"Attack!" Liu Qiong waved his spear and led nine thousand cavalry to charge out suddenly. The nine thousand cavalry were like a wave breaking through a dike, charging towards the enemy with unstoppable momentum.
Xiao Jilie also brandished his knife and shouted: "Kill me!"
Ten thousand Donghu cavalry also launched, and the horses galloped wildly, as if a strong wind had rolled up dark clouds. Everything was black, with black helmets and armor, the horses with black saddles, and even the battle flags were the color of death.
Their battlefield was originally a lush and large wheat field, but by this time it had been almost trampled down by the fierce fighting of 40,000 troops.
At this time, Tang Qian led an army of 9,000 people to launch an attack, but he divided his troops into two groups. The 5,000 cavalrymen held shields and swept towards the infantry position, while the other 4,000 cavalrymen followed an arc to attack the enemy from the side. There was only one reason for this:
Li Cheng deployed three thousand crossbow troops in front of the team.
The Song Army's cavalry training included a strategy for attacking the enemy's crossbow formation. That is, the cavalry in an arc first reached the enemy's formation, forcing the enemy's two rounds of crossbows to fire only one round, and the second round.
It's too late to launch and must retreat.
At this time, the two cavalrymen collided violently while running, and the soldiers on both sides let out shrill screams. Hundreds of soldiers died on the spot in this violent collision, but death was inevitable and no one took it to heart.
The cavalry from both sides staggered together and fought fiercely with their spears.
At the same time, Li Cheng shouted: "Fire the arrow!"
Three thousand military crossbows were fired at the same time, and dense crossbow arrows rose into the sky and shot at the Song Army cavalry two hundred steps away.
The Song cavalry galloped to meet them with shields raised, but arrows came like raindrops. Hundreds of soldiers or horses were hit by arrows and fell down.
"Jiedushi, the Song army is coming from the side!"
Only then did Li Cheng realize that the Song army attacking from the side was already a hundred steps away, fifty steps faster than the cavalry attacking from the front. However, these fifty steps had a fatal impact on the crossbow soldiers.
, I am afraid that the crossbow soldiers will not have time to retreat.
"Damn, it's too fast!"
Li Cheng cursed loudly and ordered: "The crossbow army retreats, and the spear army comes on top!"
Three thousand crossbow soldiers retreated quickly, and five thousand spear soldiers rushed up. At this time, the cavalry on the side shot out random arrows while running. Hundreds of arrows shot at the enemy's spear soldiers, and the surrounding spear soldiers dodged.
Failing to do so, more than a hundred people were shot dead, causing a minor commotion.
This was also the tactic of the Song Army. It disrupted the enemy's spear formation. Before the soldiers behind could take up their positions, four thousand cavalry charged into the spear formation from the side. The cavalry from the front also suddenly rushed up, "Boom!"
With a loud sound, they collided violently with the enemy's spear formation, and hundreds of cavalrymen at the front were stabbed to death with spears on the spot. However, the Song Army's cavalry did not stop and continued to rush forward and charged into the formation.
The spear formation of 5,000 people was attacked from both sides by the Song Army's 9,000 cavalry, and a large hole was instantly ripped open on the outer edge. Li Cheng did not expect the Song Army's cavalry to be so sharp, so he immediately threw in another 3,000 spear troops.
The crossbow troops just now put down their crossbows, picked up their spears, and turned into spear soldiers.
Three thousand spearmen rushed up from behind, roared and pounced on the Song cavalry, cutting the Song cavalry attacking from the front into two pieces.
Li Cheng threw in the last 2,000 spear soldiers, followed the same pattern, and intercepted the Song cavalry attacking from the side into two sections.
Tang Qian shouted: "Send the order for the army to disperse!"
"Woo——" the horn sounded and the flag waved.
The cavalry suddenly dispersed from two armies into nine cavalry teams, making the enemy's cut off meaningless. The nine thousand cavalry ran like nine dragons running through the enemy's formation.
Gradually it was dismembered and scattered.
Li Cheng also issued a split order at the same time, and the ten thousand spears were dispersed into a hundred spear squads, fighting under the command of a captain, which made them more flexible and coordinated more tacitly.
Both sides gave full play to their training level, but the Song Army was a cavalry after all, just like a strong man fighting a young man. The disparity in height and strength gave the Song Army the upper hand gradually. The casualties on both sides increased, but it was obvious that the infantry
The casualties were even more severe.
At this time, a cavalryman rushed to report, "Reporting to the Jiedu Envoy, our cavalry has suffered heavy casualties and can hardly hold on anymore."
