Except for the parties directly involved, not many people pay attention to the war in Jiangdong. Everyone knows that the highlight of this war is in the Central Plains, in Yanzhou!
Wang Yu's main force left Gaotang on the third day of December. The 60,000-strong army was divided into three groups, crossed the Yellow River in a mighty manner, and headed westward. Finally, it stopped in the area of Baima and Lihu, began to rest, and sent out
A large number of rangers spy on the enemy.
At noon on December 15th, on the north bank of Pu River, thirty-five miles southeast of Yanxian County, Zhao, a sentry scout of the Hussars' Gale Force, who had been out for a day of investigation, began a more in-depth investigation.
The Yanzhou Plain is flat and vast. Before the Gale Cavalry formed an army, they had to start every battle. After the Youzhou Battle, the army was established as a sharp sword. People with high skills are bold, and the scope of their investigation is naturally relatively large.
They can be seen everywhere for hundreds of miles on the north bank of Pu River.
After Zhao came out of the military camp, he never saw his companions. At noon, he finally saw a cavalryman in the distance. He thought it was his companion and quickly urged the horse to run over there. The other party probably did the same, and the same was true.
It's to urge the horse to come over.
The predecessor of the Gale Cavalry was the White Horse Yi Cong. Now the Qingzhou Army has a relatively sufficient supply of war horses, but Wang Yu is not Gongsun Zan after all. When it comes to the issue of white horses, he is far less persistent than Gongsun Zan.
In today's Gale Force Army, there is still a team of all white horses, with a number of between 500 and 800 people. However, not everyone can enter. Only elite warriors who have made great achievements can win this honor.
This approach retains the tradition of white-horse obedience and wins the military morale of veterans without imposing restrictions on themselves. It allows new recruits to have a goal, which is a strategy that kills two birds with one stone.
But regardless of whether he is part of the White Horse Troop or not, when he goes out on patrol, he will not ride on a white horse because it is too conspicuous and not suitable for rangers.
Not only does it not have a white horse, but in order not to attract attention, apart from the necessary supplies and weapons, the clothes worn by the rangers outside are not military uniforms, there is no armor on the body, the load is the lowest, and the degree of camouflage is also low.
The highest.
Both sides saw each other from a distance, but neither of them immediately entered a battle-ready state. The Qingzhou scout surnamed Zhao was somewhat accustomed to the enemy not daring to offend the majesty of the Gale Cavalry. What he heard before leaving the camp was that Cao Jun was still at Hulao Pass and Chenliu.
The southern part of the country gathered troops and seemed to intend to build a defensive line along Jishui River instead of fighting head-on on the border.
It wasn't until the distance was close enough that they could see each other's faces. The scout surnamed Zhao was surprised to find that the enemy was coming from the other side! He didn't have time to think about whether Cao Jun intended to engage in a battle. He just urged his horse forward while attacking from behind.
Pull the bow up and down.
Whether it is the former White Horse Yi Cong or the current Gale Cavalry, under the command of the Cavalry General, they have always fought in battles with less to win more. If Zhao encounters a group of enemy cavalry at once, Zhao will definitely turn around and go.
Although his surname is Zhao, his martial arts skills are much worse than those of the general Zhao Yun, and he does not have the ability to fight one against a hundred.
But now that there is only one enemy, he must step forward and kill the enemy off his horse.
There is nothing wrong with my determination and fighting spirit, but I was a little slack before, so I was not well prepared and in poor condition. When I pulled the bow for the first time, I actually forgot to untie the rope that tied the bow, and I used force for the second pull. This was a forceful move.
He broke the string that tied the bow, took the bow in his hand, and on horseback, he stretched the bow and set the arrow, ready to take action.
Zhao has good riding skills and excellent archery skills, but he is not a veteran. He joined the army during the expansion of the army after the Youzhou War. He has relatively little experience in encountering enemies. He was somewhat nervous when he encountered the enemy in a hurry.
On the other hand, the enemy cavalry was well prepared. It was obvious that they had been mentally prepared for a long time. When they saw Zhao from a distance, they had already begun to prepare for battle. When he saw Zhao with his bow and arrow ready, he had no intention of tit-for-tat, but instead stepped from the side of the horse.
He picked up a round shield, held it upright in front of his chest, leaned forward, and hid most of his body behind the shield.
When he saw the opponent in this posture, Zhao was still sneering. If it were an infantryman's large shield, with his archery skills, he would definitely be unable to do anything to the opponent. But such a small cavalry shield could cover the enemy.
How big is the area? Even if my archery skills are not as good as those of the seniors in the army, and I can't point where to hit while galloping, I can't miss a target as big as a war horse.
Want to pretend to be a turtle? Don’t you know what it means to shoot a man before a horse?
He stared at the opponent, slowly pulled the bow string, kept the riding bow in his hand half-open, tightened his legs, clamped the horse's belly, and let the horse move forward, preparing to launch a fatal blow after entering the shooting range.
At this moment, the enemy knight's free hand also moved to the side of the horse. When he raised his hand, he was holding a crossbow!
Zhao's heart suddenly tightened!
Which one is more powerful, the crossbow or the bow? Generally speaking, each has its own advantages. The crossbow is more suitable for large-scale combat, while the bow is more suitable for sustained combat. In a one-on-one situation, the crossbow definitely has the upper hand, because the crossbow can spend more time.
If you aim for a long time, you can also load the crossbow bolts in advance, so you can fire them earlier and faster than a bow.
