The young general's prominence caused a panic among the soldiers behind him. Li Hu, who was also charging, also saw this scene and subconsciously shouted:
"Hurry up, protect the third son, don't let him be in danger."
In fact, Li Hu didn't need to say anything. The guards behind him immediately rushed forward and rushed directly in front of the young general.
It turns out that this gentleman is none other than Zhang Chong's younger brother and the third eldest son of the old Zhang family, Zhang Shao.
At this time, Zhang Shao was no longer a skinny boy pulling weeds behind Zhang Chong. After five years of systematic military training, Zhang Shao had grown into an excellent warrior.
Since the age of ten, when the second brother was drafted into prison, the life of the old Zhang family in Dasangli has been turned upside down.
First, people from Shigu Mountain went down to notify the Zhang family to move, saying that the second brother had rebelled in Onezawa and killed officials. Then the family hid in Shigu Mountain and was in panic.
But not long after, the second brother came back with a team, saying that they were all his brothers. So, Zhang Shao suddenly gained so many brothers.
Oh, by the way, Zhang Shao was only called Zhang Ji at that time. His current name was given to him by his elder brother.
No one thinks this is against the rules.
Because after Zhang Chong came back, the whole family understood that the second brother would be the leader of the Zhang family from now on.
After that, they went to Mount Tai to stay. It was a very hard time, and even people like Zhang Shao struggled to have enough to eat. But the situation soon changed.
The second brother joined Taiping Dao and became the commander of Taishan. After that, with the help of Taiping Dao, their life began to get much better.
At that time, Zhang Shao was accompanied by a group of young men from Da Sang, as well as his second brother and the nephews of his old brothers, who were studying and practicing martial arts together.
After five years of practicing martial arts, Zhang Shao, who had grown eight feet tall, finally got the approval of his second brother to officially join the Taishan Army.
This raid on Gongsun Zan's camp was Zhang Shao's first battle.
He has the aura of a newborn calf who is not afraid of tigers, and he also has the pride of a prince's younger brother, who wants to make great achievements in the first battle.
Although no one in the Zhang clan has been named a prince at this time, everyone knows that Zhang Shao is the king's younger brother.
At this time, Zhang Shaochuo was on horseback and was about to take the lead when he was overtaken by the soldiers behind him and suppressed his speed.
He was a little annoyed, and the war horse under his crotch also snorted heavily. He was quite annoyed that his running route was occupied by those in front of him.
But until now, that's all it can do.
Zhang Shao lay on his horse and looked sharply at the enemy cavalry rushing out of the darkness in front of him.
Over there, Li Hu could no longer see Zhang Shao. He was Zhang Shao's earliest equestrian teacher, so he was naturally attracted to him.
But at this time, the middle part, where the general Tian Jun was, had already erupted with a high-pitched cry to kill. Li Hu did not dare to be distracted anymore and continued to charge straight with his troops.
Tian Jun did not make any arrangements in the rushing tide of cavalry, because at night, these were of no use. Tian Jun only gave each army one order before charging:
"The military officers took the lead and kept charging forward."
At this time, Tian Jun took a look at the dark night sky and saw dark clouds covering the moon and darkness. He felt quite happy. The darker the moon, the less clear the enemy's true identity was.
Also at this moment, the night wind blew from the southwest side and behind, and Tian Jun shouted:
"This is the victory of the wind, follow me and kill!"
After hearing this, the nearby military officers also shouted:
"Win the wind, win the wind."
During this commotion, the southwest wind blew past the hunting flags and military tents of the Han army's camp, blowing out the chilling sound of gold-armed and iron-clad horses.
In the camp, the first batch of Han troops to react had already rushed out of the camp.
There's nothing you can do if you don't take the initiative. Gongsun Zan is a brave general, but he hasn't really grown up yet, and he still has this rough character flaw.
He felt that he had surrounded the Taishan Army in Sanhe Pavilion, and he looked down upon the Taishan Army on the north bank of Hutuo River for having no cavalry, so he had no intention or intention of establishing a stronghold.
Therefore, most of the Youzhou Tuqi lived directly in tents like the prairie people. There were no trenches outside, and they relied on horses and village walls for defense.
In other words, Youzhou's sudden cavalry are mostly elite, otherwise, under such circumstances, they would just collapse.
This group of Han cavalry had just left the stronghold and met Zhang Shao and his team.
At this time, Zhang Shao was an ordinary general, subordinate to Tian Yue, the general of Feilong Army.
Tian Yue was a native of Guangyang, Youzhou. He was skilled in bow and horse and extremely courageous. He had just been transferred from Fei Xiong Army to Fei Long Army and was promoted to the rank of general.
As for the attacking Youzhou Cavalry team, they encountered Tian Yue's fifty-man cavalry army just after leaving the camp.
Tian Yue was born as a general, and he was more desperate for wealth than ordinary people. Ever since Zhang Shao joined his army, he had regarded him as his source of wealth.
