At midnight, the earth was silent, only the insects were singing happily.
Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves and breathing gradually sounded. Under the dim moonlight, the gray flow of people surged southward along the official road. Chong'er closed his mouth.
Today is April 20th, which happens to be the third day after Zhu Quanzhong left Yingzhou. Shao Shude left Bianzhou and personally led the cavalry army south. There were nearly 10,000 people in the army, 30,000 horses, and five days of food and water.
Go to Xuzhou.
The distance between Xu and Bian is about 230 miles. Normally, with one person and three horses, it can be reached in two days. If you don’t spare the horsepower, you can certainly go faster. Considering that a battle may break out at any time, it is unreasonable to do so.
of.
The countryside in Henan is quiet and peaceful, dotted with villages and criss-crossed by streams and ditches.
The village was dimly lit, and there were not even a few barks of dogs, as if everyone was fast asleep. There were loose riders parading at the entrance of the village, holding riding bows, as a symbolic intimidation.
The first wave of cavalry passed. The yellow dog with its tail between its legs emerged from the grass and looked left and right.
The second wave came over again. The yellow dog whimpered and got back into the grass.
The soldiers were fighting all night, making it so noisy that they couldn't sleep. But the people in the village were not sleepy at all. The whole family gathered together, holding hunting bows, spears, dung forks, and wooden sticks, and walked nervously from
Looking out from the gap in the wall.
Until the sky was dim, there was no rooster crowing.
The sound of horse hooves has disappeared, and the scattered cavalry at the entrance of the village have also withdrawn. The villagers opened the door cautiously and walked into the yard.
The official road was covered with criss-crossing horse hoof prints. The grass on the roadside was trampled so badly that even the wheat in the fields was being crushed.
"There are a lot of horse hoof prints and no ruts. This is a horse team. After a whole night, the mule army was not so generous back then." An elderly man sighed.
"There must be several thousand riders here, right?" someone asked.
"Yes. I'm afraid there will be more than one route, and there may be tens of thousands of riders. The people in Weishi County are suffering. My younger brother moved there a few years ago, and I don't know what will happen."
"With tens of thousands of horses to ride, how much grain does a horse have to chew for a horse that big? I'm afraid it can't be fed to a horse that wants to be killed."
"You can feed me some hay, but I'm afraid there won't be that much hay. Alas, the people will suffer." The old man raised his head and looked to the south. There was no sign of any cavalry there, but he seemed to see a scene of tens of thousands of horses galloping endlessly.
.
It is true that, as the old man said, the large group of cavalry going south has a huge appetite and consumes a lot of food.
In the early morning of the 21st, there were already sergeants herding horses in the sand sea southwest of Bianzhou.
Fifty miles south of Bianzhou is the old city of Daliang, and twelve miles northwest of the old city is the Sand Sea, which was probably the place where the monarchs and ministers of the Wei State gathered to discuss important matters during the Warring States Period. It was originally a swamp with rich water and grass, but it later dried up and Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty introduced Bian water to fill it.
, training the navy in preparation for cutting down the Chen Dynasty. The country has dried up again, and now almost only the shallow water at the bottom of the lake is left, and the surrounding area is covered with grass for several to ten miles. These grasses are not liked by war horses.
, but pack horses, riding horses, donkeys, and mules are not picky about food and eat happily, so there are auxiliary soldiers grazing here to save food consumption.
"Your Majesty, this is the messenger." By the side of Muze, Shao Shude, who had been riding for half the night, was drinking tea and resting. Li Zhong brought a messenger over.
The envoy came from the Flying Dragon Army and was sent by Qi Bizhang. He looked very young, not even as old as a weak crown.
"Feilong Army's left wing front camp Yuhou Chu Shenping meets the king." The envoy saluted.
"Where is Qi Bizhang?" Shao Shude asked directly without any nonsense.
This envoy looked familiar. After asking him carefully, he found out that he was from the Chu family in Henan Prefecture. He was a son of a rich man who brought his own horses and equipment to follow Qi Banzhang to gain wealth.
"According to the king's order, the whole army went north. When the last general left the camp, it was almost at Shenqiu." Chu Shenping replied.
"Can Liang Jun's troops be purged?"
"My troops followed from a distance. There were more than 70,000 Liang troops advancing by land and water. They were quite organized. The military envoys sent people to dismount and fight with the thieves, but they did not get any advantage."