The infantry can still barely hold on, but the Donghu cavalry is no match for the Song cavalry, suffering nearly half of the casualties. Although the Song cavalry also suffered heavy casualties, they killed the enemy and retreated steadily. The Donghu cavalry was indeed about to lose its support.
Seeing that the situation was critical, Li Cheng immediately ordered: "Blow the trumpet and call for an ambush!"
Originally, he wanted to wait until the last minute to fight out, but the situation forced Li Cheng to send troops in advance.
"Woo-wu-wu-"
The low horn sounded, and the 10,000 infantrymen who had been lurking several miles to the south suddenly broke out and ran towards the battlefield.
The Song army scouts on the periphery discovered it immediately, and they rushed to report, "General Tang, there is an enemy ambush in the south. There are about 10,000 people, and they have already killed them!"
Tang Qian looked to the south and saw a dark mass of enemy soldiers rushing towards this direction. The situation was not good.
He immediately ordered: "Go and notify General Liu and request an immediate retreat!"
Some cavalry rushed to report to Liu Qiong. Liu Qiong was also shocked. The attack of 10,000 new troops would inevitably reverse the situation. He immediately ordered: "Issue a withdrawal order!"
Nine gunpowder arrows were continuously fired into the sky and exploded in the air, notifying every commander to lead their troops to withdraw.
Groups of Song Army cavalry turned around and retreated westward, covering each other and quickly leaving the battlefield. This is also an important tactic that Song Army soldiers must train, retreat tactics.
While running, they used bows and arrows to shoot back at the pursuing enemy troops. More than a hundred Donghu soldiers who were chasing after them were hit by arrows and fell off their horses. This scared the rest of the Donghu cavalry who were preparing to pursue and quickly reined in their horses.
Li Cheng ordered: "Pass my order, no pursuit!"
He is rich in experience. The opponent is not defeated but retreats. If he pursues, the team will be too long, but he will be killed by the opponent with a carbine.
Both sides suffered heavy casualties in this battle. The Song army lost about 3,000 people and injured more than 1,000 people, while the Jin army lost nearly 5,000 people and injured more than 2,000 people.
Why are there fewer injuries but more casualties? In this kind of fierce battle, there is no way to remove the wounded soldiers. Once injured, the combat effectiveness is reduced, and they must be the first to die. Only in the final retreat can the wounded soldiers survive under the protection of their companions.
After deducting casualties from the Song Army's 18,000 cavalry, only 13,500 cavalry were left, while the opponent still had more than 22,000 people. There was a huge disparity in strength between the two sides. Liu Qiong had to temporarily withdraw his troops south and retreat to
Ye County, the southernmost part of Ruzhou, is waiting for the opportunity to attack again.
At the same time, scouts were sent to Henan Prefecture to report the battle situation. Shortly after the Song army was forced to retreat to the south of Ruzhou, Chen Qing personally led an army of 50,000 to Yique Pass.
Yique Pass is located in the remaining mountains of Xiong'er Mountain in the south of Yique Town. The Yishui River passes through the mountain, forming a large canyon. Yique Pass is located at the strategic entrance to the north of the canyon. After exiting the canyon, walk south for two seconds.
Ten miles away is Ruzhou.
Chen Qing stood on the pass and looked at the Yique Grand Canyon in the distance. He saw strange peaks and cliffs, clear water like a ribbon, and dots of fishing boats on the water. The scenery was particularly beautiful. Next to Yishui was a road through the mountains, which came from Yique Pass.
Entry.
At this time, Chen Qing saw a caravan driving more than a hundred donkeys from the canyon, and he ordered the people around him: "Invite the caravan leader, I want to ask him."
The caravan entered the pass, and not long after, an old man was led to Chen Qing. He knelt down and saluted: "My name is Zhong Ping, and I would like to bow down to His Highness King Yong!"
Chen Qing signaled to his soldiers to help him up, and asked with a smile: "Where do you come from?"
"Reporting to Your Highness, I am coming from Yingchang Mansion."
"Since you are coming from Yingchang Mansion, do you know about the war in Ruzhou?"
The old man nodded, "I passed by Longxing County and knew for sure that there was a big battle nearby."
"How is the battle going?" Chen Qing asked anxiously.
The old man was a little embarrassed to say it, and after a while he said: "I heard that the Song army was unable to defeat the Jin soldiers and retreated to the south!"
This news was really beyond Chen Qing's expectation. Liu Qiong's army was actually defeated, which also showed that the enemy's reinforcements were very powerful.
Chen Qing immediately sent an order, "The army goes south to Liang County, a hundred miles away!"
