Directly west of Gaochang City, Zhang Xian led more than 10,000 troops to block Xiao Chala's garrison from leaving the city.
In the southwest of Gaochang City, Zhong Yanchong led more than 20,000 troops, but was held back by Yelu Tiege's Xiliao reinforcements.
These two battlefields, together with the main battlefield where Li Yanxian is located, form an irregular triangle.
If the three battlefields are added up, they stretch for ten miles from east to west and fourteen miles from north to south. It is difficult to know how the friendly forces are fighting, and fast horses must be used to convey news at any time.
Taiyang Khan of the Naiman tribe was completely confused about the situation.
He was a vassal of the Western Liao Dynasty, and the leaders of the various tribes were also his vassals. He did not unify the tribes through force, but inherited the title of Sun Khan conferred by the Liao Kingdom. The marriages of several major leaders were all related to each other.
It would be okay if it were a smooth battle, but in a desperate battle like this, Taiyang Khan would not be able to effectively command it.
A few days ago, facing the elite cavalry of the Ming Dynasty, he asked the leaders of each department to conserve their strength and wait for the reinforcements from Xiliao to arrive before fighting bravely.
Now he lets the leaders fight with all their strength, but those guys are still conserving their strength!
Eight thousand Naiman cavalry galloped around Zhang Xian's formation, but they didn't even have the guts to approach and shoot arrows, fearing that the Ming army's firearms would cause too much damage to them.
Xiao Chala'a did not use his superior troops to organize several infantry and cavalry attacks, but all ended in failure.
The harder it was to defeat them, the more anxious they became, worried that the reinforcements would be defeated.
Realizing that there was no way to fight, Xiao Chala'abu invited Taiyang Khan: "Your troops are mainly light cavalry, and they are of little use in attacking the enemy's formation. They will all go around to the western battlefield to harass the main force of the Ming army."
"yes!"
Taiyang Khan led 8,000 light cavalry...well, there are no more 8,000, and there have been more than 700 casualties in battles these days.
He led more than 7,000 Naiman cavalry and bypassed Zhang Xian's formation. After a long delay, he finally saw Li Yanxian's main force.
Li Yanxian didn't take Taiyang Khan seriously at all, and just sent out three thousand knights to stop him.
Yang Yun, a young Qiang general, has become a veteran cavalry general in his thirties. From the time he defected to Ju Ming to now, he has only led cavalry for 20 years. The cavalry in the entire Gyeonggi area is under his control, and his title is only one step away from the county prince.
remote.
Facing eight thousand Naiman cavalry, Yang Yun rushed over without saying a word.
These Ming Dynasty knights were divided into a small group of twenty-five people and a large group of 250 people. Behind each small group were all low-level officers, and the ratio of officers was frighteningly high.
Moreover, they are all top-notch war horses, almost qualified to carry heavy cavalry.
From equipment to soldiers to war horses, these three thousand cavalry are the elite among the elite of the Ming Dynasty!
They all spread out horizontally, and regardless of the thickness of the formation, each team only had two rows and charged intensively.
The so-called intensive charge means that the distance between the cavalry is only three or four meters.
In comparison, the number of officers of the Naiman cavalry was very small. About fifty people formed a team, and the proportion of officers was only one-fifth of that of the Ming cavalry. When they fought, they changed formations and directions, which mostly came from long-term accumulated experience.
.
When the two armies fought, the difference in organization quickly became apparent.
The next Taiyang Khan in history was also the son-in-law of the current Taiyang Khan. He led his troops to rush to the front of a Ming army cavalry brigade, and immediately after shooting the arrow, it was divided into two parts, and it flew in both directions very smoothly.
, and also used the superior force to let the following cavalry come over and shoot.
The idea of this tactic is to mobilize the enemy until he is tired of running around, and use the superiority of troops to encircle and fly kites.
However, I saw the flag commander of the Ming Army brigade immediately raising the flag and blowing the trumpet and issuing basic military orders to each squad.
Each Ming Army cavalry squad also had flag officers waving small flags.
Upon receiving the flag order, the officer of the squad in the corresponding direction immediately took the lead in reining in the horse and turning. The entire cavalry squad, including the captain, followed the officer and turned.
