The overwhelming rain of arrows cut through the morning light and divided the sky into countless long strips.
The Qingzhou sergeants who were marching lightly and with empty hands raised their heads unconsciously when they heard the noise from the sky. The arrows reflecting the cold light in their pupils became larger and larger.
Among them, those who reacted quickly hurriedly looked for carts and shields to cover themselves, but most of them had no time to dodge.
The arrow penetrated the chest, neck, forehead, abdomen, and limbs, and opened a series of penetrating wounds on the naked human body.
Hysterical screams followed, and the person's body fell to the ground like a sheaf of wheat, still twitching.
At this time, it was just dawn. This group of tens of thousands of Qingzhou sergeants belonging to Tian Kai had found out the night before that Yuan's army should be thirty or forty miles south and was setting up camp on the spot.
If both sides rest for one night and march in the same direction the next day, they should encounter each other at noon.
Therefore, the generals of the Qingzhou Army decisively set up camps on the mountain roads and slopes, preparing to set out early the next morning to stop the opponent.
Although the opponent crossed Yu Lingcheng, which surprised the generals of the Qingzhou Army, it was speculated that the opponent was already at the center of the three-party encirclement and could not escape no matter how hard they ran.
As a result, the Qingzhou Army broke out of camp this morning and had just walked less than ten miles when an ambush was discovered by the other side. However, they quietly ambush into the woods on the hillside in advance and fired a volley of bows and arrows, catching them off guard!
Seeing that the enemy was nowhere to be seen, the arrows rained down like an endless stream. The soldiers who had not yet put on armor suffered heavy losses and were in chaos. The forward general of the Qingzhou Army had no choice but to yell: "Return to the camp!"
Although the camp was made simply, it still had some wooden fences, so it could be renovated!
As a result, someone in the Chinese army shouted: "Don't retreat, there are not many enemies, everyone has their weapons and armor, just charge forward!"
As soon as the generals of the Qingzhou Army heard the voice, they immediately shouted in unison: "Yes!"
The one who spoke just now was Tian Kai, the governor of Qingzhou who came with his own troops.
This man was extremely loyal to Gongsun Zan and fought bravely. Every time Yuan Shao's army came to attack Qingzhou, he would personally command the army to resist.
Originally, under the attack of an unknown number of enemies, the Qingzhou soldiers lost hundreds of lives and were almost defeated. However, under Tian Kai's decision, they finally reorganized their formation and took out their shields to block the attack.
The hillsides on both sides rushed up.
Yuan Xi saw Qingzhou soldiers going up the mountain through the telescope, and ordered the archers in front to retreat while firing arrows, and the sword and shield infantry behind them came up to make up for it.
Soon after, the two sides encountered each other and a scuffle broke out.
On the road down the mountain, Tian Kai ignored the sergeants on the mountain and led the entire army directly along the road to the plain area ten miles away, trying to get away from the woods.
If you retreat to the camp, you will only be surrounded by enemies in the mountains and you will not be able to break out!
Facts have proved that he was right, the logistics unit was also attacked by someone!
Tian Kai's Qingzhou Army was not a mob. After abandoning the soldiers who had gone up the mountain on both sides and the logistics troops that had been cut off, they marched for seven or eight miles in a hurry and finally arrived at the plain area north of Yuling City.
However, the sight in front of them made their whole bodies shiver.
On the opposite side, Yuan's army was neatly lined up, with tens of thousands of people lined up. The flags were uniform, and they were waiting for them!
Tian Kai frowned and asked his soldiers to arrange their formation urgently, while also asking the rear troops to resist the harassment of enemy troops in the mountains and forests on both sides.
One of the generals said anxiously: "Provincial Governor! We are attacked before and after. It would be really unfavorable for us to start a war here!"
Tian Kai thought for a moment and said decisively: "The whole army moves forward."
As soon as these words came out, all the generals were shocked.
Tian Kai shouted: "Why are you panicking!"
"I traveled dozens of miles overnight and I definitely didn't get a good rest!"
"On the contrary, we repaired all night, and the soldiers were in much better condition than them!"
"The fact that they are watching us forming an array shows that they don't dare to fight us at all!"
Standing next to Yuan Tan, Jushou saw Tian Kai's army reorganizing their troops and sighed: "Tian Kai is really a man, he has seen our intention to delay time."
Their original idea was to use light troops to harass and ambush Tian Kai's army, so that Tian Kai's army would be tired and their march would be hindered, so that their own soldiers who had been running all night could rest.
However, Tian Kai ignored the ambush and rushed out of the woods decisively, which made Yuan Jun slightly passive.
Yuan Tan's army has been marching day and night for two days, and the sergeant is indeed in bad condition. The two sides are attacking, and no one knows the outcome.
The reason why they were in such a hurry was to distance themselves from the other two supporting armies as quickly as possible and create a time window for the decisive battle with Tian Kai.
One day, they only have one day at most.
If we can't defeat the opponent today, we will be surrounded by three parties!
Yuan Tan knew that the critical moment had come.
Both sides have tens of thousands of main soldiers, which is the key to determining the outcome of the entire Qingzhou battle!
He raised his hands: "Cavalry attack, attack both wings!"
After receiving the order, the cavalry generals led their troops out in full force. They all understood that this was time for their main force to repair. The longer it was delayed, the greater the chance of victory!
Seeing nearly a thousand cavalry attacking from the left and right wings, the Qingzhou Army also sent out all the cavalry to block it, and at the same time placed some sword and shield soldiers on the flanks for protection.
There were thousands of cavalry on both sides, violently colliding with each other, and some people kept screaming and falling off their horses, but no one on either side could retreat. Once one's own cavalry was defeated, the infantry in the formation would be harassed and attacked by the other side's cavalry, which was equal to half the defeat.
.
