Chapter 479 Blood and Fire Three Kingdoms Kill (Degenerate and Persistence)
The water volume of the Hutuo River is actually not large. Even at the Zhongdu Bridge, if there are soldiers who are good at swimming, they can still wade across the river.
As for the upper reaches, there are more river sections with shallow water and easy passage.
Du Chongwei was busy setting up a stronghold to stabilize the position, but Yelu Deguang had already made a decisive decision and ordered his brother-in-law Xiao Han to personally lead the iron pigeons and six thousand fine cavalry of the two armies to march west along the Hutuo River to find a wide place to cross the river and directly cut off the Jin army's retreat.
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At the end of November, Xiao Han led 6,000 elite cavalry and unexpectedly appeared outside Luan City.
Luan City only had a small number of defenders, and they didn't even know that the people coming were Khitans, so they were captured immediately.
This is actually the reason why Fu Yanqing is extremely opposed to Du Chongwei's westward march to Hengzhou, because it not only represents a change in the march route, but also a change in the supply line.
Due to the national strength of the later Jin Dynasty and the control of the local area by the later Jin court, the Jin army did not have the ability to change the army route at will, and subsequently the ability to change the supply line.
If we follow the agreed plan, after we cannot hold the north, we will retreat south to the Yellow River line and implement the strategy of letting the Khitan troops penetrate deep.
In this way, both the quantity and quality of supplies along the way are more guaranteed.
But when Du Chongwei arrived in Hengzhou, the difficulty of supply suddenly increased.
For example, Luan City, such an important supply stronghold, does not have much defense.
Although Du Chongwei sent Xue Huairang to transport grain and grass, the transshipment route from Tokyo to Luancheng was not established. It happened to be a heavy rain, and the transport workers were miserable. They would rather be whipped than get up, and they were unable to drive at all.
After finally transporting 30,000 shi of grain to Luan City, Xiao Han led the Khitan troops and horses.
Xue Huairang lost Luan City. In addition to civilians, he only had hundreds of soldiers under his command. There were no troops in the surrounding prefectures and counties, so he could only retreat to the Yuan clan southwest of Luan City.
Moreover, he could only defend Yuanshi City, because Xiao Han's troops were ten times larger than his, and he could send hundreds of fine cavalry to plunder at any time.
Even the simple supply line that Xue Huairang finally established and the supply points along the way were destroyed. The Yuan family was almost in an isolated city. How could he dare to leave the city.
At the same time, Du Chongwei, who was on the east bank of the Hutuo River, immediately panicked when he heard that Luan City had been occupied.
Because Luancheng was not only the supply line for the Jin army, but also the only way for the Jin army to retreat southward. Luancheng in the hands of the Khitans was like a chokehold for the Jin army.
In panic, Du Chongwei urgently ordered Hu Cile, who had been guarding the camp, to lead the Wuning Army cavalry and part of the Forbidden Army cavalry to go south, and join forces with Xue Huairang to attack Luan City and open up the road.
On the west bank of the Hutuo River, Yelu Deguang set up a chariot and could clearly see the movements of the Hou Jin military camp.
Hu Cile had just left the camp with 3,000 cavalry, when Yelu Deguang ordered Yelv Wuzhi and others who had done meritorious service to lead another 3,000 cavalry and follow Hu Cile southward.
Although they both sent out three thousand cavalry, the meaning for both sides was completely different.
The three thousand cavalry of the Jin army were drawn out while greatly reducing the mobility of the army.
The Khitans have almost all cavalry, and it doesn't matter if they take out three thousand cavalry.
Moreover, the Khitan cavalry had the extravagant configuration of one man and two horses. After they followed Hu Ci's three thousand cavalry south, they quickly got in touch with Xiao Han in Luancheng, because Xiao Han had been sending a large number of You Yi troops to guard the outside.
When Hu Ci Le led his elite cavalry to break through Xiao Han's You Yi cavalry and arrived at the outskirts of Luan City, they encountered the 6,000 cavalry of Yelu Wuzhi and Xiao Han's troops who were waiting for them.
