Facing the Han cavalry, Fulo was already in a difficult situation and was in a dilemma. And the infantry formation several miles away made the commander of the Hu cavalry even more like a nightmare.
At the beginning of the battle, Li Chengzhi dispatched 80% of the cavalry. There were only three battalions left in the Chinese army to prepare for emergencies. Therefore, they did not pose any threat to Hu Jun's scouts. The military formation was carefully explored by him: More than ten thousand infantrymen set up a large square formation. There was only a half-foot-wide Haogou on the outside. Inside the Haogou, a circle of empty chariots was set up. The archers used the chariots as shields and drew their bows.
Ready to go.
Further inside, there is a sparse artillery array. There are only a few stone cannons, and they look very small. At most, they can throw thirty or fifty kilograms of stone projectiles.
The rest are spearmen, trapped in the middle.
The standard defensive formation is like a turtle. Although it looks big, its shell is not very thick.
Just because the chariot formation and the ditch are nothing to the tens of thousands of barbarians, they can be filled up in a few or two strokes.
In Hu Shuai's view, this formation is extremely easy to defeat: harass it with a small number of wandering cavalry, damage its arrows, and consume its energy. At the same time, look for the weak points of the formation, wait until its energy is exhausted and become paralyzed, and then use
The heavy cavalry suddenly broke through.
As long as a hole can be opened, the Han army's formation is like a sand dam overflowing with water, which will collapse in an instant.
It's a pity that dreams are beautiful, but reality is very basic.
When the first wave of rangers arrived about a hundred steps in front of the formation, rockets filled the sky and rained down like a meteor shower.
It's not that Hu Shuai didn't expect that the Han army would use this trick. After all, when the scouts reported the situation, they emphasized that there were many torches standing in the car array.
It is daytime now, the shining sun is so big, and there is no need for illumination, so the fire is most likely used to ignite arrows, stone bullets and the like.
This was not the first time he had fought against the Han army, so Hu Shuai didn't care much about it. Because before breaking the formation, Hu Qi was only fifty steps away. This distance was extremely embarrassing for the archers, and they were just too tired to use their strength.
, when the old strength fails.
Not to mention that all barbarian soldiers are wearing half armor, even if they are not armored, the arrows thrown will not cause much damage to them. And for horses, it is more like scratching an itch, at most it will rub off a few hairs.
As for stone cannons, because the attacks are too sparse, even if they are hit, only one or two will be killed or injured, which is almost the same as nothing.
Even if it were replaced by rockets and fire bombs, it would not be possible to directly ignite the armor and horse body, so Hu Shuai was very strange and thought, why did the Han army bother to do this?
But when the first round of arrows fell, he realized how wrong he was.
Ordinary arrows, even rockets, will usually be bounced off as long as they cannot penetrate armor or horse hide. But this time, as long as the arrows hit people or horses, they would not fall out six or seven times out of ten.
Like it’s stuck?
That's all. After all, arrows shot from fifty steps away are no longer powerful and can't cause much damage.
But the strange thing is that the arrow was coated with something unknown, and it caught fire wherever it touched, whether it was iron armor or horsehide.
The horse was shocked in pain, and five or six of the ten mounted soldiers were thrown off their horses.
People were even frightened and panicked, thinking that iron could catch fire, let alone people?
In fear, the soldiers all hurriedly beat the fire. But no matter what object was pressed, not only the fire was not extinguished, but the things used to put out the fire also ignited.
Some waved their hands, screamed as if they were dancing with two torches, and rushed around like headless flies. Some held knives set on fire, stunned as if they had seen a ghost. There were also those who were anxious.
He took off his clothes and armor and was completely naked in just a few seconds.
Another round of arrow rain came, like moving fireballs, and there were screams everywhere.
Hu Shuai's hands and feet were cold and he was sweating profusely.
What is this thing? Even iron can ignite, just like a maggot attached to a bone.
Evil, witchcraft?
At this point, he still dared to think of breaking the formation. He immediately rang the golden bell and called all the remaining rangers back to the formation.
But Li Chengzhi has always been unyielding when he has power, so how could he be allowed to take it easy like this?
As soon as Hu Jun's cavalry retreated, three big drums suddenly sounded in the Han camp.
Hu Shuai was shocked: How could he not know that after years of fighting against each other, this was the order for the Han army to counterattack?
Sure enough, as soon as the drum beat fell, the Han army's front line was like a flood that broke its embankment and came over like a mountain.
At this point, Hu Shuai understood why the Han army only dug a ditch and deployed a chariot formation in the ditch. There were not even a few more horses to block the cavalry, but they did not set up outside the formation?
It was only because Han Shuai concluded that Hu Qi would never be able to get close to the formation, and in order to facilitate his own counterattack, he made the formation defense so simple.
He was indeed right: if he were not afraid of Hu Qi's suspicion, he would not even dare to get close to the formation.
The distance between the two formations was nearly three miles. The Han troops were all infantry and would not be able to attack them for a while. Therefore, although Hu Shuai was frightened, he did not panic.
