Liu Zheng stood on the east bank of the river, raised his telescope and looked, and saw that the trend of Li Qiyuan on the other bank had become horizontal.
The plateau is a common landform in the northwest, formed by water erosion. He had never seen it before, and thought it was the mountains extending from the Loess Plateau into Guanzhong.
At this time, Liu Zheng was located on the boundary of Pucheng. To the west was Beiluoshui. The river made a bend and surrounded the south. To the east were two plateaus extending from north to south, called Hecheng plateau and Lou River. Ziyuan.
They came from the north and marched between the river and the plateau, so as to avoid attracting the attention of the Song army as much as possible and attack Chang'an by surprise.
Of course, the cavalry can attack the city, penetrate the enemy's territory, enter the city, drive prisoners, launch artillery carts, and boil corpses in oil. This is how the Mongolian army has always fought.
Of course, if the speed is faster, just like when Xinyang City was captured, the light cavalry can sneak up first, capture the defenders, and then use the army to take control of Chang'an.
It doesn't matter if the surprise attack fails. As long as these 10,000 cavalry appear around Chang'an, Guanzhong will be shaken and the entire defense line will be close to collapse. It will be A Shu, Yang Dayuan, Dong Wenyong and others who can contain the Song army.
After marching here, we have to cross the river.
Liu Zheng ordered his old troops to swim to the other side and tie up ropes, while the army prepared to build a simple pontoon bridge.
Before the pontoon bridge was built, a horse came running back from afar.
"Commander! Found traces of the Song Army..."
Liu Zheng turned around and looked north, seeing a tall tower in the distance.
That is the Haiyuan Temple Pagoda, built when the Jin Kingdom was at its peak.
The tall tower stands among the loess, with billows of dust and smoke rising around it.
"Zhang Jue is indeed still in Guanzhong."
Liu Zheng did not panic, but first summoned thousands of households, Aulu, Daruhuachi, and the generals in the middle of the army to give military strategies.
Soon, there were many shouts in Mongolian and the sound of the interpreter speaking hastily.
"General Hu Richa asked the commander why Tan Ma only found out about the Song Army now..."
"Commander, General Bagan said that with a thousand cavalry, he can kill this enemy army..."
"..."
"Shut up, everyone!" Liu Zheng scolded, looking very rude.
He found the buzzing sounds noisy.
After he stopped the generals and the surrounding area became quieter, he calmly set up the arrangements.
"Zhang Jue is a ruthless man. He first threw away the camp and then the county seat to lure me into a trap. His plan is not small. Since he wants to annihilate us, he must first take Xiayang Ferry to cut off our retreat. Now that our retreat is blocked, we The only way to survive is to break through Guanzhong."
After Liu Zheng finished speaking, he paused for a moment, waiting for the interpreter to translate his words to the few thousand households of the Mongolian army.
At this time, the fighting spirit of the soldiers had been mobilized by him, but then he changed the topic and said: "In my opinion, it is easy to conquer Guanzhong! Don't forget, we not only have this army of soldiers and horses , there will also be support from troops from Longxi, Yan'an, Wuguan, and Tongguan..."
After analyzing the situation to the generals again, Liu Zheng raised his voice.
"Therefore, it is the Song Army that is eager for a decisive battle! But we don't have to be anxious at all. We only need to cross Guanlong to mobilize the Song Army to run for its lives. In this battle, we will not fight the Song Army. Each team of thousands of men will break through first. Meet in Chang'an..."
Liu Zheng was unwilling to fight Zhang Jue for many reasons.
As he said, it was not necessary. As long as he was not annihilated, he could contain the Guanzhong defenders; and he had indeed been ambushed by Zhang Jue and was passive. He was not sure of the decisive battle now.
In addition, most of the soldiers and horses under his command were Mongolian Tanma Red Army, and his command was not smooth.
The Mongolian Tanma Red Army... sounds like a very strong Mongolian army, but it is not.
The Mongolian army is divided into several levels. The most elite and highest-status ones are naturally the Qixue army, which is the bodyguard of the Great Khan and is the most trusted soldier of the Great Khan.
As soon as he joined the Qixue Army, he was of Mongolian origin, but not all of the Qoxue Army were Mongolians. They were all Mongols, including Uighurs, Dangxiangs, Asos, Kipchaks, Hans, and Koreans. The key was the "trust of the Great Khan."
