The impact of the soldiers of the Xia army was obviously much greater than that of the Liao army, not only because of their numerical advantage, but also because of their speed. Although both sides could not charge on horseback, the speed of the Xia army's sled chariots was several times faster than the opponent's.
After eating the essence and drinking water, the resting and energetic war horses galloped past under the force of the long whip. Snow powder flew up on the ground they stepped on, like a giant snow wave rising from the vast land.
When the two sides were fifty steps away from each other, the first wave of bow and arrow shooting began in unison. The rain of arrows, as dense as locusts, crisscrossed at low altitude, and the trembling sound of the arrows breaking through the air rolled past the head like a low muffled thunder.
The next moment, people and horses screamed everywhere, and a large number of soldiers and horses were hit by arrows. The fallen horses and soldiers rolled forward on the snow, plowing deep trenches like mines.
The Liao army suffered from its slow speed. The cavalry became infantry and had to stop when shooting arrows. However, the Xia army on the sleigh and chariot could charge quickly while firing arrows without losing any momentum; of course, the Xia army's
The high speed also brought them greater casualties. The damage caused by the collision of vehicles and horses caused heavy losses to some charging teams whose formation was too dense.
The two sides only had time to shoot two rounds of arrows before they began to engage in hand-to-hand combat. In order to give full play to their numerical advantage, Su Jin had ordered before the charge that once the enemy was engaged, the sled chariots in the front row must go straight into the depth of the Liao army to free up space for those behind.
Space, this can be achieved completely. With the high maneuverability of the charge, the more than 10,000 tanks that rushed first did not stop at all. The soldiers on the tanks dealt with the weapons coming from the left and right while driving the carts.
The war horses advanced deeply into the enemy's army.
No Liao soldiers were willing to resist the rapidly advancing chariots at the horse's head. They all stepped aside to open a passage and allowed the chariots to rush into the depths of the army. These sleigh chariots were like sharp knives, cutting through the Liao army.
The army plowed out alleys and lanes from this big piece of cake; the Xia army that followed followed suit. In just half an hour, the entire battlefield had turned into a pot of boiling water, with bloody battles and bloodshed everywhere.[
The Liao Army's individual combat capability is much higher than that of the Xia Army. If it were a normal cavalry charge, even if the Xia Army had 50,000 more troops, it would be impossible to resist it; but at this time, the Liao Army was standing on ice and snow that could not reach their calves.
In the middle, the soldiers of the Xia Army stood condescendingly on the sled cart, and they had already suffered a big loss on the combat terrain; what was even more disadvantageous was that the configuration on each tank of the Xia Army greatly improved the ability of small-scale combat.
Ability, the configuration of three archers, two large shield soldiers, and two spearmen not only ensures the ability to strike at long range, but also after entering melee combat, the three archers also transform into sword and shield soldiers to ensure close combat capabilities.
The spearmen can assassinate from a distance, the sword and shield soldiers can kill enemies who try to get close or climb into the car, and the large shield soldiers hold shields with both hands to block the enemy's fatal attacks. Although their cooperation is not skillful, it makes the soldiers more capable.
The power is lifted up a lot out of thin air.
The Xia army took advantage of the power of the first battle, relied on their numerical superiority, and took advantage of cooperation to quickly control the situation; the Liao army soldiers gradually showed signs of decline, and the horses and sleds were running around everywhere, which also greatly affected the Liao army's follow-up.
When chasing someone, they would often see the opponent's body slashed with a knife, but in the blink of an eye the attack would be in vain, because the horse pulling the cart kept moving, and it was really difficult to chase and slash with two feet in the snow.
Xiao Hui was so anxious that he immediately ordered: "Kill all the enemy's horses pulling the cart and force them to stay where they are."
The soldiers of the Liao army immediately turned on the mad dog mode. The thing in their hands turned from people to horses. In an instant, hundreds of thousands of horses fell on the battlefield. Of course, the price paid for this was also huge. It is doubtful that the soldiers of the Xia army could kill the horses but not the people.
He calmly beheaded the enemy, and tens of thousands of soldiers died during the horse-cutting operation.
The soldiers of the Xia Army who lost their mobility could only stay where they were, relying on the condescending geographical advantage to fight the Liao Army. However, they were confined to the carriage, and their efficiency against the enemy was greatly reduced. Now it was the Liao people who could hide and evade, while the soldiers of the Xia Army
Outside the range of weapons, they can only stare with big eyes and small eyes; the Liao people have mastered this characteristic, and they are fighting forward and retreating suddenly, making the Xia army in the car miserable.
Su Jin watched all this from the back of the battlefield. Of course, he had ways to reverse this gradually passive situation, but he still made up his mind not to rush to give orders. He allowed Zhang Yuan and others around him to anxiously ask him to find a solution quickly, but Su Rong
Silent.
The Xia army's casualties still increased. The Liao army, who had found a trick, began to distance themselves. Seeing the opportunity, they rushed forward and fired their weapons at a person. They took advantage of the small space in the vehicle and the disadvantage of inconvenient movement to kill one person instantly, and then before the enemy could counterattack.
After retreating, the tactics adapted to local conditions were very effective. The casualties of the Xia army began to increase. Thousands of soldiers on the sled chariots had been killed by this method. The corpses were placed on both sides of the carriages, and the snow water ran along the sides of the carriages.
The gap flows downward.
Under the circumstances, the number of casualties on both sides gradually narrowed. The Liao army suffered more than 70,000 casualties, while the Xia army's casualties also soared to more than 50,000.