He looked at it very carefully: the Han army's front formation was full of spearmen and soldiers, and they were very close to each other. However, the formation was not thick, with at most twenty layers and less than five feet deep. People were almost pressed against each other, and guns were crowded with guns. Then came the archers, but they were completely opposite to the infantry formation. They were extremely wide apart, with half a foot between each soldier.
But the strange thing is that there is another layer of chariot formation behind the archers?
No... it's not a chariot formation, it should be a charioteer pulling arrows. The archers don't have arrow pots on their bodies, they just hold a bow in their hands.
He suddenly realized: the spearmen in the front line were only used to block the horses. No wonder the spears were so long, five feet long.
The killer weapon of the Han army should be the bow soldiers behind the spear formation.
Thinking of the scene just now, Hu Shuai felt cold: That rocket can even ignite armor...
If it's normal, you can't retreat. Even if the infantry has eight legs, it can't catch up with the cavalry.
But the key point is that today his unit is only for containment. On the front battlefield, there are 20,000 Hu cavalry facing the Han army's nearly 10,000 cavalry.
If he wants to retreat, what will Fu Luo and Murong Gao do?
If he gives way to the southern flank and allows the Han army to move closer to the rear of the central army, Fuluo and Muronggao will be attacked from both sides, and the morale of the army will be in chaos.
Hu Shuai gritted his teeth and shouted sternly: "Dismount and stand up..."
Haha...
Diao Zheng almost laughed out loud when he saw Hu Qi dismounting and forming a circle around the horses as a shield wall. The soldiers huddled inside the wall and were gathering arrows.
Do the barbarians know how to fight with a bird's feather?
Fortunately, Murong Xianbei had a relatively high degree of Chineseization, so he learned a little bit from the Han people. At least he knew how to use war horses as shield walls.
If it were Rouran, as long as she left the horse, she would never even fight...
Secretly feeling happy, I accidentally saw Li Chengzhi's gloomy face, Diao Zheng's serious look, and his face was full of admiration.
When they formed the formation in the middle of the night, Diao Zheng was trembling with fear, thinking that by setting up such a large formation with virtually no defense, wouldn't it mean that Duke Li was sending a beautiful woman who had taken off her clothes in front of a bad guy?
Relying on the power of the sky thunder, Li Daoyuan's cavalry formation should be able to defeat Fuluo. But if our infantry formation loses, not only will it be difficult to recover from the disadvantage, but it will probably suffer even greater losses.
After all, the Hu troops are all cavalry, so even if they are defeated, the casualties will not be too heavy. And if our infantry formation collapses, we will definitely be defeated, and we will have no choice but to be slaughtered by the Hu cavalry.
Diao Zheng even had the idea of persuading Li Chengzhi to give half of the thunder that day to the formation.
But he was intimidated by Li Chengzhi's majesty, and as the coach, Li Chengzhi had to sit in command and direct the formation. He must have other considerations, so Diao Zheng did not dare to say anything.
Unexpectedly, although Li Chengzhi did not equip the formation with thunder, he only equipped it with some rockets. But the rockets were so powerful?
But seeing the victory in sight, Duke Li's face not only showed no joy, but turned gloomy?
Could it be that there is a crisis hidden somewhere that I have not seen through?
Diao Zheng pondered for a moment and asked in confusion: "Is there anything wrong with asking the Duke?"
More than just inappropriate, Jian Jin is terrible.
Li Chengzhi stood on the roof of the cloud car, which was three feet tall, so he had an excellent view.
In the frontal battlefield, Fulo's cavalry formation was already in chaos. As long as Li Daoyuan worked harder, defeat would be inevitable sooner or later.
The 10,000 Hu cavalry on the south wing have been divided into two groups. One group used horses as shields and surrounded an iron barrel formation. The other group was swimming outside the infantry formation of the Han army that was advancing slowly eastward. But they were frightened by the rockets.
It's so powerful that you don't even dare to come within a hundred steps.
As a result, Hu Jun will be defeated if he can't hold on for an hour at most.
But Volo is not blind, nor is he an idiot. How can he still watch a complete defeat and remain indifferent?
As long as the infantry formation gets closer and threatens the rear of his formation, he will inevitably retreat in ambush.
There are only more than ten thousand cavalry on the side. How many can we chase and kill?
It was considered a small victory, but Li Chengzhi rushed over in such a hurry, was it just to give Volo a blow?
He originally planned to leave at least half of the 30,000 Hu Qi to rest here to achieve his strategic goal.
The method is also very simple: first use rockets and cannon barrels to force Volo back, and when the northern part of Baili Beach is vacated, let Li Song lay mines in the beach.
It doesn’t need to be much, just spread it out in seven or eight places, three to five hundred per place is enough.
Then he repeated his old trick and forced Fu Luo to the north. Whether he retreated strategically or wanted to fight to the death, as long as the army passed by here, thousands of thunders would strike and the Hu army would be defeated.
At that time, the army will be defeated like a mountain. All he needs to do is send out all the cavalry in pursuit. Li Chengzhi is 100,000 sure that he can capture and kill more than half of Hu Qi.