At the beginning, it was difficult for Yichi to keep up with the Ming army.
But when running, they are always half a beat slower than the Ming cavalry. When executing slightly complex instructions, even if the prairie cavalry has rich experience, it still needs more reaction time.
In a daze, a group of more than 60 grassland cavalry was somehow outflanked by two Ming army cavalry squads, as if they had bumped into it on their own initiative.
The light cavalry was attacked in close combat by the valiant cavalry. Needless to say, what would happen to them? Only a few cavalrymen managed to break through in embarrassment.
During the battle between the cavalry of the two armies, 3,000 Ming cavalry were charging rampantly, and more than 7,000 prairie cavalry were unable to resist. Due to the backward equipment and organization, the strength advantage could not be exerted at all. Instead, there were squads of Ming cavalry everywhere, cooperating with each other to divide the pack.
Pincer the enemy, and then quickly eat the prey caught in the pincer.
After a short battle, the Naiman cavalry suffered more than 600 casualties, while the Ming Xiaocai only suffered 100 casualties.
Most of the casualties among the Naiman tribe were those killed in battle.
However, most of the Ming cavalry were injured, and the number of casualties in battle was even in the single digits. The cavalry's cotton armor and the leather armor of the war horses were staggered with arrows everywhere. Some of the barbarian cavalry's bone arrows were even attached to the war horses.
Even the leather armor he wears cannot be penetrated.
After repeated beatings, the tribal nobles were completely killed.
These guys ignored Taiyang Khan's military orders and took it upon themselves to try to distance themselves and escape, hoping to temporarily leave the battlefield to look for opportunities.
They did escape, but at the cost of having the tails of more than 800 people eaten by Ming cavalry!
Withdrawing far between the two battlefields in the east and west, Taiyang Khan was inexplicably frightened. He had encountered Ming Dynasty knights before, but they were not Yang Yun's elite among the elite. The battle just now left him stunned.
Yi Nanchi ran to see his father-in-law covered in blood: "Khan, our troops rushed too far forward just now, and somehow we killed or injured three or four hundred people!"
Taiyang Khan said: "Go back and provide you with some herdsmen."
"Great Khan, the Ming army is too strong," another leader said. "Even Yelu Dashi did not have such powerful knights back then. Daliao will definitely be defeated this time. Let's... withdraw..."
"Great Khan, withdraw your troops!"
"Great Khan, we can't even defeat the Ming Army's cavalry, so how can we possibly break through the Ming Army's chariot formation?"
The leaders gathered around one after another.
What does the life and death of Xiliao have to do with them?
The descendants of these guys even engaged in internal strife in another time and space. Some continued to seek refuge in Xiliao, some formed an alliance with Wang Khan, and some were loyal to Genghis Khan.
Listening to the sound of artillery in the distance, Taiyang Khan did not hesitate for too long and ordered: "Withdraw troops!"
They not only withdrew their troops, but also plundered the tribes at the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains on their way back. Many of the young men of those tribes were recruited to defend Gaochang, and a large number of women, children and livestock were kidnapped by Taiyang Khan.
They even went south the following year and annexed the Khitan tribal pastures belonging to Xiliao.
Not only did you not lose money, but you made a lot of money!
How can it be worthwhile to backstab an ally in a bloody battle to the death?
…
But he said that on Xiao Weili's side, the front army was shaken by Wu Jie's bombardment, and other troops could only be used to support it.
He tried to use his military superiority to organize the left and right armies to break through.
But to the left and right of Wu Jie's light vehicle camp was the main heavy vehicle camp that was slowly moving forward. The Xiliao troops were defeated one by one. They wanted to use cavalry to attack the two wings, but the battlefield of the Ming army was wide enough, and the Ming cavalry was still there to protect them at critical times.
, the Xiliao cavalry returned without success every time.
At this moment, a light cavalryman came from the southern battlefield to report the news, and said in great horror: "The Ming army cavalry suddenly came out from behind our army!"
But it was Chen Ziyi who had circled back and joined the southern battlefield at some point.
Before he set off, he received military orders with two plans.
Option 1: If the enemy camp can be raided, then rush into the camp and burn the food and grass.
