When Taishan's military formation appeared on the northern ridge, Chen Deng had already moved to a military chariot.
Looking far into the distance, he could see the Taishan Army and the hilly terrain here clearly and vividly.
The battlefield he and the Taishan Army encountered now was a typical hilly area where Mount Tai penetrated deep into the Jinan Plain. From here to the north to the river, there was an open area of forty miles, with ridges on the left and flat hills on the front, one after another.
This kind of terrain does not seem to be dangerous, but it is the terrain that generals are least willing to fight. Because this kind of terrain is surrounded by mountains and valleys, no one knows which valley has an army ambushed.
Judging from the flags, the Taishan Army should have dispatched two captains, with an approximate strength of about 4,000.
Although the enemy's numbers were not as large as his own, Chen Deng was not careless at all, because he knew just by looking at the troops and armored soldiers that covered the sky what an elite force they were.
And no matter how much Chen Deng trusted his troops, he would not dare to think that he had much of an advantage.
However, this battle can be fought.
Thinking of this, Chen Deng suddenly admired Jiang Qin in his heart.
Because judging from the current situation, it was obvious that the opponent planned to ambush him in this hilly area, but Jiang Qin somehow found out.
Not only did he see through it, he was also able to bring back most of the officials.
From this point of view, the long-standing bandits on the river still have some skills.
Just when Chen Deng was thinking about it, Jiang Qin came over in a state of embarrassment. He not only took off his armor, but also tied thorns behind his back. Apparently he came to bear the thorns to plead guilty.
In fact, when Jiang Qin led his men to bypass the military formation and retreat to the rear, he immediately came to the Chinese army to apologize to Chen Deng. After all, although his retreat at this time was excusable, he was the defeated general after all.
.
As soon as Jiang Qin came over carrying thorns on his back, he knelt under Chen Deng's military chariot and bowed his head to him to apologize:
"The guilty general Jiang Qin..."
This time, before Jiang Qin could finish his words, Chen Deng stopped him and gave him a direct order:
"You have made meritorious deeds in this battle. The military situation is now critical. Don't use any false pretense. You should quickly go back to the rear to reorganize the army, change armor and equipment from the baggage area, and then go to my banner as preparation."
After saying that, Chen Deng looked at Jiang Qin and asked:
"I see that your camp flag has been lost. How about I give you another one?"
Jiang Qin's face turned red after saying this. He knelt on the ground and hurriedly took out a stack of stacked flags from his pocket, then spread them out on the ground and said solemnly to Chen Deng:
"Lord, I, Jiang Qin, know the importance of the camp flag no matter how ignorant I am. This is the flag of my camp. I will always keep it with me and never dare to abandon it."
Chen Deng didn't expect Jiang Qin to have such thoughts, and couldn't help but laugh:
"Okay, I saw you right. Then hang up this big flag and take my side."
Jiang Qin agreed, then respectfully picked up the flag, unrolled it, then wrapped it behind him and returned to the rear to reorganize the army.
Chen Deng watched Jiang Qin do this, and he valued him more and more.
Seeing Jiang Qin about to leave, Chen Deng suddenly stopped him and threw him a sword:
"Gong Yi, I will give you this sword. I hope you will use this sword in this battle and kill more thieves."
At this moment, Jiang Qin was holding the sword given by Chen Deng, his heart was warm. He nodded heavily to Chen Deng, and then flew back.
And Chen Deng also began to focus all his attention on the Taishan Army formation in front.
By now, Chen Deng could already see the colors and font sizes of the enemy's flags, and began to match them with the corresponding generals.
The highest flags hanging are the two flags of "Chen" and "Guo". Obviously these are the two main generals of the enemy army. Chen Deng knew the Taishan Army, especially the generals of Guan Yu's tribe very well.
There are five major captains under Guan Yu, namely Zhang Nan, Guo Mo, Chen Guang, Gao Ya, and Li Jing.
So the result was obvious, it was Chen Guang and Guo Mo who appeared in front of him.
Thinking of this, the first thing Chen Deng thought of was:
"Where did Guan Yu go?"
It's not that Chen Deng is so powerful that he insists on competing with Guan Yu on the battlefield, but that he is very confident in this battle.
Before he sent out troops, he passed by nearby Bian Bingjiao, and the two armies attacked together.
There are probably ten thousand people in Bian Bing's army. Although they are not elite, they are capable of fighting in the field. Once his side starts a fight with Taishan's army, Bian Bing's army will be able to join him very quickly based on the distance of his army.
When the time comes, they will attack from both inside and outside. How can the Taishan Army, which is at an absolute numerical disadvantage, not die?
And now Guan Yu has not shown up. Although Chen Deng feels a little regretful, he is not too worried. Even if Guan Yu comes with another force to intercept, Chen Deng is still prepared.