Yuan Tan held a telescope and saw Zhang He and Zhao Yun on the left and Yan Liang and Gao Lan on the right, both of whom were already in battle, but what concerned him was the dozens of cavalry led by Zhao Yun.
Yuan Tan recognized that it was Yuan Xi's private army. Except for Zhao Yun, everyone was wearing armor and holding halberds. They were better equipped than his own cavalry.
What's even more amazing is that the actions are uniform and everyone can cooperate with each other, which shows that the training of troops is extremely disciplined, far beyond that of the sergeants under his command, which is the most terrifying thing.
Yuan Tan remained silent, hoping that his second brother would not become his enemy in the future, otherwise he would have no chance of winning if his troops were evenly matched.
Under the desperate efforts of the Qingzhou Army's cavalry, Yuan Shao's cavalry also suffered heavy losses. In less than a quarter of an hour on both sides, Yuan's thousands of cavalry suffered hundreds of casualties.
The cavalry on the Qingzhou Army's side was even worse, nearly half of the thousands of cavalry were wiped out.
Tian Kai saw it from a distance and sighed.
The number of both sides was almost the same, but the four generals on the opposite side suppressed the cavalry generals here. After several confrontations, all the cavalry generals of Tian Kaijun were killed by the generals on the opposite side. The remaining cavalry had no one to command and could only go their own way.
In order to fight, they were eventually gradually consumed and killed.
At this time, some of Shao's cavalrymen had already drawn their bows and galloped to shoot arrows at the flanks of Tian Kai's army. The shield soldiers on the flanks raised their shields and tried their best to block the arrows.
Seeing that he could no longer wait, Tian Kai ordered the remaining cavalry to fight against the cavalry on the opposite side, and at the same time the whole army attacked!
If you can't run away, then fight to the death!
On the city wall of Yuling County, the young man and the old team leader were still chatting boredly.
They looked at the siege equipment scattered and discarded under the city, and the young man asked: "Will they come back?"
The old corps commander sighed: "Who knows, it would be best if they withdraw their troops, but how is this possible?"
The young man pricked up his ears, listened to the sound of wind in the distance, and said doubtfully: "There seems to be a very noisy sound far to the north."
The old team leader sneered: "If you think about it in the past two days, I'm afraid they are hundreds of miles away. Can you hear me?"
The young man's ears twitched again: "There seem to be many people coming from the south."
The old corpsman sighed: "Don't worry about anyone. We've been beaten back and forth, but we still don't know how many days we can survive."
After hearing this, the young man said bitterly: "They are not good things."
The old corps leader had already heard about the young man and gave him a push: "Why do you think so much? Just live one day at a time."
The young man turned his head, looked north and then south, thinking that these people were attacking each other, and in the end it would be him who would be the unlucky ones. It would be best if they all died.
With a puff, a Yuan Army cavalry broke into the formation and rushed straight towards Tian Kai.
Tian Kai's personal guard quickly mounted his horse to block in front of Tian Kai. The other party pierced the chest of the personal guard with a gun. Blood spurted out from his back and splashed all over Tian Kai's face.
Then the legs of Yuan Jun's cavalry were chopped off by Qingzhou sergeants and they rolled off their horses. Tian Kai's personal guards rushed up and hacked him to death.
Tian Kai wiped the hot blood from his face, his face gloomy.
Both sides are fighting lifelessly, but his side has begun to show defeat.
Although Yuan's army suffered heavy losses, they always divided the army into several levels, took turns to attack and rest, and maintained an uninterrupted offensive, leaving Tian Kai no time to withdraw his troops and rest.
Tens of thousands of troops and horses from both sides were cannibalizing each other on this plain, and nearly half of them were dead or injured.
Tian Kai has been in battle for a long time and has already seen that his side will collapse first.
Because the rear army could no longer support it.
The soldiers and horses hidden in the mountains and forests became the last straw that crushed Tian Kai's army.
Tian Kai sent many soldiers to break up the rear, but the difference was that the forwards on the opposite side were hundreds of heavy infantry!
Once someone is injured and dies, they will be dragged back by their own soldiers and replaced with someone else to put on the armor.
As a result, the enemy kept suppressing the equipment here. Under such encroachment, Tian Kai's rear army began to be unable to withstand it.
The general next to him approached Tian Kai and said, "Processor, let's go. If you don't leave, it will be too late!"
Tian Kai closed his eyes and sighed.
Tens of thousands of soldiers, his entire family fortune.
Within half a day, it was all gone.
Until the end, he could not support Liu Bei to come to his aid.
Just a little bit different.
Two days, no, one day, as long as he persisted for one day, Liu Bei's army from the south and Kong Rong's army from the northeast would arrive, but he couldn't persist for half a day.
The front army had collapsed before his eyes, and soldiers were already fleeing in all directions. In just a few moments, the entire army formation would no longer be able to maintain it.
He gritted his teeth and shouted: "The whole army breaks out to the northwest!"
The remaining thousands of soldiers and horses of Tian Kai's army, under his leadership, desperately broke through Yuan Tan's obstruction and escaped towards Donglai County in the northeast.
Although Yuan Tan pursued the whole army, only half of the opponent's men were left behind in the end, and nearly a thousand people followed Tian Kai and fled.
Yuan Tan was determined to pursue him, but the soldiers were already exhausted, and some even fell to the ground while running.
When Yuan Tan saw this, he had no choice but to withdraw his troops. He knew that if Tian Kai ran away, he would most likely escape by boat in Donglai County, and it would be difficult to catch up.
Yuan Xi directed his soldiers to pursue him from behind. He was so tired that he leaned against a tree trunk and was breathing heavily.
His ambush force has reached its limit after the bloody battle.
Fortunately, Tian Kai did not choose his direction to escape, otherwise he would probably be killed.