"Returning to Hanpu with clouds and descending to Shangshan with spraying snow."
The Wuguan Ancient Post Road goes down beside Danshui River. After passing Miyue Mountain, Danshui River meets Xishui River again.
This area is the ancient battlefield of the Danyang Battle between Qin and Chu.
During the Warring States Period, King Huiwen of Qin sent Zhang Yi to deceive King Huai of Chu, promising to cede 600 miles of land to Chu and to break off diplomatic relations between Qi and Qi, but in the end he said that he would only give six miles of land to Chu.
King Huai of Chu was so angry that he launched a large army to attack Qin. He took the Wuguan Road and defeated Wuguan until he reached Lantian, which was only a hundred miles away from Xianyang.
However, the Qin army descended from the Han River, where the Dan River merged with the Xi River, and defeated Chu's local army of 100,000 troops. The army was approaching Dengzhou and Nanyang, and the Chu State had to cede territory to seek peace.
Li Xia had read this allusion before he sent out troops.
In order to formulate a strategy during the Spring Festival, he read a large number of local chronicles and ancient battle cases, and then formulated the battlefield of Nanyang.
He has geographical advantage, which is precisely the terrain advantage of Qin State over Chu State.
In addition, Li Xia has read a lot in the past few years, and Li Xia has also gained a lot of knowledge. For example, he knows that King Qin Huiwen is very good at deceiving people. He not only deceived the King of Shu into digging the Golden Bull Road, but also deceived King Huai of Chu into severing diplomatic relations with Qi.
It's really very dishonest.
"call."
Li Xia thought about all this, took a few deep breaths, and became more relaxed.
Whenever big things happen, he remains calm. This is his attitude towards doing things.
“If your mind is calm, you can conquer everything and accomplish anything.”
He strode up to the battle platform built on a hill, raised his lookout tube and saw that Li Xia could already see Shi Tianze and Dong Wenyong forming formation.
There is not much difference in the number of people on both sides.
On Li Xia's side, there are more than 5,000 elite troops, more than 4,000 ordinary garrison troops, and more than 5,000 strong civilians; Shi Tianze has more than 10,000 troops, and Dong Wen has more than 5,000 troops... The formations are set up, each with about 15,000 troops.
In Nanyang City, Dong Wenzhong can bring at least more than 5,000 people. Adding the surrounding Neixiang, Xixia, and Zhenping cities, the Mongolian army may be able to follow up with nearly 10,000 reinforcements.
Lu Wenhuan from Dengzhou would not come to support Li Xia. It was very valuable for Li Xia to contain the Mongolian troops in Zaoyang and Kuizhou.
This is a numerical disadvantage.
In terms of combat effectiveness, half of Li Xia's men were not as powerful as the Mongolian army.
Of course, he also has advantages.
The reason why these 15,000 people came all the way slowly was because they were bluffing, carrying more flags, setting up more tents, and tying branches to the tails of their horses, raising dust and smoke, creating a close proximity.
A formation of 30,000 people.
Shi Tianze actually hadn't had time to figure out Li Xia's strength yet.
That means we must be conservative in the deployment of troops.
When it comes to military morale, Li Xia thinks he has an advantage.
His strategic goals have always been clear and he is always on the offensive.
So what his soldiers were thinking was, "We went out and captured Dengzhou. The Mongolian army only dared to defend Nanyang City. We did not engage in siege warfare and pulled the Mongolian army out to fight in the field. How dare we fight with the Mongolian army in the field?"
Really? The Mongolian army didn’t dare to attack us.”
But Shi Tianze's soldiers would only be thinking, "We were going to Shandong to quell Li Fen's rebellion. Why did we move to Nanyang? To avenge the commander's nephew. Why did we retreat again? The Song army has too many soldiers and horses. Why haven't we attacked the Song army for so many days?
?”
Obviously, the Mongolian soldiers had more questions in their minds...
These comparisons of advantages and disadvantages actually appeared in Li Xia's mind in an instant.
He has confidence.
This is very strange. He clearly only has a 30% to 40% chance of winning, but he is confident...
~~
"Brother, why do I think there are more Mongols under the prince's command than the other side?"
"How did you know?"
"Listening to the shouts on the other side, it seems that they are all Han troops. I don't know if there are 2,000 Mongolian prisoners."
Zhang Shun also thought this was really strange, but since those Mongolian captives had surrendered, there was really nothing to say.
"The same goes for killing thieves." He patted Zhang Gui on the shoulder and said, "Stop talking and follow General Liu."
Brothers Zhang Shun and Zhang Gui now belong to Liu Jinsuo's bodyguards.
They put on soap-soled military boots and armor for the first time, but they didn't feel heavy at all, they just felt full of strength.
