Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 940 Suzaku Crossing the River
In the area of ​​forty or fifty miles from Majia Ferry to the north gate of Gaizhu City, there are mainly river rice fields, especially within the [-] to [-] miles close to Gaizhu North Gate, the terrain is extremely unfavorable for cavalry deployment. On the south bank of the Yellow River at Jiadukou, there is an area about [-] miles from north to south and [-] to [-] miles from east to west. It is a relatively flat saline-alkali land that has not yet been cultivated for irrigation.

Therefore, in these areas, there is either no grass, or a few sparse trees dotted with weeds.Such terrain can be said to be beneficial or unfavorable to the Suzaku Legion. This is a natural battlefield. The Suzaku Legion has more than [-] people, and the main force is two cavalry brigades. But at the same time, such terrain is also convenient for the Tubo cavalry to take advantage of it.

Therefore, Deng Chongxuan and Wang Chao had expected early on that after crossing the river, there would inevitably be a fierce battle.

But at least the worst did not happen. The Tubo army did not prevent them from crossing the river, or launched a fierce attack while they were not firmly established, or even attacked them halfway.

The Suzaku Legion had already made all kinds of preparations for crossing the river. After making up their minds, although it was a little sudden, with the help of thousands of people organized by the magistrate of Jingtai County, the pontoon company of the Engineer Battalion of the Suzaku Legion used the ferry boat and iron that had already been prepared. In less than an hour, five pontoon bridges were quickly built on this section of the Yellow River, which is not too wide.

From the hour of Hai, the Suzaku Legion lit the torch and began to cross the river in an orderly manner.Except for the supply troops who remained in Jingtai County, all combat troops crossed the Yellow River before Zishi.Deng Chongxuan didn't deliberately cover up their actions. In fact, it was almost impossible to do this. Since the Tubo people would definitely be able to find out, then crossing the river as soon as possible to form an army became more important than hiding their whereabouts.

After crossing the river, Deng Chongxuan dispatched Chang Podao to lead his company to be in charge of security, and the Suzaku Army began to quickly line up against the water.This is naturally some risk, especially for cavalry, no matter which country or national philosophy is almost identical in the use of cavalry, there will always be enough room for maneuver.Formation as solid as a rock is the task of infantry.However, due to the limited terrain at this time, they had to commit a little military taboo.

Deng Chongxuan's battle formation is an obvious attack and charge formation.The tens of thousands of people only made noise for a short time before they formed their formation.Deng Chongxuan did not order to march towards Gaizhu City overnight.It is very slow to maintain a battle formation, and marching at night will make soldiers and horses tired easily.The tragic lesson that Han Hu led the [-] main force of the White Tiger Army and nearly wiped out the entire army has been reported to the entire army. Deng Chongxuan didn't want to follow suit.

As a result, more than 1000 civilian husbands recruited by the Jingtai county magistrate were busy in the middle of the night. Under the leadership of the engineer battalion, they were covered with rough-made refusal horses outside the formation before they returned to Jingtai county.

The Suzaku Legion lit the torch all night, illuminating the south bank of the Yellow River as if it were daytime. Except for the sentinels, most of the soldiers set up wooden stakes anywhere, tied up their horses, leaned against their mounts, and fell asleep with their eyes closed. midnight.Until the night sky finally starts to light up.

On the early morning of July 28th, on the south bank of the Yellow River, the silence was unbelievable.Not only did the Tubo army not come to harass them at night, Kou Zhun still didn't see a single Tubo man even though it was broad daylight.But immediately after the intelligence report from the secret agents of the Ministry of Security, it was not that the Tibetans had not thought about a night attack, but they were scared back by the few landmines planted by the secret agents of the Ministry of Security on their marching road.It would be an exaggeration to say I was scared back, but it was true.

Before Kou Zhun had time to finish his dry rations, the secret agents of the Ministry of Security quickly spread the news that a large group of Tubo cavalry had appeared ten miles away.Apparently, the Tibetans did not fail to respond, but because the striker was struck by landmines several times and dozens of people died.

"Sure enough, as Zeng Guoyong said, Ding Jiagang's judgment was actually guided by a famous general of the Song Dynasty secretly by Gewang Dorje's side. I just don't know who this person is..." Deng Chongxuan took a mouthful of dry biscuits with water, while Looking at Kou Zhun out of the corner of his eye, he found that the latter did not find it difficult to swallow dry food, on the contrary, he did not have the slightest reluctance to eat these dry biscuits.

Deng Chongxuan didn't know how difficult Kou Zhun's life was before he met Ye Chen.Therefore, he couldn't help but pay more attention to Deng Chongxuan in his heart.

Thinking of this, Deng Chongxuan said: "Judging from the personal information that the Ministry of Security notified Gwang Dorje before, he is not a person who can really hold his breath."