At this moment, Zhao had the illusion that he had been shrouded in the shadow of death.
He underestimated the enemy too much and forgot the teachings of veterans and officers. A lion must fight a rabbit with all his strength. He should not have just rushed forward so blankly, without even paying attention to what weapons the enemy had.
When he saw the cavalry crossbow in the enemy's hand, he suddenly pulled the cavalry bow in his hand to full draw. Now the distance between them was still seventy or eighty steps, which was not the best range, but the range of the crossbow in the opponent's hand was not much farther than that of the cavalry bow.
Too little, can't wait until it reaches the optimal shooting range.
Cao Jun's scout was also well-trained and well-prepared. When he saw Zhao forcibly pulling the bow, he smiled coldly, set up his crossbow with a round shield, and calmly pointed the crossbow arrow at the enemy, but he was not in a hurry.
emission.
Zhao had a clear understanding in his heart. Even without a crossbow, the opponent was still a strong opponent. His riding skills and training were not inferior to his, but his experience was much richer than his own. His feint arrow failed to deceive the opponent. Next, he only
You can put yourself to death and then live.
He evened out his breathing and opened his bow to the full moon!
"Definitely..." The eight horse hooves were tumbling up and down, beating the frozen soil like a gust of wind and rain. Both sides raised their horse speed to the highest speed and approached quickly. Among the smoke and dust kicked up by the horses' hooves, only the arrows of the sharp arrows could be seen.
There was a cold light and the lights in the eyes of the soldiers were shining.
It was too late, but it was too soon. Almost at the same moment, the arrow left the string like a shooting star!
Zhao was mentally prepared to embrace death. He was just thinking that in such a war and with such conditions, it was really a pity that he died in such obscurity in a place like this.
What's even more regrettable is that I can't even help the enemy.
At this distance, running towards each other at such a speed, he had no confidence that he could avoid the shield and shoot someone, so he could only shoot an arrow at the horse's neck. If the enemy was thrown off the horse, he would be knocked unconscious, but it would definitely not be possible.
He would die, but if he was shot by a crossbow, he would definitely die.
The crossbow arrow came towards me with a strong sound of wind, but it magically passed by Zhao. It was said that he passed by Zhao, but in fact the distance was almost half a foot away. This kind of mistake was different from that of the veteran Cao Jun.
The technical and tactical standards shown previously are far from enough.
While Zhao was thankful, he did not forget to glance behind the opponent's horse with the corner of his eye, and found that the terrain there had an abrupt ups and downs. It seemed that when the crossbow was launched, the enemy's horse bumped, and he had just been in disaster.
Immortal.
And those who survive a catastrophe often have blessings later on.
There was no bump when he fired the arrow, and the arrow hit the horse's neck accurately. The attacked horse stood upright in severe pain, and then fell heavily. The cavalry on the horse was very experienced and got away in time.
The stirrups, while the war horse was standing up, flipped sideways and fell off the horse!
Such riding skills are really amazing! Zhao completely confirmed that the opponent's fighting power had the upper hand, but it was a pity that his luck was not good enough.
Seeing the enemy cavalry standing up while yelling and cursing, throwing the crossbow and shield to the ground, pulling out a sword from behind, dangling it and wanting to fight again, Zhao was not polite and pulled out the long sword from his side.
, the horse rushed forward, running past the opponent like a breeze. At the moment when they passed each other, he swung the knife in his hand hard, leaving a huge wound on the opponent's back.
When he turned his horse around and turned around, he found that the long knife in the enemy rider's hand had fallen to the ground. His face was full of disbelief. His hands were desperately pressing behind his back, but he could not reach the wound, and he gradually became weak.
, and just fell slumped into the dust.
Zhao was both lucky and happy. No matter what, he survived and gained valuable experience and a good start. He dismounted and cleaned up briefly, then got on his horse and galloped towards the White Horse Camp.
.
On this day, the Qingzhou Army's scouts and Cao's Army's scouting horses came into full contact. Some, like Zhao, took advantage, and some relied on experience and martial arts to overwhelm the opponent. However, there were also some who returned to the camp with empty horses.
, but people don’t know where to go.
After counting, the casualties were unexpectedly heavy.
"Cao's army came well prepared, but our new recruits were somewhat slack. The battle loss ratio was almost one to one..." The losses were too great. Qin Feng and Fang Yue did not dare to neglect, and directly found them with the preliminary statistics.
Zhao Yun.
Zhao Yun's face was as dark as water. Although he had a look of relief, he was not angry. He asked in a deep voice: "What is the casualty rate of veterans and new recruits? Have the positions of the main force of Cao's army been found?"
"Less than 20% of veterans' casualties, and more than 60% of new recruits... Cao Jun seems to be intending to conduct a comprehensive intelligence shield. In addition to the scattered rangers on the periphery, there are also groups of cavalry patrolling back and forth. Even Yi Cong's old brothers
, and don’t dare to go too deep.”
Zhao Yun nodded noncommittally, his voice as smooth as an ancient well: "My lord has emphasized the importance of this battle many times beforehand. Our Gale Army is the sharp knife of the army. It is not good to lose morale like this. Let each battalion pay more attention to it."
!Wuji personally went to deliver the message to the lord, Brother Qin Ming** personally led the team, there is no way he can undermine the majesty of my Gale Army!"
"Here!" (To be continued. Please search Piaotian Literature, the novel will be better and updated faster!)