Chapter 943: Victory or defeat?
?In the distance, a gray line began to appear in the sky, and the color of the sky changed from pure black to dark gray.
At this time, it was also the time when the soldiers who had been on duty all night were the most sleepy. The soldiers on the sentry tower yawned, wiping away the tears that they couldn''t help but shed with the back of their hands from time to time, and leaning against the wooden pillars of the sentry tower. He was swaying so hard that he could barely support himself so as not to fall asleep.
For some reason, the soldier suddenly felt that the sentry tower seemed to be shaking. At first, he felt that he was too tired to stand still, but as he grabbed the wooden pillars of the sentry tower, he found that even the wood began to shake. , even the sand on the wooden planks on the sentry tower is trembling and jumping gently...
This is definitely not an illusion!
??The soldiers on the sentry tower suddenly broke out in a layer of cold sweat, and when they were blown by the early morning night wind, they couldn''t help but shiver to the core!
??Looking up to the west, the soldiers saw groups of cavalry silhouettes suddenly appearing in the distance in the faintly discernible sky. It was also at this time that the soldiers heard the faint sound of horse hooves.
Needless to say, the large group of cavalry in this area were all wrapped in thick cloth on their horses'' hooves. It was not until they got closer that they heard the dull sound of hoofbeats in the morning wind! These cavalry are like ghosts in the dark night, coming to harvest the last batch of flesh and blood when daylight is about to come!
To say that Huangfu Song was not negligent, after all, he was a veteran on the battlefield, and based on his many years of rich experience, there was no big problem whether he was marching or camping.
Let’s not talk about the infantry. As for the cavalry alone, it is normal for the cavalry to march eighty miles a day. If it goes further, it is not impossible, but it will inevitably lose horsepower. After running one hundred and twenty miles overnight, it is not impossible. There was not much physical strength left to fight, so this distance happened to be a relatively safe number, but Huangfu Song never expected that the three thousand cavalrymen that Ma Teng came from Wuzhangyuan turned out to be one man and two horses!
Although horses running empty will consume some energy, it is much better than carrying weights. This is just like famous marathon runners who may not be able to outrun ordinary soldiers in the military in cross-country races with weights. .
Normally, Xinfeng has a county seat, city walls, and favorable geographical location. Even if the Xiliang soldiers want to resist, fight, or play whatever tricks they want, they will all start near Xinfeng City, so whether it is Huangfusong or today The soldiers in the camp actually felt that they were still a safe place away from Xinfeng, psychologically.
But now, from Huangfu Song to the ordinary soldiers in the camp, no one expected that this battle would come so quickly. It was as if he had just bent down to pick up the sword and gun, and the enemy''s knife was already on his head. Cut it off!
??Now those exhausted horses were left behind. When Li Jue led the cavalry to fight in front of them, the soldiers in Huangfu Song''s camp were not prepared at all!
??Now not only the soldiers on the sentry tower in front of the five-flower-shaped camp discovered the cavalry, but also the soldiers in the camps on the left and right wings discovered these cavalry.
The Xiliang cavalry suddenly appeared in front of them as if falling from the sky, and the horses had already increased their speed enough. These veterans of the Xiliang soldiers lay silently on the horse''s back, hiding their bodies under the horse''s neck. Later, on the one hand, it reduces wind resistance and reduces the burden on the horse, and on the other hand, it also reduces the risk of one''s own exposure.
Fight!
horse!
Run!
??Teng!
??The spears and swords in the hands of the Xiliang cavalry shone with cold light, like a surging tide, rushing directly into Huangfu Song''s camp!
When there are thousands of men and horses, it is quite a lot, especially for cavalry, which naturally takes up more space. In a hurry, the soldiers on duty on the sentry tower in Huangfusong Camp can''t calm down and pay attention. Counting the numbers carefully, I just felt that the black shadows were dancing from a distance, as if they were overwhelming!
Before the soldiers on the guard towers could recover from the shock, the incoming Xiliang cavalry had quickly approached the camp. As they got closer, the sound of horse hooves could finally be heard more clearly, like muffled thunder. The general started to roar, and it was impossible to tell the specific point where the horse''s hooves landed. It was just a large and continuous rumbling sound, which shook the legs and feet of the soldiers on the sentry tower and began to weaken.
The soldiers on duty finally reacted. Along with the shrill shouts, the warning gongs rang out!
“Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Enemy attack!”
