On August 7, the weather was still extremely hot, and the Dingting battlefield was even steaming with heat.
After this battle, countless surviving officers recalled this day's battle and thought it was the hottest day they had ever experienced in their lives.
Because of the arrival of reinforcements from the Taishan Army and their elite tenacity, Lu Zhi was unable to achieve an overwhelming victory in the morning. However, because the Han army was nearly three times larger than the Taishan Army, the balance of victory was finally determined around the afternoon.
It tilted towards the Han army.
After half a day of fierce fighting, the Taishan Army's guard troops were engaged on all fronts, so they had no time to eat. However, at this time, the Han Army could calmly change their formations and go down in batches to rest and eat.
Therefore, the longer the time goes by, the more exhausted Taishan's army becomes, and the closer the Han army's victory becomes.
However, Lu Zhi on the north slope was not very happy because he knew how to settle accounts himself.
On the Dingting side, we saw only 17,000 enemy troops from the beginning to the end. The intelligence from the previous secret conversations was that the Taishan bandits had reinforced 5,000 troops. In addition, when the cavalry went on the northern expedition to Zhending, their military strength was greatly reduced.
Probably around 30,000 people.
In other words, the enemy army is at least about 35,000. But now there are only 17,000, so where are the remaining 20,000?
Are they all on the road? Lu Zhi didn’t believe it.
Therefore, Lu Zhi had a vague premonition that the Taishan bandits were dividing their forces.
Soon, three dusty sentries came running from the east of the battlefield, and the military reports they brought cleared Lu Zhi's doubts.
But the solution to his doubts made his hands and feet feel cold.
In the military report, Chen Yan from Hejian, Yang Xuan from the Bohai Sea, and Linghu Yu, Prime Minister of Anping, jointly submitted a petition. The Allied Forces of the Three Kingdoms were ambushed by Taishan bandits in the Shenzhen area. They were unable to fight and had to retreat from the north.
The battle took place last night. Nearly 20,000 thieves and a large cavalry raided the coalition camp.
At that time, the Han army was stationed on the dirt road on the north bank of the Hutuo River, and camped on a flat ground with a slope behind it to rest.
In fact, during the day, the Han army had a brief conflict with the sentry cavalry of the Taishan army. At that time, Gai Tong, the Youzhou cavalryman, felt something was wrong and was worried that he had encountered the main force of the Taishan bandits.
But at that time, Chen Yan of Hejian, Yang Xuan, the governor of Bohai, and Linghu Yu, the prime minister of Anping, did not believe it, because they had clearly learned from their communication with Lu Zhi that a war was already happening in Dingting at this time.
The main force of the Taishan bandits was obviously held back by Lu Shuai. Where did the main force come from?
So they set up camp here, but unexpectedly, the Taishan Army launched a night attack that night.
The attack was carried out by 12,000 people from the Marshal's Department of the Right Army of the Taishan Army and four cavalry units, totaling 14,000 horse infantry. Since most of the Han army was unprepared, this night attack was a complete victory.
The three guards tried to escape in a hurry, but fortunately Gai Tong dissuaded them.
Gai Tong led his troops and some Han troops, carrying the flags and banners of the three armies, pretending to be the main force and retreating to the east. The three defenders retreated from the north, preparing to take a detour to join Lu Zhi in the north.
It was extremely dark, so the assault cavalry of the Taishan Army were indeed attracted by the large banner brought by Gai Tong, and they all pursued towards the north.
But it wasn't until the early morning of the next day that Zhang Dan realized something was wrong. If it was the main force, it would have been impossible to retreat so quickly, so Zhang Dan hurriedly sent his troops north to prepare to pursue the real main force.
But after all this hard work, the three guardians of Hejian, Bohai and Anping escaped.
As soon as the army was settled, someone sent this military report to Lu Zhi.
…
At this time, Lu Zhi's anger was boiling in his chest. He had never wanted to kill someone as much as he did now.
He couldn't understand what Chen Yan, Yang Xuan, and Linghu Yu had to eat to reach the position of two thousand stones. Now that Hebei has fought like this, they are still so polite and playful, without any sense of vigilance.
More than ten miles away from the battlefield, I dared to leave my horse outside the camp and sleep leisurely. It was really not a pity to die.
Originally, he thought that when the Hejian Corps arrived, he would be able to surround and kill the Taishan Army here and cut off the little thief Zhang Chong first. But what about now?
Instead, he would have to withdraw.
Because although the Han army already had an advantage on the battlefield, it was not overwhelming. If they continued to fight like this, they might have to fight until midnight.
By then, the main force of the Taishan bandits that have been freed up will be able to rush to join the battle.
He has now understood Zhang's strategy for attacking the little thief. That is to let him defend and contain him at Dingting, then lead his main force to attack his partial division, and then return to the division to fight him decisively.
Thinking of this, Lu Zhi once again curbed his ambitions and decided to withdraw his troops and return to Zhongren Pavilion in the north, which was his designated battlefield.
