The first cavalry to attack the enemy was Liu Cui, who led 3,000 left cavalrymen. The enemy's formation was facing east, but the cavalry entered from the south. This required the commanders of the 10,000 puppet Qi troops on the right to attack.
The spear formation needs to change direction, but changing direction cannot be accomplished by turning south. This involves a very important spacing issue. The length of the spear is one foot and five feet, which is four and a half meters. This requires the front and rear spacing of the soldiers.
At least about one foot.
But the soldiers on the side are shoulder to shoulder, with no distance at all. If it is a well-trained army, they will immediately adjust the distance. One row of 500 people will immediately become five rows of 100 people, and the distance will be clear.
But the premise is that there is sufficient training, but for an army that lacks training, this kind of formation adjustment will definitely lead to chaos.
This side attack tactic was not invented by Chen Qing. It was actually a traditional method used by the Liao and Jin cavalry to deal with the Song army. The biggest problem of the Song army was the lack of training, so every time the Liao and Jin cavalry attacked from the side, the Song army would be in chaos.
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Although the training of the puppet Qi army was better than that of the Song army, the cavalry left them too short a time, and there was no time to change the distance, so the Song army rushed in.
The Puppet Qi's 10,000 right-wing troops quickly changed directions, but the one-foot-wide gap between them had no time to fill up. The Song cavalry rushed in. Three thousand Song troops entered the infantry and fought fiercely with them. At this time, the formation was meaningless.
, the originally neat queues were disrupted and gradually turned into individual battles, and the battlefield unknowingly became larger and larger.
Infantry relies on density to fight cavalry, which prevents cavalry from taking advantage of high-speed maneuverability. However, once the density of infantry gradually becomes looser, cavalry's advantage becomes apparent.
For example, if an infantry and cavalry fight within a range of one foot, although the cavalry occupies the height, the infantry will not suffer. He can stab or assassinate people. The assassination range is wide, and the cavalry cannot avoid it. At this time, the infantry actually occupies the height.
Advantage.
But if the infantry and cavalry are fighting within a range of three feet, the cavalry's range of activities becomes slightly larger. At this time, the cavalry has the upper hand. But once the fighting becomes within a range of ten feet, the cavalry will almost be a one-sided massacre of the infantry.
But all infantrymen understand this truth, but when it comes to fighting, it is difficult to grasp it. This is the difference between an elite infantry and an ordinary infantry. We say how important the formation is. The reason is here, a high-density formation
, one cavalryman is fighting against ten infantrymen, and the other cavalrymen cannot attack and are all idle behind.
It is a pity that the puppet Qi army was only slightly better than the decadent Song army, but it was not elite, otherwise it would not have been brutally slaughtered by the Western army in the northwest.
The current puppet Qi army is just an ordinary infantry, but what they encountered was one of the most powerful cavalry in the history of the Song Dynasty.
In just half an hour, the battlefield expanded from more than 1,000 acres to 4,000 acres. Except for the 15,000 infantry led by Wang Duo and Zhe Yanzhi, who fought in a stalemate with the enemy's 10,000 front troops, the other three infantry groups
They were all completely suppressed by the Song Army's cavalry. The cavalry was divided into teams of a hundred people, cutting the infantry into pieces. The three infantry groups were obviously no match for the cavalry. Although the strength was three times that of the opponent, they were still killed one after another.
Defeated and suffered heavy casualties.
At this time, the deadlock between the two infantrymen needed a catfish to break. The one thousand most elite cavalry led by Chen Qing personally played this role.
A thousand soldiers led by Chen Qing rushed into the enemy's formation from behind. They were like an extremely sharp axe, cutting the enemy's formation in half. Chen Qing led the way, leaving blood and flesh everywhere they passed.
Flying, heads rolling around, the killing was extremely bloody. The soldiers of the puppet Qi army were extremely afraid of him. When they saw him coming to kill, they were so frightened that they stumbled away and ran away, shouting, "The devil is coming! The devil is coming!"
Chen Qing smashed through the enemy's formation, and then killed from the diagonal. A thousand cavalry were invincible, and everything they passed was like cutting grass. The enemy troops were killed one by one, and they went through five or six rounds. Originally,
The dense formation has become a mess. More than 10,000 Song Army infantry broke through a thin shell and rushed inside. They already had an advantage in strength, but with the help of the cavalry, they took full advantage and killed
The enemy troops screamed and fled in all directions.
Dong Xian saw that the Song army had already occupied 70% advantage, and it was difficult for them to restore their decline. Rather than being completely defeated, it was better to retreat proactively.