"The Art of War says, 'Don't stop when you return to the army.' Liang Jun is in a hurry to return to Bianzhou. With Qi Bizhang's few people, he really can't stop him." Shao Shude said: "Let Qi Bizhang speed up and come to Xuzhou." Shao Shude said. commanded.
"As ordered." Chu Shenping replied.
Shao Shude waved his hand and asked him to retreat. Then he found a map and carefully assessed the situation.
Xie Tong stood aside and seemed to want to see the map clearly.
The soldiers took the horses to graze. Muze, also called Puguanze, is located a few miles southeast of the old city of Daliang. It was fifteen miles in diameter at its peak. In the east was the blowing platform of Liang Xiaowang, the youngest son of Emperor Wen of the former Han Dynasty. Like the sand sea, the surface of the lake at this time It has been greatly reduced and dried up in many places, but it is covered with grass and is very lush.
"Your Excellency, you might as well sit down and take a closer look." Shao Shude suddenly said.
Xie Tong smiled awkwardly, but she was not polite and sat over directly.
"Your Majesty, you don't want to attack Zhu Quanzhong?" Xie Tong asked.
"I expect that the main force of Quanzhong will be difficult to defeat, but we still have to go there." Shao Shude said: "Quanzhong now has Changzhi, Feisheng, and Mighty 30,000 infantry, and there are more than 20,000 Tianwu Fourth Army. Maybe There are also some Bo, Yingxiang Yong, who recruited many when he attacked the city. All their baggage was put on the boat, and there were Huai people boatmen to help. Did you know that Liu Yu once fought with his back to the river, and defeated the later Wei's 30,000 infantry with 2,000 infantry? cavalry?"
How could Xie Tong not know about the famous Queyue Formation? The ships loaded with supplies, picked up the wounded, transported food and arrows, and when the sergeants were tired, they could board the ships in batches to rest. The Northern Wei Dynasty was on top, and they had a hundred thousand riders in hand, thinking that they would win surely. , sent 30,000 cavalry to rush into the chariot formation guarded by 2,000 infantry, and suffered a disastrous defeat.
This is the reason why the cavalry's frontal combat effectiveness is too weak. It is a natural flaw with no solution.
"If you resist cavalry by foot, waterways are the lifeline. Zhu Quanzhong walked through Yingshui and Caishui, which shows that he knows how to fight." Shao Shude said.
Later, Zhu Yuanzhang's Northern Expedition was mainly based on infantry, and also relied on the Grand Canal to advance northward. Without the Grand Canal, if all transportation was relied on land carriages, firstly, the cost would be too high and he might not be able to afford it. Secondly, a large number of sergeants would have to be assigned to maintain the logistics transportation channels. , there will not be many soldiers who can be used on the front line, and the possibility of the Northern Expedition's success will be greatly reduced.
"But it doesn't hurt to give it a try." Shao Shude smiled and said: "Anyway, I won't attack by force. I will delay and harass you. If I leave without a chance, Liang Jun won't be able to catch up with me."
This is the advantage of cavalry. They can fight when they want and leave when they want. They have the initiative on the battlefield.
If the opponent is an infantryman of low quality, there is no harm in charging them. But since the difficult times, the ground has been full of ruthless people, and there are dozens of vassal towns in the country. The infantrymen who are disintegrated by the cavalry in a frontal fight are really rare.
What do you do with the hook, sickle, and long-handled ax that is the standard equipment in the army? Hook the horse's leg with it and chop the rider with it. There is really no need to die in vain.
"The king's target is Wang Jingzhen?" Xie Tong asked after thinking for a while.
"That's him!" Shao Shude slapped his thigh, stood up, looked at the rising sun in the east, and said: "Fu Yanchao came to report that on the 17th, he discovered that thieves and horsemen appeared in Yanling, and he sent more than 2,000 cavalry to harass him.
, delay, the thieves arrived at Fugou yesterday. After observing their movements, they went to Chen from Xu to meet Zhu Quanzhong as he went north to protect his flanks. Quanzhong was too cautious, maybe because he felt that he was surrounded by enemies everywhere and needed to be brave."
Shao Shude made a joke, and Xie Tong laughed.
