Chapter 225 Riding Battle(1/2)
Author: Crazy Chen
In the sixth year of Guanghe year, July 16th, in the wilderness of Changshe.
This battle was more sudden than anyone expected. First, there was a chance encounter between a few cavalry, and then there was support from nearby friendly forces. After the two sides fought for half a day, everyone knew that the war had broken out.
At this time, at around midnight in the morning, the sound of horns had already sounded from the camp next to the Taishan Officer Road, and various war drums and conchs sounded. The entire camp began to revive, and everyone woke up to the exciting music.
In the dim light of the morning, first the flying troops mounted their horses with flags on their backs and dispersed and cruised in the plain ahead. Then, a thousand cavalry were dressed up, with bows on their backs and armor in their pockets, slowly pouring in like sparkling waves of light.
After yesterday's encounter, these assault cavalry had been assembled. Everyone knew that the Han army on the opposite side was less than two miles ahead. After paying the lives of more than a dozen flying troops carrying flags, those Han troops
The truth and falsehood have been detected by the Taishan Army.
At this time, the sun had already risen over the vast plain, and the dark mountains and hills showed its full picture. Zhang Chong, the commander-in-chief of the entire army, did not choose to stay in command of the large army this time, but personally led the assault cavalry.
This battle is different from the previous ones. This time it is a battle between cavalry. The number of Han cavalry on the opposite side is about 1,800, which is nearly twice as many as our own. We do not have an advantage in numbers.
Under such circumstances, Zhang Chong must lead the team himself to be sure of victory.
In addition, the difference between the cavalry fighting style and the infantry fighting style also makes Zhang Chong have to go to the front line in person. The infantry line attack is relatively static and slow. As the commander-in-chief, Zhang Chong can naturally command from the rear line and calmly dispatch the armies.
Cooperate in combat. But the cavalry is different. Once it charges, it will rush forward and will not stop at all. By the time the subsequent command information is transmitted to the cavalry, the fighter plane has already passed. It is also because of this that cavalry operations rely more on the cavalry generals themselves.
A decision was made on the spur of the moment. Therefore, Zhang Chong naturally had to go to the front line of the cavalry in person.
Over there, Cao Cao, the commander of the Han cavalry army, also started his own military strategy.
Before dawn, he dispatched three troops with a total of 600 cavalry. Under the command of his general Geng Zhi, he quickly cruised forward to explore the strength of the bandit army.
Geng Zhi comes from a famous family, after the Geng family in Fufeng. Since the Zhongxing Dynasty, his family has had two generals, nine generals, thirteen ministers, three princesses, nineteen princes, Zhonglang generals, and guardians of the Qiang school.
With the number of captains and governors and hundreds of people, it can be said that it is a truly noble family.
Geng Zhi is still young now, but he has already held the important position of Qian Shi. In the future, he will serve as the general of Du Liao because of his meritorious service in quelling the Yellow Turban. This is also a permanent position for their Geng family. In the future, he will be the general of Du Liao
Position, he will die in the battle with the Southern Huns and sacrifice his life for the country.
Geng Zhi was ordered by Cao Cao to set out in the darkness and lurk on a high ground in the northwest of the plain, where he could have a good view of the plain ahead.
But it must be very dangerous here, because the Taishan Army will definitely seize this position, and now that he is going deep alone, the danger will naturally increase. But who makes him a member of the Geng family in Fufeng? The Geng family has always been bold
Dare to fight, at this moment he seemed to feel that his ancestors Geng Yan, Geng Guo, Geng Shu and others were watching him from the sky, encouraging him not to forget the glory of his family.
As the sun rose, Geng Zhi on the high ground could see the enemy's battlefield more and more clearly.
There was a dense forest of swords and spears in the middle. They should be the rebels who had formed a formation. He didn’t know how they got all the way from Fengqiu. Geng Zhi couldn’t tell what their morale was, but the formation was very neat.
, this can be seen at a glance.
Then at the front of the two wings were the cavalry of the Taishan Army. The smoke was too heavy and it was hard to see how many there were, but judging from the number of troops, there must be thousands of them. After observing for a while, Geng Zhi turned his gaze again.
It was projected onto the large formation of the rebel infantry.