The so-called joint attack on Luancheng with Xue Huairang's troops is completely out of the question.
Because Xue Huairang could not even leave Yuanshi City, he had no idea that Hu Cile had led his army to the north of Luan City.
Hu Ci Le galloped around to encourage morale. Although he was already tired, he was not afraid. Instead, he pointed at the gap between Xiao Han's Department and Yeluwu Zhi Department in the distance and said.
"The troops were arranged hastily, and the two armies were not integrated into one. If we charge directly to that place, we will be able to defeat the Khitans."
As he spoke, Hu Zaile looked at the warrior Hu Tai beside him.
Before that, after Hu Cile gave the order, his sons Hu Guang and Hu Tai were the two sharp knives in the battle.
At this moment, Hu Zaile did not dare to teach Hu Guang such an important task as a sharp weapon for the army, because Hu Guang was a little afraid since Hu Guang was almost killed by the Khitan Iron Falcon Army with a horse stick last time.
Although Hu Guang and he had many disagreements in many aspects, Hu Guang was his only outstanding son. Despite the quarrels between father and son, the relationship still existed.
Hutai is a short and strong man, just like a black weight.
Since following Zhang Tianwang back east, he has fought dozens of battles, big and small, and must be the first in every battle.
After arriving at Kaifeng Prefecture in Tokyo, although his fighting spirit has slowed down, he is still a rare warrior.
But such a strong general actually had timidity in his eyes at this moment. He looked at Hu Ci Le and said a little insincerely.
"Third Uncle, the captive cavalry is strong, and we don't know whether there will be support later. Why don't we lead the troops back and wait for them to be deployed and mobilized."
Hu Cile glared at Hu Tai, and almost hit Hu Tai on the head with the riding crop in his hand.
"How dare you, Zhu Zi? On the battlefield, you pushed back and forth. I think you were stunned by those Xuzhou ladies. You didn't even lead the army to attack them. Look carefully, I betrayed those prostitutes of yours when I got back."
Since he took office as the military commander of the Wuning Army in Xuzhou, the old tree of Hucai Ledu has bloomed new flowers and taken in two beautiful concubines. The states and counties controlled by the Wuning Army have also presented rare treasures.
In addition, salt and iron merchants presented luxury houses and actors and actresses, which immediately improved the quality of life.
It is logical that since he has been fighting for so many years and can enjoy it, his subordinates will follow suit!
However, in just one year, Hutai already had three concubines, 4,000 acres of fertile land, and controlled several salt and iron mines.
Now that he is so wealthy, it is impossible to expect him to be as aggressive and violent as before, without risking his life.
However, because the corruption had not lasted long, Hu Tai's bloody courage was thrown away, and Hu Ci Le's prestige, Hu Tai had no choice but to bite the bullet, roared wildly, and went down to gather the soldiers.
However, Hu Tai can learn from Hu Cile's lifestyle, and the soldiers below will naturally be less stupid.
Besides, the reason why these seven hundred Liangzhou horses were so brave and unrivaled was due to another important reason besides the lack of corruption in their lives.
That is, everyone comes from the same place, the training and tactics are closely coordinated, and the trust is unparalleled.
But after arriving in Xuzhou, it was impossible for Hu Cile not to absorb the old people from the Wuning Army in the past. It was the entry of these people that corrupted the original Liangzhou Knights, and at the same time, the tacit understanding and trust were also rapidly declining.
It seems that the number of cavalry has expanded from 700 to 2,000, but the actual combat effectiveness is far less than before.
Unfortunately, just as Shi Chonggui was unable to grasp the national conditions of the Jin Kingdom well, Hu Ci Le, who continued to play music and dance in Xuzhou, also failed to accurately capture the fact that Hu Tai and others' combat effectiveness dropped sharply.
At this time, the Liao Army's Xiao Han Division and Yelvwu Zhi Division arrived hand in hand, and the two armies formed a crane-wing formation to clamp down on Hu Ci Le's troops.
Hu Zaile responded by losing his position, seemingly trying to break through the Liao army that was spreading far away.