Finally, the trumpet sounded loudly.
"Array! Array!"
Liu Jinsuo glanced at the command flag on the general platform and was already striding through the Chinese army formation.
After so many years in the army, it is not difficult for him to lead one or two thousand elite soldiers.
He led elite infantrymen, divided into two square formations, each with 800 men.
This phalanx is divided into five rows, the first row is shield bearers, the last two rows are spearmen, and the last two rows are archers and grenadiers. Each row is commanded by a hundred soldiers.
Liu Jinsuo himself was followed by more than thirty soldiers, not to protect him. Some were carrying his flag, while others were carrying command flags and horns to give orders.
There were also people who paid special attention to the flag orders issued by Li Xia on the battlefield to prevent General Liu from missing the order.
In the distance, the sound of horse hoofs rumbled. The first to go out on the Song Army's side were the cavalry from the Guiyi Battalion on the right wing, plundering the Mongolian camp in batches.
Both sides are rangers, and they want to harass the other side first with rain of arrows.
Zhang Shun, nicknamed "Short Zhang", followed the big man Liu Jinsuo. When he looked up, he could only see Liu Jinsuo's back and his colleagues on both sides.
What is happening on the battlefield can't be seen at all.
He probably understood why the Song Army needed taller people to recruit soldiers, and thought that he would have to fight in the water. Maneuvering the boat would have a much wider view on the river...
After that, they marched slowly, rearranging their formation every time they walked. After walking for less than half an hour, they finally came within a hundred paces of the Mongolian army.
Occasionally, arrows were fired. They were far apart and light, and could not do any harm to the armored soldiers. The main purpose of these rounds of arrows was to weaken morale.
Zhang Shun is not afraid, he has never been afraid of death. He used to go to the battlefield without armor without blinking an eye, but now wearing armor gives him a reassuring feeling.
Wearing armor can indeed save a soldier's life several times.
"Boom! Boom! Boom..."
The drums were beating loudly, and the Chinese armies from both sides finally began to engage in battle...
~~
There were a total of 30,000 people on both sides, which seemed like a very small number on paper.
But when the battle array was laid out, there was a large, densely packed area covering a radius of five miles.
The fighting continued until late afternoon.
The sun had turned westward and fell on the distant mountains behind Zhang Shun, casting a long shadow onto the blood-covered ground.
Zhang Shun had been standing on the battlefield until now. He was finally able to follow Liu Jinsuo and charge forward, and finally saw the enemy soldiers.
He and Zhang Gui were Liu Jinsuo's personal soldiers. They did not line up like ordinary soldiers and fought much more casually.
As they continued to kill, Liu Jinsuo, who was stabbing with his spear, was lost in the crowd.
Zhang Shun was surrounded by soldiers whom he did not know.
The people behind him squeezed in, making him unable to turn around at all, so he could only swing his knife forward...
"Ah! Ah..."
In front, a Mongolian and Han soldier roared and slashed at Zhang Shun with his sword.
His face was covered in blood and he looked very ferocious.
Zhang Shun's temper was even more fierce, and he was not afraid at all. He went to meet him and cut him down.
The long knife struck into the neck of the Mongolian Han soldier, and the blade cut straight inward until it hit the blade and stopped.
This knife obviously cut off the opponent's throat blood vessels, and blood spurted out randomly, splashing all over Zhang Shun's face, making him look similar to the Mongol and Han army genius.
The scene in front of me suddenly turned red.
The blood is too hot.
After being exposed to the sun for a day, the armor was covered with sweat, which made me even more irritable.
But Zhang Shun was still fighting forward.
One, two... The sweat was flowing like a waterfall, and my eyes could no longer be opened. Mixed with the blood on the body, it was so sticky that it made people uncomfortable.
The sound of fighting could be heard in my ears, accompanied by the endless buzzing of flies.
There was a foul smell everywhere, and feces and urine could flow from every abdomen that had been split open by a knife or ax... Zhang Shun didn't know whether he was stepping on intestines or dirt every time he stepped on it.
In such a battlefield, every moment is suffering.
The same goes for almost every soldier.
They were all waiting for the enemy to retreat, hoping to see the enemy turn around and run away the next moment.
"ah!"
From time to time, soldiers who were pushed to the front line roared loudly to vent their discomfort...
Zhang Shun can still hold on.
Although it was his first time to follow the soldiers and horses of Sichuan and Shaanxi to fight, he already had an understanding of the fighting style of this army from his conversation with Liu Jinsuo a while ago.
"The county king never loses a battle. Even in the most dangerous times, he will not run away, but kills himself. Every time he kills before he goes into battle, we immediately win a big victory."