More shrill shouts followed, and along with the piercing sound of the gong on the sentry tower, the soldiers and generals who were sleeping soundly in the camp, and even the auxiliary soldiers and civilians in the rear camp were alarmed. , either from the tent, or from the nest, or simply from the wilderness, they were frightened and suddenly became a mess.
Some soldiers picked up their weapons and rushed out of the tent, some looked around for the weapons but didn''t know that the weapons were always at their feet, some blushed and yelled crazily, and some turned pale. I just want to retreat into a darker corner...
Regular soldiers, auxiliary soldiers, and civilians were mixed together, and they had different reactions to each other. Such a large camp instantly became like a hornet''s nest in a frying pan, buzzing into chaos.
Huangfu Song also reacted and quickly rolled up from the bed. He didn''t even have time to put on his clothes, so he loudly ordered: "Deploy manpower to watch over the civilians and prevent them from causing chaos. At this time, anyone who disrupts the morale of the army will Kill them all! In addition, summon all the military commanders and order them to organize their troops to defend immediately! Let the generals on both sides attack immediately! Notify the generals that they must not retreat. If they violate this order, they will all be killed!"
??The soldiers around Huangfu Song immediately loudly agreed, and then rushed out to deliver the order. Huangfu Song, surrounded by the remaining soldiers, strode outside the tent!
At this time, Huangfusong finally understood that the Xiliang bandits had no intention of retreating. They were clearly just retreating again and again to relax Huangfusong''s military morale. Now they were waiting for Huangfusong to set up camp on the ground. At the right time, make a sudden attack!
??These Xiliang thieves galloped down these one hundred and twenty miles, aren''t they afraid that their horses will lose their strength?
?Unless one person has two horses, and he changes horses before the battle?
??But where did the Xiliang thieves get so many war horses?
Could it be...
"Damn it! What do these scouts do? They can''t even detect the Xiliang thieves when they get close!" Huangfu Song was really angry and couldn''t hold back his anger and cursed. After he got out of the big tent, he was blown by the cold wind and suddenly felt a little chilly. Huangfusong couldn''t help but wrap his cloak tighter.
Huangfu Song did not expect that the Xiliang soldiers would attack here. Could it be that the so-called equestrian experts in Hongnongwu Fort or the Southern Xiongnu Huqi could have expected it?
Therefore, after a tiring day and a survey of the surrounding area of ??thirty or forty miles away, these scouts rested peacefully. Especially when dawn was approaching, some people would automatically and consciously run out to blow the wind. Cold wind?
The Wuhua Camp on the field now looks majestic. In fact, it was originally an open area with a flat river. These Xiliang cavalry originally used the dark night to cover the smoke and dust, so that the soldiers in Huangfusong Camp could not detect it. Now, as the sky gradually gets brighter, the incoming Xiliang cavalry finally appears clearly in the eyes of the soldiers in Huangfusong''s camp.
The horses at the speed limit were almost running wildly close to the ground. After the tall horses from Xiliang briefly hit the ground four times with their four hooves, they seemed to fly across the flat ground with their four hoofs! Xiliang''s cavalry either hid behind the horse''s neck or huddled beside the saddle, mixed with the smoke and dust in the sky, and rushed forward! Since the Warring States Period, the men of Xiliang have basically been singing the songs of Lao Qin. They do not feel sad about the war, but happy about it. The twenty-level military meritorious title of the short-lived Qin Dynasty provided a relatively equal starting point for every man who was willing to fight. These Western Qin people, and even some Qiang people close to the Han Dynasty, were accustomed to being on the edge of the knife. Licking blood, taking human heads to obtain fame, until the Han Dynasty replaced the Qin Dynasty, until the number of civilian nobles overflowed, until Xiliang became a place where the nobles did not want to go...
After Wang Mang, the people of Xiliang basically never lived in peace. As the distance from the central court becomes further, and as the gentry''s semi-giving-up attitude towards Xiliang, the people in this land, whether they are Han or Qiang, are getting further and further away from a stable life. In recent decades, it has become even more serious. The central control ability has been weakened day by day. Under the strong leadership of Xiliang, the Qiang people have relied on their own troops. Interest groups have been born. Before it was Dong Zhuo, and now they are Li Jue, Guo Si, and Ma Teng. , Han Sui and others’ simple alliance.
??But no matter what, these men in Xiliang still advocate force and are used to swords and guns!
Huangfusong''s archers began to gather under the orders of the generals of each battalion, preparing to suppress the Xiliang cavalry. However, before arriving in Chang''an, these Xiliang cavalry were already horse thieves following Li Jue. The premonition and judgment of danger far exceed that of ordinary militiamen.