So when he saw Zhang Shao standing closer to the front, he immediately came over on horseback and yelled:
"Rat, I am Tian Yue from Guangyang, here to die."
When the Youzhou Cavalrymen on the other side heard this sound, they burst into a loud roar.
Of course they knew that Tian Yue was a traitor to the Youzhou Army, so even though they knew he was a warrior named Guangyang, they still killed him in anger.
Tian Yue increased the speed of his horse to the maximum, and the horse hit Yihan's chest with lightning speed.
The broken horse silk was so broken that it pierced into the man's neck, and he fell to death without being able to say a word.
Tian Yue had just killed a person, but he still didn't stop. He pulled out the Huanshou knife from behind his waist with his right hand. Then he straightened it, and the sharp blade passed over the neck of a Han cavalryman. The man's bloodline appeared, and he fell down while touching his throat with both hands.
This back-sword style is a unique way of holding a sword among border warriors.
Inland samurai often tuck the ring-shou sword on the left waist, and then push the handle forward. In case of conflict, they can draw the sword with their right hand and fight. But the samurai from the border areas do not do this. They put the handle back and the sword in front.
Logically speaking, this method is very slow. You need to push the handle of the knife to the front first, and then you can pull out the knife with your right hand. So why do the border warriors straddle the knife like this?
Just because they are almost all specialized in mounted archery, the sword fight is also the second round of the horse fight.
At this time, if the hilt of the sword is in front, it will affect the action of taking the bow or holding the sword during mounted combat. For this reason, the border warriors developed their unique style of carrying the sword.
Tian Jun's extraordinary riding battle caused Zhang Shao, who was watching the battle behind, to get excited.
He didn't expect that his general would be so brave. Seeing him kill two cavalry effortlessly, he became so courageous that he roared and shouted:
"Commander, I'm here to help you."
After saying that, Zhang Shao directly grabbed a halberd from the side of his horse bag and threw it towards the person opposite with a loud bang.
Zhang Shao can also do the unique skills that the second brother is good at.
At this time, more and more Han troops rushed out in the darkness.
Zhang Shao was not afraid, so he rushed into the darkness with his horse on his back. He was wearing bright armor, which made him stand out in the darkness.
Tian Yue didn't expect the king's third brother to be so reckless, and was so frightened that he sweated all over. Ignoring the shouts from a few people around him, he caught the horse's belly and chased after him.
The night is so dark, and the wind is blowing again.
On the vast flat land, there were cries and groans everywhere, and the Taishan Cavalry and the Youzhou Cavalry were already engaged in a full-scale fight.
Not all Han troops reacted as quickly as Zhang Shao's side. On the contrary, these talents were a minority on the battlefield. Most of the Youzhou Tuqi and Hu Qi in the periphery did not even react and were already buried in the army.
In the tent, he was trampled to death by horse hooves.
Some Han cavalry who were slightly behind woke up from their nightmares and went to the stables to get their horses. However, the Feijun cavalry who had already rushed here threw a torch and scared the horses away.
The chaos could no longer be controlled. Two thousand Taishan army cavalry fired four attack arrows directly into Gongsun Zan's camp.
You can imagine how big the camp can be, which can accommodate 5,000 cavalry troops.
So when the Han army in the south and central part was already in chaos, Gongsun Zan, who was sleeping in the east, had already woken up.
He first glanced blankly at the chaos to the south, and then said to himself in disbelief:
"Where did the Taishan thieves get their cavalry?"
After another sentence, Gongsun Zan suddenly became horrified and knew what this meant.
"The Hutuo River was opened up by thieves."
The thunder and lightning flashed in Gongsun Zan's mind and another thought came to mind. Does that mean that the main force of the Taishan bandits has arrived nearby?
But it was useless to think about these things at this time. The top priority was to defeat the rebel army first. At the same time, thinking that there would be such heavy losses in this battle, Gongsun Zan regretted why he didn't build a strong stronghold!
Gongsun Zan took out the horn, blew the rallying call with the guards, and then waited here.
The first to arrive was Gongsun Zan's headquarters, eight hundred white horse followers. These elite cavalry soldiers never left their horses even when sleeping, so they could return to their commander's side as soon as possible.
Without enough time to wait for the sudden cavalry behind them, Gongsun Zan led the 800 white horse rebels and rushed to the west where the fighting was most intense.
This is the main attack surface of Xu Huang's Flying Tiger Army.
With Xu Huang taking the lead, the offensive on this side went very smoothly.
Xian Yufu, the heavy cavalry general of Youzhou who was stationed here, had already covered his horse and left. As soon as he saw the offensive coming from behind, he guessed that this was the enemy's main attack direction. However, there were more than ten cavalry guards around him who did not dare to block it.
.
But not long after he retreated, he saw a large white block coming from a distance.
The ghosts of Xian Yufu were in full swing, and these white horse loyal followers were more terrifying than the flying army behind them.
