Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Chapter 240 fierce battle
Unknowingly, it has already arrived in the afternoon, the huge sun is in the sky, and the air in the distance is rising and distorting. When the weather is the hottest, all the soldiers are exposed to the scorching sun, and their mouths are dry, especially those wearing iron armor. It's hot, and I don't have time to take care of it at this moment.

The Liao army moved very quickly, but their formation was not tight, or this was their habit.

A large number of cavalry began to dispatch and gather, while the Zhou army's large formation was mainly infantry, and there were military vehicles in front of the periphery, so they could not take the initiative to attack and could only wait for it. This is the most disadvantaged place of the Zhou army when fighting the Liao army.

Shi Congyun was both excited and nervous, because the opportunity to force the Liao army into a decisive battle is very rare.

If there were no two-winged cavalry, the oppression and pressure of Si Chao and others in the east, the Liao army would most likely retreat without hesitation and would not fight them head-on.

In many cases, wars are not simply a question of whether they can be fought or not. If the war can only be fought head-on, it will be simple.There is no need to fight, everyone pulls out the army to compare, which side has more people, is stronger and better equipped, and the other side directly admits defeat, anyway, it cannot be fought, then the world will be peaceful.

Unfortunately not
The Song people once recorded that the combat characteristics of the Liao army are "do not fight in formation, and take advantage of them when they retreat. Many soldiers ambush and cut off food roads, set fires at night, pull firewood in the wind, pay for themselves, reunite when they disperse, good at fighting, and able to fight cold." .”

That is to say, once the Liao army forms their own formation, most of the time they choose not to fight head-on, but to retreat directly. If their own side retreats, they will take the opportunity to pursue them. It can also disperse quickly, and gather quickly after being dispersed. It is good at fighting and hardy.

In the final analysis, this is why the Song Dynasty had many victories against the Liao army in history, but it seemed that it had never been able to win strategically, because it was impossible to fight a war of annihilation!
The Song Dynasty had a large number of infantry and was well equipped. When the Liao army honestly fought a frontal battle, most of the Song army could win, but they were not fools.

When the Song army won, it was mostly a battle of defeat, but once the Liao Kingdom won, it would become a battle of annihilation. People cannot run away from horses.

Li Desheng once said to the army that it is impossible to fight a rout war, but to fight a war of annihilation as much as possible. Facing a powerful enemy, a rout war is meaningless.

This is another important reason why Shi Congyun released Yijin Pass to the Liao army to attack. Letting them concentrate their forces and draining morale is just one of them.

Another point is that if the two armies meet directly, the first reaction of the Liao army when they see them in formation is likely to be to retreat, not to fight with their own side, let their own side line up in vain, or chase after their buttocks, which consumes morale, food, and physical strength. It's almost time for them to wait for an opportunity to fight back.

But now they have set up a big camp to fight Yijin Pass. Si Chao, Wang Huan, Luo Yanhuan and others are oppressing across the Xiaoniu Creek in the east. Behind the big formation, Shao Ji and Shi Yanchao's two cavalry teams have finished preparations. Father Shi Yanchao The cavalry is on the west side of the Liao army, deterring their flanks.

At this time, if the Liao army dared to retreat again, Si Chao and other troops in the east would cross the river to attack the flanks, and the two cavalry teams in the southwest would attack from the flanks in front of the formation, and they would be able to drink a pot.

In view of this situation, the commander-in-chief of the Liao army also understands that the only way to go today is to repel or defeat them, and a frontal battle is inevitable.

In the distance, the cavalry of the Liao army began to march out one by one. There were hundreds of people in each team, and there were as many as dozens of teams. They yelled and circled westward.

In addition, there are a large number of cavalry with better equipment in line. A row of cavalry is far away from the front of the Zhou army's formation, slowly approaching, but it is always about a mile away from the front of the formation, and they are not close. What are you waiting for.

Shi Congyun looked at the large number of cavalry troops slowly approaching in front of the left wing, and understood what they were waiting for.