But when Lu Zhi ordered his troops to prepare to evacuate the battlefield, the Beizhou warriors fighting on the front lines had different reactions.
The veteran general Xiangping Li Min was commanding troops under the banner to attack the Taishan bandits under the wall of Dingting Pavilion. After hearing Lu Zhi's order, he shouted directly to the soldiers:
"Shuai Lu is sitting on the bed, what can he see here? Now the Taishan bandits are gone, and they are about to be defeated right before our eyes."
After speaking, Li Min refused to take the order and asked his subordinates to continue the attack.
And because the soldier had no way to deliver the mission, he was anxious around Li Min.
Li Min came from a wealthy family in Xiangping, Liaodong. His family was a typical frontier general. His father and son had served in the frontier army for several generations. He could be said to be one of the representatives of the general family in the frontier army system.
Lu Zhi's Zhenbei Army had three relatively large systematic factions.
One is the border army family group in Waiyouzhou. These people are headed by the Liaodong Gongsun family, the Shanggu Kou family, the Yuyang Gai family, the Xianyu family, as well as the Liaodong Li family and the Lelang Wang family.
These military families were so intertwined in the border army that even Lu Zhi could only treat them with courtesy.
In addition to this group, the second largest group is Lu Zhi's disciples and former officials. These partially overlap with the previous faction, but they are more close to Lu Zhi, and they are also the core of Lu Zhi's Zhenbei Army.
The last faction is the border rangers, local tyrants, Fu Lang, and barbarians. These people were originally strong men in Youzhou and the grasslands. They were recruited by Lu Zhi and entered the regular system. They are generally regarded as peripherals.
Therefore, as a veteran in the military, Li Min developed a crazy and delicate look.
In fact, Li Min is not a minority. The Yan people are generous and willing to die, let alone these border warriors who advocate offense.
Therefore, bravery, recklessness and excitement have always been the spiritual background of these frontier army generals.
When Li Min disobeyed his orders, Gongsun Zan, the leader of the front line on the other side, rode his horse directly to the foot of the slope where Lu Zhi was, then dismounted and came up the slope.
As soon as he arrived, he knelt on the ground and asked Lu Zhi for orders:
"Shuai Lu, why did you order the withdrawal of troops? We are about to win before our eyes."
Lu Zhi didn't say anything, and just asked the general's newspaper to be handed over to Gongsun Zan.
Gongsun Zan passed by and understood the teacher's decision, but he was still unwilling to accept it.
So he pleaded:
"Lu Shuai, now it is about the survival of our Northern Territory and the safety of our Han Dynasty. I beg Lu Shuai to let me charge with the cavalry one last time. Zan is an ordinary person and doesn't know what the use of this charge is. But Zan knows
, If we don’t work hard this time today, I’m worried that I will regret it after I die. So, please Lu Shuai, please let me lead my brothers and try again.”
Lu Zhi didn't speak, and others on the slope didn't dare to speak either. The atmosphere was a bit depressing.
Finally, Lu Zhi asked:
"How many rides do you want."
Gongsun Zan was overjoyed and responded quickly:
"The last general only needs five hundred white horses to follow him."
Lu Zhi shook his head and said loudly:
"Since it's a matter of life and death, we must use all our strength. Five hundred cavalry are not enough. I will hand over all the thousands of cavalry under my tent to you. Since we want to kill, we must crush them completely."
Gongsun Zan did not hesitate, beat his breastplate, and loudly promised.
After that, Gongsun Zan ran to a camp down the slope.
There, 500 white-horse Yi Cong and two battalions of Chinese troops' cavalry were ready.
Five hundred white horse followers, each riding a white horse, covered with white armor, equipped with two spears, and wearing helmets decorated with the feathers of the prairie eagle, were Gongsun Zan's most elite troops.
Everyone among them has a blood-like deep relationship with Gongsun Zan, and the righteousness lies in obeying each other in life and death, so they are called "righteous obedience".
The thousands of cavalrymen under the command of the Zhenbei Army were also elites. They were all tall and strong knights selected from the entire army, and the horses they rode were also the elite warhorses that the barbarians dominated in this grassland trade.
Once these people attack, it will be a roaring and tsunami, which is frightening.
As soon as Gongsun Zan entered the camp, he took the talisman to check with the camp generals. After everything was correct, he officially took over the military power.
The temporary commander of Baima Yi Cong was Gongsun Zan's confidant Wang Men. When he saw his lord returning, he said happily:
"General, how are we going to fight this time?"
Gongsun Zan laughed and said nothing, but said respectfully to another middle-aged general:
"I've met Mr. Zhang."
This military commander is called Zhang Chun, who is the commander of the cavalry under Lu Zhi, with a rank as high as two thousand stones. Although Gongsun Zan is the leader of the assault this time, Zhang Chun is higher than Gongsun Zan in terms of official position and seniority.
Therefore, Gongsun Zan could only stay humble and show more respect.
