It felt like a thorn on his back, like a lump on his throat, like... Well, it was very uncomfortable anyway. This was Zhang Zhao's most direct feeling about the Persian army stationed a hundred miles away.
The current situation of both sides is like an inverted √, with Zhang Zhao in the middle, the short side is the city of Qisi, and the long side is the Persian army.
Zhang Zhao had 16,000 elite troops and more than 30,000 Beishan tribesmen who came to seek refuge, but there were also many women and children among them.
Of course, the presence of more than 50,000 people was quite scary. The camps stretched for miles and were very impressive.
Yusupu of Kesai City has more than 20,000 troops, and there may be more than 20,000 people in the city. Although the combat effectiveness of the Kesai City army is doubtful after the great purge, with the blessing of Kesai City's defense, it is impossible to defeat it easily.
Still not easy.
There are about 30,000 Persians, and their combat effectiveness is definitely better than that of Yusupu in Kesai City. They set up camp a hundred miles away from Kesai City, halfway up a mountain with mountains and water on their back, which is equally easy to defend and difficult to attack.
This created a balance of power that made Zhang Zhao very uncomfortable. He did not dare to attack Qisai City with all his strength, because the Persians would definitely attack his back.
He did not dare to break camp to fight the Persians. If he moved, Yusupu, who was thirsty for the city, would cut off his retreat.
Of course, these two people did not dare to provoke Zhang Zhao, and they would not provoke Zhang Zhao. Yu Supu wanted to see both sides suffer losses, while the Persians just wanted to wear him away.
The most taboo thing about an expedition like this is to return without success. The supply line is too long and the preparations are too long, only to be forced to retreat without even fighting a battle.
Not to mention the loss of a large amount of food, fodder, carriages and horses, it would also cause a fatal blow to morale. For a country the size of Khotan, if it suffers this kind of setback once or twice, it will be difficult to organize an expedition with tens of thousands of people in the future.
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"Your Majesty, Pei Shengyuan urgently reported that the cronies sent by Yusupu from Kesai City to Bukhara were caught by them on their way back to Kesai City!"
Zhang Zhao's heart skipped a beat. Yusup sent people to Bukhara and took a wilderness path. Something unusual must have happened.
Sure enough, as soon as the secret report was delivered to him, Zhang Zhao couldn't help laughing three times.
"God help me! Adulal and his 30,000 troops are doomed! Beat the drums to gather the generals!"
In the big tent, although it was almost nightfall, the generals stationed at each branch rushed over as soon as possible.
Zhang Zhao had already put on his helmet and armor. When Yan Jin and others saw Zhang Zhao's attire, their hearts suddenly felt hot. After more than a month of confrontation in the ice and snow, they finally wanted to end it.
"Prince Pei! Let the various ministries in Beishan mobilize 10,000 people to come out, feed them and drink them well, and tell them that after capturing Kesai City, I will let them advance into the city and plunder it for three days!
You will lead the three thousand men in your headquarters to supervise the battle. I will leave all the catapults to you. You must attack day and night without stopping, regardless of casualties.
The prisoners captured by Andu Kang were also taken away, and they were escorted to let them go first!"
"Well! But Your Majesty, there are only tens of thousands of people in Kesei City. How can we withstand three days of plundering? If the Beishan tribes rob it first, what will our sons do?"
Governor Pei didn't have any objections to Zhang Zhao's arrangement, but he had a strong objection to letting the Beishan tribe grab Kesai City first.
Zhang Zhao smiled sinisterly and tapped his fingers on the map, "So what I'm saying is that they have to capture Kesai City before letting them rob it. The key is not to rob it, but whether it can be captured or not!"
Governor Pei understood immediately. He crossed his arms and retreated.
"Li Ruotai! Bai Congxin! Each of you will lead the armored cavalry from Youyidu and Baodaying and leave tonight!"
Zhang Zhao said, pointing to a small forest on the map, "The Persian army will definitely break camp and approach us in about five days at most. I want you to lurk here all the time. When the war is in full swing, after receiving my order, you can rush in."
The commander-in-chief of the Persian army is here!"
"Here!" The two of them took the order and retreated.
"Ashnathri, you take Bashmi's own light cavalry, plus four hundred Amazhi light cavalry, to help me firmly control the Persian scouts.