Soon, with the sound of horns in the distance, the sound of horseshoes became more and more intensive. Teams of Liao cavalry yelled and turned to the left flank of the Zhou army. .

The bows and crossbows of the Zhou army also counterattacked one after another, but the Liao army had a large number of advantages on some battlefields. The Zhou army had the bow and crossbow advantage, and the Liao army had the numerical advantage. Between steps, the arrows coming and going are like rain, and the sound of clanging and crashing can be heard endlessly.

A large amount of dust was rolled up and circled as teams of hundreds of cavalry rushed, and went straight into the sky, covering the sky of the battlefield.

Although they were both in the formation, the left wing was far away from the central army where Shi Congyun was. After the battle started, the sky was filled with dust. Apart from seeing their positions clearly by relying on the flags, the specific situation was completely unclear.

However, when he was discussing with everyone, he expected that the Liao army would storm the left wing. Not only did Guo Tingwei and Shen Zhiyi command the two frontmost formations on the left wing, but he also placed elite soldiers and well-equipped armor on the left wing.

The reason is very simple. The Liao army is good at riding and archery, but when archery on horseback, most people can only shoot arrows to their left hand side, and the right side is the blind spot for shooting. The right wing, because most people use their right hand to exert force, it is a truth that elite soldiers can exert their strongest combat effectiveness only by placing their right wing.

Therefore, as long as the Liao army dispatched a large-scale light cavalry, the direction of attack must be their left wing.

And about a mile in front of the big formation, the long cavalry line of the Liao Army is also being rolled out, slowly preparing.

Obviously they are waiting for a large number of cavalry on the left to consume the arrows and physical strength of the Zhou army. It is best to disrupt the formation of the Zhou army, exhaust the Zhou army, and consume almost the same amount of arrows. Charge with sabers, spears, and more.

Shi Congyun looked from a distance, and after the battle, the left wing shouted to kill Zhentian. From time to time, he could hear a scream, and a large number of arrows were faintly visible in the dust, buzzing, and even the sound of Zhentian's horseshoes could not be covered. Hundreds of steps away, people have become dots, looming in the dust, and he can also feel the fierce battle on the left wing.

Fu Zhaoyuan took a deep breath nervously, and grasped the shield in his hand tightly. There was a high platform in the Chinese Army, just behind Shi Congyun, stood the Chinese Army Commander's Flag, and on it stood orderlies.

With the expansion of the war scale and the change of arms, it is no longer practical to march with drums in large-scale battles, and can only be used for command of grassroots units.

It's like the sound of horseshoes, horns, shouts of killing, and metal collisions on the entire battlefield.

Drums and horns are still used to command between the various circles, but it is impossible for a command system at the level of Shi Congyun to give orders by voice. The voices are too chaotic and the distance is too far. Here, let alone beating drums in a battlefield environment, you may not be able to hear clearly when firing cannons.

The square flags have also appeared long ago, and flags of various colors have become a better choice for the coach to command the army.

Shi Congyun was sitting in the center of the army and watched the situation on the left wing from a distance. A large number of cavalry from the Liao army fought against the Zhou army on the left wing, but they did not dare to go further back because Shi Yanchao's more than 5000 cavalry were on standby behind the formation. Afraid of being attacked from both sides.

Shi Congyun also couldn't see the specific location of Dad's army, the distance was too far, and there was a road between fields in the middle, with a row of trees on both sides of the road, but he could see the conspicuous flag in the distance, so he knew where the cavalry was.

Time passed by every minute and every second. The battle on the left wing was not the previous tentative attack. The Liao army sent at least [-] troops to approach and shoot in batches, and then retreated.

Hundreds of cavalry consisted of dozens of teams, and they also formed a huge circle with a diameter of hundreds of steps in front of the Zhou army's left flank, firing alternately and batches.

The two circular formations in front of Zhou Jun's left were under tremendous pressure. Fu Zhaoyuan watched very nervously. He petitioned to bring people to support him several times, but was rejected by Shi Congyun.