At this time, Zhang Chun didn't have the ambition to be a powerful general, and he was still a fierce general in the Han family. So although he was dissatisfied with being driven by a junior like Gongsun Zan, he could still accept the order.
After Gongsun Zan and Zhang Chun reviewed the action plan, they looked at another camp and sighed slightly:
"If we can bring along the powerful Wuhuan Tuqi, this battle will be safer."
Gong Qichou was also the captain of Wuhuan School, and under his command were thousands of Wuhuan Tuqi soldiers who had been recruited to accompany the central army.
…
The time was approaching midnight, and the sun had begun to set westward.
The Hanoi camp guarding the wall of Dingting Pavilion and the Zhaojun camp finally used water and rice. It was Yang Mao who was on the wall who prepared it inside the wall and asked people to lower it down the wall.
With these additions, the morale of Hanoi and Zhao County towns has finally recovered a lot.
Moreover, new battalions were also opened inside the wall. Not only did Wei Junzhen come out, but Yang Mao himself also came out of the wall with two thousand old Taishan soldiers to change defenses.
Originally, Yang Mao was going to stay in the wall and continue to maintain contact with Cai Que's troops to the west. However, due to the civil strife in Zhaojun Town, he had to step out to take charge of the situation.
After understanding the statement of the Zhaojun general, he knew that Li Ding was going to surrender, so he made a prompt decision to unarm all Li Ding's guards and take them into custody, and then ordered Zhao Rong to be the new Zhaojun town general and preside over it.
Military situation.
Yang Mao then withdrew to Dingtingbi, where the view was more important than staying on the front line.
With reinforcements and supplies, and the chaos restored, the morale of Zhaojun Town recovered a lot. So, encouraged by the town general Zhao Rong, he launched a counterattack against the Han army.
Opposite Zhaojun Town is Li Min, the military veteran who was there just now.
Li Min never expected that the thieves who had almost lost their breath after being beaten by him would become fierce again. He was caught off guard and lost several battles.
Zhao Junzhen immediately began to pursue. They organized fifty men into a row and advanced in a wide column. This formation was extremely easy to transform into a square formation.
But just as they were marching to the area where the Han army was originally located, they suddenly heard the Hanoi soldiers who were slightly behind shouting:
"The Han cavalry is coming."
The town general Zhao Rong also heard this, and he quickly blew the formation trumpet.
But it's too late.
Due to the problem of vision, Zhao Rong could not see the white horse Yi Cong in the distance when he led Zhao Junzhen forward, but the white horse Yi Cong clearly looked at them from the slope.
Seeing that this group of thieves had moved forward without the cooperation of friendly forces, Gongsun Zan immediately decided to launch an attack on this group of Taishan thieves.
When Gongsun Zan arrived, he was less than a hundred steps away from the nearest Zhaojun town camp, and the horn for changing formations was only heard at this time, so it was too late.
The number of Zhaojun soldiers in this battalion is about 700, which is the size of two tribes. Almost all of them come from the southern region of Zhao. The average age is only 20, and the youngest is only 15 years old.
Facing the charge of Baima Yicong, what would be the outcome if the infantry did not form a phalanx?
Of course, it collapsed without any surprise. They panicked and fled one after another before Baima Yicong collided with him.
The flag of this battalion was also captured by the Baima Yi Cong, and it became the first battalion head of the Taishan Army to be eliminated.
Many of the retreating Zhaojun soldiers had heard from old soldiers that if faced with a cavalry attack, the best way to save their lives was to lie on the ground and pretend to be dead.
In that case, as long as you are not trampled to death, you will most likely survive, because war horses hate the smell of corpses on the ground. On the contrary, the faster you run, the more the cavalry will chase you.
Many people really heard this and lay down on the ground pretending to be dead. But except for some lucky ones, everyone else was trampled to death.
These people used their lives to verify one thing:
"You can lie to yourself, but don't lie to your brothers, because they will really believe it."
After the battalion was defeated by the formation system, Baima Yicong then attacked the head of the Chinese army camp led by General Zhao Rong.
This time, Zhao Rong was in charge, and the camp did not collapse. But even so, what could it do? When Gongsun Zan used the double-headed spear and led Bai Ma Yicong to rush in from the gap, Zhao Junzhen still could not save its defeat.
Even though Zhao Rong fought to the death and refused to surrender, the officials waved their spears and halberds in an effort to drive away the white horse Yi Cong, but it still did not help.
Even because Zhao Rong was too exposed, Gongsun Zan saw him from a distance, and then hit Zhao Rong with an arrow.
Zhao Rong's eyes bulged and his lips trembled. He watched the children of Zhao County being slaughtered in front of his eyes. He shed tears of regret. Before he died, he ordered the flag guards to tear away the town flag and never throw it to the Han army.
.
He said unwillingly:
"I may die, but the flag cannot be thrown away, and I, Zhao County, cannot lose my soul. Regret, I, Zhao Rong, am proud of my bravery, and God is not false, so I can no longer make meritorious deeds."
After saying that, he grabbed a handful of void, then fell on his back, convulsed and died.