"If Zhu Quanzhong dares to mobilize the cavalry army, I will eat him." Shao Shude said: "How can Pang Shigu's tens of thousands of people escape so easily?"
"Your Majesty is mighty. If we can wipe out all the ancient tribes of Master Pang, then the situation will be settled." Xie Tong congratulated.
******
By the Fuyuan Pond, the auxiliary soldiers brought the horses over and handed them over to the soldiers, preparing to set off.
Fuyuan Pond, formerly known as Fengze, is located twenty miles south of the old city of Daliang and extends southward to the northern suburbs of Weishi County. It is sixty or seventy miles long. When Qin Xiaogong became the hegemon, he sent the princes, young officers and commanders to meet with the princes to pay homage to the emperor.
It was renamed Pengchi in the Guochao Dynasty, and Fuyuanchi in Tianbaozhong. Fishing and harvesting were prohibited, so it was a place with rich water and lush vegetation.
The 3,000 men led by Oritsugu were herding horses and resting here. After receiving Shao Shude's order, they immediately finished packing, got on their horses, and headed between Xu and Chen.
They galloped all the way, marching a hundred miles on the 21st, and more than 60 miles on the 22nd, and camped on the west bank of Caishui River to rest.
The Feilong Army is also accelerating its advance.
On the 20th, we traveled 120 miles quickly, on the 21st, we traveled 80 miles, and on the 22nd, we traveled another 60 miles. We almost killed the mules and horses, and finally arrived in the southeast of Fugou County. We sent someone to make contact.
After that, he marched eastward for more than ten miles, and finally saw the battlefield from a distance.
It was a village with small bridges, flowing water, and surrounded by woods. It was as beautiful as a paradise. But at this time, people were shouting, horses were neighing, drums and horns were shouting, the sound of arrows piercing the air never stopped, and the screams never stopped.
.
The two thousand cavalrymen of the Dingnan Army still used the Tibetan style of fighting, roaming and riding and shooting. They were very courageous. They took the risk of being shot down by infantry bows and crossbows, paid heavy casualties, and tried their best to enter.
Within the range of a riding bow, throw arrows at the enemy.
The enemy is a cavalry army with nearly 10,000 people. They are good at using long spears, hooks, sickles, spears, and long axes. They are professional in dealing with cavalry and have excellent psychological quality. When they saw the cavalry of the Dingnan Army rushing over, they cooperated tacitly and were skillful.
It's very efficient at killing people.
After resting for a day and two nights in Fugou County, they seemed to have fully recovered their energy. The commander, Wang Jingxuan, led more than a hundred cavalry, and even counterattacked and killed a few people. He charged forward with an iron gun. He was really brave and chased.
The Dingnan army was defeated and the cavalry was defeated, and more than ten people were killed before returning.
"Okay! What a warrior! That iron spear probably weighs thirty kilograms, and it is wearing heavy armor. It rushes left and right and is unstoppable. Even in the grasslands, it is difficult to find such warriors." Qi Bi.
Zhang watched from a distance and was filled with admiration.
The sergeants were preparing silently. The sound of swords being sheathed and the sound of bowstrings being fired could be heard in the queue. Everything was in order.
"Blow the drums! Advance the troops!" Qibizhang ordered.
Nine thousand warriors struck the ground with their long spears and shouted: "Kill!"
The formation began to advance and moved forward inexorably.
The Jia Ma Army also discovered this horse-mounted infantry coming from the west. They had already begun preparations. The sergeants of one battalion after another got up from the rest area surrounded by carts, wearing armor and holding spears, and faced each other tit for tat.
It was almost evening, the sun was not dazzling, and no one was going to suffer any loss. Just kill them.
The cavalrymen of the Dingnan Army lost many people, and now they stepped aside to lick their wounds, which made Liang Ren feel a little relieved.
However, their expressions soon changed, because a series of horse hooves sounded from the east and north, and became more and more intensive.
At this time, it was too late to disband the formation and retreat to the large car to defend. In any case, we could only bite the bullet and fight on.
What a big mistake! Wang Jingxuan's face darkened and he felt depressed. If the entire army had been in the car formation from the beginning, using spears and bows and crossbows to defend themselves, there would be no need to be afraid even if the enemy had infantry charging at them, but now...
Warm cheers rang out from the north. Wang Jingshu took a closer look and saw that he was actually wearing a big banner.