The snow on the grassland was constantly rolled down by the wheels because of the transport of grain, grass and giant siege equipment, and mixed with the soil into a slurry. After the upper layer froze, it was barely possible to walk on it, but the uneven and slippery road made it difficult to walk on it.
It's easy to stumble and fall down. The muddy ground cannot bear a cart filled with food and ordnance. As soon as the cart moves away, the ground turns into mud again, making it very difficult to walk.
However, the Song Army had no choice. They were not familiar with the ground in the northwest, and there were no landmarks along the way. If they changed their route randomly, God knows where they would end up. Furthermore, the snow that has crystallized on the surface may not be as good as
This mud road was easy to walk on. So they had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue along this road.
Their route was traceable, and it was easy for the Dangxiang Ba family's cavalry to capture their team. The huge baggage transport team in front of them had already fought against the Xia army several times along the way. The Xia army seemed to be really
were dispersed by the Song Army. After such a long time, the number of people roaming the grasslands to attack the Song Army's grain transport team was very limited, and it was difficult to organize a large attack and block the battle.
However, although they are small in number, they give full play to the mobility advantage of the Rangers. You don't know when they will come, so you have to be on high alert at all times. Once their attack is blocked, they will immediately flee. No matter how strong your combat effectiveness is, they will not be able to catch up.
Their escape was so fast that they could only be repelled, but could not be effectively killed. The Xia army came and went suddenly and retreated at the first contact. Although it was always a tentative fighting method, it exhausted the Song army who were transporting food.
At this moment, there were only dozens of miles away from Xiazhou City. According to the usual practice, the Xia Army's cavalry would not attack too close to the main force of the Song Army under Xiazhou City. The Song Army's team could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.
The military flag was fluttering in the biting cold wind. Huangfu Xiangjun was shot in the palm of his hand. He dismounted his horse and sat upright on the horse in great spirits. This general wore an iron helmet with ear protection, fish scale armor, a Bagua breast shield on his chest, and a stern eye on his shoulder.
The shoulder beast has an eight-piece war skirt, and a line of snow-white breasts is exposed under the war skirt. Although he fought with the Xia army's cavalry more than once along the way, and the road was muddy, he was still spotless and majestic.
The Song troops escorting the grain and grass transporters were carrying crossbows on their backs and holding red cherry guns in their hands. They were all elites of the Forbidden Army. However, even if they wore seven or eight layers of cloth, they could not stop the cold wind from blowing into their necks, and their lips were all frozen.
They were turning blue, and the boots on their feet were covered with a thick layer of mud, and they seemed to weigh more than ten kilograms. Even if they were walking lightly, they would be exhausted after such a long journey, not to mention this.
Due to the road conditions, if they could not reach Xiazhou City immediately, drink a sip of hot water, and lie down in the tent to warm themselves, they would really not be able to hold on.
The Song army leaned on their guns and worked hard to get to the camp tonight. They no longer had to sleep in the wilderness and stay awake all night to prevent sneak attacks. At this time, the goshawks hovering in the sky could be seen.
In front of them, on the left and right sides, there were cavalry teams of 5,000 men each, clamping down on the long grain transporting dragon like a pair of iron pincers.
There is a wing on the left and right, with 5,000 people on each wing. Each thousand people form a large group, arranged in five layers, layer by layer. Every 100 people form a detachment, and every ten people form a small group. They circle around and outflank. Ten miles away, Song Dynasty
The military scouts quickly fired arrows to warn the Chinese army. As soon as the warning message reached the army, the Xia army came roaring in. They were only five miles away from their target. Suddenly, the sound of hooves thundered, and the wind came, and the Song army's grain transport team
Suddenly there was a commotion.
Xia Jun's left and right wings each held a large wolf-headed banner. The left wing vanguard wore a gray wolf skin robe, a dog skin hat, and ear protection masks. Only a pair of fierce eyes were exposed, and his hands were also wrapped in a layer of fur.
In the middle, only ten fingers are exposed, holding the steel knife tightly in his palm. This person is none other than Ono Ke'er, the young leader of the Yeli clan.
The vanguard of the right wing is Yang Yanpu. Yang Yanpu is neatly dressed, but he is only wearing a light black leather armor. The red tassel on the gray leather top is trembling like a cluster of flames. He has a long gun in his hand. As he gets closer, his gun is already in his hand.
With his ribs down, the tip of his spear pointing forward, he was ready to charge.
