Brother Richard's infantry formation was placed there. The Ming cavalry did not charge into the formation by force. Instead, they lined up and guarded the battlefield, searching for wounded soldiers and the bodies of the dead and bringing them back.
The grassland cavalry attached to the Ming Dynasty concentrated on picking up arrows in a safe area.
They repeatedly harassed the Xixia army in a loose formation, and almost all the arrows they brought with them were shot.
These people have special small sticks with a curved hook tied to the end of the stick. They can lean down and pick up arrows while riding on horseback.
As the Ming Dynasty progressed, bow tips began to have hooks, so there was no need to bring special arrow-picking tools. One kind of Kaiyuan bow had a particularly obvious tip hook.
Brother Richard is also forming his team, especially the soldiers and Iron Kites who have fled back to the formation.
The Xixia light cavalry who had fled to the periphery of the battlefield also gathered towards the sides and rear one after another, but they did not dare to get too close to the Ming cavalry.
The auxiliary cavalry helped the heavy cavalry dismount, stood on the spot to restore the horse's strength, and even took the time to feed the horse water and salt.
The Qingqiu also dismounted, always paying attention to the movements of the Xixia Qingqi.
Both sides are waiting.
The Ming army was waiting to recover their strength and collect more arrows. Then they let the light cavalry on the grassland shoot arrows to disrupt the Xixia infantry formation. Once they seized the opportunity, they would charge with brave cavalry and heavy cavalry.
So what is Brother Richard waiting for?
He was waiting for the eight thousand light cavalry sent to attack and break through the castle behind the Ming army. They would blow up the siege artillery there and burn the grain and grass piled in the castle.
In this battle, due to the disastrous defeat of the Xixia cavalry, Brother Richard has already lost. But if he can destroy the artillery and grain of the Ming army, he can withdraw to Wu Lahai City and defend it. If the attack to seize the city fails, Brother Richard will continue to attack Wu Lahai.
Haicheng was about to give up and directly led his cavalry to flee back to Keyi Gate.
The Ming army already had a huge advantage, but Yang Yizhong was furious at this moment.
He complained that he was not brave enough. When he saw the iron kite charging at him, his first reaction was to distance himself and run away. If the iron kite dared to fight and Yang Jin and Yue Fei did not rush to rescue him, the 1,500 knights under Yang Yizhong would be scrapped.
If you do, you will be surrounded and suppressed by the enemy and will not be able to get out.
He also complained that Tie Yaozi was such a waste, that he was just a faggot and didn't dare to chase after him with all his strength.
If he had known this, he would have run away and directly confronted Tie Yaozi. With Yang Jin, Yue Fei, and Li Shifu constantly following up, as long as Yang Yizhong dared to charge directly at Tie Yaozi, he would have taken advantage of the situation and swept over. It is estimated that the Xixia infantry formation would have been broken.
It's too late, Brother Richard has no time to mobilize his troops.
But he did not dare to charge at that time, and as a result, two hundred Ming Dynasty knights were intercepted by the enemy as they fled. After a bloody battle, only thirty more knights escaped.
Those were all his soldiers, all of them brave and fearless. The more Yang Yizhong thought about it, the more he blamed himself.
Yang Jin had the same idea at this time. He was sent to meet Yang Yizhong, but when he saw the iron kite, he did not dare to rush forward. He subconsciously opened a distance and went around to meet Yang Yizhong.
Yang Jin thought to himself that if he had dared to charge back then, he would have made great achievements now.
Damn it, Tie Yaozi, this bunch of losers, actually bluffed me!
…
I don’t know how long it took, but Han Shizhong called the chiefs of the tribes: "You take turns to pretend to charge and shoot arrows to disrupt the enemy's formation. The matter of breaking the formation is left to the Ming cavalry. If this battle is won, the Xixia armor captured will be calculated according to the merit.
It was all distributed to the various tribes, and Yue Duhu and I didn’t take any of it, including Tie Yaozi’s battle armor!”
As soon as these words came out, the chiefs of all tribes were in high spirits.
When the Ming cavalry went on a rampage, various tribes on the grassland were also fighting. They dragged Xixia infantry and tens of thousands of light cavalry. As a result, they suffered heavy losses, especially when they were shot and killed by Xixia crossbowmen. So far, nearly a thousand people have been killed, and there are many wounded.
The soldier is in urgent need of medical treatment.
The casualty rate exceeded 10%, and the cavalry units did not even want to fight. Of course they did not dare to withdraw directly, but they planned to perform paddling skills to preserve their own strength in the next battle.
But, now I want to fight again.
Because all the captured soldiers and armors, including the Iron Kites armor, were distributed to them.
Under Han Shizhong's arrangement, cavalry teams of 100 people from various grassland tribes formed a sparse formation and rushed forward one after another. When they were about ten steps closer, they shot an arrow and immediately swept away.
Specially shoot those Xixia infantry with insufficient armor!