Suppress their exploration scope to within fifteen miles, and I will let the Persians not know what is happening twenty miles away!"
"Here! The general will definitely complete his mission!" Ashinasli also quickly stepped in and said, "Hey!"
"The rest of you listen to my order and rest for three days. We will set off in three days and just wait for the Persians to crash into us!" Zhang Zhao waved his hand and ended the military discussion.
Governor Pei suddenly realized that although he didn't know where King Zhang got the news, it seemed that for some reason the Persian army had to go north to ask for war.
Let him lead the Beishan troops to attack Kesai City, just to scare the Kesai City defenders so that they dare not leave the city, or simply to make the Kesai City defenders think that the large troops are still outside the city.
....
As the sun rises, the golden light covers the earth, making people feel warm.
The horses, which had been harassed by the cold air for more than a month, were also led by the soldiers, enjoying the rare sunshine while carrying heavy loads on their backs.
For the Fergana Basin in November, this is rare good weather, and it is also a very good opportunity for the army to set off.
It's just that the first army coach Adulal was wearing thick fur, and his serious eyes showed reluctance.
"Father, do we really have to break camp and go north? What a great situation we have now! We don't have to do anything to force Juer Khan's army away.
It is said that the journey from Shule to this point is more than a thousand miles. I am afraid that Juerhan will lose at least hundreds of thousands of silver coins on this trip.
So what if he can occupy Andukang? He can be used to contain Yu Supu who is thirsty for the city. Before Ju'er Khan came, Yu Supu would not be so submissive."
After listening to his son's words, Adulal slowly shook his head. He didn't know that Ju'erhan could be consumed by exhaustion alone, but time was not on his side.
Prince Hamid is his benefactor and his backer. If something happens to His Royal Highness, as a local official sent by the Crown Prince, if he, Adulal, is the only one who dies, Bale Ami and others may also be involved.
If a person has a kind heart, it is more likely that the whole family will die together.
Therefore, he had no choice but to risk going north in order to repel Juer Khan's army. Only in this way could Prince Hamid's position in Bukhara be stabilized.
"You personally lead a cavalry detour to Kesai City to inform our army of their movements, so that Yusup can prepare for a pincer attack out of the city!" Adulal said softly, while Alput shook his head.
"Father, Yu Supu will not leave the city easily. He will definitely wait for us to lose both sides!"
"You also said that he will not leave the city easily, but it is not certain that he will not leave the city. This old fox is really waiting for us to lose both sides, so he will definitely come out to take advantage.
I don’t want him to put in much effort, as long as he is willing to come out and take advantage when our army has the upper hand!"
As he spoke, Adulal patted his son on the shoulder, "Remember, our goal is not to take down the city of Kesai, nor to settle accounts with Yusupu, but to repel Ju'er Khan.
As long as Ju'er Khan retreats, it doesn't matter even if Yu Supu is the dominant one.
Because we completed Prince Hamid's mission and helped His Royal Highness tide over the difficulties, only with Prince Hamid's presence can our family maintain its wealth.
Remember, as a general, before going to war, you must know what you want! Don't be greedy, and don't ask for anything."
Sanshui Bay is about forty miles away from Kesai City. It is located on the edge of Yaosha Water, with the raging river on the left.
To the right is an endless plain with some small hills mixed in. At the end of the plain is the mountain forest where Bai Congxin and Li Ruotai are hiding.
Zhang Zhao did not set up a stacked formation because it was only used under special circumstances when using foot to defeat cavalry.
Although his main force is heavy infantry now, he does not lack cavalry. The Saman Persian army opposite also uses infantry as the main force and cavalry as the supplement, so there is no need to set up a stacked formation.
Zhang Zhao led his two hundred personal guards to occupy a hilltop, with Fengtian Camp and Baoda Camp on both sides of the hilltop.
Further outside, on the left is the Khotan Amo branch, and on the right is Liu Zaisheng's Khotan palace guard. The cavalry has basically been dispersed.
During the two days when the Persian army moved north from their station, the roving troops and scouts on both sides engaged in extremely cruel dog fights and strangulations.
In order to cover the advance of the army, the Persian cavalry tried their best to maintain an activity range of about fifteen miles, and suffered more than 200 casualties.
