It was early February, and the grasslands had entered the early spring season. The snow had not faded yet. Piles of residual snow could be seen everywhere, but the color of the grass had already emerged. A group of deer were nibbling the grass seedlings that had just emerged from the ground beside the water plants.
Very vigilant, looking up from time to time to watch what's going on around him.
At this time, a large group of elk suddenly ran towards the west as if frightened. It turned out that an army appeared not far away from them, and thousands of cavalry were rushing towards the river.
This army is the vanguard of Niu Gao's army, led by the vanguard general Shao Jichun. Shao Jichun is only twenty-three years old this year and has already been promoted to the rank of commander. Although he is young, he is very experienced and has extremely strong martial arts skills.
, a pair of sixty-pound eight-feng purple gold copper hammers are second only to Yue Yun’s plum blossom bright silver hammers.
Ranked fourth among the new five tiger generals, second only to Yue Yun, Zhang Xian and Cao Ning, and slightly higher than Yang Wenyi, who ranked fifth. Cao Ning is the son of Cao De, and he has mastered the essence of Cao's gun and has a sharp shot.
The dragon gold gun is extremely fierce. Yang Wenyi is the son of Yang Zaixing. He received the true inheritance from his father. His Blizzard gun can't even resist Liu Qiong. Yang Wenyi is only sixteen years old and still lacks some experience, so he ranks fifth.
There are also some other young players who have emerged, such as Niu Gao's son Niu Gui, Hu Yantong's nephew Hu Yan Qingyun, Liu Zan's son Liu Jinpeng, etc. These are the leaders of the new generation.
One thing that needs to be corrected here is Zhang Xian. He is already thirty-six years old and should not be ranked with these young generals. However, he is indeed extremely skilled in martial arts and has not caught up with the five tiger generals in the previous class. Therefore, Chen Qing ranked him
For the new five tiger generals.
Don't underestimate these five tiger generals. This is the ranking of King Yong Chen Qing. It has the highest authority and is the recognized martial arts ranking of the 700,000 Western Army. Of course, there will be a ranking of the top ten generals later, not only for martial arts, but also for command.
In terms of strength, Yang Zaixing has been ranked first by Chen Qing in advance.
Three thousand cavalrymen were drinking water and resting by the river. The horses were eating young grass. Shao Jichun stood on a high place and looked into the distance. They were now in the territory of the Kelie tribe and heading to Linhuang Mansion, the Kelie tribe was the only way to pass.
After experiencing the fiasco of Fengzhou, the Klei tribe has become much more honest, but honesty does not mean gentleness. Their honesty is more of a lack of strength. Once their strength is restored, they will immediately show their ferocious teeth.
At this time, two scouts came rushing from a distance, waving desperately as they ran. Shao Jichun also saw the black spots in the distance, and he shouted: "Blow the trumpet to assemble!"
"Woo——"
The horn of the Western Army sounded, and the three thousand cavalrymen who were resting quickly got on their horses and gathered in the open area. At this time, two scouts ran over and shouted: "It's the nomadic cavalry!"
"how many people?"
"About four to five thousand people!"
Shao Jichun quickly judged that this should be the troops assembled by several nearby tribes.
"Go down with the order and wipe out all the enemy troops without leaving any prisoners of war!"
With the equipment and combat power of the Western Army, there is no problem for three thousand cavalry to kill four to five thousand nomadic cavalry. The key is not to leak the news. They are only two hundred miles away from Linhuang Mansion. If there are any remaining nomadic cavalry sent to report, it will be very important to them.
The strategy of raiding Linhuang Mansion would have significant consequences.
You must know that Linhuang City is famous for its strength and tallness. The Jin soldiers lost tens of thousands of people to capture Linhuang City. Their 50,000 troops rushed thousands of miles without carrying heavy siege weapons. To capture Linhuang City, they could only rely on internal response and surprise attacks.
It is possible, so killing the enemy is a necessary means.
Five thousand nomadic cavalry rushed from the north. They were indeed the assembled forces of the three tribes. They did not realize that the Western Army's goal was Linhuang City, two hundred miles away in the northeast, but thought that the Western Army was just to destroy them.
Come.
Three thousand Western troops lined up in order. Each soldier was wearing iron armor, holding a short spear in his hand, a sword on his waist, a shield on his back, and a majestic war horse under his crotch. They were well-trained and full of murderous intent.
