Chapter 123: The Wind Crosses the Yin Mountains and the Bank of the Yellow River (3)
Mouning Keren commanded the Xia army to protect the food and baggage and left Wulahai City, but the battle continued.
Tens of thousands of soldiers and horses from both sides fought together in complete melee.
In some places, the Song army surrounds the Xia army and fights. In other places, the Xia army chases the Song army. In most places, it is a criss-cross situation. There are enemies among us and enemies among us. We are surrounded by enemies and comrades.
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But if you look carefully, you can see that the Song army fought much more methodically than the Xia army.
No matter how chaotic the battlefield situation is, the Song Army can maintain the most basic formation of a ten-man team. The sergeants, led by the first and the soldiers, move to the battlefield and merge immediately when encountering other ten-man teams.
Who is the leader depends on the military rank. If the military rank is the same, whoever is older is the leader. One team, two teams, three teams... On the battlefield, the Song Army can often maintain the combat posture of a hundred-man team.
Even if they encounter a strong enemy and the hundred-man team is broken up, after the transition, the ten-man team that dispersed will flow together like water droplets, forming a new large stream of water.
Under the leadership of officers, they attacked enemy targets according to priority according to the instructions in the drill. They attacked in all directions, and the Xia army was exhausted, and the entire battlefield became more and more chaotic.
The grain, grass and baggage escorted out by the Xia Army were the first priority targets of the Song Army's combat teams.
One after another, the hundreds of soldiers from the Song army came buzzing around like gadflies that couldn't be driven away. They tried their best to drive away one group, but in the blink of an eye another group came. It seemed that they couldn't be driven away at all.
The routines were basically the same. They circled around the perimeter and used arrows to attack the Xia troops who were guarding them. After opening a gap, they used rockets to shoot at the carriages carrying grain, grass and baggage. There were even cavalrymen holding torches, taking advantage of the chaos to rush in and set fire to them.
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Mouning Keren and his men were responsible for escorting the grain, grass and baggage out of the city and to the pasture in the west of the city. Although it had been burned by fire, it was the closest camp to Wu Lahai City and could be used as a barrier.
He saw with his own eyes that he commanded his troops to kill the Song troops who were harassing the carriage, but they circled outside, reunited with their previously killed companions, formed a new team, and fought back again.
This made Mouning Keren puzzled.
In his view, the soldiers below have left their familiar superiors and become scattered soldiers, and it is difficult to be reorganized. Because even if they are recruited by a new superior, the mutual trust and tacit understanding of cooperation cannot be compared with the original superior.
Compared with peers.
Therefore, once they are dispersed during the war, each unit will fight on its own, and its combat effectiveness will be greatly weakened. This is true for all armies in the world, including the Liao and Xia armies.
But Song Jun broke his conventional thinking.
No matter how the Song army is dispersed, once they meet their comrades, they will automatically join together to form a new hundred-man team. They trust each other, cooperate tacitly, and exert normal combat effectiveness.
How did Song Jun do it?
Mouning Keren would not understand. The Song Army's horse and infantry armies, including the Suzaku and Xuanwu Army, all have the same training pattern.
Officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the same branch receive exactly the same training. During normal exercises and training, various ministries often conduct similar drills in which the troops are broken up and randomly combined.
Although it has not yet reached Zhao Si's ideal ability to gather energy and disperse it, it is much stronger than the armies of other countries at the same time.
Under the continuous harassment of the Song army, most of the food and grass baggage that had been easily transported from Wu Lahai City was burned. Looking at the pieces, the dark carriage slowly drove into the west pasture, seeking peace and defeating any desire.
Cry without tears.
This is the last part of our own food, grass and supplies. With only this much left, even if today's battle is indeterminate, it will be difficult for Xia's army to hold on for much longer.
Towards evening, groups of Xia troops returned from the battlefield one by one, and Li Liangfu also returned with his personal troops.
The red tassel on his helmet was broken, his armor was in tatters and covered with black bloodstains, and the mount he was riding was not the original big green horse.
He looked very tired, just like all the Xia officers and soldiers. A day of fierce fighting had left them physically and mentally exhausted.
Li Liangfu stood at the gate of the village and personally greeted every returning Xia army soldier. He steeled himself and encouraged each of his subordinates with perseverance in his eyes, giving them courage and washing away their fear.
At this time, he showed the qualities that a good general should have.
