Chapter five hundred and seventeen crossbow arrows from the string
"When the drum is weak, the strength is exhausted; when the arrow is exhausted, the string is broken." [Ancient Battle Text]
After the time entered autumn, just before Yuan Shao defeated Gongsun Zan, and when the advance Neng generals went south to resist the war, the imperial army had already crossed the Yellow River and captured Dongwuyang and Yangping counties.
When Yuan Shao's entire army arrived at Ganling, he wanted to march south to Liaocheng. He also heard that the imperial court was resting in Dongwuyang, so he sent the mighty general Fan Chou to lead more than ten thousand troops to go south to Puyang. The troops who marched into Liaocheng were led by the emperor himself, claiming to the outside world.
The number is 80,000. In fact, excluding the auxiliary soldiers and civilians, there are only more than 30,000 Northern and Southern armies left.
After confirming that the news was correct, Yuan Shao couldn't help but snicker at the emperor's arrogance and carelessness. He thought that the elite northern and southern armies could defeat the greater number with less? He wanted to recruit Hu and Han infantry and cavalry, and the Youji army totaled 60,000, plus conscripts to strengthen the momentum.
There are about 150,000 civilians there, five times as many as the enemy. What else does he have to fear?
Therefore, despite Tian Feng's dissuasion, he resolutely sent Yan Liang to lead 20,000 people across the river as the vanguard of Yuan's army, intending to set up a camp east of Leping, and then waited for him to lead his army to the decisive battle. Unexpectedly, not long after crossing the river, Yan Liang was attacked by the opponent.
The garrison camp rushed for a while.
Yuan Jun had never seen a heavy cavalry in full iron armor. He was proud of the spear formation that restrained Gongsun Zan's sudden cavalry in Youzhou. The arrow formation was like paper stained with water, which would break when the wind blew. Yuan Jun, who was scattered and stunned, ran away in fear.
They had all forgotten that Han Ding’s superior, Yue Cavalry School Lieutenant Wang Mo, watched them cutting into the military formation like chopping melons and vegetables. He still stood there and exclaimed: "Where did this beast come from?"
Immediately, Wang Mo was knocked off his horse and trampled to death by a group of ferocious beasts led by Jiang Xuan, the commander of the Cavalry School.
This 3,500-person cavalry camp is where the emperor spent several years selecting good horses and warriors and spending a lot of money. During this period, he eliminated and replaced the elite heavy cavalry soldiers of several generations of knights. From head to toe, they were all covered in iron armor.
In addition to the brave knights selected from thousands of troops, the Xiongnu royal court's excellent horses, and several years of hard training and exploration of combat methods, these expenses were enough to raise an army of 30,000 people.
They were moving forward, killing everyone they saw. Those who tried to resist or Yuan Jun who had no time to dodge were all hit or hacked to death. This way, they ran through the formation that Yan Liang had set up, falling down along the way, and the passage behind them was stained with blood.
It turned red. It was not that Yuan Jun was defenseless at that time, it was just because the armor was extremely difficult to penetrate. Some of the arrows hitting them only left a little spark, or were stuck in the armor leaves, which added to the impression of indestructibility.
The Tunqi camp had unparalleled momentum but lacked stamina. After defeating the enemy's formation, it turned back without stopping at all. This was also the first time Han Ding saw the defeated troops retreating on the pontoon bridge, pushing and shoving, and the Tunqi camp because of
When you lose your focus and disappear without a trace.
At this moment, Yan Haohao easily stabilized the position of the army crossing the river, and assigned "Infantry Colonel" Ma Yan to organize a counterattack on the pontoon bridge. Although the Changshui Cavalry on the other side did not prepare for them to sneak across and take a detour, as long as they held the bridge, Yuan Jun in Liaocheng behind would
Come here, Pang De's three thousand long water cavalry will not be a worry.
After doing all this, Yan Liang personally led four to five thousand men to meet the pursuing troops from the opposite side.
