeing that the government troops could not hold back, the leader of the squad immediately blew the bone whistle in his mouth.

Upon hearing the whistle, the cavalrymen suddenly pulled on their reins, turning their horses to the left and speeding past the government troops' formation in a remarkably smooth arc.

Their charge was a ruse; their real purpose was to draw enemy fire!

Most of the arrows and bullets unleashed by the government troops landed on the open ground, while some flew past the rear of the enemy cavalry as they turned, missing by a hair's breadth.

Only a very few unlucky cavalrymen were hit by stray arrows, but at a distance of about a hundred paces, the arrows were not enough to penetrate their iron-plated cotton armor.

A powerful volley of shots was easily lured out, yielding little result.

"not good!"

Hou Liangzhu saw it clearly from within the formation, and his heart sank.

Sure enough, just as the government troops were busy reloading arrows and the gunners were hurriedly loading gunpowder and lead bullets, the cavalry in the rear had already accelerated and charged forward.

Taking advantage of a brief lull in the government troops' firepower, they swiftly cut through the billowing dust, instantly closing the distance to the government forces. Fifty paces, thirty paces, ten paces!
The distance was now incredibly close; the cavalrymen in the rear could even clearly see the expressions of terror on the faces of the officers and soldiers.

"put!"

The leading cavalrymen didn't even need to aim; they simply released their bowstrings and pulled on the reins, speeding past the enemy formation ahead.

Hundreds of arrows, whistling sharply, pierced the government troops' ranks!
The swordsmen hiding behind their shields were relatively safe, but the archers and musketeers behind them who were still loading ammunition were in a terrible predicament, becoming easy targets for the bandit cavalry.

The arrows, positioned high above and with great force, easily pierced through their cloth armor, embedding themselves deep in their shoulders, arms, and chests before emerging.

Some unlucky souls were even shot in the face by an arrow and died on the spot.

This fierce close-range mounted archery attack instantly tore a gap in the government troops' tight formation.

Preliminary estimates indicate that at least forty to fifty soldiers were hit by arrows and fell to the ground, incapacitated.

Painful cries rose and fell, and a sense of panic began to grow.

The two cavalry squads, having completed their mission, did not linger. Amidst the hasty arrows and sporadic musket fire from the government troops, they rode away triumphantly.

Seeing this, Hou Tianxi once again stepped forward and volunteered to Hou Liangzhu:

"Father, I'll go. If the enemy soldiers attack twice more, none of our eight thousand troops will escape!"

Hou Liangzhu was well aware of the urgency of the situation and had no choice but to send his son to cover the rear.

"Tianxi,"

Hou Liangzhu's voice trembled slightly, almost imperceptibly.

"I'm entrusting all eight hundred cavalrymen of my unit to you. You must hold off the enemy cavalry and buy time for the main army to retreat."

"Remember, don't fight head-on, just keep the enemy soldiers occupied!"

"Order!"

Hou Tianxi accepted the order without hesitation, clasping his hands in a fist salute.

He knew that this journey was fraught with peril, but with the lives of thousands of soldiers behind him, he had no choice but to face the challenge head-on.

Hou Tianxi strode out of the central army, nodded to the cavalry who were already in full battle array, then mounted his horse and left the formation.

Without the slightest hesitation, the government cavalry spurred their horses and followed closely behind, forming a battle formation.

Liu Ning kept a close eye on the movements of the government troops.

He was excited when he saw that the other side could no longer hold back and sent out a cavalry force to try to retaliate.

"This is a desperate measure; the man surnamed Hou is trying to escape!"

"Pass down the order: split the troops into two groups. Commander Zhou Zhen and Xu Fei will each lead five hundred cavalry to continue harassing the government army's main formation."

"I want to meet this young man myself!"

Hou Tianxi gripped his spear tightly, staring intently at the enemy cavalry, and uttered a military order:
"What a scoundrel! He actually dared to divide his forces! He's utterly courting death!"

"Eight hundred cavalrymen are divided into four teams. I am the vanguard, and four hundred cavalrymen guard the two flanks, forming a sharp arrowhead."

"The remaining force, go protect the army formation!"

At his command, the eight hundred cavalrymen quickly assembled.
"kill!"

The government cavalry quickly regrouped, with spearmen forming sharp spikes in front and saber-wielders protecting the flanks, and charged fiercely towards the enemy cavalry.

Seeing the government cavalry charging at him, Liu Ning showed no fear, but instead sneered:
"Where did this hothead come from?"

"Want to trade your life?"

Liu Ning flicked his whip and led his men and horses out diagonally.

He did not engage the government troops head-on at all. When his troops were about fifty paces away from the government troops, he immediately turned his horses around and tried to outflank them.

When Hou Tianxi saw the enemy cavalry maneuvering around, his eyes twitched. He then led his troops to flank to the left and followed closely behind.

But Liu Ning didn't give him any chance at all.

Seeing the government troops charging towards them, he blew a bone whistle, and his troops suddenly accelerated, shaking off the government troops' pursuit. They made a sharp 180-degree turn and headed straight for the government troops' right rear.

When cavalry engage in combat, the left, center, right, and left rear are all attack ranges, but the right rear is a blind spot unless you can attack from both sides.

Having identified the attack position, Liu Ning's cavalry immediately straightened up, drew their bows and arrows, and unleashed a volley of mounted archery at the blind spots of the government troops.

Dozens of government cavalrymen were instantly killed.

After this harassment, the rogue riders circled back to the flanks along an arc, denying the riders any opportunity for close combat.

Upon seeing this, Hou Tianxi was greatly alarmed and immediately ordered a turn to the right to shake off the enemy's surprise attack.

(This part is too difficult to write, so I'll just show you a picture so you can understand. This is what a battlefield for cavalry clashes looks like, not a direct confrontation!)

(Red represents government troops, blue represents our troops.)
　The author simply doesn't have the writing skills to depict such a scene; please forgive me.

　　Take a look at the picture, everyone.

　　Firstly, scenes of cavalry clashing are rare.

　　Historical records show that when cavalry clashed, the horses of both sides would become frightened and stop.

　　Then the cavalrymen could only stare helplessly from their horses.

　　When cavalry clashes with cavalry, besides engaging in frontal combat, it comes down to who can hold the enemy's right rear.

　　Most people shoot arrows by holding the bow in their left hand and drawing the string with their right; those who can shoot with both hands are very rare.

　　The three common riding and archery postures are: parting the mane, facing the stirrups, and stroking the saddle.
　　These correspond to the three angles of front, left, and left rear, respectively. Therefore, cavalrymen generally have little recourse against enemies on their right, unless they are highly skilled riders who can turn their horses around instantly.

　　The section on horseback archery in the *Essentials of Military Preparedness* contains the following record:

　　"In battle, if the enemy attacks from the right, those who can shoot from either side need no further explanation; if not, they must quickly turn their horse's knees to the right to kill the enemy. Therefore, training horses is an urgent task for military strategists, as it can be a matter of life and death in battle."

　　
　
(End of this chapter)