That's what Bian Bing said before. Cao Cao is already cruising nearby with his main elite troops and can provide them with support at any time.
After doing this, Chen Deng felt that nothing was wrong.
This was Chen Deng's courage to send troops. He was not really stupid.
Thinking of this, Chen Deng felt joking in his heart. He threw the general's trophies to Wang Xiu on the right side of the chariot, then jumped off the chariot and got on his horse.
Under the banner, a cavalry army of about 200 people was standing holding the reins.
This is the cavalry army that the Chen family has built over many years. It is already very famous in the Jianghuai area, and is known as "Jianghuai Jinqi."
Most of the Jianghuai Jinqiu are from the Chen family. Some of the older ones are from Chen Deng's father's retinue, and the rest are also heroes from Linpu area. It can be said that this Jianghuai Jinqiu is the descendant of Chen Deng.
core force.
After seeing Chen Deng mount his horse, these Jianghuai warriors mounted their horses one after another without Chen Deng's instructions, and then followed Chen Deng and galloped towards the front of the formation.
Things happened so fast that Wang Xiu was stunned with the military equipment in his hand. He shouted:
"Lord, when facing a battle, you must not be brave!"
But Chen Deng had already galloped to the front of the formation, so why did he hear these words?
As soon as Chen Deng left, Jiang Qin, who was in the rear, personally carried a large flag and led all his troops to the open space next to the big banner.
Just when Jiang Qin was about to salute the military commander on the military vehicle, he suddenly found that the person standing on the military vehicle was actually Wang Xiu. He opened his mouth and was dumbfounded.
Wang Xiu was also helpless. Looking at the cavalry rushing in front of the formation, he could only sigh.
…
Chen Deng feels great, this is what young people should do.
Showing off one's strength in front of the battle array, what could be more wanton than this?
The raccoon horse under Chen Deng's crotch also felt the pride of its owner and snorted excitedly.
At this time, the sun had set in the west, and the afterglow was shining on the battlefield. Soldiers clashed with iron halberds, creating a scene of solemn killing. But at this time, after understanding the master's intention, the black horse suddenly stood up to meet him.
In this way, in front of the entire army, their commander completed a smooth equestrian performance, showing extraordinary martial prowess.
The officials in the front line shouted enthusiastically, and they were proud to follow a fearless brave man.
Yes, although in Wang Xiu's opinion this was an act of bravery, but for the soldiers on the front line, what could double their morale more than the general visiting the front line in person?
When Chen Deng was in Yaowu, the cavalry general next to him was Zhang Ding, a heroic warrior who traveled across the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers. It is said that he had been with Cao Ren in his early years. It was only after Cao Ren returned to his hometown that he stayed because he missed his mother in his hometown.
After that, Zhang Ding returned to his hometown to support his mother, but he learned that his mother had died of illness long ago, and the person who took care of his funeral turned out to be Mr. Chen from Linpu.
It turned out that Chen Dengzai knew that there was such a heroic hero in his hometown, and he had unparalleled filial piety and righteousness, so he personally raised his mother and took care of his funeral.
After learning all this, Zhang Ding threw himself into Chen Deng's plot and was determined to do so.
And this is Chen Deng’s spirit of lakes and seas.
Why does he have such a great reputation in the Jianghuai area? It's because he has done too many such things. Chen Deng can take good care of everyone who asks for, entrusts, and cares for.
Coupled with his status as a son of a noble family and his huge property, his fame doubled.
And for a person like Zhang Ding who has been beneficiary, how can he be calculated based on the amount of cars he carries?
Zhang Ding was guarding Chen Deng when he suddenly saw that the Taishan Army on the opposite side had approached a very dangerous distance and hurriedly reminded:
"Lord, the thief is approaching, please stay away for now."
But it's okay that Zhang Ding didn't say this, but when he did, it reminded Chen Deng who was in high spirits.
Chen Deng waved his whip and said boldly to Jiang Huai who was riding around him:
"Gentlemen, would you like to follow me and try the other's skills?"
Zhang Ding was speechless, and no one around him tried to persuade him. They all clasped their fists and said:
"I am willing to follow my lord through mountains of swords and seas of fire."
So, Chen Deng laughed loudly, flattered him lightly, and then led two hundred Jianghuai horsemen, their horses like dragons, galloping forward.
Horse hooves trampled the green of July, and the crimson crowd beat forward like waves, and like a whirlwind, eager to tear everything apart.
…
General Xu Shu held a hand crossbow in one hand and shouted:
"Left, right, left."
While Kong was commanding his troops to move forward, Xu Shu still had time to observe the battlefield ahead.
Before Xu Shu, there were four others, and like Xu Shu, they were arranged one row at a time.