He was keenly aware that the key to this battle was not the cavalry, but the infantrymen who were marching at such a fast pace. These people were armed with spears and arranged in a long and thin line, shining dangerously in the morning light.
After thinking for a while, Geng Zhi decided to go behind the infantry to see if he could have a chance to fight.
A moment later, Geng Zhi led his 600 cavalry down the slope and moved toward the northeast at high speed. In the blink of an eye, he vaguely heard the bandit formations in front of him singing loudly. It was blurry at first, and then became clearer and louder.
, gradually strung together into one sentence:
"Raising swords and soldiers in exchange for peace will only bring clarity to the world."
The sound ranged from weak to roaring, just like drizzle to storm. It hit the ears of Geng Zhi and others directly, and everyone's heart sank:
"This is a phalanx full of fighting spirit. It cannot be charged."
Holding the reins, Geng Zhi, who was racing at the front, began to circle to the right. The riders behind him were like a herd of sheep, guided by him as the leader to turn right.
The entire cavalry team kept turning to the right, preparing to circle around the Taishan bandits' formation, leave the battlefield, and return to the Han army's ranks.
While running, Geng Zhi bit his lips and trembled all over, because he suddenly realized something he had never thought of before, that is, he was probably the winner of this battle at this moment.
He has 600 troops, which already accounts for one-third of the Han army. Originally, the Han army had an absolute advantage in terms of the number of cavalry, but now Cao Cao separated these 600 troops. His original intention was to
The left and right echoed. But the problem is that at this point, the number of his 600 cavalry is smaller than the enemy's cavalry. If the thieves catch up, he will be in danger here.
And once he is eliminated here, the numerical advantage of our cavalry over there will be very small. If the thieves have a strong position, they will definitely lose.
No, I have to go back to the military branch immediately.
Thinking of this, Geng Zhi no longer spared any effort, urged his troops, and accelerated towards the south.
But unfortunately, he met Zhang Chong, who was a natural commander. As early as when Zhang Chong was commanding the vanguard of the assault cavalry, he discovered that the number of enemy cavalry was obviously less than what was originally detected. Then he sent out sentries
The cavalry kept cruising around to capture the soldiers divided by the Han army.
Later, when Geng Zhi led his cavalry downhill, Zhang Chong, who had an eagle's eye view, immediately caught the movement of his troops. When they maneuvered to the northeast, Zhang Chong suddenly spotted the fighter plane.
At this moment, the cavalry and infantry formations of the Taishan Army happened to separate the two Han cavalry units. If he led the cavalry back and eliminated the advancing Han cavalry first, the situation on the entire battlefield would be reversed.
Then, Zhang Chong ordered the entire cavalry army to circle around from the left, preparing to return to destroy the Han cavalry behind them.
But at this moment, most of the Han cavalry in front took the lead in launching an attack. It turned out that Cao Cao, the commander of this unit, had been standing on a slope with two or three generals since before the battle began, observing the situation on the battlefield.
When Geng Zhi rushed towards the northeast, Cao Cao also saw it. He immediately realized Geng Zhi's mistake. In order to make up for this mistake, Cao Cao worked hard with his short legs and ran down the slope. Then he pressed the horn and didn't care about the queue.
,Army attack!
He wanted to win through chaos and use the excellent qualities of the Han cavalry to attack and kill the thieves' cavalry in the chaos.
Although Cao Cao's cavalry knights were mixed up, they were the core force of the Han court to suppress rebellions many times. Cao Cao's central trumpet sounded, and within a moment, the Han knights who were still sitting on the ground joking got on their horses and marched towards
The thieves in front began to charge.
Now the pressure was on the Taishan Army's sudden cavalry. Should they resist the overwhelming impact of the Han cavalry on the opposite side, or let it go and still attack the other cavalry's retreat route?
Zhang Chong had no choice.
He made a prompt decision and ordered Tian Jun to lead 900 cavalry to continue flanking the advancing Han cavalry. He himself led 100 cavalry to charge towards Cao Cao's troops on the opposite side.
Tian Jun looked at Zhang Chong's resolute expression and said nothing. After a long period of training, Tian Jun, who was originally just a small riding slave in the country, has grown into a major general. He knew that Qu Kui's decision was right.