In fact, he was even more nervous!

If the two front left circles are defeated, the next battle will be very difficult. He asked Guo Tingwei and Shen Zhiyi to sit in the front left circle in person, and told them before the battle that if the Khitans want to fight, they must fight. It is determined by the tactical characteristics of the Liao army to stare at them, so let them be mentally prepared.

Guo Tingwei and Shen Zhiyi made an oath and assured him that unless everyone died, he would never collapse, but he was still anxious, hesitating to order the cavalry led by the old man on the west side of the road to support him.

But at this time, once the left-wing reserve force is mobilized to support the front, it means that the right-wing deterrence of the Liao army will be released, and the larger plan to wipe out the enemy will not be completed.

Shi Congyun's face was expressionless, without saying a word, he was staring at the fiercely fought battlefield in the distance in front of his left, his face was calm, and his heart was already extremely nervous. At this time, he could only choose to believe in Guo Tingwei, Shen Zhiyi and many others. Control crane officers and soldiers.

When the fierce battle on the left front continued for nearly half an hour, the shouts from the left wing became smaller and smaller. At this moment, amidst the sound of rumbling horseshoes, Shi Congyun heard several explosions, followed by Flames and blue smoke were vaguely seen.

He reacted immediately, and the rockets of Shenhuodu opened fire.

He originally regarded the rockets of the Shenhuo Capital as a magic weapon to win by surprise, and asked them to shoot into the opponent's cavalry when the Liao army launched a frontal attack. Now the Shenhuo on the left wing violated his orders. Obviously, it has reached its limit. Do not fire.

After a while, the soldiers with bloodstained faces came to the central army on horseback and cried, "Marshal, there are too many bandits, and the brothers are seriously injured. They are almost unable to hold on. Please help me, Marshal!"

"You are in the first team." Shi Congyun asked.

The soldier nodded.

"How many of you are there?"

"I don't know, maybe there are only half of the brothers left! There are too many bandits!"

"Zhang Zhenghai, Fu Zhaoyuan."

"The end is here!" The two hurriedly cupped their hands.

"You take Tianxiong's elite soldiers and follow him to support the left wing." Shi Congyun said.

The two men took the order, immediately reined in their horses and went out, led the elite soldiers brought by Tianxiong Army through the open spaces of each formation, and galloped towards the front left.

At this time, the gate of Yijin Pass opened in the rear, and a large group of troops came out of Yijin Pass and arrived at the rear of Shao Ji's cavalry. Wang Shenqi also led his troops to join the battlefield.

Slowly, the shouts from the left wing became louder and louder, and Shi Congyun then asked Liu Qingchuan to bring hundreds of relatives around him as reinforcements to the left front, filling the battlefield on the left wing.

After the two sides fought for more than half an hour, the left wing finally withstood the Liao army's attack with difficulty.

The horn of desolation sounded in the large formation of the Liao army in the north, but the dust in the sky still made Shi Congyun unable to see the specific situation clearly. The front left quickly sent someone to report that the cavalry of the Liao army withdrew, but the two circle formations on the left front also The losses were heavy and the formation was still there.

Just at this time, Wang Shenqi and Xiang Xun rushed to him with soldiers from Yijin Pass, and when they reached the rear of the army, Shi Congyun immediately called Wang Shenqi and Xiang Xun to ask, "How many soldiers and horses did you bring?" ?”

"Commander, three thousand infantry and eight hundred horsemen."

Shi Congyun said without hesitation: "Take your people up immediately to support the two positions in the front left. The speed must be fast, there is no delay!"

Seeing his serious and anxious appearance, Wang Shenqi and Xiang Xun didn't have time to salute, and turned their horses around to dispatch the troops with a promise.

Shi Congyun knew that the retreat of the Liao army cavalry did not stop the attack, on the contrary, they made way for the rear cavalry to charge. They felt that the Zhou army's physical strength and arrows were almost exhausted, and the heavy cavalry could attack.