The Ming Dynasty cavalry and heavy cavalry were all mounted to protect the cavalry movements of the grassland. As long as the Xixia cavalry dared to obstruct them, the Ming Dynasty cavalry would immediately charge forward.
Round after round of arrows flew out, and the Xixia infantry formation became visibly chaotic.
No matter how powerful the Xixia crossbowmen were, they only had 3,000 people. The chiefs of all the grassland tribes carefully avoided them, not wanting to get into contact with those crossbowmen.
Of course, there were other archers in Xixia, and cavalry shooting suffered greatly when encountering infantry shooting. The various grassland tribes suffered even greater losses from being shot at.
It depends on who can't bear it first!
Yue Fei's commander was standing on the outside of the right wing of the Xixia army. He could see it more clearly than Han Shizhong, and suddenly sent a flag signal to Han Shizhong.
Han Shizhong immediately responded with a signal, letting Yue Fei decide the timing of the battle on his own, and asked Yue Fei to unified command the right wing troops.
Yue Fei immediately summoned nearby generals, including those under Han Shizhong.
After some instructions, the valiant cavalry led by Yang Jin divided into four teams and took the lead in attacking. They charged alternately with the prairie cavalry, ignoring the rest of the enemy troops and only caught one of them, which had a low armor rate, and repeatedly feinted to charge and shoot.
In Yang Yizhong, Wang Gui led his troops to move to the west to prevent Xixia Qingqi from rushing over and causing trouble.
Li Shifu's heavy cavalry advanced dozens of steps and waited, looking for an opportunity to charge directly into the formation.
Xu Qing led his troops in the area between the various units. He was responsible for responding to dangers and charging into the formation to expand the results when opportunities came.
The Xixia infantry that was concentrated and attacked by the Ming army was the capture force brought by Brother Richard from the Chaoshun Army Division.
Normally, when the Qisheng Army was drafted for the first time, each of them had to be issued a horse and a camel. Their ancestors also had armor issued by the Xixia court, most of which were leather armor, and a few were iron armor, which were passed down from generation to generation.
Maintenance, check whether their armor is in good condition every once in a while.
Their war horse died, and they had to find a way to replace it themselves.
If their armor is broken, they will be fined by the inspectors, and the court will allocate and replenish it. The fines are used to buy armor.
These rules were very strict a few decades ago, but now they are no longer taken seriously.
Especially in the prefectures and counties surrounding Xingqing Prefecture, many tribes have switched to farming. More and more soldiers there are unwilling to pay for their own troops and horses. The court can only acquiesce to the status quo and even no longer pay new soldiers.
The army horses gradually became completely reduced to infantry.
The armor didn't bother to check, and even if it did, it was perfunctory.
??????55.??????
The leather armor of the captured army in front of me was as tattered as a beggar's, and they were all heirlooms passed down for two or three generations.
The defeat of the Xixia cavalry had already made them fearful. At this moment, the cavalry focused their fire again, and one group after another encountered a hail of arrows.
They also used bows and arrows to fight back, but the bows and arrows were poorly maintained and shot lightly with little power.
Brother Richard also felt that something was wrong and quickly sent the elite infantry troops over.
At this moment, Yue Fei shouted: "Blow the trumpet!"
With the dull sound of the horn, Li Shifu's 300 heavy cavalry were dispatched. They followed a group of heroic cavalry, and when the heroic cavalry passed by with arrows, the heavy cavalry suddenly rushed towards the army that was about to collapse.
"Run for your life!"
The spearmen in the front row of this beggar-like capture force threw away their weapons, pushed each other, turned around and fled.
The Xixia infantry generals on both sides seemed to want to come to the rescue. Li Shifu's heavy cavalry had already rushed into the gap and was chasing the broken troops to attack the rear troops.
Xu Qing, who was in charge of the response, did not wait for Yue Fei to give the order, and already led his troops to follow closely, rushing into the gap to attack the troops next to the defeated troops.
Brother Richard directed the Xixia light cavalry to dispatch while dispatching the right-wing infantry to fill the gap.
At this time, he still wanted to fight, maybe he could use infantry to block it.
But he overestimated his troops, and Xixia was no longer the Xixia it once was.
Fear spread like a plague. As Li Shifu and Xu Qing charged into battle, three Xixia infantry groups collapsed. Yang Jin also launched a charge with his whole team, further expanding the results.
The several light cavalry sent by Brother Richard were first intercepted by Yang Yizhong and Wang Gui, and then encountered Yue Fei personally leading his own team to attack.
"Blow the drums, blow the trumpets, and the whole army goes out!"
Han Shizhong also seized the opportunity and ordered all troops to rush together. Even he himself led his own soldiers to fight out.
Xixia infantry formation, shouts of killing could be heard from three sides.
The left wing and the front army did not understand what was going on at first. It was not until they heard the deafening cries of the friendly troops on the right that they realized that their side might have been defeated. They threw down their weapons and ran away frantically, completely losing their minds and no longer thinking about losing.