"The mysterious man around Gwang Dorje knew that we were definitely going to Gaizhu City, so he waited on the road, waiting for work, but he was not in a hurry to attack us." Kou Zhun continued his words.

Wang Chao also continued: "Let's march in formation, not to mention the fatigue of the troops, and the formation is prone to flaws."

Deng Chongxuan said calmly: "But the situation in Gaizhu City may fall at any time, we must march in formation."

After he finished speaking, he swallowed the last bite of dry biscuit, wiped his hands on his robe, and ordered loudly: "Command! Prepare to march forward!"

Following Deng Chongxuan's order, the temporary camp of the [-] Suzaku Legion became noisy again. The soldiers devoured the dry rations in their hands and hurriedly fed the horses with the last sip of water, brushed their hair for the last time, and then rode on to compete with horsepower. Under Ling Qi's command, the inferior horse headed towards Gai Zhu City one after another.This is an army that stretches for several miles from east to west, and the team moves very slowly. Every time a certain distance is traveled, Deng Chongxuan orders to stop and rest, and to reorganize the formation. hour.

About two miles away from the Tubo army, on a flat saline-alkali land with a slight slope, Deng Chongxuan ordered the army to stop.At this time, they could clearly see the Tubo cavalry two miles away, and the Tubo army also occupied a small slope. These so-called "slopes" were completely negligible to the cavalry, but when the two armies were fighting, any A little bit of favorable factors, the generals of both sides are unwilling to give up.Deng Chongxuan felt more and more that the mysterious people around Gwang Dorje were not simple.

The width of the formation of the Tubo army also stretched for several miles, black and dense, like a long snake, coiling in front of the Suzaku Army, the number of people was obviously at least twice that of the Suzaku Army, about [-] to [-] horses.But although the number was small, the soldiers of the Suzaku Legion did not have the slightest fear, but were full of fighting spirit.

However, Gwang Dorje's handsome flag was not seen.

.........

.........

At this point, the two sides began a brief confrontation.

The generals on both sides used this time to observe the enemy facing them, while the soldiers seized the time to complete the final battle preparations.

What I want to say here is that after the second army reform in Xiangfu Kingdom, only the Xuanwu Legion had a heavy cavalry brigade, and each of the nine major legions had a heavy cavalry battalion.Of course, this heavy cavalry battalion is also in the state of light cavalry in many cases.

At this time, the two cavalry brigades of the Suzaku Legion also had a heavy cavalry battalion out of a total of [-] cavalry. At this time, with the help of soldiers from the engineer battalion, they put on the rest of the heavy armor in order to save horsepower and stamina. Body armor, shawls, arm guards, skirts, knee skirts and other parts, as well as nightshades, pocket mirrors, and masks must be worn temporarily, and the horse's vest has been put on during the last rest to reorganize the formation.Then, with the help of the engineer battalion, the heavy cavalry were put on their horses one by one.

The engineer battalion helped the heavy cavalry to put on their armor and mount their horses before the cavalry charge. This was not an order issued by Deng Chongxuan temporarily, but it was stipulated in the combat regulations issued by the Xiangfu National Army.

The Tubo army did not take advantage of the situation to launch an attack. They didn't even get on their horses until they saw the Xiangfu army stop. This was because their soldiers also needed to check their weapons and equipment before getting on their horses.

Kou Zhun didn't understand yet, but Deng Chongxuan and Wang Chao knew that this meant that the Tubo cavalry in front of them were direct cavalry of Yingcheng Linbuchi, and they showed an 'elite' aura.They have seen countless reports from the spies of the Ministry of Security. Whether it is the Tubo army, the Liao army, or the Song army, as long as they are experienced and truly elite cavalry, no matter what kind of opponent they face , are always able to maintain a calm and unhurried.

Wang Chao explained to Kou Zhun in a low voice. After Kou Zhun thanked Wang Chao, he looked up at the sky. The sky was overcast and heavy, and there was no wind in the air. He seemed to realize that the weather was sultry. , and the precious rhinoceros armor that Deng Chongxuan found for him was not as heavy as the armor of a soldier, but it was far less comfortable than a robe made of silk. He couldn't help wiping the sweat from his forehead. I have been using the greatest perseverance to control my mentality and not let myself be nervous, but when things come to an end, I am still a little nervous.He didn't know that Deng Chongxuan and Wang Chao had given him high praise for his performance.Since ancient times, it has been common for civilian officials who have not fought to show their ugliness at the moment when they actually go to the battlefield, and there are many famous officials with a thousand history among them.

Kou Zhun took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the tension in his heart, and looked towards Deng Chongxuan's Chinese army general flag. His command system consisted of four chariots and dozens of riders and messengers with various colors of flags.On these chariots that took a lot of trouble to transport across the river, in addition to the five-color command flags commanding the battle, there are also several big drums, buttons, horns, etc., which symbolize the command power on the battlefield.

(End of this chapter)