Tian Jun greeted him, and eighteen generals led each cavalry team to flank Geng Zhi in a front-line formation.
At this time, Geng Zhi had led 600 cavalry to bypass the Taishan Army's strong formation. However, due to vision problems, he could only see the front in the flying dust. But the Han Army knights on the far right periphery saw that on the right
A cavalryman rushed over, and he was suddenly panicked.
You must know that the most fearful thing for a cavalry soldier in battle is that when he is charging, a cavalryman suddenly appears and intercepts him in the waist. At that time, his army is a lamb to be slaughtered.
The same is true for Geng Zhi's troops now. As he continued to gallop, people began to fall on their backs on the right side, and there were screams and fights everywhere.
The guard next to Geng Zhi shouted to Geng Zhi:
"General, our right wing is intercepted by enemy cavalry, hurry up and come back for reinforcements!"
The noise on the battlefield was too loud. The guard shouted three times before Geng Zhi responded. He did not slow down his horse and only said one sentence:
"Keep rushing, don't worry about anything."
The guard was stunned for a moment, understood, and then followed Geng Zhi without saying another word.
Geng Zhi knew what he was doing, and his actions would definitely be considered by his subordinates as greedy for life and fear of death, and for abandoning his robe. But Geng Zhi understood that the most important thing at this moment was to return to his own army and strengthen its advantages. If it was just here
If you perform the drama of not abandoning your robe, you will play into the enemy's hands. When the time comes for them to put down their horses quickly and be divided and surrounded by the enemy's cavalry, our army will be in danger.
This is war, and it can become a mathematical problem at any time. Obviously, those Han knights who were attacked were considered by Geng Zhi to be an acceptable loss.
At this time, Tian Jun and other cavalry generals from the Taishan Army's assault cavalry were all on the front line. They were all killing madly and racing against time. The sooner they eliminated this cavalry here, the safer the Qu Kuai would be over there.
Therefore, Tian Jun, Ren Yun, Li Fu, Wang Dang, and Yan Gang all rushed to the front. Soon, the Han cavalry on the opposite side could not resist and was cut off at the waist.
The knights of the second half of the Han army immediately found themselves surrounded in a circle, and then watched the friendly troops of the first half march away under the leadership of general Geng Zhi.
These Han knights shouted sadly to Geng Zhi:
"Has the general abandoned me?"
Unfortunately, Geng Zhi was unmoved by the cuckoo's cry of blood and continued to run south.
After giving up, there were more than 200 Han knights left, all of whom dismounted and begged to surrender. Tian Junna ordered the others to tie themselves up and sent them into the infantry formation behind them.
Afterwards, Tian Jun checked the cavalry and chased Geng Zhi.
Geng Zhi left decisively, but he made another mistake. He was going to join Cao Cao, but at this time Cao Cao had already led his army to charge, and all the units were scattered. Geng Zhi could not find a suitable opportunity to meet Cao Cao's cavalry.
The army joins forces.
On the contrary, because he gave up the rear, the Taishan Army's cavalry captured and killed 400 of his cavalry without much time. But now he only has 200 cavalry, and they are all very scattered.
Tian Jun, who was chasing behind, divided his troops again. He led 500 cavalry, intending to penetrate Cao Cao's cavalry, which had already charged, to join Qu Kui. Ren Yun, on the other hand, led the rest and continued the pursuit.
Ren Yun's eyes had never left Geng Zhi. At this moment, he saw that the wave of Han cavalry was getting more and more scattered, and he directly led a cavalry team towards Geng Zhi holding a long silk.
Geng Zhi led two guardsmen and ran in front, while Ren Yun and other cavalry were chasing after them. Just as the distance between the two sides became longer and longer, Geng Zhi and his three cavalry suddenly rushed into a muddy field, which was obviously a nearby village.
The mud pond that was dug by people has now become Geng Zhi’s burial place.
Geng Zhi's horse had difficulty walking on the muddy ground, walking slower and slower. Looking at the approaching pursuers behind him, he knew that he would probably die here. He took off a jade ornament hanging from his neck and handed it to him.
The guard ordered:
"Return this to the family and give it to my youngest son."
To be continued...