Option two, if the enemy camp is difficult to attack by force, then fight back from the enemy's rear. But don't keep taking the main road, but go south to hide your presence and go straight to the direction of the camp where Zhong Yanchong is stationed.
Brother Yelu Tie was ordered to divide his troops and drag out Zhong Yanchong's tribe. The two sides fought, and Chen Ziyi suddenly came out from the southwest.
Although the light cavalry arranged by Brother Yelu Tie was on guard from a distance, Chen Ziyi rushed forward without hesitation.
Brother Yelutie received the news and hurriedly ordered the rear troops to turn into formation.
Zhong Yanchong took the opportunity to abandon his chariot and rushed out with his entire army without any warning, cooperating with Chen Ziyi to form a pincer attack from both front and rear.
The Xiliao troops here are just to hold back Zhong Yanchong, and their combat effectiveness and will are far inferior to Xiao Orili's main force. Most of them belong to the aristocratic armed forces that surrendered to Xiliao, and their territories are in the surrounding areas of Xiliao's capital. They have been planted before.
Yan Chong's car formation was frightened.
Now being attacked from both sides, some nobles even collapsed at the first touch.
Brother Yelutie couldn't bear it anymore, so he led his own soldiers and a few cavalry to escape.
Zhong Yanchong sent all the cavalry under his command to cooperate with Chen Ziyi in chasing and defeating the enemy. He led the infantry and accelerated without chariots to the main battlefield on Li Yanxian's side, where more than 10,000 people directly threatened Xiao Orili.
of the right wing.
Chen Ziyi chased for a while, ignored the defeated troops, and led the cavalry around Xiao Weili's flank and rear.
Xiao Weili had just sent out cavalry to rescue him, but halfway there he found Brother Yelu Tie leading the remaining soldiers to escape.
Brother Yelutie ran away all the way. When he saw Xiao Orili, he said: "Escape quickly, otherwise we will be surrounded by several sides!"
Xiao Weili glanced at the main army whose morale was almost at the bottom, and without saying a word, he blew the trumpet and ordered the cavalry to evacuate.
As long as they keep their elite cavalry, Xiliao will have a deterrent effect in the Qihe area.
If the elite cavalry is lost, rebellions will break out in the core territory of Xiliao in minutes.
Seeing that all of their own cavalry were withdrawing, the infantry, which had already suffered heavy losses from firearms, were so frightened that they threw away their weapons and ran away. And they were afraid of running too slowly, so they even took off their armor as they ran.
Xiao Weili, Brother Yelvtie, Li Tiansheng and others ran so fast that Chen Ziyi, who was responsible for intercepting them, failed to stop them in advance.
Seventy percent of the Ming army's cavalry were sent to pursue him, all the way to Xiao Weili's camp.
Xiao Weili didn't dare to enter the camp, so he walked around the camp directly.
The soldiers and civilians who stayed behind in the camp were so frightened that they ran away, without even bothering to burn the food, grass and luggage.
Li Yanxian, on the other hand, took all the infantry and 30% of the cavalry and returned to the eastern battlefield without any delay.
After another attack by Xiao Cha La A Bu was repulsed, Li Yanxian ordered: "Stop the bombardment and send people over to persuade them to surrender."
A Ming Qingqi rushed to the front of the formation, but no enemy fired an arrow.
When the Xiliao soldiers who came out of Gaochang City saw Li Yanxian leading his army to fight, they already understood that the reinforcements had been defeated.
Xiao Chala'abu sighed: "Let him come over."
The Ming cavalry rode straight into the enemy's center and said: "The commander-in-chief has an order, surrender and avoid death!"
Generals from the Western Liao Dynasty came one after another. Most of them were local nobles, and they were all waiting for Xiao Chala's surrender order.
If you don't surrender, you'll be chopped into pieces!
"Surrender." Xiao Chala'abu sighed.
He was escorted to see Li Yanxian. Li Yanxian smiled and asked, "Are you convinced?"
Xiao Chala'abu shook his head: "If you don't accept it, you rely on your sharp firearms."
"If you say surrender and avoid death, surrender and avoid death," Li Yanxian asked again, "Are you convinced?"
Xiao Zhala Abu hesitated for a moment, knelt down and kowtowed and said, "I'm convinced."
