Shu Chen

Chapter 458

Fighting in the Hexi Corridor or on the edge of the desert, it is common for cavalry with strong mobility not to stay in the camp.

But it would be incredible if the spare horses were not even placed in the camp.

Unless, the Nishu cavalry had never been stationed here.

Deng Ai, who has never waited for the neighing of the war horse, realized something in his heart. Could it be that Bapu is not here?

Seeing that Zheng Pu's big banner was still stretched against the wind, he sent more than a hundred infantry with shields and big sculls to test it out, to see how many soldiers and horses there were in the Han army camp, and how many roadblocks such as pits or barbed wire outside the camp.

The result was unexpected.

The soldiers were all approaching the wooden fence of the low wall of the camp, but they did not encounter any pits or barbed thorns buried in the sand; and the guarding Han soldiers who had been sparsely scattered on the low wall of the camp, instead of sniping with bows and crossbows, turned around and returned. went!

Empty camp? !
Deng Ai narrowed his eyes, stared at Zheng Pu's banner for a while, and then raised his hand and waved it again.

It also made the drums of the Chinese army rush forward and thunder.

More than a hundred soldiers who had already entered the edge of the camp formed a small circle of guards, and another three centurions from the Wei army array came rushing forward.

They are all light soldiers carrying small bucklers and short blades, and wearing simple leather armor.

Skill is also unusually vigorous.

Running to the front of the camp, three or five people had a tacit understanding of half squatting, short body or straight body with shields against their shoulders, forming scales of stairs, allowing Pao Ze to run smoothly and use his strength to jump into the camp.

But at this time, there was still no sound of fighting as expected, no faint smell of blood in the camp, and the dead silence made people feel even more disturbed.

"Crackling~~"

As more and more light soldiers jumped in, the wooden door of the camp let out a groan as it was pushed open from the inside out.

And after a while, even the low fence that blocked the line of sight was pushed down.

It also allows everyone to see the truth.

It turned out to be a camp within a camp.

I saw that Zheng Pu's big banner was located on a short tree with a banner embroidered with "dare to die", and there were only about five hundred heavy infantry waiting in line, without strong bows and crossbows behind them, let alone those with long-standing reputations. The Yuan Rong crossbow is in front.

But no one thinks it can be easily broken.

Because on both sides of the heavy infantry phalanx are trenches more than two feet wide, full of sharpened wood and spears, which cannot be crossed even by galloping war horses.And these heavy infantry are divided into two parts, the outer ones hold large oars and spears, and the inner ones hold ring swords and hooks; coupled with their heavy armor, ordinary bows and crossbows cannot disrupt the formation at all.

That is to say, the projectile tactics used by the Rangers of the Southern Huns can no longer be used; the infantry of the Wei army who did not carry bed crossbows and thunderbolt chariots had no choice but to fight in close quarters if they wanted to break the formation.

But with leather light soldiers and heavy infantry fighting head-on, what are the chances of winning?

Everyone fell silent when they saw that there was only room for a hundred people to fight in front of the heavy infantry.

Lie to the sky?

Or is it to lure the enemy deep?
Deng Ai, who was stationed in the Chinese army in the horse, saw it clearly, his eyes narrowed and he murmured in his heart for a moment.

Since Nishu and Xiliang's iron cavalry were not here, he knew that the two thousand infantry and the three hundred elite cavalry who stayed behind to contain the forest camp on the gentle slope of Quwu Mountain would surely die.

But he couldn't tell whether Scar Pu was currently in Quwu Mountain or the Fortress of Yuyin.

If it was okay in Mount Quwu, he could at least rely on his superior force to fight to the death, but if it was in the fortress of Shuyin, then his hope of sending troops and creating a chance for Hu Zun to seize Shuyin would be out of the question.

Naturally, there is no room for hesitation when going into battle.

Soon the drums of the Wei army were urging the battle to be like thunder, and all the soldiers came out in a single file, stepping on the sound of the small drums of their respective generals, watching Zheng Pu's banner and leaving.

"kill!"

"Kill! Kill!"

The Wei soldiers marched forward step by step, and everyone's faces were filled with the morale of defeating the few like a rainbow.

The heavy infantry of the Han army remained silent.

"Vector!"

Liu Lin, standing under the banner of the dare-to-die banner, ordered in a low voice.

"promise."

With a brief commanding sound, the heavy infantry took out ghost masks from their waists and covered their faces, accompanied by a slight "click" sound from the grooves of the pockets, and their eyes began to become indifferent and numb.

Indifference and numbness that ignore life and death.

It has been eight years since the formation system of the death camp, and it has always maintained the establishment system of 500 people.

Only those who died in battle or retired from injury will be replaced by others.Because the soldiers of the Death Battalion are different from other heavy soldiers, the treatment of these people is comparable to that of a hundred generals, and they are all "one out of a thousand" in the army.

Moreover, there is an unwritten military rule in the Death Battalion: Before the battle, cover the face of the ghost, and there is no retreat until death.

Gein Once they are ready for battle, it is time to decide the outcome of the battle.