He shouted: "Order the army to retreat to the north! Retreat to the north!"
The bell of 'Dang! Dang! Dang!' rang, and Dong Xian led more than a thousand people to flee to the north. It was not so much a retreat as a rout. The fighting will of the soldiers of the puppet Qi army collapsed, and the entire army was defeated.
Everyone just wanted to escape, discarding their armor and fleeing to the north.
At this time, Li Gang also ordered the city to be opened, and he led 10,000 troops to attack the enemy's camp. The camp leader Liu Zhen was smarter and opened the camp to surrender. They would rather surrender to Li Gang's army than to Chen
Qing's army surrendered.
However, this time Chen Qing did not kill prisoners. The 10,000 cavalry were responsible for chasing down the enemy. As long as they surrendered, they could be spared. Zheyan's infantry was responsible for receiving the surrender.
The cavalry chased for more than thirty miles in one breath before stopping the pursuit.
In this battle, in addition to the surrender of all the logistics battalions, more than 13,000 of the 40,000 enemy troops were killed, and more than 20,000 people surrendered. Dong Xian collected the remaining troops fifty miles away, but only received more than 5,000 people.
He was so frightened that he did not dare to stay for a long time, so he fled towards Xiangyang in panic with the remaining army.
Chen Qing also suffered heavy casualties. Eight hundred of his cavalry were killed and more than 2,000 wounded, and more than 1,500 infantry were killed and more than 2,000 wounded.
At this time, Zhe Yanzhi brought Chen Qing to see Li Gang. In this battle, Chen Qing himself was convinced by his leadership ability and ability to discern fighter opportunities. Not only did they have a wise and decisive coach, but they also had many generals who could stand alone, as well as
Elite and fierce soldiers formed an army with extremely strong combat effectiveness. They were worthy of being the elite among the elite of the Western Army. I am afraid that this was also the most powerful army in the Song Dynasty.
Chen Qing greeted Li Gang, and Li Gang smiled and asked, "Chen Dutong, can you teach me how to fight in the next battle?"
Chen Qing pondered for a while and said: "In the next battle, I think we should divide our troops into two groups. One group will be led by the Xuanfu envoy to recapture Yingzhou and prepare to march to Xiangyang. The other group will be led by Beiji and lead his troops to Xiazhou to attack Jiang Yanxian's army.
Beizhong suggested that the Xuanfu envoy should not rush to attack Xiangyang. After all, they still have more than 20,000 troops. It is best to wait for Beizhong to come and join forces before attacking Xiangyang."
Li Gang nodded, "I understand, I will take back Changshou County first!"
Chen Qing added: "I have sent Zheng Ping to lead two thousand troops and thirty vehicles and ships to Xiangyang to seize the enemy's forty grain transport fleet. Judging from the time, Zheng Ping should be near Xiangyang. If he succeeds, he will
We will take the fleet to Changshou County to meet up with the Xuanfu envoy."
"I am looking forward to the naval force led by Zheng. It will definitely become our wings to recapture Xiangyang."
Now Li Gang also attaches great importance to the navy. Thanks to Chen Qing's early destruction of the enemy's navy, he can ensure that they will no longer be attacked from both sides. With Zheng Ping's navy, he can also cut off all kinds of reinforcements in Xiangyang.
Chen Qing left the wounded soldiers in Hanyang for recuperation. After resting for a night, he resupplied and led 7,000 cavalry and 4,000 infantry to Xiazhou by boat.
On the pier, Li Gang watched the mighty fleet go away. He smiled and asked Zhe Yanzhi, "What is Zhe Dutong's deepest feeling about this decisive battle?"
Zheyanzhi sighed: "All kinds of feelings are too deep. I can give you an example and Xuanfu will understand."
"Please tell me, I'm all ears!"
Zhe Yanzhi pondered for a moment and said: "I am very familiar with the five thousand troops who are cooperating with me this time. They were originally the Yuezhou army and I once commanded them. At that time, they gave me the impression that they were a very mediocre army, but now they
The impression given to me is that of a well-trained elite army, each of them fights the enemy bravely and is not afraid of death. It is like being completely reborn. I feel that his army is like a melting pot and a mediocre woodcutter.
It will also be forged into a sharp sword."
Zhe Yanzhi sighed and said to Li Gang: "I'm sorry to be blunt, but this kind of army should stay in the Western Army. That's their world."
Li Gang nodded, "I will make suggestions to the officials!"