"Xia Jun still dares to attack?"
Huangfu Xiangjun was shocked and angry, and just as he was about to let his men step forward to meet the enemy, he saw countless troops and horses rolling in from the left and right wings. This was several times more than the seven or eight food robberies he had encountered along the way. Only then did he realize that
This time the enemy was in trouble, so he immediately ordered: "Quick, rely on the grain trucks and set up a three-ring moon formation."
It was too late, the Xia army's horses were very fast, the Song army relied on the grain carts, and the three-ring formation had just taken shape.
He raised it up, shining with a bloodthirsty cold light in the biting cold wind. On the other side, Yang Yanpu clenched the spear in his hand, pointed the spear in front, stamped with iron hooves, and rolled through the snowfield like a whirlwind, fifty feet, forty feet,
Thirty feet...
"Stretch, stretch, stretch..." There was a sound of bowstrings, and the first Song army who had just set up a position roared away with a rain of arrows. Yang Yanpu shook his spear, guarded his men and horses, and fired random arrows. His speed did not stop, and he was
Behind him, the soldiers either used their weapons or took out their horse shields, and a hail of arrows rained down. Some charging soldiers were hit by arrows and fell from their horses, but there was no pace and speed for the entire army to advance. This hurried and messy attack
The arrow rain was like a stone thrown into the surging river, causing only an insignificant splash.
On the other side, unlike Yang Yanpu's troops, Ono Ke'er's men and horses are all equipped with standard weapons. They are trained uniformly, and their reactions are varied, each showing his ability. Some people are hiding under the pedals, some are holding up shields to meet arrows, some are waving weapons to call, and some are calling.
They were shouting wildly and charging without fear of death. Some people reacted very quickly and had already taken their bows to mount and shoot back. The generals of the two armies charged forward, and countless brave warriors roared behind them. In the splashing snow and mist,
, rushing towards me like heavenly soldiers and generals.
Ono Ke'er and Yang Yanpu gave full play to the mobility of the cavalry, quickly assembled, outflanked, assaulted and cut, and it was said that Huangfu Xiangjun was commanding a tired army. Even if Pan Mei was here, his troops were full of physical strength.
, under such a disadvantage, the only option is to fail, which at most will make the other party pay more sacrifices.
Along the way, the Xia army faked food robberies seven or eight times, dragging down the Song army until they were trapped and exhausted. Now, they suddenly appeared when the Song army was most slack. They went straight to Huanglong. The Song army...
...finally climaxed, throwing off his armor and letting others slaughter him...
The Xia army's ten-man squad was like a hundred sharp arrow clusters, piercing through the long queue of grain transporters. The left and right wings attacked at the same time, like biting saw teeth.
The team was cut into pieces. The first wave of charges was like a surge, killing the Song soldiers. Then, the second wave of attacks followed. Thousands of Xia soldiers were lined up in a row, with soldiers on the left and right.
After five columns and five bites, the Song army became minced meat.
As the last group of charging cavalry passed by each other, the first group of Xia troops who had charged over had already turned their horses back and started the next round of charge. Spears and halberds, iron forks and steel knives, sharp blades colliding, sparks flying, everything in a mess.
Countless corpses had been left behind in the convoy. Faced with this irresistible blow, the Song army gave up their grain trucks and began to flee towards the snowy fields. In this way, they became easier targets for hunting by the opponent.
Huangfu Xiangjun was frightened and angry. He waved a long spear, blocking the left and right like a tiger coming out of a trap. But how could there be ten thousand enemies on the battlefield? The strength of one person was really very little, and the intensive charge of a team of ten Xia troops was enough.
It was like a never-ending tide coming in waves. Huangfu Xiangjun was sweating profusely from the killing, but he felt that the enemies seemed to be killing more and more.
His original spotless demeanor was completely gone. When his eyes were blurred with sweat and his arms were so weak that he could no longer lift the gun, he suddenly discovered that the fighting had stopped, and around him was a circle of sitting horses, staring fiercely.
The Xia army warriors were looking at him. One of them looked at him with mocking eyes, and with just a slight lift of his knife, more than seven lassoes flew into the air and covered his head.
"Damn, so much food. Hahahaha..., so many arrows..."
Ono Keer excitedly inspected the carts and stabbed open a bag of grain with a knife. The white rice flowed out and she took a handful. In the sun, the grains of rice were as crystal clear as pearls.