In addition, there is the Badulu Army, which is cannon fodder, the Proton Army, the old Han Army, and the new Han Army.
As for the Tanma Red Army, it is said that its status is higher than that of the Han Army, but not by much.
They were issued from the Mongolian army to station in the place for a long time.
Serious Mongolians are actually unwilling to leave the grassland. They think that the Tanma Red Army is a "heavy service army" and are unwilling to go.
Therefore, there are all kinds of people in the Tanma Red Army. Mongolians who don't get along well are mostly Semu people, and there are also some Han people. Their combat power is uneven.
For example, in Dali a few years ago, the Mongolian troops in Sichuan and Sichuan were mostly Tanma Red Army, in addition to Han troops.
Let’s say they are not strong. They are really good at riding and shooting. A Shu also led the Tanma Red Army to penetrate the Song Dynasty.
But if we look at how strong the Tanma Red Army was, and it was losing battles every year, Shi Jun could defeat three times as many enemies with 3,000 men, and Pu Zezhi immediately killed Atahu when he entered Chengdu.
The Mongolian population was not large, and even fewer supported Kublai Khan. Therefore, the Han army had gradually become Kublai Khan's main force besides the cowardly Xue army.
Liu Zheng knew very well that he could lead the Tanma Red Army to attack the city and plunder the territory. If he could make detours like A Shu, it would not be difficult to defeat the Song Army.
But it is not easy to fight a tough battle, especially when the command is not going smoothly.
If you must fight, you must fight with the method that the Mongolian cavalry is best at.
Liu Zheng immediately decided to divide his troops into five groups to break out of the encirclement, and designated a time to meet at Chang'an.
Ten thousand cavalry dispersed quickly to avoid being surrounded by the Song army.
The so-called "Scattered like wind and rain, as swift as thunder and lightning, as agile as an eagle or a falcon, whipping down those who belong to it, means to make an appointment at the right time, and travel thousands of miles without delay. It has learned the tricks of military strategists and is good at using strange things."
If you look down from the sky, it will look like an ant nest exploding, with groups of cavalry spreading out in circles.
This is called the "Crow Soldiers Spreading Stars Formation".
"Liu Zhengkong has a great reputation, but that's all."
In the Song army's formation, when Lin Zi saw the Mongolian cavalry formation dispersed, completely lacking the posture of a decisive battle, he couldn't help but burst into anger.
Zhang Jue's face was livid, and the veins on his forehead were beating.
Lin Zi said that Liu Zheng's reputation was "in vain", but what Zhang Jue was most afraid of was that Liu Zheng would not fight and he would withdraw.
Knowing when to retreat and being able to retreat is the most powerful skill of a famous general.
Others could not feel how much pressure Zhang Jue was under, but he allowed the enemy soldiers to enter and plunder. In the end, if Liu Zheng could not be annihilated in this battle... Zhang Jue could no longer afford the consequences.
The 10,000 Mongolian cavalry did not carry much baggage. Once they dispersed, they would surely plunder them everywhere.
And I'm afraid it won't be long before Guanzhong will be surrounded from all sides, making it difficult to defend.
Then Zhang Jue had no face to face the soldiers, so he could only kill himself to thank the world.
As for the terrain in Guanzhong, there are not many places where the Mongolian cavalry can besieged. The battlefield in front of us at least includes Beiluoshui and Loess Terrace. Further south, it is really a flat river.
In other words, if Liu Zheng is not annihilated today, it will be even more difficult later.
But even on today's battlefield, the terrain did not completely surround the Mongolian army, and there were still passages between the loess plateaus.
"Beat the drums, send the order, surround me with the Mongolian army, and never let them break through!"
At the beginning of last year, before Li Xia was crowned king, he had discussed with Zhang Jue the population and military strength under his rule.
At that time, Chongqing had not yet been conquered, with a population of more than 4 million and 70,000 soldiers and horses.
In the past year and a half, after occupying Chongqing Prefecture and absorbing the population, the population of Sichuan and Shaanxi has reached more than five million.
Li Xia did not support redundant troops like the Song Dynasty did. Last year, he began to reduce troops and return to farming, implemented a policy of elite troops, and stationed troops in various places for military garrison.
Even so, after the replacement and the captured prisoners, the total number of troops under the rule has reached more than 100,000.