However, in fact, Hu Zaile secretly hid 400 people from Hu Tai in order to use his elite to attack the weak points of the Liao army under the cover of the army, which was the basis of the two white crane wings.
The Liao army seemed to be using the Crane Wing Formation to spread pepper noodles foolishly, but in fact they knew how powerful the tiger thorns were at strangling Liangzhou's horses.
The Khitan people were preparing to wrap up Hu Cile's troops and use their mobility to repeatedly pull and peel the onions.
Therefore, when the two armies were still dozens of steps away, the Liao army fired thousands of arrows, using bows and arrows to disrupt the charge of Hu Ci's cavalry, without forcing a close combat with Hu Ci's cavalry.
The Crane Wing Formation instantly turned into a chaotic battle, which made Hu Ci Le very uncomfortable for a while.
At this time, he was like a majestic bull, while the Liao army was like a pack of hyenas. Although there was no single enemy in front of him, there were dangers lurking all around. If you were not careful, you would be bitten off a piece of meat.
However, Hu Tsai, who is secretly ambushing Hu Tsai, is not completely useless, because the Khitan's style of play seems to be unstructured, but they still rely on command.
Although almost a year had passed since his days of prosperity, Hu Ciler's sense of battlefield had not been lost. He pointed in the direction of Xiao Han and urgently ordered Hu Tai to lead the army to attack.
Xiao Han also didn't expect that Du Nian would realize where his command was so quickly. He was quite afraid of Hu Ci Le's hundreds of horses. It should be said that the whole Liao Kingdom was very afraid.
These Liangzhou horses are not as skilled as the Khitan cavalry in bowing and horsemanship, and they are even better in war horses and armor.
Nowadays, the general understanding in the Khitan is that in a decisive battle between 30,000 and less than 50,000 people, the fighting power of the Liangzhou cavalry and the Khitan cavalry is about equal.
If there are more than 50,000 people, the Khitan cavalry has a very high winning rate, but at the same time, if there are less than 30,000 people, especially more than 10,000 elite cavalry duels, the Liangzhou cavalry will be even better.
However, what happened next shocked Xiao Han.
Hu Tai's 300 light-armored cavalry looked menacing, but three fierce attacks failed to defeat the light-armored cavalry he deployed in the front army.
The combat effectiveness of the Liangzhou horses has declined too quickly.
With doubts and joy, Xiao Han became more comfortable in commanding, and the two sides were entangled for dozens of miles outside Luancheng and along the Wenshui River outside the city.
After an hour of bloody fighting, Hu Ci Le's troops suffered heavy casualties, and the signs of defeat were beginning to appear.
Amidst the shouts and neighing of the horses, cold sweat dripped down from the tiger's head and down the back of his head. The tiger was unable to rush away from the Khitan cavalry in front of him.
Not to mention capturing and killing the local commander, even forcing the enemy commander to move his flag cannot be done.
But at this moment, due to mistakes in tactics and combat power, they were even more trapped in the Liao army's onion-peeling operation, and their casualties were increasing.
Hu Zaile thought a lot for a while, and his hands and feet seemed a little cold.
He thought that he might die somewhere in battle, but he never thought that it would happen so quickly. He had not lived enough of his happy days in Wuning Army.
At this moment, bursts of cheers came from the left and right, and Tiger Thorn looked up fiercely, only to see Xiao Han's commanding flag beginning to sway from side to side like leaves in the wind.
Not far in front of Xiao Han, a group of about a hundred elite cavalry, like tigers rushing into a flock of sheep, beat Xiao Han's personal guards into running wolves.
Finally, Xiao Han under Shuai's banner could not withstand the pressure and began to retreat with various flags and drums.
For a moment, the Tiger Thorn troops roared with joy, and all the soldiers relied on the gap created to rush out to the north. They finally jumped out of the encirclement.
However, Hu Ci Le did not completely let go. He looked around, but he could not see his son Hu Guang.
A familiar shout came from Er. Hu Ciler looked to the northwest and saw his son Hu Guang standing on the hillside, waving his hand as if to say goodbye to him.
"My sons, let's go back to Liangzhou! Only the King of Heaven can save the world!"