As the night grew darker, no Xia troops returned. They were either dead, captured, or escaped.
"Du Tongjun, our losses have been revealed." Mouning Keren said.
"Supervisor of the Army, please speak." Li Liangfu said in a hoarse voice and a very humble tone.
"Now we have gathered only 18,000 people, and there are still more than 1,000 people without mounts."
"So, including West Ranch and Nanfeng Castle, from last night to now, we have lost 16,000 troops." Li Liangfu asked in a trembling voice.
"Yes, the commander of the army. In addition, we only have enough food and grass for four days, and there is a severe shortage of ordnance. Many soldiers cannot replace the damaged bow strings of their armor, and they cannot replenish their lost arrows. There are only about five thousand people left.
When ten arrows were lost, there were still more than two thousand people, and not a single arrow was lost."
Li Liangfu was silent for a long time.
"The Song Army is more resilient than I thought. From last night to now, they kept changing their tactics and fighting us to the death without stopping for a moment. In the end, we couldn't hold on and withdrew first... They
Like a pack of wolves on the snowfield, very patient."
Li Liangfu murmured: "Commander of the Army, we are now in a desperate situation. If we want to make a comeback, we must find a strange move."
Mouning Keren was silent for a while, then nodded resolutely: "Then let's give it a try."
In the Song army's tent, Zhao Si began to evaluate after listening to his own casualty report.
"Our army suffered 6,000 casualties and achieved a great victory. The one who took advantage was surprise and attacked the Xia Army's West Ranch and Nanfeng Castle. But on today's main battlefield, the Xia Army fought tenaciously."
"Our army has the advantage in tactics. Under our attacks one after another, the Xia army has been gritting its teeth and persisting. Our army has the advantage in numbers and can go back to the rear in batches to rest. The Xia army did not have such a good fate. They carried it from the beginning.
Tail, the physical exertion is much greater than ours."
"Although they were the first to withdraw at night, the physical strength of our various units was also exhausted, and we could not continue to expand the results, so we retreated... It can be seen that the Xia army we faced was indeed Xixia
The elite of the country. Li Liangfu is worthy of being a famous Xixia general."
"...Although we suffered a big loss at the beginning and were driven out of Wu Lahai City. However, Li Liangfu did not panic. Instead, he calmed down and commanded properly, so that the entire Xia army was not involved in our chaotic battle.
To be disrupted or defeated is truly remarkable..."
After Zhao Si finished summarizing, he looked around at everyone and asked: "Now we have a rough idea of Li Liangfu's situation. He suffered a defeat, his troops were greatly damaged, there was not much food and grass supplies, and his morale was low. Everyone, if you stand in Li Liangfu's position,
what to do?"
There was silence in the big tent. Zhao Si looked at the people who were meditating. He did not name the generals, but the names of his staff.
"Ye Xun, tell me."
"Your Majesty, under the current circumstances, I judge that Li Liangfu has only two options. One is to lead his troops to retreat south. But it is impossible. Because as soon as he retreats, the north gate of Xingqing Mansion will be opened, and our army can move along
The Yellow River flows southward, approaching Xingqing Mansion, and joins the main force of the Western Army in the south."
"So I feel that Li Liangfu does not dare to retreat south, because if he withdraws, Lord Xia will kill him."
Seeing Zhao Si and other colleagues nodding in agreement, Ye Xun became more confident and continued: "In this case, he has only one choice, to find a way to defeat us. Then how to defeat us? I looked at the history books and military books.
, After much thought, if Xia Jun wants to turn things around in this situation, it is nothing more than a night attack on our camp, and the outcome will be determined by one battle."
At this time, Li Gang spoke up: "A night attack on our camp? It's a hundred miles away. It's full of our army's cavalry teams and night guards. The Xia army can't touch the location of our camp. They can't find it anywhere."
How to attack at night?"
Zhao Ding hurriedly added: "Then find a way for them to find out."
There was a burst of chuckles in the big tent, and Li Gang also laughed, and then added: "I just don't know what Li Liangfu's gambling skills are, so I have to ask the prisoners.
Zhao Si smiled with satisfaction and continued to ask: "In addition, we also need to think about what would happen if Li Liangfu and Xia Army failed to attack our camp at night, or if they simply did not attack at night and directly found another way to survive.
What is it?"
Ye Xun, Li Gang and Zhao Ding almost answered in unison: "Run east to north Liao." This chapter has been completed!