The two armies came closer and closer. When they were three miles apart, the armies stopped. The two armies stretched for nearly ten miles, with flags fluttering and murderous intent.
Li Na's main force was 30,000 cavalry, almost all of which were Donghu people. Most of them were Goguryeo and Xi people who had participated in the Anshi Rebellion. They were veterans brought by Li Zhengji's predecessor Hou Xiyi from Youzhou and were very sharp and good at fighting.
The other 20,000 troops are the Goguryeo troops brought from Silla last year, and the remaining 30,000 troops are local troops recruited.
The two armies faced each other at a distance, and in terms of terrain, the Ziqing Army had a slight advantage. The terrain was undulating and they were at a slightly higher ground. This terrain was conducive to cavalry attacks.
Li Na was wearing iron armor and holding a long spear in his hand. He squinted at the Tang army's formation. His deputy Wu Yuanji whispered: "Marshal, the Tang army has no crossbowmen!"
Li Na nodded, not really. He couldn't understand why Guo Ziyi didn't have a crossbowman, but he didn't think about it any more. He raised his spear and ordered: "The cavalry will attack and defeat the main force of the Tang army!"
Thirty thousand cavalry suddenly launched into action, rushing down from high places like a torrent, their horses galloping with a momentum that was earth-shattering.
Thirty thousand cavalrymen were all wearing armor and holding spears in their hands. They looked ferocious and terrifying, shouting and urging the horses to gallop.
Guo Ziyi coldly ordered: "The heavy armored infantry is out, the firearms battalion is ready!"
"Woo——"
The Tang army's horn sounded, and the 30,000 Tang army in the center retreated dozens of steps like an ebbing tide, revealing 6,000 heavy armored infantry.
They were arranged in three rows, half squatting on the ground, with the tail of their swords pressed against the ground, looking at the enemy with cold eyes.
Li Na was shocked. It turned out that the Tang army had heavy armored infantry. No wonder their infantry dared to confront the cavalry, but the cavalry rushed out like water and could not be recovered.
Li Na's heart exploded with murderous intent, and he shouted: "If you beat the drum, you will win!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Fierce war drums beat, which is the drumbeat that inspires thirty thousand cavalry, causing them to destroy everything and kill everything.
Guo Ziyi was as calm as Mount Tai and ordered: "Cavalry attack from both sides!"
Lai Yi led the cavalry on both sides to attack. The 20,000 Tang army cavalry did not fight the opponent's cavalry, but outflanked and killed the opponent's infantry from both sides.
Both sides use cavalry to deal with infantry. It depends on whose infantry is stronger. Theoretically, the Ziqing Army has a slight advantage because it has more people, but it is not necessarily true. The Tang Army has powerful heavy armored infantry specifically to deal with cavalry.
There are even more mysterious firearms camps.
The cavalry arrived 150 steps away from the Tang army's formation. Thirty small trebuchets had been prepared and thirty small iron fire mines were loaded into the hurling pockets.
The small iron fire mines weigh about ten kilograms and look like small watermelons. They can be thrown a hundred and twenty steps away. If it uses gunpowder, it is not powerful enough and the small iron fire mines cannot explode, but explosives will do.
The overwhelming cavalry rushed a hundred steps away, and the commander shouted: "Launch!"
Thirty iron fire thunders rose into the sky, puffing out smoke, and smashed directly into the cavalry group. In just a moment, "Boom! Boom!" a series of violent explosions rang out from the cavalry group.
The cavalrymen were knocked upside down by the explosion, with corpses strewn on the ground. Many people were blown up into the air. A large number of iron pieces were shot out in all directions. A large number of cavalrymen were hit and fell to the ground. For a time, gunpowder smoke filled the air.
Li Na's face turned pale with fright. What he feared most appeared. The Tang army actually used siege weapons on the battlefield. But at this time, he had no choice but to pray for the cavalry to rush into the Tang army.
Thirty iron fire mines killed and injured more than 2,000 people, but for the 30,000 cavalry, the casualties of more than 2,000 people were really insignificant, especially for the cavalry behind, they only heard the thunderous sound, but they did not know
What happened.
The cavalry's attack only paused for a moment, and then immediately returned to normal.
At this time, 600 firearms crossbowmen were ready. They worked in pairs, one delivered arrows and the other loaded the crossbow. Three hundred explosive arrows were aimed at the cavalry 80 steps away.
