Guo Ziyi is leading the army slowly on the grassland in the eastern part of Songmo Prefecture. The grassland here is vast and there are no woods or hills. You can see dozens of miles away at a glance, so it is not easy to be ambushed.
However, Guo Ziyi was still very cautious and sent a large number of scouts to patrol within fifty miles of the army.
That morning, a scout came to report, "The main force of the Khitan army, about 80,000 to 90,000 troops, was found fifty miles ahead!"
Guo Ziyi stroked his beard and nodded. This number was consistent with the number Ren Tianling told him before. Without external support, the total strength of the Khitan army would not exceed one hundred thousand.
Xi Wanli smiled at Guo Ziyi and said: "Commander, the opponent really needs to concentrate his troops and defeat them one by one!"
Guo Ziyi smiled lightly and said: "Yelu Salade really knows this, but doesn't know why. Don't I know that if we divide our troops and go north, they will be defeated individually?"
Any tactic has advantages and disadvantages. Guo Ziyi divided his troops and went north just to let the opponent concentrate their forces to deal with him.
‘Concentrate your forces and defeat them one by one’ sounds good, but if you concentrate your forces and dispatch them, what will happen to your base?
Yelu Salad only thought of quickly defeating one Tang army and then turning around to defeat the other one, but could others be defeated so easily?
However, it is indeed easy for the opponent to concentrate his forces to attack separately. Yelu Salade is not a fool. He made this decision after careful consideration and considered the plan that was most beneficial to the Khitans.
So the key here lies in strength and knowing yourself and the enemy.
Guo Ziyi fought with the Khitan army in Youzhou and Liucheng, and wiped out 70,000 Khitan troops. He understood the strength of the Khitan army, and he knew his own strength even better. Even without the blessing of firearms, they could still defeat each other. Now they have more power.
firearms, then the combat effectiveness of his army is far from being as simple as 60,000 people.
Guo Ziyi immediately ordered: "Quickly inform General Nan Jiyun and order his army to move westward and cut off the Khitan army's retreat!"
After a pause, he ordered again: "Order General Ma Lin to lead his army to the north quickly and take away the Khitan's lair!"
The two groups of soldiers who reported the news galloped away on horseback, and Guo Ziyi immediately ordered: "The troops who reported the message must assemble immediately!"
"Woo——"
The horn sound for the Tang army to gather was sounded, and the 60,000-strong army began to quickly gather towards the Chinese army where Guo Ziyi was located.
Guo Ziyi made sufficient plans before the deployment. When he deployed the troops on the eastern front, he deliberately shortened the distance between the central line and the eastern front. In fact, Nan Jiyun's 50,000 eastern front army was only about a hundred miles away from the central line.
You can arrive in less than a day.
The reason why Guo Ziyi brought 30,000 infantrymen was because he brought the best!
He brought all the eight thousand heavy armored infantry of the Tang Dynasty with him.
After the battle to annihilate the Japanese army, the imperial court's military support arrived again, sending 3,000 heavy crossbows and 30,000 arrows and thunderbolts. In addition to the 2,000 heavy crossbows that the Tang army had previously owned, the number of heavy crossbows reached 5,000.
Exactly 10,000 heavy crossbow troops were formed, two people in groups, each group having six arrows and thunderbolts.
Of the remaining 12,000 people, 10,000 infantry formed the central spear formation, and 2,000 soldiers were in charge of 30,000 camels.
In fact, the 30,000 infantrymen marched on horseback, and only dismounted to fight on foot during battle.
Two hours later, 90,000 Khitan troops also appeared on the grassland ten miles to the north.
Yelu Salade personally led the 90,000-strong army to go south. Of course, he planned to defeat the main force of the Tang Army in the middle line in the shortest possible time, and then turn around to face the other two lines of Tang Army.
Yelu Salade also gave full consideration. He placed the battlefield in Songmo Mansion, more than three hundred miles away from his hometown, just to buy himself time.
The two armies slowly approached, stopped when they were three miles apart, and faced each other at a distance.
Yelu Salade squinted his eyes and looked at the opponent. The opponent's cavalry and infantry accounted for half each, with about 30,000 people each. This ratio was similar to his own. The Khitan army had about 50,000 cavalry and 40,000 infantry.
At the front is a row of more than two thousand battle flags, with the battle flags flying. Behind the battle flags are eight thousand archers, squatting on the ground, holding bows and arrows, and behind them are spear soldiers.
Yelu Salad sneered, can this kind of archer infantry withstand the impact of his own cavalry?
"General Cimutai!"
"The humble position is here!"
A general in his thirties immediately stepped forward to salute. His name was Yelu Cimutai, and he was also the youngest brother of Yelu Salade and the Khitan Ten Thousand Captain.