The formation will be slaughtered at will.
Tens of thousands of Xixia soldiers were defeated in an instant!
Those with war horses fled very fast, especially those Xixia light cavalry. They were originally hiding on the sides and rear, but at this time they charged in the opposite direction and were at the front.
Brother Richard also acted quickly. Before Han Shizhong's war drum sounded, he had already fled with his own soldiers and the remaining iron kites.
Moreover, instead of escaping in the direction of Wu Lahai City, they fled to Keyi Gate, where the Chaoshun Military Division was stationed - which was the northern barrier of the Xixia capital.
By guarding Keyi Gate, Xixia can continue to fight.
If Brother Richard leads his troops and flees to Wu Lahaicheng, then once the city is destroyed, Han Shizhong may go directly to the Emperor of Xixia for a drink!
Yue Yun followed Li Shifu and charged hard. He was extremely excited now.
In the previous battle, he killed three iron kites with his own hands, and now he was charging through the enemy formation. This was enough excitement for a young man who had just entered the battlefield to lose his mind. Now he only saw the enemy troops in front of him.
There were too many defeated troops, and they fled randomly to block the path of the Ming army.
Han Shizhong shouted: "Instruct the generals of the Ming Dynasty not to worry about the Xixia infantry and hunt down the Xixia cavalry. Then I order the tribes in the grassland not to kill prisoners indiscriminately. Capturing the enemy troops will also be considered as credit!"
Yue Fei's right-wing Ming cavalry was chasing the Xixia cavalry that had just rushed over.
On the left wing, Li Yu and Liu Zhengyan bypassed the fleeing infantry and pursued the nearby Xixia Qingqi.
All the Xixia infantry were handed over to the grassland tribes. Those guys seemed extremely excited. They intercepted and killed the soldiers in separate teams, forcing the Xixia infantry to surrender in droves.
The Ming cavalry chased them for more than 70 miles and returned one after another until midnight. Some people even got lost and disappeared at night.
Brother Richard fled from dusk to dawn. Some of the more than 20,000 Xixia Qingqi followed him and fled south, some fled to Wu Lahai City, some fled further to the Zhenyan Army Division, and some
Many local people surrendered directly to the Ming army.
After Brother Richard escaped back to Keyi Gate, he spent a few days gathering the cavalry who had fled back one after another.
There are only twelve thousand riders left.
There were another eight thousand people who circled back to attack the castle. The situation was unknown, and four to five thousand horsemen fled to the Zhenyan Army Division. There were still three to four thousand horsemen who fled into Wu Lahai City, and thousands of infantrymen stayed behind in the city.
The rest of the Xixia soldiers were either killed or captured, and more than 50,000 were killed or captured by the Ming army.
Brother Richard seemed a little in a daze. Xixia had suffered such a big defeat before. But this time it was obviously different. The Ming Dynasty was too powerful and came directly to destroy Xixia.
This year's war is just the beginning, and the real general offensive will not be launched until next year.
The Ming army in the Shaanxi direction may kill hundreds of thousands of people!
The Iron Harriers have been crippled, with only more than 400 people left to escape, and the crossbowmen were completely wiped out. Will Buba Zi and the Qiansheng Army be used next year to deal with the hundreds of thousands of Ming troops?
Brother Richard began to reflect. He should not have rescued Wu Lahaicheng. He should have allowed all the Weifu Army Division to withdraw southward, with strong walls and clear fields to lure the Ming army deep into the city... No, no, this was a routine to deal with the Song army in the Hengshan area. Put it in the Hetao.
It is useless to deal with the Ming army externally.
Brother Richard discovered that no matter how he directed, he could not defeat Han Shizhong.
The army under his command is too weak.
The Iron Kites were actually able to be defeated head-on by a group of valiant cavalry!
How to fight this?
The infantry was even worse. Since the time for dispatching troops was too tight, he couldn't move all the way to fight, so he could only use the rubbish troops recruited nearby.
The Qisheng Army, which had not gone out to plunder for more than ten years, had extremely rubbish equipment and extremely rubbish morale.
The news spread back to Xingqing Mansion, and the Xixia government and the public were shocked.
Fifteen-year-old Li Renxiao was extremely panicked. Prime Minister Li Renzhong said: "Your Majesty, there is no need to panic. When the King of Jin led reinforcements to the north, we had already sent envoys to contact the Liao Kingdom (Yelü Dashi). The Liao Kingdom is getting stronger and stronger in the Western Regions, and they will bring it with them."
The army came to the rescue."
Li Renxiao asked: "What should Liao do if they don't send troops?"
Li Renzhong said: "They will. I have made the envoy promise that as long as the Liao Kingdom sends troops to help, he will teach them how to make firearms. Your Majesty can also send another envoy to Luoyang to see if..."
"Can anything be done?" Li Renxiao asked.
Li Renzhong said: "Can you cede the territory in exchange for a truce with the Ming Dynasty?"