So, he didn't even care to speak, and just pulled the reins to go around to one side.
But before he could ride far, a dense rain of arrows came from the sky, and directly shot Xian Yufu's dozen riders into hedgehogs.
Yes, Xian Yufu is a smart man and knows that he will definitely die if he meets Gongsun Zan in this situation.
Sure enough, after shooting Xian Yufu and the others to death, angry shouts came from the darkness:
"Xian Yufu abandons the army before the battle and deserves death!"
After saying that, the eight hundred white horses passed by without even looking at the "hedgehogs" on the ground.
Only Xian Yufu on the ground could die with his eyes closed.
After casually dealing with the villains in the army, Gongsun Zan clamped down on his horse and shouted:
"Jiashu, prepare for impact!"
The eight hundred white-horse followers all crossed their arms, pursed their lips, and looked resolutely at the enemy and friendly troops fighting together in front of them.
At this time, the horse speed of the White Horse Yi Cong has reached its maximum, while the horse speed of the Flying Tiger Army's assault cavalry on the opposite side has almost stagnated because they were fighting with the Han army.
In an instant, with a "crash" sound, the white cloud crashed into the black soil.
The Flying Tiger Army was caught off guard, and their flags fell down in pieces.
Even the deputy general of the Flying Tiger Army was knocked off his horse and never got up again.
In the distance, Xu Huang saw his deputy falling to the ground. He was stunned for a moment, and then neighed:
"A Liang!"
In the crowd, Gongsun Zan heard the cry of the cuckoo crying blood across from him. He felt so refreshed that he roared wildly:
"You dog, you dare to attack my camp, but you will spare your life today."
But as soon as Gongsun Zan finished speaking, his skin suddenly trembled and he subconsciously turned his head.
Then a sharp arrow shot right through his neck and hit Yi Cong's helmet behind him.
Knowing that there was an archer on the other side who could listen and recognize the sound, Gongsun Zan did not dare to speak anymore, pursed his lips and joined the battle group in front.
Xu Huang's troops only had 500 horses, and they could be separated. At this time, the horses were not fast enough. Even though the brothers were well-equipped and brave enough to fight, they were still beaten back by the white horse Yi Cong.
Xu Huang knew that he couldn't stop it on his own, and he didn't show any pretense, so he hurriedly blew the horn for help.
Near the Flying Tiger Army is Xi Shen of the Flying Leopard Army.
At this time, Xi Shen had already led his troops to the center of the Han camp, and in a short while he would be able to reach the enemy commander's tent.
At this moment, a call for help was heard nearby, and Xi Shen's cavalry officers all looked at Xi Shen.
However, Xi Shen's face did not change and he continued to charge forward.
The cavalrymen under his command didn't know what it meant, but they remained silent.
Just kidding, in a short while we can cut down the enemy's banner and formally defeat the enemy army. How can we ignore the overall situation just because of one or two friendly troops?
Again, there is no war without sacrifice. For the sake of the overall situation, all costs are necessary.
But not all cavalry generals are like this. One of the red-banded cavalrymen in the crowd did not miss the military achievements in front of him, and led the hundreds of cavalry around him to come back for reinforcements.
He is Wang Dang, the commander of the Flying Leopard Army, and he can be regarded as an old leader in the army.
Wang Dang used to be Wang Kuang's cavalry companion. He was dissatisfied with Wang Kuang's ruthlessness and cruelty and surrendered Zhang Chong. After two years and more than ten battles, he has become a general.
Wang Dang knew very well that the direction in which the horn was blowing was Xu Huang's Flying Tiger Army. Wang Dang had no idea that this junior who was younger than himself had risen faster than him.
But what Wang Dang knew better was that Xu Huang was the king’s confidant. If he was really found here, they would definitely be held responsible for the Flying Leopard Army afterwards.
So Wang Dang decided to lead a hundred people back to help. Anyway, he continued to charge forward, and the credit was also given to Xi Shen.
When Wang Dang led his troops and rushed over, he saw exactly this scene.
I saw Xu Huang, who was like an enemy of ten thousand people, using a horse stick as a stick to beat the white horse Yi Cong who was surrounding him. He screamed with every blow and banged with every hit. In the meantime, five or six people had been knocked down.
Just when Xu Huang was about to break out of the encirclement, a cold arrow hit the forehead of his horse under his crotch. The horse continued for a few steps and then threw Xu Huang out.
Xu Huang just hit a powerful and heavy blow, and when he was suddenly thrown out, he knew in his heart that something was wrong. He subconsciously rolled his body into a ball, and then rolled to relieve the force.
Just as Xu Huang stood up unsteadily, he saw an iron bone growing bigger and bigger in front of his eyes.
Danger!
Zhang Shao pays tribute to his friend's new book "Kuang Fu Han Shi" which was released in July. Everyone is welcome to collect and read it.