Although the Wuhua Camp was beautifully built and magnificent, there were still some gaps between the camps. The Xiliang cavalry was very fast. It was often the front camp on this side that had just gathered a group of archers to prepare for an attack. I found that these Xiliang cavalry had already swung diagonally from the gap between the camps to the other side, running towards the cavalry camp on the side...
Huangfusong''s Chinese army camp began to gather various spearmen, swordsmen, shieldmen, and archers, and began to prepare for the battle. However, the Xiliang cavalry who rushed around from one side fired a lot of arrows, and some were thrown casually. The torches that came in immediately caused another chaos in the queue. Several unlucky tents were stained with flames and burned in the blink of an eye, sending out streams of black smoke.
"Stand all the hell! Defend on the spot! Don''t mess up!" The general in the Chinese military camp yelled, "Go and chop down the burning tent with a few people! Don''t let it burn to the adjacent tents!"
Huangfu Song was not affected by these fireworks at all. He still stood steadily in front of the Chinese army''s tent and under his battle flag. When he was suddenly attacked, Huangfu Song did not panic much, but was worried that other people would panic. When he saw the soldiers in the cavalry camps on the left and right sides of Wuhua Camp finally slowly moving, they began to fight with Xi. After the Liang cavalry fought, they finally took a long breath.
This situation is stable.
The only thing that can hold back the cavalry is the cavalry.
Ordinary soldiers may not be able to tell how many Xiliang soldiers came in the smoke and dust, but how could Huangfu Song, who had been in the army for decades, not know this clearly? Despite the huge force of the Xiliang cavalry, in fact, there were only two thousand cavalry at most!
And he also has two thousand cavalry under his command!
As long as they can withstand the panic of the sudden attack, as long as their central army remains stationary, and the cavalry on both wings is dispatched, then the two thousand cavalry in Xiliang will be restrained by their own cavalry on the left and right wings on the one hand, and On the one hand, we have to face the front-line gradually gathering complete infantry, so there is only one ending, which is like an egg hitting a stone, ending in a disastrous defeat!
So what Huangfusong has to do now is not to lead the infantry that has not yet formed a complete array to fight against the Xiliang soldiers in a hurry, but to rely on the protection of the camp to stabilize the panicked infantry, and finally fight against the Xiliang soldiers. The cavalry duke it out.
But the soldiers in front of Huangfu Song now made him somewhat angry.
When encountering such an attack for the first time, some panic is inevitable, and Huangfusong can understand it, but now that he has stepped forward, the Chinese army''s flag has not changed at all. These **** soldiers are like headless flies. Running around, how long will it take to calm down?
Huangfu Song frowned and shouted in a deep voice: "Supervise the troops to come out! Pass the general''s order! All soldiers stand on the spot, waiting for the general to organize them! Anyone who dares to rebel against the army will be killed immediately!"
Those selected to supervise the battle team are all veterans on the battlefield, and most of them have some relationship with the Huangfu family. After hearing Huangfu Song''s order, they immediately agreed, then drew their swords and began to sort out the chaotic situation in the Chinese army camp.
?Although order was somewhat restored, Huangfu Song still frowned and sighed slightly.
??My own Chinese army camp still has some veterans who have been on the battlefield, but it has also become such a panic...
??If he was commanding soldiers who had undergone long-term training, he would have calmed down and formed an array at this moment. After all, the losses in Tongguan were too great. The people who were supplemented by these people were still somewhat inferior, alas...
??If more of the original veterans had remained, integrating the troops and maintaining order might not be so slow and laborious...
? Huangfu Song shook his head, leaving some negative thoughts behind, and continued to loudly order and direct, and continued to gather soldiers.
Even so, it is impossible for only two thousand Xiliang cavalry to achieve any good results! When the infantry forms an array and then the cavalry on both wings move into the middle, these Xiliang cavalry will have no room to gallop. They will either have to fight hard or break out and escape. No matter what, they should be invincible. of land…
It is said that after this battle is over, the Xiliang thieves will not have much cavalry to use. It''s better to let the Xiliang thieves destroy the last bit of the cavalry here than to wait until they attack Chang''an to contain them!
"Come here! Send the order!" Huangfu Song shouted flatly, "Order the cavalry on both wings to entangle the Xiliang thieves, wait for the Chinese infantry to gather, and then defeat them in one fell swoop!"
(End of this chapter)