Retreat means the death of the main general, the fall of the big flag and the defeat of the whole army.

Therefore, they can only not give an inch, people will not die, and the enemy will not be able to enter.

Deng Ai had also heard about this heavy pawn belonging to Zheng Pu, and he never expected a miracle of defeat.

But he knows what the weakness of the heavy infantry is - their heavy armor can provide more protection, but it will also increase the consumption of stamina, as long as they maintain a steady stream of attacks, they will be exhausted, and then they will be killed at will up.

It just so happens that he, who has an absolute superiority in military strength, can personally defend the tribe as a supervisory team and drive the soldiers to "many ants bite dead elephants".

However, he was also unavoidably anxious.

He worries that he doesn't have that much time.

For example, before the Wei army attacked and killed these heavy infantry and reached Scaru's big banner, the [-] infantry behind and the [-] fine cavalry in the pass were defeated by Nishu Xiliang iron cavalry!

Then he was driven back and forth, so that he had no chance to fight to the death.

"Beat the drum! Those who dare to retreat, beheaded!"

Seeing Deng Ai, who was unable to shake the Death Battalion after two or three attacks by his own soldiers, his voice was stern, and he almost gave orders.And don't forget to send the Southern Xiongnu cavalry to the rear to support, hoping to delay the Xiliang cavalry.

But it was all too late.

One wrong step and you lose the whole game.

From the moment he thought about breaking the fortress of Yuyin and decided to come out as soon as possible, he became a marionette in Zheng Pu's hands!
Every step is expected to take the lead and step into the hands of the Han army!

Before the southern Xiongnu cavalry arrived at the woods on the gentle slope of Quwu Mountain, they found countless soldiers of the Wei army, driven by Xiliang iron cavalry, coming head-on.

Yes, they have lost.

When Deng Ai continued to drive his troops to Laowei County, Jiang Wei led more than a thousand Xiliang cavalry to fight out from the Xupo camp.

Instead of rushing directly into the pawn formation, he took the lead in besieging and killing the three-hundred-level fine cavalry who were wandering outside and guarding.

It also made the general who supervised the two thousand infantry immediately stunned.

He never thought that the Han army would hide the Xiliang cavalry here.

Moreover, he had just set up his camp, and roadblocks such as ditches, pits, or horse refusals had not had time to set up.

Outside the wilderness, if there are no three hundred cavalry in the pass to support them, infantry without chariots or camps to rely on are no different from cattle and sheep waiting to be slaughtered.

Therefore, he made a very wise decision.

Instead, he ordered half of the soldiers to guard the periphery with spears and horse-rejecting guns, while the rest of the soldiers pushed the WISCO carts and supply carts across the road, pointing at the [-] passers-by to form a chariot formation before they were strangled to death.

But this is also a decision that makes the war situation no longer turn for the better.

In line with the tactics of "divide the enemy and we specialize", Jiang Wei gathered almost all Xiliang iron cavalry here, except for more than a hundred cavalry who were suspected soldiers in the desert.For example, the thousand cavalry who used to harass Deng Ai's march in a team of two hundred cavalry were now led by Xu Zhidu, hiding more than ten miles away and waiting for a fighter.

And the scene of the chaos when the general of the Wei army divided his soldiers into two groups and each regrouped was the opportunity he was waiting for.

"Woo~heh!"

"Woo~~heh!"

Immediately, he led thousands of Xiliang iron cavalry to charge forward.

The distance of more than ten miles is just between the heels for a war horse whose speed has been raised to the extreme.

The soldiers of the Wei army looked at the soaring dust rolled up by countless horseshoes and heard the whistle from far to near. Everyone's face was full of fear, and they had no chance to change formation to meet the enemy again.

When the Xiliang iron cavalry, who were also good at riding and shooting, charged forward, they threw their bows and crossbows at the outer soldiers with spears and refusal carbine guns, making them squeeze into the inner circle of chariots with the instinct of survival.

Naturally, this move undoubtedly plunged the originally riotous formation into chaos.

Xu Zhi only led the cavalry to pass by twice, and the panicked soldiers of the Wei army no longer ignored the scolding of the generals at all levels, and ran wild before they got into battle.When Xu Zhi saw the gap in the Wei army's formation, he rode his horse through it in one fell swoop, and the victory was sealed.

But Xu Zhi did not order the surrender.

Instead, they continued to drive them to Naowei County with bows and crossbows.

As for the fine cavalry in the three hundred levels, no miracles can be born under Jiang Wei's siege of more than a thousand cavalry.

The southern Xiongnu rangers sent by Deng Ai just happened to encounter the scene where the Wei army was defeated for thousands of miles and the Han army drove the troops behind.After a little astonishment, their commander-in-chief ordered to turn north and flee to the west foot of Helan Mountain.

This is not surprising.

May I ask, the armaments given by the State of Wei have already been transferred to Shuofang County, and Deng Ai's defeat is already determined, why do they still work hard for the State of Wei?
This approach also put Deng Ai into a desperate situation.

