To Pang Yawei's expectation, on the last day of the battle, veteran general Cao Lingzhong did not choose a delaying tactic, but took the lead in charging towards the enemy's heavy cavalry phalanx on horseback.
It was raining heavily and the grass was very muddy. Cao Lingzhong asked someone to raise his general's flag. Anyway, the battle was at this point and there was no need to hide his identity.
On the hazy battlefield with rain, the red general's flag behind Cao Lingzhong was very eye-catching, and it became a flag followed closely by the Tang army.
Pang Yawei controlled the horse and chased after Cao Lingzhong. After this period of training, his riding skills had changed from "skilled" to "proficient".
But even if one is proficient in horsemanship, it is very difficult to closely follow Cao Lingzhong's flag in the rain.
He had to control the horse carefully. He had to control his body to maintain balance while maintaining the speed of the horse. Just after riding for a while, Pang Yawei was sweating profusely.
The abnormal charge of the Tang army not only surprised Pang Yawei, but also caused the Uighurs on the opposite side to lose their position.
Of course the Uighurs knew how powerful the Tang army was. From the battles in the previous few days, everyone in the Uighurs knew that Cao Lingzhong personally led the Tang cavalry out of the fortress.
After staying in the Beiting Protectorate, his reputation on the grassland was no less than that of Gel Khan.
You must know that before the Tang Dynasty mobilized 200,000 troops from Longyou to enter the pass, the Tang Dynasty was the undisputed ruler of the entire Longyou.
Young people like Mang Gucha may not be aware of the combat effectiveness of the Tang army, but some older soldiers in the military camp all sounded the fear of being dominated by the Tang army.
Cao Lingzhong's leading charge also greatly boosted the morale of the Tang army. This light cavalry thrust straight into the Uighur's heavy cavalry phalanx like a bow and arrow.
The face of Gel Khan, who was directing the battle from the rear, changed, and he immediately said to the guards around him: "Send the order! The heavy cavalry of the Chinese army will charge immediately to fight!"
The personal guards came to the front camp with the order of Gel Khan, and the captain who commanded the entire heavy cavalry phalanx immediately began to organize a charge.
This captain named Okosuni was the nephew of Gel Khan and an experienced cavalry general.
Suni means a general who commands the army, which is equivalent to a Han general.
Okosuni was in charge of the elite heavy cavalry, so he was naturally not incompetent. After receiving the order from Gel Khan, he naturally had to execute it immediately, but he soon discovered that the Tang army was charging too fast.
Heavy cavalry is only as powerful as its speed.
The slow heavy cavalry is just a target for the light cavalry archers. The heavy cavalry without speed is just a heavy iron can.
The Tang army's speed was too fast, and Wokuosuni's heavy cavalry phalanx could not increase enough speed.
Okoosuni hesitated. Should he let his troops retreat and then charge back, or should he charge now?
This hesitation was very fatal on the battlefield, but Okosuni was only the general in charge of the army, and the person commanding the battle was Gel Khan.
The Khan's personal guards once again urged the Japanese Suni. At this time, Wo Kuosuni had no choice but to bite the bullet and give the order, and the whole army charged!
This moment of hesitation caused the Uighur heavy armored cavalry to lose some charging distance, and not only Okosuni hesitated, but also the commander under his command.
Fighting at such a distance cannot reach the speed required by heavy cavalry. There is no advantage in speed. Against the flexible light cavalry of the Tang Dynasty, it is an act of death.
But Okosuni had no time to hesitate. He mounted his horse and ordered his heavy cavalry to charge immediately!
While hesitating, Gel Khan's order was also passed on to the light cavalry on the flanks.
The order Manggucha received from his superiors was to have the flanking light cavalry "stand by for action."
This order also made the officers on the flanks very confused. What does standby mean?
Manggucha was worthy of being someone who had been with Gel Khan. He thought for a long time and finally understood the Khan's order.
To wait and move is to move based on the result of the hedging of the Chinese army's heavy cavalry.
If the Chinese Uighur cavalry dispersed the Tang cavalry, then the Uighur light cavalry would circle back and outflank the entire Tang army.
If the heavy cavalry is defeated, the light cavalry on the flanks will return to the center to rescue the precious heavy cavalry.
But is such an order really good? The Tang army has already adopted the attitude of fighting to the death. The Uighurs are still waiting for action, and the light cavalry on the flanks are also confused.
As Cao Lingzhong said, Gel Khan lost his courage in old age.
Ten years ago, Gel Khan would have put on his armor and mounted his horse, charging forward to challenge Cao Lingzhong.
But now he can only sit in the Chinese army camp and direct frontline operations through his own soldiers.
It takes time to convey orders and prepare frontline generals for battle.
But Cao Lingzhong obviously did not give the Uighurs this time.
The cavalry of the Tang Dynasty were moving faster and faster, so in the muddy rainy weather, some riders would fall to the ground.
But Cao Lingzhong completely ignored these losses and just kept accelerating and accelerating.
And the Tang army behind them gradually had only one idea left, to catch up with the bright red general's flag in front!
Faster than Wokuosuni expected, the light cavalry led by Cao Lingzhong was like a sharp arrow inserted into the heavy cavalry square formation that had not yet picked up speed.
Oops!
Wokuosuni immediately felt something was wrong. When heavy cavalry without speed encountered light cavalry, it would be a disaster!
In order to increase the power of the charge, the heavy cavalry in the front row were connected together with iron chains.
If they could charge forward, Cao Lingzhong's cavalry of the Tang Dynasty would definitely retreat. The heavy cavalry charging at high speed was like a heavy hammer, capable of smashing anything that stood in its way.
But heavy cavalry without speed became the target of light cavalry.
The forward cavalry did not rush into the heavy cavalry phalanx, but started shooting arrows close to the phalanx.
The arrows fired at close range were missed, and the weak points in the seams of the armor were specially selected to shoot. Several arrows were shot into the armor of the heavy Uighur cavalry. The soldiers who fell to the ground after being hit by the arrows were connected to the left and right by iron chains, pulling down the nearby riders.
Some other knights of the Tang Army held tripping ropes in their hands and specifically used the horse's hooves to attack. After throwing a tripping rope, the tall Dawan horse immediately stalled and fell to the ground, and the iron cans on the horse's back were thrown out.
Wokuo Boni's face turned pale. He quickly called his guards and said, "Report to the Khan quickly. The heavy cavalry of the Chinese army has been entangled by the Tang army! Please quickly ask for the support of the light cavalry on the flanks! Hurry!"
At this time, Wokuoboni finally showed the decisiveness of the frontline commander. He ordered again: "Give me the general's order to retreat. The heavy cavalry in the rear and middle rows will retreat immediately! Pull back and charge again!"
"Bernie, where's the front row?"
Wokuobani gritted his teeth and said: "Continue to charge in the front row and hold off Tang Jun for me!"
The soldier's face was dark, this was tantamount to giving up the heavy cavalry in the front row.