It's not much to say, but every fifty people, including the old, weak, sick and disabled, have to support one soldier. This is actually a quite heavy burden. It can only be supported because of the clean political situation and simple customs.
And these 100,000 troops are to defend Dali, Chongqing, Chengdu, Hanzhong, Longxi, and Guanzhong, and the elite troops that can be mobilized are less than 30,000.
This time, Li Xia even bet that the Mongolian army would not attack Hanzhong along the Han River, so he quietly transferred the troops to the west of Hanzhong, and also transferred the troops to the south of Guanzhong from Lantian to Wuguan.
But when he personally went to contain the Dong family's troops, he handed over the main force of 20,000 to Zhang Jue.
Zhang Jue divided more than 4,000 troops to attack Xiayangdu. At this time, he led 16,000 elite troops and deployed more than 2,000 troops stationed near Pucheng to block the Mongolian army.
However, a force twice that of the enemy was not enough to face the Mongolian cavalry scattered into a formation of crow soldiers.
…
"Stop them!"
"Shield Bearer!"
After the sound of "ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang') Xiong Shan raised his head from behind the shield and looked forward.
Because the Mongolian army's strength was too scattered.
Xiongshan is now the capital, guarding the area between Hecheng Yuan and Louzi Yuan.
But what was different from what was expected was that the Mongolian army did not attack by force. They just kept galloping on their horses and used arrows to fight the Song army.
If this consumption continues, the Song army fighting right at home will certainly have the upper hand.
But Xiong Shan soon discovered something was wrong...
"They are still building a pontoon bridge! We have to go from the west!"
The horn sounded, Xiong Shan looked over and saw that Zhang Jue had led the ax team straight into the Mongolian army.
This Zhang Shuai was really ruthless when he entered the war. He was ruthless to himself and to his enemies...
But after fighting for another stick of incense, they found that two groups of Mongolian troops had surrounded Zhang Jue's commanding flag.
"Hey, we finally gathered."
Xiong Shan spat out a mouthful of blood and immediately led his army to kill him.
First there were thunderbolt cannons and two more rounds of crossbow arrows. The Song army immediately set up their spears and stabbed the Mongolian Red Army, starting a physical fight.
Many people in the world always think that the Mongolians from the grasslands eat a lot of meat and are strong, so they must be very strong in hand-to-hand combat. However, Xiong Shan, who has been fighting with the Mongols for so many years, thinks that the Mongolians are better at riding.
Archery, and the endurance of horses.
These advantages enabled the Mongolian army to always carry out a roundabout strategy and conduct surprise attacks to win.
Fighting with swords and axes, the Song army soldiers were not actually afraid of the Mongolian army.
The soldiers in human armor stepped in front of the horses and stabbed them with their spears, causing blood to pour out.
The sun in the sky was scorching hot, and the halo dazzled people's eyes. Xiong Shan turned his eyes and could see steam rising from the red faces of the soldiers wearing human armor next to him...
I don’t know how long the fight lasted, but suddenly there was a shout in Mongolian.
Immediately afterwards, soldiers from both sides who understood Chinese shouted.
"The floating bridge is ready!"
"Back off!"
"Cover them up! Kill the Mongolian troops into the river."
The trumpet sounded again.
Xiong Shan looked back and was shocked to see Liu Zheng's handsome flag on the other side of the Beiluo River.
"The dog thief escaped!"
"咴lvlv!"
The next moment, a group of Mongolian cavalry took advantage of the chaos and instead of retreating to the Luoshui Floating Bridge, they rushed between Hecheng Yuan and Louzi Yuan.
At this time, Xiongshan's defense line had spread, and there was actually a gap for a breakout.
"Stop them!"
Xiong Shan immediately rushed towards the defense line, raising the sword high in his hand.
Facing him was a Mongolian soldier Qianhu, who had already raised his hammer.
The horse's speed increased faster and faster, and it hit Xiong Mountain. The hammer was fully charged.
"ah!"
Xiong Shan is also full of energy.
Since he joined the army, he has not thought about whether he is a Miao or a Han for a long time. He only wants to keep everything he has now.
This time, he was very angry about the strategy of letting enemy soldiers enter the country.
It's the same sentence, "The enemy soldiers wielding swords against the people under their rule is a shame for those of us who serve in the army..."