Without the warning of the Southern Huns' rangers, when he heard the thunderous sound of horseshoes and saw the crying and rout soldiers, it was too late to withdraw the soldiers who went out to attack the death camp of the Han army back into the camp to guard them.

In this regard, he was angry and unbearable, but also very decisive.

Nai immediately ordered Mingjin to ask the generals to lead and urge the infantry to return to the camp for self-defense, while he himself took more than a thousand elite riders from Guanzhong to meet Xu Zhi's thousand riders.

He wanted to buy time for the infantry to return to camp.

As long as the infantry can be returned to the camp and set up a strong crossbow formation, even if he is defeated, he can follow the example of Li Ling in the past and return slowly by relying on the chariot formation.

And there is no need to worry about being trapped in the enemy's line.

He only needs to kill those rout soldiers a little, so that they don't dare to run forward again, and he will stop the Xiliang iron cavalry's charge.

However, he overlooked one point.

He was born in the Central Plains and was young and poor. In terms of riding and commanding alone, he couldn't match Jiang Wei, who was around the border and was proficient in bow and horse. Even Xu Zhi and Zhang Te were better than him.

The thousand riders led by Xu Zhi were slightly slowed down as he wished.

But he quickly divided the cavalry into left and right teams to detour, giving way to the middle of the charge, and the two hundred armored cavalry who had been plodding along with their horsepower, launched a charge.

However, the rout of the soldiers that hindered the speed of the light cavalry, and the fate of the two hundred armored cavalry who were charging, had to be trampled past, also stifled Deng Ai's hope of turning the situation around.

And it put him in danger.

It takes space and time for the cavalry to turn around.

Xu Zhifen's Xiliang iron cavalry came rushing from left and right, and in the middle was another armored cavalry charging head-on, it was impossible for him to avoid it.

There is only the lesser of two evils.

He made a prompt decision and ordered Guanzhong Jingqi to turn his horse and turn back sideways.

This approach caused Guanzhong Jingqi to lose more than [-] horses in an instant.

Because when the cavalry rushing with a long dragon made a detour, the rear team was cut off by the Xiliang iron cavalry who rushed to the detour!
Alas, the right is to dock the tail to survive.

It's just that sometimes the courage of a strong man to cut off his wrist is not enough to "survive" as he wishes.

When Deng Ai turned back, he found that even if he bought time, the infantry from various ministries could not return to the camp.

It's not that the death camps that have been besieged have been chasing after them.

At this time, the death camp was powerless.

Not only was Cai's refusal to give an inch, the countless corpses lying in front of the formation blocked the pursuit route, but also because there were more than two hundred heavy infantry sitting or lying in the death camp, all of them were sweating profusely and panting. Like a cow.

There is no way, wearing nearly eighty (Chinese) catties of full-body armor and fighting fiercely with swords and spears for more than half an hour, and it is the scorching autumn and July, no matter how elite warriors are, they will be exhausted.

And this is the result of Liu Lin dividing his soldiers into five teams and taking turns to fight.

The infantry of the Wei army could not return to the camp, but Jiang Wei led his cavalry, who did not drive away the rout, and drove in obliquely, cutting off their way back to the camp!
Likewise, the morale of the Wei army's infantry, who had nowhere to go, suddenly collapsed.

And because Deng Ai burned down the Mingsha Mountain camp, garrison and pontoon bridge before the troops left, and the previously claimed tactic of Pingxi General Hu Zunhui driving troops to attack the Han army from behind did not appear, so many people did not wait for the Han army to shout Putting out the slogan that surrender can live, he threw his sword and spear and fell to the ground to beg for his life.

The defeat of the army is like a mountain, so it is!
Seeing this, Deng Ai knew that he was powerless to recover, so he turned his horses to the fortress of Yuyin again.

Because Jiang Wei, who was busy collecting prisoners, saw that the overall situation was settled, he allocated five or six hundred horses to Zhang Te to lead, and came to chase him with Xu Zhi.

Don't punish Deng Ai, swear not to stop fighting.

The oath before the battle is not just to boost morale.

Deng Ai, who fled with more than [-] Guan Zhongjing cavalry, was chased by Zhang Te and Xu Zhi, and his troops became less and less. When he reached the riverside, there were only more than [-] cavalry left.

He was not chased and killed by the Xiliang cavalry.

Their morale also collapsed, some of them spontaneously slowed down their horses to surrender to the Han army, and some turned to Qu Wushan.

Deng Ai had no time to take care of this.

And luck finally favored him once.

The pontoon bridge set up by the Han army to transfer grain and fodder by the river was not demolished, allowing him to cross the river smoothly.

However, when he drove his horse to the fortress of Yuyin, he discovered that good fortune tricks people.

Hu Zun is not here!

There is no trace of the fortress of Yuyin being attacked!

In desperation, he reined in the horse's reins, muttering in his mouth, "If my husband can't live with five tripods, he will die with five tripods."

Immediately, he stabbed his neck with a horizontal blade, and cursed loudly, "Hu Zun, you greedy and afraid of death! I dare to die with eight thousand steps, but you don't dare to die for the country!"

After saying that, blood spattered.

(End of this chapter)