There were noisy noises in the distance. The Persian army, carrying hundreds of flags of various colors, slowly entered the battlefield dressed in black. Zhang Zhaojun had already made preparations and even rested for an extra half day.
The kind of war in which one rushes into an encirclement and is surrounded and annihilated rarely appears in the battles of large corps.
Because everyone has enough scouts to gather information, it is not so easy to hide an army of tens of thousands of people.
What's more, if there are not enough scouts to report back, the army will not march rashly.
Zhang Zhao did not take the risk and just ran over and launched a fierce attack while the Persian army was still on its feet. This was actually a dangerous move for both sides.
The attacker is so aggressive that if he cannot penetrate the enemy, he will be in great danger.
Because large-scale combat with cold weapons relies heavily on the integrity of the formation. A swarm of swarms rushing in and fighting is definitely not as good as fighting in formation.
Therefore, for Zhang Zhao, the most beneficial thing is actually to fight a dignified battle.
Because he had intercepted the information about Yusupu in Kesei City, he had already known that the Persian army had to go north for a decisive battle, and had already made arrangements, so there was no need to take risks.
‘Boom! Boom! Boom!’ Excited drumbeats sounded from both camps.
When the soldiers on both sides begin to put on armor and the formation begins to assemble, there is usually an appetizer, and that is the fighting general!
The so-called fighting general refers to the warriors of both armies. When the formation is not completed, it is a way of showing off one's own strength, showing off force and improving morale.
In the cold weapon era, the most important thing in fighting was morale, and fighting generals was the best way to destroy the enemy's morale.
Because both sides sent out the most ferocious warriors in their own formations, the killing of such warriors would have an extremely serious impact on morale.
As for if you don't go out to fight with others, it will be even more uncomfortable. If others are provoking and swearing, you can't even choose someone to stand out, so you can't even give a shit, and the morale will drop even more seriously.
Although it will not cause the morale of the army to collapse, nor will it determine the outcome of the war to a great extent, the blow will not be small.
Especially for the non-elite troops on both sides, this is the most direct way to judge whether the other party can fight.
Therefore, fighting generals actually ran through the entire history of China's cold weapons, especially before the late Song Dynasty and the early Yuan Dynasty.
Unless it is a decisive battle involving hundreds of thousands of large armies, or a battle where the strength gap between the two sides is too large.
Like today, among the two armies with 350,000 to 50,000 people in formation and fighting a grand battle, the probability of a fighting general appearing is very high.
Of course, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms is the one that has left the deepest impression on future generations, in which the battle of generals almost became the entirety of the war.
The most famous one in history is the duel between Bai Congxin's ancestor Bai Xiaode, Prince of Changhua County, and Shi Siming's heroic general Liu Longxian.
Liu Xianlong's angry words of "What kind of pig and dog are they?" not only made him famous in history, but also made him famous as a white-filial German general.
As for this era, the brave general Zhou Dewei of the Later Tang Dynasty was a rare fighting general. He defeated the enemy's ten thousand brave generals several times, greatly defeating the vigor of the Hou Liang and other armies, not to mention the likes of Li Cunxiao and Wang Yanzhang.
With the sound of drums, a strong man galloped out of the Persian army. He was wearing a typical Persian mirror armor.
Mirror armor, this style of armor is particularly popular in Central Asia and the Middle East. The armor equipped with a breastplate in ancient China can also be called mirror armor.
The actual situation is that this is a kind of heavy armor with a large iron plate tied to the chest and Persian chain mail surrounding it.
He is the ancestor of the Persian four-mirror armor and the Ottoman disc armor hundreds of years later. He wears a domed helmet on his head.
"Where did the Kafir come from and dare to come here to provoke you? In the face of the power of God, you can't just surrender!"
The Persian general jumped off his horse three to four hundred meters away from Zhang Zhao's army, then lifted his headband and cursed loudly in Uighur language.
"Your Majesty! Please kill this thief!" The bear was angry. He quickly put on his cotton armor, held a giant ax and mounted a horse with a hard bow on his back and galloped out!
"What kind of pig and dog Hu'er are you? The heavenly soldiers are so powerful that you must kneel down and beg for mercy to avoid death!"