Liu Jinsuo talked and talked, and finally gave Zhang Shun an impression... If Li Xia had not participated in the battle, this game would have been won, and Li Xia would have won soon.
But at this time on the battlefield, it is obvious that victory is inevitable...
~~
The Mongolian army's battle platform in the east.
A messenger came forward and said: "Commander, Zongwang Hebichi has urgent military orders."
Shi Tianze reached out to take it, glanced at it a few times, and silently received the letter. He didn't say anything more, but just waved away the messenger.
"It doesn't matter." Shi Tianze said: "The war at hand is important."
He continued to observe the battlefield, and then murmured to himself: "Li Xia didn't bring the rear troops up yet?"
He had been calculating that from the beginning of the war to this point, the Song army had only sent a total of 10,000 troops to the battlefield.
In other words, there are at least 15,000 people in the rear army?
But he has already led more than 10,000 men to kill, and only has a reserve force of 5,000 men.
The Song Army's combat power was impressive, but it was unexpected that Li Xia's army had such strength in field combat.
Finally, a horse came from a distance and ran around the battlefield.
…
"Report! Commander, the villain rode his horse and circled behind the enemy's camp several times to make sure that the enemy's rear did not exceed 5,000 troops."
After hearing this, Shi Tianze's eyes became more suspicious.
He really suspected that Li Xia had not brought the main force from Guanzhong.
The tents, flags, dust and smoke of Li Xia's troops looked like they had plenty of troops, but there were also many clues that showed that their troops were deceitful.
In addition, someone in the Song army in Xiangyang tipped off the news.
But Shi Tianze thought of Li Xia's scheming past and was never sure.
Are we facing 20,000 to 30,000 elite troops, or more than 10,000 miscellaneous soldiers?
He hopes to see the result in today's battle.
Now, the result seems to be out, it's fake... But, if the ordinary soldiers that Li Xia pieced together have such fighting power? They can actually fight on par with his main force.
…
"Commander Shi, we can win." After hearing the news, Dong Wenyong said: "Push the reserve troops, and then mobilize soldiers and horses from Nanyang Prefecture to surround him, and we can annihilate Li Xia."
"It seems so."
Shi Tianze responded: "If all his troops are here, we can win this battle."
"Is Shi Shuai still worried?"
"If Li Xia hid an army of 10,000 men, just waiting for us to give it a try, and then suddenly came out, wouldn't we be completely defeated?"
"Will...will it?"
Shi Tianze said: "Probably not, but it is possible..."
The next moment, all I could hear was the loud beating of drums on the battlefield in the distance.
Gradually, Shi Tianze could see Li Xia's banner moving towards this side.
He was startled and slapped his hands on the railing.
"Shuzi! Instead of retreating, go forward?"
Dong Wen looked at the large scroll with his eyes far away, and suddenly remembered another thing.
"Where's Zhang Jue's big banner? Yesterday, Tan Ma saw it, but today it's gone..."
Shige said: "Zhang Jue didn't come at all, so naturally there wouldn't be a big banner."
"But Li Xia was still raising suspicions yesterday, but today he doesn't even pretend anymore?"
"What does General Dong mean?"
"Li Xia committed suicide himself, what does he have to rely on?"
"Don't worry about it so much." Shige said: "Just don't think about anything, take the whole army and fight him to the death!"
He suddenly pulled out his sword and asked for orders: "Father! Give the order! I am willing to lead the Chinese army to kill Li Xia and annihilate him!"
Shi Tianze turned his head to look and narrowed his eyes.
In front of him is his eldest son, majestic and handsome.
Under the tent, there are five thousand of the most elite soldiers, each of whom has a horse and excellent armor, which is the trump card of the Shi family's strength.
If you put all these together, you can defeat Li Xia in one battle...
~~
Li Xia had already seen the flaw in Dong Wenyong's command from the lookout tube.
On the right wing of the Mongolian army, one force had been fighting fiercely for too long, and the formation was already weakening, but Dong Wenyong did not send any troops or horses to support it.
Fighting is to keep yourself from opening up weaknesses and then attack the enemy's weaknesses.
Li Xia did not hesitate and ordered Zan Wanshou to lead the militiamen to the battlefield. At the same time, he ran off the platform, got on his horse, and led his soldiers to attack the right flank of the Mongolian army.
Of course he knew that the militia brought by Zan Wanshou could not stand a fight.
And Shi Tianze still has 5,000 of the most elite reserve troops, as well as nearly 10,000 troops from the surrounding cities. If...
There is no if.
You go to the battlefield to win. If there is any chance of victory, you must seize it immediately and work hard to win.
The battlefield is not a place where you come to survive.
Do you want to survive? Then never go to the battlefield!
The long spear has been raised, the horse's hooves are galloping, Li Xia has no distractions, and only wins in his eyes.