The dust in the distance gradually dissipated, and the situation on the left wing gradually became clear. Looking from a distance, the left wing's position was extremely tragic. The outline of the circular formation was still there, but compared with the several circular formations behind, the left wing was much weaker. There are many corpses piled up on the periphery, and there are still a large number of wounded soldiers lying in the circle, howling.

A lot of cows on the outskirts also died, and arrows were densely packed on the military cart, like the mane of a black sow.

There are only a dozen or twenty paces of hollow space in front of the position, only sporadic corpses and a large number of black arrows, like wild weeds growing wildly in summer.

In the outer periphery, there are a large number of corpses of Liao soldiers and horses, all over the place. In the area in front of the intersection of the two circular arrays, where the crossbows and crossbows of the Zhou army fired the strongest firepower, the corpses of Liao soldiers and horses even piled up into a waist-high hill. , blood stained the surrounding fields red.

For more than an hour, the two sides clashed fiercely with various long-range weapons, causing heavy casualties.

Shi Congyun couldn't estimate the casualties of both sides at a glance, he didn't have time to think about it, the Liao cavalry who had been waiting for a long time in the distance drew a long line and slowly came towards them.

The organization of the Liao army was not as good as that of the Zhou army. After slowly approaching and gradually accelerating, the long cavalry line began to twist and twist like a water snake.

Shi Congyun also knew that the Liao army would not directly charge head-on. They would change their formation and insert into the gaps in the position after approaching, instead of directly charging into the chariot, and attacked the weakly exposed Zhou army with sabers and spears.

This is also the reason for the tug-of-war and consumption for more than an hour before, consuming their physical strength, morale, and arrows before entering melee combat.

It's a pity that they kept a hand, and Shi Congyun also kept a hand. He has two cavalry units that have never been engaged in combat, and the Shenhuo Rockets that have basically never fired.

The war horses of later generations had to undergo desensitization training so that they would not be afraid of the sound of guns and guns on the battlefield, but Shi Congyun was sure that the war horses of the Liao Kingdom had not undergone such desensitization training.

Looking at the Liao army coming in like a black tide between the fields and roads in the distance, their banners are like forests, and their swords and guns reflect the sun, just like the sparkling sea, full of oppression, and from time to time, some people shouted and screamed continuously, making Shi The messengers around Congyun also began to breathe harder, not to mention the pressure the soldiers facing them at the front would be under.

Shi Congyun said: "Order, let out the Suzaku flag, let Shenhuo shoot all the rockets!"

The soldiers on the high platform behind listened to the order, and immediately raised a large red flag under their feet, and began to wave it vigorously. The vermilion flag was embroidered with golden Suzaku, which was particularly dazzling in the sun.

Soon, there was a loud sound of bowstrings from various positions in the distance, and a large number of crossbow arrows dragging green smoke rose from the high ground everywhere, and were thrown obliquely into the distance.

The bed crossbow's accuracy is limited at a hundred paces away, but when facing a tide-like army, the accuracy is not so important, as long as the direction is correct.

Shi Congyun stared into the distance, the Liao army was within a hundred paces, and the horses accelerated after a long distance, and the speed was very fast.

The Liao army shouted and marched forward bravely, and the turbulent tide seemed unstoppable.

Soon many orange light spots exploded in the long Liao army line one after another, blue and black smoke rose and filled the air, stumped limbs and broken arms flew everywhere, and the sound of a thunderbolt from a clear sky spread to the rear after a while.

Every time the light flashed, a large number of people turned their backs, and the people in the front fell to the ground and the people behind were tripped one after another before they could stagger. Many frightened war horses began to scurry left and right or stopped directly and collided with the people behind.

The forward of the Liao Army was within a hundred steps of the Zhou Army's formation at this time, and it was only a blink of an eye for the galloping horses. Just like that, they rushed straight towards the military chariots on the periphery of the Zhou army's central army formation.
(End of this chapter)