. Then I opened the linoleum cloth on a car and saw boxes of sharp arrows inside. The arrow feathers were white and the arrow clusters were cold. Underneath, there were pieces of winter clothes...
"You're rich, you're so fucking rich." Ono Ke'er drooled and immediately ordered: "Quick, quick, everyone try their best to load the horse, take as much as you can, and burn the rest.
, hurry up!”
Heavy snow filled the air, and the world was confused. The howling wind and snow hit their faces, causing pain like knives. The infantry of the Song army transporting food trudged hard against the wind and snow. They knew that the baggage transported to Xiazhou had been plundered by the Xia army.
Many times, they knew that the most powerful enemy that the Paozes who besieged Xiazhou now faced was not the army in Xiazhou City, nor the tribal troops who constantly harassed them outside Xiazhou City, but the severe cold weather and lack of food.
.
Ever since they left Lin Mansion and crossed Hengshan Mountain, they had been continuously chased and harassed by small groups of Xia's cavalry troops along the way. They knew that they had been targeted by Xia's troops at all times of the night. When they were dragged to the point of exhaustion,
At that time, a powerful cavalry team would suddenly appear in front of them, but... Xiazhou and the others had to go, they had no choice.
The ground trembled slightly, and the faint sound of horse hooves sounded from behind. Although this was a flat snowfield, the confusing heavy snow blocked the line of sight. It was difficult to distinguish people from a hundred or ten meters away. They could not see clearly how many enemies were coming. They could only look at the ground from the ground.
Estimate a rough number while shaking.
They had been very careful, trying to save energy along the way, and the daily marching mileage was extremely limited. They were always on alert when marching, and were ready to enter combat mode at any time. As soon as they heard the sound, without waiting for orders, they began to form a car base and prepare to take up the position.
Resistance. The Song Army's arms are mainly infantry. On such a grassland, with the same strength, they will suffer in tactics. Moreover, their task is to transport grain and grass. Grain and grass are their biggest cover, and the enemy can attack them.
They can defend, they can advance, they can retreat, they can come and leave at any time, but they can't attack or leave, they can only guard their food and grass and be beaten by luck. How can such a battle not have a slim chance of winning?
The pursuers were like a torrent of iron, and the ruthless cavalry circled around each carriage to attack, charge, and shoot, just like tigers entering a flock of sheep and destroying the dead. Huang Daole, the deputy general manager of Jinning Road, saw a large number of Xia troops chasing after them in the rear formation.
, shouted in a deep voice: "Send the order, all ministries defend themselves on the spot, and must not move rashly to avoid being taken advantage of by the enemy. Long Ganqing, please lead your troops to support the rear formation..."
Before Huang Daole could finish his words, he heard a desolate horn sound, and suddenly another group of people came out of the white snow ahead. Before the shadowy team could rush in front of them, countless sharp arrows had already shot through the air and taken them away.
Countless lives were lost, and immediately after, the Xiazhou soldiers came one after another like a tide, wedged into the formation. Immediately, enemy traces appeared on both sides, charging and galloping, flesh and blood flying everywhere, making them invincible.
Such a snowfield is the domain of the cavalry. With their own shortcomings and the enemy's strong points, the exhausted troops have a big burden of food, grass and baggage. There is still suspense about the outcome of this battle. Horses neigh, people shout, and flowing arrows cross swords.
, people kept falling to death on the battlefield, but no one
Considering that all they could do was charge, cut, chop, hit... no matter how coordinated the formations were, the Xiazhou soldiers rushed in wildly. Faced with the dense formation of spearmen, they quickly picked up their reins and passed by. They were more than ten steps in front of them and rowed.
Rush towards another weak point in the formation in an arc.
The hastily formed formation was full of flaws. The Song Army watched helplessly as they cut into their own camp from a weak point like a sharp knife. They had no time to go over to strengthen the defense there. Even if they had time, they would not be able to pass. As long as the formation moved, the dense formation here would be destroyed.
The Xia army's cavalry came and went like flying. They only relied on two legs. With the baggage and vehicles to take care of, they were in a dilemma and could only be led by the enemy.
Broken in one place, corrupted everywhere, the Song army's loose formation was cut into pieces by the Xia army's cavalry, compressed, charged, cut again, compressed... It was already chaos. Huang Daole saw the Xia army rushing like a rain shower.