"Ready to ride the crossbow!" Shao Jichun shouted.
Three thousand cavalrymen took out their riding crossbows from their horse bags one after another. This kind of riding crossbow was specially made for cavalry. It was short and lean, with a pull-type winding method. The iron hook on it caught the edge of the stirrup, and it could be wound with one hand by pulling hard.
The arrows used are also short crossbow arrows. The front end of the crossbow arrow is quenched with a strong anesthetic, which is not very toxic. It can cause the enemy or the war horse to lose combat effectiveness in a very short period of time. It takes at least an hour to recover, and it can be recovered within one hundred and twenty steps.
Penetrates the enemy's double-layered leather armor.
This is a change of concept. The arrow does not need to penetrate the enemy's internal organs. As long as it hits the flesh, the enemy will lose its combat effectiveness. It is up to the Western Army to decide whether to live or die.
Five thousand cavalrymen ran closer and closer, waving their swords and shouting, and they were already a hundred paces away.
Shao Jichun ordered: "Divide into lines!"
"Woo——"
The horn sounded, and the Western Army suddenly launched into action, rushing to the east and west sides like cutting through waves, avoiding the enemy's head-on collision, and then ran to the side and raised their crossbows to shoot, but the target was their horses.
These are tactics summed up by the Western Army's many years of experience. They cannot attack head-on. These nomadic cavalry have a very fragile psychology. They have to retreat and escape with only two casualties. To annihilate them all, the last way is to attack from the side, even if they realize that something is wrong.
, it was too late to escape.
Raindrops of crossbow bolts were fired at the nomadic cavalry. The cavalry were superb in equestrian skills. They all tried to dodge and hid their bodies behind their horses.
But the target of the Western Army's crossbow bolts was not them, but the war horses under their crotches. The dense crossbow bolts hit the war horses one after another. They only ran a dozen steps before falling headlong. In an instant, hundreds of war horses fell to the ground.
Before the nomadic cavalry could react, the second round of crossbow bolts from the Western Army cavalry came like a storm. The Western Army cavalry shot arrows with one hand while running. This is an essential skill for cavalry training. Winding with one hand, aiming and shooting with one hand, below
There is a handle, which is very convenient for cavalry to hold with one hand. Holding a three-pound cavalry crossbow, your arms must not shake to accurately hit the straw man target eighty paces away.
Shao Jichun leads three thousand elite cavalry. Since they are elite, they must master the skill of shooting crossbows with one hand.
The best way to deal with this small-scale nomadic cavalry is to use medicated crossbows. Although the opponent has bows and arrows, they can't shoot through the armor of the Western Army. You will suffer very few casualties. If the opponent loses three men and horses, they will collapse. The rest is to pursue and kill.
Already.
The Western Army rode on horseback and shot at the enemy while running. This non-contact battle gradually caused the nomadic cavalry to collapse. Although they also shot the enemy with arrows, there were almost no casualties on the enemy. Their arrows could not penetrate the opponent's body at all.
armor.
More and more horses fell to the ground, and more than half of the 5,000 nomadic cavalry horses were lost after several rounds of shooting. This loss came so quickly that the opposing general had no time to judge. When the leader of the nomadic cavalry discovered that less than half of the running cavalry were gone.
, he became frightened and shouted: "Retreat! Retreat!"
Shao Jichun immediately ordered: "Divide your troops and fight!"
"Woo--Woo--"
The horns were blown continuously, and the Western Army's cavalry began to divide the work. One thousand and five hundred cavalry were responsible for chasing and annihilating, and another one thousand and five hundred cavalry were responsible for killing the enemy soldiers who fell from their horses. All were killed without leaving any one behind.
Fifteen hundred cavalrymen were chasing after them, constantly raising their crossbows and firing arrows. The enemy soldiers became fewer and fewer. Finally, dozens of them were surrounded by the Western cavalry, and they were all killed in just a moment.
The Western cavalry at the back was mercilessly killing the fleeing soldiers, mercilessly cutting off their heads and piercing their vests. There was no mercy. Since they were on the battlefield, either you would die or I would live, so there was no need.
Pity them, they will only become more cruel when they encounter Han women and children.
In less than an hour, the battle was over. All five thousand nomadic cavalry were killed, and no one survived. Shao Jichun continued to lead his army to search the nearby tribes. Once found, it would be a merciless massacre. The Western Army must not be allowed to go north.