Yelu Salade said slowly: "You can lead 30,000 cavalry to attack the Tang army's formation, and then the army will support you!"
"I humbly obey orders!"
The essence of Khitan warfare is the same as that of nomadic cavalry. There are not so many military tactics. They rely on large numbers of people and cavalry attacks to break down the opponent's formation.
The key is that Yelu Salad wanted to win a quick victory. He defeated the Tang army in a two-hour battle. The defeated army was almost killed. Then he quickly turned around to fight another Tang army. His headquarters was empty, and he was also scared!
"Wu-wu-"
The horns on the grassland were blown continuously, which was a precursor to the attack.
The Khitans were not good at using tactics and strategies, but the Tang army was good at them.
Guo Ziyi is particularly good at deception, including strategic deception and tactical deception.
The eight thousand troops at the front were not archers, but eight thousand heavily armored infantry. Their swords were placed on the ground, and they were squatting on the ground, holding bows and arrows in their hands.
But their armor was quite special. Mo Dao was placed on the ground and he was worried about being seen by the enemy. Guo Ziyi sent two thousand soldiers to stand at the front holding battle flags. The battle flags blocked the heavy armored infantry behind them.
There are also ten thousand heavy crossbow troops holding large yellow crossbows, also hidden among the spear soldiers.
Guo Ziyi has been fighting with the nomadic cavalry for many years and knows the opponent's attack mode very well. There are generally three modes. The first is a small-scale attack, sending 10,000 troops to attack. This is more of a tentative attack.
The second mode is to attack with a medium force, send 30% of the cavalry to attack, break down the opponent's first layer of defense, and then attack with the rest of the army.
The third mode is an all-out attack, where all the troops are pressed forward. This situation often occurs when the opponent's troops exceed their own, so they can concentrate their forces to attack the opponent's central army.
At present, the Khitan army has more troops than the Tang army. They will not choose the third mode, but will only choose between the first and second modes.
If the Tang army's strength seemed too strong, the enemy would often adopt the first mode and use a small number of troops to defeat the Tang army's long-distance strike advantage.
Sending heavy troops to press on later was obviously very unfavorable to the Tang army.
Guo Ziyi seized on the opponent's eagerness to defeat the Tang army, and used this method of showing weakness to induce the enemy to launch a large-scale cavalry attack. Once the Khitan cavalry attacked, it would be difficult to withdraw.
Guo Ziyi's strategy of luring troops was indeed successful. Yelu Salade only saw the eight thousand archers of the Tang army. The Mo Dao on the ground was blocked by the flag-bearing soldiers in front.
At this time, the earth began to tremble, and 30,000 Khitan cavalry launched, overwhelmingly attacking the Tang army's formation.
Guo Ziyi shouted sharply: "The heavy armored infantry is ready! Standing flag soldiers and spear soldiers retreat!"
The two thousand flag soldiers retreated quickly. They took over the long bows from the heavy armored infantry, each carried four bows on their backs, and retreated to the rear.
Eight thousand soldiers of the Modao Army picked up the Modao on the ground. Suddenly a cold light shone.
The last time they bullied the Japanese soldiers, they used fighting formations to deal with them. But that was no longer possible. Faced with the impact of tens of thousands of Khitan cavalry, they had to use the most powerful wall formations.
Yelu Salade's heart suddenly sank. Why did the opponent's bow and arrow turn into a long knife? It was a Mo Dao. There was a trace of bitterness in his heart. He had fallen into a trap.
But it is impossible for the army to withdraw. The nomadic cavalry has this characteristic when attacking. Once it attacks, it is very difficult to withdraw. This is not just dozens of cavalry. Everyone reins in their horses and turns back.
This is an army of 30,000 people. Thousands of troops and horses are galloping on the battlefield at the same time. It is like thousands of cars speeding on the highway at the same time, very close to each other. Suddenly hundreds of cars stop in the middle.
It will inevitably cause a serious series of car accidents.
If the army wants to stop, it must start from the end, with the last row stopping first, and then from back to front, row by row. This requires tens of thousands of cavalry to train for many years.
Even the cavalry of the Tang army couldn't achieve this kind of tacit understanding, let alone the Khitan army improvised by various tribes.
Once stopped forcibly, it will not only cause heavy casualties, but also cause chaos, giving the enemy cavalry an opportunity to take advantage of it.
Guo Ziyi was well aware of this, so he dared to quickly resume formal deployment after the opponent's army launched.
The 10,000 spear army retreated, leaving a gap two hundred steps wide. The 10,000 heavy crossbowmen rushed out from the spear army and quickly took up positions. One after another, large yellow crossbows were placed on the shoulders of the soldiers, and 5,000 arrows and thunderbolts were fired.
It was at a forty-five-degree angle, pointing at the overwhelming 30,000 cavalrymen.