Among them, the leader of the left army is at the outermost position, holding high a general flag. He is also the azimuth point of the entire platoon of officers. The brothers all watch his steps to adjust the distance.
However, generals like Xu Shu were not listed in the military formation, but walked directly outside the team. They had the highest degree of freedom and could observe more battlefield situations.
They are also the eyes of the brothers. Whether it is observing the semaphores of the superiors in the rear or judging the enemy's position on the opposite battlefield, they are relied on.
And now Xu Shu is fulfilling this duty, shouting slogans and observing battlefield signals.
Suddenly, Xu Shu saw the squadron behind him suddenly waving a ring-shaped red flag. He immediately got excited and started shouting:
"All trains are suspended, step by step and hand by step."
In the Taishan Army, the command authority in the army can only be delegated to the department level at the lowest level. That is to say, the only people who can wave flag orders on the battlefield are the flag order soldiers of the department.
If you move it further down, the scheduling of the battlefield will be very confusing.
At the ministry level, it is the closest semaphore that grassroots officials can see on the battlefield, and it cannot be seen any further away.
But now Xu Shu's department didn't know what battlefield signal they had observed, so they started to raise a circular red flag.
The red color means stopping, and the ring shape means defense.
So Xu Shu decisively ordered everyone to stop, and asked them to lower their bu shan from their shoulders to the ground.
Now that the Taishan Army has received huge manpower and material support from Hebei Province, it is making more detailed reforms in the army's tactics.
One of the important changes is to change the past opposition between pure teams and flower teams and start to integrate the two.
And people like Xu Shu are the embodiment of this change.
They have a total of eleven combat soldiers and three auxiliary soldiers, for a total of fourteen people. In terms of specific configuration, Xu Shu, as a general, has a pair of iron armor, a hand crossbow, a ring-headed sword, and auxiliaries.
One soldier.
The two corps commanders are an armored saber-carrying soldier and an armored flag-carrying soldier, both of whom are equipped with an auxiliary soldier carrying armor.
The remaining ones are ordinary officials, eight in total. These people all carry long-footed spears, wear leather armor, wear ring-headed knives, and have three short halberds in their backpacks. These are not for themselves, but for others.
The brothers in the back row threw it.
This is the grassroots force of the Fifth Army, among which the longbowmen are still attached to the headquarters and are responsible for all fire strikes.
Now, Xu Shu and the other officials heard the shouts of the generals outside. In fact, they could not hear clearly, but they could see that the leader of the platoon carrying the flag gun had stopped at the flag, so they stopped one after another and put their hands on their shoulders.
The steps were stuck on the ground.
For a time, all the units in the front line of the Taishan Army were like this. The originally sloping steps stood up one after another, like a forest appearing on the battlefield.
After Xu Shu finished doing this, he regretfully looked at the lack of players in his team.
He originally had a heavy-armored swordsman, but he fell ill in the hilly area behind, leaving him without some protection.
It used to be that the heavy sword wielder and his cooperation could directly form an integrated offensive and defensive combat capability, but now it can only be done.
Suddenly, there was a noise from the military formation in front, and Xu Shu immediately looked up.
I saw that a section of the originally intact foot formation suddenly collapsed, and an unclear number of Han knights suddenly appeared from here.
They let out loud shouts of killing, and kept beating the Taishan military robes beside them with their weapons.
Some generals outside decisively released their crossbows, and each time they struck, they could take away a Han knight.
Those knights never expected that the basic level of Taishan Army was equipped with hand crossbows, and they immediately suffered a big loss.
But the equipment of these knights is very good. In addition to the war horses, their whole bodies are covered with iron armor, which is no worse than the assault cavalry of the Taishan Army.
However, the Taishan Army obviously also suffered a loss. The charge of these Han cavalry was too sudden. The frontline military officials did not give any order to release the troops, and the enemy had already rushed in front of them.
But that's all these Han cavalry.
As the military officers issued orders one after another, the spears that had stood like a forest were lowered one after another, and the sharp and cold spears spread out like hedgehogs.
The Han cavalry who had already broken into several rows was stabbed into a gourd of blood by the Bucha stabbing from all directions after his horse's speed failed.
When the Jianghuai Jinqi behind them saw the tragic situation in front of them, they pulled the reins and began to circle around the two formations.
Xu Shu, who was observing the battlefield situation, suddenly felt a loud noise above his head, and then he was brought to the ground by inertia.
When he was helped up by the robes again, he saw a dent in his pocket and a pebble at his feet.
Xu Shu was so angry that he secretly scolded these Jianghuai people for being barbarians, why would they be throwing ropes? Then he saw a majestic and heroic cavalryman wearing a cloak and fine armor.
Xu Shu, who was already furious, still had the grace to remind him. He raised his hand crossbow and fired at the opponent.
An iron arrow filled with Xu Shu's anger flew away.