In the face of a powerful offensive, the soldiers who were cut off from each department could only fight on their own. His general's flag had lost its effectiveness, and he couldn't help but look pale. He knew that it was only a matter of time before he was defeated.
"Their style of play is simple, but very effective!"
At the foot of Xiazhou City, in the Chinese army camp, the generals sat on both sides, with Pan Mei and Wang Jien sitting at the top with gloomy expressions.
Pan Mei continued to conclude: "Fighting on the plains and snow, our infantry is already at a disadvantage, and we also have food and baggage to take care of, so we can only be beaten passively. However, the Xia army is familiar with the terrain and can come and go quickly. Their cavalry is cruising on the grassland.
Go up, continue to use fatigue tactics against our food transport team, and when the time is right, we will quickly
Assemble a large number of troops. Their assembly speed is very fast. During the harassment attack, they not only exhaust our army, but also test the strength of our army. When gathering, they can always maintain superior strength and deliver a fatal blow, so they almost never fight.
That's it, one strike will succeed. We have no good way to deal with their tactics."
Wang Jien frowned and said unhappily: "You know what their plot is, but you can't resolve it?"
Pan Mei glanced at him coldly and said: "Master Supervisor, the so-called knowing yourself and the enemy is not suitable for all situations. On the battlefield, all kinds of tricks emerge in endlessly, and they are indeed magic weapons to defeat the enemy and win. However, there are
Even if you know exactly what the other party is doing, you may not be able to decipher his plan, especially... in this situation."
Wang Jien said solemnly: "When the troops came out of Hengshan to pursue the Xia army, this issue...didn't the generals think of it?"
Pan Mei was furious. He took a long breath, suppressed his anger, and then said: "We have never had the experience of fighting on the northern winter grasslands. We underestimated many difficulties. Although we have no idea how difficult it is to transport grain and grass in this environment,
We had expected it, but the actual difficulties were far greater than we expected. This is not the biggest problem. The biggest problem is... It is now certain that the Xia army was not defeated. They took the initiative to abandon Hengshan and tempted us to make a surprise advance.
, thus making military supplies our biggest difficulty."
Pan Mei said solemnly: "If the Xia army is really defeated at Hengshan and retreats in panic, then we urgently pursue it and trap Xiazhou before it can stabilize its position. Isolating the inside and outside, we can completely make the surrounding chaos leaderless and unable to organize an effective counterattack.
It is even less possible for them to target our food and grass as they are now. As long as the baggage is safe, we can keep Xiazhou trapped. Even if we cannot conquer it this winter, we can still defend it. With the strong strength of Song State, we can keep it there.
Xiazhou will be defeated sooner or later. But now, we are actually trapped here, and... we cannot survive this winter."
He looked at the silent generals and said: "Our biggest enemy is not the Xia army, but Tianwei and food. The weather is getting colder and colder. There are not enough winter clothes to send, and the soldiers who are sick from frostbite will get worse."
More and more are coming. Not many of our 100,000 troops can survive this cold winter with the current clothes. Without food, let alone fighting, even if we just stay in this military camp, we will never survive.
Three days.”
Wang Jien didn't know anything about military affairs. Hearing what Pan Mei said so clearly, he began to panic. He couldn't help but let go of his arrogance and asked nervously: "General Pan, then... what should we do now?"
Pan Mei's eyes swept over everyone's face one by one, and said in a deep voice: "There is no other way. If we want to reverse the decline, we can only retreat!"
Wang Jien stood up suddenly and said in disbelief: "Retreat? Yang Hao is in the city and has been firmly trapped by us. Now they have not even fought a decent battle with us, so we take the initiative to retreat?
"
Pan Mei's cheek twitched, and she said calmly: "Hasn't Master Supervisor noticed it yet? Yang Hao was not trapped by us, he was just a bait to attract us to gather under Xiazhou City. Now that we retreat, we still
We can preserve our strength and wait for a comeback. If we wait until that tempting bait reveals the sharp hook underneath it, we... will become meat on his chopping board and be slaughtered by others!"
Wang Jien gasped, stared at Pan Mei for a long time, and then asked sullenly: "If we retreat without receiving the imperial edict, who will bear the blame if the officials take the blame?"
Pan Mei puffed up her chest and said, "I am the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, so naturally I will take full responsibility for this matter."
Wang Jien secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Pan Mei ignored him and his eyes became deep. After a while, he murmured: "I'm just worried that Yang Hao...will let us go?"