Seeing that the time was almost up, Su Jin saw that the Xia army's momentum was completely weakened after such a waste, and it would be difficult for them to make a comeback, so he turned around and shouted: "Three cannon blasts, order the flanking ambush troops to launch an attack."
The guards around him received the order and hurried to deliver it. Zhang Yuan was stunned and said: "Ambush? Where did we get the ambush?"
Su Jin chuckled and said, "Do you still remember the order I gave to the army to wait until dawn to pursue after annihilating the Liao army?"
Zhang Yuandao: "Didn't you say that it's easy to rush on the road at dawn? There are traces of the enemy's escape, so there's no need to worry about escaping?"
Su Jin said: "Yes, but while I was waiting for dawn for half an hour, I sent General Moreau to lead 50,000 people to circle from the southeast, far away from the enemy's large army. At this moment, they were already behind the enemy's flank.
."
Zhang Yuandao: "Where did the fifty thousand soldiers and horses come from?"
Su Jin waved his hand and said: "There are 20,000 garrison troops in the capital, plus 30,000 garrison troops in Longzhou and Xiazhou. Your Queen Mother promised me that she would send another 50,000 troops under my command. It was delayed for seven or eight days. It happened that they happened to be there in the afternoon the day before yesterday.
When it arrived, I sent General Moreau to take over. In a war, no matter how large the number of people is, a fresh force is needed to suppress the battle, and it comes in handy now."
Zhang Yuan was silent, this kid actually has such a skill, leaving 50,000 fresh troops to act as surprise soldiers outside the army. What's even more disgusting is that he didn't even fart, hiding it from others, even himself.
Drum.
"Tong Tong Tong" three cannon blasts resounded across the sky. On the plain, the huge explosion sound spread dozens of miles away, and the three mushroom-shaped black smoke rising were particularly conspicuous against the blue sky. As soon as the cannon sound fell,
I heard the screams coming from the southeast on the left rear of the battlefield with the wind, which was the echo of the sound of arrows; on the horizon, the black soldiers of the Xia Army rolled through the snow like the wind, rushing straight towards the battlefield, it was time for a cup of tea,
Seven or eight thousand chariots have already rushed into the battle. These new forces, full of physical strength when they first arrived, suddenly acted like a huge force, stirring up the battle situation.
The originally stalemate battle situation became immediately passionate with the addition of this new force. The enthusiasm of the Xia army soldiers was naturally due to the arrival of reinforcements, which doubled their strength; while the Liao army seemed to have been hit in the head, and everyone was in a daze. They were already exhausted and their bodies were full of energy.
I was soaked with blood and sweat, and my feet were still stepping on the icy water flowing with blood and mud. I had forgotten all this when the war started, but now my whole body felt like it had fallen into an ice cellar, and the strong wind in the wilderness made me feel cold from head to toe.[
With their fierce momentum, the Xia army quickly turned the tide of the battle. The Liao army was already eager to fight again, and soldiers in a small number of places had begun to flee. Xiao Hui saw this and sighed, knowing that the situation was over, so he did not dare to delay for too long, and ordered
His personal guards drove large groups of war horses towards the battlefield and trampled them. At the same time, he quickly fled the battlefield with more than a thousand people lightly armed, and went straight to the royal tent of Liao Xingzong.
The news of the coach's escape became the last straw that broke the fighting spirit. The Liao soldiers began to flee in all directions. The horses that were driven in were already exhausted and could not play any role in the muddy and slippery snow.
They blocked the retreat of the Liao soldiers who were running back, allowing the Xia army to easily kill tens of thousands of people.
Su Jin issued an order to pursue freely, but only these 50,000 fresh troops could pursue them. They had sleds and chariots to help them, while the others had lost the mobility of their horses and could only watch the Liao soldiers scatter in panic.
escape.
Since they couldn't pursue people, Su Jin asked them to capture horses everywhere. However, Moro's pursuit was extremely fierce. He chased the Liao army all the way to Helan Pass before giving up because of the steep terrain. Countless bodies fell down along the way, killing many people.
Like hemp.
The generals in the Xia camp were overjoyed and congratulated each other. When it got dark, the battlefield was cleaned up and the casualties and enemy numbers were calculated. In this battle, the Xia army suffered nearly 80,000 casualties. Including the battle last night, the casualties were as high as
110,000 people, which is a staggering number; but the Liao people were even worse. They sent 320,000 troops successively. Less than 50,000 escaped, but as many as 260,000 were annihilated. It was simply
It was an unprecedented huge casualty.
No one expected that in the battle between Xia and Liao, both sides lost nearly 400,000 troops. Although Xia was the victor, it paid a high price. In addition to the loss of 110,000 troops and horses, the war horses also lost 200,000.
, if not for the capture of many war horses from the Liao State, the entire Xia State cavalry would have ceased to exist in name only; for a long time, the Xia State actually began to lack war horses. This must be said in the Xia State, which is rich in horses.
It's a joke.
The Liao people basically lost their ability to fight in the first battle after this war. Although they claimed to have a million cavalry, in fact the main force of the Liao country was 300,000 palace troops plus 400,000 tribal soldiers. The rest were retinues.
It was an army composed of civilians such as the peasant regiments, which had little combat effectiveness. This battle consumed 100,000 palace troops of the Liao people, plus 170,000 tribal troops. The 700,000 army was reduced by two-fifths. In the future, in addition to defense,
, I’m afraid it will be difficult to start a war again.,
(At the end of this volume, please read the next volume: Ribi Sheng Feng Lei Ta Song Xing)