Although the battle situation changed one after another, which was dizzying, only a few quarters of an hour had passed. When crossing the river, they were attacked by heavy cavalry. When the formation was in chaos, they were attacked by Yulin cavalry behind the pontoon. At this time, Yan Liang barely held down his position.
It happened that Zhao Yun, the infantry colonel who came just after the Tun Cavalry, and the other two troops of the Northern Army led by the archery colonel Yan Yan.
At this time, Han Ding belatedly gathered up part of his "Yueqi" and guarded Yan Liang. Seeing that he had an intention, he hurriedly advised: "General! At this time, defense is the priority. As long as you hold the pontoon bridge, wait for Yuan Liang." When the Duke’s army arrives, our army will surely win!”
"What do you know!" Yan Liangliang never concealed what he was thinking, and said bitterly and angrily: "Zhang Junyi swore that this formation would defeat the cavalry, even Gongsun Zan did not please him. But what happened just now? The heavy cavalry killed them with one strike. We have been defeated, and now we are saying that we will defend it. How can we defend it since we have no stronghold?"
He looked at the stunned Han Ding, but there was actually one sentence he didn't say, that is, Zhang He could use this to defeat Gongsun Zan's several cavalry charges, so why not use it himself? It can be seen that the last time was a fluke, otherwise even if Zhang He was here , just now I couldn't stop the heavy cavalry from the opposite side.
"You still have to do it my way." After a rare attempt but failed, Yan Liang no longer wanted to imitate Zhang He's method of using troops. Only rushing into the battle and killing the enemy among thousands of troops is what a general should do. , instead of being a tortoise in the formation: "The cavalry did not move this time. It can be seen that after the thousands of heavy cavalry rushed for a while, they were in urgent need of rest and it was difficult to fight again for a while! This time, infantry versus infantry, we are waiting for you. The soldiers and horses are far superior to them, so what should we fear?"
After all, Han Ding was just a small Sima from another department. He couldn't disobey Yan Liang's wishes at all, so he had no choice but to organize his troops and charge against the thousands of attacking infantry.
Although the advancing infantry battalion did not expect that Yan Liang would be in chaos behind him and dared to lead his troops into the battle, they were well-trained and responded quickly.
"Stop!" Zhao Yun, one of the few horsemen in the infantry camp, ordered: "Stop the whole army and form a formation!"
They had practiced the situation in front of them in many exercises. They had relied on the cooperation of the infantry battalion and the Shengsheng battalion to repel an attack by the Tunqi Colonel.
Yan Liang led nearly ten thousand people like a wave and rushed a hundred paces away. The war drums suddenly sounded in the neat infantry formation, and behind the rows of sword and shield men suddenly stood up layers of archers holding strong bows.
Yan Yan came to the battle in person. He held a strong bow and did not issue a single order. However, the arrows he shot and the sound of the bow strings exploding like thunder were stronger than any order. The archers beside him seemed to follow the arrow conditioned reflex. The arrow was flying away, and he let go of his hand. He only heard the sound of a bow string, and the arrow feathers were like a rain of locusts, screaming and shooting into the distance.
In an instant, the already dim sky suddenly darkened for a moment, and screams were heard from the battlefield. The Yuan troops charging towards them with their heads held high were like grass washed away by heavy rain. They all fell to the ground and could no longer stand up.
Yan Liang's soldiers and horses were hit by this blow, and they were immediately in chaos!
He had only seen infantry on the opposite side, and had not noticed the archers hiding behind the infantry. He was frustrated for a while, but before he could let anyone raise their shields and move forward, the arrow rain on the opposite side started again. Although the sound of shooting The battalion only had more than 3,000 men, but the heavy rain of arrows still blocked the entire charge formation.
Just when Yuan Jun was unable to lift his head under the fierce rain of arrows and suffered heavy losses, a rumble of drums sounded, and the infantry battalion and the shooting battalion shouted and rushed out. In groups of several people, the infantry covered the crossbowmen. The enemy was in chaos. Yuan Jun began to fight in divisions!