"Ka! Ka!"
A series of crossbows sounded, and two hundred explosive arrows were shot out, "Boom! Boom! Boom!" The crossbow arrows were fired flatly, and three hundred arrows exploded almost at the same time, immediately blowing up the enemy cavalry's limbs and directly killing thousands of people.
The war horse was blown to pieces.
The cavalry behind them saw that their companions were disintegrated and split in an instant, with bones shattered and flesh, blood and internal organs flying everywhere. They were so frightened that they tried their best to rein in their horses, but were immediately knocked over by the cavalry behind them, and the horses' hooves trampled the fallen soldiers.
And die.
However, the damage range of the three hundred explosive arrows was not large, with only seven to eight hundred casualties. However, the effect it produced was extraordinary. First of all, tens of thousands of Tang soldiers witnessed the power of the Tang army's firearms, which greatly contributed to boosting morale.
benefit.
The second is to damage the morale of the enemy, especially the cavalry running in front. If their morale and murderous intent cannot be raised, there will never be that devastating effect, and the impact of the cavalry will be greatly reduced.
The Ziqing Army had lost its initial murderous intent, and the thousands of cavalrymen running in front were almost pushed up by the cavalrymen behind them. They all screamed in fear when faced with the six thousand gleaming Mo Dao.
"boom!"
The cavalry rushed into the Mo Dao formation, but what greeted them was an extremely cruel and bloody killing. More than two thousand people were pierced by Mo Dao, and a wall of flesh and blood was instantly formed in front of the Mo Dao soldiers.
Xu Zongran, the leader of Modao Army, shouted, "Kill——"
Six thousand Mo Dao Army soldiers stood up and formed an extremely strong iron wall of Dao Forest, blocking the attack of nearly 30,000 cavalry.
The six thousand Mo Dao army trampled on the corpses and flesh, and moved forward step by step. Wherever they passed, pieces of cavalry fell down, and flesh and blood flew everywhere. The corpses and heads were cut off like weeds, and all the cavalry could be seen was howling and screaming before they died.
Screams.
Not only the heavy armored infantry were killed mercilessly, but also a thousand spear throwers. They were well-trained and each carried five short steel spears. Every time the short spears were thrown, the short spears would pierce the cavalry.
Xufa, sometimes only seven or eight hundred people were assassinated in one round. That was because two short spears pierced one person at the same time.
The small trebuchet also continued to throw iron fire thunder into the dark crowd, and continued to explode in the crowd. Every time it exploded, the people and horses within a few feet of the radius would fall.
But the only ones who remained silent were the six hundred firearms battalion crossbowmen. Explosive arrows could easily injure their companions, so they did not fire any more.
Seeing that morale was low, Li Na felt anxious and personally led 3,000 cavalry to charge forward. He adjusted his deployment and led 8,000 cavalry to bypass the heavy armored infantry and attack the spear and sword and shield troops in the rear.
After the Ziqing Army changed its tactics, it gradually improved. The 50,000-strong army concentrated its superior strength and fought fiercely with the 20,000 Tang Army cavalry. Both sides were evenly matched.
Although the 30,000 Ziqing cavalry suffered heavy casualties, there were still more than 20,000 of them, and their combat effectiveness was very strong. After adjusting their tactics, they no longer crowded into a group, but dispersed. A team of one thousand people fought fiercely with the Tang army. The Tang army's iron fire thunder also
The attack had to be stopped, and the Ziqing Army's casualties were significantly reduced.
The six thousand heavy armored infantry were also divided into six teams, one thousand men per team. The soldiers were back to back and fought with the enemy cavalry. However, the Ziqing cavalry did not dare to engage them in close combat. Instead, they retreated at the first contact. Although the heavy armor
The infantry is powerful, but its damage is much less than before.
Li Na's combat intention was very obvious. He used the high-speed running of the cavalry to contain the Tang Army's infantry, and first gathered 50,000 troops to surround and annihilate 20,000 Tang Army cavalry.
The battle situation between the two sides gradually stabilized. At this time, Guo Ziyi ordered: "Blow the reinforcement horn!"
"Woo——"
The Tang Army's reinforcement horn sounded, and the deep horn sound echoed in the wilderness.
"Woo——"
In response to the horn sound in the distance, a long black line appeared ten miles away, and 30,000 elite cavalrymen from Xiwanli arrived.