He knew that as long as he charged, the morale of all his soldiers would be greatly boosted. This would be the time when his soldiers' fighting power would be at its strongest.
It is also the time when the enemy is most likely to be defeated.
…
"Kill!"
There were loud shouts on the battlefield.
Yang Ben turned his head, saw the flag on the battlefield, and quickly ordered his cavalry to charge towards the left wing of the Mongolian army, cutting off the communication between its left wing and the Chinese army;
Li Zeyi was originally fighting with the Mongolian army's right wing. When he turned around, he saw Li Xia and two hundred soldiers passing by like a flood, and quickly led his troops to kill them.
"Follow the prince and kill him!"
…
Zhang Shun raised his head and didn't see Li Xia at all.
But he had heard the shouts of the robes and felt confident that he would win.
"Kill!"
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
The Sichuan-Shaanxi Song Army has shouted slogans again and rushed forward...
~~
Shi Tianze hesitated.
When he looked at his eldest son, he thought of his two nephews who died at the hands of Li Xia, and his desire for revenge suddenly faded away.
With just this hesitation, Li Xia's banner was pushed to the right flank of the Mongolian army.
At this moment, Shi Tianze did not hesitate and immediately called for gold to withdraw his troops...
He is a famous general in the world.
The world always thinks that famous generals are invincible in battle.
But Shi Tianze actually often loses.
He and Shi Tianni were defeated by Wuxian, and then he captured Zhending and became famous. Not long after, Wuxian ordered spies to join forces inside and outside Zhending city, and captured Zhending again. Shi Tianze had to ask for help from the Dong family before he regained his stability.
living situation.
Later, he was defeated by Wanyan Baisa and had to break out of the siege and lead the Mongolian army to turn defeat into victory.
Later, he led troops to attack Lianghuai and was defeated by Du Gao; he attacked Jinghu and was defeated by Meng Gong repeatedly.
Including the Battle of Diaoyu City... In fact, famous Mongolian generals have always been defeated by the Song army.
The reason why Shi Tianze is a famous general is that he can be defeated every time without losing his strength. The more he loses, the stronger he gets.
He was cautious throughout his life, made good plans and made good decisions. He was prepared for the enemy's use of troops and rarely suffered losses.
In order not to suffer a loss, he would rather lose.
Even if you lose, you won't suffer any loss. The Song army can't catch up anyway...
But today, Shi Tianze, who is good at retreating, forgot one thing. Li Xia has cavalry under his command...
~~
"puff!"
The long spear pierced one enemy soldier and then another. After that, more than ten horsemen from the front surrounded Li Xia.
Li Xia is not afraid, he rushes immediately after raising his spear.
He is eager to go to the battlefield.
In fact, that fighting platform was a constraint for him.
He never stood on the battlefield and commanded for the sake of safety, but he had to fulfill the responsibility of commanding.
Only when the victory was established could he finally take action.
"clang!"
The sledgehammer on the opposite side was blocked by Li Xia.
He was extremely strong and knew how to exert and release his strength. Only then did the sparks fly, and the long spear had easily pierced through another tough soldier.
Compared to the tragedy elsewhere on the battlefield, Li Xia's battlefield was even colder.
The surrounding soldiers cheered when they saw the blood.
Then there was the sound of gold ringing in the Mongolian army formation.
Unsatisfied, Li Xia reined in his horse and circled around, leading his own banner, to kill the infantry of the Mongolian Han army who were fighting with his center.
…
"Kill!"
Zhang Shun shouted loudly, raised his sword and chased the enemy soldiers in front, but gradually became unable to catch up.
He heard from veterans in Xiangyang that even if the Mongolian army was defeated, the cavalry could run away, rest and then fight back, and even the infantry could be saved by them.
The next moment, he saw Li Xia leading the cavalry into the Mongolian and Han infantry phalanx in front.
"Bang!"
A banner of the Mongolian army fell down.
Zhang Shun stepped on the flag and charged into the enemy soldiers, no longer as tired as before.
There was only one thought that kept repeating in my mind.
"Win the battle! Win the battle..."
To win a battle and drive away foreign invaders, you can only win a battle if you can really kill the enemy.
Although he is a humble citizen, he knows that when a man is born in troubled times, he must protect his family and country.
~~
The setting sun is like blood.
The flag stands in the wind and flies fiercely.
Li Xia stood on his horse and looked around, only to see that most of Shi Tianze's troops had fled far away.
He didn't give chase.
This battle was only a small victory, and there were casualties on both sides during the battle. In the end, Shi Tianze's two thousand infantry were left behind.
The results were not great, but as the beginning of the entire battle to guard Guanlong, it was regarded as the implementation of the first step of the strategy...