With all the efforts of Tuyuhun, how many times can such a big excitement be brought together. Even if Fulianchou didn't faint from crying in the toilet, it would still make him feel so distressed that he would bleed. In a short period of time, he will never dare to come here rashly again.
Take advantage of Da Wei.
But things did not go as planned, and Li Chengzhi could only sigh with regret, secretly saying that it was a pity.
He had predicted countless times how much shock the world would be shocked by the emergence of explosives, and how drastic changes it would bring to war in the cold weapon era.
But he never expected that even without the use of explosives, just rockets, cannon barrels, etc., a battle to lure the enemy would be turned into a battle of destruction?
He had already expected that after this battle, Volodin would take it for granted. If he was not completely sure, he would never take the lead again.
After all, the cavalry has four lines of retreat. If Voluo avoids fighting and swims without attacking, it will definitely make Li Chengzhi sick to death.
It's strange that Tuyuhun came too fast and too urgently, and Li Chengxue's firearms came too late.
The current plan is to win this battle first.
Li Chengzhi also did not take any action at this moment to order Li Daoyuan, Yuan Zhi, Li Liang, etc. to postpone the attack and paralyze the enemy.
That is not self-confidence, but seeking death...
"Instruction: Order the infantry formation to speed up and surround the dismounted cavalry on the south wing as soon as possible... If the Hu cavalry wandering outside the formation blocks the formation, use the spear formation to attack. At the same time, the rockets will be fired together, and the resistance will be defeated...<
/p>
He ordered Li Song's troops to stop their arrangements and drive quickly to the west. If Fulo could form a formation on the western front before retreating, he would use thunder to blast it...
Li Liang was ordered again. If the enemy showed signs of retreating, he would order the Jingzhou Third Brigade and Li Zhang Artillery Brigade to charge. Remember: the main purpose is to kill the enemy, and do not spare the thunder and firearms...
Then he ordered Li Sima: before retreating, Fuluo will definitely leave a force behind. Ask him to decide according to the actual situation: if he is sure to divide his troops, he can pursue Fuluo's headquarters in succession... Tell him to relax as much as possible. Fuluo will not be sure.
If you dare to stop and fight back, at most you will leave one more person behind..."
The messengers agreed in unison, and within a few breaths, dozens of riders rushed out from under the cloud chariot.
Leaning slightly, the big drums in the formation beat loudly and continuously. Following the orders from each battalion, the infantry began to trot to the beat of the drums.
At this time, the infantry formation was still a mile away from the Hu soldiers' cavalry formation. Even the archers did not carry arrow pots, but they were still wearing half armor. By the time they ran to the ground, they did not have much energy left. They could shoot a hundred paces upward, and by then
I'm afraid I won't be able to shoot even fifty steps.
But Li Chengzhi had other plans.
If his predictions were correct, Volo was greatly frightened at this time. Looking at the entire Han army's infantry formation charging, one must have thought that Li Chengzhi was going to cut off his retreat.
I was originally three-pointed with surprise, but when I saw this situation, I would definitely become seven-pointed. And between a dilemma, Voloding would hesitate. Maybe he would make the wrong choice.
Li Chengzhi's purpose was to cause chaos in Fuluo, and to kill Hu Qi as much as possible, one by one as many as he could.
It's better than Volo's orderly retreat and the whole army retreating safely...
Sure enough, not long after the drums of the Han army's formation rang, the Hu army suddenly changed.
First, there was a rapid blast of horns, and the Hu cavalry on the south wing of the formation suddenly dispersed, like a flock of birds that were frightened out of the woods, all heading west, and escaped a mile or two in the blink of an eye. p>
Not to mention the infantry formation that blocked the Han army, they actually abandoned half of their dismounted companions?
Li Chengzhi was not happy and was surprised, and frowned fiercely: If we are going to suffer, these ten thousand barbarians in the south are going to escape?
Not true.
The horse array two miles away has already opened a hole, and it is getting thinner at a speed visible to the naked eye. Just like a hole was dug in a round fish pond, countless fish fry rushed out with the water, densely packed.
It makes people’s scalp numb.
Looking at the two formations that were still nearly a mile and a half away, Li Chengzhi punched the railing of the cloud cart hard.
He had previously hoped that Hu Jun's cavalry formation could hold on to the end, or at least be swallowed up by 50% to 60% by his infantry formation.
But who thought Hu Shuai would react so quickly?
No, Volo should be the one who reacts quickly.
Without Fuluo's military orders, would Hu Shuai'an of this unit dare to abandon his commander and flee without a fight?
Looking at it again, Fuluo's central army indeed started to move. Hundreds of cavalry followed by hundreds of cavalry left the formation and retreated.
As soon as Li Liang's fire cannon soldiers and artillery cavalry urged their horses, nearly two thousand cavalry were greeted from the north wing, like a giant sword lying in front of Li Liang and Fuluo's central formation.
Li Chengzhi was so angry that he wanted to vomit blood: Fuluo, Fuluo, you have marched forty miles in two days in a row, where is your fierceness every step of the way?
Why are you like a mouse, unable to bear the slightest fright?